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- Mike Blakely- The Snowy Range Gang

Mike Blakely- The Snowy Range Gang (Forge 1996) 3.25 Stars

Although retired Claude Duval is being dragged back into hunting rustlers and murderers. When people start dying and cattle start disappearing, it has the appearance of something he remembers too well. A man named Lone Wolf Wolverton who killed Duval’s partner by mistake years before, is now out of prison and it looks just like his killings used to. When Lone Wolf approaches Duval, he swears that he has found the Lord and will not kill anymore unless it is to defend himself, or his friends. He wishes to prove to Duval that he is being set up and although Duval hates to be partnered with his partner’s murderer he finds himself partnering with a man he only wishes to kill.

I found the introduction to be rather slow and it did not catch my attention. However the book did start picking up shortly through, although I never did find myself loving this novel. The characters were interesting and that was the best part of the book. The idea behind this novel was great; I just did not feel that it was executed well. I also felt that at times it was very difficult to picture the scene being described, there was just not very much for detail. I also thought that the ending was kind of predictable and not all that good. I loved one of Blakely other books growing up, so it really was disappointing to find myself bored with this western. I am sorry to say that I do not recommend this novel.

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- Stuart Woods- Capital Crimes

Stuart Woods- Capital Crimes (Signet 2004) 3.75 Stars

A killer with a political agenda is on the loose. He has already killed a conservative politician and is moving on to other targets. Now Kate must hunt down this killer and locate his targets before he completes the mission he has set out for himself. The killer thinks his objective is worth dying for and he intends to use all of his skills, which seem to be endless, to at least kill his main target. Can Kate figure out this man’s plan before he succeeds? She must use every resource at her disposal or she may loose the life she so enjoys.

Usually I do not enjoy political books, but this one had enough mystery and murder for me to enjoy this novel. The first section was questionable until the man ended up being killed by a sniper, with that I was hooked. The plot was quick moving and kept you guessing what was going to happen next. The ending was not entirely unpredictable, but was decent enough. Kate and her team of feds were good characters, although not extremely deep. I did not feel that the reader really gets to know anyone particularly well, which to me is a negative as I like to connect with the characters. Overall though Capital Crimes was good thriller that I feel good about recommending to thriller readers.

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- J.R.R. Tolkien- The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien- The Hobbit (HarperCollins 1999) 4.75 Stars

Bilbo Baggins is a peaceful little hobbit, who wants nothing more than to live out his life without any adventure. Gandalf, a wizard, has other plans for this little hobbit. After a surprise visit from Gandalf and a large group of dwarves, Bilbo finds himself dragged along on a treasure hunt. Now he must face trolls, goblins, wargs, giant spiders, woodland elves, and a dragon. He must do the dirty work to keep this bunch of dwarves from falling victim to the dangers of Middle Earth. They will find allies along the way, but they are few and far between. Bilbo happens to find a ring along the way that makes him invisible when worn, but the ring may have more to it than meets the eye.

I read this book several years ago after my parents bought for me for my birthday (she had loved it when she read it), and yes this was before the movies came out. With the Hobbit movie coming out within the next couple of years I decided to read this series again. This book was as good as I had remembered it. I find this group of treasure hunters very comical and love how they get out of things just in the nick of time. There are tense moments although I think I find these more amusing than they were intended to be. I love the many characters that they come across during their adventure, both villain and hero. Tolkien had an amazing imagination to have created a planet in such detail, and he has my respect for this.

I recommend this novel to readers of fantasy, or any fans of the Lord of the Rings movies.

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- Louis L’Amour- Riding for the Brand

Louis L’Amour- Riding for the Brand (Bantam Books 1993) 3.25 Stars

Riding for the Brand is a collection of short story western tales. They paint a beautiful picture of the old Wild West. From fighting to keep what’s yours or fighting to find a place to call your own, to fighting just because it is the right thing to do, Louis L’Amour does what he does best, story telling.

I gave this a low rating mainly because I do not enjoy short stories. I find that just when you are getting into the story, it ends. There is no real detail about anything, you don’t get to know your characters, and there is just a shallow plot. Any of the stories in this book could have been expanded to make a book and I would have enjoyed each one much more; that being said, if you enjoy short stories then this is a great book for you. The actual quality of writing is excellent, as is to be expected from a writer of this calibre. I did notice a fair amount of punctuation errors and unintentional spelling mistakes, which I thought was odd as I do not normally notice this in Louis L’Amour novels.

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- Phillip Margolin- Fugitive

Phillip Margolin- Fugitive (Harper 2010) 3.75 Stars

When Charlie Marsh saved the life of a prison during a prison riot, his past as a con man was forgiven and he was awarded early parole. Life outside prison walls is not easy though, especially when a U.S. congressman is murdered and he finds himself being suspect number one. He took off to Batanga, Africa to avoid returning to prison. Now after twelve years of hiding he is returning home and he has hired attorney Amanda Jaffe to keep him from death row. Death row seems like a cakewalk compared to what will happen if African leader Jean-Claude Baptiste gets a hold of him. Running from the African leader’s hired gun, he discovers that he is also in someone else’s sights as well.

Fugitive had an interesting start that I wasn’t sure if I liked, but it did the job and kept me curious enough to keep reading. I won’t say that it had my full attention the whole time I read, as it did not grip me like that, but it was a fairly interesting read. I really liked the plot and the idea behind it. It was creative and went well in a book format. The main character was not the most likeable man as he really was a scoundrel, but I still found myself hoping that the truth would win out (as I knew it must). The other characters were created just enough so that you had enough details to show you who they were, but not enough to gain a big connection (connection was not the author’s desire). It did jump a little from time period to time period to fill you in on much needed details, and normally I find this annoying, but in this case it worked in well with the rest of the storyline.

I recommend Fugitive to thriller fans.

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- Brad Strickland- Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Stowaways

Brad Strickland- Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Stowaways (Minstrel Books 1994) 3.25 Stars

Jake Sisko and Nog stowaway on a shuttle that is transporting Dr. Bashir down to Bajor, Bajor is full of rebel factions so Jake has been forbidden to go. They plan to return before Jake’s father gets back, in the hopes of avoiding consequences, however things go wrong when they get to Bajor, as Dr. Bashir is taken captive by a rebel group. Now Jake and Nog must team up with a young Bajoran girl, Sesana, in order to set Dr. Bashir free and destroy the rebels plan for taking over Bajor.

I used to love these books growing up, back when I actually liked Star Trek. I discovered that these books were a lot more enjoyable back then, as I did not like reading it near as much as I used to. My problem mostly arose from the fact that I just don’t like reading Sci-fi like I used to, but also with these books you have to watch the TV series in order to understand exactly what is going on. The characters are not explained, the author just assumes that you will know who everyone is, which I did, but it makes it difficult for people to just pick up the book. The plot was decent, although with children’s book sit is often difficult to fit in a lot of detail considering the length of these novels.

I only recommend this novel/series to people who have watched Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

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/