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.

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"Together Goldy and Andre struggle in a hopelessly outdated kitchen to cater to a vacuous crowd of beautiful people whose personal dramas climax when a camera is pitched through a window...into the buffet.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.

Double Sin and other stories by Agatha Christie

Started: 12/10/10
Finished: 12/21/10
Year: 1984 (this edition)
Pages: 211
Genre: mystery, short stories
Grade: B
Blurb (from back cover): "In one of London's most elegant shops, a doll in green velvet is found every morning, seated in a different chair...In a small country church, an uninvited stranger is discovered sprawled at the alter. In this superb collection of treats for mystery lovers, both the indomitable English gentlewoman, Miss Marple and the inimitable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, put their powers to the test."
Opinion: A good collection of short stories by Agatha Christie

The Echo of Violence by Jordan Dane

Started: 12/11/10
Finished: 12/21/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 353
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for Myshelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "When terrorists attack a missionary school, brutally killing their hostages and posting videos of the senseless murders online, time is running out. Sentinels' agent Alexa Marlowe is forced into an unlikely alliance with a relentless mercenary. But he is no stranger.
"Jackson Kinkaid witnessed the raid, and only he can track the killers to their mountain stronghold. Guarding a dark secret, rumored to sell his services to the highest bidder, Jackson is not the same man Alexa once knew. And although he can lead her to the terrorist leader she's been ordered to take alive, how can she be sure he won't sabotage her mission to save the one person who got him through the worst nightmare of his life?"
Opinion: Really good with the action. Some of the romance fell flat...especially the ending. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Last to Die by Kate Brady

Started: 11/22/10
Finished: 12/10/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 418
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "A ruthless killer hides in plain sight, portraying the ideal citizen while hatching a horrific plan. Sins of the past have come to light and now the time is right for revenge. Six desperate women will be brutally murdered as punishment for the secrets they've kept hidden...
"Detective Dani Cole is devastated to discover that a young woman viciously killed in a local park was someone whose life she'd helped redeem. Her investigation becomes even more personal when it leads her to Mitch Sheridan, a renowned photojournalist. The two share a painful past...and an attraction that sparks as they race to find the killer. But danger is much closer than anyone imagines. For in the shadows, this calculating criminal has a new target: Dani Cole."
Opinion: Pretty good mix of romance and suspense. For a more complete review, please check out Myshelf.com in the upcoming months.

Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

Started: 10/23/10
Finished: 11/22/10
Year: 1987
Pages: 433
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "Brace yourself for shock when Alex Delaware gets a phone call from a former patient, a young, troubled genius who suffered a devastating mental collapse...
"When he drives through the night to save his life and winds up in a morass of murder...
"When he uncovers the secret life of one of California's leading families, and is witness to an explosion of murderous passions and shattering revelations..."
Opinion: Another good book by Kellerman. Just disappointed that with grad school and other things going on, that I wasn't able to read it as quickly as I wanted.

Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark

Started: 9/30/10
Finished: 10/23/10
Year: 2010 (this edition)
Pages: 384
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Eliza Blake, co-anchor of the popular morning television show Key to America, is present when the party is cut short by the host's sudden, macabre death-and she's the first to discover that Pentimento is a giant 'puzzle house.' But each piece is leading Eliza and her KEY News colleagues-producer Annabelle Murphy, cameraman B. J. D'Elia, and psychiatrist Margo Gonzalez-deeper into darkness, toward a killer who believes that some puzzles must never be solved. And it soon becomes shockingly clear that no amount of wealth or privilege can keep the residents of Tuxedo Park safe...and alive."
Opinion: It took me so long to get through this since I started grad school this month. It was a fun and enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading more. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson

Started: 9/16/10
Finished: 9/30/10
Year: 2000
Pages: 319
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "When caterer Goldy Schulz is offered a temporary stint hosting a cooking show for PBS, she jumps at the chance. After all, she could use the money-not to mention the great exposure. Plus taping the shows at Colorado's posh Killdeer Ski Resort will be fun. A little cooking, a little chitchat. What could go wrong?
"The answer: everything! When Goldy has to do one of her shows live for PBS telethon, the broadcast is riddled with culinary catastrophes-from the Chesapeake Crab Cakes right down to the Ice-Capped Gingersnaps. But the deadliest dish of all comes after the cameras go off-and a baffling accident claims a life. Then a series of suspicious mishaps places Goldy's own life in jeopardy and she knows she'd better whip up her own crime-solving recipe, and fast-before a deadly dash of danger ends her cooking career once and for all..."
Opinion: Another good mystery from Mott Davidson. Yummy recipes as well

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Started: 8/27/10
Finished: 9/16/10
Year: 2009
Pages: 724
Genre: Suspense
Grade: A
Reason for reading: borrowed from Julie K
Blurb (from back cover): "Crusading publisher Mikael Blomkvist has decided to run an explosive expose of a wide-ranging sex trafficking operation. Just before the piece is published, the two reporters responsible are murdered. The fingerprints on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled hacker genius Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander's innocence, plungers into an investigation. Meanwhile, Lisbeth herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, and is forced her to face her dark past.
Opinion: I actually enjoyed this one better than the first one of the trilogy. Lots of action and suspense.

The Funny Thing is...by Ellen Degeneres

Started: 8/26/10
Finished: 8/27/10
Year: 2003
Pages: 177
Genre: Humor
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb: A humor book.
Opinion: I could picture Ellen saying these bites on her show or during a stand-up routine. Some laugh out loud moments. Entertaining.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Started: 8/25/10
Finished: 8/26/10
Year: 1995
Pages: 218
Genre: Literature
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.
"When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover. She enthralls him with her passion, but puzzles him with her odd silences. Then she inexplicably disappears.
"When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student and Hanna is on trial for a hideous crime. But as he watches her refuse to defend herself, Michael gradually realizes that his former lover may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder."
Opinion: A thoughtful tale. I had seen the movie before reading the book so I had images of the movie in my head-they followed each other pretty well.

Shattered by Kathryn Casey

Started: 8/19/10
Finished: 8/25/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 371
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "In Creekstone, Texas, a small, quiet suburb of Houston, football was king...and David Temple was a prince. A former high school and college gridiron star-turned-coach, he had a fairy-tale marriage to bright, vivacious Belinda Lucas, a teacher at the local high school who was so warm and popular her colleagues called her 'The Sunshine Girl.'
"The fairy tale ended savagely on January 11, 1999, when Belinda's lifeless body was discovered in a closet. Her skull had been shattered by a shotgun blast at close range. She was eight months pregnant.
"There was no damning evidence directly linking the brutal murder to husband David, who stood by emotionless and dry-eyed as police searched the crime scene. But a dogged eight-year investigation would expose a shocking history of cruelty and domination, infidelity and rage-ultimately resulting in an epic courtroom battle for the ages-as the scandalous truth was reveled about love betrayed and innocent lives."
Opinion: A horrible story told in a great manner. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months

The Dead Janitors Club: Pathetically True Tales of a Crime Scene Cleanup King by Jeff Klima

Started: 8/12/10
Finished: 8/19/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 341
Genre: Memoir
Grade: B
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "After toiling for minimum wage for years, Jeff Klima got an unexpected offer: to head up a brand new crime scene cleanup company in Orange Count. The upside: a chance to make incredible money in a field with no competition. The downside? Everything else about the job.
"From his first job-where a piece of brain fell off the ceiling and landed in his eye-to having to clean up one of his former neighbors, The Dead Janitors Club is more than just a retelling of crime scenes and what it takes to clean them up. It is a memoir of struggling to survive college, love, life and keeping ones' sanity when one never knows if, the next time the phone rings, you must delve into the darker side of life and death."
Opinion: An entertaining memoir with some graphic details. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Supreme Justice by Phillip Margolin

Started: 8/1/10
Finished: 8/12/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 312
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from book jacket): "Sarah Woodruff, on death row in Oregon for murdering her lover, John Finely, has appealed her case to the Supreme Court just when a prominent justice resigns, leaving a vacancy.
"Then, for no apparent reason, another justice is mysteriously attacked. Dana Cutler-one of the heroes from Margolin's bestselling Executive Privilege-is quietly called in to investigate. She looks for links between the Woodruff appeal and the ominous incidents in the justices' chambers, which eventually lead her to a shoot-out that took place years ago on a small freighter docked upriver in Shelby, Oregon, containing a dead crew and illegal drugs. The only survivor on board? John Finley.
"With the help of Brad Miller and Keith Evans, Dana uncovers a plot by a rogue element in the American intelligence community involving the president's nominee to the Surpreme Court, and soon the trio is thrown back into the grips of a deadly, executive danger."
Opinion: Great and fast paced. Check for a more complete review in the upcoming months on MyShelf.com

Murder & Other Acts of Literature Edited by Michelle Slung

Started: 7/17/10
Finished: 8/1/10
Year: 1997
Pages: 340
Genre: Literature Short Stories
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The crime stores selected for this consistently imaginative collection shun the simple whodunit formula. Instead, Eudora Welty, Patrick O'Brian, Edith Wharton, and John Cheever, along with the twenty other masterful writes found here, take the compelling fact of murder and sudden death and proceed well beyond the business of clues and alibis. Writes from Shakespeare to Louisa May Alcott to Gabriel Garcia Marquez have long understood teh a corpse, rendered that way by foul plan or fair, can set into motion events both appalling-and enthralling."
Opinion: As with all collections, some stories are better than others. Most of these were very enjoyable.

The Lion by Nelson DeMille

Started: 7/7/10
Finished: 7/16/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 437
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "The Lion is back.
"The last time federal Agent John Corey of the Anti-Terrorist Task Force heard from Asad Khalil-known in the world of international terrorism as The Lion-Khalil claimed he was defection to the the US...then he unleashed a deadly reign of destruction on American soil. While Corey and his partner, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, pursued him across the country, Khalil methodically eliminated his victims one by one and then disapppeared without a trace.
"Now, after the horrific events of September 11th, Khalil has resurfaced, returning to America to take care of unfinished business-murdering his select group of enemies, with Kate and John topping the list. The Lion is a killing machine loose in America with a mission of revenge, and John Corey will stop at nothing to achieve his own goal: find and kill Khalil before Khalil kills him."
Opinion: Great read. Love the sarcasm throughout the novel. Lots of action. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Started: 6/25/10
Finished: 7/7/10
Year: 2005
Pages: 644
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from Julie K.
Blurb (from back cover): "Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, he aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption."
Opinion: After a slow start, it picked up and was well worth it. I can see why so many people are reading it now.

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Started: 6/21/10
Finished: 6/25/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 385
Genre: Mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet comes to Jack daily-and his staff of investigators use the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break the case.
"Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multimillion-dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of thirteen schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to him: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.
"But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, he has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans."
Opinion: I really wish that Patterson would take the time to actually write. This book just had too many plotlines that made it ugh. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Kiss and Kill by Dale Hudson

Started: 6/14/10
Finished: 6/21/10
Year: 2008
Pages: 352
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBS shelf
Blurb (from back cover): "Rick Pulley was a highly respected member of his Virginia community, a youth pastor and music director at his River of Life Church. When his devoted wife mysteriously vanished, few would suspect that Rick was somehow involved. Three-and-a-half years later, police found Patty Jo's decomposed body under a bridge, and a cold case suddenly turned red hot.
"Soon, the dark secrets beneath a life of lies were brought to light, with sordid details of adultery, phone sex, rage, madness-and finally murder. As a dramatic trial unfolded, a shocked community realized that Rick Pulley had nearly gotten away with the cold-blooded killing of Patty Jo.
"This extraordinary true story looks inside the hear of a close-knit community, behind bedroom doors, church doors, and jail cell doors-where a diabolical drama led to murder, a relentless investigation shattered innocence and illusions, and a monster was finally convicted of murder in the first degree."
Opinion: Another strong true crime novel by Dale Hudson. What is sad that we will never have another one by him since he passed away this past week. RIP Dale.

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Started: 6/4/10
Finished: 6/14/10
Year: 2010
Pages: 405
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "At the old family manse in Louisiana, Special Agent Pendergast is putting to rest long-ignored reminders of this wife Helen's tragic death, only to make a dreadful discovery. Helen had been mauled by a large and vicious lion while they were big game hunting in Africa. But now Pendergast finds that her rifle-her only protection from the beast-had been deliberately loaded with blanks. Who could have wanted Helen dead...and why?
"With Lt. Vincent D'Agosta's assistance, Pendergast embarks on a quest for justice. It is a journey that sends him deep into his murdered wife's past, where he is stunned by how much she kept hidden from him. Helen Pendergast had nursed a private obsession with the fame naturalist-painter John James Audubon and spent years hunting for an infamous, long-lost painting of his known as the Black Flame.
"In a night of shocking violence deep in the Louisiana bayou, Pendergast gains some answers to the riddle of his wife's death, but he is left with an even greater mystery: Who was the woman he married?"
Opinion: I felt like I was on a little adventure while reading this book. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the future months.