Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“That which does not kill us,” I said, “has to get up extra early in the morning if it wants to get us next time.”

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

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Peter Grant and his partner of sorts, Lesley May, have to do a lot of explaining themselves. Not just their actions as members of The Folly, the (tiny) branch of the London Met that deals with “unusual circumstances”, but also every reference that they make about the modern world. Why is that? They’re making these references to The Nightingale; their commanding officer who has been fighting the bad guys (thieves, murderers, Nazis) since before WWII. Before WWII? But how? Well, Nightingale stopped aging in the […]

Belated Bingo Review… because staying on top of reviews is hard, guys.

The Secret Wife by Gill Paul

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Yeahhhh… I was bound and determined to get that full card bingo… but plans went a bit sideways when I was REALLY good at the reading…. and REALLY bad at staying caught up with reviewing. So I’m determined to get my backlog cleared today, because I WILL end this year with a full Cannonball, dammit.   For years I’ve been an tad bit obsessed with anything related to the Romanovs. Their tragic story has captivated the world, and I can’t get enough – historical books, […]

The more I read these books, the more I like to think it’s an adult Harry Potter.

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I hope it goes without saying that, if you haven’t read these books, beware the spoilers that follow. I’ve tried to not give away major plot points for each book, but if you’re on book three, you may not want to read the following reviews. Harry Potter was one of those foundational stories, for me. It laid the groundwork for what I deem good in this world. To some degree, everything I’ve read since has been weighed against the mark left on my soul by […]

Another unbelievable conspiracy thriller

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This is the first in a new series about FBI special agent and forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick, written by Burcell, herself an FBI-trained forensic artist. A somewhat better tale than Burcell’s The Dark Hour which I recently reviewed, this novel focuses on Fitzpatrick’s personal crisis over whether to follow up on brand-new clues about her father’s murder 20 years earlier, or to leave it alone.  Of course, had she left it alone, we would have no story, so…. There is a race against time, as […]

Fast-paced conspiracy thriller — not exactly Bourne quality

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The favorite subject of political thriller authors nowadays is high-level global conspirators buried within the US government, and The Dark Hour is unfortunately a rather cliche example. This time the conspirators, who all seem to share a disdain for the common man and an ability to use murder with impunity on behalf of their ill-defined cause, call themselves “The Network,” and they go back generations, are all wealthy, powerful, and nefarious, and guaranteed to get caught in the end. In The Dark Hour, they are […]

Baldacci popcorn thriller … no nuances, just a fun ride

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If you’re looking for a lightweight quick read to go with popcorn, Baldacci’s latest thriller fits the bill. If you’re looking for subtley, nuance, serious character development and plausible plot, look elsewhere. Baldacci brings us another episode of his dynamic duo Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, former Secret Service turned private investigators who just can’t keep themselves out of trouble but who somehow manage to solve global conspiracies by themselves while magically winning the unpublicized appreciation of the U.S. President at the end of the […]



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