Caribbean Rain  (The fourth Manny Williams Thrillier) by Rick Murcer

Rick Murcer's Manny Williams' books are one of my favorite series. He always delivers great thrillers. He has developed the characters so well that I feel like I know them as well as my neighbors. Caribbean Rain brings all of the gang back with another gory serial killer to track down. They are called to the Caribbean because of Manny's extra special talent for profiling. This book includes everything that the other Manny Williams books have included, but I felt like the main plot was sidetracked a bit. Having the drug lord and his daughter seemed to be too much of a distraction for me. Other than that, I loved the banter of the FBI crew, the romance between Manny and Chloe and my favorite is the newest member, CSI Dean Mikus-I couldn't get enough of him; he is a great addition to the original cast of characters. As others have already stated here, I was not wild about the ending, but this is another great Manny Williams thriller that was hard to put down. I am anxious to get to the next one!

SHELF LISTING: 3rd shelf
Bottom shelf = Poor, could not finish book
1st Shelf = Hard to finish book but I did eventually
2nd Shelf = Just so-so
3rd Shelf = Good Read
Top Shelf = Great Read

This was another one of my Amazon reviews. Rick Murcer is high on my list of favorite authors; when he puts out a book, I drop all others and read his right away. His writing always keeps me up way past my usual bedtime and is to blame for many butt-dragging mornings--Thanks Rick! ;)

So when I got to the end of this book and there was a huge cliffhanger, I felt kind of ripped off. He had never done that before. Sure, in other books he had taken us right up to the edge of the cliff and let us look over it, wondering what was to come, but he had never before left us hanging like he did at the end of Caribbean Rain. I know I am not alone in my feelings either as I have talked to a few others who felt the same way. I understand an author wanting to leave us eager to get at the next book, but don't they have an obligation to the reader to finish one story in a book? Shouldn't these books in a series be able to stand alone and make you feel like it is complete when you turn the last page? If an author thinks the purpose of leaving such a huge loose thread is to have people lined up to buy the next book, I don't necessarily know if that is what happens. As the self-proclaimed "author groupie" I am, I feel almost betrayed. A little melodramatic maybe, okay, but that is how I felt when that last page came up in CR. I have to compare it to my favorite author's book (John Locke) Emmett Love's Don't Poke the Bear. He had all of his best fans in an uproar for the big cliffhanger he had left at the end. Locke found out very fast that his readers could be very vocal and I know he won't leave an ending like that again.

My point here? I guess it is to say that 1) a book should be able to stand alone, even if it is part of a series and 2) an author should listen to their fans. We can be their best feedback and best support.

So authors, go ahead and leave us wanting more, but don't leave us mad because there wasn't more.

Mary
Number of Books on My List = 1018 minus 39 read = 979 TBR

Book Review #1

 One Stiletto in the Grave (Reapers in Heels #1) (Kindle Edition)  by Jason Krumbine

Avery and Brooke Graves are Grim Reapers, searching for stray souls to deliver to the afterlife. Not a typical job for two pretty, shoe-loving girls, but hey, it (almost) pays the bills. In this first book, they have to search all over Century City to track down two souls, getting into all kinds of trouble while trying to do their job. Avery is the business minded sister and Brooke is the, well, umm, "loose" sister. One of my favorite things about a Jason Krumbine book is that it is filled with sarcasm and great banter between the characters, and these two sisters go at it throughout the book. There is great chemistry between the two and I found myself laughing and smiling at their conversations throughout the entire book. If you don't like sarcasm, you won't like this; if you don't like women playing loose and easy, you won't like this; but if you are ready for some light, fun reading, Avery and Brooke make for an entertaining read.

This above review is the exact one I left on Amazon, and Jason Krumbine is one of my new favorite authors. The sarcastic wit between the main characters is what I love about his writing. One Stiletto in the Grave is the first of the Reapers on Heels books. The Alex Cheradon Mysteries are my favorite of Krumbine's book series. His books include a supernatural twist. Also commented on in many of the reviews and something I also noticed were a fair amount of editing problems. If I enjoy a story enough, I am able to overlook these issues, which was the case with Krumbine's books; I understand how people can have issues with this though, so be warned.

SHELF LISTING: 3rd shelf
Bottom shelf = Poor, could not finish book
1st Shelf = Hard to finish book but I did eventually
2nd Shelf = Just so-so
3rd Shelf = Good Read
Top Shelf = Great Read

My First Post!!

Okay, Book People! I finally bit the bullet and got one of these new-fangled blog things. Guess what--I have no clue as to what I am doing on a blog, much less how I am going to go about completing my quest to keep it up and interesting. But, hey, I figure I can talk a lot, I certainly can blog my feelings about the books I read. Bear with me, please, while I flounder a bit in these first few weeks (or months <grin>), I hope to catch on eventually.

First up I will fill you in a little about me. I have come to  love with my ereader more than I ever thought I would; it does not leave my side. I have  a few and they even have names, but that is for another blog. I finish about 6-8 books a month and would love to do more than that, but somewhere in there I have to find time to work (heavy sigh). Since one of my friends told me about Pixel of Ink, my Kindle library has grown to almost 900 books. I read mostly thrillers and murder mysteries. I just cannot stop my finger from hitting that "Buy Now With 1-Click" button when all of these great-sounding books are free or almost free! There must be a support group coming for people like me; maybe I will be their poster child. I also do a little bit of beta reading when I get the chance. Being an author would have been a dream to me, except that I have no talent to write. I figure that beta reading is the closest I will ever get to writing; if I can "help write" a book and brag about that, you bet I am all over that game! ;) Because I am a perfectionist, I also am taking an editing class, which has turned out to be harder than I ever imagined; I will leave that for another post also. (Look, I am already finding all kinds of things I can post about and I haven't even gotten to any book reviews.) The rest of my life is spent on my full-time job, my teenage and college-aged children, my husband and our home. My time seems to fill up very quickly!

So, what is my purpose here? My goal is to 1) tell you what I am reading; 2) give a review on what I have read; and 3) give you a glimpse into my "book" life, whatever happens to be going on interesting with my reading life at that particular time. I will probably throw in a few personal items here and there also. And I am going to keep you abreast of what the total of Books on My List in my Kindle is at the time I am posting.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and "listen" to my chatter. Happy Reading!
Mary
Number of Books on My List = 899 minus 36 read = 863 TBR