Review: The Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Trigger warning: rape, under-age-sex, abuse, killing. In short, your typical YA-book ... for people who still think school was the worst thing that happened to them.
Also, a tear-jerker, I felt for the MC, so be sure to stack up on tempo-tissues.

Wow! A different serial-killer book, well written from the POV of one of the (female) survivors of the killer, dealing with the story up to the obvious escape and a little aftermath (no spoiler, this much you can gather from the blurb).

Did not know the author, this one was recommended to me (somewhere on goodreads? Rivited?, BookRiot?) and I lent it with a 2 month 99ct./month Kindle Unlimited trial.
Also now lent a few days before that runs out the second book in the series, and have the third one pre-ordered as a buy, should be published May 22nd, 2018.

Not much action and some may not like the style the story progresses, but I did. Also the MC is exceptional real, just my kind of sassy, strong, outspoken female - young, but way older than her years in experience.

Highly-recommended page-turner, some might consider it for adult, but I still think, as a warning, this could and should be read by teens age 15 and above, so I consider it as YA but then I remember, my favourite YA book I read when I was a few years older (18?) is A Clockwork Orange, so maybe I am the wrong one to judge.

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Review: The Protector

The Protector by Danielle Lenee Davis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lent with Kindle Unlimited, glad I did not pay for it.
Not enough suspense, too much personal stuff, MC ok, but also too much personal information, and not enough of the case.

Case is a simple mystery, not very gripping, and should have been more important, although the book is short, it felt like 50% was (for me) unimportant personal stuff. Also the case could have been better handled by the police (more resources etc.). Police procedures where well written with a forms for the witnesses to agree to search/DNA invasion opf privacy, at times too detailed.

It feels more like a simple mystery, and with the added romance like a read for a rainy weekend. Not recommended, maybe the next books in the series will be better, but I will most probably not read them.


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Review: Frostkind: Sylt-Thriller

Frostkind: Sylt-Thriller by Daniela Arnold
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lent with Kindle Unlimited.
With two cases it should have been more suspenseful, but the actual investigation was rather bland, meh. Will probably not read more of this author. OK, but not really recommended.

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Review: Das Jesus-Experiment

Das Jesus-Experiment by Bernd Roßbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lent this with Kindle Unlimited. This is one of the books I would have paid a reasonable price for, after reading it.
While long, it kept my interest and was never boring.
This would have been a Dan Brown-like 4star, except it has something (in Kindle. not sure about EPub) I miss from a lot of these books, footnotes / source-links.
Not available in English (yet, April 18th, 2018). If and when it gets translated in English (or your language) I recommend it.

Also weiter in Deutsch:
Während es lang war, war es durchweg interessant und niemals langweilig.
Vergleichbar mit Dan Brown, was normalerweise eine 4stern-Bewertung rechtfertigt, hat dieses Buch Fußnoten und Links zu Quellen (in der Kindle-Ausgabe, nicht sicher ob die EPub-Ausgabe das auch hat (öh, es gibt keine).
Dazu eine gute Zusammen als Nachwort vom Autor und einige sehr gute Tabellen.
Der Autor hat auch Fachliteratur veröffentlicht und dies hat er super gut eingebracht. Bei vielen Büchern (u.a. auch Preston / Child's Agent Pendergast-Reihe) wird extrem viel recherchiert - warum lassen uns die Autoren dann nicht daran teilhaben?

Das Buch ist vergleichbar mit Dem Jesus-Video (publiziert 1998) von Andreas Eschbach, aber da wurde der Kniff einer nicht weiter erklärten Zeitreise benutzt (wenn ich mich richtig erinnere), womit es ins Fantasy-Genre rutscht.
Im Kontrast dazu sind die Technologien, die in diesem Buch beschrieben werden, real und in den Anfängen ihrer Forschung, und damit in die SF Zukunft logisch fortgeschrieben - also nicht so unwahrscheinlich.

Einige der theologischen Kontroversen (Stichwort Apokryphen) sind aktuell belegt bzw. in der Erforschung.

Für diese Fußnoten/Links, die Tabellen und das Nachwort also 1 zusätzlicher Stern.

Damit eine dringende Lese-Empfehlung, und ich werde mit Sicherheit noch weitere Bücher vom Autor lesen (und wohl auch kaufen).

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Review: Das Jesus-Experiment

Das Jesus-Experiment by Bernd Roßbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lent this with Kindle Unlimited. This is one of the books I would have paid a reasonable price for, after reading it.
While long, it kept my interest and was never boring.
This would have been a Dan Brown-like 4star, except it has something (in Kindle. not sure about EPub) I miss from a lot of these books, footnotes / source-links.
Not available in English (yet, April 18th, 2018). If and when it gets translated in English (or your language) I recommend it.

Also weiter in Deutsch:
Während es lang war, war es durchweg interessant und niemals langweilig.
Vergleichbar mit Dan Brown, was normalerweise eine 4stern-Bewertung rechtfertigt, hat dieses Buch Fußnoten und Links zu Quellen (in der Kindle-Ausgabe, nicht sicher ob die EPub-Ausgabe das auch hat (öh, es gibt keine).
Dazu eine gute Zusammen als Nachwort vom Autor und einige sehr gute Tabellen.
Der Autor hat auch Fachliteratur veröffentlicht und dies hat er super gut eingebracht. Bei vielen Büchern (u.a. auch Preston / Child's Agent Pendergast-Reihe) wird extrem viel recherchiert - warum lassen uns die Autoren dann nicht daran teilhaben?

Das Buch ist vergleichbar mit Dem Jesus-Video (publiziert 1998) von Andreas Eschbach, aber da wurde der Kniff einer nicht weiter erklärten Zeitreise benutzt (wenn ich mich richtig erinnere), womit es ins Fantasy-Genre rutscht.
m Kontrast dazu sind die Technologien, die in diesem Buch beschrieben werden, real und in den Anfängen ihrer Forschung, und damit in die SF Zukunft logisch fortgeschrieben - also nicht so unwahrscheinlich.

Einige der theologischen Kontroversen (Stichwort Apokryphen) sind aktuell belegt bzw. in der Erforschung.

Für diese Fußnoten/Links, die Tabellen und das Nachwort also 1 zusätzlicher Stern.

Damit eine dringende Lese-Empfehlung, und ich werde mit Sicherheit noch weitere Bücher vom Autor lesen (und wohl auch kaufen).


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Review: Keep You Near

Keep You Near by Robin Roughley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Got this from the Bookbub email-letter as a freebie. Well I am glad, I did not pay for it.
The grammar reads a little confusing (not entirely sure if it is wrong), too many people-POV, and only at 69% in the book the story-lines get together.

Trigger Warning: tl dr: you name it, this book has it...
torture, abuse, bullying, child-abuse, pedophelia, BWS, mental health issues. Surprisingly high body count, graphic and violent deaths.

MC is a bit to deep in. Her next supurior and partner (?) is not very fleshed out and not very convincing, at times sounded like a dumb sidekick, not like a surperior and was too often surprised by some of the evil people do and some suggestions as to what might have happend by the MC. Lets me question how he rose in ranks.

The writing feels fractured in too many POVs, too many important people, and not enough suspense.
If I remember correctly, all persons get a little background, even minor side ones. This ads nothing to the crime-story and supports the boredom I felt reading this book.
While I liked the short chapters, with each new chapter you stumble in a different POV, only in the end you have a longer suspensful sequence.

Also one of the POV was from a mentally ill person, which was hard to get into, although well written as far as I can tell.

The case and its conclusion is very harsh and interesting, the writing not so much. Not recommended, there are better books available, and I am not convinced I will read more of this series. Still 3 stars for the crime and the conclusion. The reading time (ca. 3 weeks) reflects that I had to read shorter, lighter, better books in between.

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Review: Keep You Near

Keep You Near by Robin Roughley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Got this from the Bookbub email-letter as a freebie. Well I am glad, I did not pay for it.
The grammar confusing (not entirely sure if it is wrong), to many people-POV, and only at 69% in the book the story-lines get together.

Trigger Warning: tl dr: you name it, this book has it...
torture, abuse, bullying, child-abuse, pedophelia, BWS, mental health issues. Surprisingly high body count, graphic and violent deaths.

MC is a bit to deep in. Her next supurior and partner (?) is not very fleshed out and not very convincing, at times sounded like a dumb sidekick, not like a surperior and was too often surprised by some of the evil people do and some suggestions as to what might have happend by the MC. Lets me question how he rose in ranks.

The writing feels fractured in too many POVs, too many important people, and not enough suspense.
If I remember correctly, all persons get a little background, even minor side ones. This ads nothing to the crime-story and supports the boredom I felt reading this book.
While I liked the short chapters, with each new chapter you stumble in a different POV, only in the end you have a longer suspensful sequence.

Also one of the POV was from a mentally ill person, which was hard to get into, although well written as far as I can tell.

The case and its conclusion is very harsh and interesting, the writing not so much. Not recommended, there are better books available, and I am not convinced I will read more of this series. Still 3 stars for the crime and the conclusion.



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Review: Hafenmord

Hafenmord by Katharina Peters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lent with Kindle Unlimited.
Liked the writing, the case and the MC.
As it is playing in the time it was published (2014) good use of technology, just the right amount, not too much or too SF-like, keeping it real.
Recommended, will probably read more in this series, but the other books are currently too expensive and not on Kindle Unlimited (for now?).
Rated 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars for a first in a series.

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Review: Hafenmord

Hafenmord by Katharina Peters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lent with Kindle Unlimited.
Liked the writing, the case and the MC.
As it is playing in the time it was published (2014) good use of technology, just the right amount, not too much or too SF-like, keeping it real.
Recommended, will probably read more in this series, but the other books are too expensive and not on Kindle Unlimited (for now?).

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Review: Sühnekind

Sühnekind by Caroline Parker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lent with Kindle Unlimited, read most of it in FF mode, ok-ish, but not really interesting for me.
The crime-scenes are well done, the MC and others do not interest me enough.
Glad I lent it, paying for it would have been too much, writing is just not gripping enough for me.
Others may like it.

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Review: Kalte Wut ... TODESFLUT

Kalte Wut ... TODESFLUT by Paul Rheinfels
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Lent with a 2 month 99 ct./month Kindle Unlimited Trial.
DNFed it after 2-3 chapters. Writing was a detailed description of a few bloody massakers, could have been my kind of book, but did not grip me. Detected so far no errors and did what KU is for: gave it back unread, the author will not receive much money for it, as the authors of KU ebooks are paid by pages read ...


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Review: Blue Monday

Blue Monday by Nicci French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As the family (my mother, my sister and my nice) are reading this in German translation and are all quite fond of the series, I tried it in english.
Not a book for me, ok-ish, and as I have another book by Nicci French, Secret Smile (already bought), I will look into that, but probably not read more by her.
If you are into lots of inner musings by the MC, this might be the book for you, Frida Klein is a rather interesting character and I like her style of living.
The book takes place in the UK (London again, big yawn), with a lot of walking by foot taking place and a few rather good descriptions of places, but somehow that did not grip me as it did in other books taking place in the UK. Also, due to the timeframe (no smartphones) and the MC not even owning a mobile phone, not a lot of technology.
The crime-story is not very suspenseful and the investigation takes too long.

So, 2 nice unexpected twists near the end could not save this for me, barely 3 stars for a first in a series I will not recommend and most probably not visit again.

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