Ink & Sigil (Ink & Sigil #1), by Kevin Hearne ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Mythology, Suspense, Urban Fantasy

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 25th, 2020

336 Pages

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne returns to the world of his Iron Druid Chronicles in a spin-off series about an eccentric master of rare magic solving an uncanny mystery in Scotland.

Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails—and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.

But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.

But when his latest apprentice, Geordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Geordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective—while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death always seems to follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.

I was a little disappointed with Scourged, the last book of the Iron Druid series, however, it was one of my favorites in the genre of urban fantasy, so when I heard that Hearne was returning to that world, I was quite excited.

First, it was refreshing having the main character older and not in his prime, although Al certainly doesn’t let age slow him down. He’s a great character who’s easy to like which I did immediately. The dialogue and story are full of Hearne’s trademark humor which helps move things along. The one issue I had was I found the villain to be rather ho-hum, but the other characters are engaging and I loved their interactions with Al. Hearne does a wonderful job building upon the mythology he created in his previous series, and this new magic that’s introduced is quite intriguing.

Overall, I quite enjoyed Ink & Sigil and I’m looking forward to seeing where this spin-off series goes. Do be warned that Hearne uses authentic Scottish dialect unsparingly, but there’s a helpful guide at the beginning. I unhesitatingly recommend this to fans of urban fantasy and mythology who like colorful characters, rich world building, and plenty of humor.

 

Never Ask Me, by Jeff Abbott ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 14th, 2020

368 Pages

Synopsis: In a quiet neighborhood in the wealthy Austin suburb of Lakehaven, the body of Danielle Roberts is discovered on a park bench. Danielle was a beloved member of the community, an adoption consultant who delivered the joy of parenthood to a number of local families. Her murder shocks Lakehaven.

Perhaps no other family is as shocked as the Pollitts, who lived two houses down from Danielle and thought of her almost like family. Her death becomes the catalyst for a maelstrom of suspicion and intrigue. “You have been told a huge lie,” an anonymous email charges the son, Grant. “No one can learn the truth now,” thinks the father, Kyle. “Never ask me what I’ll do to protect my family,” resolves the wife, Iris. “I’ll do whatever it takes to save him,” vows the daughter, Julia, of Danielle’s grieving teenage son.

The Pollitts always thought they’d be there for each other. When each begins to suspect the others of the unimaginable, the strength of their bonds will be tested in extraordinary new ways. The latest from New York Times bestselling author Jeff Abbott, is his most suspenseful thriller yet: a riveting tale of the dangerous secrets one family has concealed—and what happens when the question each Pollitt hoped they’d never be asked threatens to expose their darkest truths.

I’ve enjoyed Jeff Abbott’s previous books and in my humble opinion Never Ask Me will further cement his solid reputation for writing exciting twisty mystery/suspense stories filled with flawed characters who keep you guessing. While it turns out that just about everyone featured has a motive for killing Danielle, I honestly didn’t start figuring out the identity of the true culprit until the last few chapters. The mystery does segue into a somewhat crazy and convoluted plot, but as long as you can suspend disbelief, it’s still an enjoyable page turner. At its core, Never Ask Me is the quintessential summer beach read. It doesn’t require a lot of heavy thinking, and it has relatable characters whose mistakes are usually understandable and more often than not will leave you emphasizing them. If you’re looking for a thoroughly enjoyable escape, I highly recommend you give this a try!

Angel of the Crows, by Katherine Addison ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Steampunk, Supernatural

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 23rd, 2020

432 Pages

Synopsis: Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor, returns with The Angel of the Crows, a fantasy novel of alternate 1880s London, where killers stalk the night and the ultimate power is naming.

This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting.

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical world. And human beings remain human with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.

Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.

Being a Sherlock Holmes fan, I was immediately intrigued by Angel of the Crows which began as fanfic. It’s not bad, but it could have used some more originality.

For the most part, what Katherine Addison has done, is taken some of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories (A Study in Scarlet, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Speckled Band), thrown in the Whitechapel murders by Jack the Ripper in the background, and added fantasy, dystopian, and steampunk elements. The problem is, despite these different themes the characters and stories don’t really divert much from the original source material. Some of the dialogue is even remarkably similar to BBCs Sherlock Holmes series.

For the first half of the book I was also a bit confused much of the time in regards to this alternate London. It took me a while to understand the difference between angels and their roles. I felt as though I had just been dropped and left to make my own way through this murky world.

Despite these issues, I did find much to enjoy in this rather curious tale. I did like Crow (Sherlock), and Doyle (Watson), and as much as I love ACD’s original stories, it must be admitted that some had racist and sexist connotations. Addison deftly removed these without taking anything away from the story. I also liked the addition of Dr. Doyle’s secrets that he’s hiding. They’re creatively done yet perfectly fit in with his personality. The story is also quite fast-paced and I never found myself bored.

Overall, while not perfect, Angel of the Crows is an entertaining journey back to Victorian London with English literature’s most endearing odd couple. I can easily see this being turned into a tv series like Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. For fans of the original Sherlock series, think of this as a nice reread with some interesting fantastical additions. If you’re not familiar with the four stories I mentioned, you may actually enjoy this even more.

 

Prelude For Lost Souls (Prelude For Lost Souls #1), by Helene Dunbar ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 4th, 2020

384 Pages

Synopsis: For readers of Nova Ren Suma, Maggie Steifvater, and Maureen Johnson comes a spellbinding tale of choosing your own path, the families we create for ourselves, and facing the ghosts of our pasts.

In the town of St. Hilaire, most make their living by talking to the dead. In the summer the town gates open to tourists seeking answers while all activity is controlled by The Guild, a sinister ruling body that sees everything.

Dec Hampton has lived there his entire life, but ever since his parents died, he’s been done with it. He knows he has to leave before anyone has a chance to stop him.

His best friend Russ won’t be surprised when Dec leaves—but he will be heartbroken. Russ is a good medium, maybe even a great one. He’s made sacrifices for his gift and will do whatever he can to gain entry to The Guild, even embracing dark forces and contacting the most elusive ghost in town.

But when the train of Annie Krylova, the piano prodigy whose music has been Dec’s main source of solace, breaks down outside of town, it sets of an unexpected chain of events. And in St. Hilaire there are no such thing as coincidences.

I was so excited when I saw the gorgeous cover and read the premise of Prelude For Lost Souls. And you know what? It wasn’t bad. However, I wasn’t blown away by it like I thought I would be.

This is a unique, and quite imaginative plot driven story, which I really appreciated. I swear it’s getting more and more difficult to find a book out there that doesn’t contain at least some elements that remind you of a previous one. Rest assured, that’s definitely not the case here. For those of you familiar with Lily Dale, the real hamlet made up of mediums and spiritualists in south western New York, it served as the author’s inspiration. St. Hilaire however is quite a bit darker and has some strong fascist overtones. There is definitely something underhanded going on in terms of The Guild, and there’s not a lot revealed in this first book, so I’m looking forward to what comes next.

The weakest part of the book lies in its characters. Anna and Dec both have what should have been fascinating backstories, but they and the dialogue between them come across as rather flat, which makes it difficult to connect with them. The saving grace though is Dec’s best friend Russ, who also gets his own chapters. I absolutely LOVED him! All the emotions and passion I was looking for in Dec and Anna poured out of Russ’s pages.

The middle of the book slows down a bit before picking up toward the end, which perfectly sets things up for the sequel. All in all, while not perfect, Prelude For Lost Souls, has me hooked, and I’m eagerly looking forward to revisiting St. Hilaire and its secrets.

 

Home Before Dark, by Riley Sager ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 30th, 2020

384 Pages

Synopsis: In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the house really haunted by evil forces as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits, became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes, and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous by Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint of a history filled with dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

Alternating between Maggie’s uneasy homecoming and chapters from her father’s book, Home Before Dark is the story of a house with long-buried secrets and a woman’s quest to uncover them—even if the truth is far more terrifying than any haunting.

The first book I read by Riley Sager was Final Girls (2017), and with each book he writes he just keeps upping his game. Home Before Dark kept me up until the wee hours of the morning, had me nervously checking my pantry and linen closet as I walked by them, and has quite possibly ruined one of my favorite songs, Sixteen Going on Seventeen from The Sound of Music for me for life!

There are two stories at play here. The first takes place twenty-five years ago and is told through the book House of Horrors, by Ewan Holt, which is an account of the family’s twenty-two day ordeal in Baneberry Hall. The second takes place during the present day, and follows now thirty-year-old Maggie as she desperately tries to uncover the truth of what happened all those years before.

Maggie is somewhat aloof and remote, but given what her life has been like, who can blame her. She’s had Baneberry Hall following her around for most of her life, and to top things off she has no memories of her time there, and she’s positive her parents have lied to her and everyone else about what happened. It’s made her reluctant to trust anyone, yet I wound up quite liking her. She does have a compassionate side, and her determination to discover the truth, even when it upends her entire world, is something to be admired. I also liked Ewan, and while I disagree with some of his decisions, I understand how desperate he is to save his family. The secondary characters play small yet pivotal parts, and a couple of them have some quite interesting backstories that tie into Baneberry Hall.

The house itself almost becomes a character in its own right thanks to Sanger’s vivid details. I have a picture in my mind of not only what Baneberry Hall looks like, but what the atmosphere feels like after being the site of so many tragedies. There is more than one mystery that needs to be solved, and the path to the answers is a twisty one indeed. I thought by the midway point that I pretty much had everything figured out, only to be proved wrong multiple times. It drove me nuts, in the best kind of way!

Home Before Dark is a pulse-pounding, suspenseful tale of horror and mystery that will leave you questioning everything. It doesn’t have a lot of blood and gore in it, but this proves that you don’t always need those graphic elements to instill true terror. One word of caution: if you’re not a fan of snakes, they’re in here in all their creepy, slithery glory. For readers already familiar with Riley Sager, this is another knockout from him. For those who haven’t read his books, I guarantee that if you try this, you’ll immediately want to scoop up his others.

 

The Loop, by Jeremy Robert Johnson ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Bullying, Diversity, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 29th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: Stranger Things meets World War Z in this heart-racing conspiracy thriller as a lonely young woman teams up with a group of fellow outcasts to survive the night in a town overcome by a science experiment gone wrong.

Turner Falls is a small tourist town, nestled in the hills of western Oregon, the kind of town you escape to for vacation. When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenage children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.

The Loop isn’t simply a Stranger Things/World War Z knockoff. No. Jeremy Robert Johnson has taken the whole teen misfits and zombie tropes, and spun it into something completely unique. This upcoming sci-fi/horror throws in: biological warfare, government overreach, conspiracies, social stigmas, greed and hubris, depraved indifference, aliens… You name it, it’s in here. But instead of devolving into a mess like many stories with a multitude of ingredients, Johnson skillfully blends everything into a compelling narrative that will immediately draw you in from the very first page.

Lucy is at turns vulnerable, yet badass, and readers will root for her. While her backstory is tragic, she refuses to let it define her. Bucket and Brewer as her sidekicks, provide a bit of intermittent comic relief which is needed because the events that unfold mainly over one night are utterly brutal and difficult to read at times.

While the first 25% of the book is spent more on setting up the characters and their backgrounds, by no means is it boring. Thanks to the interesting personalities and snappy dialogue, this serves as a chance to connect with them before all hell breaks loose. The pace quickly kicks into a non-stop, pulse-pounding, frenetic sequence of events that makes it nearly impossible to put this down. I devoured this in just over two hours! The ending is no happily-ever-after, but it’s the only rational outcome.

The Loop is not going to be for everyone. It’s filled with graphic violence and a few scenes had me wincing. And not all the questions raised are answered. Rather, the author leaves a few things up to the reader’s imagination. Because of the savagely gory nature of this tale, I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of sixteen. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of hardcore sci-fi horror, like Stephen King’s The Cell, and things like the Alien movies don’t faze you, I HIGHLY recommend The Loop. Just don’t expect to be able to sleep immediately after you finish!

 

The Sullivan Sisters, by Kathryn Ormsbee ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Diversity, Dysfunctional Families, LGBTQ, Mystery, Substance Abuse, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 26th, 2020

384 Pages

Synopsis: Time changes things.

That painful fact of life couldn’t be truer for the Sullivan sisters. Once, they used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket castles. Now, life inside the Sullivan house means closed doors and secrets left untold.

Fourteen-year-old Murphy, an aspiring magician, is shocked by the death of Siegfried, her pet turtle. Seventeen-year-old Claire, is bound for better things than her Oregonian hometown—until she receives a crushing rejection from her dream college. And eighteen-year-old Eileen is nursing a growing addiction in the wake of life-altering news.

Then, days before Christmas, a letter arrives, informing the sisters of a dead uncle and an inheritance they knew nothing about. The news forces them to band together in the face of a sinister family mystery…and, possibly, murder.

Coming from a dysfunctional family, I love reading about other’s family woes, and The Sullivan Sisters is a well written combination of one such family and a mystery that will bring them together, or tear them apart.

Each sister’s narrative helps bring them to life and instill a certain amount of sympathy for what each of them has gone through. I do have to say that I thought the story itself was slightly predictable and could have used some more twists and action, but I kept reading because I connected with the sisters.

Overall, I quite enjoyed The Sullivan Sisters. Kathryn Ormsbee, did a wonderful job capturing the voices of each sister, and while I wasn’t surprised by the outcome at the end, it was still an interesting journey getting there. This is the first book I’ve read by the author, but I’ll definitely be looking for future books by her.

 

Little Creeping Things, by Chelsea Ichaso~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 2nd, 2020

352 Pages

Synopsis: When she was a child, Cassidy Pratt accidentally started a fire that killed her neighbor. She’s pretty sure she didn’t mean to do it, and she’d give anything to forget that awful day. But her town’s bullies, particularly the cruel and beautiful Melody Davenport, have never let her live it down. In Melody’s eyes, Cassidy is a murderer and always will be.

Then Melody goes missing, and Cassidy thinks she may have information about what happened. She knows she should go to the cops, but she recently joked about how much she’d like to get rid of Melody. She even planned the perfect way to do it. And then she gets a chilling text from an unknown number: “I’m so glad we’re in this together.“

Now it’s up to Cassidy to figure out what’s really going on before the truth behind Melody’s disappearance sets the whole town ablaze.

The disturbing cover and title are what first attracted me to this debut by Chelsea Ichaso, and I’m happy to say the story was an enjoyable mystery that I easily breezed through.

The teen angst and romantic drama are the weakest part of the story, and whenever I hit one of these passages I found myself itching to get back to the main storyline. Thankfully these aren’t numerous enough to become a major distraction.

Cassidy is the quintessential unreliable narrator, and her backstory kept me guessing as did her present day motivations and questionable intentions. By the halfway point of the story I had narrowed my suspects down to two individuals, and ultimately one of them turned out to be the villain. My major complaint about the big reveal is that there’s not enough information regarding the why of it all. I’m one of those who don’t ascribe to the notion of someone just being evil. I want to know everything that went into shaping the person they become, and in this case I was left slightly unsatisfied. That said, I think most readers will be just fine with this.

While elements of Little Creeping Things aren’t the most original, and there are some moments of predictability, these are not enough to spoil what is overall an intriguing and well-woven mystery. I unhesitatingly recommend this to readers who are looking for a compelling YA mystery that’s a quick read.

 

 

 

Ghostland, by Duncan Ralston ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

414 Pages

Synopsis: After a near death experience caused by the park’s star haunted attraction, Ben has come to Ghostland seeking to reconnect with his former best friend Lilian, whose post-traumatic stress won’t let her live life to the fullest. She’s come at the insistence of her therapist, Dr. Allison Wexler, who tags along out of professional curiosity, eager to study the new tech’s psychological effect on the user.

But when a computer virus sets the ghosts free and the park goes into lockdown, the trio find themselves trapped in an endless nightmare.

With time running short and the dead quickly outnumbering the living, the survivors must tap into their knowledge of horror and video games to escape…or become Ghostland’s newest exhibits.

Ghostland is a wild and crazy thrill ride that’s most definitely not for the faint of heart! This is no Disney’s Haunted Mansion. No, these ghost commit bloody, gory mayhem with gleeful abandonment, and no one is safe from them, not even infants and children.

The opening scene is one of the best ones I’ve read in a long time. A creepy house moving slowly through the streets of a small town, at first glance, seemingly on its own. That we discover that it’s on wheels and being taken to a planned haunted theme park, is small comfort. The story then picks up a few years later with now eighteen-year-old Ben and Lil once close friends, now worlds apart because of Ben’s close brush with death. They both have their reasons for visiting Ghostland and while they begin the day as near strangers, they are soon united in their determination to make it out of the park alive.

I loved Ben immediately, but it took me awhile to warm up to Lil. I found her treatment of Ben puzzling and abhorrent, but as more is revealed about his near death, I understood her more and eventually wound up emphasizing with her. The rest of the characters are fairly one-dimensional, but this doesn’t really detract from the story that much. It’s Ben and Lil that you become invested in and root for, the others are mostly just fodder for the murderous ghosts.

The world building with its mix of technology and the paranormal is visually stunning and sucked me right into the terrifying theme park. The ebook is cleverly interactive which further fleshes out Ralston’s imaginative world. The pacing is insanely fast and despite this being over 400 pages long, I easily finished it in two sittings.

At the end of the book the author talks about what inspired him to write Ghostland, and how this is just the beginning, which pleases me immensely because the ending has me wanting more. While the two main protagonists are teens, this is definitely not a YA novel, and Ghostland, with all its blood and gore isn’t going to be for everyone. But for horror fans who don’t mind decapitations and loss of body parts, disembowelments, and other assorted disgusting chaos, you should definitely give this a try. I cannot wait to see where Duncan Ralston takes his creation next!

 

Hunting November (Killing November #2), Adriana Mather ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adventure, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Secret Societies, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 5th, 2020

368 Pages

Synopsis: Surviving a few weeks at the world’s most lethal boarding school was one thing. But now comes the real test: Can November Adley find her missing father before her enemies find her? Subterfuge is the name of the game in this thrilling sequel to Killing November, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Hang a Witch.

After surviving a crash course in espionage at the mysterious Academy Absconditi, November only has one purpose: finding her missing father. Along with fellow student (and heartthrob) Ash, November follows the clues that her father left, embarking on the deadliest treasure hunt of her life. The first clue is in her hometown, where old friends beckon and unexpected enemies lurk around every corner. The second clue is in Europe, where revelations about her family history will plunge her into an international web of deception, lies, and intrigue. The third clue is deep in enemy territory surrounded by skilled assassins and master strategists, and where everyone wants her and her father dead. Can one girl with limited training infiltrate a centuries-old organization that is powerful enough to topple empires? November only knows she’ll do whatever it takes to save her father…or die trying.

Hunting November picks up exactly where Killing November left off, and while it moved away from the sinister boarding school for assassins-to-be, it lost none of the thrills and chills that made the previous book so much fun.

Having left the insular world of the Academy Absconditi, November and Ash hopscotch across Europe, desperately trying to find her father before the mysterious and sinister assassin known only as the Ferryman, does. Aided only by the cryptic clues left for her by her father, November is taken for a trip down memory lane as each clue is tied to a specific childhood memory. This was one my favorite parts of the book as you got to see November and her father’s close bond as it developed through the years. It was emotional and very touching. The scenes from the past were so beautifully woven in by Mather that they added this lovely undercurrent to the story. While this is contemporary fiction, the way the Strategia interact with each other and do business plays out like it was in the distant past. Their weapons of choice are knives, poison, and blow darts, and because of this and the settings which seem almost like old world Europe, I spent half my time reminding myself this wasn’t the 1800s.

The only reason why I’m not giving this a perfect 5 star rating is because I thought the ending was a little rushed, especially in terms of the Strategia families and their connections. I believe this is going to only be a duology, which is a shame because there’s a lot more to explore here. Overall though, I HIGHLY recommend both Killing November and Hunting November to anyone who loves spy/secret society novels with plenty of excitement and adventure!