Jeff Sexton

Chilling Combination of Crime Thriller and Paranormal. For a book on the shorter end of the spectrum = roughly 220 pages or so – Beltz manages to pack quite a bit of action into this one, and along the way gives us some truly memorable sequences of various psychic abilities. The murderer is chilling and brutal, the mystery is taut, and the final battle is ultimately a refreshing blend of near slapstick humor (needed, as heavy as other elements immediately around it can get), psychic badassery normally seen only in comic books, and shocking action that not even Stephen King has managed to pull together in Carrie or Firestarter. In the end, you'll be glad that Beltz wrote this trilogy at one time before releasing each book just a month apart – because you're going to be wanting the next book in your hand immediately. Very much recommended.

Innovative Use Of Both Duology And Story-Within-A-Story. There is so much to like about this book, but I suspect that later reviews will hit all you need to know about just how strong at least one of the two romances here is - one is clearly one of those life-altering once-in-a-lifetime loves which we mostly see play out via two books, the other romance is a more contemporary (40 years ago anyway, which is still more recent than the 80 yrs ago for the first romance) tale of two people coming together via unusual circumstance. But it is truly the duology/ story-within-a-story structure that I want to highlight here, as this is what truly propels this book and makes it everything that it eventually becomes. I'd never seen this particular approach done - yes, there are other books with stories-within-stories, but this was truly the first time I'd ever encountered a duology done this way, and Davis manages to make all three books - the duology plus this actual book we're actually reading “in real life” - truly compelling due to the nature of how she has crafted this. Simply superb, and truly, truly well executed. And yes, the actual romance aspects of this are well done, as are the heart-wrenching dramatics. You want a book for “Most Anticipated of 2023”? This very book had better be on that list. Very much recommended.

Proposing A New View Of Sexual Ethics. This book is remarkably well written and remarkably well balanced, one that no matter your views on any sex or gender related topic, at some point here you're most likely going to fall into the classic preacher joke of “Woah, woah, woah, preacher! You're stepping on my toes!” “I apologize, my [brother/ sister] in Christ. I was aiming for your heart.” (and/ or, in this case, the brain as well) :D In other words, no matter your views on these topics coming into this book, there are more than likely going to be things you're wholeheartedly agreeing with... and others that are likely going to make you want to throw the book out of the nearest window. For those who have routinely been condemned by existing Christian ethics, know that there is no condemnation here - indeed, Butler spends a fair amount of time examining exactly what Paul was doing in Romans, one of the oft-cited condemnation passages, and explains how it doesn't really directly apply to sexual issues, but to all issues. And yet, at the very same time, Butler does not shy away from the idea that homosexuality is a perversion of God's perfect design and intention, and explains a new view of exactly why he still holds to this position. Ignoring Frank Viola's Parable Of Marvin Snurdley, Butler does a truly remarkable and seemingly thorough job of looking at all issues surrounding sex and gender and shows that traditional views are the closest to being correct... though not always the closest in actual reasoning or in explaining why they are correct, which is something he seeks to change here. Oh, and those who have read Ted Dekker's Circle Series are likely to notice some similar language. Indeed, while it is unknown to me if Butler had ever read this particular (somewhat famous in Christian circles) series, Butler here truly elevates and grounds some of the concepts Dekker explores particularly early in that series.

The single star deduction is for prooftexting, which while not as prevalent here and while Butler mostly explains the full contexts of the passages he spends extended time with (such as the creation account in Genesis and the aforementioned passage of Romans, among a few others), he does still engage in citing Biblical verses out of context at times in “support” of some point or another, and I am on a one-man-war to eradicate this practice everywhere I see it. In book reviews, my only weapon is the single star deduction, and thus I apply it in all cases where I notice the problem.

Ultimately this is a book that will prove highly controversial, and yet it is also a book that truly everyone, particularly those who consider themselves “thinkers” or “educated” or “learned” or some such, will need to at least read and consider. Very much recommended.

Dark Spring. I read this book and write this review as someone who longs to see that which I've never seen in nearly 40 years of existence on this Earth - the Milky Way as the Ancients did. Here, Eklof makes a case as to why the light pollution that is so prevalent in so many areas of the world needs to be treated just as seriously as any other form of human-made pollution. Indeed, at least in his claims, this is as strong a book against light pollution as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was all those years ago.

HOWEVER, where Eklof fails a fair degree - and the reason for the star deduction here - is that while he makes a lot of strong claims, there is scant documentation of these claims - coming in at just 15% or so of the text here, when more fully documented books come in closer to 20% - 30%, and books that are particularly well documented can reach 50% or so of the overall text.

Still, as a sort of primer to these issues for those who may not be aware of them already, this is a strong book that will allow for further research after reading it. Very much recommended.

Pulse Pounding Conclusion Evokes ALLEGIANT To A Degree. This is a solid continuation and conclusion of the EXILES story, and both combined are short enough that one almost wonders why the two books (each sub-300 pages) were not simply written as one complete story rather than one story in two halves? It seemed to make sense at the end of EXILES, when at least my own expectation was that this would be a second trilogy from the twin sisters that write twin characters. With this clearly being a short duology now... one begins to question a bit more. Ultimately, I'll leave the 5* and not deduct one for blatant cash grab, but I'll also be interested to see what other readers think on that point, and perhaps hear in some interview or social media post or some such why the decision was made to split the story as it was. That noted, particularly with its emphasis on fear and our heroes having vials that can evoke or conquer fear... yes, this book absolutely has a degree of a feel of ALLEGIANT to it. Which was an interesting connection, given just how reviled the ending to that particular tale was (though to be crystal clear and yet without actually giving anything away, this tale does not use the specific type of ending that got ALLEGIANT most of the scorn it has ultimately gotten - scorn that I have disagreed with since the moment I finished that book myself).

And yet, even with these issues this tale really was another pulse-pounding thrill ride, perhaps with fewer questions for the reader to ponder and more fights to marvel at. The sisters continue to show their evolving skills and natural-seeming storytelling talent, and it will be very interesting to see what they come up with next. Very much recommended.

NYC To A T. I've been trying to think about what to say about this book for four days and I've got... nothing. There isn't anything overly technically wrong here (the time and perspective jumps can be jarring at times, maybe, but that's about it), and it is in fact a mostly engaging story - you're going to want to know what happened, and then you're going to want to know how and why it happened. On both of these points, Collins gets rather explosive. Overall though this book just has the feel of an utterly pretentious New York... witch... who can't see beyond her Upper West Side aspirations. Certainly for the characters, and maybe Collins herself was simply being a solid conduit of these characters. If you like tales of that particular yuppie New York world, eh, you're probably going to LOVE this book. And again, even if that isn't overly your thing, this is still a good book. But if you're more of a Southern Suburbanite/ hillbilly type who remembers with fondness the old Pace Salsa commercials with their “NEW YORK CITY?!?!?!?!? tagline... this is NYC to a T from that perspective. So know that going in. Recommended.

Almost Two Semi-Tightly Coupled Novellas. This book is a strange one in that it is almost two separate novellas that are somewhat tightly coupled (with the second one using the same characters and playing off the events in the first one), but which are otherwise fairly distinct in both style and tone. In the first half of this book, it is more of a domestic suspense where we get a countdown every so often of how long is left until someone dies. Then, suddenly, a random perspective we've yet encountered... and this person discovers a body. This is effectively the prologue of the second novella, and from here we get more of a crime thriller where the reader is trying to figure out who the killer actually is even as various people reveal themselves to be on one side of the law or another and the two sides eventually converge with interesting and explosive results. Overall, the complete tale works, almost in a Without Remorse (the original Clancy, not the bastardized movie form) manner where you need the first half to make any real sense of the second half. An interesting tale and told using some rare mechanics. Very much recommended.

Short. Quick. Hallmarkie. Perfect For Holiday Season Or Any Time You Need A Quick Break From Reality. Let's face it, particularly barely two weeks out from polls beginning to close in the 2024 Presidential Election, we could *all* use a break from reality... but we don't all have hours to spend in some 300+ page book, much less a 700+ page fantasy tome. Enter this short story originally written as part of an anthology, but now available independently. I read it in I want to say 2.5 hrs or so, it really is that quick. And can be mostly read in shorter chunks still, if that is all the time you have. It works *best* as a finale to the Falling In Friar Hollow series, as it was written as, but in all honesty, if you don't mind knowing that the couples featured in a *romance book* wound up together... this could also work as an introduction of sorts to the series. Similarly, if you've never read Dallen and/ or her contemporary books, this is a solid introduction to her general style for that type of tale. Very much recommended.

They Say To ‘Write What You Know'... In this tale, Beck does an excellent job showing a middle aged mother struggling with empty nest syndrome (though this term is never really used in the book) and a new neighbor who is secretly a very feminist-forward progressive who also happens to be a struggling author in hiding. Beck is, herself, a middle aged mother whose children have left the nest and an established author who changed genres just a few years ago from romance to women's fiction. As someone who has previously reviewed her books before and after that shift, she has proven herself to be an equally strong storyteller in either space. Here she manages to wrap different aspects of her own (publicly discussed) life into a compelling tale that also shows some other clear real-world correlations, with other recent books from Amazon Publishing - including at least The Magic Of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson and Other People's Things by Kerry Anne King - also spinning their own tales around the common theme of ‘humanizing' kleptomania. Beck weaves her own tale here and shows both common aspects (shame, fear of being misunderstood, etc) across the other books as well as her own distinct aspects (how it can impact a long term marriage, young adult children, etc) and again, shows her own skill as a storyteller in the process. As a long time reader of both Beck and Amazon Publishing in general, this was thus quite intriguing in many ways - though even someone who doesn't have that experience will find a well written, compelling tale here. Truly an excellent work, and an solid representation of Beck's style for any readers who may be new to her work. Very much recommended.

Note: To be clear, I am not claiming that *every aspect of these characters is inspired by the author's real life. Only that the broadest outlines - middle aged mother whose kids have left home and an author who has direct insight into the “real world” of publishing - echo what Beck has herself publicly discussed being.

Wild And Maddening. In this all-too-real tale, Pittman does an excellent job of showing the history of the Florida Panther, how the sub-species came to the brink of extinction, and how government officials bungled the attempt at saving them before begrudgingly doing what it took to save the sub-species. Outstanding work bringing to light an amazing story of the perils of human intervention into natural systems - and how humans can occasionally do something right by those natural systems. Very much recommended.

Alarming and Yet Also Hilarious. Even as someone who was once a political activist with some fairly high level (if State, rather than Federal) access to the halls of legislative deliberation, this book was pretty shocking in revealing just how much of a mess the American legal system truly is. While the author himself is clearly in favor of some form of ideal government that works, this book just as easily makes the case that anarchy would at least be preferable to the current system. Yet throughout, the author's acerbic wit is what makes the book such an enjoyable read - even as the critiques it makes show just how depressingly dreadful the current US legal system really is. Very much recommended reading. Just maybe try to do it in a place where plentiful alcohol is readily available. ;)

Seemingly Great History, At Least In Audible Form. Yes, I read the Audible of this - mostly on my commute to and from work over the month of October 2022, though I finished it after work on Halloween day itself. So I can't speak to all the pictures and such that some complained about in the text version of this tale. And I also can't speak to how well documented it is - the Audible version doesn't exactly have footnotes. :)

With the above caveats though, I found the actual history presented here to be interesting and informative, though as others noted, perhaps a bit tedious in some spots (“bonded” is used long before it is clear exactly what this term means) and perhaps with some hand waving in other spots (the Whiskey Rebellion, and even Prohibition outside of its particular application to whiskey generally and bourbon specifically). It even manages to cover some of the more modern issues in the liquor business, at least through the mid-2010s when the book was originally published, including the GenX / Millenial shift away from whiskey and dark liquors to more vodkas and lighter liquors.

Thus, overall this truly is a strong history that anyone remotely interested in the subject (and not already well-versed in its history) will likely find informative and interesting. Very much recommended.

Solid Series Continuation, Maybe Slightly More For the Zoomer Set. As is my custom, I went in and read a lot of reviews of this book after I read the book myself. In a bit of an unusual move, I also actually went back and read my own review of Book 1 of this series - which I read roughly 200+ book ago. Here, La Rosa continues a lot of the things that made the first book so good - she isn't afraid to shy away from far deeper issues, but also tries to make sure that they don't overly weigh down the book (and for the most part, succeeds quite well there). She also uses various social media platforms - in this particular case, primarily current “darling” TikTok - to further the overall story, both in the actual plot and in the comments and DMs related to the various videos. Yes, that means that at some point this book will be quite dated - but it also means that it will serve as a bit of a time capsule for what this particular era really was like. So again, it actually works quite a bit better than its detractors in other reviews claim.

Now, about the Zoomer bit - our female lead is openly bisexual, her former partner is a lesbian, and there are a fairly good mix of sexualities, genders, and most other demographics present in this book. La Rosa actually used them quite well within the world she created here, though yes, depending on where you, the reader of my review lives and the life you lead... maybe this isn't as expressive of the world you've created for yourself. Further, I know nothing of La Rosa beyond her pen name and her general writing style. So while others may want to critique her on not being “real” or not being “own voices” or “authentic” or some other bullshit... I truly don't give a flying fuck about an author's demographics, and the story La Rosa has crafted here is genuinely good. So complaining about those things, to me, speaks more about your own issues than La Rosa's storytelling abilities.

Finally, the substance abuse angle. Yes, it is prominent. And yes, it likely doesn't follow the path of real-world recommendations, particularly in the last chapters of the book when it comes to a head. There again, the dominant real-world recommendations aren't the only ones, and there are many who have real-world problems with the real-world dominant recommendations. So the fact that La Rosa chose to craft a fictional romance tale the way she did... doesn't bother me as much. And to be clear, I say this as the grandson of an alcoholic and the cousin of more than a few drug abusers, in addition to all the other areas of my life I've worked with those affected by these choices. But there again, if this is a topic that is going to be particularly sensitive to you, it says more about you and your issues than it does about La Rosa's storytelling when you complain about these things in your review. So if you, the reader of my review, thinks this issue will be a problem for you... maybe spare yourself the hurt and La Rosa the 1* and just skip this book? No harm, no foul, and I wish you the best in your own struggles.

Overall, truly a solid sequel, and I'm truly looking forward to seeing how this series progresses. Very much recommended.

Short And Sweet Older Romance. This is a short and sweet - with a dash of danger - romance featuring two adults in the late 40s or older after their first marriages break apart for different reasons. Snow manages to show her skill in crafting a complete romance tale in under 50 pages, with the only difference between this and the 300 ish page Alaska For Christmas that it can be acquired bundled with being that in the longer text, obviously more things actually happen (on all angles). Here though, again, we do in fact get a solid and plausible romance, one that even the sweet/ clean crowd should be ok with - and we get it in under 50 pages, making it a solid and safe introduction to Snow and this particular series, for new readers to either. Very much recommended.

Solid Dallen. With A Cat. 😀 This is another excellent entrant in Dallen’s loosely coupled Friar Hollows series – meaning each book works well as a standalone, as long as you don’t mind expected spoilers of previous book leads being in relationships and making sporadic appearances. Hallmarkie-ish romance, with an element of cat vs dog person to boot – and some great hilarity around the cat in particular. Very much recommended.

Fun, Fast, and Fluffy. This was a very light, very funny romance designed for the Hallmark Movie crowd but with elements that could draw in fans of the various home renovation shows all over TV (and even some streaming services) these days. Very fast read, without sleep catching up on me and Facebook being too addicting, I could have easily finished this book in 3 ish hrs. (As it was, I still finished in 12 - most of that asleep.) Book 2 in the series, but the main couple from the first book barely appears at all (indeed, the male half *doesn't* appear at all) and even the secondary couple in that book barely registers in this one. (The man in it is in this book for maybe one scene, the female is mostly just a convenient plot device to make introductions to other secondary characters.) In other words, can very easily be read as a stand-alone book. Not a lot of drama here, just a syrupy sweet romance where the most action even hinted at is hugs and kisses - so good for the "clean" crowd too. Given that Dallen surprised us with a brand new couple in this book, I'm very interested to see where she takes Book 3 in this series. Very much recommended.

Perfectly Hallmark. If you're looking for the book version of a Hallmark Movie romance... you've found it. Funny yet angsty, with the classic clueless best friends and the friends that know before the best friends do. Perfectly zany ending. It aint deep, it aint earth shattering, but sometimes light and fun is ... perfectly... what you need. ;)

Review Of Retribution, Originally Written February 11, 2021:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Remorse. This is a book that has a lot of similarities to Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (soon to be in bastardized form on your screens), but a lot of key differences. As with the Clancy text, here we get to see a bit of a retired super spy/ assassin falling in love... before we see that ripped away in brutal fashion, with the spy surviving what the bad guys think has killed them. And as with the Clancy text, the rest of the tale is essentially the spy doing whatever it takes to send their lover's killer(s) straight to Hell - Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200. The key differences here are that while the Clancy text was more of a coda to an already existing character, this one is intentionally set up as Book 1 of a potential new series, and thus there are some of the standard-ish “book 1” mechanics of working to set up a universe, allowing a few plot threads to dangle, setting up an overarching mythos that can be strung out or wrapped up as the author (and, likely, sales) demand, etc. And arguably the real difference here is the lack of utter brutality in this text. Here, Steel is quite capable, and often underestimated - and we see her use her skills in situations that many might deem “less realistic”, but which are plausible enough to work within the story. Still extremely hard hitting and with a decent body count of bad guys genre readers expect, just nowhere near the outright savage brutality of the Clancy. But fans of Clancy, either long time or new ones picked up from the upcoming movie, will do themselves a great service in reading this book. Very much recommended.

Review of Collateral Damage, Originally Written September 30, 2022:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Explosive Spy / Revenge Thriller. When we catch up with our heroine of the series in this book, she is hiding and hurting – but still righting wrongs where she sees them, in badass and brutally effective fashion. And shortly thereafter, she gets roped into yet another mission that turns out to not be as it seems, which leads to even more action which tends to also be brutally effective at times. Yet again Sneeden does an excellent job of providing a seemingly shortish (no official page count as I type this review, but it *felt* like it was in the sub-300 page area) bit of pure escapism, this time highlighting various areas of Europe in the process. Perfect for fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or J.M. LeDuc’s Sinclair O’Malley, or (sadly now late) Matthew Mather’s Delta Devlin. Very much recommended.

Review of Dark Reckoning, Originally Written October 11, 2024:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Explosive From Start To Finish. This is one of those books that starts out as a somewhat classic spy caper - someone is trying to flee from their home country with hyper sensitive material (and knowledge) and is doing the whole "take two steps. stop. turn right and go 3 steps. stop." thing trying to avoid detection and give the authorities the slip.

But then it takes about 1/3 of the book to get back to that... because we're now involved in *another* spy thriller such that both will come together - and get even more explosive when they do - but now we need to get back to our series heroine, Ms. Drenna Steel, and find out what she is doing and how she is going to get involved with the first scene.

No matter where we are in the tale, the bad guys are always a shadow away and it is up to Ms. Steel and her allies to keep the good guys safe and handle the bad guys... well, in the manner in which bad guys get handled in such tales. ;)

But then that ending. Wow. On several different levels. Yet again, Sneeden manages to make you want the next book... how about right freaking NOW?!?!?!?!

Very much recommended.

Reading The Last Book First? WHAT???? Ok, real confession time: I've bought every single book in this series - and this is the *only* one I've read, specifically because I also received it as an Advance Review Copy. So why did I buy the other 16 books? I'm familiar with the work, and in many cases the person, of the authors in question, and I trust them to give me solid stories.

This one is yet another such solid story, perhaps of a bit of a Hallmark Movie type vibe - but that is really the intent of this entire series, so it works. Bratt in particular is truly capable of so much more emotional depth (check out her By The Seas series or my own first encounter with her work, Dancing With The Sun) and even outright action/ drama (check out her Hart's Ridge series), but she shows here that she can contain those other impulses and write on theme and on brand for a collaborative effort - and that too shows great strength and talent as a storyteller (or any group participant), to be able to blend just so well.

So, there it is, really - if you like the Hallmark Movie vibe (and clearly *many* do), you're going to enjoy both this book and this entire series. If that isn't really your think, this likely won't be either.

Oh, and one other strength to both the book and the series: They're all super short. I read this (120 age ish) book in about 2.5 hrs or so this afternoon. In other words, great for those busy with other things that are looking for quick breaks to enjoy something well written and quite enjoyable that won't really offend most anyone not actively looking for something to be offended by.

Very much recommended.

No Matter Your Thinking About 'Christianity', This Will Challenge You. This is one of those excellent books that truly no matter what you think of Christianity or any given Christian-type theology, Bezner is going to find ways to challenge you - in the manner of the classic pastor joke as follows:

Man comes up to the Pastor after the service. "Preacher, you were stepping on my toes in there!"

Pastor replies: "I apologize. I was aiming about 3 feet higher." (For his heart, in case that is unclear.)

In other words, yes, Bezner is a pastor and yes, this is written in that general style - but it also isn't a book seeking to destroy everything you hold dear so much as gently goad you in areas where maybe you're wrong - or maybe Bezner is.

And I'm not joking when I say no matter your thoughts on Christianity here. Bezner goads the conservatives with his talk of their lily white - or coal black - churches and the need for churches to be more multicultural. Bezner goads the liberals with his insistence that sex is only for straight married couples - and goads everyone with his insistence that more needs to be done to support single adults, no matter their sexual choices. He even manages to goad the Anarchists by *actively citing 1 Samuel* - the very passage where YAHWEH decrees that obedience to an earthly king as a rejection of Himself! - and arguing that earthly kings are necessary, but that a "prophet" is needed to stand outside their court and hold them to account.

If you're looking for a book "taking down" "Christian Nationalism".... this isn't your book, and Bezner never intended it to be. If you're looking for a book that decries *all* politics in the American Church and instead calls for complete separation between the Church and politics... this isn't your book, and Bezner never intended it to be. It is quite clear that he sought to write exactly the kind of book he did - calling Americans of *all* political persuasions and telling them that according to his own beliefs, they're wrong. As with anything else, at that point your mileage absolutely varies. I do believe that we can all gain something from reading this book, but I do NOT believe that Bezner is as correct as he clearly thinks he is.

Ultimately two stars were deducted here. One for the prooftexting, even though it only *blatantly* happened as quotes to begin chapters - I don't really recall seeing it anywhere else. (For those unaware, "prooftexting" is the practice of citing Bible verses out of context in support of some claim or another.) So while not as bad as some others in this space, it is a practice that is an automatic star deduction from me *any* time I see it.

The other star deducted was for the near absolute dearth of any bibliography. While this book was indeed more pastoral in tone, it was still a nonfiction book and should have been cited much more thoroughly than it was - 20-30% bibliography is my general expectation based on my experiences overall, though I'm a bit more willing to come down to 15% as the lower number with more recent (2021 and forward or so) texts seeming to indicate this is a general shift in nonfiction books of this era.

Still, despite the two star deduction here largely on technical matters, this really is a solid book that every American needs to read - perhaps particularly during election seasons.

Very much recommended.

Southern Gothic Amuse-Bouche. This is a short story (really short, with barely enough pages to qualify as a review in some sites if page count were word count in the review) that has one specific goal: To get your mind in the world of the Outer Banks Secrets and the Southern Gothic tone the series is built around. (Which is interesting indeed, given that Marsh is an Australian who I don't know has ever been to North Carolina's Outer Banks at all... but more on that momentarily.)

Y'all, as someone who has *been* to the Outer Banks and has lived every day of his (non-vacationing, and even some vacationing) life no further north than 30 minutes or so below the Georgia-Tennessee State Line and has most of the last decade barely six miles off the coast not far from St Augustine... Marsh *nails* Southern Coastal life, at least the parts of it she chooses to expose and explore here, and she absolutely uses it *perfectly* in her Southern Gothic approach. Yes, this isn't *all* that the American South is, and perhaps it isn't even a great representation of all that the American South *can be*, but on the creepy/ gothic side? Marsh captured it quite well indeed, particularly if my assumption is true that she's never actually been here.

Truly an excellent short story that does everything it is intended to do *and* serves as a nice lunch break read when you want something a bit creepy but don't have much time to read for whatever reason.

Very much recommended.

Dark. Dreary. Dismal. Oppressive. And Then The Candle Flickers To Life. This is one of those books that takes the hyper-dark and hyper-oppressive feel of the singular worst book I've *EVER* read - The Road by Cormac McCarthy - and does what McCarthy never could: Provide just that flicker of a spark of a candle lighting. *Just* enough to provide *some* level of hope. Even when most everyone in this book is so broken by the central issue - a child going missing decades ago - and their secrets about that night that none of them *really* *want* that hope, the reader *needs* that smallest flicker... and Whalen provides it in particularly dramatic form.

For those who are not fans of multi-perspective books... this one isn't going to change that, sorry. There are a lot of perspectives going on here, and a lot of sudden switching that can get a touch confusing at times, particularly as we switch between "then" and "now".

But really, that was the only *potential* flaw here, and not everyone has that particular hangup. (I don't, I actually thought the multi-perspectives made the story work much *better* in this particular case, as we get so many views on what happened here and how different people are reacting differently.)

The tie in to Richard Jewel of the Centennial Park Bombing during the 1996 Olympic Park Bombings in Atlanta was interesting, even if Whalen actually meant that particular character to be a more general representation. (And to be clear, it is only my own mind that made the connection at all, though perhaps others who were living in the Atlanta region during that time also might make it. The actual characterization is far more generic and could represent any number of people in similar situations.)

Overall a strong, if extremely dark and depressing, tale extremely well told. Very much recommended.

Explosive From Start To Finish. This is one of those books that starts out as a somewhat classic spy caper - someone is trying to flee from their home country with hyper sensitive material (and knowledge) and is doing the whole "take two steps. stop. turn right and go 3 steps. stop." thing trying to avoid detection and give the authorities the slip.

But then it takes about 1/3 of the book to get back to that... because we're now involved in *another* spy thriller such that both will come together - and get even more explosive when they do - but now we need to get back to our series heroine, Ms. Drenna Steel, and find out what she is doing and how she is going to get involved with the first scene.

No matter where we are in the tale, the bad guys are always a shadow away and it is up to Ms. Steel and her allies to keep the good guys safe and handle the bad guys... well, in the manner in which bad guys get handled in such tales. ;)

But then that ending. Wow. On several different levels. Yet again, Sneeden manages to make you want the next book... how about right freaking NOW?!?!?!?!

Very much recommended.

Explosive Spy / Revenge Thriller. When we catch up with our heroine of the series in this book, she is hiding and hurting – but still righting wrongs where she sees them, in badass and brutally effective fashion. And shortly thereafter, she gets roped into yet another mission that turns out to not be as it seems, which leads to even more action which tends to also be brutally effective at times. Yet again Sneeden does an excellent job of providing a seemingly shortish (no official page count as I type this review, but it *felt* like it was in the sub-300 page area) bit of pure escapism, this time highlighting various areas of Europe in the process. Perfect for fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or J.M. LeDuc’s Sinclair O’Malley, or (sadly now late) Matthew Mather’s Delta Devlin. Very much recommended.

Hallmarkie "Messy Family Comes Together" Type. This is a Susan Mallery book, and it is Christmas book from Susan Mallery - so you know you're going to get a lot of drama, but in a very Hallmarkie manner where the drama never gets *too* intense and everything wraps up with a nice dose of Christmas magic by the end. Considering the popularity of both Mallery and Hallmark Christmas movies, this isn't exactly a losing strategy... if a bit "been there, done that".

Where Mallery manages to spin things with this particular one are, well, the particulars - and there are a lot of things here that aren't exactly typical. Irritable Bowel Syndrome shown in all of its complexities in a book? Happens some, not exactly overly common in my experience. Female tow truck company owner? I actually am related to one - a cousin - but she's literally the only one I had ever heard of before reading this book. Age gap romance where the *woman* is the older *and* is on the back side of "middle age" to boot? Done, somewhat, but rarely in this particular combination/ age range. On and on it goes.

Oh, and for anyone who says that this gets way too far out there with just how "together" everything gets... if you've read a few of my other reviews over the years, you know about my own family history - same side as the cousin above, actually. You see, both sets of my grandparents were divorced long before I was ever alive. But my mom's parents in particular? My grandmother remarried, also before I could ever remember anything. My step grandfather was my "second grandfather" (the other died 5 weeks after my birth). And yet there was more than one instance of my grandmother and step-grandfather living on my grandfather's land over the years, including at least one stint in his house with him. So my sense of "weird family relationships" may be a bit skewed, having seen this type of thing - along with several of the exact scenarios Mallery includes in this book - in my own (extended) family over the years.

Ultimately a solid book of its type, and one for anyone looking for a good Christmas family drama to check out.

Very much recommended.