Review: Lost Creed by Alex Kava

Lost Creed by Alex Kava

My Rating 4 of 5 stars


I always look forward to a Alex Kava's next Ryder Creed novel. Lost Creed does not refer to Ryder, but to his sister, missing for 14 years. Haunted by her loss, Ryder has made search and rescue his mission. He has built a business around his dogs, providing services to law enforcement and working with tough FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell on missing persons cases. None are more personal than his most recent case involving murder and human trafficking. This time, there is evidence that his sister may be one of the victims. Driven by his hopes and his fears, and accompanied by Maggie and her team, Ryder and his best dog Gracie begin a desperate search for the murderer, the victims, and the survivors of the trafficking ring. A sub plot involving Ryder's apprentice handler, Jason, a rookie dog, and a missing child provides a look into the training of both dog and handler in this trying profession.

I'm not giving away spoilers, but the book seemed to end abruptly, signalling what challenges await Ryder, Maggie and Jason in the next book titled, Desperate Creed due out later in the year.



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Location, location, location.

I stopped at a park at the beach today. I had never been to this one, and there was this pier jutting out into the lake. It was closed and structurally unsound. The weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, but the pier looked sad and abandoned. I thought, "Hmm... this would be a great location in my story. The next was, if I use this, what could happen here? What would enhance the atmosphere to fit my story. A body. Not sure whose, yet, but I have some ideas.

Review: Murder to the Metal

Murder to the Metal by Annie Hogsett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How often have you wished for a big lottery win? When Allie Harper saved Thomas Bennington III from death in the path of a Hummer, she also falls in love, gets involved in a murder, and discovers that all the money in the world can't guarantee security.

In Murder to the Metal Tom and Allie have entered a relationship and a business venture as private investigators, only to find that their lives, and the lives of everybody close to them, are in extreme danger, and what starts out as a missing person case, escalates to murder.

With breathless pacing, humor, and a truly scary security software game of cat and mouse, Annie Hogsett brings home all the thrills and chills, along with a touching romance in this excellent mystery.

I also, highly recommend reading Too Lucky to Live , the first in this series, for a great introduction to Tom and Allie.



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Fourth of July

I'm celebrating the 4th by taking two days off work hoping to get plenty of reading and writing done. I've finally crossed the 80K word threshold, which was like climbing Mount Everest on ice skates.

So, wishing you a holiday of good books, cold drinks, and fireworks!

Death by Dumpling

I had pleasure of having Vivien Chien speak at the library's "Mystery and May-hem" event on May 19th, so I think it's only fair I post my review of Death by Dumpling

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A charming cozy featuring Lana Lee, a young and curious protagonist who is currently underemployed waiting tables at her family's Chinese restaurant. Set in an Asian plaza shopping center, which is like a gossipy, unique small town on it's own - with murder. When one of the local shop owners apparently ingests a dumpling with shrimp inside, it precipitates a fatal allergic reaction. Of course, Lana is determined to prove that her family and the restaurant's staff are not the culprits.

Full of humor, a touch of romance (there has to be a handsome police detective!) and family dynamics, Death by Dumpling is a promising start to a new cozy series.

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This Didn't Go as Planned ...

As usual, this didn't go as planned! Ah, well. It is a Monday! This was supposed to link to a review on goodreads, but no such luck!  Look, I fixed it! A+ day for the blog! I also added new books, since I'm going to try to keep up with Goodreads.


Twisted Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Trying to Practice What I Preach

Hello, after a long absence, I am trying to get back into the groove of writing and blogging. The impetus comes from a work project I'm proposing for a program on blogging for writers. Once I start putting things together I'll work on adding content to a different blog on this site.

Meanwhile, writing ... I'm so, so close to getting to 80,000 words, but I'm struggling with a character that I don't like, but who I feel provides some needed conflict. I don't want to kill him, even though I could without blinking an eye, but there is another alternative that could happen, but I feel is a coward's way out of solving the problem.

So, for fun, to see if I can do this, I'm going to try to add a poll. I added a link. Have fun!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DT5VGZM