Jana Suggests

2012-01-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sleepwalker
by Karen Robards

Another great turn from one of my favorite authors. This one features a Michigan detective who has a tragic incident in her past which has caused her to have nightmares and a sleepwalking compulsion. One night as she house sits for her "uncle", a devoted family friend, she sleepwalks and catches thieves in action. Turns out the man they're stealing from, her so called Uncle, has incriminating pictures of himself in the safe that she unfortunately gets a good look at. In the spur of the moment she decides she'd rather go with the robbers than be at the mercy of the stranger who is her now less dear Uncle Nicco. Soon she and one of the thieves, Jason, are on the run from Nicco's devoted henchmen. First in a boat, in the freezing Michigan winter, with her in a tank top and light pajama pants. Also on jet skis, but this time she's dressed more appropriately with clothing absconded from the boat. Great action in this book, almost like watching a good action film, tons of close calls and 'barely escaping with their lives' moments. Jason and "Mick" as she is nicknamed, are really good characters, tough as nails and drawn to each other with a magnetic intensity. Now to wait for the next Karen Robards thriller, probably not very patiently.

2012-01-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

The Pleasure of your Kiss by Teresa Medeiros

Just a few words for this review.....Wow!! Reminded me of my old days of reading historical romances, unexpected laughter, goosebumps during the love scenes, crushing on the hero. Ashton Burke and Clarinda Cardew are childhood neighbors until they embark on a teenage love affair. Unfortunately though, Ashton is the "spare" not the "heir" so he leaves to seek his fortune before he will commit to her. Years pass, she loses a fiancee, even becomes engaged to his brother before they meet again. There is a Sultan, his harem, a randy Italian, all sorts of great characters in this book. Clarinda's friend "Poppy" is a fun character too, plump and sweet, she experiences her own romance within the pages of this novel. I loved it! Glad to see there will be a next installment coming up but for now I wait with patient (not really!) longing!

2012-01-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

Book Club meets this Monday, January 23rd at 6:30 PM!
San Diego County Library
Imperial Beach Branch
810 Imperial Beach Blvd
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
619-424-6981
Join us for light snacks and discussion of this book:
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
by Amy Chua

This a story of a woman who decided to raise her children in the "Chinese Way" as opposed to the "Western Way". The "Chinese Way" is very strict, they must play an instrument, an instrument she approves of, of course, and practice many hours per day. On her birthday when they handmade her a card she wouldn't accept them, they weren't "good" enough. Her first daughter was a successful result of the "Chinese Way", in the authors eyes, diligent, obedient, driven.
Her second daughter; however, fought her every step of the way. I really sped through this book, I loved how realistic it was, how interesting another method of parenting was to experience. A really engrossing read, I enjoyed it very much.

2012-01-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Secret Prey
John Sandford

Strange way to work through a series, going backward, but the one I read references the one before and I'm interested so I go back one. Once upon a time my mother devoured this whole series and I tried to get on board with her, I just didn't like it at the time. Now, I'm hooked, one right after another. In this one, Lucas Davenport is investigating the shooting of a bank president on a hunting trip, weeks before there will be a merger of their bank with another. There are many suspects and as Lucas discovers, many other suspicious acts of violence in the past that are linked with this particular bank. I have to admit this author really creates an awesome villain, I am always so impressed with how downright evil he makes them, and how good Lucas is at sniffing them out. He referenced the book before this one so here I go back a book again! I really wanted to start at Certain Prey and make my way forward but alas, he's just too good a storyteller.

2012-01-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

Certain Prey
by John Sanford

I tried this series quite a long time ago and didn't find it to my liking, mostly because at that time I was a romance novel fanatic. I guess with real life and my age, realism hit and death and dismemberment became easier to believe than death-do-you-part love! I enjoy books about strong women as readers of this blog know, but the two villains of this piece, both women, are so incredibly scary. Right from the very beginning we know that Carmel Loan has hired a hit person to kill the wife of a man she is enamored of. What we soon find out is what lengths she will go to to keep the truth covered up. The assassin she has hired through a mediator turns out to be female and when the two twisted minds start scheming, all other characters should beware. If you are on their radar you haven't got a chance. Lucas Davenport, however; he seems to have quite the nose for bad guys, or girls, as the case is here. Those three characters played a great game of cat and mouse through the 339 pages of such an interesting mystery. I really enjoyed it.

2011-12-31T16:13:00.000-08:00

The Affair
by Lee Child
In audio form

Oh, Jack Reacher, how I love him. Never can predict what he's going to do and when he does the unexpected my jaw just drops...I can't believe he did that, I'll yell out loud. Sounding foolish no doubt, but I'm past caring anymore how silly I look! This book is a prequel to the others in the series, it explains what lead Reacher to leave the Army. He's sent to the deep South to monitor a murder near an Army base in case they need a cover up in a hurry. Impeding his progress is the very beautiful Sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux, she wants the culprit to be caught, not covered up and buried in Army red tape. With the title I knew what to expect with the two of them and I was not disappointed. It turns out there is more than one victim, all three killed in the same brutal manner, all three beautiful young ladies. I might have mentioned this before but Reacher is a Rambo type character, a loner with a clear set of values. Should someone fail to live up to the standard, he's not afraid to handle it...violently and with swift justice. A really great series.

2011-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Devils in Exile
by Chuck Hogan

This is a book that hooked me from the start, I've gone from reading mostly what some people call 'Chick Lit' way to the other side of the spectrum with violent crime novels. The genre usually appeals to the male reader but it is taking over my reading life now. In this book, the main character, Neal Maven is an Iraq War veteran, hoping for a better life on the outside but having trouble even finding a job that will support him. One fateful evening at one of his jobs, he deals with a man in a SUV, dressed to the hilt and sporting Neals teenage crush on his arm. The man, Brad Royce, a fellow vet, returns and in offering him work, Maven finds himself once again thrust in a war zone. Neal and four other vets are modern day Robin Hoods, in this case who they steal from is drug dealers, but they are the ones to split the spoils. The job is no simple job though, like the mafia, once you are in, death is the only way out. Neal is a good character, reminds me of Rambo, a man who finds himself in treacherous positions and shoots his way out. I really liked this book even though like in some action movies Maven just can't seem to be killed, he does get wrung through a ringer though. I also loved the ending.

2011-12-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

Double Dexter
by Jeff Lindsay
in audio form

I'm so glad this series is great again, I really didn't like "Dexter in the Dark". I like the series on television and in the books, both are very different from the other. This book has Dexter and Rita, overworked and overwrought, with a newborn girl, Lily, and a too small house to fit everyone. Right from the beginning Dexter is still doing his moonlight murdering but for the first time Rita isn't as accepting as she used to be with his late nights. He, being the emotional robot he thinks he is, remains oblivious to the root of her suspicions. He continues along, missing the signs that she is a bomb about to explode on him. Meanwhile Dexter has a shadow, a bad guy who knows everything about him, even his killer hobby, while Dexter hasn't a clue as to his identity. I really liked this book, which makes two in a row from the author that I enjoyed immensely. Making the wait for the next one just that more excruciating.

2011-12-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

The Soul Catcher
by Alex Kava

Maggie O'Dell is a really enjoyable character, troubled but incredibly loyal to the FBI and the victims of serial crime, usually at the expense of her personal relationships. However; she is building a comfortable friendship with her new partner in profiling, RJ Tully. In contrast, she has a contentious relationship with her mother whose alcoholism has been "cured" with the help of Reverend Joseph Everett, but naturally Maggie is suspicious. When a woman is murdered at the Reverends rally and she turns out to be the daughter of a U.S. Senator, it's beginning to seem like there is more to the man and his disciples than just goodness and light. It hits close to home with Tully as well, his teenage daughter was at the rally also and he's unsure how close she became to also being a victim. Meanwhile a link has been made to a standoff, shades of Ruby Ridge or Waco, where at its end, four men commit suicide but one does not. I've breezed through these books, they are very engrossing, every character fleshed out, even if they aren't brought back into the series with the next book.

2011-12-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Split Second
Alex Kava

Second in the Maggie O'Dell series, still so exciting. Her nemesis, Albert Stuckey is now out of jail and as the book progresses likely killing anyone who associates with her. Maggie is still in a ragged emotional state, separated from her husband, moving into a new home. When the police show up at a neighbors her professional curiosity leads her to the scene. What she finds and what the cops miss, gets her no friends with the detective assigned the case, but no victim is found amongst the blood evidence. Her boss with the FBI gets wind of her presence at the scene and soon she has a tail in the form of R.J. Tully, a new profiler. Tully is very new out in the field, but I loved him as the author fleshed out his character in this book and the next. The series is graphic but as I get older, gritty becomes my favorite genre, especially with crime dramas.

2011-11-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

A Perfect Evil

Alex Kava

Oh, the joy of another series discovery! This one has tempted me for years with the covers so finally I began the Maggie O'Dell saga and I am hooked like a Marlin on a fishing rod, only I don't have to end up a meal on the dinner table later. The series begins with Maggie scarred literally and figuratively by the serial killer she captured, Albert Stuckey. She is sent to Nebraska to profile a kidnapper/killer of young boys and meets and tangles with the good looking playboy sheriff Nick Morelli. Maggie is stuck in a loveless marriage but even she is shocked by the force of her attraction with the lawman who is way over his head with this case. I like this series because in any other book you'd know right where the storyline with Nick was going, and it doesn't go there just for the sake of the reader. Maggie isn't your stereotype heroine who waits for the man when it's time to act, in fact, she gets in trouble for doing the exact opposite of that. I have been so hooked I've read one right after the other. Fly through each one so fast I haven't tracked down the next one and I'm just crushed when I have to wait!

2011-11-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

The Alchemist

By Paulo Coehl0

A very good read, a fable of following your dreams and finding your "personal legend" which through every period of life, I believe, is necessary for everyone. Unless of course you're one of the lucky people who are quite content with every path taken and suffer from very few personal regrets. I am one who through this book, discovers that while I taken a different path in my life, it's not the wrong one, every once in a while that's an important reminder. Through the travels and travails of a Shepherd in Spain named Santiago, Mr. Coehlo spins a story that is rich with interesting characters and many life lessons. It stays a book in high demand, where ever I work, be it book store or library, rarely is there enough copies in stock.

2011-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer

in Audio Form

Such a wonderful story, little Oskar Schell is such a heart wrenching and precocious character. He's 9 years old and he lost his father in the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center. The story has three narrators, Oskar, his grandmother and grandfather, and so many unique characters in one book, the ten discs just breezed by. One day, while in his mothers closet, a blue vase falls and breaks, revealing an envelope and key, and Oskar is sure it's something his Dad left for him. I couldn't believe how much freedom this little guy has to investigate the many people named "Black" in so many burroughs of New York. But investigate he does, walking, taking taxi cabs and speaking to so many strangers my mother gene was incredulous. Miraculously nothing happens except he wins the heart of mostly everyone he talks to, some even show up for his school play. I really loved this book and can't wait to see Tom Hanks as Thomas Schell in the movie adaption.

2011-09-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons

by Blaize Clement

Another good installment of the Dixie Hemingway series, this time she takes on a cranky male senior citizen and his cat as her clients in her pet sitting and walking business. He and "Cheddar" have an unexpected guest in his granddaughter Ruby and her beautiful baby Opal. There is a conflict there, immediately Dixie senses there is something between the two, both of them pushing and pulling each other for affection buried deep. Next door there is another conflict, a woman with much animosity aimed at Ruby, and in a scary turn for Dixie she is mistaken for her and kidnapped by men in a limousine. Further in the book, Dixie and her new love Lt. Guidry also have some unexpected surprises in store. I like Dixie very much and her brother Michael, they are now comfortable characters to me. A short read (usually, sometimes new, 'I just can't wait!' books get in the way) but an entertaining one.

2011-09-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Killing Moon

by Chuck Hogan

in Audio Form

After watching the movie "The Town", based on his novel, "Prince of Thieves" I saw where this author could become my next Dennis Lehane. Gritty books set in Massachusetts, with very distinctive characters. This one is set in a small town called Black Falls, a town falling apart since the closing of their paper mill. Don Maddox has returned home, his past after high school a mystery to others in town, and gotten a job on the police force. Turns out everyone on the team except him, is corrupt, bad guys with guns and too much attitude. The worst being the head man in charge, Bucky Pail, who inherited the position from his father. Donnie doesn't have a good relationship with anybody in his childhood town, except his father's old police partner whom he affectionately calls "Pinty". He also has a new romantic relationship that he hides so she won't be a target for abuse from Bucky or his brother Eddie. Suddenly a rash of murders start and the State Police invade their offices and all heck breaks loose. Leo Hess, the new man in charge, doesn't know what to make of Donnie Maddox, a man with too many secrets, making him very suspicious of the taciturn cop. The town is not Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show, while suspenseful and exciting, Black Falls is not a shining example for small towns. Makes for good fiction though, I must say, I enjoyed it.

2011-08-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Every Secret Thing
by Laura Lippman

Another discovery that I found on my very old Advanced Reader Copy shelves and since I'm hooked on her writing now, I was very pleased to see and read it. She's so good at bringing so many characters to life in one book, since I'm basically a nosy person, that makes a great reading experience for me. Alice Manning and Ronnie Fuller begin the book as 11 year olds who on one terrible afternoon alter their futures by one awful mistake that will have long term concequences for so many people. When a friends mom sends them home from a birthday party they lie and say they can walk to Ronnie's Aunts house which isn't far away. On their walk they spot a baby on a porch in a carriage, abandoned they think. In impulse they take the baby, thinking childishly they could take care of her better than whoever left her outside. Fast forward to when they turn 18 and are released from prison for the death of the infant. Soon after they're released a few children are taken, some barely gone for minutes, until one day a girl is taken and not returned. The police soon focus on the two women, sending Ronnie's orderly life into disarray, while Alice takes the police visits with an odd calmness. The book was sad and surprising, I liked it.

2011-08-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Next Book Club Meeting

Monday, September 19th at 6:30 PM

Featured book: "Motherless Brooklyn"

by Jonathan Lethem

Soon to be a Major Motion Picture

starring Edward Norton.

Read the book and come discuss with fellow readers.

Imperial Beach Branch of the San Diego County Library
810 Imperial Beach Blvd

Imperial Beach, CA 91932

619-424-6981

2011-08-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

by John Vaillant

This was a very interesting book, not exactly what I expected when I started reading it. I was thinking it was more action packed but mostly it was the history of the area and of the tiger. As a result it took me a long time to read but it was very engrossing and well worth the time. I did learn an awful lot about the region, Far East Russia, enough to be very glad I am and hopefully always will be a California native! The Amur Tiger is the awesome creature at the books center, reading this book you fully realize how our zoo's and Las Vegas shows keep some of us truly ignorant of the tigers power. The men in this book have no such ignorance, they're whole life in the rugged terrain of their homeland is challenge after challenge, a fight just to be around to feed their families. When a man is devoured by an Amur Tiger, Operation Tiger, lead by a man named Trush, is sent to find and kill the culprit. They have the challenge of their own people who are angry when a second man is killed by the tiger. The challenge of snow that can very well be the death of them, and a tiger filled with anger and self preservation, and who can kill them in a split second. What an awesome scene near the end of the book, I literally walked the treadmill I was on into pause mode since I could only move in slow motion as I read it. Such a powerful book and surprisingly educational, as well.

2011-08-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

Justice

by Karen Robards

Second in the series featuring the characters, Jessica Ford and Mark Ryan. She is a lawyer and he a secret service agent, in the first book, "Pursuit" they met when Jessica was in a car accident involving the First Lady. In the second book, they have broken up as the couple they had become during book one. Jessica has changed her looks and her last name, in order to stay protected from the bad guys that still might want to silence her. Her cover is blown, however; when she wins a big case for her law firm and her face is splattered all over the news. In comes Mark, once again, to keep the woman he still loves safe. Especially after another key player in the conspiracy has "committed suicide" a ruling he doesn't believe one bit. Soon enough they are on the run again, not just the villians in the first book but new ones only Jessica is sure are out there. When moving into her predecessors office at the law firm, she see's a womans shadowy image that disappears almost immediately. She can't get Mark to believe that the woman she sees is the one she replaced, the more she investigates the surer she is, the woman met with foul play. Another good mystery, now the wait begins again for her next book!

2011-08-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Next Book Club Meeting

Monday, August 15th@ 6:30 PM
Featured book: "The Tiger A True Story of Vengeance and Survival"

By John Vaillant

Amazon.com's:

Best Book of the Month: August 2010

Imperial Beach Branch of the San Diego County Library

810 Imperial Beach Blvd

Imperial Beach, CA 91932

619-424-6981

2011-07-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Best Friends Forever
Jennifer Weiner
in audio form

What a terrific book this was, made me cry at the end, good tears though, not Nicholas Sparks type tears, if you get my meaning. Addie and her best friend Valerie have been estranged for years after a horrible disagreement during their senior year of high school. When one day, twenty years later, Valerie shows up at Addie's doorstep with blood on her coat and asking for help, the once angry Addie finds all of the resentment slowly drifting away. She is hopeless against the pull that Valerie has always held over her, with the loss of both her parents and her brother living elsewhere, Valerie is her only link to the good times in her childhood. I had started this book a long time ago and I guess when I had to return it, I forgot about it, and didn't reorder it. My loss, because the characters are wonderful, every woman who has regrets of a friend they have lost will find the ending heart stirring. Valerie made me laugh, she reminded me of Tom Sawyer, bringing havoc to an otherwise placid life her friend Addie was living. This author is really great, I love rediscovering her novels.

2011-07-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

by J K Rowling

You're not reading the title wrong I really read this book for the first time ever, unbelievable since I'm probably one person in a very small minority, who just now read the first in the series. This is the joy of running a book club, reading good books that I wouldn't have read if not for us as a group choosing it. I must admit to being an age group snob, if it isn't adult material I probably won't read it, that decision limits my experiences somewhat. I did like the book, it reminded me of Matilda, granted I read that book years ago so feel free to disagree with me! (Many people do) Living in a Harry Potter world as we do now in books and movies, I'm glad I read it. So I, as well as 98% of the world, (probably not that accurate a figure, but it feels like it!) can feel the love I feel for the characters because I read their stories. To the aghast of many Potter-philes I most likely won't read the whole series, but I did enjoy my recent foray into he and Hermoine and Ron's world.

2011-07-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Killer Takes All
by Erica Spindler

I found this book in my "retirement" stash of books, at this point I could retire tomorrow and not be out of reading material. As I was reading I had a feeling there was a first installment to this book and turns out I was right, this is second to a "See Jane die". Stacy Killian is Jane's sister and she was a cop until the trauma she and her sister suffer in the first book. When this novel starts she's moved from Dallas to New Orleans. She's now a graduate student but tragedy follows her when she finds her neighbors dead, one of them her friend, and being an ex cop she feels compelled to assist in finding the killer. Much to the frustration of a newly reinstated cop put on the case, Spencer Malone, who doesn't approve of a civilians interference. The case points to the victim's interest in a role playing game called "White Rabbit" and Stacy is one step ahead of the cops due to her knowledge of the victim and where the coed hung out. Soon she must band together with the cops due to the extreme danger as the victims list grows and their manner of death gets more and more gruesome. This was a good and interesting novel, I liked the fact that Stacy was an ex cop, it lent her an aura of toughness that some 'damsel in distress' books don't normally have.

2011-06-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Next Book Club Meeting

July 18th 2011 @ 6:30 PM
Featured book: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
By JK Rowling
Publishers Weekly:

Readers are in for a delightful romp with this award-winning debut from a British author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl.

Imperial Beach Branch of the San Diego County Library

810 Imperial Beach Blvd

Imperial Beach, CA 91932

619-424-6981

2011-06-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Chesapeake Shores Series

by Sherryl Woods

"The Inn at Eagle Point"

"Flowers on Main"

"Harbor Lights"
"Chesapeake Shores Christmas"

"Driftwood Cottage"

"Moonlight Cove"

"Beach Lane"

This author writes so fast that I hardly get a chance to review a book of hers before the next one comes out. These have such similar covers that sometimes I even buy them twice before I realize I've got it at home already. The family members at the center of this series are the O'Briens and they live in a place that sounds wonderful, by the sea, everyone knows everyone else, a regular Walton's mountain but without the turmoil. There is a conflict of a romantic variety in each book but the male characters are surprisingly evolved, talking about their feelings with each other, this I find amazing. That is why I read fiction books though, to live in a world where romantic turmoil is always solved by the end of the book and men are almost perfect. I never hesitate to read this author's books, she is very good and definitely a stress free reading experience. It's nice to see so many new novels per year too,

the one-a-year authors I find the books are just over too fast!

2011-06-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In Audio Form

by Mark Twain

I listened to this book instead of reading it and a couple of times I missed my off ramp because I was so involved in the story and not paying attention to where I was going. The language does take getting used to, the casual mentioning of a taboo word, over and over again in these modern times was pretty shocking. The book was read by Dick Hill my favorite narrator of the audio series, Jack Daniels, he has a terrific voice for the Chicago dialect. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did the Southern accent, the mark of a talented voice actor I suppose. He seemed to be able to lose himself in the story and as a result so did I. Tom Sawyer, when he appeared in the book was a riot, he lightened the mood of the story considerably. I enjoyed the fact that no matter how convoluted Tom Sawyer made his plans, after all sorts of trauma, it still managed to work out. This was another book that I read for the book club and was pleased to have enjoyed it so thoroughly.

2011-06-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

A Bad Day for Pretty

by Sophie Littlefield

Stella is back and she's recovered from her beating she got at the ending of the last book. She's on her first date with "Goat" Jones, the sheriff she's been flirting with, but the night ends badly when a woman barges in on them claiming to still be married to Goat. Brandy is definitely a piece of work, heavy with a beauty arsenal, making Stella feel a little self conscious and, well, old. Needless to say, she and Goat do not conclude the evening the way they were expecting to, much to Stella's disappointment. Also, Stella gets a panicked call from a woman whose husband she helped kick an Oxy addiction, Neb Donovan has become the prime suspect in a murder. Not being one to stand on the sidelines when a friend needs help, Stella and her sidekick from the first book "A Bad Day for Sorry", Chrissy Shaw, get into the thick of the action. Stella through talking to people, Chrissy by hooking up with a tech guy to get the computer information they need to solve the case. With the trouble that Brandy brings (bad guy trouble) and the murder of the woman found buried on Neb Donovan's property, Stella once again has her hands full. I really love this series and next week will be able to read the third installment, "A Bad Day for Scandal".

2011-06-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Next Book Club Meeting

Monday, June 20th 2011 @ 6:30

Featured book: "Adventures of Hucklebery Finn" by Mark Twain

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. . . . There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." —Ernest Hemingway.

Imperial Beach Branch of the San Diego County Library

810 Imperial Beach Blvd

Imperial Beach, CA 91932
619-424-6981

2011-06-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Moonlight Mile

by Dennis Lehane

Just when I heard he was not writing anymore of the Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennero series, along came this last installment out of the blue. I was so excited I didn't even read the inside cover to see what it was about, just bought it and started in. To my surprise it brought back Amanda McCready, the kidnapped girl from the book "Gone Baby Gone". I really like this author and this plot in particular. The main character Patrick, caught such heck from everyone over his decision to bring Amanda back to her neglectful mother and her loving Aunt in the first book. In this one, he's still taking flack for his decision, this time from everyone who knows Amanda, who once again is missing, this time as a young adult. Amanda's aunt, now bitter and estranged from Amanda, shames Patrick into looking for her again and as usual it's not a simple procedure. Through the book Patrick is trying to get a position in a big time detective agency but they keep stringing him along. Soon, when all his struggles become death defying again he starts reconsidering his whole life plan. It was great to visit these characters again, wish Patrick would have a better time of it, he just can't get anyone to agree with his black/white, (no grey area) way of thinking, leading him to face quite a bit of judgement from everyone.

2011-05-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Real Murders & A Bone to Pick

by Charlaine Harris

The beginning of a series by this very popular author. As usual I won't start with the books that everyone else in the world is reading, the Sookie Stackhouse series, so when we at the Imperial Beach book Club chose the author, we chose this. Aurora Teagarden is a Librarian in a small town in Georgia, she has an interesting hobby, as do some other citizens of the town, they meet and talk about famous murders. Suddenly on the day when Aurora is speaker, the murders they talk about become murders they will be in the midst of, with the discovery of a dead body in their meeting spot. I liked the first book but my interest dwindled a little at the end of the second. Aurora, or Roe as she is sometimes called, is a good character but I liked her less in "A Bone to Pick". In the second in the series, a minor character in the first book, Jane Engel, dies and leaves Aurora her house and tons of money. When Roe first starts looking at the house, she notices some items strewn around like someone had come in and searched for something. Naturally, Roe is curious and she starts a search of her own. What she finds lands her back in the murder investigation business. I like the author's writing, but I've gotten tougher with the characters that I like, I just don't want to spend my precious reading time with someone I only like a little bit. So I'm going to try the authors "Lily Bard" series next, see how that goes.

2011-05-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

A Bad Day for Sorry

by Sophie Littlefield

As any reader of my blog knows I love books about tough women and here is one that more than fits that criteria! Stella Hardesty is 50, and was the victim of an abusive husband who now, as a side job, takes care of women in her situation. Only her marriage ended with a wrench against her abusive husbands head and her with the weapon in her hand. She's estranged from her daughter Noelle but has a buddy in her next door neighbors teenage son. When a past client shows up at her house complaining of a resurgence of violence, Stella goes back to set Roy Dean straight. I love how she gets these guys to buckle down and never want to turn her in, because they're pride can't handle an AARP member getting the jump on them. Only later after she thinks the case is concluded, again, along comes Chrissy at her door again, this time saying she's certain Roy Dean has taken her baby Tucker. Stella calls some law enforcement in to help, a tricky situation since her "solution" isn't exactly law abiding, so she can only hope his investigating doesn't land her in the big house instead of Roy Dean. Stella kind of likes Sheriff Goat Jones, so when he comes in the story, it starts to get even more interesting. I like this book and have already bought the second installment, so stay tuned!

2011-04-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Next Book Club Meeting
May 16th, 2011

Featured book: "Real Murders" by Charlaine Harris

Publishers Weekly:

An ingenious plot and sufficient flow of blood keep the pages flying in Harris's novel,

as a series of killings patterned after celebrated murders is perpetrated on the small community of Lawrenceton, Ga.
Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale while inventing a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P. D. James's Cordelia Gray.

Imperial Beach Branch of the San Diego County Library
810 Imperial Beach Blvd
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
619-424-6981

2011-04-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Sentry

by Robert Crais

I like Joe Pike quite a bit but I love Elvis Cole, a book with both of them in it, to me is a gift from the author especially for me! Joe interrupts a gang attacking a man in a deli shop and tries to help but the victim is surprisingly reluctant to accept anyone's attention. Joe becomes attracted to a woman who says she is the man's niece, and Joe having romantic feelings is quite exciting, as any fan of these novels knows, it is very rare. They are able to have one casual date before suddenly she is taken, presumably by the gang. Joe Pike won't let the matter rest and soon he and Elvis are embroiled in a fight with an L.A. gang who will only accept death to those who betray them. As usual I read the book faster than others because of how good and action packed they are. Not to make light of my literary crush on Elvis Cole which is always alive and well and will always compel me to read this series.

2011-04-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Shaken

by J.A. Konrath

in audio form

I love hearing these books, with the male and female narrators, and (what I think is) the authentic Chicago accents. This one goes back and forth in time, something I love to see and read, especially with Jack Daniels, one of my favorite tough female characters. I loved getting to know her before her life was so dangerous with the psycho's trying to murder her and her entire family. This one introduces a new psycho, Mr. K, in the beginning of his killer reign and also Jack's start to becoming a homicide detective. It travels forward to 2003 when she and her partner Herb are investigating a man named John Dalton whom is a person of interest in the aforementioned case. Than it travels to now where Jack has been nabbed and her old friend Harry, her boyfriend Finn, and her partner Herb try hard to get her back. I hear this might be the second to last in the series and it's sad because I love the character so much. But it had to happen sometime, she can't keep cheating death as much as she has, already with the spots she's been in, her survival has been miraculous. It was only six discs and I just devoured each one really quickly, a good sign with audio books.

April Book Club Meeting is Monday April 18th 2011

2011-04-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Operation Mincemeat: How a dead man and a bizarre plan fooled the Nazi's and assured an allied victory.
By Ben Macintyre

Please join us for our monthly book club meeting at:
The Imperial Beach Branch Library
810 Imperial Beach Blvd
Imperial Beach Ca, 91933
619-424-6981

Monday April 18th 2011, at 6:30 PM we will discuss the book title shown above, refreshments provided.

2011-04-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

An Affair Without End

by Candace Camp

I'm always so happy with this authors novels, she always makes her heroines headstrong yet likable, not a Scarlett O'Hara among them, except the secondary characters. Vivien Carlyle was in the last few novels, a family friend of the Duke of Stewkesbury whose long lost American cousins were featured in the books, "A lady never tells" and "A gentleman always remembers". There were hints in those books that Vivien and Oliver, the aforementioned Duke, would be an eventual love match and Ms Camp didn't disappoint. In this book, the members of the ton are being robbed of their jewels, some blatantly in front of the houses of their soirees. Vivien gets entangled in the mystery by her father's former mistress who though she wasn't robbed, needs help in acquiring some jewelry back from a man who won it in a gambling hall. Oliver, with his protective nature, assists her and in the process their paths cross with the thieves and they also reluctantly start falling for each other. This book features as well a love story between the last unattached cousin, Camellia and Vivian's brother, Gregory. It was two books for the price of one, I always love a bargain!

2011-03-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wicked

By Gregory Maguire

in Audio Form

I never jumped on the "Wicked" bandwagon (the book, the musical!) until our branch book club wanted to put it on our reading list once more as they had with "The Good Earth". And once again I am pleasantly surprised. Not many people came to share their opinion but those who came enjoyed it and we had a lively discussion. I loved hearing the book as opposed to reading it because the language of the story is really quite beautiful. "Colwin Grounds" "Killijoy" "Kiamo Ko" terms that after hearing it just float through my mind at odd times. Elphaba is such a stirring character, she is the green girl who grows up to be the "Wicked Witch of the West" and you grow to love the plucky and misunderstood heroine.

As a young girl who read everything she could get her hands on surprisingly I never got a hold of "The Wizard of Oz" but now thanks to "Wicked" I am now listening to it at the ripe old age of..well never you mind. I am thankful to have finally jumped on the bandwagon, now if only I can go to see the musical which is going to play in San Diego in June!

2011-03-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Secrets to the Grave
Tami Hoag

The second to her last novel, "Deeper than the Dead", it is set back before the advancement of DNA forensics. Vince Leone is an FBI profiler who in the last book came to the small town to help a protegee, Detective Tony Mendez, with a case known as the "see no evil killer" and now has stayed and married the killers almost last murder victim, Anne. They are happily ensconced in their new domestic bliss and than another killer hits the small California town. Marisa Fordham, an artist fast becoming well known, has been stabbed and some of her body parts missing. Her young daughter, Haley, also has been attacked but luckily clings to life. Anne, a former school teacher, now a child advocate, gets involved due to a call from Tony. Vince isn't happy about it either since she almost lost her life in the last case. A young boy featured in the last novel, now locked up for the attempted stabbing of a school mate, is also a character that brings suspense to the story. This was a good book, no way did I see who did it before the final unveiling, and Anne and Vince are a good couple. I like them as much as I did Pierce Quincy and Rainie Connor from the Lisa Gardner books and I was an avid reader of any books she wrote featuring them. As I will be with Tami Hoags book about Anne and Vince Leone.

2011-03-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Heart of Lies
Jill Marie Landis

This is book two of the Irish Angels series and I loved it. Found in the religious fiction aisle in most book stores I am a big fan of the author but I don't really do my book shopping in that particular section. Maddie Grande might be one of the Irish sisters who were sold to a brothel when they were very young by a unscrupulous uncle but such memories are long gone due to the harder ones that followed. Tom Abbott is a Pinkerton Agent who is sent to find a kidnapped young girl and follows the trail to Maddie's home in the bayou. Maddie is a great character, one of tragedy but she still has a scrap of humanity buried deep, she just doesn't know it yet. Her "brothers" have kidnapped the girl and have dumped their charge onto her but soon she decides she no longer wants to continue their dead mentor's life of nabbing children for their "family". Her and Tom meet on her land and he can't help the attraction he feels for the strong self sufficient woman. He must, however; since he knows even though he can't find the child, she is his number one suspect or at the least a person of interest in the kidnapping. The child in question is also quite a character, she is as strong-willed as Maddie and soon not even Maddie's friend across the bayou can hold the girl. Soon, the kidnapping becomes a case of a runaway, and Maddie goes hot on her trail for the ransom so she can start over. This book was really good and any writing by this author is always on my list.

2011-02-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

Please join us at the Imperial Beach Library for the Book Club!
810 Imperial Beach Blvd
Imperial Beach, CA 91933
619-424-6981

This Monday, February 28th, we will

be discussing the book we read called:

"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck.

6:30 PM.

On March 21st we will be meeting to discuss this book:

"Wicked, the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the

West" by Gregory Maguire.

6:30 PM.

2011-02-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

The Good Earth

By Pearl S. Buck

In audio form

What a pleasure this was to read, I owe a great debt of thanks to our book club and one of its members for suggesting and agreeing to make this our pick, or I wouldn't have ever checked out this Pulitzer Prize winning novel. That would have been a shame because it was really a wonderful story told with such beautiful language, precise and formal, yet also reader friendly. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in the 1800's and the book starts on what is his wedding day, yet he has never seen the bride. He is a man with pride for his land and his family but on that day he is treated poorly and disdainfully at the Great House in which he obtains his wife. That sets the tone throughout the book for how he remembers the feeling and sets to making he and his family's fortunes vastly different. He fails and succeeds throughout his life due to elements beyond his control. Like all of us who raise children in days of abundance though he discovers that success is often failure in the long run as they don't appreciate all you've done to make their lives better than yours. I'm simplifying a rich and wonderful novel of one patriarchs search for the best way to feed his family and obtain power to insure their future prosperity. The book is quite deserving of all the praise that has been heaped upon its pages since it has been published.

2011-02-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

The Girl in the Green Raincoat

by Laura Lippman

Oh, the grief that I feel, I'm caught up with all the Tess Monaghan mysteries! This one was so slim I was devastated by finishing it. Tess is now housebound because of a difficult and unexpected pregnancy. Her boyfriend Crow is excited about having her safe and sound in their house, despite her extreme crankiness with all who dare to talk to her. Being Tess, she can't stay idle without cooking something up in her brain, so borrowing from the movie, "Rear Window" she takes to people watching. One lady in particular, wearing a green raincoat, is walking a puppy at the same time everyday, while talking on her cell phone. She holds Tess' attention until one day the lady vanishes and the puppy is walking alone. That's all it takes before Tess has a project which will require the help of her friends. Mrs Blossom is now an employee and Whitney of course is always on hand to get into trouble for her best friend. It was a fast but enjoyable read and I love the ending, here's hoping the new baby won't slow Tess down and she'll still take the cases that make these novels great.

2011-02-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

By a Spiders Thread

by Laura Lippman

Just when I thought I couldn't love these books more than I do along comes this book and I devour it quicker than I've read a book in a long time. Tess gets a job through her maternal Uncle to help an Orthodox Jewish man, Mark Ruben, find his missing family. The cops won't touch the case because by all rights it looks like Natalie Ruben has taken her children and unless he divorces her and wants to fight custody, their hands are tied. With the help of her Internet "sister sleuth's" Tess can do little until Mark's eldest, Isaac, calls from a MacDonalds and suddenly the case heats up. The route the family is taking is puzzling and falling in love with Mark and Isaac was really easy for me to do. Such devotion to each other do they have a lot of times I was on pins and needles hoping so badly they can be reunited without tragic results. Just a really terrific book, I was rabid for the next and last book to be read, the very slim (darn it!) "Girl in the Green Raincoat".

2011-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

The Last Place

by Laura Lippman

This book has Tess in trouble when she and Whitney decide to dole out some vigilante justice to a sex predator on the internet, setting a trap for him by Tess posing as a teenager and meeting him for a drink. Unbeknowst to them he is allergic to the depilatory cream they rub all over him and he decides to take Tess to court for pain and suffering. That lands Tess into anger management therapy that she is very reluctant to participate in. As a gesture of goodwill since it was both their idea but Whitney, her best friend, skated from any consequences, she gets Tess a job. Tess now finds herself investigating domestic abuse murders to see if the police in each case worked diligently and thoroughly. This brings her in contact with a new and interesting character, Carl, who finds one of the victims head and has become obsessed with the case. This has all the danger and excitement of all the other books with a serial killer thrown in to make it, well, awesome.

2011-02-10T16:32:00.000-08:00

In a Strange City

by Laura Lippman

In Audio Form

Another exciting installment of the Tess Monaghan novels, sadly I've plowed through them all and now am in the same boat as her other fans, waiting... This one taught me that there is a man in Baltimore who they call the "Poe Toaster" who visits Edgar Allen Poe's grave every January 19th in honor of Poe's birthday. Tess, who has never before witnessed the phenomena is hired to do so by a strange roly poly man with a shifty back story as to why he needs her to go, but she needs the work. The job also intrigues her boyfriend Crow, so he joins her on the morning rendezvous, which turns out to be a disaster. Two "toaster's" show up and it is suddenly its like the OK Corral where a gun is drawn and one is dead. Like all of Tess' adventures, she risks life and limb in order to solve the mystery but this time toward the end she races against the clock to save a woman the bad guy has buried alive. Great book, I have yet to read a so-so Tess Monaghan mystery.

2011-02-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Sugar House in audio form

by Laura Lippman

This installment of the Tess Monaghan series sees Tess going undercover in a clinic for young people with eating disorders in order to find out information about a dead girl whose last few months were spent in that same facility. Tess has a history of Bulimia but since she's at a healthy weight now she needs to be creative in how she goes inside, enter her partner-in-crime, Whitney Talbot. The clinic is well guarded but has a side facing water so Whitney and Tess go out in a boat at daybreak and get as close as they can without being seen. Out jumps Tess to pretend to be capsized and washes ashore where she is "saved" by orderlies and rushed into the one place she was trying to infiltrate. As usual the book is terrific and I love all the characters, Ms. Lippman has a way of making everyone, even characters you might never see again in her books, very memorable.

2011-02-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

Think Twice

by Lisa Scottoline

in audio form

I checked this out for my husband to listen to and than I got bored with the radio and ended up keeping it for myself. It's a really good read, fast paced and a book that puts a character in peril and than changes to a different person, so you're doing the Homer Simpson (D'oh!) while driving. Of course, then you're looking even more insane to the driver in the car next to you. Bennie Rosato is a reoccurring character in Ms. Scottaline's books, as well as the other ladies who she employs in her law firm. In this installment her twin Alice comes back into Bennies life after the last book (Mistaken Identity) in which Bennie got her off a murder charge. A chance dinner with Alice sends Bennie's life into a downward spiral when her twin sister drugs her and buries her alive. With anyone else that might be the last of them but not Bennie Rosato who claws and kicks her way free while from the outside a wild animal clears her a path out in the dirt above. Her trouble is just beginning though, as Alice is fully entrenching herself into Bennie's law firm and her personal life, telling everyone that "Alice" is out to get her. It's a race against time and an opponent who is amazingly adaptive, you wouldn't believe how far the evil twin gets in ruining her life. Great book, I was really hooked.

2011-01-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

Garden of Darkness by Anne Frasier

The sequel to The Pale Immortal, it was engrossing but at times resembled "Day of the Dead" instead of being more similar to the last installment. The town has now displayed the mummified remains of the "Pale Immortal" or Richard Manchester, in a museum basement for all to view. When a hysterical janitor keeps alerting the cops of the movement of the mummy it becomes a case of the boy who cried wolf after a few unproductive visits from their small beleaguered sheriff staff. Evan, the main character in the last book has gone off the deep end, making his son Graham, once again, a horribly neglected teenager. Evan believes he has imbibed too much of the Pale Immortal's heart that his father gave him in order to save him from his disease years ago. Rachel, Evans childhood friend and the town medical examiner, is still stuck in Tuonela because people start dying again. In between trying to save Evan and dealing with her own hauntings, Rachel is a very sympathetic character. I liked thenovel but found it a little more out there than I expected.

2011-01-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

What the dead know

by Laura Lippman

This book took me awhile to complete due to my current obsession with Ms. Lippman's other character Tess Monaghan and maybe a little laziness on my part as well (where did I leave my book? A common question to myself lately). What a surprise ending the novel had, it kind of took me on a reading roller coaster when I got to 80% finished. It is a terrific character study of child abduction from a young victims viewpoint. When we first meet the main character, she is the perpetrator of a hit and run accident in Maryland, she is taken to the hospital and almost arrested until she makes an unexpected announcement. She is Heather Bethany, one of the two sisters abducted from a mall decades earlier. She won't reveal all; however, and many of the people assigned to her case are frustrated and suspicious of her reticence, thinking she is trying to dodge responsibility for the car crash. The author gives you just enough insight in the protagonist to still keep her secrets yet enough so you feel such incredible empathy for her as well. Something in the woman's past has scarred her psyche but you don't know what, just like the other characters in the novel. A really good read, I like how this author puts us in the minds of so many people she features in her books.

Imperial Beach Book Club

2010-12-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Read the book of the month and come and chat with us about it!

January's book:

What the Dead know by Laura Lippman

From Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. Edgar-winner Lippman, author of the Tess Monaghan mystery series (No Good Deeds, etc.), shows she's as good as Peter Abrahams and other A-list thriller writers with this outstanding stand-alone.

Book Club date & time: January 24th, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Book Club location: San Diego County Library, Imperial Beach Branch

810 Imperial Beach Blvd Imperial Beach Phone: 619-424-6981

2010-12-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

The Pale Immortal
by Anne Frasier

A very enjoyable read, kept me anxious to finish and find out who would make it out of the novel alive! Rachel has returned to her creepy little town, Tuonela, that has a frightening back story about a historical figure they called The Pale Immortal, reputed to be a vampire. There is a gang in town who has taken the name and who want to live as vampires, even going so far as to dig up the corpse of Richard Manchester "The Pale Immortal" and leave him laying around for the police to find. Rachel is the Medical Examiner and she discovers the heart of the dead man is gone, but also contends with visions of a dead girl, reaching out to her, that the police had found murdered. Meanwhile her childhood friend Evan Stroud has discovered he might be the father of a 17 year old boy who gets dropped off unceremoniously at his doorstep by his abusive mother. What the mom doesn't know is Evan suffers from the rare genetic disorder that makes sunshine his Kryptonite and he can hardly take care of himself much less a teenager. There is quite a bit tucked in this book and I was glad I owned the sequel, "Garden of Darkness" so I could start it right away. In between the gang of wannabe vampires and the mystery of the time Evan loses on his midnight rambles around town. The conflicts between all the characters, Rachel and her father, Rachel and Evan, Evan and Graham, his son, I was hooked.

2010-12-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

Baltimore Blues, Charm City, Butchers Hill ,and In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman
-----------------------------------------------------------
As all can plainly see, my obsession with Tess Monaghan, the fictional character in these books, has flourished and thus far taken over my reading life. She is so funny without being slapstick. She's mean and dogged when she has to be, and her cases are just so complicated and interesting. The first book in the series is Baltimore Blues where we are first introduced to her and her circle friends and family. She is not yet a P. I. but is hired by a friend to follow his fiancee, the case turns twisted and she has to try hard to keep her morning rowing buddy out of prison.

In the book Charm City, she is tackling the case of an article that was leaked from her old workplace "The Blight", the nickname for the Baltimore newspaper, "The Beacon Light". She also has a conflict of interest since her friend and former coworker Kevin Feeney could have leaked the story. Soon the story's subject is murdered and Tess can't help but get involved with the solving of that as well.

In the book, Butchers Hill, Tess has two jobs she's juggling, one for a convicted killer and the other for a refined lady who keeps many secrets and one secret she's holding might change Tess' life forever. Her first case with the killer, Luther Beale, is such a sad story and I was surprised by it's resolution.

In the novel, In Big Trouble, Tess has lost her boyfriend Crow after she started having feelings for someone else in the installment before, but when a post arrives with a picture of Crow and the warning "in big trouble" she's off to Texas to make sure he's okay. Like all the books I love the peripheral characters, in this one the motel she's staying at has a proprietress who's hilarious. There is just something really addictive about these books, I'm so glad I discovered them.

2010-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Burning Up

by Susan Andersen

Once again a step away from murder and mayhem of my usual mystery books for just a simple comedy romance. Macy returns to her town where she had left behind a scandalous past and drives up in her most outlandish and sexy costume to come back home with a bang. When she's stopped by a policeman on the way in, she meets the very masculine and very handsome (of course!) fire chief, Gabe Donovan. They meet cute (of course!) and than she discovers he's staying in her Aunt and Uncle's boarding house and the sparks fly. Unlike most people I love formulaic, romantic comedy movies and books, so this one didn't disappoint me. There's the mystery of an arsonist, the drama of Macy's past, and the inevitable love story challenges the two characters face. I like this author, she guarantees a humorous and romantic escape from the other genre I read with not so happy endings.

2010-09-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Another Thing to Fall &

No Good Deeds

by Laura Lippman

in Audio form

Well, I'm hooked on this series and I'm glad I'm hooked in audio because it seems like all the reading I actually get done now is while listening to books when driving. Tess Monaghan is based in Baltimore which is a plus because I haven't read books based in that city before. She's a former reporter who is now a Private Investigator and her cases never seems to go as well as she hopes. In "Another Thing to Fall" she is rowing early in the morning when a Hollywood crew filming in the mostly empty water topples her ride. After helping her they offer her a job protecting the lead actress, a spoiled young woman named Selene, who turns out to be more trouble than Tess bargains for. I like Tess and her friend Whitney Talbot, they are very different from each other but when Tess needs immediate help, Whitney comes charging to her rescue. Quite a lot of Hollywood humor in this one, I enjoyed it immensely.

In "No Good Deeds" it turns out I should have read this one first because a regular character is introduced in this one that is established in "Another thing to fall". Crow, Tess' live in boyfriend, brings home a young man for dinner who has tried to swindle him by slashing a tire on their car, and than offering to change it for some cash. Tess, well used to Crow's soft heart, is reluctant but unable to talk him out of it and she allows Lloyd Jupiter over for dinner and even allows the teenager to sleep over. Of course the young man proves Tess right instead of Crow and he is out in the middle of the night trying to carjack their car and steal some of their belongings. He doesn't get much due to an old cranky neighbor who coasts into the car and causes Lloyd to run almost empty handed. Tess, after a small conversation she had had with the young man, thinks he knows about a murder that she had been looking into while he played on her computer. So Tess, being who she is, determined always to solve mysteries, gets Whitney to help her "catch the thief", Lloyd Jupiter. Another terrific entry to a series I can't let go of at the moment.

2010-09-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

The Devil Wears Plaid

by Teresa Medeiros

I love this author, her books are a great escape to another era mostly because the ladies in her books have the strength of women in our modern times, no 'vapors' for these characters. The men, of course, are not modern, they are the pillaging kind, especially the main character in this book, Jamie Sinclair. He nabs Emmaline Marlowe at her wedding to get back at the villianess bridegroom. Her nuptials to the old man is not a love match, she's only marrying for the protection of her family who is a step away from financial ruin. She tries to escape, sometimes at her own peril, being an Englishwoman in the wilds of Scotland. She's not successful and soon their attraction to eachother becomes a love that must survive the many conflicts that beset them as Jamie insists on carrying out his vengeful plot. I like to take a break from all the trauma of nowaday life by going back to historical romance, especially when she writes one, and I'm never disappointed...except when I finish the last page!

2010-08-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Casting Spells & Laced with Magic

by Barbara Bretton

Two parts of the same series, my one concession to the fantasy trend in novels right now, only because I follow the author. Chloe Hobbs lives in Sugar Maple Vermont and it is not an ordinary New England town. There is only one human living there and its Chloe. She's only half human so as Mayor she's both liked and disliked by some of the towns full-breed beings. Their population is Fae's and Vampires and Werewolves. One day a woman wanders into town and leaves the community staggering with her sudden death. The death brings more humans into town as a policeman is sent in to investigate. Before the murder, their tiny burg has been crime free up until that point. The cop they send in is Luke and he is Darren Stevens to Chloe's Samantha Stevens from the TV show Bewitched. Suddenly Chloe is gaining her before now, unseen powers, comically and mostly uncontrollably. Solving the murder, fighting a fairy competitor for her political position, they both have their hands full, in this enjoyable, funny book.

In the second book, Chloe and Luke are now a couple and he is still in Sugar Maple as a lawman. This time its Luke's ex wife who comes into town and she is convinced she is being called by their dead daughter and that she wants them together before she will become visible to them. All sorts of calamities begin to befall Luke and Chloe, besides the return of his troublesome ex. The most danger to their well being is the unexpected return of the very angry and power hungry, Isadora, a banished fairy, who seems to be behind the return of Luke's daughters spirit. I liked the story and the humor, I was very glad I discovered these two books.

2010-08-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Split Image

By Robert B. Parker

Ah, probably the final Jesse Stone/Sunny Randall mystery since unfortunately Mr Parker passed away. I loved this book, as usual, and not just because it's the quickest read I'll have all month. I love the two characters in it, both slightly cranky New Englanders, both hooked on their exes, a plot point I'm hoping will soon be resolved. Jesse is on the case of a homicide, a man who worked security for a formerly crooked citizen, the citizen now apparently retired. When Jesse interviews the person of interest in the case, he is suddenly hit with a case of wife envy for the outwardly perfect Mrs Galen, seemingly a woman comfortable in the shadow of her man. This jealousy is enough to send Jesse back down into his divorce depression, resulting in a night of drunken oblivion. Sunny has come into Paradise on a job to find someones daughter, who is living with a cult in the area. Her case brings Sunny's friend Spike into it, a very unique character in his own right. I like the relationship that is getting stronger between Sunny and Jesse, I like getting all my favorites together in one book. Maybe they'll be some manuscripts found or someone else will keep the characters alive, I will hold that hope until told otherwise.

hush

2010-07-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hush

by Anne Frasier

I was really surprised to discover this is a pen name of one of my favorite romance authors, Theresa Weir. When I learned that, I was lucky enough to remember purchasing quite a few for my mother and I found this one and finished it quite quickly. This book centers on a serial killer who has laid dormant for many years, his modus operandi being the brutal stabbings of new mothers and the suffocation of their newborns. Ivy Dunlap gets the call from an old friend in Chicago after living peacefully in Canada for more than a decade. Soon the peace she found with her new life is disrupted by her own personal interest in catching the man dubbed the "Madonna" murderer. Max Irving is the cop assigned to the case and the last thing he wants to be do is babysit an interloper while working a case that is wreaking havoc on his family life with his adopted son, Ethan. Ivy becomes both help and hindrance to the investigation as well as with Max's peace of mind when he finds out she has more of a history with the case than he was told by his supervisor. Good suspense with memorable characters and since this is only the first book I've read by this author's different name, still a lot more for me to read and report.

Sizzling Sixteen

2010-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Sizzling Sixteen

by Janet Evanovich

Another enjoyable visit to the always funny, entertaining Stephanie Plum, and surprisingly none of her vehicles were harmed in the making of this novel. She still gets loaners from Ranger but only so he can keep track of her since she's really getting in deep in this one. Vinnie, her boss and relative, has been snatched and not just by a jealous husband but by one brutal so and so who will kill Vinnie unless his debt of a million plus is paid. Stephanie, Connie, and Lula, who all work at the bonds office, decide their only recourse is to retrieve Vinnie since money is as scarce to them as scruples is to their boss. The usual shenanigans ensue, reluctant bond jumpers, and some things not so usual like a guard alligator and Hobbits. Fun Summer reading.

Fragile Beasts

2010-07-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Fragile Beasts

By Tawni O'Dell

This book is a powerful story of a young boy whose father dies unexpectedly and his life is turned upside down by the reappearance of his mother and his younger sister. He hasn't seen either one since they left him and his older brother Klint with their father and their lives had been relatively stress free because their parent's marriage had been so unhappy and combative. Klint is a baseball star in his last year of High School and for reasons no one knows refuses to even consider going to live with their mother. Kyle, who I enjoyed as a character so much, loves his brother and is shattered by the thought he might have to go without him. Unexpectedly to the rescue is the town spinster whose niece goes to school with Kyle. The niece, Shelby, manipulates and than manages to convince her Aunt to help the two brothers until Klint goes off to either become a professional baseball player or goes to college. The story switches protagonists and was wonderful whenever we enter into their benefactor's thoughts, Candace Jack. On the outside she gives the appearance of haughtiness and disdain but those who love her will jump through fire for her, a sure sign of a soft loving center. This author is always so good at making her characters come alive for you, I was so glad to see she had a new one.

2010-06-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Spellman's Strike Again

by Lisa Lutz

I really love these books! If it were at all possible for Isabel Spellman to grow up she does so in this book. I love her siblings David and Rae and now the significant others of both. Isabel is still trying to wreak havoc on the life and career of her family's nemesis, Rick Harkey, and in doing so reopens an old case of his back when he was a cop. How she gets her eyes on the file is a story in itself and one I won't ruin in this blog, suffice to say Rae has her evil hand in making sure Isabel has time on her hands in the midst of lots of reading material. Henry Stone is still around, the cop who Isabel confessed to have feelings for in the last book, he finally breaks free of the shadow which is Rae Spellman but who now is pursuing a friendship with Isabel. Some unexpectedly sad moments in the book but still a welcome visit to an even crazier family than my own, so glad I found this series.

2010-05-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

in Audio form

A very engrossing book, it's all in the form of correspondence between characters that I'm usually not a fan of except its in this particular format of CD book. The main character is Juliet Ashby, a bestselling author in London in 1946, who receives a letter from a man in Guernsey whom relates the tale of his island literary society that operated under the radar of the German occupancy and continues even after the liberation. Throughout the book Juliet corresponds with others on the island and her friends and her editor Sidney and most of the letters have a touch of humor and some sadness with the stories that are being told. Eventually she travels to Guernsey and discovers that her pen pals are more than just characters but possible loves of her life, be it child or man. A very sentimental read I really enjoyed the sadness and the caring with which that town took care of its own and even welcomed new people into the fold. I recommend it highly.

2010-05-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Fire

by Carla Neggers

Riley St John, a marine biologist, barely escapes with her life after a fire on her grandfathers research ship leads to the death of many on board. Her grandfather escapes as well from the fire but is soon overrun with negative public opinion that taints his career as a famous underwater explorer and he is forced to retire. Riley goes to his New England town for a day of kayaking when she discovers a dead body on the shore near where her nemeses John Straker, an FBI agent recovering from an injury, is staying temporarily. It turns out the corpse is one of her grandfathers most virulent detractors, making Emile the top suspect. He is not the most docile of older gentleman however, so when he realizes who the dead man is and how quickly he'll be tried and convicted, he takes off to solve the mystery on his own. Or, as most of the police force thinks, is he really innocent and just a fugitive from justice? That mystery and many others kept me interested. Okay and as many who read this blog may know the romance between Riley and John kept me reading too!

2010-05-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Shameless
by Karen Robards

I love when Karen Robards goes back to historical novels, she's so great at making the characters unique and independent. This is book three of the Banning sister trilogy, Elizabeth, our heroine, is the black sheep of the family. She has broken previous engagements and when this book begins she's breaking another one, at a very inopportune time, the night her now angry fiancee was to announce their engagement. He doesn't take it like a gentleman at all and she finds herself fighting for her virtue until a stranger rescues her. The stranger is more dangerous than she knows but she manages to keep both her innocence and her life despite the menace both men pose to her. The intruder, Neil Severin, now has to scrap his plan to kill his target that night, but the enchanting Elizabeth Banning gives him another idea. I liked how unaware Beth is of Neil's menacing nature, she stays unaware but attracted to him through most of the book. Danger abounds for both of them and a ragtag group of ladies both she and Neil rescue add a comedy element to the story. I loved this novel, I really miss the books like this one that give me goosebumps in the romantic moments.

2010-04-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Deeper than the Dead

Tami Hoag

I liked how this novel was set back in the eighties. I understand how necessary the computer is to fighting crime and I wouldn't wish us to go back to those computer less days, but I enjoyed visiting the time when fighting crime was more legwork and determined people. Criminal profiling was at its infancy and Vince Leone is just returning to work in the FBI after being shot. He's not exactly a hundred percent well since he's still carrying bullet fragments in his head, so when he's contacted to be a consultant in a murder in a small town in California, he goes quite willingly. Anne Navarre is a teacher whose three young students literally stumble upon a corpse and she becomes very involved in helping them get through the trauma. More death follows and since many of the cops in the town do not believe in criminal profiling, Vince keeps his real involvement a secret and is able to finesse more information from a few of the suspects. The danger element is amped when people in the town start getting disturbed by their seemingly calm suburbia becoming a murderer's hunting ground and soon they and the villain makes every one's job that much harder. Vince and Anne, despite the age difference and the killer tracking and murdering women, start a romance but it never becomes a focus of the book. Ms. Hoags books are so rare now but I'm always glad to see them, this one I thought was coming out in 2009 but instead it came out this January instead, I was crushed.

2010-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Shattered
by Karen Robards

I really like this one but you'll probably never hear me give her books a bad review. They might be a little less exciting once in a while but they're never bad in my opinion. I got hooked immediately by the story and the characters. Lisa Grant works at a law firm in her native Kentucky when she moves back to help her mother who suffers from ALS. Scott Buchanan is her boss and in the beginning of the book, he's not the most sympathetic character, paving the way for a good romantic conflict. When Lisa is banished to work in practically the basement for being late for court she discovers in a cold case file a picture of a missing family where the woman looks exactly like her. When she takes the file home and starts inquiring about the missing people, suddenly her life becomes filled with danger and she has all she can do to just stay alive enough to solve the mystery. Of course the romance with Scott filters in and I must say, I loved it, when he sheds his all-business persona he turns out to be quite a romantic hero.

2010-03-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Heart of Stone

by Jill Marie Landis

There is no genre this author can move to where I will not follow her. She now writes Christian Fiction and I'm still hooked on her books. This is the beginning of the Irish Angel Series but most characters in this book were in her other Christian fiction titles. They all so far take place in the same western town of Glory, Texas. Laura Foster is the owner of a boarding house in their small dusty town. Brand McCormick is the Reverend and he has always admired the beautiful widow from afar but he decides to change that and gears up to court her. She has a monumental secret that she has kept even from her most trusted friends and feels she must refuse his offer. Soon though his own tarnished past becomes an issue for him, jeopardizing his place in the church, she discovers she can no longer can stay uninvolved. What I like most in this book is, like life, none of the problems can be solved too simply. I also like the inclusion of Brand's two audacious children, they're the comic relief. The teaser in the back of the book was her next title about Laura's little sister for whom she has been searching since they were children, separated very tragically. I will be waiting to read it, the little bit they included hooked me.

2010-03-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Ice

by Linda Howard

A good but short book by one of my collectible authors. This one, because of it's size, I waited to check out from the library and I was glad I did. It wasn't a bad book I just probably wouldn't be enticed to read it over and over like her other books, "Lady of the West" being my absolute favorite of her romance novels. This book begins with an impending ice storm in Maine, Lolly Helton has returned from Portland to pack up her family home in order to sell it. Gabriel McQueen comes home on leave to visit his son and parents and is sent by his sheriff father to rescue Lolly before she gets stuck up the hill. Unfortunately a couple, high on drugs, spots her at a grocery store and follows her home in order to rob her. I liked the action and the romance but will be glad when one of her longer novels gets published, I just find myself more involved in the characters when the book is more in depth.

2010-03-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

Twenties Girl

By Sophie Kinsella

I hadn't tried this author yet but a friend told me it was really funny so I got it and discovered Beth was absolutely right. Lara Lington has reluctantly come to her great Aunt Sadie's funeral with her overprotective parents and her rich Uncle Bill and his self absorbed wife and daughter. Much to her shock Aunt Sadie's spirit has not yet reached its final destination and Lara is the only one who can see and hear her clearly. When Sadie discovers someone who can actually see her she begs Lara to stop the funeral so they can find her dragonfly necklace, she refuses to be cremated without it. From that moment on, Lara and Sadie are on a mission, to find the necklace, to save Lara's headhunting career, and to also get her over her ex boyfriend Josh. They get more than they bargain for when they discover who has the necklace and the secrets in Sadie's roaring twenties hard partying past that aren't all happy and gay. A very fun and entertaining book, I wished I had a swinging Aunt Sadie in my family, alas we're all frightfully bland and have no one haunting us...yet.

2010-02-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

The First Rule

by Robert Crais

Ah, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, how I miss them when I'm done reading the new installments in their books. This one featured mostly Joe as he learns one of his fellow "contractor's", mercenaries to some but to me that implies slight villainy not relevant to stand up Joe Pike, and Frank's wife and children have been brutally slain. The investigating officers insist Frank Meyer probably had turned to a life of crime since the murders mirror a rash of home invasions involving other people who turn out to be bad guys. Joe immediately knows better and stops at nothing to save his friends reputation. He has to do it all under the cops radar which for Joe is a little challenging but not enough to make him sweat. The mystery involves some Eastern European bad guys, a defenseless baby, and my favorite, a bit of Elvis Cole to sweeten the deal for me. Unfortunately the book ended and I'm back to waiting for the next one. Good thing there's other books in my sea, too many according to my bookshelves, but enough to keep me sleeping well at night.

2010-02-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Suddenly
by Candace Camp

I got fooled, this is a reissue of a historical romance I probably read ages ago but I failed to look on the copyright page, what's even more disappointing is I finished the whole book without recognizing it. I enjoy this author though so at least it was good, just too many books ago to get any feelings of deja vu. Charity Emerson tries to save her sister from a loveless marriage to a titled man by offering herself up to him instead. To her surprise her plan works and than to her shock she soon discovers that theirs will not be a loveless match after all. Like all good historical romances though all doesn't go smoothly and soon there are sudden accidents that only through luck and chance is Charity's young life spared. I like the scrappy ladies this author always makes her heroines, they are not the swooning Miss's of the era. I'll have to do more investigating before I buy books, just yesterday on my bookshelf was another older copyrighted book that I thought I was buying new. Darn those tricky new covers!

2010-02-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

Die Trying in audio form

by Lee Child

What an exciting series, Jack Reacher is a terrific hero, stoic, strong, and his are such great stories to listen to. This one had him in really dire straits, a female FBI agent and he against a prepared and very scary militia group. Holly Johnson and he cross paths quite accidently as he helps her with her cane and dry cleaning at the door as he walks past. To his misfortune that is the moment she is nabbed by the bad guys and he is unexpectedly taken along. Throughout the book, even though I knew with the many books following this with him as a character, I was still really nervous he might not make it. That's just how invested I get in their troubles, silly, I know. As my husband always reminds me, they're just stories but as always, I disagree. They, the characters, the situations they are in, are mine, for that wonderful space of reading about them, fictional or not. And than they're yours, and his, and hers....

2010-02-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

Goodbye to Robert B. Parker 1932-2010

Some of my fave's

Jesse Stone Series:
Night Passage
Trouble in Paradise
Death in Paradise
Stone Cold
Sea Change
High Profile
Stranger in Paradise
Night + Day

Sunny Randall Series:
Family Honor
Perish Twice
Shrink Rap
Melancholy Baby
Blue Screen
Spare Change

Goodbye to a great author and his many well-loved series'. Spenser being his most famous, these, however; are my personal preferences.

2010-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

Revenge of the Spellmans

by Lisa Lutz

Well, as always I reached the end of a good thing, the third installment of the Spellman series . Now the wait begins, while finding a new series is terrific, the ending of it, is always a sad moment (until March 2010!). In this book, Isabel is in transition, working at her favorite bar The Philosphers Club instead of her familys detective agency. She's currently living in a too small apartment and she can't live at home, because, if you've read the other books, her family drives her crazy. So what do you do if your Isabel Spellman, well, I would hate to spoil the surprise for anyone so I'll just say, she does only what Isabel would do and as usual it is funny. Again, Rae is proving to be a terrific chip off the Isabel block, their parents entertaining as well. David, the perfect one, is still showing some endearing cracks in his steadiness, I expect in the next book he might even end up in Isabel's old room at his parents house! (But only Ms. Lutz knows for sure) Oh, well, until March I'll have to get to all my other books that I put aside to finish this series.

2009-12-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Curse of the Spellmans

by Lisa Lutz

Another funny installment of this series. It reminds me strongly of Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich, memorable characters, wacky situations and Isabel always gets in more trouble than she solves when she's hot on a case. The only minor drawback is the information the author puts on the bottom of the page, sometimes I don't even see the numbers near the words and miss it for a moment, some are really funny, so it is just a minor quibble with the books. In the Plum novels the stand-out character for some is Grandma Mazur, in my opinion the character in this series who is equal to her in individuality and humor is Isabel's sister Rae. She is the reason I love to read these books, I look forward to them because of her and another character, Henry Stone, I love the pages that include them the most. Now onto the next one "Revenge of the Spellmans."

2009-12-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Killing Floor

By Lee Child

I finally got to start this series in audio and I did enjoy it even though it was an abridged edition. The main character Jack Reacher brought back to me my enjoyment of the 80's movie "Rambo" and the suspicious drifter who is never who he seems, Jack is exactly like that. He wanders into a town called Margrave, Georgia, after his brother tells him a blues man died there named Blind Blake. Unfortunately he wanders in just about time a murder is committed and the law in town believes he is the killer. He is, like another great character in fiction, Jane Whitefield of the Thomas Perry series, practically a superhero. He can take on four to five guys without breaking a sweat, even surviving a prison riot with he and the man he's protecting getting out virtually intact. I enjoyed the take-no-prisoners attitude he has, the town has a lot less people in it when he's through, but bad guys, all. Another series I will now be hooked on but at least I have a lot to read before waiting for installments to be written.

2009-12-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

Rainwater

by Sandra Brown

A really fast read, I enjoyed the characters, and the year it was set, a nice departure fr0m all the turmoil in our modern times. The book is not without turmoil and hard work for the female protagonist, Ella, she runs a boarding house in 1934 and runs a very tight ship. When the town's doctor brings her a boarder, David Rainwater, her life is suddenly disrupted by a sudden change in her emotional climate. Her child, Solly, an undiagnosed savant, is blooming under her new tenant's instruction. The older ladies who board in the house are also dazzled by the new tenant, always interested in his whereabouts, and twittering about whenever he's around. The town has some danger as well, an interesting note of history I remained unaware of until now. The government pays the farmers for each head of cattle and then subsequently comes and slaughters them in order to save on feed and water. Another group of people come to bury them but won't allow the hungry townspeople to feed on the meat, leading to revolt from the hungry souls watching the waste. This book was very good, a departure from her usual pot boiling suspense novels, but every bit as interesting.

2009-11-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

In Audio Form

I read this quite a long time ago and recently saw it in a value priced audio and bought it to reacquaint myself with the story before the movie comes out. It was read by the author and that really enhanced the experience for me, knowing she was reading her own words that I imagined meant so much to her. The book is told by the point of view of a murder victim, Suzie Salmon, and that made the book more wrenching. She stays and observes her family during her own murder investigation, sometimes showing herself to people who love her in minimal ways. She also lets us, her audience, in on the identity of her killer. I hadn't remembered some of the more otherworldly parts to the novel but loved it anyways. Since I had experienced personal loss of a loved one this year, it packed a harder punch, but still proved to be wonderful. Now the wait begins for the December movie release, I will be there at the first showing, Friday morning.

2009-11-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

The Spellman Files

by Lisa Lutz

I tried to read so many other books this past month but had such trouble committing to one. Than, out of the blue, I picked this one up out of my to-be-read bookshelf and ended up finishing it in record time and loving every moment of it. What a hilarious family, it could be my own with how seriously dysfunctional they all are, and I loved that about this novel. Besides the fact that it got me focused on a book so intently it was a great story with endearing characters. Isabel Spellman (Izzy as she called by mostly everyone) tells her story of growing up rebellious in a family of Private Investigators, including the "interrogation room" in their house she mostly had to inhabit in her growing up years, under the accusing eyes of one or both of her parents. At one point she finally tries to get out of the family business when her exasperation with them tailing her and investigating her boyfriends reaches the boiling point. But like all families they just won't let her out easy and they make a deal for her to do one more case, an unsolvable case they are sure. Izzy will stop at nothing to get out so she commits to the case, even when trouble abounds and it looks like even the closest family members to the missing person she's trying to find, does not want the case solved. I'm waiting too impatiently for book two and book three to come in so I can start devouring them as well.

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.