Lock ‘N’ Load by Tee O’Fannon – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Federal K-9 Book 1

Book Blurb:

Crack CIA analyst Trista Gold is a whiz with the computer, but not so much with people. She hides behind her job, analyzing top-secret code and making recommendations on national security. She doesn’t need a man in her life. But she will, very soon….

CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors suspects that beneath Trista’s uptight appearance, there’s a sexy woman itching to cut loose. But he doesn’t dare act on his attraction. He’s a loner and always will be. Keeping away from Trista is a must-do directive. Until he doesn’t have a choice….

During a routine assignment, Trista stumbles across a cryptic exchange. She doesn’t think much of it…until someone tries to murder her – twice. Both times, Matt had been there to save her. But now she has to hide. And her new bodyguard, Matt, and his K-9 are the only hope she has against the powerful forces that want her dead.

My Review:

Well, yucky! Eck. Obviously a sucker for a cover with a dog and the promise of a working K-9 in the story and I’m hooked again, despite the initial trepidation of the glossy guy with an obvious six-pack under that sweaty t-shirt. I knew better but signed up anyway. That’s on me.

Of course, the blurb sounded interesting as well. A CIA analyst, Trista Gold knows a computer inside and out. She can surf with the best, analyzing top-secret code, but apparently as brilliant as she is, didn’t understand her hacking was being hacked. Until that is, there are repeated attempts on her life. Oops.

Enter super sexy, way over-the-top CIA K-9 officer Sgt. Matt Connors in all his glorious 6’ and hyper-studly knighthood with the dog. He’s so HOT. Trista is panting. But tiny, mousey Trista knows he couldn’t possibly be interested in a mouse like herself, so she’ll pant in silence. Might be a good thing cause he has issues. BIG issues.

Oh, good grief. How did I get myself into this?

Let’s see: She’s terrified of dogs, but he has one. No prob. He’ll introduce the dog to her and she’ll come to love it. He has six buddies, all studly and super HOT, and ALL have dogs. No prob. She has come to love dogs.

The cop is breast obsessed (and she has a couple) which turns him into a HOT beast who has to fight himself to stay away from her. Not. The reader gets a graphic description of his bodily reaction to her. Gross. But he sees the inner beauty in her that he’ll bring out and she’ll become everyone’s tiny but blond curvy darling (no doubt unpinning her bun and removing her glasses).

Did they ever stick to business and figure out who is trying to kill her? Could it possibly have been in connection to her job? Nah. Gotta be something else, huh? Does the dog get to do his thing and rescue the damsel in distress? Oh yeah. And what of the other HOT guys—all 6’ and gorgeous examples of manhood. Will this thirty-something mouse lose her virginity and turn into an accomplished vixen between the sheets?

UGH. Who cares?

I received a copy of this book from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my own honest thoughts and opinions.

Rosepoint Rating: Two point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Espionage Thrillers, Romantic Suspense
Publisher: CreateSpace
ASIN: B07CWRYKPV
Print Length: 372 pages
Publication Date: May 28, 2018
Source: Local library selection
Title Link(s): Lock ‘N’ Load [Amazon]

The Author: Tee O’Fallon is the author of the Federal K-9, K-9 Special Ops, and the NYPD Blue & Gold Series. Tee served as a federal agent and police investigator for a 28-year law enforcement career, giving her hands-on experience that she combines with her love of romantic suspense and action-packed thrillers. When not writing, Tee enjoys cooking, gardening, chocolate, lychee martinis, and kicking back with her Belgian Sheepdogs, Loki and Kyrie. In the summer, Tee can be found anywhere there’s a boat and calm water. Tee loves hearing from readers and can be contacted via her website https://teeofallon.com where you can also sign up for Tee’s newsletters at https://teeofallon.com/subscribe/.

#TuesdayBookBlog

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland – #Audiobook Review – #DomesticThriller @RandomHouseAudio

Book Blurb:

Idyllic neighborhood, perfect family, meaningful career. CIA analyst Beth Bradford has it all—

Until she doesn’t.

Now, facing an empty nest and a broken marriage, Beth is moving from the cul-de-sac she’s long called home, and the CIA is removing her from the case that’s long been hers: tracking an elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor.

Madeline Sterling moves into Beth’s old house. She has what Beth once had: an adoring husband, three beautiful young children, and the close-knit group of neighbors on the block. Now she has it all. And Beth—who can’t stop watching the woman stepping in to her old life—thinks the new neighbor has something else too: ties to Iranian intelligence.

Is Beth just jealous? Paranoid? Or is something more at play?

After all, most of the families on the cul-de-sac have some tie to the CIA. They’re all keeping secrets. And they all know more about their neighbors than they should. It would be the perfect place to insert a spy—unless one was there all along.

My Review:

I love me a good thriller, although not usually of the espionage variety. Still, I was caught by the blurb, the recent release already in my well-stocked library which is no stranger to the author.

I’m not sure what to think of a CIA agent on the hunt for seventeen years of an Iranian intelligence agent who is now coded as “The New Neighbor.” Beth Bradford is married with children, the last of three now about to leave the nest of a lovely home in a neighborhood they’ve lived in almost the entirety of the children’s lives. They know and love their neighbors but as their circumstances are changing, think it’s time they scaled down.

That is, right up until the time Beth’s husband allows as to how they’ve both been hanging on until the kids leave. He wants to leave too, but into his own quarters with a new squeeze. They sold their home to Madeline and somehow Beth immediately suspects Madeline isn’t who she says she is.

Madeline is making friends in the hood (her friends) and keeps an odd schedule. Beth raises the question to her boss who immediately shuts her down and cautions that perhaps she’s experiencing overload with losing her kids, her husband, her home, and now after seventeen years taken off the hunt for The New Neighbor as well. The proximity to their headquarters is too coincidental, along with other points she can tick off. Can you spell neurotic? J-e-a-l-o-u-s?

Must she lose everything? NO! She will not lose that too and determined to ferret out The New Neighbor finds ways to short cut her new assignment in order to watch Madeline.

Okay, seventeen years is a long time to work on one assignment, especially if it lacks success, why wasn’t she reassigned years ago? Has the woman just gone off the deep end? Is this all really too much for her?

The character definitely can be annoying, ramping into paranoia quickly. She’s jumping all over the place with theories forcing the reader to consider another possible neighbor when really suspicion rose early as to who it might have been and was borne out in conclusion.

Having to concede it was an entertaining narrative, well-plotted if not redundant, it did pose several thought-provoking questions. I didn’t care for her character nor most of those in her neighborhood—her best friend also failing support for her as well.

Engaging, bordering on annoying. I read Need to Know back in 2018 and enjoyed it, noting a continuation between the family life and this one—that conflicted tension with family and her CIA position in counterintelligence searching for Russian sleeper cells in the US that she is (or was) apparently still working.

I received a copy of this audiobook from my locally well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Espionage Thrillers
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B09MVDNPNF
Listening Length: 8 hrs 10 mins
Narrator: Lisa Flanagan
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Karen Cleveland is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst and the New York Times bestselling author of Need to Know and Keep You Close. She has master’s degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Harvard University. Cleveland lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children.

Enjoy your day

The Double Agent: A Novel by William Christie – #BookReview – #historicalthrillers

The Double Agent by William Christie

Book Blurb:

From a modern master of the classic espionage novel comes William Christie’s The Double Agent, featuring Alexsi Smirnoff – a Russian/German double agent loyal only to himself – in a desperate bid to protect himself, again becomes a double agent, this time for the English.

Alexsi Smirnoff – a Russian orphan – was trained as an agent by the Russian Secret Service and inserted into Nazi Germany, where he rose to a position in German intelligence services. As the war grinds on, trapped between two brutal dictatorships, Alexsi betrays both sides in a desperate ploy that succeeds…and fails. His false identities burned, his life at risk, Alexsi attempts to disappear in the hills – but is caught by the British.

Recruited by the SIS, and by “C” himself, Alexsi is once again a double agent. Initially betrayed by a Soviet agent inside the SIS (Kim Philby), Alexsi is sent beyond the reach of the Soviets, into Italy with a new identity as a sergeant in the German army. Settled into the headquarters of Field Marshall Albert Kesselring, Alexsi finds himself at the nexus at a critical point in World War II, balancing between the various forces vying for control in the Vatican, the Italian resistance, and the brutal German Army determined to maintain control of Northern Italy. And Alexsi, finally forced to choose sides over his own survival.

Sequel to the well-regarded A Single Spy, The Double Agent is a fast-paced, compelling novel of espionage in the most momentous and dangerous of times.

His Review:

Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov was a deeply embedded agent in MI 6. He reported both to London and Moscow. Neither country knew that he worked for the other. His life was a tightrope with knives at both ends. The Nazis would shoot immediately if they knew that he reported to both sides. First, however, he could expect to be hanging from a meat hook in the basement of Gestapo headquarters.

The problem with being a dual agent is keeping both agencies satisfied. One slip and he would never see the light of day again. Their mutual enemy needed to be defeated by both countries. This book explores the problems faced by someone who is a slave to two masters. Information needs to be fed to the agencies without actually giving away something that could harm the other.

Well-paced and engaging. Empathetic MC. This well-written novel will entertain you and keep you in suspense. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Espionage Thrillers
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ASIN: B09Q1Y9T1F
Print Length: 352 pages
Publication Date: November 15, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: The Double Agent (Amazon)
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: [Goodreads] WILLIAM CHRISTIE is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a former Marine Corps infantry officer who commanded a number of units and served around the world. In addition to A Single Spy, he has written several other novels, published either under his own name or that of F.J. Chase.

Enjoy tyour weekend!

Rosepoint Reviews – August Recap—Woohoo, it’s September!

I mentioned last month the fun with new gardening possibilities and while the sauerkraut was a bust, the carrots did pretty well. The rest of the veggies in the gallon fermenter got too soft. Now, I have ripe cherry tomatoes coming out of my ears and already dried the first batch. A bit too much pepper on some, but otherwise, they are like little tomato-flavored candies.

Okay, admittedly, that has little to do with books, although an excellent reason I’m slow to read this month. Thank heaven for audiobooks and the CE!

us back in 62 — We don’t have any wedding pics, but I think this is in 1962.

Speaking of the CE…we will be celebrating our 60^th wedding anniversary on the 2^nd (cue the horns!). Hoping to do a couple things; still there are issues with gas and Covid. Because I am writing this ahead of those last three review posts, the links will be to Amazon rather than my review which I will edit upon return to my computer. (Sadly, I don’t know how to get a link to a review scheduled, not yet posted. Yes, I know—don’t say it.)

Together we did read or listen to nineteen books in August, most from NetGalley as I’m still working on the 500 badge; as I’m writing this, now up to a count of 494. So close!

The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier
Holy Chow by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
The Last Sentinel by Simon Gervais (a CE review)
The Final Hunt by Audrey J Cole (a CE review)
Such a Beautiful Family by T R Ragan
Lie Down with Dogs by Liz Milliron (a CE review)
The Girl Who Escaped by Mark Nolan (a CE 5* review)
Overkill by Sandra Brown (a CE review)
Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O’Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart
Bad Axe County by John Gallagan (audiobook)
Out of Patients by Sandra Cavallo Miller (a CE review)
Dark Rivers to Cross by Lynne Reeves (a CE review)
Murder at Black Oaks by Phillip Margolin (a CE review)
Lies She Told by Cate Holahan (audiobook)
Bernice Runs Away by Talya Tate Boerner (my 5*)
The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks (a CE 5* review)
A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor (scheduled—link to Amazon) (CE review)
The Double Agent by William Christie (scheduled—link to Amazon) (CE review)
The Italian Daughter by Soraya Lane (scheduled—link to Amazon) (CE review)

Reading Challenges

My challenges—promises, promises, promises. Yes, I caught it up! Not once, but twice as I lost all my input the first time. My challenges for 2022 are all listed and linked in the widget column on the right. You can always check out the progress of my challenges, if you are so inclined, by clicking the Reading Challenges page. I’m now at 73% of the Goodreads Challenge of 180 books at 132 and achieved my Audiobook Challenge of 30 and the Historical Reading Challenge of 25. I also achieved the yearly goal of 75 for Netgalley and Edelweiss, although of course, those books are all from NG.

Having to do over the Reading Challenges page taught me one thing: I’m not keeping up with it well. Not updating, nor reporting to the challenge hosts. My apologies. I think going forward I will undertake fewer challenges and not try to list individual entries to the challenge. Makes the page unwieldy and for what purpose? Tell me, honestly…have you ever looked at it?

Where the Crawdads Sing (my review of the book here by Delia Owens) starring Daisy Edgar-Jones—was excellent. Did you get a chance to view it? I’ll be doing a critical review discussing both shortly. I’d love to hear what you thought, too! Did you read the book?

We here in the upper Midwest had a beautiful August—I can’t complain—with pleasant temps during the day and cool in the evening perfect for sleeping. Did you get the kiddies off to school? We’ve been informed we are expecting our second great-grandchild. Too early to know boy or girl. In the meantime, the boy is trying to walk. He’s nine months. The fun begins…

Welcome to my new followers and as always I appreciate those who continue to read, like, share, and comment. Please let me know if you saw something above that got your interest.

Granny graphic attribute: wdrfree.com

The Bucharest Dossier by William Maz – #BookReview – #EspionageThrillers

The Bucharest Dossier by William Maz

Book Blurb:

Bill Hefflin is a man apart—apart from life, apart from his homeland, apart from love.

At the start of the 1989 uprising in Romania, CIA analyst Bill Hefflin—a disillusioned Romanian expat—arrives in Bucharest at the insistence of his KGB asset, code-named Boris. As Hefflin becomes embroiled in an uprising that turns into a brutal revolution, nothing is as it seems, including the search for his childhood love, which has taken on mythical proportions.

With the bloody events unfolding at blinding speed, Hefflin realizes the revolution is manipulated by outside forces, including his own CIA and Boris—the puppeteer who seems to be pulling all the strings of Hefflin’s life.

His Review:

First love as a child is often tragic. Torn from his birth country of Romania, Hefflin moves to Greece and finally winds up in the United States. Pusha, his childhood love, was left in Romania but certainly not forgotten. His first eight years in Romania imprinted the Romanian language in his brain for a lifetime. Love has left Pusha imprinted in his heart as a lost love.

Hefflin is recruited as an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency as a foreign operative. He is assigned to many posts in the communist block states. He has been recruited by Professor Andrei Pincus at Harvard University. Only the best and brightest for U.S. overseas C.I.A. operations!

William Maz has developed a very integral spy novel intertwined with love for a first homeland. Bucharest is showing signs of revolting against communism and release from Russian domination. Russia does not want to see a free and independent Romania. Hefflin is there to assist in bringing the country into a relationship with western powers. Meanwhile, his lost childhood love and memories broil just under the surface.

This is a very well-developed novel with believable characters. A spymaster pulls strings to push Hefflin into becoming a complete foreign operative. The story and description of Bucharest and Romanian culture are enchanting. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Espionage Thrillers
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
ASIN: B091G2FRM8
Print Length: 386 pages
Publication Date: March 15, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Bucharest Dossier [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

The Author: WILLIAM MAZ was born in Bucharest, Romania, of Greek parents and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. He is a graduate of Harvard University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Yale residency. During his high school and undergraduate years, he developed a passion for writing fiction. He studied writing at Harvard, the New School, The Writer’s Studio in New York City, and with Gordon Lish, and is now writing full time. He divides his time between homes in Pennsylvania and New York City. The Bucharest Dossier is his debut novel.

Enjoy Your Sunday with a good book!

The Berlin Exchange: A Novel by Joseph Kanon – #BookReview – #historicalthrillers

Book Blurb:

From “master of the genre” (The Washington Post) Joseph Kanon, an espionage thriller set at the height of the Cold War, when a captured American who has spied for the KGB is swapped by the British and returns to East Berlin needing to know who arranged his release and what they want from him.

Berlin. 1963. The height of the Cold War. An early morning spy swap, not at the familiar setting for such exchanges, or at Checkpoint Charlie, where international visitors cross into the East, but at a more discreet border crossing, usually reserved for East German VIPs. The Communists are trading two American students caught helping people to escape over the wall and an aging MI6 operative. On the other side of the trade: Martin Keller, a physicist who once made headlines, but who then disappeared into the English prison system. Keller’s most critical possession: his American passport. Keller’s most ardent desire: to see his ex-wife Sabine and their young son.

The exchange is made with the formality characteristic of these swaps. But Martin has other questions: who asked for him? Who negotiated the deal? The KGB? He has worked for the service long enough to know that nothing happens by chance. They want him for something. Not physics—his expertise is out of date. Something else, which he cannot learn until he arrives in East Berlin, when suddenly the game is afoot.

Filled with intriguing characters, atmospheric detail, and plenty of action Kanon’s latest espionage thriller is one you won’t soon forget.

His Review:

Early in the cold war, it was almost impossible to go from East Germany to West Germany. A wall divided the country into four zones. People trying to get from the east to the west were often shot by the border guards. The thinking was that they were taking vital state secrets from the east to the west.

This story centers on a man who was going from the west to the east. He was a nuclear scientist who helped on the Manhattan Project. These people were closely monitored by their governments. The secrets of the atomic bomb were being taken to Russia to “help balance out the world powers.”

The protagonist fell in love with and married a woman in the east and had a son. His objective was to get his wife and son out of the eastern block and ultimately into the west, but being caught crossing the border could result in instant execution. The wife thought they could be happy living in East Germany. However, she is suffering from bad health and her husband wants to get her to hospitals in the west.

This novel reminded me of the era of the cold war and the tension felt by everyone on both sides of the Berlin wall. As a child in grammar school, I can remember being taught how to “duck and cover.” Knowing now the power of the atomic bombs realize this exercise was absolutely worthless.

Read the book and observe the arguments between the characters as they discuss the problems with getting the family across the border. It should be enlightening for those who did not live through the era! 4.0 – CE Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions. Released on 2-22-22

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Espionage Thrillers
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1982158654
ASIN: B08VJLQFQC
Print Length: 316 pages
Publication Date: February 22, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s): The Berlin Exchange [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

The Author: Joseph Kanon is the Edgar Award–winning author of Leaving Berlin, Istanbul Passage, Los Alamos, The Prodigal Spy, Alibi, Stardust, and The Good German, which was made into a major motion picture starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. He lives in New York City.

Have a great weekend from Rosepoint Publishing

Head Shot (The Marko Zorn Series Book 2) by Otho Eskin – #BookReview – #policeprocedural

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The Most Elusive Assassin in the World Versus D.C. Homicide Detective Marko Zorn

Washington, D.C. homicide detective Marko Zorn is investigating the murder of an actress—an old love—when he is assigned to protect the visiting prime minister of Montenegro, the beautiful Nina Voychek.

Political enemies are planning her assassination—this, he knows—but now it’s apparent that he, too, is a target. As he foils the initial attempts on his life, he pulls out all stops—deploying his sometimes nefarious resources—to hunt whoever is targeting him and prevent an international tragedy on American soil.

Decoded messages, Supermax prisoner interviews, mafia lawyers, and an ancient Black Mountain curse swirl among the icons of D.C. Marko and his young partner, Lucy, face down what may be multiple assassins with diverging agendas. Or are they facing one assassin—the deadliest and most elusive on the international stage?

Perfect for fans of David Baldacci and Daniel Silva

His Review:

Marko Zorn is not a popular Washington Metropolitan police detective. This novel starts out with a rifle bullet barely missing him as he bends down to pick up his newspaper. His abrasive attitude and demeanor have caused most people to keep him at arms-length. His superiors put him on details that keep him out of the office and away from his fellow officers.

When a popular actress from Montenegro is sent death threats, he and his partner Lucy are assigned to protect the lady. The ambassador of Montenegro is not happy but bows to pressure from both the U.S. government and the government of Montenegro. Nina Voychek is involved in a stage presentation whose main actress is killed during a performance. Zorn is chosen as a bodyguard during Nina’s time in America. Having recently been a target, Zorn would prefer to be on the down-low. Instead, he is a bodyguard to a theatre group who would prefer he disappear.

Otho Eskin has written a realistic-designed hero in Marko Zorn. He is not the usual tall and dark James Bond type but rather overweight and short. His reputation among law enforcement has been tarnished by service in Chicago. It became endearing to engage with a hero that is less than perfect. His investigations are at time bumbling–bringing to mind Columbo. However, his successful record speaks for itself.

The climax is intriguing and very innovative. I particularly appreciated the outcome because of the continual pressure placed upon Ms. Voychek by her country’s ambassador and entourage. I suggest anyone who desires a good escapist tale buy the book. 5 stars – CE Williams

Book 2 but can be read as a standalone. We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: Espionage Thrillers, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
ASIN: B08S4646SJ
Print Length: 305 pages
Publication Date: December 14, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Head Shot [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

The Author: Otho Eskin published his first thriller, The Reflecting Pool, to great reviews and book club interest in 2020. It was selected as an Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller and Suspense. The Reflecting Pool follows Marko Zorn- a Washington D.C. homicide detective who has a strong ethical compass but refuses to play by the rules. The sequel, Head Shot, also featuring Marko Zorn will be released in December, 2021.

Before he turned to writing fiction, Otho Eskin served in the U.S. Army and in the United States Foreign Service in Washington and in Syria, Yugoslavia, Iceland and Berlin (then the capital of the German Democratic Republic) as a lawyer and diplomat. He was Vice-Chairman of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, participated in the negotiations on the International Space Station, was principal U.S. negotiator of several international agreements on seabed mining and was the U.S. representative to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. He speaks French, German, and Serbo-Croatian. He was a frequent speaker at conferences and has testified before the U.S. Congress and commissions.

Otho’s career in the Foreign Service unknowingly prepared him for thriller writing later in life as he witnessed political corruption at every strata of society. While stationed in East Berlin during the cold war, the East German intelligence service (Stasi) operating on behalf of their Soviet masters, published a book entitled “Who’s who in CIA (correct title), translated into several languages and with wide distribution. This propaganda effort listed Otho and was intended to claim that he was a U.S. spy. (He was not). This was part of East German and ultimately Soviet, disinformation campaign to make the work of U.S. Foreign Service officers serving abroad more difficult.

Otho Eskin has also written plays including: Act of God, Murder as a Fine Art, Duet, Julie, Final Analysis, Season in Hell, among others, which have been professionally produced in Washington, New York and in Europe.

Otho is married to writer Therese Keane and lives in Washington, D.C.