Locke and Key Vol. 3 Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill (Written), Gabriel Rodriguez (Artist), Jay Fotos (Colorist), Robbie Robbins (Letterer)

In the previous comic, Zach a new kid at school makes friends with Ty, but one of the teachers recognizes him as the kid who went missing years ago named Luke.  Zach is staying with his "Aunt" Emily who has a mentally challenged kid.  Her mind is being controlled by Zach through the use of one of those keys.  Duncan knows who Zach really is and knows he must warn Ty, but Zach gets to him first with a key that Bode has discovered that allows you to take out or put in anything into your brain.  Ty uses it to put inside his school books and Kinsey uses it to put all her fears and tears into a glass jar. It is also keeping her from being warned off of Zach.  Zach uses it to sneak off to where Duncan is teaching an art class in another city to take out his memories of Luke.  Zach also kills off the teacher who remembers him making it look like a suicide.

This comic focuses on Kinsey who kept her younger brother alive by going up onto the roof.   Now she has changed her appearance from the wild dreadlocked crazy clothes chick to a more conservative look that blends in and doesn't get noticed.  She joins the track and field and a girl there makes overtures of friendship and offers to go running with her in the morning but Kinsey shuts her down.  On top of that the man who was responsible for her father's death and for their moving into Key House has escaped prison and is heading right for them. 

Kinsey is a difficult character in that while she was able to do her sisterly duty and protect her brother she still feels guilty and to blame for what happened, hence the changing of the clothes and the hair.  She refuses to get close to anyone for fear of getting them in danger.   She lives in constant fear and she's worried about her younger brother.  I don't know that I would have liked her in her previous life but she's changed and learned something from the incident and I really feel for her now.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Locke-Key-Vol-Crown-Shadows/dp/1600109535/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3FA7P253UYFJF&dchild=1&keywords=locke+and+key+volume+3&qid=1590776816&sprefix=locke+an%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV1NUQjdCUklYNlE2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzQ3ODE1MVJOVVlGNVhJRTJVUiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjY3NTQ5T0VISVI3WVlMS1c1JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams

Set in the mountains of Virginia, this mystery series takes place at Storyton Hall an estate that was moved from England at some point and turned into a hotel for readers.  While they have activities to do there and a lively village to visit the main activity engaged in is reading and you can choose from the many books on site they have.  The owners are Octavia and Aloysius Steward.  Their grandniece, Jane, who has twin boys named Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and is a widow,  is the general manager;

Jane came up with the idea of a Murder and Mayhem week where guests would dress as their favorite detective and there would be different activities including a ball.  For the first activity a book entitled Lost Letters by Alice Hart that contains letters she found written by the famous mystery writer Adela Dundee, was given away for the treasure hunt.  Felix Hampden, the guest who came dressed exactly like her detective right down to his underwear, won the contest with the help of the twins.  Octavia collapsed and had a stroke due to her diabetes and told Jane that the wrong copy of the book had been given away. That her personal copy had been given away and must at all costs be gotten back.

That night she knocks on Felix's door but there is no answer so she puts it off till the morning.  But of course the housekeeper finds him dead in his room the next day.  The book is missing too.  The previous night two people had tried to buy the book from Felix.  And the staff can't be ruled out.  What was so special about that copy of that book that Octavia couldn't tell Jane that night?  Her uncle and aunt think that it's time she is made guardian of the hotel and all that that entails which is quite a lot and means holding some awfully big secrets and being able to physically defend it.

This book is what you would call a cozy mystery.  It was really good and kept me guessing all the way to the end.  Jame must find a way to cover up more than one murder in the hotel because she's worried the guests will all check out and never come back.  I liked Jane and can't wait to see how things progress between her and her best friend's brother, who is tall dark and mysterious.  Also, to see how her training is coming along.  I myself would love to stay at the Storyton Hotel. It sounds like this book lover's dream.  The next book will be Romance Writers Week and I look forward to what she does with that. I give this book five out of five stars

Quotes

You’re a librarian. To me that makes you a bigger hero than Saint George, Sir William Wallace, and all the Knights of the Round Table put together.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Mystery Suite p 6)

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

-Albert Einstein

Perfection cannot be rushed. It must be coaxed forth.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Mystery Suite p 49)

“You’re the best” “So my customers tell me. But I’d really like to hear those words spoken by a gorgeous single man.  One who reads, has impeccable manners, and can watch Masterpiece Theater without dozing off.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Mystery Suite p 69-70)

After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.

-Oscar Wilde

Once upon a time, I had a muffin top.  Seems like I’ve got the whole bakery now.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Mystery Suite p 115)

Motherhood provides a type of mental toughness that many a soldier fails to achieve.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Mystery Suite 158)

Listed on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mystery-Suite-Retreat-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00I3N5QT6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AS869E7734XO&dchild=1&keywords=murder+in+the+mystery+suite&qid=1590586295&sprefix=Murder+in+the+my%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1

  

Seine and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

In the previous book, Alina was a cartographer for the First Army and the man she had grown up with was a tracker.  They were assigned to the Fold with the First Army where nothing grows and volcra attack you and kill you.   Their skift gets attacked by the volcra and Mal saves Alica's life by shooting one of them then Mal gets hurt and Alina covers his body with hers and a bright light shines out.  It turns out that Alina is a Sun Summoner and that she would be able to heal the Fold and reunite Ravka. The Apparat, or religious leader, has taken to calling her Saint Alina and the people have taken to worshipping her.  The Darkling is in charge of the Second Army of Grisha and he takes Alina to the Little Palace to train but he wants her to have a special amplifier that comes from Morovo's stag, a mythical beast.  Soon, however, Alina becomes disenchanted with the Darkling, especially after talking to Bhangra his mother who says there has only been one Darkling and that he created the Fold. So she and Mal escape the palace and head toward the Zemeni frontier.

Since Alina isn't using her power she is weak again, though she insists on working in a Jurda factory.   Mal gets some work too and soon they'll have enough to disappear into the wilds of the country.  But before that can happen, the Darkling finds them and attacks them with dark monsters that cost him to create.  Alina cuts them down until they overtake her and one bites her.

They go back on a whaler ship captained by the famous privateer Sturmhond and his crew of secret Grisha.  The Darkling is keeping Mal alive not just to keep her in line but because he needs Mal's tracking abilities to find the Rusalye, the sea whip. Alina looks at the book the Apparat gave her had a picture of one of the saints that had the stag, the sea whip, and the firebird.  The Darkling wants het to wear all three when its been a common practice to only wear one amplifier.   On top of that Genya is there and it turns out that she has lied to her the whole time.  Genya was her only friend other than Mal and when Mal wasn't there she was a comfort.

Once the Rusalye is speared, Sturmhond makes his move with his other ship there he kidnaps Alina and Mal and takes the Rusalye for Alina to use.  He tells Alina she is free to go wherever she wants to go but first he wants her to meet someone and hear what he has to say.   If she doesn't like it he will take her anywhere but she should consider the fact that she has no powerful allies.  Tonya and Tolya, twins become her bodyguards.

This was a fabulous book.  The relationship between Mal and Alina is tested to its limit.  Especially when Alina begins to see the Darkling everywhere.  And Alina is beginning to act differently with the two power amplifiers.  How will she act with a third?  But how will she defeat the Darkling without it?  This is a great series and I can't wait to see how it ends.  I give this book five out of five stars. 

Quotes

 You two have a bad habit of acitng like fools and calling it heroic.

-Leigh Bardugo (Siege and Storm p 32)

Ivan scowled. “I don’t think—” “Clearly. So why start now.”

-Leigh Bardugo (Siege and Storm p 36)

Fear is a powerful ally. And loyal.

-Leigh Bardugo (Siege and Storm p 51)

Anything worth doing always starts with a bad idea.

-Leigh Bardugo (Siege and Storm p 101)

Perfect night for tearing a hole in the universe, no?

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 101)

“I’m more of a weed,” I said dryly.  “I like weeds,” she said. “They’re survivors.”

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 111)

“Were you always this much trouble?” “I like to think of myself as delightfully complex.”

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 116)

When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Strom p 120)

The less you say the more your words will carry.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 187)

Weakness is a guise.  Wear it when they need to know you’re human, but never when you feel it.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 187)

Being a leader means someone is always watching you.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 187)

Get them to follow the little orders and they’ll follow the big ones

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 187)

Scars make good reminders.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 236)

 “Watch yourself, Nikolai,” Mal said softly. “Princes bleed just like other men.”

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 249)

I’d rather fight a traitor than a zealot.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 264)

Fearless is another word for stupid.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 302)

David looked at me then, the regret plain on his face.  No matter what I said, we both knew the hard truth. We do our best. We try, And usually, it makes no difference at all.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 334)

You know the problem with heroes and saints, NikolaixCZV? They always end up dead.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 388)

I have loved you all my life, Mal. There is no end to our story.

-Leigh Bardugo (Seige and Storm p 417)

Listed On Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Siege-Storm-Grisha-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00AAYF8TY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32RHP5DRNR1LR&dchild=1&keywords=seige+and+storm&qid=1590423843&sprefix=seige+and+st%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1

Spider-Woman Vol2: Civil War II by Dennis Hopeless (Writer), Javier Rodriguez (Pencier, Inker), Alvaro Lopez (Inker), Veronica Fish (Penciler), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist), VC's Travis Lanham (Letterer)

In the previous comic, Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, is pregnant and working with Porcupine and Ulrich, the reporter.  Her best friend is Captain Marvel.  Now its a month before the baby is due and she is taking some time off and is bored to death.  Carol, Captain Marvel, has recommended an alien hospital as being the best hospital to have her baby in and that she should check it out. So Jess goes one day to do just that. When she finds the maternity ward, some Skrulls take it over and Jess is forced to fight back even though she promised her friends and her baby that she would take it easy.  She destroys the two Skrull soldiers and wins the adoration of her fellow pregnant aliens.  She gets ahold of Carol who is on her way, but she knows that more soldiers are on their way.  She enlists the help of the pregnant aliens and they all take care of the soldiers.  With the help of Carol and the hospital staff talking them through it, they get to a secure place but someone needs to go and talk to a doctor's head kept in storage to get the doors open in order for Carol and the help to get in and get them out.  Jess does this but the head says it could take six hours to get the doors open.  Meanwhile, Carol lets slip that the Skrull are after a thirteen-year-old prince so Jess decides to rescue the prince even in her condition.  Unfortunately, she goes into labor while she is rescuing him. They barricade themselves into a room with a doctor who performs a c-section on Jess who is determined to fight back after the surgery.

Now Jess, with the help of reporter Ben Ulrich goes after the bad guys while balancing being a mother and a partner to Porcupine.  This time she's after Fin boy whose home address Ulrich gives her is uptown and inside has sea monsters. The two fight and wind up going over the side of the building when Jess gets a call from Roger wanting to know what PJ's to put on their son.  Of course she doesn't stop working to take the call and Roger reminds her once again that she isn't supposed to do that.  Will she catch the Fin boy amid all the sea monsters?

Roger and Jess go to Canada where Roger insists that the Wendigo lives.  All it takes to create a Wendigo is to eat human flesh and the cook, it turns out is a Wndingo who intends to feed everyone human flesh.  Meanwhile, Jess is ignoring Carol's call because she doesn't want to be dragged into the Civil War.  So Carol shows up in Canada to convince her of the justness of her cause, but Jess won't hear it.  But when Carol says that all she wants is for Jess to verify an Inhuman kid's predictions and she would be paid a government salary for it.  As she goes along she finds that the predictions are turning out to be true.  But Bruce Banner is killed as a preventive measure and Jess refuses to talk to Carol and goes up against her.

The last comic in this book has the family going to the beach and running into Sandman.  This is a great comic that explores Jess and her new family life while she fights the bad guys as does her husband. Jess is such a great character.  I love how she doesn't want to take sides in a Civil War but finds herself taking a side when someone she cares about is murdered.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Woman-Shifting-Gears-Civil-2015-2017-ebook/dp/B01MYZ44M4/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=spider-woman+vol.+2&qid=1590168259&sr=8-5
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Moon Knight Legacy Vol 1: Crazy Runs in the Family by Max Bemis (Writer), Jacen Burrows (Penciler, Inker), Guillermo Ortego (Inker(, Mat Lopes ( Colorist). VC's Cory Petit (Letterer)

The comic opens with Dr. Everett interviewing a patient who was in the army and burned his unit.  She gets the idea of how to treat him by how she treated Marc Spector who shares the personalities of Steven Grant and Jake Lockley and became this way when he died under the statue of Khonshu in Egypt as a mercenary.  Now he's a superhero, Moon Knight, as well as a banker who donates his money to a good cause.  She's taken inspiration in Egyptian mythology especially Aman Ra who is the father of Khonshu.  The patient becomes obsessed with Marc Spector and decides to break out by setting the place on fire including Dr. Emmett who survives.

Aman Ra goes to Marc Spector's old girlfriend's Marlene's house and finds a surprise there that Marc doesn't know about.  Aman Ra kidnaps Marlene and Marc must watch after someone else and figure out how to save Marlene from Aman Ra and his followers.  This was a bizarre book that was written in a bizarre way.   But I guess that is to be expected when the main hero has multiple personality disorder and half of the action takes place in a mental asylum.  That being said it was an interesting book and left me wanting to read the next one.   Marc Spector is an intriguing character(s) and one I can relate to.  I give this book four out of five stars.

Listed on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Knight-Legacy-Family-2017-2018-ebook/dp/B07C757LBN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1VMTWNI4IFPTB&dchild=1&keywords=moon+knight+vol+1+crazy+runs+in+the+family&qid=1589804302&sprefix=Moon+knight+cra%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-1

Chronicles of the One Book Three: The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts

In the previous book, for two years Fallon Swift will train with Mallick and it will be hard.  He will offer her an indoor bathroom if she completes three tasks: get the apple from the owl Taibhse, get the golden collar from the wolf Faol Ban, and find the horse Laoch with the golden saddle.  Each of these a seemingly impossible task, but ones that she figures out. Before the two years will have come to a close, she will have found the Book of Spells and taken the knowledge into herself and lifted the shield and sword. But she is not yet ready to lead and stays on to train a while longer until her two years are up before going home.  Once home she talks to her parents and they train the boys, but that isn't enough. She must start building her army and with the help of her dad, she goes through the town and begins a training program.  Soon, though, she must leave and begin training programs throughout the land on the way to New Hope in order to begin at New Hope what was started so long ago.  She has a crystal ball that she can see things in and step through and go to places via it.  When she sees during her training that the New Hope rescue team, who is out to rescue magicals from a government lab, is walking into a trap she steps through and warns them and offers an alternative plan and helps them with it.  It is here that she finally meets Duncan, one of the twins, whom she has been dreaming about and his twin Tonia, two people who will be important to her in the future in helping her.

In this book, Fallon has become The One and is leading the people of New Hope.  But she has grand plans of taking a new installation in Utah, the one at the beach in South Carolina, and the huge one at Arlington all in one night.  It's an ambitious plan that will take careful timing and planning.  Meanwhile, she sees Duncan for the first time in almost two years in a flash dream where they meet up and make out a bit. Neither one wants to be bound to the other as it is fated basically because it is fated.

Next will come to D.C. where they are experimenting on magicals and have been for over twenty years.  They've also been impregnating the women in order to get more magicals to experiment on.  And they've been gathering up the nation's wealth and hoarding it.  D.C. will be a place to keep prisoners--not a place to live or govern out of anymore.  The big fight will be New York, though it won't be the last fight. That will take place in Scotland where the whole thing started.  Fallon will still have to face Allegra and Petra who has a mighty evil dragon.

This book wasn't as good as the other two.  It dragged on at the end and I felt could have ended sooner.  It was still a great book and a fine ending to the series.  I think I related to Duncan a bit too much who was always rushing things and got irritated with her cutting him off when she goes away for a while.  Fallon was a stellar character who was amazing to watch evolve, even if sometimes you wanted to throttle her.  I give this book four out of five stars.

Quotes

“Your ancestors slaughtered mine, sole their land, brought them disease and starvarion.” “Maybe. My mother’s people came from Scotland. The English slaughtered out people, stole their land, burned their homes. But if some English dude’s ready to fight with me against the PW’s, the DUs, and the rest of the guckers, I don’t give a rat’s ass about what his ancestors did to mine. This is now.”

-Nora Roberts (Chronicles of the One Book Three: The Rise of Magicks p 162)

“A coward shoots in the back.” “Or an opportunist.”

-Nora Roberts (Chronicles of the One Book Three: The Rise of Magicks p 184)

Listed on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Magicks-Chronicles-One-Book-ebook/dp/B07L2QR5WD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1AN3TQHO84Z8D&dchild=1&keywords=the+chronicles+of+the+one+book+three&qid=1589551686&sprefix=the+chroncilces+of+the+one%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-3

Doctor Strange/Punisher: Magic Bullets by John Barber (Writer). Jason Muher (Storyboard), Andrea Broccardo (Artist), Dominike "Somo" Stanton (Artist), Andres Mossa (Colorist), Andrea Cressley (Coloroest(, VC"s Clayton Cowles (Letterer(

When I picked up this comic I thought "Doctor Strange and Thunisher! What a fantastic combination."  I'd like to say that I wasn't wrong, but this comic wasn' it. When the Punisher sense otherworldly beings in the building he just shot up with the Fusilli brother and sister duos he goes to Doctor Strange for help not knowing that Strange doesn't have the access to the magic he once had due to events that occurred in Doctor Strange comics. He needs magical artifacts to use magic.  Otherwise, he uses his ax to slaughter demons.

They go to the restaurant and the Punisher handles the humans while Strange handles the demons whom he notices came here against their will.  Strange would like to send them back through the portal that is in the restaurant.  The Fusilli siblings have someone working for them to build them an army of monsters to take out their competition. His name is Mangrove and he can control the monsters.  He hopes to have the power over all things, especially since when he brought forth the monsters he turned the Fusili siblings into monsters themselves.  

Doctor Strange takes the Punisher to a special place to pick up a magical object to use against the monsters and the Fusili siblings.  Can they defeat Mangrove who is so well protected and get the monsters back to their dimensions?  Can they stop the Fusili siblings from taking out their competition?  The art is not good at all. It's more of a rough sketch than actual art.  The plot is dumb and Doctor Strange doesn't act the way he normally does.  Neither does the Punisher. I feel the author failed to capture the characters or provide a likable story.  I give this book two stars out of five.

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Strange-Punisher-Bullets-Infinite-ebook/dp/B072YSKLNQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WR1BV6YIJVX5&dchild=1&keywords=doctor+strange%2Fpunisher&qid=1589389163&sprefix=doctor+strange%2F%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-1