3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: Death on the D-List by Nancy Grace

Death on the D-List
by Nancy Grace

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 281
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug. 25-29, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;
Yearly Count: 43

First Line: It was almost cold outside.

After a year away from Manhattan, Hailey Dean has returned. Wanting to get back to a normal life and her practice as a therapist, she tries to settle back into the life she knew before what happened the previous year. But before she realizes it, she has agreed to go on a daytime TV show to fight crime. What was supposed to be a one time appearance has turned into more appearances now that D-list actresses keep getting murdered. NYPD Lieutenant Ethan Kolker, the cop who was convinced that Hailey herself was a murderer the previous year, is now needing her help trying to figure out these murders. As she gets more involved in the investigation, Hailey is shocked to discover that TV can be murder!

This is the second in the Hailey Dean series. I can’t say that I really loved this book, but it was a decent read. For whatever reason, I have not really taken to Hailey’s character all that much. I don’t feel much of a connection to her. Overall, I definitely think that Ms. Grace has a distinct writing talent, but ultimately her books are forgettable in the long run, because I honestly could not remember a single thing from her previous book The Eleventh Victim, which I read last year.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, Jane Rizzoli, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

Body Double
by Tess Gerritsen

Copyright: 2004
Pages: 391
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug. 22-25, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;  RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 42

First Line: That boy was watching her again.

Maura Isles is shocked to come home from a conference in Paris to find a dead body in a car parked in front of her house. What’s even worse is the fact that the body looks exactly like Maura. For an only child, Maura is shocked. But a DNA test confirms that the dead woman is indeed her twin sister. Confronted with this new information, Maura becomes curious about the mother who put her up for adoption. But what she will finds out is not necessarily all wonderful. Sometimes the past is better of remaining buried.

This is the fourth in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series. I have to admit, I love the new tv show based on this series that is on TNT. While there are a lot of differences between the tv series and the book series, they are both enjoyable. This particular book was very interesting. It really gave the reader quite a bit more insight into who Maura is as a person. This is definitely a great series, it’s medical-ish, but definitely not too much. Overall, I would recommend this series to anyone who loves a great read.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, L, P, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: Step on a Crack by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Step on a Crack
by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 373
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug. 16-21, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;  RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 41

First Line: The back of the table captain’s cream-colored evening jacket had just turned away when Stephen Hopkins leaned across the secluded corner booth and kissed his wife.

The First Lady was only the first victim. Actually, her death was just the beginning. Very famous and powerful people gather in New York City for her state funeral and then many people are taken hostage in the church. Detective Michael Bennett is put on the case to try and negotiate with the criminals. But he can’t seem to get a line on these people. The case is confusing and it will take a lot to unravel it in the end. Dealing with personal issues of his own, Bennett must quickly figure things out for the world is watching, the NYPD and FBI are breathing down his back, and Bennett must either figure this hostage plot out or be the one who becomes responsible for the greatest debacle in history.

This is the first in the Michael Bennett series. I’m not really sure what to think about this book. I’m not really sure I like Bennett’s character, I wanted him to be Alex Cross too much! I also had some issues with the plot: I thought that there was a lot of build up and then the actually ending to the story was a bit rushed. Overall, I’m interested in reading on and seeing what happens as the series progresses, but it’s still up in the air as to my final opinion.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: The President’s Assassin by Brian Haig

The President’s Assassin
by Brian Haig

Copyright: 2005
Pages: 426
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug. 7 – 13, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;  RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 40

First Line: Settling into the backseat of the car, I mentioned to the attractive young lady seated beside me, “That’s a lovely pistol you’re carrying.”

Six people are shot and killed in a Virginia mansion, one of the victims is the White House Chief of Staff. But that’s not why Sean Drummond is called in on this case. New to the CIA, the Army lawyer knows that this is just the beginning: the killer left a note. The manhunt begins. There has been a $100 million bounty placed on the President’s head. If Drummond fails, Washington will never be the same. If Drummond succeeds, he will be a hero – maybe. It will be a rush against the clock to stop the senseless killing and get to the bottom of the case.

Apparently, this is part of a series, I was unaware of that when I first picked this book out. However, that wasn’t really necessarily my issue with this book. I never really warmed up to the main character, Sean. I just didn’t like him. He was cocky, smart-mouthed, and obnoxious. He’s just not a likable character in my opinion, and that affected my opinion of the entire book. Some of the parts of this part flew by and others felt like they moved at a snail’s pace. Overall, I enjoyed the plotline, but I just never warmed up to Sean.

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Kay Scarpetta, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell

Blow Fly
by Patricia Cornwell

Copyright: 2003
Pages: 467
Rating: 3/5
Read: Aug. 1 – 6, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Finish that Challenge; RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 39

First Line: Dr. Kay Scarpetta moves the tiny glass vial close to candlelight, illuminating a maggot drifting in a poisonous bath of ethanol.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is settling into her new life as a private consultant when she agrees to investigate a cold-case in Louisiana. But she soon receives news that Jean-Baptiste Chandonne has asked to see her – on death row. Giving the monster the audience that he craves, Kay tries to figure out what exactly is going through his mind in terms of an endgame. But she soon realizes that he is pointing her in the direction of the cold-case she is investigating in Louisiana. She must figure out how there could possibly be a connection in that case while trying to deal with a revelation that will change her life forever.

DISCLOSURE: This post will have SPOILERS. I had some real issues with this book. First of all, I’m not sure how I’m going to like Dr. Scarpetta as a private consultant, but I guess time will tell as I continue reading this series. But my real gripe was that you cannot kill a character off only to bring him back two books later and play the witness protection program card. PLEASE! It was sickening to think back to the past two books and think about all the grief Kay had gone through only to find out that the two people closest to her knew all along that her grief was not necessary! I was like, seriously? You’re going to bring him back? It probably would have been better off if Ms. Cornwell had just left him dead. And the reason why he was in the witness protection program, well that bothered me also. How on earth could he possibly have been involved with who he was? I was just really irritated by the way this book panned out. I’m going to continue reading this series, but I’m not sure how much further I’m going to be going with these books.

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, Aug. 2, 2010

 

 

Mailbox Mondays

Marcia over at The Printed Page is taking a break from Mailbox Monday, and Chick Loves Lit is hosting in August.  I got quite a few more books in my mailbox this week! Here’s what I got:

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (PBS Box swap)
          After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastatig fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton Malone – former Justic Department agent turned rare-book dealer – learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of a campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength. Born from the ashes is a new Eastern European nation whose ruthless leader will soon draw Cotton into an intense geopolitical chess game against a shadowy cabal of power brokers. The prize lies buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great – in a tomb lost to the ages for more than two thousand years. Trekking from Denmark to Venice to Central Asia, Cotton and Cassiopeia are determined to solve an ancient puzzle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people – depending on who finds the lost tomb first.

Secret of the Seventh Son by Glenn Cooper (PBS Box swap)
          Nine people have been slain in New York City – nine strangers with nothing in common – the apparent victims of a frighteningly elusive serial killer. Only one thing links the dead: postcards they received, mailed from Las Vegas, announcing the day they would die. Assigned to the case is a legendary FBI profiler with a troubled past, a drinking problem, and nothing left to lose. Abandoned to a monastery is an unwanted son born under a curse on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year 777. Unprepared for a momentous discovery is a post-World War II expedition into the crypts of a clandestine medieval society. But all lead to a secret embroiled in destiny, history, evil, faith, and corruption … and one terrifying truth that no one must ever know…

The Letter of the Law by Time Green (PBS Box swap)
          Casey Jordan is a young Texas attorney with the brains and the beauty to make it big. Now Casey has just been handed a case that can make her career: the defense of her brilliant former law professor against a horrific murder charge. But while the ambitious advocate does her job flawlessly, the aftermath of the trial blows up in her face. Suddenly, Casey is caught between two dangerous men: the grief-stricken father of a young murder victim and a cunning serial killer who plots to strike again. For Casey, following the letter of the law has put her career in jeopardy. Fulfilling the spirit of the law may cost her her life…

The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer (PBS Box swap)
          Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming. So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive’s oldest friend, into the president’s limousine. By the trip’s end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes and kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year-old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

The Tenth Justice by Brad Meltzer (PBS Box swap)
          Ben Addison, fresh from Yale Law, is a new clerk for one of the Supreme Court’s most respected justices. But when he accidentally reveals the secret outcome of an upcoming decision, a blackmailer makes millions and Ben starts to sweat. Big time. He turns to his co-clerk, Lisa, and his housemates, Nathan, Eric, and Ober, for help. Washington’s best and brightest, they offer coveted insider access to the State Department, a major Washington newspaper, and the Senate. But before they know it, their careers – and their lives – are on the line.

The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell (PBS – used a credit)
          They were orphans, Chris and Saul – raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed.

Don’t Scream by Wendy Corsi Staub (PBS Box swap)
          In a remote, heavily wooded area near the Berkshires of Massachusetts, Rachel Lorant died on her birthday. But she didn’t die alone. That night, her four sorority sisters make a solemn, trembling pledge. They will never reveal what has just happened in those woods – ever. Instead, they will take their terrible secret to their graves. Now, ten years later, their secret is coming back to haunt them as each receives a card in the mail from Rachel: “Happy Birthday to Me. xoxo R.” It’s clear that someone knows what happened that night. Someone is stalking them and sending mysterious, chilling gifts that only they can understand – deadly warnings of what is to come. For the sins of the past have come back with a vengeance, and a killer will see that they all pay in blood. Brynn Costello has never felt such pure fear. She didn’t want any part in what happened so long ago, but now, the mother of two will do anything to stay alive and protect her family – even if it means matching wits with a killer she can’t see … a twisted psychopath who is closer than she thinks and who is saving her death for last…

Monthly Wrap Up

June & July 2010 Wrap-Ups

So these past two months, I have actually been doing pretty good in my reading – I’m quite pleased with where I’m at right now. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

  1. Jeffery Deaver, The Coffin Dancer
  2. James Patterson, London Bridges
  3. Clive Cussler, Pacific Vortex!
  4. Rebecca Drake, The Next Killing
  5. Alex Kava, Damaged
  6. Patricia Cornwell, The Last Precinct
  • Books read: 6
  • Pages read: 2,319
  • New Authors: 1
  • Fiction: 6
  • Nonfiction: 0
  • Read for Challenges: 6

So out of this list, only 2 books were library books, I’m really working hard on clearing out my shelves – it’s something I desperately need to do considering how many books I have brought in to the house in the last few weeks!!