A.J. ScudiereRezensionen

This book started off strong and I didn’t want to put it down. This was a bad thing, because I started reading right before bed on a weeknight. It’s an intense story, but there was just enough humor to keep me from having a heart attack. I really liked Jason, even felt a little sorry for him as he seems kind of clueless, but there was a while where I wanted to thump him alongside the head. A piece of the puzzle was right in front of him the whole time, and had he been paying attention, he could have saved himself a lot of time and money.

My only problem with this book was that it was hard to keep up with the timeline. There were a few times when it would seem like a few days had passed, but then we’d find out that it was later that day, or only the next day. Sometimes I felt like I was playing catch-up. I also missed reading about a phone call from a Captain Smith, but even after flipping back through, I didn’t see it, which was odd, because it seemed to be pretty important.

Over all, though, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller. This is not a book you’ll want to put down. I was fully involved (a little fire pun for you) from page one. I could have read this book in one sitting except that I had to sleep and my kids kept wanting food and stuff.

I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off strong and I didn’t want to put it down. This was a bad thing, because I started reading right before bed on a weeknight. It’s an intense story, but there was just enough humor to keep me from having a heart attack. I really liked Jason, even felt a little sorry for him as he seems kind of clueless, but there was a while where I wanted to thump him alongside the head. A piece of the puzzle was right in front of him the whole time, and had he been paying attention, he could have saved himself a lot of time and money.

My only problem with this book was that it was hard to keep up with the timeline. There were a few times when it would seem like a few days had passed, but then we’d find out that it was later that day, or only the next day. Sometimes I felt like I was playing catch-up. I also missed reading about a phone call from a Captain Smith, but even after flipping back through, I didn’t see it, which was odd, because it seemed to be pretty important.

Over all, though, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller. This is not a book you’ll want to put down. I was fully involved (a little fire pun for you) from page one. I could have read this book in one sitting except that I had to sleep and my kids kept wanting food and stuff.

I recieved this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

You can see more of my reviews at http://www.livinglearninglovinglife.com/category/review

The case in this book is not like the case in book one t all. This was a pay attention book becuse you never know what is waiting on the next page!! I welled up with tears when Donovan got hurt..... Like he was real......... thats how great A.J is at bringing these characters to life!! I cant wait to read the 3rd installment.

A.J has written yet another amazing novel. I love the new characters she has added while always keeping the old characters. I can not wait to see the next installment and see what happens with Donovan and Walter!!! Great plot twists and always excitement.

"A. J. Has done it again! This book keeps you on your toes. Its slap full of twists and turns you will never see coming. Without spoilers, I will say great twist on "evolution" for lack of better word! Keep up the fantastic work A. J."
September 2, 2018

WOW. Twists and turns on every page full of didnt see that coming.. Great book I cant wait to read #2.

I Love love Love Donovan And Eleri. I honest to goodness can not wait to see what they get into in book 4 Echo and Ember. I could say so much and I really want to but I do not want to give any spoilers out for the ones like me who are behind. READ IT you will not be disappointed!

Never a dull moment and can not wait to get back to it with Donovan and Eleri. Hope I can get book 2 soon. Lots of twists and a very fast paced book which I love.

This book had main characters I connected to, despite their difference. The pace was mostly good; it only dragged once for me. The writing was good and clear. I liked the plot - no facile sweeping away of problems via the agents' special attributes. The outcome was hard won by the agents' real endeavours.½

This short stand alone snippet was absorbing and contained much easily accessible information which is presumably background to other stories.

Going into God's Eye, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. Good vs. Evil. Two charismatic, and also paranormal, men vying for the soul of a woman. It all sounded amazing! I'm not generally a reader of this genre, but I thought I'd take a step out of the box and give it a shot.

What slowed me down right off the bat was the pacing. Katherine works. A lot. Since she's nearly always working, a lot of the beginning of the book is dedicated to just that. It sets up her job, her relationship with her father, and shows her basic personality. I understood why all this was there. Still, it didn't change the fact that I all but skimmed the first ten or so chapters. Between not liking Katherine at that point, and not really understanding why her job was so important to the overall story, I just wanted to get to something exciting.

As it turns out, things did get exciting and I became much more invested in the story the more that I read. Katherine really came into her own towards the middle of the book. With the help of Allistair and Zachary (and some midnight romps with each), she started to open up. The Katherine that was born again in this part of the book was looking for what she really wanted in her life. Happiness. I really liked this new Katherine! This was a women who stood up for herself. One who went to find help to uncover a mystery. This was an exciting Katherine and I ate it up.

That being said, the second half of the book was really my favorite part. The reader is introduced to Margot, the local librarian, and the two women work together to uncover the reasons why Katherine is being visited by paranormal beings. The mystery is uncovered piece by piece, and I got a fairly good sense of what was ultimately going on. This is also where I fell more in love with both male characters. As Katherine learned more about each one, things got really interesting. By the time the ending came, I was on the edge of my seat. I'll be honest, I loved the ending.

What A.J. Scudiere has written isn't just a story about good and evil. It's about finding one's true potential, and making decisions based on happiness instead of expectation. Yes, God's Eye was a little slow at times. However once I got into the meat of the story, once I was invested, I actually genuinely enjoyed myself. While I'm sure my newness to this genre affected my read, I see a lot of potential here. Bottom line, if you have an opportunity to pick up God's Eye, do it. You might find a new favorite read.

Actual Rating: 3.75

I liked this. I liked this a lot. When I first opened up this book and read the blurb, I wondered what genre it would be. From the summary, it seems like it would be mystery or just any other detective novel, but evidently this was not the case. Yes, there was some mystery to it, and yes, there was some suspense, but there was also a bit of an urban fantasy feel to it that really made the story different from any other detective novel that I've ever read.

I think a plot was definitely the strongest part of this book. The pace was very fast, and the second I opened the book, I was hooked. I really wanted to know what direction the story was going in, especially how much of it would be science and how much of it would be fantasy.

However, I did have a little bit of trouble keeping up with the characters and there seem to be some backstory that I was missing out on. But I wonder if this was because I went into the story without reading the previous books; I was told that this would be alright as a standalone, but I rarely start in the middle of a series, and this might be why. Sometimes I felt like I didn't really understand the characters (or the relationships between them) as well as I could have, and sometimes things happened that I felt a bit confused about because I didn't have any background knowledge.

Nevertheless I thought the writing style was a very good aspect, as it moved the story along at a very quick pace and I could definitely immerse myself in the plotline. I enjoyed the literary devices that the author employed to make the story more exciting, whether it was dramatic irony or suspenseful dialogue. Either way, I would definitely read the other books in the series and this book was definitely an interesting and unique read!

4.5/5
I'm actually really surprised that A.J.Scudiere is such an underrated author because she writes amazing books. God's Eye was one of my favourite reads of 2012, and Resonance is not that far behind.

This is a disaster scenario book, very intense, full of interesting multifaceted characters who end up racing together to save humanity facing an apocalyptic catastrophe - global reversing of polarity.

Not only the plot is tightly packed with action, it's full of personal stories and tragedies, feelings and challenges, and in the end the author manages to surprise the heck out of a reader with a unique supernatural solution to the problem. You really just don't expect it.

A.J. writes about human nature, everything else is just a background. The most important thing is people and how they change in face of adversity. For anyone who love disaster scenarios and apocalyptic fiction, - this book is for you.

Egalley thanks to Griffyn Ink
I hope you downloaded this book when it was offered as a free read on Amazon. No? It's still under £2 on Kindle, so I suggest you buy it, because God's Eye is amazing.

Not for the faint-hearted or impatient readers, this is a slow, fascinating unravelling of one woman, who is forced to question everything she lives for and finds herself wanting.

There is an angel and a demon in her life battling for her soul, but like me you would never guess who is who. You are constantly forced to doubt their every motive and change your mind and second guess yourself, A.J.Scudiere is that good.

God's Eye is a creepy, unexpectedly steamy and deeply mysterious read, and it drives its point home perfectly: we can not compromise and simply go with the flow if we are not happy with our life choices, we have to fight for what we think is right.

The angels and demons are not as visual as we're used to in paranormals, but more elusive, haunting, metaphysical beings. This book is a puzzle, and I'm still not sure what I got in the end out of it, but I know for sure that the impact was profound. I had to sit and digest it. Not many books do that to me anymore.

Overall, highly recommended.

Book Info: Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of suspense/thrillers
Trigger Warnings: murder, violence

My Thoughts: “What does not kill me had better start running.” After five years, just as Sin and Lee are starting to relax into their roles as Diana and Will, it all starts to unravel. Personally, I had trouble with this on a suspension of disbelief level, because Sin and Lee were so deeply buried, I don't know how anyone managed to figure out who they were, let alone find them. However, I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, because...

The story is fast-paced and relentless. There is also a bit of despair evident, especially in Will/Lee.
“We aren't clean... We won't ever be clean again. We're as dirty as they come, and our reasoning and our beliefs never changed our willingness to pull the trigger. We were judge and jury on those souls and—while I still think we were in the right—even 'vigilante' is too tame a term for what we were. We'll never truly scrub that off. You have to know that.”
The plot is full of twists and turns, and there are a lot of discoveries made regarding family through the story. I have to wonder if the author had planned this from the beginning, or if she decided later to turn this into a trilogy and added in all the wrinkles to help move the pace along.

The editing on this is really quite good. The only spelling error I noticed was the use of “discrete” when “discreet” should have been used. There are some issues with punctuation and capitalization, but nothing the average reader would necessarily catch. I was very happy to see the improvement over earlier books. The only thing that hit my “pet peeve-o-meter” was the use of the phrase “another thing coming.” This should be “another think coming” and is something that just drives me nuts.

This is another fabulous book from A.J. Scudiere, and one which I can recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers and suspense novels. There is a lot of violence, so keep that in mind, and of course there are murders. There is also an extremely twisty plot and lots of revelations to be seen, so if that sounds like your sort of thing, definitely check this out.

Series Information: The Sin Trilogy
Book 1: Vengeance, review linked here
Book 2: Retribution
Book 3: Justice, release date TBA

Disclosure: I purchased this book for myself as I'm a fan of the author. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Will and Diana Kincaid have left their pasts behind. They've even discarded their identities as Sin and Lee, but the past will never leave them.

When the body of mafia leader Ivan Kurev turns up in her district, Diana is forced to take a hard look at how well she has—or hasn't—covered her tracks. It turns out, no matter what she does, it isn't good enough. A stronger generation of Kurevs is growing out of the wasteland she left behind and the Kurev sons have a memory that is long . . . and angry.

In the past, the fight and the choices that go with it would have been easy. But now there are friends to protect, a home she doesn't want to leave, and a boss she likes, even if she's more than a little suspicious of him.

It's hard to choose sides when Diana can't even determine what the sides are anymore. She can't run, she can't stay and she can't protect what she fought so hard for, not when a newer, more dangerous breed of assassin waits around every corner . . .

God's Eye introduces us to Katherine Geryon, a woman who has lived what some would call an easy life. Growing up in an affluent family with a controlling and emotionally absent father and a mother who taught her that appearances are everything, Katherine simply floated through life, turning a blind eye to what she did not want to see and letting all of her decisions be made by others. Working in her father's company, she was viewed with envy and distrust by most people and she never put forth the effort to make any real connections or to cause people to view her as anything more than she appeared. When two gorgeous and charismatic men suddenly appeared in her life during the same time that unexplained phenomenon began happening in her home, suddenly she had no choice than to open her eyes and notice the things happening around her. Finding herself in an emotionally charged sexual relationship with both of them, Katherine knew that eventually she would have to choose, and she was slowly starting to become aware of what making the wrong choice might cost her.

It's difficult to put my finger on the genre that God's Eye would fit into because there are elements of so many. I would call it a Paranormal Psychological Fantasy Thriller with elements of steamy romance. The plot wound slowly around these characters, building suspense and tension as I tried to figure out which was angel and which was demon and which would Katherine choose in the end.

Ultimately, God's Eye was about the far-reaching results of the choices that we make every day. It's important that each person is aware that our decisions can have consequences outside of ourselves and that when we make a choice that affects others we have to acknowledge and own it. Only with awareness and accountability can we begin to change the way we think and act. When we begin to open our eyes, our mind, and our heart, we can begin to change both our own world as well as have a positive effect on the world at large, even in small ways. Katherine's choice seemed to be between Angel and Demon, good or evil, but as shown in the book, sometimes its hard to determine which is which. Katherine had to look at the ripple effect of what first appeared to be small, unimportant choices but even when her eyes began to see, she was still unsure which was the right path for her to take.

I want to take a minute to mention that Alistair and Zachary will probably appeal to those who love Paranormal Romance. This one does not lack in the "steamy love scenes with hot supernatural guys" department. I was immediately drawn to Alistair because it seemed that his character had more depth than Zachary, but I'm sure others will find Zachary's alpha-ness highly attractive.

Overall, God's Eye is a book I think many people will enjoy. Once you get past the frighteningly awesome cover, you'll see that this story goes much deeper than your average angel/demon paranormal romance. And the image on the cover will make sense in the context of the story. I would recommend God's Eye to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance, horror, or psychological thrillers. The eBook is just $.99 at Amazon right now, I definitely suggest grabbing it while you can get it at this price!

God's Eye introduces us to Katherine Geryon, a woman who has lived what some would call an easy life. Growing up in an affluent family with a controlling and emotionally absent father and a mother who taught her that appearances are everything, Katherine simply floated through life, turning a blind eye to what she did not want to see and letting all of her decisions be made by others. Working in her father's company, she was viewed with envy and distrust by most people and she never put forth the effort to make any real connections or to cause people to view her as anything more than she appeared. When two gorgeous and charismatic men suddenly appeared in her life during the same time that unexplained phenomenon began happening in her home, suddenly she had no choice than to open her eyes and notice the things happening around her. Finding herself in an emotionally charged sexual relationship with both of them, Katherine knew that eventually she would have to choose, and she was slowly starting to become aware of what making the wrong choice might cost her.

It's difficult to put my finger on the genre that God's Eye would fit into because there are elements of so many. I would call it a Paranormal Psychological Fantasy Thriller with elements of steamy romance. The plot wound slowly around these characters, building suspense and tension as I tried to figure out which was angel and which was demon and which would Katherine choose in the end.

Ultimately, God's Eye was about the far-reaching results of the choices that we make every day. It's important that each person is aware that our decisions can have consequences outside of ourselves and that when we make a choice that affects others we have to acknowledge and own it. Only with awareness and accountability can we begin to change the way we think and act. When we begin to open our eyes, our mind, and our heart, we can begin to change both our own world as well as have a positive effect on the world at large, even in small ways. Katherine's choice seemed to be between Angel and Demon, good or evil, but as shown in the book, sometimes its hard to determine which is which. Katherine had to look at the ripple effect of what first appeared to be small, unimportant choices but even when her eyes began to see, she was still unsure which was the right path for her to take.

I want to take a minute to mention that Alistair and Zachary will probably appeal to those who love Paranormal Romance. This one does not lack in the "steamy love scenes with hot supernatural guys" department. I was immediately drawn to Alistair because it seemed that his character had more depth than Zachary, but I'm sure others will find Zachary's alpha-ness highly attractive.

Overall, God's Eye is a book I think many people will enjoy. Once you get past the frighteningly awesome cover, you'll see that this story goes much deeper than your average angel/demon paranormal romance. And the image on the cover will make sense in the context of the story. I would recommend God's Eye to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance, horror, or psychological thrillers. The eBook is just $.99 at Amazon right now, I definitely suggest grabbing it while you can get it at this price!

God's Eye introduces us to Katherine Geryon, a woman who has lived what some would call an easy life. Growing up in an affluent family with a controlling and emotionally absent father and a mother who taught her that appearances are everything, Katherine simply floated through life, turning a blind eye to what she did not want to see and letting all of her decisions be made by others. Working in her father's company, she was viewed with envy and distrust by most people and she never put forth the effort to make any real connections or to cause people to view her as anything more than she appeared. When two gorgeous and charismatic men suddenly appeared in her life during the same time that unexplained phenomenon began happening in her home, suddenly she had no choice than to open her eyes and notice the things happening around her. Finding herself in an emotionally charged sexual relationship with both of them, Katherine knew that eventually she would have to choose, and she was slowly starting to become aware of what making the wrong choice might cost her.

It's difficult to put my finger on the genre that God's Eye would fit into because there are elements of so many. I would call it a Paranormal Psychological Fantasy Thriller with elements of steamy romance. The plot wound slowly around these characters, building suspense and tension as I tried to figure out which was angel and which was demon and which would Katherine choose in the end.

Ultimately, God's Eye was about the far-reaching results of the choices that we make every day. It's important that each person is aware that our decisions can have consequences outside of ourselves and that when we make a choice that affects others we have to acknowledge and own it. Only with awareness and accountability can we begin to change the way we think and act. When we begin to open our eyes, our mind, and our heart, we can begin to change both our own world as well as have a positive effect on the world at large, even in small ways. Katherine's choice seemed to be between Angel and Demon, good or evil, but as shown in the book, sometimes its hard to determine which is which. Katherine had to look at the ripple effect of what first appeared to be small, unimportant choices but even when her eyes began to see, she was still unsure which was the right path for her to take.

I want to take a minute to mention that Alistair and Zachary will probably appeal to those who love Paranormal Romance. This one does not lack in the "steamy love scenes with hot supernatural guys" department. I was immediately drawn to Alistair because it seemed that his character had more depth than Zachary, but I'm sure others will find Zachary's alpha-ness highly attractive.

Overall, God's Eye is a book I think many people will enjoy. Once you get past the frighteningly awesome cover, you'll see that this story goes much deeper than your average angel/demon paranormal romance. And the image on the cover will make sense in the context of the story. I would recommend God's Eye to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance, horror, or psychological thrillers. The eBook is just $.99 at Amazon right now, I definitely suggest grabbing it while you can get it at this price!

It was a good book. It was exciting. I love how the author showed the FBI side and also the serial killers' side. The plot is different, something new. I love the twist at the end. The story just started a bit slow for me.

Phoenix by A.J. Scudiere
ISBN: 9781937996093
This book is action packed, a bit of romance, and a lot of mystery, not only in the fire department, but police department and other state departments to get to the truth of the matter as to why
a woman was murdered on her couch when 2 little boys were left to burn in the arson fire. Amazing how all the clues lead to them solving the mysteries as other mysteries arise.
I was first attracted to this book because the main character is a fire fighter. I am totally terrified of fire and for many years after my kids left home I would need to sleep with the light on so I could see down the hallway, in case of fire. Witnessed 2 fires in a mobile home, starting in wee hours of the morning. It's so terrifying. I love learning how the people do it, safeguard others in harms way.
Jason after having fought the house fire was back in his apartment, just woken up by the phone and noticing there's not much Kelly had left behind.
After struggling through one fire that leaves him with nightmares he heads home for a few days and is finally able to sleep. Problem is his mom informs him of her new job with child and family services. They adopted him after the fire in his apartment with his mother. They were not able to save her.
He never knew of the other child, his brother.
With all that turmoil he also had job problems. He would have to qualify for a higher level of EMT to keep his job and maybe help others out in the firehouse to even have a job months down the road.
He's also got some leads on his brother, still not knowing if he lived or what his name is.
Gunman, cars on fire and screaming from him to the firemen to go get his brother still inside the building...
Although this is all taking place it's not hurried or too fast. You have time to take this all in. Never a dull moment between all that and his money and work problems. He does find out in time that the original fire was probably arson but that's not what others have told him. It's a surprise as to who was at the fire that night.
They meet with others involved and not sure what to do about opening a can or worms or to let the trail of finding his brother/dead or alive, stop there to protect others life's.
Deaths of fireman always brought them all down and they knew who was to blame.
The deeper they dig the more people are involved and it's looking like murder, arson and others who are now dead or have been threatened. Bigger and bigger case.
Love all the learning of the fire protocol when the firemen first come to a fire. So many things I learned.
Love how everything is linked together but you don't find out everything til the very end...

Book Info: Genre: Thriller
Reading Level: Adult (minor F/F situations)
Recommended for: Fans of thrillers, those who like to see a realistic representation of Asperger's
Book Available: July 16, 2013 by Griffyn Ink in Paperback
Trigger Warnings: violence, attempted murder, murder, arson, kidnapping

My Thoughts: I want to point out that I'm a huge fan of A.J. Scudiere. Not all of her books were five-star ratings for me, but all were very enjoyable. I think she has a lot of talent, and some great stories to tell. So when Griffyn Ink sent me a sample of the book and asked if I wanted to review it, I told them if A.J. Scudiere wrote it, I wanted to read it; I didn't need to look at the sample. Most of her books I was provided in exchange for a review, but once I'd read them, I went out and picked up a final copy for myself—sometimes for Kindle, and in one case, an autographed paperback.

This book has a steadily creeping and slowly building feeling of suspense that is as impressive as it is subtle. I stopped for a break and noticed my entire body was tense. To me that is a highly successful effect! Sometimes you can intellectually understand the suspense, but when it is a physical affect... that is some really decent writing.

One of the characters in the book has Asperger's, and it was interesting to me how well the author created the subcurrents that this condition can cause among different people. Reenie, Evan's girlfriend, is initially extremely intolerant of Kayla's differences, and treats her very poorly, while Ivy quickly susses out Kayla's actual abilities and provides a much-needed foil to the hostility from Reenie and the sometimes overprotective attitude of her brother Evan. I know that learning to navigate the waters with Asperger's can be very difficult for neurotypical people; even if you do your best to be very clear and transparent about things, you can be misunderstood. It's something I've been trying very hard to understand better, and I think this book will go a long way toward helping with that. There is also a subtle and very realistic F/F romance going on in the background that I quite enjoyed.

I really liked Ivy's character, and I really liked how Reenie's characters changed and grew through the course of the book. This is written in partially omniscient point-of-view, so there is some minor head-hopping going on, but it's logically done and easy to follow. I think this is Scudiere's best work yet, and am very eager to watch where she goes from here. I've been following this author since shortly after the release of her second book and am very impressed by the growth I see in her writing, and can strongly recommend any of her works if you like a great story. I've listed them below for your reference. This one I think will especially be welcomed by people living with various forms of autism, and their families. It deals with Asperger's in a realistic manner, as nearly as I can tell, and helped me to come to a better understanding of some of the challenges those with Asperger's face.

Also by A.J. Scudiere: If you are interested in this book, or have read it and like the writing, be sure to check out these other awesome books by A.J. Scudiere:
God's Eye : Read and reviewed September 15-16, 2011, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Resonance : Read and reviewed 8/20-21, 2011, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Vengeance : Read and reviewed 9/14-15/2011, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Phoenix : Read and reviewed 5/28-30/2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Dumb Blonde : Read and reviewed Aug. 27, 2012, review linked here where formatting allowed.

Disclosure: I received an ARC e-book copy of this book from Griffyn Ink in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Someone is keeping watch over the machine. Should it ever have been built?

The lure of the find behind the loose hearthstone at Hazleton House was too great. The schematic excited Evan, Reenie and Ivy for different reasons, but it is Kayla who actually begins building it. Her ability to focus to the exclusion of all else is just one of the effects of her Asperger's.

The scribbled initials E.W. were merely a curiosity until it's discovered they belong to Eli Whitney. But strange footprints and disturbing visitors let Evan know that the theft of his sister's prize schematic isn't just a coincidence.

It becomes obvious that the generator has no apparent power source. And Eli Whitney was only the first to die because of the machine.

Soon they realize their enemies are much bigger than they had imagined and the threat the device poses could topple an empire. The secret now threatens those at Hazleton House.

Who is trying to stop them?

First things first as always. I received this book via a GoodReads drawing and therefore didn't pay anything for it. Despite that kind consideration I'll give you my honest assessment as always.

In general I find it rather distasteful to say much of anything about the plot but in this case I will make a very slight exception. At a very high level the book shows us a woman of privileged background who is being 'courted' by an angel and a demon come to Earth in human form and her choice of one of them will determine her eventual fate. The only reason this tidbit is at all important is to clarify for potential readers that this book is in no way a religious one. It deals with eternal moral questions but not in any way that's directly religious. Or, to put it more bluntly, at no time is the reader preached at. Not a religious book at all.

Double preambles now complete, we get along to the assessment of the novel. Stylistically Scudiere's writing is very solid. Reading pace is swift and easy and the author's intent is clearly transmitted. The story is mildly cliche but it's rather impossible to be otherwise when dealing with any topic so basic. Overall I'd rate the book as mildly amusing but sadly not worth the time it took to consume it. The same story could be covered in half the time and deliver much more punch. Lastly, the novel's ending, after so much gritty darkness, is sappily and inanely sweet. When cutting the novel down to a reasonable size the first thing to be eliminated should be the last 30 pages.

Editorially I think the book suffers from some unskillful excisions. In several places the text refers to past events that never occurred in a manner that makes me think we were supposed to know about them. I also wonder if the ending was cobbled on at the request of some early reviewer who thought the original ending too dark.

In summary, this is a great idea for a story but there's just too much of it. At times the author's rendering of events is dramatic and gripping but one must tread water for far too long to get where the author's taking you.

Such an easy-to-read book. The characters are realistic and flawed (in a good way), exactly the way that I like them. The story is engaging and has some nice twists that I didn't expect. I recommend this book for anyone who likes mysteries (and maybe firefighters).

Katharine comes from upper society, but her life is not as easy as most think. She is the daughter of a rich investor that just goes through the hoops of work to please her dad without ever deciding for herself what she would like. Then strange animals and soot stains appear in her perfect apartment. Things get stranger when a new co-worker that she is training starts hitting on her and her new neighbor makes her feel wanton.

What she doesn’t know is that one is an angel and another is a demon trying to make her decide what path to follow. This is one’s last chance, if he fails, he will be finished. The other expects this to be an easy turn and is all ready counting on his advancement. Will Katharine choose the right one?

I liked this book. I will admit that the first part was a little slow with the same thing getting a bit redundant. But, after Katharine starts waking up and taking a good look at her life, she starts to realize that there is a lot more going on in her perfect world than what she originally thought. I loved both Allistair and Zachary. You don’t find out which is the angel until the end and it was perfect.

Beside the first part of the book being redundant, this was a really great book. I honestly can’t wait to read more books from AJ Scudiere. This is one author that you don’t want to miss.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping novel which delves into the world of firefighters. On a daily basis, they face dangers to save the lives of anonymous people. Sometimes the outcome is full of emotions when lives are saved. Sometimes, it's a very bad day and lives are destroyed.

I enjoyed being immersed in the daily routine of a fire station. I also liked that the author took the time to tell the stories of the brigade and their daily hassle before starting the police investigation part of this novel.

"Phoenix" is a bit like if you had two stories in one. First, the reader discover the job and the lives of firefighters. Then, he becomes involved and committed to finding Daniel. As a detective or a journalist, the reader dig the past of the main characters. He conducted interviews, asked questions and made ​​assumptions. It's very well done and full of subtilities !

As for myself, the author has managed to keep me in the dark until the denouement. I never suspected the identity of the brother ... Hats off to A.J. Scudiere ... I've never seen the outcome coming!

So, I spent a good time to wonder what was going to happen and what I would find out...
The author kept me guessing until the end even if I admit that openness of the Grady's sisters seemed a bit far-fetched, I've enjoyed my reading a lot.

Special mention for the outspoken Amara and Alex's sense of humor.

A gripping thriller with many twists and turns!

Lucie
http://newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr/2012/10/phoenix-by-aj-scudiere.html½