Thursday, October 21, 2010

New to Me Authors

I have to admit I've had books by both J.T. Ellison and Michelle Gagnon on my TBR for quite some time. Yet I never got around to reading either of them, until now. I just finished two of Ellison's books -- All the Pretty Girls and The Cold Room, and completely enjoyed my foray into Taylor Jackson's world. One caveat for those who want to try Ellison's police detective series, don't skip around (though the mystery part of the story is self-contained) because I found that I missed significant chunks of Taylor's journey ... and yes, I will be going back to read what I missed.

As for Gagnon, I'm in the middle of her recent Kelly Jones adventure -- Kidnap and Ransom. So far I'm enjoying everything about the book, even though it's clear there's a lot of backstory between the characters that I don't know. In this book (and for those familiar with the series, this isn't a spoiler), Kelly is dealing with the loss of her lower leg and her prothesis, and her need to get back to work as an FBI agent. Will her trip to Mexico to help Riley find his brother and her side, off-the-radar investigation endanger that dream? I can't wait to finish reading to find out.

I've also discovered a fantastic debut young adult author, Beth Revis, whose book I got an early read on. Her sci-fi trilogy will kick off in January with Across the Universe. This is one series not to miss if you love YA or sci-fi.