Beer, Books and Boos

  The Broken Girls Simone St. James Series: NA Rating:  ★★★★ Recommend: Yes Review: It took me a couple of days to gather my thoughts about this book. It is shelved under thriller and horror but it is much more than that. It had me laughing and crying along with being scared. It deals with friendship and grief that I think about the book even better. I loved the two timelines and the 1950 timeline worked well with the 2014 timeline. I really felt what Fiona was going through with her sister’s death, cause I am going through something similar but with my cousin's death. The difference is that I wasn’t young when he was killed but seeing her go through the anger and grief hit me hard. The horror elements in the book with Mary Hand had me on the edge of my seat and I felt the fear the girls were feeling. I liked that it wasn’t the main focus of the story but it still added to it. I will be getting St.James other books and reading them very soon.

  A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal Series: N/A Rating: ★★ Recommend: No Goodreads Synopsis: This panoramic thriller begins with one small mystery. The body of a young woman found in an Arizona border town, presumed to be an illegal immigrant, walks out of the town morgue. To the young CDC investigator called in to consult the local police, it's a bizarre medical mystery.More bodies, dead of a mysterious disease that solidifies their blood, are brought to the morgue, and disappear. In a futile game of catch-up, the CDC, the FBI, and the US government must come to terms with what they're too late to stop: an epidemic of vampirism that will sweep first the United States, and then the world. Impossibly strong, smart, poised, beautiful, and commanding, these vampires reject the term as derogatory, preferring the euphemistic "gloamings." They quickly rise to prominence in all aspects of modern society: sports, entertainment, and busine...

  Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco Series: Kingdom of the Wicked #1 Rating: ★★★ Recommend: Maybe Goodreads Synopsis: Two sisters. One brutal murder. A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself… And an intoxicating romance. Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden. Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems… Review: I enjoyed this boo...

  Devolution by Max Brooks Series: N/A Rating: ★★★★ Recommend: Yes Goodreads Synopsis: As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier's eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now. But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town's bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing--and too earth-shattering in its implications--to be forgotten. In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate's extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it. Kate's is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity's defiance in the face of a terrible predator's gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death. Yet it is also far more than that. Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature...

  Tropical Deception by David Myles Robinson Series:  A Pancho McMartin Legal Thriller #4   Rating:★★★   Recommend: Yes Goodreads Synopsis With some $200 million sunk into a real estate development on Kauai, the investment partners have a lot to lose if attorney Peter Roosevelt succeeds in stopping the project for the sake of preserving Hawaii's environment. When Roosevelt is found dead in his home, a suspect is quickly arrested and becomes the latest, and possibly toughest, challenge for Honolulu's top criminal defense attorney, Pancho McMartin. There is an abundance of suspicious characters for Pancho to focus on, but everyone but his client has an alibi. The suspense is high as Pancho is forced to go to trial without a good defense. He takes risks which don't pay off. His client is angry and threatens malpractice. Pancho is in an untenable position as time is running out. Review This book wasn’t for me but that isn’t because the book was bad. I loved the character...