Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic Review

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic 

Iain Reading

Rating (out of 5): 5

Genre: Young Adult Adventure/Mystery

Release Date: February 16, 2014

Series: Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency
Series Number: 4

Profanity: Mild

Violence:Mild

Sexual Content: None

Age Recommendation: 16 +
Book Website: http://kittyhawkworld.com/

About the Author:

Iain Reading is passionate about Root Beer, music, and writing. He is Canadian, but currently resides in the Netherlands working for the United Nations.

Iain has published 4 books in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series (Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold, Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost, Kitty Hawk and the Icelandic Intrigue, and Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic). He is currently working on the 5^th book in the series. For more information, go to http://www.kittyhawkworld.com/.  

Iain is also the author of The Wizards of Waterfire Series. The first book in the series The Guild of the Wizards of Waterfire was published in April 2014.

Connect with Iain on Twitter and Goodreads.

 Summary: 

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic is the thrillingly cryptic fourth installment of the exciting Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series featuring the intrepid teenage seaplane pilot Kitty Hawk and her various adventures of mystery and intrigue as she follows in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart on an epic flight around the world. This fourth book in the series brings Kitty to the emerald hills of Ireland where she meets a handsome stranger and is quickly swept up in a perplexing hundred-year-old family treasure hunt involving secret codes and puzzling clues that lead her on a fast-paced adventure that carries her from Dublin to London - from the decks of the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic to the temples of ancient Egypt and the streets of Jack the Ripper - until she finally unlocks the mystery and discovers the long-hidden treasure. Much like the earlier books in this series, Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic is a perfect book to fire the imaginations of armchair detectives of all ages. Filled with fascinating and highly Google-able locations and history the reader will find themselves immersed in brand new worlds that are brought to life before their very eyes as Kitty Hawk experiences the stories and history of a doomed ocean liner and unravels the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic.

Review:

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic is the first Kitty Hawk book that I’ve read. Even though it’s the fourth in the series I had no trouble getting into this book and falling in love with Kitty and the story.

At the start of the book Kitty Hawk finds herself in Ireland promoting  the sushi shop that is funding her adventure around the world. She is quickly swept up in a story of tragedy, mystery, and adventure when she is approached by the handsome Andrew after the promotion.  This adventure deals with the tragedy of the Titanic and I enjoyed all of the code-breaking, break-in's and general detectivness of the whole thing.

Kitty’s adventurous spirit and love for trivia drew me to her immediately and her tendency to over worry about situations made her feel very real to me since I tend to do the same thing. I also really liked Richard. His quest to find out the truth about his ancestor and his willingness to do anything to find out the truth impressed me. The other characters in the book were also all very enjoyable and each stood out in their own way. 

The trivia and code-breaking in this book really stood out to me. I found myself eagerly trying to figure out what each clue meant and I even took time out of reading to look over many of the detailed pictures in the story to try and figure out what the different symbols and numbers meant. I figured out a few of them while others had me as stumped as Kitty often found herself being. As for the trivia, I feel like I learned so much from this book, and not just trivia about the Titanic. I was treated to information on planes, Egyptian hieroglyphics, England’s history, and much more. I never felt like I was being lectured and I really enjoyed the bit after the story with further information on much of the trivia discussed in the book.

Overall I really enjoyed reading Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic and I'm eager to read more adventures with this spunky and fun character. This book would be great for any fans of mystery, history, adventure, and general fun.

Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest opinion which I have stated above. 

~Dawn 

 

The Heist Book Review

The Heist

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg 

Rating (out of 5): 4.5

Genre: Mystery Fiction 

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Series:Fox and O'Hare

Series Volume: 1

Profanity: Mild

Violence: Mild

Sexual Content: No sex

Age Recommendation: Adult

Author Website:

http://www.evanovich.com/
http://www.leegoldberg.com/

Summary (From Amazon):
Nicolas Fox is an international con man, famous for running elaborate scams on very rich and powerful people. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail for years—particularly FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare. But just when it seems that Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: He convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with O’Hare.

Their first assignment takes them to the side streets of Berlin, the California desert, and remote Indonesian islands as they team up to catch Derek Griffin, a corrupt investment banker charged with stealing millions from his clients. Finding Griffin on his private island is going to test O’Hare’s patience and Fox’s skill. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day’s work . . . if O’Hare and Fox don’t kill each other first.

Review:

This is my second Janet Evanovich book and I must say that I was much happier with this one than the first that I read by her. As for Lee Goldberg I love the series Monk so I figured I couldn't go wrong with him co-writing. I chose The Heist based on the fact that I'm a sucker for a good con and a coworker recommended it.

I was not disappointed. This book had me laughing from the get go and only let up long enough to allow me to fall for Nick and grow to like Kate enough to cheer her on.

Kate O’Hare is an ex-Navy SEAL turned FBI agent. She’s tougher than most men and eat just as much as them as well. She's take charge, but still somehow always manages to get food on her shirt. She's made it her mission to catch Nicolas Fox. Nick is a natural con man and the harder the con, the more enjoyment he gets out of it. When he's finally caught by Kate he manages to talk (or should I say con?) his way into working for the FBI instead of going to jail. He is teamed up with Kate and the two are sent off to catch the elusive Derek Griffin. The story is an lighthearted read and doesn't take too long to get through, but is still highly enjoyable. The con/heist isn't laid out in a 'wow I never would have figured that out' kind of way but explained as the book and characters pull it off and plan it. Though there were still plenty of clever moments that made me smile, especially during the first half of the book while Nick was pulling off a pretty funny heist.

The characters are funny and varied as Nick and Kate build their crew. The two most notable (and loveable) were the flamboyant actor Boyd Capwell and adrenaline junky Wilma Owens aka Willie. Boyd's acting had me in fits of laughter while Willie is just crazy enough to make you fall in love with her. Kate's father was by far my favorite additional character. After all, who won't love a dad who can kill a man 16 different ways with a pair of tweezers and who's idea of a care package includes very explosive toys. I really hope to see more of them in later books.

The story is fast paced and never gets very confusing. It is fairly simple and not too complicated, but a book as fun as this really doesn't need to be. The story has fun twists and turns while throwing the characters in crazy situations and pulling them out in ways just as insane.

I listened to this as an Audio book and really enjoyed Scott Brick's reading. His voice was pleasant and he pulled off a variety of different voices well, though he was not as varied as I've heard other people read. I was able to keep up with the story well and didn't get lost while listening.  

Over all this is a great fun read. If you need a quick easy laugh or if you enjoy a good heist pick up this book.

~Dawn

My review for the prequel short story The Shell Game can be found here

Layton Brothers: Mystery Room App Review

Layton Brothers: Mystery Room 

Series: Professor Layton (spin off)

Developer: LEVEL-5 & Matrix Software

Publisher: LEVEL-5

Platforms: iOS (4.3 and later)

Android (2.3.3 and later)

Price:

Intro and first 2 cases are free

Files 3-6 are $2.99

Files 7-9 are $1.99

In App Purchases: Case Files 3-9

Rating (out of 5): 4.5  

Summary (Wiki):

The game follows Lucy Baker, a beginning detective who is transferred to Scotland Yard. Here, she works under Alfendi Layton, son of the renowned Professor Hershel Layton. Together, they investigate crimes for Scotland Yard's "Mystery Room".

Review:

The Mystery Room is a spin off game of the Inspector Layton series. I haven’t played any of the other games so I have nothing to compare this one too, though from what I’ve seen it’s different from the other Layton games, but still a great deal of fun. For the I-phone the first 2 cases are free then you must purchase the rest of the cases in two separate bundles but end up totaling about $5 if you get them both. If you want to find out the story then you’ll have to buy both bundles and play all 9 levels of the game.

This game’s immersive mystery solving game play struck me as very unique. Most ‘mystery’ games I’ve played are hidden object or puzzle solving games and while I’ve enjoyed them I’ve always been partial to games that allow me to work to solve the mystery and this one did just that. It makes you think by laying out the crime scene and allowing you to move through it examining each piece of evidence and then asking you questions pertaining to said evidence. You work your way through witness statements and questioning sessions to eventually solve the crime and confront the suspect. 

I loved being able to work my way through the crime scene and form my own opinions on what had happened. Being able to go back to it and the witness statements was often helpful in answering the questions that led you to the criminal. I found myself having to really pay attention to witness statements and what the evidence was because when it came to the questioning sessions even the small details were important. The game allows you infinite guesses, but it’s still a lot of fun when you’ve figured out the answer the first try.  

The second thing that really hooked me about this game was it’s story line. This is actually what brought me back to the game. Originally I didn’t want to pay for the rest of the cases, no matter how fun they did turn out to be but the story is what kept bringing me back to want to play more, it sparked my curiosity and I wasn’t disappointed in the end after purchasing and playing through all the levels. The story follows Lucy Baker a new detective who is assigned to work with Alfendi Layton,( affectionately known as Al or Prof) in Scotland Yard’s special unit called the Mystery Room. As the game progresses you begin to find out that there is more to Al than you realize, and that he is not telling you quite everything about some of the cases you come up against. My curiosity as to who he really was and what had happened hooked me and caused me to play through level after level as the story began to grow and things started getting more interesting. 

The graphics were always clear and the game never glitched on me. The loading times were very short and never got in the way of my enjoying the game. The only thing that may bother you as a player is the way some of the characters talk. I always found their accents and ways of speaking interesting and sometimes humorous but on the review in Apple’s App store some people had complained about it and I felt compelled to warn anyone who may play it that yes many of the character’s have strong accents and speak funnily sometimes. If this bothers you then don’t play the game. If you think it may bother you but your not sure then play the free version and make your decision afterwards if you want to purchase the rest or not.

I really enjoyed the games music. It gave the game a definite feel of mystery and detective work and was fun. It really helped to pull me in as I was exploring , and especially when confronting the suspect.  

As I said earlier I wasn’t originally intending to purchase anything in this game but I ended up buying all 9 cases. For the price (around $5) it’s a good game. The game play was very enjoyable and for the unique experience the price wasn’t bad. If they made any more cases I would probably buy them as well. For me $5 for a full game is not bad, really I prefer paying for the game once (or twice in this case)instead of constantly having to dish out for in app purchases to keep me going. 

Overall I highly recommend this game if you have time to spare and enjoy solving mysteries. My only downside to the game is that I wish it were longer. 

Games I’ve found similar to this one: Nancy Drew PC games. 

~Dawn