Savvy Thinker » Military http://savvythinker.com thinking about life, playing with makeup Tue, 22 May 2012 15:37:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Lucid Intervals by Stuart Woods http://savvythinker.com/lucid-intervals-by-stuart-woods/ http://savvythinker.com/lucid-intervals-by-stuart-woods/#comments Sun, 20 May 2012 02:26:29 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=6616
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    What's not to like about a Stone Barrington book! Stuart Woods has created an interesting series.

    I got this book from the library.

    It has the usual cast of characters: Dino, Stone, Joan, Herbie Fisher ... and much of the action takes place, as usual at Elaine's, the restaurant Stone and Dino frequent. Or at Stone's house -- and in the bedroom.

    Herbie has won a fortune in the NY lotto and that provides both humor and pathos. Why Herbie! And he pays Stone $1 million to represent him. Delusional or not, he thinks he is being pursued, and he might be, since he is determined to marry a prostitute (who still has a pimp) and carries a brown bag full of money. He has even less money sense than he does sense, if that is possible, though he has paid off his bookie and the gambling debts he has incurred. He also has incurred their wrath because he is no longer gambling -- after all, when it is real money, not paper loans, it feels more real.

    Additionally, Dolce makes an appearance again. She is the murderous ex-wife (or kinda wife, since the paper they signed has been returned to Stone) who, after a mental breakdown of the worst sort, has convinced her mafia father and her handler that she is safe on the town. But she knows how to knife a man without killing him. And she seems bent on killing Stone -- or at least scaring him, and she is one to be feared.

    The lucid intervals refers to moments of lucidity in Herbie's crazy life, and the moments of lucidity (which have disappeared) in Dolce's.

    And who's to say which intervals are lucid when the world has gone crazy.

    Into this mix comes Dame Felicity who offers the sex interest in this book -- nearly all of which occurs off page and by innuendo -- and a job for Stone. She wants him to find a missing rogue agent, Stanley Whitestone, who may or may not be alive. She refuses to tell him much of the reasons why (and she may not know herself) and Stone keeps his confidences to himself also.

    The fun is in the humor between the characters and in the denouement, and the fact that you know Stone will come out on top. There are a few surprises along the way, one of which I was not happy with, but it shows the world's craziness, and perhaps it shows real life spy scenarios where safety isn't always possible. The reason is given as a surprise, no hints along the way.

    Now what will these characters find themselves into in the next book?

    Do you read this series or this author? Do you have a favorite?

    Buy: Lucid Intervals: A Stone Barrington Novel (Kindle Edition)

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

    Originally posted 2010-05-04 06:57:43.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/lucid-intervals-by-stuart-woods/feed/ 0     Review SEALed with a Kiss by Mary Daughtridge http://savvythinker.com/review-sealed-with-a-kiss-by-mary-daughtridge/ http://savvythinker.com/review-sealed-with-a-kiss-by-mary-daughtridge/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:28:51 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=6815
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    SEALed with a Kiss by Mary Daughtridge is a warm-hearted, lovely story filled with genuine characters and a lot of love.

    It's a story that makes you glad you read it. The story-line is believable and the characters' falling in love is equally so.

    I enjoy the books by Suzanne Brockman, so I thought I might enjoy this series. This is more a love story than a story about the military SEALs, though the main character's SEAL training comes in handy in the end.

    Navy SEAL Jax Graham has been given an ultimatum by his commanding officer: fix the situation with his 4 year old son, no excuses. Jax' ex-wife has died. She had kept his visitation to a minimum and his job had kept it even further. A SEAL never knows when he must be ready to go at a moment's notice. Her mother will gain custody, but that is not a good situation.

    So Jax takes his 2 week vacation, on orders, with his son.

    Family therapist Pickett Sessoms is in the same place, at the same time, closing a beach cottage against a coming hurricane. She enters the equation, helping Jax regain his confidence as a father, while he learns how to talk to his son, who is smart enough to know a few things, but too young to connect the dots.

    There wasn't much that was contrived or hard to believe in this book. The characters are well drawn, and their awakening to love comes naturally and at an acceptable pace.

    These are people you really care about, as the story moves forward. Even the dogs are well drawn.

    In many ways the love in this story reminds me of the love that is in Morning Glory by LaVryle Spencer. The characters have fully lived, picking up wounds along the way. Each of them heals wounds of the other, gently and with love.

    Have you read the book or any others of Daughtridge? I will be reading more in this series.

    Head's up: the ex-mother-in-law drinks and is verbally abusive to her little grandson; Pickett has celiac disease, which is mentioned, but not to distraction...

    I give it a 5 out of 5.

    The book is available for Kindle.

    See my review of SEALed with a Promise here.

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com




    Originally posted 2010-05-21 23:04:33.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-sealed-with-a-kiss-by-mary-daughtridge/feed/ 0     All through the night (book) http://savvythinker.com/all-through-the-night-book/ http://savvythinker.com/all-through-the-night-book/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:59:06 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2008/05/31/all-through-the-night-book/
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    Suzanne Brockmann writes interesting books, and this is no exception. I stumbled across one of her books a few years ago. She writes military fiction (Navy Seals) with characters you enjoy, rolled up with passion for work and each other, as well as the requisite love story, a little danger and a lot of action. I haven't read her books in any particular order, but each book concentrates more on one of the characters than another in a continuing saga of sorts.

    This book is a love story about a hero and a hero. It is not heterosexual. She writes with compassion and understanding. Her son Jason is gay, she tells us in an addendum, and she lives in Massachusetts with her husband, author Ed Gaffney.

    The book is set in Boston where Jules and Robin are going to be married, taking each other as life partners. Along the way, both of their lives are endangered -- Jules because of his work and Robin because he is (they are) peripherally stalked.

    I wouldn't say this is the best of her books. There is less action, though what there is takes place in Afghanistan. For the most part, it is a love story. She ties present feelings and actions to past and childhood events. She makes you care for her characters' hurts, which is a skill in itself.

    Have you read any of her books?

    Karin

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    Originally posted 2008-05-31 09:11:07.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/all-through-the-night-book/feed/ 0     Review The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockman http://savvythinker.com/review-the-unsung-hero-by-suzanne-brockman/ http://savvythinker.com/review-the-unsung-hero-by-suzanne-brockman/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:15:51 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=3902
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    Suzanne Brockman writes several series. This book is from her Troubleshooter's series, stories of US Navy Seal Team Sixteen. Each book details the story of another member of the team, as well as intertwines the characters more and more.

    I'm not sure if this is the first book, but it's a good place to start. I have liked some of the stories more than others, but I like the concept.

    I picked this book up again recently and found myself rereading it, something I rarely do.

    From Suzanne Brockman's website:

    After a near-fatal head injury, U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the Navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly veterans of the Second World War, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton -- the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman. Once known as the town’s infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day....

    HERO: Lt. Tom Paoletti, U.S. Navy SEAL Commander
    HEROINE: Dr. Kelly Ashton, pediatrician
    LOCATION: Baldwin’s Bridge, Massachusetts

    You can call these romance books with a twist. The twist is, of course, saving the day.

    In this book, various voices narrate the action. I particularly liked this. It was believable and not just a writing device. It actually allowed the reader to catch glimpses of the inner persons. And woven through the book are the narrations of a romance and heroic actions during WWII in France. These actions have direct bearing on the circumstances in the book.

    There is to be a ceremony honoring the hero of Baldwin's Bridge (Tom's uncle -- and until this point in time Tom never knew of the actions of his uncle in OSS) -- and his uncle plans to give an interview to a reporter detailing the real hero (Kelly's father.)

    The characters rise to the occasion, get the bad guy(s), save the day, fall in love -- what more could you want from a story.

    And the romance develops over a slow pace -- the entire book -- with a lot of stream of consciousness and flirting and some serious, but not crude, sex.

    Tom has been told that his kind of head injury may result in paranoia. And he has bad headaches throughout the book.

    When he first catches a glimpse of the man he strongly believes is the Merchant, he recognizes the odd way he puts his backpack on his shoulders. He has altered his appearance some, if indeed it is the Merchant. Tom feels it is his duty to report this sighting, but it is not well received. No legitimate source of intel has anything, but the fact that it is believed the Merchant died of his injuries in the last encounter.

    Tom continues to catch glimpses of him -- as well as the tattoo that members of the Merchant's team use to identify themselves.

    But has he seen him or hasn't he? Does he just imagine there is danger when there is not? Even though paranoia usually means thinking that only oneself is in danger, whereas here he sees the possibility of others' being in danger, he must decide if he should pursue following this lead, even if it means he could be medically discharged from the Seals.

    He calls in as many of his trusted team as he can, making them know it is not an order, that they are acting on their own time (vacation.) Good thing he did too.

    The action gets very fast paced at the end where they must find the bomb and save the day.

    Have you read any of Brockman's books or series?
    Which is your favorite? This is one of mine. I kept putting it down so as to savor the finish.

    Karin

    Originally posted 2009-06-28 10:22:39.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-the-unsung-hero-by-suzanne-brockman/feed/ 0     Review In too Deep by Cherry Adair (Book 4) http://savvythinker.com/review-in-too-deep-by-cherry-adair-book/ http://savvythinker.com/review-in-too-deep-by-cherry-adair-book/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:58:29 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=6196
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    This is the 4th book in the T-FLAC series.

    I have also reviewed the first (Kiss and Tell) and second books (Hide and Seek).

    The hero
    In too Deep follows the story of Michael Wright, the second of the three Wright brothers. When the story opens, he is a changed man. No longer a Navy Seal, because he lost one eye on his last assignment, he now fights his fear of the water. All he wants to do is revenge the death of Hugo, his partner.

    As luck would have it, he meets the daughter of his arch-enemy. He rescues her from certain death when the yacht she is on explodes.

    Tally Cruise has come to the same island to meet her father, having been invited there. Michael expects he will use her to get to her father, but he underestimates Tally herself.

    The heroine
    Tally has not had a happy childhood, traipsing all over the world in search of her illusive father at the whim of her mother. She is fighting her own demons. Not as beautiful as her mother, never really having the love of her father, extremely afraid of the dark ...

    Like the other Adair females, she is strong and feisty, fighting for her life on more than one occasion and fighting for Michael's life, once she knows he is trustworthy.

    Flashbacks
    Michael's flashbacks eventually reveal to us the accident that took his eye. Tally's one flashback reveals to her and to us why she is afraid of the dark.

    Tally's father
    SOB doesn't begin to describe him. He doesn't show up on the scene until the last few pages. One particular act of murder on his part is particularly shocking and grim, even if you don't much like the one he kills.

    Figuring it all out
    It doesn't take long to figure out that Tally is slated for murder. The reader figures it out, at least I did, before she or Michael do. The question is, by whom?

    The sex
    Definitely there. The love story is believable.

    My take
    There is violence in this book. The baddies get theirs, which doesn't hurt the reader a bit. You practically cheer. Tally is roughed up more than once, but more than holds her own. She gives as good as she gets, sometimes almost comically. Though you can almost feel her palpable fear, you also see how strong she is not to give in to it. The book is not as dark as the second book, thankfully, or I couldn't keep reading the series.

    Have you read the book or any of the series?
    If you like this genre, you would like this book.

    It is also available for Kindle.

    Book 2: Kiss and Tell
    Book 3: Hide and Seek
    Book 5: Out of Sight
    Book 6: On thin ice
    Book 7: Hot Ice

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

    Originally posted 2010-01-16 16:23:59.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-in-too-deep-by-cherry-adair-book/feed/ 0     Review Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods (Stone Barrington novel) http://savvythinker.com/review-strategic-moves-by-stuart-woods-stone-barrington-novel/ http://savvythinker.com/review-strategic-moves-by-stuart-woods-stone-barrington-novel/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:50:53 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=7590
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    There's nothing better than a new Stone Barrington novel, when it works, and this one works.

    I got Strategic Moves from the library. This is book # 19 in the series, count 'em.

    It has the usual cast of characters
    This is one reason the books are so fun. There is Stone, of course, the ex-cop, now lawyer; Dino, his friend, a cop; Elaine, who owns the restaurant they love to eat in; Lance Cabot, the CIA man; now there is Mike Eggers, who owns a security company whose late owner was killed in a mistaken identity; and there is Herbie Fisher, the irritating little man who is always in the middle of things, through no fault, ahem, of his own. Even Holly Barker makes an appearance.

    Add in a few beautiful women, a couple of homicides, a man who is adept at disguises, and you have a recipe for fun.

    The story
    You just have to smile at the convoluted storyline...too complicated to talk about, but not too complicated to follow.

    But Stone has his clients' best interests at heart, and he always manages to best the ones who would like to best him. He is loyal to his friends, and they know who they are. And he has the right ones -- not only does he have security, but he has the best wire-and-bug man in the business, even better than the CIA.

    When a Mercedes falls out of the sky and a parachute is found not too far away, you just know that Barrington is somehow mixed up in it.

    How about romance
    Well, Stone always has some lady friend, but the action is off page, though the clever asides are not.

    Have you read this one?
    Have you read any other Stuart Woods novels (he has several series going.) Do you have a favorite?

    Lynn, you would like these. They aren't quite Castle, but they are of a similar bent.

    I give it 4**** out of 4. It was a pleasure to read.

    See my review of Lucid Intervals.

    Buy: Strategic Moves (Stone Barrington, Book 19)

    Buy: Strategic Moves (Kindle Edition)

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com



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    Originally posted 2011-02-21 07:43:40.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-strategic-moves-by-stuart-woods-stone-barrington-novel/feed/ 0     Review Out of Sight by Cherry Adair (Book 5) http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-sight-by-cherry-adair-book/ http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-sight-by-cherry-adair-book/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:40:03 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=6202
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    Book 5 of the T-FLAC series, Out of Sight is the story of Kane Wright, fashion and other photographer extrordinaire. It was strongly hinted in the storylines of other books in the series that he is not all he seems, and so it is.

    The hero
    Yes, Kane is a photographer, but he is also a T-FLAC operative, going in under the guise of being a photographer to various hotspots in the world. He is adept at disguises. And he's fighting his own demons because he lost one team to torture when they were captured.

    The heroine
    A.J. Cooper can hit a target without fail, but then she has an accident during training in which she is shot. She is blamed for it, but we learn later there is more to the story. Meantime, sent in as part of Kane's new team to take out a wicked terrorist, she misses the shot. Then freezes in fear. She vows to get the target the next time.

    She is another strong woman who doesn't give in to her fears. She holds her own and then some.

    The love story
    Believable. Some interesting situations, including one place I've never seen in a book before. Adrenaline does that to you. Plus she is very beautiful and both have noticed each other before this op. Together they watch each other's back and get out of some tight situations, which might not work in RL.

    Violence
    As usual, the baddies get taken out, one by one. A couple of gruesome deaths -- and dead bodies. Some torture, but of baddies to baddies, except for finding the body of one of the good guys. Makes you not want to give the bad guys any chances.

    The action is fast and furious. Of course, you root for the good guys (and woman.)

    Have you read this one?

    It is also available for Kindle at $6.39.

    Book 2: Kiss and Tell
    Book 3: Hide and Seek
    Book 4: In too deep
    Book 6: On thin ice
    Book 7: Hot Ice

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

    Originally posted 2010-01-17 14:48:35.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-sight-by-cherry-adair-book/feed/ 0     Invisible Girl, by Tess Hudson http://savvythinker.com/invisible-girl-by-tess-hudson/ http://savvythinker.com/invisible-girl-by-tess-hudson/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:50:39 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2008/07/09/invisible-girl-by-tess-hudson/
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    Because I enjoyed Tess Hudson's Double Down so well, I wanted to read this one. If you remember, Double Down was a romance about a young woman overcoming her addiction to gambling. There were some darker images in it involving uncovering a mystery about drugging a football player (her new romance) in order to predict a game.

    I don't know what I expected from Invisible Girl. Perhaps it was something psychological about a teen? It was not what I expected.

    Invisible Girl's prologue starts in the middle of the story. It unfolds in flashbacks to Vietnam and the Vietnam War, not chronological, superimposed on present day. It is very well written. I finished it pretty much in one sitting. I couldn't put it down.

    I think Hudson captures the time of the war, as well as the feeling that there are a lot of things we will never know about or that are deliberately hidden from us. She tells us that she was befriended by a Vietnam-era veteran who taught her about writing, art, and faith and showed her a side of the war she hadn't glimpsed in the news broadcasts from her childhood.

    She uses that to good advantage here. I cannot check her facts, but I can attest that she captures the feel of that time of war perfectly. And the feel of many of the returning soldiers.

    She moves effortlessly from the battlefield to deep love; from rape to the babylift; from the soldiers to the highest echelons of politics and a powerful family; from the family of soldiers to the family of one of them; from the harshest of betrayals to the depths of trust and love. Along the way she mingles Catholicism and Buddhism, as Maggie's mother covers all the bases to protect her family. She succeeds in a way not foreseen, including her own death and the solving of a puzzle from the past wherein only bits of the puzzle are held by individuals in order to afford protection to her children.

    I find myself thinking if only, if only she had taken others into her confidence, others that loved her, she would be alive and reunited with her daughter.

    For those who are touched by the Vietnam babylift, this book offers a small insight into the pain corruption adds to adoption. At the same time, the woman who was adopted as a baby was deeply loved by her adoptive mother (and loved her too.) There is also reunion of the half-siblings.

    Additionally, it was interesting to me how the young Vietnamese woman who gave birth after being raped by an American soldier named her daughter Tam, which means heart. She felt that when she prayed to Buddha, he conceived this child through her heart on her own, not through rape. I don't know how realistic this is, but it was very touching to me. Having biological (and adopted) children of my own, I know how deep is the mother love, and how it is very often our heart.

    I give it a 5.

    Karin

    Originally posted 2008-07-09 08:06:21.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/invisible-girl-by-tess-hudson/feed/ 3     Review Out of the Shadows by Kay Hooper http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-the-shadows-by-kay-hooper/ http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-the-shadows-by-kay-hooper/#comments Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:55:16 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=6914
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    Out of the Shadows is the third in Hooper's BISHOP SERIES: The "Bishop" Special Crimes Unit Series Publisher: Bantam. And it is third in the Shadows trilogy.

    I decided after this book, I will not be reading any more of this series or of her suspense/thriller books. While it is an excellent book, definitely a 5 star, it is very difficult for me to read the evil portrayed in it.

    So, while I like the idea of the psychic crime solvers, I'm more along the lines of White Collar than this series.

    Miranda Knight fled from Noah Bishop when her family, all but her sister, was murdered. They were in love, but his mistakes (he thinks) 'caused' the sequence of events.

    Miranda is an 'adept' with more powers than most. She has shielded both herself and her sister mentally from the murderer of her family and taken a new identity. She doesn't realize that Bishop found him and he is dead. The murderer also had psychic powers.

    When she and Bishop are together, in the middle of sex, it is as if their powers are expanded, but it also leaves them psychically exposed. They are better when working together, using their powers, than they are alone.

    She is now the sheriff in a small town, but teenagers are being murdered horrifically. She has to call Bishop's team in to help solve the cases. The rest of the team only knows a bit of the history. They don't know her powers, and the town doesn't know them either.

    She has shielded herself so well, that while Bishop has tried to find her before this, he was unable to.

    As in real life situations, the reader has no control over who is murdered or not, and at least one character is murdered that I would like to see live.

    Her sister's special ability is to be able to see ghosts. You can guess where that leads, especially when a Ouija Board is involved.

    The spirit of the original murderer is called forth (or calls himself forth) and there is more mayhem to follow. I thought that that spirit might have inhabited the new murderer, but no, he was another crazy. Very, very crazy.

    The romance is secondary to the storyline, but there is plenty of romantic tension.

    Do you like this series?
    As I said, I made a conscious choice not to read any more of the books.

    It is available for Kindle.

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com




    Originally posted 2010-05-30 14:47:59.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-out-of-the-shadows-by-kay-hooper/feed/ 0     Review: The Cost of Love by Drue Allen (no spoiler) http://savvythinker.com/review-the-cost-of-love-by-drue-allen-no-spoiler/ http://savvythinker.com/review-the-cost-of-love-by-drue-allen-no-spoiler/#comments Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:14:12 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=5661
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    • ]]>

    One genre I generally will read is romantic suspense. It's a little softer than suspense, which hits too close to home for me now.

    Drue Allen’s first book, The Cost of Love, is romantic suspense at its best. I hope she has plans to make this a series.

    Format: hardback
    Length: 311 pages
    ISBN: 9781594148590?
    Publisher: Five Star
    Pub Date: March, 2010

    In the interests of transparency: I was given a pdf to read by Love Romance Passion who received it from Drue prior to publication. I put it on my Kindle, and unfortunately it didn’t format perfectly, which was super annoying, but the book was so good, I could overlook all that.

    National security comes with a price.

    Read my full review at LRP.

    In the meantime, if you like the romantic suspense genre, you will love this book. It is not erotica. It is very suspenseful! Every page is a page turner. Everyone is suspect. I missed entirely who the baddie is.

    It becomes clear that the bad guys are domestic, but that isn't clear for a while. Who are the mole(s)...

    My take:
    I give this 8* out of 5, that's how good it is. Make no mistake, it is suspenseful; there are murders and gruesome details... believable characters... and more.

    Would a man like this book?
    I think so. It has plenty of action. I think it would make a wonderful movie -- now who to cast...

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

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    Originally posted 2010-01-12 10:00:08.

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