Review: Double Vision: The Alias Men by F.T. Bradley

Title:Double Vision: The Alias Men
Author: F.T. Bradley
Source/Format: Author, Hardcover
Age Range: Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: HarperCollins, October 14, 2014

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     Double Vision: The Alias Men by F.T. Bradley is probably one of the best spy novels I’ve read, and easily one of my favorite books this year. Linc was back again for another adventure centered on the latest mission Pandora has assigned him. There was no lack of danger and suspense as they worked against a tight deadline that had me flipping the pages as fast as I could read them.

     Lincoln Baker (Linc) was back to his old antics, getting into some trouble, but mostly he had grown as a character across the trilogy. Benjamin Green (Ben) was back as well and as usual he was stiff and all about following the rules. Sometimes he was too in-the-box, rather than thinking outside of it. But having both Linc and Ben interact with one another is a part of what makes the Double Vision series great. I mean, how would you feel if you had to deal with a lookalike? Oh, and Henry, the tech guy was back. I love Henry and his gadgets! As always, Henry had an assortment of cool and useful gadgets for Linc to use. And Agent Stark, I liked how more of her past was finally revealed. Linc’s family was great as well—especially the grandfather.

     The plot begins as they all do: with Pandora contacting Linc with a new mission. So really, this book picked up right where the last left off. It seemed so straight forward at first—so easy—but alas that was not to be. Things weren’t easy for Linc—this Dangerous Double case was a complicated one. There were all sorts of twists that had me believing that I knew who the culprit was, but the ending was unpredictable—my assumptions were wrong. I like it when books surprise me, and Double Vision: The Alias Men had no shortage of surprises. There was an equal mix of action, humor, and a well-developed plot that kept me reading till the end. My only wish is that I hadn’t read it so quickly. I love this series and I’m sad to see it end, but the ending was awesome and wrapped things up nicely. All in all, this was a fantastic end to the trilogy.

This copy was provided by the author for review, thank you!
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Falling into Fall {#3}

     This one is going to be sort of short.  Anyway, welcome to the third post for Falling into Fall.  This time I'm going to briefly discuss movies.  Part of what I do during fall is watch certain reruns of movies/TV shows that I will always love.  One of them would be Hocus Pocus, it's one of my all time favorite witch movies, and I watch it at least once a year.  Another one is The Nightmare before Christmas.  I always like the whimsical style of Tim Burton's animated films.  So it shouldn't be hard to guess that another one of my favorite movies is The Corpse Bride. I really like the story of that one, and the animation. (I'm I sucker for animated things.) Here's a classic one...or two: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown & A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I will always like the Charlie Brown specials, because...well just because.  And Casper (1995), I love this movie, end of discussion.

     As you can see, I tend to like festive movies and TV shows, especially the ones that come on every year. Well that's basically it, but check back Thursday November 13 for the next Falling into Fall post. Question: What are some of your favorite fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving movies/TV shows?

*All post links can be found on the Features Page

 
   

Falling into Fall {Extras}

     The Falling into Fall Extras edition. Dun, dun, dun.  No, actually its just a post I'll occasionally put up between other Falling into Fall dates. Where things that didn't make it into the main post or were just overlooked end up.  Since the last post was all about food here are two more recipes I forgot about. So here they are:

Parmesan Potato Wedges @ Tablespoon, Recipe by Girl Who Ate Everything Seriously, this is my favorite recipe for oven baked fries.  I had these yesterday and they were delicious. I highly recommend this recipe & its supper simple.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars @Averie Cooks I love this recipe, its another easy one to make, and equally delicious.

Cinnamon Sugar Candied Nuts Trail Mix @Averie Cooks While I don't make the entire trail mix, I certainly used the candied nut recipe.

     So that's basically it. Don't forget to check back this Thursday for the next Falling into Fall post!

Review: Crystal Fire by Jordan Dane

Title: Crystal Fire
Author: Jordan Dane
Source/Formate: won, paperback
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Harlequin Teen, November 26, 2013

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     I had reservations about Crystal Fire by Jordan Dane since I was unfamiliar with the author. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I rather enjoyed this book, and would consider picking up its predecessor Indigo Awakening. The concept of the story was fascinating with its take on psychics, and paired with writing that flowed nicely with a good pace. Crystal Fire ended up being a quick read. As I said, the writing—third person—had a nice flow to it with descriptions that helped me visualize the setting and major events. The characters were developed with backstories that shaped who they were.  With plausible worries, and emotions that made them seem more real. Their bonds with one another played out in a spectacular fashion that only served to enhance the story. One part that I found hilarious was the way the main characters decided to deal with one of the villains, and for some reason I just couldn’t stop laughing at it—it was so sudden that it was almost ridiculous. It was one of the most…um colorful endings to a villain that I’ve ever read. I’m not going to specify on what happened exactly, but it was funny. Since I’m unfamiliar with the series I was left wondering how certain things and characters got to where they were. But the story was easy to get into once I got past my initial confusion as more details were revealed over the course of the book. The plot and the concept were well-developed with a satisfying ending. All in all, Crystal Fire surprised me in a good way, and I will definitely check out other works by Jordan Dane.

Falling into Fall {#2}

     Welcome to the second Falling into Fall post. Food, that’s right, I’m here to talk about food today which has nothing at all to do with books. Unless, of course, I was talking about cookbooks which I’m not so they don’t really apply. Anyway I’m just going to move on. One of my main goals this year is to make more candy/desserts/food. I’ve seen plenty of recipes floating around with simple explanations on how to make some of my favorite treats/dishes. I’m going to leave a few links so if you want to try some of them as well.

Homemade Reeses Peanut Butter Cups @Lauras Sweet Spot This is a different recipe than what I used last time.  But I have made peanut butter cups before, and they were delicious. So I want to try them again with this recipe.

Homemade Butterfinger Eggs (only 3-ingredients) @Raining Hot Coupons   This is just one of the many recipes I really want to make.

Homemade Twix Bars @And They Cooked Happily Ever After There are just so many things I want to make, and this is another one of them.

Chocolate covered pretzels…does this one really need a recipe? I think it’s pretty straight forward.

Dark Chocolate Nutella Brownies @ CookiesCakesPiesOhMy  This is the typical recipe I use for brownies, the texture is always good, and I’ve used it multiple times with different swrils—i.e. Nutella, peanut butter…sometimes both. I’ve also doubled the recipe to make a larger pan (Also had to cook it a little longer) and used just normal cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate.

French Bread Rolls to Die for Posted @Allrecipes.com by JOCATLIN Oh gosh, what should I even say about these easy French rolls?  Well for one, forget buying them, this recipe is awesome. And yes, I’ve tried these before and they were marvelous.

Cranberry Shortbread Bars @ Joy of Baking I have made this with canned cranberry sauce—shortcut—with jellied and at another time with whole berry. Both turned out to be delicious and I look forward to making this again.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili @The Girl Who Ate Everything  CHICKEN QUINOA CHILI, that’s all I’ve got to say on it. I haven't tried it, but it looks delicious.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili @True Life Kitchen I’ve had this one before and let me just say that it was delicious and I want more. With the colder weather coming this is the perfect dish.

Cheerio Muddy Buddies a.k.a. Puppy Chow @This Little Light Blog Actually, I tried this one just this morning and it was awesome—and I had to include the link on this post—so if you like Muddy Buddies then I definitely recommend trying this recipe.

    Out of all of those links I have yet to mention anything pumpkin...oops. Well here's one...ok two before I wrap up this post. Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake @Sally's Baking Addiction & Pumpkin Waffles @Kitchen Meets Girl So that's all, check back on October 30 for the next Falling into Fall post. Question: what are some of your favorite fall desserts/dishes?