Bright Ruin by Vic James
"You learned in school about countries that went backward. Peaceful nations that flared up in civil war. Democracies that fell under the sway of fanatics. You never imagined such a thing might happen here in Britain. But it could. It was happening right now."
In a timeline where those with magic, known as The Skill, rose up during the monarchy and took over Britain. In the present, Equals (those with The Skill) keep the rest of the population under control through the use of the Slave Days, 10 years every non-Equal must serve. The final book in the "Dark Gifts Trilogy", Bright Ruin picks up directly following the events of the Blood Fair. Abigail Hadley is rescued from execution by Gavar Jardine and sets out to join the revolution to free Britain from Equal rule. Luke Hadley is rescued by Silyeon Jardine and the two of them, along with Dog, set out to discover the mysteries behind the Wonder King and The Skill.
This was one of the most gripping and most horrifying stories I've ever read. In other shows or books or comics, there's a hint that the underdog, at some point, should learn they've got some power that allows them to finally challenge their enemy. In this story, that doesn't happen - the Hadley family and the other unSkilled humans can't develop magical abilities, they won't come into some long lost wealth to challenge the Equals financial power, and the media won't suddenly turn and report on the injustices being done and turn the world's sympathies toward the unSkilled. Going into this final book, it is impossible for the revolution to succeed. And that's the thought that stayed with me the entire time, "the revolution doesn't have to succeed."
The Hard Way by Lee Child
"'And I'm not worried about hand-to-hand combat. Not against little guys like these. You remember how it was back in the service, don't you? Your guys stepped out of line, who did you call? The 110th Special Unit, that's who. Hard men need harder cops. I was one of those cops. And I'm willing to be one again. Against all of you at once, if you like.'"
Once again, Jack Reacher finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. At a cafe in New York City, Reacher watches a man cross the street, get into a car, and drive away. The next day, at the same cafe, another man approaches Reacher for information regarding the previous rather mundane event. Reacher finds himself drawn into a kidnapping of a private military contractor's wife and child. But who would risk attacking a man who employs ex-special forces operators from all over the globe? As Reacher investigates further into the kidnapping he'll uncover a conspiracy that perhaps everything isn't as it appears.
I heard that writers were the worst people to watch mystery movies with because they're always trying to guess who did it rather than just watching the movie. That was kind of how I read through this book - it kept me guessing what was really going on until it all came together. This could be one of the Jack Reacher books that could make a decent movie. A great stand-alone book if you're looking into jumping into the series not from the beginning.
Brief Cases by Jim Butcher
A collection of short stories within the Dresden Files universe. Jim Butcher writes The Dresden Files series starring main character Harry Dresden, Chicago's only wizard private investigator solving crimes involving the supernatural. I was avoiding buying this book because I'd actually read a couple of these stories in other short story collections, but really, I needed my Dresden fix (it's been almost 4 years I think since I read Skin Game, the last book so far in the series). This collection includes a bunch of supernatural investigations done by Dresden, as well as several other stories told through the view point of other, secondary characters within the Dresden universe. A few of my favorites from the collection include:
AAAA Wizardry:
"'I've been doing this sort of thing for a while. Some of seniors in the Council would call me foolish or arrogant, and they could be right - but I've never met anyone who was breathing who I thought was too far gone to help.'"
Harry Dresden is teaching a class of new, upcoming Wardens (the wizard police of the White Council) using one of his old cases as an example. He goes through the steps he takes when investigating and relates with the younger wizards. The story he gives is a quick one, but still goes through all the ups and downs usually found within one of the regular case files.
Day One:
"I took a breath and said, 'There's a big yellow exclamation point floating over his head.' After a brief pause, I added, 'I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested."'
Chronologically one of the newer stories in the collection, "First Day" takes place after the latest book, Skin Game, during which Waldo Butters, coroner and polka-lover, becomes a Knight of the Cross. In this story, Butters receives his first call to action, taking out a monster in the children's ward at a hospital. I liked this one just because Butters isn't your typical hero. But he has a background in gaming and sci-fi (describing his broken sword as a lightsaber), and apparently when the Lord works in mysterious ways, he sends Butters his clues through video game references.
Even Hand:
"I am a professional monster."
Even though I read this story in another collection, it's still my favorite one in this collection. This story is told from the viewpoint of "Gentleman" John Marcone, the mob boss of all of Chicago and an adversary of Harry Dresden. Marcone is also one of the first human beings to hold status amongst the supernatural creatures. In this story Justine, an associate of Dresden's half-brother, comes to Marcone for help along with property stolen from another supernatural baron. The coolest part of this story is seeing how Marcone takes on a supernatural foe, showing just how he has remained on top despite everything going on in Chicago. Also, after reading it again, you can really appreciate how much Butcher must've changed his writing style from Dresden's typical snarky attitude to Marcone's much more serious one.
Written in Red (Book one of The Others) by Anne Bishop
"'The only humans that want the job are thieves who think they can steal from us or ones hiding from their own law. The last one you threw out for being a lazy bag of shit, and the one before that ... the Wolves ate the one before that.'
'We weren't the only ones who ate him,' Simon muttered."
In an alternate history, the goddess created humanity and provided for them in a place safe and fruitful for them to evolve and grow. When they stepped out of this eden, however, they discovered they weren't the only one of the goddess's children, and her other children already claimed the rest of the planet. The Others more or less resemble the monsters from traditional horror movies: werewolves, vampires, other types of shapeshifters, and even worse things. The Others think of humanity as nothing more than meat, or sometimes clever meat as they do allow humans to survive and thrive to create things the Others find useful. Meg Corbyn just escaped captivity and stumbles into The Courtyard for sanctuary. The Courtyard is home to the Others that oversee a particular human city or town. To survive, she takes a job as the Courtyard's human liaison, a buffer position between the humans a nd the Others. Having lived only a life of captivity, Meg must now navigate a new life not only amongst humans, but monsters that will not hesitate to eat her. Meg is no ordinary human and her captor will take steps to reacquire her.
Murder of Crows (Book two of The Others) by Anne Bishop
Following the plot thread from the previous book, The Others of the Lakeside Courtyard start their own investigation of two potent drugs making their way through theirs and the human population: Gone Over Wolf, which increases the users aggression to the point that they no longer care about their own well-being; and Feel Good, which gives a euphoric feeling strong enough for the user to completely forget their surroundings. When the clues and Meg's visions as a blood prophet bring the investigation to Meg's former slaver, a man known as The Controller, they'll gather all their forces to bring the man down.
I picked these off the shelf at Barnes and Nobles on the assumption that if there are already several books of the series, then it must be okay. And if there were already several books out, it was less likely for the series to get cancelled without a conclusion, which is the worst thing to ever happen to a series. The main character as a blood prophet and able to tell visions of the future by cutting herself is new to me in the supernatural world.
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