Stacking the Shelves (March 24, 2013)

Tynga of Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

This week I added six books to my TBR mountain. Five of them were ebooks.

Bought

I read about Unbroken by Melody Grace on one of the blogs I visited on Teaser Tuesday. I really liked the teaser and decided to add the book to my Kindle when I found out how reasonably priced it was. 

Lucas by D. B. Reynolds was a Kindle Daily Deal. I have at least one other book in this series on my Kindle waiting for me to find time to read it. Maybe I'll be able to collect all of them at bargain prices. 

Sidelines: Talks and Essays by Lois McMaster Bujold gathers together all of the nonfiction pieces she has written. Since Lois is on of my all-time favorite authors and since she is unable to write anything that is not compellingly readable, I had to add this one to my Kindle too.

Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller was free for the Kindle this week. I already have multiple copies of this book both in print and on my Kindle but I still couldn't resist getting it. This book begins another of my all-time favorite series of books. 

Review Books

Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka was my only print book this week. I got it from Christine at Henry Holt. It will be released on April 2 but I won't be reviewing it for a while. My calendar for April was already full when it arrived. I will be posting an excerpt from the book on April 3 for those who might be curious about this title. 

Cuts Through Bone by Alaric Hunt was my most recent review book. I got it from the Minotaur Books Early Reviewer Program through NetGalley. This book will be released on May 14.

What did you get this week?

ARC Review: Buried: A Bone Secrets Novel by Kendra Elliot

Buried: A Bone Secrets Novel
Author: Kendra Elliot
Publication: Montlake Romance; Unabridged edition (March 26, 2013)

Description: Reporter Michael Brody is used to getting answers. The one that’s eluded him, though, for twenty long years is learning what happened to his brother Daniel the day his school bus disappeared. When the remains of the other children are discovered—and Daniel’s aren’t among them—a desperate Michael calls upon the sole survivor of the tragedy, Chris Jacobs, hoping he will finally break his silence.

Constant fear of being found by his kidnapper has driven Chris into hiding. The only lead Michael has is Chris’s sister, Jamie. Strong and impenetrable, she’s capable of burrowing deep into Michael’s heart. As they race to find Chris, Michael and Jamie somehow find each other among the decades of wreckage. But locating Chris may not be so easy. Now grown, his scars go far deeper than skin.

In Buried, the next thrilling Bone Secrets novel from bestselling author Kendra Elliot, a damaged hero digs deep into his terrifying past…and unearths a chance at love for the future.

My Thoughts: BURIED was amazing, suspenseful, packed with emotion—and I was almost certain I knew who the bad guy was about one-third of the way through. 

The story was told from multiple points of view. Jamie Jacobs is a school principal. Her brother Chris Jacobs was kidnapped along with a bus load of his classmates from an exclusive private school. He was gone for almost two years before he found his way out of the woods—emaciated, abused, and injured. None of the other kids were ever found. Jamie suffered from nightmares for years and finally left home when he was eighteen. His only contacts with Jamie are a few phone calls to a blocked number. He always said he didn't remember much about his time away.

Michael Brody is a reporter who has never given up the hunt for his brother Daniel who was on the same bus  as Chris. His father is a US Senator and his mother a noted surgeon. Michael always felt as though he was the less desired brother and, while he knows his parents love him, he doesn't have a close relationship with his parents. 

The final point of view is that of the man who kidnapped, murdered, and abused the children and who is now determined to find Chris Jacobs and finish the job. The kids called him Ghostman because his skin was so white.

Events start moving and bringing all these people together when the bodies of all of the children except Michael's brother Daniel are found buried at an abandoned farm. Not long after and not far from that site a bunker is discovered that was the place the kids were kept. Their backpacks were still there marked with their names. 

Michael is determined to track down Chris to find out what he remembers. He goes looking for Jamie, hoping that she will send him on to Chris, but never expects that he will take one look at her and fall in love. Jamie wasn't looking for love either. Michael is very different than the kind of man she thought she would ever end up with. 

The story is filled with excitement as Michael and Jamie track down Chris and as the Ghostman a.k.a. Mr. Tattoo tries to beat them to Chris to silence him forever. The story has lots of twists and turns and unexpected happenings that will keep readers turning the page hoping for a happy ending. I recommend it highly. 

Favorite Quote:

She laughed. She couldn't help it. His words were constantly unexpected and so refreshing. She'd never met anyone like him. His brain was quick and nimble, and his thoughts were always miles ahead of hers on different tangents. But it was all good. Sometimes, he slowed down and savored the moment. Like right now. He was still looking intently at her, and his attention made her feel beautiful.

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review. You can buy your copy here. 

Friday Memes: Buried by Kendra Elliot

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.

This week I am spotlighting Buried (A Bone Secrets Novel) by Kendra Elliot. This is the third book in her Bone Secrets series. I read the first two from Amazon Vine but this one was sent to me by the author. It is even personalized and autographed to me!
Here is the description:

Reporter Michael Brody is used to getting answers. The one that’s eluded him, though, for twenty long years is learning what happened to his brother Daniel the day his school bus disappeared. When the remains of the other children are discovered—and Daniel’s aren’t among them—a desperate Michael calls upon the sole survivor of the tragedy, Chris Jacobs, hoping he will finally break his silence.

Constant fear of being found by his kidnapper has driven Chris into hiding. The only lead Michael has is Chris’s sister, Jamie. Strong and impenetrable, she’s capable of burrowing deep into Michael’s heart. As they race to find Chris, Michael and Jamie somehow find each other among the decades of wreckage. But locating Chris may not be so easy. Now grown, his scars go far deeper than skin.

In Buried, the next thrilling Bone Secrets novel from bestselling author Kendra Elliot, a damaged hero digs deep into his terrifying past…and unearths a chance at love for the future.

Beginning:

He crouched behind the woodpile, carefully watching the little girl through an opening in the stack.

Just to reassure you, he is a young boy in trouble not some kind of "creeper."

Friday 56:

A few lessons from his son, Jake, had improved Mason's skill with the computer. He had about ten sticky notes for different procedures dotting the monitor. Patiently outlined by Jake.

ARC Review: Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman

Rage Against the Dying
Author: Becky Masterman
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 12, 2013)

Description: You have never met an (ex) FBI agent like Brigid Quinn

“Keeping secrets, telling lies, they require the same skill. Both become a habit, almost an addiction, that’s hard to break even with the people closest to you, out of the business. For example, they say never trust a woman who tells you her age; if she can’t keep that secret, she can’t keep yours. I’m fifty-nine.”Brigid Quinn's experiences in hunting sexual predators for the FBI have left her with memories she wishes she didn’t have and lethal skills she hopes never to need again. Having been pushed into early retirement by events she thinks she's put firmly behind her, Brigid keeps telling herself she is settling down nicely in Tucson with a wonderful new husband, Carlo, and their dogs.

But the past intervenes when a man named Floyd Lynch confesses to the worst unsolved case of Brigid’s career—the disappearance and presumed murder of her young protégée, Jessica. Floyd knows things about that terrible night that were never made public, and offers to lead the cops to Jessica's body in return for a plea bargain.

It should finally be the end of a dark chapter in Brigid’s life. Except…the new FBI agent on the case, Laura Coleman, thinks the confession is fake, and Brigid finds she cannot walk away from violence and retribution after all, no matter what the cost.

With a fiercely original and compelling voice, Becky Masterman's Rage Against the Dying marks the heart-stopping debut of a brilliant new thriller writer.

My Thoughts: Brigid Quinn introduces herself to the reader by saying, "I've sometimes regretted the women I've been." Brigid is retired from the FBI and married but she still hasn't gotten over the secrets and the lying that were a major part of her life undercover. She fears that her husband Carlo—widower and ex-priest—couldn't deal with knowing about her past.

Now a piece of her past is coming to her. One of her cases dealt with a serial killer called the Route 66 killer who killed one young woman a year somewhere along Route 66 and left their body displayed. Brigid became obsessed with the case and even more so when the last victim was Jessica Robertson—FBI Special Agent and Brigid's trainee—who disappeared without a trace. They had set up a sting that went horribly wrong and Brigid has been feeling the guilt for the past thirteen years. 

Deputy Sheriff Max Coyote comes to her to tell her that they have caught a serial killer who says he knows where Jessica's body is. She goes along with Special Agent Laura Coleman and discovers two mummified bodies. One is Jessica, the other is an unknown woman that the killer identifies as a Lot Lizard. The FBI is eager to close the case of the Route 66 killer but both Laura and Brigid note some discrepancies in the killer's story that the head of the FBI office is eager to downplay.

Things heat up when Brigid is attacked near her home and kills the assailant. Panic—and a fear of blowing up her perfect suburban life—makes her cover up her involvement and stage the killing as an accident. Max Coyote is suspicious though and Brigid continues to lie. 

Things heat up even more when Laura goes missing but no one seems to notice but Brigid. The head of the FBI thinks she is off sulking because he closed her case and didn't consider the discrepancies she noted. This leave Brigid to search for Laura, find the real Route 66 killer, and stay one step ahead of Max and the unknown person who is trying to kill her. 

The story was tense, thrilling, and I had a hard time liking Brigid. I could understand her fear of destroying her new life with Carlo but I couldn't see how lying about her past would really help. I could understand that she had reinvented herself so many time when she worked undercover that she thought she could reinvent herself yet again to be what she thought Carlo wanted. I could understand that she was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep his love. I could also understand her guilt and obsession with finding out what happened to Jessica and bringing her killer to justice. I could not understand her lack of trust in the man she chose to marry.

Fans of thrillers will enjoy this story and will enjoy the twists and turns of this investigation into a serial killer and the FBI agent who is determined to track him down. 

Favorite Quote:

"What's wrong, O'Hari?" he said again.

So I told him. Oh, not about a man who was about to serve a life term for having sex with a mummy. Not about the serial killer who had obsessed me for the past thirteen years; who was likely still on the loose, and, if Sigmund's conjecture was solid, who might very well be killing even now. Not about how I suspected that someone had tried to have me killed and, failing, would try to do it again. And certainly not about killing Gerald Peasil and how I covered it up because I was still certain the Perfesser couldn't live with knowing what I was capable of. 

I got this eARC through Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. You can buy your copy here. 

Spring Cleaning Give Away Hop

2nd Annual Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop

It's time for some spring cleaning!

Inspired Kathy is hosting her second annual Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop. This is my chance to clear out my overflowing bookshelf and pass some of my books on to other booklovers.  I have a stack of review books that I have read or just couldn't get into. I would be glad to send a boxful to an eager reader (blogger) in the US who might be willing to read and review these. 

You can choose from these:

This hop runs from March 20 through March 25. I will be choosing a winner from those who have completed the form below and March 26 and mailing the box as soon as possible after that date. This contest is open to followers of this blog who live in the United States.

Here is the form.

Good luck and happy reading.

Here are other participating hops:

Teaser Tuesday: Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

This week my teaser comes from Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman. I got this review book through Minotaur Books early reviewer program with NetGalley. The book was released on March 12. Here is the description:

You have never met an (ex) FBI agent like Brigid Quinn

“Keeping secrets, telling lies, they require the same skill. Both become a habit, almost an addiction, that’s hard to break even with the people closest to you, out of the business. For example, they say never trust a woman who tells you her age; if she can’t keep that secret, she can’t keep yours. I’m fifty-nine.”

Brigid Quinn's experiences in hunting sexual predators for the FBI have left her with memories she wishes she didn’t have and lethal skills she hopes never to need again. Having been pushed into early retirement by events she thinks she's put firmly behind her, Brigid keeps telling herself she is settling down nicely in Tucson with a wonderful new husband, Carlo, and their dogs.

But the past intervenes when a man named Floyd Lynch confesses to the worst unsolved case of Brigid’s career—the disappearance and presumed murder of her young protégée, Jessica. Floyd knows things about that terrible night that were never made public, and offers to lead the cops to Jessica's body in return for a plea bargain.

It should finally be the end of a dark chapter in Brigid’s life. Except…the new FBI agent on the case, Laura Coleman, thinks the confession is fake, and Brigid finds she cannot walk away from violence and retribution after all, no matter what the cost.

With a fiercely original and compelling voice, Becky Masterman's Rage Against the Dying marks the heart-stopping debut of a brilliant new thriller writer.

Teaser:

I squirmed a bit and leaned closer. Plugging, megasurge, plunge, juice shot—is it just me, or did Carlo talk dirty about a billion years of geologic activity as if they were one hot night of sex? Plus I got a kick out of watching him stroke the rocks.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 18, 2013)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

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 thought this was going to be a slow reading week since I had only finished three books by Thursday evening. However, extra reading time and books I just couldn't put down made Friday evening and Saturday into my own three book readathon.

Here are the books I read last week:

Three Sisters by Susan Mallery is a book I received so that I could be part of the blog tour. It was an excellent story which combined romance and some women's issues. It tells the story of three women who live in neighboring Victorian Houses on Blackberry Island outside of Seattle. My blog tour stop is March 28.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman was a thriller. I got the book as part of Minotaur Books early review program through NetGalley. I thought the story was well-done but I had difficulty understanding some of the choices the main character made which made her a little unlikable for me. My review will be posted on March 21.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch was a young adult contemporary story about a girl who had been kidnapped by her mother and who, after nine years away, had been found and returned to her father. Carey was a wonderful character who triumphed over massive difficulties. I will be looking forward to other books by this debut author. I got my eARC from NetGalley. My review will be posted on March 23. 

Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson is the concluding book in the Jenna Fox Chronicles. I really liked it. This science fiction story explored what makes someone human by creating wonderful characters in an interesting world. My review is here. 

Buried: A Bone Secrets Novel by Kendra Elliot is the third book in her Bone Secrets series. I read the earlier books. So when the author emailed me and asked if I wanted to read this one, I jumped at the chance. These are romantic suspense titles. In this one, an investigative reporter and elementary school principal get together when he looks for her to find her brother who was the only survivor of a kidnapping of a busload of school children. His brother was one of the kidnapped children. Now the bodies have been found but his brother's is not there. The kidnapper is looking for the brother too because he needs to kill him to tie up all the loose ends. It was very suspenseful! My review will be posted on March 23.

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza is a young adult science fiction story that I got for review through Amazon Vine. I liked this beginning of a trilogy about a girl who didn't know she was an android and now has to avoid being recaptured by the evil General who is the head of the project that created her. My review will be posted on March 21.

I am just getting ready to begin reading Pivot Point by Kasie West. I got this young adult review book from Amazon Vine. I loaned it to a friend who said it was really good. 

These are the next four books that I want to read.

Crossfire by Laura Bradley Rede and 17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma are the next young adult books on my review stack. I got Crossfire from the author and 17 & Gone from Amazon Vine. 

With a small gap in my review schedule, I plan to fit in one from my adult TBR stack next week. I chose Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb because I really like these futuristic mystery series and need my next Eve-Roarke romance fix. 

Another romance—Always on My Mind by Bella Andre—will be my other adult read this week. I recently read the rest of the books in the Sullivan series and can't wait to read Laurie's story. 

Besides Fox Forever (link above), here are the other reviews I posted this week:

• Hysteria by Megan Miranda (giveaway to US residents too. Click the link to enter.)
• Six Years by Harlen Coben
• The Best Man by Kristin Higgins

What was your week like? What are your plans for the coming week?