Book reviews 4/20

Wow, I just realized yesterday's post was my 100th post! That's kind of cool to think about.

Okay, now that that's done, on to business...

Deadlock: The second John Hutchinson novel by Robert Liparulo is even better than the first. Putting the beloved characters in a scenario connected to, but wildly different than Deadfall, Hutch goes to meet with Brendan Page, who he has been researching for the past year and who was behind the frightening events that occurred in Canada. Page wants Hutch to stop following him, so he sends Hutch a message-- kidnapping his son, Logan.

Going from one nail-biting sitation to another, Deadlock explores the human psyche when in danger, getting to the core of the characters in no time and fashioning them into people we either love or hate with a passion. And that's without revealing all the uber-cool, but also uber-creepy things that Page puts his soldiers through. Let me put it this way: the tech-savvy who loved the gadget in Deadfall will feel right at home here. It was impossible to put down, and gave me a reason to read five hundred pages in a day.

My rating: 10/10

BoneMan's Daughters: Ted Dekker's latest is a chilling ride that is perhaps his best to date. I know I said that with Adam and Sinner, but he just keeps raising his own personal stakes higher and higher and HIGHER until the reader goes insane.

Who is BoneMan? A ruthless killer? Or the perfect father, looking for the perfect daughter? He's tried six times. None of the candidates stood up to the test. So he broke all their bones without ever breaking the skin. His newest target: Bethany Evans. But this doesn't sit well with Bethany's father, Ryan Evans, just back from a horrifying experience in Iraq, who will stop at nothing to get his daughter back. With the FBI on his trail, he means that literally.

This one's gooooooooood. I mean, Dekker constantly outdoes himself. And the twist, which could have almost been a cliche, is deftly handled by Dekker. But be warned: this is one you'll want to read with the light on.

My rating: 10/10

The Bones of Makaidos: This is it. The last Oracles of Fire book. Which means this is the last time to ever see your favorite characters from Dragons in Our Midst. I'm not going to say much about it, because you need to experience it for yourself, only that it's the best book I've read this year, and the best series finale I've read since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You will laugh. You will cry. You will cheer. You will cry. And you will put the book down, as I did, knowing that you have enjoyed a rare treat from an author who has had more than his fair share of ups and downs. But I will always have a special place in my heart for Billy and Bonnie, right next to Aidan Thomas from The Door Within and Cat from Isle of Swords.

My rating: 10/10