The Blue Zone by Andrew Gross

Review by Vicky T. (VickyJo)

One of the most common questions I get asked in the library goes something like this:

“I love BLANK (fill in any author’s name) but I’ve read everything he/she has written.  Who else writes like him/her?”

This is a popular dilemma.  People find an author they really enjoy, but when they have read it all, they don’t always want to wait for the next new book.  They want to find someone else that can hold their interest and offer the same type of reading experience.  So, librarians who advise readers on what to read next collect “read-alike” authors.

If James Patterson is one of your favorite writers, and you would like to read someone else that writes like him, I’d like to suggest Andrew Gross.  I have several good reasons for this:  one, Andrew Gross has actually written five novels with James Patterson:  Judge and Jury, Lifeguard, The Jester, and two of Patterson’s Murder Club novels, 2^nd Chance and 3^rd Degree.  Second, Gross has the formula down pat:  a plot that takes off like a roller coaster; short chapters with cliff-hanger endings, twists and turns and surprises at the end that makes a novel a page turner.  And now, Gross writes novels alone, and so I picked up his first solo effort, a fast-paced thriller called “The Blue Zone.”  James Patterson himself called this a “tense and chilling thriller”…and I had to agree!

The title comes from a code devised by the agency that oversees the Witness Protection Program; this code describes three stages of agency involvement.

The RED ZONE is when a subject is held in protective custody, while in prison or on trial.

The GREEN ZONE is when that subject, along with his or her family, has been placed in a new identity and location and is living securely in that identity, known only to his case agent.

The BLUE ZONE is the state most feared, when there is suspicion that a subject’s new identity has been penetrated or blown.  When he or she is unaccounted for, is out of contact with the case agent, or has fled the safety of the program.  When there is no official knowledge of whether that person is dead or alive.

Benjamin Raab has it all…on the surface, anyway.  A loving wife, three great kids, a thriving business.  Life is good for Ben, until the FBI knocks on his door.  He is arrested on charges of conspiracy, money laundering and intent to defraud the United States government.  Ben has been acting as a go-between for a business, buying and supplying them with gold.  The FBI now informs Ben that this business is actually a cover for a Colombian drug cartel, and it certainly looks as though Ben knew this all along.

The only way out is for Ben to testify against the cartel, which puts his family in immediate danger.  Ben goes to prison for the 8-10 months before the trial and his wife and children enter the Witness Protection Program.  Well, everyone except his oldest daughter, 23-year-old Kate.  She refuses to leave her life: her career as a medical researcher and her boyfriend Greg, who is in medical school.  It’s a gamble, but she is willing to risk it.

A year later, strange things begin happening.  Kate feels as though she’s being followed; it seems that someone has broken into her apartment, and she starts to wonder: is she just being paranoid, or are they really out to get her?  When her colleague Tina is shot in the head late one night after closing up the lab where she and Kate work, Kate realizes something is terribly wrong.  And then the news comes that her father, after testifying and serving his prison time, has disappeared.  His case agent is brutally tortured and murdered, and it seems this ruthless cartel not only has a long memory, but is willing to do anything to find the Raab family and exact their revenge.  It seems Kate has entered The Blue Zone.  The question is: can she survive long enough to get out?

My Lord Vampire by Alexandra Ivy

Review by Kelsey O.

FIRST LINE: Gideon glided through the vaulted marble corridors of the Great Hall.

The vampire Nefri divides the magical Medallion that created the Veil (a utopia for all vampires) into three pieces and places them into the care of three women for safekeeping after rogue vampires decide to go after the Medallion’s power. In My Lord Vampire, we follow the arrogant Gideon Ravel on his rescue quest of one of the woman holding the Medallion, Lady Simone Gilbert. Simone has a dark secret of her own and there is a reason she wants everyone to believe she is the “Wicked Temptress” and remain apart for others. The first vampire traitor, Tristan, has located Simone and it is Gideon’s mission to protect her from him. Gideon is instantly attracted to Simone which makes protecting her just that much easier.

This first installment of Ivy’s republished Immortal Rogues trilogy fell short for me. There is little romance and the characters just weren’t strong or unique in my mind. I did think that the premise of having the vampires living behind a Veil different but the story doesn’t touch on this alternate world much. If you are looking for a light, quick paranormal read with the standard mysterious vampire then I think you would enjoy this.

3 STARS 

A Snowflake in My Hand by Samantha Mooney

Review by McGuffyAnn M. (nightprose)

Samantha Mooney penned a book based on her time working at New York City’s Animal Medical Center. This book focuses on several cats under their care at that time. Samantha takes us into the clinic and behind the scenes. Each cat has its own story, with lessons to teach the people around them.

Samantha shares stories of some of the patients under the clinic’s care. There is Oliver, a cat who has a seagull as a friend. Chico is a cat who somehow manages to get stuck on top of the clinic elevator.

A very poignant story involves Denton, a 9 year old cat. He and his owner, Mrs. Berkley had been diagnosed the same month as having cancer. After surgery, the cancer persisted, necessitating chemotherapy. The treatment proves unsuccessful, and Denton passes away. Within weeks, Mrs. Berkley also does. The bond between the two was deep.

Samantha is struggling with the loss of her own father. It takes a tiny black fur ball of a cat to break through Samantha’s grief. With the example and open heart of Fledermaus, this little cat, Samantha begins to open herself up to love once again. It is not easy, but animals have a way of touching our souls when humans cannot.

This is a definite must-read book for all cat lovers. It is written with sincere and honest compassion. The lessons here are of life, love, relationships and ultimately death. The author celebrates life while respecting death.

The Case of the Terrified Typist (A Perry Mason Mystery)

by Erle Stanley Gardner

Review by Matt (Buffalo Savage)

A sharp mind with the speed of light, a cloud of flim-flim and a hearty “Objection.” Perry Mason. “Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial!” With his faithful helping companions Della and Paul, the daring and resourceful attorney for the common guy, led the fight for law and order in the middle part of the twentieth century. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

If you recognize the reference, you’re of age enough to like Perry Mason novels. If you don’t, read them anyway for the fast-paced narrative and the good guys winning.

Della and Perry hire a temp from an agency to type briefs. An agitated woman appears in the office and types “like a house afire.” But she disappears even before collecting her pay. Perry and Company are nonplussed as they find that another office in their building – diamond importer – has been ransacked and that in their office  stuck under a the temp typist’s desk is a wad of gum with two diamonds. Perry is hired by a large diamond company to defend one of its employees in the local office, who has been  accused of killing the smuggler who snuck the gems into the country but whose corpse has never been found. With a client that’s economical with the truth Mason doesn’t know how to proceed.

Featuring many twists and turns, this puzzler will satisfy both fans of the Mason stories and readers wondering which Mason novel would be representative of the 80-some book canon.

Heart Search  (Heartmates #10) by Robin D. Owens

Review by Cynthia F.  (frazerc)

Good read, but it’s hard to categorize:  science fiction romance, paranormal, or ???.  It takes place on Celta, 400 years after the first colonists arrived.  Celta is fascinating place.  It was founded by people with Wiccan beliefs and the rudiments of psychic abilities.  It has not been kind to the new settlers and their imported animals and plants.  Long term survival is still in doubt but animals and people have been developing steadily stronger psychic powers to help with the fight.

Our hero is Laev.  He’s wealthy and powerful but has been kicked around by fate.  We first met him as a 13 year old in Heart Duel where he inadvertently injures the hero’s mother, almost leading to her death and the death of her heartmate.  Then at 17 he finds his heartmate but is mistaken in which of the group of girls she is.  A selfish but beautiful girl convinces him that she is the one and uses that to trick him into marriage.  She dies some years later and he eventually finds out that she was selling off or otherwise getting rid of family heirlooms – a subtle way to punish him and his family.  He was so damaged by her that he doesn’t want to marry, he doesn’t even want to date! But while his true heartmate remains unknown she is still out there…

Our heroine is Camellia.  She knows Laev is her heartmate.  She doesn’t want him.  She doesn’t want any man, her abusive family and weak brother having taught her that men take, destroy, and betray anyone and everything they touch.  Her father and uncle are truly awful – you want them dead or marooned on a miserable island from the time they walk onto the page.

The fam cats are wonderful!  Brazos belongs to Laev and Mica belongs to Camellia – or the other way around in their opinion.  Brazos and Mica plan to make themselves – and their humans – one big happy family, no matter what.  Not an easy job with two so badly wounded humans…

Some fascinating threads have been laid down.  The son of Cratag and Signet Marigold [Heart Change] is apparently the reincarnation of Tab Holly [Heart Duel], complete with at least some of Tab’s memories.  As the four year old says ‘Maybe there’s a reason I remember…’  It’s also interesting to note that the fams are growing steadily more powerful.  New characters have been teased and there are still unresolved threads from the previous books.

This series contains close connections between books, I recommend reading them in order.

Celta’s HeartMates Books

#1  Heart Mate

#2  Heart Thief

#3  Heart Duel

#4  Heart Choice

#5  Heart Quest

#6  Heart Dance

#7  Heart Fate

#8  Heart Change

#9  Heart Journey

#10 Heart Search

By The King’s Design by Christine Trent

Review by Kelsey O.

(This book was also released under the title The Prince’s Pavilion)

FIRST LINE: “Remember what I told you, brothers. Leave the machines, but shoot the masters.”

Annabelle Stirling, a young craftswoman, finds herself marching towards London in hopes of finding aid from the Prince Regent after her draper shop is destroyed by the Luddites who had help from her now ex-fiancé Clive and her weak-minded brother, Wesley. With no help offered she is befriended by the architect, John Nash and encouraged to open up shop in London. Her brother slinks back into her life and because he is family, she allows him to work in her shop again.

Liking her spunk, the Prince Regent (King George IV) engages her services in decorating his Pavilion. Along the way she meets Putman Boyce, a cabinetmaker who holds promise in thawing Belle’s frozen heart. But due her brother’s inability to think for himself (probably due to his opium addiction) he has now embroiled them in a treasonous plot against the future King that ends him up in jail and Belle an outcast.

Trent throws us right into the riots caused by machines taking over jobs that were done by hand. The Luddites laid siege across the countryside destroying mills and shops that had these machines in them. On top of this there are families starving because they are out of work. Trent does not shy away from describing this misery and in fact makes it hit home for Belle when she stumbles upon her childhood friend and ex-fiancé (now married to each other) in starved condition. We also read about some very interested historical characters that Trent throws in, including Jane Austen who becomes an acquaintance with Belle.

Another piece that is thrown in is the Prince Regent’s tumultuous marriage and his quest for a divorce. He has many mistresses that are all vying for attention. We see the greed and vanity that often comes with being a member of the royal family. My impression on the prince is that he was very spoiled and weak.

Love all the intrigue and I did find it an engaging read. Heavy on historical and light on romance leads this Regency story to contain a lot of information that at times could be overwhelming to follow. But as the story reaches its climax, the reader is fully vested and will not be able to stop reading.