Review: Was der Nebel verbirgt

Was der Nebel verbirgt by Maximilian Seese
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ausgeliehen mit KU.
Langweilig, Hauptfigur unglaubwürdig, die meisten Wendungen vorhersehbar, diejenigen, die ich nicht vorhergesehen habe, retten das Buch nicht. Genausowenig wie das Setting in UK.
Polizeiprozeduren waren teilweise gut, teilweise völlig neben der Spur (vor allem gegen Ende).
Viel Nebebeikram, der weggelassen werden könnte und nichts zur Geschichte, geschweige denn Spannung (welche Spannung?) beiträgt.
2 Sterne, weil mir keine Fehler aufgefallen sind. Keine Empfehlung. Hab versucht das in FF schnell zu durchblättern. Für KU ok, aber wenn ich das normal bezahlt hätte, hätte ich mich geärgert. Werde wohl kein Buch vom Autor mehr lesen.

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Review: Sturmflut: Ein Fall für Suna Lürssen

Sturmflut: Ein Fall für Suna Lürssen by Kerstin Wassermann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mit KU geliehen.
Nette Story, aber Auflösung am Ende durch einen der Schuldigen, nicht durch Ermittlungen, auch wenn vieles schon vermutet wurde. Ein wenig angedeutete Romanze, könnte auf eine Verbindung in den nächsten Büchern hinauslaufen, oder auch nicht, da die Personen ihre Wohnungen / Büros in unterschiedlichen Orten und Ländern haben.
Werde bei Gelegenheit weitere Bücher der Reihe lesen.
Realistische Beschreibung der Vorgehensweise bei den Ermittlungen, mit etwas Sylt lokal-kolorit.
Solide 3 Sterne, mit Empfehlung, liest sich schnell, gut für ein verregnetes Wochenende.

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Review: The Caller

The Caller by Chris Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warning: torture, very bloody, detailed murders - but for a book about a serial-killer, that is expected, you get what you came for.

Got this cheap (promo price?) as an ebook and read the blurb which pointed to social media, stalking and a serial killer, so obviously a book for me, with the tech up-to-date.
Fast paced page-turner, which was just not worth 5 stars for me, as a lot of times the (short) chapters ended with a cliffhanger, but the next chapter was a different POV or scene. Not always, though.
This interchanging of scenes/pov's sometimes break the stream of reading for me, sometimes not.
A little romance, no sex.
Very gristly murders (expected), a few nice twists, and good ideas.

Instead of "swap", the author uses "swop", never read that before, googled it, as I thought this was an error, and wanted to report it (it is not, the word is used in the same manner and context as swap, I am German, and my english education is heavy on UK, which I prefer, even though most english books I read are in US-english, so pardon my french).
A completely real error is in chapter 64, using a wrong name when a person calls out (in the ebook I own it is currently "Jeffery" when he calls for him, but the person is named "Michael" and I see no reason for the name Jeffery and the name is not used in other parts of the book. Will report that (Kindle), so it can be corrected.

So, imho writing is bit uneven, there might be other places, but still it was good enough.
In catching the killer, one of the detectives (the MC) breaks a few rules and it was the often (too often) case of going after killer alone and getting in a situation where the MC could have been killed. Too obvious that never happens, yawn, so too predictable. One should kill the MC once every other book imho, just to keep the reader guessing.

Recommended 4stars, but as have read one other novel and a short novella from this author, I think, this is one of the better ones (or the author is getting better with each book). Might read other books from this series depending on price (or if I can lend it with KU). Can be read as a standalone, as I did.

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Review: The Caller

The Caller by Chris Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warning: torture, very bloody, detailed murders - but for a book about a serial-killer, that is expected, you get what you came for.

Got this cheap (promo price?) as an ebook and read the blurb which pointed to social media, staling and a serial killer, so obviously a book for me, with the tech up-to-date.
Fast paced page-turner, which was just not worth 5 stars for me, as a lot of times the (short) chapters ended with a cliffhanger, but the next chapter was a different POV or scene. Not always, though.
This interchanging of scenes/pov's sometimes break the stream of reading for me, sometimes not.
A little romance, no sex.
Very gristly murders (expected), a few nice twists, and good ideas.

Instead of "swap", the author uses "swop", never read that before, googled it, as I thought this was an error, and wanted to report it (it is not, the word is used in the same manner and context as swap, I am German, and my english education is heavy on UK, which I prefer, even though most english books I read are in US-english, so pardon my french).
A completely real error is in chapter 64, using a wrong name when a person calls out (in the ebook I own it is currently "Jeffery" when he calls for him, but the person is named "Michael" and I see no reason for the name Jeffery and the name is not used in other parts of the book. Will report that (Kindle), so it can be corrected.

So, imho writing is bit uneven, there might be other places, but still it was good enough.
In catching the killer, one of the detectives (the MC) breaks a few rules and it was the often (too often) case of going after killer alone and getting in a situation where the MC could have been killed. Too obvious that never happens, yawn, so too predictable. One should kill the MC once every other book imho, just to keep the reader guessing.

Recommended 4stars, but as have read one other novel and a short novella from this author, I think, this is one of the better ones (or the author is getting better with each book). Might read other books from this series depending on price (or if I can lend it with KU). Can be read as a standalone, as I did.

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Review: Alex, Approximately

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

No Triggers, imho, so no Trigger Warnings!
YA Romance, sex talked of, a little mentioned, but rather tame.
Felt too long, and as it was big on romance, not really a book for me. A few scenes where suspenseful, but the main story began to drag for me, I think about 60% into the book, too late to DNF, although the ending was as expected. One real problem was well handled (gun), but the problem of the female MC did not really grab me.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3, as it is it was too long and not interesting enough for me. Would have worked for me with 20-30% less pages, or a few other problems.
What saved it, was the wording and use of language, the movie references. This exceptionally well written, a big notch above usual YA romance fare and/or some indie-self-published ones, imho. As it was very hot, I tended to rate it harder, with colder weather I might have rounded up to 4.
As it is, I stand by it, recommended 3star, but am not sure, wether I will read a book by this author again. Have not followed the author anywhere, as I tend to do with other books ( authoralarms, Amazon.de / .com follow this author etc. ).

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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.

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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.

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