Sean BlackRezensionen

Nice short thriller read. I like the main character, though at times it seems he has always the best way of doing things versus anyone else's opinion. Some of the story was pretty expected, though, still enjoyed reading through them. Will definitely start the next book int his series.

Light-hearted witty in the same vein as Stephanie Plum's novels. Title smacks of Sue Grafton's alphabetical thrillers

Light-hearted witty in the same vein as Stephanie Plum's novels. Title smacks of Sue Grafton's alphabetical thrillers

California, private-investigators, cults, situational-humor, verbal-humor*****

Valley Girl gets an unexpected education and former actress turned private investigator works undercover. And we get to laugh our sox off! Dippy soon-to-be-heiress gets conned by a cult of scammers just before the magic birthday but things turn ugly. And then there's the super horny bulldog who has snippy breed owners yelling for their lawyers. Good lessons hidden among the guffaws.
The best thing about audio is having Madeline Mrozek give the characters real voices and attitudes!

Americans in Mexico dealing with rapist, drug cartels and corruption.Fast paced, quick read.

private-investigators, verbal-humor, situational-humor, pets

Laugh your sox off hilarious cozy mystery!
To start with, there's Fred the seagull who has a camera attached and is a real YouTube paparazzi sensation. But he is actually Sofia's pet who has been Shanghaied by her former agent from when she'd been a child star. Now she's an operative for a small PI firm consisting of the competent dad and the odd son. There's lots of other real characters (pun intended), weird goings on, and really good escapist storytelling. Loved it!
Madeline Mrozek has a very fine ability with multiple voices that truly enhances everything she narrates.
I won this audiobook in a giveaway! I really win!

situational-humor, verbal-humor, female-sleuth -----
Light, quick, fun read guaranteed to make housecleaning or the gym time go by just as quickly. The publisher's blurb gives hints and there are no spoilers here, but there is lots to smirk and guffaw at!
My copy is audio by Madeline Mrozek who really knows how to up the entertainment factor.

DNF
Pedantic

According to the introduction, Sofia Salgado was the star of a children's TV show “Half Pint Detective.” Now in her later teens, she decided to get a life outside of show business. She convinced the technical consultant for the show to hire her detective at agency. The question is can the accident-prone Sofia hack it?

Chapter 1 page 1

1 No matter how much you love the peach iced tea at the Marmalade Café, it is not a good idea to take the waiter’s offer of a third refill if you plan on spending the entire afternoon sitting in your car on a stakeout.

2. If there was even the remotest possibility that you might lose control of your bladder while sitting in the car, any meal involving asparagus is not a good lunch choice.

3. Like so much in life, you never really appreciate toilets until you need one.

The chapter continued with Sofia trying to figure out how long she could wait until she could find a place to go. There are no buildings around nor are there any bushes nor large rocks. She finally called Aidan, her boss’s son, who was watching the backside of the rehab facility trying to see their target would emerge. He said he couldn’t leave his position but finally said he'd be there in 10 minutes. Sofia tried to do what she could to wait. Meanwhile Aidan starts talking to her about waterfalls and showers and pools.

Of course Sofia can not longer wait and, seeing that the area was quite isolated stepped, outside the car door to relieve herself. It is described in some detail. She looked up and saw a young guy coming out of nowhere pointing a video camera at her.

Chapter 2

As Sofia continued with her personal mission, the videographer identified her and made some comments. Another man climbed out of the van with a zoom lens, taking more pictures. She let them know she was not there for rehab.. It turns out they were also doing surveillance.

Sofia asked them to give her the footage but they refused telling they plan to sell it. Meanwhile a black car raced to the entrance of the rehab facility. The paparazzi were able to follow it through the gates. ; Sofia was left behind.

Chapter 3

Sofia continued her watch the rest of the day (it seems that Aidan did not show up). As she left, Aidan called her on the their phones and proceeded to make some more juvenile comments. I meanwhile decided not to bother reading the rest of the book.

This book was a free Amazon download. I overpaid.

The first in a series, this is a fun and funny introduction to Sofia and her friends and relations, with a murder mystery to boot!

As a child actor, Sofia played the "Pint-Sized detective" in a successful series. Now that she's grown, she is disenchanted by the acting lifestyle and wants to do something more meaningful... so she apprentices to a real-life PI. And then things happen...

The plot was solid, and so was the pacing. The characters and dialog were very funny, without heading into parody, and as a bonus, have all sorts of ways in which the series can progress. Aidan and Sofia clearly have some kind of future together, but are now stuck in the "s/he has cooties!" level of engagement, though they're both funny at it.

I will definitely read more in this series. It's a great comfort read when one needs distraction, or a solid beach read.

And now I wonder when I will see a "lustrous jewel" referenced in a romance sex scene...½

[Lockdown] by Sean Black
Ryan Lock series Book 1

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it's business as usual. His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists. When a failed assassination attempt leaves the streets of midtown littered with bodies, and hours later the son of the company's chief research scientist is abducted from his Upper West Side prep school, Lock's hunt for the boy turns into an explosive game of cat and mouse. Through the corporate corridors of power and dark alleys of Manhattan, Lock's search leads him towards a deadly confrontation with one of the world's most dangerous women, a deadly Chechen black widow seeking revenge against America. As the clock ticks towards midnight on New Year's Eve, and the crowds gather in Times Square, Lock realizes that not only is his own life in terrible danger but so are the lives of millions of others.

My Thoughts:
After giving it a great deal of thought I realized that there is no way that I can cover the ratings for this book in a single number of stars. This book was written in 2009 so there are already 7 books in the series but since they were only just released in the United States I’m treating this as a new series.

The characters: The chief characters of Ryan Lock and his friend and co-worker, Tyrone (Ty) I would have to give them a 5. Both are competent and likable characters with a lot of promise for future novels. I hope that Angel, the rescued dog, stays in the series also. She gets a 5 all by herself.

The series overall: This is the start of a new series...at least in the U.S. that fans of David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Lee Child and other great thriller writers will more than likely enjoy and find that the characters of John Puller, Mitch Rapp, and Jack Reacher have a lot in common with Ryan Lock without being carbon copies. Since this is only the first book I will cautiously give the series a 4 but have expectations of it being one that I will add to the mountain of series I already read.

The story line: Here is where I had the most problem with the book and I’m sure that it is going to present a problem for other readers. I wish that Sean Black had kept this subject in reserve and used it in book 3 or 4 instead of the first that many will judge the entire series by and be afraid to take a chance on another one. The story is about a bio-technology company that does research on animals and has graduated to living human beings. I found that the animal part was so much harder to take than the human…since they were hardened criminals and the animals had done nothing to find themselves in this situation. Having said that…I would have to give the story line a big red 1 with maybe even minus signs. Animal lovers and people with a soft heart will hate the subject.

Since I do have hope for this series I will await Book 2 in the series Deadlock.½

Sofia is a former child star who decided to get out of show business and get a real job, as a PI in training.

One thing I look for in my cozy books is a lead female character who isn't a man crazy twit.

The characters and plot of this book are delightful. Funny, engaging with a well-crafted plot.

Anyone who enjoys a well-plotted story with a good dose of laughter will enjoy this book. I, for one, am looking forward to getting the second book in the series.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com

Highly recommend this book as an interesting read but once read soon forgotten.

Fair writing and pace but not a sufficiently credible story or plot for my taste. For passing the time rather than excitement.

A week written thriller.
Fast paced and well written.
As well as well researched.
Highly recommended.½

OK book this it starts off well.
Ryan Lock is asked to protect Frank the Reaper Hays in jail as he has done a deal with the State to grass up all his ex Arayan brotherhood gang. Book is quite action packed and very violent. I did enjoy reading this book. I will look out for more in the series.

Decent read for a first-time author. Kept me fully engaged and was always full of action, mystery, and intrigue. It did seem the grammatical errors became more abundant towards the end of the book. Nevertheless, it's very readable and enjoyable. Reminiscent of a Brad Thor or Vince Flynn novel. I look forward to reading Black's sequel, "Dead Lock".

This was my fourth and final choice from the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge. Whilst chick lit is a favourite genre of mine I also love bloke lit so I thought it'd be good to include a new bloke lit author in my selection. Within a few chapters of this book I was very glad I'd picked it.

Lockdown is the story of Ryan Lock, a security expert employed by a company that is involved in testing products on animals. Within the early chapters everything blows up, the pace picks up and I found myself swept away in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be looking out for the next instalment in the series. I think I've found a new must read author!

This was my fourth and final choice from the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge. Whilst chick lit is a favourite genre of mine I also love bloke lit so I thought it'd be good to include a new bloke lit author in my selection. Within a few chapters of this book I was very glad I'd picked it.

Lockdown is the story of Ryan Lock, a security expert employed by a company that is involved in testing products on animals. Within the early chapters everything blows up, the pace picks up and I found myself swept away in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be looking out for the next instalment in the series. I think I've found a new must read author!

Reads like a blockbuster action movie with stereotypical characters and plenty of macho dialogue. What lifts this one above other similar books is the underlying wit, despite much unpleasantness in the storyline.

THE WIDOWER’S TALE. Julia Glass. 2010. Glass also wrote The Three Junes for which she won the National Book Award. I think I enjoyed this book more, although the other one was great too. Seventy-year old Percy Darling, a retired librarian, agrees to let a private school use his barn for a school house. His once quiet life is now overrun with children, parents and teachers. He must adjust to more changes in his life when he meets the mother of one of the young students. The story unfolds through the eyes Percy’s daughters, his grandson, his new lady friend, and a immigrant gardener. A lovely novel.

Book Nr 2 far better than this book Nr 1 in the series.