If you missed the release of Dog-Free Dinner, a special Christmas short story in the Auntie Clem’s Bakery series, be sure to check it out. And watch for the release of book three in the series, Allergen-Free Assignation this Friday. Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win a free paperback copy!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I just finished a new (to me) James Patterson thriller, Private Down Under, by Michael White. I have read a couple of the other Private books, and quite enjoyed them. This one wasn’t quite up to the same standard as the other Private titles. There were three separate cases, and I thought that at some point they were going to intersect, but they did not. They were just three separate, unrelated cases, which meant a lot of bouncing around between storylines, multiple points of view, and no clear story arc.
Besides that, there was a strange combination of metric and Imperial measurements in the book. You might think, by the author’s use of Imperial measurements by an Australian character and narrator, that he didn’t know Australia uses metric. But then there are a couple of scenes referencing the usage of Fahrenheit by Americans and Celsius by Australians, followed by immediately referencing a Fahrenheit thermometer on the wall of an Australian establishment. Overall, it was a good read, but not what you would expect for a James Patterson.
It was then that I saw a third guy. He was standing next to Thorogood. Average build, five ten, with a cold, lived-in face. I recognized him immediately and felt a hard jolt of painful memories. I was absolutely sure the guy recognized me also. But he stood motionless, expressionless.
Michael White, Private Down Under
With the best detectives in the business, cutting edge technology and offices around the globe, there is no investigation company quite like Private. Now, at a glittering launch party overlooking the iconic Opera House, Private Sydney throws open its doors . . .
Craig Gisto and his newly formed team have barely raised their glasses, however, when a young Asian man, blood-soaked and bullet-ridden, staggers into the party, and what looks like a botched kidnapping turns out to be a whole lot more.
Within days the agency’s caseload is full. But it is a horrific murder in the wealthy Eastern Suburbs and the desperate search for a motive that stretches the team to the limit. Stacy Friel, friend of the Deputy Commissioner of NSW Police, isn’t the killer’s first victim – and as the bodies mount up she’s clearly not the last . . .
I used to read everything he wrote the moment it was available. Now I’m more choosy. Not sure about this series.
My TT from Passing Strange
Oh, I would not like the inconsistencies either. Thanks for sharing…and here’s mine: “WONDER VALLEY”
I would have expected it all to tie together too. Mine is from a science fiction title Paradox Bound
I think the inconsistencies would drive me nuts.