Colorado Kill-Zone (The Executioner #25)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer
 
Title: Colorado Kill-Zone
Series: The Executioner
Author: Don Pendleton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 104


Synopsis:
The Mafia hires a rogue army general [who happens to HAVE an army] who almost flawlessly executes a Bolan Trap. Emphasis on "almost".
Plus, there's a plot to kidnap the President of the United States for a Billion dollars in gold.

My Thoughts:
Sometimes I feel that is really unfair to give these books 3 stars because I enjoy the heck out of them. But there is more than simple enjoyment in rating a book.

I guess if this was food, I'd consider it a soda or an energy drink. Tastes good, feels good but a steady intake of such will hurt you.

So Mack gets suckered in by an old Vietnam buddy who has gone rogue. Fake military making Mack think he has crossed the line and killed soldiers who are just doing their job. A psychological tactic that comes this -- close to working. Thankfully, Mack's friends in the Mafia and the Government give him the heads up and so he can start thinking tactically again.

There is just so much awesome mano-e-mano gun battles that it makes my Manly Ego growl with delight.

Please excuse me as I go punch out some walls now...

The Fatal Tree (Bright Empires #5 Final) (ARC)

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this review.


This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.





Title: The Fatal Tree
Series: Bright Empires
Author: Stephen Lawhead
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 360


Synopsis:
All the Universes are ending, since Arthur bringing his wife back to life with the Spirit Well pretty much buggered up everything.
Now there is a Fatal Tree guarding the Well so the group can't get to it and stop Arthur and set the Universe back on track.
Burleigh has a change of heart and tries to help the group.
In the end, everything gets back on track and Evolutiongod can continue its plan.

My Thoughts:
Thankfully, this series ends.

It felt VERY fluffy and it was hard to feel connected to any of the characters. My last book by Lawhead. Sometimes you just don't want to review a book and this is one of those times.

Horizon Storms (Saga of the Seven Suns #3)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Horizon Storms
Series: Saga of the Seven Suns
Author: Kevin Anderson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 672


Synopsis:
Surprisingly little happens in this volume.
The Roamers make an alliance with the Wentals [water elementals] and with the Free Planet of the Green Priests. They also find out that the main Human Empire has been pirating their space fuel and so cut them off, which brings reprisals.
The klikiss robots advance their plans to wipe out humanity and the ildarans.
The hydrogues and the faeros are duking it out and continue to destroy worlds and suns in the process.

My Thoughts:
Thankfully, this book didn't drag like the last one. However, not nearly as much happened. Got to the end of the book and went "huh? that is it" but not in a good way.

I consider books like this to be like eating frozen pizzas. They satisfy your hunger, don't disgust you and do what they are supposed to, but you'll never pull out the candles, the good china and silver and hire your neighbor to act as a waiter so you and the Mrs can eat a "le' frozen pizza".

Anderson is a b list author who has made a name for himself but I don't consider him to be a "good" author, merely a competent writer. His storylines leave a lot to be desired as do his characters and general blaseness.

I'll keep reading stuff by him and I'll probably lambast it each time as well. Hopefully that will help you if ever decide to read something by him.

Bitter Night (Horngate Witches #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Bitter Night
Series: Horngate Witches
Author: Diana Francis
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 270


Synopsis:
Max, warrior leader that protects a witch she hates, must overcome all her issues to save her coven from being destroyed by the Guardians, super witches who command Angels as their warriors.
And Max must open up to a new man in her life who is just as strong as she is and completely understands her and knows her better than anyone she has ever met in her whole life.


My Thoughts:
I knew going into this that this was a female book by a female for females so I was prepared for the female equivalent of a Mack Bolan book.
What I was not prepared for was how many conversations took place inside Max's head with herself. And what pushed this into total female wish fulfillment was just how perfect the male MC was from a woman's perspective. He's never met Max before but he knows, by a twitch of her eye or an uplifted shoulder, exactly what she is thinking and feeling.
The feelings! It was like drowning in a bathtub of Feelz for the entire book.


There was no sex, graphic or otherwise and that saved this from a DNF.


With all that being said, this clocked in around the 270'ish page mark and it was really 50-75 pages too long. Many mundane things were seriously over written [1 ½ pages describing buying cheeseburgers at the beginning of the story?]. It didn't come across as padding for word count but more like the author thought this junk info was necessary to the story when it completely wasn't.


This book confirmed what I suspected already, that I don't like this kind of book. Now I KNOW.

On a completely random note, I have a coworker who looks very similar to what you can see of the Main Character. Except she is a real woman and not that idealized impossibility splashed across the cover.

Secret of the Slaves (Rogue Angel #8)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: Secret of the Slaves
Series: Rogue Angel
Author: Alex Archer
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 253


Synopsis:
Annja Creed is approached by a Bono/U2 based Billionaire Activist who is after some super tech created by a hidden society in South America.
At first this hidden society seems bad, as they kill everyone around Annja but then we see the light about how good they are because they "shared" in the past.
And Mr Activist is shown for the horrible, horrible person he really is and in the end everyone gets what they really deserve.


My Thoughts:
I still don't understand how a group of escaped slaves somehow turns into a super advanced society that can hide itself from satellites, etc? Sharing culture with those they escaped to doesn't suddenly make them into supermen.


I go into these stories with my believe-o-meter turned all the way to zero, or so I think and yet I still get shocked each time. I guess when the author writes so heavy handedly it can't be helped.


Other than that, this was typical Rogue Angel with guns and punching and swords and exotic locales. And plenty of new side characters to kill off. I have to admit, I love that part, I really do.

The Krytos Trap (X-Wing #3) (Star Wars)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.

Title: The Krytos Trap
Series: X-Wing, Star Wars
Author: Michael Stackpole
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 355


Synopsis:
Having just lost my review due to one stupid unfortunate swipe of the mousepad, yet again, this will be the last review I compose here in Booklikes.
I will be using a word processing program and reduce my stress and general level of profanity, which our neighbors will greatly appreciate.

Ok, Corran is captured, not dead and in his escape finds out his Gramps was a jedi and he is too.

Rogue Squadron plays politics because that scumbag Bothan Borsk Fey'la has decided he will be a player in galactic politics.

My Thoughts:
Reading this again was probably a mistake. Not because it was bad, but because it was just plain mediocre. And considering that these are probably near the top of the stack in quality, that is sad.

Not that I'm bitter about Disney's total raping of the Extended Universe or anything. That doesn't color my thinking at all, oh no. /sarcasm 
Sadly, I feel like Star Wars has been ruined all over for me now.

Anyhow, this was an enjoyable read and there was a lot I had forgotten. I plan to finish out this series but re-reading this series that I had enjoyed so much in the past has made me seriously consider selling all my Star Wars books. Bleh...

Lord of Stormweather (Sembia #7 Final) (Forgotten Realms)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Lord of Stormweather
Series: Sembia,  Forgotten Realms
Author: Dave Gross
Rating: 3  of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 316


Synopsis:
Tamlin Uskevren, Heir of the Uskevren House, is kidnapped and then rescued by his brother and sister.
At the same time, the Hulorn [supreme ruler of the City] has hired an assassin to kill of his opposition. Mundane or magical, the Hulorn doesn't care.
And because of that, Thamalon, his lady and Erevis Cale are all transported to a magical land that is ruled by an apparently Powerful and Cruel Tamlin.
All threads come together in the end as this series about the Uskevren family comes to a close as well.

My Thoughts:
The series ends and we get to see the end of one Generation of the Uskevrens and the beginnings of another.
I really, really wish I had finished this series before starting the Erevis Cale trilogies, it would have filled in a lot of blanks.

Basically, Thamalon dies, Tamlin takes over and the city of Sembia goes on as before. This was a good adventure story with lots of fighting, magic and mystery.  A good end to Erevis Cale and his connections to the Uskevrens. It also ends the rise of the House of Uskevren and begins its plateau.

This series overall is a good intro to Erevis Cale in the first 2 books and the next 5 fill in information that is relevant to Cale in the two trilogies. Pretty good 7 book series in the Forgotten Realms world.

Moll Flanders (Classic)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Moll Flanders
Series: -----
Author: Daniel Defoe
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 337


Synopsis:
The Life and Adventures in Crime of Moll Flanders. As told by Moll Flanders after she was exiled to America, made her fortune and came back to England as a rich socialite.

My Thoughts:
I can see why this was on the banned books list. Seduction of the innocent [Moll], crime sprees, incest and bigamy on a grand scale.

Now, as Moll writes, she is supposedly repented from her former life and is writing these memoirs as a warning to others. However,  that is a load of crock. Moll is proud of what she has done, the stealing, the lying, the whoring, all of it. Every line written, every word used reflects Moll's true attitude.

Nothing was ever graphic but there was never any doubt of the acts that Moll committed.

Defoe does a great job with his writing and I enjoyed this story, even as the story is not uplifting, inspiring  or in anywise about anything good.

Thief River Falls Run (Endworld #2)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: Thief River Falls Run
Series: Endworld
Author: David Robbins
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 204


Synopsis:
Alpha group with Non-violence Spiritual Guy head out to try to get to the Twin Cities, again.
But they get waylaid by a new group. This group seems really organized, has info about the Family, controls mutates and the area surrounding the Twin Cities.

White hick cowboy man finds a 70's retro blackgirl who just digs his jivey whitemeat and Big Burly main character wonders if his true blue eyed blond love still loves him after he's been away a whole 2 days. And Indian man has a stereotypical cherokee beauty and her daughter show up at the Family's compound. Babes abound for everyone!

My Thoughts:
I ended up giving this the Parody tag because it is impossible to take seriously. The supposed cream of the Warriors act like total idiots and even someone as civilianized as me can spot the issues they just ignore.

The women. Oh lordy, what a pubescent wetdream. A super busty black woman has fallen into enemy hands, is tortured and raped repeatedly and when rescued by the Intrepid Group, falls in love with the whitest of the white guys and acts like she hasn't had anything happen to her. Goes so far as to offer herself to Cowboy man.
Thankfully the Indian women only shows up sick for about a page before the story moves on.
But what really got my goat was Blade [the main character] and his love interest. They are going to get married after the group successfully makes the Twin Cities run, but when the group stops at Thief River Falls and they spend 2 nights there, Blade is wracked with doubt and wonders if Lover Girl is thinking of him as much as he is thinking of her.

But even with all that, this story was fun and quick and showed a lot more potential than the first book. It also was very evident that this would be a paint by numbers series, which helped me to just ignore all the impossibly stupid things and enjoy the adventure side. This is going to be one of those series that I like to read and like to rip apart. It just will be :-)

The Source (Necroscope #3)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: The Source
Series: Necroscope
Author: Brian Lumley
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Pages: 464


Synopsis:
The Russians, oh those naughty Ruskies!, are fooling around with a laser defense thingy so they can negate the United States' Star Wars program. Problem is, something goes wrong and they open a portal to the homeworld of the Vampires.
Yeah, pretty bad eh?
And they compound things by hiding it.
The Brits send in a spy to find out what is going on. He gets captured, and eventually sent to the other side along with some others.
Meanwhile Harry is down in the dumps with his new body and is pining away for his missing son and wife. So when things go South for the brit spy, E-branch sends in the necroscope to save the day.
He hooks up with his now 20'something year old son [his wife has gone insane, poor thing], finds the other humans and joins in a  big battle with the Vampire Lords.
And he finds out that his son

, while having stupendous mental abilities, is now also a vampire.

(hide spoiler) Ouch.

My Thoughts:
I am enjoying these book more and more. Most of the book was spent on the British spy finding out about the vampires and his time on the other world. Another 1/3rd was spent at the Russian base as a vampire has gotten loose and is slowly destroying it from within. And we get a little bit of Harry and lots of Harry right at the end.
The mix worked perfectly for me.

I had visions of something like a Vampire Hunter D storyline going on, but thankfully it wasn't. The vampire lords on the other world were so divided that it took Harry's son to unite them [and for most of them to be destroyed in the battle].

The psychological side of things was pretty tense in the Russian base. The scientists are doing their thing, the KGB their thing, the Russian E-branch their thing. We get to see how the vampire escapes and begins to haunt the base. It was great!

The gore and sex factor were almost nil in this book, which I found refreshing and why I added kept the 4 star rating. Very tense the whole book through and I found myself wanting to keep reading, which is always a good sign for me.