The Forgotten Holocaust by Scott Mariani (SWE/ENG)

The Forgotten Holocaust by Scott Mariani
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

Ett brutalt mord.
En fasansfull hemlighet.
Endast en man kan avslöja sanningen.

Den före detta elitsoldaten Ben Hope återvänder till Irland för att fly från sina problem, men det dröjer inte länge förrän de dyker upp igen.

Ett brutalt mord på en ung kvinna gör att Ben slängs in i en livsfarlig sammansvärjning och en hetsig jakt över hela jorden tar fart. En jakt med bara ett fåtal ledtrådar.

Sökandet för honom till Oklahoma, USA, där en fasansfull historisk hemlighet, undangömd sedan 150 år, snart kommer att avslöjas. Ben måste bara förstå vad det är han ska leta efter – innan det är för sent. Mördarna är nämligen beredda att göra allt för att dölja sanningen …

**********

Först måste jag bara säga att den svenska titeln till boken är inte världens bästa. Hur The Forgotten Holocaust på svenska får titeln Dolda är för mig ett mysterium.

När det gäller berättelsen så var den bra, inte perfekt men jag fann att den till stor del funkade. Då detta är den första boken jag har läst skriven av Scott Mariani så tycker jag personligen att det var enkelt att komma in i handlingen trots att det var bok 10 i serien om Ben Hope. Jag gillar Ben Hope, han är en intressant karaktär. Nu har han "hemma" efter strul med ett inställt bröllop (kan förstå hans ex-fästmö) och det dröjer inte lång tid innan han hamnar mitt i ett mord som har rötter i det förflutna och som kommer att föra honom till Amerika där en kvinna ligger risigt till efter att ha bevittnat något hon skulle mått bra av att inte se.

Jag gillade bokens handling. Det var intressant och tragiskt. Men jag tycker att boken förlorade farten runt slutet. Berättelsen funkade bäst när Ben arbetade med att lista ut sanningen om mordet och kom sanningen på spåret. Men när han kom till Amerika som kände jag att berättelsen inte alls flöt på på samma sätt som den hade gjort innan. Nog för att jag gillar spänning och action, men här fann jag att det pågick lite för länge. Dock så gillade jag upplösningen även om jag inte var överväldigad av den. Men jag gillade att man till slut fick svaret på varför så många behövde dö i boken, varför hemligheten var så viktigt att skydda. 

Dolda är läsvärd och jag vill läsa fler böcker i serien och tursamt nog har jag en ebook att läsa, men jag lär väl inte komma till den fören 2020 med tanke på hur mycket jag har att läsa.

Tack till HarperCollins Nordic för recensionexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

The breathtaking new adventure starring Ben Hope

A lost, aimless and hard-drinking Ben Hope has wandered back to his old haunt in Ireland. The ex-SAS soldier is searching for peace, but trouble soon appears when Kirsten Hall, a young journalist, is brutally murdered right in front of him. Unable to prevent it, Ben is driven by guilt to hunt down the killers. All he has to go on is a handful of clues from Kirsten’s research – but how can the journals of Lady Stamford, the wife of an English lord during the time of the Irish Great Famine, have put Kirsten in mortal danger?

Ben’s quest for the truth leads him across the world and finally to Oklahoma, USA, where a deadly secret awaits. What connects the journals, a wealthy American politician and an intrigue surrounding the Irish famine?

What Ben uncovers is a shocking historical conspiracy linked to the deaths of some two million people: a veritable holocaust that time has all but forgotten. Those who are still profiting from the lies and corruption of the time, and who are ready to kill anyone to protect their secret, are about to pay... 

**********

I want to start by saying that the Swedish title for the book sucks! For some reason, they chose Dolda that means The Hidden as a title. How going from The Forgotten Holocaust to that one is a mystery to me.

As for the story, it was good, not perfectly good, but still enjoyable to read. As a first-time reader of Scott Mariani did the book work quite good, despite this being the 10th book and jumping into a series doesn't always work. But, this time, it did. I quickly found my footing and soon I was caught up in the story about mass murder and atrocity. Ben Hope is an interesting character, he hasn't been back home for a long time before he is pulled into a murder case with roots in the past that will take him to America and a woman that has witnessed something that she would have been better of not have seen.

I liked the big mystery, it was intriguing and tragic. However, I thought the story lost a bit of steam towards the end of the book. I think the story worked best for me at least when Ben was finding out the truth of the murder he couldn't stop at the beginning of the book. When he got to America the story just got a bit less engrossing. I usually like action, but this time, I found it a bit going on and on a bit too long time for my taste. I did like the last minute revelation when you get the big explanation to all the killing explained. Although I was not overwhelmed by it. 

The Forgotten Holocaust was a good book. I want to read more of the books in the series and I do have an Ebook waiting for me to get to (around 2020 I think when I see my TBR mountain)

Thanks to HarperCollins Nordic for the review copy!

Buffy: The High School Years - Freaks & Geeks

Buffy: The High School Years - Freaks & Geeks by Faith Erin Hicks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Moving to a new school and making new friends will create enough anxiety for any teenage girl. But when you’re Buffy Summers, a vampire slayer—the Chosen One (with all that entails)—building a new life can be overwhelming. A group of nerdy vampires, shunned by their cooler brethren, decide to climb the vampire social ladder by taking out the Slayer. They play on Buffy’s insecurities, wearing her down until she is full-on distracted by the mental warfare. But in addition to her Watcher, Giles, this Slayer has a couple of new friends, Willow and Xander, to cheer her on…except, of course, when they’re not getting along. - Blurb from Edelweiss

************

Many, many years ago did I start to watch a TV series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I got hooked and enjoyed watching it, well until Angel got his own TV series and then the TV series got less interesting to watch. I mean Riley...Ugh! Then, it got a bit better and S5 was rally god. Personally, I felt it could have ended there, it would have been a great ending, but no it goes on a couple of seasons more and I'm not even sure I watched the whole last season. 

Anyway, what I want to say that I really really liked the show once upon a time and I knew I wanted to read this volume when I saw it on Edelweiss. Unfortunately, this reminds me of when I tried to watch S1 a while back and realized that I found it bit boring. Some series just doesn't work so well when you're older. 

The story is quite simple, it's about friendship. We have a bunch of vampires that tries to be cool and decides to take on the Slayer, and they manage to get Buffy insecure about her friendship with Xander and Willow. And, that they think will bring her down. 

The art is not really my cup of tea. It's a bit too pastel and bright and almost a bit manga over it. Sometimes the characters almost looked like the actors playing the roles, but most they looked like a nice try to get them to look like the actors, but not really getting the faces right. 

So not my favorite graphic novel!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! 

The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry

The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Cotton Malone adventure involving a flaw in the United States Constitution, a mystery about Abraham Lincoln, and a political issue that’s as explosive as it is timely—not only in Malone’s world, but in ours.

September 1861: All is not as it seems.With these cryptic words, a shocking secret passed down from president to president comes to rest in the hands of Abraham Lincoln. And as the first bloody clashes of the Civil War unfold, Lincoln alone must decide how best to use this volatile knowledge: save thousands of American lives, or keep the young nation from being torn apart forever?

The present: In Utah, the fabled remains of Mormon pioneers whose nineteenth-century expedition across the desert met with a murderous end have been uncovered. In Washington, D.C., the official investigation of an international entrepreneur, an elder in the Mormon church, has sparked a political battle between the White House and a powerful United States senator. In Denmark, a Justice Department agent, missing in action, has fallen into the hands of a dangerous zealot—a man driven by divine visions to make a prophet’s words reality. And in a matter of a few short hours, Cotton Malone has gone from quietly selling books at his shop in Denmark to dodging bullets in a high-speed boat chase.

All it takes is a phone call from his former boss in Washington, and suddenly the ex-agent is racing to rescue an informant carrying critical intelligence. It’s just the kind of perilous business that Malone has been trying to leave behind, ever since he retired from the Justice Department. But once he draws enemy blood, Malone is plunged into a deadly conflict—a constitutional war secretly set in motion more than two hundred years ago by America’s Founding Fathers.

From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Malone risks life, liberty, and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln—while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance.

*********

It’s only fitting that Cotton Malone goes from saving the UK from tearing apart in the last novel to trying to save the USA in this one. Unfortunately, this book isn’t as interesting to read as The King's Deception was.

This book was ok to read, not bad just not fantastic to read and the usual flow was missing. Personally, I’m not really a fan of religious fanatics and making the main bad guy a fanatic Mormon with hallucinations made me groan inside. Also, it didn’t help that I have read a kind of similar book by James Rollins called The Devil Colony that is utterly engrossing to read.

A big problem with the book was Cassiopeia Vitt role, she is usually a great character, but in this book, I just wanted to slap her and tell her to wise up. Stephanie Nelle asks her to get close to a childhood friend and the first man she ever loved. But she left him because he was a devout Mormon, and although she had grown up a Mormon she didn’t believe. Now she dupes him to believe that she has found her faith. The problem is that she seems to be totally incapable of believing that he is bad. She really wants to clear his name and is totally blind to and death to everything that happens and everything Cotton Malone, the man she supposed to love, says.

But the book wasn’t all bad, a new character Luke Daniels, nephew to the president and an agent for Magellan Billet was introduced and he was a great addition. I hope he will be in the next book. The ending was ok except the last action of Cassiopeia Vitt which was very immature.