Table of Contents
At the started of August I created the following table. It is the list of my proposed late summer reads. As you can see, I have finished reading three of the proposed book. I addition, I started the other two books on the list and I’m more than half way through both of those. Yeah Me!
Proposed Late Summer Reads
Status | Title | Author | Challenge | Category | % Read |
| Finished | Going Rogue -Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine | Janet Evanovich | TBR Challenge | Favorite Mystery/Thrillers Series and Standalones | 100% |
| Finished | The Fourth Deadly Sin | Lawrence Sanders | TBR Challenge | Mystery Series/Thrillers Series and Standalones | 100% |
| Finished | Winter House | Carol O’Connell | TBR Challenge | Mystery Series/Thrillers Series and Standalones | 100% |
| Sarted | The Power of Beliefs | Shawn Achor | Library Challenge | Non-Fiction | 65% |
| Started | The Summer of 1876 | Chris Wimmer | Library Cha;enge | Non-Fiction | 69% |
However the best part is I have also read two other books. The first was an E-Book from Mary Stone Killer Smile and the second was the fourth book was Storm Warning by James Byrne. It’s the fourth book in the Dez Limerick series from Byrne.
Now, before I get too carried away congratulating myself for reading five books in August, I should probably confess that I didn’t actually start all five of them in August. Far from it!
It took me an impressive 262 days to finish Going Rogue, and Winter House had also been hanging around for quite a while. So maybe August wasn’t simply a great reading month. Maybe it was the month when I finally finished some of the books I’d been dragging along with me!
Whatever the explanation, I’ll take five finished books—and twelve for the year!
Now the question is how would I rank the books
Late Summer Reads
| Rank | Title | Author | Read/Books in Series |
| 1 | Storm Warning Dez limerick #4 | James Byrne | 4 of 4 |
| 2 | The Fourth Deadly Sin Deadly Sins #5 | Lawrence Sanders | 1 of 5 |
| 3 | Winter House Kathleen Mallory # | Carol O’Connell | 10 of 11 |
| 4 | Going Rogue Stephanie Plum # 29 | Janet Evanovich | 15-32 |
| 5 | Killer Smile Stella Knox #1 | Mary Stone | 1 of – |
Thoughts About My Late Summer Reads
5. Killer Smile
This was my first adventure with Stella Knox. This is Stella’s first murder investigation as an FBI special agent. The team is tracking a serial killer or killers who are res[onsible for the grizzly murders of young men in the quiet town of Cherry Farms.
What makes the investigation even more difficult is that there are no fingerprints or DNA evidence to link the murders. In fact the murder weapons are different for each murder, too.
The book was a quick easy read. I liked the lead charachter Stella and rhe minor characters too. I thought the pscychological ending of the book was very strong and actually makes me want to red book 2 in the series.
Read More Killer Smile on Goodreads
4. Going Rogue – Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine
I read my first Stephanie Plum novel in 1999 and I followed the adventures of Stephanie, Lula, Ranger, Joe Morelli and Grnadma Mazur through most of the first sixteen books in this series.
Living just south of Trenton the setting of this series was always special to me. I’ve even driven over many 0f the same roads as Stephanie when i worked for K&E and at times making delveries throughout the city.
After those first 16 books I drifted away from the series However, I have collected many of the books that I haven’t read. Going Rogue was one of those books, I never thought that the Stephanie Plum novels were great literature. They are meant to be fun and at times suspenseful. Going Rogue certainly fits the bill.
Read More: Going Rogue on Goodreads
The storyline was pretty simple. The Plum agencies secretary Connie is kidnapped. The ransom demand is a rare coin.
. And the whole crew Lula, Ranger, Morelli and Grandma Mazur provide assistance and the laughs along the way. While I may never read all od the Stephanie Plum novels I have on my shelves I know I’ll read more of the Plum Agencies adventures!
3. Winter House
On December 30th of 2004 i read Judas Child by Carol O’Connell. I loved the book and quickly soight out her other books. By the end of January of 2005 I had read ny first novel featuring Kathleen Mallory Mallorey’s Oracle. Aftr=er finishing Winter House I have read all but two of the 13 Mallory novels.Of the remaining two books Shell Game and Find Me, the later is on my TBR shelves. This may be the year I finish reading this series. (Damn I wish she hadn;t stopped)
Kathleen Mallory just may be my favorite female detective! Mallory grew up on the streets of New York City, adopted by a police inspector and became a sargeant in the Special Crimes Section. And she’s never become totally civilized, leaving many a crimina and co-worker scared of her!
In Winter House Mallory her partner Charles Butler along her police associates are investigating a killing in the Winter House. The Winter House was the site of a masacre of many members of the Winter family dead. It was a great story anchored by a teriific female protagonist.
Read More : Winter House on Goodreads
2. The Fourth Deadly Sin
My records show that I only read The First Deadly Sin (The Deadly Sins #2). I thought I read the first two books however lookking at the publishing dates The First Deadly Sin was published in 1973 (I was still in college. While the 2nd was published in 1977 (newly married – at school at UGA and the Third in 1981(a two year old and one on the way) So no – I only read The First Deadly Sin!
Now back to The Fourth Deadly Sin in this novel Delaney is retired but is asked to help invetigate the murder of a high profile Psychiatrischst Simon Ellerbe. The book is an outstanidng police procedural with good suspects and detectives but the star is Delaney. At times the book seemed too detailed but the conclusion was worth the wait and going bck and visitng a 45 year-old book is worth it!
Now it think I need to go back and read The Second Deadly Sin and Third Deadly Sins and maybe even The Anderson Tapes!
Read More : The Fourth Deadly Sin on Goodreads
1 Storm Warning – James Byrne
It took me a couple of years to find the Dez Limerick books by Jaes Byrne. The debut book The Gatekeeper was released in 2022. I read it in January of 2024 and loved it . I didn’t have to wait long to read book #2 Deadlock and subsequently books three and four Chain Recaction and Storm Warning. And I can’t wait for book #5!
The first two books were set on the West Coast. Chain Reaction’ Book #3’s setting is near the Newark International Airport which is just a two hour trip up the NJ Turnpike from me!
Storm Warning Book 4 is also set on the east coast but further north on Canada’s east coast in Newfoundland. In Storm Warning Dez Limerick is contacted by the US government to help investigate what’s going on at an underground scientific and mining facility .The grovernment has lost contact with. Dez’s skill as a “Gatekeeper” are needed. By the time the story ends Dez needs to use all his skills and the skills of another person – an assassin!
This seeies has quickly become a favorite of mine and Dez may just be my favorite action hero. Here’s what Newlson DeMille says about Dez.
“One of the most interesting, enigmatic,and coolest heroes to come across the written page”
I totaly agree check him out!
Read More:Storm Warning on Goodreads
Ok – so now it’s back to finishing those last two nofiction books!!