Another helping of Pendergast

The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

In downtown Manhattan, a gruesome discovery has just been made-an underground charnel house containing the bones of dozens of murder victims. Research reveals that a serial killer was at work in New York's notorious Five Points neighborhood in the 1880s, bent on prolonging his lifespan by any means. When a newspaper story on the old murders appears to ignite a new series of horrifyingly similar killings, panic overtakes New York City. Now, FBI agent Pendergast, journalist Bill Smithback, and archaeologist Nora Kelly join forces to protect themselves from a vicious killer...before they become the next victims.

Rate & take

I don't think I will ever get enough of the enigmatic, agent Pendergast. Alas this may be my last foray into the series, however. I did something I should never do, I started reading reviews of future books and didn't like the picture that was forming. Seems in some books he's not present much at all and then in much later books the author's enact a really strange plot twist that I know I would not enjoy. So I end here, at book three in the series and consider it an amicable parting.

Now, about this particular read...it was a very good introduction to something I knew nothing about, Cabinets of Curiosities. Such an interesting concept with the potential for some very macabre collections, which I'm sure was the point in some cases to keep the patrons coming back for more. In the case of this book there were plenty of disturbing finds from long ago. While this book was quite the page turner, and the plot nicely rounded, I could not help to feel that some of the fullness of the first two books were absent in this one. I can't put my finger on it any better than that. This lack was also part of my decision to end here, on a high note, so I don't tarnish the memories of my time with agent Pendergast.

Beasties Revisited

Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beast. When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground, where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.

Rate & take

rel·i·quar·y

ˈreləˌkwerē/

noun

1. a container for holy relics.

I figured I would share the definition since I had to look it up for myself. I love when a book can not only entertain, but also impart some knowledge along the way. Lucky for me the author's of this, the Pendergast series, are chock full of all kinds of knowledge.

Something I find really interesting about this series is that its namesake, Agent Pendergast of the FBI, began as a small character in book one (Relic) then became a larger character in this book. Now in book three (which I am reading as I write this) he is the main character, however we still don't know his first name, or more than a small handful of personal information on him. A deliberate tool by the author's, doling out the details in small bits no doubt. All I have to say about that is, I love it! It's brilliant!! I am at their beck and call wanting to know more. More! Just the kind of loyalty every author could wish for.

For the last however many chapters, this story had me reeling back and forth. I would be knee deep in the action with one set of characters only to turn the page and find I was with a totally different set. Stranding the the first group for however long it took the author's to return me to them. UGH! Sweet torture!! And I loved every minute of it. These guys sure weave a deft tale that promises to keep me coming back for some time to come. Oh and the shocker at the end, had a chill racing up my spine. To say "I didn't see that coming" is a grand understatement. 

Steamy jungle

Waking the Beast by Lacey Thorn

The legend of the Paka Watu...

Ever since she was a young girl, Abby Lane can’t resist the allure of a catshifter tribe forced to repress their beasts. On a trip to Africa, she discovers a coveted piece of information—the name the pride leader assumed when he left his home—and she traces his lineage to his descendent.

The sleeping lion...

Utah Pearce can’t keep his gaze off the woman who slips into the bar every night. Though not his usual type, she brings out the possessive instinct in him, making him battle with himself as he tries to stay away.

Mine...

Abby’s research never prepared her for the reality in front of her. The beast is waking, and Utah is changing in ways both exciting and terrifying. He is possessive and dominant, and when he finally claims her, neither of them will ever be the same.

Rate & take

This book came across on one of discount ebook emails that I get daily, and I'll admit the cover and title may have had a teeny bit of sway over my purchase decision. 

The book moved along at a nice pace, no real surprises in the plot, but the writing worked well enough that it wasn't an issue. My only negative to say is that plot changes happened rather easily without much build up or depth. Maybe that will come later in the series, or maybe this was just meant to be enjoyed for what it is, an interesting take on new shifters with a larger emphasis on the steamy side of the plot. Either way, If you are looking for a quick, steamy fix, this book will fit the bill. It also has the benefit of being book one in the Awakening Pride series that is now five books deep and going. It seems that each book will be about a different member of the growing shifter pride. In this book we also briefly meet an alpha pack of wolves that live together in an interesting and unconventional way. The author has promised to work on a book or series for them as well. I do plan to continue on with this series in between other books. I'm interested to see the evolution of the larger story. 

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

Rate & Take

I have been a fan of this series from book one and get excited each and every time Patricia manages to publish another. I enjoy each one as much as the last, if not more. 

It is weird for me to share this, but the way the books are written (from the cadence or the overall tone) they make me feel like my head is resting in some one's lap and with one hand they are reading the book to me and with the other they are petting my hair. (Like I said weird but this is the way I can put into words how I feel).

 The books are so good and make me feel so cozy I just never want to leave them, and I don't, they leave me much before I am done with them. 

Changing up

Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

The book that started the New York Times bestselling collaboration of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...

But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.

Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who-or what-is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?

Rate & Take

I got onto this book series from our awesome, book-loving, intern at my job. He had read one of the later books in the series and reported it was enjoyable and worked well as a stand alone. I decided to read up on the series to see if I would jump in where he did or if I should begin from square one. Who was I kidding?  My OCD would not allow me to go willy-nilly to some book in the teens of the series, I had to start where it all began. I was hooked from the first by the field expedition that is our opener. I was never bored, nor did I feel the plot lagged, what I did feel was that the characters got the most basic of treatments, I wanted more depth and hope I will get that in book two. Also the cheese factor was heightened due to a hard-boiled cop that is one of the main characters. But he did add to the overall color of the ensemble, and it doesn't hurt that I am a fan of reading about, "things that go bump in the night".

Putting my money where my mouth is

The Highlander Series 7 Book Bundle By Karen Marie Moning

Now in a convenient eBook bundle, here are the seven novels in her spellbinding Highlander series, featuring passionate love stories with a time-travel twist: Beyond the Highland Mist, To Tame a Highland Warrior, The Highlander’s Touch, Kiss of the Highlander, The Dark Highlander, The Immortal Highlander,and Spell of the Highlander.

Beyond the Highland Mist

He is known throughout medieval Scotland as Hawk. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until Adrienne de Simone tumbles out of modern-day Seattle and into Hawk’s legendary bed.

To Tame a Highland Warrior

He was born to a clan of Highland warriors of supernatural strength, but Gavrael McIllioch abandoned his name to escape the dark fate of his ancestors. Yet even from afar, he watches over Jillian St. Clair. She is the only woman who can tame the beast within him—even as deadly enemies plot to destroy them both.

The Highlander’s Touch

A trick of fate has sent Lisa seven hundred years back in time and into Scottish warrior Circenn Brodie’s chamber to tempt him with an all-consuming desire. For this woman he burns to possess is also the woman he has foresworn to destroy. 

Kiss of the Highlander

Enchanted by a powerful spell, Highland laird Drustan MacKeltar has slumbered for nearly five centuries, until an unlikely savior, Gwen Cassidy, awakens him. Bound to Drustan, Gwen is swept back to sixteenth-century Scotland where a warrior with the power to change history will defy time itself for the woman he loves.

The Dark Highlander

Dageus MacKeltar is a sixteenth-century Scot trapped between worlds, battling with the thirteen Druids who possess his soul. When Chloe Zanders is drawn into his world, she will face the challenge of a lifetime: fighting thirteen evil spirits for the heart of one irresistible man.

The Immortal Highlander

Adam Black is free to roam across time in pursuit of his insatiable desires, until a curse strips him of his immortality and makes him invisible. The only woman who can see him is Gabrielle O’Callaghan. It is the beginning of a long, dangerous seduction, the price of which could be their very lives.

Spell of the Highlander

Jessi St. James first sees the gorgeous man staring out at her from the glass of an ancient mirror. Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, Cian MacKeltar was trapped centuries ago inside the Dark Glass, and now an enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it. And Cian will stop at nothing to protect Jessi from a deadly fate.

Rate & Take

I got so excited talking about these books in a previous post that I looked them up again only to find they now come in a convenient bundle pack!! So yes, I just had to buy and reread them! My favorites are still the same, delicious stories, Kiss of a Highlander, The Dark Highlander, and Spell of a Highlander. {Insert dreamy sigh here} Who wants a sexy, strong, kilted, devoted-to-you for life, rocks you day and night, Highlander? Raise your hand, and get the bundle!! 

Mars love continues

Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town’s ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove—or prove—the woman's story.

The case is a complicated mix of hard facts, mysterious occurrences, and uncooperative witnesses. The hotel refuses to turn over its reservation list and the victim won’t divulge who she was meeting that night. Add in the facts that the attack happened months ago, the victim’s memory is fuzzy, and there are holes in the hotel’s surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As she works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying—but who? And why?

Rate & take

I was so excited to get not one, but two books within a year that sprang from the Veronica Mars movie, based on the fabulous, but sadly defunct television series of the same name. Rob Thomas (author and Producer) seems to deliver whether on screen or page. I can't get enough of Veronica's snarky, intelligent, razor sharp wit, and I hope I never will. You can find my review of the first book, here. 

The books are a part of the Veronica Mars series but I think they can be read as stand alone's. As for this book it was all smooth writing and great plot that I wish had gone on and on. I have no idea when I will see a next book...but mentally I am already waiting in line for it!