Marc Cameron

4.5

Book source ~ Arc. My review is voluntary and honest.

Enter a setting that could be all too real: home-grown terrorists are staging attacks all over America. When an attack happens inside CIA HQ, the most important question now becomes how? How did they pass all the background checks? If they can figure that out then they may be able to stop the terrorist cell once and for all. When the government needs answers and they need them right damn now, they call Jericho Quinn. Because sometimes show more only a hammer will get the job done.

Life interfered with this series. I read book 1, National Security, years ago and loved it, but it took me forever to get back to Jericho Quinn. Man, what a ride! Act of Terror is everything National Security is and will not disappoint. It’s fast-paced, so strap in and hold on for dear life. Tons of action, excellent characters, great dialogue, and twisty roads will lead to an explosive finish that is worth every minute invested in the reading. My only complaint is with the timeline, but it’s a tiny bitch and easily pushed aside in favor of the badassery that saturates the pages. I love Jericho Quinn. Seriously. There are only a handful of characters I love as much as him: Scott Bell’s Abel Yeager, Russ Hall’s Al Quinn (no relation that I’m aware of lol), S.J. Parkinson’s Steven Anderson, Christopher Golden’s Ben Walker, and Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden (ok, so he’s Fantasy, sue me) are the ones on the short list. I can’t wait to start book 3, State of Emergency and watch Quinn and Company in action again. Bring on Hammer Company! show less

So glad I discovered this series but there is one BIG complaint that I will get to... and anyone else that reads the book and it also bothers can consider that you have been warned. On the plus side....Cameron does his usual great job of taking the reader to unusual locales and making them feel like they were there. Not only does he do this with beautiful descriptions of the terrain but also by providing a deep look into the culture of the area and the people. Most of these characters are show more damaged in some respect making them not for the faint of heart, I believe the author is trying to say that the world isn’t all rainbows, sunshine, and clear-cut answers. This wonderful author who certainly would have received a 4.5 or 5 stars rating...went and make the biggest mistake that any writer can make. With that said I will now get to why the book received a 2.5-star rating and my warning. Before the book is even half finished...he injures the K-9 dog...you just know from it’s injuries that it is not going to survive... but it takes almost the entire book for the poor dog to die. The thing that he did that was touching but didn't make up in any way for the dead dog...he gave him a hero's send off. The loyal K- 9...Zeus...got a fitting funeral complete with a “Last Call” that I will defy anyone to read with a dry eye and without a box of tissues. Authors can kill anyone they wish in their books but DON’T KILL THE DOG!. show less

Bone Rattle by Marc Cameron
Arliss Cutter #3

Another late night up past my bedtime as I swiped pages quickly to find out what Arliss Cutter would be dealing with in book three of this marvelous series. I still like him better than Jack Reacher, find him a man I want to get to know better, and can’t wait to find out more about him.

What I liked:
* Arliss Cutter: Deputy US Marshall, uncle, brother-in-law, tracker, teacher, protector, dead-shot, ex-military, swimmer and scuba diver, lethal on show more land and water, quiet man, wise, sharer of Grumpy Wisdom, admirable – I really like him.
* Lola Teariki: Arliss’s work partner: mid-twenties, Maori, focused, eager, bright, physically fit, lethal, attractive, capable, good, someone I like and want to watch grow.
* Watching Arliss at work – I learned more about tracking, better ways of processing information, and positive ways he interacts with people.
* The way the story was told…and how I was lead toward the conclusion
* Meeting new characters that will play a part in the future stories while catching up with characters met before.
* Arliss’s brother’s family: Mim/sister-in-law, Connie/niece, and twins Matthew and Michael – they are characters that impact Arliss and will no doubt continue to do so in future books of the series.
* Being made too think, care, root for characters, and become invested in the story.
* The eventual outsmarting of bad guys
* Learning more about Alaska
* Being inspired to look up rattles. That said, I did look up bone rattles-shaman-Tlingit and what came up was this book…still did learn about more and will no doubt do some more sleuthing on the subject.
* Finding out how Raven came to be…while sleuthing
* Knowing that there will be a book four and that it will probably include the murderer/serial killer whose victims parts showed up in this book.
* all of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* What I was meant not to like…criminals and the crimes they committed.
* Having to wait for book four.

Did I like this book? Definitely!
Will I read more in this series? As soon as I can!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

Stone Cross by Marc Cameron
Arlliss Cutter Series #2

Arliss Cutter is intelligent, intriguing, and a bit of an enigma. Reading book one of this series I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to finish a book by this author that was filled with murder, mystery and mayhem AND the same is true for reading the second book because it was 4am before I read the last page and finally headed to bed.

As I read I grew to know more about Alaska and Arliss and I fell in love with Grumpy – the show more grandfather who raised Arliss. The main case was brutal and so was the encroaching Alaska winter. This could have been just the story of solving a murder and finding people that disappeared but it was so much more.

What I liked:
* Arliss: for reasons mentioned above and also because he is a man I admire and would like to know better. I want him to have a happy future and hope that some of his dreams will come true as the series continues.
* The information learned about a bit of Arliss’s past
* The character guide at the beginning of the book
* Birdie: a Yu’pik woman who suffered greatly and achieved much – I truly admired her.
* Lola: Arliss’s partner – a strong tough woman with a heart of gold
* Sarah: her strength and courage were amazing
* The weaving in of the side stories that enhanced the overall story
* Mim: Arliss’s widowed sister-in-law and her concern fo her children and also for Arliss’s well being
* Arliss’s relationship with his brother’s family
* What I learned about living in remote Alaska, mushing dogs, and how the weather impacts living there.
* Reading about and then googling poke-hand and thread tattooing then cringing when I found out what it was and how there is a resurgence in the art form. I also learned a bit, after googling again, about cut and chisel tattooing used by the Maoris.
* There are so many other things to mention but I really and truly liked it all except for…

What I did not like:
* The bad guys...they were ruthless, evil, despicable no good rotten...just horrible
* Having to wait till the next book is written so I can find out what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less