Xepherus Reads

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,      Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is J.K. Rowling's third book in her young adult fantasy series. In this installment, Harry is at his wit's end at Privet Drive. During an altercation with the Dursleys, Harry uses his magic. Fearing that he is in trouble for using his abilities outside of school, Harry flees Privet Drive with his belongings. Soon he is wandering the streets and ends up face-to-face with The Knight Bus, a designated transport for witches and wizards that scoops up Harry and he is off to Diagon Alley.  Staying at an inn, he prepares himself for his next semester at Hogwarts. While at the inn he hears more news on escaped-wizard-gone-bad, Sirius Black. After leaving Azkaban it is believed that he is after Harry to finish what Lord Voldemort had tried to do those many years ago.    Under th...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    Psycho was written by Robert Bloch in the late 1950s. It is currently published by the Overlook Press, an imprint of Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. In it, we are introduced to Mary Crane.  She works for Mr. Lowery five days a week, watching him get filthy rich off his real estate clients, something of which she is tired of.  One of Mr. Lowery's clients is looking to buy a home for his daughter as a gift. He flashes forty thousand dollars about as if it is nothing and gives it to Lowery. Afraid to have that amount of cash in the office over the weekend, he hands it to Mary and asks her to run it to the bank. She takes the envelope and agrees to go on an errand to deposit the money. After she wishes to go home because she is not feeling well. He lets her take the remaining part of the day off. Hours later Mary is home packing a bag. Her distaste for Lowery and his clients fuels a crazy plan: steal the money, assume a n...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       Fear Nothing is written by Lisa Gardner, and it is the 7th book in her best-selling series featuring Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren. We are quickly pulled into a grisly case that appears to be the work of a serial murderer, dubbed the Rose Killer. This macabre psychopath is leaving almost pristine crime scenes even though his (or her) victims are flayed postmortem. This is very similar to what notorious killer, Harry Day, did to his victims forty years prior. Harry is survived by his daughter Shana Day, a famous murderer in her own right, and her psychiatrist sister, Dr. Adeline Glen.    Detective D.D. Warren is on an extended leave of absence after an on-the-job accident.  Dr. Glen is recommended to Warren as the psychiatrist that can help D.D. regain some of her sanity.  Soon the Rose Killer is connected to Harry Day's past crimes, making Adeline more than a doctor to Warren. She is a walki...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       Takedown Twenty is the twenty-fourth novel in Janet Evanovich's bestselling Stephanie Plum series. Published by Penguin-Random House under their Bantam imprint, Takedown Twenty pits Stephanie Plum against everyone's favorite Mafioso, Salvatore Sunucchi, who just happens to be godfather to Stephanie's boyfriend, Joe Morelli.     And of course, the Failure to Appear folders are not getting any smaller. This also sends Stephanie on the hunt for Mary Treetrunk (a pot-growing dealer who always smells of dead fish) and Antwan Brown (a 19-year-old wanted for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon). This is my favorite part of the series. Stephanie's skips always are entertaining to read about, and sometimes provide her with some needed help. In this book, they add to the frenzy of near-misses for Stephanie since Uncle Sunny not only is protected by Grandma Bella, but also by a shotgun-toting girlfrien...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,     The deadly campground. It has been the basis for many of the 1980s' most iconic horror classics. There is something about the innocence of a camp being used to house an evil killer or demonic force that strikes fear in the hearts of movie-goers. What if this actually happened? What would I do?   The Last Time I Lied is written by Riley Sager, and it is published by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. In it, we are introduced to thirteen-year-old Emma Davis. Emma is the product of a neglectful father and an alcoholic mother. All she wants to do is spend the Summer with her friends. Her mother surprises Emma with the news that she will be attending Camp Nightingale.    Life at the camp is eye-opening for Emma. The calculating and often cold teenagers have their enemies and followers. Camp owner  Francesca Harris-White 's sons, ten-year-old Chet and nineteen-year-old Theo add to the under...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,     Crime thrillers have always been a favorite genre of mine. I love to pick up suspenseful novels and settle into the experience. While I was searching for a new book to add to my reading in 2019, I noticed that Dean Koontz was featuring a short work with his character Jane Hawk for free on audiobook. I could not resist. It was the beginning of a reading obsession as I began the Jane Hawk series.    The Bone Farm is written by Dean Koontz, and acts as a prelude to his Jane Hawk series of books. It is presented on audiobook by Brilliance Audio and is read by Elisabeth Rodgers and James Anderson Foster. In it, we go back in time two years to Jane Hawk's earlier days in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She and her partner, Gary Burkett, are on the trail of a serial killer known as the Mother Hater. With each abduction of women the Mother Hater sends photos of the kidnapped girls to their mothers in various sta...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    Welcome to the first Star Wars review. I will be sharing Wednesday between this, Top 5, and Cozy Mystery reviews.    I am a huge fan of Star Wars, which gave me the idea to share some of my favorite Star Wars Universe reads with you. First up, one of my favorites.        Star Wars: Lost Stars is written by Claudia Gray and published by Lucasfilm Publishing. In this galaxy-hopping novel, we see the story of the beginnings of the Rebellion to the formation of the New Republic through the eyes of two characters, Thane Kyrell, and Ciena Ree. They  meet as children after the formation of the Empire on the mountain planet of Jelucan. They become friends as they bond over their love of flying and Imperial ships over the years. Years pass and they are approached by Grand Moff Tarkin, who invites them aboard to check out his ship. After that, the now preteens decide to start training to fly tog...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is written by J.K. Rowling and is published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Books. Harry Potter is back at 4 Privet Drive with his miserable relatives, the Dursleys. They have locked up his wizarding gear, locked up Harry's owl Hedwig, and have continued the coddling of their nasty boy, Dudley. On the night of an important business dinner, Harry meets Dobby the house elf. He arrives in Harry's room warning him not to return to Hogwarts for his second year. He tells Harry that there is danger at the school and that he will do what needs to be done to keep the boy away.     Then one night at Harry's window the Weasley Brothers appear in a flying car to check up on Harry to see why he has not answered their correspondence. With the help of his friends, Harry narrowly escapes the Dursley household. The quartet of...

     Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    Disturbed is published by Thomas and Mercer, an Amazon imprint. In this novel, we are introduced to a diabolical tale of terror. One early morning, on All Saints Day in 2010, Detective Robert Lang discovered a grisly scene. Two female Springfield College students lie dead in their apartment, butchered to death. While in the bathroom of the apartment sits their roommate, Chelsea Dutton; bloodied, dazed, and confused. On the bathroom mirror, written in red marker, are the words: YOU MADE ME. The only other person left at the party was Chelsea's new beau, Ethan. His friend, Boyd, had also attended but had to leave early to go to work that evening delivering pizzas. In the aftermath, Ethan had disappeared and remained the only suspect.   Nearly five years later Chelsea has made a name for herself as a Medical Transcriber. After years of therapy and recovery, she lives with the fractured memories of the night of...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,     My  eBay Store  is on sale! Shop  Comic-Con exclusives  and bid on some fantastic comics, starting at $2.   I also have  Dollar Bins at $1, $2, and $3 . Special BOGO deals every week! Also, Music CDs are BOGO! Head to my store and see what treasures you can purchase for low prices.    All proceeds go to publishing my  debut novel .   And as always, let me know in the comments below what you are reading.        Also please follow me on my  social media platforms  and enjoy shopping with me at eBay, Mercari (coming soon), Pango Books, and Redbubble (original artwork).      SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS AT LINKTREE    Because there is always time to read,   Xepherus3  All written content and Top Logo (c) Copyright 2023 by Thomas Bahr II

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    My  Pango Book store  is on sale! Save $5 off of $30 when you shop for gifts for loved ones or your TBR.  Head to my store and see what treasures you can purchase for low prices.    All proceeds go to publishing my  debut novel .   And as always, let me know in the comments below what you are reading.        Also please follow me on my  social media platforms  and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and Mercari.      SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS AT LINKTREE    Because there is always time to read,   Xepherus3  All written content and Top Logo (c) Copyright 2023 by Thomas Bahr II