Sunday, March 30, 2008

Ricochet by Sandra Brown

Started: 3/2/08
Finished: 3/30/08
Year: 2006
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from book jacket): "When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job.
"At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true-and it's the parts she's leaving out that bothers him.
"Determined to learn the dead man's connection to the Lairds and get at the truth, Duncan investigates further and quickly finds his career, as well as his integrity, in jeopardy-because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elise Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect.
"When Elise seeks Duncan out privately and makes an incredible allegation, he initally dismisses it as the manipulative lie of a guilty woman. But what if she's telling the truth? Then that single fatal gunshot at her home takes on even more sinister significance, possibly involving Duncan's nemesis, the brutal crime lord Robert Savich.
"And then Elise goes missing...
"Ricochet's plot twists-as only Sandra Brown can write them-and palpable suspense combine to create this gripping thriller, in which a decent cop's worst enemy may be his own conscience, and trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death."
Opinion: This was a decent murder mystery with enough intrigue to keep me interested, even though I did start and finish another book while reading this one.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Killer Instinct by Martina Navratilova and Liz Nickles

Started: 3/16/08
Finished: 3/28/08
Year: 1997
Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed it out of a TBR box
Blurb (from book jacket): "Jordan Myles is at the top of her game. A former world-class tennis champion now hosting her own TV show, she is also a partner at the exclusive Desert Springs Sports Science Clinic, working with the game's biggest up-and-comers. Her long-time relationship with Dr. Gus Laidlaw is getting serious, and marriage seems imminent. Things couldn't be better for Jordan-until many of her world-famous clients start suffering from sudden, mysterious collapses and one dies after falling off a cliff. Make way for Jordan Myles, amateur detective.
"In Martina Navratilova's third Jordan Mysles mystery, Jordan, along with her junk-food-junkie sidekick, Noel (the Fish) Fisher, discovers that the brutal competition of tennis is nothing compared to the dog-eat-dog world of product merchandising. A behind-the-scenes tale of turmoil, suspicion, and subterfuge that only a sports-industry insider like Martina Navratilova could write, Killer Instinct features an enthralling cast of characters, including an exotic young Dutch-Indonesian tennis sensation, Jasmine Li, and her one-name-wonder boyfriend, Malik, a transplanted star from the NBA dead set on becoming the first basketball player to win a Grand Slam.
"Killer Instinct reflects the captivating energy and masterful strategy of the world's most respected female sports champion-Martina Navratilova. Every tennis fan-and every every mystery fan-will love this page-turning grand slam of a novel."
Opinion: I have to say that I was impressed with this book. When some sport celebrities attempt to write a fictional novel, it just doesn't work. This one does. I enjoyed picking out the real tennis players' characteristics in some of the fictional characters.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The Vampire of New York by Lee Hunt

Started: 2/5/08
Finished: 3/2/08
Year: 2008
Pages: 359
Genre: Horror/Vampires
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "1863: During a shipwreck in the frigid waters off the coast of North America, one man dies-and a demon is rechristened. Enoch Bale, once known as Count Draculiya, reaches America's shores. On the eve of the New York Draft Riots, Echo Van Helsing comes to the city to avenge the mysterious murder of her father by a hideous creature out of ancient myth. Instead she is met by conspiracy, unholy terror, and a terrible truth.
"The Present: Archaeologist Carrie Norton makes a startling find in a historic Manhattan site: the mummified corpse of a Civil War-era homicide victim. Cold-case detective Max Slattery sees something more: gruesome, uncanny parallels to a recent series of brutal slayings. Their investigation is about to take them places neither expected, because while the man responsible may be long dead, he is not long gone..."
Opinion: This wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. Of course, my lack of reading time plays a factor also.