Lenni Reviews: "Cat Zero" by Jennifer L. Rohn

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.

Artemis "Artie" Marshall is a genius scientist studying feline viruses in a stuffy university. As she struggles to be taken seriously by many of her peers, a mysterious and virulent new virus surfaces; a virus so strong, it kills both cats and humans in a matter of days. It's a race against time to find a treatment or cure even if it risks her own life in the face of a deeper conspiracy.

The best parts of this book are when Artemis and her team are actively working on the disease. Outside of her intellectual pursuits, Artemis comes off as too perfect. She's just the prettiest, everyone wants to be her friend, no man can resist her charms, blah, blah, blah... Those scenes made me want there to be more dire circumstances around the virus so there would be no time for the side stories. I thought this would be a Contagion-like medical thriller but it all just fizzled out. More attention was paid to Artie's anxiety about being alone - good character development, yes, but it didn't play into the medical parts of the plot enough for me to feel like my time reading about it was invested wisely. In the end, I felt cheated despite how compelling the blurb and the premise are. 3 out of 5.

Lenni Reviews: "Iron Goddess" by Dharma Kelleher

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*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reformed ex-con Shea Stevens has left a family history of crime behind her. Now the owner of Iron Goddess bike shop, Shea is content to build custom bikes, run her business, and enjoy her new relationship with her girlfriend. Things get complicated when not only is her shop robbed; an employee is shot, and her sister, Wendy, shows up after a decade of estrangement begging for help because her daughter has been kidnapped. Old ties come back to cause Shea much more trouble than just a couple stolen bikes.

I gotta say, this book was badass. There are straight, gay, and trans characters and they are people first. Their gender or sexuality are not used as tools to advance the plot, it is simply part of who they are as a complete character; not sterotypes at all.

Even though the motorcycle gangs were over the top with their racism, sexism, and at times an overt lack of logic, I'm not going to claim any knowledge of gang culture to call the book out on its portrayal of them. Overall, Shea was a believable character making the best of a shitty situation and everything works out as best she can manage without getting killed. A non-stop ride from start to finish, I give this book a 4 out of 5.

For more of Lenni's writing, check out Haunting Hypatia.

Lenni Reviews: Sidney Sheldon's The Tides Of Memory by Tilly Bagshane

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Political dramas aren’t really my thing. Real politics are dramatic enough and I find their considerable lack of elves, dragons, or space ships terribly disturbing. But while such books aren’t in my book queue, I cracked this book open with an equally open mind.

The novel follows Alexia De Vere, wife of Teddy De Vere and ruthless political darling of the United Kingdom’s conservative party. As the newly appointed Home Secretary (a position I hadda look up because I wasn’t exactly sure what a Home Secretary does), her hard ball stance on illegal immigrants and sentencing laws has earned her a sizable number of enemies. So, one can hardly be surprised when bodies start piling up around her.

Bagshane has some tight writing here and the characters are believable to the point where you can be annoyed by them. I had trouble identifying with Alexia not because she wasn’t written well, but because she’s a spoiled rich woman who seems to have nine lives when her mistakes come to bite her in the ass. I was curious about the outcome and it kept me reading to the end but didn’t keep me up late or anything. It’s pure and fun escapism, enough to keep me turning the pages and I’m an admitted avoider of thrillers and mysteries.

This book wasn’t good enough for me to go chasing down the other books by the same author(s) but it was a fun ride while it lasted. If you’re in to light political thrillers with a twisting plot and a fair amount of drama, you won’t be disappointed.