Sleepy´s book-talk

Alex Kava - Black Friday (Maggie O'Dell series, Book 7)

2009-11-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

On the busiest shopping day of the year, some idealistic college students believe they're about to carry out an elaborate media stunt at the largest mall in America.
They think the jamming devices in their backpacks will disrupt stores' computer systems, causing delays and chaos. What they don't realize is that instead of jamming devices, their backpacks are stuffed with explosives, ready to be detonated by remote control and turning them into suicide bombers.

Caught up in a political nightmare, battling a new interim director and still mourning the death of her boss A. D. Cunningham, FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell must put her own troubles aside and fly to Minnesota to help figure out what's behind this terrorist attack - a massacre that is all the more frightening because no group has claimed responsibility.

The search becomes personal when a tip reveals that one of the college students involved is Patrick, Maggie's brother. Afraid and on the run, Patrick must decide if he can finally trust Maggie enough to help her unravel this horrifying nightmare.

Sifting through the debris for answers, Maggie is joined by Nick Morelli, who has recently taken a job with a national security company that over sees security for the mall. Although Maggie and Nick have investigated several cases together in the past, they've never investigated a relationship with each other. Nick would like to change that.

When an informant confides in Maggie that there are other attacks on the secret agenda, she knows that she's running out of time. In less than twenty-four hours she'll need to figure out exactly when and where the second attack will take place, who to look for and how to keep her brother from becoming one of the casualties.

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Pandemonium after several explosives, placed in Americas biggest shopping mall, explode on the busiest business day of the year: Black Friday.
The mall filled with happy shoppers and a few unsuspecting teenagers out for a prank, the explosives cost the lives of the teenagers and nearby shoppers.

What looks like an unclaimed terrorist attack brings Maggie O'Dell to Minnesota, hurried to come up with a profile by reviewing the malls security tapes.
Once again working with Nick Morelli she has to learn through the TV that one of the teenage suspects is her half-brother Patrick, whom she met for the first time not long ago.

An informant reveals that the mastermind behind the game seems to have a different agenda than the usually non threatening group that initially planned the jamming prank. It seems that the mastermind is one not unknown to the FBI: John Doe #2 from the Oklahoma Bombings.

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Black Friday is a quick and easy read for all who love the series and those that pick up one of Kava's books for the first time.
Although not too descriptive in the malls destruction Kava clearly paints a picture of destruction and death in the readers mind that won't be forgotten soon.
The story however has its weak points in structure, especially when it comes the mastermind behind the game.

Relationship-wise it is still a bit stale what goes on between Maggie and Nick. This time around Kava sets Nick in a bad light before, hopefully or not, at one point in future books that the character of Nick isn't really necessary for a Maggie O'Dell novel. It did seem in past books and in he current novel that Nick, besides his strong involvement in Exposed, participates more like a bystander than one of the main characters.

Eventually his character has become unnecessary.

Rating:
Visit Alex Kava.

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Mira; First Edition first Printing edition (October 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778326519
ISBN-13: 978-0778326519

Patricia Cornwell - The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta series, Book 17)

2009-11-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

It is the week before Christmas. The effects of the credit crunch have prompted Dr. Kay Scarpetta to offer her services pro bono to New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. But in no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of dramatic and unsettling events. She is asked live on the air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same broadcast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley's. When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds a suspicious package -- possibly a bomb - waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a deadly plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom Lucy seems to have shared a secret past.

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The last two installments in the Scarpetta series gave some hope of improvement back to a series most readers once loved but that had lost it's bite. Unfortunately The Scarpetta Factor is a drawback once again. Although it seems that Cornwell tries to give back some substance to the series characters it just isn't what the reader wants. Those who have read the series right from the beginning will miss Scarpetta's investigations, autopsies and exciting morgue stories.
Instead there is a lot of high tech investigation like GPS, Internet and what not.

Cornwell rehashes a lot of the old junk between Scarpetta and now husband Benton. Why he left her and went undercover etc. . It is good to know but not enough substance to fill a 500 pages book.
I'm not sure if the reader still wants to read about the Chandonne family or wants the remaining part to return at all. The Chandonnes' were a part of Cornwell's books way to often and at one point it just gets stale. At least for my taste.

The personal stuff in each characters life got boring and uninteresting, it distracts from the rather thin main plot.

That being said, you'll still like Scarpetta after reading this book but if it is enough to keep you interested for another 500 pages book is the question to be answered.

Rating:
Visit Patricia Cornwell.

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (October 20, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399156399
ISBN-13: 978-0399156397

Cody McFadyen - Abandoned (Smoky Barrett series, Book 4)

2009-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

For FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett, the wedding of one of their own was cause for celebration. Until a woman staggered down the aisle, incoherent, emaciated, head shaved, and wearing only a white nightgown.

No one knows who she is or where she's come from—or why she’s chosen to appear in a church filled with law enforcement agents. Then a fingerprint check determines that the woman has been missing for nearly eight years—that once she was someone's wife, someone's mother…and a cop. Imprisoning her in a dark cell, depriving her of any contact with the outside world, her enigmatic captor was a man she didn't know and who seldom spoke, who punished her only when she failed to follow his most basic instructions designed to keep her alive.

Cold, businesslike, seemingly indifferent to his victims, he's a predator with an M.O. as terrifyingly inscrutable as any Smoky has ever encountered. As she fits together the pieces of what remains of his victim's fractured life, a chilling picture emerges of a killer every bit as calculating, masterful, and professional as Smoky and the team she leads—a professional psychopath who doesn't take murder personally and never makes a mistake.

There's a reason he let one of his victims go free. And by the time Smoky pierces the darkness of his twisted mind, it may cost her more than she can bear to lose to escape. For a trap snapped closed the moment she took this case too much to heart.

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FBI special agent Smoky Barrett celebrates her best friends wedding day when the ceremony is concluded by a woman dumped out of a car in front of the church. She was tortured and looks like her skin hasn't seen the sunlight in a very long time.

The victim is identified as homicide detective Heather Hollister who vanished years earlier. Her husband just recently had her declared dead and received a huge insurance payment.
Meeting the husband Smoky and friend and colleague Alan find his wife and one of his sons killed. Eventually the husband admits to have met a man on the internet who offered him a way out of a bad marriage by having his wife vanish and receiving half the insurance money after seven years. When the husband declined the payment heater was released.

Because Heather isn't the first case across the U.S. it seems that someone offers husbands a way out of bad marriages by kidnapping the wives and keeping them locked away for years.

The case gets very personal when the kidnapper recognizes Smoky's internet trap and kidnaps her and young computer expert Leo.

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Cody McFadyen is one of my favorite writers. His different approach to serial killers, who are almost always out of the box in what they do to their victims, usually gets to me right in the beginning.
Unfortunately with this one my expectations were already high after I received the latest newsletter from the author's website. The plot sounded delicious but couldn't keep up with the promises that were made. It almost wasn't dark enough.

However, without thinking about the newsletter Abandoned is a nice addition to the series. It doesn't top the first two novels but still is a frightening tale.

Rating:
Visit Cody McFadyen.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Bantam (October 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553806955
ISBN-13: 978-0553806953

Jordan Dane - No One Heard Her Scream (No One series, Book 1)

2009-10-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Burdened by grief she hunts a killer.

They never found her sister's body, but Detective Rebecca Montgomery knows her murderer is still out there. In the five months since Danielle went missing. there have been two more brutal abductions. A savage menace stalks the women of San Antonio, and the relentless detective will do anything to find him.

A seductive stranger shadows her every move.

But her latest case - the discovery of a young woman's remains inside the wall of a burdened-down theater - plunges Rebecca from her grief into a brand new nightmare. She soon meets handsome, mysterious Diego Galvan at the crime scene, and his shadowy connections will lead to her first break in both cases. But when Rebecca submits to his considerable powers of seduction, she will leave herself vulnerable to a merciless killer... and when he attacks, no one will hear her scream.

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It has been five months since Detective Rebecca Montgomery's sister Danielle vanished and has been presumed dead eventually.
Grief-stricken Rebecca tries to move one and learn how to deal with her self-reproach when her newest case distracts her:
The old theater has fallen victim to an arsonist but even worse is, that firemen found the remains of a young woman buried alive in the theater's walls.

During the time of the woman's death the theater belonged to Hunter Cavanaugh, a man who's been on the FBIs focus for human trafficking for quite some time.

While Rebecca investigates she is shadowed by a handsome stranger. They soon fall in love but there is one disturbing fact: he works for Cavanaugh.

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No One Heard Her Scream comes from the average suspense/mystery/thriller genre. It isn't worldshaking no is it bad. It's just a good beachread for less demanding reader.

The plot itself sounds promising but doesn't offer lots of surprises. Who's who is pretty much known right from the beginning.
The whole bla about the attraction between Rebecca and mysteryman Diego Galvan, was way too much and reptitive. I believe the reader got the picture after the first two encounters between the two.

For me personally, I found the book not great but entertaining enough to keep me reading.

Visit Jordan Dane.
Rating:

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (March 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061252786
ISBN-13: 978-0061252785

Peter Blauner - The Last Good Day

2009-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Lynn and Barry Schulman moved their family to the leafy suburb of Riverside, New York, to be surrounded by family and old friends and escape the danger of city life. But when a headless body--which turns out to belong to Lynn's oldest friend--floats to the surface of the river, they realize Riverside may not be the sanctuary they were seeking. Instead, it's a town fraught with tension and simmering with sexual intrigue. Amid the McMansions bought with boom-economy bonuses and SUVs driven by soccer moms lurks a creepier sense of paranoia and a more sinister web of violent crimes than city dwellers could ever dream of. Stalked by Lynn's old boyfriend and terrorized by a menace that seethes beneath the seemingly placid routine of commuting, play dates, and white-wine evenings, Lynn and Barry engage in a primal fight for their lives and their future together.

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The Last Good Day is one of the books that took me forever to finish. I already forgot most of what happened in the plot.
It seems the author didn't really care about the readers thoughts. The feeble attempt to draw the reader into the even more feeble plot by mentioning 9/11 a few times, didn't really work. After all, the plot hasn't really much to do with 9/11 or its aftermath for the people in the town.

Shallow characters and unbelievable actions by police and protagonists leave a bad taste in my mouth. I definitely won't read Peter Blauner's books again. This one is just too bad and boring.

Rating:
Visit Peter Blauner.

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown (May 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316098736
ISBN-13: 978-0316098731

George D. Shuman - Second Sight

2009-10-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Stunningly beautiful psychic Sherry Moore's world has been draped in darkness for as long as she can remember. Though she has been blind since childhood, her extraordinary gift for seeing the last eighteen seconds of a deceased person's memory has helped solve numerous crimes and save countless lives. Her life has been anything but normal, but because of her relationship with Brian Metcalf, the Navy SEAL she met during a dramatic rescue on Mount McKinley, Sherry has never been happier. Then her exposure to deadly radiation changes everything.

Unnerved about the radiation's possible aftereffects and suffering from optical migraines, Sherry checks herself into the hospital to undergo tests. All seems normal until they wheel in the body of one Thomas Monahan. Vivid, terrifying images from his memory flood her thoughts the moment she grasps his hand. She feels a connection take hold as she thrashes about on the gurney, finally letting out a bloodcurdling scream. When Sherry next opens her eyes, for the first time in thirty-two years, she can see.

They call it a miracle. But for Sherry life with sight proves to be more complicated. She has to navigate the world anew, troubled by the agonizing, unanswered question: Who was this man and how had he enabled her to regain her vision? Enlisting the help of retired Admiral Garland Brigham, her confidant and best friend, Sherry doggedly begins to unravel this complicated history and unearths some startling revelations, beginning with the work of Edward Case.

Case is a man used to getting his way. The CEO of pharmaceutical giant Case & Kimble, he has the nation's elite on speed dial. But unsettling rumors have circulated for years about the genesis of the company's stratospheric success, questioning how this upstart firm has gained prominence and grown to be a monolithic institution worth billions of dollars. How its drugs always seem to make it onto the market before those of its competitors. If the secrets to C&K's dominance are ever made public, they will destroy the empire Case has so carefully constructed. And he will stop at nothing to keep his domain intact.

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The fourth novel in Shuman's Sherry Moore series could have been as exciting as the previous novels if it weren't for once again a very dark topic running the side lines: illegal human experiments on U. S. soldiers during the 1950s.

While helping with an investigation Sherry is exposed to radiation. She gives herself over to her trusted doctor when she experiences a number of side effects. To discover if her sight has been affected she touches the hand of one Thomas Joseph Monahan, whom she later discovers, lived in an Asylum for the Insane for over 50 years. During the process something strange happens and when she opens her eyes she has her eyesight back. Not completely but steadily getting better.

With that she has to discover life anew with images influencing her usual instinctual judgement. Haunted by what she saw in her vision she wants to know who Monahan was, why he was in the Asylum and what happened to him.
Her research brings her and her dearest friend Admiral Garland Brigham to the Asylum which lies next to an old, long abandoned military base.

Unfortunately asking for Monahan's background sets off alarm bells, bringing her into the focus of Edward Case, the ruthless CEO of a pharmaceutical company that always seems to be a step ahead of his competition.

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I didn't like this novel as much as the previous one because its style seems to be almost the same plus it got a bit long winded with Sherry's mental state of her relationship with Brian Metcalf and the new influences with regaining her sight. Might have been intentional that she behaves partly like a teenage girl because of that but I really missed the depth when she f. e. saw for the first time how Brian really looks like. Sherry acted out of character, completely trusting her eyesight and she made stupid choices I couldn't understand.

The suspense unfortunately got deflated way too often by knowing who is who and the reader always knowing more than the protagonist did.

Rating:
Visit George D. Shuman.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416599797
ISBN-13: 978-1416599791

Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol

2009-10-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

What is lost will be found...

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation... one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

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Amazon seems to have the answer Brown readers are asking: Is The Lost Symbol as good as the The Da Vinci Code ? Amazon says yes. I say no.
My biggest pet peeve with this novel is quite that it reads like a repetition of the Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately Brown couldn't catch me with the same scheme again. Apparently the whole 528 pages plus/minus a few that go back into the past of certain characters, happens in one night, similar to the Da Vinci Code.

It is true that Brown's writing style is a bit naked, call it bland, I call it naked, but his books have gotten enough positive reviews so they can't be that bad. :-)
I liked the book but missed the references in the end. The topic Freemasons and Noetic Science is an interesting one but I guess only for those that are interested to do their research and learn or people who aren't interested in fiction and fact at all. I'm pretty sure that voices are already or will be loud about facts described wrongly etc. .
As one of Brown's characters said a few times in the ending: It's all about the perspective, from which angle you look at things. He's right with this statement when it comes to the book and in general.

So what's to wish for in the future ? Maybe, and be aware here comes a spoiler, not again the bible (thanks) in the ending, visit other places like for example Egypt, there is so much you can write about, change the storyline, the scheme, or just stay who you are, Mr. Brown, obviously your books reach readers and that's what a writer wants, that's what makes a good book. :-)

Rating:
Visit Dan Brown.

Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Doubleday Books; First Edition edition (September 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385504225
ISBN-13: 978-0385504225

Sarah Pinborough - Feeding Ground

2009-10-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

The spider creatures from Breeding Ground have begun to take over London. A small group of survivors try to escape the city via an unused Underground tunnel, only to realize -- too late -- that the tunnel contains a storehouse for the spiders' food.

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It's been a few days since I finished Feeding Ground, a continuation of Breeding Ground and I've already forgotten how the book ended.
As much as I liked all of Pinborough's novels this one left me quite unimpressed, more so bored. We're now in a time where the spiders have taken over London and we have a few of male survivors. The mean drug dealers trying to use the former drugs using woman to their advantage, two groups of teenagers who are trying to survive on their own and the bad guy turned good, helping the teenagers.
So far for the main message.

The bocks description is very clumsy. The Underground tunnel it is talking about comes into play almost on the last few pages and doesn't even play that big of a role. Yes it is storehouse for spider food but the big finale comes just after the tunnel but as I said I don't even remember if the group and the bad guy turned good made it to the boat unharmed. I really have to think hard and still don't remember.

Rating:
Visit Sarah Pinborough.

Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Leisure Books (September 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0843962933
ISBN-13: 978-0843962932

Shane Briant - Worst Nightmares

2009-10-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Dermot Nolan is an international award winning, bestselling author who seems to have it all - a successful career, fame, fortune, and a beautiful wife. Between the royalties coming in from his most recent book, and the revenue he has received from the film company that bought the rights, Dermot seems every bit the literary darling.
And yet, for the last year, he has suffered from a bout of writer's block and in the process has grossly overspent his income. So when Dermot comes across an unsolicited horror manuscript stuffed into his mailbox from one Albert K. Arnold entitled My Worst Nightmares--My Delicious Memoirs, he cannot help but feel intrigued. it tells the story of the twisted, homicidal "Dream Healer" who snares his victims via his website worstnightmares.com, seduces them into revealing their innermost fears, and then kills them by revisiting their very own nightmares upon them, magnified a hundredfold. And while Dermot is disgusted by the horror of Mr. Arnold's manuscript, he is also deeply intrigued, so much that he seeks to solve his writer's block by rewriting Arnold's novel as his own.
Sweeping aside the threatening prospect of plagiarism, Dermot begins to rework the novel while simultaneously researching Arnold's stories. In his search, he slowly begins to realize that the novel may not be entirely fictional, that these poor characters may have perished at the hands of a twisted torturer.
Could the Dream Healer be real ? Could these innocent cyber-surfers have fallen victim to a raving maniac ? And could Dermot be writing his own ticket to death ... his very own worst nightmare ?

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Bestselling author Dermot Nolan suffers from writers block for the last year. His editor pushes him to give her something to work with. So when the unsolicited manuscript arrives he is tempted to look at it but its content is appalling not only in literally ways.
Dermot however wants to back himself up and research the deaths and names. He soon figures that the unknown author going by the name of Albert K. Arnold has a psychopaths psyche. Further pressured Dermot decides to keep his knowledge to himself, especially when he and his wife Neela, are sure, that Arnold killed himself by jumping of a roof.

He feels safe until a reporter receives secret calls filling him in with clues about crime scenes that relate to Dermot's book locations and place him at the scene of crime.

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Unfortunately I don't have much praises for this novel. Despite taking me forever to finish it I've read a similar book just a few weeks ago. The characters actions didn't often make sense to me and they weren't likeable at all. Whatever happened to them, they brought it onto themselves.

The ending wasn't really an ending, the story just stopped at some point. After the last few chapters finally got my attention it just wasn't conclusive for me and left questions open.
In the opening acknowledgements the author claims to believe he delivered his best novel to date. With five novels published in Australia, Worst Nightmares doesn't keep up with the promise Publishers Weekly announced as the novel being an exciting page-turner. But what else to say, Publishers Weekly still thinks Worst Nightmares is Shane's debut novel.

I won't spent my time or money on this author again.

Rating:

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Vanguard Press (May 12, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159315514X
ISBN-13: 978-1593155148

Dick and Felix Francis - Even Money

2009-09-30T12:33:00.001-07:00

On the first day of Royal Ascot, the crowd rejoices in a string of winning favorites. Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a bookmaker—taking over the family business from his grandfather—so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as they count their winnings, and him his losses. He’s seen the ups and downs before—but, as the big gambling conglomerates muscle in on small concerns like his, Ned wonders if it’s worth it any more.

When a grey-haired man steps forward from the crowd, claiming to be his father, Ned’s life is thrown into further turmoil. He’d been told since he was a baby that his parents had died in a car crash.

Barely an hour later, his newly found father is stabbed by an unknown assailant in the Ascot car park. Blood oozing from his abdomen, his father warns Ned to “be very careful.” But of whom? Of what? Ned finds himself in a race to solve his father’s riddle, a race where coming in second could cost him more than even money, it could cost him his life. . . .

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As much as I tried I couldn't finish the book. It was just too boring. I quit after the first third where I waited for something (anything, except bla) to happen after the alleged father was stabbed to death but nothing substantial happened. The final straw was one page that used the Word "I" for about 25 times.

Unfortunately the book is not worth the money nor worth the time spent reading. At least not for me.

Rating:
Visit Dick Francis/Felix Francis.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (August 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399155910
ISBN-13: 978-0399155918

Sandra Brown - Smash Cut

2009-09-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

The murder of Paul Wheeler has all the elements of a blockbuster: family rivalries, incalculable wealth, and a prominent man dying in the arms of his beautiful mistress. It's a case that could earn Derek Mitchell even greater star power. When the Wheeler family approaches him about defending Creighton Wheeler for his uncle's murder - even before he's charged - he jumps at the chance.
But Derek soon discovers that Julie will stop at nothing to secure justice for Paul - and that includes preventing Derek from defending Creighton. Infuriated, Derek realizes that his hands have been tied in a way that could not only cost him the case, but ruin his entire career.

Although Creighton has a rock-solid alibi, Julie is convinced that he is responsible for Paul's murder. But the homicide detectives have another theory. Caught in several lies, and keeping secrets from Derek and the police, Julie is suspected of casting blame on Creighton to cover her own crime. Meanwhile, Derek fears he's once again being duped ... yet he burns with jealousy when he thinks of Julie with her late lover.
But the more Derek learns about Creighton and his darker side, the more he doubts the young man's innocence.
And hiding in a squalid motel under an assumed name is the one man, a career criminal, a killer, who knows the truth.
The clock ticks down toward a shocking ending as Derek and Julie seek to learn whether Creighton's fascination with movie murders is merely a bizarre hobby or depravity. Has he begun reenacting cinema's goriest scenes ... and, if so, who will be his unwitting costars ?

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The books cover description should be called a major spoiler because it almost tells the story in just a few sentences. I'm glad when I got the book I didn't read the description before otherwise I might have been tempted to not read the book at all.
Luckily the description, even if read, doesn't take away that Smash Cut is an exciting thriller to read.
Just when I thought how great the author had hidden the killer's identity (with hints it might not be the suspect you have in mind) she plain let me know by telling me. At first I was shocked and disappointed but afterwards it made perfectly sense and didn't bother the suspense in the least.

I probably won't go back in time to read Brown's older novels but will keep an eye on new publications.

Rating:
Visit Sandra Brown.

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (August 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416563083
ISBN-13: 978-1416563082

Faye Kellerman - Blindman's Bluff

2009-09-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

As a lieutenant in the LAPD, homicide detective Peter Decker doesn't get many calls at 3 a.m. unless a case is nasty, sensational—or both. Someone has broken into the exclusive Coyote Ranch compound of billionaire developer Guy Kaffey and viciously gunned him down, along with his wife and four employees.

A well-known figure on both the business and society pages, Kaffey, with his sons and his younger brother, Mace, built most of the shopping malls in Southern California and earned a reputation for philanthropy, donating millions to worthy causes. It doesn't take long for Peter, his trusted detectives Scott Oliver and Marge Dunn, and the rest of his homicide team to figure out that the gruesome killings must be an inside job. Things become even more entangled when they discover that Kaffey's largesse had included organizations that extended second chances to delinquents, many of whom Kaffey had hired for his personal security. But was the job pure murder/robbery or something even more twisted? A developer of Kaffey's magnitude doesn't make billions without making more enemies with blood grudges.

With leads taking the team across L.A., up and down the Golden State, and into Mexico, Decker is plenty busy—and plenty thankful not to have to worry about his wife, Rina Lazarus, getting caught up in this deadly case. Rina is out of harm's way, serving on a jury at the courthouse.

But then a chance encounter with a court translator who needs her help leads Rina into the terrifying heart of her husband's murder investigations—and straight into the path of a gang of ruthless killers. To protect Rina, Decker must find his prey before death unites his two worlds.

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Blindman's Bluff is the 18th installment in Kellerman's Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus series and it's the first book I've ever rad by this author. The question I always ask myself when jumping into a long established series is if I'd read another book in the series.
My answer in this case would probably be a no for a few reasons:

First of all, I excepted both characters to play a relevant role in the book. The part of Decker's wife Rina could have been played by anyone and her role didn't really contribute to the plot. There is also a lot of build-up in the book. Suspects without end, more names one has to remember over the time span of a few days it takes to get through the book.
Finally the ending was a huge bore for me.

It also took me a while to get the novels title and for those who haven't figured it out I recommend the book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. It's not a direct connection but might indicate why the author choose this title, even if slightly irrelevant.

Maybe it just wasn't Kellerman's best but enough for me. :-)

Rating:
Visit Faye Kellerman.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition first Printing edition (August 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061702323
ISBN-13: 978-0061702327

Michael Palmer - The Fifth Vial

2009-09-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could save her career… In a hospital four thousand miles away, a reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives—and bring others inestimable wealth… In Chicago, a disillusioned detective is hired to determine the identity of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.

Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another—and linked forever by THE FIFTH VIAL.

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Medical student Natalie Reyes has fallen in disgrace with her supervisors and got suspended from school for 4 months. Her mentor and friend, a famous transplant specialist sends her to Rio/Brazil to speak at a transplant meeting. She never arrives there but is kidnapped, drugged and shot. Days later she awakes with her left lung lost in the shooting. Everything points to her needing a transplant soon.

At the time P. I. Ben Callahan is hired to investigate the identity of an unknown man who was run over by a truck but has visible marks of a recent bone marrow transplant. The Organ Guard Institution assumes him to be a victim of organ trafficking especially because they know about a similar case of a surviving woman who was kidnapped recently.

Valuable Dr. Joe Anson desperately needs a lung transplant. To not loose his valuable research he is tricked into agreeing to a transplant but later has to learn, that he was terribly tricked into an early transplant that has been waiting for him for a long, long time.

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The Fifth Vial is one of the best thrillers I've read this year. With an already satisfied appetite with the organ trafficking topic, this novel didn't hurt a bit. Quite the opposite, I couldn't put it down.
The book has three main characters with Natalie and Ben independently bringing the plot together from their perspective. They both, Ben more than Natalie act stupid at times, bringing their lives into even more danger but readers that are not bothered by some questionable turns in the storyline will enjoy this medical thriller from the first page to the last. They even might oversee the more or less last chapter (which is a bit cheesy) that concluded the relationship between Natalie and the person who received her lung.

Good read !

Rating:
Visit Michael Palmer.

Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 27, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312937741
ISBN-13: 978-0312937744

Dennis Lehane - Shutter Island

2009-09-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this remote and barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades -- with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems. But then neither is Teddy Daniels.

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U. S. Marshalls Teddy Daniels and his newly appointed partner Chuck Aule arrive on the remote island Shutter Island that holds Ashecliffe Hospital, a maximum security institution for the criminally insane.
A woman has mysteriously vanished from a locked room without leaving any kind of evidence on how she got out and where she went.
While the investigators try to bring some light into the situation, Teddy however has a second agenda.
He has been researching the island and came to find the arsonist who killed his wife. What he finds is much more disturbing. An unaccounted for patient, secret surgical experiments on patients and a complete hospital crew that seems to be in on it.

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Shutter Island was brought to my attention quite some time ago and now that I've finally read it I have to ask myself why it got such great reviews. It certainly doesn't miss the suspense in the story. It even takes some turns that weren't expected at all but halfway through the reader should have caught the drift about what is going on the island.
After a more or less pleasant ride through the pages I craved the big bang at the end but only got a flat not exciting ending. Not a good read for me and certainly a disappointment after having read The Given Day in 2008.

Rating:
Visit Dennis Lehane.

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperTorch (April 27, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 038073186X
ISBN-13: 978-0380731862

Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4) (Spoiler included)

2009-09-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

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The fourth and last installment in the Twilight series concludes the whole series with Bella finally giving in to marry Edward and her getting pregnant on their honeymoon, But what wasn't known to be possible happened and Bella bears a half human, half vampire girl she names Renesmee. Bella is also changed into what she chose to be: a vampire.

But these changes affect not only the Cullens' and Bella's family, it also affects the wolves pack, especially Jacob. Other threads involve themselves as well.

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Breaking Dawn with its 700+ pages was a piece to read, especially at parts that were just too long and made me wonder how the capability of writing page after page with the same over and over again just using different words is called. There were parts that I think are excruciating to read just because they don't seem to end, like f. e. Bella's pregnancy. Although she got the child in a manner of a few weeks it felt much longer for the reader to get through that part.

Surprisingly I liked the part from Jacob's view. A style that wasn't used by Meyer in the previous three books.

I didn't like the fact that our Bella got everything she wanted. No sacrifices at all, besides as a vampire she lost all her "bad" characteristics. No problems at all. That certainly helped finding the book exciting.
The Renesmee - Jacob relationship made me choke. Seriously ?

To end this painfully, most certainly spoiling review, I'd like to end that if Meyer would have read Wuthering Heights she'd never have used such an ending. Why she felt the need to mention Wuthering Heights more than once in her books is not understandable to me.

In the end there was no drama. All is well, happily ever after - no.
This particular way of writing a conclusion so many people waited for shatters dreams. Not mine but others I now have to feel bad for.

Rating:
Visit Stephenie Meyer.

Stephenie Meyer - Eclipse (Twilight Series, Book 3)

2009-09-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself in the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: Life or death.
But which is which ?

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Bella and Edward move on with their relationship with Bella desperately missing her friend Jacob who keeps away from her since she decided to stay together with vampire Edward. Edward, strictly against a friendship warns her that werewolves aren't predictable and tries to occupy her with his sister Alice or himself to keep her away from La Push, the wolves reservoir.
But sooner or later he has to learn that Jacob's friendship means a lot to Bella, enough to run away from his watchful eyes. He knows that sooner or later Bella has to decide between the human love she feels for Jacob and his and wants her to decide for herself.

When Seattle is raided by a group of young vampires, Bella once again is the target of Victoria's revenge. To win this war the Cullens' have to built an alliance with the wolves pack to fight the group that will come to Forks.

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I don't quite know what to think of this third installment. Bella has her issues with becoming immortal, she has her issues to give up the human qualities Jacob could offer her. The author most definitely went overboard with the whole love triangle thing and certain parts didn't make sense to me at all. But then, I've never been like Bella, who is still the most dependent person in the world, now needing two men to "survive".
Edward seems to have matured a bit by allowing Bella to keep her friendship and decide for herself but still the whole situation is annoying. As a mother I'd probably throw a fit over it.

So top or flop, I wouldn't know and can't decide if I liked it or not. The book didn't offer much substance to me which I expected but overall, it was an ok read to pass the time.
I'm still interested how the story ends and have already picked up the last book to finish the series and get it out of the way.

I refuse to draw any conclusions to the secret fantasies the author might have. Won't do that. No no no.

Rating:
Visit Stephenie Meyer.

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 640 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers; Reprint edition (August 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316027650
ISBN-13: 978-0316027656

Brian Freeman - Immoral (Jonathan Stride Series, Book 1)

2009-09-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Lieutnant Jonathan Stride is suffering from an ugly case of déjà-vu. For the second time in a year, a beautiful teenage girl has disappeared off the streets of Dultuh, Minnesota - gone without a trace, like a bitter gust off Lake Superior. The two victims couldn't be more different.
First it was Kerry McGrath, bubbly, sweet sixteen, and now, Rachel Deese, strange, sexually charged, a wild child.
The media hound Stride to catch a serial killer, and as the search carries him from the icy stillness of the northern woods to the erotic heat of Las vegas, he must decide which facts are real and which are illusions. Stride also finds his own life changed forever by the secrets he uncovered. Secrets that stretch across time in a web of lies, death, and illicit desire. Secrets that are chillingly ... immoral.

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In a time span of one year two young girls have been vanished without a trace. Pressured by public and media, Lieutenant Jonathan Stride and his partner Maggie Bei tried to solve the disappearance of Kerry McGrath in vain and face the same situation again.
But when rumors surface about Rachel's stepfather abusing his stepdaughter, the police digs into the families life, exposing evidence that that the stepfather might have killed Rachel.
Police and the District Attorney agree, that they can reach a conviction for murder without having the body.

The case seems to be solved but three years later when a body is found in the desert of Las Vegas, the past catches up with a restless Stride who never forgot the Rachel Deese case.

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Immoral is an o.k. read that won't bore you but neither will it wow you. I am certain there are a lot of readers that like the whole story but I couldn't find much that appealed to my taste.
The solution to the whole story is rather simply to guess otherwise other parts of the story wouldn't make sense at all. I was only waiting for my assumptions to be confirmed - which I was.

There is lots Mr. Freeman has to work on and probably already did in the following three novels already published.
I'll probably pick up the second book in the series soon just to figure out if things have changed. The Jonathan Stride character development in the end left room for hope and more. :-)

Rating:
Visit Brian Freeman.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1ST edition (August 25, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312340427
ISBN-13: 978-0312340421

Sabine Thiesler - Hexenkind

2009-09-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

In an old, lonely and remote farmhouse in the midst of the Tuscany, a mushroom collector finds a horribly mutilated body: Sarah, the German wife of restaurant owner Romano, throat has been cut through.

This brutal killing is only the beginning of the doom that began years ago in Germany, and now reaching into the future to take it's hold over a whole family until it reaches a final, most gruesome ending.

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Romano Simonetti worked in an Italian restaurant in Germany when the battered and abused Sarah stood in his doorway, holding a crying infant in her arms. A friendship developed soon and they fled to Italy to open Romano's dream: a small restaurant.
They marry, they become children but you can not hide from your past.

Sarah's passion for other men, a mentally disabled son, an intelligent daughter with jealousy issues, a mean mother in law, and the daughters father are a mean mixture made to explode sooner or later.

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The book begins with the discovery of Sarah's dead body by one of her former affairs and her husband learning that his wife has been killed. From there on we learn about Sarah and her family through flashbacks placed very nicely. Actually the whole book is more flashbacks than "real time". The reader learns how the family developed and how the disaster was built brick by brick by the victim.

Whatever it was I felt like a bystander watching a families doom slowly develop in front of my eyes. I saw through Sarah's and Romano's eyes. I saw through the eyes of daughter Elsa and those of the abusive ex-boyfriend from Germany.

All in all you won't get a real thriller, nor will you get a family saga. There will be things you will be able to predict, but there will also be things that surprise you.

I for myself couldn't put the book down and loved it from the beginning to the end.

Sabine Thiesler is a German author, who's novels unfortunately haven't been translated yet. Her first novel, Der Kindersammler was a major success. Hexenkind, different but unique in it's own can add to that. Her third novel Die Totengraeberin was published in the beginning of 2009 and I won't wait much longer to pick it up.

Let's hope at some point they are going to translate the books. It really would add to the international list of very good writers.

Rating:

Paperback: 580 pages
Publisher: Heyne Paperback (October 1, 2007)
Language: German
ISBN-10: 3453432746
ISBN-13: 978-3453432741

Robin Cook - Intervention

2009-09-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

It's been more than thirty years since New York City medical examiner Jack Stapleton's college graduation and almost as long since he'd been in touch with former classmates Shawn Doherty and Kevin Murray. Once a highly regarded ophthalmologist, Jack's career took a dramatic turn after a tragic accident that destroyed his family. But that, too, is very much in the past: Jack has remarried - to longtime colleague and fellow medical examiner Laurie Montgomery - and is the father of a young child. But his renegade, activist personality can't rest, and after performing a postmortem on a young college student who had recently been treated by a chiropractor, Jack decides to explore alternative medicine. What makes some people step outside the medical establishment to seek care from practitioners of Eastern philosophies and even faith healers?

Jack's classmate Shawn Doherty is now a renowned archaeologist and biblical scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose taste for good wine and generally deteriorating health are taking a toll on his career. He has recently obtained permission for a final dig beneath Saint Peter's, and despite his long-standing grudge against the Catholic Church, begins his research - which eventually takes him to Jerusalem and Venice - only to make a startling discovery with ecclesiastical and medical implications. And when Kevin Murray, now Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, gets wind of Shawn's findings, he's desperate to keep them from the public. Kevin has strong political ambitions within the Church, but his association with Shawn threatens to undermine them. Kevin turns to his old friend Jack to help protect an explosive secret - one with the power to change lives forever.

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I've always been intrigued to try one of Robin Cook's novels and decided Intervention might as well be the first one. The audio book unabridged audio edition lasted
11 h and 6 long minutes in which I was tempted to just leave it be and listen to another audio book. The plot, strongly reminding of Dan Brown, is intriguing but unfortunately neither the revelation of bones that possibly belonged to the virgin Mary, nor the sparsely detailed research in it's mitochondrial DNA, nor the critis into alternative medicine took a hold of me.
Truly, Cook's way of writing seems very fluent after almost 30 published novels.

The narrator's voice was an ok voice, less memorable than those I am used to but in the end it suffices the purpose. Obviously Intervention isn't a book written for newcomers to Robin Cook. Probably the reason I longer feel tempted to try one of his books.

Rating:
Visit Robin Cook.

Audio CD
Publisher: Penguin Audio; Unabridged edition (August 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014314457X
ISBN-13: 978-0143144571

Jeff Carlson - Plague Year

2009-08-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

The nanotechnology was designed to fight cancer. Instead, it evolved into the machine plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life on Earth forever.

The nanotech has one weakness: it self-destructs at altitudes above ten thousand feet. Those few who've managed to escape struggle to stay alive on the highest mountains, but time is running out. There is famine and war, and the environment is crashing worldwide. Humanity's last hope lies with a top nanotech researcher aboard the International Space Station-and with a small group of survivors in California who risk a daring journey below the death line.

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As much as I tried the book felt like a flatliner. Having read a tad more than the first third I was hoping for some more sci-fi details and much more excitement. Instead I got the story of some survivors who live above the surviving altitude of nanoprobes which have turned badly against humanity, eating them from the inside out.
A few of the survivors make their way to another camp where they are obviously needed, as a barely surviving visitor told them. He promised them food and shelter and most of all safety.
I never read to the point if he spoke the truth or not.

Sounds interesting but believe me, the story develops flatter than a pancake.

Plague Year is the first in a series of three (Plague War, Jul. 2008, and Plague Zone, Nov. 2009).

Rating:
Visit Jeff Carlson.

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Ace; First Printing edition (July 31, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 044101514X
ISBN-13: 978-0441015146

Barbara Delisnky - Finger Prints

2009-08-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time she was Robyn Hart, a journalist who saw too much and wasn't afraid to expose it. But that courage nearly cost Robyn her life. Under the protection of the Witness Relocation program, she now has a new identity -- Carly -- and a new job. But the terror of the past still lingers, and Carly lives in fear that her enemies will find her.

Though she tries to wall herself off from the world, one determined man breaks through her defenses -- successful young attorney Ryan Cornell. And though she yearns to give him her heart, Carly doesn’t know if she can. While loving him offers a happiness she thought she'd forever lost, trusting him could cost her everything.

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Carly Quinn left her old life months ago to finally enter the witness relocation program 4 months ago. Having survived an attack on her life in a dark alley she fears for her life and lives a secluded life as a teacher when attractive lawyer Ryan Cornell moves into her building. She desperately tries to keep to herself but falls for his charm and persistence to come into her life. Not without the reassurance of her friend and person responsible for her protection, Sam Loomis, she gives in to Ryan and their relationship grows.

Things become difficult for Carly when the man she brought to jail files motion for a new trial and she might be called back to the witness stand. On top of that Gary Culbert seems quite assured he might be acquitted.
Then there is Sheila, whom Carly got to know before the huge trial. Sheila was responsible for Carly's security and they developed a deep friendship. But since Sheila moved to Cambridge she seems distracted to the dismay of her new boss Sam. Loomis.

Ultimately Carly's is going to be betrayed by a person she loves.

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Finger Prints was first published in 1984 and seems to be one of Delinsky's earlier novels. I couldn't quite figure out if or under what title the book was published before it got named Finger Prints. Today the author seems to no longer like to be associated with her pseudonyms Bonnie Drake or Billie Douglass. Fact is some of her older novels written under her pseudonyms are republished under the name Barbara Delinsky.

Coming to the book I believe it flopped. The writing style is very fluent and easy to read but the plot itself was too much romance, too little suspense. It was pretty clear in which direction the book is going from the beginning and besides all of the romance I was just waiting for something suspenseful to happen.
I'm not excited about the book but it wasn't too bad either. Just reading time I could have spent on something more interesting or a book whose cover description matches the plot.

Rating:
Visit Barbara Delisnky.

Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: HarperTorch (April 1, 1992)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061041807
ISBN-13: 978-0061041808

Thomas O'Callaghan - The Screaming Room

2009-08-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

John Driscoll has laid the ghosts of his past to rest. He's ready to start over - both personally and as a NYPD homicide commander. But it seems that a serial killer has other plans for Driscoll.

The victims' bodies are found, brutally mutilated and carefully arranged for the world to see - grotesque visions to all except for the depraved killer, who considers them masterpieces. These blood rituals spell out a message to Driscoll.
And they are just the beginning...

Driscoll's investigation will lead him down the darkest of journeys, toward an evil beyond his worst nightmares. In a hellish landscape conceived by the all-too-clever mind of a twisted schemer, Driscoll must play a killer's deadly game. It's up to him to save his city - or die trying.

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The teenagers Cassie & Angus have been abused and tortured their whole life. Now that they are finally free, Angus clever mind knows how to trick the likes that made them suffer so much into their trap to take a gruesome revenge. What remains is a mutilated and scalped body.

While Lieutenant John Driscoll takes charge of the investigations of several murders, a huge pharmacy mogul has his own interest to get to the two teenagers first. His agenda is clear: they need to die for they hold secrets that should never be revealed.

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As nice as the books description sounds, it fails to deliver on a large scale. I wasn't particular impressed with the authors choice of wording but could have gone past that if the plot hadn't been such a boring experience.
Besides the characters own packages, a wife that was just buried and Driscoll's working colleague and love Margaret's struggles with the past it felt like a huge jigsaw where the pieces have been cut very badly.

Rating:
Visit Thomas O'Callaghan.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Pinnacle (2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0739484303
ISBN-13: 978-0739484302

Lisa Gardner - The Neighbor

2009-08-20T21:53:00.001-07:00

It was a case to spark a media feeding frenzy - a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect.
But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Joneses' snug little bungalow, she senses something off about the picture of wholesome normality the couple worked so hard to create. On the surface, Jason and Sandra Jones were like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old child. But it is just under the surface that things grew murkier.
With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems more intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his "beloved" wife.

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Sandra and Jason Jones have been married for almost 4 years, raising her four-year-old daughter Ree. Their marriage isn't what the average person would assume as normal but besides that they are both devoted to their child's safety.
One night Jason returns from work and finds his wife missing and his daughter sleeping in her bed. Police soon considers him their main suspect when a registered sex offender from the neighborhood enters the scene, a secret affair of Sandra's turns up and her estranged father, a judge from Georgia, claims rights on his granddaughter.
And what's wrong with Jason who's behavior and gestures are as cold as ice, calculating and only warm towards his daughter.

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At first I didn't really knew what to think about Gardner's newest novel until the suspense got me. The plot is slightly tied to the previous novel Say Goodbye and the "Burgerman" Gardner opens door after door after door with suspects, giving us a good glimpse of the characters and what they were thinking. I didn't really guess who's involved in Sandra's disappearance up until the almost the end.

I really enjoyed Sandra's flashbacks from the past, how she grew up with abusing parents, met Jason and discovered his terrible secret. The revelation in the end is shockingly twisted and rewarding with a conclusion that takes your breath away. It all fits and I for once closed a book I couldn't put away.

Rating:
Visit Lisa Gardner.

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition first Printing edition (June 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553807234
ISBN-13: 978-0553807233

Jilliane Hoffman - Plea of Insanity

2009-08-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

The prosecutor -- Julia Vacanti. Young and ambitious, and facing a case that could launch her career.
The defendant -- David Marquette. A successful Miami surgeon and devoted family man. The victims -- Marquette's own wife and three small children.
The plea -- Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.

The perfect father and model husband, David Marquette seemingly just snapped. His experienced defense team claims paranoid delusions caused by schizophrenia drove him to slaughter his entire family.

But the state suspects Marquette's insanity defense is being fabricated to disguise murders that were cold blooded and calculated. Worse, Julia believes Marquette could be responsible for a string of unsolved, brutal homicides. Could he be one of the most prolific and elusive serial killers in the country's history? To bring him to justice, Julia must embark on a terrifying personal journey back into her own past-something she has struggled to forget for fifteen years. And this will lead her to confront a future so chilling, she's not sure she will ever be able to face it...

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Assistant State Attorney Julia Vacanti is appointed to her very first big case:
David Marquette has to stand trial for the gruesome murder of his wife and three children. His defense pleas he's not guilty by reason of insanity on the basis of his family history and his brother being schizophrenic.
In the midst of the trial Julia learns that her brother, whose whereabouts haven't been spoke of since years, is still alive and locked away in a high security facility for the murder of his parents while Julia was on a sleep over. He's treated as being schizophrenic.
Rekindling with her brother Julia begins to understand the difficulties of being schizophrenic and develops doubts in her own allegation against Marquette and that in fact might not be guilty.

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Plea of Insanity was not what I'd expected after I've read lots of raving reviews about Hoffman's previous books.
The plot idea itself is not that bad but not really unique either. It has been there in several novels and movies and unfortunately better done as well.
I don't want to call the book a legal thriller although it was meant to be just that and more.

In the end it was entertaining but probably not enough to make me a fan.

Rating:
Visit Jilliane Hoffman.

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Vanguard Press; 1 edition (April 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593155077
ISBN-13: 978-1593155070

Warren Fahy - Fragment

2009-08-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

In this powerhouse of suspense—as brilliantly imagined as Jurassic Park and The Ruins—scientists have made a startling discovery: a fragment of a lost continent, an island with an ecosystem unlike any they've seen before... an ecosystem that could topple ours like a house of cards.

The time is now. The place is the Trident, a long-range research vessel hired by the reality TV show Sealife. Aboard is a cast of ambitious young scientists. With a director dying for drama, tiny Henders Island might be just what the show needs. Until the first scientist sets foot on Henders— -- and the ultimate test of survival begins...

For when they reach the island’s shores, scientists are utterly unprepared for what they find -- —creatures unlike any ever recorded in natural history. This is not a lost world frozen in time, an island of mutants, or a lab where science has gone mad: this is the Earth as it might have looked after evolving on a separate path for half a billion years.

Soon the scientists will stumble on something more shocking than anything humanity has ever encountered: because among the terrors of Henders Island, one life form defies any scientific theory— -- and must be saved at any cost.

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The research vessel Trident receives an emergency transmission from a 30-foot sailboat leading them to a remote island that hasn't been touched by humans before: Henders Island, where plants and animals together developed unaffected by human traces or today's flora and fauna.
Upon entering the island a team of scientists and cameramen suffers terrible losses during a live feed to national TV, leaving only two lone survivors: Botanist Nell Duckworth and cameraman Zero Monroe.
The area around the island is quarantined for further investigations and research and Nell is put in charge of the on-site observation team abroad of a mobile lab. But soon the astonished scientists discover that the island eco-system works as vicious as it can be with never before seen lifeforms not only attacking other lifeforms but also capable of finding their ways through metals and acrylics.
Unfortunately things get out of hands when the government recognizes how much of a threat the island inhabitants can get if it ever gets to the mainland.

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Fragment has this jurassic park feeling times four, spiked with difficult to comprehend creations of animals and plants. Luckily it also offers drawings of the animals at the same time which I thought is a wonderful addition to the book.
At times it gets a bit out of hands with unnecessary dialog between scientists that don't talk about the novels topic itself but luckily the reader stays undisturbed engulfed with the island terror after those two very distracting off-topics are done.
In hindsight of the prologue and its sense the book offers a very disturbing sight on what can happen and what has been happening for a long time to eco-systems if interrupted and that the chance of an ultimate extinction of the world we know today isn't as far fetched as one might think.

I believe this is a great effort by a new author one might keep an eye on.

Rating:
Visit Warren Fahy.

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press (June 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553807536
ISBN-13: 978-0553807530