Month: November 2019

BROKE: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises by Jodie Adams Kirshner

Release Day!

Pirate Patty Reviews

Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises

The author has taken a hard look at the state of affairs in Detroit. Through the voices of seven people whose lives have been changed forever by the mismanagement of the city and its eventual bankruptcy.

I visited Detroit regularly during the late ’80s and through the ’90s. It was a huge, sprawling place and going downtown was heartbreaking. To see block after block of neglected and abandoned homes and businesses.

There is enough blame to go around in this look at how cities are not getting the support they need to provide the services people need to survive and thrive. Everything is broken. The real estate market, the banks, the inept leadership, the lack of state and federal support.

About 40 percent of the city lives below the poverty level. Where is the investment in creating new jobs? How do these opportunists get by with paying $1000 for a…

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THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB by DAMIEN ANGELICA WALTERS

The Dead Girls Club

 

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face…

It’s 1991 and Heather, her best friend Becca and their two other friends are obsessed with serial killers, and all things macabre.
Becca is the storyteller of the group and comes up with some seriously scary tales. But the one keeps coming back. The Red Lady. Once a witch murdered by her own town while not one of her friends speaks up for her. Revenge quickly follows with the entire town dying.

Becca believes the story and even makes a believer out of Rachel and Gia, the other girls in the Dead Girls Club. But Heather is sure there is no such thing. Until something happens and she begins to doubt herself and Becca.

With Becca believing all she needs is her best friends help her to prove the Red Lady is real, Heather swears to help her. And then Becca is dead and Heather will never be the same.

Fast forward 30 years and strange things are happening. Heather is sure she is being followed. When half of a BFF necklace shows up in the mail, Heather is sure of one thing. Someone knows what she did. Someone knows she killed her best friend and now they are coming for her.

This was a ghost story in the best way! A group of young girls, obsessed with Stephen King and Ted Bundy equally, mess with magic and a long-dead witch when the real horror is much closer and alive than they know.

I love a good ghost tale! And this one I read in 3 hours even eating dinner while reading. I had to know what was real and what wasn’t. And I never saw that ending coming at all! I suspected everyone and all for good reasons, but wow, that ending!

NetGalley/December 10th, 2019 by Crooked Lane Books

 

 

 

DEATH with DOSTOEVSKY by KATHERINE BOLGER HYDE

Death with Dostoevsky (Crime with the Classics Book 4)

A Crime with the Classics Mystery #4

Professor Emily Cavanaugh is back at Bede College, not as a Professor, but on sabbatical and trying to work on her book on Dostoevsky.

On her first day in the library, Emily runs into a former student, Daniel Razumov, and his girlfriend Sveta. Daniel is also researching Dostoevsky but from a different point of view than Emily. Emily has always thought Daniel was one of her more promising students, but he seems unwell and distracted.

Emily’s new brother, Oscar is here as well as Richard McClintock, the sketchy chair of her division. And the fabulous Marguerite, one of my favorites!

When Emily finds out the reason for Daniel’s misery, she confronts fellow professor Taylor Curzon. Taylor is a predator and a very unlikeable person! Taylor could care less about what Emily or anyone else has to say about her shady behavior. She has dirt on everyone and uses it as a weapon.

But someone is tired of her wicked games and soon her job is open! Emily finds her dead on the floor of her office. And the shady people start coming out of the woodwork.

There was no shortage of suspects in this one. Some pretty nasty folks. But also some new characters! Luke’s nephew, Colin, also a cop and Oscar’s girlfriend Lauren.

When Daniel is arrested for the crime, Emily will try her best to figure out who the real killer is. Hopefully, before he/she realizes that Emily is on to them.

Another great one from this author. Always a pleasure and there is always something to learn!

Well Done!

NetGalley/ Severn House Release December 03,2019

 

 

NET FORCE DARK WEB by JEROME PREISLER (Series Created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik)

Net Force: Dark Web

The return of the cutting-edge thriller series Net Force, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik and written by Jerome Preisler.

The first thing you need to know is this book is about 700 pages long! There are multiple characters, plots, sub-plots concerning our nation’s cyber safety.

The President wants to go full out on Net Force, believing we are or will soon be under attack by hackers looking to implant malware and basically cause chaos.

For me, this was a tedious read. Most of the operations were illegal but no one seemed to mind. The hunt for who was hacking and the brain behind it was exhausting and predictable.

I can’t say I would recommend it unless you are really bored and have nothing else to read.

NetGalley/ November 26th, 2019 by Hanover Square Press

Puddin’ on the Blitz by Tamar Myers

Puddin' on the Blitz

A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery

The success of Magdalena Yoder’s new Amish-Asian restaurant is threatened by murder in the deliciously quirky new Pennsylvania-Dutch mystery.

A murder mystery with an Amish/Mennonite theme.

The Story:

Magdalena Yoder is Mennonite and married to a Jew. Her mother-in-law is a piece of work and lives across the street with the other members of her apathy cult.

A woman who almost killed her is now in prison and has split her restaurant between her daughter and Magdalena, with Mags getting the 60% share. Between the daughter and Magdalena, they come up with an Asian Amish combo they call Asian Sensations.

Hiring Barbara Hostetler was a genius as she is a wonderful cook and baker. And soon enough we have a recent patron dropping dead.

Now Magdalena is being arrested for a murder she did not commit. Who is setting her up?

My Take:

I almost stopped a quarter of the way in because I wasn’t sure if this was satire or sarcasm. I couldn’t pronounce the names of anyone and I just did not care for the main character. I wasn’t sure if she was making fun of the people or if she just had a sarcastic tongue, which doesn’t really add up with the Amish.

It was less than okay, but you can read it yourself and let me know!

NetGalley/Severn House December 3rd, 2019

 

 

the last affair by Margot Hunt

The Last Affair

Love may be blind, but obsession’s a real killer.

From the title, I got the idea that this was going to be someone’s final affair. And it was.

Nora is married to a distant alcoholic and is miserable. She is sick and tired of her husband.

Josh is married to a psychopath. And he has had enough. So when he meets Nora and sparks fly, they both will begin an affair that will have deadly consequences.

So what separates this domestic suspense tale from all of the others I’ve read this year? Nothing. I figured out who was just plain crazy and who was obsessed very quickly. And the ending felt flat.

I’m not sure there was one redeeming character here. And there doesn’t always have to be, but for me, it was just okay.

NetGalley/ November 26th, 2019 by MIRA

 

 

 

 

 

BEYOND THE GATE by MARY SANGIOVANNI (A Kathy Ryan Novel)

Beyond the Gate (A Kathy Ryan Novel Book 3)

Kathy Ryan’s work as an occult investigator often leads her to the outskirts of society, law, and even reality…

This is the third book in the Kathy Ryan novels. Kathy Ryan works as an occult investigator and has seen things no one would believe. She is good at what she does and in this next story, she is hired by Paragon Corporation, a government-funded theoretical physics research facility. Someone has intentionally opened a portal to another dimension and found no beings, but some really disturbing flora!

A team of scientists goes in but doesn’t come out. A security team is Kathy and her team will do whatever they must to rescue any survivors and get out fast and close that portal.

These were some seriously sketchy researchers. They doled out information like misers. And they lied. A lot. Because contrary to what they say, this alien flora is able to pass through the portal and lead to chaos and death.

I’ve read the other books in this series. Kathy is a strong leader and her story is an excellent one!

Well Done!

NetGalley/ November 26th, 2019 by Lyrical Press