My Kindle E-Book Collection

What’s It About:
Jaymee Ballard trusted only one person in Roselea,Mississippi with the secret of her lost daughter. When that person is brutally murdered, it leaves her with heartbreak and a slew of unanswered questions. The eerie similarity to a murder of one of Jaymee's close friends years ago causes her to realize her past has come back to haunt her and may cost her own life. Years of deception and abuse leave Jaymee with few options and fewer allies. She turns to the widower of her friend—a man struggling with his own demons—to help her find her daughter and identify the killer before he strikes again. Before all evidence, the truth—and Jaymee's daughter—are lost.

My Thoughts:
This is a fantastic mystery/thriller novel. The journey both Jaymee and Nick have to go through is full harrowing twists and turns. From the get-go, this novel expertly establishes the misfortunate backgrounds of these characters, especially with Jaymee Ballard. She had been controlled and manipulated by despicable characters (her abusive father, the manipulative reverend, etc.), gradually lost her friends and loved ones to an unknown serial killer, and had to deal with the grief losing her daughter to a shady adoption center. These characters face incredible hardships on their journey to solve the recent murders and uncover the truth about the seedy reverend and his shady adoption center. All the elements worked in this book (aside from the rare typo). The story is intricately paced and structured with genuinely shocking twists and incredible scenes of pulse-pounding tension. It has heroes that you root for and villains that you hate the every-living shit out of them. But the heroes also have personal troubles and emotional struggles that they have to deal with that helps them fully-realized developed characters. By the end of it, I felt an incredible sense of euphoria due to the sense of accomplishment as every character gets what they deserved. This is the first of the Delta Crossroads Trilogy and I’m definitely interested to see how the series after this one. Overall, Stacy Brown has masterfully crafted an incredible work of fiction with grand cinematic scale full of harsh events, well-executed tension, and an overall fulfilling narrative.

What’s It About:
Peregrine Storke is an artist with an odd sketchbook full of pictures she’s drawn since she was a child. It is a book full of strange sketches and awkward characters, for there is no better way to hide from bullying and life than to create a world of your own. With a stroke of her pencil, she has given life to a spectacled princess, a freckle-nosed king, a candy loving troll, a two-horned unicorn, and a graceless fairy. At nineteen, Peregrine leaves her home, her sketchbook, and awkwardness behind. But what happens when something goes wrong in the world of Awkward? Trapped inside of her complex realm with the bully she thought to leave behind, Peregrine discovers there is nothing worse than falling for your own villain.

My Thoughts:
This is a fine little fantasy novel. I will admit there was a strange shift that occurred in this novel that I didn’t expect. The first couple of chapters seemed like a work of realistic fiction detailing Peregrine Storke’s rough childhood and establishment of her escapist magical fantasy-land. I didn’t realize that she, along with her best friend’s aloof, serious-minded brother, Foster, would get magically transported to said magical fantasy-land. Admittedly, this makes for some outlandish fantasy scenarios that sometimes contrast the mature themes of the novel. The characters in this fantasy setting aren’t that well-developed and feel more like they belong in a children’s book (which might’ve been the point). This novel also has its’ corny moments along with some instances of heavy-handed writing. In spite of my critiques, I do really like this novel. It works as a great coming-of-age story with the themes of childhood innocence mixed with mature themes of social anxiety, sexual temptation, repressed memories, and bullying along playing with the general theme of growing up and accepting oneself. Besides all the serious themes, this novel also has its’ funny moments that play around with the whole “adults-entering-childhood-fantasy-world” concept: the castle closet having all fancy dresses but no bras and Foster’s general reactions to this childhood world. While the relationship between Perri and Foster seems forced at times, it is still well-developed with each character understanding one another. While the novel has its flaws, it is overall a fantastic reading experience.

What’s It About:
JET - Ops Files chronicles the early years of Maya, who would go on to become the Mossad's deadliest operative: the assassin known as Jet. From the West Bank to Tel Aviv to Jordan to Singapore to Indonesia, Ops Files is a breakneck adrenaline rush that will leave action thriller fans gasping.

My Thoughts:
This is apparently a prequel to a whole series of action novels that Russell Blake has written. By the end of the novel, I was definitely interested to check out more of the series and more of Blake's work. Admittedly, the novel had a slow start and they rushed a bit with the death of Maya's friend making the revenge angle lose some emotional meaning. However, as soon as Maya starts her training as a Mossad operative, the novel becomes progressively enthralling and overall exciting work. Russell Blake does know how to write good action which this book is packed with but aside from that, there is still some intricate plotting and some moments of humors that work as moments of levity from the intense action scenes. But what really makes the novel work is it's intriguing protagonist, Maya Weiss a.k.a. the deadly Jet. This character is shown to be physically capable of being an epic action heroine but has the emotional depth through her inner monologues that makes us relate to her journey to become this deadly agent. While she is always badass and willing to get done and dirty to get she wants, there is a notable progression in Maya's journey that makes the transformation into the unstoppable lethal spy that she wouldn't eventually become. As an added bonus, there is an excerpt from the first Jet novel that just full of exhilarating non-stop action that makes me interesting in checking out more of Blake's novels.

What’s It About:
Do not enter a carnival... enter "The Carnival!" Author Jazan Wild hands you a 320 page ticket that takes you back centuries ago to climb aboard the first ever Ferris Wheel. Fasten yourself into the first ever rollercoaster, as you ride through time and help Jexter The Clown, collect the oddest of oddities, the most freakish of freaks, and the grandest performers ever to perform under the big-top! This dark caravan of misfits needs just one thing to complete the show fantastical... YOU!

My Thoughts:
Honestly, this novel was not super substantial but it still an overall fun read. I honestly preferred the anthology format of the novel in the beginning chapters, rather than it's attempt at being a lineral story later on. I'll admit the writing is very immature and the humor is rather forced. Most of the stories are basic origin stories of loss and tragedy. Plus there were numerous grammatical mistakes that I noticed in the novel. Apparently, this novel is based on a series of comics and while it starts off just listing the origins of the circus freaks, it proceeds to adapt the entire comic series into a novel. It seems to be more of a disadvantage if you want interested readers to check out the comic. However, I did find this to be an overall fun read in spite of its flaws.