[Hoofball]

18)
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Title: 11th Hour

Comment: This is the 11th book in the "womens murder club" set of collaborative novels from James Patterson. These are quite easy to read books and the short chapters don't annoy as much as they do in some others of his joint works. Good story but no major twists as such.

Score: 7/10

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19)
Author: Jeffrey Deaver

Title: Carte Blanche

Comment: This is an official James Bond novel. It seems to be a reboot of sorts as it seems to ignore everything that has already happened to Bond in other novels/films. Story is ok but not very believable. Dialogue is a bit wooden and overdone in places. Would recommend but not for die-hard Bond fans.

Score: 7/10

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20)
Author: John Connolly

Title: The Book of Lost Things

Comment: This is an unusual diversion from his Charlie Parker series. Most of the characters are fairly one-dimensional and I felt a bit let down by the ending, there wasn't the "pay off" that I was expecting from the theme running through the book. An interesting read but could have benefited from some rewriting or better editing direction.

Score: 6/10

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21)
Author: John Connolly

Title: Nocturnes

Comment: An enjoyable book of short stories from the author of crime novels with a slightly supernatural theme. Interesting to see Connolly stretching his skills and there are some gems amongst these stories. I particularly enjoyed "The Cancer cowboy rides" and "Some Children Wander by Mistake" and also the novella starring his usual protagonist from his novels, Charlie Parker.

Score: 7/10

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22)
Author: Alan Glynn

Title: Limitless

Comment: I enjoyed this book but it wasn't really a thriller or very fast moving. The pace is quite sedate and I never got a sense of urgency even though there should be one given the premise. I haven't seen the film so that didn't temper my thoughts on the novel. A struggling author finds a muse in the form of a pill from an old friend along with unexpected side affects.

Score: 7/10

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23)
Author: Brian Freeman

Title: Spilled Blood

Comment: This book was a good read and had a reasonably fast pace. A young girl is accused of murdering a fellow teen and her father comes back to town to help/support her. A couple of side plots are woven into the story as well.

Score: 7/10

[Hoofball]

24)
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Title: Private: #1 Suspect

Comment: This is the latest book in the world of the investigation firm "Private", another collaborative novel from James Patterson. Easy to read and a half decent story. Some of the story is very far fetched though and other pieces are glossed over very quickly.

Score: 6/10

[Hoofball]

25)
Author: Ben Kay

Title: Instinct

Comment: Good first novel from this author. Enjoyable read even if it was a bit hard to believe. A top secret facility in the jungles of South America comes under threat from the weapons they are making.

Score: 6/10

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26)
Author: David Baldacci

Title: The Innocent

Comment: Solid enough story from Baldacci with this stand-alone novel. An assassins mission to eliminate a US government employee goes badly wrong. He also crosses path with a teen who has killers after her as well. The first part of the book zips along nicely but the second half does become a bit of a stretch plot-wise. Enjoyable overall but nothing special.

Score: 6/10

[Hoofball]

27)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: Deal Breaker

Comment: This is the first in the Myron Bolitar series. Having read one of the newer books I went back and bought all of the previous novels. Bolitar is a sports agent (and former potential basketball star) who also investigates crimes involving his clients. He also has several sidekicks to assist him in these investigations. A lot of this is fairly unbelievable so really does need to be taken at face value and I think Coben has written the books with this approach.

This novels plot is: "Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback is Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour."

Score: 8/10

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28)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: Drop Shot

Comment: This is another good read. A former tennis star is murdered at the US OPEN and Bolitar’s client is the main suspect.

Score: 7/10

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29)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: Fade Away

Comment: When a former basketball rival from his college days disappears, Bolitar is given the job of a lifetime: a chance to play professional basketball again. This one was a bit of stretch but still good

Score: 7/10

[Hoofball]

30)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: Back Spin

Comment: This novel is based around golf and the son of a potential client has been kidnapped. Bolitar gets involved as a favour to the family of one of his friends.

Score: 7/10

[Hoofball]

31)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: One False Move

Comment: Bolitar is hired to look after an up and coming basketball rookie that is the face of a new proposed womens basketball league. This novel really kicks into gear and is one of the better ones so far.

Score: 8/10

[Hoofball]

32)
Author: Harlan Coben

Title: The Final Detail

Comment: Following on from what happens in the last novel Bolitar is doing some soul searching. This means that his attention is not on the business and his partner ends up accused of murder. Good story on this one but again needs to be read in the spirit in which I believe it was written - slightly
over the top.

Score: 8/10