Read: The Deepest of Secrets (#13-2022)

The Deepest of Secrets by Kelley Armstrong

(Book 7 in the Rockton series)

Rockton - mysterious, hidden town in the middle of the Yukon wilderness. Off-grid, off-radar and unfortunately off-track from its original mandate. Those living there are at the mercy of an unseen council who seem to enjoy playing God with the lives of their residents. The residents just want to survive their stay and continue their lives.

I Write: Mystery or Thriller?

I wrote a short story for my Writing Mysteries and Thrillers class. It was the final assignment and I had some serious trouble getting traction on an idea to start. When I got the idea and started writing, I wasn't sure how it would go, whether my idea actually would make sense to anyone but me. 

But I wrote it, and in the interest of calling myself a writer, here it is: 

(EDIT 12/17/2020 - I just received my grade for the class - 100%. I must have been doing something right.)

She snaps a fresh glove down over her wrist, the sound echoing in the nearly vacant room. Surveying the scene, she narrows her eyes. She holds herself erect, her face a blank slate. There’s no room for emotion here. She doesn’t take any joy or pride in this particular part of the job. But it needs to be done. 

Her right hand fists at her hip, pushing back the right quarter of her suit jacket, exposing the pocket of slim-fitting pants. With the turtleneck underneath, the suit she wears is a stereotypical look - if she were a man. But she enjoys it. She is far from typical. 

I Read: High Heat

High Heat by Richard Castle

(part of the Nikki Heat series - based from the ABC series Castle)

This will be short - I'm still missing the show Castle, and I'm still trying to finish the series of books that went along with it. It's been far too long that these books have been sitting on my shelf, and as I read them I remember how they weren't quite as satisfying as watching the show, even if I can imagine the actors from the show playing the characters in the book that they're supposedly based on. 

The story behind this book is good - I enjoy the angle, but like all the Richard Castle novels, I feel like the writing is somewhat lacking. That could be because Castle was supposed to be a pulpy, super popular writer, or it could just be the invisible writer behind the fictional character's style. I choose to think it's a choice by the invisible writer to make the writing not as good. I haven't picked up the invisible author's actual work, and I don't intend to. I want to imagine that he's actually better than Richard Castle. 

I Read: Wild Storm

 Wild Storm by Richard Castle

I realized recently that while I was lamenting the loss of the show Castle, I still had several of the novels based on the work of the character on my shelf to read. So I thought what better time to read them! (I could also re-watch the show, the DVDs might exist on my shelf too.)

Honestly, I've always kind of felt the books were a bit lacking. Especially the Derrick Storm ones. But that could be because I'm less attached to that character - it isn't based on anyone from the show, just on Richard Castle's back catalogue when we join the show. There isn't anything about Storm that really made me excited to read about him, but the books aren't bad either. 

I Read: Every Step She Takes

Every Step She Takes by K.L. Armstrong

Though it's listed as K.L. Armstrong, this is yet another from my favourite author Kelley Armstrong. Adult mystery-ish fiction. 

I'm always amazed that no matter what genre Armstrong seems to go for, she does it just as well. Likely because her strength lies in creating characters the reader can believe in and has them doing things that you can believe they'd do. In this style, they do tend to get caught up in crazily dramatic situations but that's part of the fun, really. 

I Read: Broken Genius

Broken Genius by Drew Murray

Alright, so this one is a little different. The author this time, is the instructor I had for the Science Fiction/Fantasy course I took at the beginning of the year. I  enjoyed his class, and he talked about his writing and publishing journey, and despite the fact that this is not generally what I would read, I was interested.

Short review - it's a good book. I enjoyed it. It was suspenseful, and kept my attention. There are some annoying character things, and a few things I think an copy editor should have picked up on, but might just be language preferences. And I'm just going to put it out there that I hate that every kind of book has to have some kind of love/sex/romance piece to it. Can't it just be a mystery/thriller for it's own sake?  Anyway...

I read: Alone in the Wild

Alone in the Wild by Kelley Armstrong

(Book 5 in the Rockton series)

So I know I'm really repetitive lately, but I've been reading Kelley Armstrong stuff, so I have to say it again. I will read anything that she writes. Her characters are so well-developed, and she writes in a way that even if it's not a genre I would normally gravitate to, I still want to know what she's going to do with it.  This is the fifth book in a series, so clearly I'm reading in order to get to the end, but most of the Rockton novels have been very easy to follow, even if you haven't read the rest of the series.