NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.....ROBIN HOOD'S GRANDDAUGHTER GET HIT BY CUPID'S ARROW....(****)

 Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (2024)

    Had a great time with this one. Memorable cast of characters, loads of swashbuckling 'Robin Hood' action and topped off with an unlikely, funny and finally touching, sweet romance between our two lead girls.

     But keep in mind, this is a teen Never Neverland version of the Sherwood Forest legends, with contemporary phrasing, sarcasm and quips liberally sprinkled into the dialogue. (Think of it as a new Netflix teen series, 'Robin's Grand-kid')
 
     The grand-kid mentioned is Mariel Hood-Hartley, raised by her stern father to be a fierce warrior and captain of her own little band of Merry Men( and women). Unlike her Grandfather's role as a champion of the poor and downtrodden, Mariel's father just likes making perpetual war on the Sheriff of Nottingham, with the oppressed villagers only thought of as collateral damage.

     Commander Hartley, seeking to track down a traitorous mole, has Mariel kidnap a potential suspect, an elderly woman who's the village 'healer'. But the group accidentally abducts the healer's more talented teen apprentice Clemence. She's a sunny, witty ray of sunshine who proceeds to confound and aggravate the driven, humorless Mariel. But 'Clem' as she's called, gradually captivates all around her with her unending warmth, empathy and genius healing skills........and even manages to romantically defrost Mariet.

     But that nasty Sheriff is relentless, sending Mariel, her Merry band and Clem into bloody battles and breathless rescue missions. And here's where the book dials down a lot its snarky quipping and settles into a good old fashioned high stakes adventure, with clashing swordplay, zinging arrows and surprise revelations that stagger both Mariel and Clem.

     Pure fun all the way.. If there's ever a movie or series announced, I'd be scouring the entertainment websites to see who'll play the leads 

        4 stars (****).

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DARKLY.....7 TEENS PROBE THE DARKEST SECRETS OF A LEGENDARY GAME CREATOR...(*****)

 Darkly by Marisha Pessi (2024)

     Bowled over by the ambitious, detailed world building that went into this complex YA mystery-adventure. By world-building, I mean the world of the byzantine board games created by young art student Louisiana Veda, who became a legendary figure of dazzling creativity and impenetrable dark secrets.

     This fascinating woman died mysteriously after building 'Darkly', a game manufacturing empire on her own private, forbidding island. Also included in the circumstances of her death......the disappearance of what was rumored as her penultimate game, 'Valkyrie', supposedly a game that its players might not survive.

     Now seven teenagers from around the world have been selected for a summer internship on Louisiana's island. And they've been tasked (with a huge grand prize)_ by the sinister, all powerful law firm that controls the 'Darkly' estate. They're to find out how obsessive gamers are now playing the elusive, stolen 'Valkyrie', including one boy who's disappeared while playing it.
  
     Among these diverse teens who've taken up the challenge is Arcadia 'Dia' Gannon, whose fearless, perceptive sleuthing leads the group into no end of harrowing adventures. As the secrets and revelations of Louisiana's Veda's incredible star-crossed life unfold, there's danger, suspicions, and some heartbreaking surprises swirling around the 'Darkly' empire and all its legends and puzzling backstories.

     By no means a fast paced thrill ride., the riddles, mysteries and layers of deception here are mind boggling and dense, but I simply couldn't stop turning the pages. And those games! I doubt I could ever play them, but they sound like they'd make me first in line to see the movie adaptations.

      And there's nothing I love more than a mystery whose twists finally come at you like an avalanche, right up to the final pages. Add to that the incisive meditations on the tortuous life of a misunderstood artist and you've got yourself a 5 star read. (*****)

HEIST ROYALE.....ONCE AGAIN, TEEN THIEVES PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE TO MATCH WITS AND SKILLS (****)

 Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis (2024)

     The Junior Varsity 'Ocean's 11' crew are back in action and for everyone who loved the impossible heists in their first book, 'Thieves Gambit' here come even more.....with a heaping dose of the ever-so-slow burning romance between dedicated, dire enemies Ross and Devroe.

     As you can see from the above description, this is the second book in a series and as far from a stand-alone as you can get. I'd highly recommend 'Heist Royale' as a terrific escapist romp but only after you've read the first one. Otherwise, you'll spend a frustrating time playing catch-up with the various rivalries, blood feuds, backstories and character clashes.

     Our severely star-crossed couple, expert teen thieves Rosalyn 'Ross' Quest and Devroe Kenzie live to out-heist each other, with Ross's deep hatred and fear of the Kenzie family fueled by the events of the previous book....(which I couldn't even begin to describe in any detail, which brings me back to what I said about this not being a stand-alone)

     Once again they're pitted against each other, along with their internationally diverse collection of fellow teen heist-meisters. And once again, the all powerful 'Organization' is running another 'Gambit' an anything-goes 'Hunger Gamer'-like thieving Olympics for adolescent felons.

     As a prize, the Organization offers an all encompassing 'wish', and by that I don't just mean a trip to Disneyland or a new washer-dryer. As for losers, given the amount of danger they expose themselves to, they've a good chance of ....well....not making it into the next book.

     This particular Gambit, set off by a deadly power struggle within the upper echelons of the Organization, makes the heists even more spectacularly insurmountable, which means a whole lot more suspense, danger and fun for us readers. The primary set piece has our competing crews of heist-inators ripping off a luxurious but shady casino......and coming up against an adversary they didn't bargain for.

I loved all the characters, the sharp byplay and the many twists and turns, but again I'd warn against trying to read this without first immersing yourself in 'Thieves Gambit' .A great reading double feature.

         4 stars (****).....(and if you meet anyone like the crew in this book and shake their hands.....remember to count your fingers....)

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OUT IN THE COLD.....AGENT ALEX AGAIN OUT TO SAVE THE WORLD (WHETHER THE CIA LIKES IT OR NOT) (*****)

 Out In The Cold by Steve Urszenyi (2024)

      She's back.......and we can all sleep safer knowing that very Special Agent Alexandra Martel is ferreting out global villainy and sending terrorists of all varieties to their well deserved doom.

     Author Steve Urszenyi has put together another breathless, action packed mission for Alex to unleash her skills as a fearless warrior and expert sniper. This time she's up against another hive of Machiavellian mischief designed to bring the world to the brink of Def-Con Bye Bye Bye.

     Alex and her former Interpol chief (and mentor) barely survive an all out assault by unknown mercenaries and that's just the beginning. Somehow, Alex's tangle with these bad buys relates to more damaging attacks on Finland, newly initiated into NATO. Naturally, the one and only usual suspect is Russia......or is somebody else out to stir the pot of boiling world turmoil?

      Now attached to a CIA unit, who better than Alex Martel to hunt down and battle the perpetrators, even if her rogue independence confounds and frustrates her CIA bosses....(not to mention her fellow CIA compadre Caleb, who's carrying a flaming torch for Alex.).

      This book's a pure, adrenalin-pumped thrill ride, loaded with explosive violent action and populated with a full contingent of Washington D.C. power players, none of whom can possibly contain Alex when she's out to bring down whoever's up to no good. Author Urszenyi works in much of today's international anxieties into the story which only makes us hope that Alex never decides to retire.

     A must for all thriller fans and everyone waiting for the next James Bond movie.....here's a 5 star world-saving agent whose exhilarating adventures you can plunge into right now.

      5 stars (*****).....long may Alex shoot, kick and punch....

  

THE SUNFLOWER HOUSE.......ROMANCE, COURAGE AND PERIL AMID THE HORRORS OF NAZI GERMANY (*****)

 The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri (2024)

        This may be the first book I've read this year what I wish I could rate higher than 5 stars.

        With this amount of heartbreaking drama, heart-aching romance and constant suspense and dread, , I couldn't race through the pages fast enough. This fact-and-fiction mash-up places its characters in the most harrowing, dangerous time and place in world history - 1939 Germany, where Hitler and Nazi-ism are spreading like a fast moving cancer.

       Caught in the maelstrom - orphaned teenager Alina Strauss, whose aunt and uncle have struggled keep the secret she's half-Jewish (or a "Mischling"). An SS raid leaves her remaining family slaughtered and Alina brutalized in every way possible. She finds herself consigned to work in one of the Third Reich's notorious 'baby factories' , hellish facilities designed to nurse and breed more Aryan babies to increase the 'Master Race' population.

        Traumatized, Alina still survives as a nurse-caregiver to babies and toddlers bred to worship Adolf Hitler. Then she's stunned to be befriended by a young SS officer, who's hiding some life-threatening secrets of his own. And from this point on, their lives become enveloped in mounting peril, and such powerful emotional moments, they're guaranteed to bring readers close to tears and/or on the edge of their seats.

        I'll give no more details other than to say 'The Sunflower House' kept me in a non-stop iron grip until I reached the final page. The lead characters may be fictitious but the all too true horrifying history surrounding them makes this one of most compelling reads I've come across this year.. Highest recommendation.

       5 stars (*****)for one the year's best so far.

THE GARDENER'S PLOT.....WHO PLANTED THE DEAD BODY?.....(***)

 The Gardener's Plot by Deborah J. Benoit (2024)

     Overall, a pleasant soothing read. But fans of quirky cozies might find this one bland and a little too connect-the-dots generic. Very skimpy on character development, which I'm assuming the author will continue to flesh out if this is the start of a series.

     Here's what I did like. Deborah J. Benoit's love of the art and craft of gardening comes through in almost every page. Her descriptions make the hard work and joy involved in developing a 'green thumb' accessible to readers like me - who think of gardening as unattainable to comprehend, as geometry, chemistry and quantum physics.

     I also loved the darkly humorous discovery of the body buried in the community garden, with one foot sticking out.....like something you'd see in one of the more mischievous Alfred Hitchcock TV series episodes. That scene led me to believe that maybe I was in for some kind of oddball black comedy, but the book left me sadly disappointed in that area. There's not a shred of humor in sight anywhere.

     The rest of "The Gardener's Plot" was simply okay at best, with amateur gardening sleuth Maggie and best friend Sally deciding to go about Miss Marple-ing the small down in search of the killer. Their constant detecting naturally doesn't sit well with police detective Quinn, leading to countless repetitious warnings for them to knock it off.

     There is, however, a well done harrowing showdown with the murderer, but with characters this thinly drawn, it's hard to work up any genuine excitement about it.

     I suspect cozy lovers won't want to miss this, but if Maggie and Sally's mystery-solving careers continue, there's some huge room for improvements here.

     3 stars (***). Not the sharpest tool in the cozy shed......