Book Review- Eric Wilson- The Emily Carr Mystery

Eric Wilson- The Emily Carr Mystery (HarperCollins 2003) 3 Stars

Liz Austen is Visiting Victoria, British Columbia for a friend’s wedding when a man sinks the boat they are on and a valuable painting goes missing. Now Liz finds herself thrown into the middle of a mystery. She must try to locate the thieves before it is too late, all while trying to prepare for the wedding. The Thirteen Oaks mansion may not be as safe as it seems and the family may not be as happy as they put on.

Normally I really love this series, but I have found that the deeper I get into this series the more educational Eric Wilson’s books become. I do not have any problem educational as I think that it is a great thing to have in a middle reader novel. That being said it gets in the way of the mystery and slows things down to a crawling pace at times, which made it so that I almost did not finish this one, as was the case with the book right before this one in the series. The overall plot as usual was good, although I would have been happy with more depth. I did enjoy the characters as they were well-created and fun. It had some intense moments, but these were drowned out by fluff.

I am sad to say that I do not recommend The Emily Carr Mystery.

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- Gil Roscoe- Company of Thieves

Gil Roscoe- Company of Thieves (Kensington Books 2001) 3 Stars

Warren Allison used to be a small-time scammer, now he has gone legit. He has a new girlfriend, a little bit of cash, and a job that he hates. Suddenly his ex-girlfriend and partner in previous scams, pops out of nowhere with the chance of a lifetime. One last con, a con with a huge payload at the end, but can he trust this woman he hasn’t seen in years? In the world of cons things are never as they appear to be, no one is ever who they claim to be, and things do not always go as planned. He can wind up with everything, or with absolutely nothing, depending on how he plays his hand, but he plays to win and he may just end discovering something about himself that he never knew.

Company of Thieves was a different kind of book from what I am used to reading. It kind of intrigued me, which is why I picked it up. The world of cons was a very interesting topic that made for some good reading. I found myself enjoying the novel; that is once I got past the many sex scenes in the novel, which Roscoe could have thinned down. The sex became a bit of a distraction from the actual plot and took away from the storyline. There were not a lot of twists, but the few twists were great, although slightly predictable. I loved the introductory section as it drew my attention in, and yet I found the ending to be completely predictable, you just knew that they would try to screw him, it was just a matter of when, but it wouldn’t be a book if they succeeded now would it. Normally I would say that I just spoiled the whole book for you, but I have told you no less than what the back of the book tells you. So I guess the ending was just average, if not a little dull. What can I say? Not a book I recommend.

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- Steven James- The Rook

Steven James- The Rook (Revell 2008) 3.5 Stars

Patrick Bowers is investigating a bunch of fires in San Diego that end up leading to a deeper chain of events. A killer is on the loose at the very same time and it appears that they may be connected. Patrick Bowers will get to the bottom of everything…even if it’s the last thing he does.

The Rook took a little bit to get into, and I felt it was little bit weaker written than The Pawn. Overall I did enjoy the book and love how Bowers’ mind works. The details always seem to be obscure and it takes a while for Bowers to connect the dots. I was a little annoyed with how much James focuses on the family aspect, it gets to be too overbearing. The strength in James’ writing is always in the depth of his characters, he does such a great job of creating them.

I would recommend this book to James fans, and thriller/mystery lovers.

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

Tony Peters
Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping
www.eloquentbooks.com/kidsonacase.html