Tagged: conspiracy
A Dangerous Madness by Michelle Diener
(Cover picture courtesy of Michelle Diener’s site.)
The Duke of Wittaker has been living a lie…
He’s been spying on the dissolute, discontented noblemen of the ton, pretending to share their views. Now he’s ready to step out of the shadows and start living a real life…but when the prime minister of England is assassinated, he’s asked to go back to being the rake-hell duke everyone believes he still is to find out more.
Miss Phoebe Hillier has been living a lie, too…
All her life she’s played by society’s rules, hiding her fierce intelligence and love of life behind a docile and decorous mask. All it’s gotten her is jilted by her betrothed, a man she thought a fool, though a harmless one. But when she discovers her former fiancé was involved in the plot against the prime minister, and that he’s been murdered, she realizes he wasn’t so harmless after all.
And now the killers have set their sights on her…
The only man who can help her is the Duke of Wittaker–a man she knows she shouldn’t trust. And she soon realizes he’s hiding behind a mask as careful as her own. As the clock ticks down to the assassin’s trial, the pair scramble to uncover the real conspiracy behind the prime minister’s death. And as the pressure and the danger mounts, Phoebe and Wittaker shed their disguises, layer by layer, to discover something more precious than either imagined–something that could last forever. Unless the conspirators desperate to hide their tracks get to them first.
[Full disclosure: Michelle Diener invited me to review her book and I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
For all that I’m a history buff, I knew absolutely nothing about the period that A Dangerous Madness is set in. I really hardly know anything about England in the 1800s so after finishing Michelle Diener’s latest release I can very honestly say that I learned something.
Phoebe, the main character, is my type of woman. She’s strong and feisty but at the same time is actually aware of social norms and generally tries to follow them. Sure, she gets fed up with them and ends up not caring about certain ones but at least she isn’t your stereotypical total outcast of a heroine. James, the Duke of Wittaker is a good male lead. He’s not your perfect knight in shining armor but he does his best to improve his character when he starts to fall in love. In the past he’s done things he deeply regrets and you can tell that his guilt for some of the things weighs on him but he’s also done quite a bit of good.
The story begins with Phoebe’s fiancé dumping her and fleeing the country and it only heats up from there. Soon the prime minister is shot (which actually happened) and there’s a conspiracy that goes to the highest levels of the country behind the assassination. There are so many twists and turns you can’t tell how things are going to end up because Michelle Diener is so good at writing tales of political intrigue.
I’m not qualified to speak to the historical accuracy of A Dangerous Madness, but as Michelle Diener writes in her historical note, many of the events really did happen as she described them. The conspiracy is pure speculation but at the same time when you look at the real people involved it might not be all that far off from the truth. Perceval had many powerful enemies, that’s for sure! And that’s how historical fiction is best done: mostly history with a little bit of fiction in to spice things up.
Even if you haven’t read the first two books in the Regency London series, you can certainly start with A Dangerous Madness just like I did. They don’t have to be read in any particular order but I still can’t wait to read the first two books because I loved this one so much.
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.
Blackout by Mira Grant
(Cover picture courtesy of A Dribble of Ink.)
The conspiracy that rules post-zombie America is alive and well. The same can’t be said of the bloggers who dared to tell the truth as they found it.
Now, with too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, Shaun Mason and his team must face mad scientists, zombie bears, and rogue government agencies—and if there’s one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it’s this:
Things can always get worse.
Being the snarky, rather opinionated person I am, I am rarely lost for words. But after reading Blackout,the last book in the Newsflesh trilogy, there’s only one thing to say.
Wow.
After that enormous cliffhanger at the end of Deadline, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Blackout and when I did, I wasn’t disappointed. Funny, dark, suspenseful and full of plot twists, Blackout was no disappointment. And it even had a satisfying, if not entirely happy, ending. What else could I really ask for?
In Deadline, Mira Grant explains the Kellis-Amberlee virus itself so we can understand things like reservoir conditions and spontaneous remissions. But in this last book, we find out pretty much everything about the virus, including why mosquitoes have suddenly become a vector. As you have probably guessed, this new vector is manmade and Dr. Abbey has her hands full figuring out the structure of this new threat before time runs out.
One of the recurring themes throughout the trilogy is the importance of the truth, but this features even more prominently in Blackout. Shaun, Becks, Alaric, Mahir and a character I won’t mention because it’s a spoiler have some very tough choices about whether the truth is really the best thing. I had serious doubts about their resolve, especially near the end, but the team stays true to themselves. Sadly, one of my favourite characters dies, but at least they go out in a blaze of glory protecting those they love.
And now, to lighten things up, here’s one of my favourite parts of the whole novel (Warning: language not suitable for younger readers):
“I, Shaun Phillip Mason, being of sound mind and body, do hereby swear to poke dead things with sticks, do stupid shit for your amusement and put it all on the internet where you can watch it over and over again.” (Pg 4)
That pretty much sums up Mira Grant’s sense of humour, doesn’t it?
I give this book 5/5 stars.