Book 32 of 2008: Suckers by Jeff Strand and J.A. Konrath

Book Description:

Vampires.

Well, not vampires—Pires. Whack-jobs who think they're vampires. They've inducted an innocent young girl into their cult, and her mother has hired legendary (not in a good way) private investigator Harry McGlade to get her back.

Infiltrating this bloodthirsty cult is too big of a job for just one man, especially when he has the intelligence of half a man. But when he joins forces with the also-less-than-100%-competent Andrew Mayhem, maybe, just maybe, their combined efforts will succeed in thwarting this savage menace. Or perhaps they'll just embarrass themselves and get killed.

Masters of humor-tainted-horror (or horror-tainted-humor) J.A. Konrath and Jeff Strand team up for the first time in this hilariously gruesome adventure that does not contain a single lame "You suck!" or "That bites!" joke. Suckers. The ultimate Idiots vs. Phony Vampires extravaganza!

My Opinion:

I'm a bit late in blogging about this book as I read it a week ago when it first arrived in my mailbox. I pretty much read it in 1 setting, but had to go to bed in order to wake up for work so I slept and then got up and read the last 20 pages before getting ready. LOL!!! I certainly couldn't resist this book considering it contains 2 of my all-time favorite authors in it... Jeff Strand who I've been obsessed with for MANY years and J.A. Konrath who I'm a new fan of this year (and he's definitely a new fave!).

I wasn't sure what to expect throwing Andrew Mayhem and Harry McGlade together as both are very bizarre and extreme characters, but I knew it'd be a fun ride! The book started off with Andrew getting into his typical trouble with his wife as he screwed things up yet again and then just as fast he gets himself into more severe trouble by running into Harry. I was surprised to find that Konrath's writing style in this book took on more of Strand's style with the slap-stick humor... I wasn't expecting that. The story flowed really well together considering the story was written with every other chapter written by the opposite author and taken from the opposite character's point-of-view.

I'd love to see future stories containing both Harry and Andrew. Maybe I'll have to put a little buzz in Jeff and J.A.'s ears. In the meantime, I'll be reading the next Konrath book very soon as I still have 2 in the Jack Daniels series that I need to read. Now if Jeff would only release the next Andrew Mayhem book... *hint hint*

Book 31 of 2008: Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath

Book Description:

When Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels receives a report of an excess of body parts appearing at the Cook County Morgue, she hopes it's only a miscount. It's not. Even worse, these extra limbs seem to be accessorized with Jack's handcuffs. Jack must put her train wreck of a personal life on hold to catch a terrifying and brillian maniac - a maniac for whom getting caught is only the beginning...

My Opinion:

If possible, the 2nd installment of Konrath's Jack Daniels mystery series was even better than the first, WHISKEY SOUR. (you can see my blog post here) Konrath's books are super fast-paced with lots of twists and turns throughout. I was wondering how he was going to wrap things up in the end and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I don't want to say too much though due to possible spoiler potential. For anyone that likes mysteries/thrillers, if you haven't checked out this series yet, I HIGHLY recommend it!!! It's got lots of action, some comic relief, semi-detailed murder scenes (don't way I didn't warn ya!), etc... Konrath is definitely gaining momentum up my list of fave authors!

Book 18 of 2008: Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath

Book Description:

Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is having a bad week. Her live-in boyfriend has left her for his personal trainer, chronic insomnia has caused her to max out her credit cards with late-night home shopping purchases and a frightening killer who calls himself "The Gingerbread Man" is dumping mutilated bodies in her district. Whiskey Sour is full of laugh-out-loud humour and edge-of-your-seat suspense. It also introduces a fun, fully drawn heroine in the grand tradition of Kinsey Millhone, Stephanie Plum and Kay Scarpetta.

My Opinion:

Fabulous read!!! I wish I had listened to my friends and started into this series sooner. I finally made myself start the series due to the upcoming release of SUCKERS which is co-written by J.A. Konrath and Jeff Strand (my favorite author for those who don’t know me all that well) as SUCKERS includes a character from both this series as well as Strand’s sickeningly-awesome Andrew Mayhem series.

Konrath definitely has a way with keeping his viewers interested. This book is full of action from the first page to the last. You are immediately thrown into the nightmare life of "Jack" Daniels. She is one kick-ass lieutenant who doesn’t take shit from anyone... well, except Harry McGlade, somewhat. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of "trouble" Jack and the rest of the cast get into in the future installments of this series.