Life on Planet Caddick

The Bat by Jo Nesbø My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was a little skeptical about reading this book. I read The Snowman a while ago and was not that impressed. I thought it was too wordy. But I'm always willing to give an author a second chance so I decided to go for it. I'm glad I did. This book was really good. It gave me a sense of who Harry really is which I enjoyed immensely. It was also so well written - with twists and turns, red herrings, startling surprises, and in the end realizing that you had "who did it" wrong all along (even after changing your mind several times!). In short, the way a good thriller/mystery should be written. I also enjoyed that this book took place in Australia. Nesbo didn't stick to just one place either, we traveled a little though the continent that I'd love to visit. The touches of Aboriginal history and politics were also well done by incorporating them into the backstories of the characters rather than just throwing th...

What it's about:  Cotton Malone is back! Steve Berry’s new international adventure blends gripping contemporary political intrigue, Tudor treachery, and high-octane thrills into one riveting novel of suspense.   Cotton Malone and his fifteen-year-old son, Gary, are headed to Europe. As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department, Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England. But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London, both the fugitive and Gary disappear, and Malone learns that he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown—an international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets.   At its heart is the Libyan terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103, who is set to be released by Scottish authorities for “humanitarian reasons.” An outraged American government objects, but nothing can persuade the British to intervene.   Except, perhaps, Operation King’s Deception.   Run by the CIA, the op...

Nearly one hundred years ago, a desperate young woman crawled ashore on a desolate arctic island, carrying a terrible secret and a mysterious, emerald-encrusted cross. A century later, acts of man, nature, and history converge on that same forbidding shore with a power sufficient to shatter civilization as we know it.   Army epidemiologist Frank Slater is facing a court-martial, but after his punishment is mysteriously lifted, Slater is offered a job no one else wants—to travel to a small island off the coast of Alaska and investigate a potentially lethal phenomenon: The permafrost has begun to melt, exposing bodies from a colony that was wiped out by the dreaded Spanish flu of 1918. Frank must determine if the thawed remains still carry the deadly virus in their frozen flesh and, if so, ensure that it doesn’t come back to life.   Frank and his handpicked team arrive by helicopter, loaded down with high-tech tools, prepared to exhume history. The colony, it transpires, ...

Book Title and Author: A Bat in the Belfry by Sarah Graves (This book is #16 in the Home Repair is Homicide Series. Description When it comes to home repair, Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree  is a fervent wielder of power drills and paint brushes. And when catching criminals, she’s been known to really bring down the hammer. But when a shocking murder rocks the small town of Eastport, Maine, Jake may be the next victim for whom the bell tolls.   It is nearly midnight when the enormous bell in the belfry of All Faith Chapel—silent for decades—booms forth, startling awake the entire town of Eastport. Upon inspection of the steeple, the police uncover the body of local teenager Karen Hansen, who had climbed the belfry’s dark, rickety stairs for a midnight rendezvous. But instead of the promise of an exciting new life, Karen meets her death. Meanwhile, as an epic nor’easter bears down on the idyllic island town, Jake Tiptree hurries to shore up her ramshackle old house against the bi...