Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Sacred Blood by Michael Byrnes

Started: 12/13/09
Finished: 12/28/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 337
Genre: Religious Fiction
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When American geneticist Charlotte Hennesey examined what she believed were the remains of Jesus, the Vatican buried her discovery. But the DNA Charlotte extracted from the sacred bones and injected into her own body has eliminated every trace of the cancer that was devouring her from within. And it has given her the power to perform medical miracles.
"Now wheels have been set in motion that will have cataclysmic consequences for the volatile Middle East and all humankind. A two-thousand-year-old destiny is about to be fulfilled-resulting in the brazen kidnapping of Charlotte Hennesey, and ensaring Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi and noted Eqyptologist Julie LeRouz in an ancient mystery centered around the world's most powerful relic. As zealots plot to rip the Holy Land asunder, the race begins to avert the unthinkable-for the armies gathering to meet on the hills of Meggido can mean only one thing: Armageddon!"
Opinion: I'm not for religious concepts in fictional pieces of work. It is an interesting concept but I wasn't blown away by the book. For a more complete review please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

Started: 12/11/09
Finished: 12/13/09
Pages: 254
Year: 1987
Genre: Horror
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile.
Blurb (from back cover): "Visitors flock to see the Beast House with its blood-soaked corridors and creaky doors. Armed with Instamatics and video camcorders, these poor souls enter the forbidden house, never to return. The deeper the tourists go into the house, the darker their nightmares become. The men are dealt with quickly. The women have to wait longer....first they are tortured and sexually ravished.
"But the worst part of the house is actually beneath the haunted structure. There lies even a more terrifying presence waiting for its next victim. Don't even think about going into The Cellar."
Opinion: Not as good as the blurb indicates. The last chapter is completely pointless and ridiculous. As part of a series, I'm probably NOT going to continue with it.

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Sweethearts' Knitting Club by Lori Wilde

Started: 12/3/09
Finished: 12/11/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 384
Genre: Romance
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "For ten years, pretty Flynn MacGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man's marriage proposal. Her friends at the Sweethearts' Knitting Club tell her they're a match made in heaven, but Flynn knows there's only one dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: high school sweetheart Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when Jesse was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion...but he's never left her heart.
"Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner he's there-gazing at her with his smoldering eyes amd tempting her with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he's made it clear that he's not going to now. And Flynn, who's always donr just what her family, friends and fellow knitters have told her to do, must finally break free and claim the love that binds Jesse to her heart."
Opinion: Despite it being predictable it is well written and readers will connect with the characters. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Friday, December 04, 2009

The Fourth Hand by John Irving

Started: 11/21/09
Finished: 12/3/09
Year: 2001
Pages: 381
Genre: Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "While reporting a story from India, New York journalist Patrick Wallingford inadvertently becomes his own headline when his left hand is eaten by a lion. In Boston, a renowned surgeon eagerly awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant. But what if the donor's widow demands visitation rights with the hand? In answering this unexpected question, John Irving has written a novel that is by turns brilliantly comic and emotional moving, offering a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change."
Opinion: A slightly different book from John Irving. Still very touching and well written.