TBR Challenge Review: Blood Ties

Blood Ties
Lori Armstrong
Mystery
PI Julie Collins Series/Book 1
Medallion Press/May 1, 2005

Julie Collins is stuck in a dead-end secretarial job with the Bear Butte County Sheriff’s office, and still grieving over the unsolved murder of her Lakota half-brother. Lack of public interest in finding his murderer, or the killer of several other transient Native American men, has left Julie with a bone-deep cynicism she counters with tequila, cigarettes, and dangerous men. The one bright spot in her mundane life is the time she spends working part-time as a PI with her childhood friend, Kevin Wells. 

When the body of a sixteen-year old white girl is discovered in nearby Rapid Creek, Julie believes this victim will receive the attention others were denied. Then she learns Kevin has been hired, mysteriously, to find out where the murdered girl spent her last few days. Julie finds herself drawn into the case against her better judgment, and discovers not only the ugly reality of the young girl’s tragic life and brutal death, but ties to her and Kevin’s past that she is increasingly reluctant to revisit. 

On the surface the situation is eerily familiar. But the parallels end when Julie realizes some family secrets are best kept buried deep. Especially those serious enough to kill for.

I've read Lori Armstrong's two Mercy Gunderson mysteries, enjoyed them.  So when the suggested topic of non-romance came up for this month's challenge it seemed like a good idea to give Armstrong's Julie Collins series a try.  If you're not much for mysteries but enjoy erotic cowboy romances, Lori Armstrong also writes steamy, sexy cowboy romances under the name Lorelei James.

So, it turns out the Julie Collins series was a mixed bag for me.  I found the story interesting but the characters, well, I can't think of any that I liked.  As in, would like to hang out with in real life.  Julie is a mess in both her personal life and her professional life.  She is 34 but acts much younger, turning to the bottle for her comfort when her one and only friend Kevin, isn't always available to keep her company.  They have an odd relationship, friends since they were kids, with some attraction going on but they're too afraid to act on it.  Plus, they're both seeing other people. 

The mystery had clues all over the place but piecing them together took a lot of doing.  There were times when it felt like Julie and Kevin were running around in circles, overlooking some obvious leads.  I was also surprised at how much Kevin had Julie doing when it didn't seem she had very much training.   Julie does have this uncanny ability to attract trouble.  Her smart mouth doesn't help but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her and wish she would not push people so much.  She's hit, punched and smacked around a number of times.  The way Julie reacts to the violence is telling in how she isn't shocked so much as practically expecting it.

As the story progresses, Julie reveals and relives more of her past and we get to see why she acts the way she does.  I do hope she learns to value herself more as the series advances.  She has potential to become not only a likeable character but one the reader could actually root for.  Even without feeling any personal connection with a character, the story kept me reading, wanting to know the answers to the many questions of the murders and how everything connected.   For now, I'm curious to see where Julie takes her relationships and her career.

Rating: B-

PI Julie Collins Series ~

Blood Ties
Hallowed Ground
Shallow Grave
Dead Flowers novella (Guns and Roses anthology)
Snow Blind

April Reads...

*So sweet. Holding paws while sleeping*

April was one of those months that I'd rather not repeat. I usually associate April with happiness and warmth but this year all I can think of is stress and worry. I don't even want to think of what I would have done without books to escape into. So here's hoping May proves to be a better month all around.

Reading wise, I'm surprised at the number, mostly because much of the time it felt like everything was in a holding pattern. Waiting for this and hoping for that, it didn't feel like I read much at all. But apparently I did manage to keep up my usual pace.

Audio Books

1. This Side of the Grave/Jeaniene Frost/UF/
2. Silent on the Moor/Deanna Raybourn/Mystery/B-
3. Mercy Kill/Lori Armstrong/Mystery/B+

My audio books list is short for the month because I seem to have the patience of a 5 year old. There should be two other books on the list but listening was going too slow for me. At one point I was even reading along while listening to Karen Rose's Silent Scream, trying not to read ahead but couldn't help myself. (Seriously, who does this if not a 5 year old?) I finally gave up, turned on some music and read the darn book! The other book I tried to listen to but ended up reading was Rose's I Can See You. Clearly, mysteries and Bones' accent are what held my attention when it came to audio books. :)

Print/Electronic Books

1. The Sweetest Thing/Jill Shalvis/Contemporary/A
2. I Can See You/Karen Rose/Romantic Suspense/A
3. Demon from the Dark/Kresley Cole/PNR/A
4. Absolutely, Positively/Heather Webber/Romantic Mystery/A-
5. The Vampire Dimitri/Colleen Gleason/Historical PNR/A-
6. Silent Scream/Karen Rose/Romantic Suspense/A- (review to follow)
7. The Perfect Play/Jaci Burton/Contemporary/B+
8. Pleasure of a Dark Prince/Kresley Cole/PNR/B+
9. Mommy Said Goodbye/Janice Kay Johnson/Contemporary/B+
10. Mustang Wild/Stacey Kayne/Historical Western/B
11. Backstage Pass/Olivia Cunning/Erotic Romance/B (review to follow)
12. Blood Knot/Tracy Cooper-Posey/Erotic Romance/B (review to follow)
13. Revelations/Janice Kay Johnson/Contemporary/B (review to follow)

The Numbers

Contemporary ~ 4
Erotic Romance ~2
Historical ~ 2
Mystery ~ 1
Romantic Suspense ~ 2
PNR ~ 2

Format

Print ~ 8
E-book ~ 5

Not bad, certainly more than I expected. And no stinkers in the bunch! That's always a good sign of some excellent recommendations from all of you. So thank you! Now I just need to catch up on the reviews!

So how did April treat you? Any books that Wowed you?

Review: No Mercy

No Mercy
Lori Armstrong
Mystery
Mercy Gunderson/Book 1
Touchstone/January 2010
Library Book

From the inside cover ~

Mercy Gunderson is a straight shooter with a hard edge. On medical leave from the Army, she returns home to South Dakota, which isn’t much safer for her than Iraq. Arriving just after the death of her father, it is up to Mercy to decide what to do with the family ranch. Trying to deal with her irresponsible sister and nephew and feeling guilty that she didn’t make it home soon enough to see her father one last time; Mercy is suddenly pulled into the local community when the body of a Native American boy is found on her land. But nobody seems to be doing anything about it, especially not the local law enforcement.

When tragedy strikes again, Mercy is ready to throw all her energy into her own investigation, and she’s out for revenge. As she digs up the truth behind the shocking crimes, Mercy uncovers dark and dangerous secrets and must race to stop a killer before everything she’s fought for is destroyed forever.

If you've been around my blog lately you know how much I love Lorelei James and her Rough Riders series but did you know that she also writes mysteries under the pen-name Lori Armstrong? She writes the Julie Collins series and this year started the Mercy Gunderson series. I decided to give Mercy a try. I liked the idea of a female Army sniper and Mercy, being 38, has got some wear to her.

Let me start with saying Armstrong writes some amazingly complete characters. I never felt that any character was there simply for filler. They all had a part to play in this mystery. The story takes place in a small town in South Dakota. It's a place where everyone knows everybody's business. Mercy comes back on medical leave to help her sister with the family ranch. Her father is dead and the ranch and it's responsibility have fallen to the two sisters. There are developers wanting to buy the ranch and the sisters need to make a decision about what to do with the ranch.

The book opens with the death of a teenager. His body is found on Gunderson land which is how Mercy first becomes involved. The description of the body, and the land is both vivid and stark. "The blazing sun and dry wind burn the most resilient flesh into dried meat." Armstrong does a good job making the reader feel what the environment is like, not only the physical but the emotional environment that the people live in. It's a ranching community but there is also a population of Native Americans in the community who play a key role in the murders.

Mercy is pulled into the murder investigations and begins to find evidence of some sinister goings on in her community. She often finds herself in the company of Mason Dawson, the sheriff, who doesn't want Mercy involved in his investigation. Mercy has mixed feelings for Dawson - she's attracted to him but she's also not pleased with how his murder investigations are going. As Mercy continues to discover some pretty dark secrets she finds herself in danger and her Army training proves to be very useful. I liked that Mercy was tough and didn't back down once she gave her word. She came across as standoffish but she did care about her family and friends, she simply wasn't as demonstrative in her feelings as you might expect a woman to be.

The mystery is the central storyline and it is played out well, with the reader, along with Mercy, uncovering bits and pieces of the puzzle that lead to the final confrontation. The way it all played out made sense and kept me not only engaged but wanting revenge for Mercy and her family. I liked how Armstrong incorporated the ranch life, the military and the Native American culture into the plot and gave the reader much to think about by the end of the book. The actual mystery of the who and why of the murders had some twists and turns that kept me not only interested but entertained as well. Armstrong's writing is at times brutal - showing the harsh realities of life and death. But I liked the brutal because she also softened it with those quiet moments of contemplation and family loyalty. Overall a well written mystery with intriguing characters that left me wanting more.

Rating: A-