Never Hollowed By The Stare

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Never Hollowed By The Stare
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  • Home
  • REVIEWS+RECS
    • MANGA
    • BOOK REVIEW
    • SOUNDTRACK
    • QUOTE
    • TRAILER
    • DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAYS
    • BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
    • Reviews A-Z
    • MINI MOVIE REVIEWS
  • MEMES+TAGS
    • MUSIC MONDAY
    • LAST YEAR I WAS READING
    • FLICKer FADE SUNDAY
    • TAGS
    • MISC POSTS
    • PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
    • FIRST LINES FRIDAY 56
  • TOURS & BLITZES
    • COVER REVEAL
    • GIVEAWAYS
  • About + Ratings
    • ABOUT + RATINGS
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • Policy + Contact

Archives

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  • Uncategorized

    One Line Reviews Of Some Books I Read This Year (July – August 2022)

    December 20, 2022 / No Comments

    This is a round up of the books I read on the 3rd quarter of this year that I’m too lazy to do a full review.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

    You May Also Like

    RELEASE BLITZ: The Husband Hoax by Saxon James (Giveaway)

    February 9, 2023

    COVER REVEAL: Guarded by Nicole Dykes

    December 16, 2022

    BOOK BLAST: Damaged Hearts by Jan St. Marcus (Excerpt & Trailer)

    January 18, 2020
  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(July 20, 2022)

    July 20, 2022 / 1 Comment

    Here are the rules:

    Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

    Read More
    neverhollowed

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    AUDIOBOOK AND EBOOK TOUR: Breaking Cover by Kaje Harper

    July 5, 2022

    VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR: Darkness Awaits by Jamila A. Stone (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    April 6, 2021

    BOOK TOUR: Purloined Poinsettia by Dahlia Donovan (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    August 19, 2022
  • Uncategorized

    One Line Reviews Of Some Books I Read This Year (April – June 2022)

    July 19, 2022 / No Comments

    This is a round up of the books I read on the 2st quarter of this year that I’m too lazy to do a full review.

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    neverhollowed

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    COVER REVEAL: Bedhead by Brooke Blaine

    January 19, 2022

    RELEASE TOUR: King Of The Titans by J.K. Jones (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    July 31, 2021

    BOOK BLAST: A Quick Buck by K.L. Hiers (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    December 15, 2021
  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(May 25, 2022)

    May 25, 2022 / No Comments

    Here are the rules:

    Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

    Read More
    neverhollowed

    You May Also Like

    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Out in the Surf by Lane Hayes (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    March 21, 2023

    COVER REVEAL: Twilight Heist by Katherine McIntyre

    September 24, 2022

    BLOG TOUR: Unholy by Morgan Brice (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    March 4, 2020
  • Uncategorized

    One Line Reviews Of Some Books I Read This Year (January – March 2022)

    March 29, 2022 / 1 Comment

    This is a round up of the books I read on the 1st quarter of this year that I’m too lazy to do a full review.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

    You May Also Like

    RELEASE BLITZ: T.A.G. Family Christmas by A.G. Carothers (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    December 15, 2020

    RELEASE TOUR: The Fulbourn by D.K. Girl (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    October 24, 2022

    BLOG TOUR: The Bonds Of Family by Christie Gordon (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    October 13, 2021
  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(October 13, 2021)

    October 13, 2021 / No Comments

    This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

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    FAVORITE COVERS: May 2022

    June 7, 2022

    COVER REVEAL: When London Snow Falls by Hayden Stone

    April 6, 2022

    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Heart On His Lead by J.R. Hart (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    February 28, 2023
  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(November 25, 2020)

    November 25, 2020 / No Comments

    This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

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    COVER REVEAL: Confessions: Ethan by Ella Frank (Giveaway)

    January 18, 2023

    RELEASE TOUR: Kicking It With the Best Man by Riley Long (Giveaway)

    June 7, 2023

    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Spark by Elizabeth Tybush (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    May 23, 2022
  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Conned by Kim Fielding

    November 6, 2020 / 2 Comments
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    Bureau: Conned – Kim Fielding

    World War I veteran Thomas Donne is new to San Francisco. Always a stoic man, shell shock and a lost love have nearly turned his heart to stone. No matter–a private eye has no room for softness. Almost broke, he takes on what appears to be a simple case: finding a missing young man.

    As a magician and medium, Abraham Ferencz cons his audiences into believing he can cheat death and commune with their dearly departed. Although his séances are staged, the spirits are very real, and they’ve brought him almost more pain than he can bear.

    When Donne’s case becomes complicated and the bodies start to pile up, he and Ferencz must fight their way through a web of trickery and lies. The truth is obscured by the San Francisco fog, and in their uncanny world, anyone can catch a bullet.


    Bureau is a series I’ve been diligently following since the beginning. Six books in and it’s still giving us lovable characters and enjoyable stories with magic and heart.

    Conned is the latest installment. Private detective and former Londoner, Thomas Donne was hired by a rich and dubious wannabe politician named Herbert Townsend to find a young man. Townsend was decidedly non-specific about the details but was willing to pay good money.

    Thomas’s investigations led him to magician and conman, Abe Ferencz. Abe has been employing the young man as his assistant. A series of deaths led the PI and conman to work together to uncover the killer’s identity. All the victims were known to Abe. He could be next.

    Ghosts and spirits aside, this is the most spiritual of all the books. Religion played an important role with Abe’s Jewish background being a crucial part of his character. The story put emphasize on how it anchored him to his true self.

    All the books in the series has always been, for a lack of better word, vague about the definitive presence of a god. I liked how the world-building didn’t limit itself to the usual religious concepts. Instead, it had a more general and inclusive ethos which makes a lot more sense in a world where literally anything can exist

    Townsend explained the Bureau‘s mission something to the effect of the lines of good and evil, friends or enemy are porous and it’s their job is to nudge those lines gently until they are in the right place. It’s about protecting “everything that’s valuable in people and not just human people“.

    Our heroes, Thomas and Abe, were men who had seen enough deaths to know not to waste life in regrets. So I could understand how they want to grab life by the balls and jump head first into a relationship in just a matter of days. I liked how the author executed the romantic development. She did it in such a way that you feel the strength of their connection and not how short the timeline actually is.

    While I liked the pacing of the romance, I did feel the drag in the first half of story. This was the part where they found the dead bodies one by one. There was the going-around-in-circles feel to it. Thankfully, the story picked up upon the appearance of Agent Crespo.

    Also, while I liked the general world-building, in this story, the paranormal elements were kind of confusing and a bit scattered in its presentation. Maybe it helps if the reader is more familiar with Judaism than I am.

    The book is set in the late 1920s. There’s a great sense of time and place with a noir vibe. It was an era of cloches and speakeasies, a time I’m fascinated with but don’t want to time travel to because, wow, people smoke and drink like there’s no tomorrow.

    This is a prequel of sorts to the entire Bureau world. The agency was only less than a decade old. We also meet Townsend before he was the West Coast Chief.

    I’m happy we finally get a backgrounder on the Chief. He is always present but mostly in the shadows, wielding his considerable influence and power, nudging various characters towards the best outcome. There were hints of his paranormal nature throughout the series. Here, we get his origin story. It’s definitely worth the wait especially with how it was related to a key secondary character in the story.

    Conned might not be my favorite book in the series (that honor goes to Creature) but it was a great addition, nonetheless. It certainly answered some burning questions I had and getting a look at the early days of the agency is a treat. You will meet men brave enough to catch bullets. You will see what a true mensch is capable of. And learn what it is about all along.

    A game.

    A very long game.

    Rating:
    3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: Street Spirit (Fade Out)
    Artist: Radiohead
    Album: The Bends

    P.S.

    The books can be read as standalones but I recommend starting at the beginning where a half angel and a captive demon discovered their cosmic connection. There will be a holiday-themed book about them soon.

    Reviews of Bureau books below:
    Corruption
    Clay White
    Creature
    Chained
    Convicted

    Posts on Kim Fieldings works here.


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to get your copy of Bureau. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

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    March 31, 2021

    RELEASE BLITZ: Love Comes in Threes by Marie Sinclair (Giveaway)

    March 25, 2023
  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(November 4, 2020)

    November 4, 2020 / No Comments

    This meme was created by Reading Marie. It’s a great meme because it’s nice and easy to do.

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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Playing House by Suzanne Clay (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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    RELEASE BLITZ: The Scars of Life by David Blyth (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    June 2, 2023

    RELEASE TOUR: The Fulbourn by D.K. Girl (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    October 24, 2022
  • Uncategorized

    FIRST LINES FRIDAY 56: A Good Kind Of Pain

    October 29, 2020 / No Comments

    First Line Fridays” is by Hoarding Books and is all about the first line of a current/upcoming read. Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda’s Voice, where you turn to page 56 (or 56%) in what you’re reading a find a snippet that jumps out at you. The idea to combine the two came from Kat @ Here There Be Dragons“

    I found this meme on The Writerly Way. And I’m doing this on a Thursday just to be difficult.

    Read More
    neverhollowed

    You May Also Like

    FLICKer FADE SUNDAY: Never Have I Ever

    June 21, 2020

    MUSIC MONDAY: Sugar God by LIFE

    November 30, 2020

    RELEASE BLITZ: Wicked Flame by Ella Frank

    May 24, 2022
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