Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars Carl Hiassen's "Sick Puppy" was a raucous adventure featuring characters who were extreme in their being. This alone made them each comical and entertaining. Taking the cake may have been Boodle/McQuinn the labrador retriever, who was a big part of the story throughout. Twilly Spree is the trust fund son of a developer father, who is compelled to single-handedly educate people who harm the environment. He comes across Palmer Stoat throwing trash out his window and plans to teach the man a lesson. Twilly soon learns that Palmer is not only a litter-bug, but he is also a lobbyist working on a deal to pave over an island and turn it into condos and golf courses. The quest to educate Palmer and stop development of the island introduces the reader to a colorful and crazy cast of characters including the current Governor of Florida, a former Governor who disappeared from the public eye, Stoat's wife, a Republican only call girl, a drug dealer turned developer with a Barbie fetish resulting in his 'sculpting' two immigrants into living Barbies via plastic surgery, a hit-man, a nature fearing developer who wants to pave over all vegetation, and believe it or not many more. The story wraps up rather nicely on an illegal hunting preserve. All in all a fun book with lots to laugh (or cry) about, but take it for what its worth a laugh. View all my reviews >>

Gold of Kings by Davis Bunn

Gold of Kings: A Novel by Davis Bunn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars Davis Bunn's Gold of Kings was a decent quest based suspense novel, but my three stars are on the closer to two side of the rating scale.I liked the three main characters, Harry, Emma, and Storm, as well as Hakim and Leon, and while mostly a memory Sean had a powerful role throughout as well.While other books I'd read featured people seeking treasure or to uncover a historic object of significance, this one just didn't seem to strike me with strong enough motivation for doing so. It may have been because Harry was a treasure hunter and thereby it was a guy doing his job. Yes, there were reasons for them doing so, it simply didn't build for me the way others had. I also found there wasn't quite enough challenge in finding/tracking the treasure itself.Again, not a bad book, a quick read, decent summer read, but not anything to get overly excited about. View all my reviews >>

The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams

The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams is the type of book I enjoy - fast paced fiction centered around a historical mystery to be solved.Adams did a good job of getting people together at the end for the resolution and the story moved along well.The main character Daniel Knox was interesting, but as another reviewer had commented, he didn't come across as being "American" and probably would have been better to have been English. Not a big point, but a good one.All in all, a good, quick, fun read. View all my reviews >>

The Fall of the Templars by Robyn Young

The Fall of the Templars by Robyn Young

My rating: 3 of 5 stars Finally finished The Fall of the Templars by Robyn Young, returned it to the library, and made a donation due to my tardiness. While it took a while to read, it was more my fault than the books. Having said that, the book does span some twenty years telling the tale of how the French King Philippe disbanded the once almighty Knights Templar. At the heart of the story is Will Campbell, a troubled man who was a Knight as was his father. A Scot, Will leaves the order to defend his homeland against the assault of England’s King Edward. In England he is reunited with his sister, whom he hadn’t seen since his youth. From England, Will travels to France in an attempt to gain support for Scotland against England. His role as a former Templar is enticing to Philippe and his aide Nogaret in their planning to gain the Templar Treasury. Will walks a tightrope throughout and is saved from death more than once. The story was good and the pacing was as well. It was lengthy, but there was plenty to tell. I hadn't read any of Young's work before, so I can only compare it to other Templar books, of which this was the most 'historical' of the ones I've read. View all my reviews >>

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Have been reading David Hewson's Nic Costa series and last week decided to browse the shelves for additional books when I came across Hiaasen. I'd heard of him, but not read any of his books. I decided to go with the oldest one on the shelf, "Strip Tease".



It was a fun book to read, wild characters, straightforward plot. All in all it ended well. If his other books are like this one, great summer reads at the pool or beach.



So, we have an ex-FBI employee, Erin, who has decided to dance at a strip club to pay legal fees to fight a scum-bag ex-husband for custody of her daughter. One night, while dancing an inebriated customer clings to her leg in-awe and for balance, which inspires another customer to club him viciously over the head with a champaign bottle. The other customer turns out to be a US Congressmen who is infatuated with women and this dancer in particular.



The Congressman has a history and a small team to clean up his messes. The inebriated customer has a fiance and her cousin is a lawyer with less than stellar ethics. The dancer has the floor bouncer, Shad, who is also attempting to get rich quick by 'finding' large insects in food products. She also has Mr. Peepers, a customer who attempts to blackmail the congressman and winds up dead in Montana, found by a Florida detective who is on vacation and gets involved to help Erin.



Over the top characters, my favorite was probably Shad, and a wild ride. Light read but very fun. Adults only. This was set mostly in a strip club.


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White Shark by Peter Benchley

White Shark by Peter Benchley

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
White Shark is the first book I read by Peter Benchley. Jaws remains one of my all-time favorite movies, and as I randomly searched shelves at the library I came across Benchley and decided to give this a go.



I liked the main character, Simon Chase, and the idea of his having his own island as an institute. I thought his son at age twelve was a bit grown up for his age, but it wasn't anything I couldn't get over within the context of the story.



The story itself is a bit out there. Nazi scientists create a secret weapon which is really a mutated human. The weapon is lost when a submarine escaping Germany at the end of the war sinks in a trench in the Atlantic. It is found and the casing holding the weapon is put aboard a ship. The photographer who found it tries to steal a peak before the ship docks and he disappears along with the case and weapon.



From that point forward animals on land and sea as well as people begin to go missing and Chase, as resident expert, finds himself on a quest to find this creature.



One interesting angle is the 'evolution' of the creature from water to land, along with its 'learning'.



All in all a fun, quick read, but not anything to get overly excited about. Unlike jaws, I wouldn't be afraid to go into the water because this was obviously all fiction.


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The Seventh Sacrament by David Hewson

The Seventh Sacrament by David Hewson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The fifth of eight (and counting) in the Nic Costa series, this is the fourth of Hewson's books I've read and third in the series.

The core cast of characters is now up to six which makes it a challenge when you add in others to make a good story. And you know it is going to grow exponentially when there is a list of "Principal" characters ahead of the introduction that is in excess of 30.

Despite that, I found it wasn't too bad keeping up with all these folks. What I did find challenging at times was the storytelling shifts from current to past. One segment was clearly denoted by being in italics, but there were other times when scenes were from the past that weren't.

There were a few good twists and it wrapped up nicely where it began (in a sense). So I liked the ending. In fair warning, the descriptions and some incidents are rather violent/graphic, as you are dealing with at least one psycho involved in no less than nine or ten murders, so I guess you should expect some 'creativity' in the methods.

I'll continue to read the series and felt this was a bit better than the Sacred Cut, and on par with Lizard's Bite.


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