CLYDE WISHAM
Yet another good Louis L'Amour western. The man really couldn't write a dull story.
Like many writers, he tended to be hard on his main characters. That is especially so in this story in which Utah Blain rescues a man from a lynching and then takes on a seemingly impossible task.
As the plot twists and turns, we get lots of action, do-or-die situations, multiple bad guys, fights with fists and guns, and some romance. All good stuff.
3.5 stars rounded up.
In this book Dan Moren takes a break from his far future spec-ops series (The Galactic Cold War), and gives us a very good urban fantasy. There is some pretty grim stuff in this story, but there is also quite a bit of understated humor mixed in. In addition to a twisty plot, we get a noir mystery, we get oddball characters, we get things that go bump in the night. What's not to like?
All in all, I quite enjoyed this story. Solid 4 stars.
The basic story is a “Holmesian murder mystery” which takes place in a rather odd future setting. The Holmes and Watson parts are taken by an investigator (Mossa) and an academic (Pleiti). They know each other from University days. Their relationship seems rather tense at first due go past baggage, but they have to get past that to solve the mystery.
The story has a definite steampunkish feel to it even though it is set rather far in the future. That pushed my WSoD pretty hard a few times, but happily I pushed on past and things were eventually made clear.
Pretty good story and a quick read. 3.5+ stars rounded up
The MC of this story, Lance Kilkenny, when answering a call for help from an old friend gets caught up in a tense situation that is building toward a three-way range war. While he is trying to cool down that situation, he gets hints that a mysterious fourth party is trying to bring the range war on for their own unknown reasons. In addition there have been a series of murders over the years that may be related to the current troubles. And then there is a beautiful woman with a formidable protector that seems to have an interest in Lance. And also people keep trying to kill him. Altogether, Lance has multiple mysteries to solve while dodging known and unknown killers. A dangerous and tense situation indeed.
As usual, Louis L'Amour's prose also brings the landscape of the West alive.
I reckon this is one of L'Amour's better books. Solid 4 stars.
Michael Mammay gives a nice take on the generation ship concept. Unlike in many generation ship stories, the crew have not degenerated to savagery and forgotten their origins. They have kept their skills and technological knowhow. They know who they are, what they are doing, and why they are doing it. However, over the generations ship society has ossified, and the upcoming arrival in the target system is shaking things up. And well ... people will be people, you know.
Good SF. Solid 4 stars.
The traumatic events of the previous book in this series, [b:Hunter's Moon 398477 Hunter's Moon (Kate Shugak, #9) Dana Stabenow https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351456971l/398477.SY75.jpg 387933], left Kate in a valley of despair. In this story, Dana Stabenow slowly brings her back.Kate has taken a job in Bering Alaska working double shifts using exhaustion to keep the dark at bay. Her friend ‘Trooper Jim' shows up unexpectedly, but he is out of uniform and using an assumed name. Obviously something is amiss.Almost against her will she is drawn into a case he is working with the FBI. It seems the Russian mafia are up to something nefarious there in Bering. And they are very dangerous people indeed.As usual in this series we get glimpses into life in an out-of-the-way place in Alaska. And, we get a nice twisty plot featuring odd-ball characters and bad actors of various shades. I highly recommend reading Hunter's Moon before reading this book.Good book. Solid 4 stars.
IMHO, this is the best of the Kate Shugak novels to this point.
This time Kate takes on a job guiding a group of German hunters going after Alaskan big game. Suffice to say things do not go as planned; in fact, they go very badly indeed.
I reckon it took a lot of courage for Dana Stabenow to write the heart-rending conclusion. Can Kate recover from the emotional damage? Never completely, I suspect.
4.5 stars rounded up.
The publisher's cover text tells pretty much what to expect in this book. You can read that first, but I think it better to come to this story cold – just let it unfold.
I'll just say that Larry Correia has created a fantasy world quite unlike any others that I have read. If you enjoy epic fantasy with lots of detailed combat, demons, wizards, an intricate plot and compelling characters, this series would be a good one to check out. (Also, you really should read the first two books in the series before this one.)
Good book, well written. 4+ stars.
This short work is an excellent murder mystery set in a very possible near future.
Things have changed a bit. For example international travel is no longer cheap and easy, but tech that seems almost magical is commonplace. A police inspector's job, however, is still a mix of hard work and attention to details helped along by a bit of intuition.
Also, there is a lonely signal from far away.
Good stuff. Solid 4 stars.
Another good story in the Kate Shugak series.
In this one Kate is confronted by a murder where seemingly everyone she can think of has a motive. Painstaking detective work is required – in which she is aided by Chopper Jim, her main squeeze Jack, and her indominable Aunties.
And as usual, Dana Stabenow expanded my knowledge about Alaska – in this case, about salmon fishing.
Solid 4 stars.
A quick read mostly about friendship with many nice drawings and a little text.
I just took it slowly, enjoying the drawings and trying to absorb some of the life lessons.
There is sheet music inside the covers. A jaunty little tune – I found it on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fImFwjxCWws)
Basically a good thriller, but Allison McKenzie needs to work on her writing fu. Amongst other things, I was bothered by the repetition of certain elements. For example, the MC several times becomes angry and resolves never to give up (variously worded). Also, she drinks hard spirits seemingly at every opportunity, which I reckon would be counterproductive in the very difficult situations she frequently finds herself in (
This story is mostly about cultural misunderstandings, some quite humorous, in a military SF setting. GR labels this book as “Romance”, but that it ain't. (There is however a plot line that could turn into romance in follow-on books.)
IMHO, the cover art sucks dead puppies. Also, another editing pass was needed. A few times grammatical errors took me out of the story.
Overall a fun story. 3+ stars.
My oh my. It seems Dana Stabenow was feeling a bit cranky and decided to give Kate a very hard time.
In this story Kate is faced with a series of unfortunate events – beginning with a grizzly attack and ending with the resolution of some murders. In between those events we have a litany of gunfights, tribal crises, more grizzly attacks, and even things falling from the sky. On top of all that Kate is feeling needy due to a long separation from Jack.
Pretty much non-stop action with a surprising amount of humor mixed in.
Fun story. 4+ stars.
Call to Arms is a pretty good military SF story that pulled me in and kept me involved.
Captain Jackson Wolfe continues his efforts against long odds to save humanity from destruction. (Prolly best to read the first book in the series before this one.) This story features lots of plot twists, mostly involving humans trying to use the crisis to further their own ends, and quite a lot of military action with big space battles (some do-or-die) against a seemingly unstoppable alien intelligence.
Cannot say much more without important giveaways.
Not a solid 4 stars for me due to a bit of a deus ex machina occurrence at one point in the story. I would have preferred something a little different, but it works. YMMV.
3.5 stars rounded up.
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Update: Having read the final volume in the trilogy, I now know that what I took to be use of deus ex machina to get out of a tight spot is actual crucial to the overall story. So, I'm upping my rating to solid 4 stars.
OK, how do I put this? The story is well written. L.E. Modesitt is a good wordsmith. However, I couldn't quite warm to the morally grey main character. He is smart, very competent, seems to be an alright guy with principles. But, he sometimes does terrible things because, ... well ... that is his job or he thinks that those things need to be done.
This story takes place in France mostly at the time of and shortly after the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk. The MCs are three young women – two French ladies and a British nurse – who are trying to aid some wounded British soldiers who have been left behind.
We get lots of suspense and some do-or-die situations. The story is fictional but depicts a couple of real-life events along the way. It also includes a ruthless SS officer who was inspired by a real historical character.
It's a good story overall, but I wanted to like it more than I did. The romance elements, which are heavy on introspection, didn't really work for me. YMMV.
3.5 stars.
This is another fast-passed thriller from Barry Eisler. This story brings together a team of very dangerous operatives and stone-cold killers from Eisler's earlier books and adds a few new characters. They have a very tough job and a tight time limit. The consequences of failure would be very bad indeed. The question is, can they cooperate well enough to pull it off. Their opponents are highly placed government officials with deep resources who will do anything to prevent the truth about events in their past from coming out.
Some of the characters are a bit cardboardy, but things move so swiftly that it didn't really bother me.
The plot is twisty, the action level is very high, there is lots of violence, and the bodies pile up. If that kind of story is your thing, this would be a good read.
Barry Eisler narrated his own book and did a very good job of it. Talented fellow.
Solid four stars.