Wicked Appetite (Diesel / Unmentionables Book 1) by Janet Evanovich

 

 If you are interested in Wicked Appetite, then you've probably read most (if not all) of the Stephanie Plum books. The Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers books feature Diesel in Stephanie's life instead of Morelli and Ranger, and now Diesel has his own series. Without Stephanie.

The main problem is that Wicked Appetite is trying to follow the once-successful formula of the Plum series. Unfortunately, that formula stopped working a while back.

Diesel has been turned into a white Ranger, pretty much. Can mysteriously get through any locked door. Check.  Wants Lizzy in bed, says he is attracted to her and gives the idea that's not a normal occurrence, but is clear there will be no relationship. Check. Drives a Porche Cayenne and various other Porche cars, and appears to have an unlimited supply of them with nothing more than a phone call. Check. Puts his hand on the back of Lizzy's neck to play the Alpha Male. Check.  "Angles" into cars instead of getting into them the way normal people do. Check. Can save Lizzy from just about anything without breaking a sweat. Check.

And Lizzy is an educated Stephanie who... oh, I can't do this. I really can't. After I talk about the Lizzy/Stephanie similarities I'd have to talk about the similarities between Glo and Lula, and between Clara and Connie.  Then I'd have to talk about Carl the Monkey, and Cat 7143. I'm not up for that, so I'll just reiterate that Ms. Evanovich is trying to use the same formula as the Plum series, when we the readers are wanting something fresh and new.

The sad thing is that the story could have been a good one. The plot is different enough to work if it hadn't been patched together with silly stunts and simple writing and the same old formula once again.

Here's the blurb:

Seven Stones of Power. No one knows when they were created or by whom, each said to represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long -- Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues' gallery of power seekers. He's an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.

That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She's freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston's North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle's bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it's suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.

Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She's not sure about Diesel. He's offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.

The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that's fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.

As for the writing elements: The plot had promise, but the pacing, prose, and dialogue pretty much trashed any hope that the plot had of making this a good book. Which means that the pacing was horrid. I almost didn't finish the book. The prose and dialogue both had too many simple sentences and silliness. Character development was okay, for what should have been a lighthearted easy read. World-building is pretty consistent with other Between the Numbers books.

I'm going to have to give Wicked Appetite a pretty low rating.

• Book Rating: Wicked Appetite: 4 of 10

I won't give a series rating after only one book.


Janet Evanovich has posted the first two chapters of Wicked Appetite.  Click here to go to Janet Evanovich's site, or click here to download the pdf excerpt.

Scarpetta series Books 9-14 by Patricia Cornwell

I try to always say something positive about a book, even if it is one I didn't really care for. Most of the time it's easy to say something positive amongst the negative, but with these five books I'm going to have to stretch.

To be honest, I'm not convinced that these books are being written by the same author who wrote the first four books of the series. The voice is different, the dialogue is different, the plots aren't anywhere near as well thought out, the procedures aren't being handled the same way within the text... they don't feel like the same series.

I have three books left to go in this series, and quite frankly I am only sticking with the series because the ratings for the latter books seem to be back up and I'm hoping to see something along the same caliber of the first four books. Oh, and because I've already bought the books.

Book Rating: Point of Origin: 7 of 10
Book Rating: Black Notice: 5 of 10
Book Rating: The Last Precinct: 5 of 10
Book Rating: Blow Fly: 5 of 10
Book Rating: Trace: 4 of 10
Book Rating: Predator : 4 of 10

Series Rating: Kay Scarpetta Series: 6 of 10



1 and 2. The Scarpetta Collection Volume I: Postmortem and Body of Evidence
3 and 4. Scarpetta Collection Volume II: All That Remains and Cruel & Unusual
5. The Body Farm
6. From Potter's Field
7. Cause of Death
8. Unnatural Exposure
9. Point of Origin
10.Black Notice
11.The Last Precinct
12.Blow Fly
13.Trace
14.Predator
15.Book of the Dead
16.Scarpetta
17.The Scarpetta Factor

Doomsday Can Wait (Phoenix Chronicles, Bk 2) by Lori Handeland

A few days ago I said that I was having trouble finishing Doomsday Can Wait. After finally finishing it, I'm ready to talk about it.

The problem with Doomsday can Wait is not the plot, or the characters, or the world building. All of those things are well done.

The problem with this book is pacing. I think. The characters just kind of wander around without a plan. Other books have their characters do that, too, so that by itself isn't a bad thing. But it doesn't work in this book.

Before I begin talking about specific things, I should give you the official blurb:

It took the near annihilation of humanity for Liz Phoenix to understand the true meaning of her premonitions. Liz is one of the sacred few on earth who has the psychic powers to fight the malevolent forces that have tried to wipe out the human race since the beginning of time. She battled these beings once, thwarting Doomsday but losing most of her soldiers in the massacre. Now she must replenish her troops quickly—because the supernatural war isn’t over yet.

As the new leader of the federation, Liz is marked for death by a Navajo witch with a link to her past. To survive, she must rely on her few remaining allies—her mentor, a shaman with too many secrets, as well as ex-lover, Jimmy Sanducci. Bringing Jimmy into the mix is a dangerous move, for Liz’s darkest desires are razor-sharp—and her longing for Jimmy is at a fever pitch. But can Liz afford to give into the cravings that burn inside her, with the next shot at Doomsday just around the corner? This time, if evil wins, chaos will reign—and the world as we know it will be lost forever…

The big question right now is whether I will read the next book, Apocalypse Happens, when it is released in November. The answer is that I don't know. I will leave it on my Anxiously Awaiting list for now, but I'm not sure if I'll read the next book or not.

I gave the first book in this series an 8 of 10. I'm going to have to give this book a 4 of 10, and the series a 5 of 10.

Book Rating: 4 of 10
Series Rating: 5 of 10






1. Any Given Doomsday
2. Doomsday Can Wait
3. Apocalypse Happens
4. Chaos Bites

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Deathwish (Cal Leandros, Book 4) by Rob Thurman

I haven't reviewed the Cal Leandros series before now, but it's one I've enjoyed in the past. I didn't love it, but I liked it enough that new books were an automatic buy. Until this book, I would have given the series a 7 of 10.

The series is considered dark fantasy, so it seems wrong to complain about it being too dark. It is pretty dark, though.

But more than the darkness factor, the most troubling thing is that in Deathwish the author jumps back and forth from Cal's voice to Niko's voice. (In previous books, we only had Cal's view). Jumping back and forth was jarring, and at times confusing. I'd think we were hearing from Cal and then suddenly realize it was Niko talking. Or, I'd be sure it was Niko, then think maybe I was wrong and it was Cal, and then realize I was right in the first place and it was Niko. But there was a lot of backtracking to try to figure it out.

The storyline was good, the plot was good... but the book just didn't work for me. It took me five nights to read it. I would usually read a book this long in one evening. Maybe one and a half. But on two nights I fell asleep reading it, and on the other nights it just didn't go that fast. I did finish the book, but mainly because I'm invested in the characters. Had this been a first book I don't think I would have made it to the end.

I enjoyed hearing Niko's voice, understanding what makes him tick, and exactly why he sticks by his brother the way he does. But I wish the author had given us Niko's voice in another way. Perhaps a short story in an anthology, or even by giving him his own book. The back and forth thing just didn't work for me. I understand it would have been near impossible to tell this particular story using only Cal's voice, but I wish she'd found a way.

The blurb on this one is short:

Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother Niko are hired by the vampire Seamus to find out who has been following him—until Seamus turns up dead (or un-undead). Worse still is the return of Cal’s nightmarish family, the Auphe. The last time Cal and Niko faced them, they were almost wiped out. Now, the Auphe want revenge. But first, they’ll destroy everything Cal holds dear...

So, the Auphe are back. And there is some relationship stuff between Promise and Niko... trust issues that Niko has to figure out whether he can work through or not. We learn a bit about Promise's history, too. And we learn a bit more about Robin and Ishiah. And we see Cal having to deal more and more with his Auphe heritage, with who he is and who he wants to be.

As I said, after reading the first three books I would have likely given this series a 7 of 10. But after Deathwish, I'm thinking it's a 6 of 10. As for rating Deathwish, I'm giving it a 4 of 10. The things that kept it from being a 2 of 10 are the relationship discussions, the perspective gained by hearing Niko's voice, and the brief sentences here and there of comic relief. And yes, even the plot. It was a good plot. But it wasn't a fun read. And in the end, I want to enjoy reading. It doesn't mean I always have to like what happens, but it does mean that I shouldn't have to wrestle through the prose in order to get through the book.

Book Rating: 4 of 10
Series Rating: 6 of 10

The biggest question of all has to be whether I will buy the next books (the author has contracted for three more after Deathwish). I believe the answer is that I will probably wait a few weeks after the release date and read through the reviews before I make that decision.





1. Nightlife
2. Moonshine
3. Madhouse
4. Deathwish

Review: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

I have mixed feelings about this book, but mostly I just didn't like it. Before I get into it, I'll give you the blurb from the author's site:

"The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Odd Thomas thinks of himself as an ordinary guy, if possessed of a certain measure of talent at the Pico Mundo Grill and rapturously in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, Stormy Llewellyn. Maybe he has a gift, maybe it's a curse, Odd has never been sure, but he tries to do his best by the silent souls who seek him out. Sometimes they want justice, and Odd's otherworldly tips to Pico Mundo's sympathetic police chief, Wyatt Porter, can solve a crime. Occasionally they can prevent one. But this time it's different. A mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd's deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.

Today is August 14.

In less than twenty-four hours, Pico Mundo will awaken to a day of catastrophe. As evil coils under the searing desert sun, Odd travels through the shifting prisms of his world, struggling to avert a looming cataclysm with the aid of his soul mate and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His account of two shattering days when past and present, fate and destiny converge is the stuff of our worst nightmares-and a testament by which to live: sanely if not safely, with courage, humor, and a full heart that even in the darkness must persevere.

Why didn't I like it? Hard to explain without spoiling stuff. I mean, the writing was mostly okay, and there was some food for thought in there, it wasn't a totally bad experience, I did finish it, after all. I liked the characters we got to meet in the book, maybe that's why I kept picking it back up, because I really did like Odd and his assorted friends. I've been reading it on and off for a week though, and that's not like me. I'd get to a point where I just had to put it down, so I did. And I'd pick something else up and read it for a while before picking Odd Thomas back up. Reading it became a chore. A few times I thought about not finishing it. And now, having finished it, I realize I'd have been better off not doing so. In fact, I'd have been better off to have not picked it up in the first place.

I bought the first two books in this series. I have the second book, Forever Odd, but I'm not sure I'll ever read it.

Dark Needs at Night's Edge (Immortals After Dark, Bk 4) by Kresley Cole

I wasn't crazy about this book. In fact, I hated the first 200 or so pages of it. If the first 200 pages had been condensed to about 50 pages, it would have been a much better book.

Also, this book doesn't really take us any further into the Accession. The books so far have taken us on a journey. There is a long term plot, where you have to read all of the books to understand it and keep up with it. But this one didn't. We don't really know anything more about the various factions preparing for the Accession now than we did at the end of the last book. And there was no real plot in this book. Just the romance, nothing much else. And parts of the romance made me want to tear my hair out.

I loved the last book in the series and couldn't wait for the next one to arrive. But after reading this one I'm really disappointed.


Book Rating: 4 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10





1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)