Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

After completing Silent Echo I decided that I quite liked J.R. Rain's writing style. So I grabbed up a copy of the first book in a series of his named 'Vampire for Hire'! The book is titled Moon Dance and is of the genre, Urban Fantasy, which I've become fascinated with in the last few years. Samantha Moon is a wife, a mother of two, and is a PI. She is also a vampire!! I'm 3/4 of the way through it and have decided to TBR the rest of the series!

I got a freebie from Amazon this morning and have decided to make it my next novel to read. It's in a sub-genre in which I've read quite a bit over the last few years. Native American cops and PI's. The book is called Tall Man in Ray-Bans (John Tall Wolf #1) by Joseph Flynn.

Ah freebies. After finishing the freebie, Tall Man in Ray-Bans yesterday evening (I had quite enjoyed it) I was all but decided to start reading the very first book of Robert B. Parker's Spencer series since Jim Butcher almost always refers to this series as his favorite and I have never read even one of them nor ever seen any of the 'Spencer for Hire' TV shows. But I got a freebie this morning that appealed to me enough to make it next on my TBR list. From its metadata this paragraph both grabbed and excited me:

A chilling series of deaths strikes a writers' group in New York, leaving the remaining members to face the suspicion - and finally the certainty - that one of them is a psychopathic killer. Is a sequel to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" being played out in their lives?

So, later today I'll beging reading the Amazon freebie, The Muse of Violence by Bruce Hartman.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Ah freebies. After finishing the freebie, Tall Man in Ray-Bans yesterday evening (I had quite enjoyed it) I was all but decided to start reading the very first book of Robert B. Parker's Spencer series since Jim Butcher almost always refers to this series as his favorite and I have never read even one of them nor ever seen any of the 'Spencer for Hire' TV shows. But I got a freebie this morning that appealed to me enough to make it next on my TBR list. From its metadata this paragraph both grabbed and excited me:

A chilling series of deaths strikes a writers' group in New York, leaving the remaining members to face the suspicion - and finally the certainty - that one of them is a psychopathic killer. Is a sequel to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" being played out in their lives?

So, later today I'll beging reading the Amazon freebie, The Muse of Violence by Bruce Hartman.

Spenser is one of my all time favorites and as you probably know by now there is no C in Spenser. These are comfort books for me

Helen

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Spenser is one of my all time favorites and as you probably know by now there is no C in Spenser. These are comfort books for me

Helen

My spelling just shows my lack of experience with the series. I'll get to 'em one of these days.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Spenser is one of my all time favorites and as you probably know by now there is no C in Spenser. These are comfort books for me

Helen

+1

When Robert B died, I mourned as though it was one of my parents. I'm still not completely over it.

[BelleZora]

I'm also a Spenser fan. I enjoyed In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero. It is expensive right now, but occasionally goes on sale.

[jersysman]

I am now reading Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith #7 - Pantheon. It is a good series made up of short novellas.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by jersysman

I am now reading Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith #7 - Pantheon. It is a good series made up of short novellas.

I didn't realize there was a #7 (or a #8 now that I am looking). I read the first 6 back in 2011 and thought it was complete after #6. I will have to look into this more. The complete set is only $4.27 at Amazon right now too.... hmmm.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I didn't realize there was a #7 (or a #8 now that I am looking). I read the first 6 back in 2011 and thought it was complete after #6. I will have to look into this more. The complete set is only $4.27 at Amazon right now too.... hmmm.

I got the first six free and had to buy the complete book to get the last two. I couldn't stop knowing that there were two more out there.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

+1

When Robert B died, I mourned as though it was one of my parents. I'm still not completely over it.

I just finished (last week) the very last book he was writing when he passed away, "Silent Night." It was typical Spenser and typically good! His agent finished the book and did a fine job copying Parker's style.

I've read and re-read, watched and watched again, all of Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Cole & Hitch. I just didn't care for Sonny Randall as much. Not bad, but just not a good fit.


Stitchawl

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I just finished (last week) the very last book he was writing when he passed away, "Silent Night." It was typical Spenser and typically good! His agent finished the book and did a fine job copying Parker's style.

I've read and re-read, watched and watched again, all of Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Cole & Hitch. I just didn't care for Sonny Randall as much. Not bad, but just not a good fit.


Stitchawl

I agree that Sonny Randall was the weakest of his series, but then even a weak Parker is superior to most of the offerings out there .

I didn't entirely feel that Silent Night captured the "real" Spenser, but will still continue to read the output from Ace Atkins, Michael Brandman et al to help the grieving process.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Long Earth by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett.

Which I enjoyed, but more Stephen Baxter, I think, than Terry Pratchett.

Then I read Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart. Amusing and I found the cringe-worthy moments more bearable on the page than on the screen.

And now I'm reading Phylogenesis by Alan Dean Foster. The first in his "Founding of the Commonwealth" series set in his Humanx Universe. Good so far, without the padding that affected the later books in his Flinx series.

[DrNefario]

I've just finished Red Country by Joe Abercrombie, a book I almost bought in hardback a year ago, and have been waiting for the ebook to hit a sensible price ever since.

I liked it as much as everything else he's done. It's set in the same world as his other fantasy novels, and features several recurring characters, so it's probably best to read the other five books first. He seems to have moved a bit further forward in time this time, and has started bringing in hints of technological progress, like the printing press, so I'm not sure how much further he can take this world before it starts to change its flavour.

Red Country is essentially a Western with fantasy trimmings. I don't consider that a bad thing.

I've moved on to Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham, which is kind of uninspired so far. It's a police procedural with an unusual crook and characters that don't seem terribly interesting so far. It's still early days, though, so it might pick up. Or I might regret buying that boxed set of five books.

[Nyssa]

I'm currently going back and forth between the Steele Series and the Parasol Protectorate Series. Very different reads indeed.

The Steele series is "okay" so far. It is African-American Romance centred around four brothers (and their 3 female cousins), all wealthy gorgeous people, who run a family corporation together. Each book centers around one or two of the Steeles finding love whether they were looking for it or not. I've read the first two and would sum them up as Sweet, Cheesy, and Predictable - what my husband would call - Popcorn reads.

The Parasol Protectorate series is Paranormal, Steampunk, (Victorian) Alternative History with a touch of Action, Adventure and Romance. I'm currently reading the second book Changeless. The main character, Alexia, is equal parts brilliant and frustrating - I like her. The surrounding characters are enjoyable as well. While there are Vampires, Werewolves & Ghosts, they are treated in unique ways - taking the basic lore and adding a twist. Alexia is the most unusual twist of all - She is a preternatural. She has the innate power to temprarily negate supernatural abilities, by touch.

[PurpleStar]

I got Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich from the library, so I am reading that now. Just started it and I can tell it's going to be a riot as usual.

[pilotbob]

Finished Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality as far as it is written.

No I am rereading Catching Fire before I go and see the movie.

BOb