Audio Version of Karin Slaughter's Fallen Provides Great Dramatic Reading!

Fallen


By Karin Slaughter


I listened to Fallen via AudioGO

Narrated by Shannon Cochran

A note about the narration: Shannon Cochran does an outstanding "performance" as she maneuvers through the many different characters, giving each a personality that we could begin to "recognize." I was amazed at her ability to move from character to character so fluently that there was no disruption to the listener...Shannon certainly added greatly to the enjoyment of this book!

 I included Karen Slaughter as a favorite author many years ago, so was happy to find her audio version of Fallen offered to Amazon Vine members. Listening to the book in audio form was a completely enjoyable experience, although it is not as easy to review, since you have no easy and immediate way to highlight spots within the book--I confess, I've turned down the corner of thousands and thousands of pages over the years, LOL...

Karin Slaughter never fails to provide a wonderfully satisfying read!

And Fallen is just as exciting and intriguing as her readers fully expect!

I think one of the main things I noticed about this novel was that there was no emphasis on one main character. You might say that police officers were spotlighted...but not all of them were "good cops."

Evelyn Mitchell had been an officer but had retired under suspicion. In fact, many of the officers under her command had been arrested for corrupt activities, including skimming money from the various scenes of busts they made. But there had not been sufficient evidence to indict her, although many had felt she was just as much on the take as those who had been arrested. Instead, she had just retired and quietly the whole issue had died.

Except for another cop, Will Trent, who also happened to be now partnered with Faith Mitchell, Evelyn's daughter. Trent had been part of the earlier investigation and had never been willing to accept that Evelyn had gotten off. At the same time, he was committed to his partner Faith. And so when she was faced with the toughest situation she would probably ever have to face, Will was dedicated to help Faith through it all...

Because her mother was missing--kidnapped or already dead. All Faith knew was that she had come home, saw blood on the exterior door, walked in and saw a dead man...on to find a man beating another man. She shot the first man and when the other ran out of the house and fired near neighborhood children, she had killed him. Her mother was gone! She had found her baby locked into the gun storage facility, undoubtedly placed there for safety by her mother as she armed herself. But she had been unable to fight off the men who had invaded her home...

Faith was off the case, SOP for the two kills she'd made...While police officers stayed there at her home to handle the potential call from kidnappers, Faith of course began her own investigation, not sharing what was happening with anybody, including Will. For Faith had discovered that the abductors were making contact with her son via Facebook!

Faith had never believed that her mother had been on the take, so when the investigation turned toward somebody trying to get back some of the money she had earlier stolen, Faith did not accept this as a possibility. She knew her mother had no major source of money! Still, what had been happening in her mother's home? Tatoos on those killed proved that drugs and gangs were involved in this...but how, and why, were they after her mother now after so many years of her being retired?

A delightful, yet heartbreaking side story spotlights a developing relationship between Will and the ME, Sara Linton. Sadly Will is married to a woman with whom he'd had a relationship as they had both gone through children's services. Both had been terribly hurt and Will had once thought he loved her enough to marry. But his wife had never moved past that destructive environment and now was abusive to Will, whenever she chose to come home. Readers will find this love story a wonderful highlight and a needed break in the tension...

The surprise ending caught me completely off guard...I love when that happens! Full of action and suspense, Slaughter covers several important social issues, including child services and police corruption, that once again reveals an excellent and compelling drama that pulls you completely into the tale until the last page! If you haven't read Karin Slaughter yet, try the audio version...you'll become so involved that I guarantee that you'll miss at least one turn if you're listening while driving...Enjoy!

Book received via
Amazon Vine


GABixlerReviews

Review: Davison's Fascinating Techno-Thriller Out In March

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State of Mind

By Sven Michael Davison

Just the cover of State of Mind can tell you what is coming in this science fiction adventure by Sven Michael Davison. Reading it, however, may give you a feeling of the "big brother" syndrome and is a perfect illustration of the potential future of "our" world. 

I am thoroughly enjoying the new books coming out that prophesy the future based upon where technology can (or could) be. And the date for this one is not too far in the future: 2030. By then you may find that what you remember may not even your memories... 

Right now, the only chip that most of us have heard about is having a location finder implanted. To me this sounds like a pretty good thing, especially for children or the elderly. But by 2030 Drs. Veloso and Morris have won the Nobel Peace prize for eradicating violent crimes in prisons. Soon Nano Technologies Inc., have moved to expand the "Personal Chip." into "the first fully functioning microprocessor that monitors and controls the autonomic, chemical and emotional centers in the brain." 

Before we go any further, just think about that... The ads began to talk about eating anything you wanted, but never gaining weight. And, of course, violence would be almost non-existent... Beginning to sound good to you?

I encourage you to read this book a little slower than a thriller, else you will miss the many "possible" things that are happening. One of the most significant is that nobody will be driving cars, except a few who want to do it or the very rich. Most vehicles will be guided electrically from one point to another and if you were to watch those in neighboring vehicles, you would see them doing just about anything you can imagine, including finishing getting dressed for work. 

As you may have guessed, prisoners were the first humans to test the P-Chips. But as news started circulating, a certain Senator took an interest, thinking that this invention could move America back to the top as a world power. He started talking to the Director of Homeland Security (HLS) who saw a broader, more significant role for the P-Chip, especially his role in its use... 

Jake Travissi was one of the first cops to be implanted. He had had some problems on the police force, so they had given him an opportunity to be implanted and start working with HLS. An elite team was established with Travissi as the commander. Another cop had been implanted and another was considered a "control" so that they could capture photographically what was happening with the Enhanced Unit members. 

For, you see, those implanted with P-chips were doubled up with those who were called God Heads who were centrally located to help the Enhanced Unit most effectively use their chips. 

The chips, by the way, allowed the implanted individuals to talk to each other telepathically. It also allowed them to be wounded and have the body begin working on healing them while the officer continued dealing with those breaking the law. 

But then Travissi started having "Flashes." He would see himself watching as someone was killed, perhaps by a fellow member of his team. He knew he had had major depression due to the deaths of his wife and child, so he wondered if he was experiencing hallucinations caused by that depression. Then he realized that he also could "see" backwards into the site where the God Heads were located. Something was very wrong... 

Sven Michael Davison shows us the good and bad of future technological advances. I would love to see us be able to have vehicles guided by a form of GPS and have the auto accidents decrease to zero. Like the doctors who had first created and experimented with the P-Chips, most technology is created to provide a better world. But technology cannot change those who will use that technology for greed and power. Davison has given us a thrilling expose of what could happen, especially when that technology is controlled by the big brother of today, Homeland Security. As a friend of mine says, Great Stuff! Scifi lovers--it's out in March! Order now! 

ARE YOU READY TO BE CHIPPED? (TPB Asks) 

Book Received Via 
To Press and Beyond 

G. A. Bixler


 

Related articles

• Book Review: State of Mind by Sven Michael Davison (seattlepi.com)
• Book Review: State of Mind by Sven Michael Davison (blogcritics.org)

Review: A Dirty Business...

Image via WikipediaPushing Up Daisies:

A Dirty Business Mystery

By Rosemary Harris

There are few cozy mystery series that I do not thoroughly enjoy. When you add a bit of humor, it is even more fun to read. If you agree with me, then I highly recommend you check out Rosemary Harris' Dirty Business Mysteries. I started right from the beginning with Pushing Up Daisies and quickly decided that I liked the main character, Paula Holliday, who owns her own small landscaping company.

I'll let you read how she left New York for a small town in Connecticut--and her best friend Lucy who is still there but visits often. Paula is still finding her place but was able to talk the president of the Historical Society into giving her the job of restoring Halcyon's Garden, which had just been endowed to them upon the death of the owner of a magnificent estate. Both of the last residents had been very old and had not been able to attend to the garden so extensive cleanup would be first, but there were garden rooms, a maze, a greenhouse and even a Herb Cottage that could once again be a beautiful center for the small town.

Winning the job was a tremendous opportunity for Paula, although it would not be a profitable one. Hopefully, it would lead to other jobs once the Garden would showcase her work. Not wanting to wait, she quickly drove out to the Garden and started to tour, making notes on what needed to be done, what Hugo, her assistant could do and what should be started first. By the time she had seen most of everything, she found herself in The White Garden and there she couldn't wait any longer, she started to dig! Was it fate that had her dig exactly there? For before very long, Paula had hit something hard. Discovering a box, she lifted it up and found a small object completely covered in cloths--but a tiny head dropped out and rolled across the garden, leaving Paula screaming and sitting on the ground.

Fortunately, there had been nobody to hear her; however, she knew what she had to do. Calling in the police and learning that the body had been a baby was "not" something that brightened her first day on a new job! One of the enjoyable relationships for cozy mysteries is the love-hate relationship between the amateur sleuth and the local police. So it wasn't surprising that Sgt. Michael O'Malley was prepared to either arrest her or send her packing away from the crime scene. But not before Paula got a few digs in about Springfield police comparing to that of Mayberry.

Everybody immediately assumed that the baby had belonged to one of the sisters who had owned the garden. So amidst the work taking place to restore the Halcyon's Garden, Paula began looking around and asking questions. When one of her competitor's is killed and her assistant Hugo is the prime suspect, Paula immediately goes into high gear to save her friend!

I had to laugh when Paula discovers that Anna, who is an unpaid office assistant, is also in love with Hugo! Kind of puts our amateur sleuth on the spot, doesn't it, missing what is there right under her nose...but it was fun to watch and even have the wedding as part of the book! I loved the characters and enjoy the relationships that are developing in the series...Now I'm on to second in the series, The Big Dirt Nap! But do start with Pushing Up Daisies--start at the beginning of this great series!


St. Martin's Minotaur
ISBN: 97803123696675
291 Pages

Book Provided Via
BRH Blog by author

G. A. Bixler





 

Review: It's Murder, My Son - Great New Series!

Gnarly roamed the estate, one time finding a human skull!

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It's Murder, My Son:
A Mac Faraday Mystery

By Lauren Carr

ISBN: 1452819432
286 Pages



Everybody by now knows that I thoroughly enjoy series, so it's no surprise that It's Murder, My Son gets a high recommendation from me! But first the storyline and characters have to have grabbed me! And they did!

Mac Faraday found out very recently that he was the son of a famous fiction writer! She had made arrangements to meet him once before she died and then left her entire estate to him. His mother had been involved with a married man, from the town where she lived so that Mac was finding out much about his roots when he moved into his mother's estate.

He also inherited a live-in companion of his mother's...she had been her friend and assistant during her career and now Archie, who lived, in a separate cottage on the estate, was finding that she was thoroughly enjoying having a man around; that is, this man! Mac had been a cop--inheriting had saved him from filing bankruptcy for several reasons...

Mac also inherited Gnarly!

But Gnarly, a German Shepherd, is not just a favorite pet that adds fun to the book. Mac is told that he is a genius, for a dog.  You see, Gnarly just may have been "on the job..." Of course, his job was as he, himself, perceived it; in fact, he had been dishonorably discharged from the service because he didn't always obey his superiors (and now Mac!) Needless to say, I loved Gnarly!

In fact, it was Gnarly that started the whole investigation when he was observed chewing on a round object, which turned out to be a human skull...

Mac met his half-brother after that find; but neither Mac nor David said anything to each other, both wondering if the other knew that David's father was also Mac's. David had been first on the scene when the head was found. And then Mac met Chief Roy Phillips, his father's resplacement. He had brought along Travis Turner, a novelist! Mac knew immediately that the Chief was suspect--mainly of being totally unprepared to handle a murder case, if he had to use the assumed expertise of a novelist! Especially when he paid no attention to the fact that Mac had more experience than anyone there...

It was already assumed that the head belonged to Katrina Singleton, a neighbor who had been missing for some time. Of course, her husband had died earlier, supposedly killed by a stalker after Katrina! With a couple more bodies discovered later, the need to figure out what was going on had everybody involved. But then David started rechecking earlier activities and he was fired by Chief Phillips!

Of course that didn't stop Mac and he from continuing their search--and soon what they discovered was going to blow the whole town open!

One of the items inherited by Mac from his mother was her journals. It was interesting to have her son follow the trail she had found and to pull items, such as a necklace, out of his own safe that was an important clue. There were also clues from her former books, as some of the things that happened were discovered to be methods of murder in her books. This whodunit has multiple murders, multiple murderers, and lots of suspects for readers to consider, And even in death, Mac's mother is showing him that It's Murder, My Son!

Lauren Carr has won a new fan with her first book. It will be fun to see what Mac and Archie face in the next Mac Faraday Mystery and to once again hear Mac shout, "I'm going to kill you Gnarly!" Gnarly and I both know he doesn't mean it...Gnarly is just on the job... A Mystery Lover Must-Read in my opinion!

Thanks for Book Via
Facebook Reviewers Roundup


G. A. Bixler

Review: Into Protection by Terry Chaudhuri Provides Scary Twist!

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Into Protection

By Terry Chaudhuri


Schiel & Denver Publishing
ISBN: 9781849030281
234 Pages


Believe me, after you read Into Protection by Terry Chaudhuri, you might think twice about being a witness for the Prosecution. Don't even think about accepting "protection" through the Witness Protection Program!

Derek and Jimmy had been friends since they were boys. Derek's father was a cop so Derek spent much time with Jimmy and his family. Indeed, when his father was shot, protecting the boys, Derek was taken into their home. Derek had always planned on becoming a cop--and to solve his father's murder. Jimmy wanted to enter law enforcement too; however, he first attended college and then joined the FBI.

Immediately after joining, he was sought after by a small internal group who handled the protection of government witnesses, after the trial, when they were to enter the witness protection program, move to another location and be provided a new home, identity and a new life. It was Jimmy's job to take the witnesses to their new home, so he traveled most of the time.

Jimmy and Derek met every once in awhile too busy at their careers to be as close as they once were. Finally, though, they were brought together on one case...trying to once again bring Victor Lazano to justice! But something had happened to Derek since he and Jimmy had sworn to revenge and imprison the man who had murdered his father...

Derek had fallen in love...

And he found out she was the wife of Victor Lazano!

Deciding what to do was one of the hardest things that Derek had ever faced, but he talked to Rebecca who agreed to testify against Victor, then Derek talked to his boss and he, in turn, brought in the FBI.

But Jimmy didn't want Derek to convince Rebecca to testify, knowing that she would have to go into Witness Protectiion... And Derek wanted to know why Jimmy wouldn't help her since he was a major player with the witnesses...

Anything, anywhere can be corrupted by those who place money and power as their personal priorities. Terry Chaudhuri, in Into Protection, has twisted something good, has shown how the innocent can be pulled into a life that they hadn't planned on, with no way out... The drama showing two blood brothers growing, loving each other, and moving into separate lives is both a sad but valuable lesson and, for readers, an explosive set of life's incidents that are pulled together to spell thrilling action and suspense for readers! Highly recommended!

Book Received Via
Bostick Communications

G, A, Bixler

Review: Exciting Thriller Should Be Movie!

Kill Me Twice
By Jerry Bayne
ISBN: 1439245274
303 Pages

CONSIDER, if you would, an exciting thought! Bruce Willis meets Charles Bronson. For those of you who don't remember Bronson , I've added a footnote for reference.*

The storyline in Kill Me Twice by Jerry Bayne is totally different, but I have to admit that my mind brought back rough-looking Bronson--because I was cheering for him! And that is what I believe readers will share with me. We want both Bradley Cardiff (Bronson) and Mike Sams (Willis) to win! Now that I've set you up for the movie, let me tell you a little about the story!

Bradley Cardiff is the best of the best. He's worked for the government all of his life, making sure what needed to get done, gets done! But most of those days were now over, he was married with a young child and he was spending much more time with them and finally living in a loving family environment. And then one day his former partner Rountree (and best friend/almost brother) comes back. Brad gets a telephone call just as they were leaving to pick up some food for dinner so Brad stays to answer the phone while his family leaves.

White phosphorus was used to blow the jeep. It had been placed under the driver's seat and they could not identify the driver, but assumed it was Bradley Cardiff along with his family...

It had all been about a deal gone wrong! Certain government officials had arranged a deal between the Chicago Mafia and a potential new Columbian cartel. Nearly everybody on both sides had been slaughtered. Brad and his partner had been there just to observe, knowing nothing about the background or details. But they, especially Bradley, was chosen as the "fall guy."

Payback was now being made years later...

It didn't take Bradley long. He went back through the original players, learned what he needed for at least one of his targets and entered his home.

When Mike Sams learned that the victim had slept on his bed while his murderer had patiently waited, within his bed springs, until he was ready, he realized just what kind of man he was after!

The first man killed was the then Director of the CIA and now Senator! The second was just as easy. The third was almost impossible--because the Secret Service protected him at all times!

I have to say that Mike Sams is a great character, but Bradley was the best in my opinion! Even in his vengeance, he recognizes Sams as an honorable opponent and tries to get him to return home to his family! Believe me, the paths that Cardiff weaves for others to follow is one of the most fascinating and intriguing you will encounter! I loved this book!

And, yes, Bronson would have made a wonderful Bradley Cardiff! I wonder who they'll get...

Get this book! You'll be missing fantastic suspense and thrilling action if you don't!

*One of Bronson's most popular and memorable roles when he was over the age of 50, was Death Wish in 1974. He played a successful architect. When his wife is murdered and his daughter raped, Kersey becomes a crime-fighting vigilante by night. It was a highly controversial role, as his executions were cheered by crime-weary audiences.


G. A. Bixler