mystery/thrillers, again - part 1/June
Jul. 5th, 2008 04:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eviltammyI've got 8, but am going to divide them up into two parts.
Obedience by Will Lavender - Great premise, not great story. Students taking Logic and Reasoning 204, taught by Professor Williams, find out that this class is different. Their assignment over the next six weeks is to find a missing girl named Polly, using the clues given to them by the professor (and logic and reasoning, of course). If they don't find her before the six weeks are up, Polly will be murdered. Three of the students are more intrigued - and more frightened when their class and the real world start to intersect. People from the clues are proven to be real, as are locations and events. Is this a class assignment or a real missing girl? The students weren't really interesting and the whole wrap up of the story just irritated me. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but don't turn it into a farce.
Southern Fatality by T. Lynn Ocean - Jersey Barnes, a marine MP turned South Carlina private investigator, has just retired from her investigating job. She's tired of the danger and wants to spend time with her boyfriend Bill. Then Bill asks her to help out an old friend, a beautiful bombshell named Lolly, who thinks her rich husband is cheating on her. But instead of hanky panky between the sheets, Jersey finds kidnapping and cybercrime - and a plot to take down a bank and steal millions from hardworking tax payers. So she calls upon her best friend, a Lumbee Indian named Ox, a computer hacker named Soup, her retired dad, Spud, who drags along his geriatric poker buddies, and her loyal dog to outfox the bad guys. Set in WIlmington, NC. Fun, fluffy. Would have been a great beach read. (SRC)
Out of Reach by Patricia Lewin - CIA operative Erin Baker is watching a magician entertain children in a park, when she thinks she recognizes the man from 19 years ago - the day her seven year old sister was snatched. Her sister was found several years later, and spends most of her time in a mental hospital. When Erin hears that a child was taken that day, she goes back to the scene and reports to the police, where she begins working with FBI agent Alec Donovan to bring down a child slavery ring. The story shifts between Erin and Alec to the kidnapper to Ryan, an imprisoned boy, who decides to finally fight back and help another boy (the one Donovan is looking for) escape.
Good story, mostly stock characters - the two boys were the most interesting.
Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell - newest in Lowell's St. Kilda Consulting series. Jill Breck saves the life of a St. Kilda's operative's son during a rafting trip downriver. Lane Faroe gives her his card and an offer of help if she ever needs it. She soon does. Her great-aunt's death brings her back to the family homestead, where she finds some paintings hidden in a secret room. One painting had been sent out for examination and "lost" by the examiners. When Jill's attempt at getting the paintings evaluated ends in the destruction of her SUV, she calls St. Kilda's. Zach Balfour comes in to be her bodyguard and to help her find out what is so dangerous about the paintings. Amid all the danger, they fall for each other, of course :) Lowell writes a good, sexy, soap opera of a thriller - though I didn't find this one quite as good as the others, I'll still grab the next one whenever it comes out.
Obedience by Will Lavender - Great premise, not great story. Students taking Logic and Reasoning 204, taught by Professor Williams, find out that this class is different. Their assignment over the next six weeks is to find a missing girl named Polly, using the clues given to them by the professor (and logic and reasoning, of course). If they don't find her before the six weeks are up, Polly will be murdered. Three of the students are more intrigued - and more frightened when their class and the real world start to intersect. People from the clues are proven to be real, as are locations and events. Is this a class assignment or a real missing girl? The students weren't really interesting and the whole wrap up of the story just irritated me. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but don't turn it into a farce.
Southern Fatality by T. Lynn Ocean - Jersey Barnes, a marine MP turned South Carlina private investigator, has just retired from her investigating job. She's tired of the danger and wants to spend time with her boyfriend Bill. Then Bill asks her to help out an old friend, a beautiful bombshell named Lolly, who thinks her rich husband is cheating on her. But instead of hanky panky between the sheets, Jersey finds kidnapping and cybercrime - and a plot to take down a bank and steal millions from hardworking tax payers. So she calls upon her best friend, a Lumbee Indian named Ox, a computer hacker named Soup, her retired dad, Spud, who drags along his geriatric poker buddies, and her loyal dog to outfox the bad guys. Set in WIlmington, NC. Fun, fluffy. Would have been a great beach read. (SRC)
Out of Reach by Patricia Lewin - CIA operative Erin Baker is watching a magician entertain children in a park, when she thinks she recognizes the man from 19 years ago - the day her seven year old sister was snatched. Her sister was found several years later, and spends most of her time in a mental hospital. When Erin hears that a child was taken that day, she goes back to the scene and reports to the police, where she begins working with FBI agent Alec Donovan to bring down a child slavery ring. The story shifts between Erin and Alec to the kidnapper to Ryan, an imprisoned boy, who decides to finally fight back and help another boy (the one Donovan is looking for) escape.
Good story, mostly stock characters - the two boys were the most interesting.
Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell - newest in Lowell's St. Kilda Consulting series. Jill Breck saves the life of a St. Kilda's operative's son during a rafting trip downriver. Lane Faroe gives her his card and an offer of help if she ever needs it. She soon does. Her great-aunt's death brings her back to the family homestead, where she finds some paintings hidden in a secret room. One painting had been sent out for examination and "lost" by the examiners. When Jill's attempt at getting the paintings evaluated ends in the destruction of her SUV, she calls St. Kilda's. Zach Balfour comes in to be her bodyguard and to help her find out what is so dangerous about the paintings. Amid all the danger, they fall for each other, of course :) Lowell writes a good, sexy, soap opera of a thriller - though I didn't find this one quite as good as the others, I'll still grab the next one whenever it comes out.
Mention
Date: 2008-07-15 03:36 am (UTC)Cheers, Tracy
T. Lynn Ocean
www.tlynnocean.com
Re: Mention
Date: 2008-07-18 04:06 pm (UTC)Congrats on the paperback, hope it sells magnificently. Looking forward to the next one!