Wednesday Reads

Feel like I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and it’s not counting toward my book total. Proofreading isn’t all that easy, you know? But I’ve gotten through one read of My Sunny Vampire and hopefully my daughter gets through it, too. I should probably read it out loud and may do that next.

But besides my galley, here’s what I finished reading this week:

Jul 24: “The Collected” by Brett Battles. This is the seventh (I think) book in the Jonathan Quinn series, a suspense/thriller. Blurb on back: A cleaner’s tasks are simple: get rid of the body so that it will never be found, and make the scene of the kill look like nothing happened. Rule Number One: Don’t get caught. With Jonathan Quinn’s career in question, his apprentice Nate has successfully taken on the roll of full-fledged cleaner, using Quinn’s name to keep the business working seamlessly in case his boss decides to return. But Nate’s latest job is not what it seems, and he finds himself on the wrong side of a trap. With Nate suddenly missing, Quinn and his partner Orlando set out to find him, and learn the reasons for Nate’s disappearance are more atrocious than they anticipated. First off, yes I loved this story. It had lots of suspense and characters I really care about. BUT (and it’s a big one), I hated the ending! It left one HUGE cliffhanger, and I despise those. If it were anyone else, I probably wouldn’t even bother reading any more, but it’s Brett, and I love his books. I can still grumble, though (and I AM). There is a good thing to all this: the next book is out already. Problem? I don’t own it yet. Argh! Even with the ass-kicking ending (notice, that’s different than a kick-ass ending), I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads.

Aug 6: “New Order Apocalypse” by R. Mac Wheeler. I’m not sure what kind of genre this book is; probably close to horror (without paranormal monsters). Blurb from Goodreads: The remnants of society rot. The privileged get a five-hundred calorie meal pack every day. The dead are dumped in landfills, or left where they fall. Thirty-three years after extremists released the engineered virus, the Centers for Disease Control is the last governing body. The transition from finding a cure to administering what is left, never set well with anyone. The resentment may drive the rumors of conspiracy. But too many CDC administrators survive, and any focus of finding a cure appears abandoned. Jason Kates believes he’s searching for a way to feed the starving that remain in the Eastern cities, but his assignment to cross the lawless lands to reach the American heartland may be a pretense to get him killed. He's an outsider to the CDC hierarchy, and there are dangerous secrets to be kept. Clueless to what he's facing, and suicidal, Jason partners with a road-wise girl who tries to carjack him. He needs the value of her harsh experiences. She needs the nutrition bars he carries. Their sarcasm-laced relationship grows as they careen through evermore dangerous obstacles. They discover little more than empty prairie until they stumble upon the proof of conspiracy, which propels Jason into a far more challenging role. I really enjoyed this book. The setting kind of placed me in Stephen King's "The Stand" thirty years later. I would have loved the book if certain relations weren’t skimmed over (especially since all Jason ever thinks about is having sex!), but hey, that’s me! The ending did bog down a little (or my mind just had trouble following); otherwise, it kept me entertained and clicking the next page! I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

I walked 3.5 miles on Monday and 4.6 miles on Tuesday and my feet are feeling it. This is why I usually rotate my exercise routine. We’ll see if I can even WALK today (I think I have a blister--my husband says he broke me. He might not be far off.).

Happy reading!

Stacy