Thursday, March 27, 2014

Book Review: Dark Justice

DARK JUSTICE
by 
Brandilyn Collins

What did he say? 
                  What does it mean?

While driving along a rural road, Hannah Shire and her aging mother, 
who suffers from dementia, stop to help a man at the scene of a car accident.
The man whispers mysterious words in Hannah's ear. Soon there are people
---perhaps even law enforcement---who want to kill her and her mom 
for what they "know."
The two women must flee for their lives. But how does Hannah hide
her confused parent, who just wants to listen to her favorite pop music,
wear her purple hat, and go home? If they turn to Hannah's daughter for
help, she could fall into danger as well. 
Surrounded by trouble, Hannah must keep all three generations of
women in her family alive. Only then does she learn the threat is not just to
them, but the entire country . . .

This book was quite intriguing, and caught my interest from the very beginning. It's a very suspenseful edge-of-your-seat sort of read, leaving you wondering what will happen next with the turn of every page, thus making it a quick and easy read. Most of the book is written in first person's perspective from Hannah's point of view, but there were some parts written in third person where it switched to her daughter's point of view, and a couple other characters. It was a very clipped and to the point sort of writing style, not focusing too long on any one thing, which helped with the fast flow of the story. Sometimes that was nice and sometimes it kind of annoyed me, but overall it's not a big deal. If you're in the mood for a riveting suspense that will keep you coming back to the book to learn what happens next, I recommend this book! It does have quite a bit of violence and killing in it, as well as break-ins and kidnappings, so if that sort of stuff bothers you it's probably not the book for you. This was the first book I've read by this author, and after reading it (and "Praise" for her other books) I would certainly like to read more by her! I give this book a 4.5.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Book Review: Blades of Valor

Blades of Valor by Sigmund Brouwer (Merlin's Immortals book 4)

Thomas is finally in the Holy Land and reunited with Sir William, but is forced to travel on his own from the coast through Nazareth, and finally to Jerusalem. The road is a dangerous one—especially to a lone traveler. Bandits masquerade as slaves, traitors appear to be allies, and once again, Thomas doesn’t know whom to trust. He must rely on his own resources to discern friend from foe, and to finally discover the final key to the Druids' master plan before returning home to expose them.

Back in England, a final storm is brewing against Thomas, for the Druids are much more powerful than the Orphan King can even imagine.

This book was pretty good, though it seemed to drag on some in the beginning. Throughout the whole book there were both parts that I found quite interesting and parts I found quite boring. Especially some of the conversations, which dragged on and often repeated things that had already been said either in the previous book or to another person. Also I don't feel like the characters were pushed enough to their limits. Quite often they would too easily get out of dangerous situations, so the book never got too suspenseful or filled with much action. It seemed like the exciting scenes started and ended all too quickly and the boring scenes went on far too long. I think perhaps I liked the book before it a little better, but it was a decent end to the series (even though I didn't read book 1 and 2) and all ended well.


I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.