The House of Eyes by Kate Ellis

The House of Eyes by Kate Ellis
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

After reading The Death Season, last year was I pleasantly surprised to receive The House of Eyes a while back from Piatkus. This was a book I really looked forward to reading, I just needed to get some other books done first. The story seemed interesting; A young girl goes missing and her father goes to the police to file a missing person report. But, is she really missing or did she just ditch her job at Eyecliffe Castle to go to London to become a model that she dreamed of and just not tell her parents about it? Or, has something bad happened to her? Could there be some truth in what the father says that a photographer has been stalking her before she disappeared? That's what DI Wesley Peterson has to find out.

Everything sounds interesting, and yet, I just couldn't get into the story. The intro chapter was interesting and hooked me right away with a baby being kidnapped, and then the story just fell flat for me. I couldn't for me life get pulled into the case with the missing girl. I put the book down several times reading other things instead until I finally just sat down to finish the book. And, still the case just didn't work for me. Oh, there were things here and there that worked, but that mostly was related to the past with the missing girls from the 50s and the kidnapped baby. The last 60 pages or so were where I felt the book truly become a bit better for me and I started to enjoy reading the book a bit more. The conclusion of the book was good, and I loved that the ending felt open for a future book. But, still I'm really sad that this book just didn't work out for me since the previous book was so good.

One thing that I had a problem with that definitely didn't do this book any favors was the diary notes at the beginning of each chapter. I don't like cursive fonts in books, ever! It's hard to read and frankly, I tend to just browse through the text just to get on with it.

So, despite my love for the previous book, was this just not for me. The story isn't bad, I just felt disconnected with it and the characters. Wesley's wife Pam has some personal problem for instance and I just couldn't muster any concern for her. I do think that readers will like this book, it's not badly written, it just wasn't for me.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

Cover Crush: The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr

Erin over at Flashlight Commentary is the one that came up with the cover crush idea and I loved it so much that I decided that every Thursday would I post a cover that I really love. Here is the cover Erin choose this week, also take a look at 2 Kids and Tired Books new cover crush post! 

This is a truly favorite cover. I totally fell in love with this cover last year and luckily the book proved to be really good as well. As you probably notice this is a steampunk novel and I love how the characters are posed and the images behind them, with the cogwheels and the houses. It's a nice blend of historical fiction and steampunk. I'm quite sure that it's Lizzie Hyde and not Dr. Eliza Jekyll on the cover. The clothes are a dead giveaway...;) 

A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel

A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray and Inspector Ian Frey are back in A Fever of the Blood. It's New Year's Day, 1889 and a patient escape from in Edinburgh's lunatic asylum, but not before he kills a nurse. The strange thing is that the man that escaped was heard talking to a girl that hasn't talked for five years. And that girl is McGray sisters who were locked up after she killed their parents. McGray wants to find the killer, not only because he is leaving dead bodies everywhere he goes, but because McGray also wants to know what his sisters said.

It was quite a ride reading this book. Action from beginning to the end. McGray and Frey are still having a bit of a difficult working relationship and that's part of the charm of reading this series. Lots of hilarious banter. In this book, they have to try to find a crazy killer, or is he so crazy? There seem to be something weird going on. And weirder it gets when it seems that the man is out to kill witches.

I love the mix of historical mystery and paranormal things like witches. McGray is a believer and Frey, not so much. A bit like Mulder and Scully. But, Frey is I think having some doubts about everything is explainable in this book. The story was good, although I must admit that I felt a bit impatient now and then towards during the reading, but that could be just me wanting to know what is going on. But the final confrontation between, well good and evil was great and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

This is a great book for those that are looking for something action-filled, with humor and paranormal mysteries.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

January 2016 Recap!

A very, very late recap of what I read during January. For some reason, the thought of putting together a what-I-have-read-list just felt so darn hard to do that I've been putting it off.

But here it is, finally! 29 books read, including 3 graphic novels.

Best: Loving Eleanor by Susan Albert Wittig
Worst: Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

                                                           

Original post: maddan3.booklikes.com/post/1341145/january-2015-recap

The Faithful Couple by A.D. Miller

Review:

DNF around 50% read!

Could not get into the story. So I decided that rather than finish the book and write a bad review I just throw in the towel. I guess this book just wasn't for me.

Also, this book gets the dubious honour to be the book that made be once and for all swear off blog tour, with the exception of the ones I've already been booked for and of course if the book in question seems really good.

Original post: maddan3.booklikes.com/post/1335665/the-faithful-couple-by-a-d-miller

The Big Brush-off by Michael Murphy

The Big Brush-off by Michael Murphy
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Jack & Laura are back in a new adventure!

In this book, Jack and Laura travel to Hanover, Pennsylvania, because Jack needs somewhere where he can start a new Blackie Doyle book. His agent Mildred has strictly told him that he must write a really good book or less his contract won't be renewed. But Jack also has another reason for choosing Hanover as the town to stay as he writes his first chapters. Jack's last case for Pinkerton was in Hanover. And, the last case is a case that he has never forgotten because it was never solved. A young woman was killed and her killer was never caught. Could Jack after ten years finally find the killer?

**********

It was great to return to the 30s and once again read another Jack & Laura mystery. For one thing, I love movies from this period and the fact that Laura is an actress that's working with some of the biggest names of the time is marvelous. And, that she seems to have a past history with William Powell is interesting. Now she is slated to star against Clark Gable, unfortunately, he was never in this book. But perhaps in the next book...

The mystery of a murdered teenager girl is tragic, especially since the killer has never been caught. And, now the time is running out for the girl's mother who is dying. But taking on this case is not easy for Jack, most of the townspeople want him to quit trying to find the killer and open up old wounds and he has a very important book to write. But he is not the one to give up.

This is the kind of charming adventure book I love to read. I do wish that it had been more Hollywood stars in this book. I love cameos from known actors. And, the one I'm most looking to see beside William Power is Humphrey Bogart. I know, Laura is going to star alongside Clark Gable, and that will be interesting. But. Bogart in this series, well wouldn't it be perfect when you think about what kind of movies he starred in?

One thing I really enjoyed was getting to know Mildred, Jack's agent, better. She has always been a tough dame, but learning more about her and her life really made me like her very much. This was a good book, I liked the case more than the last book, probably because it was more personal for Jack and also because it was not easy to figure out who the killer was.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Spotlight: The Faithful Couple by A. D. Miller

ISBN: 9780349140582

Publication date: 04 Feb 2016

Page count: 320

Imprint: Abacus

A brilliantly clever and insightful novel that deals with the most universal of themes - friendship, and the way our past actions shape our lives - in a uniquely perceptive and memorable way

Turn a betrayal inside out and you found its opposite, a secret and a bond. Perhaps that was what friendship came down to: a lifelong, affectionate mutual blackmail.
Neil and Adam, two young men on the cusp of adulthood, meet one golden summer in California and, despite their different backgrounds, soon become best friends. Buton a camping trip in Yosemite they lead each other into wrongdoing that, years later, both will desperately regret.
Their connection holds through love affairs, fatherhood, the wild successes and unforeseen failures of booming London, as power and guilt ebb between them.

Then the truth of that long-ago night emerges.
What happens when you discover that the friendship you can't live without was always built on a lie?

Two things make Miller's writing dazzle. One is his glorious perspicacity about people and relationships of all sorts: friendships stained with betrayal and competitiveness, work acquaintanceships and love relationships alike. He's witty as well as insightful . . . Miller's other great strength is the aptness and originality of his metaphors and similes . . . It was a challenge for Miller to impress as much with his second novel as he did with his first, but it is one to which he has risen with assurance — Spectator 

After his exquisite debut, Snowdrops, Miller has returned to serve up another feast of sumptuous prose. Witty, moving and beautifully observed, it carries you along on a wave of sheer brilliance. This is anexceptional novel and Miller is the real deal — Mail on Sunday 

Oozes with tension. Patricia Highsmith . . . would have admired and loved this book in equal measure — Independent 

About A. D. Miller

A. D. Miller studied literature at Cambridge and Princeton. His first novel, Snowdrops - a study in moral degradation set in modern Russia - was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Prize, theLos Angeles Times Book Awards, the CWA Gold Dagger and the Galaxy National Book Awards; it has been translated into 25 languages.
He is also the author of The Earl of Petticoat Lane, an acclaimed memoir of immigration, class, the Blitz and the underwear industry. A. D. Miller is Writer at Large for The Economist; he was formerly the magazine's Moscow Correspondent and Political Editor. He lives in London with his wife and children.

Blog Tour: The Christos Mosaic by Vincent Czyz

The Christos Mosaic by Vincent Czyz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Drew Korchula is drawn into a historical mystery that could change the whole world and especially Christianity. Drew is asked by a friend of his, a Turkish dwarf named Kadir to hide an ancient scroll just for a day and that is the start of an adventure Drew never expected he would participate in. This ancient scroll could rock the foundation of Christianity and there are people out there that would do anything to stop the knowledge to come to light.

I didn't read what the book was about before I started it. All I knew it was a theological mystery. And, I must admit that I was a bit surprised about what the book was about. As a Christian was this, not an easy book to read. But, it's also, in my opinion, healthy to question one's faith because if you don't, the risk is that you will turn into a fanatic. And, much of the things the book wrote about like that Christianity has borrowed from other religions and sects are stuff I already have read about. Still it can probably be hard for those that doesn't haven the theological knowledge.

Now I'm going to spoiler the book a bit so if you don't want to know about the ancient scroll stop reading. The ancient scroll is the Q document. The Q document is a hypothetical collection of Jesus Sayings. You can read more here. The problem with the finding is that it is older than Jesus and that means that it could question the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. And, that is pretty much the essence of this book. It all boils down to; did Jesus exist or not?

Vincent Czyz has done an outstandingly good job with the theological part of the book. For some, it can probably feel too academical, for me was this like reading my favorite subject again. The only change is of course that this is a fiction, not nonfiction. But reading about the Mithras, the Dead Sea scrolls, and The Essenes, etc. was just great. The thing that I had a problem with was actually more the character and the predictability of the story. The theological part was done great, but the book never really surprised me when it came to the story. I just felt it lacked some really good twists. Not even the ending of the book felt that surprising. It was just not that hard to figure out the outcome.

And, that's just too bad. It was really good written otherwise. I read it quickly, despite being over 500 pages. But, I never really found myself caught up in the story and to be honest, Drew and his mundane problems besides finding out the truth and some religious crisis was just not that interesting to read about. Drew has wanted to get back with his wife for two years and still he gets distracted by a woman he hasn't seen for 12 years that suddenly appears? Please!

Still, it was very well researched, I loved the theological part and it was good to read something that gets one to think outside the box. I think Czyz has done a superb work with this book and I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read religious thrillers or likes to read books with conspiracy theories.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a blog tour at TLC Book Tours.