Tag Archives: Book Reviews

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

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Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (Ernest Cunningham, #2) by

Benjamin Stevenson (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

In this sequel to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, the hero/survivor Ernest Cunningham has turned the trauma from the first installment into a book. As the novel opens, he is about to board “The Ghan,” Australia’s modern day answer to the Orient Express for a writer’s festival.

From the beginning of the story, Ernest is plagued with survivor’s guilt and feelings of inadequacy, even as he tries to romance his fellow survivor, the owner of the ski resort, Juliette. Ernest is also feeling the pressure to produce a new book by his publisher and agent Simone, who is on the train for her own reasons.


In an attempt to find inspiration, Ernest begins observing and investigating events that happen on board the train. Of course, there is a murder, multiple suspects and red herrings as the plot becomes more convoluted. A second murder, and rival authors who are also trying to capitalize on the events for their future publications, leads to Ernest being unsure if anyone is innocent, and who could he possibly trust to help solve this mystery that is stranger than fiction.


Author Benjamin Stevenson writes this series in the first person, so most of the story is told through Ernest’s eyes, although there are parts where he deviates to another character. Ernest is not a detective, per say, but his former career was writing books on how to write mystery stories, so he uses his dubious skills, obtained from studying golden age masters of the craft, like Agatha Christie, to assist and lead him forward.


This somewhat unique point of view from the main character allows him to address the fourth wall, i.e. the reader as he seemingly gives away plot points long before they happen, all the while surprising the reader with the twists the story actually takes. These interludes are both humorous and slightly irreverent, showing the author enjoys playing with his characters as much as this reader enjoys his story.


I award this book five stars, and look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : The Hanging Tree

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The Hanging Tree by Irina Shapiro

The Hanging Tree (Nicole Rayburn #1) by Irina Shapiro (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

When Nicole checks into an isolated old mansion for a writer’s retreat, she has no idea she will be drawn into the true story of a local legend. Alys Bailey may or may not have been a witch, depending on the definition of such in the 1600’s, but she was most probably hanged on a centuries-old tree that overlooks the current breakfast room of the manor. The mystery of this character inspires Nicole, as does the reluctance of the owners and the locals to speak of her.


Nicole soon forms a partnership with Kyle, a fellow writer, who volunteers his time to assist with her research. As the two grow closer, Nicole learns he has secrets of his own.


This is the first book I have read by author Irina Shapiro, and I found her method of alternating between chapters of the present and the past more interesting than frustrating. She skillfully weaves between the two separate stories, while leaving the reader wanting more.


My only complaint with this novel was that there were several elements introduced into the story the author chose not to capitalize on. The current owners of the manor may or may not have acquired the home by unscrupulous means, a suspicion led by the fact there is no record of Lisa Prentiss in the family genealogy on the grounds. The manor lies next to a man-made lake created by flooding an ancient town, and only the bell tower of the church is visible above the surface of the water. I feel Shapiro could have done so much more with these plot points, but they are relegated to the status of red herrings.


Meanwhile, the reader is lead to see that the real villain of the historic story is not the accused witch but the lady of the manor. The final twists are certainly unexpected, and in my opinion make up for any disappointments with the direction the story takes.


I award this story four stars, and will most likely read more of this author’s work. I recommend this to fans of historical romantic mysteries.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Extinction

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Extinction by Douglas Preston

Extinction by Douglas Preston (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

A technological breakthrough runs amok in this new novel by author Douglas Preston. A group of scientists have “DE-extincted” several species of dinosaurs, aka Jurassic Park, and set them up in a nature preserve in the Colorado wilderness.


When a wealthy couple disappear deep in the wilderness of the preserve, the reader is left wondering momentarily if the culprits are animal or human, at least from the short early chapters I read before the book’s official release. However, after getting a copy of the entire book I was able to quickly realize the dinosaurs were innocent. Instead, a group of unknown size had somehow infiltrated the park, a group that had insider knowledge of the security, the routines, and the hidden old mining areas underneath the park.


As Colorado Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Frankie Cash and Sheriff Jim Colcord are forced to work together to find the missing couple, they quickly discover clues to far more sinister deeds. The kidnappers have left behind videos and evidence they wanted to have discovered-evidence of murder, cannibalism, and strange, primitive rites conducted under their noses. Who are the members of this group? How are they eluding the security of the park and the manhunt of combined forces of CBI and police investigators?


Forced to work under close scrutiny of the press, the administration of the park who are being evasive, the billionaire father of one of the victims who is outraged but also hiding information, as well as the CBI and the governor; Cash and Colcord are only left with more questions and very few answers. Finally they resort to underhanded means to get inside the laboratories where the dinosaurs are made. Once there, they discover that the scientists bred more than dinosaurs.


The group of scientists actually De-extincted one of humanities’ ancient rivals, a rival species driven into extinction by homo sapiens. The newly resurrected race escape the control of the scientists, and are out for revenge. Their goal- extinction of the human race.


I was shocked at the big twist in this book; I definitely did not predict the direction this story would take. That being said, I believe it was handled in a manner that was all too plausible. Preston has a history of writing stories where technology gets the better of its inventors and this is just the latest example of his writing style. What at first seems like a re-write of Jurasssic Park turned out to be so much more, and I award this novel 5 stars.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors

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Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors by James Lovegrove

Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors by James Lovegrove

Amy Caudill‘s review

What a good book to read to start off the spooky season!  This fourth volume in the series by James Lovegrove combines the classic characters of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes with the monsters of H.P. Lovecraft to weave a tale that brings our heroes into a secret war against alien monstrosities that not only influence our world from afar, but now are found to walk among us.

This novel, presented as sort of an addendum to the three prior, skillfully takes the original characters of Holmes and Watson, as well of some of the original author’s specific cases, and weaves into to them a secret subtext that Watson, as the “author” whose works appeared in The Strand, chose to keep hidden from the public.  Lovegrove, as the “heir” to these secret case notes, has decided the time is right to reveal what really happened behind the scenes.

This particular volume delineates happenings from not only earlier cases, but also particulars at the end of Holmes and Watsons’ careers and lives.  For instance, the “real” reason Holmes retired to the country, and what “really” happened to Irene Adler.  Throughout, the reader is treated to multiple cases where the duo fights against the hordes of the Outer Gods and worshippers of The Great Old Ones, so named from Lovecraft’s work. 

Now, though, it appears a cabal of humans is assisting the otherworldly creatures in conquering a much nearer and dearer target, Earth itself.  Why have the invaders come to Earth, despite their different physiology and inability to survive under Earth’s atmosphere and gravity?  The reason is not revealed till deep in the text and is shocking in its insidiousness and desperation.  The culmination of the final story shows links between all the cases and reveals the ultimate plot of the aliens, who are no longer united in their goals.

This book is a treat for fans of the original works of classic authors, Conan Doyle, and Lovecraft, and combines their characters in a plausible way that can delight a whole new generation of readers.  Fans of the series’ will easily recognize specifics, but can also enjoy the new stories, like that rare well-written piece of fan fiction with an original plot.  I award Lovegrove four stars and recommend this volume to fans of Holmes, Cthulhu, classic mystery and horror books.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : An Eye for an Eye

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An Eye for an Eye by Carol Wyer

An Eye for an Eye (Detective Kate Young, #1) by Carol Wyer (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

The first book in this series introduces us to Detective Inspector Kate Young, a driven, successful British cop who has recently survived a trauma that is at first only alluded to in flashbacks and offhand comments, but the reader soon becomes aware affects her entire life, professionally and personally.

We meet Kate as she is attempting to come to terms with a tragedy she witnessed, while being on medical leave.  Each day is a struggle, without the job that gives her purpose.  When her boss calls her in to head a murder investigation, Kate worries that she is being set up to fail.  She has to deal with a team that is concerned with her mental state, a couple of higher-ups that want to look over her shoulder and yet withhold vital Intel, and the fear that she is losing her mind.

The murderer soon strikes again, and a list of potential future targets includes one of her bosses, all while Kate is undergoing withdrawal from anxiety meds and trying to direct a team of seasoned cops who may or may not have her back.  Will she be able to keep it together and prove she can still do the job before she is removed from the case or the killer strikes again?

Carol Wyer has written an excellent mystery with a complicated, driven heroine that I enjoyed reading very much.  The actual antagonist was presented as a minor character in the story, someone that no one would have expected to be a criminal mastermind at first introduction, which gave the book a delicious twist. 

That being said, the background plot was a little bit easier to guess.  Maybe I’ve read too many mystery stories, but I figured out the mysterious fatal weapon before the detectives uncovered that information.  I also understood the secret tragedy that Kate would not admit to herself until three quarters of the way through the book.  I am intrigued with the direction the author chose to help Kate deal with her issue, and how that creates another character foil for her through the end of the story and probably into the next book. 

I probably will pick up a copy of the next story to see how that situation further develops, as well as the tantalizing bits that her husband left for Kate to investigate about corruption in the police force.  All in all, a very good story and a strong start for a series.  I give this book four stars.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews > Flower Power Trip

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Flower Power Trip by James J. Cudney

Flower Power Trip (Braxton Campus Mysteries #3) by  James J. Cudney (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review 

The third volume in this cozy mystery series features the male protagonist, Kellan, invested in a mission to help two of his bosses solve a mystery surrounding one’s past while being stalked by his wife whose family faked her death to save her from a rival mob family’s hit. 

Kellan is a new professor of media studies at Braxton University, in Braxton, Pennsylvania, the small town where his family lives and is active in politics, and social organizations.  Since his wife’s disappearance, he’s also a single father.  None of these responsibilities prevent him from getting too involved in “assisting” the local sheriff in solving a murder mystery and possibly finding a new romance. 

While he doesn’t necessarily go looking for trouble, Kellan can’t resist when his friends and coworkers need his help, and thus he’s drawn into one potentially dangerous situation after another.  Whether it’s breaking into a crime scene, debating withholding evidence, or with the blessing of the police setting a trap for a murderer, Kellan will do what is necessary.  If only someone could help him with his personal life…

The fact that the protagonist is male is unusual for a “cozy mystery” series, but the author does an excellent job with his characters and the plots are always deep, involved, and convoluted enough to intrigue mystery fans.  As the series develops, we begin seeing more complicated twists in the relationships with supporting characters and the development of plots that are only hinted about in the first books.

Why is Kellan getting postcards from his wife, who is supposedly in hiding?  When he has time to sit down and put them altogether, it leads to a cliffhanger that ends this book while also setting up the next in the series, Mistaken Identity Crisis.

I award this book four stars for originality and developing plots that were ongoing in the series, though I did struggle to remember their original introduction as background stories in the last book.  Perhaps I should have refreshed my memory of the series before I started this novel.  Anyway, this is a good solid mystery, but I would recommend reading the books in order for maximum comprehension.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Ready Player One

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by  Ernest Cline (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

This story is a modern-day epic quest featuring a hero’s journey, most of which is accomplished online.  What follows is a tale that contains action, violence, romance, subterfuge, and puzzles wrapped in a package that will, depending on the age of the reader either fill them with nostalgia or mystification of the trivia and culture of the 1980s.

Despite the fact that I had watched and enjoyed the movie based on this novel, twice, I had to psych myself up a bit before I sat down and read the 579 page book.  I admit that I was a little daunted by the length of the story, but I was glad in the end that I did. 

Ready Player One by author Ernest Cline details a semi-apocalyptic world of the not-so distant future where the economy, the environment, and overcrowding have pushed the population at large to seek relief from their mundane existence in an online community called the Oasis.  One of the two creators of the Oasis, James Halliday, left as his will and legacy a contest that would grant the winner his fortune and control of this virtual universe.  The main character of the story, Wade Watts, is a teenage “Easter Egg Hunter,” or gunter for short, determined to win this prize.

At this point the movie begins to deviate from the book.  While the major premises and most of the characters remain the same; the quests for the ultimate prize and the nature of the virtual world are quite different.  The world of the novel is in some ways darker, while the challenges to find the clues are both more cerebral and less flashy, and speak of the full-time commitment many have made in pursuit of the reward.

Wade Watts lives mostly in the Oasis, barely existing in reality, which his interactions in both ably demonstrate.  His only friends are those in the Oasis, none of whom he had ever met in real life, at least in the beginning.  When they do meet, Wade must decide if the differences they present in real life mean they are not the same people he has come to depend on online.

The quest to find Halliday’s Easter egg is the focus of not just Wade’s life, but also a huge group of dedicated gunters, and a rival internet company, IOI, that wants control, no matter the cost.  Headed by Sorrento, an unscrupulous businessman and gamer, IOI is not afraid to use every dirty trick online and in real life to achieve their goal-domination and commercialization of the Oasis.

I award this book five stars for originality in plot, as well as a story filled with memorable characters and nail-biting action.

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Amy Caudill’s Reviews : The Pharaoh Key

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The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston

The Pharaoh Key (Gideon Crew series) by  Douglas Preston (Goodreads Author), Lincoln Child

Amy Caudill‘s review

Following the culmination of righting one wrong from his greatest failure in the last book, Return to the Ice Limit, Eli Glinn has summarily shut down Effective Engineering Inc., leaving everyone else, including his long-time second in command and friend Garza, and Gideon Crew, high and dry with no explanation or compensation.

While being forced to clean out his office, Garza discovers a long-running search has completed its function, and decides to take the data with him as he leaves.  Determined to get the best of Glinn for his apparent betrayal and get a better payout for their extensive efforts,(Garza;,) and make his last remaining months meaningful, (Gideon;) they team up to uncover the mystery of the Phaistos Disk, a legendary artifact believed to be from the time of the ancient Pharaohs.

Keeping their illicit mission under the radar from Glinn is not exactly easy, and neither is going into an untraveled and “forbidden” area of the desert which is under disputed control of multiple governments.  The two protagonists re plagued with troubles almost from the start, and are forced to team with a mysterious woman who claims to be an archeologist, but in reality is much more.

Their journey will take them into a settlement in the middle of nowhere that has been completely isolated from civilization, perhaps going back as far as Moses and the ancient Egyptians dynasties.  What secrets does the Phaistos Disk hold, and is the world actually ready for the truth?  This last adventure for the action-packed series doesn’t disappoint in terms of danger, intrigue, romance, and mystery.

I thought this book was a fitting conclusion to the Gideon Crew series.  Each of the three main characters has some resolution of their own.  Eli Glinn, having regained his health and solved his biggest problems,  finally takes the time to reflect on his behavior, his feelings for the woman he loved and lost, and the role his own actions played in the reactions of his subordinates/colleagues/friends.  Manuel Garza finds a destiny he never would have imagined, but also finds he is content for perhaps the first time.  Gideon Crew has seemingly made peace with his life and his pending death, though the authors don’t actually show that event.  Does this mean there is a chance there will be another Gideon Crew book in the future?

I award this book five stars and recommend it to not only fans of the writing duo of Preston and Child, but to any fans of adventure stories.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

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Good Omens by Terry Pratchett

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by  Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

This irreverent look at good and evil, angels and demons, and the oft-predicted end of the world features the work of two masters of fantasy and mayhem in a humorous yet horrifying story that screams about human nature and the state of the world as we know it.

A demon, Crowley, and an angel, Aziraphale, have been on Earth since the time of Adam and Eve, (in fact it was Aziraphale who wielded the Flaming Sword in the Garden of Eden, and Crowley, then called Crawly, was the serpent who convinced Adam and Eve to sin.)  Since the pair have few colleagues/enemies who have shared so much time and history with them, they tend to gravitate toward each other.  That is, they meet for drinks, and more or less stay out of each other’s way while they carry out their assigned duties/a.k.a. intervention into human life.

Crowley is charged with delivering the infant who will become the Antichrist; though through a series of events involving bureaucracy and human blunder the child goes home with the wrong family, growing up without either divine or evil influence.  Adam Young is to all appearances an ordinary human boy, unaware that both sides of the divide anticipate the events that are prophesied to culminate on his eleventh birthday.

Crowley and Aziraphale decide that they like Earth as it is, and are not in a hurry to return to Hell/Heaven, where things are too boring, predictable, and unvaried without human creativity and influence.  They attempt to find the child Antichrist before he destroys the world, but are hampered along the way by Witchhunters, traffic jams, and a host of roadblocks.

 In the end, though, the Angel/Demon duo is helpless to do anything but watch as Adam Young comes into his own, and decides the fate of humanity.  Or is it really just a part of some Ineffable plan that neither demons nor angels have been informed about?  And does a sixteenth century convicted witch named Agnes Nutter really have all the answers?

I was familiar with the book long before I actually read it, thanks to the popular series it has spawned (but I have yet to watch,) so I was able to imagine the television actors in the role of the two main characters.  For me, this made the book even more enjoyable. The satire is so relevant and so in keeping with human nature, which in Pratchett and Gaiman’s world would naturally infect both angels and demons.

I award this book four stars, it would be five but for someone who is not British, some of the slang and local references are really obscure to the point that parts of the book required re-reading and numerous references to the included footnotes to get the jokes.  Still, it is a good read, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a satirical fantasy that doesn’t take itself at all seriously.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows

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Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows by James Lovegrove

Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows (The Cthulhu Casebooks, #1) by  James Lovegrove

Amy Caudill‘s review

In one of the more creative takes on the stories originally penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Lovegrove combines the classic Holmes with stories from another period author, H.P. Lovecraft, for a detective horror fiction that pays tribute to both genres.

In the forward to The Shadwell Shadows, the first book of the trilogy The Cthulu Casebooks, the author claims to be a distant relative of Lovecraft, who “inherited” these manuscripts from his estate.  He has decided to share with the world the unbelievable and potentially panic-inducing tales as a public service, letting the readers make up their own minds as to validity.

He portray a very different first meeting for Holmes and Watson, where Watson’s war wounds came from a brush with the supernatural, and Holmes’ early cases have already demonstrated that there are inexplicable events happening in Victorian London.  He states, as the narrator in Watson’s voice, that the true events that happened during Holmes and Watson’s long association were too controversial, too fantastical, to bring to public knowledge.

The basic plot of this volume revolves around a number of mysterious deaths, mostly of indigents and outcasts of society, that Scotland Yard spend little effort on and so fail to connect.  However, Holmes does find a connection, and follows it, along with his new roommate Watson, to an opium den run by a wealthy immigrant who has delved into studies of dark rituals and old gods that are all but forgotten in polite society.  This is only the jump-off point to awareness of monsters in the dark, magic rituals and horrors that Holmes and Watson would rather unlearn, but cannot run from, because there are other lives at stake.

While this book makes references to a number of “classic” Holmes cases, the contents of this volume are written not as a collection of stories, but rather as one long continuous tale.  The epilogue also mentions the subjects of the next two volumes, hinting that this collection is one long tale of the “true” events of their joined career.

Lovegrove has done a credible job imitating Doyle’s style and characters, while placing them into situations where the paranormal is a reality that can be seductive and dangerous.  I really can’t say I’ve read much Lovecraft for myself, though I am aware of his creations from various other sources, from popular movies and other fiction.  I believe Lovegrove’s allusions to Lovecraft’s work are just as meticulous as is his borrowing of the Holmesian mythos.

I thought this a very interesting read and would recommend it to fans of Sherlock Holmes, Victorian era-fiction and classic horror tales alike.  I award this book four stars and intend to seek out the next work in the series.