Books I’ve Read

Finished A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole. This is the first book in her popular Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series. I’ve heard a lot of folks buzzing about this series, so I decided to give it a try.

This one’s about Emma Troy, a half-vampire, half-Valkyrie who journeys to Paris to try to find information about her mysterious parents. Emma doesn’t realize that she’s the mate of Lachlain, a Lykae (think werewolf/shapeshifter but different) who’s spent the last 150 years being tortured by vampires. But Lachlain knows what Emma means to him, and he vows to do anything to keep her by his side, even take on the Valkyries who’ve raised her and the vampires who seem to be stalking her …

I want to say up front that I didn’t really care for the way this book started — with Lachlain basically assaulting Emma, dragging her off to a hotel, and getting in the shower with her, among other things. It sort of fell into that whole forced seduction thing that I just don’t like as a reader. What can I say? It’s one of my pet peeves.

That being said, I really enjoyed the rest of the book. Cole’s world is different and interesting with all manner of paranormal creatures (ghouls, wraiths, etc.). I particularly like the fact that she focuses on the Valkyrie — this group of kick-butt women living in the bayou down in New Orleans. The Valkyrie are warriors, and Cole shows them being bad-asses — like when they attack Lachlain’s castle to rescue Emma and coolly inform Lachlain that he’s dead meat unless he cooperates.

I also liked how Emma grew as a character. She starts out as timid, shy, and afraid of her own shadow, but by the end of the book, she’s starting to realize her potential as a warrior — and stand up to the other Valkyrie, whom she’s always admired.

The plot moves along at a fast clip, the locales are interesting, and you get just enough teases about the other Valkyrie and their potential mates to set up future books (and make you want to read them).

I can see why folks have been buzzing about this series. Overall, it’s a fresh take in an increasingly crowded genre and worth getting hooked on. I plan on getting the next book. Thumbs up.

Up next: The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros.

Books in my TBR pile: About 17.

Finished Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories by Ian Fleming. Why? Because I’m a fangirl of all things Bond-related and the new movie comes out Nov. 14 (I can’t wait!). 😎

As the title suggests, this book features James Bond short stories, including For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, and Quantum of Solace. One of the things I found most interesting while reading was comparing the stories to the various Bond movies — and there are many similarities.

For example, the story The Living Daylights is exactly like the opening of the movie of the same name — with Bond helping a spy defect and deciding not to shoot a beautiful cello player. The story For Your Eyes Only shares a key plot point with the movie — a woman out to avenge the death of her parents (and using a bow and arrow to do it).

I’m not sure how much the story Quantum of Solace will have in common with the movie, though. The story is about a woman who destroys her marriage by cheating who’s devastated when her husband then sets out to destroy her. Not exactly the stuff Bond movies are made of.

But other than comparing the stories to the movies, I’d also forgotten just how good a writer Fleming was. Most people only know Bond from the movies, but the stories/books are really good too. Fleming’s got a great eye for description, especially the stories that are set in tropical locales (Bond goes diving/snorkeling quite a bit). Fleming also balances Bond’s duty to queen and country with his conflicted feelings about being a cold-blooded killer (especially in The Living Daylights). And there are some nice twists in several of the stories, like in The Hildebrand Rarity, where Bond tries to figure out whether or not a woman murdered her abusive husband.

Of course, the stories are a little dated now, and Bond comes off as sexist at times (like when he says killing is man’s work). Also, Bond and everyone else in the stories smokes like a chimney, since these were written before folks knew cigarettes caused lung cancer.

My love of all things Bond aside, if you’ve never read Ian Fleming or are just looking for some good spy stories to read, pick up Quantum of Solace. It’s a great introduction to Fleming and the world of James Bond. Thumbs up.

Up next: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole.

Books in my TBR pile: About 18.

Finished Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter. This is another one of his Southern thrillers about the Swagger family. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually work with Hunter’s daughter, although we are in different departments of the newspaper.

This book is about Earl Swagger, an Arkansas policeman who journeys down to Thebes, Mississippi, to rescue his friend/father figure/lawyer Sam Vincent. Sam went to Thebes to get some legal documents from the infamous prison and realized there was something very wrong with the prison/town. Rather than let him leave, the town sheriff framed Sam for murder and is about to let him have a deadly “accident” when Earl comes along to rescue Sam.

Sam escapes, but Earl doesn’t. Earl is taken to the Thebes prison, where he’s tortured, beaten, and more. Earl eventually manages to escape the prison and its horrid conditions, and he decides to gather up a posse of men, go back to Thebes, and burn the place to the ground. There’s a pale horse coming to Thebes, and his name is Earl Swagger …

This book is hard to classify. It’s a rescue mission meets The Great Escape meets The Magnificent Seven. But it’s all done beautifully. This is definitely one of Hunter’s better Swagger books (although not quite as good as Point of Impact).

The beginning drags a bit, but once Earl is captured, the plot really kicks into high gear. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Earl travels across the country and gathers up his crew of old gunmen. Plus, there was a secondary character with a secret motive I didn’t even guess, and it worked in well with the rest of the action.

If you like action-adventure thrillers with lots of talk about guns and weapons, especially those set in the steamy South, you should enjoy this one. Thumbs up.

Note: One thing I do want to mention is that the action is set in 1951 in the South — a time of racial turmoil to say the least. The N-word is used a lot in this book, among other things. I’m not saying it’s right — just how some people spoke/thought at the time and that Hunter is trying to capture the era to tell his story. But if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one.

Up next: Quantum of Solace (a book of James Bond short stories) by Ian Fleming.

Books in my TBR pile: About 18.

Finished Thrill Me to Death by Roxanne St. Claire. This is the second book in her popular Bullet Catchers romantic suspense series.

In this one, Bullet Catcher Max Roper is assigned to protect wealthy widow Cori Peyton, who suspects her billionaire husband was murdered. At one point, Max and Cori were engaged, before Cori’s dad died while out on a DEA drug bust with Max. Of course, Max and Cori are still attracted to each other, and sparks fly as they try to figure out who killed Cori’s husband and why. Was it his jealous stepson? The embezzling lawyer? The grateful housekeeper? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

I enjoyed the previous entry in the Bullet Catchers series, and I liked this book a lot too. It’s hard to do a story about previous lovers (I always wonder if they’re really going to stay together, since they broke up before). But St. Claire pulls it off nicely. You get a sense of how much Max and Cori cared about each other and how determined they are to make it work this time.

The setting is Florida once again (as it was in the first Bullet Catchers book), and there are some nice descriptions of the area and Cori’s upper-crust lifestyle. Also, I didn’t figure out who the killer was or even why he/she murdered Cori’s husband until the very end. I always like books that keep me guessing.

Overall, this is a solid romantic suspense, and I’m looking forward to getting the next book in the series. Thumbs up.

Up next: Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter

Books in my TBR pile: About 19.

Finished Swine Not? by Jimmy Buffett. Not sure if I’m mentioned this on the blog before or not, but I’m a huge Parrothead. I’ve got all his albums and all his books, and one of my dreams is to see him live in concert. So anytime Buffett comes out with something new, I buy it. (Much to Wheezley’s chagrin. He is not a fan of the Buffett, although he was nice enough to buy me this book anyway).

Buffett’s previous books have been about kooky characters doing kooky things in the tropics. But Swine Not? is actually a kids’ book about a Tennessee family who moves to New York. The family has a pet pig named Rumpy, and since their hotel has a no exotic pets policy, they’re forced to hide Rumpy from the hotel staff — including a psychotic chef who’d like to make tenderloin out of poor Rumpy.

The story is sort of in the vein of Stuart Little, as Rumpy explores New York and looks for his twin brother. There are talking pigeons and more. Also, the chapters alternate between Rumpy’s point of view and that of Barley, one of the kids who’s obsessed with soccer.

It’s a cute story, but nothing really new or different happens. If you’re looking for another life-in-the-tropics novel by Buffett, you’ll want to skip this one. But if you or your kids like pig tales or talking animal stories, you might want to pick this one up (or try the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, which is quite good). But overall, Swine Not? was cute enough for me to give it a thumbs up.

Up next: Thrill Me to Death by Roxanne St. Claire.

Books in my TBR pile: About 18.

What about you guys? What are you reading right now?