Onyx Webb Book Seven

Book seven of the Onyx Webb series brings the story to a whole new level. It is even more gripping a(I didn't think it was possible), as the pace quickens. I almost burned my dinner reading it while cooking the other night.

" Onyx Webb is a complex multi-genre mash-up that combines elements of supernatural suspense, crime, horror, romance, and more. The Onyx Webb series follows the unusual life of Onyx Webb along with a central group of characters in various locations and times.
The billionaire Mulvaney family, piano prodigy Juniper Cole and her brother Quinn, paranormal show hosts Cryer and Fudge, and a few others make up the core of the series. Written like a book version of your favorite tv series (think: supernatural soap opera like American Horror Story) each character’s story moves forward with most every episode. It may appear that the characters are entirely unrelated and yet episode by episode, the connections will become clearer. Like being an inch away from a spider web, with each book, the web will move further and further away revealing the full story of every character and most importantly, the stunning conclusion for Onyx Webb herself. "

We have new ghosts (disguised as living people) and ghosts trying to get revenge on other ghosts. But of course many of the living characters are worse than the ghosts.

Declan gets arrested. Mika gets arrested. Stan Lee gets sloppy. What about Newt's love interest Maggie? Finally got in touch with Juniper. Went to the Onyx Webb Film Festival.

If you like paranormal and haven't read any of the books yet, you have an advantage. You can keep reading and not have to wait for the next book! Until you get to the end of Book Seven, that is. :/

https://www.amazon.com/Onyx-Webb-10-book-series/dp/B07FRPKDWF
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Excuse me. I have to go cover my mirrors.

I received a free copy.

On to the holidays....

We are just wrapping up the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. Cooked a lot, ate a lot, cleaned up a lot. Just finished making turkey soup out of what is left of the turkey. I almost couldn't find the wishbone. Do you save it, then with another person, each make a silent wish, break it and whoever gets the biggest piece, gets their wish? I don't know if it works. I have been breaking the wishbone since I was a kid. We still do it. I never remember what I wished for, so I can't say if the wishes come true. :)

Did not go shopping on Black Friday. Nope. Never have. Never will. But, I did do some online shopping on a Facebook Small Business Black Friday party. Much less stressful. And much more fun than going to a store with all those people.

Couple of things of interest:

SHERLOCK SEASON 4 PBS January 1 2017. Three episodes. YAY!

Facebook Holiday Fun: I have participated in a couple of holiday themed Facebook parties in the past year. Last Halloween and this Halloween. Fun way to get introduced to more authors and win books or gift cards. Here is one coming up that you may want to check out:

CANDY CANE CAPER BOOK CLUB December 5 1 a.m.-12/9/16 11 p.m. PST
Hosted by Kathi Daley. Kathi writes cozy mysteries and has several series.
Here is one with a Christmas theme and the name of the "party".


You should be able to search the title in FB if you would like to "attend". Or just check out Kathi's books.

Hallmark Movies and Mysteries will be showing many, many holiday themed movies starting now through December. (None of the them look like mysteries though. :/)

Last and best: Will be having our December Mystery Book Club holiday get together in a couple of weeks. We will bring goodies to share, books to share and talk about our favorite books of the year. I will share that list with you after we meet.

Got a couple of books going, so will share those soon.

An Elegant Theory

Do you like puzzles? Science? Mysteries? This book is all of those.

An Elegant Theory by Noah Mulligan

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28449991-an-elegant-theory



"Coulter Zahn sees reality differently than others. Much like light can theoretically be in all places at once, Coulter sees multiple versions of his life. A promising PhD candidate at MIT, he and his young wife are nervously expecting their first child. When his dissertation comes under intense criticism, his estranged mother returns, and Sara tells him she's leaving him, Coulter's already delicate mental state becomes further fragmented. One evening, with his life and mental health unraveling, Coulter loses control, irreparably changing the course of the lives around him. But the very next morning, he catches a break in his research, discovering the true shape of the universe. Influenced by those around him and his own untrustworthy psyche, Coulter must decide whether to face the consequences of his actions or finish his research, perhaps making the greatest contribution to science since Einstein's theory of relativity. An existential psychological thriller, An Elegant Theory explores how the construction of memory and consciousness can shape motive, guilt, and identity through the lens of a modern-day mad-scientist motif."

Did you know "an elegant theory" is, well an actual theory? I didn't know that until I told someone the title of the book I was reading and was told oh yes, they knew what that was.

From Wiki:

"In the philosophy of science, there are two concepts referring to two aspects of simplicity. Elegance (syntactic simplicity) means the number and complexity of hypotheses. Parsimony (ontological simplicity) is the number and complexity of things postulated."

"In engineering, a solution may be considered elegant if it uses a non-obvious method to produce a solution which is highly effective and simple. An elegant solution may solve multiple problems at once, especially problems not thought to be inter-related."

"In chemistry, chemists might look for elegance in theory and method, in technique and procedure. For example: elegance might comprise creative parsimony and versatility in the utilization of resources, in the manipulation of materials, and in effectiveness in syntheses and analysis."

This book was very interesting. It is definitely a psychological thriller. We are told many things that have happened in Coulter's life that contradict each other. I found myself wondering if these were parallel universes such as Coulter's research suggested, was Coulter hallucinating or daydreaming and if so, which were reality.

I really enjoyed this book because it did make you think.  It is different than any other mystery I have read, throwing in some facts about String Theory and Quantum Physics. Those are some things I would never read on my own.

Here is some info on the author:

"Noah Milligan splits his time between words and numbers and is a longtime student of physics, prompting him to write his debut novel, An Elegant Theory, a draft of which was shortlisted for the 2015 Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize. His short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines, including MAKE, Storyscape Literary Journal, Empty Sink Publishing, and Santa Clara Review. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of Central Oklahoma, and he lives in Edmond, OK, with his wife and two children."

This is a book you very well may go back and read again.

I received a free copy.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Our November Mystery Book Club selection was Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta.



I liked it! I found it to be a very suspenseful. Here's what it is about.

"When fourteen-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he's plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare.

The killers, known as the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a methodical quest to reach him. Now all that remains between them and the boy are Ethan and Allison Serbin, who run the wilderness survival program; Hannah Faber, who occupies a lonely fire lookout tower; and endless miles of desolate Montana mountains.

The clock is ticking, the mountains are burning, and those who wish Jace Wilson dead are no longer far behind."

As it says, Ethan and Allison run a wilderness survival program in Montana. Their clients are usually troubled teen aged boys. Jamie Bennett approaches Ethan about inserting a boy who they need to hide, into the program for protection. The typical witness protection program is not enough. Ethan will not know which boy it is. He will be using a false name. Ethan agrees.

Ethan sets out with the boys on the trails. He has decided they will move quicker than usual, training the boys for survival as they go. Of course he keeps trying to figure out which boy is the one they are hiding.

Things start going bad. He gets a call that his and Allison's cabin has burned down and she was attacked. The sheriff is dead. It is clear someone is looking for them. Jace sneaks away from the group, not wanting Ethan and the other boys to get hurt. He meets Hannah, a forest fire lookout who had some things happen to her, which play into the story. They set out to get Jace to safety. Ethan tries to track Jace. Oops. The Blackwell brothers are following Ethan who is following Hannah and Jace.

The Blackwell brothers are pretty frightening. They are very strange, smart and ruthless. Truly creepy. These characters are different than other bad guys you have probably read about in a story.

The book is very well written, reads quickly, and a real page turner. There are also great descriptions of the mountains and forest. It was interesting to read about how forest fires are watched for and fought.

Oh, there is quite a twist towards the end. I didn't see it coming...

Our book club leader, Kay, shared an interview with Michael Koryta. After hearing the list of books he has written, what struck me is that he is really young. He has written 12 books, is a former private investigator and newspaper reporter.... He is 34. I am impressed.

All of his books have gotten good reviews. 9 have been optioned for television or film. Those Who Wish Me Dead has been optioned for a film by 20th Century Fox.

http://www.michaelkoryta.com/books/

If you like suspense and the outdoors, read it. I think you will like it.