Book Review: Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger

Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
Atria Books
321 Pages
Copyright 2009

From the back of the Book:

When a charter plane carrying Cork O'Connor's wife, Jo, goes missing in a snowstorm over the Wyoming Rockies, Cork must accept the terrible truth that his wife is gone forever. But is she? In Heaven's Keep, celebrated author William Kent Krueger puts his intrepid hero through the most harrowing mission of his life.

Months after the tragedy, two women show up on Cork's doorstep with evidence that the pilot of Jo's plane was not the man he claimed to be. It may not be definitive proof, but it's a ray of light in the darkness surrounding Cork's loss. Agreeing to investigate, he travels to Wyoming, where he battles the interference of local law enforcement who may be on the take, the open hostility of the Northern Arapaho, who have much to lose if the truth is known, and the continuing attempts on his life by assassins who shadow his every move.

At the center of all the danger and deception lies the possibility that Jo's disappearance was not the end of her, that somewhere along the labyrinthine path of his search, maybe even in the broad shadow of Heaven's Keep itself, Cork will find her alive and waiting for him.

The tenth book in the Cork O'Connor series is another solid effort by Krueger. I can't really add much more description-wise as I've already quoted above but, I do want to add that reading this book gave me a strange feeling - it felt like Krueger was wrapping things up in order to say good bye to the character. I didn't much like it because I enjoy the character. Luckily, the publication of "Vermilion Drift" and Krueger's comments on Facebook have reassured me that there will be more Cork O'Connor tales to come.

Recommendation: Small town family man becomes involved in a mystery with the stakes as high as they can possibly be. It's a solid story and if you like this sort of tale, you'll like Krueger's work.

Book Review: Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
St. Martin's
306 Pages
Copyright 2007

Back of the Book:

"Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. that is, if she makes it through the Change - and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: when she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny - with a little help from her new vampyre friends."

So, I went from a vampire book that I love to one that left me flat. The premise, a school for vampyres, fell flat for me and I didn't care about any of the characters. They were too cardboard cut-outish. Every cliche about high school kids is present and accounted for.

Recommendation: Not my cup of tea. I wouldn't spend a minute with these kids in real life and I won't be spending any more with them in the book world.

Book Review: Blood Oath by Christopher Fransworth

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
Putnam
390 Pages
Copyright 2010

So...

This is going to be an unabashed rave.

I loved this book.

LOVED IT.

It was, for me, the sort of vampire book I've been longing for. The vampire, Nathaniel Cade, is a bad guy. He doesn't sparkle in the sun, he doesn't play all that nice with humans. He is a predator and will tell you to never forget that.

He is also, however, the President's Vampire, bound by blood oath to serve the President of the United States or his designated representative. He has no choice but to serve and obey and it is his job to deal with the enemies of the United States that most people refuse to acknowledge exist.

At the beginning of the book, Zach Barrows has had his life blown up around him. Once a trusted confidante of the President, finds himself being reassigned as Cade's partner. From high profile to no profile in a matter of hours, Zach isn't thrilled. Here's how their first meeting, involving Griff, the man Zach is replacing, Zach, and Cade goes:

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me? Listen up, old man, because there's no way in hell-"

"It's not his job to be threatening, actually."

For a split second, Zach didn't know where the words had come from.

Then he turned and faced someone standing directly behind him. As if from nowhere.

"It's mine," he said, and smiled.

He was taller than Zach, wearing ragged black fatigues. He looked young. And pale. Very, very pale.

He stood there, perfectly calm.

Too calm, even. Unnaturally still. Almost the kind of stillness you'd only find in a casket. But just standing there.

So, Zach couldn't figure out why his whole mind narrowed down to one thought, burned in capital letters across his brain: RUN.

Zach felt a stirring of instinct honed when humans huddled at the edges of campfires, terrified of the noises in the dark. He suddenly knew he was in the presence of something that stalked his kind, and had for thousands of years. Something inhuman. A predator.

There is a reason humans are genetically programmed to fear the dark. Zach was looking at it.

As for the story itself? Some fanatical followers of Islam have hatched a plot that, if successful, would deal a devastating blow to America. It involves the bodies of dead soldiers from Iraq and the science of a former Nazi doctor and it is, without a doubt, a can't-put-it-down, rocking good time.

The chapters begin with scientific, classified information taken from the briefing book: Codename: Nightmare Pet, which actually looks at vampires from a scientific viewpoint, offering explanations as to why they are the way they are.

Cade is as advertised. He is a predator. He isn't overly fond of humans but he is bound by his oath and serves stoically, if not happily.

Zach is, in the beginning, also as advertised. He is an annoying, cocky, glib politician . . . who goes through a methamorphisis during the events of the story.

There are plenty of 'holy crap' moments mixed in with more than enough moments that will make you smile, if not laugh.

The pace never lets up and the story never lets you down.

And finally, the most telling thing - a week after I'd read the book in about 10 hours, I read it again. I've never done that with a book.

Recommendation: If you like glittery, school boy vampires, you might not like this. But, if you like tough, kick-ass heroes who just happen to be bad guys, you'll love it.  I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Holy Cow, Batman! I'm on vacation!

I've got an entire week off and nothing much planned. A quick trip to Wisconsin to visit an elder relative with my sister and then an even quicker trip to the LP to visit the niece (going Sunday, back home Tuesday) but considering I haven't even been out of my town in over a year, I'll take it.

I just took a look at my rather enemic list of books read for this year and I've discovered that I'm ten books behind in reviews. How is that possible? I mean, really. Kinda sad isn't it? I hope to get some of them done before I take off on Sunday. Hope to.

So, what else is new in my life?

On August 23, the city tore the street up in front of my house to replace sewer and water lines. They worked on it for two days and then vanished until Monday of this week. They worked another two days before vanishing again. This has been the view from my house all this time:

Four days of work for them; four weeks of major inconvienence for me. I've had to park in the city garage across the street which isn't a huge deal... until you think about grocery shopping or laundry (my washer is out of commission) or garbage, which they're not picking up at the moment.

Summer is finally in the review mirror in these parts. The heat is gone, the maple trees, always the harbinger of fall, are already turning. With all of the rain we've been having, the colors should be spectacular. I'll try to post some photos.

Final thought: the Farmer's Almanac predicts a mild winter in these parts, with above average snow fall.

Not entirely sure how I feel about that...

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Where were you?

Where were you when the world stopped turning...

As Alan Jackson asked so eloquently in those long, dark days of that September 11th, nine years ago?

I was in bed.

It seems strange, looking back on it, but I was. I'd worked a midnight shift and at 0847, I was peacefully asleep. I was still asleep at 0903 and at 1003. I slept through the Pentagon and Shanksville...

At around 1100, my sister, who was watching our mother so I could sleep, came up to wake me. Her words are still as clear to me today as they were on that day:

"Planes have hit the World Trade Center and the towers are gone."

My first half-asleep thought was "What towers? Not OUR towers."

I could not comprehend the possibility. Not those towers, not this country. It simply wasn't possible.

Then I turned on my TV and saw the truth.

Alan Jackson had it absolutely right. My world stopped turning on that day for a variety of reasons.

Once I'd gotten dressed and gone downstairs, my main thought was of my nephew. He lives in NYC, at that time, within blocks of the World Trade Center. I had no idea if he was safe. I had no idea who I could call to find out. My brother? No, I knew he'd be trying to get in touch with his son.

My aunt and uncle were to return from England that day. An hour and a half out of Heathrow, the captain of their flight announced that the air space over the United States had been closed and they were returning to England. They had no idea what had happened. I had no idea what had happened to them.

Finally, I got a call from my sister-in-law's sister who told me my nephew was fine.

My thoughts then turned more completely to the fact that we had been attacked. My country, my homeland had been attacked.

All we coud do, as a family, as a nation, was sit and watch. It seemed utterly unbearable but how could you turn it off? That day and the following harrowing days, how could you turn it off?

Then, it got personal again. I found out that the nephew of a good friend had been in one of the towers. He was gone. Days after he'd found out that his wife of a year was pregnant, he was gone. They would find nohting in the days to come, nothing to offer closure to his bride. Nothing at all, not even a ring.

The husband of another good friend found himself flying Combat Air Patrol over the Capital.

Think about that for a moment; he was flying combat missions in the skies over this country.

She, as a member of a national emergency response team, was assigned to the Pentagon. She later would be hospitalized with an infected puncture wound in her chest that she would tell you she got 'crawling around the rubble of the Pentagon', as though it was no big deal. What she couldn't tell you about was the stories of the young soldiers who wanted to help, of the families that would press photographs into her hands, begging for information about their loved ones. She took them and said they'd do their best. She didn't know how to tell them there was simply nothing left...

September 11th is just as raw for me today as it was nine years ago.

It is the day the towers fell.

It is the day the Pentagon was damaged.

It is the day a plane went down in a field in Pennsylvania...

It is the day the world truly stopped turning.

There will be no other posts from me today.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE 2,977 PEOPLE THAT DIED THAT DAY...

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

So...

Here it is, Tuesday morning, the seventh of September.

Very, very early Tuesday morning.

Since I am no longer on nights, why, you might ask, am I still up?

Two reasons.

One, a pretty good book that kept me reading to finish it long after I should've turned my light out and two?

My bed is shaking.

Literally. Almost enough to give me motion sickness.

That's what happens when a 118 pound dog is lying on it, trembling because of the thunderstorm booming away outside...

The weather forecast calls for scattered t-storms in about 30 minutes... so here I am, trying to fill the time in until she calms down and I can try to sleep.

The book? 

Finished it.  It was pretty good.