Ameise1's second ROOT

I go for another 10 this year.







# 1 Die Feuer von Murano by Giuseppe Furno on the shelf since Christmas 2013 (4 Stars)
# 2 Beneath The Bleeding by Val McDermid on the shelf since 2008 (4 1/2 stars)
# 3 L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy on the shelf since 2010 (4 1/2 stars)
# 4 The Private Patient by PD James on the shelf since 2009 (4 stars)
# 5 Digital Fortress by Dan Brown on the shelf since 2010 (3 1/2 stars)
# 6 Pitch Black by Alex Gray on the shelf since 2009 (4 1/2 stars)
# 7 No Lovelier Death (DI Joe Faraday) by Graham Hurley on the shelf since 2011 (4 stars)
# 8 White Jazz by James Ellroy on the shelf since 2010 (4 stars)
# 9 The Templar's Quest by C.M. Palov on the shelf since 2011 (4 stars)
#10 The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen on the shelf since 2012 (4 stars)
#11 The Veteran by Frederick Forsyth on the shelf since 2012 (4 1/2 stars)
#12 Deception Point by Dan Brown on the shelf since 2010 (3 stars)
#13 Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper on the shelf since 2011 (4 stars)
#14 Open Season by C. J. Box on the shelf since 2012 (3 1/2 stars)

Welcome again, Ameise!

Thanks Connie! It's great to be here again and to see that a lot are moving over :-D
Happy reading to you, too.

Welcome back and good luck! :)

Thanks rabbitprincess, it's great to see you here, too. Happy reading :-D

Nice to see you again!

Thanks :-D! It's great to have you here, too. Happy reading :-D

Welcome back again and happy reading!

Thanks TR, it's great to see you back here, too. Happy reading :-D

Glad you're here again!

Thanks cyderry :-D

Hi Ameise. Good luck with your challenge.

Thanks rainpebble, the same to you, too :-D

# 1



This is a wonderful story which is set up in the 16th century in Venice. It's a historical mystery wherein the inquisition with all its implication is manipulating the plot. The story starts with the blast in the arsenal. With this fulminant beginning all main characters are introduced, although one doesn't know it immediately. Andrea Loredan, an advocat for the poor and son of the Doge, is the centre of all characters. He keeps a tight rein on everything. On the one hand he tries to solve foul plays and therefore he has to help the good ones as well as the evil ones, on the other hand he has to unravel the puzzle his late mother has set. She was a member of a guild which were keeper of banned books. The inquisitors are to him on the heels. He is captured and has to serve his sentence on a galley which is involved in a naval battle with the Turkish armada. Back to Venice he is able to solve all the mysteries.
It is very gripping.

keeper of banned books? cool. Do you read in Italian?

I love your multicoloured stars.

I've read it in German. I'm able to read Italian but with close to 1000 pages it would have been too much.

I love the multicoloured stars too! How do you make them?

Very good being trilingual, Ameise. That must come in handy.

Good luck with your challenge! I love the multicolored stars, too!

Congrats on your first book, sounds really gripping.

Connie, Terri, TR thanks a lot for you compliments.

Languages: In Switzerland we have four official languages (German (spoken Swiss German), French, Italian and Rhaeto-Romance). I live in the Swiss German part and have learned French and Italien at school. The forth language I can't speak but my elder daughter can speak it because her boyfriend is from that part of Switzerland.
Further more I've learned English and Spanish. My husband and me were six months travelling through South America.

coloured stars:
- Click with the right mouse button on the stars and then chose graphic/image information or take the links below:
- http://www.deffler.com/lt/stars_four.gif = 4 stars
- http://www.deffler.com/lt/stars_four_half.gif = 4 1/2 stars
- the same you can do for any number _one_ or _one_half and so on
- then you put this link into COPIED URL (click on this link) and you'll get your coloured stars

I hope those instructions may help you

Let's see:

Well done!!!

Five languages! Wow.

Connie, in our little country with such a lot of official languages we have to learn several of them and English as well. So, Spanish was just an addition. :-D

Just for fun!!! hahaha.

Oh, I've looked at that book recently in my bookstore. Looks like I should really add it to my "Buy this" list!

Hi MissWatson, I can really recommend it :-D

I am impressed and not only with the colored stars which are way cool BTW. But that you have read a 1000 page book so early in the year. Way to go Ameise1! And it sounds like a really good one too.

Thanks RP, sorry that I haven't been here a while. Yes, it was a fantastic reading.

# 2



This is the fifth book from the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan serie. It's a very gripping British crime mystery. Tony Hill who is a profiler, has been attacked and seriously wounded by an inmate of the mental institution. After the surgery he has to stay in the hospital and he felt rather bored of his immobility.
In the meantime different mysteries are taking place. On the one hand famous rich people are dieing of being poisoned and on the other hand a bomb detonated in the local football stadium. Carol Jordan and her team have got their hands full and a special team has taken them away the bombing case. Carol and her team won't give away the case so easily and therefore have to investigate it secretly. In the meantime Tony tries to help from the hospital bed and is very often doing his own thing because Carol won't believe in his guts feeling. But without Tony's doggedness Carol couldn't have solved all mysteries.
It was a fast-paced reading and it let me guess until the very last page.

I've liked everything I've read by Val McDrmid so far, but I haven't read any of the series books yet. I should try them. Good review!

Sounds like a great book. Should try out some McDermid these days.

TR, I love McDermid's books, so I can strongly recommend her.

# 3



It took me a while to dip into the story because of the concise and strong spelling style which was switching from one event to the next one. Once, I became accustomed to it I wasn't able to put it away. What made me most impressed was the unimaginable corruption within the police department and the politic. The gangster had more or less free hand to deal with drugs, prostitution and blackmail and some of the police officers were playing alongside with them. There were only two police officers who tried to solve this state. They couldn't have been more opposed characters and through the most part of the story I've got the feeling that they were trying very hard to put each other obstacles in the way.
The story is very gripping and praise of James Ellroy's spelling style and historical knowledge a must-read.

I have a three-novel volume of Ellroy that I got a a library sale. I must get to it.

Terri, what are the titles called?

The volume is called LA Noir, and it contains Blood on the Moon, Because the Night, and Suicide Hill.

Terri, thanks for posting them. On my shelf there are the last one of the L.A. Quartet White Jazz and the whole Underworld USA - Trilogie American Tabloid, Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover.

# 4



As always I was very impressed how PD James builds up her stories. It's not the murder which is the centre of the plot, it's more an addition to the stories of all characters. PD James can outline all the characters so vividly and with a great love that you can get the feeling to have met them personally and have spent some time with them. In this story a journalist who went for a plastic surgery in a Manor (also a privat clinic) has been throttled. A few days later another person was killed, too. Adam Dalgliesh and his team had to solve the puzzles. The path to solve them led Dalgliesh's team to different places and life stories. Some of them were related to each other whereas some were unrelated. The outcome was a surprise especially the murderer's action and I was happy that Dalgliesh didn't let it stand like that but was searching for answers.

You're moving fast, Barb!!

Thanks Connie, I try to keep up :-D

# 5



This is a typical Dan Brown story. It's very fast-paced, the evil one is an insider and a little romance isn't left out. The key can only be found in the very last second. The story is placed in the USA as well as Spain. The BIG spy machine which is spying on emails, sms and phone calls is infected. To stop the destruction a key has to be found.

The most funniest thing during the reading was that in the book everybody tries to protect the fact that NSA is able to read and listen everything and everywhere. Well, the same exclamation is actually now going around the globe. Presidents all over the world are accusing the USA for spying on their personal phone etc.. Sometimes I have the feeling that most people are really ignoramuses. Why don't they know that all those different communication mediums can be watched.

# 6



I love the DCI Loimer's serie very much. It's not only that he and his team have to solve a puzzle but also his private life gets enough room. It makes him so human.
In this case some players, a referee and a journalist were murdered. Will someone bring Glasgow's football club Kelvin to fall? DCI Lorimer was on his way back from his holiday when he met the first victim's wife on a ferry. Henceforward his investigations take him deeper into the football scene with all its corruption, jealousy and hope.
It was a very gripping reading and it kept me guessing until the very last page who the evil one was.

Hi Barbara!! Everything al right???

Hi Connie, I'm just a little bit exhausted. I had a very busy day but now I try to relax. I hope you had a sound sleep after your busy days in London.

Yes, I slept just fine. I wanted to strangle the alarmclock that rang around 7.00 am.

Please try to relax some more!!

Connie, I'll do my best to relax. Tomorrow after the meeting at the university I'll go for lunch with some friends. I'm sure we'll have a good time.

And did you?

I was away for the weekend to visit my best friend Vera. We had lots of fun and talked a lot!

Sure, you saw it on my 75s thread.

>49 Ameise1: going back there now! :-?

# 7



I'm a huge fan of the DI Joe Faraday' series and that one didn't disappointed me neither. DI Joe Faraday keeps himself more in the background and his younger colleague Jimmy Suttle is doing the most work up front. They are facing not only the homicides of two young people but also the murders of persons which are related to Faraday's nemesis Bazza Mackenzie. Mackenzie has got help in an ex-cop and Faraday's ex-colleague Paul Winter. Winter holds the threads and clues in his hands and therefore it's not only difficult for Faraday and his team to solve the puzzles but also to lay the blame on Mackenzie.
It was a very fast-paced and gripping reading and let me guess until the very last page.

# 8



This is the last book of the L.A. Quartet series. I enjoyed all four books. This one is following up without much time difference to L.A. Confidential and therefore all main characters are the same ones. This story is closing the unimaginable corruption within the police department, the jealousy between some major players within the LAPD and how one detective/lawyer is trying to solve some of the main puzzles and could go away with his criminal acts to live a peaceful life far away. They are his memories of all actions which are written down.

# 9



This a a fast-paced, gripping and breathtaking reading. The group of seven, heirs of very important SS leaders, are trying to fix a energy bridge between now and 1940 to send their ancestors the most important news, so that they could win the war and the whole history would turn into another direction. For this mission they need the knowledge of the Templar as well as the Holy Grail. An US army sergeant found a medallion which is the key for the location of the Holy Grail. The group of seven is hunting him. With the help of a woman and her ex-English professor who was serving the British M5, the trio is trying to stop the evil ones but time is running very short.

Good Job, Barb. Just one more book to go and you have reached your goal, excellent!!

Thanks, Connie. As we'll be in England during the summer holiday I have to make room on the shelves otherwise I won't be able to buy new books ;-).

# 10



This was a fast-paced reading. In the beginning I was just collecting loose ends as Jane Rizzoli was doing so. By and by I was able to put the pieces together. Nevertheless it was very enthralling.
The story is positioned in Boston's Chinatown even though the evil ones aren't Chinese. From the very beginning all characters are in position and therefore it makes the guessing so interesting. The main question is who has abducted all the young girls many years ago and why? There is old Chinese mythology involved as well as western crime.

Woo hoo, you reached your goal! :D Congratulations!

Thanks a lot Rabbitprincess. I will read more of my TBR shelves. I need more space due to my England holiday. I intend to buy a lot of books when I'm in the UK. :-D

Have fun on your trip, and happy book-hunting!

Thanks MissWatson, will definitely do so :-D

Félicitations pour atteindre votre objectif!

Merci beaucoup Chéli, je l'ai fait avec grand plaisir. Je vais continuer avec des ROOT pour le but du groupe.

# 11



This was a completely other Forsyth than I've read before. It contains five stories which have one in common: justice for the little man. In the first story The Veteran the police is searching for the identity of a victim and to put the responsible persons behind the bars. Unfortunately, a famous lawyer is freeing the two evil ones, but the end serves justice. The Art of the Manner shows how simple people came to their money. Important art dealers are beaten at their own game. It's a very amusing story. The Miracle is a story with a religious touch. A miracle which took place 1944 in Siena and nobody is able to explain how this events could have taken place The Citizen shows that the best planning for a crime always has a hole. It took me until the very last page to find out the puzzle - very well written. Last but not least Whispering Wind which is starting 1876 and is leading the main character into 1977. Ben Craig is a scout who serves under General Custer at the Little Bighorn (06-25-1876) where he helps a young Cheyenne girl flee from the soldiers and where he finds her soul again 100 years later. It's a wonderful story.

# 12



It was an easy-going reading, Unfortunately, it was not so gripping. There were parts which were drawn to length and also the plot wasn't too enthralling. A so called meteoric stone should save the poll for the acting president but everything is faked and good scientists had to die and it took a long time until the evil ones got their pain. A lot of action were too obvious and therefore took the story's suspense.

# 13



I read the sequel earlier and because I liked it very much I bought this one. I'm glad that I did so many things are much more clear now. It was a very fast-paced reading. The secrets are located in the past (1350 years ago) on the Isle of Wight. There was born a boy who couldn't speak but was addicted to write down names and dates of birth and death. After WWII this hidden library was found but the English government asked the US government to take this library over. Therefore the Areal 51 in the desert of Nevada was built. Unfortunately, there was a leak and 9 people died in New York. Nobody was able to find out the relationship between these cases of death. Will Paper and his partner Nancy Lipinski tried to solve the puzzle.

# 14



This is the first from the Joe Pickett series. It's an interesting start into a new serie. Joe is working as a game warden. He lives with his family (his pregnant wive and two daughters) in a small house in Twelve Sleep County. He isn't working there since a long time. Unfortunately he trusts people who are working with him but are on the evil side. They lay a lot of stones in his way and he is very close to lose his job but with his stubbornness he is able to solve the puzzle.

A belated but sincere congratulations for reaching (and surpassing!) your goal!

Thanks a lot Mary Ann. :-)

Congrats on reaching your goal! Be sure to update your ticker so it will count for the group!

Thanks a lot Tess. I will update my ROOTS and hope the group will reach the goal.

Congrats on surpassing your goal!

Thanks a lot Terri.

Congrats on reaching your goal, Barb!

We were watching the marathon today and Peet commented on the beauty of Zürich! It's a lovely town!

Thanks a lot, Connie. Zürich is a beautiful town and it showed one of its best faces at todays marathon.