Friday, March 31, 2017

Book Review #33: Patriot Games

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

Patriot Games is the third book written by Tom Clancy, second one written in th Jack Ryan series. Although it was written after The Hunt for Red October, this book takes place before and events in it are referred to in The Hunt for Red October. In this book, Jack Ryan, a history professor at the Naval Academy, is on a family vacation in London and is also doing some research for a new book. Just after he meets his wife and daughter in a park after a research session, a terrorist attack starts right in front of him on a Rolls Royce. That’s when some of Jack’s Marine training kicks in and he takes action by doing a blindside tackle on the closest terrorist to him, knocking the terrorist out, taking his gun and fires at the other one, killing him. A third terrorist takes off in a vehicle before anything could be done to him. The terrorist that he had knocked out later escapes from prison a vows vengeance on Jack.

It’s been at least five years since I’ve last read this book until now. It was the third tecno-thriller that I ever read (back in the 80’s) and it helped solidify my love for thrillers. The action continues throughout this book and keeps the reader wondering what’s going to happen next. I consider this a must read for anybody that likes thrillers.

Purchase Links:
This book can be purchased in various formats at the following sites:



Tim’s Rating: *****
(Five out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more reviews.



Monday, March 27, 2017

Book Review #32: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is the fourth book in the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this is a collection of thirteen short stories which keep the reader wondering the circumstances, clues and outcome of each story. We are introduced to his brother, Mycroft, in one of the stories and briefly appears in some of the others. We are also introduced to Professor Moriarty in the last story of the book.

This book is as compelling as the ones that precede it in the series. It’s amazing on how the author could come up with the plot and outcomes of all these stories and keep them interesting. I enjoyed this one just like the others.

Download Links:
You can download this book in various ebook formats from the following sites:




Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.


Book Review #31: The Wailing Octopus

The Wailing Octopus is the eleventh book in the Rick Brant series by John Blaine (Harold L. Goodwin). In this book Rick, Scotty, Tony Briotti and Hobart Zircon discover evidence that there were pirates on Spindrift Island at one time. After doing some research they find out that the ship that had sunk near Clipper Cay, a small island near Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and had never been recovered. The decide to go on a Spindrift Foundation expedition to try to find the pirate ship and items that were on board when it sunk. They stop in Saint Thomas before going to Clipper Cay to pick up a boat and some supplies before going to Clipper Cay. While on Saint Thomas, Rick and Scotty come across Steve Ames, a government agent who they’ve worked with on some of their previous adventures. They help Steve slip away from somebody that’s been shadowing him. A little later they discover that somebody is following them and the soon they have some adventures even before leaving Saint Thomas. After they get to Clipper Cay they discover that somebody has tampered with some of their diving equipment, but don’t know why.

It’s been six months since I last read a Rick Brant novel and decided to read this one as one of my reads for March Mystery Madness in the children’s detective category. It is a quick read and also entertaining like the others in the series. It also keeps you wondering what is going on until the very end of the novel is what I like in books. I will keep on reading books in this series from time to time until I complete the series.

Download Links:
This book can be downloaded in various formats from the following sites:





Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.



Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Book Review #30: The Winner


***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

The Winner is the third novel by David Baldacci. LuAnn Tyler is a twenty year old mother in a small Georgia town in which many people are living in poverty. Many of them dropped out of school when they were young in order to make a living, including LuAnn who dropped out when she was was in seventh grade in order to support her family. She would take jobs wherever she could find them in the local community which usually didn’t last more than a few months. She was living with Duane, the father of her baby girl. Duane was a good for nothing who always sat around in their trailer that was out in a clearing of some woods with trash and rusted out auto parts all around the trailer. She was called for a job interview with a Mr. Jackson who when she came for the interview enticed her with an offer to win the national lottery and being rich the rest of her life. She was given a few days to make a decision. She wasn’t wanting to cheat like that, but during that three days she came home one day to find Duane Cheating with another woman. She went running out with her baby and decided that she was going to leave him. When she returned to the trailer to confront Duane. She was assaulted by another man with a knife and a struggle ensued in which she managed to grab the telephone and smashed the mans head knocking him out. She went running out of the trailer with her baby and was about to go see the local sheriff until she realized that they would suspect her of murdering Duane and end up in jail. She decided that the only way out of this mess was to take Mr. Jackson’s offer and then caught a ride to Atlanta and took a train to New York where she was given a new identity and flown out of the country after winning the lottery. The rest of the book follows her ten years later after she returns to the United States after moving from country to country for the previous ten years.

This book wasn’t as riveting to me as the author’s previous two. It is still good, especially later on when Mr. Jackson is going after her to kill her. I still like this author, just this one not quite as much as the first two.

Purchase Links:
You can purchase this book in various formats at the following sites:



Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.