It never hurts to do some testing.
Testing Google+
Karen
Room 1515
“You can’t just pout and decide you don’t want to play anymore” quote from Point of no Return [the movie]
[amazon_link id=”B0077F9RFK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Room 1515[/amazon_link] by Bill Wetterman
Book Description: International Thriller. A female agent named Peacock is sent on a mission to woo and win the heart of the world’s most powerful powerbroker. Her job is to learn his secrets and foil his plans. Instead, she falls in love. A story of the balance of world financial power, betrayal, and romance. Pour two ounces of the most powerful financier in the world. Mix in two ounces of America’s most treacherous female spy. Stir in betrayal and love. Room 1515!
My take:
Power, greed, violence, international intrigue all fit into Room 1515. I found Room 1515 to be a very well written CIA, financial takeover, espionage type novel. In some ways it reminds me of the movie “Point of no Return” staring Bridget Fonda back in the 90’s, as well as La Femme Nakita.
Peacock takes her job very seriously. She moves up the ranks in the CIA to become the “top notch” female spy. Start reading this one early or you’ll find yourself up at the wee hours until you’ve reached that very last page.
I received this book free from the author and was asked to give my honest opinion. I did enjoy reading Room 1515 and would read other books by Bill Wetterman.
Only the Strongest Survive
Product Description: The novel opens with a hair-tingling scene, as two men kidnap Emely Donnovan, one of the wealthiest women in America, and bury her alive. What is behind this horrific crime?
Raised in a strict religious institution, Emely never knew her parents. Fearing a life of poverty, she starts up a small business that deals mainly with buying and selling stocks. Thanks to her extreme dedication and knowledge, the company grows over time into a major conglomerate. In her desire for ever greater financial security, this beautiful, ambitious CEO has accumulated a number of enemies.
But now she finds herself locked in the basement of a remote house in the middle of a forest, watched over by one of her captors who makes her buy and sell stocks for him so he can get rich. Her challenge to survive becomes even more complicated when Emely’s captor falls in love with her.
My Take:
Only the Strongest Survive was a very different type of mystery/thriller. Most mystery/thriller books/novels spend most of the time on the introduction of how it happened, the back story of the individual(s), possible suspects, and so on. Only the Strongest Survive dives right into the kidnapping of Emely Donnovan and very little time is spent on the back story, or even trying to actually find Emely for that matter. In some instances I felt things were a little off because no one was looking for Emely, but as I kept reading it didn’t matter. The whole of the book [to me] was what happened between Emely and her captors after she was kidnapped, and most of the characters in the book were well developed and memorable; others, not so much.
I received this book free from the author and was asked to give my honest opinion. I did enjoy reading Only the Strongest Survive and would read other books by Ian Fox.
Damage Control
Product Description:
When a Mexican drug lord sets his sights on celebrity money manager, Peter Hansen, a quiet terror is unleashed across suburban New Jersey. As Peter’s investment business morphs into a money laundering center for drug lord Julio Viola, friends, family and clients get caught in the wake.
Dr. Nick Johnson, Peter’s good friend, is appointed to serve on a high profile heart drug study, and is flattered and eager to further his stagnant career. But Nick’s excitement turns to terror when Julio discovers the valuable inside information Nick has about the pharmaceutical trial and unwittingly makes it known to Nick that the cartel has no plans to let him live in the end. Peter helps his friend Nick plan to fake his death so as to escape from the cartel, while Peter is soon forced to worry about his own family once Julio’s paranoia leads to several murders of Peter’s employees and clients.
Will Julio deliver on his death warrant for Nick? Will a celebrity client take vengeance on Peter for his lies? Once the money laundering outfit begins to unravel, Peter must act swiftly and harshly. The struggle Nick and Peter have in escaping from the deadly grasp of the cartel drives the energy of the novel.
My take:
The actual plot line could have made Damage Control a best seller if it didn’t lack organization of the plot and subplots, as well as better characterization of the players in the book. I found it hard to follow and hard to know when one plot ended, when another subplot began, and when it returned to the main plot. The author has a sequel to Damage Control called “Overload” that I have not had the opportunity to read, but was wondering if the author were to combine the two, would it make more sense? Maybe I’ll have to get it.