IMPACT by Doouglas Preston

IMPACT  by Douglas Preston

IMPACT is a combination of political thriller, murder and science fiction peopled by a former CIA agent, a college dropout, a hitman, various political/business bosses and a fisherman.  Each chapter (they are VERY short) is from a different character’s point of view. You need to keep track of the various folk you meet in the first chapters or you won’t be able to keep them straight when they pop up again.

The science is pretty easy to follow. The battles between boat and sea, hitman and potential victims are tense and then more tense.  The characters are likeable and complex.  The plot is interesting and easy to follow although the parts are intricate and intertwined.

Altogether this is an exciting, engrossing thriller that satisfies the reader.

4 of 5 stars

X by Sue Grafton

X  by Sue Grafton

The latest in the Kinsey Millhone series of mysteries is a winner.  You will keep reading to discover HOW Kinsey keeps from being murdered herself as she investigates a serial killer.  Grafton’s fans will not be disappointed – unless it is to realize this series is nearing its end!

4 of 5 stars

THE SAME SKY by Amanda Eyre Ward

THE SAME SKY   by Amanda Eyre Ward

What a sad, hopeful book. No, that is not an oxymoron. This really is an excruciatingly sad book full of hope and faith.  A young girl, left alone to care for her even younger brother, must lead them from crushing poverty in Honduras to their illegal immigrant mother in America.  Hope and belief carry them until her brother is hooked on glue and she is raped.

A young American couple with everything -- a successful restaurant, enough money, friends, family, an enduring love for each other, but no child to make them complete.  Hope and belief seem lost when the child they adopted is taken from them after one blissful day because the birth mother changes her mind.

Told in alternating chapters with Carla, the Honduran child, and Alice, the American wife, voicing their stories.  The situations are real, the characters are fully fleshed out, the tension increases as the stories play out.  How can this end happily?  Does it end happily?  Who are the winners and losers?  

A beautifully written tale of heart wrenching loss, dashed dreams, hope, love and a place to belong.

5 of 5 stars