STATUS UPDATE: SITE UNDER RECONSTRUCTION

Good morning, everyone! As you may have noticed, several things look different throughout my blog now. Primarily, a ton of images I used in my posts have vanished. This happened because I changed the Google account I use to manage Ivan's Insights. I didn't want or need the old account, so I decided to delete it. What I didn't realize is that the account in question is where many of this blog's images are stored. I'm going to have to re-upload them all. It will be a pretty massive task, and I have other things to do unrelated to my online affairs. So this might take a little while. At least the timing isn't too bad; Ivan's Insights is almost due for a new coat of paint. I will likely take the opportunity to do that now. In the meanwhile, I'll keep posting new book reviews. Those will be unaffected by the changes, of course.

This is still me as well. Ivan's Insights hasn't been taken over by someone else. I just didn't need the old Google account I deleted. So, that's it for now. Have a good day!


Ivan

BOOK REVIEW: NYPD RED 3 BY JAMES PATTERSON AND MARSHALL KARP

Title: NYPD Red 3

Author: James Patterson and Marshall Karp

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: March 16, 2015 by Little, Brown and Company

PROTECT THE RICH. SERVE THE FAMOUS. HUNT THE GUILTY.

NYPD Red is the elite, highly trained task force assigned to protect the rich, the famous, and the connected. And Detective Zach Jordan and his partner Kylie MacDonald-the woman who broke his heart at the police academy-are the best of the best, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to deliver justice.

Zach and Kylie's New Year's celebrations are cut short when they're called to the home of billionaire businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. after he makes a grisly discovery in his townhouse garage. When Alden's teenage son goes missing soon afterwards, and his father seems oddly reluctant to find him, Zach and Kylie find themselves in the middle of a chilling conspiracy that threatens everyone in its wake-especially their city's most powerful citizens.

NYPD Red 3 is the next sensational novel in James Patterson's explosive new series, a thriller that goes behind the closed doors of New York high society and into the depths of depravity.

 

A new case is about to land for the NYPD Red unit. And in the book, it’s the start of a new year as well. A few things have happened since the events of the previous entry. The city of New York has a new mayor, Muriel Sykes. It seems the city voted her predecessor, Stan Spellman, out because they felt he wasn’t proactive enough. At first it felt to me like Mayor Sykes would be an antagonist, but she’s proving to be on NYPD Red’s side. Why do I say this? She gave me the kind of vibes that Laurel Hitchin from The Blacklist did. Turns out I was wrong.

The main characters are Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald. They’ve become Red’s star detectives now, after solving two high-profile cases. This book’s new case begins in chilling fashion. Someone discovers a dead body inside an expensive limo in a deserted parking lot. That would be unusual in itself, except that the body was decapitated. The head wasn’t anywhere nearby. The dead person had ID on him, so investigators are able to learn who he is. The victim was Peter Chevalier, the personal driver of rich businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. This is enough to call in NYPD Red to handle the case.

BOOK REVIEW: CITY OF ASHES BY CASSANDRA CLARE

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Published on: March 14, 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

 Is love worth betraying everything? Plunge into the second adventure in the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

While City of Bones didn’t blow me away, it was more than compelling enough for me to continue with the series. I like the characters, especially since I already watched Shadowhunters. Now that City of Ashes doesn’t have to keep worldbuilding as much, things speed up noticeably. The protagonist, Clary Fray, is still hovering between two worlds. She’s lived as a mundane (a regular human) until she was already fifteen. Clary had no idea that she was a Shadowhunter because of her mother, Jocelyn. The latter fled the Shadow World over a decade ago and didn’t want anything more to do with it.

Clary isn’t a full-blown Shadowhunter yet. She’s been living with Luke Garroway, an old friend of Jocelyn’s whom she loves like an uncle. Luke recently let Clary know that he’s a werewolf. He has his own pack as well (which he took command of to protect Clary). Clary also has a best friend, Simon Lewis. They’re dating now, but taking things slow. Simon has been in love with Clary for years, which shocked her. Clary loves him, of course, but as a friend. She wonders if she can learn to love him the way she loves a certain blond guy.

 

BOOK REVIEW: FRICTION BY SANDRA BROWN

Title: Friction

Author: Sandra Brown

Genre: Mystery, romance

Published on: August 18, 2015 by Grand Central Publishing

After a courtroom gunman threatens everything he holds dear, a Texas Ranger with a checkered past must choose between vengeance and family in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back. Following the death of his wife four years ago, he fell into a downward spiral that knocked him down to deskwork and landed his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the custody of her grandparents. But now that Crawford has cleaned up his act and met the court's requirements, the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.

Holly, ambitious and confident, must prove herself worthy of a permanent judgeship on the cusp of an upcoming election. Every decision is high-stakes, and despite Crawford's commitment to being a better father, Holly is wary of his past. But when a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing, Crawford reacts instinctively to save Holly's life.

But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. With the gunman still at large, Crawford uncovers a horrifying truth, and the cloud over him grows even darker as he considers vengeance. He quickly realizes that pursuing the killer will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of his daughter and compromise Holly, who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them.

Friction will keep you on the edge of your seat with breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters that make Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we keep to protect them.

I’ve read a few Sandra Brown novels before. She’s a really good writer, so I thought I would like Friction when I saw it at the bookstore. This is a romantic suspense set in a fictional town in Texas. The main protagonists are Crawford Hunt and Holly Spencer. Crawford is a Texas Ranger who’s recently cleaned up his act. He was in serious grief after the tragic death of his wife. Now that Crawford has put himself back together, he has one goal. Crawford wants custody of Georgia, his five-year-old daughter. She’s been living with her maternal grandparents.

At the custody hearing, the second protagonist is introduced. Holly happens to be the judge handling the case. She took over the position from her old mentor. Holly wants to be elected as judge permanently. This means she’s going to be as objective and impartial as possible. No matter how much Crawford shows he loves Georgia, Holly will make her decision with the girl’s best interests in mind. Before she can do that, though, something unexpected happens. A gunman storms into the courtroom, killing someone before most people can react. Crawford instinctively saves Holly’s life and then pursues the gunman.