Car Hacker (e-short story) by Rosie Claverton

Car Hacker is #2.5 in the Amy Lane Mysteries series. It's 11,000 words long.

I'm not including a read-alikes list for this one.

Review:

This short story takes place after Code Runner and can be obtained for free by signing up for Rosie Claverton's newsletter. If you loved the first two books in Claverton's Amy Lane Mysteries series, it's worth the occasional extra email to get this story.

It's time for Jason's 24th birthday, and he has plans that include getting out of Amy's house and going out for a drink with friends. What he doesn't realize is that Amy has plans of her own. She has staged a car theft for Jason to investigate while his mother makes him a surprise birthday cake and dinner. It seems like the perfect way to keep Jason busy and entertained, until things go wrong.

I love Jason and Amy. They're a perfect match. Jason understands the intent behind Amy's actions and appreciates what she does for him, even when she goes overboard. Amy desperately wants to keep Jason safe but also doesn't want to stifle him. I love how well these two work together, and I hope nothing ever messes that up.

There were appearances from Cerys (Amy's co-conspirator in the birthday plans), Bryn (reluctantly involved in the plan), and Jason's mother. Things were still awkward with Owain, but, aside from that, it was like a little “Amy's family reunion.” Very nice.

I had hoped that I'd finish this and then get to snatch up Captcha Thief, Book 3 in the series, not long after, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Captcha Thief was originally supposed to be released on July 20th but has now been delayed until who knows when. I'll try to be patient, but it would be easier if I knew how long the wait was going to be.

Binary Witness (e-book) by Rosie Claverton

Binary Witness is a mystery published by Carina Press.

I started this at the end of my vacation, so I'm going to call it a "vacation read" and skip out on listing read-alikes.

Review:

I'm kicking myself for not reviewing this weeks ago, when my memories were fresher. Oh well, I'll do my best.

Back in 2011, Melinda Beasi wrote a post for Manga Bookshelf titled “Fanservice Friday: Intimacy porn.” In it, she writes about intimacy being a big draw for her, and includes a few examples. It took a few years of percolating, but I now think intimacy is what I look for too, in all kinds of stories. In my experience, intimacy tends to be easier to find in romance novels, but even in those it's not a sure thing. Binary Witness was a wonderful surprise – it's a mystery that doesn't have what most people would call a romantic subplot, and yet it's full of intimate moments.

The story is set in Cardiff. Jason is an ex-con who desperately wants to get a job so that he can get out of his mother's house a bit and do something useful. Amy is an agoraphobic hacker who helps the police by piecing together information she finds via social media, forums, CCTV, and more. Their paths cross when Jason gets a job as a housecleaner and is sent to clean Amy's place. She refuses to let him in, at first, but he's persistent, and it's not long before he's cleaning her kitchen and making her a cup of tea and something to eat. Amy is not very good about taking care of herself, by the way - things like personal hygiene and eating end up on the back burner a lot.

It's Amy who confirms that a couple missing young women are not only dead, but also probably killed by the same person. Jason starts off on the sidelines, but eventually becomes more involved in the investigation, helping Amy get whatever information the police can't give her and that she isn't able to track down with her beloved computer.