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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Review: Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty Little Secrets Dirty Little Secrets by Liliana Hart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fluffy little romance-thriller, a few twists, but not enough meat, although the murders are well done.
Sex es mentioned, but not very explicit. Could have done with more suspense and less romance.
Feel bad, as I got this through a bookbub mail for free, but that should influence my review.
Not sure I can recommend it, but will read the next book to find out.


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Saturday, September 19, 2015

Review: Evil Never Dies

Evil Never Dies Evil Never Dies by T.R. Ragan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow!
Ok, this! is a great conclusion for the series, seriously did not see that one coming.
A lot is solved, not all to my satisfaction, but that is expected.
The series as a whole set is highly recommended, although I think all books suffer a bit from too many different story-lines.
Walks also a fine line between justice and vigilantism, often questioning the action of certain persons.
Very highly recommended!

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Review: Almost Dead

Almost Dead Almost Dead by T.R. Ragan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nearly 5 stars, but I cannot agree with the twist this takes into the next book, but still, great idea.
Read them in order, starting with the first book.
Recommended, fast page-turner.

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Review: Obsessed

Obsessed Obsessed by T.R. Ragan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Warning: Cliff-Hanger ending.
A first, imho.
Better than the last one and reading the series in order helps.
Recommended, but only in order and with the caveat of the cliffhanger.

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Review: The Girl in the Spider's Web

The Girl in the Spider's Web The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this in German translation, as it would be a translation for me anyways, not understanding the language in which it was originally written.
Price was rather high (Eur 18,99 for the eBook, due to our German law Buchpreisbindung it costs the same in all shops), so I chose not buy it. Might buy it, if the price sinks (probably in a few months or a year, then a paperback is published).

Mostly this is in the same style as the previous Millenium books from the late Stieg Larsson:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
As with these previous books, a very good mixture of action and recherché. The science and computer scenes are very well done, just the right amount of information and real theories and no faults I could detect, everything feasible and for me very believable, down to the elliptical curves.
Although I think R.A.T. could have been explained once (Remote Access Tool, think VNC or TeamViewer), I heard the term for the first time a few months ago when watching "CSI Cyber", not sure how well known that term is. A list, maybe with links, of these words as something to look up in the book or on the internet would have been nice, also for "further reading" or source-material.
For some reason these 4 Millenium books are so far the only books, where the computer-hacking is described both correct and not too deep as to deliver a blue-print for would-be hackers, also without mistakes or too much made up technobabble. You get the feeling, the writer knows how to hack.
Often, in other books, I get the feeling the writer was told, how it works, but did not understand it - in fore- or afterwords this gets confirmed, some writers are honest enough to say so.
Really like the style, although some little scenes stumble a bit, but if memory serves me right, that was also the case in the Stieg Larsson-books.

It has been some time, since I read the first three books back2back, I could remember some stuff, so I am not entirely sure, this can be safely read as a standalone. As it is, I would recommend it to Stieg Larsson Fans anyway, so you have to decide for your self. It helps the background to read the other books - the second and third read like one big book, the second ending on a cliff-hanger directly followed by the third book, while the first book stands on its own and the main story is closed at the end of the book.

To close this, if you like the main idea of the Singularity, I suggest reading Avogadro Corp.
"The Singularity is Still Closer than it Appears ..."

Highly recommended, 5stars.


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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Review: Flesh and Blood

Flesh and Blood Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Skipped #06-#21, not too fond of this series and her writing.
Wanted to check wether the writing got better.
But, just my luck, it ends with a cliff-hanger, so I will sometime read the next book.
Not recommended, the usual drivel, and not really the expected page-turner, although also not dull.
Got this cheap as a Bookbub-Promo at Barnes & Nobles (EBook), as usual I converted it and read it on my Kindle (Voyage)..


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Review: Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans Best Laid Plans by Allison Brennan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As mentioned before in the review to "Dead Heat (Lucy Kincaid #08)", this is not really a standalone but the second book of a (so far) two-parter.
It helps to understand the story, to read Dead Heat before this.
Less romance, I think, and more action.
Had this pre-ordered since April, 2015 - when I realized that there was a book before this one, so I bought that before reading this, and that was a correct guess, and a good decision.
Highly recommended.


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Review: Dead Heat

Dead Heat Dead Heat by Allison Brennan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Skipped the short-novella-collection.
Romance ok, but could have done without.
This together with the next book (Best laid plans) nearly a two-parter - no cliff-hanger, but I suggest to read them back2back.
Highly recommended.

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Review: Terminal: A Virals Novel

Terminal: A Virals Novel Terminal: A Virals Novel by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although pre-ordered a long time before it was published, I put off reading it, as I am sooo sad to see this series closed and finished.
Some romance and a solution to the pesky love-triangle.
A good conclusion to the series, although for some reason I would follow even non-fantasy-SF-storyline with Tory.
Highly recommended as is the whole series and the novellas (although expensive). Begs to be filmed with a few unknowns as the heroine/heroes. Pretty please?

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Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer

The Retribution of Mara Dyer The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back to back reading of all three books in the Trilogy. Still highly recommended. But I have just startet this.
###
Review follows when I am up to it.
Shorty: Ending ok, but could have been better (eg His dark materials), very bloody, very selfish


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Review: The Girl at Midnight

The Girl at Midnight The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Will probably write a longer review with the next book or the conclusion of the series (I think this is a trilogy?).
Highly recommended, a few nice twists, although the main one (what they found out in the end) I guessed from the beginning.

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Review: The Death Sculptor

The Death Sculptor The Death Sculptor by Chris Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

No Sex, No romance, but also not too much suspense. Something was missing, a certain "je ne sais quoi".
Maybe it tried too hard.

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Review: Die Psycho-Trader: Aus dem Innenleben unseres kranken Finanzsystems. Ein Insider erzählt

Die Psycho-Trader: Aus dem Innenleben unseres kranken Finanzsystems. Ein Insider erzählt Die Psycho-Trader: Aus dem Innenleben unseres kranken Finanzsystems. Ein Insider erzählt by Volker Handon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Currently not available in English.
Read this in German, as that is my first language.

German Review:
Am Ende mit einem Ausblick auf die Griechenlandkrise etwa über das Ziel hinausgeschossen.
Das Buch bietet aber so mal einen kritischen Blick auf die Börse aus Blick eines Daytraders.
Obwohl Fachbegriffe gebraucht werden, ist das Buch durchaus für den interessierten Laien geeignet, ausserdem nicht trocken staubig sondern eher überraschend spannend, vor allem da der Autor auch selbstkritisch von Fehlern berichtet, die er und andere gemacht haben.
Und es öffnet vielleicht auch manchem die Augen, wie unser aktueller Kapitalmarkt eigentlich aufgebaut ist.
Wünschenswert währe ein Glossar (für Kindle X-Ray) der Fachbegriffe am Ende gewesen.
Evtl. Hinweis für eine 2. Auflage, das sollte ja für ein EBook schnell zu realisieren sein.
Unbedingte Leseempfehlung!

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Review: Alienated

Alienated Alienated by Melissa Landers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thought this might be a fluffy SF-romance, but actually the racism and fear of alien is very well integrated and hits home for me.
Currently (September 2015) my country takes in a lot of immigrants from Syria and the like, and the situation is comparable, what with some right-wing-airheads setting fire to shelters. But the majority is friendly and helps the people to settle.
Recommended as a rather thoughtful "what-if", well written and engaging and not too much romance. Will certainly read the next book(s).

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Review: The Archived

The Archived The Archived by Victoria Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great story and worldbuilding, we learn part of it through flashbacks and part by Mac learning on the job.
Highly recommended, will read the second book The Unbound soon.

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Review: The Darkest Powers: Complete Trilogy Collection: The Awakening, The Summoning, The Reckoning

The Darkest Powers: Complete Trilogy Collection: The Awakening, The Summoning, The Reckoning The Darkest Powers: Complete Trilogy Collection: The Awakening, The Summoning, The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More like 3.5 stars, for some it may lean to 4.
No Sex, a little romance, a little love triangle, but not too disturbing.
Recommended as a fast read.

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