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The Great Financial Plumbing: From Northern Rock to Banking Union
Book
The financial crisis has led to a far-reaching redesign of the European regulatory and supervisory...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
This has taken me a long time to read because it didn't grab my interest in the slightest. I can't be doing with any sort of religious people in books. They just drive me a little crazy. So with her having a pastor for a father and being all good with church related stuff, I just had to roll my eyes a little.
Nothing about this pulled me in, not the characters, not the plot...I was bored for all of it but considering the last few YA books I've read have been DNF's I decided to stick with it. I read books for the romance mainly and I had no idea where that bit came into it but by the end they loved each other.
There was a bit of a high point at the end where everything started to make sense which pushed my rating up an entire star, simply because the pace picked up finally ands something actually happened beside school and dates and dances.
Shapeshifters are not my favourite paranormal creatures to read about and although I have the next book in the series I dont think I'll be reading it.
Not for me at all.
Nothing about this pulled me in, not the characters, not the plot...I was bored for all of it but considering the last few YA books I've read have been DNF's I decided to stick with it. I read books for the romance mainly and I had no idea where that bit came into it but by the end they loved each other.
There was a bit of a high point at the end where everything started to make sense which pushed my rating up an entire star, simply because the pace picked up finally ands something actually happened beside school and dates and dances.
Shapeshifters are not my favourite paranormal creatures to read about and although I have the next book in the series I dont think I'll be reading it.
Not for me at all.
How Smart is Your Dog?: Discover If Your Pet Can Solve These Fun Canine Tests
Book
Packed with a wealth of fun tests and easy-to-teach exercises, this comprehensive guide will allow...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Fourth Monkey (4MK Thriller, #1) in Books
May 3, 2020
Two days to save her . . .
For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.
One day . . .
As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows that even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.
Zero.
With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out as the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.
I actually found this quite chilling! It was very well written especially the diary chapters! I honestly didn’t see that twist coming! I kept swapping my rating from a 4 to a 3 and vide versa as I’m not sure where I wanted it to go! I really enjoy J D Barker and look forward to the next book!
For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.
One day . . .
As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows that even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.
Zero.
With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out as the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.
I actually found this quite chilling! It was very well written especially the diary chapters! I honestly didn’t see that twist coming! I kept swapping my rating from a 4 to a 3 and vide versa as I’m not sure where I wanted it to go! I really enjoy J D Barker and look forward to the next book!
Dinebook - Restaurant Reservation: Yerevan
Food & Drink and Lifestyle
App
Dinebook allows you to search, discover and make reservations in the best restaurants in Yerevan. ...
Beatdown: Streets of Justice
5.0
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Tabletop Game
"Plan your combo. Save the city together. — A fun, cooperative, strategic crime-fighting card...
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Emaji Nation Book 1 The Sparrow in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Emaji Nation Book 1: The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis is a book that I will not soon be forgetting about. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. The first chapter grabbed my attention instantly. Most books I have read don’t do that, they tend to need some time to build up a reader’s interest. Each chapter seems to leave the reader hanging with just enough anticipation that you might find yourself staying up hours past your intended stopping time to continue the story.
With little explanation as to why young Amanda finds herself walking through a portal at her grandparent’s house and transported to the planet Emaji. This is where she meets Solomon, who helps reunite her with her grandparents. Her grandmother tells her that there is a prophecy naming her the defeater of Zorn and savior of Emaji. With the help of the Emaji leaders, Amanda learns that Emaji was once much like Earth. That is until a nuclear world war forced the survivors into Mount Hanovi where their God (Ema) united them and blessed them with gifts. Peace cannot seem to last and Zorn grew arrogant with his gifts and betrayed the rest of the survivors.
Now, Amanda has to deal with being under attack by an unknown assassin controlled by Zorn. At the same time, she must begin her training. Amanda is only given two days to train and learn about the warrior classes of the Emaji before taking her own Journey of Discovery to receive her personal gift from Ema. At the very end of her Journey she must jump from a cliff to prove her belief in Ema. On top of all this, the prophecy also names the Emaji man she is supposed to marry and she isn’t even seventeen yet.
Denna M. Davis makes Amanda a very relatable character. Amanda shows her fear and her doubts from the moment she steps through the portal at her grandparent’s house and finds herself in Emaji. Unlike many books where a character is the main focus of a prophecy, Amanda does not jump right into her Destiny and instead takes her time deciding if that is what she really wants to do. She internally struggles with the idea of being this destined hero when she could always just go back to the safety of her home. Staying on Emaji means facing danger and possible death for people she just met.
There are so many things I liked about this book that it is hard to pinpoint what I liked best. I loved how relatable and real Amanda is. I also found the story to be gripping and so detailed that the action never slows down for a second. I did not want to stop reading. Being completely honest what I liked least about the book seems almost trivial to me. I did not really enjoy how every citizen of Emaji is described as having their own specific skin color. I understand how this may be a gift from Ema or possibly a result of the radiation from the war but, I just had a hard time picturing it. Frequently, I noticed I would mentally default back to thinking in the skin tones that are naturally found on Earth.
The target readers for this book are fantasy readers starting at mature middle school age and older. There are a few different times that Amanda hints at the fact that she may have been (or came close to being) raped while at a party, so readers would have to be mature enough to handle that concept. Although, nothing of a sexual nature is actually described with detail at any point in the book. I am fully confident in my decision to give this book a complete 4 out of 4 rating. It is extremely well edited to where I only noticed one error in the entire book. Also, I found myself enjoying this book right from the start. Denna M. Davis portrayed a world different from ours wonderfully. I felt like I was actually there at times and was sad when I finished the book. I can not wait to read the second one. I am hooked and I believe anyone who enjoys fantasy will be as well.
With little explanation as to why young Amanda finds herself walking through a portal at her grandparent’s house and transported to the planet Emaji. This is where she meets Solomon, who helps reunite her with her grandparents. Her grandmother tells her that there is a prophecy naming her the defeater of Zorn and savior of Emaji. With the help of the Emaji leaders, Amanda learns that Emaji was once much like Earth. That is until a nuclear world war forced the survivors into Mount Hanovi where their God (Ema) united them and blessed them with gifts. Peace cannot seem to last and Zorn grew arrogant with his gifts and betrayed the rest of the survivors.
Now, Amanda has to deal with being under attack by an unknown assassin controlled by Zorn. At the same time, she must begin her training. Amanda is only given two days to train and learn about the warrior classes of the Emaji before taking her own Journey of Discovery to receive her personal gift from Ema. At the very end of her Journey she must jump from a cliff to prove her belief in Ema. On top of all this, the prophecy also names the Emaji man she is supposed to marry and she isn’t even seventeen yet.
Denna M. Davis makes Amanda a very relatable character. Amanda shows her fear and her doubts from the moment she steps through the portal at her grandparent’s house and finds herself in Emaji. Unlike many books where a character is the main focus of a prophecy, Amanda does not jump right into her Destiny and instead takes her time deciding if that is what she really wants to do. She internally struggles with the idea of being this destined hero when she could always just go back to the safety of her home. Staying on Emaji means facing danger and possible death for people she just met.
There are so many things I liked about this book that it is hard to pinpoint what I liked best. I loved how relatable and real Amanda is. I also found the story to be gripping and so detailed that the action never slows down for a second. I did not want to stop reading. Being completely honest what I liked least about the book seems almost trivial to me. I did not really enjoy how every citizen of Emaji is described as having their own specific skin color. I understand how this may be a gift from Ema or possibly a result of the radiation from the war but, I just had a hard time picturing it. Frequently, I noticed I would mentally default back to thinking in the skin tones that are naturally found on Earth.
The target readers for this book are fantasy readers starting at mature middle school age and older. There are a few different times that Amanda hints at the fact that she may have been (or came close to being) raped while at a party, so readers would have to be mature enough to handle that concept. Although, nothing of a sexual nature is actually described with detail at any point in the book. I am fully confident in my decision to give this book a complete 4 out of 4 rating. It is extremely well edited to where I only noticed one error in the entire book. Also, I found myself enjoying this book right from the start. Denna M. Davis portrayed a world different from ours wonderfully. I felt like I was actually there at times and was sad when I finished the book. I can not wait to read the second one. I am hooked and I believe anyone who enjoys fantasy will be as well.
TV
The V-Chip Debate: Content Filtering from Television to the Internet
Book
The V-chip is a highly significant part of the discussion about whether television (or broadcasting...
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Same Time Next Year in Books
Sep 10, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Genre: Contemporary
Word Count: 4,560
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.27/5 stars
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
It’s not often a book can surprise me. But Same Time Next Year totally took me off guard.
Every year, for the past either years, Regina White and Tyler Harrison meet at the same hotel, in two connecting rooms for one night.
The receptionist, Elizabeth, thinks she has the whole situation figured out. But she doesn’t know what this night means to the mysterious couple. And somehow she can’t stop thinking about them anyway.
You can read Same Time Next Year for free on Smashwords.
At first I thought I wasn’t going to like this story. I thought it was about two people leaving their depressing and dull lives to have one night of infidelity and debauchery a year, like some sort of modern day fairy tale. On top of that, the “good” character, Elizabeth, is kind of a bitch who is quick to condemn and judge Regina, but smile and admire Tyler.
It’s one thing to disapprove of adultery, it’s another thing to have double standards about it.
But despite my misgivings at first, I got sucked into the very hot sex scene quickly.
“No, I don’t want champagne. I want you. Naked. And wet. And begging.”
Gotta love good dirty talk. Unfortunately the scene ends abruptly and before the couple gets to the really good part, if you know what I mean. 😉
For such a short story there is actually a lot of character development. We learn that Tyler and Regina met at a conference years ago, when they had those two hotel rooms by coincidence. Tyler loves how Regina’s strong and confident in public, but a little submissive in the bedroom. Regina loves how Tyler still wants her, and how he’s always willing to please her. They have great chemistry together and I love how they’re still attracted to each other after all those years, and always come back to the same hotel.
My only complaint, aside from the abrupt end to the sex scene, is Elizabeth. I get why she’s necessary to the story, but she’s undeveloped and unlikeable, and I wish she was gone.
Word Count: 4,560
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.27/5 stars
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
It’s not often a book can surprise me. But Same Time Next Year totally took me off guard.
Every year, for the past either years, Regina White and Tyler Harrison meet at the same hotel, in two connecting rooms for one night.
The receptionist, Elizabeth, thinks she has the whole situation figured out. But she doesn’t know what this night means to the mysterious couple. And somehow she can’t stop thinking about them anyway.
You can read Same Time Next Year for free on Smashwords.
At first I thought I wasn’t going to like this story. I thought it was about two people leaving their depressing and dull lives to have one night of infidelity and debauchery a year, like some sort of modern day fairy tale. On top of that, the “good” character, Elizabeth, is kind of a bitch who is quick to condemn and judge Regina, but smile and admire Tyler.
It’s one thing to disapprove of adultery, it’s another thing to have double standards about it.
But despite my misgivings at first, I got sucked into the very hot sex scene quickly.
“No, I don’t want champagne. I want you. Naked. And wet. And begging.”
Gotta love good dirty talk. Unfortunately the scene ends abruptly and before the couple gets to the really good part, if you know what I mean. 😉
For such a short story there is actually a lot of character development. We learn that Tyler and Regina met at a conference years ago, when they had those two hotel rooms by coincidence. Tyler loves how Regina’s strong and confident in public, but a little submissive in the bedroom. Regina loves how Tyler still wants her, and how he’s always willing to please her. They have great chemistry together and I love how they’re still attracted to each other after all those years, and always come back to the same hotel.
My only complaint, aside from the abrupt end to the sex scene, is Elizabeth. I get why she’s necessary to the story, but she’s undeveloped and unlikeable, and I wish she was gone.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Primary Victim in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Primary Victim by Christopher Cihlar
Genre: Crime Fiction, Crime thriller
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary (from back of book): A serial killer whose victims don’t die. An innocent man who believes he is guilty. A police officer who may solve the crime but in doing so gives the killer exactly what he wants. A legal defense that challenges the very core ideals of justice.
Primary Victim is a thriller that tests both the psychological breaking point of an individual and the strength of the legal system governing society.
Review:
I’ll admit up front that I have a weakness for crime fiction—but this book was amazing. Words escape my mind as I try to explain how blown away I am by this book. I gasped and grinned and nearly cried and laughed at the surprises thrown at me through this stunning debut novel.
The psychological aspect of PRIMARY VICTIM was mainly found in the “Victim,” Brice. I won’t say what happens to him, but it amazed me as his mind began to twist and change through the course of the story.
The plot: PRIMARY VICTIM was full of twists and turns that I never expected, and it had me sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time. I couldn’t put it down! The viewpoint alternates between the criminal, the police officer, and the (living) victim, and switches back and forth at the most inconvenient places, forcing you to read on.
Characters: All the characters in PRIMARY VICTIM were strongly developed with real personalities. I hate books where people are just to perfect to be real (what I call “happyland syndrome”)—this book had the good guys and the bad guys, the the ones you hoped it all worked out for them, and the ones that you wished would be the next to die because they were such jerks (cough Nick cough).
By the end of the book I wasn’t sure what Michael (the criminal) was going to pull out of his hat, and was, from the very first page to the very last, impressed with Michael’s genius and creativity. At times I actually found myself almost cheering for him, but had to remind myself that he was the bad guy. It was almost hard to see him as the bad guy at times, because of his “work—” Michael considered himself a God in a world that needed one and didn’t have one, victimizing the people that he thought needed to be victimized.
Brice and Sarah were such a perfect yet sad couple, and for the sake of keeping the review spoiler-free, I won’t say anything… but I thought I was going to cry at one point.
Writing: The writing was the weakest point of this book. The prose itself seemed written in an unfamiliar style, minimizing comas in the sentences, and it made for a harder read. I caught myself occasionally re-reading sentences and paragraphs to understand what had happened. Aside from the prose, the vocabulary was broad enough and the pacing was good.
As of now, PRIMARY VICTIM is unedited, but there is only an occasional grammatical error, formatting error, or typo scattered through the book. However, all in all, it didn’t take away from the story.
Content: There was brief mention of sex between husband and wife (example: “they made love,” no other details, and the fact that they’re married made it that much better), and an occasional foul word from an angry officer, but other than that this book was refreshingly clean. I applaud Christopher for writing a crime thriller with low content—especially compared to some of the other crime thrillers out there. Maybe he can start a revolution. It’s true, people—you can have a good book without excessive sex and language!
Recommendation: Ages 14+ to lovers of Crime fiction, thrillers, and psychological thrillers.
Genre: Crime Fiction, Crime thriller
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary (from back of book): A serial killer whose victims don’t die. An innocent man who believes he is guilty. A police officer who may solve the crime but in doing so gives the killer exactly what he wants. A legal defense that challenges the very core ideals of justice.
Primary Victim is a thriller that tests both the psychological breaking point of an individual and the strength of the legal system governing society.
Review:
I’ll admit up front that I have a weakness for crime fiction—but this book was amazing. Words escape my mind as I try to explain how blown away I am by this book. I gasped and grinned and nearly cried and laughed at the surprises thrown at me through this stunning debut novel.
The psychological aspect of PRIMARY VICTIM was mainly found in the “Victim,” Brice. I won’t say what happens to him, but it amazed me as his mind began to twist and change through the course of the story.
The plot: PRIMARY VICTIM was full of twists and turns that I never expected, and it had me sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time. I couldn’t put it down! The viewpoint alternates between the criminal, the police officer, and the (living) victim, and switches back and forth at the most inconvenient places, forcing you to read on.
Characters: All the characters in PRIMARY VICTIM were strongly developed with real personalities. I hate books where people are just to perfect to be real (what I call “happyland syndrome”)—this book had the good guys and the bad guys, the the ones you hoped it all worked out for them, and the ones that you wished would be the next to die because they were such jerks (cough Nick cough).
By the end of the book I wasn’t sure what Michael (the criminal) was going to pull out of his hat, and was, from the very first page to the very last, impressed with Michael’s genius and creativity. At times I actually found myself almost cheering for him, but had to remind myself that he was the bad guy. It was almost hard to see him as the bad guy at times, because of his “work—” Michael considered himself a God in a world that needed one and didn’t have one, victimizing the people that he thought needed to be victimized.
Brice and Sarah were such a perfect yet sad couple, and for the sake of keeping the review spoiler-free, I won’t say anything… but I thought I was going to cry at one point.
Writing: The writing was the weakest point of this book. The prose itself seemed written in an unfamiliar style, minimizing comas in the sentences, and it made for a harder read. I caught myself occasionally re-reading sentences and paragraphs to understand what had happened. Aside from the prose, the vocabulary was broad enough and the pacing was good.
As of now, PRIMARY VICTIM is unedited, but there is only an occasional grammatical error, formatting error, or typo scattered through the book. However, all in all, it didn’t take away from the story.
Content: There was brief mention of sex between husband and wife (example: “they made love,” no other details, and the fact that they’re married made it that much better), and an occasional foul word from an angry officer, but other than that this book was refreshingly clean. I applaud Christopher for writing a crime thriller with low content—especially compared to some of the other crime thrillers out there. Maybe he can start a revolution. It’s true, people—you can have a good book without excessive sex and language!
Recommendation: Ages 14+ to lovers of Crime fiction, thrillers, and psychological thrillers.