Series books from the middle outward

Thriller | Rachel Butler

Is anyone in real life named Rachel Butler, or do you think it's a pseudonym?

Anyway, she wrote a book called The Assassin and then this book, Deep Cover. You can get tantalising glimpses of The Assassin in this book, but hey, I haven't read it, so no comments on Book 1.

We come in when Selena McCaffery has shot her 'Uncle' William Davis the drug lord aka Henry Daniels the police chief, while escaping death at the hands of his equally evil henchman, Damon Long, and rescuing the love of her life, cop Tony Ceola.

Presumably, the first book had a happy ending, with Long going to jail, and Davis to the hospital, in a coma. But, see, she's probably in the USA as an illegal alien, being part Puerto Rican and part Jamaican, and being smuggled in by Evil Uncle. So the FBI threatens her with deportation unless she agrees to take over the drug empire and help them bring it down. Which Tony does not like, bringing a crimp into lovey-dovey paradise. Of course, you find this out much later, like in Chapter 3 or something, because the book starts with a bang. Selena walks out of a shooting range to find she's the target of someone with a good position and at least 72 bullets.

I somehow find it difficult to believe that a girl who grew up in several dysfunctional homes in each of which she was unloved, trained as a thief and assassin, would grow into an ethically strong woman rather than a mass of untreatable neuroses, but then, how would you sell a series of books with a nutcase/evil heroine?

In the interests of avoiding spoilers, all I will say is that there are satisfying twists and turns, and a happy ending. Of course, there is a third book in the series, and I read chapter 1, which again, begins with a bang, this time a bigger one (=bomb).

And, closing with a question. If Selena finds out what her parents named her, which is her 'real' name, then? Selena, which she chose, or the [spoiler killed] other one?

An easy read for a lazy Sunday. Not as funny as the stuff by Janet Evanovich, but more believable.

Fast and funny

Comic Thriller | Janet Evanovich

Currently reading Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich. Just finished Fearless Fourteen by the same author. Thank goodness I picked them both up at the same time!

Janet Evanovich writes best-sellers in the romance line, not something I read much of. But this series (yes, I'm on book 15!) attracted me from page one of book one. The protagonist is a wacky woman who decides to take to bounty hunting to pay her bills. She is in the 'top 98 percentile' of her graduating batch. Yeah, it took me some time to figure out why she keeps getting into silly scrapes, but that description helped. There is a hot boyfriend, an even hotter other boyfriend, and assorted murders to solve while chasing bond-breaking minor criminals with slippery talents and dubious histories. Most of the bounty-hunting is a laugh riot. Stephanie Plum gets into crazy scrapes while losing handcuffs and getting painted with all sorts of substances from ketchup to blue dye, leading her mother to despair--worse than her grandmother. Ok, let me unravel that one: her grandmom is madder than she is. Other characters who traipse through all the books are her friends Lula and Connie in the bounty hunting office, her ex-hubby Dickie (well named) and her nemesis Joyce, besides assorted cops. A permanent fixture is the funeral parlor, the grandmom's evening entertainment location of choice. Don't ask. :D

The sitcom is relentless, the dialog, both ordinary and interior dialog in Stephanie's head, crisp and funny. Nay, side-splitting. I actually laugh out loud, and was once in tears, I laughed so much (that was one of the middle books in the series).

Just read them, ok? They're light reading, brainless fast-food entertainment for lazy days. And, yes, the book titles don't have any relation whatsoever to the plot. Ignore the names, except as a way to get the series chronologically ordered.

And, yes, the villains always lose. I like that. :)

(Note: most of the series was available for free on the Laputa app (free download, too) on the Android market).