The Tracer Series by Laura Griffin

Tracer Series by Laura Griffin

Synopsis of Exposed (Book 7)

Every picture tells a story. But not all of them have happy endings.

As a forensic photographer at the Delphi Center crime lab, Maddie Callahan is used to seeing violence up close, but she’s never before been the target of it. When a freelance photo shoot goes awry, she realizes she may have seen, and perhaps photographed, the kidnapping of a key witness in a federal probe. And although her camera was stolen, Maddie knows she has something that could be even more valuable to investigators.

FBI agent Brian Beckman has spent months investigating a vicious criminal known as the Doctor, only to have a key witness abducted on his watch. Worse, he’s falling for the woman who may be the Doctor’s next target. Maddie’s aloof facade hides a world of hurt that he wants to heal, no matter how much she keeps him at bay. But first he has to protect her from the danger that’s just out of focus, drawing close enough to shoot . . . and kill.

Guest Review by: Kathy W.

These books were to me a perfect mix of plot-suspense-and romance.  The in depth forensic science details and intricate technology were woven into the books so smoothly that I didn't realize how much I actually was learning about each field without even wanting to! I felt like I could actually see through the lens of the microscope or see the tiny markings on a bone and was actually looking over the characters' shoulder seeing what he or she saw. Likewise the chase scenes! Laura Griffin made it easy to picture everything in my head and not be confused with places or timing. And the romance was so  artfully and tastefully done in just the right moments!

 

The best part of the series for me, though, was the comfort I felt as I progressed through the series to find the main characters from the previous books still  having an important part in solving the current crime. A lot of series give honorable mention to past characters, but don't pull them in to help catch the bad guy. Their areas of expertise were used in each book and by the end of book seven, I felt I was actually a part of the whole forensic/task force family. Great read!! Sad the journey is over.

Review: Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Author: Katja Millay
ISBN-13: 9781476730943

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication date: 6/4/2013

Synopsis:

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Two and a half years after an unspeakable tragedy left her a shadow of the girl she once was, Nastya Kashnikov moves to a new town determined to keep her dark past hidden and hold everyone at a distance. But her plans only last so long before she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the one person as isolated as herself: Josh Bennett.

Josh’s story is no secret. Every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space. Everyone except Nastya who won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But as the undeniable pull between them intensifies, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

I recently read this book on our drive to Mount Rushmore.  My poor husband had to drive the entire way in silence, because I would not put this book down!

It is a story about tragedy and healing.  About how our scars affect us in irrational ways, but given time and the right company, we can find our way back to ourselves even if we aren't what we once were.

The first part of this book was what captured my attention and wouldn't let go.  From the beginning, you know something bad happened, but you don't know what.  And you want to know!

I'm not going to spoil anything, but about a quarter of the way through the author exposes something about the main character and it's one of those...Wait..What?!!? kind of moments. 

For me the middle dragged a bit, but never enough to make me want to put the book down.  I wanted more to happen, I was waiting and waiting for them to get together.  So I was impatient.  But looking back, this story builds exactly how it needed to given the history and personalities of the two main characters.  I like stories where the characters do things for each other without realizing they are showing their attraction.  Not everything in romance has to be about sex.  In fact it's usually better reading when the story centers on the building emotional attraction.

This was a refreshing break from all the over-sexed "new adult" books that are on the shelves today. 

If you are looking for a relaxing beach read, I can't say that this is the book you'll want to pick up.  But I highly recommend adding this to your reading list.

You can get your copy here:
Sea of Tranquility - Barnes and Noble
Sea of Tranquility - Amazon

C.A.R. Bot Wars by J.V. Kade

ISBN-13: 9780803738607

Publisher: Dial

Publication date: 3/21/2013

Series: Bot Wars Series

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Trout St. Kroix has been searching for his missing father for the last two years, after his dad disappeared while fighting in the Bot Wars. The Bot Wars began after robots became so advanced that they revolted and demanded more workers' rights, causing the government to declare all robots terrorists and ban them from the Districts. Trout never questioned anything the government told him—even when his own nanny bot was banished—until a vid he posts about his missing dad goes viral and new information pops up. At first Trout is wrenched his dad might be alive, but when his brother disappears, Trout learns nothing is what it seems . . . not even his own father.

Percy Jackson meets Transformers in this heart-stopping, futuristic adventure that will make you question everything you know—and look at robots in a whole new light.

This was an action book set in the United Districts after the creation of robots.  The robots have become so advanced that they started to think for themselves.  After the Bot War, the robots were forced to a territory called Bot Territory that is protected by a shield.  The main characters were Trout [Aidan is his real name] Po ,Vee (who are all human) and LT (a bot).  It’s an adventure where bots and humans have to work together to save Po from the U.D.   

I feel like these characters are real because the author uses descriptive words to tell about them in the book. There was a lot of adventure in the book from cover to cover. It was easy to read this book because there weren’t many difficult words.  I like how the author described the book and I could easily picture it in my mind. My favorite part in the book was probably when trout goes to this secret place in Texas to spend the night.  There is a lot of neat technology in this book, which made it fun to read.  Anyone interested in futuristic technology would find this book interesting. 

 

Book Review: The Last Victim by Karen Robards

Author: Karen Robards
ISBN-13: 9780345535818

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Publication date: 8/7/2012

Synopsis:
A sought-after expert in criminal pathology, Dr. Charlotte Stone regularly sits face-to-face with madmen. At the age of sixteen, she herself survived a serial killer’s bloodbath. Because of the information she gave police, the Boardwalk Killer went underground, but Charlie kept her postmortem visions of the victims to herself. Years later, to protect her credibility as a psychological expert, she tells no one about these apparitions. Now a teenage girl is missing, her family slaughtered. The Boardwalk Killer—or a sick copycat with his M.O.—is back. This is the one case Charlie knows she shouldn’t go near. But she also knows that she may be the one person in the world who can stop this vicious killer, especially when she receives help from an unexpected source: The fiery spirit of a seductive bad boy who refuses to be ignored.

So yesterday I'm wandering through the library, searching the shelves with my head at that awkward angle so that I can read the titles and names of the authors on the books.

I browse the romance aisle, glancing around cautiously, secretly hoping no one around me realizes I'm in the romance aisle.  I hope that they think I'm looking at the mystery books that line the left side of the aisle instead of the steamy novels that line the right side.

At the same time, I give myself a mental kick because I want to write romance novels, so I shouldn't be embarrassed that I read them.  Then I look at the cover of a small paperback that shows a practically naked man and woman in a compromising position and the embarrassment returns.  I don't want to write that kind of romance precisely. 

After searching the shelves for authors that are my usual "go to's", I realize I've read everything published by all those authors and I need to look for something new.  Well, new to me, I am in a library, not Barnes and Noble.

I look over to the mystery side of the aisle and think I did want to read more suspense books anyway.  I like romantic suspense very much.  I just wish I recognized a few of the authors names so that I could be sure that I wasn't picking up a thriller like I did the other day.  That book I had to stop reading because it scared the crap out of me.  I wish libraries would sort books like barnesandnoble.com does.  I click romance, then whittle it down to contemporary romantic suspense, and I know what I'm getting. 

Anyway, I picked up a book called The Last Victim by Karen Robards.  Hmmm, could be interesting. 

I read the book in a few hours.  Seriously I am now officially a Karen Robards fan.  I have no idea what her other books are like, but this one was fantastic.  The story concept was so unique!  I don't want to give away anything that happened in the book because you should all go buy it, or check it out, right now.  But the suspense was good, the romance better and the cliffhanger at the end made me want to cry.  I had no idea this was a series book and when I realized this was a relatively new book and the next one in the series doesn't come out till September???? I didn't cry but I shouted. 

"What?!  I can't wait till SEPTEMBER!"

Since I'm in the process of writing a romantic suspense that is a two book series, I am enthralled with the way Karen finished this book.  I can only hope that at the end of my first novel, whoever is reading it stands up and shouts, "What??  I can't wait till the next book comes out!"