Burning Love by Nomar Knight

Nomar Knight is an accomplished and exceptional horror author so I was intrigued when he wrote an action thriller, with not a spooky specter in sight. Whether it’s a grisly tale or a battle between hit men, Knight tells a great story.

In Burning Love, Candy Seymour thinks she has found her perfect man in Sam Collins. Unfortunately, that dream is irrevocably shattered when she learns her Mr. Right is also Mr. Hit Man. Torn between leaving him, knowing that he knows she knows, or becoming like him and not his next victim, she takes the second options.

As a test of her abilities, Sam sends her to kill his wife. The hit goes awry when Sam’s wife is accosted by another attacker just as Candy is about to go in for the kill. She becomes her victim’s savior instead of assassin.

Sam is furious but gives her a second chance to eliminate his wife. Before that can happen, Candy bumps into Lucas and is immediately swept off her feet, harder than she did for Sam. Lucas seems to be everything Sam is not. Then he offers her the opportunity to be rid of Sam forever.

From then on, Candy’s life is a whirlwind of running for her life and fighting for her life. Soon she doesn’t even know who she can and cannot trust.

Knight pumps up the adrenaline as Candy tries to figure out how she is going to come out of the biggest adventure of her life alive. He also injects a bit of science fiction and humor in the persona of a talking computer that takes an instant dislike to Candy. Who knew computers could be bitchy and catty?

As the climax approaches, I found myself reading too fast and accidentally skipping ahead in excitement. I had to force myself to read slower but Burning Love grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let go.

Find Burning Love at:

http://www.amazon.com/Burning-Love-ebook/dp/B005C14XOQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311531131&sr=1-3

The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva

I hadn’t been a big fan of spy novels but I had never read one by Daniel Silva. After reading The Defector (and loved it), I snatched up The Rembrandt Affair and read it…nay, devoured it in two days. It is a gripping edge-of-your-seat ride.

What sets Silva apart is his meticulous attention to detail in describing things and places the average mortal may never see. He states that it is a work of fiction but he forces you to believe it. I don’t know if the CIA actually has an underground facility below Grosvenor Square in London but the manner in which Silva describes it so vividly, I’m convinced there is.

His main character Gabriel Allon, former agent and assassin of the Israeli secret intelligence, wants nothing more than to retire to the cliffs of Cornwall and live peacefully with his beautiful wife and restore priceless works of art. That plan is shattered when an old friend comes calling, begging him to retrieve a stolen Rembrandt. Gabriel cannot resist the opportunity to rescue a painting from one of the Masters.

His investigation into the painting’s provenance reveals it was ‘bought’ by a high ranking Nazi officer during the occupation of Amsterdam. From there, the story delves into the atrocious crimes committed by the Third Reich and the sizeable fortunes of the Jews that disappeared during the Second World War along with their owners. Allon’s path crosses those of two men, each of whom had a father with activities of horrific distinction during the war. One is trying to distance himself from his father’s atrocities. The other is capitalizing on his.

But what horrifies Allon the most is the vast wealth of the Holocaust victims being used to fortify a country bent on creating a second holocaust with nuclear weapons.

As with The Defector, Silva spins a mesmerizing tale that involves the top secret intelligence agencies of several nations and their complicated interaction and cooperation. Or lack thereof. How much of it is fact and which is fiction? The secret agent stuff makes for an awesome read and The Rembrandt Affair is a must-read.

Slayer of Gods by Lynda S. Robinson

I’m disappointed that there are no more Lord Meren novels after Slayer of Gods, the sixth and last and the series. I’m more disappointed in my self for waiting so long to finish reading Lynda S. Robinson’s books which are all extremely well-written and very enjoyable.

For six novels, Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh King Tutankhamun, has been keeping the boy safe and secure on his throne. However, the boy king demands to know who killed his beloved step-mother, Queen Nefertiti, who was poisoned some ten years prior. The search for the murderer has put Lord Meren in mortal peril many times and has even endangered his children.

Accompanying him in this final installment is Anath, the Eyes of Babylon. She’s clever, resourceful and beautiful enough to turn even Lord Meren’s head. She joins him as he travels up the Nile to the remote city of Syene, to question a former bodyguard of Nefertiti’s, and back to Memphis. Meren has the advantage of her wit and cleverness but also the comfort of her body.

While Meren is chasing suspects all over Memphis, Robinson brings ancient Egypt alive in its glory and its ugliness for us beginners. She describes the sights, sounds and smells in vivid details, immersing the reader in the environs as if he/she was traversing the hot dusty streets.

She also brings the characters to life in amazing realism. Lord Meren seems to leap off the page as he anguishes over his children, during his daughter’s kidnapping and an attempt on Kysen’s life. He’s torn between protecting his family and protecting King Tutankhamun. Many times, he seems to be the only one trying to keep the throne safe from would-be assassins and usurpers.

Lord Meren is one of my favorite literary characters. He’s smart, loyal and not afraid to be humble. But he’s not perfect. Although humble before the king, he doesn’t forget his importance of being the Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh. Sometimes that self-importance clouds his better judgment when among the riff-raff in the streets and not at court where his countenance is well-known.

Kysen, Meren’s adopted son is also a strong character and another one of my favorites. He plays a smaller role in this novel as opposed to others but still comes through for his father.

I hope that Robinson decides to continue with her Lord Meren series. Her spellbinding novels surpass other Egyptian series and are as good as any historical and non-historical mysteries.

Murder at the Academy Awards by Joan Rivers and Jerrilyn Farmer

Few books and even fewer mysteries have me laughing out loud and Murder at the Academy Awards is one of those few. Of course, very few women are accomplished comediennes like Joan Rivers. With her comedic timing, it was easy to tell where Rivers’ snarky and acerbic wit ended and Farmer’s more serious tomes took over.

Rivers’ protagonist Maxine Taylor is a thinly disguised version of herself, hosting a Red Carpet review prior to the start of the Academy Awards with her daughter Drew. As fashionistas, they comment on what everyone is wearing and who they’re wearing. Sound familiar?

In Murder at the Academy Awards, Drew gets a text message from her dearest and closest friend Halsey Hamilton, the nineteen year-old Best Actress nominee who is currently in rehab. Apparently, Halsey is showing up at the Oscars and she’s granted an exclusive interview to Max and Drew. When her limo pulls up, Max’s wrangler Cindy has to help the young actress out of the vehicle. Halsey, clad in only a strapless bra and skimpy panties collapses on the red carpet. She manages to whisper a few words to Max before she dies.

Suddenly, Max is the hottest ticket in town. Everyone wants to know why Halsey, well on her way to recovery from muscle relaxers, would relapse and start using again. Max is convinced Drew’s ex-boyfriend Burke who had been dating Halsey, is involved. Drew understandably is certain he isn’t and begs her mother to clear him of suspicion. Although Max would prefer to do the opposite, she agrees hoping that Drew will see Burke for the low-life she thinks he is.

Max goes so far as to check herself into the rehab clinic where Halsey had been recuperating. It isn’t until she has to break out of rehab and attend Halsey’s funeral that the pieces come together.

They mystery itself is rather ho-hum and it’s Joan Rivers and her sarcastic sense of humor that elevates the story, making it an enjoyable and funny read. Unfortunately, it is necessary to keep the story alive as well, since there are some confusing aspects. Why introduce a character for only his cell phone, then have him disappear for most of the novel? Why have a limo driver usher in important clues and then have him vanish for the rest of the novel?

Certainly, it’s Joan who makes this novel, so it’s a work that even mystery non-lovers will enjoy.

To Ruin a Queen by Fiona Buckley

Fiona Buckley continues her excellent Elizabethan series featuring Lady Ursula Faldene Blanchard La Roche in To Ruin a Queen. Buckley advances Ursula’s life, marriage to Matthew La Roche and her daughter Meg, but it seems that Elizabeth I cannot do anything without tricking Ursula into investigating threats to her throne. She knows that Queen Elizabeth is cunning and devious but still finds herself brought into a pit of treachery and treason.

After she loses a son in childbirth in France, she longs to have her daughter Meg, still in England, back with her. Ursula sends her loyal servants, Dale and Brockley to fetch her, but they return empty-handed. Meg is missing.

Ursula immediately departs for England, suspecting that Elizabeth is somehow behind her daughter’s mysterious disappearance. She doesn’t have to wait long. When she arrives at the manor where Meg was staying, Elizabeth and Cecil are waiting.

The queen tells her where Meg is, but there is a mystery at Castle Vetch as well. Elizabeth knows Ursula can’t resist unraveling a complicated knot of conspiracy and intrigue, but to sweeten the pot, she promises to return lands confiscated from Matthew. Ursula promises the queen two weeks, then she will return to France with Meg.

The Castle Vetch is occupied by the innately ambitious Mortimers. The mother of the lord in residence is convinced her son is plotting something against the crown, since he keeps hinting at it. She has no idea what it is.

Ursula is charged with finding out if there is anything to Mortimer’s boasts. When she arrives, she finds Meg in good condition so she sets out to uncover the secrets of Mortimer.

She finds out there is a lot more going on than plots against Elizabeth: an aging woman desperate to cling to her youth, an old crone accused of being a witch, a lovesick girl promised to an older man and two manservants fiercely loyal to their lady.

It seems to me that Buckely inserts more Tudorian history into this story than before with references to Anne Boleyn and her purported lover Mark Smeaton. She also gives a clearer insight as to what Elizabeth’s thoughts on love, marriage and family might have been since the queen remained unmarried throughout her reign. How would she have regarded someone’s sense of family through love and devotion, something she may not have experience personally since her father beheaded her mother on baseless rumors. This paints a plausible picture of a grand woman often portrayed as cold, tough and ruthless. It’s good to see the woman underneath the crown, and not just the queen.

To Ruin a Queen raises the bar on Elizabethan mysteries, although the whodunit was a tad predictable. However, Buckely does leave the reader with a tantalizing and surprising taste of the supernatural at the end.

Almost Perfect by James Goss

I love the BBC Wales television series Torchwood, so I was happy to find a series of novels based on the show. I read Almost Perfect by James Goss only to find out halfway through that it was the fifth in the series, not the first. Oh, well. My bad. I’m not aware of the timeline of the first four but Almost Perfect takes place after the deaths of Owen and Tosh. I still haven’t forgiven the writers and producers for killing them off.

In this fifth book, Ianto Jones wakes up one morning to find he’s changed into a woman – a very beautiful woman. Almost perfect. While Jack and Gwen search for the reason behind his sudden change in gender, across town a skeleton appears in a restaurant out of thin air and a frumpy young woman has found a strange device that promises to make her perfect and create faults in her enemies.

Unfortunately (and naturally), these aren’t the only odd things happening in Cardiff. A ferry overturns under mysterious circumstances and Jack discovers a strange cloud of static energy increasing in size and strength just over the city.

As is typical in Torchwood episodes, all the bizarre events are connected and, as Ianto suspects, alien technology is involved.

Goss’ story is a lot of fun but there is a lot going on, too. Goss has good imagery and describes scenes with vivid details. However on occasion, the story becomes a confused mess and a lot of it remains unexplained at the end. Maybe it was the author’s intent that the reader could connect all the dots, but gaps remain as do a lot of questions. Not everything is cleared up.

However, Goss’ writing style is witty, smart and hilariously punctuated with numerous pop culture references. For fans of the show, it’s easy to see Jack, Gwen and Ianto in this adventure and hear their voices from the pages. Goss keeps everyone in character which is paramount for us fans.

If you’re not familiar with the show or the series, begin with the first novel or start watching!

One of the best lines I ever read: Gwen Cooper to Captain Jack Harkness, “When will you learn that you can’t solve a problem by shagging it?”

If I had a dollar for every time…

Easy A is here!

It's now available at loveyoudivine.com! I've already had a reader begging for a sequel. Awesome!