Darlene's Book Nook: Head of Zeus

Showing posts with label Head of Zeus. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

#Book #Review: 3 out of 5 stars for Broken Angels by Graham Masterton @GrahamMasterton @HoZ_Books

TITLE: Broken Angels

SERIES: Katie Maguire, Book #2
AUTHOR: Graham Masterton

PUBLISHER: Head of Zeus

PUBLICATION DATE: April 10, 2014 (first published 2012)

FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 397 pages

GENRE: Mystery, Thriller

ISBN: 9781781852187

Someone is brutally killing Catholic priests. Revenge, or something more sinister Irelands first female detective must get to the truth in the second Katie Maguire mystery. One cold spring morning in County Cork, two fishermen find a bundle of rags floating in the Blackwater River. It is the bloated body of Father Heaney. His hands and feet are bound, and his neck bears the marks of garrotting wire. Worse still, he has been castrated. When a second priest is found murdered, his body bruised and beaten and the same savage wound hidden beneath his soutane, Detective Inspector Katie Maguire finds evidence of a sinister cover-up at St. Josephs Orphanage. But the Catholic diocese still wields considerable power here, and the Garda are under pressure to close the case. Katie has to work alone if she is to catch the killer in time but first she must shatter a wall of silence that for decades has hidden a terrible secreta secret that is beyond belief.

MY REVIEW:

The torture and grisly deaths continue in the second installment of the Katie Maguire series!

Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire has her hands full when the bodies of priests begin to turn up, with evidence of torture and castration. There was a scandal years back involving a number of Catholic priests with allegations of abusing boys from an orphanage, but no charges were laid and the furor died down. The reason behind the crimes wasn’t at all what I expected, so kudos to Masterton for creating a complex storyline.

Katie is a wonderful character. I am growing to love her more and more! Her relationship with John continues, but she has to make a decision about their future because he plans to sell the farm and return to the United States.

What I loved so much about White Bones, the first book in this series, was how dark and gruesome the slayings were in all their graphic detail. This one wasn’t quite as dark, but there are some parts that definitely made me squirm! While I don't feel that it was as good as its predecessor, it was still an enjoyable read and I will continue with the series.

MY RATING:

3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it!

This book qualifies as:

#54 for my 2017 You Read How Many Books Reading Challenge

#54 for my 2017 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

#54 for my 2017 Pages Read Challenge
#16 for my 2017 Library Love Challenge
#43 for my Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge

#41 for my The Backlist Reader Challenge 2017

#23 for my Serious About Series Reading Challenge

#10-2 for my 2017 Bookopoly
Bonus #4B for my 2017 Literary Escapes Challenge
#15 for my Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge
#12 for my Summer 2017 Bookish Bingo
#5 for my Chapter Break Bingo July 2017
#9 for my COYER Summer Reading List
Task #20 for my Goodreads Summer 2017 Scavenger - Endangered Species

View all my reviews

Friday, February 3, 2017

#Book #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for White Bones by Graham Masterton @GrahamMasterton @HoZ_Books

TITLE: White Bones

SERIES: Katie Maguire, Book #1
AUTHOR: Graham Masterton

PUBLISHER: Head of Zeus

PUBLICATION DATE: March 1, 2013 (first published 2003)

FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 400 pages

GENRE: Mystery

ISBN: 9781781850640

There are things I need to know...

On a farm in southern Ireland, the dismembered bones of eleven women are found in a common grave, buried eight decades ago. Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire is used to bloodshed, but this ivory litter of human remains is unimaginable butchery.

Of other worlds apart from this...

In isolated darkness not far away, an American tourist is at the mercy of a serial killer. His tools are a boning knife, twine, and a doll fashioned from nails and fishhooks. The murder of his victims is second only to the pleasure of their pain.

Darker places inhabited by evil monstrosities...

As an eighty-year-old mystery unfolds, so does a modern-day ritual that's marked Katie Maguire as its next victim. For what happened once in this small picturesque village is happening again. It's more than a series of horrifying crimes. It's tradition.

Take me there.

MY REVIEW:

This one is not for the squeamish!

When a local farmer in Knocknadeenly, Ireland is doing excavation for a new building, a mass grave is uncovered. The bones have been dismembered in such a way that there appears to be a ritualistic element to the slayings. Upon examination, the bones appear to be at least 80 years old and there are 11 female victims. Even though it is considered a cold case, Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire still wants to find answers for the victims’ descendants but is told by her superiors not to waste any more resources since the culprit must be long dead.

Fiona Kelly, a young 22 year-old woman from California, decides to travel to Ireland and see her Irish heritage. She travels solo on her journey, backpacking and hitching rides. When she fails to check in with her parents, they get worried and contact the police authorities. Now a fresh victim’s body turns up on the same Knocknadeenly farm, and it is dismembered in the same manner as the other bones that have turned up.

The crime revolves around Celtic mythology, and the land where the farm is located is supposed to be a gateway between the fairy world and our world. An evil sorceress, Mor-Rioghain, will grant you any wish you desire if you unlock the portal between the worlds by sacrificing 13 particular women in a very specific way.

The main character, Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire, is a very likeable character. She’s a hardworking woman, who takes her job very seriously. She and her husband have marital problems, stemming from the death of their young son. She can’t forgive herself, and he can’t forgive her either!

Graham Masterton describes in graphic detail how Fiona Kelly is slaughtered, and I found myself morbidly fascinated. If you are the type of person that enjoys dark, violent and gruesome crimes, then this one is for you! This author is new-to-me, but I can’t wait to read more of this series. It looks like I have lots to catch up on, as there are already seven more books in the series!

MY RATING: