Hunting Time by Jeffery Deaver

Description from Amazon:

THERE ARE TWO FUNDAMENTAL RULES OF SURVIVAL.
#1: NEVER BE WITHOUT A MEANS OF ESCAPE.
Allison Parker is on the run with her teenage daughter, Hannah, and Colter Shaw has been hired by her eccentric boss, entrepreneur Marty Harmon, to find and protect her. Though he’s an expert at tracking missing persons—even those who don’t wish to be found—Shaw has met his match in Allison, who brings all her skills as a brilliant engineer designing revolutionary technology to the game of evading detection.
#2: NEVER BE WITHOUT ACCESS TO A WEAPON.
The reason for Allison’s panicked flight is soon apparent. She’s being stalked by her ex-husband, Jon Merritt. Newly released from prison and fueled by blinding rage, Jon is a man whose former profession as a police detective makes him uniquely suited for the hunt. And he’s not alone. Two hitmen are also hot on her heels—an eerie pair of thugs who take delight not only in murder but in the sport of devising clever ways to make bodies disappear forever. Even if Shaw manages to catch up with Allison and her daughter, his troubles will just be beginning.
SHAW IS ABOUT TO DISCOVER RULE #3:
NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING.
As Shaw ventures further into the wilderness, the truth becomes as hard to decipher as the forest’s unmarked trails…and peril awaits at every turn.

So, honestly, with the blurb giving us excitement about Allison on the run and Colter tracking her, it sounded like a good setup. I’d read one or two of the Colter Shaw books before, and they weren’t too bad. I figured since this was Deaver it’d be good too.

But I really don’t feel the same about Shaw as I do about Rhyme! There is something about Lincoln’s character that is a lot deeper and Shaw feels underdeveloped to me. I appreciated his survivalist backstory and how he integrates it and the fact that he works for “rewards” now but he doesn’t feel like he has enough substance. I think maybe Lincoln’s methodology and each piece of evidence makes it feel as though the cases are really solved through clues, while with Shaw’s case it wasn’t what he was looking for but more of what he was bringing to the party.

Okay, so the story has Allison and Hannah on the run from Jon after his prison release and him threatening to kill Allison. We know Allison has some secret about Jon and is some engineering tech genius, but her using these skills to evade a tracker? I think her skills were highly overrated and more often than not, she just used instinct and good sense. Hannah’s petulance and reliance on the internet was to be expected, and then her about-turn when she was learning all these new skills from Shaw and becoming one with them? Maybe. Just felt forced to me. The thugs following them must have been the dumbest hitmen out. Yes they could kill people but their conversations and actions (and the whole itchy skin thing!) were silly.

Deaver makes plot twists a thing. Then he started creating twists on twists and now he has so many twists in his books that from the beginning you suspect everyone and thus cannot get close to characters or invested in the books. It takes the fun out of loving or hating a character and at the end going “Oh no!” And this twist? Very flat I’m afraid.

When I closed the book, I battled to remember what the beginning was about, and two days later I actually had to read a few reviews to remind myself of parts of the book. That’s never a good sign. I want a book that blows me away to the point where days later I’m still asking why I didn’t see it coming. Oh well… I guess I’ll keep reading his books, hoping for a new one that is amazing. Not even Justin Hartley will save this one.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All by Jonas Jonasson

Description from Amazon

 

It’s always awkward when five thousand kronor goes missing. When it happens at a certain grotty hotel in south Stockholm, it’s particularly awkward because the money belongs to the hitman currently staying in room seven. Per Persson, the hotel receptionist, just wants to mind his own business, and preferably not get murdered. Johanna Kjellander, temporarily resident in room eight, is a priest without a vocation, and, as of last week, without a parish. But right now she has two things at her disposal: an envelope containing five thousand kronor, and an excellent idea . . .

Featuring one violent killer, two shrewd business brains and many crates of Moldovan red wine, Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All is an outrageously zany story with as many laughs as Jonasson’s multimillion-copy bestseller The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

 

I had never read any of this author’s books but I was drawn by the font and the colour of the cover (not the one pictured here) so I figured I’d give it a go. According to other reviewers, this was not as good as the other books by the author, and based on this book, I wouldn’t read the rest.

 

Granted, there were a couple of moments I did have a laugh but I felt like I could have skipped over quite a bit. So in essence you have the receptionist and the priest. They are referred to by those names more often than not so I’ll leave them as such. The money destined for the hitman lands up with the priest and she decides there is a better way of the hitman receiving money and for her to skim as much as possible.

 

The hitman doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself other than be in jail, so tends to do things to get himself incarcerated again and again (but only in the maim not kill category). But now he has people after him and the receptionist and priest decide that, to save themselves, they need to work together and go into the world of marketing. After all, what better than to advertise the services of a hitman on TV? This will control the mobsters and hopefully bring in money, which they will handle (read into that take as much as possible). (The authorities seem to have no issue with this?) Until… the hitman discovers religion and decides that being a hitman is no longer for him. The problem is that they have taken money for hits that he now will not do. So… how do you use religion to make money? You start a church and ask for donations, of course…

 

And the plot goes from there. Some funny moments – the communion wine was quite something – but it fizzled out for me and I started hurrying just to get it finished. Then, when it was done, I actually didn’t even realise I’d read the last page as it was just over. Maybe it was the lost in translation part. Maybe it was the interesting first idea that spiraled and made the characters more and more silly as time/pages went on. Absurd or satire I can laugh at. This just didn’t hold my interest enough for the characters or the story. It feels like time taken from me I could have spent on other books. This might appeal to some, but to me I was never invested enough…

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

Description from Amazon:

Dexter Morgan has always lived a happy homicidal life. He keeps his dark urges in check by adhering to one steadfast rule...he only kills very bad people. But now Dexter is experiencing some major life changes - don’t we all? - and they’re mostly wrapped up in the eight-pound curiosity that is his newborn daughter. Family bliss is cut short, however, when Dexter is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl who has been running with a bizarre group of goths who fancy themselves to be vampires. As Dexter gets closer to the truth of what happened to the missing girl, he realizes they are not really vampires so much as cannibals. And, most disturbing...these people have decided they would really like to eat Dexter.

 

So I admit I’m very late to the Dexter scene. Had heard of the series but didn’t start watching it until recently. And I never realised it was based on books! So when I found this book (dumb of me to start on #5) and started reading and saw that Dexter is having a baby at the same place I am at in the series, I laughed. But the difference in which characters are living (or what physical state they are in) between the series and book makes it confusing. Plus the number of people who know his secret is odd. I don’t get why the kids would understand and agree with his “dark passenger” and both think it’s fine. It’s hard not to compare the series to the book because I don’t have the understanding of characters in the previous books, so all I can picture is how they were on the screen.

The inner monologue/voiceover is Dexter to a T, and really adds to the turmoil he is going through now that his baby Lily Anne has completely changed his life. A lot of reviewers said it made him too soft in this book but I think the concern he has that he could pass his genes to his child or that someone like him could “happen” to his child would make him more worried. I did find, though, that the story seemed to happen around him. He didn’t really do a lot in the story himself. And that is very different from what I would expect of Dexter, considering his willingness to make a plan to ensure something happens to the bad guy (I use guy as a turn of phrase here).

So... teenagers go missing and this leads to a club of vampires and eventually a group of cannibals, where we learn of fetishes to eat human flesh but also fetishes to be eaten. Deborah is fixated on rescuing these girls no matter the cost and also has no qualms about putting a toe over the line. I found this Deborah very overbearing and judgmental, and her constantly punching Dexter in the arm? Annoying. It might have been a sibling trait that ran through the books, but come on. Use it once or twice. Deborah also has someone she loves in this book and her feelings about Dexter’s baby bring up her maternal instincts. Deborah? Maternal instincts? Oh yes. And this leads to a revelation that will take Deborah on a path not quite expected.

Rita’s character is even more simpering in the book. On screen she is wishy-washy and her “powerful” moments are soggy at best. But in this book? Falling for Brian’s “dear lady”? Barf... I suppose she will be Lily Anne’s light to Dexter’s dark. But not an inspiring character at all.

Bad guys, rescues, getting off because Daddy has money... all part of the endgame. But sadly, the ending is easily guessable. Dexter’s drug-induced physical scene? Waste of space. Not necessary at all. And a certain character at the end wanting to help another after the stunts they pulled with them previously? Doubtful. Still not a bad book to read though, but not in the blood splatter/will he or won’t he realm of the on-screen series. I’d read the next book just to see Deborah’s path and whether Dexter’s mojo is darkened again, but wonder if characters are losing the plot...

Hunted by the Past by Jami Gray

Description from Amazon:

She’s a reluctant psychic. He’s the man who walked away. Can they see beyond their painful past to survive a sadistic killer’s lethal game of revenge?

No matter how far she runs, she can’t escape…

Changing the past is an impossibility ex-Marine, Cynthia “Cyn” Arden, understands all too well. Struggling in the aftermath of a botched mission, which cost her two teammates, her military career, and a fledging relationship, her world’s upended once more by a panicked phone call. The psychic killer behind her nightmares has escaped military custody and is hunting down her remaining teammates, one by one. Up next on his murderous list—Cyn.

Unless she can trust the one who walked away…

The killer’s game brings her face to face with the one person guaranteed to throw her off kilter—the unsettling and distracting man she left behind, Kayden Shaw. Once she believed he’d stand by her side, then he chose his job and secrets over her, leaving her heart scarred by their tumultuous past.

Can Cyn overcome her past to trust the man she loves and master the psychic ability she spent years denying before it’s too late?

Granted, it took me a while to finish this book as I was reading physical copies of others and doing book reviews, etc. so I had to come back a couple of times and reread things. The idea was great: a military unit with psychics and other supernatural-type abilities – sounds intriguing, right?

 

In the beginning there is quite the dramatic episode and you get to witness what Cyn can do. An interesting ability indeed. And you hear of her backstory and what happened to her leg and how she just wants to stay away from it all. But then the past comes back and people she never wanted to speak to again are once more in her life as a madman is after them and taking them down one by one. It seems the villain is in her head and she is struggling to differentiate reality from the past.

So the action is pretty uptempo and the fights are pretty believable (especially the physical damage afterward) but then the intimacy after the physical damage sounds, well… anyway…

Besides the dreadful punctuation and grammar mistakes, was Cyn’s constant anguish. Her being on the verge of tears and curling into a ball on someone’s lap to be held with his head on her head and his arms around her just became repetitive. I never felt a synergy between the team, and in fact, never felt close to any of the characters. They came and went and even the villain was one-dimensional.

The ending was over in a flash and it was, unfortunately, just not a book I would have sat down and been so engrossed in I could read from start to finish. I was hoping for more, considering the plot, but it was not the spectacular psychic thriller I expected.

 

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

Description from Amazon

Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.

The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

 

Again… too many people singing this book’s praises and yet it’s flawed in so many ways.

So it starts off with a very intriguing premise and the idea that the very same things are happening to another person makes it feel as though there is something about the house that catches our attention and makes us want to know more. The story does pull you in in the beginning, but it becomes a bit confusing to jump between the two women as you go between chapters. Sometimes when you think you are in the same character’s POV, you have to go back to the start to find out which person it is as so many settings and scenes involve the same people or places.

I understand that the women were so happy to have this upscale, minimalistic place at the incredibly low price, but the 200-plus rules they had to follow about no curtains, no mess, no books, no carpets, etc. was just bizarre. And that they had to fill in surveys about how they feel in order to have the amenities in the house continue working (read water or electricity here) was mind-boggling.

As the story moves on and you, as the reader, realise what Edward (the architect) wanted from the women (and what they gave him), especially after finding out what happened to his family, you start moving away from the credibility of the story more and more (and take that with a pinch of salt). He buys them the same dresses and necklaces, then takes them to the same restaurants (and the description of the living fish they eat pieces of as it’s dying… just no) indicates just how messed up he is. So when Jane starts putting these pieces together (and by the way, the two women look almost identical) she just has to know what happened to Emma.

It’s really odd how Emma’s character changed and the lies emerged and how Edward chose her, yet when she changed 180 degrees, he wanted her even more. And the “Yes, Daddy. Yes.” (insert facepalm here).

By the end of it, with the really rushed ending (that ended with a sliver of reality holding it together), I felt nothing but contempt for all the characters. A psychological thriller that strung you along and had you gasping at the end? NO… It tried too hard to be like a mix of books before it and fell short in so many ways.

The Milk Tart Murders: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

Description from Amazon:

Who knew a Marilyn Monroe movie could kill you? When Oom Frik of Oom Frik’s Fantastiques dies during a vintage movie screening in Ladismith, Tannie Maria and her policeman boyfriend Henk are on the scene.

Ja, the old thrift-shop owner had a heart condition, but was there more to his demise? It’s rumoured that among Frik’s junk are valuable treasures, and the grumpy, paranoid old guy frequently altered his will.

When a second body turns up, there’s a clue: a letter addressed to Tannie Maria asking for advice – and a milk tart recipe. Fifty-plus agony aunt Maria and feisty young journalist Jessie conduct their own treasure hunt and murder investigation. The police are looking for the perpetrator too, but the amateur detectives have unique skills, and Tannie Maria’s food is a powerful incentive to get people to talk.

Maria and Jessie step into deep danger, but all is not doom and gloom. Spring has arrived in the Karoo, and Henk and Maria discuss moving in together, even though his home is full of his late wife’s stuff. Maria knows food has a way of filling the dark spaces, for better or for worse. Perhaps, once the Klein Karoo crime-buster’s work is done, she might follow her own advice and try a healing recipe.

 

And with that, the series ends. My oh my, but Ladismith certainly is a town filled with mystery and crime! For such a quiet Karoo dorpie, there is a lot of action there.

Maria and Henk’s relationship definitely took a battering in this one, with each believing the other had eyes for someone else. This takes a toll on Maria’s ability to give sage advice to those who write in to her column. After all, when love is being questioned and the past interferes, how are you supposed to help others? And when Maria felt her love of food was becoming for more than pleasure, she had to take a serious look at herself and what she felt was important in life. When she looked into Overeaters Anonymous, this gem was in the book:

Overeaters Anonymous came from far away, probably America. They wouldn’t understand about rusks. If you live in South Africa, you know that rusks are not stuffing your face – they are a way of life. It’s just bad manners not to have one with your coffee.

I shall miss Hattie with her perfect hair, excellent Excel system, and lack of ability to make a cup of coffee, and Jessie, with her gecko tattoo, red scooter, and enthusiasm to help everyone.

The story itself was as outlandish as ever, with murders, mystery, sneaking around, wills, treasure, a pink lacy bra, and Karoo Zoo biscuits. And the recipes look as good as before – I’ll be trying Zaba’s Harissa paste for sure.

A great end to a fun series – what a pity it’s over!

Death on the Limpopo: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew

Description from Amazon:

Tannie Maria might be the Karoo’s favourite agony aunt, but when it comes to matters of her own heart, she doesn’t have all the answers. Why is she having trouble telling her beau – the dashing Detective Henk Kannemeyer with the chestnut moustache – that she loves him?

There are other, more pressing problems too. A tall, dark stranger zooms in on her Ducati motorbike: she is Zabanguni Kani, a journalist renowned for her political exposés, who, after receiving threats, moves in with Tannie Maria for safety.

And who could tell that a trip to the country’s northern parts was on the cards? The journey plunges Maria and her friends into pools of danger, amid water maidens, murders, and Harley Davidsons.

Ladismith’s famous crime fighter is back – with a tin of buttermilk rusks in hand – to restore peace from the Klein Karoo to the great Limpopo River.

 

Well I got my paws on the third and fourth book so am currently working my way through them. The third was not what I expected at all, as it leans quite heavily into politics and the ramifications of apartheid and not the murder mystery we had come to expect.

 

Initially I did not like Zaba as she seemed to arrive already having decided that things would go her own way. But as a murder happens close to them and Zaba is desperate to keep some letters that point to a killer safe, Maria realises there is a lot more to this than meets the eye.

 

Maria has some childhood memories of her father, but mostly that she didn’t get to see him a lot as he was murdered up North when she was young. However, he did introduce her to the concept of the “great grey-green greasy Limpopo” from the famous Kipling book Just so Stories. And when Zaba asks Maria to accompany her to the Limpopo, Maria’s newly awoken wanderlust comes into play (and a long trip in a bakkie that size is going to play hell with your butt).

 

The two head off to solve a mystery that somehow ties them together, but on the way are stalked and nearly killed a number of times. Henk wants Maria back ASAP, but this is her time – she needs closure on something she didn’t even know was coming. And she needs a bit of time away from Henk, who has professed his love for her. Something she can’t quite say back yet.

 

The story ends with a bit of an improbable scenario but who am I to argue with what a baobab can do? And who would kill to save their reputation? The family tie-in makes for an interesting connection and shows just how deep love is and has no boundaries.

 

As usual there is food involved – a lot of it. And the recipes at the back of the book sound fabulous yet again. Bring on the last book!