Lola

Lola is the girlfriend of Garcia.  Garcia is the supposed leader of a gang known as the Crenshaw Six.

What nobody really knows is that Lola is actually the brains behind the Gang.  At least that is what the back cover copy tells me.

Drawn to the book because of its cover (I know, I know, never judge a book by the cover) I thought it sounded like an interesting read.

The novel starts off at a cookout.  And I don't think I ever made it out of the first chapter. I picked it up and started reading it a number of times, but kept putting it aside.  Nothing in the opening pages of the book grabbed me and made me want to keep reading.  Men grilling. Women being catty in the kitchen.  Younger girl prowling around the men.

After a couple of weeks of false starts, I give up.

This one goes into my Did Not Finish pile.  Maybe I'll give it another chance in the year ahead.  We'll see.

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child: Book Review

Has enigmologist Jeremy Logan finally met his match?

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child is a book I picked up off the NEW shelf on my last library trip.

I've never read anything by Lincoln Child before, though the cover proclaims him to be a New York Times #1 bestselling author.  Speaing of the cover, it is the reason I picked up the book.  It boasts a spooky cabin in the middle of nowhere, similar to the cover of The Hexed.  I guess I had a theme going on during that trip.

Jeremy Logan is an enigmalogist --an investigator who specalizes in analyzing unnatural phenomena.

He travels to an isolated retreat deep in the Adirondacks in an attempt to finish his monograph.  However, he's approached by an old friend on his very first night at the retreat and finds himself investigating a series of deaths in the area, as a favor.

Every time he tries to tell himself he's finished with the investigation he finds some other small tidbit of information that draws him back in.  He has seen a lot of strange things in his investigations, but could there possibly be an actual werewolf hunting the Adirondack Mountains?

What I Liked about Full Wolf Moon

You don't see many werewolf novels.  At least not ones where the werewolf is a killer animal and not some hot guy for the female protag to fall in love with.  I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned monster story.

While most of the book is following the investigation and you don't know who/what the killer is until the climax, I like that you do get to see some of the action from the POV of the victims.  Again, I'm a sucker for a monster story and they are much more fun when you see the monster.

What I Didn't Like About Full Wolf Moon

Its part of a series.  AGAIN.  What is it with series these days?

Again, similar to The Hexed, the story seems to stand alone.  There is mention of  Jeremy's wife, and his losing her.  You don't get that whole story but none of it seems to pertain to the story in this novel.
Other than being book #5 follow Jeremy Logan on his adventures I can't think of much I didn't like about the tale.

Over all I give Full Wolf Moon a 4 out of 5 star rating.  It was a captivating read that kept me turning pages until the end.  Once the momentum kicked in it never slowed down enough to dull the story.  It's certainly not "keep you up at night" horror, but its a good story.  I'd recommend it to anyone who loves horror/thriller reads.

Full Wolf Moon is available on Amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, audobook and Audio CD formats.

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If you don't want to start in book five, you can pick up any of the first 4 novels below:

Amanda Wakes Up by Alisyn Camerota follows Amanda Gallo on her quest to become a news Anchor.  It is all she has ever wanted from the time she was a teen.  When a media mogul offers her a spot  on the team of a band new cable news network she couldn't have been happier.
FAIR News is all about showing BOTH sides of the story....but is it really?

Launching during an election year, Amanda's stories are a hotbed of hot topics and her new job is leaking into her personal life.  It's affecting her love life, her relationship with her mother, and even the way she looks at the world around her.

It leads up to her chance to break the biggest story of the year, and what is means to her morality vs her lifelong dream.

What I Liked about Amanda Wakes Up

Amanda has a dream, and she chases it.  She truly believes in the Fair and Equal concept.  I like that about her because she reminds me of myself.  Like, you can have your on beliefs and STILL try to see the other side without being violent about it.

I liked the scenes where she was on the show with her co-host and her camera crew, but not talking politics.  I would have like to seen more of her on the job interactions.

What I Didn't Like about Amanda Wakes Up

It took me over a week to get through the first 30 pages of this story.  The opening didn't grab me at all.

There seemed to be a whole lot of TELLING vs SHOWING in the story.  Especially the first few chapters.  Our heroine, Amanda Gallo, was first reporter on a scene of a major even, and did some awesome investigative reporting which is what lands her the job this whole book is about.  But, we SEE none of that.  We are TOLD it happens.  I think I could have gotten into the story so much faster if we had seen her work.

I didn't "connect" with Amanda Gallo.  A book is best when you feel like you are living life with the MC.  I felt like I was being told aobut someone, somewhere, with vague detail, and supposed to feel for them.

Predictability.  I saw 90% of what happened in this book coming, long before it got there.

Politics.  Reading this book was like watching the election all over again. *shudder*

Over all I give Amanda Wakes Up a 3 out of 5 star rating.  Its a book I read.  I wish it had been more about working on an early morning talk show and less about politics, but I  don't regret reading it.  If you want a light fluffy read without a lot of detail, this is totally a book for you.

Amanda Wakes Up is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover and Audio though audible.
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Not sure you want to read this? See my other book reviews to find something you might like better.
(Disclaimer: I received a copy of Amanda Wakes Up from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.)