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Monday, November 29, 2021

Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn ★☆☆☆☆

Dominique Tipper in her Expanse look with space flying around her with a caption reading The Most Dislikable Brit in Space
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 ★★★★★

Photos of Richard Armitage and Renee Felice Smith with the caption Poe & Tilly Fiction's Best New Crime Fighters
“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 ★★★★☆

A shadow silhouette of Bond pointing a gun in blue and gray with the words Death Was Now His Business superimposed

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.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

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

One soldier is pictured with a gun as the white house burns in front of his with a helicopter at the top right and a superimposed american flag at the bottom right corner
“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 ★★★★★

A grey on grey painting of an assassin in Paris
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). 

Monday, November 15, 2021

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Black and White Photograph of an old Covered Bridge
"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

Oscar Isaacs in his Dune look with the caption He Never Learned How to Lose
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!

Friday, November 12, 2021

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

Gaming image of the assassin from Hitman
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 ★★★★☆

Jaime Alexander looking stressed with a gun pointed a leather jacket with the caption I don't want to harm you
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 ★★★★☆

Red theater curtains with the caption Theater Was Created To Tell The Truth About Life
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 ★★★★☆

Photograph of the New York skyline prominently featuring Lady Liberty
An old terrorist organization has come back from the dead to threaten New York.

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

Comic style painting of crazy surgeon with stars in his eyes
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 ★★★★☆

Close up half face photograph of a bruised Evan Peters with the captions I'm Not Crazy
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 ★★★☆☆

Jack Nicolas in The Shining as Santa the caption reads I've Bee Naughty
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 ★★★★☆

Paul Bettany in his psycho priest look with the caption He Prayed For Grace, and Prepared for Murder
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

A witch casting a spell with the caption Bones Do Not Lie
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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

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

A dark Goya style oil painting of the misery of Hell with a caption reading Each Sobbing Plea or Groan of Pain a Supplication to Their Lord Their Bleeding Bodies Were His Portrait Their Wailing Throats His Opening Eye
The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud ★★★★★ 
Hideous beauty, confronting and objectionable grace - everything I ever wanted from Clive Barker.  

Friday, November 5, 2021

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

Whales swimming in space with the planet below and moons around them with the caption The Panspermian Imperative: To Assist in the Proliferation of all Living Organisms into Deep Space

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! 

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Space ship with a planet behind with ominous lightning the caption says Infinite Space Infinite Terror
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 :)