Cheryl P

• Rated 4 stars

“Laura Crum's horse lovers mystery was a new experience for me. The words that came to mind as I read were introspective, peaceful and caring. The mystery itself was secondary.
Gail McCarthy loves her family, animals and the countryside. This love come through the narrative without being mawkish or overly sentimental. She becomes involved in a murder investigation in order to clear a dear friend from false accusations.
I enjoyed this novel.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Wednesday, March 24, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Fans of DCI Charlie Woodend may enjoy this book featuring his protegee, newly promoted DCI Monika Paniatowski. Having never read the first series, I found nothing special or unique about this first in a new series to keep me reading.
Paniatowski is a female DCI, fighting the prejudice of her male colleagues as she solves crime. Add a failed affair with a superior to complicate the issue of her promotion. It's been overdone for my taste.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Monday, January 25, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“"When you took a life, you lost some form of protection you didn't even know you had until it was gone. Left you in a place where bad people started tuning in to your frequency."
To me, this quote summarizes the theme of this book. All the characters have lost or given up a piece of their humanity, whether from greed or desperation. No adult is innocent, no child is safe.
Fans of action movies will enjoy this. It moves from violent scene to violent scene with little introspection to slow the narrative. The violence and foul language seem right in this context, I can't imagine these characters acting any other way.

I received an ARC of this book through an Early Reviewer program.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Monday, January 25, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“This is a moving story of the Jewish Resistance in the Warsaw ghetto, with lovely illustrations, but I wonder how many of the target audience (9-12) will really understand the underlying tragedy? They will understand that the cats saved the day, but I believe that quite a bit of explanation will be necessary. Perhaps that is a good thing.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Monday, January 11, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“This is more of a Milo Sturgis police procedural than an Alex Delaware psychological thriller. Delaware is a ride along - I can't remember much more than one-liners from his character in this story! Even though I've always liked Milo, this book was a disappointment.
The character development, the psychological insight into the perpetrators, the story between Alex and Robin - all missing. Even the new dog has less personality than Spike.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Monday, January 11, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Connie Willis loves Christmas. This book of eight short stories is both entertaining and though-provoking. My favorites were "Miracle" and Epiphany", the first and last stories in the book. The first is a chaotic, magical story where nothing seems to go right, the last a modern retelling of the Three Magi. And don't skip the introduction or the afterward, you'll find references to great Christmas stories there, as well as in the included lists of twelve great Christmas reads and twelve great Christmas movies.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Thursday, December 17, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 1 stars

“I kept plodding forward in this seemingly endless novel (364 pages in the large print edition, which felt like 664!) because of several reviews which stated that it became better. Nuh-uh!
It read like a YA novel. Simplistic plot, simplistic language. At times I felt as though I was listening to preaching; at others, the condescension was unbearable. The maudlin ending caused me to slam the book down in disgust.
From my other reading about the time period Toby is sent back to, the situations seemed false. The cruelty of that time in relation to the Jews was whitewashed here.
I have always enjoyed the writing of Anne Rice. I was hoping that a Christian novel from this excellent writer would raise the bar for Christian fiction. I was sadly disappointed.

”

Cheryl P wrote this review Tuesday, December 15, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“I enjoyed this book. Although it was a bit slow moving, that seems to fit the time period and place: World War II London. DI Ted Stratton and MI5 agent Diana Calthrop (inspired by real life agent Joan Miller) are embroiled in murder, espionage and blackmail with the London blitz as a constant background.
There has been some criticism of the flaws in the character of Diana. True, at times I wished I could slap some sense into her, but realistically, the upper class young women of the time truly were that naive. They went from privileged, sheltered lives into wartime jobs with little, if any, training. The rules they lived by changed and they had to find a new way to cope with the massive changes.
I recommend this to readers of British police procedurals, World War Two stories, and historical mysteries. It is said to be the first in a series focusing on DI Stratton.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Saturday, December 12, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“As a fan of the Evan Delaney series, I decided to give this second book in the Jo Becket series a try. I was hoping that the sadly lacking first Beckett was an aberration. But this one was no better. Gardiner now seems to be more of a James Patterson than a Sue Grafton.
And note that Stephen King's glowing review was based on the Delaney series, not this one!”

Cheryl P wrote this review Tuesday, July 14, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“I'm afraid that anyone who reads this book first will not go on to read any of the other Nina Reilly books and will miss out on a good, engaging series. It seems like a filler or perhaps a place holder until these authors get a real Nina Reilly mystery together.”

Cheryl P wrote this review Saturday, June 13, 2009. ( reply | permalink )