Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

I was lucky enough to receive this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. The premise for the book is that Nathaniel Cade is a vampire in the employ of the President of the United States. He's bound to stop the forces of the Other Side.

This isn't a new concept. Think Hellboy crossed with general political thrillers. With a little Heroes thrown in, maybe. But it was still original enough to be intriguing. I didn't expect much from the story and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a hard time putting it down. I'm fairly certain that I was supposed to become more endeared to Zach as the book progressed. Truth be told, even at the end I still felt that he was a sad replacement for Griff. Cade, on the other hand, was awesome. How could you not like a vampire who has a conscience, but also freely admits to being evil?

I look forward to future novels featuring Nathaniel Cade. The paranormal aspects of this book made the political thriller side of it less dull and predictable. I'd like to say that I have someone in mind to pass this book on to. But most people I know who like politcal thrillers aren't really big on the whole paranormal thing. There's an audience out there for this book, no doubt. I just don't know them personally.

24 Bones by Michael Stewart

I snagged this book through LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program. And let me tell you, I'm thrilled that I did. This book was amazing. I'm not going to summarize it for you - others have done that. I'm just going to tell you how much I loved it.

When I first began reading this book, I had a rough time reconciling an ancient "mystery" cult with modern times. As I read, however, the whole thing was more than believable - it was compelling. From the very first page things happen. The action is constant and gripping, without being over-the-top.

The history mixed with mythology mixed with religion might be too much for some. I can imagine someone who isn't crazy about Egyptian mythology feeling mired. Personally, I ate it up. Hungrily. I've read that some people did not feel that the characters were fleshed out enough. I did not find this to be the case. Sure, I didn't know their favorite foods or colors or who they had a crush on as a child. But I felt that they could be real-live people. Which made all the twists and turns in this book so much fun. You may think you have someone figured out, but just you wait!

Nothing I say about this novel will do it justice. This is one of the great keepers for my shelves.

The Sign by Raymond Khoury

Wow. Okay. This was not the book I was expecting. I've read Khoury's other two novels and really enjoyed them. I expected this to be more of the same. It wasn't. There was no history-mystery in this book. It was a politcal thriller, I guess you could say. And I didn't find it compelling in the slightest. I was actually just happy to be done with it so that I could move on to the next book on my list. That's not to say the story was good. It was, just not.. gripping.

The story is basically this: Global warming sucks, but no one seems to care. Insert conspiracy to "brainwash" people into caring. Throw in some war-mongers and religious fanatacism mixed with a good revenge plot. And there's the book.

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell is a Shakespearean mystery. Kate is directing Hamlet at the Globe when Roz, her mentor of old, hints at a mystery and then is murdered. Kate embarks on a crazy adventure chasing clues over four hundred years old. She is aided (and sometimes hindered) by a handful of diverse characters. Roz's words "I found something" chase Kate as she tries to outwit a killer intent on preventing her from solving the puzzle.

I originally heard of this book through a giveaway mentioned on a LibraryThing forum. The reviewer didn't seem to really enjoy the book, but for some strange reason that made me want to read it even more. The characters were decent, though I never felt that they were anything more than made up people in a book. The mystery itself was intriguing and I found myself always wanting to know what was going to happen next. Overall I enjoyed this book. Parts of it dragged and the author seem to have gotten bored partway through and changed the focus a bit.

Shakespeare's plays were never something I was fond of reading (though I do love to watch the plays performed). Somehow this story made me want to pick up a play or two and give them another try - which gives it major points in my opinion. I would happily suggest this book to people who like mysteries and historical fiction tied together.

Excavation by James Rollins

Wow. So, there isn't much I can say about this book that won't give too much away.

In Peru a temple of the Incas is uncovered by a professor and some students. A mummy is found as is a sealed door. Craziness ensues. There are psycho-priests, albino monsters, giant spiders, twisting caves, and lots of mayhem. I did enjoy this book. It was a good read and I'd recommend it to others. That being said, it was not my favorite of Rollins' books. In fact, so far it's my least favorite. I mean, there has to be a least favorite, right?

As usual, the characters were well developed (Norman is my favorite), the scenes vivid, the history fascinating, and the pace wonderful.

To my knowledge this leaves two already-published James Rollins novels left for me to read. Good thing he's supposedly coming out with three more this year!

The Last Oracle by James Rollins

I've been fighting to finish this book for days. This was not due to it being boring or slow, but rather because having two sick children seems to cut into one's reading time. The Last Oracle was amazing. If you are already a fan of Rollins' Sigma Force books, this one will not disappoint.

What I can tell you of the book without giving too much away: Take the Oracle of Delphi, a secret Romani clan, post WWII Russian scientists with an evil goal, modern radioactivity, autistic children, and a plot to take over the world. Mix them all together, throw in the folks at Sigma and a few civilians. And voila! You have a book that you'll not want to put down.

I have nothing but good things to say about this book. The characters are well developed and interesting, the plot twists enough to keep you guessing. James Rollins is, hands down, one of my absolutely favorite authors. It's truly frightening to think that most of the elements used by Rollins in his books are factual. The crazy-scary things governments have done and condoned. The almost sci-fi weaponry.

If you like what I call History-Mysteries - think Steve Berry and Raymond Khoury (and in my sister's opinion, Clive Cussler) - you'll love Rollins' Sigma Force novels.

The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry

This is the fourth book featuring the character Cotton Malone. Right off, I have to say that I'm a huge fan of Steve Berry's work and have been anxiously awaiting this novel. This book brings back several characters that have appeared in previous books: Stephanie Nelle, President Danny Daniels, Edwin Davis, and of course, Cotton Malone. It also introduces a twisted German family and a Navy conspiracy. This adventure roams up and down the East coast of the United States, Germany, and Antarctica.

While I enjoyed this book, I was a little disappointed. It didn't seem to grab me the same way the previous books did. I felt that this novel centered on too many relationships and personal conflicts rather than the history/mystery that usually keeps the story moving. Oddly, I enjoyed the chapters about what was happening state-side more than Cotton's journey. The concept behind the story is fascinating, though only really tangentially related to Charlemagne.

All in all, this was a good book. I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone (though of course I would recommend they read the previous novels first) - in fact, my sister is already desperate to read it. One of the best things about this book was that the end more or less promised a future novel. Steve Berry remains one of my all-time favorite modern novelists.

Sandstorm by James Rollins

I started this series with the second book. I had picked it up for two reasons: 1) it sounded interesting and 2) the main character shares my son's name. I enjoyed it so much that I sought out the rest of the Sigma Force books.

Sandstorm is the first of the Sigma Force novels. I was disappointed at first when I discovered that Grayson Pierce was not even a minor character, however, I quickly warmed to Painter Crowe. The story is that of a lost city in Oman. The action was consistent and the history interesting. As with all the books of this sort, there were an obscene number of "well, isn't that convenient" circumstances.

The scenery was amazing. You'd think that endless sands would become boring, but Rollins kept the land alive and moving. Each location was described with enough detail to allow me to form complete pictures in my head. The characters were realistic and vivid for the most part. Clay bothered me. He seemed very on-again-off-again, but he wasn't exactly a main player.

I've enjoyed everything I've read by this author (including the fantasy he writes under the name of James Clemens) and would recommend this book without hesitation. In fact, I've already gotten several family members interested in it. If you like well planned and fleshed out history-mysteries, you'll enjoy this book as well.