Black Lotus by K'wan

@bunnitaz #readit
Rating 4stars

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Published: 5/27/14
• IBSN: 9781617752667
• e-IBSN: 9781617752865

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• IBSN: 9781617752650

Blurb:
Detective James Wolf earned the nickname Lone Wolf from his inability to work with a partner. He’s a hard cop who doesn’t mind bending the rules to the point of breaking them to make a case, which is why Internal Affairs is digging in his backyard, looking for buried bones. People are starting to wonder: Which side of the law is the Lone Wolf really hunting for? His career hanging on by a thread, he needs a major show of good faith to keep employed and out of prison. That’s when he gets the call.

From the moment he arrives at the crime scene, Detective Wolf knows that he’s in over his head. He’s a narcotics detective, called in to consult on a homicide, but this is no ordinary homicide—a priest was butchered and left for dead inside his own church, with the promise of more bodies to follow. The only lead is the killer’s calling card: a black lotus flower left at the crime scene. Detective Wolf now has the opportunity to quietly track and stop the Black Lotus before the next victim is claimed, in exchange for wiping his service record clean.

Accepting this case started as Detective Wolf’s attempt to get Internal Affairs off his back. But when his hunt for the Black Lotus leads him to a cold case from his past, it becomes personal.

My Review:
Let me tell you Black Lotus is not at all what I expected. I have read a couple of books written by K'wan. They have been street lit books. This is not. This is crime fiction. In this murder mystery Detective James Wolf is called in to help solve a murder. Doesn't sound like any out of the ordinary only that Det. Wolf is not with homicide. He is called in by his mentor. If Lone Wolf Jame, has he is called, helps out he will have is record wiped clean.

The murder starts with the gruesome killing of a priest. It soon becomes a serial killing. A farentity of assassins are thought to be behind the crimes but why? What if anything did the priest and those murders that followed do to deserve the brutality of their murders? When the ugly truth is revealed what will justice look like?

This novel has a constant steady pace. It is truly a murder mystery novel. There are not sex scenes. There is no baby mama/baby daddy drama. I will stay that like many mystery novels the whodunit is not really that much of a mystery. The reason for the first murder victim is not a revelation either but there others are. If you are a fan of detectives who don't stop to they get their guy then this is the novel for you.

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Author:
K’WAN is a best-selling, award-winning author of over a dozen titles, including Gangsta, Road Dawgz, Street Dreams, Hoodlum, Hood Rat, Section 8, Animal, and Animal II. He has been featured in Vibe, King, Entertainment Weekly, and Time magazine. K’wan was the recipient of the 2012 and 2013 Street Lit Book Award Medals (SLBAM) in adult fiction for Eviction Notice and Animal. His credits also include featured commentary in the documentary Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (produced by Ice-T) as well as a recurring role as an analyst on TV One’s Celebrity Crime Files. K’wan currently resides in New Jersey.

Author Links:

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Challenges:
2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Motif Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge

Below is the trailer for Animal II released Nov '13

Kill Switch by Baer & Greene

Kill Switch

By Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Rating: 3 stars (2.8)

Overview (from Barnes and Noble)

A heart-pounding glimpse into the world of forensic psychiatry, Kill Switch marks the powerful fiction debut of Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene—former executive producers of television's acclaimed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Filled with breakneck suspense, vivid characters, and riveting detail, it is a mindbending thriller you'll never forget. . .

Meet Claire Waters, a young, dedicated forensic psychiatrist with unnervingly personal insights into the criminal mind. Haunted by a disturbing childhood incident—and driven by her demons—Claire has always been drawn to those rare "untreatable" patients who seem to have no conscience or fear. She has a natural ability to put people at ease, to help them face their darkest secrets. But one shocking case could make or break her career—and it's waiting for her in the psychiatric wing of New York City's Rikers Island.

His name is Quimby. A deranged inmate whose boyish good looks hide a sordid history of dysfunction and abuse, Quimby triggers something in Claire she'd rather not face. As she tries to unlock Quimby's past, she unwittingly reveals her own painful secrets—leaving herself dangerously vulnerable. For Claire, the patient's obsessions are just the beginning. When the case propels her into the mind of another killer—a homicidal maniac who's watching her every move—it could only end in madness, or murder, or both. . .

Brilliantly constructed and breathtakingly suspenseful, Kill Switch is a masterful combination of murder, mystery, and modern forensics that will keep you turning the pages to the final shocking conclusion.



My Review

Claire Waters has accepted a fellowship working with inmates at Rikers Island. Her first patient, Quimby, reminds her of deed seeded emotions from her childhood.  When a blond turns up dead Quimby is the likely suspect. Waters being hard headed and quite frankly too nosy dives head first into the case. Detective Lawler is assigned to the case after returning from one personal tragedy and going through another. Lawler and Water work together to find the serial killer who may turn out not to be Quimby after all while coming to terms with their own personal demons.

Ok this book had action. It kept you engaged all the way through. There are many side stories. Fortunately they are all intertwined so it works. Main story: the serial killings. Side story A (strongly linked to main story): Claire’s friend from childhood being abducted. Side story B (weakly linked to main story): Lawler career ending medical condition.

The way the story is written is choppy in the beginning. The purpose for the choppiness is clear, it is written that way to show the confusion that Waters is experiencing. The rest of the book is written in alternating point of views of Waters and Lawlers. There isn’t much character development for any of the characters. You know what ails them but you don’t know them. The book is about events that happened, how they happened, and how they are solved period. Overall, it’s a good read. Or in this case a good listen.

Plot: 3  Writing: 3  Characters: 2  Other: 3* Overall feel: 3**

*side story B was unnecessary to the story. If he didn’t have the medical problem and was just a regular detective the story would have still worked

** I was interested but it didn’t bother me if I had to put it on pause

Challenges:
Mixing It Up 2012
2012 Support Your Local Library