Chaotic Ninja

After binge-reading on crime fiction for the past several weeks, I needed a change because I’m starting to look at my work mates as serial killers plotting their next kill. So, this particular book is free on Amazon. It’s written by the same author whose YA books I have read in the past. Only this time, she uses a pen name. Closed Off To You  by Rachel S. Rose  is categorised as Women’s Fiction and Inspirational . So, yeah, I could use some inspirational reading to take my mind off the blood and gore of crime fiction. So I dive in. The first chapter has a Chick Lit vibe to it and it’s hilarious! It had me in stitches the entire chapter. Melissa is such an endearing character from the get go. She’s funny, self-deprecating, and exciting in a blundering kind of way. Cute. Then the story takes a sexy turn. The funny bits turn to naughty to very naughty to full on dirty. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. My jaw dropped to the filthy floor. I’m not complain

I didn’t plan on reading  Live For This   by  Kathryn Biel because in my mind, it’s one of those stories that will make me feel miserable after reading. Surely, a man with a broken body and woman with a shattered soul is a downright depressing combination, yeah? Well, guess what? It’s not that at all. I didn’t feel like the world is crashing down on me. There’s no feeling of heaviness or misery or grief. Nothing of that sort. This is superbly written. It’s hitting the right notes. The jokes are landing. The drama bits are heart-rending and just tug at this ninja’s heartstrings. Perhaps the only problem here is that it has similarities to Jojo Moyes’ “Me Before You” . Now, I don’t know if t his was inspired by the book or the similar events are just mere coincidences. It might bother some readers, but it does not bother me all that much because there is a clear divergence in storyline. This is not a story that’s just written for the sake of eliciting strong emotion

Claire is pushed to the brink when her son Billy went missing. Though there’s hope that Billy is still alive, the fear and the uncertainty are enough to drive Claire into “madness”. She goes through frightening psychological episodes that had physical manifestations. That part of the story is brilliantly depicted with great emotional impact.   The writing is somber and the story, while understandably a psychological thriller, is rather short on thrills. But it’s because  The Missing   by C.L. Taylor  is   more of a family drama than a straight up crime thriller. Despite this, the author is able to deliver an engaging story of a family crippled by secrets and deception.   I wouldn’t say the story is predictable, but this is one of the rare times I was able to guess an integral twist of the story before it was revealed. Despite the lack of thrills, I thought the characters are well developed and readers can easily sympathize with them.   ★★★ ★  4/5

All right. So, I just had a conversation with a gay vampire, a very intelligent one, I might add. It was an honest conversation, but of course, he was doing all the talking and I was this captive audience. He was so open and candid about his life as a vampire in the time of AIDS epidemic. Even with his charm and confidence, I sensed his fear. It was real. With a vivid recounting of his conquests, he revealed a part of him that’s almost human. A Perilous Thirst is a vampirically good short story that makes you feel that you’re actually there listening to an intriguing vampire character. I don’t even know his name.   ★★★ ★  4/5

In fantasy stories, Book #0 is usually the big set up with an even bigger cliffhanger; the characters are introduced and the fantasy world is established. Escape from Zandell  by Dale Furse  has managed to do that, but it was a bit of a confusing set up and it’s a challenge to keep up with the characters early on. But once you get to the second act, things start to make sense and you begin to understand the characters and their respective motivations just a little bit (there are still questions though).  One problem here is that it’s not clear (at least not to me) who the real main character is. It seems to shift depending on the circumstance. But  I like that there’s always this feeling that something ominous is lurking and any second, some character will die or will be in grave danger. It’s that kind of storytelling that piques my interest. Surely, it’s worth following the series, in the hope that this is just the start of something epic to come.   ★★★ ★  4/5

Boston Metaphysical Society: PRELUDE is a collection of short stories that have very important links to the Boston Metaphysical Society web comics. Written by Madeleine Holly-Rosing , Prelude is a cross between an origin story and a supplementary reading that makes the Boston Metaphysical Society universe far more intriguing. The alternate history of Boston Metaphysical Society is every bit entertaining. Ghosts, demons, supernatural beings and prominent Families that vie for ultimate economic and political control – what’s not to like? It's a rarity to like every story in a collection, but  I love them all - all seven of them. While  it’s not really a requirement to read the web comics series, I would have to say that the impact of the short stories would be more pronounced if the reader has read the Boston Metaphysical Society comics. The secrets and revelations in the stories have a greater impact if one is familiar with the alternate world so cleverly created. 

Third book in the series. Tough to review but e arly reviewers have already raved about it here , here , here , and here .  Not that you need more convincing, but instead of a review, I'm giving you my Top 10 reasons why you should read "The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows " by Marnie Riches . 1.    Confident writing. So confident it can be brutal. You know, the in-your-face kind of brutal that leaves a black eye in the morning. Get some ice. 2.    Bursting at the seams with fascinating and flawed characters:  from the morally ambiguous to the sordidly immoral to the sexually fluid to the emotionally crippled. (The author could be talking about my family, but I digress.) 3.    Unrelenting suspense. So tense that you might find your heart fibrillating. Okay, that may be a tad too much, but it can happen, yes? 4.    Reading it is like assembling the most difficult jigsaw puzzle while playing “Where’s Wally”. (And since this is an international crim

Time To Die by Caroline Mitchell is a chilling read with an interesting cast of characters whose lives intersect; but not always in the best of situations. I personally like my crime/mystery thriller to be as close to reality as possible. Injecting a paranormal and supernatural twist makes it a little tricky because it could blur the line between what is plausible and what is not. And it’s a question of whether you’re willing to go on board or not. Well, I’m on board and completely gripped! DC Jennifer Knight and a team of specialists with extraordinary skills set out to catch a killer who may or may not have supernatural abilities. Given how elusive he is, he could very well be a mystical creature who commits the most unthinkable crimes. I am impressed at the character dynamics and interaction of the Moonlight Operation squad and fascinated at how they handled the investigation. This is a brilliantly executed crime thriller with a remarkable main character

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE       How can you resist such a killer tagline? There’s a disturbance in Twitterverse and the person goes by the name @Apollyon. A faceless and seemingly harmless entity has gained notoriety when the “Following” count becomes a tally of victims. The elusive suspect becomes a viral twitter sensation  the police scramble to identify, but fail miserably. Enter Freddie Venton, the spunky but down on her luck wannabe journalist who’s been waiting for the right break to come. The opportunity presents itself when she reconnects (fortuitously) with an old friend Nasreen Cudmore, now a police officer. Using an underhanded tactic, Freddie gets to her first crime scene and becomes involved in it when the police hires her as a consultant because of her social media “expertise”. While this is an entertaining read for its unique plot, it’s hard to ignore how ridiculously inept the police are. And this hurts the story quite a bit. But th

  Welcome to TWO REVIEWERS, ONE BOOK.  Once in a while, I invite a reviewer, a blogger, an author, or a random character to sit with me in this very comfortable couch and share our views (opposing or otherwise) on a chosen book that caught our fancy. My review partner for today is   Leisl Kaberry .  She’s the author of the Titanian Chronicles Series . The book that intrigued us is   ' The Winged Turban '  by  J oshua Grasso . Synopsis Beatrice is the victim of an arranged match to the Duke of Saffredento, who hastily abandons her to an estate full of forgotten traditions and curses. When the portrait of a strange woman begins turning up in the house, she summons the great sorcerer, Hildigrim Blackbeard, to investigate. The portrait, it seems, has traveled through time to find her—and bring her back by any means necessary. For she can no longer be Beatrice of Saffredento, but a young woman who died two-hundred years ago and must be reborn throu

SUBMERGED by Katie Hayoz Melusine Dor é is back and she’s badder than ever. Slaying monsters is sweeter this time around because Levi is by her side with a little less bickering and wrangling. While Mel ( yeah we’re tight like that ) has had her “happily ever after” in book 1 ( Immersed ), it seems to be short-lived when doubts cripple their relationship. The fear of the curse returning hangs heavily over Mel’s head and it’s causing a rift. Add a seductive vixen into the mix and you get a volatile love triangle of some sort. But enough about the shaky relationship.  Submerged is much more than that.  This is Mel’s unravelling. There’s this part of her that’s come undone because there’s this nagging fear that seems to be magnified the closer she gets to the truth about herself. I am completely in awe of how the character is presented – a strong female on the outside, but on the verge of falling apart on the inside. “What if everything you knew about yourse