We'll see if I can refrain from buying any more new books to lower than number quite a bit, while hopefully getting caught up on posting reviews for the 1001 Books that I've already finished reading. At least that'll be my goal for the next 11 weeks, and we'll see where I stand.
I figure May 13th will be a good day to reevaluate where I stand with my list, since I signed up for a half marathon that day, and began getting serious about training for it last week. With 6 miles tomorrow that will close out a successful week 1 of training. 11 weeks to go.
I don't know if discovering a new author is right, but I've read a few authors over the past couple weeks that I didn't before.
First up was Robert Crais, who is my favorite of the group of new authors. I've heard his name, and walking through the library and picked up Voodoo River. I always seem to read authors out of order when I first discover them, and Voodoo River was the fifth in the series. My first thought was what kind of name is Elvis Cole and I picked it up and put it down several times. I had it out for three weeks and was about to return it without even getting through the first chapter, but I decided to renew the book which I don't like to do. But I made it through that first chapter, and got hooked pretty quickly.
Elvis Cole is a private detective who was hired to find the biological parents of actress Jodie Taylor. But more importantly I was introduced to Elvis Cole, and his partner Joe Pike. The story moved quick, and I enjoyed Elvis's style and humor. It's like a west coast version of Spenser. With 14 books in the series I thought I should go back to the beginning and read them in order.
Which brought me to the Monkey's Raincoat the first book in the series. Elvis is hired to find the husband and son of Ellen Lang. I was a little worried that I thought that it would go in a certain direction, but it went in several directions that I didn't expect, and the fast paced story and witty dialogue eased my fears. With two books down I started thinking that maybe I like the series even better than Spenser.
I managed to already mess up the order, skipping ahead to book number 3, Lullaby Town, but that was because I had both books and picked up the wrong book and started reading it, and by the time I realized I had the wrong book I was too into the book. Elvis is hired to find the ex-wife and son of the "it" Hollywood director, Peter Alan Nelson who suddenly wants to be a father, despite his childish behavior.
Another quick story, and another good read which makes it 3 for 3 at this point for Robert Crais. Which may mean that I have to modify my rule and not get any new books except for Robert Crais..
My ratings for each: 4 stars
I was given a set of Tim Dorsey books by someone because I lived in Florida for ten plus years and would appreciate the humor. Serge Storms is the main character, and is a Florida historian/serial killer. It's definitely a crazy book, which goes all over the place hunting for a suitcase filled with 5 million dollars. What the book lacks in plot it makes up for with humor. It's definitely a very funny book filled with crazy characters and over the top Florida characters.
I've read both Florida Roadkill and Hammerhead Ranch Motel, the first two in the series. It's definitely been a fast paced, outrageous series so far.
My rating for both: 4 stars
Bad Blood was my first exposure to John Sandford, and the fourth in the Virgil Flowers series. I don't know much about Sandford, but apparently Flowers' boss Lucas Davenport, who appears briefly in the book is featured in the longer running Prey series. It took a while for me to get into this one for some reason, but once I did I enjoyed it quite a bit. One murder turns into much more and things get complex pretty quickly. There are definitely some sensitive topics in the book - religious cults and a child sex ring, but I thought that the book was good enough to give Sandford another shot.
My rating: 3 1/2 stars
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