Hunting Eve (Eve Duncan, #17)

Hunting Eve by Iris Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It gets off to a slow start as she recaps most of the first book. Once she gets to the actual story it improves.

Everyone is desperately trying to find Eve. Jane starts dreaming of her and the dreams are so realistic that Jane draws the place where Eve is held captive. Jane, Caleb, Trevor, Margaret and Kendra use the sketch to find Eve.

Joe goes to Zander's home and Zander's assistant Stang, leads Joe to an injured Zander.

Zander finds Eve while she is on the run. At first he is going to use her as bait to capture Doane, but after talking with her he decides to let her go and gives her his vest and a spare knife. He tells her to go to the ghost town where he has left a phone and a gun. He then erases her trail and sets a false trail for Doane to follow but before he can kill Doane he falls into a mine shaft and is severely injured. Eve fears for Zander's safety and doubles back to help him. She finds him in the mine shaft but before she can help him she hears Doane coming, so she lets Doane see her and leads him away, giving Zander time to escape. Doane captures Eve again as a result. Zander calls Stang for help and once the doctor Stang brings treats Zander's broken wrist, Zander and Joe set out to rescue Eve.

Venable arrives at the Ghost town where Doane is hold up with Eve with a swat team. They start shooting at the saloon where Doane has Eve and before Zander and Joe can get to Eve the saloon explodes with no survivors.

Everyone is mourning Eve when Margaret wanders off to talk to a wolf pack that reveal Eve is still alive.

(I am guessing here but I believe it was Blick and his victim that was in the saloon)





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Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kelsier (Kell) puts together a crew to overthrow the final empire and recruits a young girl, Vin to the cause. He explains that she is Mistborn (like he is) and teaches her to use her gifts.

Part of Vin's job is to pose as a young noblewoman (Valette), and attend balls where she can overhear gossip about the great houses and instigate a few rumors with the goal of turning the great houses against one another. Vin soon falls for the heir to house Venture (Elend). Elend is outraged at the nobles harsh treatment of the skaa and fancies himself a philosopher. He and some other young noblemen meet in secret discussing banned books and philosophy. When his former fiancee (Shan Elariel) tries to kill him, Vin uses her abilities to save Elend's life, risking her life and the entire operation even though moments before Elend had rejected her.

Yeden, becomes overconfident and attacks an outpost with the soldiers that were willing to follow him, the only survivors are the ones who refused to follow him and stayed behind in the caves. Kell and Vin use their Mistborn powers to get to the caves and lead the remaining soldiers to safety. Then they sneak them into the town and disperse them in small groups throughout the town.

Marsh infiltrates the Ministry, Kell and Vin find what they believe to be his body in a warehouse where they were supposed to meet.

Sazed reveals himself as a Keeper to Vin.

Renoux (who is being imitated by a kandra) and the conspirators that are with him including Spook are taken prisoner and are to be executed. Kell leads Dockson, Ham, Breeze, Clubs and Vin against the soldiers in an attempt to rescue them. Kell discovers it was a trap and fights an Inquisitor in the hopes of giving the others time to rescue the prisoners. Kell kills the Inquisitor but then the Lord Ruler appearing as a young man comes. Kell is slain becoming a martyr to the cause as he had planned, leaving his baffled crew to pick up the pieces of the rebellion. The kandra who was impersonating Renoux is now impersonating Kell.

Vin goes to kill the Lord Ruler, she is captured but Elend and Sazed come to her rescue. She sends them away and goes after the Lord Ruler again and this time she succeeds in killing him, with the help of Marsh. Leaving Elend to become King.

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Uncaged (The Singular Menace, #1)

Uncaged by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is rated as teen, but those familiar with John Sandford's work know there is a lot of violence, and this series is pretty much the same as his Kidd series, but with young teens in the starring roles.

Odin (18 by the end of the book but Autistic) has joined an Animal Rights group, who are awed by his hacking skills. He uses his ability to get them into the Singular laboratory where cruel and inhumane experiments are being performed not just on animals but on people too. Odin breaks the groups rules and rescues a dog (named X), but he also takes several thumb drives, with encrypted files that reveal the loathsome experiments.

His 16 year old sister Shay Remby heads to L.A. to look for him. Cornered by some street thugs she is rescued by the eccentric artist Twist, who runs a halfway house for runaways. He also uses his art to convey political message and he hires Shay to help him unfurl a banner from a sky scraper. The stunt leads to her picture being plaster on TV and on flyers all over town leading Singular to her. They place her under surveillance and follow her when she meets Odin at the Beach. Odin gives her X and a copy of the thumb drives moments before he is kidnapped by goons from Singular.

West works for Singular, he was a soldier in Afghanistan, where he lost his legs. Singular hired West to do PI work and gave him new bionic legs. He was injured when he was trying to apprehend Odin, and Shay helped him. He gave Shay a way to contact him.

Shay smuggles X into Twist's halfway house, but when the dog appears to be dying she goes to Twist for help. They take him to a shady doctor and the dog is restored to health. Shortly thereafter the goons from Singular break into Twist's Halfway House and only because the street wise teens defend their turf does Shay and X escape. Twist, Cade, Shay and Cruz go on the run and hide out in Malibu. Shay contacts West and tells him to tell the people in charge that she has the files and she will release one every 24 hours until Odin is released. At first West doesn't believe that Singular kidnapped her brother, but his bosses reaction to Shay's ultimatum arouses his suspicions and he starts investigating the company. He finds where Odin is being held and they stage a daring rescue.

Odin and a young Asian girl are rescued, but West is killed when they are forced to leave him behind and now the Remby Gang is wanted for murder by the police.

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The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The illustrations are lovely I especially like the one with John Snow and Ghost in the back.

The book is supposedly written by Maester Yandel who started the book during King Robert's reign in the hopes of giving it to the first Baratheon to rule, but alas misfortune has fallen on the Seven Kingdoms and Tommen I is King now.

Doesn't advance the story any or give away any secrets. His time could have been better spent actually finishing THE SONG OF ICE & FIRE series.

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Obsession in Death (In Death, #40)

Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Someone is obsessed with Eve, they want to be her BFF, and what better way to show their friendship than by killing those who disrespect her. But when Eve fails to appreciate their gifts, they decide to start killing Eve's friends.

Eve spots her outside Mavis' building but the perp gets away. Then Nadine is attacked in her apartment but manages to use a lighter to get away. Hurt and angry the killer goes after Jamie but his security system foils the killer again.

So now the killer has decided it must end and the only way to end this beautiful friendship between her and Eve is in a murder suicide. She straps on a suicide vest and walks into homicide where she takes Eve and her cops hostage. Will Eve be able to stop her fan????

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Rise of the King (Companions Codex, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #26)

Rise of the King by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Drizzt, Bruenor, Catti-Brie, Regis and Wulfgar take Pwent to the Harpells so they can cure him of his vampirism, once they do the aged battleranger dies but his spirit lives on in Bruenor's horn, available for him to call in times of need.

While they are in Port Llast they encounter Effron. Drizzt is overjoyed to discover that he is alive. As much as Effron admires Drizzt he feels he can not stay with the companions so he sets out to catch up with Ambergris and Afafrenfere, who are on their way to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose. Effron is joined by Beniago on Jarlaxle's orders.

Jarlaxle catches up to Ambergris and Afafrenfere and escorts them to the Monastery where he leaves them while he recruits the Dragon sisters (Tazmikella and Ilnezhara) to his plot to help Drizzt. On the orders of Grandmaster Kane when Jarlaxle returns Afafrenfere agrees to go along with him, Ambergris and the dragons.

Drizzt and his companions save a Rider of Nesme, Giselle, and escort her back to Nesme where they meet up with Athrogate (who is in Nesme on Jarlaxle's orders). Nesme is under siege from the Orcs (who deposed King Obould and replaced him with Warlord Hartusk) in a plot masterminded by the drow. The companions fight for Nesme and manage to hold the Orc hordes back, but as the siege continues a desperate plan is hatched for Drizzt and his companions to break out and attempt to reach Mithral Hall through underground tunnels and bring back help.

First Sundabar falls to the Orcs then Nesme. Giselle is taken prisoner.

Drizzt and his companions are trapped in the tunnels. Regis and Wulfgar are separated from the group and Wulfgar is captured. Regis uses his ability to appear as anyone he wishes to free Wulfgar and the two desperately flee from the Orcs.

The others reach Mithral Hall and Bruenor reveals himself as King Bruenor to the dwarves.





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Taking Eve (Eve Duncan, #16)

Taking Eve by Iris Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Doane (aka Relling) blames General John Tarther and Zander for the death of his son, Kevin, and has set out to get revenge. With the help of Blick he poisons Jane's dog Toby and prevents her from coming to visit Eve. Instead Jane take Toby to Summer Island where with the help of Margaret's special gift Toby is cured. Before Jane can leave the island she is shot.

Bonnie sends Ben Hudson to warn Eve, but when news of Jane's shooting reaches Eve she leaves the safety of the cabin to go to Jane's side. Doane kidnaps Eve and takes her to a remote cabin ostentatiously to reconstruct his son's skull. Eve learns that Kevin liked killing little girsl and that he was brought to trial for killing General Tarther's daughter, but that he was set free on a technicality. Unable to live with his daughter's murderer going free Tarther hired Zander to kill Kevin.

The closer to finishing the skull Eve gets the more danger she is in. Realizing that Doane plans to use her in his sick plot to punish Zander Eve escapes into the wilderness, but why does Doane think Zander will care if Eve is killed? Eve is left to wonder if Doane's parting words were a lie or if Zander is really the Father she never knew.


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