Vision Impossible by Victoria Laurie

#9 Psychic Eye Mystery
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Obsidian
Genre: mystery
Pages: 358
Challenges:  cozy mystery challenge

Vision Impossible picks up where A Glimpse of Evil ends.  Abby and Dutch have agreed to go undercover to help retrieve a drone that was stolen from the government.  This is a very important weapon for the US government and if in the wrong hands, well, let's just say that wouldn't be good.  

Dutch impersonates a known arms dealer and Abby is his, well, she starts out as his girlfriend and then switches to assistant.  It seems nothing will go as planned though, from the arms dealer's girlfriend showing up to Dutch being captured by one of the men who might know where the drone is, to Abby's life being threatened.

I found this to be another wonderful addition to the series.  I say this each time I review a book in the series but I'll say it again, this is by far one of my favorite series.  I love Abby and Dutch.  Their characters are very well created.  I enjoy the mix of paranormal, mystery, and humor that the author is able to create with each new addition to the series.  If you haven't tried this series yet, I definitely recommend giving it a shot...but starting with book one of course.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

#2 Night Huntress World
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Mystery
Pages: audio
Challenges: Strong Heroine, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal/fantasy reading challenge, audio book challenge


This particular installment allows us to get closer to Mencheres.  Mencheres is a master vampire who is pretty close to being done with life.  Then he meets Kira Graceling.  She's a human and a private investigator.  She happens to come across Mencheres being tortured by some ghouls and tries to save him, endangering her own life.  Mencheres rescues her and saves her, only to fall in love with her.  He tries to let her go back to her life, knowing that things are coming to an end for him.    However things quickly make a turn for the worse and Mencheres is forced to make Kira into a vampire.   Together they set out to save Mencheres from the one vampire who wants him dead.

Ok, yeah, so it's another vampire book.  By now you know I love my vampire books.  Jeaniene Frost has created a wonderful world.    I'm really enjoying this spin-off series.  I love that we learn more about some of the secondary characters in the Night Huntress series.  I think it's going to make the Night Huntress books that much more interesting since we'll have background on more of the characters.    Of course, I love that Bones and Cat also make an appearance in this book.

I suppose I should touch on the story itself huh?   I enjoyed the story and found that it kept my interest.  I think Kira is a very strong character and I hope she shows up in more books.  I did listen to the audio version of this book and the narrator did a wonderful job.   And that's all I've got.  Another short review, but I'll be caught up soon and hopefully things settle down and I'll have time for things to go back to normal soon.

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - final review

This is week four of the Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles read-a-long. Please check outweek 1, week 2, and week 3 discussions.  Up to this point, you would have read through chapter 24.

This week’s discussion is for ch. 25 through the end of the book.  We hope that you’ve enjoyed the discussions so far and have commented or answered the questions.

A lot of the latter parts of the book focus on Adair’s time alone in the woods.  She sits and listens to the animals and listens for soldiers and signs of life.  Do you find her reactions to her surroundings as a lone young woman in the woods believable?

I didn't pick up on the stories between the animals either.  I think this could be I wasn't paying too much attention at this point.  I've been just kinda going through the motions and reading the book to get done with it and see how it ends. haha!   I do agree that she seems very immature for being 18 during that time period.  I suppose some of her actions I can blame on her illness but, well, maybe I just don't want to.

How did you feel about Major Neumann not making another appearance until the second-to-last chapter, especially considering that some of us are finding his story more interesting than Adair’s?
I was very disappointed.  I definitely like Major Neumann's story more than Adair's and like him as a character better.  So to not hear his story for awhile was very disappointing   


What are your final impressions of the book?
I'm glad I finished the book but I didn't really like the story.  I didn't much care for Adair's character.  I felt she was pretty immature and full of herself.  I also find a lot of the events unbelievable.  My favorite part of the book were the tidbits at the beginning of each chapter that were took from real accounts, etc.  Those were by far the most interesting.   I also liked Major Neumann's story a lot more than Adair's so the fact that we didn't get a whole lot of him was also disappointing.    I can't say I hated the book, I think the concept was interesting, I just don't think it was delivered very well.  

The Last Child by John Hart

Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Minotaur books
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 419
Challenges: Off the shelf, New Author

Seeing as how I'm behind in my reviews, I'm going to just do a couple of short reviews for the two books I've finished within the last couple of weeks.

This was my first John Hart book and I can tell you it won't be the last.  Yes, it did take me awhile to really get in to this book, but once I did I loved it. 

Johnny Merrimon has had to deal with more than most kids his age.  His twin sister Alyssa disapeared a year ago, soon after his Father ran off.  His Mom couldn't deal with this and hooked up with the richest guy in town who got her addicted to drugs and booze and beats both of them.   Johnny is trying to survive and find out what happened to his sister at the same time.   

The police officer in charge of his sister's disappearence, Detective Clyde Hunt, hasn't been able to let the case go either.  He spends more time than he should working on the case even though there haven't been any new leads.   He wants to protect Johnny and his Mom from their current situation to and that might just cost him his job.

This story has a lot going on.  Once you get into it a bit you'll be hooked.  It keeps your mind active and engaged. It keeps you wondering what exactly is going to happen and what exactly happened to his sister.

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - read-a-long Week3

This is week 3 of the Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles read-a-long hosted by the lovely ladies at the War Through the Generations challenge.  If you missed the week 1 and week 2 discussions, please take a minute to join the discussion.
This week, each of us had to read the Chapters 16-24.  Please be warned there will be spoilers if you have not read the chapters previously.


In Chapter 17, once Adair has escaped the prison in St. Louis and is searching for a way South, Jiles makes a point of demonstrating the nation in transition between farming and industrial and traditional and modern sensibilities.  How does she accomplish this and is it done well?
I actually didn't notice this until reading the question and then your answers.  I think perhaps because the focus was on her finding a hat and then a basket.  So those are the things that I focused on.  After reading your responses where you point it out, it does seem obvious to me now.   So I guess that I feel like it wasn't well done, if the hat and basket hadn't been so dominate I think I would have noticed.


These chapters center on two things — Adair’s escape and attempts to return home and Major Neumann’s journey to join his new unit and the battle where he loses part of his hand.  Which storyline do you find more interesting at this point?
I actually find Major Neumann's story more interesting.  I think because I like reading about the battles more and what the men experienced and went through.   Sure, Adair is dealing with some tough stuff too, but it doesn't interest me as much. 


What do you make of the woman and the daughter Adair stays with for a time?  Do you think these scenes are necessary?
I feel like they were a tad unnecessary but since it ends up with her discovering her horse, I can see why they are there.   Perhaps it could have been cut shorter?  A couple of thoughts though.   I think at first it shows how sick Adair was because she was going in and out.   Then it made me think worse of Adair because it appears after a bit she was feeling fine, yet not offering to help out around the house/yard.  So it seemed she was taking advantage of their hospitality and that made me think negativly of Adair.

Out of curiosity, do you think you would be as merciless as Lila and Rosalie or more cunning like Adair if you needed to steal to survive?
I would like to say that I would be very cunning, but I'm not sure I could pull it off. haha!

What is your overall impression of the book at this point?  Are you enjoying it more?  Less?
I'm enjoying it more because I like Major Neumann's story line.  Adair..I just can't connect with her and that's keeping me from really enjoying the story. 

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - Read-a-long Week 2

I'm behind in the read-a-long, took me awhile to get the chapters read.  So here's the second week's questions that I missed last week.


This is week two of the Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles read-a-long for the War Through the Generations - American Civil War challenge.  For this week, each of us had to read chapters 7-15.  These chapters follow Adair Colley and her plight in the women's prison near St. Louis.


How would you compare Adair’s thinking to that of a more traditional southern woman, like Rhoda?
I agree with Serena and Anna.  Adair seems to have more traditional, modern ways about her than the traditional southern roles that come to mind.  She speaks her mind, she speaks up for herself.  She's not willing to let people get away with something she thinks is wrong.  This is rather different for that time period.  Women were supposed to be behind the men and do what was expected and not speak out.  Adair, she doesn't work that way.


Describe the relationship between Adair and Major Neumann.  Is it believable? Do you think the war has influenced it and in what way? Has their plight moved you?
I think the relationship is a little, weird, at first.  It seems to be pure lust at first because, I mean come on, how well could he really know her since she is a prisoner.  It's not like they have a lot of time to hang out and get to know each other.   However, I think it started out with him finding her very pretty and wanting to help her. He doesn't really like his role and doesn't think most of the women should be in the prison.   I think in trying to help Adair, Major Neumann did start to learn more about her and did begin to fall for her.    I think Adair, on the other hand, might be caught up in it.   She's mostly out to save herself.  He doesn't seem to share much about himself with her.  So at first I think Adair liked the attention and thought he was handsome.  


What do you make of Adair’s “confessions?”  Do you think she should have followed Major Neumann’s advice and given them anything plausible just to be released?
I actually like her confessions.  I thought it was rather witty of her and smart.   It allowed her to see Major Neumann more and let him get to know a bit about her.  I don't think she should have followed his advice. I suppose it would allow her to leave the prison, but she would be making something up and could harm others. I thinks he did the right thing. 


What is your overall impression of the book at this point?  Are you enjoying it more?  Less?
I'm enjoying the book more than I did at first, but still not loving it.  I think the parts at the beginning of each chapter are still my favorite. 

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - Chapters 1-6

I decided to participate in the Enemy Women read-along hosted by Anna and Serena for the War Through the Generations - American Civil War reading challenge.   This week the goal was to read the prologue and then Chapters 1-6.

Do you think the prologue was necessary? Why or Why not?
I think the prologue was necessary but very dry.    I admit that I don't know much about the Civil War, much less things that happened in my own State.  I tend to think that Missouri wasn't that important but I'm beginning to realize we had a lot of battles and a lot going on.

The prologue gave us background on what was happening in Southern Missouri, something that I had no clue was happening.  However the way in which it was written was very dry and very hard to follow. It was incredibly boring and didn't always make sense to me.  So I struggled to get through it, yet feel it was necessary since I went into the story itself having a better understanding of what was going on.

What are your first impressions of the main character, Adair Colley?
I'm not to sure about Adair yet.  She's very strong willed and I like that about her.  However she seems to be too rash.  I feel she made some poor decisions so far, either from lack of knowledge about what's going on or naivety.  Perhaps a combination of both.    I'm not sure I would have gone to the Union militia to demand my father's freedom, trailing two younger siblings, if I knew I had relatives/friends I could go to for shelter and help.

The correspondence at the beginning of each chapter provides background to the fighting.  How do you think that will figure into the overall plot or what is its purpose?
I find that the correspondence helps me understand the story better. It gives me more of a background of what's happening and what things were like.  I really enjoy reading them. I'm a sucker for things like that though. I love reading war letters, diaries, etc in the original form because it just makes it seem more real.   I think the ones included at the start of each chapter really help the book.


For my own thoughts on the story so far:
I'm having trouble with this one.  It's hard for me to get into the groove of the writing. It's not flowing well for me yet and I think that's causing some issues with me not being too thrilled with it yet.  I'm enjoying it, just not crazy about it.   I'm looking forward to reading the next set of chapters though.  Now that Adair is in St. Louis (where I live) I'm interested to see what happens and what things were like.

I knew that Missouri was one of the swing states but didn't know much about our role in the Civil War.  So I am drawn into the story for that reason.