Assignment Golden Girl (Sam Durell #32) - Edward S. Aarons

On my final bookstore stop in San Diego, I finally found an old, crusty paperback! Actually, I found two, but when I finally figured out how much they wanted for it, I decided to put the other one back. Paying $11 for an old paperback is crazy. 

Since I had to choose one of the paperbacks, I asked for help picking. This one sounded amazing with the train and the princess. I thought it was going to be cheesy. I was wrong.

Sam is tasked with bringing the prince of Pakuru back to the UN so the leader can ask for assistance from the world. His country is in turmoil with a civil war. Sam has some issues, since the princess is also wanting the "stool." His plane has been destroyed, and the only way out of the country is an old train.

My favorite character was Harvey, the man who repaired the train. The plot was interesting and unique. What really surprised me was how good this book was. It's James Bond-esque, and part of a pretty extensive series. But I've never heard of Sam Durell, and I feel like that's a huge shame. Sam isn't super suave, and he's incredibly no-nonsense. This was well written, and I really liked it.

The real tragedy here is that it's not easy to track these books down. I did a bit of digging, and I couldn't find any of them available, and I didn't see any on Kindle. Going down my rabbit hole, I was also able to find something called the "Black Gat" series. This is a series of noir books written by different authors. They started releasing them in 2015, and one of them is written by Edward S. Aarons.

Anyway, I'd love to track down more of these books. I also plan on looking more into the Black Gat series. It looked like a great way to get exposure to authors I've never read before. Not that I don't have enough to read, but sometimes you just can't help yourself! Good Book!

The Ivy Tree - Mary Stewart

I have four books by this author on my bookshelf. I need to read through them again one day, but they usually have the gothic feel that I like.

Mary Grey is approached by a man who starts yelling at her for leaving eight years ago. Mary tells him she doesn't know what he's talking about. He's finally convinced, and she meets Con, the cousin of the missing woman. Later, Con's sister finds Mary and eventually she's part of a plot to convince an old man his granddaughter has returned. It's part of a bigger scheme to ensure his property ends up with Con, and she'll get part of it to head out and live her life. An unexpected neighbor upsets Mary's plans.

The book felt slow for a very long time. The end was pretty good and almost made up for the rest of the boring parts. I think the thing that really bogged it down was the descriptions. They'd go on for over a page at a time, and a lot of things were described. In great detail.

Overall, I'm on the fence on this book. The plot twist in there was really good, but the overabundance of poetic descriptions was a bit trying. I doubt I'd ever read this again, but I don't regret reading it.

Bloodborne (Volumes 4-6) - Ales Kot, Illustrated by Piotr Kowalski

I realize with the first set of these that I did a separate review for each volume. This time, I'm going to group them together.

Volume 4 is The Veil, Torn Asunder. If it relates to the other two, I couldn't tell. But for certain, The Lady of the Lanterns and The Bleak Dominion are linked. I really don't want to say anything about the plots to these, I hate to spoil things, but I will say that I really enjoyed all three stories.

The artwork was excellent as well. I recognized many of the monsters from the game, and I really love the style of Bloodborne. Especially the clothing for the hunters and their weapons. There's just always been something about Yharnam that appealed to me.

There isn't much more to say. These are all good, and some of the art took my breath away. At times, there's a vile beauty that I saw in those panels. If you're like me, and you love Bloodborne, I think you'll like this. I waited and got it during a sale, but it's definitely worth adding to your collection. Good Set!

Ravenscroft - Dorothy Eden

This paperback is one of the books I found in San Diego. It had a classic look that made me think it might be one of the older gothic romances I love. Usually, they have a woman running from a house/castle on the cover, and while this woman was stationary, it had that vibe.

Bella's father is dead, and she's on the way to London with her sister when they meet Aunt Aggie. The older woman offers to help them out, but she doesn't quite have the sweet intentions she's showing the girls. Guy helps the two women escape, but it looks like it's going to cost his career. To try and avert the downfall, he decides to marry one of the sisters. He initially chooses the gentle, timid Lally, but Bella ends up with the ring on her finger.

The plot of this one was pretty good. It did remind me of the older gothics, so it was nice to finally find one that wasn't a Zebra. Those are super easy to pick out. I think the plot itself was a good tradeoff for dealing with Bella. Her husband called her a shrew, and he's not wrong. That woman would argue and be childish for no reason. She knew Guy didn't love her when they married, but she's determined to "change" him. Don't try to change people. If he grew to love Bella, it needed to be his choice, not because she's throwing herself at him and screeching like a harpy. But, like I said, the plot made up for a lot.

When I was looking for the cover, I saw an alternate that I wish was on my copy. I'm not sure what it's portraying in the book, but it would've been cooler than the cover I have. The book squeaks by with a Good Book! review but not by much. Is it the best gothic ever? Of course not, but it was a nice read, and I enjoyed it.

 

Alternate cover

Forever Forward: K-9 Operations in Vietnam - Michael Lemish

I’m going to be 100% upfront – I didn’t finish this book. I didn’t even get 20% into it. Here’s why:

I’m a dog lover. I am aware of what happened to many of the K-9s at the end of the Vietnam War. It’s extremely sad and heartbreaking. I’m not sure where I got this idea, but I thought this book was going to be more stories of Jim with his dog, Ricky. It’s more of a history of how dogs were used during the war.

In the brief reading I did of this book, I almost cried multiple times. Knowing many dogs starved or died from not given time to adjust to the weather crushed me. In general, I get more upset when dogs are killed than people in movies.

The writing itself wasn’t bad, but this book was definitely not for me. I put it down before it got any worse. The Vietnam War was tragic for everyone involved, both men and dogs. I just couldn’t bring myself to read about it.

Grandeur Preserved - Historic Charleston Foundation

I was particularly interested in this book, because when we were in Charleston, I visited the Nathaniel Russell house. I’m pretty proud of myself for doing that by myself. For one thing, I took quite a trek that day, and normally my husband would explore touristy things with me when we’re at a conference city. After I finished my audio tour, I couldn’t find any books about the house. There were a bunch of random southern books but nothing specific. I asked one of the volunteers, and she recommended this out of print title. I found it for $12, and since I didn’t get my lapel pin (which is what I actually look for at touristy spots), I ordered the book.

The book covers two houses, the Nathaniel Russell house and the Aiken-Rhett house. I saw that one while we were wandering around, but when I researched both, I chose to tour the Russell house. It has a cantilever staircase that looked cool. It was even better in person. The book itself talks about the history of both houses, along with color and black-and-white pictures. I really liked being able to learn more history and catch things I might’ve missed on the tour.

I’m glad I chose the Nathaniel Russell house over the Aiken-Rhett. From the pictures, the Aiken-Rhett house hasn’t been remodeled and is in a pretty rough-looking state. I can appreciate the thought behind keeping the house in a natural state, but I really enjoyed seeing the house that showed more what it looked like in the past. It also helps to see it remodeled and not have to use my imagination. Because, honestly, there is no way I would’ve been able to conjure the sights that were in that house. Also, the Russell house had the staircase. I wasn’t able to walk on it, but I got a great picture of the way it wound up to the third floor.

I really liked this book, but just like the one for Boone Plantation, I’m not sure anyone would be interested in it if you didn’t have any exposure to the site. It gets a Good Book! review from me. 

And if you’re in Charleston, I recommend both the Boone Plantation and the Russell House. The plantation grounds were very cool, but I have to give the edge on house tour to the Russell house. I saw a lot more and had access to a lot more of the house. The plantation tour is only parts of the first floor, but the grounds wagon ride made up for it with the critters we saw. Also, if you’re into gardens, the plantation has great gardens. It’s also worth it to see the Avenue of Oaks. I appreciate the volunteer at the Russell House recommending this book to me. Personally, I don’t think they should’ve let it go out of print. I think it would be an excellent book to have in the gift shop.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie

You can't go wrong with Agatha Christie. What's even better is this book is in the public domain, so I was able to find it on one of my favorite sites: gutenberg.org.

Roger Ackroyd is murdered, and the main suspect is a young man who was considered to be almost like a son to the man. His fiancé finds out Poirot is living nearby and asks for his help. Our narrator is actually a local doctor, Dr. Sheppard. 

Enjoying watching Poirot on TV hurt me on this one. I knew who the killer was from an episode I'd seen a long time ago. I couldn't remember all the details, but I knew a lot of it. 

The writing was excellent - as usual. Even knowing who the killer was and many of the details didn't make reading this book tedious at all. I really liked it, and it's something I've come to expect when reading an Agatha Christie. Good Book!