Finished up Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke. This is the third book in Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. This is a strong entry in the series, but I still feel it is hard to accept some of the choices and risks the main character makes.
I actually finished Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene back in September. I was in the mood for some well-written satire and this seemed to fit the bill when it came up on KU. I enjoyed it and will probably consider some of his novels in the future.
Enjoying the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. Just finished Trouble in Paradise, a short novella positioned as Book 3.5 in the series. It was a quick, entertaining read. Will be picking up Book 4 shortly.
Finished up Threat Warning which is the third book in the Jonathan Grave series by John Gilstrap. This one took shortcuts with both character and storyline development. Will probably read one more to see if it gets back to the level of the first two books.
Finished Deep Sleep by Steven Konkoly. This was an Amazon First Read from earlier this year. It is a brand new series from Konkoly with a new lead character, Devin Gray. It does bring back some characters and story arcs from his earlier series. It clearly played to the news cycle's focus on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Just finished Paradise, Book 3 of the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. Alanson continues to leverage the success factors from the first two books, especially the "pithy" dialog between Joe and Skippy. Another light, fun summer read.
My latest read was Hostage Zero by John Gilstrap. This is the second book in Gilstrap's Johnathan Graves series. Another fast paced, high suspense novel.
Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke is the second novel in his Dave Robicheaux series. I read the first book, The Neon Rain, back at the beginning of the summer. Robicheaux is cut from the same mold as Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch. I like the character, but he definitely has his flaws.
Just finished up The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly. This is the fourth book in the Renée Ballard series. Harry Bosch plays a "supporting" role. Pace is classic Connelly, but it is just not in the same class as his earlier books.
Death in the Sunshine by Steph Broadribb was an Amazon First Reads pick back in February. It was a light summer read. It's a riff on the Thursday Murder Club trope, but doesn't pull it off nearly as well.
Finally came back to the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson which I started last summer. SpecOps is the second book in the series. Alanson leverages all of the tools that made the first book a fun read. All in all, a great "filler" between more "serious" reads.
My latest read was No Mercy by John Gilstrap. It is the first book in his Jonathan Graves series. Jonathan Grave is a wealthy ex-Delta Force soldier who owns a private security company. Overall, I give it a 4/5 rating and expect I will try a couple more books in the series.
