Assured Destruction by Michael Stewart

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won this ebook from a giveaway on Library Things.

Janus Rose is a high school girl that works at her mom's shop, Assured Destruction, that recycles and shreds used electronics. However, Janus doesn't always shred them and will sometimes dig through the hard drive looking for people's secrets. She will then use this information to create fake profiles of them on her secretive and private Shadownet network.

It starts off simple enough when Janus picks up a hard drive that a mother of one of her classmates drops off but then everything spirals into a much more complicated web of events, hence the mystery. And I must say, I was shocked by the so-called culprit. It was not who I was expecting at all, in fact I think it was the person I expected the least.

Janus is a likeable character and perhaps invested myself too much into her at times (becoming near the point that I was ready to shed tears over some of the terrible drama she had to endure) from relating to her too much (I was stuck in a web design class in high school and ended so far ahead of everyone else that I would just have days sitting at a regular desk doing whatever while my classmates caught up). And I was relieved that everything was set for Janus by the end of the book or I would have probably actually cried.

And if this is really book one of a series, I would jump into reading the sequel. No doubts about that.

 

My Verdict: Four stars out of Five

The Kaiser Affair by Joseph Robert Lewis

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won this ebook from a giveaway on Library Thing.

 

I will start off by saying that I am a huge fan of steampunk.

 

Anyways, The Kaiser Affair was a rather delightful read. I enjoyed the dynamic of the relationship between Bettina and her husband Arjuna. They kept me chuckling a lot with their verbal exchanges but I also found their relationship as rather sweet.

It would have been nice if there had been a section of the book that talked about how they got together as I was really curious but still that did not take away from the story.

 

Bettina and her husband are called in by the Minister of Justice to locate her brother Ranulf Kaiser, whom escaped jail just a couple of weeks before he was to be released. Their pursuit leads to dealing with talking birds and shadowy cults, venturing to a drifting isle, and an expected twist on as to who is really pulling the strings (which took me by surprise).

 

At the end of the book, I am left longing to read more adventures involving this husband and wife team because I fell in love with them so much.

My Verdict: Four stars out of five.

The Gray Ghost Murders by Keith McCafferty

**Nota Bene: Possible spoilers may or may not be present in this review.
Read at your own risk**

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

I won an advanced uncorrected proof in a First Reads Giveaway on Goodreads.

 

First off, I , did not realize this book was a sequel (to The Royal Wulff Murders: A Novel) but you won't find yourself lost if you start with this book (though it would probably be helpful to read the previous book to have more background on the characters).

 

I was intrigued by the plot in the beginning but somewhere in the middle I had lost interest. However, towards the end, the book had drew back my interest. The characters are well done and I particularly liked Martha and Harold.

 

I was not surprised by who the culprit was, but I did not expect the circumstances behind the murders. The references to the "Most Dangerous Game" were clever yet fuzzy for me since I haven't read it since I was a freshman in high school and only vaguely remember it. Also, the connection between the disappearance of the fishing flies and the murders was a nice touch as it was something that I had not expected to be related in the slightest.

My Verdict: Three stars out of Five