Evil Games by Angela Marsons, Book 2 in the D.I. Kim Stone Series

I had to put off my review because one of my favorite series had a new release and I had to read it.

Evil Games is an excellent book by Angela Marsons.  When I first started reading Evil Games I didn't think Marsons could make the antagonist work.  In this case, it would be a psychiatrist that would take patients that had gone through physical and mental trauma and nudge them into revenge against the person that hurt them.  Usually, that hurt ended with death.  Marsons does make it work and she creates one of the evilest villains I've read in a while.

D. I. Kim Stone is investigating crimes and Dr. Alexandra Thorne keeps popping up.  Kim just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong when revenge crimes keep happening and Alex is somehow involved in all the patients carrying out these crimes, all the time knowing that it will be impossible to implicate the Doctor in the crimes, I mean how can someone suggest a Doctor of these actions, much less prove that the Doctor was in concert with these people. When the Doctor finds out that Kim has caught on to her 'tests' the only thing she can do is make Kim one of her tests by getting into Kim's head.  I think in the first book review I did in this series I used cat and mouse to describe the interactions in Kim's investigations and that describes how it works in this book.  It's just the cat and mouse keep changing back and forth.

This is a most excellent book and becoming a very good series.  If you're into crime, thrillers and mystery books then this should be right up your alley.

I rate this an eight of ten.

Evil Games by Angela Marsons

D.I. Kim Stone series, book 2.

The Nobel Lecture by Bob Dylan

This book is actually the acceptance speech that Bob Dylan gave when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

I was talking with a friend about Bob Dylan and his Nobel Prize came up and he loaned me his Kindle and I read The Nobel Lecture by Bob Dylan.  Later I found it on YouTube and you can listen to it here.  I cannot call it inspiring but it is worth time reading or listening to just like other recipients of any Nobel Prize.  Some people call it rambling, while others call it extraordinary, but it does reveal, at least according to Dylan why he became a songwriter and folk singer.

Dylan talks about four influences of his career, Buddy Holly, and the books Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Oddessey and how they influenced his writings, either knowingly or not.

I guess I'm going to have to listen a little differently when I listen to Tombstone Blues and Maggie's Farm in the future, to see if I can hear some of these stories in his songs, but I've never found the interest to read Remarque, like a journey I don't want to travel. I guess I know what I'll be listening to on my commutes to work next week.

If you're a Bob Dylan fan take the time to read or listen to his speech.  It does give you an insight into some of his influences.

Silent Scream by Angela Marsons, Book 1 in the D.I. Kim Stone Series

I love a good series and I think the D.I.Kim Stone series will be some good reading.

Angela Marsons gives us Kim Stone, damaged from watching her little brother tortured to death by his mother and a product of foster homes and institutions for kids between foster homes, with a touch of Aspergers thrown in from judging her communication skills.  Also, as with most people with Aspergers Syndrom, there are no grey areas in her life so she wants to be the perfect cop or her definition of a perfect cop which is not the way her superiors see it.

In Silent Scream she must investigate a serial killer and while searching for clues she uncovers three bodies in shallow graves around a torched institution for girls unwanted by society.  Marson writes a very good book and for the first book in a series gets us to know who Kim Stone is, but leaves us wanting to know more about her.  Marsons does not bog us down with all the procedurals involved in being a D.I., leaving a lot of room for gut feelings and solving cases. I really enjoyed this and the second book is to be started tomorrow or the next.

Silent Scream by Angela Marsons

D. I. Kim Stone series, book 1

The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz, Book 3 in the Jane Hawk Series

Well, I thought I liked this book but I think I watched more Netflix than spending time reading the 3rd Jane Hawk novel.  It's wasn't a bad read but I just felt it wasn't the book I should have been reading at this time.

Spoilers below.

This book is like the others in the Jane Hawk series.  Lot's of deaths, kidnapping and then there's Jane doing what she can to keep the Arcadians from taking over the country and then the world.  They do this by injecting nanotechnology into chosen people that will act as their slaves and do their bidding like in the book the Manchurian Candidate. This technology can be started and ended with a catchphrase, which was actually "play Manchurian with me" until they realized that Jane had figured this out.  These chosen are then left to do the work of the Arcadians without knowing they are living a life that they have no control over, sometimes just living a normal day-to-day life and then they might have to do something bad, like killing people and then committing suicide before they can be examined.  Some of these injected people are police, Senators, Supreme Court Justices and every organization in our national security alphabet organizations.  Jane also has to protect her 5-year-old son from being kidnapped and sold into slavery or murdered, which will also bring Jane Hawk in from the dark.

The Crooked Staircase opens with dueling chapters between Tanuja & Sanjay Shukla and Jane Hawk.  Tanuja and Sanjay are orphaned brother and sister that are beginning their book writing careers and are deemed too controversial to the Arcadians, that their opinions are too different from theirs to live.  Teams of law enforcement that have been injected try to track down the siblings.  The Jane side of the book is her trying to track down Arcadians and getting evidence to clear her name.  Later the Arcadians do a full court press to find Travis, Jane's 5-year-old son.

While this is a good cat and mouse book, never knowing who is the cat and who is the mouse, it can get a little monotonous.  The Jane Hawk series is pretty good so far, but I can't do like I normally do and just read straight through the series like a lot of series I have done in the past, so now I will switch up my reading a little.

My rating is 5 of 10.

The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz

Jane Hawk series, book 3.

The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz, The Jane Hawk Series, Book 2

This is a book and story I love.  This is a book I hate.  

Koontz has a really good story and a good idea for a nice series.  The only other books I've read by Koontz was the Odd Thomas series, and I loved most of it, but hey, I can't run around and be happy all the time.

This is a series about Jane Hawk, an FBI agent that is now public enemy #1.  She discovered very rich people doing their Pinky and the Brain imitation of someone wanting to take over the world.  The Whispering Room gets Jane further into the conspiracy and sets her eyes on one person that she believes is behind it all.  The story is really good and it keeps you interested in the book.

The bad part of it is something I've read in other reviews, and they are 100% correct.  Even the first book in the series was written this way.  The book is written like a TV show or movie.  Chapters, and I mean a lot of chapters are only 2 to 3 pages long, like changing scenes in a TV show.  There are very few chapters over 20 pages if any.  Since I've only read the Odd Thomas and don't remember it being like this, I don't know if this is how Koontz normally writes or if he is doing a project that he's trying to get in another medium.

I really enjoy the story and this is just a small nag, so now I continue on into the next book in the series, The Crooked Staircase.

My rating is 5 of 10.

The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz

Jane Hawk series, book 3

Books Vs. Movies - Part 3 (update)

I've finished the 2nd book, Catching Fire and halfway through Mockingjay, the 3rd book and past where the 3rd movie ends and the 4th movie begins.  The books are really good, with lots of action but really sappy, which makes them hard to put down to write my reviews so I guess I'll do them all when I've finished the book series.  I get compulsive and just keep going sometimes and don't want to stop what I'm doing to do what I should be doing.  But it's really not like anybody is really reading this.  If anybody does, then thank you.

Book vs. Movies, Part 3 (2nd in a Series of 6)

The Hunger Games

There's not much to say about a book that has been reviewed, probably many on the two main sites Like to go and research and rate books, BookLikes, and Goodreads, that hasn't already been said. I'm mostly reading them and comparing the movies to the books and Suzanne Collins must have worked hard to get the movie really close to the book. It's been years since I've read the book and a week since I've watched the movie.

The Hunger Games is not my favorite YA series, that belongs to the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.  The Hunger Games is probably 3rd after Artemis Fowl and then Harry Potter.  As for book series with movies, I think this will be 2nd behind the Harry Potter movies.  As for the Hunger Games as a whole, the only thing I didn't care for was Katniss's inner struggle of her love between Gale and Peeta.  But what's a YA without some first love interests.

Like I said reviews for all three Hunger Games books have been done many times and in many languages.  The Hunger Games book sold 4.3 million books in 2010 and jumped to 9.3 million in 2011.  In 2012 the sales tripled and now it's listed as 29 million in the U.S. alone.  The first movie in the series mad $694 million dollars, 2nd in the franchise.

Sometimes there are no comparisons between books.  The audio-book for Huber Games is just over 11 hours and the movie is just over 2 hours.  While the book has a lot more conversation, background and the things going through Katniss's head, the movie screams vibrant colors, future tech, and CGI.  Probably the biggest difference is the muttations towards the end of the time in the arena.  The movie just shows them as a canine type animal but the book has these critters as canines that resemble the other 21 dead players killed in the games.  The book says that when standing on their back legs they resemble the humans, blondes being blondes and the eyes are the same, or at least Katniss questions this.  There are still a lot of small changes but this movie ran pretty true with the book.

All in all, I enjoyed both the movie and the book, Rating the book 8 stars  So now I move forward to the 2nd book, Catching Fire.

Book vs. Movies, Part 3 (1st in a Series of 6)

The Hunger Games

Most everybody has seen the movies and probably a quarter of those that have seen it, if not lower have read the books. I've read them once (and the 1st 2 books twice) and now I plan to read them again.

It's funny how things trigger your mind.  I walked into a room where my wife was watching TV and the 1st Hunger Games movie was on and it reminded me of how much a fan I was of the movies and of Suzanne Collins trilogy.  To me, this was the first really successful adaptation of a modern YA book to movie.  I could never get into the Twilight series, it just seemed over-acted.  I think the movies stayed true to the books, with a little deviation and were very entertaining.  A great list of actors was on this movie project and some were big names, like Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Stanley Tucci, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. It made the career of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.  When I read the books I see the actors acting out what you are reading, adding faces to the words.  The movies had great CGI, bringing life to the books and color to the scenes.  At this time Wikipedia has The Hunger Games Listed as the 20th highest-grossing film series of all time.  All four movies won major awards in various categories.  

What I will be doing is just a comparison and probably not any real review because you can find them all over IMDB and Goodreads and my favorite site, Booklikes.

So in this post, I'll just list the movies and link them over to Wikipedia.  Descriptions are plagiarized from Wikipedia The Hunger Games Film Series site, also.

The Hunger Games (2012)

Every year, in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its 12 districts to send a teenage boy and girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete in the Hunger Games: a nationally televised event in which 'tributes' fight each other within an arena, until one survivor remains. When Primrose Everdeen is 'reaped', her older sister Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her place to enter the games and is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts when she's pitted against highly-trained tributes.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Along with fellow District 12 victor Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen returns home safely after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Winning means that they must leave their loved ones behind and embark on a Victory Tour throughout the districts. Along the way Katniss senses a rebellion simmering - one that she and Peeta may have sparked - but the Capitol is still in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Hunger Games - the Quarter Quell - that could change Panem forever.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

Katniss Everdeen finds herself in District 13 after she destroys the games forever. Under the leadership of President Alma Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta, along with other victors and a nation moved by her courage.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)

Realizing the stakes are no longer just for survival, Katniss Everdeen teams up with her closest friends and allies, including Peeta, Gale, and Finnick, for the ultimate mission. Together, they leave District 13 to liberate the citizens of war-torn Panem and assassinate President Snow.

So pick up your reader and download the books with your Kindle Unlimited account, which at this time is free to borrow and enjoy your read.  The books are written in a simple YA style, easy to read and since they are YA they are written for teens but us adults can enjoy them too.

Group Fifteen Files - Volume 1

Mark Dawson's Group Fifteen Files, Volume 1
is a collection of 3 books done in collaboration with three other authors for an exciting collection of novellas that are really quick and easy to read and are really good.  All three books are completely different and original with lots of imagination and effort put in them.  I felt entertained the entire time I was reading them and never wanted to put the book down.  If you enjoy Scot Harvath or Mich Rapp you will enjoy these novellas.

The first book is Scorpion: A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 1) by Mark Dawson w/ Steve Cavanagh and my review is here.

The second book is Witness X by Mark Dawson w/ Scott Mariani, A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 2) and my review is here.

The third and final novella of Volume 1 is Little Sister by Mark Dawson w/ Mark Ridpath, A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 3) and my review is here.

If you want to read these books and you have Kindle Unlimited then you can borrow them for free.

I rate this tome 8 of 10.  A really good read.

Group Fifteen Files - Volume 1 by Mark Dawson w/ Steve Cavanagh, Scott Mariani, and Mark Ridpath

Little Sister by Mark Dawson w/ Mark Ridpath, A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 3)

Little Sister is the last in Volume 1 of the Group Fifteen Files and has probably the least written about them. Usually, the protagonist is a member of Group Fifteen and the antagonist is a mercenary or government agency with an agent in Britain that was up to no good. This time we find Finley Karsh, the owner of a hedge fund company called Lochalsh Capital, being blackmailed by a former employee or at least attempted to be blackmailed but Karsh knows how to handle the situation, and he handles it with a historical luger. He handles it with murder. Karsh is in accompaniment with his right-hand man Jesse Brunner and their girlfriends Olya and Gudrún.  Olya gets suspicious and leaves her boyfriend Jesse when they return to London, but she cannot persuade Gudrún.to leave Karsh.  Keeping up?

Now enter the hero of our story, the big, and I mean big brother of Gudrún, an Icelandic native and former British SAS member Björn Thorsson now getting his masters at University College London studying old Norse and doing some language classes on the side. Enter Olya, a woman he never liked because of her influence on his younger sister, to get him to talk Gudrún into leaving Karsh.

Now to convolute my review more Karsh has a contract out on him from a rival mining company because they are both bidding on some mining project in a country nobody has ever heard of, so Group Fifteen is called in to protect Karsh, kill the mercenary with a 100% kill rate record and in the end save Queen, Country and the British way of life.

No more spoilers, the book is only 126 pages and takes a little over a couple of hours to read. Mark and Mark cram a lot into this little book and it comes out to be like the other books in this series, a little better than average read.

As for the books, if you have Kindle Unlimited you borrow the books for free or for a limited time buy the Volume for only 99 cents, which I did.  I wonder who gets the 99 cents?

I rate this book 6 of 10.  Like I said it is a good read worth reading if you are into this genre.

Little Sister by Mark Dawson w/ Mark Ridpath

A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 3)

Witness X by Mark Dawson w/ Scott Mariani, A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 2)

This is the second novella in the Group Fifteen Files written by Mark Dawson with the help of some of his peers.  This book was better than the 1st, which wasn't bad and now I'll go the last as of this date, Little Sister.  All of these can be read for free on Kindle Unlimited at this time.

Witness X starts out with an attack on a woman for no apparent reason but when MI5 starts digging into everything they bring in the people that pulls the trigger, Group Fifteen.  Control, the man that oversees Group Fifteen calls for the one man that can get to the bottom of everything, Twelve, or the under suspension Bryan Duffy.  The reason Duffy is brought in is that this attack was personal. The attack was carried out by a North Korean agency equivalent to Group Fifteen and espionage was a reason for them to kill anybody that would get in their way.

Dawson and Mariani pack 104 pages full of action and very little wasted space.  So far if this is a genre you like then I suggest this little novella series as "Group Fifteen Files, Volume 1" be added to your reading list if you want something quick to read.

I rate this a 7 of 10.

Witness X by Mark Dawson and Scott Mariani

A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 2)

Scorpion: A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 1) by Mark Dawson w/ Steve Cavanagh

If you've noticed anything about what I read is that I love series and that is 99% of what I read.  Last year I started reading the Eddie Flynn series by Steve Cavanagh and I was impressed by how good the series is.  When I saw that Steve was attached to this book and after I read the description I thought I would read the three novellas that are out now under the series name "Group Fifteen Files" which Dawson uses different writers.  How much Cavanagh and the other writers contribute I have no idea, but what the heck, go for it.  I've never read any of Dawson's John Milton books but I probably should add them to my ever-lengthening list.

This novella is written bouncing back and forth between the protagonist, John Milton, and the antagonist, the Scorpion, and every now and then third person.  Milton's job is to kill the Scorpion and the Scorpion's job is to kill 3 people. A Saudi prince, a former war correspondent Hailey Banks, and a third unknown person.  Milton's job is to catch the Scorpion when he goes after Banks.  Like most books, it see-saws the advantage between the main characters to see who comes out on top, or in a book's place in the last chapter.  It's sort of easy to guess who makes it to the last chapter.

If you want a nicely written spy novel that you can read in a couple of hours then give Scorpion a shot. I'm sure a lot of you have read some of the John Milton series (no, not Paradise Lost) and are familiar with the character.  I'm not. I'm rating this a 6 of 10, a little better than average.

Scorpion by Mark Dawson w/ Steve Cavanagh

A Group Fifteen Novella (Group Fifteen Files Book 1)

Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve, Book 2 in the Mortal Engines Quartet Series

Predator's Gold is book two in the Mortal Engines Quartet. Written as a YA book, it is easy to read, enjoyable, and has plenty of betrayal, violence, death and now a little romance.

The book is again about the journeys of young Tom (now age sixteen)  and Hester and their struggle to stay alive.  Reeve sends our couple to the moving ice city called Anchorage that is governed by a young margravine by the name of Freya.  It is her job to keep the city moving, getting her directions from the ancient ice gods, but being the last in her line and most of the city lost to a plague makes things difficult.  Reeve does a good job of making sure that where ever Tom or Hester goes gloom and despair is sure to follow.

But enough of the spoilers.  If YA fantasy/science fiction is something you're looking for, then search no more. The 2nd book in the Mortal Engines Quartet series is worth reading.

I'll give this a generous 6 of 10 rating.

Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve

Mortal Engines Quartet series book #2.