Those Who Wish Me Dead
by Michael Koryta
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Hachette / Little Brown | June 2014
Format: Audio, 10½ hours | Print, 400 pages
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
Rating: 5 of 5
From the Publisher
When fourteen-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he’s plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare.
About the Story
Ethan and his wife Allison live in the Montana mountains. He is a survival instructor and also runs a summer camp for troubled teens. One night Jamie, a former survivor school student, shows up at Ethan’s door. She needs a favor. She is now working as a private bodyguard and wants to hide a young witness by enrolling him in Ethan’s wilderness camp for teens. The boy’s parents do not trust the police to keep him safe and have hired her to hide him from a pair of hitmen that want to eliminate the only witness to a murder they committed.
Allison wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, but Ethan wanted to do the right thing and help the boy. He knew could keep him safe in the wilderness. But in no time the hit men, the exceptionally creepy Blackwell brothers, were able to track them and began closing in on the group.
My Thoughts:
This is one of my favorite types of books – a classic thriller that captures my attention from the very first chapter and won’t let go. The suspense was riveting, the plot rich and complex, but never difficult to grasp. The pace never slowed down with one plot turn after another. The setting in the mountainous wilderness is a character in itself, offering its own obstacles including an encroaching forest fire.
I listened to this book knowing little about the plot other than the synopsis – and not knowing what was to come enhanced my enjoyment. The narrative shifts between the different character’s points of view, including a creepy glimpse into the minds of the hitmen. Their eerie conversations, relentless pursuit and joy in killing add to the gripping nature of the story.
Audio Production
The audio was performed by Robert Petkoff who did an excellent job with each and every character. Voices were distinct and it was easy to identify a shift in point of view. My favorite voice was for the Blackwell brothers. They are the stuff nightmares are made of, and the narration drove that home.
I had no trouble following the story, but the shifting narrative requires a little more attention than usual. Nevertheless, I would recommend this to listeners of all levels.
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Source: Review copy from the Hachette Audio through LibraryThing.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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I barely noticed a Great Blue Heron standing at the edge of the pond. They can remain still as a statue while waiting patiently for dinner to swim past. When I saw the bird with his mouth open, I stopped and waited to see if he was going to grab a fish or other small amphibian.
Preparing to stike
This is a young, juvenile heron. The black and white striping on the throat and breast, two-toned dark bill and solid dark crown distinguish it from the adult herons with their black and white striped crown and yellow bill.
Caught a small fish
Herons will eat pretty much anything within striking distance, often impaling the prey on their sharp bill. Fish, reptiles, insects and even small mammals or birds are part of their diet.
Shaking the fish
After spearing the fish with his beak, he turned around and began shaking it. This breaks the sharp spines and makes it easier to swallow.
A drink of water
After a few minutes of shaking the fish, he gulped it down whole, followed by a drink of water.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Today I have a special feature and the opportunity to win a copy of Web of Betrayal, a chilling, pulse-pounding tale of murder and revenge set in Silicon Valley at the dawn of the Internet Age.
About the Book
Web of Betrayal
by Clare F. Price
Genre: Thriller
Publish Date: July 2014
Format: Paperback | 412 pages
The year is 1994, the dawn of the Internet Age, when companies from Silicon Valley to London are fighting to claim the billions to be made on the new information highway.
Peter Ellis, an aggressive investigative reporter struggling to repair his damaged reputation after being framed for rigging a story, attends the Consumer Electronics Show and learns that a skilled programmer known for cracking secure computer code has mysteriously disappeared.
Peter’s quest to find the missing programmer unwittingly pits him against a brilliant hacker and deranged killer with an agenda of his own: taking revenge on the man who ruined his life – computer industry luminary David Lockwood – who is now poised to introduce a product that will change the Internet forever.
As Peter is drawn into the deadly game of betrayal and murder, he is faced with losing everything he holds dear: his career, his one true love, even his own life. Can he find the programmer’s encoded disk – which the holds the key to the killer’s identity – before his luck runs out?
About the Author
Clare Price is a former business journalist, technology reporter, Internet industry analyst and a VP of marketing for several software startups. She saw the birth of the commercial Internet firsthand as a research director with the Gartner Group, the global leader in information technology consulting. As a principal analyst in Gartner’s Internet Strategies Service, Clare assisted many of the world’s biggest technology companies (IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Sun Microsystems, Oracle) in their bid to make the internet a reality.
In addition to her 5-book series, The 5 Easy Pages Essential Marketing System, Clare has written more than 700 articles and is a frequent speaker in the areas of marketing, management, and technology.
An Ohio native and graduate of the UC Berkeley, Clare lives in Sacramento with her two Shetland Sheepdogs, Dan and Toby.
Connect with Claire
Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Webpage
Giveaway Information
Courtesy of the publicist, I have one copy of Web of Betrayal to give away to a reader with a continental US mailing address. To enter, fill out the form below on or before midnight, Saturday, October 11th. For an extra entry, tweet or blog about the giveaway. The winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond.
[Giveaway has ended]
Winner: Vicki
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© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Source: Giveaway provided by Tandem Literary.
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Almost wordless: I was raking leaves when I disturbed a bug relaxing on (or maybe snacking on) my hostas. Once it moved I got a better look at it. It’s a Katydid. I took this shot with my phone and didn’t expect the clarity and crispness to match my Canon DSLR. Now I want a better lens for my Canon.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel
by Lee Child
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Random House / Delacorte | September 2014
Format: Audio, 13 hours | Print, 368 pages
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4 of 5
From the Publisher
Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he’s a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president. Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him.
About the Story
Jack Reacher is on a bus to Seattle when he finds a discarded copy of the Army Times. He picks it up and flips through it and in the personal ads he sees one with his name in it – a large box in the center of the page in bold print: Jack Reacher call Rick Shoemaker.
Reacher owed Shoemaker a favor, so he found a pay phone – yes, a pay phone, he doesn’t carry a phone, or much of anything else for that matter – and made the call. The military needs his help. Someone took a long-range shot at the French President. Only four snipers in the world could make that shot and one of them is an American who was just released from jail. Reacher was the guy who put him away fifteen years ago.
My Thoughts:
Reacher teams up with Casey Nice, a young, an inexperienced female operative from the US State Department, and they set out to find their guy. Most of the action takes place in Paris and London rather than being set in the United States. Although Reacher was born and raised overseas and is familiar with the territory, this is a change from previous novels.
This book was a different from the usual high-octane adventure Reacher is known for. The story was fairly low-key as thrillers go with not as much action as the usual Reacher novel, but still plenty for my tastes. There are lots of gangsters and thugs and evil ex-military guys to defeat. The pacing is quick, the dialog sprinkled with humorous quips and the plot moves quickly as Reacher proceeds to get things done – his way.
This is the nineteenth book in the Reacher series, and while he may be showing a few signs of slowing down, Reacher is still the guy I most want to have on the bus in the event of trouble.
Audio Production
The narration was performed by Dick Hill who has read many, if not all, of the previous novels and is the voice of Reacher for many fans. Pacing was good, I enjoyed the ‘bad guy’ voices, but his female voice for Casey was just OK. Male narrators performing female dialog rarely works for me.
This is the first full-length Reacher novel I’ve listened to rather than read and for me the performance was good but not spectacular. That is mostly due to my own expectations of what Reacher should sound like. Personal is written in the first person, and as Hill read the lines for Reacher he often sounded snarky and at times ambivalent. I still enjoyed it – I listen to a lot of audio and have a lot of narrators to compare each performance with in my own mind. Listen to a sample and decide for yourself…
Audio Sample
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Source: Review copy from the publisher.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Autumn officially arrives today in the northern hemisphere. Many of my garden flowers are still hanging in there with plenty of blooms, but my vines began shrinking back this week and revealed a few early pumpkins ready for picking.
My mailbox was moderately busy with a few print books and three audio downloads for review.
New Arrivals
Neverhome by Laird Hunt from the BookReporter.com fall preview contest.
An extraordinary novel about a wife who disguises herself as a man and goes off to fight in the Civil War.
The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien from Roaring Brook Press.
From the author of the Birthmarked trilogy comes a fast-paced, psychologically thrilling novel about what happens when your dreams are not your own.
How to Behave at a Tea Party by Madelyn Rosenberg from Harper Collins.
In this humorous and imaginative spin on the classic manners book, Madelyn Rosenberg and Heather Ross explore the joy and freedom that come when you keep an open mind.
Audiobook Downloads
From Penguin Audio
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
A truly extraordinary, masterful novel of brilliant storytelling, sensuality, and psychological suspense set in post-WWI London, from the internationally bestselling author of The Little Stranger.
Dr. Mutter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country’s most famous museum of medical oddities.
The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin
New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin shifts his keen insights from your brain on music to your brain in a sea of details.
How was your week?
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© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Several pairs of cardinals regularly visit my feeders and nest in the nearby bushes and shrubs. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sight of baby cardinals and until now hadn’t seen any. Their spring nests were parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds, a species that reproduces by laying eggs in other birds’ nests.
Juvenile Cardinal with Dad
Last week my wait was over when I spotted a juvenile cardinal hiding in the shrubs near the sunflower seed feeder. Both parents were at the feeder and were coaxing the youngster out to forage for some seeds.
Here dad is showing junior the seeds on the ground. Notice the youngster has her mouth open; she would prefer dad feed her the seed rather than do it herself.
Juvenile Cardinal
The young birds are almost as big as their parents and with only a quick glance can be mistaken for an adult. The easiest way to tell if a cardinal is a juvenile is by beak color. The adults will have bright orange beaks while the young birds have a darker, black beak. It will fade to orange during the molting period as their adult feathers grow in.
Young cardinals have gray and tan coloring and resemble the female until their new feathers grow in. This youngster looks like a female. The males show a tinge of new red feathers on the breast. This bird has new feathers in a soft brown tone.
Female Cardinal
Cardinal parents are very attentive and every time I have seen the youngster, both parents have been with her. They are also very cautious birds and will fly off immediately if they see me. These shots were taken at a distance from up on my deck as I hid behind plants and railings.
If the parents look a little shabby with bald patches and scruffy feathers, it’s because they are molting. After a busy summer of nesting and raising their young, a bird’s feathers get a bit tattered and worn. Cardinals, like most songbirds, grow a new set of feathers each year after the breeding season.
Juvenile Cardinal Feeding Herself
Success! A few days ago I finally saw the young bird feeding herself.
Cardinals breed between March and September, so this is a little late in the season for a new baby, but cardinals do not migrate so they will have plenty of time to raise their youngster and teach her how to find food and shelter.
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