The Pawn by Steven James

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Onyx; Reprint edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451412796
• ISBN-13: 978-0451412799

Coffee connoisseur and FBI agent Patrick Bowers' specialty is environmental criminology.  That means he attempts to track lawbreakers by analyzing the significance of the time and place at which the crime occurred.  Not surprisingly he meets up with some skepticism from his peers.  When young women start showing up murdered near Asheville, N.C., he is called in to assist local law enforcement.  The killer leaves a yellow ribbon in his victim's hair and a chess piece somewhere at each crime scene. Patrick begins to suspect that the Governor of North Carolina may be somehow connected to the crimes and that there is a link to the Jonestown cult.  As if things weren't already complicated enough, Patrick's supervising agent is a woman who harbors resentment toward him because of a prior incident in the Bureau.  Combine a difficult case and a hateful supervisor with a surly teen-age step-daughter, and you have a very entertaining and suspenseful read.  Patrick is struggling with the recent death of his wife and is trying to connect with her daughter, which is being made difficult by her anger and resentment.  She's one of those kids you just love to hate.  When threats are made against her by the killer, Patrick is desperate to keep her safe.   

I read that The Pawn is the first in a planned trilogy by James.  But as I browsed Amazon I noticed there are four Patrick Bowers novels now so he must be popular among readers.   After reading this first installment, I'm looking forward to reading the others.  As I read this book I often thought that I was as entertained by Patrick as I am by Alex Cross in the novels written by James Patterson or by Lucas Davenport in the Prey series by John Sandford.  Steven James is now on my list of favorite authors.  

The Redemption of Holly Dobson by C. Lynn Barton

• Perfect Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Dark Willow Books; First edition (September 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615349412
• ISBN-13: 978-0615349411

At the age of six months Agatha Mircea was dropped off at the babysitter's house by her mother. Her mother never returned to pick her up. The babysitters, the Dobsons, kept the baby, renaming her Holly after their own dead baby.  Holly was a troubled girl, a victim of the Dobson's abuse and neglect.  Despite these obstacles, Holly did well in school, attended college and became a teacher.

When Holly was twenty three Normal and Kate Roberts moved in across the street.  Holly's hands trembled and her lips quivered when Normal looked at her and it was apparent Normal was attracted to her.  When Kate became seriously ill, Holly and Normal entered into an affair that would change her life forever.  After Kate died Holly and Normal married and had a son George.  At this point in her life, Holly believed she had accomplished the most important thing a woman can do.  We soon realize that Holly is a contradiction, intensely driven to protect her family values, yet in possession of an evilness that has no boundaries.  She will do anything to keep her family intact.

This story touches on exorcism, cults and the devil.  As we learn who Normal is, and what he has passed on to his son George, it becomes clear that this evilness is much more than him being a bad man.  George grows up to be a demonic, charismatic man whose minions follow him without question.  The evil which George personifies sends Holly on a path that spans continents and decades.

This is a real psychological thriller and a good old fashioned horror story. For readers who enjoy a plot with a lot of twists and turns and thrilling suspense, this is the book for you.  Just don't read it on a dark and stormy night when you are home alone; you might not get any sleep.  

The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell

Paperback: 592 pages

• Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425236285
• ISBN-13: 978-0425236284

Cornwell's Dr. Kay Scarpetta is probably my favorite fictional character.  She is brilliant, attractive, successful and an awesome cook.  But even with her many achievements, she has had her setbacks.


In the 17th novel of the Scarpetta series, Kay is living in Boston,and volunteering her time to the New York City Medical Examiner's office and is the senior forensic analyst for CNN.  She is currently investigating the murder of a Central Park jogger as well as looking into the disappearance of Hannah Starr, a wealthy financial planner.  Kay's niece, computer genius Lucy Farinelli, is also probing the disappearance of Hannah for reasons of her own. Along for the ride are Assistant District Attorney Jaime Berger, Lucy's girlfriend, and NYPD Detective Pete Marino.  But it's Benton Wesley, Kay's psychologist husband, whose past comes back to haunt the couple and ties these two crimes together.  Specifically, Benton's presumed death in Point of Origin and shocking reappearance five years later in Blow Fly, and the former FBI agent who planned his presumed death.  


But while I liked this book, I don't think it lived up to previous Scarpetta novels.  In the previous couple of books I noticed a change in the story lines and the characters.  Lucy has changed from a precocious smart kid to a bratty, moody and dangerous woman.  She has become very wealthy and it seems with every dollar earned she gets becomes a little more unhinged.  She needs to be toned down a little.  


Marino's meltdown in Book of the Dead and his transformation into a biker-like thug was just wrong.  Now he is still working with Kay and it's just weird.  I liked him better when he was a grumpy overweight cop in a rumpled suit.  He was gruff yet lovable and the relationship with Kay was always interesting. 

Kay's personality has become watered down, resulting in a woman who is just not as interesting as in earlier books.  Her beautiful house, her gardens, her tomatoes and her marvelous cooking are all missing now.  Her relationships were more interesting and had more substance.  I wish she would move back to Richmond and take over the Medical Examiner's office again.  Leave Boston and New York behind and become the fascinating woman she used to be.


And then there's Benton...originally he was a brilliant FBI profiler and the relationship between him and Kay had sexual tension and excitement.  Now he seems to be a has-been and only a shell of his former self.  They never should have married...it took the interest out the relationship.


I know it seems I had a lot of criticisms in this review, but I still will read any Scarpetta book that comes out.  I am just hoping for a return to better times.

A Review: One Door Away From Heaven by Dean Koontz

• Mass Market Paperback: 704 pages

• • Publisher: Bantam; First Thus edition (October 29, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553582755
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553582758

Part  X-Files, part thriller, this book is unique in more ways than one.  The characters are typical of Koontz in that they are never boring, never ordinary.  Micky Bellsong is at a critical time in her life, staying with her Aunt Geneva while trying to sort out her problems and begin anew.  Micky and Geneva meet their new neighbor Leilani, a young girl living with her drugged out mother, Sinsemilla and stepfather, Preston Maddoc.  Preston believes that the elderly, infirm and handicapped should be killed so they don't become a drain on society.  And since Leilani has physical handicaps, she knows what is in store for her.  She tells Micky and Geneva that Preston is planning to pass off her imminent death as a benevolent alien abduction.

Add to the mix a motherless boy, a strange boy who goes by the alias Curtis Hammond and is the quarry of two cross-country manhunts, one led by the FBI and the other by mass murderers who, like the messianic Curtis, may not be what they seem.

All of the characters eventually come together in rural Idaho in a desperate  attempt to save Leilani and as a result find true wisdom and joy.

Never have I read a book with so many nutty, eccentric characters without it being just plain silly.  However, put all of these nutty characters together and they just seem to work.  Micky is one of the more attractive heroines, but the real star is Leilani, whose spunky nature and sparkling and humorous dialogue easily make her this books most memorable character.  Underneath the tragedy, mystery and adventure lies a story about good vs evil, revelation and friendship. 

If I had to say one negative thing about the book it would be that it was too long.  On occasion the narrative seemed to drawn out and really unnecessary.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

In a dusty trailer park on the far edge of the California dream, Michelina Bellsong contemplates the choices she has made. At twenty-eight, she wants to change the direction of her troubled life but can’t find her way—until a new family settles into the rental trailer next door and she meets the young girl who will lead her on a remarkable quest that will change Micky herself and everything she knows—or thinks she knows—forever.

Despite the brace she must wear on her deformed left leg, and her withered left hand, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk radiates a buoyant and indomitable spirit that inspires Micky. Beneath Leilani’s effervescence, however, Micky comes to sense a quiet desperation that the girl dares not express.

Leilani’s mother is little more than a child herself. And the girl’s stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is educated but threatening. He has moved the family from place to place as he fanatically investigates UFO sightings, striving to make contact, claiming to have had a vision that by Leilani’s tenth birthday aliens will either heal her or take her away to a better life on their world.

Slowly, ever more troubling details emerge in Leilani’s conversations with Micky. Most chilling is Micky’s discovery that Leilani had an older brother, also disabled, who vanished after Maddoc took him into the woods one night and is now “gone to the stars.”

Leilani’s tenth birthday is approaching. Micky is convinced the girl will be dead by that day. While the child-protection bureaucracy gives Micky the runaround, the Maddoc family slips away into the night. Micky sets out across America to track and find them, alone and afraid but for the first time living for something bigger than herself.

She finds herself pitted against an adversary, Preston Maddoc, as fearsome as he is cunning. The passion and disregard for danger with which Micky pursues her quest bring to her side a burned-out detective who joins her on a journey of incredible peril and startling discoveries, a journey through terrible darkness to unexpected light.

A Review: Still Life by Joy Fielding

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Atria (March 24, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1416585273
ISBN-13: 978-1416585275








Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall and listen to what people were saying without their knowledge?  Casey Marshall had that opportunity...just not in the way she wanted.

Casey had everything.  Boatloads of money, a handsome loving husband, a successful interior design business and lots of friends.  Until one day, after having lunch with two girlfriends, she was run down by a hit and run driver and left in a coma.  After a few weeks she begins to come out of it, although the only ability she regains is her hearing.  For weeks, she lies in her bed listening to the conversations around her and gradually, she learns that not everyone in her life is her friend.  She learns who tried to kill her and why, yet she is helpless to do anything about it.

I really had trouble putting this book down.  The plot is intriguing and tension filled and the characters were interesting.  I was literally on the edge of my seat a lot of the time.  Now I remember why I used to read Fielding's books...it's time to get back to reading her more often.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

Globe and Mail bestselling author Joy Fielding delivers a riveting new tale of suspense, told from the vantage point of a comatose woman.

Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn’t be more content with her life until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body, and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren’t necessarily the people she thought them to be–and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

Smart, suspenseful, and overwhelmingly addictive, Still Life is a novel Fielding’s fans won’t soon forget.

A Review: Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553591711
• ISBN-13: 978-0553591712

Ryan Perry is 34, wealthy and in a loving relationship with Samantha.  Ryan made his fortune as an internet entrepreneur with his wildly successful social networking site.  He has the world on a string, until he begins to have frightening symptoms that are diagnosed as cardiomyopathy.  Without a heart transplant, Ryan has no chance of survival.

It seems luck is looking after Ryan because after only a few months, a perfect match is found and he receives the operation.  After a year, Ryan is healthy with no apparent signs of rejection.  His future again looks bright until he begins to experience strange events in his home...a bag of white valentine hearts with the words "Be Mine" found on his pillow, a heart shaped locket found in his bedroom.  There is no explanation because his house is armed with a state of the art security system.  How did someone get in without his knowing it?

Then he encounters a woman who looks exactly like his heart donor who tells him,  "Your heart belongs to me.  I want it back."

Although it's not Koontz's best, it's suspenseful enough to keep us on the edge of our seats with a suspenseful page turner.  

Synopsis (from the author's website)

From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense comes a riveting thriller that probes the deepest terrors of the human psyche–and the ineffable mystery of what truly makes us who we are. Here an innocent man finds himself fighting for his very existence in a battle that starts with the most frightening words of all…

At thirty-four, Internet entrepreneur Ryan Perry seemed to have the world in his pocket–until the first troubling symptoms appeared out of nowhere. Within days, he’s diagnosed with incurable cardiomyopathy and finds himself on the waiting list for a heart transplant; it’s his only hope, and it’s dwindling fast. Ryan is about to lose it all…his health, his girlfriend, Samantha, and his life.

One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Business is good and there’s even a chance of getting Samantha back in his life. Then the unmarked gifts begin to arrive in the mail–a heart pendant, a box of Valentine candy hearts. And, most disturbing of all, a graphic heart surgery video accompanied by a chilling message: Your heart belongs to me.

In a heartbeat, the medical miracle that gave Ryan a second chance at life is about to become a curse worse than death. For Ryan is being stalked by a mysterious woman who feels entitled to everything he has. She’s the spitting image of the twenty-eight-year-old donor of the heart beating steadily in Ryan’s own chest.

 And she’s come to take it back.

A Review: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Hardcover: 608 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers; 21st edition (August 21, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0316160199
ISBN-13: 978-0316160193





Meyer's Twilight series was written for young adults but it seems to have a certain appeal for a few of the older crowd also.  I guess it could be the perennial 12 year old inside us that screams for unconditional, true love...even if it is with a vampire.

Recovered from the vampire attack that hospitalized her in Twilight, 18 year old Bella Swan is still in love with the seriously gorgeous vampire, Edward Cullen.  When there is a mishap involving Bella cutting herself and bleeding in front of Edward's vampire family, he decides that Bella is safer without him and his family around.  He leaves her in despair, almost catatonic with grief.  She can't eat, has nightmares, pushes her friends away and stops enjoying anything that reminds her of Edward, which is basically everything.  I can understand Bella's depression but her co-dependent personality is just wrong on every level for any impressionable girl who may be reading the story and believing that this is what love is all about. 

After months of grieving, Bella begins to come out of her depression with the help of her friend, Jacob Black, who is in love with her...and by participating in dangerous activities such as riding motorcycles and cliff diving.  Their dare-devil fun takes a dangerous turn when Bella learns the true identities of Jacob and his friends. 

When Bella is seen diving off a cliff, word gets back to Edwin that she has committed suicide.  Let's not think that Bella is the only co-dependent personality in this relationship... Edward goes to Italy to convince the Volturi (sort of the rulers of the vampires) to kill him as he doesn't want to be on earth if Bella isn't there.  This story line is frenzied and overly dramatic and completely unnecessary.  The frantic race to Italy to save him was really over the top.

I guess I'll read the 3rd installment of the series, hoping that Meyer gives Bella a backbone and some self-respect, therefore providing a better example for her young, female readers.  She really does need to give this some serious thought.  Anyway, I have to find out if Edward ever gives in to Bella's desire to become a vampire so she can spend eternity with him.  Sigh........

   Synopsis (from the author's website)

"Shoot," I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then.

Edward threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table...
I tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. I felt the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow.

Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm—into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.

****

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning...

Legions of readers entranced by the New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers, Bella and Edward. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

A Review: Saving Faith by David Baldacci

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Vision (September 1, 2000)
ISBN-10: 0446608890
ISBN-13: 978-0446608893







 The characters in this book are pretty typical for a Baldacci novel...

• Smart beautiful heroine
• Strong handsome hero
• Evil political bad guy
• Hired assassin

Although not his best, Saving Faith is enjoyable, but not riveting.  Faith Lockhart works for Danny Buchanan, a highly successful Washington, D.C. lobbyist, and together they bribe politicians to gain support for their humanitarian causes.  Evil done in order to do good.  CIA super-patriot Robert Thornhill knows about their activities and begins blackmailing Buchanan.  Thornhill is obsessed with regaining primacy over the FBI and will stop at nothing to attain his goal.  He is not above hiring an assassin to get rid of Faith after she goes to the FBI.  In the meantine, Buchanan hires our hero, private investigator Lee Adams to follow Faith and report back to him. 

Lee saves Faith from the assassin and together they go on the run.  The CIA follow Lee and Faith, and the FBI follow the CIA on an exciting chase from Washington to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The novel is a bit overdone with too many heroes and too many sub-plots, making it a bit cumbersome to get through at times.  However, it moves fast and is full of suspense and action.
 

Synopsis (from the author's website)

Not far from Washington, D.C., in a wooded area of Northern Virginia, a small house at the end of a gravel road serves a secret purpose. With its sophisticated security apparatus and hidden miniaturized cameras, it is being used by the FBI to interview one of the most important witnesses the agency has ever had, a young woman with an incredible story to tell. But a few people know about the secret meeting. And for them, a violent drama is about to begin.
One man -- a local private investigator named Lee Adams -- has come to the house on the orders of his client. Another man, a hired killer, stakes out the house on orders from his powerful paymasters. And the witness, Faith Lockhart, is coming to tell the FBI everything she knows about the powerful lobbyist with whom she has worked, a man who manipulates U.S. government policy and who, in the process, made some very dangerous enemies.

Then, before Faith can tell her story, the hit man pulls the trigger and the wrong victim falls. Now Faith Lockhart is on the run -- from the most dangerous people in America -- with Lee Adams, a man she doesn't know, yet must trust. A relentless chase novel that unfolds as both the FBI and a killer search for Faith and Lee, this is also a searing and utterly suspenseful tale of power gone mad in Washington, and of one woman's desperate attempt to break out of a web of corruption and terror that reaches much further than even she can know. Saving Faith elevates the thriller to a new level and poses stunning questions about the rules we live by, the rules we are governed by -- and what happens when some people make rules of their own.

A Review: Relentless by Dean Koontz

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition first Printing edition (June 9, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0553807145
ISBN-13: 978-0553807141




We are introduced to the sweet but goofy Cubby who is a best-selling author. His wife, Penny is the daughter of survivalists and also an author, but of of children's books. They are the parents of six year old Milo who is a genius and currently working on a project he is unable to even begin to explain to his dad. They have a very interesting dog who, although not a collie, is named Lassie. Lassie is indeed, a very special dog.

Cubby and his family are plunged into a nightmare when book reviewer Shearman Waxx reviews Cubby's recently released book and skewers it. Despite Penny's warnings to "let it go", Cubby just can't. When he finds out that the reviewer frequents a restaurant where he and his family dine, he takes Milo to lunch in order to check the guy out. A brief encounter in the restaurant bathroom soon has Cubby wishing he'd followed his wife's advice.

Koontz has done a great job developing the characters and plot. The good guys were thoroughly likable...the bad guys thoroughly evil. At times funny, always terrifying, this book has it all. If you're a Koontz fan, you will enjoy this book. I know I did...I read it in a matter of hours.

Synopsis

Bestselling novelist Cullen 'Cubby' Greenwich's book is an across-the-board triumph - except for the vicious, inaccurate remarks by the much-feared, seldom-seen critic, Shearman Waxx, in the nation's premier newspaper. Cubby knows he should ignore the review. His wife, Penny, a children's book author and illustrator, knows it. Their brilliant six-year-old, Milo, affectionately dubbed 'Spooky,' knows it. Even their non-collie, Lassie, seems to know it.
Cubby only wants to get a look at the mysterious recluse whose mere opinion can make or break a career - or a life. But Shearman Waxx isn't what Cubby expects; and neither is the escalating terror that follows what seemed to be an innocent encounter. For Waxx has ways of dealing with those who cross him that Cubby is only beginning to fathom. Soon the likeable family man finds himself in a desperate struggle with a relentless sociopath. And just when things can't seem to get any worse, he and those he loves are introduced to the mother of all evil in a character only Dean Koontz could invent: Shearman's mom.

A Review: Whispers by Dean Koontz

Hardcover
Publisher: Putnam (January 1, 1980)
ASIN: B001O5N39A






The story begins with a fairly simple plot. Successful screenwriter Hilary Thomas does not know she is being stalked by Bruno Frye, a winery owner she met while doing research for one of her movies. That is until he confronts her in her home and attempts to rape and murder her. She scares him off by shooting at him but when she reports the incident to the police, they do not believe her. Detective Tony Clemenza is the only police officer who gives her the benefit of the doubt. However, when Frye returns to kill her, she stabs him to death and after finding his body, the attitudes of the police change.

Here's where it begins to get complicated. Frye believes that his dead mother, who abused him terribly as a child, is returning from the dead in the bodies of women who resemble her. But when Frye returns even after he has been found dead, autopsied and embalmed the terror returns for Hilary and Detective Clemenza.

If you read the author's words you will learn that writing this book took a physical and emotional toll. At first he didn't realize why. A decade later, he could look back on the book and understand that he was writing out of painful personal experience. The main characters in Whispers suffer terrible, violent childhoods. Some overcome those traumas, and some do not; indeed, one of them becomes a serial killer. Koontz had lived through a childhood marked by physical and psychological violence and although his experience was not like that of Hillary, and certainly not like that of Bruno, he was nevertheless drawing upon his own life for the emotional content of the novel.

This book is a definite page turner, absorbing and full of suspense.

Synopsis:

Hilary Thomas is still struggling to cope with the nightmarish memories of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents. Tony Clemenza is a police detective who dreams of earning a living as an artist. But he lacks faith in his talent and takes refuge in the fact that he is, at least, a good cop. Bruno Frye is rich but unhappy, insecure. Frye is a killer, compelled to slaughter beautiful women. But there's a special dark place, filled with menacing whispers, where something hideous waits to kill Frye. Some people think Hilary/s report of Frye/s first attack on her is a lie or the work of a fevered imagination. But Tony believes and tries to help her. Tony and Hilary fall in love, but their chances of living to enjoy each other are slim. Frye is a persistent, efficient killing machine. Nothing will stop him; not even death.

A Review: 7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Hardcover: 376 pages
Language: English
Women's Murder Club
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Feb 2008
ISBN-10: 0316017701
ISBN-13: 9780316017701




I've always been a fan of Patterson's Women's Murder Club series and this novel is no exception. It was gripping and suspenseful with characters you can relate to. Someone is setting fires to homes of the wealthy in and around San Francisco, leaving the residents dead, burned alive. We know who is committing the murders, but we don't know why. Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner, Rich Conklin, are trying to find the arsonists while already working on another prominent case, the disappearance of Michael Campion, the son of a former governor. This is one of Patterson's strengths as a writer...the ability to weave together two separate mysteries and tie them together at the end, delivering a satisfying conclusion.

The other members of the Women's Murder Club, DA Yuki Castellano, news reporter Cindy Thomas and medical examiner Claire Washburn, don't play as prominent a role as in past novels. The focus, as it pertains to the characters' personal lives, is on Lindsay, her devotion to her work and her partner and how that relationship affects her relationship with her boyfriend, Joe.

I would easily recommend all of the Women's Murder Club books to anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery. It is not really necessary to read them in order although they occasionally refer to something in a previous book. But even so, these references don't confuse.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

The beloved son of California's former governor disappears into the ether. The angel-faced prostitute Junie Moon admits to the crime and Yuki Castellano is faced with the media circus surrounding her prosecution. But is Junie Moon really to blame? At the same time, a serial arsonist is torching some of San Franciso's most beautiful homes and leaving it's occupants to suffer terrible deaths in the flames. It doesn't add up, but Lindsay Boxer is charged with finding the truth.

A Review: Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

Hardcover: 388 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Jun 2008
ISBN-10: 0316018708
ISBN-13: 9780316018708




I guess an author can run out of ideas for a believable plot and multi-dimensional characters after he or she has written dozens of books. The last two Patterson novels I've read have been disappointing, including this one (although not as disappointing as Cross Country). There was really nothing new here. Unusual for Patterson though, he reveals the villain early in the book.

Katherine Dunne is a cardiac surgeon who inherited 100 million dollars and a large sail boat when her husband died at sea. She has three bratty kids, although the youngest is pretty likable, and a second husband, Peter Carlyle, a fancy schmancy defense attorney. Unbelievably, Katherine decides that two months at sea with her children and ex-brother-in-law Jake will bring the family together. First, Peter isn't going (although her supports her decision), and second, her brother-in-law is in love with her. Not a good combination for building a stronger family.

As soon as they are out to sea everything falls apart. The oldest son is caught smoking pot, the daughter jumps overboard in a suicide attempt and the boat begins taking on water. It only gets worse from there. I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read it, but let's just say they escape sure death time after time, and in ways that just made me shake my head. It seems that the author fell back on sensationalism and exclamation points instead of substance to keep you reading.

Still, it wasn't a bad book if you don't expect it to be up to the quality of Patterson's Women's Murder Club and Alex Cross series.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

A perfect family vacation turns into a life-or-death nightmare.

SET SAIL
Only an hour out of port, the Dunne family's summer getaway to paradise is already turning into the trip from hell. Carrie, the eldest, has thrown herself off the side of the boat in a bid for attention. Sixteen-year-old Mark is getting high belowdecks. And Ernie, their ten-year-old brother, is nearly catatonic. It's shaping up to be the worst vacation ever.

SOAK UP THE SUN
Katherine Dunne had hoped this trip would bring back the togetherness they'd lost when her husband died four years earlier. Maybe if her new husband, a high-powered Manhattan attorney, had been able to postpone his trial and join them it would all have been okay....

PREPARE TO DIE
Suddenly, a disaster hits–and it's perfect. Faced with real danger, the Dunnes rediscover the meaning of family and pull together in a way they haven't in a long time. But this catastrophe is just a tiny taste of the danger that lurks ahead: someone wants to make sure that the Dunne family never makes it out of paradise alive.

A Review: Dead Watch by John Sandford

Hardcover: 373 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group May 2006
ISBN-10: 0399153543
ISBN-13: 9780399153549




I'm an avid John Sandford fan, especially of his "Prey" series and its main character, Lucas Davenport. In Dead Watch Sandford has created another interesting, though not as complex, main character, Jake Winter. While Winter is smart and diligent, he doesn't have the edge that Davenport has. Still, he is interesting enough to keep you reading. Actually, the most interesting and challenging character in the book is Jake's love interest and estranged wife of a kidnapped politician, Madison Bowe.

Ex-Senator Lincoln Bowe disappears and the White House asks Jake to investigate. Madison is very vocal about her belief that Virginia Governor Arlo Goodman is behind the disappearance. When Bowe's headless corpse is discovered, Jake is under even more pressure to find out what happened. Aided by Madison (and wondering if she may be involved), Jake follows a trail of deception that suggests that the disappearance and murder may be a plot to derail Governor Goodman's ascent to the presidency.

I think Jake has a lot of potential as a main character and hope that Sandford writes another novel featuring him. However, the plot in Dead Watch was rather convoluted, with too many suspects to keep track of. The nature of the murder plot was just too unbelievable and sensational. That said, it still was an interesting read.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

Late afternoon, Virginia, and a woman is on the run. Her husband, a former U.S. Senator named Lincoln Bowe, has been missing for days. Kidnapped? Murdered? She doesn't know, but she thinks she knows who's involved, and why. And that she may be next.

Hours later, a phone rings in the pocket of Jacob Winter. An Army Intelligence veteran, Winter specializes in what he thinks of as forensic bureaucracy. Congress, the Pentagon, the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security – when something goes wrong, Winter kicks over rocks until he finds out what really happened. The White House is his main client, and the chief of staff is on the phone now.

If Bowe isn't located soon, he is told, all hell will break loose.

What Winter doesn't realize is – all hell will break loose anyway. And he will be right in the middle of it. Large forces are at work, men determined to do whatever it takes to achieve unprecedented ends. Before the next few days are out, Winter will discover he has to use every one of his resources not only to prevail... but just to survive.

And so will the nation....

A Review: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Paperback: 498 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Sep 2006
ISBN-10: 0316015849
ISBN-13: 9780316015844



I was prepared not to like this book...what with teenage vampires and that it targets young adults. But I was pleasantly surprised as it was a good way to escape the everyday hum drum reality we all live in. You can just curl up in a comfy chair and let yourself be mindlessly entertained for a while.

High school senior, Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father while her mother travels with her new husband. She finds herself sitting next to the seriously gorgeous Edward Cullen in her biology class and promptly falls in love. She spurns the attentions of all the other boys who are attracted to her, even though Edward acts as if he hates her. What she doesn't know, is that Edward lusts after her. He really wants to suck her blood but is trying to resist temptation. He doesn't want her to find out he is a vampire, even though he (and his equally gorgeous vampire family) only feed on animals, not humans. Silly? Adolescent? Yes and yes. But still I enjoyed the escape.

Bella is a little bit of a martyr and supremely clumsy, but very likable. A good kid who does well in school and always tries to do the right thing. And Edward, if a vampire can be a good guy is I guess, a good guy. He tries to do the right thing by Bella but fails because of his intense attraction to her.

It's not classic literature but most books aren't anyway. It's just silly fun.

Synopsis:

Bella Swan’s move to Forks could have been the most boring move she ever made. But when she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella.

Excerpt:

I’d never given much thought to how I would die — though I’d had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.

Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.

I knew that if I’d never gone to Forks, I wouldn’t be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.

The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me…

A Review: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Hardcover: 376 pages
Language: English
Publisher: William Morrow & Co Feb 2007
ISBN-10: 0061147931
ISBN-13: 9780061147937




Joe Hill is the son of authors Stephen and Tabitha King and Heart-Shaped Box is his first novel.

Judas Coyne is a middle-aged rock star, the genius behind the heavy metal band, Jude's Hammer. He is a collector of the macabre, including a cannibal's cookbook and a snuff film. So when he received an email informing him of an auction that had a haunted suit for sale, how could he resist? What Jude didn't know is that the auction is rigged and the seller is the sister of an ex-girlfriend who blames him for her suicide.

The suit is haunted by the girl's stepfather, Craddock McDermott. Craddock leads Jude and his current girlfriend, Georgia, on a terror filled supernatural experience that includes hallucinations, induced suicides, phantom dogs and phone calls from the dead.

As Jude and Georgia travel from New York to Florida and eventually to Louisiana in an attempt to rid themselves of the ghost, Craddock pursues them in his old phantom pick-up truck. Along the way, they learn about Craddock, his daughter and the real reason for her suicide.

The characters are complex, although Hill's descriptions of them are a little trite (i.e. his assistant Danny has high, arched Jack Nicholson eyebrows). Still, I enjoyed the book and, if you like Stephen King, you will probably like his son too.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A Review: Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Jan 1993
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399137734
ISBN-13: 9780399137730






I have to say, I didn't really care for this book nearly as much as other Koontz novels. It was OK but it just seemed to take a long time to get into it. I found it to be rather slow paced and at times, difficult to focus on. The characters are likable and interesting and although the villain is sufficiently creepy, he is sometimes a little too predictable.

Behind most scary stories, there is a little niggling feeling that the described events could possibly happen (even though in the common sense part of your brain, you know they won't). That didn't happen to me with this story. I couldn't find anything believable about this villain.

Description (from author's website):
Harry Lyon was a rational man, a cop who refused to let his job harden his soul. His partner urged him to surrender to the chaos of life. But Harry believed in order and reason. Then, one fateful day, he was forced to shoot a man—and a homeless stranger with bloodshot eyes uttered the haunting words that challenged Harry Lyon’s sanity…

“Ticktock, ticktock. You’ll be dead in sixteen hours…Dead by dawn…Dead by dawn…Dead by dawn…”

Excerpt:

The day had started out so well, but it sure had gone to hell in a hurry.
He was determined to get it back on track. Paperwork would help. Nothing like official reports and forms in triplicate to make the world seem ordered and rational.
Out in the street, the whirlwind had gathered more dust and detritus. Earlier the ghost dancer had appeared to be waltzing along the blacktop. Now it was doing a frantic jitterbug. As Harry took a step away from the tree, the column of debris changed course, zigged toward him, and burst upon him with startling power, forcing him to shut his eyes against the abrasive grit.
For one crazy moment he thought he was going to be swept up as Dorothy had been, and spun off to Oz. Tree limbs rattled and shook overhead, shedding more leaves on him. The huffing and keening of the wind briefly swelled into a shriek, a howl--but in the next instant fell into graveyard stillness.
Someone spoke directly in front of Harry, voice low and raspy and strange: "Ticktock, ticktock."

A Review: The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Jul 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316117366
ISBN-13: 9780316117364





What's not to enjoy about reading about a steamy one night stand gone wrong?

From the jacket:

A STOLEN KISS
When she sees her husband with another woman, Lauren Stillwell's heart nearly stops beating. Her marriage was perfect, she has a great job, she loves her life. But his betrayal turns her into someone she never imagined she could be–a woman lusting for revenge.

IS HER FIRST CRIME
Determined to even the score, Lauren seeks to have her own affair. It was supposed to be a quickie, but Lauren's night of passion takes a shocking turn when she witnesses an unexpected, unbelievable, and deadly crime. Now her horrifying secret threatens to tear her life apart, pitting her need to uncover the truth against her fear that the truth may be too horrible to bear. And whichever choice she makes may cost her dearly—her job, her marriage…or even her life.

IT WON'T BE HER LAST
From James Patterson, the man USA Today has called the "master of the genre," comes his scariest novel since the #1 New York Times bestseller Honeymoon. This twisting story of desires, secrets, and consequences will have your heart pounding till the very last page…

An excerpt........................

Prologue | NOBODY REALLY LIKES SURPRISES

One

I KNEW THIS WAS a really terrific idea, if I didn’t say so myself, surprising Paul for lunch at his office down on Pearl Street.

I’d made a special trip into Manhattan and had put on my favorite “little black dress.” I looked moderately ravishing. Nothing that would be out of place at the Mark Joseph Steakhouse, and one of Paul’s favorite outfits, too, the one he usually chose if I asked him, “What should I wear to this thing, Paul?”

Anyway, I was excited, and I’d already spoken to his assistant, Jean, to make sure that he was there — though I hadn’t alerted her about the surprise. Jean was Paul’s assistant after all, not mine.

And then, there was Paul.

As I rounded the corner in my Mini Cooper, I saw him leaving his office building, walking with a twenty-something blonde woman.

Paul was leaning in very close to her, chatting, laughing in a way that instantly made me feel very ill.

She was one of those bright, shiny beauties you’re more likely to see in Chicago or Iowa City. Tall, hair like platinum silk. Cream-colored skin that looked just about perfect from this distance. Not a wrinkle or blemish.

She wasn’t completely perfect, though. She tripped a Manolo on a street plate as she and Paul were getting into a taxi, and as I watched Paul gallantly catch hold of the pink cashmere on her anorexic elbow, I felt like someone had hammered a cold chisel right into the center of my chest.

I followed them. Well, I guess followed is too polite. I stalked them.

All the way up to Midtown, I stayed on that taxi’s bumper like we were connected by a tow hook. When the cab suddenly pulled up in front of the entrance to the St. Regis Hotel, on East 55th Street, and Paul and the woman stepped out smiling, I felt an impulse rush from the lizard part of my brain to my right foot, which was hovering over the accelerator. Then Paul took her arm. A picture of both of them sandwiched between the storied hotel’s front steps and the hood of my baby-blue Mini flashed through my mind.

Then it was gone, and so were they, and I was left sitting there crying to the sound of the honking taxis lined up behind me.