Patrick Bowers PhD is an en­vi­ron­men­tal crim­i­nol­o­gist for the FBI. A serial killer who calls himself the Il­lu­sion­ist is killing women in North Carolina and leading the FBI a merry dance. There’s a major subplot involving another killer and Jonestown. And Bowers’ personal life is com­pli­cat­ed by a sullen teenage step­daugh­ter.

Despite the ludicrous complexity of the plot, it’s an en­ter­tain­ing and relatively thoughtful thriller.

Sarl is a barely industrial backwater on the Eighth level of a Shellworld, a vast artificial planet of concentric levels. King Hausk is secretly murdered after a battle by his top aide, tyl Loesp. His oldest son, Ferbin the fop, witnesses the murder and flees for his life. Meanwhile, his sister Djan, who has long been a Special Cir­cum­stances operative in the Culture, hears of the death halfway across the galaxy and heads for home. Their younger brother, Oramen, is still a minor and so tyl Loesp …continue.

A free ebook that I quickly gave up on because I couldn’t stand the leaden writing and the heavy­hand­ed exposition.

I gave this free ebook a fair shake, but eventually the clunky writing grew too much for me.

A renegade warrior and his escaped-slave girlfriend penetrate the vast wilderness where no human has trod, and find a new race ruled by an ancient queen who needs to be over­thrown…

Marla Mason is the chief sorcerer of Felport. She’s abrasive, hard-headed, and ruthless enough to stay on the top of the pile. But a challenger has arisen and she’s gone to San Francisco with her sidekick Rondeau to seek the help of an old friend. That friend has been murdered by an Aztec sorcerer who’s trying to bring back an Aztec god.

Fast-paced and en­ter­tain­ing. I found Marla too obnoxious at first, but then she grew on me.

This year is the 24th an­niver­sary of the Seattle AIDS Walk. A whole generation has passed since the Northwest AIDS Walk began. AIDS used to be the un­stop­pable disease that killed much of a generation of gay men.

AIDS is still a serious problem, but the de­vel­op­ment of an­ti­retro­vi­ral drugs in the Nineties means that people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than before. More than 1.5 million Americans are now living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 of them in King County. 40,000 people are infected every year, and most new infections are among African-Americans. The U.S. is getting off relatively lightly: about one-quarter of the adults in southern Africa have HIV!

The Lifelong AIDS Alliance …continue.

Diana Ladd is the widow of a man believed to have killed an Indian girl seven years ago in the Arizona desert. The girl’s grand­moth­er, Rita Antone, is helping Diana rear her son in a remote house. Now the real killer, Andrew Carlisle, is out of jail, blaming Diana for his being put away for manslaugh­ter.

Jance weaves together several in­ter­est­ing characters, their back­sto­ries, and Indian myths to make a satisfying thriller.

Superspy Devlin, head of the U.S. government’s most secret black ops team, is on the run, apparently having being framed by someone with inside knowledge.

Second-rate ripoff of Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy. Ludicrous plot, cliched characters, risible tech­nob­a­b­ble. I gave it longer than I should before abandoning it.

Avoid.

Teenage D&D-playing bookworm responds to a help-wanted ad, steps through a door, and finds himself wandering in a forest where he can do simple magic.

I couldn’t take more than an hour of the clumsy writing in this free ebook.

A German doctor has been training a handful of children for 20 years to develop su­per­pow­ers such as pre­cog­ni­tion and fire starting. They are the Nazis’ secret weapon, swaying the progress of the War. To stop the Germans from crossing the English Channel, the British recruit a handful of warlocks to make a devil’s bargain with ancient evil beings.

Told from the viewpoint of one of the German su­per­be­ings and two of the British agents, we see the terrible costs to each of them, as they lose their honor and …continue.