The Fallen by David Baldacci, 432 pages

This is book #4 in Baldacci's Amos Decker series.  In this outing Amos and his friend and co-worker, Alex, are supposed to be on vacation.  They go to Barronville, PA to visit Alex's sister and her family.

Unfortunately, the vacation turns into a working vacation because people keep dying.  This is a typical Baldacci story, and frankly I enjoy a typical Baldacci story.  There is action, suspense, a quick pace and the bad guy typically gets his in the end.

Hardcore Twenty-four by Janet Evanovich, 320 page

I think I've read everything Janet Evanovich has published since the first Stephanie Plum book "One for the Money."

We're now on book 24 in the series and not much has changed in Stephanie's life.  Since about book eight, I typically read and then complain that it wasn't that good.  Guess what?  I liked this one.

The same formula and all the regular zany characters are here but I enjoyed this one more than most.  Thanks Janet.

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer, 518 pages

"The Chemist" is an action adventure thriller featuring a super-secret doctor/interrogator who is on the run from the super-secret agency she used to work for.  She heard something she shouldn't and they decided she needed to die.  She ends up connecting with an ex-CIA black ops guy also on the run because he heard something he shouldn't and someone decided he needed to die too.

I enjoy a fun action adventure and this was mostly enjoyable, but I would not rate it in the top ten books I've read this year.  I hope Stephenie Meyer continues to write because she can tell a good tale but I liked her sci-fi book "The Host" better than this one.   

Beat the Reaper (Peter Brown #1) by Josh Bazell, 310 pages

"Beat the Reaper" is a profanity laden and hilarious adventure about medical resident Dr. Peter Brown who also happens to be a former hit man for the mob.  His real name is Pietro Brnwna aka "Bearclaw" and he is in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

He is a resident at a crappy hospital and walks into the room of a terminally ill mobster and they, of course, recognize each other.  Oops.

This is a book club book and I am expecting to be chastised for making the book club read a book that mentions the "f" word in about every other sentence.  However, I'll just blame Shirley for picking this one. 

Author Josh Bazell has a BA in writing from Brown University and an MD from Columbia.   What a wicked and lovely combination.  And after reading this, I am going to do my best to stay OUT of the hospital.

The Target by David Baldacci, 342 pages

"The Target" is the third book in the Will Robie series by Baldacci.  Will Robie and Jessica Reel are highly skilled assassins for the CIA.

They were very busy in this book.  First they were recruited for an ultra-secret mission to kill a bad world leader on the QT, then they had to rescue a young friend who was kidnapped by a Neo-Nazi group tied to Jessica's past, next they were asked to rescue some people in another country, finally they got a cushy assignment that turned out to be the hardest one yet.  Wow, from hit man/woman to all around go-to people for the biggest guy in the US government, in between their own personal missions.

Obviously the story was a little far fetched, but it was fun.  There is another storyline that involves an assassin in a totalitarian state.  That part of the story is not wham bam, and parts are actually quite serious.  However, overall this is an action-packed book full of making bad people pay the price for their badness.