Payment in Kind by J.A. Janice

From Kobobook:

Synopsis

It looks like a classic crime of passion to Detective J.P Beaumont: two corpses found lovingly entwined in a broom closet of the Seattle School District building. The prime suspect, Pete Kelsey, admits his slain spouse was no novice at adultery, yet he swears he had nothing to do with the brutal deaths of the errant school official and her clergyman-turned-security guard companion. Beau believes him, but there's something the much sinned-upon widower's not telling—and that spells serious trouble still to come.
Because the secret Pete's protecting is even hotter than extra-marital sex. . . and it could prove more lethal than murder.

My Review:
In this quick pace novel, J.P. investigate the death of two people whose bodies were found in a closet. On first glace it seems that the two were engaged in misdeeds but something about it just doesn't seem right. As the story unfolds we learn who the victims were as well as their family life. Even J.P. and his nemeses Max interact differently. It is not until the end of the book that we find the killer and the real reason for these puzzling murders.

This is an enjoyable read. The characters were all relate able. You are on the case with J.P. Just when you think you know who the killer is something happens to lead you in a new direction. The detective personality of digging deeper than what is the obvious is what make this novels so good. Then again if he only went with what was on the surface there wouldn't be much to the book. If you are new to the J.P. Beaumont world I think this is a good book to start with. For the most part these can be read out of order but there are times when reference of things that happen in past books come up.

Challenges:
2013 Audio Book Challenge
50 States Reading Challenge
2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

Company by Max Barry

rating: 2 stars
mp3 10 hrs 17min

from Kobo:

Stephen Jones is a shiny new hire at Zephyr Holdings. From the outside, Zephyr is just another bland corporate monolith, but behind its glass doors business is far from usual: the beautiful receptionist is paid twice as much as anybody else to do nothing, the sales reps use self help books as manuals, no one has seen the CEO, no one knows exactly what they are selling, and missing donuts are the cause of office intrigue. While Jones originally wanted to climb the corporate ladder, he now finds himself descending deeper into the irrational rationality of company policy. What he finds is hilarious, shocking, and utterly telling.

My Review:

I am torn. I really liked Jennifer Government. Many people did not and I could see why they didn't. Many people like this book and I can see why they did. However, for me this book was lacking. So let's break it down like this. 

What did I like?

I like that the company turn out to be an experiment. Even though it's to the extreme I have worked places where people are too afraid to speak. Managers who don't do anything. Managers who don't even know how to do the job of the people they are managing.

What didn't I like?

I didn't like the main character. I found him to idealistic and naive. I cannot tell you how much he annoyed me. The ending also didn't impress me. The type of people in the Alpha program didn't strike me as the type of people who would just give up and go on to other things. The experiment was done in secret so to me they seem like the types that would've tried to set up shop in another city. 

Company was an interesting look at corporate American in what I would probably say as the 80s. Good for a fast read. Don't take it too seriously but don't be surprise if you see a little of your workplace environment depicted in the story. TBR 3

Challenges:

2013 Audio Book Challenge

Let Me Count The Way

Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs

Knit the Season

by Kate Jacobs

mp3 audiobook

rating 5stars

from Kobo:
Not only are the holidays are just around the corner, the women who knit at Manhattan's Walker & Daughter have an extra reason to celebrate: there's a wedding planned for New Year's Day. In the meantime, college-age Dakota Walker is working to finish a sweater her mother started before Dakota was born. As she takes on her mother's pattern, she learns from her family and friends that there was much more history in these stitches than she had anticipated, and that to build on her mother's legacy, Dakota must allow herself to become the woman she truly desires to be...

It has been awhile since I have posted a review. *smh I know, I know, shame on me. Worse yet, I haven’t been reading that much lately. Still I have a ton of reviews to write. I am also not happy with the style of writing on this blog. So I’m going to try something a bit more conversational and see how it goes. On to today’s post.

Knit the Season is book three of the Friday Night Knit Club series by Kate Jacobs. Change is the theme of this latest book. Learning how to adjust when life throws you a curve ball is an important lesson. At every
Dakota is faced with a situation not turning out the way she thought it would or was just plain blindsided.

I listened to this on audio several times. I really like the story. Dakota was annoying at times. Though the theme of the book is change, and knowing that meant that she would most likely have a hard time trying to deal with change, the way she constantly thought about how things were going to affect her bother me (especially when it came to Gran).

Kate still finds way to keep Georgia relevant. Switching from present day to flashbacks are hard for some readers to get right, it is done well throughout the series so far. The characters are all well developed. Reading the story and its characters makes me want to walk into Walker and Daughter yarn shop. And finally, there are several recipes and knitting patterns at the end. I love this about the books. You don’t just get a story, you get activities to try as well.

TBR list 1

Challenges:

2013 Audio Book Challenge
Let Me Count The Way
2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler

#ThrowbackThursday
book 4 John Rain series
narrator:Michael McConnohie
mp3 audiobook
rating: ★★★★ (4.4)

From Goodreads:
Killing Rain, John Rain has a new employer, the Mossad, which wants him to fix a "problem" in Manila; a new partner, Dox, whose good-ol'-boy persona masks a sniper as deadly as Rain himself. He also has a new hope: that by using his talents in the service of something good, he might atone for all the lives he has already taken. But when Rain's conscience causes him to botch an assignment, he finds out that the Mossad's next assignment is himself. And when Delilah, the alluring Israeli agent he once fought and then loved, reappears in his life, is she there to help him - or to finish him off?

My Review:
This is the first book I have listed to by this author. I must say that it is quite a story. Narrator Michael McConnohie has a great voice. A great story is always key but with audio books the voice of the narrator is most important because if I don't like the voice that the end of listening to the audio version.

John Rain (wonder if he had John Wayne in mind) is an assassin for hire. He is hired to take out a guy named Manny. With not much to go on, John and his partner Dox has to watch Manny for the perfect opportunity to take him out. The right time presents itself but at the last minute circumstances change and John freezes. Now John is the hunted by those who hired him and the man Manny was working with.

The story is completely interesting. The characters are believable. Each having their own personality and quirks. It's fast paced but still contains detailed information. Though this is book 4, I had no problem reading it out of order which is definitely a plus. A great book for any reader who loves thrillers, suspense, and spy-mercenary novels.

Challenges:
2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge
Let Me Count The Way
2013 Audio Book Challenge

Other:
Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon

2013 Audio Book Challenge

2013 Audio Book Challenge 
1Jan13-31Dec13

Welcome to the Original Audio Book Challenge. This challenge is for Audio Book lovers as well as those who are brand new to them.

There are five levels to the challenge

Flirting-Listen to 6 Audio Books
Going Steady- Listen to 12 Audio Books
Lover- Listen to 25 Audio Books
Married-Listen to more than 25 Audio Books
You Define the Relationship- Create your own challenge (choose your own name and level starting as low or going as high as you’d like)
This is a fairly laid back challenge and I want it to be as enjoyable as possible.
Audio Books can be any genre
You can cross challenges
You don’t have to be a blogger to participate. You can tell us about what you are listening to in the comments of the monthly link up.
There will be a monthly link up so that we can share what we’ve listened to and make suggestions to each other.

I hope I’ve enticed you to join in the 2013 Audio Book Challenge. I’m really looking forward to reading your reviews and experiences over the next year.

Official Challenge dates: 1/1/2013-12/31/2013

My Level:
Married-Listen to more than 25 Audio Books

1. Killing Rain by Barry Eisler
2. Company by Max Barry
3. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
5. The Litigators by John Grisham