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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Three Days to Forever (A Mac Faraday Mystery) by Lauren Carr : A Review



Book Details:
Book Title  Three Days to Forever (A Mac Faraday Mystery)
by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult fiction, 438 pages
Genre:  Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  January 2015
Book Description:  
          In this latest Mac Faraday Mystery from best-selling mystery author Lauren Carr, readers will embark on a rollercoaster adventure with old friends (including the Lovers in Crime team of Prosecutor Joshua Thornton and Homicide Detective Cameron Gates), but also meet new ones as Mac Faraday’s daughter Jessica Faraday and Joshua Thornton’s son Murphy Thornton join the team in the race to get the love birds to the altar!

          With three days left to the year, Deep Creek Lake is hopping with holiday vacationers and wedding guests pouring into the Spencer Inn for Mac Faraday and Archie Monday’s huge wedding ceremony which is being touted as the social event of the year.
          But droopy flowers and guests who failed to RSVP are the least of Mac’s and Archie’s problems when a professional hit squad hits Spencer Manor to send the groom, Joshua Thornton, Archie’s mother, and Gnarly running for their lives.

          With time running out to the big day, Mac Faraday and Spencer’s small police force have to sort through the clues to figure out not only who has been targeted for assassination, but also who is determined to stop everything … FOREVER!
Book Review:
          The hardest part of reading a book somewhere from the middle of a series is getting a connection with the characters. It is hard to suddenly get friendly with all your co passengers if you got on board at the most recent stop. Somehow feeling left out, slightly out of place without having prior idea of the characters is every reader’s bane. But the same journey can turn memorable and close to heart if the co passengers (or the author, in this case) are so relatable and normal and friendly. Three days to forever, thankfully, falls in this category – especially if you constantly remind yourself that the book is the ninth in a series and let go off some abstract character definitions without delving too deep.
          A politically manipulated military operation murder – a wedding – inherited millions – old feuds cropping up – oh, this book has every imaginable plot device. The beginning is in an arid desert, a covert military operation to take down terrorists. High command denies giving the go ahead to the local Major, a commandant offers to take the blame. And from there, the ride goes uphill.
          The story need not be analysed in detail. This is one of those books that need to be read cover to cover to actually enjoy every nuance. Mac and Archie are getting married. It was to be the wedding of the year with his children, colleagues and prominent members attending. But disaster strikes. An old feud crops up and a plot to assassinate the wedding guests gets underway. No one has any idea as to why they are being attacked.
          The whole story is laced with good writing that keeps the reader encouraged to turn the pages. There is a lurking feeling of another danger just around the corner. The plot seems a little generalised, like a formulaic one for a political thriller. But the writing makes it enjoyable. So that could be let go as a necessity for a racy story of political intrigue and of course, the quintessential deaths in almost every chapter.
          The characters – are far too many. Maybe because I am reading a ninth book of a series, or maybe that is how this book actually is, I had a really hard time following the characters. I really do have to thank the author for that short character sketch at the beginning of the book. Some characters are not even memorable, while some I thought were not important left a lasting impact.
          From the women’s murder club series of books by James Patterson, to the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver, I have seen police thrillers written and successful as series. Most often, the main characters appear in every book while there are few book specific characters. Though I started reading each of the above mentioned series books from some book in the middle, I was able to follow who was who in the scheme of things. Maybe that is my incentive to read other works of this author.
          After all, I really did love the language and of course, the way it was written. The dry humour, the antics of the dog, the lead characters – I loved most of the book. It is time to read other works by Lauren Carr.
Meet the author:  

          Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Open Season for Murder is the tenth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series.
          In addition to her series set on Deep Creek Lake, Lauren Carr has also written the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, which features prosecutor Joshua Thornton with homicide detective Cameron Gates, who were introduced in Shades of Murder, the third book in the Mac Faraday Mysteries. They also make an appearance in The Lady Who Cried Murder.
          Three Days to Forever introduced Lauren Carr’s latest series detectives, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Look for Kill and Run, the first installment in this series, to be released September 1, 2015.
          The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. Visit Acorn Book Services’ website for more information.
          Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
          She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
PRICE: $0.93 for Kindle, $14.94 for Paperback


1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for the excellent review of THREE DAYS TO FOREVER! I am so glad you enjoyed this ninth Mac Faraday Mystery and will be looking for my other books. I am sure your followers will enjoy them as well. See you next time!

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