White Plague by James Abel

A sub on fire in the Arctic as a infection rages its way through the crew would be a disaster in and of itself. But when the sub is a new design carrying highly classified tech and weapons, that's a disaster of national proportions. 

The battle for the waters of the North Pole has already begun with nations claiming rights to minerals, oil, and passages newly opened thanks to ice cap melting. It's not inconceivable that one of these could stumble upon the sub and that's exactly what our government would like to avoid. Joe Rush and his team are sent out on a rescue mission with two objectives: first and foremost, they must keep the sub and its tech out of the hands of our enemies. Second, they must try and save the crew and prevent further spread of the infection. But in order to succeed, Joe must first identify the pathogen and its origin.

Why do I keep doing this to myself, readers? As I write this it's a bone chilling 11 degrees outside and though the thermostat is set much higher here in my house it doesn't seem to matter: my second cup of hot coffee has been downed and my toes are supposedly wrapped in micro fleece but I still feel like a Becky popsicle.

And yet for the second time in as many weeks I've picked a snow and ice driven story from the TBR. I should be reading books about the tropics to warm my brain!

I was drawn to this one for a lot of reasons even though initially it sounded like it was going to be maybe a little too similar to The Last Ship (the show, I've not actually read the book). And yeah, that similarity both drew me to and somewhat turned me off of White Plague. (Reading dilemmas.) In the end, my penchant for medical thrillers and my own curiosity won out, moving this one to the top of the pile. And boy am I glad! White Plague was a blockbuster worthy read. Further poking led to a nice discovery on my part, too. James Abel is a pseudonym for an author I've read and enjoyed before.

This is the first book featuring Joe Rush, a character whose job is focused on bioweapons/biowarfare, which means lots of fun possibilities (and I mean "fun" in a kind of twisted way). A keen medical thriller/viral history reader will probably have their suspicions about the particular enemy Rush is fighting here - I certainly did and without revealing it to the rest of the potential readers out there I'll just say you're probably right in those suspicions. And I loved how the history was tied in! (Just a little history, and a little conspiracy theory.)

Readers, Abel's/Reiss's debut/latest hit all the right notes for me in terms of action and suspense and I can't wait to see what Rush will be up against next.

Rating: 4/5

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante

When noted plastic surgeon John Taylor dies in a hotel room in Palo Alto, the initial suspicion is natural cause. But evidence soon proves this may not be the case. A spike in potassium and a puncture wound are certainly suspicious, as is the fact that Taylor was apparently a bigamist! With three wives to his name - and at least two of them unaware of the others - it's no wonder someone might have snapped and offed the man. 

The case is assigned to Detective Samantha Adams, a young officer used to busting drunken college kids and handling mostly minor crimes. Taylor's murder is her first big case and one she's determined to solve no matter what. 

What a hot mess! Not the book - that's excellent! No, the victim is a hot mess. As the story unravels, and more and more is learned about Taylor and his wives and I found myself kind of unsure who to sympathize with. In truth, by the time the case was solved it was even harder! It was interesting, though, how my perceptions of the characters, the case, and the story changed throughout as each of those elements developed.

Though Taylor is dead from the start, LaPlante paints him as something quite different than I'd expected. Chapters alternate between each of the wives and Samantha, and LaPlante offers up a great view of each of the various characters through all of their eyes. This adds a fabulous layer of complexity to the story (and the characters, obviously) that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Circle of Wives is a great puzzle of a read. I had my suspicions about who was behind the murder. In the end I was right, but LaPlante still surprised me in revealing the actual plotting. All in all it's an excellent mystery with psychological suspense leanings.

Rating: 4/5

Wildalone by Krassi Zourkova

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Krassi Zourkova's debut, Wildalone.

Thea Slavin always knew her family was hiding something, but it's only when she's ready to head off to college that she discovers exactly what that is. Looking back, Thea recalls how the family piano was locked away until she discovered it by accident. Her parents allowed her to play, reluctantly. And it's with reluctance that they now allow her to move to the US for college. When she chooses Princeton for her studies, the family secrets slowly begin to reveal themselves. Being a freshman in a new country is enough to deal with, but the myths and legends that surround Thea and her family are amplified at the historic university. As Thea struggles to reconcile her new discoveries with her day to day reality, she meets a man who will cause her to fall head over heels in love. And it's a love that could overwhelm them both. 

Wildalone is really hard to sum up without giving anything away. I apologize then if my synopsis is stunted or odd, but I struggled with how much to tell and how much to keep back from the reader.

This debut was one that I'd really been looking forward to. The promise of mystery and Balkan folklore drew me to it, as did the premise and the comparisons (The Secret History and Jane Eyre). In truth, those comparisons turned out to be just a smidge beyond being truly appropriate.

Let me first say that Krassi Zourkova writes quite beautifully. Her description is poetic - fitting considering how much of the story does rely on classic poetry. Sadly, though, the book didn't hit the spot for me.

My issue with Wildalone was the fantasy aspect. It was what I'd craved in the story but mid way through I'd resigned myself to it being maybe a more of a psychological read rather than a mystical one. And then the book shifted - just a little - and the fantastic became part of Thea's normal. Amidst the somewhat heavily philosophical classroom discussions and the eventually tiresome boyfriend issues, this little taste of magic wasn't really enough to make the book a win in my opinion.

Ugh, and the boyfriend issues! This isn't normally an issue for me but in this book it definitely grated on me. And it was the driving force of the story! Even when all was revealed, I didn't have much sympathy for Rhys. What's worse, I liked Thea fine until her entanglement with him so overpowered the rest of the book. By the time we roll to the end of the tale, I felt more than a little lost, unable to grasp what had really happened or what Thea's choice ultimately ended up being. (Though I know what I WANTED it to be at that point and I definitely don't think the author had THAT in mind.)

Ah, well. Wildalone had a lot of promise but sadly just didn't quite work for me.

Rating: 2.5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on the author, you can follow her on Twitter.

The Body Electric by Beth Revis

Ella Shepherd and her mother are lucky - they live comfortably in New Venice where her mother has just opened the Reverie Mental Spa, a place where people can relive their best memories. But even with their relatively tranquil existence, the Unified Countries and the Secessionary States coexist in a tense and fragile peace. When the UC begins to suspect there is a spy in their midst, they turn to Ella for help. It seems her mother's technology might be useful in determining whether someone is collaborating with the enemy. When Ella slips into the dreams of one of the UC's politicians, though, she discovers something strange - visions of her father who seems to be speaking directly to her and visions of another man who says he knows Ella though she has no memory of meeting him before. Both are impossibilities in a reverie. Before she can attempt to find the meaning in this mystery, New Venice is attacked and Ella finds herself caught in the beginnings of a new war.

I hadn't realized when I started this one that it was actually a companion to the Across the Universe trilogy. I was already stoked about a new book by Revis to begin with but that discovery really made The Body Electric that much more fun.

You don't have to have read all or any of the trilogy - this is the story of what's been going on back on Earth while Godspeed has made its journey. There are a few mentions of the ship and its mission but nothing that really gives anything away.

All of that said, The Body Electric is a pretty great read on its own. The premise and the scientific concepts are fascinating and Revis manages to once again weave in a story featuring rich and real characters around these almost mind boggling theories. In truth, there came a point in the story where I felt like maybe I was losing my grasp on the science (I won't go into details in an attempt to avoid spoilers) but the characters always managed to pull me back.

The world building is excellent. Revis provides enough detail and backstory to make New Venice and this future world it exists in believable and easy to picture. My only complaint there is that there was a bit of repetition in explaining some of those details, almost as if the author forgot they had already been touched on earlier in the story.

Revis is one seriously cool author in my opinion and while I'm not sure what she has up her sleeve writing wise, I know I'm always going to be on board. One piece I'd love to see more of if she continues in this universe are the Lunar Colonies and their stories. In the meantime, I'll be waiting along with every other fan to see what comes next!

Rating: 4/5

New Releases 1/6/15

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

After the War by Jennifer Robson

Murder by Sarah Pinborough

Wrongful Death by Lynda La Plante

A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan

Wildalone by Krassi Zourkova

The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell

White Plague by James Abel

A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd

The Blue Journal by L. T. Graham

Bred to Kill by Franck Thilliez

Before I Go by Colleen Oakley

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tess Arlen

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Gideon by Alex Gordon

The Witch Hunter's Tale by Sam Thomas

Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves

The Carrier by Sophie Hannah

Blood Will Follow by Snorri Kristijansson

The Revenant by Michael Punke

Descent by Tim Johnston

Doing the Devil's Work by Bill Loehfelm

Her by Harriet Lane

The Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

The Body Snatchers Affair by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

Dead of Winter by Kresley Cole

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

New on DVD:
Horns
No Good Deed
The Longest Week
Boyhood 
Get on Up

Short Fiction Friday: The Blacksmith by Susan Shultz

Ainsley has a dead heart. It's true: it's cold and black and has left her unable to love. But that's okay with Ainsley. She lives alone in an old house next to a graveyard and those buried beneath the ground are her friends and companions. Ainsley keeps a garden there, too. A very special garden. It's a work in progress, one that keeps Ainsley busy. One that gives Ainsley and her dead heart purpose. 

On the one hand I really liked this story. It's dark and twisted, which is just my cup of tea.

On the other hand I was confused from the very start. And that's not really the author's fault. This is a release from Full Fathom Five's digital arm and I've long been under the impression that Full Fathom Five is focused on YA. (The cover design doesn't help, folks.) And this is not YA. At. All.

So that aside, again this was a dark and twisty tale that caught my attention and held it throughout its short length. Ainsley is definitely not a likable character, per se. But she is an interesting one. The way she interacts with the world and her hidden life are so at odds with one another that of course she's intriguing.

I kind of loved the end. I won't give it away, but I loved it. It couldn't have ended any other way.

This was such an odd little tale. It's Susan Shultz's debut and the first in an apparent series of Tales From the Graveyard. The short does include an excerpt from another story, though between "The Blacksmith" and that excerpt it's as yet unclear how those stories are connected. I don't know when "Jessie" will be releasing but I'm interested enough in following Shultz's work that I'd probably tune in even if it wasn't another Graveyard story - if "The Graveyard" is any indication I think she's a strong voice to watch for in the horror genre.

Rating: 3.5/5

(I came across this one on Nerdist and was curious.)

Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez

Lieutenant Lucie Hennebelle never expected to hear from Ludovic Sénéchal after they called it quits. But when the man is suddenly struck blind after watching a strange film reel, Lucie is the one he calls for help. Ludovic's blindness is said to be completely psychological but Lucie is still curious about this mysterious film - and she's not the only one. It seems Ludovic's house has been ransacked in the wake of his hospitalization and Lucie believes the film is what they were hunting. 

Chief Inspector Franck Sharko has been working to face down his own demons, but that hasn't kept him from doing his job. His latest assignment is definitely an odd one: five mutilated bodies unearthed at a work site in northern France. When it's discovered that a similar crime took place in Cairo years earlier, the beleaguered detective is forced to travel there in search of more clues. But not before Hennebelle receives a call tying the two cases together. Now, they must combine forces to find a killer whose methods and motives are more complex and twisted than anything either of them has ever seen. 

Guys! How on Earth did this book escape my notice?! I only just discovered Thilliez thanks to the good bloggers over at Read Me Deadly. It sounded right up my alley and with a sequel due out quite shortly it was something I needed to lay my hands on super quick (says my book junkie self)! And oh, did it hit the spot!

Syndrome E is dark and fascinating. In addition to experimental filmmaking, it ties in a quite twisted piece of history as well, one that I won't reveal but I will say it's one that I knew very little about but definitely intend to explore more (amazingly I just received another ARC that ties into the same subject - weird). 

Sharko is a particularly interesting character and I have to admit I'm really curious how his story will continue to develop in the upcoming Bred To Kill given all that happens to him in Syndrome E. I'm interested in continuing Hennebelle's story too, of course, but Sharko has so many issues and quirks that I just can't get him out of my head! 

Honestly this is a tough one to put much about in writing given so much of what I liked about it was what I didn't know at the start. I can say that book puts forth some truly intriguing ideas - intriguing and creepy as hell. 

Rating: 5/5