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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Saguaro in Books
Oct 31, 2024
Danger at Rangerfest
Jack Prester is already in the area before the trouble begins this time. He’s in Tucson for Rangerfest, an annual gathering of those who work in the parks. When two grad students’ bodies are found in one part of Saguaro, his boss asks him to look into it. Jack quickly finds that there are multiple local agencies trying to get in on the investigation, which makes things more complicated. But the greatest complication is the attack on Jack. If he survives, can he figure out what is going on?
It was great as always to be back visiting a National Park with Jack and the rest of the cast. Yes, all the supporting characters are here again and I love watching them all work together to solve things. I thought the opening scene might have given away a little too much, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, we got plenty of twists along the way to the climax. Some strong subplots definitely helped. There is a scattering of foul language, but it was kept to a minimum. As always, the writing is poetic without getting in the way of the story, which is something I love. I’m hoping this isn’t our last visit with Jack (after all, there are still plenty of parks to visit), but if it is, this is one fans will love. And if you haven’t started this series yet, you really should.
It was great as always to be back visiting a National Park with Jack and the rest of the cast. Yes, all the supporting characters are here again and I love watching them all work together to solve things. I thought the opening scene might have given away a little too much, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, we got plenty of twists along the way to the climax. Some strong subplots definitely helped. There is a scattering of foul language, but it was kept to a minimum. As always, the writing is poetic without getting in the way of the story, which is something I love. I’m hoping this isn’t our last visit with Jack (after all, there are still plenty of parks to visit), but if it is, this is one fans will love. And if you haven’t started this series yet, you really should.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Cloudland in Books
Jan 15, 2018
So I'm still not quite sure what to make of this book. The language used in it's writing was very poetic & descriptive. I enjoyed that aspect of it a great deal. My real issue with it was the plot. For being a murder/suspense/crime novel, it sure didn't move very quickly. I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat as I usually expect from novels that fall into this category. The "edge of my seat-ness" didn't happen for me until about the last 40 pages or so. :(
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Fall of Lisa Bellow in Books
Mar 15, 2018
This novel was one I had been highly anticipating since late last year, and unfortunately, it just wasnt for me. Ive read a number of character driven novels in the past couple of months and I think Im just getting a bit sick of them. Because of this, my review is going to be skewed, theres no way around that, it just wasnt the kind of novel I was hoping to read at this point in my reading journey.
The novel was very well put together. The writing was wonderful and the characters were incredibly well developed, but my problem was the plot. As a lot of others have said, this promised suspense and a bit of action, but it was instead a slow moving, poetic family drama.
The characters, I didnt care enough about to really get invested in their stories. Meredith was fine, and like I previously said, often funny, but I had no empathy for her, so her story meant very little to me. Claire I didnt like, not even a little bit. Ive never experienced motherhood, but there was something so immature about her when it came to certain situations with her kids, that I ended up hating her for her behaviour and thoughts.
I hate that I didnt like this novel, but there we are.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
The novel was very well put together. The writing was wonderful and the characters were incredibly well developed, but my problem was the plot. As a lot of others have said, this promised suspense and a bit of action, but it was instead a slow moving, poetic family drama.
The characters, I didnt care enough about to really get invested in their stories. Meredith was fine, and like I previously said, often funny, but I had no empathy for her, so her story meant very little to me. Claire I didnt like, not even a little bit. Ive never experienced motherhood, but there was something so immature about her when it came to certain situations with her kids, that I ended up hating her for her behaviour and thoughts.
I hate that I didnt like this novel, but there we are.
<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.</i>
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Tin Man in Books
May 29, 2018
I wanted to love this so much - and I did, in a way. The story is so sad to me. Wishing we knew now what we knew then, and how far we still have to go. This is like a love triangle that works, but it doesn't. And I can't help but think how often unsaid things, create such chasms between friends, and lovers. So unnecessary, and so sad.
Ellis, Annie and Michael have such an exquisite love story - and so many unanswered questions between them. This story is short, but powerful, and a lot of those questions are answered as we go through it. Sadly, there is so much love, but also so much loss. It's heartbreaking what they all endure.
I loved getting into Dora's story in the beginning - she was such an interesting character - but after that I struggled to get into it - finally really feeling like I was engaged in the story mid-way with Michael. But I coulnd't follow the writing style very well.... like they were these snippets of thoughts, run of mouth words, memories, flashes... I had trouble connecting the timelines and often found myself re-reading to stay engaged.
I love the descriptiveness of surroundings, and feelings, and characters (the sunflowers a character alone! and there was a lot of swimming.... I wonder what that signifies?), and the ending was so beautifully poetic. I just really wanted more story, more things happening.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
Ellis, Annie and Michael have such an exquisite love story - and so many unanswered questions between them. This story is short, but powerful, and a lot of those questions are answered as we go through it. Sadly, there is so much love, but also so much loss. It's heartbreaking what they all endure.
I loved getting into Dora's story in the beginning - she was such an interesting character - but after that I struggled to get into it - finally really feeling like I was engaged in the story mid-way with Michael. But I coulnd't follow the writing style very well.... like they were these snippets of thoughts, run of mouth words, memories, flashes... I had trouble connecting the timelines and often found myself re-reading to stay engaged.
I love the descriptiveness of surroundings, and feelings, and characters (the sunflowers a character alone! and there was a lot of swimming.... I wonder what that signifies?), and the ending was so beautifully poetic. I just really wanted more story, more things happening.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
Kaz (232 KP) rated Shadows of the Wind in Books
Jul 28, 2019 (Updated Jul 28, 2019)
A fantastic Novel
I was recommended this book by a friend who has read this book, and its follow up books, many times.
When I first started reading this, I thought that it was going to be a fantasy novel. It's a lot more than that.
Firstly, I thought that the writing was fantastic. This novel was originally written in Spanish, but the English version I read was very well translated. It was poetic and beautiful. This story is a brilliant mixture of suspense, humour and intrigue, which has vivid, almost noir depictions of Barcelona which I loved. I loved how the plot weaved, twisted and turned and still remained understandable. Occasionally the plot slowed a little, but actually, I liked that, because it meant that you could really take in the atmosphere, the writer was creating. In fact, I slowed down whilst reading this, so that it wouldn't end.
I loved the characters in this novel. Even though Daniel is the main protagonist in this novel, for me Fermin, was better. I loved his humour and, even though he is a homeless person, he was still portrayed as incredibly intelligent.
I've read a lot of books in my time, but by far, I think this is the best book I've ever read. I think this is going to be a book that I'll read again and again. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the novels in this series.
When I first started reading this, I thought that it was going to be a fantasy novel. It's a lot more than that.
Firstly, I thought that the writing was fantastic. This novel was originally written in Spanish, but the English version I read was very well translated. It was poetic and beautiful. This story is a brilliant mixture of suspense, humour and intrigue, which has vivid, almost noir depictions of Barcelona which I loved. I loved how the plot weaved, twisted and turned and still remained understandable. Occasionally the plot slowed a little, but actually, I liked that, because it meant that you could really take in the atmosphere, the writer was creating. In fact, I slowed down whilst reading this, so that it wouldn't end.
I loved the characters in this novel. Even though Daniel is the main protagonist in this novel, for me Fermin, was better. I loved his humour and, even though he is a homeless person, he was still portrayed as incredibly intelligent.
I've read a lot of books in my time, but by far, I think this is the best book I've ever read. I think this is going to be a book that I'll read again and again. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the novels in this series.
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