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Showing posts from October, 2013

(55) The Creeper

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Title:   The Creeper: A Novel by Tania Carver Publisher: Little Brown 468 pages Genre: Mystery, Thriller Synopsis:  Suzanne Perry is having a vivid nightmare. Someone is in her bedroom, touching her, and she can’t move a muscle. She wakes, relieved to put the nightmare behind her, but when she opens the curtains, she sees a Polaroid stuck to the window. A photo of her, sleeping, taken during the night. And underneath,the words: “I’m watching over you.” Her nightmare isn't over. In fact, it’s just beginning. Detective Inspector Phil Brennan has a killer to hunt. A killer who stalks young women and insinuates himself into their lives.But the more Phil investigates, the more he delves into the twisted psychology of his query, Phil realizes that it isn't just a serial killer he’s hunting but something—or someone—infinitely more calculating. Review: This is the 2nd book in this series.  The first book The Surrogate was another nail biter but this book freaked m...

(54) Bad Luck and Trouble

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Title:   Bad Luck and Trouble: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child Publisher: Dell Fiction 477 pages Genre: Thriller Synopsis:  From a helicopter high above the California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night . . . and Jack Reacher is plunged into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends. Reacher has no phone, no address, no ties. But a woman from his former military unit has found him using a signal only the eight members of their elite team would know. Then she tells him about the brutal death of one of their own. Soon they learn of the sudden disappearance of two other comrades. But Reacher won’t give up—because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them. Review: I feel like I'm late to the game with these books, and I haven't started from the beginning but it doesn't seem like you really need to.  I didn't feel like I was missing any...

(53) The Guilty One

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Title:   The Guilty One: A Novel by Lisa Ballantyne Publisher: William Morrow 480 pages Genre: Mystery Synopsis: An eight-year old boy is found dead in a playground...and his eleven-year old neighbor is accused of the crime. Leading the defense is London solicitor Daniel Hunter, a champion of lost causes. A damaged boy from a troubled home, Daniel's young client, Sebastian, reminds Daniel of his own turbulent childhood - and of Minnie, the devoted woman whose love saved him. But one terrible act of betrayal irrevocably shattered their bond. As past and present collide, Daniel is faced with disturbing questions. Will his sympathy for Sebastian and his own memories blind him to the truth? What happened in the park - and who, ultimately, is to blame for a little boy's death? Rethinking everything he's ever believed, Daniel begins to understand what it means to be wrong...and to be the guilty one. Review: I wanted this book to make an impression on me.  It had the...

(52) Janes Melody: a novel

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Title:   Jane's Melody: A Novel by Ryan Winfield Publisher:  Atria books 337 pages Genre: Romance Synopsis: That's the question a grieving mother must answer when she takes in a young street musician she believes can shed light on her daughter's death—only to find herself falling for him. Review: I needed something light after reading my last book.  I kept seeing ads for this book on facebook (so their advertising worked on me!) so I thought I would check it out.  I was pleasantly surprised.  While there were a few things that didn't suspend my disbelief overall I found the book to be entertaining and fun. Drug addiction, alcohol addiction and grief all play big roles in this book and while that may seem heavy it didn't weigh the story down.  Unfortunately I know a few people who have lost their children to drugs and the grief experienced is twice as raw and three times as painful as what is portrayed in this story but I will let that go since...

(51) Buck

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Title:  Buck: A Memoir by MK Asante Publisher: Randomhouse Publishing 272 pages Genre: memoir I received an advanced e-galley of this book through netgalley.com . It was released August 20, 2013 Synopsis:  MK Asante was born in Zimbabwe to American parents: a mother who led the new nation’s dance company and a father who would soon become a revered pioneer in black studies. But things fell apart, and a decade later MK was in America, a teenager lost in a fog of drugs, sex, and violence on the streets of North Philadelphia. Now he was alone—his mother in a mental hospital, his father gone, his older brother locked up in a prison on the other side of the country—and forced to find his own way to survive physically, mentally, and spiritually, by any means necessary. Review: Drugs, crime, broken families, and violence is nothing new to this Philly girl but it may be new to some.  This is a story of a brilliant writer who almost lost his battle to grow up. Through...

(50) The Heavens Rise

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Title:   The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice Publisher: Gallery Books 336 pages Genre: horror I received an advanced e-copy of this book through netgalley.com It is due to be released October 15, 2013. Synopsis:  It’s been a decade since the Delongpre family vanished near Bayou Rabineaux, and still no one can explain the events of that dark and sweltering night. No one except Niquette Delongpre, the survivor who ran away from the mangled stretch of guardrail on Highway 22 where the impossible occurred…and kept on running. Who left behind her best friends, Ben and Anthem, to save them from her newfound capacity for destruction…and who alone knows the source of her very bizarre—and very deadly—abilities: an isolated strip of swampland called Elysium. An accomplished surgeon, Niquette’s father dreamed of transforming the dense acreage surrounded by murky waters into a palatial compound befitting the name his beloved wife gave to it, Elysium: “the final resting place ...