Hornet Flight by Ken Follett

I have a huge TBR pile, as does pretty much any book blogger or reader. I've been working my way through slowly but surely. I think I'm about 5 books into a box that holds at least 50...It's a marathon, people!

I would say that most of the books I'm going to be reviewing for a while are books that are a little older. I'll try to throw in some other books--I've got a Sherrilyn Kenyon book and a new Elizabeth Moon book review coming up soon. There will also be an interview!

But on to the book! I have a confession. I love reading about World War II. It's an absolutely fascinating time period. There was so much going on, so much corruption, so much amazing sacrifice, and so much triumph of the human spirit. Most of the time, the books that you find about this time period are set in Germany. This book was set in Denmark. 

I learned a lot about Denmark's history reading this book. I know that the author does quite a bit of historical writing, so I'm assuming that he's historically accurate. I'm just thinking in terms of the big facts--Denmark's king gave up to Nazi occupation with no resistance. The Nazis occupied with little difference in the country other than to institute a curfew, require ration cards, and prevent the Air Force from flying anything other than gliders. There was a Danish resistance, and the Author's Note at the back states that the Danish resistance was the most successful resistance during the war.

There were quite a few characters in the book, and Follett kept jumping about telling their stories in different places. I had a bit of trouble keeping up with exactly where each person was because I am not familiar with Denmark and its cities other than Copenhagen. The people were very distinct, and I had no difficulty following who he was writing about.

The main characters were Hermia, a British government official who has helped to set up Danish Resistance, her fiancee Arne, and Arne's younger brother Harald. Arne and Harald are pulled into the Danish Resistance despite Hermia's attempts to keep them uninvolved. Harald takes a shortcut through the German camp one night and discovers a radar array that is helping the Germans shoot down the RAF planes. He is asked to take photos by one of the resistance members, Poul, who is then blown up by a vengeful Danish police officer.

Harald is left with no way to get the photos to Britain, although he tries to meet up with Hermia who has crossed over into Denmark because her resistance fighters have been disappearing. He has fallen in love with Karen, the twin sister of one of his classmates and is living in an abandoned monastery on the family's property after a fight with his very conservative Puritan father. Karen's family has an old Hornet Moth airplane stored in the monastery, and Harald's only chance to get the photos to the British in advance of the next raid is to repair the airplane, steal the gasoline, and fly to England with the film.

The book was exciting and interesting. Of course, it was made even more so because I enjoy the time period. I was never quite sure what was going to happen next, and if there would be a happy ending or not. I would absolutely recommend this book, especially if you are interested in World War II history.

Frozen by Jay Boninsanga

Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time has probably noticed that my two favorite genres currently are paranormal romance(vampires and werewolves and witches, oh, my!) and action-adventure historic mystery(think Dan Brown-esque, but better!). Paranormal romance is so popular right now that it's not hard to find new authors to read. The action-adventure historic mystery isn't quite as popular, so I have to do more hunting to find the kind of books that fall into this category. Of course, Dan Brown and James Rollins are always a good bet, and I've discovered both Raymond Khoury and Chris Kuzneski to be great authors in this genre as well. I expected Frozen to be a typical thriller since a profiler was the main character, and I was happy when it took a different turn.

Ulysses Grove is an FBI profiler working on the Sun City case. He's known as the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit's golden boy, cracking cases that no one else is able to close. He has been working on the Sun City case for over a year without any breaks in the case, and his superiors are beginning to believe that's he's having a nervous breakdown.

After an incident on the job, his unit director sends him to Alaska to investigate a mummy at the request of a journalist for Discover magazine. There, he meets off-beat journalist Maura County and discovers a link between the death of the neolithic mummy and the MO of his Sun City serial killer.

My only complaint about the writing is that the author has a tendency to foreshadow too much. He says things like "she didn't know how important this person would be," or "he didn't know that this would help crack his case." There were quite a few show, don't tell moments in the writing. I've come to the conclusion that this is a pitfall for first time fiction authors. Possibly it is confined to this particular genre.

I really enjoyed the book, and I can't wait to read more about Ulysses Grove. I really hope that all Bonansinga's books have a historic/supernatural twist like Frozen. If you enjoy James Rollins, you'll love Frozen!

The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski

I literally had both my parents hanging over my shoulder, salivating to read this book when I was finished! They both love James Rollins, and are excited to have a chance to read this now that I'm done.

Again starring Jon Payne and David Jones, this novel begins with the murder of 7 monks at a monastery in Greece. Nick Dial of Interpol flies in to investigate and teams up with Marcus Andropolous, a local Greek policeman who also works with Interpol.

In Russia, Allison Tyler witnesses her boss Richard Byrd killed by a contract killer. Payne and Jones get the call this time, and make plans to sneak into the country using fake passports. They find Allison, only to have to avoid the hit man and figure out what Allison's boss was looking for.

The Lost Throne is a wild ride across Russia, Greece, and parts in between. There is murder, treasure, history, and mystery, all elements of a great thriller. I had a hard time putting it down because I wanted to know what the mystery was all about! There was an intense dose of history involved as well. I love history's mysteries, and Kuzneski did not fail to dig up a mystery I knew nothing about.

I read another of Kuzneski's books last fall. You can read the review here. I'll admit that I had some criticism of the author's writing at that point. It has definitely improved since he published his last book in 2006. My only criticism of the writing this time was Kuzneski's overuse of the work smirk!

I did feel as if some of his characters were unrealistic this time around. Payne and Jones had a serious bromance going on. While bromance is fun on TV, it doesn't carry over well in novels. I've never known any guys in real life who had a bromance, so it is kind of unbelievable to me. I also had issue with Kuzneski's description of a Russian police officer as someone who would accost a woman. I'm sure it's possible, but that wouldn't fare well for Russia's tourism.

These are really small nitpicks about the book, though. I really, really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it, especially if you like James Rollins and Dan Brown!

Teaser Tuesday

This is my first time participating in Teaser Tuesday!

I am currently reading The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski. I'm really excited about it, and I've already started my review post. It should be up some time in the next week. Here are a couple of sentences from the book to start you off!

"Toulon laughed. 'Nick, you must realize that Sparta was conquered centuries ago. Today it is a series of crumbled ruins. Nothing more.'"
p. 101

Hope you enjoy!

Sign of the Cross by Chris Kuzneski

I love novels that use elements of history as a basis for the plot. My dirty little secret? I loved The Da Vinci Code. I never saw the movie, and I'd like to keep it that way, thanks! I like the twist to history, and I like the adventure, the excitement.

So, if you like Dan Brown's work, you'll most likely enjoy Sign of the Cross. There's so much mystery to the papacy, and Kuzneski dug up an era that I didn't know anything about. In a way, it was somewhat similar to Brown's novels. I felt that Kuzneski managed to come up with enough "new" historical material and conflict, however. It was enough to keep me up reading until 4:30 a.m.!

Several different stories are woven together at first until the main characters come together about halfway through the book. Maria and Dr. Boyd are investigating an archaeological site in Orvieto, Italy when they are threatened by a helicopter and armed men. Jon Payne and David Jones have been arrested and held without charges in Spain. A mysterious man shows up to offer them a deal in exchange for their release if they pursue the now-missing Dr. Boyd.

The only complaint I have about the book is that the author felt it necessary to warn the reader that something was coming up by saying things like "because tomorrow would be filled with even more excitement than today." There was plenty of excitement in the book, and the author certainly didn't need to preface it! I don't know how his editor let things like that get through. It got pretty predictable, eventually.

I think that part of what I love so much is the search for the truth, for the historical details. It amazes me when people know so many languages, both dead and alive and can translate obscure paintings and manuscripts. This was a page turner that kept me going!

Be sure to pick up Kuzneski's next book, Sword of God as well.

Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway!