Finished THE VISITANT

 

Wow.  This is really different and I love it.  Action alternates between present day archeologists unearthing an unusual find and the Anasazi going through an unusual crime spree of scary proportions.  It certainly kept my attention and made me think.

I have now just barely started The Demon Crown by James Rollins.  It begins with a trip by Alexander Graham Bell to Italy to retrieve the bones (now under threat of excavation by a mining company) of the original gifter of the money used to build the Smithsonian Institute.  And, of course, undercovers a dangerous mystery while so doing.

Finished A CRY IN THE NIGHT

 

When I first started this book I thought the opening sounded familiar, but I'd never recorded it in my notebook or on Goodreads.  Then just before I got half-way through, I was sure I knew how it would end, so I skipped to about the third last chapter when I read that the sheriff of the town said something about agreeing with Jenny.  With that much comfort, I went back and read the rest.  It is a cautionary tale, for certain and definitely frightening. 

I have now started The Visitant by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear.  I've read a number of books by these authors and all begin with an archeologist finding something that will be important in the story when we go back it time.  But, once in the past we have stayed there.  Now, I think, this series will be going back and forth between the present archeologists and the past Anasazi, showing how the spiritualism effects both.  Getting into it is slow....

Finished ALCHEMYSTIC

 

A spellmason it seems is one who enchants stone to life.  A handy talent but also one you would not want used against you.  This supernatural talent is one I have not encountered before and, like Strout's Simon Canderous books, is highly inventive.

I have now started A Cry in the Night, an older book by Mary Higgins Clark.  It was hard for me to believe after the author's death that there were still so many of her books I've not read.  I have no idea how I missed this one.

Finished PERIL IN THE PARK

 

Short mystery set in Miami.  Some young adult angst and secret keeping complicates the action.

I have now started reading Alchemistic by Anton Strout.  This is the first book in a new series.  Alexandra's brother is dead (assumed because only his hand grasping his cell phone has been found), murdered (assumed because...the above.) Our heroine is being forced into her family's real estate business, though she'd prefer to just practice her art (sculpture.)

Finished WHITEOUT

 

As a very heavy Christmas snowstorm begins, a group of fortune hunters steals an unsurvivible ebola-type virus in order to sell it to terrorists.  Then they take refuge from the storm with a family who have come together for the holiday.  Good suspense. 

I have now started another Jamie Quinn Mystery, Peril in the Park.  As the new parks administrator for the county, Jamie's boyfriend, Kip, has made enemies.  There has already been a murder and Kip is missing....

Finished THE LAKE WOBEGON VIRUS

 

I expected this to be better/ funnier than it was.  The stories follow so closely together (often in the same paragraph) that it was often hard for me to follow.  Most of it also sounded like gossip and though it was sort of humorous, it made me vaguely uncomfortable.  I don't like gossip...I like stories.  So, I don't know, I may not read any more of this author.  I did make it all the way through the book, which means there was something interesting,  but not enough for me to come back.

I am about to start Whiteout by Ken Follett.

Finished DEADLY TOUCH

 

Our heroine can touch a thing a crime victim touched or stand where a crime was committed and see into the last moments of the victim and where the body is.  Not much help if the victim doesn't know what happened until they were bleeding from the neck and on the ground.  This is one of the most intricate whodunits by Heather Graham that I have read and I appreciated that.  There were a couple times I lost track of the characters, but there was enough detail to help me remember them again.  The intricate plot made the solution a little complicated, but, as usual, I enjoyed the book.  I have driven the entire Tamiami Trail, so I knew the stretch featured in the book, which is kind of fun. I really enjoy this dependable series.

I have now started The Lake Wobegon Virus, by Garrison Keilor.  Although a friend has been encouraging me to read these books, this it the first of them I am reading.  I had intended to read them in the order in which they were written, but many are out of publication and, though some of them are available, they are outrageously expensive.  The virus in question causes its victim to do and say things uncharacteristically honest.  Later the person doesn't remember.  Yes, the first few pages are funny.