Ben Rehder

[Mike Burke]

Nyssa, I finished up buying and reading all four of the Roy Ballard series.
I think that many of our reservations about the first book in the series
still applied in the later books, but I found them less annoying as I
became more used to the characters. I wouldn't buy any of these books in
hard copy, but I think they are value for Kindle eBook money.

The best parts are the plots which kept me reading, although diff'rent
strokes for diff'rent folks obviously applies. The most irritating
features for me are a strong sense that there is too much irrelevant
padding, and my own personal prejudice against first person narratives
based on wise-cracking smart-alecs.

Tolerable but not up to the standard of Blanco County which, incidentally,
features in a couple of the stories.

[Nyssa]

Post by Mike Burke
Nyssa, I finished up buying and reading all four of the
Roy Ballard series.
I think that many of our reservations about the first
book in the series
still applied in the later books, but I found them less
annoying as I
became more used to the characters. I wouldn't buy any of
these books in hard copy, but I think they are value for
Kindle eBook money.
The best parts are the plots which kept me reading,
although diff'rent
strokes for diff'rent folks obviously applies. The most
irritating features for me are a strong sense that there
is too much irrelevant padding, and my own personal
prejudice against first person narratives based on
wise-cracking smart-alecs.
Tolerable but not up to the standard of Blanco County
which, incidentally, features in a couple of the stories.

Thanks for taking one for the team, Mique.

I still have four books in the Blanco County series to
buy/read, so I'll be getting those once my book budget
can take the hit. No hardbacks for those, so I'll have
to buy the trade paperbacks which aren't discounted much
at all for used copies. I'll actually have to buy NEW.
<gasp!> I have a gift card for Barnes & Noble left over
from Christmas, but the last time I checked at one of
their brick & mortar stores, they had NO Ben Rehder books
at all in the mystery section. Unbelievable!

I tend to look for the very inexpensive used hard copies
if I'm going to have to actually spend money on a book
rather than spending on Kindle versions. When a used
hardback is cheaper than a Kindle version, it's an
easy choice.

If I see another of the Roy Ballard series for free
on the Kindle, I'll grab it, of course. Otherwise
I'll be filling in other series I'm reading with
"real" books. I'm currently juggling several other
series, so Roy will have to wait until I see an
inexpensive opportunity to fit him into the queue.

I just ordered another three books in the Knitting
Mystery series, all hardbacks, and all much less
costly than the Kindle versions. Plus if I decide to
weed out my book pile, I can trade them via
paperbackswap.com which you can't do with a Kindle
version. And I can easily lend them to a neighbor
without going through Amazon's "Mother, may I?" mode
of lending and isn't a one-time-only loan.

Meanwhile, I finished "The First Suitor" (a Kindle
book I got for free) by Robert James Allison that
I didn't realize was the first in a series where I
had already read #2. NSA computer geek meets the
president's daughter in the line of duty. Computer
disasters and romance ensues.

Not a mystery and only an inkling of a thriller.

The second book, "Failed Succession" had much more
action than the first one did. I gave it three stars
in my review mostly because of the technical stuff
described as part of the plot. The basic plot was
fine, but most of the computer stuff is laughable.
It would sound impressive to readers who have little
knowledge of the innards of computers, but to anyone
with experience in the field (such as moi), it falls
apart. This was more of the thriller type with a
chunk of mystery as to who was behind the big plot.
Read my review for more details and tech complaints.

Hmm, while refreshing my memory about the title of the
second book, I noticed that the author has another
book, "Fairway Fatality" free for the Kindle version.
Being a Free Kindle Book Hoarder, of course, I grabbed
it. Will report back whenever it floats to the top
of my virtual TBR pile.

Nyssa, who will be starting yet another book tonight
once she manages to figure out which book it will be

[Titus G]

Post by Mike Burke
Nyssa, I finished up buying and reading all four of the Roy Ballard series.
I think that many of our reservations about the first book in the series
still applied in the later books, but I found them less annoying as I
became more used to the characters. I wouldn't buy any of these books in
hard copy, but I think they are value for Kindle eBook money.
The best parts are the plots which kept me reading, although diff'rent
strokes for diff'rent folks obviously applies. The most irritating
features for me are a strong sense that there is too much irrelevant
padding, and my own personal prejudice against first person narratives
based on wise-cracking smart-alecs.
Tolerable but not up to the standard of Blanco County which, incidentally,
features in a couple of the stories.

I am about half way through my first Ben Rehder novel, Buck Fever, which
has stereotyped characters from a Walt Disney brainwasher with good
people, stupid bad people and clever bad people strongly hinting at a
standard predictable plot but his frequent change of perspective keeps
the story moving at an enjoyable pace. More new characters and the
consequent story pause for background exposition are still being
frequently introduced but I am enjoying, and my attention is being held,
by his writing style (though perhaps the chapters are too short), and am
looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Some of the smart-alec
wise-cracking puts a smile on my face.

"Now, I'm gonna count to five, and you better tell me where it is so I
won't have to get nasty.”

“You really think you can do it?”.

“Find it?”

“No, count to five.”

As a Branco County Mystery, I am wondering if many of these characters
appear in other Branco County Mysteries? But, please don't answer if
spoilers are involved.

[Nyssa]

Post by Titus G

Post by Mike Burke
Nyssa, I finished up buying and reading all four of the
Roy Ballard series.
I think that many of our reservations about the first
book in the series
still applied in the later books, but I found them less
annoying as I
became more used to the characters. I wouldn't buy any
of these books in hard copy, but I think they are value
for Kindle eBook money.
The best parts are the plots which kept me reading,
although diff'rent
strokes for diff'rent folks obviously applies. The most
irritating features for me are a strong sense that there
is too much irrelevant padding, and my own personal
prejudice against first person narratives based on
wise-cracking smart-alecs.
Tolerable but not up to the standard of Blanco County
which, incidentally, features in a couple of the stories.

I am about half way through my first Ben Rehder novel,
Buck Fever, which has stereotyped characters from a Walt
Disney brainwasher with good people, stupid bad people and
clever bad people strongly hinting at a standard
predictable plot but his frequent change of perspective
keeps the story moving at an enjoyable pace. More new
characters and the consequent story pause for background
exposition are still being frequently introduced but I am
enjoying, and my attention is being held, by his writing
style (though perhaps the chapters are too short), and am
looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Some of
the smart-alec wise-cracking puts a smile on my face.
"Now, I'm gonna count to five, and you better tell me
where it is so I won't have to get nasty.?
?You really think you can do it??.
?Find it??
?No, count to five.?
As a Branco County Mystery, I am wondering if many of
these characters appear in other Branco County Mysteries?
But, please don't answer if spoilers are involved.

The Blanco County series does have many recurring characters
including my favorite good ole boys, Red and Billy Don, plus
the crew in the sheriff's office.

I still have four to go, but with six books in the Knitting
Mystery series inbound to my post office box, I'll probably
binge on those and hold off on the Blancos for a month or
so.

The contrast between the quality and complexity of the
Blanco County mysteries to the Roy Ballard ones is
stunning. Except for the smart-ass factor, they seem
to be written by two different authors, or at least a
long time gap between the writing of them.

I've also read Rehder's "The Driving Lesson." Not a mystery,
but I enjoyed it. It's more of a coming of age book plus
a subtle lesson in the right to die issue as a teenager
and his grandfather go on a long drive from Texas to
Seattle while dodging "well-meaning" officials who try
to track them down.

Nyssa, who has not been writing reviews recently and these
posts she's making seem to be telling her she might want
to spend some time doing so to catch up on her recent (and
not-so-recent) books that have been read