Category Archives: action/adventure

action/adventure, character, head, reviews, setting, thriller

Paul Doirdon — Dead by Dawn

The story starts off with a bang with Maine game warden Mike Bowditch crashing through the ice in his Jeep into a river with his wolf-dog, Shadow. The book is back and forth between Mike’s survival of the river and being chased through the wilderness by some not so believable bad guys, and his recounting his investigation that led up to the staged “accident” that put him in the river.

I enjoyed the survival chapters more than the investigation chapters, which dragged. I found it confusing that he continued to stay in a dangerous community interviewing people he believed were lying to him. The first survival chapters gave good insights into how to survive winter in northern Maine. The later survival chapters were a bit over the top.

The bad guys at Pill Hill were mostly one dimensional and it took Mike a long time to figure out who they were and why they were chasing him, trying to kill him.

One of my favorite parts of the story was the relationship between Mike and the wolf-dog Shadow.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, humor, mystery, reviews

Lee Child and Andrew Child — The Sentinel

Browsing through reviews of The Sentinel, I see a number of readers think Reacher has lost some of his personality being co-authored by Lee Child and his brother Andrew. I didn’t feel that way. Reacher might be a little older, a little mellower, but he’s still the same loner with a wanderlust that keeps him traveling throughout the country. He’s still a magnet for people in trouble and can’t resist jumping in to help. He continues to have the unbelievable ability to win every fight no matter how many opponents he faces. And he still travels with only a toothbrush. He did have a phone for a short time in this story, but he gave it back in the end.

I like Reacher’s personality—positive and upbeat, helpful in the extreme, no greed, no depression, no guilt. The two Child brothers have maintained that temperament. And I see humor in the exaggeration of character traits, especially the villains, and in Reacher’s deadpan dialog. It’s not laugh-out-loud humor, but it’s there.

I will keep reading more Reacher books as long as they keep publishing.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, humor, mystery, reviews, thriller

Candice Fox — Gathering Dark

Another good read from Candice Fox, but I prefer her books set in Australia. I read plenty of crime fiction books with LA as a backdrop. I’d much rather read the unknown to me settings in Australia where my imagination can take flight.

As they are in Fox’s other books, the characters are strong but quirky; many are mean and nasty. There are so many “bad guys” in this story it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of who’s who. All the cops are shady and twisted, some even criminal. Even Jessica Sanchez, the protagonist, pulls some very bad stunts in revenge on her partner after he fails to back her up on a call. Blair Harbour, the other main character, is only a year out of prison for killing her neighbor. She tries to be good but doesn’t always succeed. Blair’s friend “Tweat” (Blair is trying to help her find her daughter) is a thief and a liar.

I’m not sure if some of the outrageous and improbably situations the characters found themselves in were meant to be humorous, but they made me laugh.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, humor, mystery, reviews, style

Walter Mosley — Blood Grove

Mosley is a descriptive writer—settings, characters, actions—all are vividly detailed. You can see them in your mind’s eye. His characters are never one-dimensional. He digs deep and finds good and bad in heroes and villains alike. He describes LA of 1969 so well that you feel as if you’re living there.

In this story, Easy Rawlins is almost accidentally drawn into uncovering a complex plot of theft and murder when he sets out to find a missing girl for a PTSD veteran. Even after the young vet is murdered, Rawlins can’t let it go. He wants to finish the job, and if he doesn’t untangle the mystery, he could end up dead like his client.

The only thing that kept the novel from being five stars for me was too many characters to follow, even though each one felt distinctive.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, humor, mystery, reviews, strange

Joseph Wambaugh — Hollywood Hills

Most of this novel is filled with tales of the motley crew of Hollywood Hills cops taking police calls—a mixture of hilarious, sad, heartbreaking, and violent stories. But mixed in with the incidents is a crime plot with many weird twists and turns. Wambaugh writes with such finesse and detailed characterization that you understand all the players’ (good an bad) motivations.

The book keeps you reading to see what crazy action will happen next.

action/adventure, head, heart, literary, reviews, setting

William Kent Krueger — This Tender Land

Krueger transports us to a different time and place in this saga of four orphan children traveling the rivers of the Midwest in 1932, the middle of the Great Depression. They have escaped a cruel Native American training school where Odie and his brother Albert were the only white children. Their river “family” includes Emmy, a young girl whose mother was killed in a tornado, and Mose, a Sioux who speaks only sign language. They meet helpful and dangerous people as they travel the river, trying to stay ahead of the owners of the school and the law.

Excellent writing with interesting characters, good story, and settings that make you feel you are there. Written from the point of view of an old man telling the story of his adventures as a twelve-year-old, young, naïve boy, Odie sometimes seems too wise for his age.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, humor, mystery, POV, reviews, SF

Hank Green — A Beautiful Foolish Endeavor

“…Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton, 1887

Let me first say that I’m an eighty-year-old woman who loves to read most fiction genres. I receive my books from the local library Books by Mail program. Most are not specific requests and they cover a wonderful variety of subjects and styles. Second, I almost didn’t start this novel because it’s a sequel to a book I haven’t read, and reviews indicated it was aimed at a young audience with a theme about social media, which I avoid.

But I loved this book (even without reading the previous installment). It’s not only about the abuse of money and power, it’s about humanity, encompassing our worst and best traits and in between.

action/adventure, character, heart, humor, reviews, setting

Don Winslow — Broken

Six novellas in one book. Some better than others.

Broken (2**): Way too dark for my taste. A story about a cop family and a gang, each seeking revenge on the other. The only saving grace was the ending.

Crime 101 (4****): A dedicated cop looks for a thief he’s convinced has committed several robberies, although no one else seems to agree with him. The thief is planning a multi-million dollar heist before he retires. Both are interesting characters in this somewhat humorous story.

The San Diego Zoo (4****): Hilarious story about a young cop who tries to do the right thing, but keeps getting into trouble for stepping over the lines. And there’s a chimp who escapes the zoo with a gun. Picture it!  🙂

Sunset (4****): Great characters—a bail bondsman whose business is tanking, a washed-up surfer/addict who runs out on his bail, a surfer/bounty hunter chasing his friend, and more. Several characters are getting older and dealing with it in different ways. I understand many of them have appeared in previous novels, but this book is my first taste of Winslow’s writing.

Paradise (2**): The drug trade underside of Hawaii combines with a picture of surfing. (Winslow has surfing in all the stories.) In Paradise, his characters are a bit thin. The plot makes me think of a big wave, starting calm and building to a crescendo.

The Last Ride (3***): Some reviewers labeled this story political, but I feel it’s a strong character study of a border patrol agent fighting a broken system. I would give it 4 stars except the ending crushes my heart.

action/adventure, character, head, heart, mystery, reviews, setting

Sara Paretsky — Dead Land

I’ve only read one other Paretsky novel, Shell Game, which I gave three stars—middle of the road. With Dead Land, I connected with the protagonist, V.I. (Vic) Warshawski, and found her determined and focused on solving the mysteries surrounding friends and family. Previously I found her too angry at the world, scattered in her investigation and her life, and making foolish mistakes. With this story, she seems to have reason behind her decisions, even when her moves are reckless and dangerous. She isn’t filled with anger and even has a sense of humor.

A side character, Coop, is interesting. Even though we see little of him, he’s a major character in the story. I love his dog, Bear.

Even though it twists and turns and has some almost unbelievable connections, the plot of Dead Land makes sense, where Shell Game didn’t. Paretsky connects greed and corruption in Chicago politics with greed and corruption in Chili, all revolving around a famous woman musician, first homeless then missing on the streets of Chicago. She’s another major character we see little of, but we learn a lot about her.

The settings in Chicago and Kansas are both well covered, making me feel the heat in the streets and the muddy rain in the flooded fields.

Although a bit too long, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

action/adventure, character, heart, mystery, reviews, setting

William Kent Krueger — Sulfur Springs

This novel gives us a look at the mess at our southern border. Cork O’Connor and his new wife, Rainy, go to Arizona to find her son Peter, who is involved with a group trying to help refugees from Central America. Every time they get a lead on where to look for him, the drug lords and/or the lawmen appear. Who is tipping them off?

A well-written story with a good plot and engaging characters. The coverage of the drug wars and the immigrants escaping through the border wall with Mexico keeps tension high.

Only the second Krueger novel I’ve read, both are about Cork’s children or step-children. He has an interesting family.