book review | King Slayer by Layla Reyne | Fog City 2

Author: Layla Reyne
Title: King Slayer
Series: Fog City 2
Genre: Romance; Crime
Pages: 195
Rate: 2/5 | Goodreads

Didn’t I say I won’t read book 2 of Fog City? And yet here I am, having read “King Slayer” by Layla Reyne, having needed something not demanding of brain power.

About the Book: Betrayal and dark secrets put a wedge in between Dante and the King of the Madigan criminal empire. Neither can trust the other, it seems, being sword enemies and all. And yet, as threat to the Fog City rises, they have no choice but to work together.

My Opinion: A very overused tale. Vengeance for dead partners, partner’s dark past bubbling up, the no-surprise surprise of who the culprits were and all that.

At least it was short. 2 out of 5.

book review | Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs | Bones 5

Author: Kathy Reichs
Title: Grave Secrets
Series: Temperance Brennan 5
Genre: Crime; Thriller
Pages: 315
Rate: 3/5 | Goodreads

Right. Finished “Grave Secrets” by Kathy Reichs, fifth book in the Temperance Brennan series. So far it was gradually getting duller…

About the Book: Killers of every ilk are no mystery. One way or another everything boils down to human brutality, greed, and other vices. It’s the victims that cause questions and wonder. Why those four, so brutally murdered and left behind? Why that one, with an unborn skeleton entangled in her own?

My Opinion: This was greatly lacking. Lacking in flavor, adult behavior, communication. Premise was great, murders in the name of science, cult-like vibe, that constant danger Brennan seems to always be in. And yet it felt like going through the motions. Here’s the plan, here’s the setting, do the mandatory thing until something or someone saves the day and Brennan can put culprit behind bars.

Still, while a bit disappointing, I can’t claim I didn’t have any fun reading it. 3 out of 5, but solid.

book review | Prince of Killers by Layla Reyne | Fog City 1

Author: Layla Reyne
Title: Prince of Killers
Series: Fog City 1
Genre: Crime; Action
Pages: 200
Rate: 3/5 | Goodreads

Eh, wanted something short, so I picked up “Prince of Killers” by Layla Reyne, first in the Fog City series. Sappy criminals and even sappier love story.

About the Book: Someone’s always trying to take the crown of the Prince of Killers, soon to be a king. So this here, new threat, would not have been all that different. Were it not for how the warning about it came to the head of the organization, in a shape of a handsome fella called Dante Perry. He seems to have a lot of sensitive information about a lot of things and is determined to stay nearby and keep that crime throne under whom it belongs to.

My Opinion: I understand the want and even a need to write some mortals into your killers. But there has to be a balance, else you end up with batman on your hands and that’s just not the same. A dull love story didn’t help it either. Not my cup of tea.

Yeah, not for me, I won’t be reading farther. 3 out of 5.

book review | The Courier by Gerald Brandt | San Angeles 1

Author: Gerald Brandt
Title: The Courier
Series: San Angeles 1
Genre: Cyberpunk; Dystopia
Pages: 293
Rate: 2/5 | Goodreads

Whoever allowed Gerald Brandt to ruin his perfectly great book “The Courier” by passing a romance of 16 year old and a 21 year old needs to be reevaluated.

About the Book: Corporations own everything. From the water, to the sky, to your privacy. But people, including those very same corporations, rivals, have found ways to deliver messages anyway. Here come couriers, such as our 16 year old Kris. Who got dealt a bad card, and sent out to deliver a message many bad, very bad people want…

My Opinion: The story is otherwise great. Dystopian world, just on the verge of proper space travel and colonization or whatever that plotline was. With a very interesting perspective. But then someone decided to hook the 16 year old girl who gets groped by every dude that comes too close, with a 21 year old. Nothing grander than a kiss happened, and still I don’t understand why she had to be a teenager? Or why wasn’t he then too? I’m sorry, this is outright nasty.

A great new type of run-stop-run-stop kind of story. But it gets a 2 out of 5, age is not just a number, this isn’t good romance idea.

book review | Drive by James Sallis | 1

Author: James Sallis
Title: Drive
Series: Drive 1
Genre: Thriller; Crime
Pages: 168
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

“Drive” with Ryan Gosling is one of my favorite movies. So when I spotted James Sallis books by the same title on which it was based, I had to read them.

About the Book: He drives. Nothing less and nothing more. Stunts for movies at day time, heists at night time. No details, just where, when, and where to. And still it went sideways! He tried to fix it… But you can’t expect others to have same principals as yours.

My Opinion: The story is interesting, short, but a bit tough to read. It tells a tale of a man we know as the driver. From his childhood in a chaotic broken home, to his driving talent and where it landed him, to crime business and that one job that went wrong. Tales are parallel and it’s not always clear which one you’re reading until some major detail pops up.

Saying that, the book is short, so it’s worth reading it if you enjoyed the movie enough. A 4 out of 5.

book review | The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff

Author: Evan Ratliff
Title: The Mastermind
Series: –
Genre: True Crime; Biography
Pages: 480
Rate: 4/5 | goodreads

Ah, criminal masterminds. Whenever I read books like “The Mastermind” by Evan Ratliff, I can’t help but hope a biography of someone like Andrew Scott’s Jim Moriarty.

About the Book: Evan Ratliff has spent a decade on the case of a black web of crime, drugs, murder and games with the law. He contacted all he could, from family, to passerby’s, from goons, to lieutenants. Picking up information wherever he could, refusing to leave any stone unturned, putting together a true story of a criminal empire that began with selling prescription drugs online. And its ruler, Paul Le Roux.

My Opinion: It’s so very well written, you can definitely tell author has put a lot of heart into this. The story itself, well told, was interesting enough too. One of those “rise and fall” kind of tales, and a real one to that.

A good, solid book. Firm 4 out of 5.

book review | Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs | Bones 4

Author: Kathy Reichs
Title: Fatal Voyage
Series: Temperance Brennan 4
Genre: Thriller; Crime
Pages: 448
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

Crime detective for a comfort read. Though, in the Age of Pandemic, where Netflix docuseries on true crime entertain us all, it’s likely not even strange. So I’ve read “Fatal Voyage” by Kathy Reichs, fourth book in Temperance Brennan series, also known by the title of loosely based on books series – Bones.

About the Book: Plane explodes in the air, landing a debris of plane scrap and people, bodies, often not even in tact. Testimonies of something being flown out or shot into the sky before the tragedy happened. And pressure from higher up that keeps trying to get Brennan off the case… Someone truly doesn’t want her digging. But why?

My Opinion: I don’t have a firm opinion on the series as of yet. These books are neither good nor bad. It’s just comforting to read, have that familiar name around and such. And this particular one was not bad either, lots of twists and turns, some got to me completely unsuspected, turning the whole story into… something else.

Not bad. A 4 out of 5.

book review | Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs | Temperance Brennan 3

Author: Kathy Reichs
Title: Deadly Decisions
Series: Temperance Brennan 3
Genre: Detective; Crime
Pages: 368
Rate: 3/5 | Goodreads

I bought these Kathy Reichs books in flea markets and second-hand stores. Meaning I bought what was there, and not necessarily got everything in the series. And so it happened, I am missing the third book in the Temperance Brennan, also known as Bones, series, called “Deadly Decisions“. Ah well, there’s always ebooks!

About the Book: Disappearances, ordered hits, drugs, violence, and bones have brought Temperance Brennan to outlaw biker gangs. And they are absolutely not happy to see her. Still, this would just be another Tuesday at work were it not for the awful and personal warnings thrown her way. A note there, a picture here, an eyeball in an envelope… Someone really doesn’t want her digging.

My Opinion: There’s a lot of nothing in this book. Where characters just exist in their fear, anxiety, worries and thoughts, with nothing happening around them or in the plot. Usually I don’t mind these, I’m patient with the outfits, the haircuts, the occasional internal monologue. But in this particular book the plotline got fairly well buried under it all. To a point where I can’t coherently tell you what happened or the time it happened.

This is a good book if you don’t want to get too involved, maybe something to read outside that won’t distract you from your surroundings, sunlight. A firm 3 out of 5, but no more than that.

book review | Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs | Temperance Brennan 2 | Bones

Author: Kathy Reichs
Title: Death du Jour
Series: Temperance Brennan 2 | Bones
Genre: Mystery; Crime
Pages: 451
Rate: 4/5 | Goodreads

Took a book that needed excavating, that’s how long it sat somewhere there. “Death du Jour” by Kathy Reichs, second book in Temperance Brennan series, probably better known by the television series title Bones, loosely based on these books.

About the Book: It began as seemingly peaceful return to the roots as Brennan had to find and dig up a to-be Saint. But it wasn’t meant to be. A call, remains so charred she was irreplaceable. Family with young children, babies. To escape the image burned into her brain Brennan took her daughter to her sanctuary, but death followed her here too… And it seems this was meant to be. Through fear and decay Temperance Brennan digs up a cultish secret that connects more people in her life, dead and alive, than she’d like.

My Opinion: A cult story is always a good story in my book. This was interesting, fun to read, very captivating, but a little too predictable, with too many conveniently forgotten facts, remembered facts, slipped facts…

I like these oldies, they’re always interesting, if not in plot, then at least in the way it paints the world. A solid 4 out of 5.

Instagram | KoFi

book review | The Lufthansa Heist by Henry Hill and Daniel Simone

Author: Henry Hill and Daniel Simone
Title: The Lufthansa Heist
Series: –
Genre: True Crime; Biography
Pages: 384
Rate: 2/5 | Goodreads

Right. I’ve finished “The Lufthansa Heist” by Henry Hill and Daniel Simone. Henry Hill’s biographical retelling of the notorious heist. And I am very, very tired because of it.

About the Book: A heist you’ll be familiar with if you watched the Goodfellas, told by one of the organizers – Henry Hill. It starts at the need for such a heist, such a job, and goes through all of the phases of making such a grand job – successful. Up until the riches they didn’t even realize they stole erupt in murderous chaos…

My Opinion: The fun part ends as soon as it begins, leaving us with more than half a book of back-and-forth with the law, arrests and releases, the who slept with whom and what “that broad” was like.

It’s sad to say that a book of a heist like this is dull, but here I am. A 2 out of 5.