Pittacus Backtracks to Fill Some Plot Holes: "The Navigator"

I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Navigator - Pittacus Lore

Among all the tangled plotlines of the so-called Lorien Legacies series, there have always been open plot holes. Take, for instance, the sudden appearance – out of nowhere – of Crayton and Ella in… who knows which of the ‘leventy or so novellas so far? Or the dozens of chimerae [sic] held captive by the Mogadorians in their West Virginia base. Or the mysterious tall, dusky woman who shows up in… another book; or at the end of one tale, as the nine Garde flee their doomed home, there’s brief mention of a second ship. Well, Pittacus Lore (in reality the writing team of Jobie Hughes [maybe, or perhaps another ghostwriter] and James Frey ) are nothing if not inventive, once again doubling back in their plotline to fill in the holes. This time, it’s the startlingly out-of-sequence The Navigagtor.

Romantic Mayhem that Falls Flat

Inviting Fire - Emily Kimelman

It’s tough dropping into a mystery-thriller series at the sixth book. I wouldn’t recommend it, actually, but only book number six in the Sidney Rye series was offered free, and I don’t pay for self-published books. Not even 99¢… Inviting Fire was free, but it still was’t a bargain.

In case you aren’t aware of the series, Emily Kimelman’s Sidney Rye is… well, I’m still not quite sure what she is even after having read the entire book. I think she’s supposed to be an avenging angel, since the group she helped found, Joyful Justice, seems to like to kill people it considers “bad.” Of course, this being 2015, bad people are human traffickers, just as they’d have been cartel sicarios ten years ago. Whatever.

Are Thrillers Supposed to Be this Depressing? and This Predictable?

No Good Deed - M. P. McDonald

Thriller novels? Let’s see: the hero is supposed to undergo trials and tribulations and nevertheless triumph. Isn’t that about the size of it? Well, if all you want is a plot in which a hero undergoes trials and tribulations and nevertheless triumphs, then feel free to pick up a copy of M. P. McDonald’s No Good Deed. If, on the other hand, you want something well-written; I advise you to look elsewhere: this is the sort of novel on which self-publication has built a regrettably shoddy reputation.

Mark Taylor’s a Chicago-based photographer, and a damned good one. Not only does he do kiddie portraits and weddings, he also does arty stuff. That’s how he got in trouble: while taking photos in Afghanistan for a buddy’s book on the plight of Afghan women he found an old camera in a bazaar. Little did he know the camera had special powers: the first time he developed photos taken with the camera (yeah, film), some shots he hadn’t taken appeared: photos of airplanes crashing into twin towers. 

Another Cozy Mystery that Won't Tax Your Brain

The Murder Pit - Jeff Shelby

Daisy Savage has her hands full: besides keeping husband number two, Jake, satisfied; the full-time homeschooling Mom to three of the blended-family kids, she’s also busy with keeping the family’s hundred-year-old house from collapsing into itself. When exploring a frozen pipe turns up a body hidden in a coal chute they didn't even know they had, Daisy finds herself “forced” to investigate on her own. Because she dated the victim, albeit briefly, between husbands, the whole town of Moose River, Minnesota, is convinced she offed poor Olaf Stunderson.

That includes Olaf’s sister, Olga, and his ex-wife Helen; or so it seems. Whether the Susan Powter lookalike cop has cleared her is questionable. But all this suspicion and enmity mean that Daisy’s comfy life – and worse, the lives of her kids – is a mess, so she’s gonna do what she’s gotta do: find the killer. Naturally, the killer will find her first…

Reacher as a Teen Looks a Lot Like Reacher at Forty

"High Heat: A Reacher Novella" - Lee Child

A former coworker’s wife is a well-known author of true crime fiction. A few years back, she discovered that she could repurpose old articles and other content by publishing them only in e-content form and selling them at $2.99 per download as her fans gobbled them up. Apparently she isn't the only one – now you can now find short stories, short story collections and novellas all over Amazon at “bargain” prices. It’s apparently great way for well-known authors to bank some bucks for work they’d never published. A case in point is “High Heat,” a Jack Reacher novella from prolific author Lee Child.