Started:11/2/12
Finished: 11/13/12
Year: 2006
Pages: 422
Grade: B
Genre: mystery
Reason for reading: grabbed off TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Caterer Goldy Schulz's lucrative new gig, preparing breakfasts and conference room snacks for a local law firm, is time-consuming, but she's enjoying it...until the night she arrives to find Dusty, the firm's paralegal, dead. The deceased also happened to be Goldy's friend and neighbor, and now Dusty's grieving mother is begging Goldy to find out who murdered her daughter.
"Just because the police are on the case doesn't mean Goldy can't do a little snooping herself. While catering a party at the home of one of the firm's lawyers, she just happens to overhear an incriminating conversation. She also discovers a few tasty clues in the kitchen. Before long, Goldy finds herself knee-deep in suspects. But one of them is incredibly dangerous...and very liable to cook Goldy's goose."
Opinion: Another good mystery by Davidson. Goldy's character continues to be witty and enjoyable as she cooks and attempts to solve the mysteries that she continues to stumble upon.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Breathless by Dean Koontz
Started: 10/24/12
Finished: 11/1/12
Year: 2009
Pages: 337
Grade: B
Genre: Mystery
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In the stillness of a golden September afternoon, deep in the wilderness of the Rockies, a solitary craftsman, Grady Adams, and his magnificient Irish wolfhound, Merlin, step from shadow into light...and into an encounter with enchantment. That night, through the trees, under the moon, a pair of singular animals will watch Grady's isolated home, waiting to make their approach.
"A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring to her door all the forces of a government in peril.
"At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness....In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable...On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder...Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past beings a trek toward his destiny."
Opinion: Typical plotline by Kootnz but interesting little creatures that he created that were truly a mystery.
Finished: 11/1/12
Year: 2009
Pages: 337
Grade: B
Genre: Mystery
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In the stillness of a golden September afternoon, deep in the wilderness of the Rockies, a solitary craftsman, Grady Adams, and his magnificient Irish wolfhound, Merlin, step from shadow into light...and into an encounter with enchantment. That night, through the trees, under the moon, a pair of singular animals will watch Grady's isolated home, waiting to make their approach.
"A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring to her door all the forces of a government in peril.
"At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness....In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable...On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder...Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past beings a trek toward his destiny."
Opinion: Typical plotline by Kootnz but interesting little creatures that he created that were truly a mystery.
Cottonwood Winter by Gary Slaughter
Started: 10/1/12
Finished: 10/26/12
Year: 2008
Pages: 400
Grade: C
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "This clever Christmas story interweaves events on the Allied front lines in eErope with mysteries on the home front, during the last winter of the Second World War.
"The disappearance of B. R. Santa, the treat of an elite German espionage agent, the unexplained appearances of assorted grape-vine Christmas wreaths all over town, and many more mysteries are to be solved by Jase Addison and Danny Tucker, the young heroes of the Cottonwood novels.
Opinion: I haven't read the other books in the Cottonwood series so I'm not sure if I would have a more positive attitude about the stories if I had read them. The boys Jase and Danny are enjoyable characters.
Finished: 10/26/12
Year: 2008
Pages: 400
Grade: C
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "This clever Christmas story interweaves events on the Allied front lines in eErope with mysteries on the home front, during the last winter of the Second World War.
"The disappearance of B. R. Santa, the treat of an elite German espionage agent, the unexplained appearances of assorted grape-vine Christmas wreaths all over town, and many more mysteries are to be solved by Jase Addison and Danny Tucker, the young heroes of the Cottonwood novels.
Opinion: I haven't read the other books in the Cottonwood series so I'm not sure if I would have a more positive attitude about the stories if I had read them. The boys Jase and Danny are enjoyable characters.
Entering Normal by Anne D. LeClaire
Started: 9/24/12
Finished: 9/29/12
Year: 2001
Pages: 289
Grade: B+
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from the bookjacket): " Rose Nelson is a middle-aged woman with a broken past, harboring a sorrow from which she things she will never recover. Five years after her teenaged son's death, she is still sealed off from life, enveloped by grief and remorse. Then Opal Gates and her five-year-old son, Zack, move in next door.
"Determined to start anew, twenty-year-old Opal has left her family and Zack's father in North Carolina. Initially, Rose cannot bear the sight of the young mother and son. But with Opal's arrival in the small Massachuetts town, Rose is reluctantly drawn into the world she has avoided, irrevocably pulled into the lives of the freewheeling Opal and her child so full of promise. When Zack is injured, Rose instinctively lies to protect Opal from a single mistake that changes the lives of everyone involved. Faced with a custody battle that threatens to take away her son, realizing that each choice she has made can be used as ammunition against here, Opal must now consider : What sacrifices must a mother be willing to make if she is to keep her child?"
Opinion: This story was a tearjeaker. I was quickly absorbed by learning about Rose and Opal and how their lives mesh with each other.
Finished: 9/29/12
Year: 2001
Pages: 289
Grade: B+
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from the bookjacket): " Rose Nelson is a middle-aged woman with a broken past, harboring a sorrow from which she things she will never recover. Five years after her teenaged son's death, she is still sealed off from life, enveloped by grief and remorse. Then Opal Gates and her five-year-old son, Zack, move in next door.
"Determined to start anew, twenty-year-old Opal has left her family and Zack's father in North Carolina. Initially, Rose cannot bear the sight of the young mother and son. But with Opal's arrival in the small Massachuetts town, Rose is reluctantly drawn into the world she has avoided, irrevocably pulled into the lives of the freewheeling Opal and her child so full of promise. When Zack is injured, Rose instinctively lies to protect Opal from a single mistake that changes the lives of everyone involved. Faced with a custody battle that threatens to take away her son, realizing that each choice she has made can be used as ammunition against here, Opal must now consider : What sacrifices must a mother be willing to make if she is to keep her child?"
Opinion: This story was a tearjeaker. I was quickly absorbed by learning about Rose and Opal and how their lives mesh with each other.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Blue Water by A. Manette Ansay
Started: 8/17/12
Finished: 8/20/12
Year: 2006
Pages: 280
Genre: Literature
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from paper book jacket): "On an ordinary morning in Fox Harbor, Wisconsin, Meg and Rex Van Dorn's lives are irrevocably altered when a drunk driver-Meg's onetime best friend, Cindy Ann Kreisler-slams into the Van Dorns' car, killing their six-year-old son, Evan. As Meg recovers from her own injuries, She and Rex are shocked when Cindy Ann receives a mere slap on the wrst. In their rage and grief, they buy a boat to sail around the world, hoping to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Cindy Ann. But when Meg returns to Fox Harbor for a family wedding, she's forced to face the complex ties that bind her to the woman who has destroyed her peace.
Opinion: A heart-wrenching story where ultimately forgiveness is key. Great story.
Finished: 8/20/12
Year: 2006
Pages: 280
Genre: Literature
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from paper book jacket): "On an ordinary morning in Fox Harbor, Wisconsin, Meg and Rex Van Dorn's lives are irrevocably altered when a drunk driver-Meg's onetime best friend, Cindy Ann Kreisler-slams into the Van Dorns' car, killing their six-year-old son, Evan. As Meg recovers from her own injuries, She and Rex are shocked when Cindy Ann receives a mere slap on the wrst. In their rage and grief, they buy a boat to sail around the world, hoping to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Cindy Ann. But when Meg returns to Fox Harbor for a family wedding, she's forced to face the complex ties that bind her to the woman who has destroyed her peace.
Opinion: A heart-wrenching story where ultimately forgiveness is key. Great story.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Laguna Heat by T. Jefferson Parker
Started: 8/10/12
Finished: 8/16/12
Year: 1985
Pages: 322
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Laguna...where every day the sun makes a promise the nightime breaks, while the super rich live out expensive fantasies in posh beach houses and drown their memories in Cuervo Gold margaritas...
Laguna...where trouble has swept in like a Santa Ana wind, blowing the cover off a world of torture, murder, and blood red secrets...
Laguna...where a crazed killer has turned paradise into a Disenyland of depraved violence-with a fiery vengeance-and where homicide cop Tom Shephard unravels a grisly mystery that reaches back across forty years of sordid sex, blackmail, and suicide into the dark corner of his own past, and sweats out a deadly truth in the sweltering...Laguna Heat."
Opinion: I'm a big fan of Parker's and somehow I missed this when I started reading his books. A solid background to Shephard's character.
Finished: 8/16/12
Year: 1985
Pages: 322
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Laguna...where every day the sun makes a promise the nightime breaks, while the super rich live out expensive fantasies in posh beach houses and drown their memories in Cuervo Gold margaritas...
Laguna...where trouble has swept in like a Santa Ana wind, blowing the cover off a world of torture, murder, and blood red secrets...
Laguna...where a crazed killer has turned paradise into a Disenyland of depraved violence-with a fiery vengeance-and where homicide cop Tom Shephard unravels a grisly mystery that reaches back across forty years of sordid sex, blackmail, and suicide into the dark corner of his own past, and sweats out a deadly truth in the sweltering...Laguna Heat."
Opinion: I'm a big fan of Parker's and somehow I missed this when I started reading his books. A solid background to Shephard's character.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Started: 7/9/12
Finished: 8/9/12
Pages: 224
Year: 1957 (this edition)
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Blurb (from back cover): "Three near-fatal accidents in three days. As Miss Buckley told of her nattor brush with death, Hercule Poirot felt a thrill of fear. Were these accidents-or attempted murder?"
Opinion: Another Christie classic. A good plot with the case not being solved into the last few pages.
Finished: 8/9/12
Pages: 224
Year: 1957 (this edition)
Genre: mystery
Grade: B+
Blurb (from back cover): "Three near-fatal accidents in three days. As Miss Buckley told of her nattor brush with death, Hercule Poirot felt a thrill of fear. Were these accidents-or attempted murder?"
Opinion: Another Christie classic. A good plot with the case not being solved into the last few pages.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
Started: 5/24/12
Finished: 5/24/12
Year: 2007 (this edition)
Genre: Humor/Relationships
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "For ages women have come together over coffee and cocktails to analyze the puzzling behaviour of men. He's afraid to get hurt again. Maybe he's intimided by me. He's just got out of a relationhip. Greg Behrendt and fellow Sex and the City writer Liz Tuccillo are hear to say that men are not that complicated, even if they'd like you to think they are. And there are no mixed messages."
Opinion: I think that most humans can relate to this book. Very amusing comments about relationships and the idealistic nature of women.
Finished: 5/24/12
Year: 2007 (this edition)
Genre: Humor/Relationships
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "For ages women have come together over coffee and cocktails to analyze the puzzling behaviour of men. He's afraid to get hurt again. Maybe he's intimided by me. He's just got out of a relationhip. Greg Behrendt and fellow Sex and the City writer Liz Tuccillo are hear to say that men are not that complicated, even if they'd like you to think they are. And there are no mixed messages."
Opinion: I think that most humans can relate to this book. Very amusing comments about relationships and the idealistic nature of women.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Blind Spot by Judy Mercer
Started: 12/6/11
Finished: 1/17/12
Year: 2000
Pages: 449
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Good news doesn't come at 4 am. The call that comes in the predawn stillness of a warm Los Angeles night shocks Ariel Gold awake. A friend has been blinded. The assault on Laya is brutal, the result tragic, the method insidious. The LAPD thinks it's a case of product tampering, with the 'unlucky' Laya a random victim. Ariel's not so sure. As a correspondent fo the TV newsmagazine Open File, she is in a unique position to satisfy her doubts. As a friend, she won't quit until she has. But the claims of friendship, Ariel soon finds out, can prove complicated-and dangerous..."
Opinion: An enjoyable and exciting read.
Finished: 1/17/12
Year: 2000
Pages: 449
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Good news doesn't come at 4 am. The call that comes in the predawn stillness of a warm Los Angeles night shocks Ariel Gold awake. A friend has been blinded. The assault on Laya is brutal, the result tragic, the method insidious. The LAPD thinks it's a case of product tampering, with the 'unlucky' Laya a random victim. Ariel's not so sure. As a correspondent fo the TV newsmagazine Open File, she is in a unique position to satisfy her doubts. As a friend, she won't quit until she has. But the claims of friendship, Ariel soon finds out, can prove complicated-and dangerous..."
Opinion: An enjoyable and exciting read.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Threadbare by Monica Ferris
Started: 11/15/11
Finished: 12/6/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 260
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "When a homeless woman is found dead on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, she's wearing something that holds the key to her identity but also opens up a mystery. Embroidered on her blouse is her will, in which she bequeaths everything she owns to Emily Hame, her neice-a member of the Monday Bunch at Betsy Devonshire's Crewel World needlework shop!
"Emily's aunt is, in fact, the second homeless wooman to be found dead under mysterious circumstances. Is someone targeting the homeless in Excelsior, Minnesota? Or is her aunt's death related to what turns out to be a sizable inheritance, thought with some bizarre conditions?
"It's all too much for Emily, who seeks the help of her good friend and fellow needlecrafter Betsy to discover the common thread between the deaths-and to determine if a murderer may strike again..."
Opinion: A pretty good mystery with a predictable suspect. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com
Finished: 12/6/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 260
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "When a homeless woman is found dead on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, she's wearing something that holds the key to her identity but also opens up a mystery. Embroidered on her blouse is her will, in which she bequeaths everything she owns to Emily Hame, her neice-a member of the Monday Bunch at Betsy Devonshire's Crewel World needlework shop!
"Emily's aunt is, in fact, the second homeless wooman to be found dead under mysterious circumstances. Is someone targeting the homeless in Excelsior, Minnesota? Or is her aunt's death related to what turns out to be a sizable inheritance, thought with some bizarre conditions?
"It's all too much for Emily, who seeks the help of her good friend and fellow needlecrafter Betsy to discover the common thread between the deaths-and to determine if a murderer may strike again..."
Opinion: A pretty good mystery with a predictable suspect. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com
Monday, August 29, 2011
Suffer the Children by John Saul
Started: 7/23/11
Finished: 8/29/11
Year: 1977
Pages: 378
Genre: Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb(from back cover): "One hundred years ago in Port Arbello a pretty little girl began to scream. And struggle. And die. Non one heard. No one saw. Just one man whose guilty heart burst in pain as he dashed himself to death in the sea...
"Now something peculiar is happening in Port Arbello. The children are disappearing, one by one. An evil history is repeating itself. And one strange, terrified child has ended her silence with a scream that began a hundred years ago."
Opinion: Pretty good horror book.
Finished: 8/29/11
Year: 1977
Pages: 378
Genre: Horror
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb(from back cover): "One hundred years ago in Port Arbello a pretty little girl began to scream. And struggle. And die. Non one heard. No one saw. Just one man whose guilty heart burst in pain as he dashed himself to death in the sea...
"Now something peculiar is happening in Port Arbello. The children are disappearing, one by one. An evil history is repeating itself. And one strange, terrified child has ended her silence with a scream that began a hundred years ago."
Opinion: Pretty good horror book.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Candyfreak by Steve Almond
Started: 7/18/11
Finished: 7/23/11
Year: 2004
Pages: 266
Genre: Non fiction
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: Steve Almond has a fascination of candy and goes to several different local chocolate companies around the United States.
Opinion: Another person after my own heart. A fun and enjoyable read
Finished: 7/23/11
Year: 2004
Pages: 266
Genre: Non fiction
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: Steve Almond has a fascination of candy and goes to several different local chocolate companies around the United States.
Opinion: Another person after my own heart. A fun and enjoyable read
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Bad Blood: The Shocking True Story Behind the Menendez Killings
Started: 7/8/11
Finished: 7/18/11
Year: 1994
Pages: 256
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: The court case of the Menendez brothers who were acquitted of killing their parents.
Opinion: Spoiled brats got away with murder is my take on the situation. Not quite sure how the juries for both were dead locked but that's the story.
Finished: 7/18/11
Year: 1994
Pages: 256
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb: The court case of the Menendez brothers who were acquitted of killing their parents.
Opinion: Spoiled brats got away with murder is my take on the situation. Not quite sure how the juries for both were dead locked but that's the story.
Friday, July 08, 2011
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Started: 5/15/11
Finished: 7/8/11
Year: 1992
Pages: 412
Genre: Mystery
Reason for reading: TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch-hero, maverick, nighthawk-the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.
"The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam 'tunnel rat' who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the torturous link that must be uncovered, his survival instinct will once again be tested to their limit.
"Joining with an enigmatic an seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him."
Opinion: Another great book by Connelly. Just wish I had the time to read more.
Finished: 7/8/11
Year: 1992
Pages: 412
Genre: Mystery
Reason for reading: TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch-hero, maverick, nighthawk-the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.
"The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam 'tunnel rat' who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the torturous link that must be uncovered, his survival instinct will once again be tested to their limit.
"Joining with an enigmatic an seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him."
Opinion: Another great book by Connelly. Just wish I had the time to read more.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Lake News by Barbara Delinsky
Started: 4/27/11
Finished: 5/14/11
Year: 1999
Pages: 514
Genre: Literature
Grade: A-
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "After an unscrupulous reported falsely accuses Boston lounge singer Lily Blake of having an affair with a newly appointed Cardinal, she's hounded by the press, fired from her job, and robbed of all public freedom. The humiliation and violation of privacy leaves her no choice but to retreat to her rural hometown of Lake Henry, New Hampshire.
"In search of refuge, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a former Boston reporter with trust issues of his own. Now editing Lake Henry's local newspaper, John cannot ignore Lily's appeal or her plight-even at the risk of taking on his former colleagues.
"Surprising and deeply satisfying, Lake News offers an intimate look at the complex relationship between an enigmatic man and a vulnerable woman, both struggling to find a new sense of cummunity in a strange place they once called home."
Opinion: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Simple and delightful read.
Finished: 5/14/11
Year: 1999
Pages: 514
Genre: Literature
Grade: A-
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "After an unscrupulous reported falsely accuses Boston lounge singer Lily Blake of having an affair with a newly appointed Cardinal, she's hounded by the press, fired from her job, and robbed of all public freedom. The humiliation and violation of privacy leaves her no choice but to retreat to her rural hometown of Lake Henry, New Hampshire.
"In search of refuge, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a former Boston reporter with trust issues of his own. Now editing Lake Henry's local newspaper, John cannot ignore Lily's appeal or her plight-even at the risk of taking on his former colleagues.
"Surprising and deeply satisfying, Lake News offers an intimate look at the complex relationship between an enigmatic man and a vulnerable woman, both struggling to find a new sense of cummunity in a strange place they once called home."
Opinion: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Simple and delightful read.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Driven to Kill by Cliff Linedecker
Started: 4/13/11
Finished: 4/16/11
Year: 2003
Pages: 253
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "'David, look what you made me do!' screamed Clara Harris as she held her dying husband's crushed body in her arms only minutes after running him over three times with her Mercedes. The mother of twin toddlers had been a hugely successful dentist, businesswoman and former beauty queen-but none of that was enough for David Harris, who carried on a blatant and torrid affair with his sexy receptionist, Gail Bridges. Pushed to the breaking point, Clara finally snapped. Driven to Kill puts you behind the wheel with never-before-revealed details of this murder by motor vehicle that gripped all of America-and like a real-life Greek tragedy, left no one.
Opinion: An average sensational true crime book. Guess all should be forewarned before they go cheating on a spouse.
Finished: 4/16/11
Year: 2003
Pages: 253
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "'David, look what you made me do!' screamed Clara Harris as she held her dying husband's crushed body in her arms only minutes after running him over three times with her Mercedes. The mother of twin toddlers had been a hugely successful dentist, businesswoman and former beauty queen-but none of that was enough for David Harris, who carried on a blatant and torrid affair with his sexy receptionist, Gail Bridges. Pushed to the breaking point, Clara finally snapped. Driven to Kill puts you behind the wheel with never-before-revealed details of this murder by motor vehicle that gripped all of America-and like a real-life Greek tragedy, left no one.
Opinion: An average sensational true crime book. Guess all should be forewarned before they go cheating on a spouse.
The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass
Started: 3/25/11
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 359
Genre: Thriller
Grade: A
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf, bought on a recent trip to DC
Blurb (from book jacket): "Dr. Bill Brockton has been called in on a seemingly routine case, to exhume a body and obtain a bone sample for a DNA paternity test. But when the coffin is opened, Brockton and his colleagues, including his graduate assistant Miranda Lovelady, are stunned to see that the corpse has been horribly violated.
"Brockton's initial shock gives way to astonishment as he uncovers a flourishing and lucrative black market in body parts. At the center of this ghoulish empire is a daring and prosperous grave robber. Soon Brockton finds himself drawn into the dangerous enterprise when the FBI recruits him to bring down the postmortem chop shop-using corpses from the Body Farm as bait in an undercover sting operation.
"As Brockton struggles to play the unscrupulous role the FBI asks of him, his friend and colleague medical examiner Eddie Garcia faces a devastating injury that could end his career. Exposed to a near-lethal dose of radioactivity, Dr. Garcia has lost most of his right hand and his entire left hand. Out of options, he embarks on a desperate quest: both of his ravaged hands will be severed at the wrist and replaced with those from a cadaver. But unless suitable ones are found soon, the opportunity will be lost.
"As Brockton delves deep into the clandestine trade, he is faced with an agonizing choice: Is he willing to risk an FBI investigation-and his own principles-to help his friend? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line"? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line? Will he be able to live with himself if he doesn't? And as the criminal case and the medical crisis converge, a pair of simpler questions arise: Will Dr. Garcia survive-and will Brockton?"
Opinion: Great book. Fast paced. Easy summer read
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 359
Genre: Thriller
Grade: A
Reason for reading: grabbed from TBR shelf, bought on a recent trip to DC
Blurb (from book jacket): "Dr. Bill Brockton has been called in on a seemingly routine case, to exhume a body and obtain a bone sample for a DNA paternity test. But when the coffin is opened, Brockton and his colleagues, including his graduate assistant Miranda Lovelady, are stunned to see that the corpse has been horribly violated.
"Brockton's initial shock gives way to astonishment as he uncovers a flourishing and lucrative black market in body parts. At the center of this ghoulish empire is a daring and prosperous grave robber. Soon Brockton finds himself drawn into the dangerous enterprise when the FBI recruits him to bring down the postmortem chop shop-using corpses from the Body Farm as bait in an undercover sting operation.
"As Brockton struggles to play the unscrupulous role the FBI asks of him, his friend and colleague medical examiner Eddie Garcia faces a devastating injury that could end his career. Exposed to a near-lethal dose of radioactivity, Dr. Garcia has lost most of his right hand and his entire left hand. Out of options, he embarks on a desperate quest: both of his ravaged hands will be severed at the wrist and replaced with those from a cadaver. But unless suitable ones are found soon, the opportunity will be lost.
"As Brockton delves deep into the clandestine trade, he is faced with an agonizing choice: Is he willing to risk an FBI investigation-and his own principles-to help his friend? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line"? Will he be able to live with himself if he crosses that line? Will he be able to live with himself if he doesn't? And as the criminal case and the medical crisis converge, a pair of simpler questions arise: Will Dr. Garcia survive-and will Brockton?"
Opinion: Great book. Fast paced. Easy summer read
Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker
Started: 2/3/11
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 388
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Along the United States-Mexico border, a man named Mike Finnegan wakes up in the hospital in Buenavista after a hit-and-run accident, eerily aware of events he should know nothing about. His daughter claims he's schizophrenic, but she's every bit as odd. Also strange is that he was found with ninety thousand dollars in cash-and Charlie Hood's name and address in his wallet.
"Hood's down there tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico when his team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, to save his own life and those of his team, Hood works to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista-forces that circle back to the Finnegans and to Armenta's unstoppable plan for brute vengeance."
Opinion: Obviously it took me forever to read this and I was very confused throughout the book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the future months.
Finished: 4/13/11
Year: 2011
Pages: 388
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Along the United States-Mexico border, a man named Mike Finnegan wakes up in the hospital in Buenavista after a hit-and-run accident, eerily aware of events he should know nothing about. His daughter claims he's schizophrenic, but she's every bit as odd. Also strange is that he was found with ninety thousand dollars in cash-and Charlie Hood's name and address in his wallet.
"Hood's down there tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico when his team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, to save his own life and those of his team, Hood works to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista-forces that circle back to the Finnegans and to Armenta's unstoppable plan for brute vengeance."
Opinion: Obviously it took me forever to read this and I was very confused throughout the book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the future months.
Friday, February 04, 2011
What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
Started: 1/3/11
Finished: 2/3/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 442
Genre: Thriller
Grade: b+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In the late summer of a long-ago year, a killer arrived in a small city. His name was Alton Turner Blackwood, and in the space of a few months he brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, re-creating in detail Blackwood's crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family-his wife and three children-will be targets in the fourth crime, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and their slayer.
"As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometiems the dead return."
Opinion: Koontz is back. This reminded me of how he used to write. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just wish that it didn't take me so long to read it.
Finished: 2/3/11
Year: 2010
Pages: 442
Genre: Thriller
Grade: b+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "In the late summer of a long-ago year, a killer arrived in a small city. His name was Alton Turner Blackwood, and in the space of a few months he brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, re-creating in detail Blackwood's crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family-his wife and three children-will be targets in the fourth crime, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and their slayer.
"As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometiems the dead return."
Opinion: Koontz is back. This reminded me of how he used to write. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just wish that it didn't take me so long to read it.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Prime Cut by Diane Mott Davidson
Started: 12/22/10
Finished: 1/02/11
Year: 2000 (this edition)
Pages: 368
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Caterer Goldy Schulz is convinced things couldn't get worse. An unscrupulous rival is driving her out of business. An incompetent contractor has left her precious kitchen in shambles. And she has just agreed to cater a fashion shoot at a nineteenth century mountain cabin with her mentor and old friend, French chef Andre Hibbard.
"Together Goldy and Andre struggle in a hopelessly outdated kitchen to cater to a vacuous crowd of beautiful people whose personal dramas climax when a camera is pitched through a window...into the buffet. Then Goldy's contractor is found hanging in the house of one of her best friends. A second murder follows and Goldy must somehow solve a mystery and prepare for a society soiree that could make-or break-her career.
"It's a mystery that involves the dead contractor's unwholesome past, a food saboteur, the theft of four historical cookbooks, and an overzealous D.A. who has suspended Goldy's detective husband, Tom, form the force. What Goldy discovers is the perfect recipe for murder. And she may be dessert!"
Opinion: Just as good as her other Goldy books. I will be continuing the series.
Finished: 1/02/11
Year: 2000 (this edition)
Pages: 368
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Caterer Goldy Schulz is convinced things couldn't get worse. An unscrupulous rival is driving her out of business. An incompetent contractor has left her precious kitchen in shambles. And she has just agreed to cater a fashion shoot at a nineteenth century mountain cabin with her mentor and old friend, French chef Andre Hibbard.
"Together Goldy and Andre struggle in a hopelessly outdated kitchen to cater to a vacuous crowd of beautiful people whose personal dramas climax when a camera is pitched through a window...into the buffet. Then Goldy's contractor is found hanging in the house of one of her best friends. A second murder follows and Goldy must somehow solve a mystery and prepare for a society soiree that could make-or break-her career.
"It's a mystery that involves the dead contractor's unwholesome past, a food saboteur, the theft of four historical cookbooks, and an overzealous D.A. who has suspended Goldy's detective husband, Tom, form the force. What Goldy discovers is the perfect recipe for murder. And she may be dessert!"
Opinion: Just as good as her other Goldy books. I will be continuing the series.
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