The Man in the Iron Mask (Marvel Illustrated) - Alexandre Dumas and Roy Thomas

This is one of a collection of classics Marvel adapted back in the early 2000s. They were released as an eight-comic series and then released together. Some of the other titles are Moby Dick, The Last of the Mohicans, The Odyssey and The Iliad. My daughter found a copy of a hardback at the bookstore and let me read it.

If you don't know, The Man in the Iron Mask involves the Three Musketeers (there's actually four once D'Artagnan joins them. It's later in their careers. In fact, most of them have moved on from serving the king. Only D'Artagnan remains. When one of the musketeers discovers there's a twin for the king, he sets in motion a scheme that can only be labeled as treason.

I had some trouble keeping a few of the people apart, but they use their names a lot, so that helped. The art style was really nice, and it told the story it needed to. I'm not sure how close it is to the original story, because sadly, I haven't read it. 

I really enjoyed this one, and it makes me curious about The Odyssey and The Iliad. The other titles don't really catch my eye, but anything that makes the classics more palatable for people is good in my book. For example, I love EPIC: The Musical for it's wonderful, and at times beautiful, interpretation of The Odyssey. Every time I listen, I hear something new. For something a little more fun, I recommend Wishbone. It's a children's show from the mid 1990s that is probably one of the best things ever recorded. How can you not appreciate the classics when a Jack Russell Terrier is dressed up in costume to play it out for you!?

When it comes to this particular graphic novel (that's what I'm going to call it - I'm not 100% sure it's correct, but whatever), I will gladly give it a Good Book! review. The others I'm watching digitally in the hopes of reading them one day on my tablet.

Lost and Found (September Day #1) - Amy Shojai

This book ended up on my radar because it involved a dog.

Shadow is the pup that's tasked with watching over Steven, an autistic boy who runs away from home. September is his aunt, and she answers the call when her sister reports the disappearance on September's radio show. After that, September is whirled into a situation where people are dying, and she has to try and find a thumb drive with information that could jeopardize many families' hopes of a cure for their autistic children. The problem, though, is the treatment is experimental and dangerous. 

I hated all the human characters in this book. Teddy was tolerable for a while, but then he was ignoring Shadow at a time when it was important to pay attention. I mean, how can you watch/listen to an animal struggle to the point of hurting themselves? September had to be the worst though. She was stuck in the past, and she acted like it bugged her, but then she wouldn't ask for or accept help. There were numerous times when she had the chance to safely talk to the police, but she refused. She's responsible for so many deaths, but I'm sure she'll get over it.

The writing wasn't terrible, but there were a couple places where I could tell the wording was off. It was more a grammar issue than a spelling one, and spell check doesn't catch those! I don't know why September's past was written the way it was. It made me feel like I'd skipped reading a book in the series that was vital to read before this one. She also gave some mixed signals. One minute she's mourning her husband and her part (?) in his death, and the next she's calling him a jerk. The loss of her dog also made her rude to Shadow at times, and that isn't right. I'm not talking about distancing herself, she would physically push Shadow away sometimes.

I don't really understand why so many people got killed. I get that Lizzie is crazy, but did she really get that upset at Wilma for praying to God? If April lost the thumb drive, who cares? And why would you put such sensitive information on something like that anyway? Overall, I'm done with this series. The dog was written at times like he was stupid, but I think that might just be because he's a puppy. I hope so anyway. As for the characters in the book, Shadow deserved better people!

One Nation, Under Gods - Peter Manseau

I wanted to get an outside view of the history of different religions in America. After some research, I kept an eye on this book until it went on sale.

This book dedicates each chapter to a different religion and how it appeared and thrived (or not) in America. Some of the religions included are Buddhist, spiritualism (hippies), Latter Day Saints and others.

I found this book to be incredibly interesting. I never realized how important it was to the Puritans to maintain their idea of a "city on a hill." They actively tried to keep religions from gaining ground in America, even to the point of restricting what tombstones could look like. This debate still crops up occasionally.

This was a good book, but it's not going to be for everyone. There were times when I wasn't sure I could muster the motivation to read it, but it wasn't the book's fault. The writing was good, and it was well organized. I'm staying on the fence overall, because I'm struggling to write this review. When I like a book, I know what I want to say. With this one, I can only say I learned some interesting things. Also, looking this book up is something of a nightmare without full details. For some reason, a lot of people wanted to name their book, One Nation, Under God or a variation of it.

Red Dragon - Thomas Harris

This book is related to The Silence of the Lambs. Unless you've been living under a rock, you are aware of at least something about Hannibal Lecter. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm familiar with at least a bit about the plot.

In this book, Hannibal plays a minor role. While he's part of the origin story for our hero, Will Graham, his contribution to the overall story isn't near as much as I thought it would be. A killer initially dubbed "The Tooth Fairy" is killing families. Will is the best at what he does, but it comes with a price. His mental health takes a backburner when he tracks, and his family drifts away.

The book gives various points of view. The killer's is probably the most interesting. The connection he had to a real painting was a bit unsettling. I looked up the art, and it's not something I want staying in my brain. There's nothing overtly wrong with it. It's just...unsettling.

The writing was above average, but I'm not normally a fan of the horror stories. I don't know if this is labeled as horror, but I would definitely be aware that you're getting some unnatural scenes out of this book. I did find the end to be unexpected, and I liked the story overall, but I am definitely steering clear of The Silence of the Lambs. BUT! If you're into this genre, it's definitely a good one. I'm giving it a Good Book! review because it was a good book. I also couldn't read it at night, so I'll stop here.

Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp #2) - Vince Flynn

This is one of the last Half Price Books I have left. I didn't know anything about the author, and I chose it from the clearance area for $2.

Mitch is taking out people on his hit list when he's set up. Now he's on the run from everyone, including his own handler. He doesn't know who to trust, and he's injured.

This book started and ended well. The problem was the middle. Everyone just kept talking back and forth about what to do next. Mitch was trying to convince his girlfriend he wasn't an unprincipled assassin, and the CIA was trying to decide what to do about Mitch.

I really did enjoy the ending. The middle was such a drag, I kept finding other things to do besides read this book. I would even pick up my nonfiction Kindle book instead of this one. And it's pretty dry!

There are 25 books in this series, but I'm not going anywhere near any more of them. They're just not for me.

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.