Book Review- Don Passman- Mirage

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.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com.

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Ted Dekker- The Bride Collector

Ted Dekker- The Bride Collector (Center Street 2011) 3.75 Stars

A psychopath is obsessed with beautiful women. He believes that he is collecting them for God’s work, but Special Agent Brad Raines thinks otherwise. He must hunt down this killer before he destroys everything Raines holds dear. On a weird twist he finds himself relying on a select group at the Center for Wellness and Intelligent, a home for mentally ill, but very intelligent people.

I have gotten used to the extreme oddity of Ted Dekker’s books, which leads to a lot of intense moments. This book was not nearly as odd as the majority of his other books. It did have some good twists and turns however. That being said I have seen better work by this author, which is not to say that I did not like this book. I do wish that the situations would have been a little more realistic, as I do not think that an FBI man would rely on mentally ill patients to solve his case. However it was different from other books in that manner, which is kind of nice to see. The characters were unique and fairly well created. Overall I thought that this book was good, but could have been better.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- John Douglas- Man Down

John Douglas- Man Down (Pocket Books 2004) 3.25 Stars

When a plane goes does containing some hot shots from Washington, Jake Donovan and his tem of Broken Wings are brought in. Terrorists are suspected to of been behind the attack after it is found out that the President’s wife was supposed to of been on the plane, but due to a change of plans she had hadn’t been. Before Donovan can even begin the government removes him from the case. Now Donovan must try to find his rich employer’s missing niece. It does not take long for him to realize that the cases may not be separate after all, and now he finds himself running for his life, trying to solve a conspiracy before it ends with him and his team.

The introduction for Man Down was great; it grabs your attention and makes you want to read more. I did find that after that though it was a little hard to get into for awhile. Half way through it picks up again and from there it is action packed until the end. The characters were certainly interesting and well-developed, and I found it interesting that the author has actually worked in the FBI so it gives the book that extra touch of realism. However I did find that things just happened a little too smoothly and worked out too conveniently. The ending kind of lame as well, and they had Jake Donovan explain how everything worked out instead of putting it all into and action-packed ending. Has John Douglas never heard of Show Not Tell!?

I would not slap my personal recommendation on this one, just an average read.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

www.eloquentbooks.com/kidsonacase.thml

Book Review- Lee Child- The Visitor

Lee Child- The Visitor (Bantam Books 2000) 4.75 Stars

Women are dying all around the States; murdered for some unknown reason, and yet they all seem to be connected. All the women were in the army and have resigned. All are being found in their home, naked, in a bathtub full of army camouflage paint, and no one can figure out just how they died. The authorities suspect that the murderer must be an army man who is a loner who has developed a strong hate for these women, a man who can be ruthless and efficient when the situation calls for it. The model that they intend to use…Jack Reacher.

The Visitor is another great novel put out by a fantastic author, Lee Child. It was a little bit odd to be reading a European version of a novel (U.S. version is called Running Blind), the spelling on certain words was different, the same for a couple of grammatical changes. This book grabbed my attention right from the get go and did not let up at any point. I kept wondering what Jack was going to do next and was surprised at some of his reactions as I expected him to react differently. I love Jack’s character as he is your hard-nosed, no-nonsense, tough guy, who has a big heart; although he doesn’t always show it the way people think that he should. We find him being manipulated by the FBI and yet at the same time he is tricking them into doing certain things the way he wants them to. He gets the opportunity to use some of his old army connections, showing a little bit of how his old job worked. I enjoyed how this one was more mystery than some of his previous ones.

I recommend The Visitor (Running Blind) to anyone who loves Lee Child, mysteries, or thrillers.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

www.eloquentbooks.com/kidsonacase.html

Book Review- James Patterson- The Big Bad Wolf

James Patterson- The Big Bad Wolf (Doubleday 2003) 3.75 Stars

As Alex Cross adjusts to being in the FBI, he must complete the training courses and adjust to their different way of dealing with cases. The kidnapping of a judge’s wife brings in the FBI and Alex Cross finds himself hunting a Russian gang leader named the Wolf. The Wolf is using small groups to kidnap women and sell them to his select buyers for the purposes of slavery/sex. Just as they think that they have got him he eludes their grasp time and time again. Catching the Wolf may be a bigger challenge then the FBI had first figured.

James Patterson’s Cross series seems to be stuck in a mould. The same situations keep happening in each book, making them more and more predictable as the series goes. For example his family will always get threatened at some point and the suspect will always elude capture/outsmart Cross several times throughout the book. I would love to give specific examples, but do not like spoilers in reviews, so I will refrain. I find myself predicting what will happen at certain points, although I must say I loved the ending, I did not see it coming. In this book we heard a little less about his family, enough so that it was tolerable. As usual his family life suffers greatly during a tough case, which is likely how it works for many officers of the law. I did like this villain. He was not near as creepy as some of the others. He was pretty much just feeding upon the deviant sexual predators to make money for himself. The Wolf was a very intelligent criminal who gave Cross a good run for his money, much better than the tiresome Mastermind, whose books I did not enjoy.

I recommend The Big Bad Wolf to fans of Patterson and his Cross series.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Gordon Korman- On The Run: The Fugitive Factor

Gordon Korman- On The Run: The Fugitive Factor (Scholastic Inc. 2005) 3.5 Stars

Aiden and Meg Falconer have lost their parents to the FBI. The charges that took their parents are wrong and these two must find the evidence to prove what no one else seems willing to believe. Breaking laws across the states they fight to stay out of the grasps of the law. Meanwhile Hairless Joe, a hit man, is trying to hunt them down and end their search for the truth.

Being the second book in a series, it took me a bit to figure out what was going on. The storyline though is very interesting and if I could get my hands on the rest of the series I would. Meg and Aiden are great characters who have one goal in mind, to free their parents. This noble cause gets them into some very odd and fun situations, I enjoyed seeing them squeeze out of tough situations and I think that kids would love it. The ending kind of sucked though, as it left you needing to read the next book to find out what happened. This is one major complaint in reading a series, when all the books only make sense when you read the other books, it can be difficult to find the whole series, so getting into it may prove a challenge.

I recommend this series to young kids.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

www.eloquentbooks.com/kidsonacase.html