Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn ★☆☆☆☆

Oh this was bad.

The way it was marketed I expected Interstellar, with a dash of 2010, and enough romance to bring me to tears. It was none of those things.

The Puppet Show (Washington Poe #1) by M.W. Craven ★★★★★

“This wasn’t about justice, Poe. It was never about justice.” 

ALL THE STARS!!!

You dark twisty bitch of a book! I love you! So many threads to neatly bring together, so much mystery and pain, to burn. 

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz ★★★★☆

What I loved 

Fat gay bad guy!

Sixteen - the strong, intelligent, violent female spy.

The most vicious, effective, and soul-sucking potential Bond death. Any man, hell any person, would have gladly jumped in a shark tank.

Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp #3) by Vince Flynn ★★★★★

“Nothing else mattered, especially not the political operative who had brought this snake into the White House.” 

Better than Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down combined is the original, and politically damning, Vince Flynn version, Transfer of Power. These books are my new obsession. It’s 3:30 in the morning and I was suppose to wake up at 4:30 - I blame you for this Flynn! 

Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp #2) by Vince Flynn ★★★★★

Mitch Rapp is back! It’s just one more kill, a Libyan oil minister with a dark past, but now Rapp has gone from hunter to hunted. Who can he trust? Lone gunman are often just that - alone. Multiple international interests, action, violence, sex, betrayal - this felt like the best of old Clancy (maybe better). 

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

"She had wanted to find some trouble, and the Shorter Way Bridge had never steered her wrong." 

This is my first Joe Hill and I ate it up. Kate Mulgrew read this audiobook into a page turner, I haven't gone through a thousand pages this quickly ever! Even The Stand and Pillars of the Earth took over a week. 

Galactic Empires

Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson ★★★★★★ 
Yes, six stars.  With shades of Ender’s Game and Gemini Man this was the best science fiction short I’ve ever read.  A full story and good glimpse into an imperial world on knife’s edge. Riveted!

Betrayal in Death (In Death #12) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

Someone has sent an assassin to kill off Roarke’s people, one silver wire garrote at a time. 

Well, Eve’s not going to stand for that.

Judgment in Death (In Death #11) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

Someone’s killing cops and Eve has to face the gut churning fear... that it’s another cop.

Witness in Death (In Death #10) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

Is there anything trickier than interviewing actors, than trying to find the truth in those whose profession is to embody a lie? 

Loyalty in Death (In Death #9) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

An old terrorist organization has come back from the dead to threaten New York.

Conspiracy in Death (In Death #8) by J.D. Robb ★★★☆☆

Street people are turning up dead with their organs missing. Why would anyone want damaged organs? 

Midnight in Death (In Death #7.5) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

David Palmer has escaped! The worst serial killer that Eve ever brought down is back and looking for vengeance.

Holiday in Death (In Death #7) by J.D. Robb ★★★☆☆

It’s Eve & Roarkes first family Christmas. They are decorating trees, throwing a party, and learning what it’s like to be happy and normal.

But someone else is celebrating Christmas by dressing up as Santa and killing people violently.

Vengeance in Death (In Death #6) by J.D. Robb ★★★★☆

Someone is killing old friends of Roarkes and calling it holy vengeance. It’s up to Eve to hunt them down but first she has to face the man her husband was, the terror of the dark streets of Dublin.

Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction

These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw ★★★★★ 

Prince Joffrey’s witchy step-mother has officially given her last fuck.  It was hard to read, even briefly, about this waste-of-space prince, but it made watching his bones crawl all the more satisfying.

The Holdout by Graham Moore ★★★★★

Best legal thriller ever. 

Wounds: Six Stories From the Border of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud

The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud ★★★★★ 
Hideous beauty, confronting and objectionable grace - everything I ever wanted from Clive Barker.  

Blue Remembered Earth (Poseidon's Children #1) by Alastair Reynolds ★★★★★

Un-for-gett-able. 

A new millennium foundation work of solarpunk and afrofuturism.  It’s hard to believe this has not been snapped up and made into a series.  Fools! 

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

The Jaunt ★★★★½ 
I was wondering about the sweet family trip to Mars, but then the story had a stopover in Providence and I knew where we were going :)