Blood Line by John J. Davis

Granger Spy Novel
Simon and Winter Inc. (14 octobre 2014)
253 pages - 19,95 $



I was attracted by the cover, simple and effective. I thought that this book was serious. Then I read the synopsis. So I changed my mind on the content of the book, but the story was still interesting and I wanted to see how the author was going to do with a spy family.

The blurb

New espionage thriller redefines rogue—the Granger Spy Novel series introduces a loving family with lethal issues caught in the crosshairs of global arms dealers.

IF YOUR FAMILY IS A TARGET, YOU HAVE TO BE A WEAPON.

A Granger Spy Novel, Blood Line (Simon & Winter, Inc. /October 14, 2014/ $15.95) is a high-voltage debut spy thriller and the first in a series about a family with killer talents. A father who is a former one-man kill squad for the CIA, a mother who is a past assassin for the Mossad, and a daughter coveted by both agencies. The Grangers are a blood-loyal clan—it’s how they stay alive.

When a simple home invasion turns out to be not so simple, Ron Granger must put aside his quiet rural life and return to the Central Intelligence Agency to take on international arms dealers.

Aided by his beautiful wife, Valerie, and resourceful teen daughter, Leecy, Ron must quickly decide who to believe—the calculating opportunists, shrewd criminals, or the power-hungry rival intelligence agencies. Any ally could be fatal—all of them are racing to possess the technological breakthrough that will forever change the face of modern warfare. But when Leecy is kidnapped, Ron and Val must choose between the mission and a rescue.

Facing an impossible decision, with time running out, Ron only knows one thing:

When you can't trust anyone else, trust your family.

What's good about that book?

When I saw this book on Netgalley, it reminded me of the movie The Family by Luc Besson... but this time, the family is a bunch of spies instead of mafiosi. Knowing the light tone of the film, I admit I hoped/thought/believed that the book would be in the same genre.

And honestly? That's exactly it! You will read it to have a good not too brainer time, no big reflection on the horizon, we let ourselves go with the flow of the book. The tone is light and pleasant.

There is not much action in the story, we're more in the discovery of the family and especially in the history of the parents. The family is pursued by sinister individuals, but still finds time - while walking to flee of course - to tell everything to the last detail. We learn how the father and mother are great spies (the best actually) with capacity tenfold in just about all useful techniques to the model spy. Such perfection is a bit too much but with the assumption that this book does not take itself seriously, it is right in tone and thus welcome!

Well then, there a few things that, in my opinion, do not make much sense in the book:

- I can not imagine that the US government can give the mission to find the latest military technology to a family deeply involved with another agency from another country (Mossad in that case)...

- I can not imagine parents allowing their daughters still in school, as great as she can be, to integrate the CIA as soon as the school finish.

- I somehow found a bit too easy the scene where the culprit is clearly identified while he is in the next room and he listens to everything that is said (you guessed it, the culprit didn't wait for the other to pick him up after the long conversation was over).

But, even with a few far-fetched details, this book will make you spend a good time. I will put this book in the category Young Adults or in the comedy or parody style, because of the tone and the course of the story so/very/too light of the book. This book will appeal to fans of flawless characters, heroes without fear and without reproach to whom everything succeed.

In a nutshell

A good book, very very ideals characters and a family united in espionage, it's a 3.5 / 5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Chimera Vector by Nathan M. Farrugia

(Fifth Column #1)
362 pages - 24.17
Momentum (1 mai 2012)

Once is not custom, it is the author who suggested I read his book! And it fell really well, because I had put his book in my TBR on Goodreads (hehe). And besides, Nathan M. Farrugia is Australian and I must say, I'm partial to the authors of this country, as for now, I have loved everything I've read by them.

Oh! And do not miss Nathan's interview, soon to be published on my blog!

The blurb

The Fifth Column: the world’s most powerful and secretive organization. They run our militaries. They run our governments. They run our terrorist cells.

Recruited as a child, Sophia is a deniable operative for the Fifth Column. Like all operatives, Sophia’s DNA has been altered to augment her senses and her mind is splintered into programmed subsets.

On a routine mission in Iran something goes catastrophically wrong. Bugs are beginning to appear in Sophia’s programming and the mission spins out of control.

High-speed chases, gun fights, helicopter battles, immortal psychopaths, super soldiers and mutant abilities are all in the mix in this edge-of-your-seat action-packed techno-thriller.

Perfect for fans of Matthew Reilly, THE CHIMERA VECTOR melds sci-fi with sizzling espionage action.

What's good in that book?

Its action! This book is full of adrenaline, fight scenes and twists. I was super surprised by the quality of the descriptions of battle scenes, until I learned a bit more about the author. I discovered that Nathan M. Farrugia pushes the writing care to go live very strong adrenaline situations. He participates in survival camps, climbs over the rooftops of Russia, struggle to stay free in hyper realistic situation. In short, when he describes the action, he does it from memory, because he lived these situations. This gives you an idea of ​​what is the big highlight of this author.

I also appreciated seeing a male author giving a great part of his book to the women: his heroine is surrounded by a cohort of women all brighter and stronger than each other. So no worries for you gentlemen, this is not a book about a band of vengeful and castrating Amazons: there are also men (phew, I thought for a moment that I would lose you there guys!) The truth is that Sophia teams up with two guys, she finds herself isolated from her group, she must form another one and she teams herself with other women (and others guys) . Still, for us girls, it's nice to see an author take the gamble to choose a women's team - it's almost avant-garde and when reading his book, I think that producers of video games could be inspired by him to create strong female characters.

Regarding the story, some will enjoy the hyper-techno side, others the scientific side (and here I confess I have not understand everything), so the geeks will be delighted. For the non-geeks, there is still that now famous action that will appeal to lovers of adrenaline, weapons, helicopters and other military gadgets (top secret of course the gadgets!) The only thing that slightly disturbed me is the many changes of tactics from the characters that change their tune more quickly than we have time to read it. So, admittedly, this brings punch to the story, but there could have been a little less and still make a great book.

In a nutshell

A book one reads in one sitting, super well written action scenes and interesting characters, it's a 4/5 for me.

Butterfly Kills by Brenda Chapman

A Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery
376 pages - Dundurn (Jan. 10 2015)
Paperback - 10.82 $

Well it's been a while since I had read a novel by a Canadian author set in Canada! I must say that I found it very nice, that feeling of familiarity because I live in the same country! And beware: there are two Brenda Chapman: The first lives in Canada, author of thriller, the second in the USA. The first has written for several years thriller, the second stands in animated films.


The blurb

Two separate crimes, two tragic outcomes.

Jacques Rouleau has moved to Kingston to look after his father and take up the position of head of the town’s Criminal Investigations Division. One hot week in late September, university student Leah Sampson is murdered in her apartment. In another corner of the city, Della Munroe is raped by her husband. At first the crimes appear unrelated, but as Sergeant Rouleau and his new team of officers dig into the women’s pasts, they discover unsettling coincidences. When Kala Stonechild, one of Rouleau’s former officers from Ottawa, suddenly appears in Kingston, Rouleau enlists her to help.

Stonechild isn’t sure if she wants to stay in Kingston, but agrees to help Rouleau in the short term. While she struggles with trying to decide if she can make a life in this new town, a ghost from her past starts to haunt her.

As the detectives delve deeper into the cases, it seems more questions pop up than answers. Who murdered Leah Sampson? And why does Della Monroe’s name keep showing up in the murder investigation? Both women were hiding secrets that have unleashed a string of violence. Stonechild and Rouleau race to discover the truth before the violence rips more families apart.

What's good in this book?

It will make you want to move to live in Kingston! It won't be a surprise to some, but I'm not a big fan of description (and even less landscapes!) In Butterfly Kills, descriptions are not ubiquitous, but so effective that they allow you to understand where the characters are located or feel their emotions (because yes, backwash soothe!) and I have to say that it is so well done that I really felt like buying a house by the lake!

The characters are well-written, engaging and each different. I also really liked the fact that Kala is a Native person, because I rarely came across a book where one of the characters is and that I think it's nice to put them ahead. Especially as Kala is very well written, with this mix of calm, wisdom and this little indomitable side that suits her well. Rouleau is just as friendly and we appreciate the relationships he establishes with his new colleagues (including two slackers so realistic that one recognizes in them some people one already run into...)

The plots are well written, even if one can understand the reason behind all that violence. Chapman brings her clues bit by bit and everything is played out in interpersonal relationships between the protagonists.

In a nutshell

A great discovery for me that makes me want to read other books by Brenda Chapman and follow Rouleau's team. This is a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

Angel of the Abyss by Ed Kurtz

DarkFuse; 1 edition (Dec 2 2014)

322 pages - 19.40 $

Honestly, I chose this book because the synospis was vaguely reminiscent of one of Franck Thilliez's book, Syndrome E, in which a film makes people blind and generates a lot of dead bodies. I wanted to see how Ed Kurtz was going to treat the subject, if the story was more or less the same, or if it would be really different.

The blurb

When Graham Woodard is hired to restore part of a previously lost silent horror film—Angel of the Abyss—the last thing he expects is the first in a series of murders clearly meant to keep it lost.

With one-time friend Jake Maitland in tow, the two must now navigate the treacherous enigma that is the lost film, while piecing together the story of the film’s ill-fated starlet, Grace Baron, who vanished in 1926. The closer they get to the truth, the more blood is spilled, and it soon becomes apparent that there is much more to the lost film than anyone expected, as there are still forces that will stop at nothing to keep it and its star buried. The darkness the strange film conjured all those years ago has come alive again with its discovery, and now everyone from Graham’s own estranged ex-wife to the LAPD is getting involved.

And the body count is growing.

From the burgeoning film studios of 1920s Hollywood to the perilous streets and dark underbelly of modern-day Los Angeles, Angel of the Abyss is a dangerous tapestry of cinema, history and murder, at the center of which stand two men with everything to lose.

What's good about it

Film buffs will be delighted with this novel that gives pride to the cinema and mainly to silent movies. It talks about the premise of talking pictures, Los Angeles and the superficial life of local people, the beginnings of the great Hollywood companies, in short, a real plunge into a passion Ed Kurtz makes us share.

A special feature of the book I liked is that the story is written in several views (so far nothing new you could say), but it's also partially written in the first person for two of the protagonists. Depending on who's physically restricted between Graham and Jake, it's either talking. I admit that the change of "I" surprise me, but the differentiation between the two characters is carefree and easy.

We going from the investigation about the film today to the shooting of the film at the time, which allows us to understand the atmosphere and ultimately the reason for the disappearance of Grace and  the murderous desire to leave the film to oblivion. Both intrigues conclude one another. On one side you will find the scenes of the film and the characters' lives around the film, on the other the two partner in crime (pun intended!) seek to discover the reason behind the two disappearances (Grace and the film).

Some were disappointed by finding out that it's not a horror book (but about a vanished horror film). As for me, I was expecting a mystery and crime fiction and I was not disappointed with the noir Los Angeles atmosphere, the humor and the action too.

In a nutshell

A dark novel about the lies behind Hollywood, two well conducted intrigues and sympathetic characters, it's a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel

The City of Blood by Frédérique Molay

Le French Book (Jan. 20 2015)

221 pages

Third novel I read by Frédérique Molay... it becomes a habit! I must say that her novels read quickly, and they are nice. And City of Blood blurb intrigued me and it's something I like about Molay: stories always have some originality.

The blurb

When a major Parisian modern art event gets unexpected attention on live TV, Chief of Police Nico Sirsky and his team of elite crime fighters rush to La Villette park and museum complex. There, renowned artist Samuel Cassian is inaugurating the first archeological dig of modern art, twenty-seven years after burying the leftovers of a banquet. In front of reporters from around the world, excavators uncover a skeleton. Could it be the artist’s own son? And does that death have anything to do with the current string of nightclub murders by the “Paris Butcher”? On the site of the French capital's former slaughterhouses, the investigation takes Nico and France's top criminal investigation division from artists' studios to autopsy theaters and nightclubs in hopes of tracking down the murderer who has turned this Paris park into a city of blood.

What's good about it?

The story, original and actual. Who has not heard of these objects we bury everywhere to be unveiled with great fanfare a few years later? Who never imagined that we could discover something criminal, an object that was not originally in... In City of Blood, it's a dead body and it's not anybody, but it's the son of the creator of the time capsule. Who could have killed this young promising artist? Who hate the father at this point to bury his son in his own work? Nico will have to delve into the world of artists, jealousy and love shattered to discover the culprit.

We meet back with pleasure Sirsky Nico and his clique, as friendly as usual. We discover a humorous Nico, looks like love is doing fine with him (his descent into a gay  nightclub is excellent). Again, the life of his family is at stake and this time it's Anya, his mother who is ill. I just hope that every book does not see a member of his family in danger. Maybe it's a brand that some authors choose to constantly put their hero close friend and family in danger, but I find it unrealistic and boring after a while.

The novel reads very quickly, thanks to the writing quality of the author (and the English translation since I read the book in English) and thanks to the unwavering pace of the story. The dead are piling up and the race against the clock is running. Nico will have to understand the past to stop the killings today that add tension to the investigation. And a bonus in that story: I really loved learning more about La Villette - the city of blood (talk about a cynic choice of place to kill people!) 

In a nutshell

Another good novel by Frédérique Molay, a gripping story, engaging characters, it's a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Strings of Murder de Oscar de Muriel

Penguin UK - Michael Joseph (12 février 2015)

Paperback, 407 pages

I thought the cover was really great, wasn't it? Yep, one again, the cover got me! And the Ripper case. And the victorian era. And Scotland! With all that, the book could only be great, right? 

What's the blurb?

Jonathan Strange meets Jonathan Creek in this blistering crime debut set in Victorian Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the murder makes no sense.

Fearing a national panic over a copycat Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey's new boss, Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray, actually believes in such nonsense.

McGray's tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next...

What's good about it?

It's not always the case, but in this book, the characters are not what interested me most. It's the plot, which is well done. The dead comes one after another without logical reason, to a well-designed end and an explanation that is not only plausible, but well explained. This is the big advantage of this book because I have to say I was a little scared at the start of a book with a lousy supernatural explanation (as it was question of a closed room and a Department of mysterious case).

The characters, meanwhile, are well characterized. They each have their own life and differ much from each other. Unfortunately, I disliked the main character, Ian Frey, who happens to be a man imbued of his person, racist against the Scots and cultivating his sense of superiority. Honestly, I rarely dislike a central character that much... In general, the author manages to make us like his hero! The book is told in the first person, so we are entitled to all Frey's personal reflections, as well as those he launches at other. As he describes McGray and the others, it is hard to find them endearing. McGray is painted like a caricature of Scots, which is a shame. In the end, it seems that only Frey is worth something (which surely reflects his feelings), but he's so unpleasant that I didn't like him.

If we put aside the fact that Frey portrayes Edinburgh as a horrible place, smelly and dirty, I still enjoyed being there. The descriptions are well made and we feel the cold and wet of the Scottish winter. So it is a good point for the author who knows how to make us feel his characters feelings.

In a nutshell

A good and well done story marred by a very unpleasant main character, but with well made descriptions, it's a 3.5 / 5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

2014 top five books

For the second time in this short blog story (though less shorter than last year), here are my top 5 readings in 2014. So sure... some books were printed some time ago in their country of origin but these are books published in English this year. These five books are my favorites in no particular order.

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

Pilgrim is hunting bioterrorism. A head to head waited throughout the book, a  rivalry stuffed with testosterone and action. Combination of Bond and Bourne, action, espionage, mystery and a very current theme, everything is good in this book. The author has taken years to write and you'll need a few hours (days actually given the length...) to read it. A book with a taste for another book. I hope there will be a sequel to Pilgrim's adventures, a character who haunts you for days after finishing the book.

Runner by Patrick Lee

Another book of action and espionage (well, it looks like I've acquired a taste for that kind of book!) A man saves a little girl from mysterious but very organized individuals and tries to understand why the girl is so important. A breathless race against the watch, a bit of technology, intelligent and plausible SF, very lovable characters. In short, we do not get bored by reading this book! This book will have a sequel and that's good news because Sam is a character we want to follow.

Phoenix Island by John Dixon

Carl, young boxer with a tendency to defend the poor, is brought on a desert island in a boot camp for young troublemakers. The secret he discovers puts his and his friends' life in danger. Once is not custom, it is a book for young adults (which I discovered after spending a sleepless night reading it!) This book is so good that a TV show was ordered before its release. This is a dark, hard, exciting, well written book, incredibly fast-paced and with a main character you'll love.

Close Reach by Jonathan Moore

A couple who cruise around the world falls onto pirates... this could be the simplistic blurb of this book, but it would not do justice to the author, nominated for the Bram Stroker. A game of cat and mouse in the sea told by a lover of sea, boats and horror. An explosive mixture and not for the faint of heart to discover! Small bonus for me, the detailed and very understandable explanations on cruise and medical techniques... (and here, you think "medical?" Yeah, the price Adam Stroker is not the price Care Bears, right?)

The Second Deadly Sin by Asa Larsson

A family seems particularly affected by misfortune in this Scandinavian story. Rebecka, the young detective who has some problems with a detestable attorney, succeeds in unraveling the mystery. I loved the author's writing, her way to make us feel the emotions of her characters, the dark and hopeful atmosphere, the way we feel like family with Rebecka and the plot that is well done. Another author from the cold, sure, but among the plethora of Scandinavian writers, she clearly stands out!

And as I still read a lot of paperbacks and I'm not always up to date in my readings, here are some books that I really liked, but printed earlier than 2014 (and to be true it allows me drag more books in my top 5!)

The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi. For a first book, it's a hell of a book! How to be led by the nose and ask for more? Just discovered this author who spreads the twists and makes you appreciate his characters to a background of facts.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler Olson. Because there are very good Scandinavian authors and Jussi Adler-Olson is one! A breathless story that one reads in a few hours and a duet of investigators as endearing as improbable.

Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin. Because it's a shame not having read Ian Rankin earlier! Edinburgh (and its pubs) is a character in itself. Everything is good, the dialogues, the story, the characters (ah ... Rebus!), The plot and the social portrait of Scotland.

The Bleiberg project by David S. Khara. This French author is a very nice surprise for me. Action, suspense, history (with a capital H) and mind-blowing humour. A race against the clock and a mysterious character to follow.

Irene by Pierre Lemaitre. An author I don't get tired, the quality of his writing always amazes me and serves so well its well-crafted plot, with a fierce humour. An author apart in the Francophone world. Irene is not for the fainthearted and surprises until the end!