No Shelter [Format Kindle]

Like Steve above, I found this book through an author's forum and added it's sample to my insanely huge list. Finally working my way to it and flying through the sample, I bought it and would've paid 10 times the cover price.

Action, action, action, from a thinking and feeling, and somewhat troubled, young woman.

The secrets of her past are revealed in the same way the incredible action sequences are laid out, just the way you want it. No extra info-dumping, nothing wasted, nothing missing.

Holly Lin gets in and out of trouble that we're not quite sure she'll make it out of, talking tough to mobsters and terrorists (before violently ending their lives) and lovingly to the two children she looks after.

If somebody pitched me this idea while I walked through the video store, I might get it on a lark if it's on the Weekly Rental rack for $1, but after watching it I would quickly purchase a copy and subject my brother-in-law and his picky tastes to it. In fact, if any book deserves to be turned into a movie, this one does. Hollywood, here is your next action hero. Cast wisely, she's quite a package.

Review of No Shelter by Z. Constance Frost

by Steve Umstead

This was one of the first novels I downloaded for Kindle, as I'm slowly integrating myself into the wonderful world of e-readers. I saw Frost's name mentioned on a message forum, so I thought I'd take a look. Very eye-catching cover, intriguing blurb, so I decided to grab a sample. I burned through it in one night, got to the end of the sample section, and immediately clicked to buy the entire novel...it was that gripping.

Holly Lin is a nanny by day, and assassin by night. Frost takes the character around the world, from Vegas to Paris, from shootouts in the desert to a frantic tractor trailer chase scene, and never takes her foot off the gas (pardon the pun). From page one, the story, the action, simply grab a hold of the reader and doesn't let go until the breathless end.

Holly is part action hero, part innocent young woman, and Frost brings an incredible range of emotion to the character. She writes excellent dialogue and uses the first person perspective very well in bringing Holly's thoughts and feelings to life. It's very easy for the reader to get inside her head, and feel the rage, sorrow, excitement, and more.

It's not all gloom and doom, however; Frost weaves humor and one liners into the story well (one I remember, without giving any spoilers, was when introduced to the Russian guard named Boris, she stops dead and says, "Is his name really Boris?", and later refers to Natasha - all without ruining the pace or plot line, like many other authors I've read have done when trying to integrate humor).

All in all, an excellent read. Fast-paced, hard to put down, full of characters the reader can truly feel for. I understand Frost is working on a sequel; I'll be watching for that, no doubt. For a debut work by an independent author, No Shelter is an enjoyable, emotional thriller well worth the reader's time (and small amount of money). Highly recommended - much better value than a latte!

I've read a lot of self-pubbed ebooks but this is by far the best of the lot. The premise -- nanny by day, assassin by night -- sounds cheesy as hell. But the action is virtually nonstop with little or no plot-slowing back story. The characters are incredibly believable. I was blown away. How good is it? It's so good it's making me rethink how I rate books. It's so good that I recommended it everyone in my family within seconds of finishing it. It's so good I began imagining the author was really Lee Child. And that's another thing: The product description says the author is Swartwood. True? But Frost has a website wherein she claims to be a housewife in DC. What gives? Of course, I don't need to know or care who the author is. I just hope he/she takes care of his/her fingers and keeps moving them across a keyboard.