Chaotic Ninja

I didn’t plan on reading  Live For This   by  Kathryn Biel because in my mind, it’s one of those stories that will make me feel miserable after reading. Surely, a man with a broken body and woman with a shattered soul is a downright depressing combination, yeah? Well, guess what? It’s not that at all. I didn’t feel like the world is crashing down on me. There’s no feeling of heaviness or misery or grief. Nothing of that sort. This is superbly written. It’s hitting the right notes. The jokes are landing. The drama bits are heart-rending and just tug at this ninja’s heartstrings. Perhaps the only problem here is that it has similarities to Jojo Moyes’ “Me Before You” . Now, I don’t know if t his was inspired by the book or the similar events are just mere coincidences. It might bother some readers, but it does not bother me all that much because there is a clear divergence in storyline. This is not a story that’s just written for the sake of eliciting ...

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE       How can you resist such a killer tagline? There’s a disturbance in Twitterverse and the person goes by the name @Apollyon. A faceless and seemingly harmless entity has gained notoriety when the “Following” count becomes a tally of victims. The elusive suspect becomes a viral twitter sensation  the police scramble to identify, but fail miserably. Enter Freddie Venton, the spunky but down on her luck wannabe journalist who’s been waiting for the right break to come. The opportunity presents itself when she reconnects (fortuitously) with an old friend Nasreen Cudmore, now a police officer. Using an underhanded tactic, Freddie gets to her first crime scene and becomes involved in it when the police hires her as a consultant because of her social media “expertise”. While this is an entertaining read for its unique plot, it’s hard to ignore how ridiculously inept the police are. And this hurts the story...

DEAD EYED by Matt Brolly A serial killer from the past appears to have resurfaced after an 18-year hiatus. Such premise presents questions upon questions that even DCI Michael Lambert could not answer. If this guy was a weapon, he’d be a standard issue. Nothing special; just your ordinary detective chief inspector preoccupied by painful memories of his daughter’s death. And trying desperately to keep it together. But when the case unravels bit by bit, so does Lambert. And this is where the story pulls you in. In oculis animus habitat . The trademark engraving that the “Souljacker” leaves on the victims’ chests tells of a gruesome yet skilful killing. It’s so horrific, it’s not human. This is a cleverly plotted crime thriller with storytelling flair that makes you feel a bit of involvement in the investigation. Did the Souljacker re-emerge or there’s a copycat on the loose?  Will the real Souljacker please stand up? It triggers speculations and guesses...

Been playing catch up with reading and reviewing. I’m 33 books behind schedule. Goodreads said so.  Why should I care about what Goodreads say? You see, I joined the 2015 Reading Challenge and pledged to read 80 books, which translates to 6.66 books per month (I’m glad I’m not superstitious).   Easy peasy, right?  No.  It’s September and I’m still struggling to get halfway through the challenge. I’m still convinced I could do it, but I’m going to need a strategy of some sort.   I realised that I could probably pull this one off by reading all the short stories and novellas on my TBR list. It’s not cheating. Just slightly devious planning. The Memory Man by Helen Smith Two women, memory loss, a dead man, and a psychic. Everything else are fragments. This is a bizarre story that I quite frankly did not get the first time I read it. So I had to read it again. I like to believe I got it the second time around. Or probably not. It’s like the movie...

The Girl Who Wouldn't Die by Marnie Riches ★★★ ★ ★ 5/5     The book puts you through a series of events that didn’t make sense at first. They were just pieces of a complex puzzle bolstered by misdirections, red herrings, shifty characters, and a frantic storytelling that will drive you insane. I wanted the story to end fast to make sense of it all. But when it ended, I didn’t know what to do with myself (I call this the Amsterdam Syndrome). It’s a searing slow burn of a book. And it’s brilliant.  There's a heavy Stieg Larsson influence but I still wasn't prepared when the author drops the bomb. And George McKenzie? We didn't hit it off, not immediately. But when she reveals bits and pieces about herself in every chapter, I knew I found a badass character that I want to get to know more. This is a crime book junkie’s fix. It takes a while to kick in, but when it finally does, you’re in for one explosive ride.   ** I'd ...

Ninja Sauce Presents:  DEADLY DEVICE Deadly Device by ninjasauce Visit the NinjaSauce gallery.

No Snobby Reader was hurt in this conversation. SNOBBY READER: What are you smiling about? KINDLE NINJA: Just finished my list of top 10 books for the year. SNOBBY READER: Let me guess, 9 of 10 are crime and mystery books by Koontz, Patterson, Lehane, and Brown, and one token outlier, possibly a memoir. KINDLE NINJA: Hah! Not even close. These are mostly indie books. Here, have a look - from #10 to #1.   SNOBBY READER: Ah, obscure titles, from unknown authors. KINDLE NINJA: Is that disdain I detect? SNOBBY READER: You know how I feel about crappy books. KINDLE NINJA: There will always be crappy books, indie or not. SNOBBY READER: I read books that challenge the mind. KINDLE NINJA: Calculus books do that, but they’re no fun. You should try to read books outside of your preferred genre. Meet obscure authors. Mingle with the commoners, your Highness. SNOBBY READER: They don’t measure up to the Classics or the Nobel winners. I take plea...