MY 10 FAVORITE READS OF 2025

Good morning, everyone! It's time once more for another list of the top 10 novels I read last year. I used to post these lists in mid-December, until I ended up reading a second-place novel at the last minute. So, I moved it to January in case any books I read in the last two weeks of the year end up on my favorites list. As usual, my picks don't have to have been published within the year, in this case, 2025. They're just the best books that I read last year, regardless of their publication date. This list reflects my personal taste as well, so the books are not necessarily award winners. Here are my picks:

REPOST: THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE IN EARLY SEASONS OF A HARRY POTTER TV SHOW

 

Hello! It’s me, and I’m back with a new post. New-ish, at least. With production of the upcoming Harry Potter TV show well underway, I thought it was a good time to revisit this post. I wanted to give my opinions on a few things and add a few wishlist items I’ve thought of since. From what has been announced about the show so far, there’s a lot to get excited about. I’ll expand on this below. As for book reviews, I’m not sure when I’ll get around to posting more. I’ve been a bit busy lately, even though I’ve had no success in finding a job. I’ve had to resort to gig work to stay afloat. I will publish my annual Best Books of the Year post. That is one I don’t want to miss. Anyway, on with the post:

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Good morning! It’s been a while since I wrote a discussion post. I’ve just been busy, having spent a long time searching for work without success. I also couldn’t think of good topics to write about. This week, though, there were some great news (IMO) relevant to the bookish world. As reported on several outlets, such as People and E! News, HBO Max and Warner Bros. are negotiating to reboot the Harry Potter film series. This time, the books would be adapted into a TV show. There will ostensibly be one season per novel. As a huge fan of the Harry Potter universe, I was thrilled when I found out about the news of this reboot. There were signs, and more than whispers, but never legit reports.

Several people weren’t as happy with this news, and I’m not going to debate that in this post. I’ll just say that I would not mind if J.K. Rowling were involved in the show in any capacity. I have nothing against her, and she wrote the books after all. Anyway, the news got me thinking about stuff I would like a new Harry Potter show to include from the novels. Obviously, a lot of content didn’t make it into the films due to time constraints. They were great, but I’m firmly in the “the books were much better” camp. Without further ado, here are some elements I’d like to see in early seasons (1-4) of a potential new show:

BOOK REVIEW: DEFIANT BY BRANDON SANDERSON

Title: Defiant

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Science fiction
Published on: November 21, 2023 by Delacorte Press

Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she's had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.

The Superiority didn't stop in it's fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa's team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it's only a matter of time until humanity--and the rest of the galaxy--falls.

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself--and her friends--in the process.

The eagerly anticipated conclusion to the Skyward sci-fi series is here at last. This story is set in an unspecified distant future. Its protagonist is Spensa Nightshade, a human girl with cytonic (sort of dimensional warping) powers. She was born on a planet called Detritus, where she and her people had been held captive by an alien species for a long time. This was a while ago now. Humans have control of Detritus and its formidable defenses now. They’ve also allied with two species Spensa came across in the previous books: the kitsen (a small fox-like bipedal race) and the Urdail (a human-like species with purple skin and white hair).

Since book two, the main antagonist group of this series has been the Superiority. It’s a sort of galactic consortium ruled by an alien named Winzik. He’s a varvax, the same crab-like race who’d held humans captive in Detritus. Thanks to Spensa and her flightmate/boyfriend, Jorgen, humans now know the secret to the Superiority’s power. This was revealed back in book two, so I don’t consider a spoiler to cover it here. The Superiority wields the powers of alien slugs with cytonic abilities. Some can warp through space, others can create sort of psionic shields, and others can facilitate interstellar communication. Jorgen recently discovered a huge colony of these slugs in the caverns of Detritus. Spensa’s had one as a pet, nicknamed Doomslug, since Skyward.

As for Spensa, she recently came back from a journey into the nowhere. It’s a dimension where cytonics can warp to, and it’s primarily the home of the delvers. They’re mysterious beings who gain nearly unstoppable power when they come into the somewhere (what they call the normal universe). Spensa happens to be bonded to Chet now, a rogue delver she met. His presence in Spensa’s soul had unexpected consequences. She’s been losing control of her powers, warping objects to random locations. It’s clear that Spensa’s teammates don’t feel this instability is too dangerous, though, as they haven’t sidelined her. In a related note, what happened to M-bot (the AI who resided in Spensa’s highly advanced starship) was incredible. He’s now able to let Spensa know what the delvers are up to, which gives her a pretty good advantage.

Spensa has come a long way since the reader first meets her. Back in the first book, she was an impetuous, headstrong girl full of bravado. Spensa often gave lines such as “We’ll fight so well, the Krell will raise lamentations to the sky like smoke above a pyre, crying in desperation at our advent!” and “The most wonderful sound ever is the lamentations of my enemies, screaming my name toward the heavens…”. They make her look intimidating, like someone full of bloodlust. And you can’t really blame Spensa, considering she grew up being shunned by everyone else due to a misunderstanding that was cleared up at the end of the first book. This gave Spensa a thirst to prove herself and to be the best fighter pilot she can be. Now, she’s one of the highest-ranking members of the Defiant Defense Force despite still being so young. Spensa’s bravado is also a bit more toned-down, and she’s not as intent on proving herself as she used to be. Still, Spensa still does some things that give Jorgen–the new leader of the DDF–quite a hard time.

The true enemy of the series is also revealed halfway through the story. Their identity is quite a shock, so I won’t give it away here. I’ll just say it’s someone much like Spensa. This is a person who’s determined to rule the galaxy. It’s not exactly in a Bond villain type of way; more like the antagonist truly believes they’re entitled to be at the top, partly because of their upbringing. This enemy is also incredibly ruthless; they negotiate with the delvers to destroy Spensa and her allies, and also send their troops into battle haphazardly. The antagonist doesn’t care how many of their fighters or support personnel the DDF destroys as long as they win. This makes for quite a thrilling final battle. The DDF gets to show off in quite an awesome way. And yes, Skyward Flight is back at last. They go on a few missions throughout the book. It was good seeing them back, especially Kimmalyn. She’s a memorable character. Overall, the final installment in the Skyward series was amazing. I really enjoyed reading it.

My rating: ★★★★★

5 stars - Absolutely must-read. It's outstanding!!!

BOOK REVIEW: BLOOD GAMBLE BY MELISSA F. OLSON

Title: Blood Gamble

Author: Melissa F. Olson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published on: July 25, 2017 by 47North

If there is one city that Scarlett Bernard hates, it’s Las Vegas. But when the cardinal vampire of Los Angeles convinces her to go investigate a new vampire-themed stage show, Scarlett quickly finds herself shoulder-deep in sequins, slot machines, and Old World intrigue.

The show’s creators are vampire celebrities Arthur and Lucy Holmwood, who once inspired characters from the original Dracula. Now, however, they have no qualms about announcing their true status to the human world, endangering the secrecy of the Old World and Scarlett’s mission to keep it hidden.

But before she can begin untangling the Holmwoods’ motives, Scarlett also discovers that their new production has attracted more than just fans: Las Vegas’s many vampires are suddenly disappearing, and rumors are flying that actual vampire hunters may have followed Arthur and Lucy to town.

Now, without her allies, her bargest, or her frequent partner Jesse Cruz, Scarlett must navigate a new underworld of secrets and murders in a city where nothing is ever as it seems. And the stakes have never been higher.

By now, Scarlett Bernard should need no introduction. Blood Gamble is book five in her series, and eight overall in the Old World Chronology. In this book, Scarlett finds herself trying to solve a problem unlike any she’s ever faced before. The timing isn’t great, as Scarlett broke up with her werewolf boyfriend Eli at the end of Midnight Curse. They both realized they had changed so much over the years. Scarlett and Eli were no longer right for each other. The two still remain good friends. And at least, Scarlett has her old roommate Molly (a vampire) back in her life.

The past four books in Scarlett’s series all took place in Los Angeles. Now, the new case brings with it a change of scenery. Dashiell, the cardinal vampire of LA, is the one who tasks Scarlett with looking into an issue. There’s a vampire-related show, Demeter, being performed in Las Vegas. Dashiell wants to make sure it doesn’t expose the Old World. Scarlett is reluctant to go at first, as she really doesn’t like Las Vegas. With a little…encouragement from Dashiell, Scarlett has no choice but to relent. She’ll just be a scout anyway. The case doesn’t appear like it’ll be as big as Scarlett’s previous ones.

THE TOP TEN NOVELS THAT I READ IN 2024

Good morning! It's time again to unveil the best books that I read this year. This is the sixth consecutive year I do this since I started this blog. In fact, I've been making these lists for a bit longer than that. They're a bit too long to post on normal social media, like Facebook or Threads. Even sites like Goodreads and The Storygraph aren't well suited for this. That's why I launched this blog. I wanted a place where I could share my reviews and opinions with the world.

This year, I decided to post this list now, rather than in December as usual. That makes it less likely that a great read I finish last-minute doesn't make it as one of the picks. It almost happened with Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. It was a fantastic book, but I read it very late in 2023. I just would rather not cut it too close again. Without further ado, here are my choices for the top 10 books I read in 2024:

BOOK REVIEW: THE HIT BY DAVID BALDACCI

Title: The Hit

Author: David Baldacci

Genre: Thriller

Published on: April 23, 2013 by Grand Central Publishing

Master assassin Will Robie must track down a deadly rogue agent, but the attacks conceal a larger threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller. 

 

Will Robie is a master of killing.

A highly skilled assassin, Robie is the man the U.S. government calls on to eliminate the worst of the worst—enemies of the state, monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims.

No one else can match Robie’s talents as a hitman…no one, except Jessica Reel. A fellow assassin, equally professional and dangerous, Reel is every bit as lethal as Robie. And now, she’s gone rogue, turning her gun sights on other members of their agency.

To stop one of their own, the government looks again to Will Robie. His mission: bring in Reel, dead or alive. Only a killer can catch another killer, they tell him.

But as Robie pursues Reel, he quickly finds that there is more to her betrayal than meets the eye. Her attacks on the agency conceal a larger threat, a threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world.

Most of the time, I'm not the kind of reader who judges books by their cover. The one for The Hit really caught my eye, as it's so good. The main characters posing like that looks rather impressive. This is the second novel in a thriller series featuring Will Robie. He's a forty-year-old hitman who works for a clandestine agency under the DOD. Their focus is to take out targets who are close to becoming great danger for the world. Robie in particular has only ever killed bad people. It's been a few months since the ending of the previous book. The Hit finds Robie embarking on his newest and most dangerous mission yet.

One of the agency's higher-ups, referred to as Blue Man, is the guy who assigns Robie the mission. He learns that one of their own people has turned against them. While people within the agency normally don't know each other (for security reasons), Robie knows his latest target really well. She's Jessica Reel, the only female assassin in the agency. Reel is reputed to be as good at what she does as Robie is. That's why he was picked to eliminate her. Reel murdered her handler while she was supposed to be taking out someone on the other side of the world.

BOOK REVIEW: THE EDGE OF FOREVER BY MELISSA E. HURST

Title: The Edge of Forever

Author: Melissa E. Hurst
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published on: June 2, 2015 by Sky Pony

In 2013, sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146, seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.

I started reading The Edge of Forever with moderate expectations. The cover’s good looking, but it was the synopsis that drew me in. It made this book sound similar to the Rewinder trilogy by Brett Battles, which I’ve read. The protagonist of this story is Bridger Creed, a seventeen-year-old cadet from 2146 United States. In his world, there are people born with the ability to travel back in time. Bridger’s one of them, which is why the Department of Temporal Affairs is training him. At the start, Bridger is on a training trip to a significant event. What’s supposed to be a straightforward mission soon takes an unexpected turn.

Bridger witnesses something that he has a hard time believing. His father Leithan, a DTA agent, is present—even though he’s supposed to be dead. The man quickly vanishes before Bridger can do much of anything. But his distraction has disastrous consequences. Vika, Bridger’s girlfriend and fellow trainee, is severely injured. Their superiors quickly shift back to their time. There, Bridger not only has to deal with the consequences of leaving his post. He also has to ponder why Leithan wanted to save someone from the past. People in Bridger’s time call these people “ghosts”, because their fates are fixed and it’s against the law to mess with them.

BOOK REVIEW: THE GIRL UNLEASHED BY JUDITH BERENS

Title: The Girl Unleashed

Author: Judith Berens

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Published on: August 3, 2019 by LMBPN Publishing

No matter the century, being a teenage vampire is hard when there’s no one around to teach you how to be cool, date and lift a car out of the way without getting caught.

 

Vickie has grown into a rockstar vampire with her powers, but she can still cause harm. Not a good way to stay hidden when everyone has the number to TMZ and a camera in their pocket. Selfie with the teenage vampire anyone?

Social media can bite worse than a vampire’s fangs.

That’s not her only problem. The Circle may be gone, but a government agency is looking into supernatural activity and everything points at Vickie. Big brother is not happy.

To make matters worse, Alexis and Vickie clash over misunderstandings and Vickie’s desire for more independence. Can the girls get past their disagreements and work together as a family?

Vicki’s danger meter is going off and she can sense a threat to her new family.

Can Vicki right some wrongs and make up with Alexis before she finds herself in an even worse situation?

Find out in The Girl Unleashed.

Book five in the Last Vampire series marks a turning point. Protagonist Vickie Hewitt managed to take out a threat that loomed over her throughout four books. As a vampire, there was a group of people bent on killing her. That she is just fourteen and harmless did not stop them. The group, known as the Slayer Circle, caught up to Vickie at last. With the help of a surprising ally, Vickie managed to kill the Circle members. It was a thrilling fight, though it felt a little underwhelming to me. With how menacing the Circle sounded, their defeat felt a little too easy. 

Now that the Circle is gone, Vickie can go back to leading as normal a life as she can. As the last vampire, she’s alone in the world. Luckily, Craig Watson and his daughter Alexis have been there for her since she woke up. Vickie has adjusted well to living as a high school student. She’s a star athlete now (competing in cross country) and has a boyfriend, Eric. He’s one of Alexis’s longtime friends who developed a crush on Vickie soon after they first met. Their relationship is going really well. Vickie’s clueless about dating in the twenty-first century, though. She comes from a time where parents married their children off at fourteen. I kid you not!

BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST FLIGHT BY JULIE CLARK

Title: The Last Flight

Author: Julie Clark

Genre: Mystery

Published on: June 23, 2020 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Two women. Two flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns bright and he’s not above using his staff to track Claire’s every move.

What he doesn’t know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish. A plan that takes her to the airport, poised to run from it all. But a chance meeting in the airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision.

The two women switch tickets, with Claire taking Eva’s flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico crashes, Claire realizes it’s no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva’s identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

As premises go, the one in The Last Flight doesn’t seem terribly original, but it’s still compelling. And I haven’t come across many books where two main characters swap identities. That’s the catalyst that starts the story in The Last Flight. The protagonist is Claire Cook, a young woman who’s married to a rich and powerful politician by the name of Rory. They seem to lead perfect lives, though things are vastly different behind closed doors. Contrary to his public demeanor, Rory has a worryingly short temper. You quickly realize that he’s one of those jerks who absolutely doesn’t deserve his wife. Rory also has an overinflated ego, and he believes Claire should be grateful to be married to someone of his caliber.

The situation started to turn dire enough that Claire’s been working on a way to escape. The fortune she has access to helps, but Claire’s careful not to give herself away. This is a feat when you learn how much control Rory has over her life. He’s gone as far as dictating which friends Claire is allowed to have. Fortunately, she has a powerful childhood friend whom Rory doesn’t know about. She’s Petra, who comes from a mob family. No, she’s not a bad person. Seeing how evil Rory is, you’d think he’s the one in the mob. Anyway, Petra is able to help Claire make arrangements to disappear. A last-minute change ends up screwing that plan. Rory is now going to Detroit instead of Claire…where he’ll find evidence that’ll give her away.

BOOK REVIEW: CHRYSALIS BY BRENDAN REICHS

Title: Chrysalis

Author: Brendan Reichs

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: March 5, 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

The stunning finale of the Project Nemesis trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Brendan Reichs.

 

The 64 members of Fire Lake’s sophomore class have managed to survive the first two phases of the Program—and each other. Now, they alone have emerged into the dawn of a new era on Earth, into a Fire Lake valley that’s full of otherworldly dangers and challenges. Although staying alive in this broken world should force Min, Noah, Tack, and the others to form new alliances, old feuds die hard, and the brutality of the earlier Program phases cannot be forgotten. But being a team isn’t easy for the sophomores, and when they discover that they may not be alone on the planet after all, they’ll have to decide if they’re going to work together…or die together.

The quest to save humanity continues in this final entry of the Project Nemesis series. With the way Genesis ended, the author could have satisfactorily wrapped it up as a duology. Min Wilder, the main protagonist, managed to save all 64 members of her sophomore class. They went through Phase Two of Project Nemesis for millions of years while Earth healed from an apocalyptic event. Thanks to living as data inside a supercomputer, the students experienced all that eternity in a few months. Now they’re back in physical bodies in the real world.

It’s been a few months since Min and her classmates emerged from the supercomputer. They returned to a vastly different Fire Lake than they remember. Along with Noah, her boyfriend, Min’s built a fledgling community. Project Nemesis left them with every supply humanity could need, stored in a decommissioned missile silo. For the moment, their world is small. The student’s former town of Fire Lake is now an island surrounded by a vast ocean. There’s nothing around, except for an island a day’s sail away.

STATUS UPDATE: SUMMER HIATUS

Good morning, everyone! I’m back after a bit of an unintentional hiatus. These past few months have been very busy for me. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the original reasons I launched Ivan’s Insights was to write about topics related to my areas of expertise. Though I published book reviews from the beginning, this site wasn’t a bona fide book blog until later. I had and still have trouble finding work even though I’m not a slacker, I’ve never been fired (let alone reprimanded), and I don’t apply to jobs that I honestly can’t do, like a doctor’s assistant or a junior marketing specialist. The field I’m best at is information technology. I’ve been a software and website tester as well as an IT aide, but those jobs were temporary. And unfortunately, my computer technician skills have become rusty from lack of use (managing my tech and my parents’ tech is nowhere near challenging enough) so I’ve been searching for other kinds of work.

Over the past few months, I’ve been freelancing as a food delivery driver for DoorDash and Uber Eats. I was aware those existed, but they didn’t seem like ‘real’ work to me. I wanted a regular W-2 job, not a contractor position or freelance job. My financial stability was precarious, so I signed up for those apps. I was a little apprehensive at first, but eventually I fell into a routine. I’ve read online that apps like Uber and DoorDash don’t quite pay contractors well (and a lot of customers pay meager tips). Despite that, I made enough to cover my bills and a small bit more. It made me wish I could drive passengers, though. My car is just not recent enough.

Apart from that, I’ve also been reading as many books as usual. I just haven’t written that many new reviews. My writing time has been taken up with the novel I’ve been working on since last year. It’s slow going; I haven’t even finished the first draft yet. I think it’s good, though. It’s strayed a bit from the outline I made, but I like how it’s turning out. I can’t wait to be able to reveal more about it. All I’ll say for now is that it’s a sci-fi thriller.

That’s all for this morning. I’ll see if I can stick to my regular Wednesday book review schedule again. Not that I have run out of them; I still have plenty even though I’ve barely written any new ones. I’ve just been rather consumed by my freelance work and my novel. Oh, and I’ve been gaming a bit as well, but I’m disciplined enough to only schedule myself two hours a day for that. Anyway, have a good day!

BOOK REVIEW: MIDNIGHT CURSE BY MELISSA F. OLSON

Title: Midnight Curse

Author: Melissa F. Olson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published on: February 7, 2017 by 47North

Scarlett Bernard is used to cleaning up messes. As a human who cancels out any magic around her, Scarlett’s job is to keep the supernatural world hidden—at any cost.

But on the eve of the Vampire Trials, a two-day tribunal that allows the otherworldly community to air their grievances, Scarlett receives a blood-soaked message from Molly, her estranged former roommate. Molly, a vampire, had been living with twelve human college students…and in one terrible night, she slaughtered them all.

Scarlett believes Molly’s been set up, but no one else in the Old World agrees with her. Meanwhile, the true perpetrator is determined to make sure Molly goes on trial for the massacre—and the penalty is death.

With less than two days to prove her friend’s innocence, Scarlett calls on former LAPD detective Jesse Cruz to help her dig into Molly’s past. But no one—Molly included—wants Scarlett and Jesse to bring the terrible truth to light.

The original protagonist of the Old World Chronology, Scarlett Bernard, is back for another adventure. This is an urban fantasy that takes place in contemporary LA. Scarlett is a null, a human capable of negating magic around her. She last appeared in Hunter’s Trail. Midnight Curse takes place after the Boundary Magic trilogy, set in the same world. It’s not necessary to read those books beforehand, though.

Three years have elapsed since Scarlett’s last big case. She’s still working as a crime scene cleaner for the vampire, witch, and werewolf factions. Scarlett is also in a relationship with Eli, the beta of the werewolf pack. Things appear to be going great with them. Scarlett also still has the bargest whose loyalty she won in Hunter’s Trail. For those who don’t know, a bargest is a huge dog magically endowed with immense strength and endurance. Dashiell, the cardinal vampire of LA, charged Scarlett with looking after the bargest, whom she named Shadow.

BOOK REVIEW: BREAK ME BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Break Me

Author: Tiffany Snow
Genre: Romance
Published on: March 14, 2017 by Montlake Romance

Just a few weeks ago, computer prodigy China Mack's typical night in involved Endor Star Wars pajamas and a sensible bedtime. Now she's dating gorgeous tech guru Jackson Cooper--one of Forbes's Top Ten Eligible Billionaires--much to the Twitterverse's delight.

Turns out, going from socially inept hermit to poster girl for geek chic has its challenges. China's relationship gets even more complicated because her role heading the top-secret Vigilance program--where she's partnered with Superman clone Clark Slattery--makes her a target. And when ruthless businessman Simon Lu plans to co-opt Vigilance software to blackmail government and military employees, he'll need China's cooperation--willing or otherwise.

But not every enemy is so easily identified. Some hide in plain sight, in very high places, and mistaking foe for friend could be the last mistake China ever makes...

Break Me is the second installment of the Corrupted Hearts series. The protagonist is China Mack (whose actual surname, according to her, is unpronounceable). She’s a gifted programmer with genius-level intellect. China’s also very OCD and is not good with social interactions. Despite being in her early twenties, China already has an impressive resume. She used to work for Cysnet, a prominent tech company owned by Jackson Cooper. In the previous book, the two became close and are now dating. China resigned from her job, though. She got an offer that she couldn’t refuse.

The aforementioned offer was a bit of a twist in the ending of Follow Me. As revealed, the project that China and Jackson had been working on was a program called Vigilance. It’s a sophisticated tool that can gather data from various sources. Vigilance can then use this data to predict, for instance, whether a specific person is planning a bombing. It’s very Minority Report meets Edward Snowden, so China obviously saw how dangerous and controversial the program could be. There’s nothing she can do about the government using this tool, though. The president issued a special directive (a sort of non-public executive order) to put together a team that will harness Vigilance. And he wanted China to be the leader.

BOOK REVIEW: THE INNOCENT BY DAVID BALDACCI

Title: The Innocent

Author: David Baldacci

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: April 17, 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

America has enemies - ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target. But Will Robie may have just made the first - and last - mistake of his career... 

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway -- her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.

Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life... and perhaps his own.

This is a book I’ve had on my sights for a while. When I saw it at the public library, I took the plunge. The Innocent is the first novel in a thriller series. Its protagonist is Will Robie, an assassin for the U.S. government. He owns several dwellings, but his main home is Washington, D.C. Robie makes a living by taking out dangerous people that not even the army can get to. When the story begins, he has just turned forty. It’s an age that makes Robie realize he’s closer to retirement than he would like. Although he’s still fast and strong, Robie eventually will have to take a desk job. That time’s still some way off, at least.

The first few chapters are slightly tedious, but still important. In them, Robie carries out a few missions. There’s no dialogue until a little while later. I wouldn’t skip these chapters, though, because they have some important clues. It’s not until the inciting incident that characters say anything. Robie faces a conundrum after refusing to kill his latest target. By this point, the book has provided plenty of insight into Robie’s personality even though he hasn’t said much yet. You get the impression that Robie only kills bad people. Because of this moral code, he ends up running for his life.

BOOK REVIEW: ATHENA’S ASHES BY JAMIE GRAY

Title: Athena’s Ashes

Author: Jamie Gray

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Published on: August 22, 2014 by Clever Crow Press

It’s Renna’s biggest job yet — convincing MYTH leadership that she’s put away her lock picks and is ready to save the galaxy, despite the dangerous implant in her brain. But with the Athena on the run, she’s working solo and facing her most ruthless enemy, the traitor Pallas, who’ll go to any lengths to destroy the MYTH organization. Including framing Renna for a devastating assault on MYTH HQ that leaves their defenses crippled and hundreds dead.

Now that MYTH believes she’s a dangerous double-agent, Renna escapes their firing squad before they put more holes in her than a pair of fishnet stockings. But the ticking time-bomb in her head is the one thing Pallas needs to complete his master plan and he’s not about to let her get away. Even worse, he’s discovered the only thing that will bring Renna to her knees — threatening Captain Nick Finn.

Out of time and options, Renna’s got one shot to take down the traitor before he annihilates everything she loves, even though winning this battle may cost her everything.

A new book finds galactic thief Renna Carrizal continuing her adventure. She's a 25-year-old human woman who got involved in a mission to save the galaxy. One of the top leaders of MYTH, a covert intelligence agency, persuaded Renna to lend her skills for a special mission. This unexpectedly reunited her with someone she believed dead, a guy now known as Captain Finn. The latter deeply distrusted Renna at first due to her reputation. They slowly ended up falling for each other. It seems opposites do attract, eh? Renna may not be one of the bad guys, but she still ran with shady people. And Captain Finn became as righteous as the likes of Steve Rogers. 

Together, Renna and Finn managed to uncover a conspiracy threatening not just MYTH, but the whole galaxy. Now, Athena's Ashes begins with Renna fighting a new battle. During her confrontation with a mad scientist, he injected her with an experimental formula. The compound will integrate Renna's high-tech brain implant with her nervous system, turning her into a part-cyborg. That is, if she survives the process. Renna thought her best chance was to return to MYTH. She uses her need for medical help to get inside and unmask the identity of a traitor. All that Renna knows about him is his codename, Pallas. This guy is the book's main antagonist. His goal appears to be to create an army of cyborgs to take over the galaxy. 

BOOK REVIEW: SIEGE AND STORM BY LEIGH BARDUGO

Title: Siege and Storm

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Published on: June 4, 2013 by Henry Holt and Co.

Enter the Grishaverse with Book Two of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner—hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.

The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.

But as the truth of Alina’s destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice—and only she can face the oncoming storm.

After the shocking ending in Shadow and Bone, the Grisha trilogy continues with Siege and Storm. The main protagonist is Alina Starkov, who lives in the fictional kingdom of Ravka. She and her best friend, Malyen “Mal” Oretsev, are on the run. In the previous book, Alina learned that she’s a Grisha, a human with special powers. In her case, Alina can control and generate sunlight. This earned her the name of Sun Summoner. Ravka is partially divided by a dark magical barrier called the Shadow Fold. Alina is the only Grisha alive who could be capable of destroying it.

Alina spent most of the first book training with Ravka’s Second Army, the Grisha. She was also under the protection of their leader, who calls himself the Darkling. He seemed to want to help Alina develop her power enough to destroy the Fold. The two started growing close, seeming to be on the way to become a couple. To Alina’s shock, the Darkling stole control of her power (temporarily) and used it to extend the Fold. This revealed the Darkling as the series’s main antagonist. It turns out he’s also the Black Heretic, the ancient Grisha responsible for creating the Fold in the first place.

BOOK REVIEW: THE THOUGHT PUSHERS BY DIMA ZALES

Title: The Thought Pushers (Les Pousseurs de pensée)

Author: Dima Zales

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: October 29, 2015, self-published

La suite tres attendue du livre Les Lecteurs de pensée par un auteur de bestsellers au classement du New York Times et de USA Today.

Que suis-je ?

Qui a tué ma famille ?

Pourquoi ?

Il me faut des réponses avant de me faire tuer par la mafia russe.

Si mes amis ne me règlent pas mon compte avant.

This second entry in the Mind Dimensions series picks up shortly after the ending of the previous one. Les Pousseurs de Pensée (I read the French editions of this series) continues the story of Darren Goldberg. He’s a seemingly average man in his mid-twenties who works as a hedge-fund analyst in New York. The story takes place in our contemporary time. What’s different is that there are two groups of people with special mind abilities. Darren is a Thought Reader, which is self-explanatory. And as he discovered recently, he’s also a Thought Pusher: someone who can control the minds of regular people. Darren found out by accident while trying to save his new friend Mira Tsiolkovsky’s life. It seemed like they might be attracted to each other, but Mira is now furious with Darren and won’t talk to him.

There’s a good reason why Mira is acting that way now. She and her brother, Eugene, had already told Darren that Thought Readers and Thought Pushers hate each other. They have been warring for centuries. As if that wasn’t enough, one of them murdered Mira and Eugene’s parents. Whoever this Pusher is, he or she is still around and gunning for the siblings. Now this person seems to have Darren on their sights. He only narrowly escapes a murder attempt thanks to his newfound Pusher ability.

BOOK REVIEW: THE CHASE BY ELLE KENNEDY

Title: The Chase

Author: Elle Kennedy

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: August 6, 2018, self-published

Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because there's no logical reason why I'm so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don't usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I'm flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn't help that he's buddy-buddy with my brother.

And that his best friend has a crush on me.
And that I just moved in with them.

Oh, did I not mention we're roommates?

I suppose it doesn't matter. Fitzy has made it clear he's not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I'm not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I'm not about to start. I've got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he's missing?

He knows where to find me.

Forbidden love stories are among my favorite in the romance genre. If it's also a New Adult novel that doesn't have a shirtless dude in the cover, I'm picking it up. The Chase is the first in a New Adult romance series. The books are named after the setting, Briar University. The protagonist/love interest in The Chase is Summer Heyward-Di Laurentis. That mouthful of a name is a hint at her status. Summer is a well-to-do student, though it's refreshing that she's not your usual trust fund kid. Summer's father is a prosecutor, which I found interesting (even though he's never physically in any of the scenes).

The book starts on New Year's Eve. Summer is at a bar, where she meets the love interest, Colin Fitzgerald. She already knew him, but this is the first time Summer tries to get him to date her. Colin finds Summer pretty much irresistible, but there's a big obstacle. Summer is his best friend David's little sister. Colin and David know each other from playing hockey for Briar. David's not on the team anymore, but Colin still feels loyal to him. In an attempt to persuade himself not to give in to Summer, Colin talks about her (imagined) flaws to one of his acquaintances. Of course Summer overhears this, and is seriously offended. She assumes that Colin sees Summer as little more than fluff.

BOOK REVIEW: LEFT FOR DEAD BY CAROLINE MITCHELL

Title: Left for Dead

Author: Caroline Mitchell

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: July 8, 2020 by Thomas & Mercer

A victim on display. A detective on the rails.

Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine's Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace--until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin's mouth.

This is no stunt. A post-mortem reveals the victim was left to die on her macabre throne for all to see. When a second victim is found, it emerges that both women were 'Sugar Babes' arranging dates with older men online--and Amy finds herself hunting an accomplished psychopath.

As she tracks down the killer, Amy's instincts go into overdrive when the charismatic head of the agency behind the display makes no attempt to hide his fascination with her serial-killer parents. What exactly does he want from Amy? With her own world in freefall as her biological mother, Lillian Grimes, appeals her conviction, Amy pushes the boundaries of police procedure when a third 'Sugar Babe' disappears...Is she as much at risk as the killer's victims?

 

DI Amy Winter is back to handle another major case. It’s not specified, but it appears not a long time has passed since the previous book ended. This series takes place in modern-day England. Amy is part of the Notting Hill station, where she leads a team. There’s going to be a change in the status-quo, though. DCI Pike, Amy’s old boss, took an early retirement. Her replacement is DI Donovan, an officer Amy is already acquainted with. They worked together during the case where Amy’s mother, convicted serial killer Lillian Grimes, revealed the locations of her victims. Yeah, Amy is the daughter of serial killers. This is one of the most important plot points in these books. Amy struggles with her origins despite having been adopted by a loving family.

The case in Left for Dead begins in an unusual fashion. Amy is off duty, walking with her sister Sally-Ann, when she spots a chilling display in a store. It’s something most people (even cops) could easily miss: what is supposed to be a mannequin is in fact a real woman. Noticing she’s bleeding, Amy springs into action. It doesn’t take long before investigators descend upon the scene. Amy herself gets into the display in hopes of saving the woman. Despite her efforts, it is sadly too late.

BOOK REVIEW: FOLLOW ME BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Follow Me

Author: Tiffany Snow

Genre: Romance

Published on: October 4, 2016 by Montlake Romance

Brilliant, quirky twenty-three-year-old China Mack is totally satisfied with her carefully ordered, data-driven life. A computer prodigy who landed a coveted programming job at the cutting-edge tech company Cysnet before even graduating from MIT, China is happiest when following her routine: shower before coffee, pizza only on Mondays, bedtime at ten thirty sharp.

But then things start to get a little…unpredictable.

First Jackson Cooper—Cysnet’s rich, gorgeous, genius CEO—assigns China to a dangerous and highly classified project for a government defense contractor. Her sixteen-year-old runaway niece suddenly arrives in town, begging to move in with China. And then there’s her sexy but oddly unsettling new neighbor, Clark…

Quickly the Cysnet assignment becomes disconcerting—and then downright scary—as key staffers turn up dead. China suspects she’s being followed and isn’t sure whom she can trust. For the first time ever, she’ll have to follow her instincts, rather than logic, if she’s going to survive.

This book caught my interest because I’m a fan of the author’s Kathleen Turner series. The synopsis sounded compelling, so I bought a copy. Follow Me is the first book of the Corrupted Hearts series. The protagonist is China Mack, an extremely gifted programmer in her early twenties. She works for Cysnet, a tech company that apparently–according to China–runs circles around Apple. They hired China straight out of school because of how smart and talented she is. By now, she’s established a comfortable routine. And yes, China lives alone–for now.

China’s life changes when Jackson Cooper, Cysnet’s CEO himself, gives her an important assignment. The job’s a government contract, highly classified…and potentially dangerous. Jackson selected China because she’s the only employee at Cysnet with a particular skill. China, being shy and modest, downplays it as if it were as common as knowing HTML. Jackson seems to take it in stride, thinking nothing of China’s awkwardness. I think he might even find her endearing. China struggles to make a good impression, even though she might not need to try too hard. The thing that Jackson values most in China is her intelligence.