Category: Mystery/Suspense
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose
(Cover picture courtesy of BandelierGirlReadsEverything.)
In 1533, an Italian orphan with an uncanny knack for creating fragrance is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. To repay his debt, over the years René le Florentine is occasionally called upon to put his vast knowledge to a darker purpose: the creation of deadly poisons used to dispatch the Queen’s rivals.
But it’s René other passion—a desire to reanimate a human breath, to bring back the lives of the two people whose deaths have devastated him—that incites a dangerous treasure hunt five centuries later. That’s when Jac L’Etoile—suffering from a heartache of her own—becomes obsessed with the possibility of unlocking Rene’s secret to immortality.
Soon Jac’s search reconnects her with Griffin North, a man she’s loved her entire life. Together they confront an eccentric heiress whose art collection rivals many museums and who is determined to keep her treasures close at hand, not just in this life but in her next.
Set in the forest of Fontainebleau, crisscrossing the lines between the past and the present, M.J. Rose has written a mesmerizing tale of passion and obsession. This is a gothic tale perfect for fans of Anne Rice, Deborah Harkness, and Diana Galbadon.
[Full disclosure: I was provided a free ebook through NetGalley for the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
If I had to describe The Collector of Dying Breaths in just one word it would have to be ‘beautiful.’ Yes, beautiful.
Beautiful is the word that comes to mind simply because M. J. Rose’s writing style is just that. It’s descriptive, but not overly so. It’s very heavily focused on appealing to the reader’s five senses. Since this is a novel heavily centred around perfume of course she describes the scents in pretty much every scene, but she also doesn’t neglect the reader’s ears or sense of touch. Very few writers can appeal to all five of the senses in a natural way but M. J. Rose stands out in this respect.
As with most books, the one element I liked most was the characters. René le Florentine really spoke to me as a character and through the flashbacks I felt his triumphs and his greatest sorrows. He really is a tragic character and although he tries to do the right thing, it seems like it always turns out badly for him. I can’t tell you much more about poor René without having too many spoilers but I can tell you that by the end of the novel your heart will ache for him.
Jac is an interesting character as well. Having lost her beloved brother and seeing an opportunity to complete his life’s work, she’s in a state of emotional confusion. Added to that are her constant past life memories that are triggered by being around objects and locations with so much history. I liked slowly learning her back-story and seeing how she coped with both her brother’s death and the return of her former lover. She changes throughout the course of the novel and I was very happy with her decision in the end.
The plot is not fast-paced by most people’s standards but The Collector of Dying Breaths is interesting enough to keep you reading into the early morning hours. The plot twists and turns as you try to learn what happened to the unfortunate René and whether Jac could complete her brother’s work or not. These point of view shifts never really slow down the action in the story, though. Instead, they add more tension as the past and present collide, culminating in a heart-pounding climax.
If you like history, romance or just books with well fleshed-out characters, you’re going to love The Collector of Dying Breaths. I can’t speak to its historical accuracy as I know very little about the period, but I guarantee that you’ll feel like you’re right there along with René in the court of Catherine de Medici.
This is the 6th book in The Reincarnationist series by M. J. Rose but it can absolutely be read as a standalone novel, which is how I read it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iain McChesney
(Cover picture courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours.)
Those in line to the Malenfer estate are succumbing to terrible ends – is a supernatural legacy at work, or something entirely more human?
Young Irish mercenary Dermot Ward retreats to Paris at the close of World War I where he drinks to forget his experiences, especially the death of his comrade, Arthur Malenfer. But Arthur has not forgotten Dermot. Dead but not departed, Arthur has unfinished business and needs the help of the living.
Upon his arrival at Malenfer Manor, Dermot finds himself embroiled in a mystery of murder, succession, and ambition. Dermot falls in love with the youngest Malenfer, the beautiful fey Simonne, but in his way are Simonne’s mismatched fiancé, her own connections to the spirit world, Dermot’s guilt over the circumstances of Arthur’s death… and the curse.
[Full disclosure: I received an invitation to read this book through NetGalley from the publisher and accepted the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.]
There are so many things to love about The Curse of Malenfer Manor but the main thing I loved was the writing itself. Iain McChesney has such an authentic style that I truly felt like I was reading a novel from that time period. There are no noticeable anachronisms and I suppose you could call the vocabulary ‘advanced’, but that all comes together to create that authentic, post-war atmosphere. This writing style especially stands out when we actually get to Malenfer manor, a manor that seems stuck in the days of lords and tenants. It creates an eerie atmosphere that completely suits the subject matter of the novel.
My second favourite thing was the characters. How could I not fall in love with Dermot? He carries his guilt over Arthur’s death with him, has a hard time accepting that Arthur came back to him as a ghost, falls in love with the beautiful Simonne and all the while is trying to discover the mystery behind the Malenfer curse. He has a lot of internal conflict to go along with the external conflict and that’s what made him such a memorable character for me. Arthur himself was quite the character as well and it’s a testament to Iain McChesney’s writing ability that although he was such a great character, he never outshone Dermot, the main character.
The plot starts out slowly enough, but when Arthur’s ghost shows up and we learn of his backstory with Dermot things really start to get interesting. And when the two friends arrive at Malenfer manor, it took all my will power to put my Kindle down and go to sleep. The Curse of Malenfer Manor is something you’ll want to read in one sitting in one sitting, believe me. The plot keeps twisting and turning and by the end you’re not sure if the curse really exists or if it’s something more man-made. Iain McChesney is truly a master of suspense.
Even if you don’t like traditional mystery stories, I’d have to recommend The Curse of Malenfer Manor. If you do like historical fiction, romance and/or supernatural elements in your novels, you should read this book. Give it a try; you won’t regret it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Road to Justice by David Carner
(Cover picture courtesy of GoodKindles.)
At some point in everyone’s life you experience hardships. John Fowler went from the highest of highs; great career in the FBI, beautiful wife, and a wonderful marriage, to the lowest of lows; alcoholism, his apartment exploding in front of him while his wife was inside, and leaving the FBI.
The Road to Justice – A John Fowler Novel, is the tale of a man’s redemption. This is the story of a man trying to rebuild his life after the loss of his wife, the attempt to rebuild his career, and the attempt to rebuild relationships with those he hasn’t spoken to since his wife’s funeral. I hope you’ll join me in his journey.
John Fowler was one of the top FBI agents until a year undercover in the mob turned him into an alcoholic and may have led to the brutal death of his wife. His old team needs his help and has brought him in for what they think is a two week old case. The case is actually over 25 years old and involves some of the most powerful people in the world.
John Fowler has returned to the FBI after a three year layoff at the request of his team to try and solve a murder that they are having little to no success with. John has been given the promise if he agrees to help; he will be given the case file to his wife’s murder and be allowed to work on it. The Road to Justice – A John Fowler Novel is the story of a man trying to rebuild his life after the loss of his wife, the attempt to rebuild his career, and the attempt to rebuild relationships with those he hasn’t spoken to since his wife’s funeral.
[Full disclosure: David Carner sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not the sort of person that reads a lot of detective/thriller fiction, but I know many of the tropes and clichés from movies of the same genre. And let me tell you, David Carner uses very few of them in The Road to Justice, which really surprised me.
Okay, so you have an ex-FBI agent who quit after his wife died because of one of his investigations. At the beginning of the novel he’s forced by circumstance back into his old job and ends up deciding that maybe he should move on with his life. That sounds like a pretty standard formula in detective fiction. However, David Carner’s twist on this old trope is great. John Fowler actually has some depth and there’s believable explanations for his decisions, so they feel natural and not contrived at all. It feels like the characters, not the magical hand of the author, are pushing the story forward.
John Fowler’s a pretty good character, but the main appeal for me in The Road to Justice was the plot. It was everything an action/thriller novel should be: unpredictable and fast. Yes, you seem to have the old conspiracy reaching the highest levels of government trope, but again David Carner puts an unique spin on things. I couldn’t predict a lot of the plot twists and the fast pace of the novel kept me glued to my computer screen for hours.
Despite my love of the characters and plot I definitely have a bone to pick with the dialogue. THERE ARE TOO MANY CAPITALS AND EXAMPLES OF MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION!!!!!! I’m all for using capitals/italics/multiple punctuation for effect, but such tools become dull with overuse. And in an otherwise great book, David Carner has relied on these tools far too much. It gets pretty frustrating after a couple chapters or so, actually. The overall quality of writing was excellent, but the dialogue felt pretty stiff as well and there were some examples of you’re vs. your. Such things could easily be fixed by having an editor look over it.
Although the dialogue needs work, I’m actually looking forward to reading more books in the John Fowler series because David Carner is one of those writers that will only improve with time and practice.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
(Cover picture courtesy of The Book Cover Archive.)
Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has certainly gathered a lot of attention from the media, but is all of the hype justified? In my opinion, absolutely!
The story starts off rather slowly, but there is something about Stieg Larsson’s writing style that keeps you hooked until things really start to get interesting. The main character, Mikael Blomkvist is a very three dimensional character that you can’t help but like, but the real star of the novel is Lisbeth Salander, a woman declared mentally incompetent by the state.
Lisbeth is so complex; she really is unlike any character I’ve encountered. She is incredibly smart and truly doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about her, yet we also see her more vulnerable side when she begins to fall in love with Mikael. Lisbeth is also incredibly opinionated and her opinions are very unorthodox and nearly always challenge the status quo. In a way, I think she is a mouthpiece for the author, who probably wouldn’t have dared to voice such opinions.
Stieg Larsson’s writing style is very descriptive, yet not so descriptive as to bore the reader. When he describes the beautiful Swedish countryside, you feel like you are really there, even if you have never been to Sweden. Despite this descriptive style, he manages to create a constant undercurrent of tension that grows ever larger as the novel progresses. A lot of credit for this has to go to Reg Keeland, who translated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo into English from its original Swedish. Translating a novel into a different language while preserving the subtleties of the author’s style is ridiculously difficult and for that alone, Reg Keeland deserves much praise.
The plot of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo twists and turns with astonishing complexity, yet it is not overly difficult for readers to follow. It isn’t exactly fast-paced by conventional standards, but I guarantee that the last 200 pages will go by in the blink of an eye. The ending was a bit cliché—aside from Lisbeth’s decision, even though it stays true to her character—but was very satisfying all the same.
This book does contain explicit sex and violence. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone under the age of 14, at least. While it is a great book, it’s probably not good for sensitive readers.
I give this book 5/5 stars.