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Monday, January 28, 2019

Review: Bridge to Burn: A gripping British detective murder mystery

Bridge to Burn: A gripping British detective murder mystery Bridge to Burn: A gripping British detective murder mystery by Rachel Amphlett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Better than the last book, mote twists which kept me guessing.
Also the police-work and even little scenes (working at a computer etc.) are very well done and felt real to me (wiggeling the mouse to wake up the coomputer, although it was repeated a bit much in the book).
Like in the last book, taking place now and in the UK and still not a word about BREXIT.

Read this back2back with "Gone to ground", the previous book in the series.
Highly Recommended. Nice fast read.

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Review: Gone to Ground

Gone to Ground Gone to Ground by Rachel Amphlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the mailing list of the author I received an email that this is to be published July 8th, 2018 and a few retailers allowed pre-ordering it today (June 10th, 2018), ebook.de (in Germany) among them. Amazon will surely follow soon.
Also there was a link to excerpt from the book, although I downloaded it, I am not so sure I will read it, as I do not like to be stopped reading.
All books by this author I read so far where great, 4 or 5 star reads for me, so I am looking forward to it, and will probably read it in one sitting or on a weekend, which really is not a good idea with an excerpt, but we'll see, may be I cannot wait.
3.5 stars as the story was a little too straight, not enough twists. Rounded up to 4.
Although taking place now and in the UK not a word about BREXIT, strange, it should have been mentioned.
Recommended. Nice fast read.

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Review: Gone to Ground

Gone to Ground Gone to Ground by Rachel Amphlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the mailing list of the author I received an email that this is to be published July 8th, 2018 and a few retailers allowed pre-ordering it today (June 10th, 2018), ebook.de (in Germany) among them. Amazon will surely follow soon.
Also there was a link to excerpt from the book, although I downloaded it, I am not so sure I will read it, as I do not like to be stopped reading.
All books by this author I read so far where great, 4 or 5 star reads for me, so I am looking forward to it, and will probably read it in one sitting or on a weekend, which really is not a good idea with an excerpt, but we'll see, may be I cannot wait.
3.5 stars as the story was a little too straight, not enough twists. Rounded up to 4.
Although taking place now and in the UK not a word about BREXIT, strange, it should have been mentioned.
Recommended. Nice fast read.

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Review: Spartan Promise

Spartan Promise Spartan Promise by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pre-ordered this. Like the series, although it is bit repetitive.
3.5 stars rounded to 4.
No cliffhanger for once! Nice clean read, romance, no sex.
Still recommended.

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Review: Der Tote im Strandkorb

Der Tote im Strandkorb Der Tote im Strandkorb by Anna Johannsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mit Prime Reading geliehen
Empfehlung, spannend und durchdacht, Ende allerdings etwas zu glatt.

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Review: Zerschunden

Zerschunden Zerschunden by Michael Tsokos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Etwas heftig (graphische Beschreibungen von Folter und Mord), aber durchaus spannend und lesenswert. Empfehlung

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Review: Spuren der Gewalt

Spuren der Gewalt Spuren der Gewalt by Michael Tsokos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kostenlose Kurzgeschichte (32 Seiten oder so), nette Ergänzung.

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Review: CRISPR

CRISPR CRISPR by Lincoln Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 rounded to 4* more action than science, action was very good, but some personal
conversations between the MC's male and female where too repetitive and boring.
Longer review to follow and be published when I feel like it.

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Friday, January 4, 2019

Review: Totwasser

Totwasser Totwasser by Julia Hofelich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First book started and finished in 2019. Should clean up my lists, instead I normally start another book, to let it fall by the wayside instead of deciding to mark it DNF and moving it to the "abandoned" list.
But this one was really good, after a bad 2018 regarding my choice of books, I hope to do better this year. Also, I have reduced my reading challenge this year to 78 books, after I missed that on Goodreads the second year running (being 104 books, two books per week). One of the reasons was, that I read quite a few novellas and books I could not review for one reason or the other. And I sometimes did not think about a review and instead only rated it and wrote "review follows later", but often I never wrote one even later.

So, this one is a single female as MC, who had a bad accident leaving her paranoid, scarred and limping with one of her legs. But how she gets through her fears, which are sometimes even justified, was very well written and integrated into the story.
The case was with quite a few twists, which kept me guessing, and different scenarios where played through, so both me as the reader and the MC (and most other persons) did not know what happened, or who died when. This changes a few time through the book, and while not all is totally page-turning suspenseful at roughly 70% or 80% I could not stop reading.
No sex, a little romance.
Suggest to look up Cornwall, UK with Google Earth, there are quite a few beautiful place pictured, took a vacation there with my parents, oh, wow, 1984/5, so long ago.
One idea mentioned is a Keltish Ritual, for fertility of a Woman (Witch), quite grissly.
Killings and other things are quite real, but not too brutal or detailed described. But Trigger Warnings, some ideas mentioned are quite perverted, I will not go into detail as not to spoil it, but again, not very detailed, imho, so even if you try to avaid certain themes, they do not go so deep.

First in a series, but just published (December 21st, 2018 is listed on Goodreads, also only Kindle and only German, so I should write a German review).
Highly recommended 5stars, no logic errors, no bad grammar or spelling, no swearing (or not much and mild). Will try to follow this author and read the next one(s) in the series if they are not too expensive. This one cost me less than 4 Eur, which is ok for me.
If this gets translated into English, I suggest trying it, although it may not hold the same interest for an English speaking person as it did to me as a German.


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Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Review: Faceless

Faceless Faceless by Rob Ashman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bought today after I read Petra's review and it was cheap (less than 1 Eur/1.10 Us$ as Kindle eBook). This should be right up my alley.

Well, it was not, the point re the MC in the review linked is not the only bad point against it.
Rate this 2.5 rounded down to 2, not recommended.
Could have been way better with a few cuts and a different ending.
Basically (not to spoil anything but that will be hard) I hate it when the MC does the following: goes alone to try to solve the case and does not tell anyone, so no can follow her. Then the main ending I saw coming since nearly the introduction, with a little twist I by the MC I really do not like. A different outcome would have been way better, I like criminals to get what they deserve - jail time.

Then there is a scene (nearly exactly 50% into the book if I remember right) that gets outdrawn
and played to a boring death - it shows nearly everyone as stupid, which is too simple and not convincing to me. Again, it was way too long, and while I did not guess how that that happened in the beginning, it was explained, and some did not catch on quick, which I simply cannot believe of all persons involved, the fall guy, ok, he was stupid enough, but the others?
While the action took place in the greater Manchester area (not London for once, for which I am glad), that did not save the book, and some expressions and swaering felt too much US like - what I really like about some other books taking place in the UK is the use of way different swear words than in US books and sometimes way different slang - which did not happen here, it was at times the overused words like Bitch and swearing used a little too much or in the wrong place - not disturbing, but could have been better, at least other words.

Also for a book published in 2018 taking place in the UK Brexit should have been mentioned, at least in passing.

The main criminal was way better thought out than the backstory of the MC and I could have cared more about him, but did not really like him (her).

All that together and as it was the book was a little long and took me too long as it dragged me along, but I wanted to finish it, it did not feel like a DNF.
Too little suspense for me.
So, not recommended, and will gladly not read anymore of this author, as I do not care wether the probably following books get better or not (which is sometimes the case).

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