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  P and Q Authors July/August

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  If we are still doing this than I guess these are for the group read of authors with last names starting with the letters P or Q.

  Tony Peters started this discussion 11 months ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  Tony Peters 

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  Ryne Douglas Pearson- Top Ten 3.5 Stars

  When serial killer Michaelangelo sees that the top ten most wanted list has been numbered and he is at the bottom of the list, it infuriates him. Now he is hunting down the others on the list in order to become number one. Ariel and the FBI are after this man though and they are onto what his game is. This cagey villain will be the ultimate test for her skills.

  This was one of the most disturbing introductions I have read in a long time. The book was very well written, but continued to be chillingly disturbing throughout the book. The plot was twisting and weaving all the way through, working towards an explosive ending. I did have to wonder how the villain so easily tracked down all these people that the FBI could not find. The characters were pretty well done, but could have had more depth. The overall plausibility was probably my biggest problem with this novel though. As a whole the novel kept me on the edge of my seat, so I would say it was a decent read.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Melissa P 

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  I began Strip by Thomas Perry today. Haven't even made it to the triple killing that the synopsis talks about. The author is really good at character development, but at this point I honestly don't know what the book is about.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Tony Peters 

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    Hate it when they take too long to get to the point!

    posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Melissa P 

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    Yeah. I didn't really like this book at all. It ended very suddenly. There were so many different stories going on it would be impossible for me to tell you what it was about. I gave it 2 stars.

    posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Boots S 

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  Without a Hitch Andrew Price

  What happens when an innocent man gets framed for the perfect crime? What if he’s not that innocent? Drawn from the author’s sixteen years as a litigator in various state and federal courts, "Without a Hitch" is a high stakes courtroom drama which plays out amidst the desperation and uncertainty of a plan gone horribly wrong, as Washington, D.C. attorney Alexander Corbin struggles with his conscience, his panicky co-conspirators and not getting caught

  This appeared to be a great plot with a bit of humor along the way. Further into the story, it started to drag. The characters needed deeper development. The court room description was a bit overdone and I was disappointed in the abrupt ending.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Sherri B removed this reply 11 months ago.

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  Melissa P 

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  Started The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock today. Again, way too many story lines going on at once. I'm on Part 3 and there are so many characters and story lines - I'm not sure what is important and what isn't. Ugh .. 0 for 2 so far.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Melissa P (edited)

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  Alright. I finished The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock today. As I mentioned before there were so many characters and story lines happening that I didn't really care for it. That being said, the author did tie them all together nicely in the end. I did find it rather depressing, though. I gave it 2 starts. I'm trying something from another genre next. I'll post again when I have more P and Q authors.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Tony Peters 

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  Richard Preston- The Cobra Event 3.5 Stars

  Dr. Alice Austen of the Centers for Disease Control is on the trail of a new strain of virus. A man is releasing bits of this virus into the New York City population. A homeless man dies and is quickly followed by a young girl. Now they must locate this man before he causes a widespread epidemic. He has no intention of being caught though and will not go down without a fight.
  
  It took me a bit to get into this book. That being said, it had some really intense parts that led up to an explosive ending. The plot kind of twisted and turned, but was slowed down by parts that were pointless fluff. It did also have a few parts that I wondered about the plausibility. The characters were really well done, and it must have taken some research to find out symptoms of different diseases. I especially loved the way it ended. Overall it was a pretty good read.

  posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Michael E 

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  Cat and Mouse—James Patterson
  4 stars
  In this 1997 addition to the Alex Cross series, Patterson is at the peak of his game. In one book, he comes up against two dangerous and crafty serial killers, Gary Soneji and Mr. Smith. Who cares how plausible it is—you can’t stop turning the pages. Patterson engages you well with Cross and his family and romantic life as a counterpoint to his relentless efforts to keep ahead of the killers, who take a personal interest doing him and his partners in the police and FBI harm.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Tony Peters 

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    This is one of his better ones.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Michael E 

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  Kill Alex Cross—James Patterson
  2 stars
  The president’s two kids are kidnapped and a Saudi terrorist cell begins creating chaos and destruction with targeted murders, poisoning of water supplies, and bombings. At first the Secret Service, FBI, and Homeland Security shut Alex out of the cases, but eventually the First Lady gets Metro PD Detective Alex Cross involved due to his past success with kidnapping cases. Alex gets busy and creative. Meanwhile, his live-in ancient grandmother takes in a homeless teenaged girl who mugs her. Alex is an engaging character, but the terrorist campaign seems implausible and stupid, with no sense of the motivation driving the stereotypical bad guys.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Tony Peters 

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    This series just seems to drag on and Patterson's quality of writing has gone downhill as he rushes to push out too many books.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Michael E 

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  Runner--Thomas Perry
  3 stars
  Pretty clever and entertaining suspense tale featuring Jane Whitefield, a Seneca Indian in Upstate New York who helps people disappear from dangerous situations, assume new identities, and acquire survival skills. Here she is pulled out of retirement from this service by a runaway 20-year old who is six weeks pregnant. She is escaping from a complex domestic violence situation in which her future baby has special value to her boy has special value to her real estate boyfriend and boss in San Diego. Jane tries to avoid violence as much as possible, but the dangers posed by the multiple people looking for Christine make that hard to avoid this time around. This 6 of 7th in the series was worth the ride, although the formula begins to show through.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Tony Peters 

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  Don Passman- Mirage 3.75 Stars

  Berger has just found out that his place of work has been bombed and he is suspect number one. The problem is, he was gone playing in a chess tournament all weekend, but all records of there having been a tournament have been wiped out. Now he must try to keep ahead of the FBI as they hunt him down. Only one person in the FBI believes him, Agent Jill Landis. Jill is a young agent with no experience in such matters, but she believes it could be a part of something much larger, and far deadlier than an office building explosion.

  Interesting beginning. It makes you curious about what could be so bad and how this is going to tie into the main plot. Mirage gripped my attention all the way through; it kept up a good pace and had some good twists and turns. The major twist we find out about in the ending I did see a mile away. I wish that the author had found another way of making this less obvious. I also hate how FBI agent women in novels seem to end up sleeping with someone they aren’t supposed to in every book. The characters were pretty good though. Overall this book was a pretty good read.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Melissa P 

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  Starting Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky today. Not entirely sure what I think yet. I thought she was a mystery / thriller writer, but that doesn't seem to be what's going on now. Not giving up yet, though.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Tony Peters 

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    Hopefully it will be a good different.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Melissa P 

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    Unfortunately no .. in case you missed it on the other thread I detested it. So that being said, I started The Bell Ringers by Henry Porter yesterday ( still trying to keep with the P/Q theme through the end of the month ). First time reading this author and I am really enjoying this book. Should be done by the end of the weekend and I'll let you know.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Tony Peters 

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    I kept finding books I didn't like in these letters, searching for more authors but have found myself going back to authors i know I like. Maybe next months letters will be better for me.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Melissa P 

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    If you didn't already see my other post really liked The Bell Ringers by Henry Porter. The author calls it the second one of a "Pair" so I'll be seeking out the first one. It was a thriller but quite a bit different from others I've read. It concerns political corruption in Britain and is based not too far in the future. At one point it mentions the Olympics in London in the past-tense.

    I think tomorrow I will start the Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry and see how I like it. If I don't then I'll probably pick a stand-by like James Patterson. I've only read a handful of his books in the last 10-years so there's a lot I need to catch up on.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Frances L 

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  "Bleeding Kansas" wasn't really a mystery or a good example of Sara Paretsky's works. "Black List" or "Fire Sale" or "Hard Time" or any other of her mysteries would be a better choice. I like her stories. She writes a good mystery for people who want more than just a "cozy". Her stories are very thought provoking.

  posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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    Melissa P 

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    Yes, I've read one or two of her VI books and enjoyed them.

    posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Melissa P 

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  I really enjoyed The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry - gave it 4 Stars and moved on to the second book in the series called Sleeping Dogs.

  posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Melissa P 

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  Sleeping Dogs was really good - also 4 stars. The only way my library had the third book, The Informant, was to order the disks for the audiobook. So, now I'm waiting for them to arrive to my location. Was going to start the Michael Bennett series by James Patterson, but I got waylaid by the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Since that doesn't fit in here - I guess I'll see you next month for the R and S authors. Hopefully, we'll have more participation with that one.

  posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

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  Tony Peters 

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  Howard Pyle- Robin Hood 3.25 Stars

  I won’t bother summarising this classic as I think you all know the basics about Robin Hood. I was actually surprised at how different this was from what I expected, especially the fact that Maid Marian doesn’t make an appearance until three-quarters of the way through the book, and then it is just for one chapter as well as one mention later on. It seems that movie makers have taken a lot of liberties with this book and have changed so much about it. It covers so much more time than I was expecting as well. I did enjoy reading this novel, once I got past all the ‘doths’ and ‘quoths’. It did seem choppy in its writing style. It was more like a collection of short stories about Robin Hood in the way that it was put together, but it keeps the reader intrigued about what trouble he was going to get himself into next. His playful personality is what gets him into the most amount of trouble every time. This makes for an amusing read. The characters were also very well done, they seemed quite realistic and I love how we see him battling it out with the same people every time, yet there actually was very little killing. Overall I enjoyed this classic, but would have liked it better if it didn’t feel so choppy at times.

  posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

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