Review: A JUST PUNISHMENT, G.R. Jordan

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• Highlands & Islands Detective Book 8
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08L82JBTF
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carpetless Publishing (November 23, 2020)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 220 pages 

Synopsis  (Amazon)

A former convict, hung, drawn and quartered. Macleod called by name for his former actions. Can the Lewis detective find the righter of wrongs before the killer executes those close to Macleod?

As his partner recovers from a devastating accident, Macleod faces a hidden face from his past who is determined to see justice truly done. But as the killer punishes each justifiable victim, Macleod feels the target of the attacks is moving coming closer to home. In a devastating finale, Macleod must rely on his younger Sergeant, Hope McGrath, more than he has ever before.

The pain you deal will be visited upon you tenfold!

My Take

This story is set around Inverness, but its origins go back one of the first arrests that Mcleod ever made. He rescued a person accused of perpetrating child abuse from a mob. The man was convicted and sentenced to jail. He was recently released but someone believes he was not sufficiently punished.  A card with the body indicates that the vigilante believes that Mcleod was responsible for the inadequate punishment. 

More incidents occur: bodies that have been subjected to bizarre almost medieval punishments, and the incidents seem to be getting closer to Mcleod himself. As the story reaches its climax McGrath is fighting against time to discover who perpetrator is, before the action gets to Mcleod's own doorstep.

You will probably, like me, solve the mystery ahead of McGrath but that didn't really lessen the tension.

My rating: 4.6 

I've also read

• 4.5, WATER'S EDGE -#1
• 4.4, THE BOTHY - #2
• 4.4, THE HORROR WEEKEND - #3
• 4.5, THE SMALL FERRY - #4 
• 4.5, DEAD AT THIRD MAN  - #5
• 4.4, THE PIRATE CLUB  - #6
• 4.5, A PERSONAL AGENDA - #7 

How many books are you aiming to read this year?

You'll see, if you look at the Challenges that I am participating in, that among others, I am taking part in the 100+ Reading Challenge.
That is about 2 books a week.

Some weeks, particularly if I am travelling with long flights, I will read more than that, some weeks only one book or less.

I count in my records all books I "get through" - in the hand, audio, and on my Kindle. Since I have had this blog, begun just over 2 years ago, I have reviewed every book I've read in whatever format, and posted the reviews on my blog in Smik's Reviews.

I also have a journal that I record the title of the book, the author's name, and the date of completion in. I know that, since I began keeping this sort of record back in 1975, I have read 2,864 books. I wonder if I could make it to 3,000 by the end of this year? That would mean I have to read 136 books this year.

Well, I'm off to a flying start - so far I've read 7

Here is how many books I have managed to read in recent years:
2009 - 104
2008- 111
2007 - 124
2006- 114
2005 - 132
So that looks like an average of about 115 a year over the last 5 doesn't it? Perhaps 136 will be a bit of a stretch!

So what are you aiming at this year?
I've created a poll at the top of the side block where you can select a number range.
But I'd love if you'd leave a comment too.
Will you, like me, be restricting yourself to mainly one genre?
Do you read your books in a variety of formats?
Do you think you are a quick or slow reader?

October' s Reads

What a good reading month I've had!

The first number is my rating. Each title is linked to my review. There's a couple of Australian authors marked with for you to look for.

4.4, MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY, Peter Lovesey (31 October)
3.6, ANOTHER THING TO FALL, Laura Lippman (25 October)
4.4, THE KILL CALL (audio book), Stephen Booth (25 October)
4.6, GENTLY DOES IT, Alan Hunter (18 October)
4.3, WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS?, Agatha Christie (15 October)
4.5, WOMAN WITH BIRTHMARK, Hakan Nesser (12 October)
4.3, PUNTER'S TURF, Peter Klein (11 October)
4.7, RED BONES, Ann Cleeves (audio) (7 October)
4.6, FIFTY GRAND, Adrian McKinty (5 October) - currently resident in
4.4, AS DARKNESS FALLS, Bronwyn Parry (3 October)

So far this year I have completed 90 books.
Last year I got to 111, but I'm not sure that I'll get there this year.
What about you? What is your target and are you going to get there?

September's Reads 2009

I had a good month reading-wise, although perhaps not reading as much as I'd like. The first number is my rating. Each title is linked to my review.

3.5, A SMALL CASE FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE?, H.R.F. Keating (28 Sept)

4.5, GHOSTLINES, Nick Gadd (25 Sept)

4.6, TELLING TALES, Ann Cleeves (18 Sept)

4.7, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, Agatha Christie (audio) (16 Sept)

Image from PAYANIGA: Desktop Calendar

4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder, Shamini Flint (12 Sept)

4.8, A TEST OF WILLS, Charles Todd (8 Sept)

4.7, THE VICTORIA VANISHES, Christopher Fowler (audio) (3 Sept)

How many books will you read this year?

This was the poll running here for the last week. As you can see most people are in that 50-150 range.
I'm right in the middle of that - around 110 this year which will be about the same as last year. I'm "reading" more audio books than I have in the past which I guess means I'm reading less print books.

How are you going?

Do you keep records?

How Many Books did you read in 2008?

Last year I ran a little poll asking people how many books they thought they would finish reading in 2008. Now I find I didn't keep a record of that poll.

However I am now asking how many books did you actually finish?
The poll over in the right hand margin asks you to select a range.

50 or less
51-100
101-150
151-200
more than 200

After the poll closes I will update this post with the results so I don't lose them for the future.
What I discovered last year, from memory, is that most followers of this blog fell into the 51-100 range, that is about 2 books a week.

Leave a comment if you want to give me more precise numbers etc.
I'd also like some suggestions about what polls you'd be interested in participating in.