The Survivor by Sean Slater

The thruth lies behind the mask.

In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker's day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on scene five minutes at his daughter's high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three man wearing hocky masks - black, white and red - have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately. Striker takes immediate action.

Within minutes, two of te gunman are dead ans Sriker is close to ending the violence. But before Striker can react, Red Mask flees - and ecapes. Against the clock, Striker investigates te killings for which there is no know motive and no suspects. Soon hs investigation takes him to darker places and he realizes that everything at Saint Patrick's High is not as it appears. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes.

Until Striker himself is in the line of fire. (backcover)

This is Sean Slater's debut novel and I must say I really liked it. You get pulled in right from the start and it doesn't let you go until you close the book.

I thought the story was great. We all know that school shootng take place from the news but Slater made the plot really great. So no sully high school kid who goes on a rampage here.
No he made this story about. The background of Red Mask is well thought out and believable.

The characters are well developed. Striker is a tough man and cop, with the usual trouble for authority figures, although I must say I would hate Laroche to (he is an ass) and is trying to combine work and raising his 15 year old daughter Coutney. Courtney is a typical teenager, does everything she is told not to do and picks a fight about everything, but she is a smart girl. The relationship between father and daughter isn't that bad but a dad who is working a case 24/7 and a teenage girl combined, kind of screams trouble just like in real life.

The book is told from different points of view and that made it easier to get to know the different characters. The chapters from Red Mask's point of view gave you more insight on his motives and it made him look human eventhough everthing he does makes him a monster.

There are some very grisly and violent scenes in this book but I must say they weren't all that graphic which I thought was a shame but also makes sure that a lot of other people will be able to like this book.

My rate: 4/5

This book was sent to me by the publisher Simon & Schuster for review as part of the mysterie suspence challenge 2011 hosted by Book Chick City (for details see reading challenges)

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I'm a sidhe-seer, a person who can see the Fae, a fact I accapted only recently and very reluctantly.
My philosophy is pretty simple - ana nobody's trying to to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven't had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, ther's not a sidhe-seer alive who's had a good day since then.
When MacKayla's sister is murdered, she leaves a single clue to her death - a cryptic message on Mac's cellphone. Journeying to Ireland in search for answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to maste a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of Man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae.
As mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane - an immortal Fae who makes sex an addiction for human woman - closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the allpowerfull Dark book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of both worlds in their hands. (backcover)

This is the first novel in the Fever series.

I read this one to see what all the hype was about. Everybody was just crazy about the Fever series and I wanted in. But I wasn't all to impressed by this one. Perhaps because my expectations were a bit high and it is a first in a series so there's a lot of explaining.
So why don't I start off with the things I liked.
I liked the girly Mac. I liked the fact that she likes to polish her nails and wears girly clothes. There aren't a lot of heroines out there who are girly like that. And she keeps it up true out the book she doesn't completely change herself when she is thrown in this new world. I liked the fact that she had such a great relationship with her sister that she would go halfway around the world to go and try to find her sisters killer.
KMM really does a great job at the world building. It does come with a lot of explaining but it's necessary to make sure everything falls into place. The Lore and everything and everyone that comes with it really gets its place this way.

And then we come to the things I didn't like all too much.
Mac is a heroin who really does the opposite of what she is told and sometimes it even gets a bit annoying I know that a story with a compliant heroine would suck but does she have to make so much wrong turns?
Then what's up with Barrons? He's kind of an ass. And I was expecting some chemistry between Mac and Barrons but for me it wasn't really there. Ok and then the last thing that really made me that kind of had me going Huh? Aliens.....yes aliens. And that’s all I'm gonna say about it.

So I wasn't all that impressed by this one but I do think this series has potential. And not because everyone said it is such a great series, but because the story is kind of intriguing. I haven't read any Fea book only books with Fae as a side character and I must say I like this Fae world. Also it's a dark world nothing pretty about it and I can appreciate that. No cuddly vampires this time.
I already have Bloodfever on the shelf and will definitely read it.

My rating: 3/5