61 Hours

Originally when I started this blog, my intention was to review titles that were coming out in the future and give an opinion on whether I felt it was a good read or not. One of the added benefits I have discovered for this blog has been that I am reading authors or genres that I wouldn't normally read or haven't read in the past.

One of these authors that for some reason I have neglected in the past has been Lee Child and his Jack Reacher series. This last weekend I read 61 Hours due in May from Delacorte Press. This broke a cardinal rule for me as I never read any series out of order. It's a weird OCD thing I have, I admit. All I can say is, what the heck have I been doing all these years, missing out on one of the best suspense writers I have ever read. 61 Hours was fast paced and a very smart read.

Jack Reacher is stranded in a small town in South Dakota in the middle of winter while the local police are trying to protect a local witness in a drug case. The only problem is the local economy is tied into a new prison and all the officers must respond in the event of a prison break or riot which could potentially leave their witness unprotected.

At first, Reacher strikes the reader as someone who is lonely and willing to forsake the rest of the world. He is not tied to anyone or anything. Upon closer inspection though, when push comes to shove, he is not only willing to protect people he has just met, but is willing to give his life for them, because that is what is right. While a hard man who has lived a hard life, Reacher still comes across as sympathetic and human.

61 Hours has made me decide to read all the Reacher series and I strongly recommend, that if you haven't picked them up, then go to your local library or bookstore and do so.

Blood Oath

Do you ever get a giddy feeling when you know you have come across something that is truly great? That is how I felt after reading Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth coming in May from Putnam Publishing. This debut novel combines wit, intrigue and the supernatural to form a spectacular adventure of the mind.

Zach Barrows is an up and coming White House shining star and believes he can handle any job the President can throw at him. Little does he know that the President still has a few surprises in store for him by making him the "handler" of Nathaniel Cade. Barrows looks at the job as a demotion and finds it hard to believe that his new assignment is in fact a vampire pardoned during Andrew Johnson's presidency. He soon realizes that the impossible is true and his life has just taken on a whole new direction.

Farnsworth bases his modern story on a little known historical fact that President Johnson really did pardon someone for vampirism. This book reminds me of the Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Pendergast novels with its attention to historical detail that engages the reader without boring them or becoming too analytical. It also has a sense of quirkiness that keeps the reader guessing. I am genuinely looking forward to the next installment of the President's vampire and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.