Jana Suggests

2009-10-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Black Water

by Joyce Carol Oates

I was inspired to read this book with the recent passing of Ted Kennedy, for some reason my die hard Democrat conscience, held off out of respect for the historical family. Now that the first generation is gone I read it and thought, "pure fiction because none of us but those two people know what really happened in that car at Chapaquitic". It was good but the conclusion of most chapters was "Kelly" died, followed my more of her reminisces, kind of confusing for a brain challenged reader such as myself. My sympathies are all for Kelly than for the entitled Senator in her story but I think the book needed more. I love the more emotionally wrenching stories; such as "The Lovely Bones", by Alice Sebold, "My Sisters Keeper" by Jody Picoult,this one needed more to keep me interested in picking it up again. For a small book it took a long time to finish, she's a well respected writer so I think it was just a matter of personal taste.

2009-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dexter by Design in audio form

by Jeffry Lindsay

Boy is Dexter Morgan back in a great way. I wasn't a fan of the last installment "Dexter in the Dark" but this one was terrific, just kept me so enthralled it came out of my car and into my house when I got home, a rare feat for most audio books. I was once called "perverse" for liking this series, so let me preface this review for those who don't know about this character, let me tell you, he's not for everyone. He's a blood spatter expert (now a Showtime series but it's different from the books although still very good, in my opinion) who also moonlights as a serial killer for the bad guys who escape justice. He has a dark passenger (his murderous alter ego) a family who he mostly attached himself to for his "cover" and has a profane, tough sister Deborah, a cop. In this novel, there are gruesome displays of dead bodies with most of their insides cleaned out and decorative items put in to replace them. Following a lead with Deborah because he can basically never say no to her she is seriously hurt and Dexter is left reeling from the surprise. His stride is off because of this new development but he still manages to get into the thick of things as always. Really enjoyable book, I was so happy to hear the story was back to where I loved it.

2009-09-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bending the Rules

by Susan Andersen

A lighthearted series about three best friends who inherit an estate from their childhood mentor, Agnes Bell Walcott. "Cutting Loose", the first book, is about Jane, the serious one, this second one is about Poppy, the soft hearted artist. I always enjoy reading this author after all the murder and mayhem that I also read and enjoy. This one features a memorable hero, Jason de Sanges, a sexy cop who reluctantly crosses paths with the woman he considers a liberal minded trouble maker Poppy Calloway. Always the right ingredients for an enjoyable escapism romance. She wants to redeem three young teenagers who get in trouble for vandalism and Jason is put on the case due to politics in his department. They clash many times and in protecting one of the teenagers who has a killer chasing her they feel a strong attraction and than eventually, and reluctantly for him especially, love. Another strong romance in an entertaining series.

2009-09-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Smash Cut in Audio form

by Sandra Brown

I don't normally buy the abridged form of audio books but they've become so difficult to find now in book stores and finances being what they are right now I was really pleased to find a reasonably priced Wal Mart edition. I didn't regret my decision at all, besides being more affordable, it made that particular book fast paced and even more exciting. Derek Mitchell is a successful criminal lawyer and after meeting a beautiful woman on an airplane from Paris, his life from that point on is one complication after another. She happens to be the girlfriend of a recently slain man, Paul Wheeler, and what he doesn't know is she knows exactly who he is. Julie Rutledge is sure that the man responsible for the murder is Paul's nephew, Creighton, and the last thing she wants is a lawyer with a good trial record taking the case. Creighton is a piece of work, a man with a passion for spending money made by others, movies, and prostitutes. Derek is glad after meeting the man that he can't take the case but now he has a problem, no one says no to Creighton Wheeler without repercussions. I listened to this book quickly, couldn't wait to get back in the car to hear the next twist and turn. Exactly what I look for in a good book.

2009-08-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

Burn

By Linda Howard

Another one of her pot boilers, this one has a lottery winner, a rich man's daughter, and a freelance security team on a cruise to Hawaii, where there is a possible mad man aboard. The heroine is the lottery winner, Jenner Redwine, one of the working class like most of us, until fortune smiles upon her and makes her one of the Florida elite. The rich man's daughter is her now best friend, Sydney Hazlett, a very gentle woman whose father gives her all she desires but hasn't spoiled her rotten quite yet. The freelance security team kidnaps and holds Sydney in a hotel room to prevent her from boarding the ship. Another segment of the team boards the ship and Cael, the leader, arranges a room with Jenner next door to their target. At first by threatening Syd, and slowly as time passes, Jenner realizes they're on the side of good and not evil and becomes a willing participant. I liked Jenner, she has an edge to her, and is well matched with Cael, it also ended well, realistically but with a slight twist.

2009-07-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof

by Blaize Clement

Always an enjoyable murder mystery because of the sad and the comedic elements the author always puts in this series. Dixie Hemingway (no relation to the writer, as she says) is an ex deputy in Florida who now works as a pet sitter, very happy living near her brother and his companion. Unfortunately her life doesn't always run smoothly as these pesky murders always seem to find her or she finds them. In this instance she meets a woman on her pet sitting route and they become friendly, Dixie is surprised at how much she misses female companionship. Not long after bonding, her new friend is viciously murdered, and as always Dixie finds it difficult to stay impartial. She investigates on the sly and also plunges again into the dating world, this time with a cop she met on a few of the other cases of murder. I'm glad to see the character evolve a little bit, grief is understandable for the loss of her husband and child, but it doesn't make for spellbinding fiction, novel after novel in one series.

2009-07-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Just One Look in audio form

by Harlan Coben

Since the French movie "Tell No One" I've become a fan of this writer's work. His inclusion of the baddies who know human anatomy and find the right spot to incapacitate people is pretty darn scary! This one is about Grace Lawson who picks up developed photographs at her neighborhood drug store and finds an out-of-place picture of a man who looks alarmingly like her husband as a young man. One woman in the photo has her face crossed out and when her husband sees the picture he leaves abruptly and doesn't return. There are many twists and turns and the bad guy is one that could only be classified as terrifying. I liked how Grace just didn't sit by and wait for her husband to return, she investigates and fights back with all the means available to her. I also enjoyed all the secondary characters, you just never know who will help or will hinder her in her quest to get to the bottom of the mystery. Kept me on pins and needles until the author gave me quite a shock in the end.

2009-07-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Home Safe

by Elizabeth Berg

Every once in a while I leave the murders behind and read a woman's fiction novel, especially those by this author. The heroine, Helen, is an author who recently lost her husband in a sudden death in their kitchen, leading her to a severe case of writers block. She has become a mild annoyance to her adult daughter, her only respite from the grief and the mental block is meddling and shopping for her. Helen is persuaded to teach a class on writing and that is where she discovers her new and different life direction. Another challenge in her life is where did most of her fortune go, before his death her husband for some unknown reason withdrew eight hundred and fifty thousand of their money and she has no idea where he spent it. Some of her problems I couldn't really identify with, unless I win the lottery I couldn't save, much less lose, that much money but I still enjoyed meeting her and the other characters.

2009-07-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

The Neighbor

by Lisa Gardner

Terrific book, as usual. Not as many deaths as her books usually have but it still had plenty of suspense. To outsiders, Jason and Sandra Jones have the perfect little family, just the two of them and their young daughter Clarissa. One night Sandra disappears while Jason is at work and Clarissa is home sleeping, suggesting foul play since the young mother is devoted to her daughter. The police are called and police detective D.D. Warren (she is a character from Lisa Gardner's book "Hide") is on the case. Right from the start D.D. is wary of Jason Jones, there is just nothing normal about him or his reactions. He stays firm about protecting his daughter from the police and their questions which also heightens their already strong suspicions. Throughout the book there is some narration from whom we assume is Sandra but after reading "The Lovely Bones" I wasn't reassured that Sandra was alive and well. What happened to her and what is behind Jason's odd reactions and a subplot involving a neighborhood sex offender kept me very interested. I liked the ending immensely, I love Lisa Gardner's books and always look forward to her new ones.

2009-06-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Plum Spooky in audio form

By Janet Evanovich

Usually I read these manually because I'm bothered by the narrator's voice for Ranger and Stephanie's Grandma Mazur but the shorter "in-between the numbers" books has only a little of both. This one features Stephanie's friend Diesel, a mystical guy who is chasing another mystical (but evil) guy and throughout it all Stephanie is dragged along for the journey. Explosions, and loose monkey's and kidnapping abounds, as well as all the other adventures that befall her whenever she chases down her FTA's, including flying fruit. LuLu as always makes an appearance and other new characters are introduced, all as quirky and dangerous to Stephanie's well being as the main characters, but no one is as dangerous to her as she is to herself. That is what makes all these books so funny; only in fiction could someone survive all the car accidents and other calamaties that she sometimes finds herself contending with. Now with the new Fearless Fourteen out, there's no time to wait for the next Stephanie Plum.

2009-06-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the Memories

by Cecelia Ahern

This was such an entertaining book, I really liked it. Like most of her novels, there's such a whimsical feel to them. This one is about Justin Hitchcock, a visitor to Ireland who for the attention of an attractive woman, donates blood and that one action changes his life forever. At around the same time, Joyce an unhappily married yet pregnant woman, runs down her stairs to the answer the phone and takes a spill, losing the baby and than needing a transfusion. Such begins Joyce's transformation from an ordinary smart woman to an extraordinary smart woman, thanks to Justin and his advanced art degree. The two, at the start of the book meet each other only briefly, and then through the rest of it, are just two ships passing in the night. Joyce is dismayed over the memories, that are not her own, running through her mind at the oddest times. Happy memories of a red headed woman and a young girl and outings with them. Memories quite painful at first because of the loss of her first child but than they start to help her through her grieving process. I loved Justin's brother and sister-in-law, they were really fun characters. Always a treat to read this author.

2009-06-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

The Scarecrow

by Michael Connelly

This is the second book featuring the main character from "The Poet", Los Angeles Times reporter Jack McEvoy and it's every bit as good as all Michael Connelly novels. It begins with Jack getting laid off due to the rise of lower paid college graduates and than to his frustration having to train his own replacement. That very day he receives a phone call from an irate lady who believes his last story wrongly accused her son of murder. At first he dismisses her as just being biased in favor of her son until a key point in her complaint gets him interested in investigating. Soon his last two weeks are filled with another murder case like "The Poet" with its every danger and hopefully it's same reward since that last case bought him a house. The book also features the return of FBI agent Rachel Walling who comes and goes out of the Harry Bosch novels as well. This book has a scary villain since the age of computers leaves us vulnerable in ways like never before and this bad guy knows all and isn't afraid to exploit that knowledge to keep himself out of jail. This was a terrific book, I particularly enjoyed seeing the inside of the modern day newspaper business. Another winner for Michael Connelly.

2009-05-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

Pursuit
by Karen Robards

Always an author I can't wait to read and I devour her novels quickly. This one was no exception, I like how her female characters are described, they aren't perfectly beautiful so right away I bond with them immediately, being average looking myself. Jessica Ford is a bright young lawyer at a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm, when one night the big boss calls and has her meet the First Lady at a bar, surprisingly unaccompanied by Secret Service. The night goes horribly wrong and soon the First Lady and a Secret Service agent who caught up with them is dead and Jessica is left with harsh injuries and soon on the run from unknown enemies. The book was a fast and a very enjoyable read, I liked both Jessica and the hero, Secret Service Agent Mark Ryan. Now the wait for her next novel continues...

2009-05-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen in Audio Format

Now there is a new character to put on my favorite fictional people list, the novels hero, Jacob Jankowski. I loved the audio books inclusion of two voices portraying him, the young and older version. He is a wonderful character at any age but I especially loved the 90 (or 93) version, he can never remember his age as he grouses numerous times. He is cranky and troublesome and just an absolute wonderful protagonist in my opinion. The story begins in his nursing home when the circus comes to town. A retired lawyer suddenly seated at the same table gets Jacob's back up when he claims to the rapt ladies at their table that he used to carry "water for elephants". After Jacob calls the man a liar and gets ousted from the table soon he is telling us his own story that is centered around him and "The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth". And what a terrific story it is, not romanticised, if you're an animal lover parts will leave you cringing, but it is such a moving story. Jacob will be a character I think about again and again.

2009-04-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

A Good and Happy Child

by Justin Evans in Audio Format

I was expecting a different story but still couldn't take it out of my CD player, I just had to know what happens to the main character, George Davies. At the start of the story we meet George as an adult, a new father who for reasons unknown to even him, cannot hold his newborn son. Soon the narrative changes to the journals his doctor encourages him to write. They chart his childhood as the only child of two academics, his trauma's begin when his father dies mysteriously on the other side of the world. George soon sees a figure, one who resembles himself but dirtier and unlike George, conscienceless and just a little bit evil. Soon George is convinced by the spirit that someone close to their family is responsible for his fathers death and he or the figure, we don't quite know which, acts accordingly. The person survives the car crash caused by his brakes being disabled; but soon he and others convince George that he is possessed by an evil spirit. Throughout the book all sorts of adults influence George, his mother, her new boyfriend, his godfather, his late father's best friend, even psychiatrists who eventually decide he needs involuntary commitment to a mental hospital. By the time everyone is done with him I'm amazed he doesn't just run off and live alone in a cave somewhere. The book is very engrossing the character of George is so well written I hated to leave him when the story was done, but like all books they must end.

2009-04-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Sleepwalking in Daylight

by Elizabeth Flock

This was a frustrating book only because you want the main characters, Bob and Samantha Friedman, to just snap out of it! To be fair though the mistakes they make are normal for most self involved, oblivious-to-their-kids, people. A marriage barely hanging in there, an adopted teenage daughter acting out, rambunctious twin boys the only source of normalcy in their dysfunctional home. My heart ached for the teenage daughter whose traumas we discover through her writings in her journal which is interspersed throughout the chapters. She feels the only people who accept her as a true member of the family are the young boys and I have to admit the Friedman's are like most of us; unable to see how their unhappy marriage is causing collateral damage. 16 year old Cammy deals with things that made my jaw drop, made me glad I was from a different era when the most I had to worry about was when I'd find a boyfriend and if I'd pass my classes. A sad book I still prefer Me & Emma, her debut, a book that still resonates.

2009-04-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Shattered

by JoAnn Ross

Another High Risk Series installment, if it weren't for the covers, her books would be read by men too just change the gender of the chest in a low cut top on the front and I guarantee they too would buy these novels. They're action packed with military men and covert operations with some romance to keep us women interested. The heroines are no slouches either, this one features a combat nurse who even after her military duty, volunteers for posts in dangerous countries just for humanitarian purposes. Army pilot Shane Garrett has never forgotten his brief affair with Kirby Campbell during a military maneuver where she was an Army Combat Nurse in a war torn country. When he is first injured and recovering in Germany he sends her away because of stubborn pride but later regrets his impulsive response. When they are both out of the Army, she in another hot spot, he back in North Carolina, recovered and now able to fly again, suddenly they are thrown together to rescue her friend and co worker from a hostage situation. Really good action romance novels, they take me no time at all to finish because of my high interest in the characters and the situations.

2009-03-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

The Brass Verdict

by Michael Connelly in Audio Format

Michael Connelly is always a great read but this time I tried him in audio and as usual his book was very engrossing. A sequel to The Lincoln Lawyer it blends both the lead character, lawyer Mickey Haller and my favorite LA Cop Harry Bosch in one book. You can't lose with that addition and Harry is at his gruff best. He is the lead cop investigating the murder of a high profile attorney whose cases Mickey inherits. They butt heads numerous times as Harry always does with people who hold back on him or just generally annoy him. Soon Mickey finds something about Harry oddly familiar and I was thrilled with the connection that is revealed between the two men. Any excuse to put Harry in a different series is okay by me and probably has excited all of Michael Connelly's fans. Another job well done.

2009-03-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

What I Did for Love

by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This author's work is always good to read right after a series of gritty crime drama's like Dennis Lehane's books to make me feel better about the world. This one is set in Hollywood which is a blast for such a movie fanatic like myself, an inside look at the stars and their paparazzi maneuvers. The book has beloved sitcom icons from the Skip and Scooter show, Georgie Yorke and Bram Shepard, and as which makes the beginning of a great romance, they hate each other. Soon they are thrust in the same house for months on end with quirky characters like Bram's edgy housekeeper/assistant and Georgie's pudgy sensitive male assistant. Georgie's very vain and insincere ex husband and his do-gooder new wife end up staying with them briefly making even more fireworks among everyone. As with most of her novels there is not just the one romance in the book and that makes it fun too. Always a pleasure in tough times to read a light romance to get away from the stresses of the day and thats just what this book did for me, my thanks to the author.

2009-02-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

Mystic River

by Dennis Lehane in audio format

I found out the narrator of this audio was one of my favorite voices in movies, David Strathairn, so I was on board for listening to it and he didn't disappoint. The book was really excellent and right away I had to watch the movie again and I loved them both. There were only a few differences from the book to the movie which is rare and a tribute to Brian Helgeland who wrote the screenplay. He added a few dramatic touches but didn't take out too much. It starts with three young friends playing in the street in Massachusetts and one is taken by car by two men posing as cops. When the boy is returned four days later his psyche and his friendship with the other two boys is forever changed. Fast forward to adulthood when another one of the boys, Jimmy, now a man with a checkered past discovers his grown daughter has been murdered. On the same night Dave, the boy who was taken, now a father himself, comes home covered with blood. His wife, Celeste, who is also Jimmy's cousin doubts his story and as cops keep coming around her doubts soon grow in magnitude. The man investigating the death of Jimmy's daughter is the third boy, now a State Policeman, Sean Devine. The book, like Lehane's others, are full of strong characters, the best being the actual atmosphere of the city. As the mystery unfolds, and even remembering how it ended I was still enthralled by the story.

2009-02-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

Wishful Drinking

by Carrie Fisher

What an amusing and quick read, I enjoyed the glimpse into how the other half lives, which actually turned out to be not unlike how us regular folks live. The only big difference is when they fall they fall hard because of the funds they have access to that we on a limited budget do not. They're mistakes, as we see more and more on the news, sometimes leads to death, luckily with Carrie Fisher she lives and has a good sense of humor about her recovery from both alcohol and depression. She has a collage of tabloid headlines about her parents scandals and her own in some of the chapters, also fascinating if like me, you didn't see the headlines when they were first published. I laughed out loud and felt a twinge of sympathy for the real life people she snuck in without naming names but we all knew who she was talking about. Her family members have no such luxury but I was happy to read that Debbie Reynolds was no "Mommie Dearest", more like the mother character she played on Will and Grace which I loved. Very nice way to spend a couple of hours and that was literally how long it took because I was having such a good time.

2009-01-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sacred & Gone Baby Gone

by Dennis Lehane

This series is terrific and I love reading the books after enjoying the movie Gone Baby Gone because the characters are now Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan in my mind. The only thing I miss is the dry humor that Patrick and Angie share that didn't translate too well on the screen or maybe they just wanted the film to be more dark in tone. Nonetheless I love all the books and the movie greatly. In Sacred, Patrick and Angie are hired to find a rich dying man's daughter, and as it turns out, Patrick's PI mentor Jay who also turned up missing after being hired by Trevor Stone. The case, as expected in his novels, becomes very complicated and dangerous and ends up endangering both their lives.

In Gone Baby Gone, 4 year old Amanda McCready is missing and Patrick and Angela are hired by the little girls Aunt to investigate along with the police. Even knowing what happened since I saw the film, I still finished the book in record time, his setting in Boston and all his characters are just great. Now onto the next and last one, Prayers for Rain.

2009-01-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Darkness take my Hand

by Dennis Lehane

I have had trouble finishing a book lately so I went back to this series, and boy, problem solved. He has created terrific characters, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennero and the setting is to die for; (literally, many people tend to die in these books) a tough neighborhood in Boston, Mass. This time Patrick and Angie take a case that starts simply as a worried mother receiving a innocuous photograph of her college aged son and a slight worry that propels her to hire them to watch over him. For days they watch in awe as Jason has a love life that even surpasses Patrick's in brevity and high number of partners. But when nothing happens they give up and the mother agrees there may be no threat to her son so they are no longer on the case. Meanwhile, not so coincidentally as it turns out, Patrick is called in to identify a dead body of a woman he ran into, alive, just a few days before. Soon the death proves to be a link to Jason's case which tragically becomes active again. This book has everything, more heart wrenching childhood memories from Patrick, a serial killer, a reemergence of Angie's abusive ex husband, Phil. I'm hooked on this series which I read in an interview with the author is concluded with the fifth one, "Prayers for Rain".

2008-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

Abandon

by Carla Neggers

Another entertaining mystery from this author. Mackenzie Stewart has changed professions from a college professor to a Deputy U.S. Marshal and on a day off at a friend's cabin, danger appears in the form of a knife wielding stranger who looks oddly familiar. After fighting him off and escaping with only a minor stab wound and an unfortunate sighting by her fellow law enforcement officers of her in her pink bathing suit, the villain is able to evade capture. Andrew Rook, an FBI agent and a man Mackenzie had been dating until he mysteriously dumps her, soon turns up on the scene following a lead he had gained from a confidential informant and gradually they discover the two cases will merge. The romance is a little lukewarm but I still enjoyed the suspense and the characters.

2008-12-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

Case Histories

by Kate Atkinson

I ordered this book because I kept reading so many positive reviews after each of the three installments of the series. Finally when I picked up this first one, I enjoyed it. Jackson Brodie is a private eye, just as I like them, flawed, stubborn and getting into more trouble than expected when solving cases. At first I was confused when the book started with the various cases central to the plot and not Jackson but I soon got the hang of it. Of the numerous cases one is of two sisters who want Jackson to solve the disappearance of their then three year old sister. One day when she and one of the sisters were camping in their backyard, she was just there and then, in the morning, not there. Now, years later, with the death of their reclusive father, two of the adult daughters find a cherished doll that belonged to their lost sister in their fathers desk. The two sisters hire Jackson to find out the fate of their sister, driving him crazy with their bickering relationship and one's dramatic flair that he finds frustrating to deal with. Added to his complicated work load is an attraction to a woman who also becomes his client and a few suspicious "accidents" that threaten his personal safety. Quite a few quirky characters and enough sad stories to keep me interested, I will continue reading this series.