Darice de Cuba

Play to Kill(UK title) by the mother daughter team, P.J. Tracy, is the latest book in their Monkeewrench series.

I read the first book of the series, Want to Play?(UK title) about four years ago. A plot involving cops, internet and hackers is just my kind of thing being the geek that I am. Set in the cold city of Minneapolis, Minnesota two homicide cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are trying to solve a series of murder with the help of a group of very eccentric software developers/hackers. Since then three books has been released and now with Play to Kill going back full focus on the Monkeewrench gang and Magozzi with Rolseth.

It has been four years since the last book, Snow Blind, was released. So when I found out about Play to Kill I couldn’t wait. I re-read all previous four books with e exception of Dead Run to refresh on the characters.

As soon as I saw the book for sale before release date I bought it and of course read it in less then 24 hours.

The plot

A serial killer is terrifying enough, but when the murder videos begin showing up online – well, then it becomes an issue for computer analyst Grace MacBride and her eccentric crew of geniuses and mavericks. Recruited by the FBI, MacBride, along with Minneapolis cops Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, work together to hunt down the killer. Using sophisticated tracking software, MacBride and her team scour the internet for signs of a possible attack, trying to weed out the staged videos from the real thing in hopes of finding a pattern. But bodies keep turning up, and videos keep being posted, and the team is getting desperate to save lives. It’s not until they come across a sinister website that a real lead is discovered. And it takes them all the way to a shocking conclusion . . .

The book read just as good as the first one, keeping you on the edge constantly. But unlike the first book the story has to many holes in it. I’m always able to overlook things and just enjoy the book but in this case I felt let down with how many holes there where in the story.

For starters you should really read at least the first book before reading this one, otherwise the story will feel bland and superficial without the background knowledge of the characters. And some knowledge of internet most popular websites is also good to increase the thrill of the story.

The book is worth the read, it may not be my favorite one of the series, I always like the first books of any series the most. But if you are a fan of P.J. Tracy and with four years without a new release this one will read like a breeze.

If you haven’t read the book yet stop reading! The next part contains spoilers. You have been warned. Read more…

Late Friday afternoon I decided I wanted to read a book, but lately I’m uninspired, no book really appeals to me right now. Last fiction book I read was The Lost Symbol and re-reading all books by P.J. Tracy in expectation of their newest book in the last week of April.

So I went on the Dutch online bookstore and started browsing books that can be delivered the next day. Basically looking for something easy to read in one day. That’s how I landed on Jill Mansells book Rumour has it, decent ratings, less then 10 euros and delivered the next day.

Saturday late morning my book fell through my mailbox commencing a whole Saturday of reading. I’m partial for British books, I like reading British English and enjoy descriptions of small towns, country, pubs, etc. So I was right away deep into the book but not that deep that my day went to waste. I was still able to put it down to do some grocery shopping, cooking and internet browsing.

I finished the book past midnight, which for me is good, I don’t want to spend days reading about town gossips, they are fun for a day off when I have nothing really to do. But meanwhile I’m still hankering for a good fiction book with plots and mystery. There are many fiction bestsellers that are real popular like Stieg Larsson’s books but they don’t appeal to me at all.

I guess the more books I read the pickier I get with what I like or not. In my offline environment I’m the only one who reads different books and spend time just browsing bookstores looking for something new and unknown. And I rather get tips on books from one to one then just reading massive reviews on Amazon or other sites.