The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

Historical Fiction

Book 5 in the series has Claire and Jamie making a life as grandparents in North America. Roger and Brianna are trying to get married, as is Jaime's aunt. They also know the war is coming and are wondering what to do about it or whether it's possible to avoid. Stephen Bonnet is still around, somewhere, and Jaime is trying to track him down and bring him to justice.

This is the first Outlander book I've read since the tv show started, which I've been watching. The tv show for some reason has turned me against Brianna. I didn't mind her while I was reading the books but now find her annoying due to the tv show and this book couldn't turn me back to a Brianna fan. The chemistry between Jaime and Claire is still as great as ever. The start of the book was pretty slow with 100 pages only being a few hours in time. However the pace eventually picks up and there are some pretty shocking events in the latter part of the book.

First Line: "I woke to the patter of rain on canvas, with the feel of my first husband's kiss on my lips."

Rating:
(4/5)

Whiteout by Ken Follett

Thriller

It's just before Christmas and a lab technician is discovered dead. He stole an animal from a high level bio facility and ended up getting sick with a deadly disease. Toni is responsible for security of that facility and can't forgive herself. She steps up all levels of security to ensure it won't happen again. However she doesn't know that the owner's son is getting ready to steal the same virus on Christmas eve. A massive snow storm hampers their progress, and that of those trying to find them.

This novel has an interesting setting with a heavy winter storm in Scotland, a rich family's old home, and a high security lab. The tension is based on a real fear, that someone could steal and weaponize a virus for bio terrorism. This isn't a mystery, as all the events are played out by the different characters and you know, for the most part, what's coming. It is a good thriller though as you wonder whether they will get away with it and how they will be caught.

The character at the centre of this book is Toni and a pretty solid character. The only fault that comes from this book is in the completely unnecessary force of romance between her and her boss. There's some pretty inappropriate event between the two of them that had me rolling my eyes. It detracted from the overall story. Thankfully there wasn't too much focused on it, but it was an annoyance.

Not a bad thriller, if you can ignore the inappropriate romance.

First Line: "Two tired men looked at Antonia Gallo with resentment and hostility in their eyes."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Killing the Shadows by Val McDermid

Mystery

Fiona Cameron is a psychologist that uses data to come up with geographies and theories on crimes. The police regularly call on her for help, though with a recent rape and murder case decided to call one of Fiona's colleagues who ended up botching the case. Fiona vows that she won't work with the Met again. Except they need her help and she needs them when a killer starts to murder mystery writers. Fiona's boyfriend is a mystery writer and she wants to make sure the police catch the killer before anything happens to him.

The description of what Fiona does was rather interesting, however when she describes it, it begins sounding like common sense. It made me wonder why the police need to bring in someone to explain these things. The only item that analysis was really needed for was geographies of where the killer may live or work.

Fiona isn't my favourite McDermid character, but she's not the worst either. She was a bit self-righteous and treated one of her best mates pretty shitty but got angry at him for her stupidity.

I wondered for a while why McDermid was putting so many crimes in to a single book with different killers. It was difficult to keep straight at first but eventually worked itself out and made sense.

First Line: "The haar moves up from the steel-grey waters of the Firth of Forth, a solid wall of mist the colour of cumulus."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

A Line of Blood by Ben McPherson

Mystery/Thriller

Alex, his wife Millicent, and their 11 year old son Max are a happy family. While Millicent and Alex met and got together under slightly unusual circumstances, the two have been happily married for 13 years. All is normal in their Scottish existence until their cat runs in to the next door neighbour's yard. Max follows the cat, Alex follows Max. They follow the cat in to their neighbour's house, up the stairs, and right in to the washroom. Their neighbour is in the bathtub and dead. Though Alex tries to shield Max from seeing anything, the curious boy manages to see everything.

When the police start their investigation, it seems possible that either Alex or Millicent were responsible. One of Millicent's bracelets is found in the neighbour's house, increasing suspicion even further. The whole family has secrets and they slowly start to come out; the family unravels piece by piece. Can the family survive?

This psychological thriller is based off such a simple premise but it works very well. Credit given where it's due, McPherson does a fantastic job of drawing the reader in and hooking them quickly. This story twists and turns all over the place. You don't know who to place your trust in or who to like. There is a constant for the reader in Alex though. He loves his wife and child and has trouble getting over betrayal, like any normal person would. Alex reacts as I would expect to everything thrown his way, which helps make him the rock at the centre of the story.

The other item that was a constant throughout the book, but not in a good way, was how creepy the kid, Max, was. I don't think his behaviour is normal for 11 year old boys. Furthermore, he seems to really enjoy pushing his parent's buttons but neither of his parents reprimand him for his poor behaviour. I was fairly annoyed by him throughout the book which helped me figure out the final twist probably earlier than I otherwise would have.



Thanks to TLC Book Tours for letting me review this book!

First Line: "The precarious thinness of his white arms, all angles against the dark foliage."

Rating:
(4/5)

About the Author Ben McPherson is a television producer, director, and writer and for more than ten years worked for the BBC, among other outlets. He is currently a columnist for Aftenposten, Norway's leading quality daily, and lives in Oslo with his wife and two children. Find Ben on Twitter and Facebook.