Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Wednesday Reads and I Got Picked!

I didn’t comprehend that yesterday was Tuesday, because it was my birthday, so days of the week don’t seem to matter; therefore, I didn’t set up this post last night when I should have. Then again, if I had posted it last night, I wouldn’t have been able to share the news I got this morning, which I mention later. Right now, here’s what I read the past week:

Book #44

Dates read: July 10-17
Title: “UNSUB”
Year of publication: 2017
Author: Meg Gardiner
Genre: Suspense/thriller
Series: UNSUB #1
# of Pages: 366
Paper or plastic: Hardback
How obtained: Purchased (heck, I pre-ordered this one!)
Blurb from book: Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.
    The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once-promising career.
    Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the same haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.
    Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the abyss?
My thoughts: Whoo. I had a hard time putting this book down. If not for my stupid eyes (and maybe trying to get back into writing), I would have read this much quicker. I love Meg’s books and this one is no exception.

And now for my news!! This morning I got a message from the Urban Fantasy Track from Dragon Con. I’ve been selected to be a panelist for The Vampire Diaries! I had put my name into the “hat” awhile back (which wasn’t an easy thing for me to do, let me tell you) and really didn’t think I’d get chosen. Even now I could have still backed out, but I was strong and I didn’t. Now I just have to go back over the whole series and see what I forgot. Because I’m sure I forgot a lot.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

6 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

I'll have to remember Gardiner's name. I have a friend who loves suspense books. If she hasn't read hers, I'll be sure to get one for her for Christmas. Is there any one book of hers you'd recommend most?

re: panel
Congrats! Be sure to have one of your books with you on the panel, so you can show it off when they introduce you. :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - Meg has a couple of series and some stand alones. UNSUB is the beginning of a series (and it was picked up by CBS even!). China Lake was her first and the book Stephen King read and wrote about, getting her noticed. I went to high school with Meg and didn't know she wrote until I read King's article. I've read everything she's written now. So yeah, I'd start with China Lake.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations! Dragon Con is huge. That is amazing. What a birthday present.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Alex - I've been going to Dragon Con since 2010. This will most likely be my last trip (just getting too expensive--hotel room wise), so it's nice going out with a bang! :) But yeah, it's huge. HUGE! Over 70K people attended last year.

JeffO said...

Congrats on Dragon Con, Stacy! Haven't read any Meg Gardiner, but she's got a pretty good rep, if I recall correctly.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jeff - Meg certainly gets lots of "blurbs" for her books. Well deserved, too.