I'm a Fan - Sheena Patel

I really enjoy discovering new authors and reading something new. Sheena Patel's debut novel, I'm a Fan, has won numerous prizes already. This sentence in the publisher's description caught my eye. "I stalk a woman on the internet who is sleeping with the same man as I am."

I'm a Fan is told in a first person stream of consciousness format. The protagonist's thoughts started to build my image of the 'speaker'. Her insecurities, past, wants, needs, anger, desires and more. The man she wants is also sleeping with other women. And so she begins her surveillance. I was caught up in the beginning - but...

Yes, there were buts for me. I was saddened by the fact that she was willing to debase herself in order to have a man who is an ugly, cruel, misogynist. And I was already tired of reading the phrases - 'The man that I am obsessed with' and 'the woman I am obsessed with. That was about page 50 and I realized I wasn't the right reader for this book. I used to 'power through' finishing a book when I wasn't enjoying it. No longer. 

Instead, I encourage you to check out the many five star reviews on Goodreads.

The Handyman Method - Nick Cutter

I thought Nick Cutter's 2014 horror tale, The Troop, was a great read. I read the premise of his latest novel, The Handyman Method, and thought it looked intriguing. And the cover is eye catching.

Okay, I'm going to be somewhat obtuse here as I don't want to spoil things for you.

Trent, Rita, and their young son, Milo move into a new subdivision. And their new house is...well it's the only one there. Trent is between jobs, as they say. When he sees an item that needs attention in his new house, he decides to undertake the repair himself. And like many of us, he turns to the internet to find some guidance. And he stumbles across upon Handyman Hank's site. And the weirdness begins. At home and out in the world. Specifically big box DIY stores. As odd as it sounds - these bits were darkly humorous and decidedly true. Cutter skewers toxic masculinity through the big box, the website and another program that pops up on Milo's computer. Quite frightening for sure. There are a number of other dark events and pieces. 

But. Yes, there's a but for me. The Handyman Method started down avenues that I understand are 'horror', but I found them to be things I didn't want in my head. Misogynistic comments that were truly vile. A doomed turtle. The plot seemed to feel repetitive and I decided to take a break from the book. I came back to it, but realized my opinion hadn't changed. I fast forwarded my way to the final chapters to see what answers the ending might bring. 

So, it's a rare DNF for me. I do know there's lots of others who quite enjoyed The Handyman Method, so check out the other reviews on Goodreads.

I will say that the narrator, Corey Brill, did a fantastic job interpreting and presenting Cutter's work. He brings out a mocking, caustic voice for Handyman Hank that is spot on. Trent's voice is just as good - the anger he carries, the biting sarcasm, the ugly hate and more are captured with Brill's reading. He speaks clearly and enunciates well. Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of The Handyman Method.

The Devil You Know - P.J. Tracy

I really enjoyed P.J. Tracy's Monkeewrench series. The latest book from P.J. Tracy - The Devil You Know - is the third entry in the Detective Margaret Nolan series.

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for the mother-daughter writing duo of P.J. and Traci Lambrech. Sadly, P.J. Tracy passed away in 2016. Traci has continued to write on her own.

Which makes it all the harder to say that this newest book is a rare DNF for me. The premise sounded good - a female detective on the LAPD force and the death of an actor. But it was the delivery for this reader. I even went back and read the first few chapters, but it was the same on a second reading. 

I gave the book fifty pages, but had to call it a day by that point. I found the prose to be overwrought and the sentences to be too long. The use of many alternate choices for commonplace descriptors felt like a thesaurus had been used deliberately. 

Here's a sample:

"The bold, black headline possessed astonishing metaphysical properties, like the power to rearrange his anatomy: his heart was beating in his stomach, which was now in the the vicinity of his throat, and his balls had apparently departed from his body altogether, because he couldn't feel them." All one sentence.

The book opens with a murder - promising in this genre. Then a new chapter with a letter from 1864. Then we meet Sam, then Margaret, then Daphna, Seth, Evan and Becca. I'm sure there are more, but this hit the 50 page wall. More and more characters are added without clarity. What has happened? What is the role of all these players? Sadly, by then I had lost interest. I was hoping for a good police procedural. But The Devil You Know was all over the place. 

Not the book for me. But, loads of people enjoyed this title - I encourage you to read those reviews on Goodreads.

Duel to the Death - J.A. Jance

J.A. Jance is an author I've read for years. She writes many series and I'm hard pressed to pick a favourite. Duel to the Death is the latest in the Ali Reynolds series.

From the publisher:

"After taking down the man responsible for his best friend’s death, Stuart Ramey thinks the case is finally closed. That is, until Stu finds himself left with a multimillion dollar fortune in Bitcoin in a desperate bid by Frigg, a rogue A.I. program created by the killer, to keep itself from being fully deactivated.

To sort out his situation and take Frigg down for good, Stu enlists the help of Ali Reynolds and the rest of his cyber security colleagues at High Noon Enterprises. But they are not the only ones who know about Frigg’s existence.

Graciella Miramar, an unassuming accountant to all appearances, is actually the right-hand woman to El Pescado, the leader of a dangerous drug cartel. She’ll do anything to get her hands on that program. With Frigg’s help, Graciella hopes to take over her father’s criminal underworld and become wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But Stu—and El Pescado and his henchmen—may not be so easily defeated."

Now, I hadn't read the plot summary before I started listening. I did find it a bit odd - an AI and a cartel connection in the first two chapters. I kept listening, waiting for Ali and her team to make an appearance. It's these recurring characters that keep me revisiting Jance's works. And I was happy to reconnect....but...

Listening provides a different experience and outlook on a novel than reading does. And here's where Duel to the Death fell down for me. The amount of detail and minutiae become overwhelming. Now, this is also what makes Jance's novels feel like visiting old friends. But in this case it became distracting, boring and wandered away too often from the main plot. And I lost interest. I tried a second time but just couldn't get past the rambling or interested again in the book.  Sadly, Duel to the Death is a DNF for me.

The reader was Karen Ziemba. She's a narrator I've listen to before. She's got a nice, crisp voice that is pleasant to listen to. She enunciates well and each word is clear and clean. Her voice has movement and gives animation to the words. Listen to an excerpt of Duel to the Death. 

Here's some reviews from Goodreads from others who did enjoy this latest.

Three Strikes - Kate Kessler

Three Strikes by Kate Kessler is one of my rare DNF's. I tried numerous times to get into the book, but just couldn't. Why, you ask?

I was initially intrigued by the description of the book - "Three Strikes is the new novel in a thriller series where a criminal psychologist uses her own dark past to help law enforcement catch dangerous killers." Sounds like a great premise.

What I should have noted was that this was the third book in a series. Now, some authors make it easy to jump into their series. Some back story is provided, but often you can read them as a stand alone. Not in this case. So much has happened in the first two books and I felt overwhelmed and out of step for as far as I did get. Murder, rape, incest, serial killers, terminal illness, a messed up small town and some very dysfunctional relationships. A psychologist who has committed murder.  It started to feel like a dark daytime soap opera put to the printed page - aiming for titillation.

But, where I finally lost hope of continuing was in the character count. Oh yes, I started making my own player's list to keep track of who was who, as there are many (many) players introduced in the first few chapters. But, when my list hit 23 just past page 37, I threw in the towel. Too many, too much.

This may be the case of a book in the hands of the wrong reader, as there are many who have really enjoyed this book. I point you to the positive reviews on Goodreads.

Saturn Run - John Sandford and Ctein

I am a big fan of John Sandford's 'Prey' series featuring Lucas Davenport as well as the Virgil Flowers novels.

Saturn Run is a bit of a departure for Sandford - it travels to sci-fi territory - not a usual genre for me. But I definitely wanted to give it a try.

It's the year 2066. Sandy, a low level intern watching the screens notices something approaching from the direction of Saturn - and it seems to be a ship. A spaceship with far greater technology than the US and China have.  And each country wants it.....the race is on  - who can get a ship to Saturn first?

John Sandford's style and voice is easy to hear in Saturn Run. Sandy is an incarnate of Virgil Flowers - I quite enjoyed his attitude and style. There's a myriad of other characters, each with detailed backstories. Saturn Run is most definitely a group effort.

I chose to listen to Saturn Run. The reader is Eric Conger - one of my favourites. (He's also the reader for the Virgil Flowers audio books) As always, he's got great inflection, expression and timing. And his voice is just plain great to listen to.

But. And yes there's a but. I got so bogged down in the details of the ship and what was needed to make it run, long-winded explanations of picture taking, nuke reactors and more. Enough that I finally pulled the plug and quit. I feel bad doing that to an author I follow faithfully (and it's rare for me), but I was zoning out, hoping the details would pass quicker so we could get back to the characters and the race to Saturn. I'm in the minority on this one I think. Listen to an excerpt of Saturn Run or read an excerpt of Saturn Run.

Instead, I'll be waiting for the 26th Lucas Davenport book, Extreme Prey, releasing in April 2016.

And who is the co-author, Ctein? According to the publisher, he's an 'internationally known photo-artist and science fiction aficionado.'

The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace

I have had an audio book version of The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace for an embarrassingly long time without writing a review. It sounded like a tale I would enjoy.

From the publisher The Hachette Book Group:

"The "dazzling, exhilarating" (San Francisco Chronicle) debut novel from the bestselling author of Infinite Jest, available for the first time as an audio book.

At the center of The Broom of the System is the bewitching (and also bewildered) heroine, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman. The year is 1990 and the place is a slightly altered Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on the edge of a suburban wasteland-the Great Ohio Desert. Lenore works as a switchboard attendant at a publishing firm, and in addition to her mind-numbing job, she has a few other problems. Her great-grandmother, a one-time student of Wittgenstein, has disappeared with twenty-five other inmates of the Shaker Heights Nursing Home. Her beau (and boss), editor-in-chief Rick Vigorous, is insanely jealous. And her cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, has suddenly started spouting a mixture of psychobabble, Auden, and the King James Bible, which may propel him to stardom on a Christian fundamentalist television program.
Fiercely intelligent and entertaining, this debut novel from one of the most innovative writers of our generation explores the paradoxes of language, storytelling, and reality."

The reader was Robert Petkoff, whom I've listened to before. He has a sardonic quality to his voice that seems perfect for the tone of the book.It does take a bit to get used to his breakneck speed. But it perfectly matched the pacing of the writing, so it was good fit. But the book just wasn't a good fit for me.  I have stopped and started quite a few times now and it just doesn't capture me or hold my interest at all. And I feel like it should, as Wallace is such a 'decorated' author. But I've come to the conclusion I can't finish it (or get past disc 3). And I feel bad, but when it really isn't enjoyable, it just defeats the purpose.

Listen to an excerpt of The Broom of the System. Wallace is on Facebook as well.

So instead, I am linking to listeners who did love it/finished it - check out what they thought. And please send me your link if you've reviewed it - I'll add it to the post.

Biblioklept
Steph and Tony Investigate
K & K's

Blood Revenge - David Thor

This is David Thor's (normally I'd insert a link to info about the author, but couldn't find anything) first attempt at fiction. He has written a non fiction book - In Search of Ubiquitous Computing - that I could not find any reference to either.

In Blood Revenge, Thor plays upon the fears of Western Nations - that the enemy is among us. A good hook for a thriller book.

In China and the USSR in 1974, two different families send their children to the US. The children seem to assimilate on the surface, but are secretly still loyal to their homelands and history. Fast forward to 2009 - some kind of biological weapon has been unleashed in the U.S.

So yes, a good plausible premise for a thriller.

There are lots of characters quickly introduced - I did reread the first couple of chapters to make sure I had everyone straight. I started to have misgivings at page 33....

"The man was still a good thirty yards away, but Gwen Saunders could tell he was headed her way. It was difficult to make out all his features; his hair was shrouded in a turbine, and much of his face was covered with short, pubic-like hair."

Okay I could live with the pubes on his face, but a turbine? Methinks turban is the word you're looking for? The publisher, Cosacinco Press, spent money on a full front page colour ad on the Aug 31/09 Publishers Weekly cover. Linking to their website gives you no further information about themselves either. The only link working at the time of this writing was for Bloodrevenge.com. Perhaps they should have spent some of the advertising dollars on editing/proofreading. This was not the only error, but the first really glaring one. I was reading from a finished copy.

And speaking of finishing - this is the only book I have not finished this year. Yep, couldn't do it. The plot is clumsy and just tries too hard. The sexual tension thrown is ill timed and laughable. Too busy, too many characters, too ... I could go on, but won't.

I tried to find other blog reviews to link to provide other opinions, but could only find Harriet Klausner's - 'nuff said. Here's the Amazon page. If anyone else wants to give it a try, I will happily mail it to you.

Not to be confused with author Brad Thor!