Midnight on Death Row by Mark Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jonas Calver, an attorney, has a brief encounter with a young woman one night. He buys a drink, and they talk. She has a father on death row. They seperate and go their ways, till one night she calls him for help and then never shows up where they agree to meet.
Jonas in now on a journey to find her, and in the process to help to clear her father's name.

While the book was overall interesting it got bogged down in my opinion, in the politics of why things were happening. The big corporate banks are the problem, spend a chapter in the history of them and why they are the problem. This happens a few times and I felt like I was captive to the lessons being taught because something being said might be important to the story, but in the end it was not.

Not recommended for young readers. There is a lot of graphic violence in the story and some nudity (though not graphic). Also, a fair amount of in character racial slurs.

You know the end, but how we get there is interesting.

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Pineapple Hurricane: A Pineapple Port Mystery: Book Eleven by Amy Vansant

Pineapple Hurricane: A Pineapple Port Mystery: Book Eleven by Amy Vansant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just when you thought they could not fit another character in this series, Amy V. goes ahead and does it.

An early hurricane is approaching Florida. The snow birds have not left yet. The food is being horded, and someone is getting back at them. Meanwhile, some hoarders are dying as they prepare their houses for the storm. They look like accidents but....

Charlotte and the gang have to figure out who is doing these things only to find out they are the targets. Can she do it before the storm is over, or even before she is killed.

Implied violence but none 'on screen'. Clean story. Safe read for all. If you have not read earlier books in the series you might want to pick one up. You can keep up without too much trouble though.

I did receive an ARC. This is an honest review.

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Rhea's Vault by D.M. Pruden

Rhea's Vault by D.M. Pruden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rhea's Vault is the 3rd in a series that tells the story of Doctor Melanie Destin. We know of the doctor from the Mars Ascendant series where she gains the nickname Mother of Mars. That is probably my biggest nit to pick in reading this series. I know Mel has to live to take on another day (unless Mr. Pruden has a clone of her in the wings), so I know she has to survive the death traps she is in, it is just how she is going to do it.

Dr. Mel is the ships doctor on the Requiem space freighter. Should be a quiet and simple job. In other books in the series she takes on a run away and tries to help her of some nanites that have taken over her system who later gets a more lethal concoction. Now she is working for an agent of the Mars secret police who says he knows where the cure is, it is Rhea's Vault, a vault held by the Jovian collective, a group of 5 families who rule a great deal of space.

Her Mars connection insist the cure is there, but the vault is so secure that a small piece of space dust will be burned up before it gets close. What chance will Mel and here associates have to get in.

That is where the excitement comes in.

A word of warning. Mel has a potty mouth. I understand the need to have a character act like that however I do feel the author uses the F-bomb as a shock value. For me, it is not shocking anymore and gets in the way of a good story that it has to be used. Also there is an incident of sexual encounter off screen that gets referenced throughout the rest of the book. For that reason if you are a parent of a YA reader you might want to check the book out before you let your child read it.

Good story, good action, kept my interest, I recommend it.

I did receive an ARC of this book but this is an honest review.

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Into The Black by Beth Barany

Into The Black by Beth Barany
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beth Barney is an author who writes strong characters who are woman. If that bothers you, sorry. She does it, and she does it well. By the way, the men in the stories are strong, they are just not the lead chatterers.

Into the Black is the first in the series of books staring the character Janey McCallister. Janey is the leas investigator of a glamours hotel, gambling, spa in the sky. And on her shift a robbery has taken place of a very valuable jewel. As she tries to investigate, she is bothered by a mysterious insurance investigator who seems to show up before she does. Forced to work together by her boss there is some heat flowing. They find the thief but then another even changes everything.
Through all of this, Janey has to face her fears. And that may be the hardest part of all.

While there is a little bit of kissing going on I would consider the book safe for YA and above. Great book that keeps you guessing what will come next and makes sure you have the info to figure it out.

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Phobos Station by D.M. Pruden

Phobos Station by D.M. Pruden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Phobos Station was provided to me by the author. What follows is an original opinion.

This book picks up where Armstrong Station leaves off. Having read that book will help, but everything you need to know is provided in the story.

In our future, man has gone to the stars, but he has not changed. While many are team players, there are many who would not think twice about injecting you with nanites that need to be fed to keep them from killing you, all so that you can be controlled. The good people seem to be better, and the evil people worse.

Melanie Destin comes into the situation trying to save a young woman who has the nanites in her, ones she was injected with so that she would be forced into prostitution. She will come face to face with the person behind this, one of the most evil men she has ever met. She will also learn what it means to be a team player, and what family means.

My only problem is Mel is the future star of the 'Mother of Mars' series. Because of that we can assume she will survive. It is kind of like watching Star Wars I, II, and III. We know Anakin is going to live, it is just how is he going to turn. Still, it does have its moments where we think maybe we got it wrong.

There is marginal violence in the book, the amount needed to move a story along. Mel also seems to have a bit of a potty mouth dropping the f bomb a lot. I see it as necessary character essential but she does seem to do a lot less of it in future stories of her. Maybe it is where she is at in this time of life. I think the author may have cleaned things up a bit. For those two reasons, I can not recommend this for pre-teens and on the age of YA readers. Still the story is good, and has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing who all the players are.

Bottom line, the future is dangerous, and Mel is there to help.

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Time Slips & Tax Thieves by Rachel Ford

Time Slips & Tax Thieves by Rachel Ford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided a review copy, the review is an honest review.

Time travel stories have always been my favorite, as far back as I was a child growing up in the 60s. So when I get a chance to read one I will always try to. I had not looked at the previous stories in this series so I did not know there was a history of the characters..

The story starts off fairly slow, on a camping trip of all things. The time travel device does not show up till a few chapters in, and that got me near the point of giving up on it. That and the narration. He stops at the end of every paragraph for almost 2 full seconds. If you have a chance, speed it up to about 1.4 speed, you will thank me. I did not do that thill about 1/2 way through. But the slow pace and slow reading was not a great thing.

It was interesting in a time travel story that it was more a philosophical discussion on things like soul mates, is taxing good or bad, addiction, and the multiverse. Yet, in this story they all seem to fit.

Overall, it is a good clean story, with an engaging story line. I would recommend it to all.

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Rethinking Sexuality: God's Design and Why It Matters

Rethinking Sexuality: God's Design and Why It Matters by Juli Slattery


Because of a life situation I am in, I wanted to read this book. I have family embracing the LGBT community. I work at a retail store on weekends and many of my co-workers (and customers) are open about their sexuality. As a Christian, what stance should I take on these things. That was why I requested and received the review copy from NetGalley.

The book starts with what Christian Sexuality is. In that part I did not find anything new to me. I am there and though I struggle with it from time to time, I follow the 'rules'.

Then about half way through the book, she talks about interaction with the LGBT community at large. Her story of a mother of a gay girl who struggled with her talks about what I am going through. We can be all truth and lose the person, or all grace and lose ourselves. In the place of either or, we need to do both. Love the person, accept them for who they are and try to open dialogue. On the other hand, we need to not throw away our faith just because.

Another key point is what we need to do and how to address it. One awkward sermon a year is not enough if we want to not lose our children, our ourselves to an open lifestyle.We have to know for ourselves what Spiritual Purity is. If we do not know what the Bible does say, how can we hope to help anyone.

A little dry for the average reader. A good book for Bible Study groups (has questions in the back). I would recommend it for people who need a glance into this subject.

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Humbug: The Unwinding of Ebenezer Scrooge by Tony Bertauski

Humbug: The Unwinding of Ebenezer Scrooge by Tony Bertauski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a big fan of A Christmas Carol. I fell in love with it when I was a child and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was first on TV. It is my one tradition at the Christmas season. I have seen many versions and read the original many times.

If you are a purist, this is not the version you want to read. While Scrooge is the usual humbug and Marley is dead, and we have ghost of Christmas's past, present and future, that is where the similarities end. Scrooge and Marley founded a software startup called Avocado Industries, yes, you can sub Apple in there if you want to. Marley passes on Christmas Eve and Scrooge's problems start.

As I listened to the audio version, mostly while I was driving, there was a little bit of time lag between the listening that cause a bit of confusion but that is my problem, not the author.

I did feel the story dragged on a little too much at times, that might be because of the listening and not reading. I is hard to say.

Give it a listen (or read). No sex, violence (well a doll gets ripped apart), or anything of an 'adult' nature. Clean for all to read.


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