Moving Target (Ali Reynolds #6) by J. A. Jance

Mystery

From Goodreads:

"In this high-stakes thriller from New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance, Ali Reynolds spans continents to solve a cold case murder and to figure out who wants a young juvenile offender dead.

Lance Tucker, an incarcerated juvenile offender and talented hacker in his own right, is set on fire one night and severely burned while hanging Christmas decorations in a lockup rec room. B. Simpson, Ali Reynolds's fiancé and the man who helped put Lance in jail, feels obliged to get to the bottom of what happened. With Ali off in England to help Leland Brooks at a reunion with his long-estranged family, B. turns to someone else to help out: Ali's good friend and Taser-carrying nun, Sister Anselm.

Meanwhile, in Bournemouth, Leland's hometown, Ali begins to investigate the decades-old murder of Leland's father, which Leland himself was once suspected of committing. With unsolved murders on both sides of the Atlantic, Ali, B., and Sister Anselm are united by their search for answers and the jeopardy they get into as a result.

From the author praised for her "inimitable, take-no-prisoners style" (Kirkus Reviews), Moving Target sends Ali on a trans-Atlantic adventure and straight into the path of a deadly killer."

I have been a fan of the Ali Reynolds books from the beginning and the series just keeps getting better.  In fact I think Moving Target is the best book yet.  Moving Target had two mysteries going at the same time.  We get to meet Leland Brook’s family in England and watch Ali solve a cold case that involves Leland’s family.  At the same time Ali and B. are planning their wedding while also helping solve a mystery involving a teen hacker that B. helped catch. 

I enjoyed seeing more of Leland and meeting his family.  All of the action continued to flesh out his character.  The action also added additional dimensions to Ali, B. and Sister Anselm’s characters.  Moving Target is a character driven mystery series.  Jance has continued to build the main characters while putting some new and interesting people in the mix. I see an interesting future for Lance Tucker and his family.  I hope we see more of them in future books.  The two mysteries are structured to allow a lot of character action while also providing a logical solution to both the mystery involving Leland and the mystery involving Lance.  In addition B. provided a very elegant solution for Lance’s immediate future.

You can start reading the Ali Reynolds books with Moving Target but I recommend starting at the beginning.  With only 6 books in the series so far you can catch up in a hurry.

Touchstone published Moving Target by Ali Reynolds in 2014.

I received an ARC of Moving Target from Edelweiss.

Once In A Lifetime (Lucky Harbor #9) by Jill Shalvis

Contemporary Romance

From Goodreads:

After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor.

This time Jill Shalvis wrote about the Mean Girl in town.  Aubrey Wellington is trying to make changes.  I loved Aubrey.  She has had a tough life but is trying to put it all behind her.  She is strong and very honest about who she is now, who she was in the past and who she wants to be. 

Ben McDaniel on the other hand is back to town to stay after running away five years ago when his wife was killed in an auto accident.  He like’s Aubrey, enjoys spending time with her but is very busy protecting himself from pain.  He is still hiding and is not very honest about his feelings or where he is right now.  You can tell that he is a very caring person from the way he reacts to the five-year-old twins that cross his path.  He just needs to learn how to show that care to Aubrey.

I enjoyed watching Ben and Aubrey make the journey to their HEA.  I did not know all of the back-story from some of the side characters but  I could tell they had a book of their own.  I did love how they supported both Ben and Aubrey.  It was fun seeing them take both to task. 

Once in a Lifetime can stand-alone.  However, if you enjoyed Ben and Aubrey you have eight previous books to pick up and read.

Grand Central Publishing published Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis in 2014.

I received an ARC of Once in a Lifetime from Netgalley.

Teaser Tuesday, Feburary 18, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:"
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"The fall was slow at first, gradual, as the pull of the satellite's orbit was overpowered by the pull of Earth''s gravity."

Page 111 from Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

Musing Mondays, Feburary 17, 2014

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…Musing Mondays is sponsored by Should Be Reading.
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

While I would not say I am desperate to get this book I am ready for it to be released.  The book?  Why Kings Confess:  A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery  by C.  S. Harris.  I do have it on pre-order.  There is a new book every year so I always have a long wait.

Peacemaker 2546 AD – The Corona Rebellion by Gordon Savage

Science Fiction

From Goodreads:

Sometimes even a Peacemaker has to slap the bad guys upside the head to get them to listen to reason.

"Two hundred years after the first settlers land on the planet Corona, the colonists face a nightmare situation. Natives have been reported, and colonizing an inhabited planet is prohibited.

Threatened with relocation, Coronans rebel to defend‐at all cost—the only home they've ever known. When an explosion leaves a cloud of ions in place of his star ship, stranding Peacemaker, Commander Gus Colt, on the planet, he survives a crash landing and escapes the rebels but is critically injured getting away. Natives deliver him to a loyalist widow's farm for medical treatment, where he falls in love with her and unintentionally draws her into danger.

If Colt is to stop the fighting and bring the bad guys to justice, he must identify the real perpetrator, discover the secret to the natives, and protect the woman he loves. It's a life or death struggle that will take all his wits, audacity, and raw determination."

I picked up Peacemaker when I was in Denver and visiting the Tattered Cover.  Gordon Savage lives in Colorado and this was a recommended as good book by a local author.  It was a very good recommendation.

I have to say this is a different take on being in the Space Navy.  Our hero, Gus Colt, will use force if he has too but just enough to get the job done.   That means he thinks things through before acting and finds solutions that do the least amount of damage.

I loved both the human settlers on Corona and the natives who (spoiler) may not be natives at all.  Gus interacts with both, finds allies with both and helps find a solution to the rebellion. 

The world building is great.  It is worked into the action and lets the world emerge as the story progresses.  The same is true for the character building.  The characters development happens as a part of the action.  The plot is well though out with action, danger and romance all moving toward a great ending.  The writing is smooth and matches the story.  My only problem, and it was a not a big one, was with some of the formatting.  Sometimes there was not indication that there was a scene change.  I would be lost for a few seconds until I realized what had happened.

I hope Gordon Savage continues to write and publish additional Science Fiction novels.   Peacemaker is the kind of Science Fiction I love to read.

Thornton Publishing published Peacemaker by Gordon Savage in 2012.

Stacking The Shelves, February 15, 2014

Some of the Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I am adding to my shelves. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

From the Library:

Cress by Marissa Meyer 

From Netgalley:

At Stars End by Anna Hackett
An Heir of Uncertainty by Alyssa Everett
Dancing With Dragons by Lorenda Christensen

Won:

The Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich

 

Book Beginnings, February 14, 2013

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

My book beginning today is from The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.  This was our Science Fiction Book Club selection this month.  Actually, it was the selection for last December but our meeting was canceled in December and January because of weather.  This is a book that was written in 1961 and it has held up really well.  We all agreed it was a fun read and a good pick.  Here is the beginning:

When the office door opened suddenly I knew the game was up."

Neptune’s Brood (Freyaversee #2) by Charles Stross

Science Fiction/Space Opera

From Goodread:

"Krina Alizond is a metahuman in a universe where the last natural humans became extinct five thousand years ago. When her sister goes missing she embarks on a daring voyage across the star systems to find her, travelling to her last known location - the mysterious water-world of Shin-Tethys.

In a universe with no faster-than-light travel that's a dangerous journey, made all the more perilous by the arrival of an assassin on Krina's tail, by the 'privateers' chasing her sister's life insurance policy and by growing signs that the disappearance is linked to one of the biggest financial scams in the known universe.

This is set in the same universe as Saturn's Children, 5000 years later."

I read Saturn’s Children and had mixed feelings about it so I approached Neptune’s Brood with caution.  After listening to the audio book I can say with conviction this is one of the best Science Fiction books I have listened to recently.

Stross has always been very inventive but he outdid himself with Neptune’s Brood.  For a start the humans of today are know as the fragile.  They have gone extinct and been brought back several times but they are just not made for space travel.  Instead the world is populated with metahumans.  They consider themselves our direct descendants and they do resemble us in some ways.  They have some of our biological functions but change their body types, slow their metabolism, and live much longer.  They are created not born but still come into the world as children.

But the metahumans are just part of the story.  It is the plot that kept me riveted to the story.  What seems very simple at first keep getting more and more complex.  To support the story Stross had to create an intricate world and the back-story to support the world and the plot.  Krina Alizond tells the story in the first person.  When needed she gives a little history lesson that explains the past and sets up the future.  It is a nice way to impart facts and works like a charm.  Everything in the plot went back to money and the various kinds in a world where it takes years to go from one star system to another.

Neptune's Brood is a mystery and it kept me in the dark until the very end.  Look for surprises, great world building, wonderful characters and a future that might be possible.  However, it would not be a future with humans as we know them.

Recorded Books produced the audio of Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross.