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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