Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Reading Update

I’m currently on a cruise to Hawaii and my days (and time--I'm on Hawaiian time) are all screwed up. Ah, but what does it matter when I post, right?

I reached my (adjusted) reading goal! Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book #50

Dates read: November 27-December 9
Title: The Burned Spy
Year of publication: 2018
Author: K.A. Krantz
Genre: Fantasy
Series:  The Immortal Spy Book 1
# of Pages: 275
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Goodreads:. Gods. Always ready to screw you.
    When Bix the Gatekeeper is summoned from exile a hundred and seventy years early by the goddess of the Norse Under World, the former Dark Ops agent knows there’s a catch. On the surface, the terms of the deal are simple. Someone attacked the pantheon’s ambassador to the Mid Worlds and left the ambassador in a coma. In exchange for early parole, Bix must identify the perpetrator and drag their soul to Hel.
    It’d be a sweet contract, if not for the details. The ambassador is Bix’s ex-girlfriend, the lead suspect is the key witness from Bix’s trial, and the organization leading the official investigation is the same intelligence guild that disavowed Bix when a covert op went pear-shaped. Undeterred, Bix returns to her old stomping grounds where clues in the smoldering woods of Centralia, Pennsylvania, lead to the waterfront of Washington, DC, and Worlds beyond.
    Once valued for her skills creating passageways as small as a capillary or as large as a continent, Bix’s success now depends on the relationships she was forced to abandon. As she squares off against friends who betrayed her and enemies keen to destroy her, Bix follows a trail of secrets, torture, and treason that leads to the very superpowers who banished her. With her freedom on the line and revenge within reach, this highly-trained operative will take on Fates, dragons, angels, and gods to get exactly what she wants.
    Hel hath no fury like a burned spy.
My thoughts: I’m not a big fantasy reader, but I know the author and I was really curious to read what she wrote. Scared, too. My curiosity doesn’t always bode well for me (or the author) when I read outside my favorite genre. In this case, I’m glad I caved. This was enjoyable. And yes, I will definitely read the next in the series. I liked Bix.

Book #51

Dates read: December 10-11
Title: Debriefing the Dead
Year of publication: 2018
Author: Kerry Blaisdell
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series:  The Dead Series Book 1
# of Pages: 250
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Goodreads:. The only thing Hyacinth wants is her life back. Literally. She and her sister were murdered by Demons, leaving her young nephew, Geordi, to his father’s family in the brutal Sicilian Mob. Then Archangel Michael offers her a deal: recapture a powerful rock the Demons stole, and she can live long enough to find Geordi a safe home. Refuse, and she’ll continue up (or down) to the Afterlife.
    So, slightly more alive than dead, she heads for Turkey and the Demons, taking Geordi, her mysterious neighbor Jason, and a sexy dead guy only she can see with her. But the hardest part won’t be battling Demons, meeting Satan, or dodging Middle Eastern customs—it will be later, when Geordi is settled, and Michael rips her away again. How can she abandon her nephew? Or can she outwit the Angel of Death himself, and stay with Geordi forever?

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Hooked me at the beginning and didn’t let go. And it’s in first person, which I’m surprised I bought this (which I can’t remember why, but so glad I had), seeing as I thought this was a romance (don’t ask me why, because I don’t know—certainly isn’t by the blurb) and I usually don’t like romances in first person. However, it’s not a romance (although there are some romantic elements), but full of mystery and suspense (which I love). And it’s a series, so there are some things left un-resolved, but the main storyline is contained in this book, so all is good. I will most definitely get the next one.  

The weather’s been kind of chilly during the first few days of our cruise, but I expect it to warm up tomorrow. On Friday we will reach Honolulu and the first of four Hawaiian stops before we return to San Diego. Oh yeah, there’s a stop in Ensenada, Mexico (gotta have that foreign port), but I doubt we do anything there.

At least I’m getting some reading done. And they’ve been really good books! I’m getting some writing done, too, so I’m not a total slacker. I’ll be glad when I can sit outside and write, though, but it’s just been too chilly (and occasionally rainy) to sit out there long. Soon, though. Soon!

Happy Reading!

Stacy

1 comment:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hope your cruise warms up a bit.