Review of ON THE HOOK

On the Hook

Smith and Westen Mysteries

Book 1

Cindy Davis

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

This mystery was a fun book to read, because of the characters investigative abilities which were nil, according to their interpretation. Smith and Westen are engaged to find a missing Picasso because of a friend's position as an insurance underwriter when the painting got stolen.

Each of the women has their problems and need the finder's fee, so they proceed to do due diligence in their quest. That search leads to some enjoyable confrontations, by interviewing the people involved in the action that brought about the theft.

The two detective ladies ask the right questions, but it is their ingenuity and visual perception that lead them in the right direction. Their combined talents would make Sherlock smile - they think out of the box and outsmart professionals in the task at hand.

I enjoyed the banter amongst the two and the prose of the author.

I'll be back sometime to see if Smith and Westen will shoot straight again with little bloodshed. 

Purchased at $.99: https://amzn.to/2zsvw1l

Review of Under Dark Skies

UNDER DARK SKIES

        NightShade

Forensic Files, Book 1

A.J. SCUDIERE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Eames has abilities an average person does not have and her newbie partner Donovan shifts from man to wolf. Both FBI Agents are assigned to a case in the unit NightSade.

They are the main characters that the author spends much time evaluating - the case, each other, and themselves. Their stories are interesting and strange but give the basis of a good character driven book one in a series.  

Although the story of a cult they are investigating is good and suspenseful, I found too much repetition about the characters. The author keeps you wanting more, but the ending was anti-climactic not with a proper lead into book two, which I'll pass on.

Purchase: Free on Kindle  https://amzn.to/2D0sqFd

Review of THE PROTOCOL

The PROTOCOL

J. ROBERT KENNEDY

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A face-pace thriller where every chapter hooks you into another. The lead character ACTION says it ALL.

A global cult believes that their artifact is a powerful object and can control the fate of the world. Professor Action and his group of architecture students find a fact similar or the real thing in a Peruvian excavation dig.

There is a leak of the find, and all hell breaks out.  A battle by an influential ex-cult member begins to retrieve the object that placed together with others can change the world or destroy it.

In the middle of the war are Action, the cult, a powerful nation, and the English police department.  All the best firepower is used to retrieve the object of one man's desire rule the world.

This Thriller was well thought out and smoothly put together keeping the reader on edge. Read in two sittings, and I could not put the Kindle book down.

I get back to another Kennedy book later.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2qd5KKi Free Kindle edition 

Review of Something in the Way

Something in the Way, 1

JESSICA HAWKINS

Review by Roy Murry, Author

If you are into Romance novels, this series you may want to start reading. I sometimes go to the genre for a look see. Okay, I admit it, I am a Romantic.

I found this novel a little irritable because one of the characters is sixteen or her sister who is nineteen don't have their brains working correctly. The elder does what she wants but doesn't know what she wants.

The younger falls in love with a twenty-three-year-old hunk and thinks she knows what she wants with her psychologically screwed up mind brought on by her father's control. She is thinking out of her box she was put in for the last sixteen years.

This forbidden love gets her and all around her in trouble with an ending that reflects it. Child abuse is what comes to my mind by her father and a hunk that should have never entered their lives. Both he and her father should have known better, leaving the young lady alone.

The novel devils into many emotions which keeps the reader on edge. Young love is complicated, and this beginning of a series does an excellent job in setting the pace by frustratingly playing with those emotions.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2AtIXzT

Review of DEADLY REUNION

DEADLY REUNION

A Taci Andrews Mystery

AMY MANEMANN

Review by Roy Murry, Author

I like a good mystery which you may have noticed by reading many of my reviews. DEADLY REUNION is an excellent one.

Taci, an investigative reporter, has a High School reunion coming up. In the meantime, some of her ex-classmates are involved with a mysterious event - a daughter of one is missing.

Taci's boss asks her to take over the case when the reporter assigned goes missing, another mystery.  When this happens, it seems that all her schoolmates come out of the woodwork, including one man who was a pain-in-the-ass when she was growing up.

In asking around, meeting with people she didn't care for in the school, which seemed to be mutual, she uncovers the real crime. Many turns of events lead to an explosive ending, literally.

Ms. Manemann's writing kept me on my toes and thinking of where Taci was going with her investigation. Ingenuity and guts are Taci's style.

The backup characters are interesting, helping to maintain an enjoyable series which may have a romantic ending too.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2yUwQtN

Review of OPPRESSION

OPPRESSION

DIANNE NOBLE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

As the world turns, there will always be OPPRESSION while religions rule part of it. Some have evolved for the better, but others are still medieval in nature when it comes to relationships of men and women.

OPPRESSION is about how some Muslims and Christians have yet to change concerning marriage - how women are treated. Two women, Layla a 16-year-old is forced to marry a 50-year-old man of the Muslim faith and Beth who finds herself in a marriage with a controlling man.

In this compelling story, the men are interchangeable and are somewhat a norm in strict religious sects. The women, however, are not.

Beth is English and lives in her home country where there are secular laws. Layla is forced to move from England to Egypt where religious laws out way ones that protect all humans - where men control the religion and a woman's destiny.

Beth and Layla's stories come together in an unusual way leading the reader into a drama, an adventure into a foreign land, and conflicts of how humans treat each other.  Using faiths that are interrupted literally, Ms. Noble's brings to light the cruelty of how they function – the good and the bad.

The novel moves through humanity's complicated relationships with clear-cut knowledge of the facts and the norms.  Beth and Layla live a journey no woman should experience.

Reading this novel helped me understand the world a little better.

Congratulations to Ms. Noble for bringing it to light in an enjoyable read. 

Well done.

Purchase:   https://amzn.to/2yqZvHc

Review of MY FATHER'S MAGIC

MY FATHER'S MAGIC

An Esme Bohlin #Suspense Novel

INGRID FOSTER

Review by Roy Murry, Author

Esme's father dies during a strange circumstance, and she takes time off from the family company by moving into her father's home. By doing this, Esme finds a new family, her mother's which is an impressive group of characters.

Geoff is the man in her life while her father was alive. He is close but far away. Esme and Geoff are married, but they are not - a magical conundrum which will come to a head.

Esme comes to realize her magical potential after finding her father's book of tricks, her mother's improved health, and from a few special people. She realizes Geoff is a problem and most likely did some despicable things.

Events come to a peak when Geoff turns against her and others with demonic abilities. These events lead to an explosive ending a suspensive blast that opens the door to a book two.

This is a well-written story that kept my attention throughout its magical ride.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2OiK126