Avon Books, 2006
Crime Fiction; 374 pgs
J.A. Jance’s latest suspense
novel takes readers into the life of TV journalist Alison Reynolds. Her life suddenly goes into a spiral downward
when she loses her job, finds out her husband is cheating on her, loses her
best friend in a suspicious death, and becomes the target of violent man
because of posts on Ali’s blog. Alison’s
run of bad luck doesn’t stop there.
There was definitely plenty going on in Edge of Evil and the
suspense level was high almost from page one.
J.A. Jance again shows off her gift for being able to create likeable
characters that immediately find a place in the reader’s heart—at least this
reader’s heart. Edge of Evil was
an entertaining thrill ride. I do think
that J.A. Jance took on an awful lot of subjects in this book that may be
overwhelming to some readers.
Avon Books, 1991
Crime Fiction; 407 pgs
Hour of the Hunter is
an intense and engrossing suspense novel about a psychopath bent on revenge,
targeting the woman who helped land him in prison for brutally murdering a
young Native American woman. J.A. Jance uses Papago legends and flashbacks to
help weave the characters and story together, bringing them to life. In some cases, having so many perspectives
from many different characters could have been confusing, however, Ms. Jance
successfully pulls it off.
Kiss
of the Bees (Walker Family, #2) by Linda Fairstein
Avon Books, 1993
Avon Books, 1993
Crime Fiction; 454 pgs
Twenty-one years since that fateful day when Andrew
Carlisle attempted to murder Diana Ladd, the Ladd-Walker clan are faced with a
very similar darkness. Andrew Carlisle
may be dead, but his protégé is determined to carry out Andrew’s revenge as
well as a little of his own. In Kiss
the Bees, I was especially drawn to the Papago legends once again. I liked how Ms. Jance brought the Anglo and
Native American worlds together, focusing on their friendships as well as
touching upon the prejudices.
Avon Books, 2004
Crime Fiction; 395 pgs
Brandon Walker
and his family and friends return in Day of the Dead. This time, he is working for a private
organization that solves cold cases.
When asked to solve the 30-year-old murder of a teenage girl, he
realizes his case might not be an isolated event—nor has the murderer
stopped. With the help of his sons’
stepbrother, detective Brian Fellows, Brandon Walker is determined to learn the
truth. I thoroughly enjoyed Day of
the Dead. I couldn’t turn the pages
fast enough. It was intense and
suspenseful at almost every turn. Again,
Ms. Jance demonstrates her ability to create characters that touch the reader’s
heart. Her books keep getting better and
better.
© 2015, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
I read that first Ali Reynolds book and probably 2 or 3 after that. What I remember about it was the whole blogging thing. I hadn't heard much about blogs at that time. It was intriguing. And I think I agree that that there might have been a little too much going on in the book. Guess she was setting the stage for the series though. It's on book # what now? I always enjoy this feature that you do, Wendy.
ReplyDeleteKay - I've only read the first one in the Ali Reynolds' series. I never felt the urge to read further, after that first book.
DeleteThank you, Kay. I imagine I'll run out of archive reviews at some point this summer. I'm almost all caught up to when I started blogging. :-)
I have been thinking of making a list of easy-read books for when reading is going to be difficult for me. I think Jance is a great author to add to that list!
ReplyDeleteAthira - Her books are fairly easy to read and fun. :-)
DeleteA shame I've promised myself that I'm not going to start any books that form a series as I think I'd quite the the works of this author with the Ali Reynolds series really appealing to me.
ReplyDeleteTracy - You can put Jance on a list for when you are able to read series books again. ;-)
DeleteI think I've read the first Ali Reynolds (and really liked it) but I know I haven't read any of the Walker family books. Thanks for reminding me about JA Jance. She's definitely an author I need to catch up on!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - The Walker family books are really dark, but I enjoyed them. I really like Jance's books.
DeleteI've read 3 of the Ali Reynolds series, but never liked it as much as the Joanna Brady books. Haven't read any of the Walker family series, but may give them a try.
ReplyDeleteJenclair - I only read the first one in the Ali Reynolds' and never had the urge to continue one. I do want to try to get back into the Brady and Beaumont series at some point. See if they still hold their magic for me.
DeleteLooks like you really enjoyed J.A. Jance's books. I used to read many more series books and slowly I stopped. I think it's a mix of book blogging because of the review requests I had no time to commit to series books anymore and of my attention span having shortened over the years. I am often tempted to continue reading a PR series I used to love, Gena Showlater's books. Enjoy your week.
ReplyDeleteNaida - She's one of my favorite mystery authors, for sure. It's been ages though since I last read one of her books.
DeleteI haven't read anything by Gena Showlater, although I know the author's name. I love a good series, and with most of the series I follow, each book is a stand alone so it's not a big deal if I can't remember what happened in previous books, not completely anyway. It's harder for me to remember when I spread out the reading of a series with years in between.
I didn't realize she had another series apart from the Ali Walker and Brady books. I listened to one of the Ali Walker books and liked it a lot but I don't know that I would go back to the beginning. That's the problem for me with series books, if I start mid-series I feel like I already know what happened before and I rarely go back.
ReplyDeleteIliana - Her Beaumont series is my favorite, but I really like the Brady one too.
DeleteI wish I felt that way about series books. If I start in the middle, I always feel the urge to go back to the beginning before I read any more of the books.