The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

There are books that I "fall into". Books that weave a plot and characters so well, that I can't wait to get back to them. Books that I hate to put down at night to go to sleep or in the morning to go to work. Books that make my lunch hour run over a bit because I have to get to the end of a scene, a chapter.

The World War II Gothic The Distant Hours was like that and so was, a totally different book, The King of Plagues. I've been a Maberry fan for years and had devoured the first book of the Joe Ledger series, Patient Zero. For some reason the second book, Dragon Factory, is still on my TBR pile. I will definitely be searching that one out and probably starting it this weekend.

I'm a fan of the thriller... historical, archaeological, Biblical, political, world-domination through secret societies...you name and I'll read it or listen to it. Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child...they can't write these books fast enough for me. I'm like a kid with a bag of potato chips - can't just read one and be done. And now Maberry's been added to that list.

The King of Plagues is exciting and moves quickly, especially with Maberry taking the reader back and forth through time to give one the hint of what's to come. This is done well with the headers for chapters, dated and location noted. He also maintains and increases the tension and suspense by using first person (Joe Ledger) and then third person point of view. As a writer, I loved it.

If you need a little (a lot) of excitement in your life, join Joe Ledger and Echo Company in Patient Zero and end (for now) with The King of Plagues. Don't forget The Dragon Factory.

The Cat Who....stole my heart

Lilian Jackson Braun, the author of 29 cozy mysteries set in Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, died this week at the age of 97. She leaves behind her legacy of wonderful The Cat Who...books which began the animal-based cozies that are in abundance today.

I recommend these books for anyone wanting a break from violence (and overt sex). There is romance and couples spending the night together. But the bedroom door is closed to the reader. And, of course, there are KoKo and YumYum, the lovely Siamese cats that became the center of James MacIntosh Qwilleran's world.

Thank you, LJB, for some wonderful hours and many smiles. RIP, dear lady.

The Camelot Caper - Elizabeth Peters

A lover of all things Arthurian, I picked this book for the title.
I found that I had not read any of Elizabeth Peters historical mysteries/romances and that surprised me. She's very prolific and I really should have found her before this.

The Camelot Caper was originally published in 1969 with several reprintings until the 2001 Avon paperback I bought at The Book Rack in Allentown (one of my haunts). Knowing that it was a book from 1969 does help the reader with understanding some of the clothes (short yellow suit on the heroine) and the fact that there were no cell phones.

I did find the plot a bit simplistic and wondered if the "villains" would actually do what Peters' bad guys were doing. But maybe that goes back to the 1969 era and the fact that I've been reading Jonathan Maberry and listening to James Rollins, authors with more intricate plot variations.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes of very familiar places to me, from Glastonbury to Cadbury Plateau to St; Ives, places I've been and love.

Peters does write beautiful descriptions:

Glastonbury, under a full spring moon, was sheer romance, 

a shining ghost of what had never been, a truth that was eternal 

because it had lived, never in time, but in the hearts of men.

If that doesn't describe the Arthurian legend, nothing does.

The Camelot Caper is a lovely escape into England. Just don't yell, "Use your cell phone," to the heroine.

60 Books and Counting

I missed a book when going over the last two months: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (at his best!) I cannot wait until his latest, 11/22/63: A Novel is released.

Well, Constant Reader, I won't make my 100 books in one year...not with only three weeks to go and RWA National during the last week. But I'll keep reading. And writing...

Counting Books

Since I've been silent for almost two months - work and life intrudes at times - and it's almost one year since I set a goal of 100 books in 1 year, I've decided to update this blog and see just exactly where I am.

Latest books on CD:
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Cross Fire by James Patterson
The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein
The Last Oracle by James Rollins
Crossed Bones by Kathy Reichs
On Writing by Stephen King - for the fourth time

Latest books read:
Room by Emma Donohgue
The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Atlantis by Bob Mayer
The Real Men in Black by Nick Redfern
The Haunted Mesa by Louis Lamour

Yes, the books on CD do out number the read books. I've been doing a lot of driving for work lately.
It took me forever to get through The Weird Sisters by Brown. I think it was because I really didn't like the sisters all that much. There were quotes from The Bard scattered throughout because The Father was a Shakespearean scholar; however, Pratchett's The Wyrd Sisters was more of an homage to Will. Practchett used some Shakespearean themes and paraphrased quotes that fit in beautifully with this Disc World book. it was enchanting and made me want to read more. The other sisters...er...not so much.

Other than that one issue, I loved all of the above.
I'm now reading and enjoying a good old chase-mystery in The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1969 which is good for a reader to note so she doesn't say, "Why don't they just use the cell phone?"