Book Review: The Unseen by Jake Lingwall

Intrepid hacker Kari Tahe makes a break from prison using her special skills. Alas, something goes terribly wrong. On the verge of capture, she’s rescued and delivered to a secret hacker hideaway run by a guy named Oedipus. The plush retreat is nothing short of fabulous, and like-minded people are always inviting Kari to join their hacking games.

But she misses her friends David and Audrey. She wishes the war would end so life would get back to normal. While Kari admires the Eden-like sanctuary and the talent around her, she’s getting mixed signals from people, especially Oedipus. She’s idolized his feats for years, so her hero worship of him blinds her to his nature.

As the war escalates, a fellow hacker warns her to trust no one. Already on edge, Kari decides to stop taking things on face value, and trouble like she’s never seen before rains down on her. Can she survive in this strange new world?

Another winning Kindle Scout book. I loved Freelancer, the first book of this dystopian series, and The Unseen met my high expectations and more. Author Jake Lingwall wove a powerful tale of intrigue and high tech wizardry that had me reading at darn near warp speeds. Nicely done!

Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews

Book Review: Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

When hotel exec Madeline Chase gets a distressed phone call from the caretaker of the only decommissioned hotel in her family’s chain of boutique B&Bs, she screws up her courage and returns to the scene of her worst nightmare. After the caretaker suffers a dire fate on Cooper Island, Madeline calls the cops and her security team for good measure.

Jack Rayner rushes to Madeline’s side and together they try to solve the caretaker’s murder. Except the more they look into it, the more the answers seem rooted in the past, and tied to a powerful West Coast family.

Soon Madeline has no choice but to call her secret sister, but doing so escalates the danger. With a madman in the neighborhood and a killer on the loose in this island community, the question is will finding the truth, and all of the truth, cost Madeline and Jack their lives?

I truly enjoyed the twists and turns in this novel. It reminded me of Jayne’s novels prior to the Arcane story threads in most of her more recent work. I adore paranormal, but normal can be Out of this World too. Whatever she writes, it’s always a hit with me.

Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews

Book Review: Freelancer by Jake Lingwall

Kari is way smarter than your average bear. At seventeen, she hides her brilliance at school by day and freelances on the net at night. Her products? Anything she can imagine, write the code for, and create on her three-D printers.

Her parents don’t have any idea what she can do or what she can create. Kari hides her talents away in this dystopian mechanized world where only three types of jobs exist and her skill set is out of the box.

Meanwhile, the US is poised for another Civil War. A clever government plot draws Kari out of hiding, paints her as a heinous threat to society. They’ll let her family and her friend David’s family go if she cooperates and creates powerful weapons for them.

Little do they know, putting Kari in a tight jam is just the way to stoke her creative engine. With a little luck, she might just save the world and have a date for the dance.

Lingwall’s page turning dystopian YA novel kept me on the edge of my seat. The high octane blend of Kari’s vulnerabilities, poise, and talents stole the show.

Another winner from Kindle Scout.

Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews

Book Review: Four by RE Carr

Like a little vampire action in your novel explorations?

RE Carr’s paranormal story centers on a vampire’s assistant named Georgia, who is recruiting her replacement. Gail, the hapless whale, is reeled into the vampire’s world, anecdote by anecdote, with great finesse.

At times campy and irreverent, at time gross with animal smoothies, and at times sensual with intimate scenes, Four is a tap dance of two vamps and two humans trying to meet their personal needs.

The story poses a story question much like the chicken and the egg. Which came first? Vamps or humans?

Rich in texture and characterization, Four was a different kind of read for me. My best description of the story? Sookie Stackhouse meets Stephanie Plum.

Another fine read from Kindle Press.

Maggie Toussaint aka Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews