Ok so here we are in February and I still have not formalized my 2018 Reading Challenges. The only thing that I do know is my goal is to read 65 books in 2018. Additionally I want at least 25 of them to come from my “to be read bookshelves” I’m actually close to having everything worked out and should be able to post the formal challenges this week.
So yesterday I did it. I reached what I thought was an unreachable goal. When I finished Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon, I reached my goal of reading 60 books in 2017!
Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon is the second book in his Dave Guerney series. The main character in the book, Dave Guerney, is a retired New York City homicide detective. He is a gifted detective and is the most decorated detective in NYPD history.
The Samaritan is book two in the Carter Blake series from Glasgow author Mason Cross. It is also the second of Blake’s adventures that I have read about.And I must say that I found this episode more enjoyable than the first. So I am really looking forward to Winterlong the third book in the series, that has been languishing on my library books to be read shelf for about five weeks!! See I checked it out of the library and then found out it was book three in the series. So I went back and read books one and two before partaking of book three.
The Killing Season by Mason Cross is the first book in his Carter Blake series. And reading it was my first visit to the world of Carter Blake. He told me in the opening sentences that his name was not Carter Blake. And that he use to be part of a top-secret government operation called Winterlong. But now he hires himself out to find people who don’t want to be found. He’s good at it because he has an uncanny ability to predict his quarry’s next move.In The Killing Season his quarry is a deadly sniper known as “The Chicago Sniper”
Exit Strategy is the second. book in the Nick Mason series from author Steve Hamilton. The Second Life of Nick Mason was the first book in the series and it introduced readers to a different kind of hero. Nick Mason was a prisoner serving 25 years as the result of a robbery gone wrong. While in prison gang kingpin Darius Cole offers Nick his freedom, but not without a catch. The catch is that Nick has to carry out any mission assigned to him. And if he doesn’t hs ex-wife and nine-year old daughter will pay a heavy price. The missions – kill people who Cole needs dead!!
Ok so maybe juts maybe Parnell Hall is not going to win any major literary awards for his Puzzle Lady series. But if you are looking for a fast, funny and just enjoyable read try a Puzzle Lady book! I admit I have not read even close to the majority of the book series. I usually just pick up one of them at the library when I need a laugh break from all the murder and mayhem that I read. And the latest one that I just finished A Puzzle to Be Named Later was a welcome break after the last few intense books that I’ve finished. Especially, Chris Carter’s I Am Death and of course the ongoing circus of the Trump Administration.
Almost a year ago I wrote a post about five new mysteries that caught my eye on a visit to Barnes & Noble. Here are the books that were included in that post :
After finishing The Blood Strand on Thursday, I have read three out of five of the above books. They have all been great! I read both Summit Lake and Close Your Eyes in April of last year, shortly after I had spotted them at B&N. But for some reason I never got around to The Blood Strand. Once again, it may have been too many books to little time!!
