BLOOD OATH....SPECIAL AGENT MARTEL BACK IN ACTION, ON A VENGEFUL HUNT TO RESCUE HER DAD....(*****)

 Blood Oath by Steve Urszenyi (2025)

     There's nothing to get a reader's blood pumping faster than another Steve Urszenyi action crammed thriller about ultra Special Agent Alex Martel. Supreme sniper, fearless fighter and deployed by the CIA, FBI, Interpol and who who knows how many other clandestine special ops teams, this woman is a global force to be reckoned with. And woe to any terrorists, mercenaries, oligarchs or tyrannical regimes who unwisely tangle with her.

     This time the stakes rise up higher than ever for Alex. While on a Serengeti Plains photo safari with her father, General David Martel, bloodthirsty rebels kidnap and brutalize her dad, planning to turn him over to Chinese forces. Gen. Martel faces certain death, but only after the Chinese have tortured him for top secret info that will severely damage a vital operation in Africa. To further up the catastrophe level, Russian forces under the command of an equally ruthless officer are on their way to eliminate the General altogether.

     Alex, fueled by a raging desire for payback and a long ago oath she and her father took to protect each other, wants an immediate rescue mission with guns blazing. But she's forced to hold back and proceed with caution by the the CIA director and her own boss (and hopeful love interest) Caleb. Anyone who know anything about Alex, (including her adversaries well aware of her skills) knows she can't be contained and kept in check for too long......especially with her father in such immediate danger.

     Readers of this series who know the kind of explosive action and suspense that erupts in the Alex Martel universe will not come away from this book disappointed.. In fact, the ending may leave them surprised and intrigued at an all new, even more perilous path that Alex has been left to take.

     A top notch,, turn-the-pages-faster-than-bullets thrill-a-thon......a guaranteed 'don't miss' for all armchair secret agent adventurers.

      5 stars (*****).

LEAVE IT ON THE TRACK.....A TRAUMTIZED TEEN GIRL TRIES TO HEAL.....ON WHEELS.....(****)

 Leave it on the Track by Margot Fisher (2025)

     In Moab Utah, queer teen Morgan 'Moose' Shaker loved, more than anything, roller skating with her two dads.......(and with her shy, growing crush on a popular girl at her school coming in second.) Then an indescribable tragedy at the rink left her fathers dead and Moose with terrible severe injuries, both physical and emotional.

     Now under the guardianship of her half sister Eden in Portland Oregon, Moose not only struggles with recurring PTSD from her ordeal, she's thrown into a new life, new environment and a sibling she barely had any contact with growing up, now in charge of looking after her. Eden, who skates in a local roller derby team, offers Moose a lifeline, something to engage with......by trying out for the league's junior team. Reluctantly at first, but then with full determination, Moose secures a place on the team, makes friends with some of her teammates and finds herself in an all new crush and a whole new set of challenges. (Once again, physical and emotional.)

     Author Margot Fisher surely knows how to make your heart ache for Moose and cheer her on as she takes her up-'n-down journey through the literally rough and tumble sport of roller derby, her nightmarish flashbacks from her past and the rapturous, sometimes awkward moments of her first love. Some bad choices and bad behavior lead Moose into a crisis that further upends her world, but as a reader, I never lost sympathy and hope for her......and the good news for us, neither did author Fisher.

     There's plenty of diversity and unforgettable characters on the roller derby team and the book doesn't flinch as it takes you on a punishing, knockabout thrill ride in its descriptions of the actual games. But there's always plenty of heart on display here, along with the multiple contusions, abrasions, and assorted sore ribs, knees and muscle aches.

     You'll want to stay at Moose's side every step of the way as she navigates herself through gut wrenching tragedy, new found maturity,, romance and the chances to start the healing of her own internal hurts........and all this on roller skates, no less!

     4 stars (*****) It's swell on wheels.

NASH FALLS....A BREATHTAKING PAGE TURNER INTRODUCES A UNIQUE NEW BALDACCI HERO....(*****)

Nash Falls by David Baldacci (2025)

     David Baldacci's storytelling expertise comes into full force on this one. This book, essentially a new hero's origin story,, could not keep me turning the pages fast enough, right up to that cliffhanging, you-ain't-see-nothin'-yet final page. (And I say this as a reader who normally despises cliffhanger endings with all my heart and have complained about in other reviews.....)

     On the contrary, I loved every page of "Nash Falls" and finished it shamelessly panting for the next adventure in the series.

     Walter Nash is a well to do investment acquisitions executive whose methodical and analytical business acumen brings in more money for the Sybaritic Corporation than any of their other divisions.....much to the delight of his boss Rhett, an incompetent Nep0 Baby weasel with an unbridled libido. What Walter doesn't know is that Rhett and the company's founder, Rhett's father, turned over their struggling firm for money laundering use by international crime viper Victoria Steers . The ruthless, remorseless Steers, scarier than a Bond villain,, prefers to either kill or maim minions who repeatedly fail her. And she herself works under the control of yet another powerful overlord who scares even her.

     The FBI, who've been on to what Sybaritic's up to, pressures Nash to become their latest inside company mole, following the ill fated recruitment of three other lesser employees who were found out one way or another........and who all died under mysterious, suspicious circumstances.

     Nash pays dearly for his decision, leaving his life and family destroyed and himself a fugitive accused of the worst crimes imaginable. The forces arrayed against him seem overwhelming and impossible to overcome.........and at this point, I wouldn't dare say one more word about the surprising, suspenseful, and thrilling journey that author Baldacci has in store for Nash.....and all of us readers.

     A terrific entertaining read and more than succeeded in making me want to be among the first in line to to find out whatever next befalls Walter Nash......and the man he's made of himself to effectively wreak vengeance on his formidable tormentors.

     5 stars (*****).

 

WILD INSTINCT.....A PROCEDURAL SIDETRACKED IN TOO MANY WAYS....(***)

 Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker (2025)

     Much to absorb here for a police procedural, including the book's deep dive into the history, culture and folklore of the indigenous Acjacheme people of Southern California, The procedural itself, taking place in Orange County, is only a moderately interesting mystery of municipal corruption, and murder surrounding a vast real estate development. And there's whole other host of storylines going on that serves to interrupt the flow of the procedural part, which wasn't moving all that fast to begin with..

     But to the book's credit, its two lead detectives are a fascinating, well drawn pair and they're what kept me hooked, as opposed to the case they're working on. A young wealthy developer of a controversial planned city-sized community was found shot in the head and not slain by a wandering mountain lion, as was first thought upon discovery of his remains. No shortage of suspects either, primarily a hulking biker-bartender who's been seen in the company of the victim.

     Detective Lew Gale, an Acjacheme descendant and PTSD afflicted former Marine sniper deals with both the aftermath of his severe wounds and a lifelong, bitter estrangement from his absent father. His partner, Det. Daniela Mendez is a single mom who's been surveilling her 16 year old son Jesse, whom she suspects has fallen in with a dangerous crowd of people, courtesy of his controlling girlfriend, whom Daniela intensely dislikes and distrusts..As if that isn't enough for Daniela, there's the ongoing issue of her lifelong love of Jesse's secret biological father, whom her son knows nothing about..

     Nothing, however, stops the detectives from pursuing their tenacious investigation into the murder of developer Bennet Tarlow, which leads them to twists and turns about the people involved and the land itself where Tarlow hoped to build his dream city. Through it all, Lew Gale can relate aspects of current events to the tragic history of his ancestors. and he frequently immerses himself in an ancient tale spun by an Acjacheme writer.

     These many competing elements - Lew Gale's troubled past and present, Daniela's protective stalking of her son and torment over his father and the indigenous histories all serve to constantly start and stop the murder case. So for me anyway, the book struck me as a bumpy uneven read, unsure of what story it wants to be telling the most.

     A lot of worthy stuff to unpack and memorable lead characters but I did find myself at times losing patience with the book's various wanderings.

       3 stars (***).

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE......THEIR YEARLY HUNT-AND-KILL GAME TURNS SUSPENSEFUL....(****)

 With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee (2025)

     By the time I'd finished this hybrid of suspense thriller and lifelong friendship drama, I realized I'd enjoyed it a whole lot more than I ever expected I would.

     Author Alissa Lee managed to expertly juggle the thriller end of it, while blending in incisive, deeply layered portraits of her five main characters. And I've always been helpless to resist a story that takes an expansive view of people who, as young adults have planned out their sky's-the-limit, world-is-ours-for-the-taking future, full of hope and promise. And then watch what befalls them as life happens, with all its curveballs, rollercoaster turns and reversals of fortune.

     And so it was with Sara, Allie, Dina, Bee, Wesley and Claudine, six Harvard girls ,bright shining lights of their class. Until in their senior year. Claudine died in an accident swirling with unsettling questions as to what really happened. Now, twenty years later and into beginnings of middle age, the five surviving women still share one constant bond through their years of successes and failures - they continue their yearly 'Circus', a hunt-and-kill game they play among themselves amid the streets or New York. Sara and some of the others would just as soon opt out the game until it's revealed that the prize money fund set aside for this year's winner tops a million dollars. It's Game On for sure.

     The game proceeds but not without uneasy, ominous events. Sara swears she spotted the supposedly dead Claudine, while an ambitious DA may reopen an investigation in her death. Generating even more anxiety, Bee and Wesley receive anonymous threats to publicly reveal the 'Circus' to the world at large.....and thereby forever damage their reputations and futures.

     I'm aware that opinions on this book widely vary but I can only say I found every bit of it a compelling, page-turning read. And I salute author Lee for continuing on with the story even after the thriller aspects have been resolved. By that time I'd come to care enough about these characters to want some satisfying closure.....(and I'm totally fed up with recent books resorting to annoying abrupt finishes, as if the authors think those cinematic, cut-to-black endings will gain them a better shot at a movie deal. )

     What else can I say? A well executed thriller-drama with a cast of characters worth staying with and delving into all the backstories. High recommendation, a great one to cozy up with during those upcoming cold nights.

       4 stars (****).

      

WHERE THERE'S ROOM FOR US.....THE SWEETEST OF ROMANCES IN A MAKE-BELIEVE ENGLAND....(****)

 Where There's Room For Us by Hayley Kiyoko (2025)

     First let me say that I'm truly impressed at how much more assured and skilled Haley Kiyoko has become as a writer. This new book, an alternate universe YA romance set in late 19th century Victorian England, reads as if this author was born to write richly imagined stories spun from her own fairy tale, snow globe versions of long ago times.

     And I say that as somebody most definitely NOT a fan of alternate universe takes on familiar historical settings.

     Slowly at first, but inevitably I found myself taken in (and very taken by) this sweet charming re-creation of an England where women may still be, in many ways, second class citizens but queer romances and marriages are not categorized as the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name. On the contrary, amid the upper classes there's a sort of live-and-let-live acceptance going on.......except when sapphic relationships interfere with the traditions of male heirs inheriting their family estates.

     Our sweethearts here could not possibly be more lovable and sympathetic than the daring, outspoken American poetess Ivy and the gentle, warm hearted Lady Freya Tallon. Ivy's recently arrived from across the pond to help her brother, who by birthright is now the Viscount of a sprawling estate and landlord to its residing tenants. Their nearest neighbor is the equally impressive estate of Lord Tallon and his large family, including Freya and her sisters. Nuclear powered sparks fly between Ivy and Freya, but Lord Tallon expects Freya to be courted and wed to a noble young Lord,......and thereby providing a male heir that Freya's sisters have yet to a bring into the world.

     The romantic chemistry reaches a boiling point. Freya;s torn between family obligation and her newly discovered passion while Ivy finds herself forced to inhibit her bold independence to help Freya somehow navigate their way to a happy ending. And the growing political movement for women's equal rights, bitterly opposed by Lord Tallon, threatens to forever rip apart and divide our two adorable lovers.

     As much as I go out of my way to avoid alternate universe fantasies, this one, I'm forced to admit seduced me into its Never Never land completely (Practically every time Ivy and Freya encounter each other qualifies as a sigh-worthy experience.) I also don't want for forget to point out that author Kiyoko has taken on the effort of creating her unique fact-and-fiction England with enough detail to make it seem real while you're reading it.

     Well then, , I guess I've said more than enough to explain why this ended up as a surprising (to me, anyway) 4 star review. (****).  Anyone entranced with a head-over-heels romance set in sumptuous English landscapes, here's a book vacation worth booking.