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Book List: Fiona Quinn

2 Comments / Adventure, Bestselling Author, Book List, Crime, Military, Mystery, Paranormal, Reviews, Romance, Suspense

Fiona Quinn writes “smart, sexy suspense with a psychic twist.” The series that started her path to becoming a USA Today bestselling author, the Lynx Series, is centered around a character that her readers love. Click on the titles in Fiona Quinn’s Book List to find out more about each of them.

In the Lynx Series, Lexi Sobado protects the greater good through her finely tuned psychic awareness and the expert operators charged with protecting her.

“Weakest Lynx” read my review here, one of the NBR ‘beach read’ choices that year.

“Missing Lynx”
“Chain Lynx”

“Cuff Lynx” read my review here.

“Gulf Lynx”
“Hyper Lynx“
“Marriage Lynx”

The FBI Joint Task Force Series – Iniquus, the ex-special forces teams that Lexi works with, partners with an FBI Joint Task Force. Pulse pounding series.

“Open Secret”
“Cold Red”
“Even Odds”

Panther Force – focuses on international action adventures. So much fun!

“Wasp”

“Relic” read my review here.
“Deadlock”
“Thorn”

Strike Force – the members of the Iniquus strike force are highlighted in each book. With psychic suspense, romance, murder, and mystery woven into each, Quinn’s fans have loved the guys tasked to discover the truth behind various operations.
“In Too Deep”
“Jack Be Quick”
“Instigator”

Delta Force Echo Series – The guys of Iniquus star in Action Adventure Romance.
“Danger Signs”
“Danger Zone”
“Danger Close“

Cerberus Tactical K9 – the K9s steal the show in the Iniquus K9 romantic suspense mystery thrillers.
“Survival Instinct”
“Protective Instinct”
“Defender’s Instinct”
“Warrior’s Instinct’
“Rescue Instinct”
“Hero’s Instinct”
“Guardian’s Instinct“

The Kate Hamilton Novella Series – A former science teacher from Boston goes to Virginia to hide out, but finds that danger follows her even to the small town where she grew up. Excellent novella series. 🙂

“Mine”
“Yours”
“Ours”

Fiona Quinn (as Lexi Sobado) has also been a Visiting Detective at Kerrian’s Notebook. Click on the links to take you to the individual posts.

Read “Visiting Detective Lexi Sobado”

and “Everyday Carry (EDC) for Police,” one of KN’s most popular Visiting Detective pieces.

If you like intelligent women with unusual talent, a taste for danger, a bit of romance, and lots of action, check out Fiona Quinn’s always entertaining books.

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Book List: The Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor

Adventure, Bestselling Author, Book List, Fiction, Military, Thriller

The Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor, delivers action that never stops. The highly successful twenty-one novels feature counterterrorism as the central theme, more topical with each new title.

Back in 2013, when I reviewed “Takedown,” Thor arranged for an entire year of “Thrills, Threats, and Thor.” He invited his fans to read each of the books (one a month) in order, starting in January, 2013, with the first, “The Lions of Lucerne.” Thor’s website has videos and extras about each of the books and of course, an opportunity to buy them.

Scot Harvath is well written, with depth and a sense of humanity despite the gravity of his tasks. We experience moments of his deep commitment and never question his patriotism as the books unfold. “Takedown,” first published in 2006, dealt with post September 11^th terrorism action in New York City. See my review here.

If you’d like to try the Thor reading plan, here are the books in order. Click on the titles:

January’s Book: The Lions Of Lucerne
February’s Book: Path Of The Assassin
March’s Book: State Of The Union
April’s Book: Blowback
May’s Book: Takedown
June’s Book: The First Commandment
July’s Book: The Last Patriot
August’s Book: The Apostle
September’s Book: Foreign Influence
October’s Book: The Athena Project
November’s Book: Full Black
December’s Book: Black List

Additional books published since then are (in order):

Backlash read my review here

Near Dark

Black Ice

Rising Tiger – pre-order

Please visit www.bradthor.com to read about the current books in the Scot Harvath series, as well as Thor’s new release coming in July, 2022, “Rising Tiger,” the highly anticipated #22.

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Take Something Different to the Beach

Leave a Comment / Adventure, Amish, Bestselling Author, Book List, Christian, Inspirational, Mystery, Non-fiction, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Thriller

Every once in a while, we should stretch our reading horizons and try something completely different. Just for fun. You may think that straying out of your tried and true and thoroughly enjoyed genre is a bad idea, but here is a batch of books that may change your mind. Go ahead. Take a peek. 🙂

Adventure/Sci-Fi

James Rollins writes the exceptional Sigma Force adventure series, which incorporates archeology, historical events, science, a bit of technology, and always a dash of romance. Rollins’ research is so thorough and his writing so skilled that the readers often wonder which parts are true and which are a figment of his incredible imagination. He always includes sections in the books to answer the questions that might arise. Spanning 50,000 years, “The Bone Labyrinth” focuses on the discovery of a subterranean Catholic chapel holding the bones of a Neanderthal woman, as well as revealing a brutal attack on a primate research center. The Sigma Force teams are tasked with finding a connection between the two, taking them to three continents, while being tested as never before by unexpected enemies. The action never stops, with twists and turns until the very last page in this search for the explanations of human intelligence development. “The Bone Labyrinth” is the 11th full length book in the Sigma Force Series, with #14, “Crucible,” out this year.

Amish Fiction

Laura Bradford writes the wonderful, bestselling Amish Mysteries. “Just Plain Murder” is the sixth installment, with “A Killer Carol” due out in September. In “Just Plain Murder,” Claire Weatherly and Jakob Fisher grow closer and Jakob’s relationship with the family that shunned him shows signs of warming a bit. Jakob’s mentor and retired police chief, Russ Granger, has returned to town, but soon Claire must help Jakob solve the mystery of Russ’ death and so much more. Shocking secrets and lies are uncovered and long-standing relationships are questioned in this marvelous entry in the series. Read them all.

Christian Fiction

Terri Blackstock writes entertaining fiction that has wowed her fans for decades. The If I Run Series finishes with book #3, “If I Live.” Casey Cox is still running for her life after being wrongfully indicted for murder. She teams with the investigator on her case to help find the real killers, with consequences for each of them. Blackstock creates a sense of urgency that will keep you spellbound with surprises throughout.

Non-Fiction

Gretchen Rubin’s “Happiness Project” is an uplifting way to look at your life and change it for the better. If you’re not happy with the way things are going and want to make some adjustments, this book is for you. Ms. Rubin talks about her own life and how she came to believe that she could be happier. She took a year to experiment with advice given by experts and came up with some ideas of her own, including strategies for each month of the year. It’s a personal plan that can easily be applied to anyone willing to ‘be more present’ in their own life.

Thriller

Internationally bestselling author, Jamie Freveletti, writes the multi-award winning Emma Caldridge Series. Emma Caldridge is a brilliant biochemist who enjoys extreme distance running. She uses both skills while undertaking missions around the world that would reduce the ordinary person to a puddle of fear and mumbling. In “Blood Run,” Caldridge is tasked with delivering vaccines to villages in Africa, but the big pharma CEO accompanying her and providing the financial and logistical support for the operation, is holding out on her. They find themselves in the middle of a war zone between brutal African factions with no way out except through even more dangerous territory. If that weren’t enough, an extra challenge involves an international terrorist who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, complete with a target on Emma’s back. This pulse-pounding story will keep you turning the pages and wondering how in the world Caldridge will make it out alive.

Happy reading! 🙂

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Greatest Love Stories of All Time

Leave a Comment / Adventure, Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Cozy, General, Historical, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Paranormal, Romance, Saga, Suspense, Western, Women's Fiction

It’s the time of year when bouquets of flowers fill the stores, the gift of a box of chocolates takes on new meaning, and love songs (and movies) fill the airwaves. Swoonworthy stuff, ya’ll.

Instead of creating a post about current titles that inspire hearts to flutter, I put out an open call for men and women to name their favorite Greatest Love Stories of All Time. Thanks to Mari Barnes*, Sarah Bewley, Leah Canzoneri, Kait Carson, Peggy Clayton, Joy Ross Davis, Missy Davis, Laura Di Silverio, Saword Broyles Ellis, Terri Gault, Courtney Carter Girton, Sherry Harris, Cynthia Kuhn, Joyce Laferrera, Marj Lilley, Alice Loweecy, Gary Miller, Sylvia Nickels, Debbie York Parker, Nanci Rathbun, Jeanie Smith, Ellis Vidler, and Lynn Chandler Willis for their wonderful suggestions. *drawing winner 🙂

Books are listed in alphabetical order by title, and where available, links to the Greatest Love Stories are included. Click on the titles and read more about them.

“At Home in Mitford” by Jan Karon

“Cinderella Story” by Wendy Logia

“Come Rain or Come Shine” by Jan Karon

“Dr. Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte

“Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry

“Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon

“Persuasion” by Jane Austen

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen

“Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen

“Shadow of the Moon” by MM Kaye

“Somewhere in Time” by Richard Matheson

“Soulless” by Gail Carriger

“The Far Pavilions” by MM Kaye

“The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper

“The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks

“The Princess Bride” by William Goldman

“The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Baroness Orczy

“The Second Coming” by Walker Percy

“The Thorn Birds” by Colleen McCullough

Are you thinking romantic, weak-at-the-knees thoughts?

Our work is done. 😉

Photo credit: Patti Phillips

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“Circling the Sun” by Paula McLain

2 Comments / Adventure, Bestselling Author, Historical

Paula McLain’s “Circling the Sun,” is the story of horse trainer/aviator/writer, Beryl Markham. It recalls the remarkable accomplishments of this under sung woman far ahead of her time in Colonial Kenya and explores her relationship with renowned Denys Finch Hatton, safari hunter, and Karen Blixen, author (as Isak Dineson) of “Out of Africa.”

Beryl’s father sold everything in England in order to buy a farm in Kenya, but Beryl’s mother could not cope with the stark cultural differences and returned to England with son, Dickie, leaving Beryl behind to be raised by her father.

Her father, ill equipped to raise a young girl, was always busy with the hard work of running a farm, so she was frequently left alone and spent a great deal of time with members of a neighboring tribe. She learned their languages and customs and made friends that would be with her for life. The realities of African living shaped Beryl's character and 100 years ago, forged a strength and determination in her that would be unusual even for a woman of today.

“Circling the Sun” tells us that Beryl’s freedom to do what she wanted came with an incredible price. The standards by which she lived in Africa, coming and going as she pleased, affected all her relationships and her view of the world. She was a natural at training horses, but had to battle at every turn to be recognized and accepted. Nothing was ever easy.

Interacting in polite Colonial Kenyan society was beyond her understanding. She had no wish to be judged and yet, she was targeted unfairly merely because she was a female. Her casual disregard of the conventional separation of men and women caused her great pain when she attempted to navigate the minefields of marriage, society, and motherhood, even when Royals were involved.

Markham is remembered as the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic from East to West, but “Circling the Sun’ spends most of the book on her time as a horse trainer and her interactions with Blixen and Hatton. They played an incredible part in shaping the woman she would become and the choices she would make that placed her in the history books. They were a complicated threesome. Hatton never married either of the women, but had a relationship with both.

The colors and sounds of Africa are a major character in the book and give us a sweeping sense of the majestic nature of the continent and the customs of native Africans. McLain paints a fabulous landscape that keeps us enthralled and gives us a peek into why so many English expats were drawn to the place: Money to be made, worlds to experience, the excitement/danger of safaris, creating something permanent out of the untamed land.

Circumstances and the people in her life shaped her, but Markham could not have become the bush pilot or transatlantic pilot she did, without that incredible setting that set her free.

A work of historical fiction not to be missed.

Please visit www.paulamclain.com for more information about McLain, “Circling the Sun,” and her earlier acclaimed bestseller, “The Paris Wife.”

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“Signal” by Patrick Lee

Adventure, Bestselling Author, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Marnie Calvert, FBI agent in Patrick Lee’s “Signal,” smells the bodies before she sees them. A trailer is burned to a crisp, with not much left except a cage holding the corpses of four children. The owner of the trailer is missing.

Sam Dryden’s background includes special ops training with the military. He has left that life behind and now flips houses. His ordinary, peaceful evening is interrupted by a call from trusted former colleague in the military, Claire Dunham. She makes an urgent request of Sam: get in the car immediately and meet her in a spot that is two hours away. Once together, they drive to the trailer at breakneck speed and keep the owner from burning it and everyone in it. When Sam and Claire leave the area, the only corpse is the owner’s.

Yes, you read that correctly. Calvert, Dryden and Dunham have arrived at the same crime scene – just not at the same time and with very different results. The race against, through, and with time, begins.

Patrick Lee’s paradigms of time travel/time shifting are intriguing and part of what compels me to return to his books. Not every book uses time as a plot device, but I love the way Lee’s mind works. In his Travis Chase series, people traveled through a doorway in time to the future and back again. In “Signal,” Lee’s main characters listen to a radio frequency on a device that streams what is reported on the airwaves from the future – a very specific period of time in the future. In this world, time is fluid and actions can be changed before they happen.

Imagine if that power was held by people with decades to plan and reshape the future for their own agendas? Nothing good could come of it. Murder, kidnapping, torture? They’ll do anything to get the device that led Claire to the trailer.

In “Signal,” Lee deftly handles the time paradox challenges of adjusting actions in response to hearing the consequences. Any modification in events affects everyone in the timeline continuum for all time, and Lee uses that effectively to keep us absorbed. He gives us just enough information about how it all works without too much science-speak or theory that might take us out of the story.

Whose reality will control the tale? Can this knowledge ever be used for good? If your “enemy knows your mistakes before you make them,” how can you survive the battle? The answers will keep you turning the pages all night long, because “Signal” is flat out stay-awake reading. And not just because of the time-travel component or the pulse-pounding action. Lee’s characters have depth, a back story, and believable reasons for what they do, be it for good or very questionable motives.

Clear your schedule, turn off the computer and the phone (gasp), and be prepared to read straight through to the perfect finish.

I was lucky enough to meet Patrick Lee at a recent writer’s conference and he graciously signed my copy of “Signal.” He signed “Ghost Country,” from the Travis Chase series as well and you can read that review here.

For information about Patrick Lee, the terrific first Sam Dryden book, “Runner,” and his other series, please visit www.patrickleefiction.com

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“Divergent” by Veronica Roth

Adventure, Bestselling Author, Dystopian, Young Adult/Teen

Dystopia: “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (Merriam-Webster) OR “a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening.” (Wikipedia)

It used to be that everywhere I turned in the YA section of the bookstore, vampires were front and center. Now that the Hunger Games Trilogy has proven to be wildly successful, vampires seem to have been edged out – at least in product placement – by books with a Dystopian theme. Veronica Roth’s Divergent series is the latest of the genre to be a hit with teens and have a movie tie-in.

Beatrice Prior and her brother are 16 and they will soon take a test to see which faction in their society is a suitable match for their particular strengths. Each of them is in some way unhappy about the idea of staying with the family’s faction, Abnegation (a selfless group) and they seek out other factions (Dauntless=brave, Erudite=intelligent, Candor=honest, Amity=peaceful) after their test results come in.

The choice Beatrice makes in Divergent changes her in ways she doesn’t always understand or embrace, and may destroy her as she uncovers the truths behind the exciting hype of the Dauntless. And, when secrets are revealed about her test, she faces danger from the very faction she chose.

Beatrice renames herself Tris and is like many real-life teens – she doesn’t appreciate the support system that surrounds her until she needs it, she takes her parents for granted, she’s insecure in her physical appearance, she searches for something beyond the life she has in hand, she feels unworthy when in fact she’s better than her peers – in other words, she’s growing up painfully as most teens do.

Roth writes Tris as having a conflicted moral compass, and angst about doing the wrong thing. During training, her hands shake when faced with something new, but when protecting a friend, she performs unflinchingly. She is small for her age, so outdoes her competition by using her brain. She has an excellent trainer, a mysterious ‘Four’ who seems intimidating in his coldness and yet perfect in so many ways. Roth reveals the layers of the young man’s background as the relationship develops.

Divergent features an interesting mix of sixteen year olds with varied flaws and positive attributes, and their range of personalities and skills keep the plot moving and the action believable within the Dystopian world. There are loyal friends and nasty instructors, psycho initiates, desperate people who live outside the faction compounds, evil adults who plot and scheme for control, and, of course, a way for the teens to outsmart the evil adults. A few of the action scenes that involve incredibly difficult physical tasks, would lend themselves to great FX in the movie version if there is a big enough budget.

Young Adult fiction is a playground for vampires, martial arts experts, archers, unexpected heroes, magicians, and werewolves in the sci-fi/paranormal/fantasy realm. Partly because parents are curious about what their offspring are reading and partly because of all the media hype, full-fledged adults are now big fans of YA as well. I read the Twilight series, the Hunger Games trilogy, and now the Divergent series, and am happy to be numbered among the followers.

Please visit www.veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com to find out the latest about Roth and her projects.

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