Elysium Tide by James R. Hannibal

I ventured into reading a book by an author I have never read before and was quite happy that I chose to read Elysium Tide by James R. Hannibal.

This story will take you from London, England to the shores of Maui, Hawaii within two chapters.

The story begins in an operating room where the reader first encounters Dr. Peter Chesterfield, a top neurosurgeon at the Royal London Hospital. Unfortunately, as good as he is a neurosurgeon he is also quite good at being an egotistical jerk. Since the hospital is a teaching hospital there is an arena where students can observe the operation. In this case, the operation was on a young boy to remove a tumor and when a second-year neurosurgery fellow makes an error that could cost the boy his life, Dr. Chesterfield lets her have it verbally. Sad to say, the parents of the boy were allowed into the arena to observe so they witnessed the error and the outburst. It caused quite a disturbance within the hospital so the good doctor is soon ordered to go on leave to Maui to attend some medical conferences and hopefully come back with a better disposition. No sooner does he get to Maui, he finds the body of a dead woman on the beach.

Detective Lisa Kealona worked for the Los Angeles Police Department when she was invited to join the Maui Investigative Services Bureau to head up their Criminal Investigative Division's Gang Task Force. This makes waves with another female detective who felt the job should have been given to her. When Lisa enters into the story she is investigating some car thefts on the island, however, she soon finds something a little more nefarious going on. 

Peter can't seem to not get involved in being an amateur sleuth to try and find out who murdered the dead girl he found on the beach. Lisa decides to use him to consult with as Peter looks at things differently and maybe he can help her solve the crime. 

Elysium Tide is packed full of fast-paced twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages long into the night. That, along with the Maui island paradise, the reader is in for a real treat.

If you love fast-paced crime novels with good detective work you will love this book. There was great mystery and the characters drove the story.

On a 5-Star Scale - 4 Stars.

I would like to thank Revell Books, for my copy of Elysium Tide. I received my copy for free with no expectation of a positive or negative review.  The opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR. Part 255.

Smiles & Blessings,

Sabotaged Mission by Tina Radcliffe

I am a big fan of Tina Radcliffe's work and when I received a copy of Sabotaged Mission, her first in the Love Inspired Suspense line, I squealed with joy. I am a huge fan of Love Inspired Suspense and I must say that Ms. Radcliffe's offering for the month of August is a wonderful addition to my collection. I hope she will continue in this genre as in my opinion, she has done a masterful job.

I have always enjoyed Ms. Radcliffe's characters and I can honestly say I love the characters she has created in this book.  The female lead is CIA operative MacKenzie (Mac) Sharp and the male lead is CIA officer Gabe Denton. They have a history together so the question is can they put it behind them so they can solve the case that has been handed to them? Also, will they be able to have a second chance at love? There is also a 100-pound bulldog named Winston who you can't help but fall in love with. I know I did. 

After a mission that failed, Mac is left injured and her partner is presumed dead. But someone is after Mac and she doesn't know why. In order to survive, she goes off-grid. However, per orders from CIA headquarters, Gabe is to locate her and bring her safely into headquarters. However, someone tracks him and when he finally locates Mac, he also brings the enemy to her location. 

In time, it is obvious that someone is trying to frame Mac and kill her. Gabe calls in his brother Ben who runs Denton Security and Investigations. With Ben's help, they try eluding the enemy only to find there is more than one person involved.

Sabotaged Mission is a very fast-paced, page-turner that will pull the reader in and captivate them until the final page. I loved everything about this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys fast-paced suspense that keeps you guessing until the end.

On a 5-Star Scale - 5 Stars!!!

I would like to thank the author, Tina Radcliffe, for my copy of Sabotaged Mission. I received my copy for free with no expectation of a positive or negative review.  The opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR. Part 255.

Smiles & Blessings,

Fatal Code by Natalie Walters

When I had the opportunity to read and review Natalie Walters's new book I jumped at the chance. Her newest book, Fatal Code is the second book in "The SNAP Agency" series and I can only say this book is just as good, if not better, than the first book in the series, Lights Out (read my review here)!

Elinor Mitchell is an aerospace engineer working for Lepley Dynamics. Her grandfather was part of a group of scientists who came close to finishing a nuclear energy project but never completed it. When her grandfather dies she takes it quite hard. He left notebooks behind that gave her comfort knowing they were his. What she doesn't realize is there are codes within them that can lead her to the cipher that is needed to complete the 'fatal code'. 

The owner of Lepley Dynamics has hired the SNAP Agency (Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency) because there is a leak in his organization causing important information to get to their competitors. Navy cryptologist Kekoa Young is a member of the SNAP Agency and was given the task of monitoring Elinor as she is suspected of leaking the information.  This soon leads to Kekoa having to protect her as well. Other countries are trying to secure the information from Elinor in any way possible. 

All the characters in this series are well crafted and seem to come to life on the written page. I will say that Kekoa is my favorite character overall at this point. I loved the way he showed his soft vulnerable side when he was with his family and Elinor. I also loved Elinor's quirkiness when she wore t-shirts with scientific equations on them and also when she would tell her quirky jokes. 

There were also moments that brought tears to my eyes such as the line on page 121 where, speaking about her grandfather, Elinor tells Kekoa, "It's like I can run my fingers over his writing and feel closer to him, read his words and hear his voice speaking to me." Or on page 222, "Kekoa's knees buckled, and his father ran to him, strong arms wrapping around him as he collapsed into them, releasing the sorrow, anguish, pain, and regret he'd been holding on to for fourteen years."

There are two things that interfered with me having a 100% enjoyable read. The first was located on page 50 when the author states Kekoa was living his own version of Grey's Anatomy without the medical part and also on the same page she referenced Mad Men. I have never seen either show and so the references fell flat for me. Also, with Kekoa being of Hawaiian descent, in the first quarter of the book there are a lot of Hawaiian words that in order for me to fully understand, I had to look the words up on the internet. This slowed down my reading pace. I will say that the pace picked back up once I got past all the Hawaiian words. I wish Ms. Walters could have included a glossary in the front or back of the book that contained all the words.

I would highly suggest this book to anyone who loves a good fast-paced, suspenseful romance novel.

On a 5-Star Scale - 5 Stars!

I would like to thank Revell Books, for my copy of Fatal Code. I received my copy for free with no expectation of a positive or negative review.  The opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR. Part 255.

Smiles & Blessings,