Waiting on Wednesday: Every Breath, by Ellie Marney

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited about.


This week's pick

Release date: October 14, 2014
Publisher: Tundra Books
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages

Goodreads description
When James Mycroft drags Rachel Watts off on a night mission to the Melbourne Zoo, the last thing she expects to find is the mutilated body of Homeless Dave, one of Mycroft's numerous eccentric friends. But Mycroft's passion for forensics leads him to realize that something about the scene isn't right--and he wants Watts to help him investigate the murder.

While Watts battles her attraction to bad-boy Mycroft, he's busy getting himself expelled and clashing with the police, becoming murder suspect number one. When Watts and Mycroft unknowingly reveal too much to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den--literally. A trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning to Rachel Watts again... 


The combination of genius and bad attitude is the main reason I want to read this one. Mycroft sounds like a really interesting character! I also feel drawn to the grittiness that I feel is being promised by the cover. What do you think?

Blog Tour Excerpt & Giveaway: Adrenaline Rush, by Cindy M. Hogan

Hey guys and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Adrenaline Rush by Cindy M. Hogan! Below you can find more info about the book and author as well as an excerpt and an international giveaway.


THE BOOK

Publication date: October 2013
Genres: Suspense, Young Adult

Synopsis:
A madman with a mission is kidnapping groups of thrill-seeking high school seniors across the country, and it’s up to Christy to stop him.

To do so, she must take on a fearless alter ego and infiltrate a group of adrenaline junkies bent on pushing life to the limit. Death-defying stunts are only the beginning: two groups fit the profile, and Christy must discover the real target before it’s too late.

If she chooses the wrong group, more people will disappear. But choosing right puts her as the prime target—with no guarantee that she’ll get out alive. 

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THE AUTHOR

Cindy M. Hogan graduated with a secondary education teaching degree and enjoys spending time with unpredictable teenagers. More than anything she loves the time she has with her own teenage daughters and wishes she could freeze them at this fun age. If she's not reading or writing, you'll find her snuggled up with the love of her life watching a great movie or planning their next party. She loves to bake, garden and be outdoors doing a myriad of activities.

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EXCERPT
As I hurtled toward my destination at 500 miles an hour, I pulled out a notebook, placed it on the shiny mahogany table in front of me, and scribbled a quick to-do list. Pick out an outfit. Get folders and notebooks. Switch into fourth period drama. I chewed on the end of my pen. Oh yeah—just one more thing. Get kidnapped.

According to my pre-mission briefing, kidnappings were up in the States by five percent over the last five years. The significance of which didn’t hit me until I found that the statistics for kidnappings had remained static for a good thirty years. The spike caught the attention of the FBI, and they put their best men on it. The problem? Right when they thought they’d discovered the pattern of the kidnappers, it seemed to change.

We hit some turbulence, and the force of it pulled me out of my reverie. I sucked in a deep breath, my hands resting on the soft leather side arms of my big comfortable seat as the Gulfstream jet jumped. I let the rollercoaster feeling wash over me like a wave, forcing myself to enjoy every last tingle. I only had this flight and a few hours tonight to assume my new thrill-seeking alias—the one that would lure the kidnappers and save the day before the pattern changed again. I might as well make the most of it.

There were four of us on board. I sat in a cluster of seats with Jeremy, my Division 57 handler. The two other agents I’d be working with, Agent Penrod and Agent Wood, sat in two similar chairs on the other side of the plane near the back. The smell of raspberries and cream still hung in the air from lunch.
I twisted the stud in my ear before brushing my hand through my long, inky-black hair. I couldn’t wait to go back to being a blonde. Too bad my black hair was integral to the upcoming mission. I bit my lip and reminded myself that at least I’d been able to get rid of the lip ring and other piercings I’d had to wear for so long.

My eyes fell on Jeremy, the best protector ever, and I thought back to the first day we’d met. As a civilian, I’d just accidentally witnessed a horrific murder committed by terrorists, and he swooped in to protect me. He was serious about his job, too. He even took a bullet for me and then didn’t hesitate to kill the terrorists who wanted me dead. I trusted him completely. He set a file folder stamped Division 57 on the table sitting between us. He would be the one to protect me as I became the person the kidnappers would choose. I would be safe in the end. He smiled, and I tried to ignore the strong line of his jaw, his perfect nose, and his rumpled, light brown hair.

I grabbed for the file folder, reminding myself that he was my handler. The movement made me notice the faint tan line around my right ring finger. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping it would help keep the stab of pain from my recent breakup with Rick from overcoming me. The hurt was still too raw to contemplate, but I couldn’t help it. Sure, I hadn’t met his stipulation of video chatting without fail every thirty days, but I was a spy in training, and while I’d missed one chat by a week, the last one had only been two days late. I had tried to comply, but if video chatting wasn’t available wherever I was in the world, it wasn’t available. End of story.
His words still cut me, though. I can’t handle it, Christy. If you can’t keep a little promise like contacting me every thirty days, then this will never work. If, after I’m done with my training and you’re still available, we’ll talk then. The look of hopelessness on his face on the screen was forever etched in my mind.

I rubbed the area on my finger where the promise ring he’d given me used to sit, and then quickly glanced at the papers in the file to distract myself. My photographic memory immediately filed their words, statistics, diagrams, maps, and the mission details away into a file in my brain named Adrenaline Rush.

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Non-YA Review: Delia's Shadow, by Jaime Lee Moyer

Release date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Tor
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages

Goodreads description:
A dark, romantic fantasy set against the backdrop of San Francisco devastated by the Great Quake

It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia’s most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.

Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.

It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.

And who is now aware of Delia’s existence.

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The following review is based on a copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, Tor Books!


Review
I was first drawn to this book by the promise of a historical San Francisco and ghosts. It’s been a while since I last read a ghost novel, and Delia’s Shadow turned out to be so much more than that. Jaime Lee Moyer did a great job blending historical fiction with crime, mystery, paranormal, and a slow-building romance.

The novel begins with Delia returning to San Francisco and her friend Sadie, whose family took her in after her own died in the great earthquake of 1906. Delia is haunted by a spirit she calls Shadow, a ghost stronger than any other she has encountered thus far. She feels drawn to Shadow and wants to help her find rest, but she is also afraid of her.

Sadie knows about Delia’s ability to see ghosts and sets up a meeting with Isadora, a talented medium, to help her keep the ghosts at bay. Isadora was a mysterious character and I came to like her and admire her strength, though sometimes it was unclear how trustworthy she really was. The friendship between Sadie and Delia was also something I enjoyed, as all too often in my opinion friendship between women in fiction has an undercurrent of rivalry that I dislike. Something I wasn’t expecting is that Delia’s Shadow is narrated in dual perspective. Delia’s parts are written in the first person, while those of Gabe, one of the detectives investigating a series of murders, is written in third person. I’m not sure why the author didn’t settle for the same person in both cases but I really enjoyed getting to know both characters better. Gabe is the friend of Sadie’s fiancé and like Delia, he lost those he loved in the Great Quake.

I really liked Gabe as a male lead and enjoyed seeing him slowly let go of the past and open himself up to the possibility of a second chance at life and love. The relationship that starts to bloom between him and Delia was believable and well-balanced, in my opinion. He was protective of her but also respected her independence and accepted her help as he tried to find the serial killer leaving his gruesome trail across the city.

Now the serial killer part was really creepy and what he was doing to the (mostly) women he murdered is just gruesome. I could never guess who the murderer was but I thought the hunt and the portrayal of the crime scene and police work that was possible at the time was really interesting and well-done. There were setbacks, twists, threats, and a point where things got a lot more personal for the characters and their families than I could have imagined. And all the while, past and present grow more closely linked and tragic events seem to be repeating themselves.

There are times where the pace might be a bit slow for some readers, but I really enjoyed just being in the setting and time period. Also, many things were developing parallel to one another and I suspected they would end up being related, but couldn’t fathom how. I also thought it was great that I was never quite sure whom to trust, least of all with Shadow. There were times when I sympathized with her and others when I loathed or feared her. She clearly had her own agenda that needn’t necessarily be compatible with Delia’s.

As I said, I think Moyer did a great job blending many different elements. A vivid historical setting (there are even maps! I love maps!), a serial killer on the loose, two strong relationships, ghosts, and a hint of Egyptian mythology make Delia’s Shadow a unique read with characters that are easy to root for. While the pace could sometimes have been a bit quicker, things really pick up in the last quarter and I couldn’t put the book down anymore!
The tight connection between past and present and themes of family generations, loss, and second chances tied the different plot threads together. I also liked the strong sense of friendship and loyalty portrayed by both the main and secondary characters throughout the book. If you like historicals, slow-burning romance and a plot involving ghosts and serial killers that nevertheless doesn’t get too dark or slide into downright horror, you should give Delia’s Shadow a try!

Does this sound like something you'd enjoy? Which element of the story are you most drawn to? What are your thoughts on ghost novels? I love hearing your opinions :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Nearly Gone, by Elle Cosimano

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine to spotlight upcoming book releases that we're excited about.


This week's pick:

Release date: March 25, 2014
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Format: Hardcover, 388 pages

Goodreads description
Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

Serial killer, trailer park, trusting the wrong person - you got me interested. Also, she can taste emotions and figure out codes. If the cover is anything to go by, this will be nailbitingly suspenseful and bloody. Also, have you noticed that tagline on it? "All the numbers add up to one killer... herself." Yup, I want this.

Debut Review: MILA 2.0, by Debra Driza

Release date: March 28, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins UK, Children's Books
Format: Paperback, 470 pages

Goodreads description:
Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human.


The following review is based on an eARC provided to me by the HarperCollins UK via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.


Review:
I’m not usually a big fan of science fiction but after reading Debra Driza’s wonderful debut I will definitely have to rethink my stance toward the genre! Once this book got moving it had me on the edge of my seat and despite Mila’s not-quite-human nature, I never had problems connecting with her, so if this is something that usually keeps you from reading SF don’t let it deter you in this case!

From the description, I knew going in that Mila was actually an android. However, she is so incredibly human that I sort of forgot, or at least didn’t think this fact through properly and draw the consequences. Mila is trying to fit in at her new school, but she’s still reeling from her father’s death a few weeks ago. They were very close and she goes over their memories together over and over… apart from the one spot she doesn’t remember – the day their house burnt down and he died. What’s worse is that Mila cannot really share her grief with her mum because she has withdrawn from her since the fire and their subsequent move to the middle of nowhere, Minnesota, and Mila often wonders whether her mother even loves her anymore.

Things change when Hunter moves to their small town. Mila’s ‘best friend’ Kaylee (I never liked her, but then again one isn’t supposed to) has the hots for him… as does Mila, and pretty much everyone else. But Hunter is interested in quiet Mila. They connect and have a couple bonding conversations… until a car accident changes everything and Mila finds out about who and what she really is. And let me tell you, even though I theoretically ‘knew’, or thought I did, my mind was still scrambling to catch up with everything. Because it wasn’t how I thought it would be! Mila’s anguish at finding out that she isn’t human and that everything she believed was a lie was palpable to me as a reader. I ached with her all the way and I felt so incredibly sorry for her! After that revelation, things go out of control and Mila and her mum have to run. From then on, the book is one big adrenalin trip that goes so many places I hadn’t anticipated and managed to surprise me over and over! Maybe it’s partly because I’m unfamiliar with the genre but once we left ‘high school’ I found the novel to be completely unpredictable, right down to the ending.

It’s really hard to talk about this book without spoilers, so I will have to leave the plot alone for now. As I’ve said I thought Mila was a fully formed and deep character. She really struggled with the idea that she was supposed to be inhuman, not real, a machine, even as her enhanced ‘functions’ started to come in more and more handy. Her mum was equally complex and I hope to find out a bit more about her past in the sequels, which I will definitely read. Another character that I came to love is Lucas but I unfortunately can’t say more about him apart from the fact that I hope I haven’t seen the last of him.

As for Hunter… he’s part of the bit I wasn’t one hundred percent happy with in the book. I get it that Mila is attracted to him, and it makes sense with her past and all, but I just didn’t find him to have that much substance. He was sort of elusive. I mean what does Mila really know about him? I understand how she latched on to him because he was one of her few non-fake good memories, but I do wish his description was a bit more varied than her remembering his “lopsided smile” so many times. I wish they would have been given a bit more time before they were torn apart; it would have made the romantic angle of the novel more believable to me. I hope this, too, will be deepened in the sequel.

Apart from that I can find nothing to complain about. The plot was surprising and utterly engrossing. It was ultimately different from what I expected, but in the best possible way! There was plenty of action but the plot wasn’t rushed and unfolded naturally. The scientific elements were described in a way that made them shockingly believable. In our age of 3D printers and whatnot I could actually imagine something like this happening. Mila’s abilities were as amazing as they were frightening. The novel touches on some of the big questions – what makes us human? How far may scientific research go until it becomes hubris? I liked that these themes were not explored in a heavy-handed way. It made me think because even though the issues in themselves are not new, Mila’s perspective was.

Overall, I think that sci-fi fans and action junkies will take as much away from MILA 2.0 as those readers more focused on character and beautiful writing. This novel definitely deserves the hype it got even prior to publication! I am very curious to see Mila’s journey continue in the next installment of the series.


What are your thoughts on the book and my review? Have you read something similar? Also, if you'd like to check out Debra Driza's writing, her prequel-novella MILA 2.0: Origins is free on Amazon and B&N.