The Wild One by Nick Petrie; 2020; $26.00; 381 pages; G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, NY; 978-0-525-53544-7; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Woodstock; 3/7/2020-3/10/2020
Peter Ash is a Iraq war veteran suffering from several types of PTSD particularly claustrophobia. He is isn't keen about airplane rides but he takes one to Iceland, when a grieving grandmother request that he try to find her missing grandson. Once he gets to Iceland the U.S. Government tries to get him kicked out. Iceland gives him a deadline of three days to visit the country. When he misses that deadline and continues to search for the boy he comes up against the Icelandic police, corrupt parts of the U.S. government, and family members trying to protect the boy. Let's just say it doesn't end well for anyone except the grandson, grandmother and Ash.
Ash is a vigilante in the same vein as Jack Reacher but with many more problems than Reacher, however I think it would be interesting to see them work together.
10/10
The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld; 2019;$26.99; 264 pages; Harper, New York, NY; 978-0-06-269-816-2; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Gregory Heights; 3/4/2020-3/6/2020
I picked this up because someone told me that the Title Wave was mentioned in it. Not by name but if you know the neighborhood you can figure it out, besides what other bookstore sells old library books.
Several female street people are disappearing from the streets and ending up dead in the Willamette River. One of them catches the attention of the child finder, herself a survivor of human trafficking. She escaped but was not able to get her sister out and she has spent years trying to find her and her latest clues bring the former foster child to Portland. Some of the characters spend time at the Central Library and all over parts of Portland that most of us never see. The disparate parts of the story come together to solve several mysteries. The characters are compelling and the story is a well written mystery.
I didn't think I had read anything by the author but in checking my records I read another book by her that was different in style and a good read.
10/10
The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot; 2020; $12.95; 321 pages; Montlake, Seattle, WA; 978-1542006705; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Gresham; 3/2/2020-3/4/2020
When a man found hanging in a small town at the mouth of the Columbia River it brings the FBI to town. Agent Zander Wells finds that there was a similar killing twenty years ago. Are the two cases connected, what secrets is the town hiding? And what secrets are sisters Emily and Madison, and their aunts hiding? And what happened to their sister Tara? Dark secrets are dredged up, people are hurt and killed and Emily and Zander feel a spark.
This is a good police procedural with just a little bit of romance sprinkled. The setting is just as I expected it to be, since I have visited a town at the mouth of the Columbia River multiple times.
10/10
10/10
The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry; 2020; $28.99; 368 pages; Minotaur Books, New York, NY; 978-1-250-14030-2; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Woodstock; 2/27/2020-3/2/2020
Someone is stealing Christian Holy relics so that they can be part of an auction of documents that could undermine the power of the President of Poland. With his power undermine it could change the balance of power between Russia and the United States. Both are now ruled by hardliners who would love to be the ruling superpower. Cotton Malone, bookseller and former intelligent agent gets sucked in to the intrigue. He has to pick sides and deal with politicians who are more concerned with their own power than the fate of the world. Another good read from Steve Berry.
10/10
When to Walk Away, Finding Freedom From Toxic People by Gary Thomas; 2019; $24.99; 239 pages; Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI; 978-0-310-34676-0; checked out from Kitsap Regional Library through Interlibrary Loan; 2/20/2020-2/27/2020
Gary Thomas has written several books that I have reread multiple times and this is his newest book. He shows how to identify toxic people in your life and how to best deal with them. He even includes a chapter on how to deal with a toxic spouse. I will be re reading this one also.
10/10
Autopsy of a Deceased Church, 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive by Thom S. Rainer; 2014; $12.99; 102 pages;B&H Publishing, Nashville, TN; checked out from Multnomah University through Inter-Library Loan; 2/19/2020-2/20/2020
Many churches that have been around for centuries have fallen by the wayside for various reasons. Thom Rainer has acted as a consultant to several churches that no longer exist and used the lessons learned to write this book. I liked the book and bought several copies to give to other people in leadership in my church.
Big Black, Stand at Attica, Frank "Big Black" Smith by Frank Smith & Jared Reinmuth, illustrated by Ameziane; 2020;$19.99; 175 pages; Archaia, Los Angeles, CA; 978-1-68415-479-1; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Midland;2/19/2020-2/19/2020
On September 13, 1971 authorities decided to set an example that resulted in the death of several inmates and guard at Attica prison in New York. Frank Smith was one of the inmates involved and attacked during the massacre. These are his memories collected in graphic novel form. It is an incident that changed things in prisons in the United States were run for awhile. It is an engaging memoir.
10/10
The Chill by Scott Carson; 2020; $27.00; 435 pages; Emily Bestler Books, New York, NY; 978-1-9821-0459-7; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Holgate; 2/15/2020-2/19/2020
Ghosts and Spirits menace New York City from a town far upstream that was flooded to make a reservoir to provide water and power for the city. It is up to some of the descendants of those who lived in the town to save NYC. One is haunted by the ghosts of her family and the other is haunted by his own personal demons and family tragedies. Together they must work to prevent a catastrophic collapse of the dam that will threaten everything downstream.
Scott Carson is the pseudonym of bestselling author Michael Koryta. I have read several books by him and really enjoyed them, which is why I picked this up.
10/10
Too Close to Home by Andrew Grant; 2020; $28.00; 318 pages; Ballantine Books, New York, NY; 978-0-525-91962-8;checked out from Multnomah County Library, Central; 2/12/2020-2/13/2020
Former Army Intelligence agent Paul McGrath is now working as a janitor at the courthouse. He is actually working undercover to find out what happened to his father. Meanwhile he is also helping investigate another case that was brought to his attention. As in stories of this type there ends up being some convergence to the cases. I wonder why I haven't read more by Andrew Grant.
I will be reading more since in real life Grant is the brother of author Lee Child and they will be writing the next Reacher book together. After that Andrew will be writing Reacher books under the pseudonym Andrew Child. I hope he will continue writing under his own name also.
10/10
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman; 2017; $28.00; 435 pages; Atria Books, New York, NY; 978-1-5011-6079-0; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Kenton; 2/6/2020-2/12/2020
This is the sequel to Beartown. It begins at the end of Beartown, no time has elapsed. It continues the story of those characters from Beartown and explores the ramifications of the things that happened in the first book and the effects that has on the people of the town. It is an awesome story of people coming together and others attempting to cause divisions. I will be seeking out other books by Frederick Bachman.
10/10
today we go home by Kelli Estes; 2019; $15.99; 400 pages; Sourcebooks Landmark, Naperville, IL; 978-1-7282-1104-6; purchased at Cascade Station, Target; 1/29/2020-2/3/2020
I was at target and saw this and the timeslip portion of it reminded me of Leslie Gould's novel. It has an interesting story of a woman who enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and a female Army veteran of the Afghanistan campaign. The story of the civil war veteran resonates with the Afghan campaign veteran and helps her in her journey through PTSD.
The story is good and always raises issues of how our veterans are treated and how women are treated in our society.
Into the Fire, An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz; 2019; $27.99; 388 pages; Minotaur, New York, NY; 978-1-250-12045-8; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Capitol Hill; 2/3/2020-2/6/2020
The Nowhere Man turns a page into a new era with the last line of the book.
Before that Evan Smoak gets a call to help someone. Max's cousin has given him an envelope in case something happens to him. Max calls the Nowhere Man after someone breaks in and ransacks his home. As Evan thinks he has solved the problem another layer is exposed that gets more violent. Evan is also dealing with the Homeowners group at his apartment and juggling his relationship with another of the tenants.
Another exciting that promises to reveal new things about our hero.
10/10
