Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi

It is a rare occasion when I find an author that rivals Jodi Picoult for my literary admiration. Penny Vincenzi is that rare occasion. I fell completely in with the Spoils of Time trilogy. This second installment picks up with the second generation of Lytton's and somehow Vincenzi manages to continue the suspense and the family drama without creating a trite 'Dallas' type of read. I had a more difficult time admiring the venerable Lady Celia in this one but I think the disenchantment you feel for her in this one sets the tone for redemption in the third. Each character manages somehow to inspire admiration and disapproval almost simultaneously throughout. None of the characters are too perfectly good or too perfectly evil but they are all very perfectly human. Penny Vincenzi's talent is hi-lighted by the number of characters she brings to the story without being formulaic or creating redundancy. This trilogy will be one I will recommend many times over.


You will find an official plot line description at: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/668637.Something_Dangerous

Wild Inferno by Sandi Ault

Lukewarm. Everything about this book was lukewarm. The mystery critically lacked anything interesting, the characters are out-of -a-box typical, there isn't anything that resembles much of a developed plot or storyline. The most interesting player is the main character's anxiety-riddled wolf and that's only because how could an anxiety-riddled wolf be anything but interesting? No romance, no mystery, passable writing, no dynamic characters. I could have just written 'meh' and you would know exactly what I mean.


You will find an official plot line description at: 
                                       http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1579019.Wild_Inferno

Cast of Shadows by Kevin Guilfoile

This book is centered around one of the strangest concepts I have ever encountered, which is saying something considering the number of Sci-fi books I have enjoyed recently. It's a suspense thriller with multiple expeditions into what could almost be called science fiction but isn't quite, considering the very likely possibility that the events posed as fiction by Guilfoile could be very real concerns in the not too distant future. Cloning is a fairly common occurrence in the story and one physician clones a baby after a criminal so he may have a living version to compare physical appearance to in order to identify the man he is actually hunting. Due to the nature of the plot elements there are times that the story line seems to drag on and lose momentum but ultimately I found it fascinating, suspenseful, and thought provoking. The author has an acute sense of irony that I really appreciated, particularly at the end. I won't recommend this but I wouldn't warn an interested reader away from it. 


You will find an official plot line description at: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8609823-cast-of-shadows

Rules of Prey by John Sandford

I have only ever read one other book by this author and to say I was disenchanted by it would be an understatement. That first experience with Sandford caused me to approach this one with tempered enthusiasm but I was pleasantly surprised. There was, of course, the redundant, ever-present, rich, sex-hound, playboy main character but the mystery was fairly gripping which helped make up for the obnoxious character creations. There are some intimate moments with the psycho of the hour which were a little too much for my sensitive side sometimes but despite that, more than once I found myself standing in the middle of the room with my mouth hanging open listening to the story unravel. 


You will find an official plot line description at: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37301.Rules_of_Prey

The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart

This book was a nice change from the norm. I enjoyed the bizarre and witty story line and I always love British authors.  What I loved most about this author was her uncanny ability to amuse in one breath and wrench your heart in the next. This book is about love in all of its forms and stages. The love of a widow, a parent, a long-married couple. The loneliness of a single, the thrill of a new relationship, the attachment to a family pet. Every type of scenario fostered by the heart makes an appearance and then the characters are brilliantly woven together using the readers laughter and tears to connect them with the thread of their common residence and veritable humanity.
You can find an official plot line description at:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8777432-the-tower-the-zoo-and-the-tortoise

Pursuit by Thomas Perry

I didn't really read this book, I would say I endured it. This one had the distinct feeling of a suspense/psychological thriller relayed in deadpan. Droning on and on and then the conclusion wraps everything up neat as pin in less than a chapter. I found myself wondering at what stage in his career the author was in when he produced this. There were moments when you could tell he thought he was on a roll in a descriptive sense. He carries on about the look of a person or a street and then the 'but I digress' is nearly audible. The moral of the story: when you create a good sentence or a great paragraph it must also be relevant, otherwise it's really not that wonderful after all.


You will find an official description of the plot line at:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2971066.Pursuit