Spencer Manning #2 ~ Dark Alleys

Spencer Manning is back and back in a BIG way!! I was once again given the opportunity to read the latest Spencer Manning novel by Rick Polad and I must say, it is better than the first one. New characters, new twists and turns. Spencer teams up with some familiar names from the first one along with some new ones. Spencer is asked by the local Public Defender, Benjamin Tucker to help one his clients who he thinks should not even be coming to court for these charges. That is when he calls Spencer to take a look into the life of this young college student who comes from Florida. He is given her address and not only does Spencer sit outside of her apartment building, he does what any good detective would do, breaks into the poor girls apartment to find out more about this young college girl who has decided to be a hooker. In looking at her belongings, she definitely does not fit this profile. What he finds even more interesting is what she does when she changes into this so called “character.” While he is investigating what she is doing, other hookers are turning up dead and it seems to be happening on Friday nights. Meanwhile, new characters are being brought into the picture that catch and peak your interests. One of those characters is who I would say is poor Charles and his nagging wife. I say this because the guy can’t catch a break from his wife. He pretty much has a short leash until come Friday nights and the weekend when his wife lets him stay out and drink and do whatever he wants, which he does take advantage of. Drinking so much that he has no idea who he gets home and how much he drank. After he catches his wife going through his pockets and taking the money he earned from his new side job he got from assisting a young lady home who was stranded at a gas station he decides to hide his money he gets in the bushes from his wife. She doesn’t see him hide it but some young little man who likes to spy from his tree house. Spencer is still trying to figure out Laura’s strategy or reasoning for her being out here walking the streets but not really “hooking up” with everyone. He notices she has a routine in her route and certain people she connects with along the way. The killer that has been nicked named “Jack the ripper” has hit again in a dark alley. The extent of what he is doing can only be revealed by reading the book. Spencer stays on the trail of this girl and sees that she meets up with somebody and walks down a dark alley. Being the detective that he is not only does he want to find out who this young lady is, he also wants to keep her safe as that is where all these young ladies of the night are losing their lives. Spencer is kind of blindsided by some guys and is knocked out. Charles has really enjoyed his new job and putting his talents to work, but according to his wife he is worthless. Amanda has really enjoyed the great work that he has done for her. He still can’t believe that he is getting paid what he is for what he is doing. He can’t believe how much money she keeps in the safe in her office. He has mentioned a time or two what it would be like to have that kind of money in his possession. What he doesn’t see on his way to work is that his wife has followed him to see exactly what her piece of crap husband is up to. Poor Spencer is waking up chained to something on a cement floor to wake up to the girl he was following and she wants answers on why she is being followed. In the mist of being held up people are trying to get a hold of Spencer, “Jack” hits again and the little guy next door is still spying on Charles and this time decides he wants to take some money from the stash and writing everything he sees in his little notebook. Amanda has come in late again as usual and has done her usual routine, come in change, get a cup of hot tea and put her money away. While in her office someone is lurking through the house. She has set her tea down, opened her money safe, take out her book of names and with a blink of an eye, her life has come to an end. Charles has decided to leave early and spend some time on the beach as Amanda’s house backs up to a beautiful part of the beach. What he is not expecting is the all the cop cars and ambulances. He decides to park a ways away and walk over as he doesn’t want his bad luck and criminal background haunt him again. Spencer is collaborating with Jack the Ripper experts and finds some critical information regarding the names of the girls that are being killed off, the names of the girls that were killed by the original Jack the Ripper and how all this correlates with Laura and why she is out here doing what she is doing. Did I leave you scratching your head? Good because now you will have to read the read the book to figure all this out. I highly recommend this book. Oh I forgot to mention there was a mention of Tennessee in the book which I must say was for me directly by Rick as that is where I moved from and it is a beautiful place. I have truly enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Change of Address

A couple weeks ago I was given an awesome opportunity.  I was asked by Rick Polad the author of Change of Address to read and review his first Spencer Manning Mystery.  Of course I jumped at the chance.  How often is someone given the opportunity by the author to read their book and write a review for the world to see?  Well, I had this great opportunity to do just that.  I had two weeks to read this book and was hoping all along that I would be able to read it in this allotted time.  I say this because it was a lent copy on my Kindle and I tend to read slower on my Kindle.  But after I started reading it, I knew that having it read in a two week period was not going to be a problem.

Change of address is the first in what I hope to be a several book series.  The second one is due out the end of July.  Change of Address is a edge of your seat mystery.  It takes place in Chicago and is told in first person through the eyes of Spencer Manning, the son of a police chief who is not sure if he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps.  Instead he went into the Army and even went to the police academy.  Still undecided what he wants to do, he decided to go backpacking in the backwoods of the Yellowstone National Park.  Unfortunately that trip is cut short by a telegram saying that his parents were killed by a drunk driver. 

He goes home to take care of the arrangements of his parent's funeral, which for anyone would be tough.  What is even harder is being back home and surrounded by so many different memories.  Still undecided what he wants to do with his life, he decided to get his private investigative license.  His first case comes from an old friend who wants to find out who the father of his niece is; his sister's daughter.  Now comes the hard part, all Spencer has to go by is a guy with light brown hair pulled back in a pony tale that she refers to as "Uncle Ronny."  Spencer didn't know what to make of this little girl or where to go from here.  After visiting with this sweet little girl to see what other information he can get from her, he has a little bit more to go on.  See, apparently "Uncle Ronny" said that he would take her for a horse back ride. 

With this new found information little did he know that Spencer's world was going to be turned upside down and taken on a rollercoaster ride.  Not to mention the readers are taken on a rollercoaster ride. 

Little did Spencer know that by finding out who the mother of his friends niece is, would he find out how his parents were really killed.  That is one of many surprises in this book.

With that said, if I tell you anything more about the book, I'm going to ruin it for you.  This book has it all, murder, suspense, and intrigue.  Just when you think you have it all figured out, a curve ball is thrown at you and it leaves you wanting to read more to see how each character plays a part in all of this.

This is a must read.  So run not walk to your nearest book store or download a copy to your Nook or Kindle for this amazing read. 

The next Spencer Manning Mystery will be out at the end of July and guess who will be anxiously waiting.  This girl, that's who.

Mystery Moon

When I first started this blog a few years back, it was a way to reach out to people who may not have time to read, people who might be looking for ideas on new books to read and to just have fun.  All the while in the back of my head thinking how great it would be if an author or authors found my blog and wanted me to read their book and quite possibly write a review.  That was so farfetched, I really didn’t give it much thought.  We all have dreams that we know will never come true but we dream them anyway.  Well, that dream did come true last week.  I have met some very interesting people on Twitter and some of them are authors that I have not heard of that have books either coming out or have ones already out.  I have since added them to my future reading lists on Goodreads.com.   One author has given me the honor of not only asking me to put a link of his future website for his main character in his new book.  (I will not reveal the title at this time as I am still reading it.) He has also given me the honor of reading this new book; first in a series and wants me to write a review on it.  I was so honored and touched when he asked me I was and still am on cloud nine because of it.  I started this book on Thursday, June 27^th and must say I cannot put it down.  I can’t wait to share this book and it’s review in the coming days. 

 

Mystery Moon

What's New

It has been some time since my last post.  Things have been a little crazy lately but I never did stop my reading, it has just taken me twice as long to read any good books.  I have read several since my last Joe Picket book.  I am currently reading a book by Eileen Dreyer called Brain Dead.  I found this for free on the Kindle Fire book app.  I have not finished it but if you are a mystery lover and have an interest in the medical world , I highly recommend this book.  When I do get a chance to read it, I can’t seem to put it down.  I have also met some pretty cool authors on Twitter and have a few of their books waiting in the wings.  One of the authors name is Rick Polad.  The name of his book is called Change of Address.  Although I have not read it yet, it definitely is on my list of books I want to read this year.   This is his first book with another one to come out.  Please, check it out. 

One of the books I am currently reading is by J.A. Jance.  I had it on my bookshelf downstairs to read and decided to pick it up one day.  That was about a week ago and I’m almost finished with it.  I have not been able to put it down (when I do have a chance to read).  With three kids, I don’t always get a chance to read every day, but with them out of school and when I am off, we do set some time aside each day to read for a couple of hours.  I can’t wait to see how this ends.  I did, however, find out yesterday that this was book number two in a series of eight books.  The book that I am currently reading comes from the Ali Reynolds series called Web of Evil.  The first book Edge of Evil is currently on hold at the local library. 

It is so hard now a days to just pick up a new author on the shelf and just read a book that catches your eye, especially with mysteries.  You almost have to go to the library or local book store, look for an author or two and do some research on them to see if their books are a series.  I did this with one pretty known mystery writer that I never heard of at the time and just started reading a few of their books.  Little did I know that they were one of many in a series.  Although it is nice to read a series of books, sometimes I would love to just pick up a book and just read it and not have to worry whether it is in a series or not. 

When I find a good author, such as CJ Box, I did find out his was a series and started at the beginning and just kept reading all of them back to back until I was all caught up.  That was one reason I started this blog and the fact that I have a lot of friends that don’t have time to read but do read my blog posts to feel like they are reading a shorter version. 

I sure hope ya’ll have enjoyed my posts and will try to keep up with more as the summer goes on and as my lists grow daily. 

A couple other books that I have waiting to be read is The Graveyard Speaks by Hunter Shae and Gray Justice by Alan McDermott. 

I would also love to read the whole series of James Patterson as well one day.  Until next time.

Mystery Moon

Blood Trail - Part 2

We all know by now that Joe always catches the killer, but it's always a mystery on how he does.  Not really sure if he knew who the killer was or just happened to stumble upon the whole situation, but anyway, he manages to catch the hunter who is hunting the hunters.  Of course by the story line it would have to be someone who knew these men personally and knew the lay of the land.  Someone knew various paths, camps, and when the hunters would be out.  It would also have to be someone who wanted to get revenge for some reason.  Naturally it would be too easy to suspect the environmentalists who think that hunting is "barbaric" but what fun would that be to know and to think that it would be one of them.  You would almost have to think along the lines of someone who you would least expect.

I had a few people in mind during the story line but of course all my predictions were short lived and needless to say, I was certainly surprised to find out that the one behind all of this was the wife of the famous environmentalist that everyone so adored in this story.

After learning her story of all this, you learn more of what her reasoning was for why she did what she did.

Can't wait to see what lies ahead for Joe and his family and what kind of adventures will come his way.

Blood Trail - Part 1

Did you ever feel like you were being watched?  Is that not the most scary feeling?  Well I can tell you that not only are some hunters being watched, but they are being hunted.  That's right, hunted.

Imagine you go out think that you are going to bag that next big deer and you are the receiving end.  We aren't just talking shot.  We are talking everything that a hunter does to his prey.  When a hunter goes out for a hunt, he is dedicated and focused on the kill.  When he does kill his elk, deer, whatever it is he is hunting, it is in the best interest to gut and bleed the animal out.  By doing this, they string the deer up in a tree as to have all the blood run out and to make it easier.  Now imagine if you will, you are with your buddies hunting and in different locations, you hear a shot thinking that one of them just killed a deer.  Time goes by and you don't hear from them.  So you go out in search of them and find them gutted and hung from the tree in the same fashion that a hunter would his prey.  Then fear runs through your veins in hopes you can make it out alive.

That is when Joe Pickett gets his call.  He is still working on a need to be basis and hopes that he will one day be a game warden.  In the mean time he goes on the call to find out the worst of his fears has come true.  Now how in the world do you track a serial killer who has killed several hunters and leaves virtually no trail?  Well all except a poker chip.  Being the status of this case, the governor and several other big wigs get involved not to mention a hunting activist who thinks it is absolutely barbaric to hunt.  They decide to bring in a master guide and tracker with his dogs.  Not only does the investigation get off to a rocky start, shortly into the search for the killer, 3 people are killed.

I have never been so engrossed in one of C.J. Box's story lines until this book.  I must say thus far it has been a book that I have not been able to put down.

I cannot wait to see what the story line has in store with the main tracker killed as well as two other individuals involved in the investigation.

.......to be continued.......

Part Four - Free Fire

As usual Joe has gotten way over his head with his investigation.  His partner Ranger Demming was shot while pulling over another vehicle.  A black SUV to be exact fitting the same description as the one that was seen leaving the area where her former colleague Ranger Cutler was killed.  She radioed for back up and in doing so was nice to notice another ranger car coming for back up.  As she is getting out of the vehicle so are the guys from the SUV.  She was still a little apprehensive, but knowing there was back up she was able to hold it together.  Until she was shot and left to die.  She was sent to the local hospital but knowing this was no fluke with Culter being killed, Joe had her sent to another hospital with better security to help protect her.

Further into his investigation things just aren't adding up.  People are finding out information that he just isn't sure how it is getting around since he was only working with Cutler who is now dead and Ranger Demming who was in a coma at another hospital.  He calls in his old buddy Nate Romanowski to help assist in his investigation.

Meanwhile, his wife Marybeth and kids come out for a visit, which is just what Joe needed to help keep his mind off of everything that is going on.  In sitting down with Nate and Marybeth, they do some thinking on what all this is about and why so many people are getting murdered.  Well, they come to the conclusion that it is all about microbes that are being naturally produced in the park by one of the natural geysers.  Apparently, there is a gas that is released and when lit, they are what they call "flamers."  Some big wigs for an environmental agency are trying to get their hands on this and see what they can do.  Well, environmentalists are getting in their way, which is resulting people getting killed, such as the first five in the beginning of the book, Cutler who was also a scientist and figured it all out and who all was involved.  The shooting of Ranger Demming was just an accident.

With all that said, Joe and Nate figure out who all is involved, how, and why, makes a few phone calls, sets up a sting and manages to arrest all the guys that were involved, except for two, McCann, the lawyer who killed the five at the beginning of the story and a friend of those guys Olig.  That I would guess was a murder suicide that set off an unexpected earthquake due to the disruption of one of these natural geysers.

This was a great read and as I have said before, read C.J. Box, you will be very pleased.  Keep coming back as the next book in the series will be written up as well and that one is called Blood Trail.