My first Monkeewrench novel. This was the sixth book in the series. It was good, but not great. I didn't feel I lost much by not having read the previous books.

There are a lot of characters in the book but Tracy does a good job at pulling them altogether. I had figured out the story about 3/4 ways through but it didn't ruin the story.

My biggest complaint is Tracy left some unresolved issues, some unanswered questions.

I wanted to love this book. Heck, I wanted to like it. But the mother-daughter combo that makes up P.J. Tracy has let down its guard and instead of creating a riveting, innovative and original story, has churned out a 3 star "thriller" (I use that word loosely). This tale not only introduces us to new 2-dimensional characters which are also racially stereotypical but has taken the core group of characters we have come to love and made them predictable and boring.

I found it hard to keep going to the end. What a shame!

In the last Monkeewrench book, Grace MacBride sailed off with retired FBI agent John Smith, leaving her co-workers and Detective Leo Magozzi behind. Life on the water has changed Grace. She wears sundresses and sandals instead of leather and boots. She has finally learned how to truly relax and let her guard down - until she wakes up one night to find two men holding a knife to John's throat.

In Minneapolis, Magozzi and partner Gino Rolseth struggle to find the link between the recent murders of Somali men in a neighborhood known as Little Mogadishu, while pondering whether or not to rake the fall leaves.

Grace returns to the Monkeewrench crew, putting their computing power into finding out who targeted John and why. Their investigation dovetails with the Minneapolis PD cases, leading Leo and Gino to a secluded cabin on a Native American reservation.

The mother-daughter writing team of P.J. Tracy has created another high adrenaline page-turner. Not the best in the series for the lack of character development and a plot that becomes transparent to the reader long before Monkeewrench and Magozzi figure it out, but a diverting adventure with well-placed humor that raises some thought-provoking issues about fighting for one's country.

3.5*

I like these books for the quickness and ease of reading them. This novel was not as good as the others, for me, but it was okay. I still love the Monkeewrench gang and Margozzi and Gino. I'm hoping there's more to come in this series.

hmm, I got this fro review and didn't like it..but can't find the words to explain why yet. I will have to give it further thought..
ok..
I wasn’t aware before I started to read this book that it is actually the sixth book in a series following the activities of a group of software engineers called Monkeewrench. It isn’t necessary to have read the other books, however I did feel that there was a lot of history between some of the characters in this story that would have benefitted from a bit more explanation.
The book opens with an assassination attempt that is thwarted by the quick thinking of our heroine, Grace MacBride. The target of the attempt is a retired FBI agent. The question therefore is; who is trying to kill him and what has he done to deserve it? Has he been poking his nose into something instead of enjoying his retirement?
Far away in another part of the country a young girl is found dead;in the course of the day others are found,seemingly executed. The police are at a loss as to what is the connection between them, if any. And why do the victims have Hallowe’en circled on the calendar ?.As they begin to investigate, other homicides in different cities are discovered, which also seem to point to a Hallowe’en connection. But what is it, and what does it have to do with our retired FBI guy, now on the run in fear for his life.?

I don’t really want to say more about the plot , but I will say that I’m afraid I didn’t like this book much. I felt there were too many characters and not enough depth for my tastes. Perhaps this is where I suffered from not having read any of the earlier books.
Sadly it just all felt too formulaic. There was so much going on it was hard to get a handle on things at times, and the whole thing seemed rushed and shallow ,which is a shame because I quite liked Grace MacBride.
(And without giving too much away, please someone check out the proper use of the word ‘jihad’).
It just wasn’t for me I’m afraid..

I have missed the Monkeewrench crew! This was another fast-paced, thought provoking mystery in the series.

I love this series but this one was not as good as the previous ones. I am looking forward to many, many more in this series though and hoping the writers will continue.

One again the ladies have continued where the left off. Looking forward to the next booked recommended

hmm, I got this fro review and didn't like it..but can't find the words to explain why yet. I will have to give it further thought..
ok..
I wasn’t aware before I started to read this book that it is actually the sixth book in a series following the activities of a group of software engineers called Monkeewrench. It isn’t necessary to have read the other books, however I did feel that there was a lot of history between some of the characters in this story that would have benefitted from a bit more explanation.
The book opens with an assassination attempt that is thwarted by the quick thinking of our heroine, Grace MacBride. The target of the attempt is a retired FBI agent. The question therefore is; who is trying to kill him and what has he done to deserve it? Has he been poking his nose into something instead of enjoying his retirement?
Far away in another part of the country a young girl is found dead;in the course of the day others are found,seemingly executed. The police are at a loss as to what is the connection between them, if any. And why do the victims have Hallowe’en circled on the calendar ?.As they begin to investigate, other homicides in different cities are discovered, which also seem to point to a Hallowe’en connection. But what is it, and what does it have to do with our retired FBI guy, now on the run in fear for his life.?

I don’t really want to say more about the plot , but I will say that I’m afraid I didn’t like this book much. I felt there were too many characters and not enough depth for my tastes. Perhaps this is where I suffered from not having read any of the earlier books.
Sadly it just all felt too formulaic. There was so much going on it was hard to get a handle on things at times, and the whole thing seemed rushed and shallow ,which is a shame because I quite liked Grace MacBride.
(And without giving too much away, please someone check out the proper use of the word ‘jihad’).
It just wasn’t for me I’m afraid..