lesliekurt's reviews
23 reviews

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

3.0

It was a great read, but the author was misleading with the ending. The bouncing around in timelines without knowing it was happening made you think the ending wouldn't be possible, even though you suspected that was what was happening early on.

Walk the Wire by David Baldacci

5.0

My favorite Baldacci book by far. I love the Amos Decker series but "Walk the Wire" was my favorite. I am not sure why. Maybe it was the mention of the Hutterites which are not well known. I used to work in a tech support role and talked to those folks often and they were a pleasure to speak with, "So, how's a feller like me..."

Shadow's Secret by Lori Rhodes, Mary Stone

5.0

A great crime thriller that is a short easy read. Unlike many crime thrillers, this book isn't that long and is easy to get quickly through. I liked the story. I wished the ending had a detailed finish, but that is just the author's style, and I can respect that. The only negative I can say about this book is that it is marketed as an FBI mystery, and the main character isn't in the FBI but was at one time, so it technically isn't an FBI mystery. I will be reading more books by Mary Stone.

Satan's Affair by H.D. Carlton

4.0

A great read. I see this as a dark comedy, as it made me laugh in a sick way. I could easily see a movie being made from it. Carlton is a much better writer than I will ever be. However, the only negatives I can say about it are the first six pages and the sex scenes all went between too much detail on some things to the point where it got lost in details to the other extreme of missing information (wait, when did that happen?). After finishing the book, this may have been intentional, though, after we learn more about Sibby. Still some parts caused confusion because of this and caused me to go back several pages and reread.

The Gardens of Byzantium by J.F. Hughes

5.0

Historical romance is not a genre I would normally read. However, someone suggested I give it a try. I was expecting to struggle through it but I was pleasantly surprised. This book quickly sucks you into the 600s AD, when the Eastern Roman Empire is at war with the Persians. There is just enough detail to keep you engaged but not too much where you get lost. Overall very well written.

Keep You Both: An MFF Holiday Novella by Kathryn Nolan, Kathryn Nolan

3.0

It is a creative, steamy, cute story that draws you in. I loved the female MCs. I loved that the MCs were bisexual, as bisexuals are grossly underrepresented in books and real life. However, there was one thing I didn't like and another that almost made me DNF it. What I didn't like was that Beau was a little too arrogant in the beginning. Confidence is sexy, and arrogance is ugly. Someone as arrogant as Beau in real life wouldn't have many friends unless they were damaged, but it's fiction and fine to look past this. Sometimes, I didn't like him in the story, and he deserved to be more well-liked. What I hated was the shifting narrative; this was worse initially but did improve.

Writing in the first-person narrative is difficult. I won't even attempt it myself. It becomes even more difficult when you have three MCs who are supposed to be equals. It shifted between first- and third-person too fluidly in the beginning. It went from Paige's point of view and what seemed to be a bystander's often. This shift made it very difficult for my ADHD brain to follow in the early parts of this book. I had to power through the first 25 pages or so. This issue could be just me, of course. The author did get better with this as the book progressed, with the POV only slipping a few times. Someone with an ND brain does pick up on these things. Unfortunately, I had to give it a 3 for what I saw as a significant structural issue. If the author had written the entire book in the third-person with the POV being a bystander, I might have given it a 5 (or if the POV was consistently Paige's). I would also be interested in reading more from this author as the story was great, and the storytelling provided just the right amount of detail, assuming that this problem doesn't occur in other books that they write.

Woom by Duncan Ralston

5.0

Great book. Very well written. I am not a fan of first-person narratives, but Ralston uses it sparingly and does it well when it is done. Bizarre and creepy story, but it entertained me. Very few grammatical errors that are easily overlooked because it was such a great story and told very well. 4.75 stars rounded up to 5.

Intercepts by T.J. Payne

4.0

TLDR: Skip the prologue; it is a great story.

Aside from the prologue, it is a great creative story. The author's strength lies in creativity and storytelling. It is done very well in this book.

I am not a fan of purple prose. Not many authors do it well. This author is no exception. The prologue was written like poetry. The prologue added nothing to the story, and reading it to enjoy or understand it is unnecessary. I found the prologue distracting, and it was boring. I almost put the book down within the first few pages. I am so glad I didn't since the rest of the book was written differently. It had a fast pace with no dull moments, which I need when reading a horror novel. The rest of the book was written wonderfully, and I enjoyed it.

There was one error in the book that did bother me a little, and that was Hannah's degrees. Psychiatrists are not PhDs; they are medical doctors. Psychiatrists have an MD or DO degree and undergo a psychiatric residency. However, it would be possible for a person to go through a psychiatric residency and something else (e.g., internal medicine), it would be unlikely. I know it is nitpicking, and it is just fiction, but with just a bit of research and cutting out the prologue, the author would have nailed this one with a 5-star from me.

The Lords of Salem by Rob Zombie

3.0

I was expecting better, but overall, it is a good story. I'm a fan of Rob Zombie's music and films and was psyched to read this. It's a good story, but some parts were clunky with a few grammatical errors. I can look past this as long as the mistakes are sparse and the story is good, which it was. The most disappointing part of the book was that it switched to purple prose during the kill/paranormal scenes. I see purple prose as a way of disguising what you are trying to say, and it comes off as timid writing. I would never expect Rob Zombie to come off as timid. I thought he would provide a graphic, straightforward, and realistic narrative during these scenes, but I didn't get that. If you like horror and don't mind purple prose, you might love it.

Kink: A Tale of Extreme Horror by Crowley Barns, The Barns Brothers

5.0

Great story. This is extreme horror, so don't expect dark romance. I loved it. I don't want to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It starts, and you think it's going one way, but it isn't. There is one part that seems too unbelievable, even for fiction: the first basement scene. Keep reading. It'll make sense, is all I will say. Fantastic ending. I am going with 4.5. There are a lot of punctuation issues (missing quotation marks in several places), or I would give it a higher rating. I recommend a pro proofreading to keep the rating up. This book certainly deserves it. Awesome work!

I also loved the reference to "Jackass." One of my favorite episodes. "Oklahoma!" I knew it was going to be "Oklahoma" before it was mentioned.