Review: Juli.Mord.: Sylt-Krimi

Juli.Mord.: Sylt-Krimi by Bodo Manstein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ohne den Epilog hätte es 3 sterne gegeben, 1 weil es ein Debüt ist, und ich da immer
vorsichtig bin - einige Autoren, gerade selfpublished, werden von Buch zu Buch besser.
Bis zum Epilog ist es eine lockere Krimi-Romanze, nicht sonderlich spannend, und mir
fehlten Twists, also vor (unvorhersehbare) Wendungen.

Habe ein paar der anderen Reviews überflogen, es wurde die alter Mann - junge Frau
Romanze etwas kritisiert, vor allem, da der eine Mann sie schon seit der Geburt kennt.
Wurde nicht ausgelebt, also fand ich das, wie immer bei Romanzen, uninteressant, hat
mich nicht weiter interessiert. Die andere Romanze (mit Sex aber nur angedetet) fand
ich glaubwürdig, aber langweilig.

Ortsbeschreibungen waren noch das Beste am Buch, aber dazu kenne ich Sylt zuwenig, um
zu prüfen, ob das so stimmt. Lebensstil usw. war ganz ok, aber deswegen kaufe ich ja
das Buch nicht, ich will spannende Unterhaltung, und die hatte ich hier nicht, die
Ermittlungen waren ok, aber zu sehr auf die Hauptperson abgestellt.
Das wirkte konstruiert.

Der Epilog hat es für mich ruiniert, jetzt hätte ich das Buch nochmal lesen müssen,
um zu prüfen, ob das logisch in der Handlung passt und evtl. sogar zu erkennen ist.
Ich denke nicht, kann mich natürlich irren, dafür war es einfach nicht spannend genug.
Vor allem, ohne Epilog ist das Buch weitgehend abgeschlossen, ein paar lose Sachen
können auf ein nächstes Buch, aber mit einem neuen Fall weisen, der Epilog lässt fasst
alles offen. Das war natürlich Riesen-Twist, eine Wendung, aber gerade deshalb auch so
unglaubwürdig und aufgesetzt.

Damit so mal eben nur noch 2 Sterne, die ich als Gnadensterne empfinde, und ich werde
selbst kostenlos kein weiteres Buch des Autors lesen, keine Empfehlung, eher
eine Warnung. Der Preis, den ich für das Buch gezahlt habe, war m.E. ein normaler
Preis, aber wert war es mir das Buch nicht. Kostenlos, KU oder 99 ct. würde ich
für angemessen empfinden.

View all my reviews

Review: Ragdoll

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Trying a paid for service, which I just realized I should not yet write about and share, as it is still in Beta.
This is one of the three recommended books. Price is ok, instant ebook buy.

Fast paced page-turner, set in the UK (London mostly).
Wow, what a ride!
After a grisly find of a puzzle-like-ragdoll-staged-death consisting of body parts from several different victims, this story keeps its fast pace with a serial who leaks to the press, and sets a short timeline to stop his killings.

A lot is standard police procedure, but under very high pressure, and with several not sleeping and or not sleeping well for days on end (with the obvious problems such behaviour brings).
People and places well written, with several POV, and a few flashbacks.
Most twists I did not see coming, and a few persons are not simply black-and-white, but more a muddled morally grey, veering into being vigilant or at leas sympathetic to being vigilante.
One member of the police was doing manual data-mining during his supposed sleep or free time in going through old evidence. This felt very real, amassing lots of data, sometimes mining them with a computer, but also trying to locate and speak to every person of a large group to see wether they could offer information or simply are still alive. Although computers where used and some special programs, the large amount of work felt like a lot of old detective work, where computers only added or helped to come to some conclusions, others where simply guessworks or intuitions.

This being the first from three paid-for-recommendations, I can safely say: this one is a success, on the point for me!

Will certainly look for the sequel (this is supposed to be a series) and probably buy it soon.
Read this as an EPub and page-count was strange, so I cannot really say, how long this book is. But the short 3 days it took me to read it where mostly spent reading, with lights-out late on a few days (11:30 pm, 1 am).

A little romance thrown in, sex hinted at, but happening off-page. Very grisly murders with several scenes described en detail, not for the faint-of-heart, but not veering into SAW-material either, keeping it real and no torture.

Highly recommended, for fans of serial killers, UK-settings.

View all my reviews

Review: Sanctuary

Sanctuary by Caryn Lix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Preordered the Kindle ebook with Amazon.de, but they cancelled on publication day, due to a price rise.
Found it cheaper elsewhere - owning Kindle and a Tolino ereader, I can buy and read Kindle and EPub ebooks even with DRM.

As we have a heatwave in Germany, I read a few hours and managed with little sleep, and was more than half through when I turned the lights out, a quarter to midnight on the first day.

Very well written, so far lots of action and twists I did not see coming. A little obvious and expected romance, no sex. After the not very suspenseful (link will be inserted today) These broken stars, which dragged at times, this is way better - so far, but my guess is, it will stay that way. Might get 5 stars, so far. Ok, so it is more like 4 to 4.5 stars, but I rounded to 5 for the first in the series.
Hopefully the next one will be as good or better.

Romance, not really sure, if this counts as instalove - I think not - no sex. Suspenseful and no toned down death-scenes, might be a little too gruesome and bloody for some. Also quite a few real characters die.

What warrants less than 5 stars, some might even give 3:
- at times too much thinking about the same things again and again
- a few too much coincidences aka deus ex machina, convenient, but summed up not too believable.

Still I stand by my 5 star rating and highly recommend it, it was a fast page-turner for me.

View all my reviews

Review: Mörderisches Ostfriesland

Mörderisches Ostfriesland by Klaus-Peter Wolf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

#01 Ostfriesenkiller (filmed, TV-Movie) - angefangen 04-Feb-2018 / durch 08-Feb-2018
#02 Ostfriesenblut - angefangen 08-Feb-2018 / durch 23-Feb-2018
#03 Ostfriesengrab - angefangen 14-Jun-2018 / durch 19-Jun-2018
3,5* rounded down?

Leicht durchgeknallte MC, Polizeiarbeit ok, Fall je nach Buch gut bis extrem gut, etwas viel Privatleben, Romanze, kaum Sex (Jugendfrei). Übergreifender Fall, wo es um Ann Kathrin Klaasens Vater geht, der in diesen 3 Büchern ziemliche Wendungen nimmt und nicht gelöst wird.

Gutes Buch für den Strand, aber eben weil für mich zuviel Privatleben reinspielt, auch nur 3.5 Sterne, insgesamt abgerundet auf 3. Allerdings sind die Fälle zum Teil recht heftig, also etwas Mischmasch zwischen Thriller mit Romanze, nicht 100% leichte Kost, bis auf das etwas zuviele Privatleben fand ich es recht gelungen ausgewogen.
Empfohlen, wobei ich finde, die sind zu teuer, bzw. sollten ggfs. nur geliehen werden, oder eben als Sammelband gekauft werden. Bis jetzt ist nur der 1. Band als TV-Movie in Deutschland verfilmt worden, mit ein paar Kürzungen, und damit wird die Hintergrund-Geschichte um ihren Vater nicht richtig klar. Ob weitere Filme geplant sind, ist offen.

View all my reviews

Review: All Systems Red

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bought this cheap with a coupon. More a novella than a novel, lenght-wise.
Fast gripping read, well done world-building.
Highly recommended, already bought and pre-ordered all other books (as ebooks), although I must say I find the price too high for the short reading time.

View all my reviews

Review: The Fifth to Die

The Fifth to Die by J.D. Barker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Had pre-ordered this for Kindle and checked the price, as Amazon had previously cancelled an ebook where price had risen, and saw 2 things: the price had risen, and while the publication date was July 10th, 2018 (today being July 3d), it was already available as an EPub elsewhere in Germany for a good, low price, so I cancelled my Amazon order and snatched this up to read it soon. Having both a Tolino epos and (two) Kindle Voyage, I am even without tricks from the Apprentice able to buy and read ebooks from most retailers.
Currently reading A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (link inserted later), after I finish that, I might start this immediately - started evening July 4th, 2018 happy holiday to the US.

Just finished it, during lunch and after that.
Enough twists I did not see coming, to build a circular staircase in an old library ....
Saw my few words about the first book, and realize I was even than too lazy to write much.
This book is near current regarding the tech, the description with the router and Mac-Addresses is spot on (although I still think, a MAC-Address can be faked, but I am not sure how easy).

While the diary bored me sometimes, it is essential in understanding the story.
Otherwise this is a page-turner, but with changing POV (chapter wise and clearly marked).
No love, romance, nor sex.
Bloody. Cruel torture, at times shocking, but not too much, and keeping it way below SAW-levels.
On par for the good serial-killer-book, not unexpected.

Highly recommended page-turner, also I think it might help to read the first book (again), although some things are repeated. Next book will be pre-ordered as soon as possible!

View all my reviews

Review: A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can be read as a standalone, but the ending points to the next book with a new adventure.
Pre-ordered that.
A little sex, romance, and lots and lots of well designed fights and action. Could easily have been a 5 star book with more twists. As it is, recommended, solid 4star. SF with Magic (!).

View all my reviews