Hunted (Everyday Heroes #1) - Margaret Daley

This is part of series titled Everyday Heroes.  There's four of them at present.  The other three are Obsessed, Trapped and Kidnapped.

Luke is camping when he sees two men throw a chained woman into the river.  He rescues her, and they have to find out why those men wanted her dead.  Megan can't seem to remember things, and she needs time to regain her memory.  Luke is determined to keep her safe until the culprits can be found.

I wasn't fond of this one.  The characters felt shallow, and the dialogue seemed stilted.  Both Luke and Megan would make speeches frequently, so it seemed like they were prone to babbling.  For example, Luke would speak to the dog and Megan in the same speech without any transition.  There were also some mistakes (wrong words, additional words that didn't make sense) that made it through the editing process.  I loved the working dog, Shep, but he wasn't enough to make me enjoy this book.

I was tracking this book, but I'm not sure why.  I read one other title from this author, Saving Hope, and I didn't like it.  Maybe I thought the addition of the dog would make things better.  Unfortunately, it didn't, but I did make it to the end.  It's a pass for me.

Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) - Agatha Christie

I've read a few Agatha Christie's lately and enjoyed them.  I also watched the Poirot series (starring David Suchet), and in this case it hurt me.

Poirot is in Egypt taking a break, but his vacation doesn't pass without a mystery.  When a scorned woman follows her former lover and his new wife everywhere they go, Poirot is worried for the woman's path.  He sees that she's on a dangerous one, but she disregards his advice.  The wife ends up dead, but it seems like the scorned woman and the husband both have the best motive but also the best alibi.

I do like the creativity and uniqueness that Christie put into her books.  With the exception of some vocabulary that hasn't aged as well, these books are still worth reading.  I'm going to have to wait and read more Poirot books until I forget the details.  This was a good book, but my memory of the "episode" ruined it a bit for me.  Still, Good Book!

GHOST (John Spector #1) - Wayne Thomas Batson

This is the first in a series.  The second book, called Minister of Fire, is supposed to come out around October 2019 (according to the author's blog post dated December 18, 2018).  It's significant to note that this book is recommended 16+.

Ghost is the name of an uncommon man who avenges injustice.  He carries around a silver case full of supernatural goodies and wages war against the forces of evil.  He comes across a camera of disturbing pictures and knows what his next mission is: stop the Smiling Jack killer.

He doesn't just have to fight against our world but elements of the supernatural as well.  Leads are hard to come by and working with a member of the FBI could threaten his secret identity.

It isn't uncommon for this author to have elements of the supernatural in his books, and it doesn't bother me that it's there.  What bothered me was the "bash-you-over-the-head" preaching in it.  The main character is so fanatically pro-life, it made me uncomfortable.  I feel the same way when Christian books get a little too preachy.  It was just too much.

I've read some of this author's fantasy before and really enjoyed it.  I got about halfway through this one and realized that reading it was more of a chore than enjoyment, and I abandoned it.  This book just wasn't for me.

Living in a Marvel house

It looks like I haven't been reading much, but that's not completely true.  I have been writing a lot (I'm trying to get my rough draft done before summer break), but I've also been reading a comic or two.  It's not something I've done a lot of, but it's becoming more normal around here.

The Marvel universe has invaded our house.  It's been growing for a while, and since my kids love it so much, now I'm hooked.  And it's not just the movies.  My older daughter loves reading the comics, and she's read so many that when I asked her which one was her favorite, she listed off at least four or five different series.  Two of her favorites are the Avengers series and Captain Marvel (the female version).  She's seen some of the movies, and she's off to see Endgame this weekend with some friends.

My younger daughter is by far the largest fan.  She reads about the universe online, watches interviews, anticipates new movies for months, and has a Marvel shirt for every school day of the week (and would like more).  Her favorite character is Hawkeye, and she can't get enough of him.   She's partial to Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, but she's read some of the comics as well.

One of my younger daughter's favorites - with Hawkeye!

I never considered myself a "superhero" fan.  It took me a long time to get interested in this universe.  But with my kids loving it so much, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  I got on board around the time Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came out (I watched Iron Man a long time ago, but I don't count that) and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them.  My favorite is Doctor Strange, but Benedict Cumberbatch is one of my favorites actors, so that may have influenced me (it did).  I've loved all the other ones so much that I can't really pick a favorite.  The only one I didn't like was Ant-Man.  Nothing to do with the story, I just DESPISE ants, so a lot of the movie creeped me out.

I did read a few of the comics, but I'm not as keen on them.  They're interesting, and I appreciate the art, I just didn't get into them.  But something I do enjoy is the soundtracks.  There's a few of them available on Amazon Prime, and I listen to them often.  They have a distinct sound to them with the exception of Black Panther.  That one stands out in a few ways, and it's probably my favorite.  Great movie by the way.

It's been fun getting into this universe.  I've gotten to go watch a movie (Captain Marvel - another great movie) with just my husband for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, and it was a blast!  It's also been common ground.  Having two teenagers, it's been harder to find that these days, but this has been something we can talk about without me sounding like an old codger.  And that's something I'm always excited about!