Book Review: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Invisible Library
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Series: Invisible Library (Book 1)
Publication: Ace (June 14, 2016)

Description: Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.

One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen.

London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.

Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself...

My Thoughts: This was a fun, engaging fantasy that hit my heart because its main character is a librarian. Her career path is much more exciting than mine though. I've never been sent to an alternate Earth with a dragon as my assistant in order to retrieve a particular book. Irene is up for the challenge. Only, when she and Kai arrive, they find that the book has already been stolen and many, many people are looking for it.

Between trying to find the book, dodging the evil librarian who wants to pervert the purpose of the library, dealing with a jealous rival, working with this alternate world's great detective and dealing with steampunk gadgets loosed by another set of villains, Irene is kept busy and we readers are kept entertained.

Luckily, this book is the first of a series because I am eager to follow Irene on further adventures.

Favorite Quote:

Irene sighed. "So we have an incredibly glamorous female cat burglar who slinks around in a black leather cat suit, who kills vampires in her spare time?"

"I'll tackle her," Kai said enthusiastically.

Irene raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that I don't want to tackle her?"

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: UNSUB by Meg Gardiner

UNSUB
Author: Meg Gardiner
Series: UNSUB (Book 1)
Publication: Dutton (June 27, 2017)

Description: A riveting psychological thriller inspired by the never-caught Zodiac Killer, about a young detective determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier.

Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.

The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.

Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.

Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

My Thoughts: Caitlin Hendrix a a police detective as was her father. Her father's mind was broken and his career shattered for failing to catch a serial killer. Caitlin had her life changed too. She struggles to keep her work separate from her life so that she doesn't repeat her father's mistakes. But when the serial killer who eluded her father makes his return, Caitlin finds herself in the middle of the investigation.

The story is filled with danger and excitement. It is also filled with twists and turns as Caitlin and the other investigators try to figure our the killer and stop him before he can kill again. The book ramps up the tension as the story goes along and it starts with high tension. The killer has become more daring and more blatant in this series of killings. He also seems to be performing for Caitlin and making her his target.

I enjoyed Caitlin who was a well-drawn character with strengths and flaws. I liked the cast of characters who surrounded her. This was an engaging thriller that was hard to put down. I needed to know who the killer was and if our heroes could manage to stop him.

Favorite Quote:

That was Caitlin: urgent. Even when she stood bone still and guarded her thoughts and hopes -- which was far too much of the time -- she was racing inside, heart pumping, mind turning over like a high-revving engine, eyes gulping a scene.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Dutton via NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser (from 10% in the ebook):

"Or?"

Kai glanced at her icily. "The 'or' would have been bad news for me."

This week I am reading The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. This one has been on my Kindle since Nov. 9, 2016. Here is the description from Amazon:

Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.

One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen.

London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.

Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 19, 2017)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading... 

I've been in my new home for one week now and am not surrounded by quite as many boxes. The shelves in my library are full and books from Nora Roberts to Mark Richard Zubro are still to be unpacked onto the shelves in my guest bedroom.

My brother and I also spent a day changing things at the bank and getting new driver's licenses with our correct address. The bank was rather complicated because we wanted to remove my mother's name from our joint account. She passed away in 2006 and we had never gotten around to changing it. We needed to find her death certificate which we thought was in the safe deposit box but were mistaken. We also had to change the safe deposit box because it was still in our parents' names on their electronic records despite the fact the my brother and on were on the access agreement. That took a surprisingly long time and was something new for our young personal banker who had to call for help.

Once the safe deposit box issue was solved, we accessed it and took everything home except for our parents' death certificates which we had found at home. We are going to sort through and see what we really need to keep. I doubt we still need to save our dad's discharge papers from the army from 1946. I haven't been able to locate my birth certificate anywhere which I was hoping was in the safe deposit box. We did find three of them for my brother though.

I've had two showings of my house so far. One decided it wasn't for them but the other is interested. This week we will see workman at our other house to make the basement repairs. We want to list that one for sale by July 1.

This retirement thing is busier than I expected or hoped but it should all settle down once we manage to sell our two extra houses. Having the boxes unpacked will help too.

Read Last Week
Links go to Amazon:

Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce (YA)

UNSUB by Meg Gardiner (June 27)

City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino (YA)

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Currently

From my TBR mountain: Sky Dragons by Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey
From my review pile: The Waking Land by Callie Bates (June 27)

Next Week

From TBR Mountain:

• A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle and Hope Larson
• The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman

From my review stack:

• Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine (July 1)
• The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst (July 4)

Reviews Posted

Links go to my reviews.

Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lynn Moyer

Indigo by Charlaine Harris et al.

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

More of Me by Kathryn Evans

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Two free Kindle books:

• Unmasking Miss Appleby by Emily Larkin
• Just the Way You Are by Christina Dodd

Two for review from NetGalley:

• Her Dark Half by Paige Tyler (Sept. 5)
• On the Chase by Katie Ruggle (Sept. 5)

What was your week like?

Book Review: Delia's Shadow by Jamie Lynn Moyer

Delia's Shadow
Author: Jamie Lynn Moyer
Publication: Tor Books; 1 edition (September 17, 2013)

Description: It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia's most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.

Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.

It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.

And who is now aware of Delia's existence.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this historical mystery with ghosts. Delia Martin is being haunted by one very persistent ghost. Delia returns to San Francisco and finds herself linked to a serial killer who has returned after a 30 year absence. The ghost is a link to the killing spree but Delia can't communicate with her until she visits Dora Bobet who is a medium.

Also pursuing the case of the serial killer is Police Lieutenant Gabe Ryan who is trying to solve the case his father couldn't solve 30 years earlier. Gabe and Delia meet because his Sargent Jack is engaged to her best friend and foster sister Sadie.

Delia has also returned home because Sadie's mother - the woman who became her guardian when her parents died in the San Francisco earthquake and fire - is dying and she wants to support her friend.

I loved the San Francisco setting. I thought the way the relationship grew between Delia and Gabe was nicely done. I thought the mystery was nicely intriguing. I found both the serial killer and the various ghosts nicely creepy.

This is the first book of a trilogy and I intend to read the rest.

Favorite Quote:

"Damn, I need a drink. Where did this come from?" Isadora bent to pick something off the carpet. She held out her hand, a small gold cross on a broken chain dangling from her fingers.

Then Madame Isadora Bobet fainted dead away. I didn't blame her in the slightest.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lynn Moyer

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

The locomotive engine belched billowing clouds of steam, a black-iron dragon chained to the tracks.

Friday 56:

She chose that moment to reappear, hovering in the space between seats in the cab. Shadow's green eyes bored into mine, relentless in demanding my attention. 

This week I am reading Delia's Shadow by Jamie Lynn Moyer. This one has been on my TBR mountain since the end of 2013. Here is the description from Amazon:

It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia's most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.

Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.

It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.

And who is now aware of Delia's existence.

ARC Review: Indigo by Charlaine Harris et al.

Indigo
Author: Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Jonathan Maberry, & 8 others
Publication: St. Martin's Press (June 20, 2017)

Description: Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo, she’s become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member. But in the aftermath of a bloody battle, a dying cultist makes claims that cause Indigo to question her own origin and memories.

Nora’s parents were killed when she was nineteen years old. She took the life insurance money and went off to explore the world, leading to her becoming a student of meditation and strange magic in a mountaintop monastery in Nepal…a history that many would realize sounds suspiciously like the origins of several comic book characters. As Nora starts to pick apart her memory, it begins to unravel. Her parents are dead, but the rest is a series of lies. Where did she get the power inside her?

In a brilliant collaboration by New York Times and critically acclaimed coauthors Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James Moore, and Mark Morris join forces to bring you a crime-solving novel like you’ve never read before.

My Thoughts: Nora Hesper is an investigative reporter with a secret life. At night she turns into Indigo who can use shadows to disappear and to travel from place to place. She uses her talents to track down the Children of Phonos who are sacrificing children to bring back an ancient murder god.

Nora is an interesting character whose past sounds like it came right out of the stories in superhero comic books. As events unfold, it becomes more an more apparent to Nora that the past she remembers isn't the past she actually lived.

The story was an exciting urban fantasy mystery. I couldn't tell that it was written by a bunch of authors because the story seemed to me to flow seamlessly from one exciting bit to another. I liked Nora's struggles to understand her past and her relationship with Indigo.

Favorite Quote:

Unsteady on her feet, Nora Hesper shed the cloak of shadows and started back to her apartment, knowing she could never again hesitate. She had drawn the line, but now all the lines had been erased. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.