jbronderbookreviews

Return to Exhile by EJ Patten

5 stars

(Excerpt from Good Reads) ONE BOY. UNTOLD ENEMIES. A WHOLE WORLD TO SAVE. TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

Eleven years ago, a shattered band of ancient hunters captured an unimaginable evil and Phineas T. Pimiscule rescued his nephew, Sky, from the wreckage of that great battle. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has studied traps, puzzles, science, and the secret lore of the Hunters of Legend, believing it all a game. For eleven years, Sky and his family have hidden from dark enemies while, unbeknownst to Sky, his uncle Phineas sacrificed everything to protect them. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has known nothing of that day. But on the eve of Sky’s twelfth birthday and his family’s long-awaited return to Exile, everything changes. Phineas has disappeared, and Sky finds himself forced to confront the mysterious secrets he’s denied for so long: why did his family leave Exile on that day so long ago? What, exactly, has Phineas been preparing him for? And, the biggest mystery of all, who is Sky really and why does everyone want to kill him?!

It is Sky’s twelfth birthday but it is the worst birthday ever. His uncle Phineas goes missing and he has to move to Exhile. Now he feels like something is wrong. When he follows his father onto Phineas’ property, he is attacked by creatures that he though were just stories in books that Phineas gave him years ago. A shifter and three cloaked people save Sky from these creatures.

The next day, Sky learns that kids his age are the ones that saved him and they have no knowledge of what they are fighting. They have created their weapons from the trash dumped in caves below Phineas’ property. Sky is a great asset to them since he knows about the creatures that they are fighting.

Now they have to work together to keep the prison from being unlocked and having more powerful people to deal with along with the disappearances of local children and Phineas.

I loved this story. But it expired before I could finish it. I will be purchasing this book just to find out what happens. I really got into the story and had a hard time putting it down. This is a good young adult fantasy story.

I received this book from Simon & Schuster’s Galley Grab Newsletter.

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My Soul to Take by Tananarive Due

3 stars

(Excerpt from Amazon) Fana, an immortal with tremendous telepathic abilities, is locked in a battle of wills. Her fiancÉ is Michel. But Johnny Wright, a mortal who is in love with her, believes that if she doesn’t stay away from Michel, they will become the Witnesses to the Apocalypse described in the Book of Revelation.

Fana and the Life Brothers are rushing to distribute their healing “Living Blood” throughout the world, hoping to eliminate most diseases before Fana is bound to marry Michel. Still, they cannot heal people faster than Michel can kill them. Due weaves a tangled web in this novel, including beloved characters from her bestselling Joplin’s Ghost, in a war of good against evil, making My Soul to Take a chilling and thrilling experience.

The story begins with Carlos. His mother went missing in Puerto Rico then he receives a phone call that simply said she was dead. So Carlos goes to Puerto Rico to find out what is going on. While there, he stumbles into a group of people that are trying to hide a serious outbreak, which one of the victims is Carlos’s mother.

Phoenix, Carlos’s wife is a former rock star that is asked to perform a charity concert. Reluctantly agreeing to, while performing she finds that a lump in her breast is gone along with a stomach bug that Carlos picked up. The people in the audience are also cured.

We learn that Fana, an immortal that has healing properties in her blood, treated everyone at the concert. But she took a risk to do so. The immortals are all former people that have been given blood to keep them immortal except for Fana and Michael. They are the only two immortals that were born immortal. Although they are destined to marry, they have different feelings on humans.

Michael thinks that humans are a plague on this earth and has been using his blood to start all the different outbreaks of illnesses around the world. Fana feels that they should protect everything and everyone so she has been trying to heal all the outbreaks.

The story is mainly a conflict between Michael and Fana and within Fana about what she should do with her engagement to Michael. I didn’t realize that this was the last book in the African Immortals series. I’m sure if I read the series from the beginning I might have felt differently about it.

There is a good basic plot but I got bored with the back and forth between Fana and Michael. I could not even finish the book. I admit that I looked at the few other reviews out there and saw that Phoenix was supposed to be immortal but when I skimmed the rest of the book I didn’t really see much about her. It might have been a good book, but this one was not my cup of tea.

I received this book free from the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab Newsletter.

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The Burning Soul by John Connolly

4 stars

 (Excerpt from Good Reads) Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl.

Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor’s Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop.

But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor’s Bay, and the missing girl’s family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police, the FBI, a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris, and Randall Haight himself.

Because Randall Haight is telling lies . . .

The story begins with the disappearance of a 14 year old girl from a mall. But we soon learn that Randall Haight along with a friend, Lonny, killed a 14 year old girl. Randall and Lonny did 18 years in prison but were offered that chance to start new when they got out with new identities.

Randall has been living quietly in Pastor’s Bay as a reclusive accountant. But someone has learned about his past and is starting to send him pictures and video. Charlie is asked by Randall’s attorney to find out who is blackmailing him. But Charlie thinks there is more to Randall’s story then he is being told. Plus there is a little girl that needs to be found, hopefully alive.

This is the 10^th Charlie Parker mystery from John Connolly. I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect since this is the first book in this series that I have read. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. There was a really good story with lots of twists and turns. I kind of figured out the end, but it was still really good.

But there are a couple things that I did not agree with. There is a short jaunt where these two guys save a 14 year old girl from prostitution, which I cannot figure out why it was even in the book. The other thing that got to me was the fact that the story dragged on and on with all the description. Don’t get me wrong, it made the book really vibrant but it also made the story longer than it needed to be.

This is one book that I recommend people read if they like mysteries. I even started getting other books in this story so I can start from the beginning.

I received this book free from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab.

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