Tag Archives: noir

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Book Review: Blood and Whispers, by A.C. Haskins

I picked up a copy of A.C. HaskinsBlood and Whispers from my local library’s discard shelf.

Blood and Whispers cover

Thomas Quinn is a sorcerer haunted by the memories of the things he’s done over centuries of service to the Arcanum. From battling djinn to killing demigods and dragons, the scars and nightmares have left him a broken man. He has long retired from that life, running an occult shop in Philadelphia for the past several decades, wanting nothing more than to be left alone with his books and his whiskey and his shame.

But when two detectives come to his door asking about a brutal ritual murder in his city, Quinn must reluctantly take up the mantle of a Sorcerer of the Arcanum once more, and face down those who would threaten the fragile peace between the human and magical worlds. His investigation takes him from the streets of Philadelphia to the court of a Faerie King as he races to stop the apocalypse.

Thomas Quinn was prepared to fight rogue sorcerers and Fae monsters. But the greatest threat he faces may be his own inner demons. . . .

my review

As I mentioned, I picked up this book from my library’s discard shelf. I did it with trepidation, I admit, because I very rarely read male authors anymore. I’ve found far too many to be untrustworthy in writing women, and the older I get, the more aware and less patient I am about it.

I’m pleased to say I enjoyed this book and would read another book by Haskins. Nothing raised my hackles. Quinn undergoes significant personal growth as he struggles to save the world, once again. There is a small but interesting cast of characters, and the world appears to be an intriguing one. I found it a bit predictable (bordering on bland), but overall, I finished it happy.blood and whispers photo


Other Reviews:

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Book Reviews: Marked for Life & Marked for Revnege, by Emelie Schepp

I won a copy of Emeli Schepp‘s Marked for Revenge, book 2 of the Jana Berzelius series, several years ago. But it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. This is the year I’ve promised myself to clear that shelf off.  So, I borrowed a copy of the 1st one, Marked for Life, from the library so that I could finally read book 2.

Jana Berzelius covers

About Marked For Life:
When a high-ranking head of the migration board is found shot to death in his living room, there is no shortage of suspects, including his wife. But no one expects to find the mysterious child-sized handprint in the childless home. 

Public prosecutor Jana Berzelius steps in to lead the investigation. Young and brilliant but emotionally cold, Berzelius, like her famous prosecutor father, won’t be swayed by the hysterical widow or intimidated by the threatening letters the victim had tried to hide. Jana is steely, aloof, impenetrable. That is, until the boy… 

A few days later on a nearby deserted shoreline, the body of a preteen boy is discovered, and with him, the murder weapon that killed him and the original victim. Berzelius is drawn more deeply into the case for as she attends his autopsy, she recognizes something strangely familiar in his small, scarred, heroin-riddled body. Cut deep into his flesh are initials that scream child trafficking and trigger in her a flash of memory of her own dark, fear-ridden past. Her connection to this boy has been carved with deliberation and malice that penetrate to her very core. 

Now, to protect her own hidden past, she must find the suspect behind these murders, before the police do.

My Review:

This book is probably objectively worth more stars than I would give it if I used stars on this blog. So, take my review with a grain of salt. But, I enjoyed it roughly three stars’ worth. I don’t read a lot of modern contemporary or procedural thrillers because, honestly, they generally bore me. The same was true of Marked for Life. In fact, I found the first half agonizingly slow. However, I’ll admit that past the halfway mark, things picked up, and by the end, I was invested in finding how things would work out.

Jana is an interesting character, though the oversight that made the bit of a twist at the end possible felt out of character for her (because it’s so obvious and she’s so smart, otherwise). The side-characters are fleshed out nicely, too. All in all, not bad for a book in a genre I’m not a huge fan of.

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About Marked For Revenge:
When a Thai girl overdoses smuggling drugs, the trail points to Danillo, the one criminal MMA-trained public prosecutor Jana Berzelius most wants to destroy. Eager to erase any evidence of her sordid childhood, Berzelius must secretly hunt down this deadly nemesis with whom she shares a horrific past.

Meanwhile, the police are zeroing in on the elusive head of the long-entrenched Swedish narcotics trade, who goes by the name The Old Man. No one has ever encountered this diabolical mastermind in person; he is like a shadow, but a shadow who commands extreme respect. Who is this overarching drug lord? Berzelius craves to know his identity, even as she clandestinely tracks Danillo, who has threatened to out her for who she really is. She knows she must kill him first, before he can reveal her secrets. If she fails, she will lose everything.

As she prepares for the fight of her life, Berzelius discovers an even more explosive and insidious betrayal one that entangles her inextricably in the whole sordid network of crime.

My Review:

Like with the first book, I have a hard time reviewing this because I’m honestly just not a massive lover of police procedurals. So, was I bored up until the action at the end because I’m not thrilled by the genre, or because it’s actually slow and slogging? I don’t know. But up until the very end, I was bored, despite liking Jana as a character. In fact, I read this book one chapter at a time between other books, forcing myself to do even that much. It literally took a month.


Other Reviews:

Review: Marked for Life (Jana Berzelius, #1) by Emelie Schepp

Book Review: Marked for Revenge (Emelie Schepp) @emelieschepp @HarlequinBooks

 

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Book Review: Fortune Favors the Dead, by Stephen Spotswood

I borrowed and audio copy of Stephen Spotswood‘s Fortune Favors the Dead through Hoopla. It was narrated by Kirsten Potter.

fortune favors the dead audio

Introducing Pentecost and Parker, two unconventional female detectives who couldn’t care less about playing by the rules, in their cases and in their lives.

It’s 1942 and Willowjean “Will” Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of New York’s best, and most unorthodox, private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. When the dapper detective summons Will a few days later, she doesn’t expect to be offered a life-changing proposition: Lillian’s multiple sclerosis means she can’t keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman. In return, Will will receive a salary, room and board, and training in Lillian’s very particular art of investigation.

Three years later, Will and Lillian are on the Collins case: Abigail Collins was found bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball following a big, boozy Halloween party at her home–her body slumped in the same chair where her steel magnate husband shot himself the year before. With rumors flying that Abigail was bumped off by the vengeful spirit of her husband (who else could have gotten inside the locked room?), the family has tasked the detectives with finding answers where the police have failed. But that’s easier said than done in a case that involves messages from the dead, a seductive spiritualist, and Becca Collins–the beautiful daughter of the deceased, who Will quickly starts falling for. When Will and Becca’s relationship dances beyond the professional, Will finds herself in dangerous territory, and discovers she may have become the murderer’s next target.

my review

I really quite enjoyed this. You’ve got quite a few sorts of women who don’t often get lead billing making decisions and effecting change. There’s the bisexual assistant private detective and POV character, the elderly lead detective with Multiple Sclerosis, the lesbian possible love interest, the impoverished woman taking charge of her life, the mousey professor who may be more than she seems, the talented scam artist, etc. Women not only exist in this novel, they excel (not always for the betterment of mankind, but they still refuse to sit back and passively exist). I adored that about it.

I wasn’t super shocked to discover who the murder turned out to be, but more in a ‘where is the eye not turned’ kind of way than a ‘the foreshadowing gave it away’ way. I had no “I know who it is moment,” so, I got to the pleasuring of not knowing, but also no shock of never seeing it coming because it’s too out of left field. It’s a good balance to end a mystery with, “Oh yeah, I can totally see that,” than either “I knew it” or “no way, you just made that up.”

The story’s narrator, Will, has a marvelous voice and sense of humor. The writing is sharp and the audiobook is well done. I’ll be looking for more of the Pentecost and Parker mysteries.

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Other Reviews:

Review: Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood

Fortune Favours The Dead (2020) by Stephen Spotswood