Friday 56 #155 – Strong As Steel by Jon Land @jondland

Posted on February 22, 2019 by fundinmental

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Jon Land has been one of my must read authors for a long time now, way before I started blogging, so I am very excited to share his latest Caitlin Strong novel, Strong As Steel.

Amazon / Goodreads

BOOK BEGINNINGS

The liman reisi of the Port of Ordu watched the freighter crest the currents, alerted to its presence by the fact it was gaining speed instead of reducing it as the ship approached its apportioned pier. He stopped short of sounding the alarm because he recognized her as the Dolunay, captained by Aykan Talu, one of the most experienced in the region. No doubt Talu had yet to slow his engines to better negotiate the unusually stiff currents a larger freighter would have sliced through in effortless fashion.

Uh oh. I see a problem.

MY 56

“Ranger, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but he didn’t have a face. It’s like it was somebody else’s face and he was wearing it,” the man continued. “Like he sewed it on in strips. He wore a hat tilted low over his brow to disguise it as best e could. But when he was checking out, the light hit him just right and I thought maybe Halloween came early.

(56% on Kindle)

GOODREADS BLURB

1994: Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigates a mass murder on a dusty freight train linked to a mysterious, missing cargo for which no record exists.

The Present: His daughter, fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, finds herself on the trail of that same cargo when skeletal remains are found near an excavation site in the Texas desert. She’s also dealing with the aftermath of a massacre that claimed the lives of all the workers at a private intelligence company on her watch.

These two cases are connected by a long buried secret, one that men have killed and died to protect. Caitlin and her outlaw lover Cort Wesley Masters must prove themselves to be as strong as steel to overcome a bloody tide that has been rising for centuries.

MY JON LAND REVIEWS

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You can see my Reviews HERE.
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I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
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Friday 56 #154 – Sully by Kristine Mason @KristineMason7

Posted on February 1, 2019 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Kristine Mason is one of my favorite authors, ever since I read the CORE Shadow Trilogy. She writes some fantastic stories and I would like to share one of her latest in the Mechanics & Mayhem Series, Sully. Looking for a sizzling hot thriller? Sully may be for you.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY 56

Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Was the driver alive when you left?”

(page 56 in Word)

BOOK BEGINNINGS

DETECTIVE JANE COOPER’S heartbeat pounded in her ears as a tow truck, police cruisers and ambulances came into view. She parked along the shoulder of US-90 and drew in a deep breath, hoping the sudden wave of anxiety-induced dizziness would pass. When one of her fellow Violent Crimes Unit detectives, Keith Pierson, approached her car, she quickly wiped her sweaty palms along her pants, then exited.

GOODREADS BLURB

Army veteran and mechanic Sully Dolan spent decades avoiding a serious relationship. After how he’d been raised, he never understood why people bothered with love. Sex, sleep and food were all he needed. Then he meets Detective Jane Cooper.

Sully was supposed to be a one-night-stand. From the moment Jane gripped his hair and fell naked onto his bed, she’d told herself as much. Only one night turned into two, then three… Jane wants to be with Sully, but because of a dark secret that could destroy her if discovered, she brings their relationship to a screeching halt.

After Sully’s best friend is found unconscious on the side of a road, with a dead man next to him, Jane is thrust back into his life as lead detective for the investigation. Although bitter she ended things between them, Sully still misses her. But after too many rejections, how could he trust that she won’t stomp on his heart again? As they try to work through their differences, the past comes back to haunt Jane. Not only could her secrets be revealed and once again tear her and Sully apart, if she isn’t careful…she could lose her life.

MY REVIEWS FOR KRISTINE MASON’S NOVELS

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
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Friday 56 #114 – Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs @KathyReichs

Posted on December 30, 2016 by fundinmental

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The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

Monday Mourning by Kathyr Reichs is another fabulous novel in the Temperance Brennan stand alone series.

This is the cover for my 1st edition hardback published in 2004.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

He told me and started to expound on the reasons for needing both bone ad tooth specimens. the clock said three-fifty. I cut him off.

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 2004)

Book Beginnings

As the tune played inside my head, gunfire exploded in the cramped underground space around me.

GOODREADS BLURB: The bones of three young women are unearthed in the basement of a Montreal pizza parlor, and forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan has unsolved murder on her mind as she examines the shallowly buried remains. Coming up against a homicide cop who is convinced the dead have been entombed on the site for centuries, Tempe perseveres, even with her own relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan at a delicate turning point. In the lab, the clean, well-perserved bones offer few clues. But when Carbon 14 confirms her hunch that these were recent deaths despite the antique buttons found near the bodies, Tempe’s probing must produce answers quickly to stop a killer whose grisly handiwork has seen the light of day.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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WHICH COVER WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

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Friday 56 #113 – Omerta by Mario Puzo #MarioPuzo

Posted on December 23, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Omerta by Mario Puzo is the conclusion of The Godfather series.

I don’t see the book jacket for my 1st edition hardback published in 2000. This one is close, except the dot is red, the background whiter and a novel is encased in shadow after Omerta.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

The first bullet hit the Don square in the forehead. The second bullet tore out his throat. His blood spurted all over the sidewalk, showering yellow sunlight with pink drops.

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 2000)

Book Beginnings

In the stone-filled village of Castellammare del Golfo, facing the dark Sicilian Mediterranean, a great Mafia Don lay dying. Vincenzo Zeno was a man of honor, who all his life had been loved for his fair and impartial judgment, his help to those in need, and his implacable punishment of those who dared to oppose his will.

GOODREADS BLURB: To Don Raymonde Aprile’s children he was a loyal family member, their father’s adopted “nephew.” To the FBI he was a man who would rather ride his horses than do Mob business. No one knew why Aprile, the last great American Don, had adopted Astorre Viola many years before in Sicily; no one suspected how he had carefully trained him … and how, while the Don’s children claimed respectable careers in America, Astorre Viola waited for his time to come.

Now his time has arrived. The Don is dead, his murder one bloody act in a drama of ambition and deceit — from the deadly compromises made by an FBI agent to the greed of two crooked NYPD detectives and the frightening plans of a South American Mob kingpin. In a collision of enemies and lovers, betrayers and loyal soldiers, Astorre Viola will claim his destiny. Because after all these years, this moment is in his blood …

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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WHICH COVER WOULD YOU CHOOSE, including the one above?

Friday 56 #112 – The Pied Piper by Ridley Pearson @RidleyPearson

Posted on December 16, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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The Pied Piper by Ridley Pearson

This is the cover I have for my 1st edition hardback published in 1998.

Look at the cover closely, because there are all kinds of goodies hidden within.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“Well, you little shit.” She grinned widely. “I love the way you operate, you rogue son-of-a-bitch. Have I told you that?”

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1998)

Book Beginnings

The train left the station headed for nowhere, its destination also its point of embarkation, its purpose not to transport its passengers, but to feed them.

GOODREADS BLURB: In Seattle, they’re calling him “The Pied Piper” because he comes in the night and takes children away. To police lieutenant Lou Boldt and psychologist Daphne Matthews, it’s clear this isn’t about a single lunatic or random kidnappings: these crimes are well orchestrated, well executed, and, most chilling of all, occurring in cities all over the country.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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Friday 56 #111 – The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson @JP_Books

Posted on December 9, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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I don’t think there is anyone that hasn’t heard of James Patterson, but have you read The Big Bad Wolf? Another great thriller, suspense novel.

This is the cover I have for my 1st edition hardcover published in 2003, but the colors are more vibrant.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“I’m Alex Cross, with the FBI,” I said to Brigid, who seemed tremendously self-assured for her age, especially during this crisis. “I think that your father is expecting me.”

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1999)

Book Beginnings

The Phipps Plaza shopping mall in Atlanta was a showy montage of pink-granite floors, sweeping bronze-trimmed staircases, gilded Napoleonic design, lighting that sparkled like halgen spotlights. A man and a woman watched the target – “Mom”- as she left Niketown with sneakers and whatnot for her three daughters packed under one arm.

GOODREADS BLURB: Alex Cross, Patterson”s black lawman hero, has left the D.C. police force for the FBI. But Cross was a star cop, so when the Bureau becomes aware that attractive white women are disappearing at an unusually high rate in the nation”s capital, Cross, despite still being in training at Quantico, is brought onto the case and is personally mentored by the Bureau”s director, earning the ire of some Feds but the support of others. Behind the disappearances is a sexual slavery operation run as a sideline by one of the more believable and most compellingly evil villains in the Patterson universe, the Wolf, a mysterious former KGB man who”s now the world”s top mobster. The narrative throughout is swift and varied, as Patterson cuts among the diabolical schemes of a Russian magnate who may be the Wolf, the plight of several kidnap victims, the dogged pursuit by Cross and company of the Wolf, and the hideous designs of the members of an encrypted computer chat room who pay the Wolf fortunes to snatch women who fit their fantasies. And there”s domestic drama, too, as the mother of Cross”s young son, Alex, decides that she wants her boy back. Full of plot surprises and featuring a balanced mix of intrigue, hard action and angst, the novel, on which Patterson notably does not share cover credit, grips from start to finish. The Alex Cross series remains Patterson”s finest, and this is the finest Cross in years.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
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WHICH COVER WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Friday 56 #110 – The Visionary by Don Passman #Don Passman

Posted on December 2, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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I could not find my 1st edition hardback cover for The Visionary by Don Passman on Goodreads, but you can see the striped one with the end below.

The Visionary is about a psychic who sees horrifying murders.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“I started to cry and the nurse hugged me. Her added touch intensified the visions. I knew that she had lost a baby from the beatings. And I saw into her future. She was in a hospital bed with her jaw wired shut. her face was black and blue. I tried to hold her so tightly that nothing could hurt her, and the harder I hugged, the more vivid the scene became. Finally I said to her, “Why do you let him beat you?”

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1999)

Book Beginnings

Lisa’s head snapped forward with such force ttat it almost hit the coffee table. Within moments she was sweating profusely, and the room seemed to pulsate around her.

My question to you: Do you believe in psychics?

GOODREADS BLURB: Lisa Cleary has been plagued with psychic visions all her life. But now her visions are of horrifying murders. Detective Danny Talon is on an urgent mission to find the violent killer of three young women. Lisa and Danny each ask eminent psychiatrist Dr. Michael Rennick for help — and Rennick discovers the three of them are lost in the same web of murder…and the killer has them in sight.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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Friday 56 #109 – Black Water by T Jefferson Parker @TJParkerauthor

Posted on November 25, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Black Water by T Jefferson Parker

I am a huge fan of T Jefferson Parker. I used to go to the library, pick an author and clear the shelf, bringing home huge piles of books. Picking up T Jefferson Parker is a no brainer.

This is the fabulous cover I have for my 1st edition hardcover published in 2002. I love the bubbling water.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

She imagined touching him and being touched. Wondered how his cleanly shaven cheek would feel against her neck. Wondered how his wiry arms would feel around her, what his flat boxer’s chest would feel like against hers. Sometimes she’d picture him and herself together and she’d smile inwardly because he was two inches shorter than she was. This amused her and made her think of the famous actors she’s heard about who were shot from heightening angles. In particular Yul Brynner standing on a box in The kIng and I, according to her mother, who saw the movie something like twenty times.

(Page 56 in 1st edition hardcover published in 2002)

Book Beginnings

Archie pushed the gearshift into third and set his hand on her knee. Coast Highway, southbound. Man in the moon big and close, like he was tilting his head for a peek down into the convertible. Archie glanced up, couldn’t tell if the guy was smiling of frowning. didn’t care because Gwen’s skin was warm through the dress, a few degrees warmer than the breeze gusting through the car.

GOODREADS BLURB: Archie Wildcraft, a cop with a great career ahead of him, is found with a bullet in his brain, lying beside his murdered wife, Gwen. It looks like a botched murder-suicide, but Sergeant Merci Rayborn’s gut instincts tell her differently. As Archie holds on by a thread, Merci is drawn further into the Wildcrafts’ private lives and comes to believe that the young couple were deeply in love and that Archie’s been framed. When Archie vanishes from the hospital, it appears he’s on a vendetta, and it’s up to Merci to cover for him until she has a chance to solve the case on her own. Eventually, she’s led to the Russian mob and discovers awful secrets that she isn’t sure she wants to hand over to the heartless district attorney.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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Which cover do you like best?

Friday 56 #108 – The Cabin by Carla Neggers @CarlaNeggers

Posted on November 18, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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The Cabin by Carla Neggers is a thriller that will keep you warm on those cold winter nights.

I love the pastel colors for this ‘cool’ cover.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

When he came home that evening and told her about Alice’s arrest and never mentioned the tape, Susanna assumed the tape was no good, completely irrelevant – and that Alice hadn’t mentioned it to him. Why should she? She was on her way to prison, her career ruined. If there’s been anything useful on the tape, she’d have turned it over, if only to nail Beau McCarrity and prove herself right.

(Page 56 in paperback)

Book Beginnings

Susann Galway sipped her margarita and watched the countdown to midnight on the television above the bar at Jim’s Place, the small, dark pub just down the street from where she lived with her grandmother and twin teenage daughters. It had been a fixture in the neighborhood for as long as Susanna could remember.

GOODREADS BLURB: Vengeance, money and murder are menacing companions when they meet in the quiet stillness of an Adirondack winter.

Texas Ranger Jack Galway knows his wife Susanna loves him, so when their marriage hits a rough patch, he supports her decision to take their teenaged daughters to Boston for a break. But now a couple of weeks has turned into several months and Jack has had enough. He wants his family back.

Ex-convict Alice Parker left a mess back in Texas, and she’ll never forgive Jack Galway for killing her dream of ever becoming a Texas Ranger herself. Now, guided by greed and vengeance, she’s got her sights set on his family.

Packing up the girls and her grandmother, Susanna heads to a cabin in the Adirondacks, trying to escape her fears, her secrets . . . and maybe even the man she loves. Little does she realize they are being followed, only this time by her husband . . . and a murderer.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
To see all my reviews, go HERE.
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Friday 56 #107 – The Trench by Abdelrahman Munif #AbdelrahmanMunif

Posted on November 11, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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I had a hard time finding the info on this book. I did not realize it was the second book in the series when I grabbed this book a long time ago, because of the controversy. It was banned in some Arab countries. I hate when someone tries to tell me what I can and cannot read, so I will do what I can to support the author.

This is the cover I have, but it was difficult to find it.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“He works until dawn – he doesn’t sleep until he hears the morning prayer call.” He smiled. “The light in that office is never even turned off!”

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1991)

Book Beginnings

Mooran seemed sunk, early that spring, in a meditative silence, as if the city had nothing on its mind. But a sharp eye saw, in this silence, expectancy and signs of unease. The calm was deceptive and would end abruptly, as if it had never been. With no plan or collusion, the silence was shared by all; their movements were exaggeratedly slow and measured, with a suggestion of secrecy and conspiracy, since any slip, whatever its cause, would give offense and create difficulties not easily dispelled.

Do you ever feel you have to have a book because it has been banned or is controversial?

AMAZON BLURB: Set in 1950, the novel brilliantly evokes the royal court of a fictional monarchy, in all its fatuousness, turpitude, and savagery – an obsenely rich monarchy that presides over artificial boundaries defined by imperialists, that depends on foreign intriguers and masses of migrant workers for its luxury, and that practices severly undemocratic and repressive policies. The book is banned in Saudi Arabia and other Persian gulf countries.