Two Bloggers One Series ~ Mr. Mercedes

 So Barb and I are tackling the Bill Hodges trilogy and I think she might have liked this first one more than I did. I even forgot to post my review! Sorry about that! Anyway go check out what Barb had to say at Booker T's Farm.

In the predawn hours, in a distressed American city, hundreds of unemployed men and women line up for the opening of a job fair. They are tired and cold and desperate. Emerging from the fog, invisible until it is too late, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

Months later, an ex-cop named Bill Hodges, still haunted by the unsolved crime, contemplates suicide. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk," claiming credit for the murders, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.

Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of eccentric and mismatched allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

I have been wanting to try this series for a while, but I also know that I don't like Stephen King as much as I use too. I have no patience for the excess descriptions that go on for pages and the thickness of his books anymore...lol. 

I listened to this one thank goodness or I might not have made it as for me it was just sort of boring. Bill is a retired detective and being taunted by the Mercedes Killer and he figures since he has nothing better to do he would try and figure out who he is. 

This puts several things into motion especially as he gets closer to figuring things out and doing his own taunting to the killer. 

It wasn't till something happens to someone that Bill was starting to like that things really sort of ramp up and get a bit interesting for me and that would probably be at 60% or more into the book. Then the race to catch the killer became much more interesting and fast paced. 

Bill Hodge is an okay character but I would say my favorite character would be Holly, who I believe has autism and is in her 40s and a wiz with computers. She ends up helping Bill towards the end and will be in the other books which I am happy about. (I think she is even has her own spin off book)

My biggest complaint is King's lovely use of the N word. This book came out in 2014 I believe and can't be blamed on the fact that it was written a long time ago. So why does he get away with using that word over and over, so much I lost count, yet they want to rewrite great classic books!!!! Okay rant over. 

3 stars

Week in Review #36

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  

Not sure why my paragraph is all messed up but I am not redoing things...lol.

It was a pretty unevnetful week which was nice. I still don't know the results of me wearing the heart

monitor for a few days and probably won't know for a few days as my doctor went on vacation!!

I did watch a couple new things instead of just my old reruns, though still watched them too...lol.

I found a single season show called Almost Paradise and it was a lot of fun with great action and

humor. It stars Christian Kane (Leverage, The Librarian) and set in Cebu, Phillipines which I have been too so that was awesome!

Also I had DVRed Carot Cake Murder on Hallmark so finally got around to watching it, I must say not

a fan of the ending.

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed:

Waiting on Wednesday - Romance edition

ARC review of Sea of Terror

Books I have added

• Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels - I read the first book last year and it was fun. Still think it's crazy to have magic hair but I am going with it...lol.
• Three Cowboys and a Puppy - I grabbed this because of the title and the puppy and well I like cowboy romances. :)
• A Laird Without a Past - I love historical romances and this cover called my name....lol.
• Awakening His Shy Duchess - Same with this one. You also might have seen them featured on my waiting on Wednesday because that is the danger of looking for books, you add books on Netgalley...lol.

Books read last week

• The Red Pyramid - This was pretty good but long.
• Percy Jackon and the Lightning Thief - A reread and I still enjoyed it.
• Going Goin Ganache - I really want to love this series but the two MC's just get on my nerves with their love triangles or other relationship mishaps.
• Dangerous Alterations - Another series I really want to like but in this one I just don't care for how some of the senior characters act at times.
• Field of Screams - A little slower than I would have liked but atmospheric. I did like it.

Currently reading

• Shadow of Night - I am coming along on this one, it's just slower for me as it's a print book with small writing. My eyes don't like it...lol. I am on page 337 of 577.
• Mr. Mercedes - Kind of boring but it's okay. I am at 78%.
• Murder in the Scottish Hills - I enjoyed the first book and so thought I would jump on to the second one before it gets lost in all the other eARCs I grab. I am about 13% into it.
• Payment in Blood - I am trying to do better about if I start a series I must read more than one book in that series within the year. Might now work for every series as I am pretty sure I have started a lot but I am trying and so this is the second Inspector Lynley book and I am enjoying it. I am about 46% into the audiobook.

What might be up next

 I don't know. :)

How was your week? What did you get?

 

ARC review of Sea of Terror

 

Received this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

Join Tim and his friends on a treacherous journey across the seas in the laugh-out-loud funny, highly illustrated third book of the New York Times bestselling Once Upon a Tim series from Spy School author Stuart Gibbs.

After helping Princess Grace foil the villainous Prince Ruprecht—twice!—junior knights Tim, Belinda, and Ferkle are on a new quest—this time to recover the Queen of Merryland’s precious golden fleece (and more importantly, the protective amulet in its pocket) from the Kingdom of Dinkum. The safety of all Merryland depends upon them.

But first, they must face the deadly Sea of Terror and the dastardly perils it contains. Tim and his friends will have to use every ounce of bravery, valor, and intelligence they possess to navigate the treacherous waters—or else risk becoming flotsam on the waves.

I love Stuart Gibbs and this is the latest in his Once Upon a Tim series. It's about Tim who didn't want to be a peasant so in the first one when the princess was kidnapped and they needed knights he signs up along with his friend Belinda who is pretending to be a boy so she can be a knight as she didn't want to be a peasant either. They have verily survived the last two adventures and still have a lot of training to do but they have a new quest.

The King and Queen had invited the royals from the Kingdom of Dinkum over for a feast and both Queens were wearing a Fleece but they looked a little different but not different enough that the Queen ends up with the wrong fleece, now that isn't really the bad thing, the bad thing is that the protective amulet for the kingdom was in that fleece. So now the nights must face the sea of terror to go to the Kingdom of Dinkum to get the amulet. 

Tim, Bull (Belinda) and the older knights with names like Sir Render, Sir Face, etc) must go on this quest whether they want to or not and face the sea monsters, sirens and other deadly things in order to get to the Kingdom of Dinkum.

It's a silly story with a lot of silly knights who are very incompetent and it's usually Tim who ends up saving the say along with Belinda and well the Princess but you would need to read to find out how that happens. :) 

This series is a lot more silly than his other series, and it's full of a lot of illustrations. I think it's series that kids would get a giggle out of and would recommend it. 

3.5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Romance Edition

Waiting on Wednesday has been around for a while and I know that it was taken over by Wishful Endings and called Can't wait Wednesday so will link to her.

I have recently been in the mood for some romances and I think these sound good! :) 

A Laird without a Past
Escape to the Scottish isles with this rugged Highlander

His past is forgotten…
Can his mysterious healer unlock his future?

When Royce wakes with no memories and suddenly blind, his situation seems dire. The only thing he remembers is being attacked by shadowy figures...but not the beautiful woman who came to his rescue. Now Iona MacKenzie’s every touch drives Royce wild. But when news of a manhunt for him reaches them, Royce must uncover his past if he has any chance of saving himself—and the woman he’s falling for…

I like my Harlequin historicals! This one comes out in July. 

Awakening His Shy Duchess
Comprised with a sexy Regency duke…

A panicked escape…

ends in a surprising proposal!

Evan Bellwether, the Duke of Fallon, is stunned when Madeline Goddard takes a tumble attempting to flee a ball...and accidentally falls into him! But that’s the least of the duke’s worries when the compromising situation forces them somewhere Evan didn’t want to be—the altar! At first, his new bride appears painfully shy. Could the key to discovering the real Maddie lie with unlocking the passion of their marriage? 

This one comes out in June. :)

Week in Review #35

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Okay the weather is just crazy! It dipped down into the 40's two nights in a row! I had to have the air on during the day as I was sweating upstairs and then my blankets on at night and it turned off. So weird!

Healthwise not much to report, so the test were negative so that didn't show why my heart rate keeps going up, so wore a heart monitor for a couple of days that was so itchy!! I haven't heard back on the results yet. I am sure it will end up being just because I am overweight and my heart and lungs are saying lose that weight which is easier said than done as I have been trying too. :(

I watched a couple movies while I relaxed as it seems I can't do much without being out of breathe. I watched my favorite version of Cinderella it was on Freevee, the Roger and Hammerstein version! I haven't seen it in forever! I use to watch it all the time so that was fun. Then I watched The Color Room mostly because it had Matthew Goode in it but it ended up being a decent historical movie about Clarise Cliff who help reinvent pottery by adding a splash of color and selling directly to women. You can look the name up and see hte pottery, I have actually seen her stuff before at antique shops and never really knew...lol.

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of Emerald Blaze

Review of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Review of The Only Survivors

Books I have added

 Nothing!!

Books read last week

• The OnlySurvivors - For me this one was a dud. (audiobook)
• Cryptid Hunters - This was a fun adventure book. (Print)
• Sea of Terrors - I love Stuart GIbbs and this was a lot of fun. (Print)
• What Stays Buried - A decent spooky Middle Grade. (audiobook)
• Hunted - This looks scary but reminded me a lot of Land Before Time with talking Dinos. (audiobook)
• Earls Just Want to Have Fun - This was a lot of fun! Can't wait to try the next in this series.(audiobook)
• Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emporer - This was decent, interesting Chinese mythology.(audiobook)

Currently reading

• Shadow of Night - Enjoying my reread but I am behind on it as, well where did May go! On page 242 of 577.
• Field of Screams - This one is okay but a little slower than I like, still curious to see how it ends. 69%
• The Red Pyramid - I am really enjoying this one! On page 319 of 514.
• Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief - This is a reread as I am wanting to reread the whole series so I can go on to the next group of books that are connected. I don't remember a lot about this but who one of the bad guys is so it's been fun rereading it. On page 168 of 375.
• Ghostlight - I just started this so only read one chapter but I hope it's a good one!
• Going Going Ganache - 55% into the audiobook and it's okay.

What might be up next

• Mr. Mercedes - Next buddy read with Barb.

How was your week? What did you get?

Two Bloggers One Book ~ The Only Survivors

Barb and I are trying to buddy read more Thrillers and we haven't had very many hits so far with them. Once you see what I thought go on over and see what Barb thought at Booker T's Reviews.

A mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

This is my first time reading a book by this author and I will say I wasn't that impressed. I was bored. That short little blurb above pretty much sums up what the book is and sounded interesting but it wasn't. 

There is the POV of Cassie which is the main one and then there is the POV of the other classmates but only during the Before sections. In those sections it is a count down of hours till the reader gets to the final hour of what happened when their van crashed and we find out why it happened.

In Cassie's POV you learn that she isn't really friends with any of them so doesn't know really who to trust. After what happened and they made the pact, she did become close to Ian but not real close. You learn that a year after what happens a girl from their group commits suicide and then before they meet again this time Ian is dead. So they are already down two of the originals and when they arrive they find out that another one of them is missing (can't rememver her name). 

So basically Cassie is trying to figure out what is going on as she received some weird messages and finds Ian's phone and finds out she had been getting these messages from his phone, so what really happened to him. Who do she trust? All that stuff.

So I think I just am not a fan of these types of thrillers where they all gather together and something happens and they have to figure out what is going on. It's just boring, I really didn't care. I was slightly curious to see who was behind some of the things going on and that is the only reason I didn't tap out and DNF it, thank goodness I had the audiobook or I probably wouldn't have made it though I think I should have just skipped to the end and save myself some time as I really didn't care.

You only really get to know Cassie and I didn't really care for her and you don't get enough of the other characters to really care much about what is going on. I can't even remember enough of what happened to talk much about the book.

I guess if you like this type of story you might like it but it really just isn't for me.

2 stars

Review of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

 

I recieved this from Netgalley and the publisher for a fair and honest review.

Trying to get through some of my older eARC's this one came out last year! 

Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and unicorns as you’ve never seen them before in this fantastical middle grade debut perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson and Eragon series!

Skandar Smith has always yearned to leave the Mainland and escape to the secretive Island, where wild unicorns roam free. He’s spent years studying for his Hatchery exam, the annual test that selects a handful of Mainlander thirteen-year-olds to train to become unicorn riders. But on the day of Skandar’s exam, things go horribly wrong, and his hopes are shattered…until a mysterious figure knocks on his door at midnight, bearing a message: the Island is in peril and Skandar must answer its call.

Skandar is thrust into a world of epic sky battles, dangerous clashes with wild unicorns, and rumors of a shadowy villain amassing a unicorn army. And the closer Skandar grows to his newfound friends and community of riders, the harder it becomes to keep his secrets—especially when he discovers their lives may all be in graver danger than he ever imagined.

This one came out last year and I remember  being excited for it but then like what happens with a lot of my eARCs new ones come in and I forget about the other ones. :(  I so should have read this one when it came out as it was pretty good. 

I'ts about a time where there are unicorns and they have learned that if your made to ride a unicorn it's a good thing and it helps keep the unicorns from turning wild. It starts out with riders competing in a great race when someone called the Weaver comes in on a wild unicorn and steals the winners unicorn.

Skandar wants to be a unicorn rider and it's his turn to be in with the group that gets to take the test to see if they can go to the island and open the door to where the unicorn eggs are and if you can open the door and go in you will soon find your hatchling and bond with it. 

For some reason they wouldn't let Skandar take the test which he doesn't understand, then later a rider comes to his house and says he has been chosen as a rider and takes sneaks him on to the island. She said she did this as a favor to his mother (who is dead). He is  very nervous but he ends up opening the door and finding an egg that hatches and gets a pretty black unicorn, only thing is is that he soon finds out from some of the other kids that he has an illegal magic, Spirit, and he should be turned in and his unicorn killed. 

Of course, he begs some of the kids to help him hide things and they go along with it and come up with a plane to get him into the training camp without showing off his magic. Even if you have a certain type of magic (earth, air, fire, water), you can still summon the other elements so Skandar could sort of blend in and test in the water group. 

While they are training they keep hearing rumors about the Weaver and some bad events that could be happeing on the mainland. Skandar is worried for his father and sister and tries to find out more about his elemental magic and why it's forbidden and what it has to do with the Weaver. Adventure ensures.

I like the world that the author has created with the unicorns and riders. I liked Skandar and his friends, there are also some not so fun characters as you always have to have that one nasty kid. It wasn't a unique a plot line by any means as it was very much the normal kind of chosen one who has the forbidden magic that you can't use as it's dangerous but the one who has it is nice and doesn't want to use it for bad things type of trope. :) Still it was fun.

I would recommend it to those who like middle grade fantasy adventure type books.

4 stars