Riddles? Secret doors? Some faceless evil pulling the strings? A dead sister who may not be dead? Double-crosses? Betrayals? All kinds of techno gizmos and mechanical doodads with minds of their own? What could possibly go wrong?
Kimber: Wait! Wait! The first thing you need to know about this book is that it’s about me! Kimster the Amazing! Kimster the PAWsome! Kimster the marvelous wonder dog and stupendously splendiferous and seriously stunning super hero!
Mom: Dial it back a little, will ya Kimmi?
Kimber:What? Okay, okay. I s’pose we better go on with the book review?
Mom: Not much gets past you, does it?
Kimber: That’s what super heroes do. Nothing gets past us! Unlike that Jim Riven “worst” guy in this new fantasy book. So just remember. I’m the Real Deal, okay?
Since you asked Real Nice, here’s the 4-1-1 on the book:
By Kevin J. Anderson & Doug Beason (Forge/Macmillan Publishing, 2019
Genre: Fiction/thriller
Pages: 318
Via: Library
Following a suicide plane crash by an anti-nuke activist into a supposedly hardened nuclear waste site that’s running at way over-capacity, a scheming and conniving Department of Energy Assistant Secretary puts his career aspirations above public safety and common sense in this “high-tech thriller.”
Main Characters:
Adonia Rojas, site manager for Granite Bay nuclear waste storage facility. (Mom: I’m seeing’ Zoe Saldana.)
Senator Pulaski, a pompous, egotistical dimwit who controls the purse strings for just about every DOE and/or nuclear waste facility. (Mom: I’m seeing’ Charles Durning here.)
Dr. Simon Garibaldi, Ex-DOE employee turned-whistleblower. He’s now an environmental activist and head honcho at Sanenergy. (Is George Clooney busy?)
Dr. Stanley Van Dyckman, DOE Assistant Secretary who has a habit of stealing credit from others’ successes and making himself scarce when something goes sideways on his watch. This guy gives pond scum a bad name. (Mom’s seein’ Peewee Hermon. And that ain’t good.)
“Regulation Rob” Harris, a by-the-book military officer and security officer. He’s the Hydra Mountain site manager and Special Access Program supervisor. (Wait. Is that Denzel Washington?)
Air Force Col. Shawn Whalen, military aide to the president and expert on all things nuclear. Also Adonia’s main squeeze. (Paging Chris Hemsworth…)
Victoria Doyle, DOE undersecretary and former Van Dyckman paramour.(No idea.)
Kimber: Whaddya get when you roll Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell, and Kwai Chang Caine all into one, to the tune of Life Is A Highway?
Mom: Is this a trick question?
It could be in this thriller where Zen Buddhist spook dude teams up with handy-dandy computer nerd while on the run from some uber bad guys in this up and down action/adventure tome. It called Way of the Bow. By Vince Fratello.
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sarge is a warrior with the NSA and the “Gray Consultants.” Very hush-hush. Very effective. He’s also 65 years old. Trying to retire. Bernie’s a computer nerd. Aka: expert hacker. Both skill sets come in handy. Especially when people are trying to kill you.
This storyline is the strongest part of the book. What follows as Sarge and Bernie team up to get to the bottom of what happened and why and head for D.C. for answers is a mixed bag.
Most of the rest of the book is about the people and places Sarge and Bernie encounter as they make their way from the West Coast to D.C. This includes an extensive cast of colorful characters like the dude with the ultralight, Gwen the horse lady and the guys in the boxcar en route to Montana. Tough-as-nails with a heart of gold Catholic nun, Sister Rose-Carolyn. A ride aboard an eighteen-wheeler. A dash to Chicago with Carrie and her EV camper van, The Beast. A side run into MMNA, judo, jiu jitsu and aikido. Salem Sue, the World’s Largest Holstein Cow. It’s also a bit gastro pub on wheels. So you might want to bring a fork. Or two.
While eloquent and articulate, we felt the book loses focus and meanders into metaphysical sermonizing a little too often. And that’s too bad. Because it’s actually pretty well written, with sturdy characters, credible dialogue and generous doses of dry humor, which we totally love. But when it strays from spook thriller about uncovering a deadly conspiracy at the highest levels and wanders into Adventures in Zen Land, the action/adventure angle gets lost in the reeds.
Bet you think we’re gonna do a “Halloween” post today, huh? Nah. Her Royal Momness and I? We’re not big Halloweeners. But we are big Frank Peretti fans. Ever since This Present Darkness.
So when we found a copy of an old Peretti novel we hadn’t yet read at a library book sale the other day, we scooped it up like The Kimster after a T-bone steak. We’re talkin’ nano-second here. Especially since it was a hardback book. For like, a quarter. Oh yeah.
The 4-1-1
Anyway, here’s the 4-1-1 on Peretti’s thriller novel, Monster:
More terrifying than any nightmare, something has scathed a very real path thru the Idaho hills, paving it in blood and echoing screams. It lives, it hunts, and it’s just getting started.
Rodeos. Barrel racing. A serial killer. A heroine named Hazel.
A heroine named Hazel? Say what? you say.
Yo! Her Momness and I will get to that shortly. So kindly keep your hair on, Cookie. First a little back story:
I was waiting outside The Book Place the other day with the patience of Job while Mom was inside, skipping merrily through the stacks looking for something to nab. She skidded to a halt in front of the Lucky Day shelf. For you young whippersnappers, this is an actual, physical shelf near the checkout where lots of the latest releases live. So if you find one that’s available for checkout it’s like, “Whoa Nellie*! It’s my Luck Day!” (*Mom Speak for “Whoa, Nellie.” Super excited.)
Well. Great gobs of galloping goose grease! And bacon! Lots and lots of bacon!
Mom and I got this book in the mail the other day. Added it to our TBR pile. You know. The one that’s about 256 feet tall. Her Momness says, “No worries, Kimmi. Let’s just take a quick peek at the book blurb. Maybe a gander at a sentence or two. Or a paragraph or… 67. A few pages… chapters… bases…”
Silly Mom.
Next thing ya know, it’s 1:47 a.m. We’re rounding third base. Sliding into home. And turning the last page. Silly Mom again. Cuz ya know what? We couldn’t put this thing down! (The book. Not the bacon. Well, okay. The bacon, too. But ya know what we mean, right?) Here’s why:
A confession. Mom and me? We’re Reece-aholics. (Not to be confused with a Reese-aholic of the peanut butter variety. Or crispy bacon. That’s diff. But just as tasty.)
Ever since we read Matt Guzman’s riotous fantasy/sci fi romp, Rieden Reece and the Broken Moon, we’ve been hooked on this kid and his madcap adventures. Rieden grows on ya. So we were delighted to hear Ri’s back for another crazy adventure in this fourth and latest installment. Here’s the 4-1-1:
Hey, Kimster! Is the tea hot yet? And will you kindly quit hogging the fleece blankie?
Bother. The things I do for Mom. We’re both hunkering down to read this gripping and intense tale of mind-numbing cold, desperation, myth, legend and survival by Dan Simmons.
The Basics
First, if you’ve never heard of Franklin’s ill-fated expedition, The Terror might be a good place to start. We were pretty familiar with the history before starting the book. So some bias there.
Before we dive in to specifics, you may want to know that The Terroris a fictionalized account of Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic to find the Northwest Passage. The expedition’s two ships are the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Franklin is the overall expedition commander. James Fitzjames captains the Erebus. Franics Crozier captains the Terror. They set out to find the elusive Northwest Passage in 1845. The ships – and all hands – disappeared without a trace in the summer of 1848.
So there I was. Minding my own business. Snoozing away. When Her Royal Momness comes bouncing down the stairs with a Royal Stroke of Genuis:
“Kimmi! I have a great idea! You know those last six books we read? The True Crime thing, the post-apocalyptic thing, the second True Crime thing, the “self-help” motivational thing, and the other two True Crime thingies? All pretty diff, huh? Let’s do a combo post on all six!”
Well. As long as we’re here, let’s dive in to six of the most unusual books we’ve read so far this year. They’re “unusual” cuz they’re genres we don’t typically select.
One other thing. With the exception of the last title, all of the books below are 3.5s. In case you’re wondering. No extra charge:
If you’re ever in a tight spot in the wilds of Wyoming, Joe Pickett’s your guy. Especially when facing down not one but two rogue killers – human and animal – in this riveting new crime thriller by Western author C.J. Box.
All is not well in Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming. A rogue grizzly bear has gone on a rampage, killing, among others, the potential fiancé of Game Warden Joe Pickett’s daughter. Meanwhile, ruthless con Dallas Cates is released from prison. Joe put him there years ago. Cates makes skunks look good. He has a special list tattooed on his skin. Has Cates really figured out how to kill the people he blames for ruining his life and make it look like a grizzly attack?
Pages & Paws 