The Pawn by Steven James

The Pawn by Steven James Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Oynx First Released: 2007 Author Website

Source: Review copy from publisher

Back Cover Description:
Patrick Bowers specializes in tracking down the killers who elude the FBI’s best forensic investigators. As an environmental criminologist, Bowers employs twenty-first-century geospatial technology to analyze the time and space in which a crime takes place. Using an array of factors, Bowers can pinpoint, with surprising accuracy, the important clues that lead to solving the toughest of cases.

Bower’s impressive skills have made him one of the Bureau’s top agents. Until now. Called to the mountains of North Carolina to consult on a gruesome murder, Bowers finds himself caught in a deadly duel with a serial killer who seems to transcend Pat’s analytical powers. Forced to track the killer’s horrific string of murders one by one, Bowers finds his techniques and instincts put to the ultimate—and perhaps final—test.


Review:
The Pawn is a well-written, heart-pounding, fast-paced forensic/detective thriller. The novel had a somewhat bleak tone. The crimes and crime scenes were very chilling, though not particularly graphic (i.e. he gives you just enough to let your imagination fill in all the gory, horrifying details). Combined with the high tension level, I'd strongly suggest you think twice about reading this novel right before going to bed.

The characters were interesting and complex, and I especially loved Bower's step-daughter. She's a very smart and brave, though emotionally hurting, young woman. (The author portrayed the main women in this novel as smart, competent, respected, and not trying to be men. As a woman, I liked that.)

The world-building was excellent, with the details about forensics, the case, and the town bringing the novel alive in my imagination. I felt like this was really happening in North Carolina, which gave me shivers that most mystery/suspense/thrillers don't achieve with me.

The main characters weren't Christian (at least, not that we're told). However, Patrick Bower was struggling with why God allows Christians (like his wife) to suffer. This was not the focus of the book, but Patrick does finally find some peace about it. (This doesn't mean he converts to Christianity.) I felt this aspect was handled realistically. Unless strongly against Christianity, I think most non-Christians would be comfortable with the amount of Christianity and how was handled.

There was no sex, a little bit of romance, and the bad language was of the "he cussed" style. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in forensics fiction and/or who likes to read chilling thrillers.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
Thursday
October 23, 2008
Somewhere above the mountains of western North Carolina
5:31 p.m.

I peered out the window of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV, helicopter of choice for both the Georgia State Patrol and the Department of the Interior, as we roared over the mountainous border of Georgia and North Carolina. Clouds rose dark on the horizon.

The colors of autumn were still lingering on the rolling slopes of the southern Appalachians, although winter had started to creep into the higher elevations. Far below us, the hills rose and fell, rose and fell, zipping past. For a few minutes I watched the shadow of the helicopter gliding over the mountains and dipping down into the shadowy valleys like a giant insect skimming across the landscape, searching for a place to land.

Even though it was late fall, ribbons of churning water pounded down the mountains in the aftermath of a series of fierce storms. In the springtime these hills produce some of the most fantastic whitewater rafting in all of North America. I know. I used to paddle them years ago when I spent a year working near here as a wilderness guide for the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Now, it seemed like those days were in another life.

Before I became what I am. Before any of this.

But as I looked out the window, the waters weren't blue like I remembered them. Instead, they were brown and swollen from a recent rain. Wriggling back and forth through the hills like thick, restless snakes.

I glanced at my watch: 5:34 p.m. We should be landing within the next ten minutes. Which was good, because with the clouds rolling in, it didn't look like we had a whole lot of sunlight ahead of us. Maybe an hour. Maybe less.

My good friend Special Agent Ralph Hawkins had called me in. Just a few hours ago I was in Atlanta presenting a seminar on strategic crime analysis for the National Law Enforcement Methodology Conference. Another conference. Another lecture series. It seemed like that was all I'd been doing for the last six months. Sure, I'd consulted on a couple dozen cases, but they weren't a big deal. Mostly I'd been teaching and researching criminology. Trying to forget.

Lily and the Creep by Nancy Rue

Lily and the Creep by Nancy Rue Trade Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: ZonderKids First Released: 2001 Author Website Buy from Amazon

Source: Bought from Half.com.

Back Cover Description:
Lily and Shad are into it again. But this time, Lily and her friends are fed up with his teasing and decide to give Shad a taste of his own medicine. When Lily and her friends play the ultimate prank on Shad, guess who’s left to take the fall? Lily.

Lily and Shad get assigned a project that they must complete TOGETHER after school. Will this finally bring an end to the infamous feud between Lily and Shad? Or is it the beginning of something much worse? See what happens when Lily makes an unpleasant discovery and has to decide what’s important—becoming someone she can like or someone God can like.


Review:
Lily and the Creep is a humorous fiction book for ages 8-12. This definitely is a book with a message to it, and Lily's bound and determined to learn it the most difficult way possible. It's a Christian message, but the story isn't condescending or preachy.

I got this book for my just-turned-12-years-old goddaughter. (Technically, I'm her mentor, but "goddaughter" better describes our relationship.) She feels like she's picked on a lot at school, though I've seen that she's sometimes the one who starts the trouble. She loves to read, and she sometimes listens to suggestions better if she sees a fictional character going through the same problems, trying several realistic solutions, and finally finding one that works. So I tried this book.

I liked the characters, and it kept me (an adult) reading straight through to the end because I wanted to find out how she got out of all her scraps. My young friend also enjoyed it. By the end, Lily's learned about God-esteem (rather than self-esteem) and has started to relate better to Shad even if they aren't exactly friends.

Overall, I'd recommend this well-written book to Christian kids, especially those who feel like they're teased a lot at school.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
Hey, Robbins,” Leo Cooks hissed in Lily’s ear.

Don’t answer, Lily Robbins told herself sternly. It’s a trick.

She concentrated on not touching his sweaty hand — even though Ms. Gooch had said “join hands with your partner.”

“Ms. Gooch is lookin’ at ya,” Leo whispered.

His breath was hot, and it made Lily want to slap her hand over her ear, but she ignored him.

“She’s givin’ you the eyebrow,” Leo persisted.

That was not a good thing. The teacher’s eyebrow was usually the last warning sign before a name went on the board or something. Don’t fall into this absurd little creep’s trap, Lily thought.

Leo wasn’t actually little. He was even bigger than his buddy Shad Shifferdecker, who was at this very moment managing to step all over the feet of his partner — Lily’s best friend, Reni Johnson. Even as Lily watched, he caught Reni on the side of her Nike with his left shoe. She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

Don’t let him know he’s getting to you, Reni, Lily thought.

Right. Just then Leo jabbed her in the side and hissed, “You better take my hand. Ms. Gooch’s got both eyebrows goin’!”

Both eyebrows and the don’t-start-with-me tone. “Join hands, people,” she called out over the blaring of Italian music. Taking a breath full of dread, Lily slid her hand into Leo’s. He squeezed it like he was wringing out a dishrag, and suddenly, Lily felt a jolt go up her arm. Before she could stop herself, she’d let out a yell.

The music came to an abrupt halt, and Ms. Gooch planted her hands on her hips. Both black eyebrows were in full gear.

“All right, who’s yelling?” she said.

“It was Lily,” Marcie McCleary said.

Lily tucked a curl of red hair behind her ear and otherwise tried to look innocent.

Read the rest of Chapter One.

Giveaway: Darcy and Anne

Darcy and Anne by Judith Brocklehurst Trade Paperback: 190 pages Publisher: SourceBooks Landmark Released: September 2009

The Book Bloggers Appreciation Week begins on Monday, and I'll be giving books away on all three of my blogs that week. We were just told we could start the giveaways, so I'll go ahead and start this one today!

I'm holding a giveaway for my ARC of Darcy and Anne by Judith Brocklehurst. You can learn more about the book by reading my review.

Just to be really nice, this contest is open internationally.


To enter the giveaway:

1) you can twitter me saying "@genrereviewer Enter me to win DARCY & ANNE. The title of another Jane Austen spin-off from @SourceBooks is ________." (Of course, you need to fill in the title of a Jane Austen spin-off published by SourceBooks. Hint: look here.)

OR

2) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and giving the title of a Jane Austen spin-off published by SourceBooks.


The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner at noon (Central Time, Daylight Savings Time) on September 23, 2009 on this blog. If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your shipping address.

I hope everyone has fun with this!

Author Quirks: Elizabeth Chadwick

Next up is Elizabeth Chadwick, author of The Greatest Knight. I asked her:

What's a quirky or little-known fact about yourself, your writing, and/or one of your novels? (For example, you can tell us about a non-standard pet you have, an unusual way you do your writing, a strange real life incident that inspired a scene in one of your novels, or so on.)


Elizabeth Chadwick's answer:

Quirky fact about myself: I play darts with my husband for a mixed team of men and ladies. We compete once a week for a traditional English pub not far from Nottingham city centre. It's great fun and a different world to that of being a novelist!

When writing The Greatest Knight, I drew inspiration for the everyday things from being active in a living history society, Regia Anglorum – www.regia.org. For instance there’s a scene in the book where an armorer is adjusting a mail shirt for my hero, who is his customer. I wrote the piece after observing a friend demonstrating to the public how to make a section of mail shirt at a re-enactment event we did at a place called Castle Rising. At that same event, I got the opportunity to wander the castle in my medieval costume and get a feel for going up and down spiral stairs in heel-less medieval shoes! It’s research that you certainly can’t get out of text books!

Thank you, Ms. Chadwick, for sharing this interesting information about your life and your writing.

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick Trade Paperback: 560 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark First Released: 2009 Author Website Author on Twitter

Source: ARC from publisher

Back Cover Description:
Royal protector. Loyal servant. Forgotten hero.

A penniless young knight with few prospects, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II's formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor to the heir to the throne, the volatile and fickle Prince Henry. But being a royal favorite brings its share of danger and jealousy as well as fame and reward.

A writer of uncommon historical integrity and accuracy, Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects the true story of one of England's greatest forgotten heroes in a captivating blend of fact and fiction. The Greatest Knight restores William Marshal to his rightful place at the pinnacle of the Middle Ages, reflecting through him the triumphs, scandals, and power struggles that haven't changed in eight hundred years.

Here's a book trailer for The Greatest Knight.


Review:
The Greatest Knight is an enjoyable historical fiction that covers the first part of William Marshal's life (1167-1194 AD). The sequel, describing the rest of his life, is titled The Scarlet Lion.

The author clearly knows her subject matter and stayed true to it. Her skilled use of historical detail helped bring the world alive in my imagination without slowing the pace.

However, the author had so many years to cover that she often skipped over months, even years, of William Marshal's life between each chapter (though what happened during that time was always briefly told). Whole wars were skipped over or were covered with only one or two scenes.

The characters were interesting and had some depth to them. Due to the fast pace of the first two-thirds of the novel, though, any troubles William Marshal faced were overcome before I really had a chance to worry about what would happen. However, the last third of the book settles down to cover a relatively short period of time in detail, and I loved this section. Even knowing some of what was going to happen, the tension built nicely, and I couldn't put the novel down.

There was a minor amount of swearing. There were several sex scenes (both between married and unmarried couples). It's clear what's going on in these scenes, but only one scene was explicit--though I'd call it discreetly explicit with some heat. Overall, I'd recommend this novel to historical fiction readers.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
In the dark hour before dawn, all the shutters in the great hall were closed against the evil vapours of the night. Under the heavy iron curfew, the fire was a quenched dragon’s eye. The forms of slumbering knights and retainers lined the walls and the air sighed with the sound of their breathing and resonated with the occasional glottal snore.

At the far end of the hall, occupying one of the less favoured places near the draughts and away from the residual gleam of the fire, a young man twitched in his sleep, his brow pleating as the vivid images of his dream took him from the restless darkness of a vast Norman castle to a smaller, intimate chamber in his family’s Berkshire keep at Hamstead.

He was five years old, wearing his best blue tunic, and his mother was clutching him to her bosom as she exhorted him in a cracking voice to be a good boy. ‘Remember that I love you, William.’ She squeezed him so tightly that he could hardly breathe. When she released him they both gasped, he for air, she fighting tears. ‘Kiss me and go with your father,’ she said.

Setting his lips to her soft cheek, he inhaled her scent, sweet like new mown hay. Suddenly he didn’t want to go and his chin began to wobble.

‘Stop weeping, woman, you’re unsettling him.’

William felt his father’s hand come down on his shoulder, hard, firm, turning him away from the sun-flooded chamber and the gathered domestic household, which included his three older brothers, Walter, Gilbert and John, all watching him with solemn eyes. John’s lip was quivering too.

‘Are you ready son?’

He looked up. Lead from a burning church roof had destroyed his father’s right eye and melted a raw trail from temple to jaw, leaving him with an angel’s visage one side, and the gargoyle mask of a devil on the other. Never having known him without the scars, William accepted them without demur.

‘Yes, sir,’ he said and was rewarded by a kindling gleam of approval from John Marshal’s one eye.

‘Brave lad.’

In the courtyard the grooms were waiting with the horses. Setting his foot in the stirrup, John Marshal swung astride and leaned down to scoop William into the saddle before him. ‘Remember that you are the son of the King’s Marshal and the nephew of the Earl of Salisbury,’ his father said as he nudged his stallion’s flanks and he and his troop clattered out of the keep. William was intensely aware of his father’s broad, battle-scarred hands on the reins and the bright embroidery decorating the wrists of the tunic.

‘Will I be gone a long time?’ his dream self asked in a high treble.

‘That depends on how long King Stephen wants to keep you.’

‘Why does he want to keep me?’

‘Because I made him a promise to do something and he wants you beside him until I have kept that promise.’ His father’s voice was as harsh as a sword blade across a whetstone. ‘You are a hostage for my word of honour.’

‘What sort of promise?’

William felt his father’s chest spasm and heard a grunt that was almost laughter. ‘The sort of promise that only a fool would ask of a madman.’

Read the rest of chapter one.

Forest Born by Shannon Hale

Forest Born by Shannon Hale Hardcover: 392 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA First Released: 2009 Author Website

Source: ARC from publisher

Back Cover Description:
The fourth tale in Hale's beloved Books of Bayern series.

Rin is sure that something is wrong with her...something really bad. Something that is keeping her from feeling at home in the Forest homestead where she's lived all her life. Something that is keeping her from trusting herself with anyone at all. When her brother Razo returns from the city for a visit, she accompanies him to the palace, hoping that she can find peace away from home. But bloodshed has come to Bayern again, and Rin is compelled to join the queen and her closest allies--magical girls Rin thinks of as the Fire Sisters--as they venture into the Forest toward Kel, the land where someone seems to want them all dead. Many beloved Bayern characters reappear in this story, but it is Rin's own journey of discovering how to balance the good and the bad in herself that will pull readers into this fantastical adventure.


(I would have described this book as: When Rin discovers her ability to influence those around her, she scares herself with her selfish, heady actions. Her normal source of comfort--the Forest--no longer welcomes her. She decides never to use her ability again and escapes to the palace with Razo in hopes of finding peace. But when someone tries to harm her brother and new friends, she must use her power even though it seems certain to corrupt and destroy her.)


Review:
Forest Born is an enjoyable YA fantasy novel. It is the fourth book in the series. I'd suggest reading the first books in the series first (because I think they're better and so they aren't spoiled for you after reading this book), but you can understand this one without having read the others.

I enjoyed the underlying humor in the book, but I was confused by why Rin was acting oddly (her reaction seemed blown out of proportion to the events because the author kept some early, critical events deliberately vague). I didn't bond with Rin in the first half because I couldn't understand her. When the author finally revealed what had happened, Rin suddenly became a sympathetic character to me because I knew what a burden she'd been struggling with. But by the time we learned this, Rin was already starting to get things under control and her transition from "struggling" to "figured it out" felt too fast even though I reminded myself it wasn't.

I understand that Rin didn't know what as happening, but I felt frustrated that the author prevented me from knowing at least as much as Rin did. I wished that the full details of the critical events had been revealed back when they occurred so that we could go through her struggle with her, cheering her the whole way.

If you, like me, don't like it when an author hides the critical reason why a character acts the way she does, I'd suggest that, when you reach the end of chapter one (which is 15 page in the ARC...the page numbers might be slightly different in the final version), turn to the full account of what happened with Wilem which starts on page 192 and read the italicized section which lasts until page 201. Then turn to read the italicized section on pages 208 to 210 (the last pages of chapter 17).

The pacing was excellent, but the world-building was only okay. This story didn't seem as deeply thought out as her previous stories. I noticed a number of details that didn't make sense to me, like Rin putting mud in her ears to protect herself from hearing someone speak in a future confrontation but needing to avoid (and somehow still hearing them in time to hide from) enemies that were searching for her at that moment.

The story was still enjoyable, and the ending was satisfying. There was no romance for Rin, but the other characters got in plenty of kissing. There was no sex and the bad language was of the "he cursed" variety. Overall, I'd recommend this book as good, clean reading.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
Ma had six sons. The eldest was big like his father, the middle boys were middling. By the time Razo was born, all the family's largeness must have been used up. The brothers called him runt and made him feel that word. He spent winter nights longing for a younger sibling, someone he could call runt, someone he could push and pinch.

Ma was longing too, but for a girl to share thoughts with, a daughter cut and sewn from her own soul.

When Razo was almost five, he and Ma both got their wish. The baby girl was born on a night so hot the wind panted and the summer moon blazed like the sun.

"Rinna," Ma named her.

"A girl," said the father.

"Rinna-girl," said Razo, peering over the side of the cot.

The baby blinked huge dark eyes and opened her mouth into a tiny circle. All desire to push and pinch hushed right out of Razo.

And the winner is...

It's time to pick a winner for my copy of "Rose House" by Tina Ann Forkner. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

JenniferB


Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always join in the fun by buying a copy of this book from Amazon or your favorite bookstore.