Mk - PopcornReads.com's Blog – January 2012 Archive (12)

There are some authors who rank up there among the greats, and in my mind bestselling author Walter Mosley is one of them. There’s a reason he’s won more awards than you can shake a stick at. I’ve read all of his series novels…actually I’ve devoured them to tell the truth. I can’t tell you how delighted I was to win an advance readers’ copy (ARC) of All I Did Was Shoot My Man, Mosley’s latest novel in the Leonid McGill mystery series. And I’m even…

In my continual quest for novels to bring you, I kept seeing Budapest Noir by Vilmos Kondor. At first I just passed it by but there was something about it that intrigued me. When I read the publisher’s brief synopsis, I decided it was worth giving a shot. As the title suggests, this is a dark and twisty tale. Because of some of its content, I don’t recommend it for young teens.

Will you like Budapest Noir? Some stories are so dark…

It is with great joy that I bring you my review of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan Philipp Sendker. This is a story set in New York and in Burma, a country most Westerners know little about. The truth is though that it doesn’t matter where it’s set to some extent…

How could I resist a title like The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen by Thomas Caplan, especially when it’s got an introduction written by President Bill Clinton? Of course I couldn’t, and I’m really glad I didn’t. There’s a reason I kept humming the 007 theme under my…

I won Paranormalcy by Kiersten White in a recent Giveaway Hop and am delighted to pay it forward by hosting a giveaway for it. But first things first – oh yeah, the review. This is Book #1 in the Paranormalcy Trilogy and I couldn’t be happier that it’s a series. This YA paranormal fantasy series features one of the funniest, most loveable, kick-butt heroines I’ve come across in a long time. It’s easy to see how this novel made the New York Times…

I like all kinds of mysteries so, when I was looking for a new one, I thought the publisher’s promo for Love, Honour, and O’Brien by Jennifer Rowe sounded entertaining. I knew nothing about Australian author Jennifer Rowe or her mystery novels, including that she’s an award-winning author. Go figure – where have I been? If you like unconventional, humorous mysteries featuring reluctant female heroines then hopefully you’ll get as much of a kick out of this one as I…

When Amanda Hocking self-published Switched, Book #1 of the Trylle Trilogy, I doubt she could have predicted that it would sell over a million copies and become a word-of-mouth sensation. What a pipe dream that must have seemed. I was one of the people who stumbled onto this series and got hooked very quickly, and then spread the word.

When I learned St. Martin’s Press was going to publish the series, I knew I wanted to score a copy of…

When Viking asked if I wanted to read and potentially review From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry, I commented about the long title. They laughed and suggested I watch the video below. I’ve posted that video because I think you’ll get a kick out of it, and…

I had heard a lot of great things about award-winning author Val McDermid’s bestselling thrillers featuring psychologist Tony Hill and detective Carol Jordan, so when I got a chance to get an advance readers copy of The Retribution, I jumped on it. Val McDermid is a world-class crime writer and The Retribution is a chilling, gripping novel. This is Book #7 in this UK-based series. I probably could have deciphered some of the relationships…

When I saw the publisher’s blurb about Insanity by Aaron Jordan, it looked like a very interesting and original premise so, of course, I had to request an advance reader’s copy. What would happen if mental health professionals and research scientists were given complete control over mankind? In this dystopian, science fiction thriller of a novel, that’s exactly what’s happens. Let’s just say you may never look at vitamins the same way again.

“On…

When I saw the publisher’s description of Sticks & Stones, it sounded reminiscent of Janet Evanovich’s and Lisa Lutz’s novels. Sticks & Stones is the second book in the Cat DeLuca mystery series by K.J. Larsen. It works fine as a stand-alone novel, so no worries on not having read the first book.

To give you an idea of the writing quality, Book #1 in the series, Liar, Liar, was named one of 2010’s…

When I read the publisher’s synopsis of Need You Now by bestselling author James Grippando, it sounded so relevant to what we’ve been going through as part of this recession that I thought it would be a very timely read. It definitely was. Obviously real life is, hopefully, not normally as filled with conspiracies as fiction; however, Need You Now was a gripping read. If you like conspiracy thriller novels full of political and corporate…