Month: December 2010

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, Review Book

REVIEW: When No One is Watching by Joseph Hayes

Tara

When No One is Watching
by Joseph Hayes

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 313
Rang: 4/5
Read: Dec. 1-4, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 62
Format: Print

First Line: “I love this ride, Dano!” Blair Van Howe yelled exuberantly to his partner, who was passed out cold in the passenger seat.

On the eve of announcing his run for Congress, a charismatic Chicago politician causes a deadly accident. Panicked, he frames his best friend, a good-hearted alcoholic, and flees the scene. As one man tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, the other embarks on a meteoric rise to political stardom. But when a dogged detective digs deeper into the case, the political superstar must decide just how far he is willing to go to keep his dark secret.

I received this book for review courtesy of Megan at Phenix & Phenix Publicists. Overall, I enjoyed this story. There was actually two storylines throughout the book – one followed the path of Danny, the “driver” of the deadly car crash and the other followed Blair, the rising political superstar. The book itself moves at a very rapid pace, it spans 10 years in a short 313 pages. And what seems so strange when reading it is the fact that it feels as if Blair’s story is moving so much more rapidly than Danny’s story is, but I assume that it’s supposed to feel that way based on the two different storylines and the choices that the individual characters make. As the reader, we get to see Danny bring himself up from rock bottom – he goes to prison, he settles with the grieving wife, he cleans himself up and gets involved in AA, and then in the end nothing can save him. In alternating chapter, we also get to witness Blair’s rise to political stardom, from Congressman to Presidential candidate. And along the way, we see him falter and eventually crash and burn himself. Chapter 35 was especially poignant to me because Danny actually runs into the son of the man that was killed in the car crash – through AA. And from there we get to see what happened to the family that was torn apart because of the accident. This entire book is a really good testament to what can happen based on the choices that we make every day of our lives. Some people choose to take the high path, while others end up going in an entirely different direction. This book really illustrates what those choices could mean for you in the long run. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it’s a really good read.

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, E-Book, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

MINI REVIEW: Damaged by Pamela Callow

Tara

Damaged by Pamela Callow

Haunted by the death of her sister and wounded by her ex-fiancé’s accusations, Kate Lange throws herself into her new career at a high-powered law firm. When the grandmother of a lonely private school student seeks her counsel, Kate thinks it’s just another custody case. But then the teen is brutally murdered. And it isn’t only Kate who wonders if her legal advice led to the girl’s death. Put on notice by Randall Barrett, the firm’s charismatic managing partner, Kate must fight for her career, for her reputation—and for redemption. Unwilling to live with the damage she may have caused, Kate pursues the case on her own and unearths some chilling facts. Facts that lead straight to the heart of a legal conspiracy. Facts that lead Kate directly into the surgically skilled hands of the Body Butcher.

I read this book as an e-book and unfortunately I’m behind on my reviews, so this is only getting a mini-review. I enjoyed this book, it was a fast-paced and overall good read. But I had my issues with the main character, Kate. How stupid can one woman be? Seriously? First she gives practically a stranger the key to her house so that her dog can get walked while she is at work. Then she actually breaks into a funeral home in order to find evidence to support her theory. Really? Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did, I just had some issues with Kate as a character. I already have the second Kate Lange book loaded onto my Nook ready to read. I’m interested to see where she goes from here.

Rating: 4/5

READING CHALLENGES 2011

2011 Challenge: The TBR Dare

Tara

*Clicking on the link will take you to the challenge sign-up page.

Runs: January 1 – April 1, 2011

I don’t intend to sign up for a lot of challenges in 2011, but this one immediately caught my eye. I have a unbelievably large TBR pile. It’s embarrassing, actually. So this is absolutely perfect for me. I am going to do my best to make it to the end of the dare – April 1st. I plan on making a list (I love lists, hehe!) of books that I would really like to read in 2011 and I’m going to do my best to work from that list (although it’s only a rough guideline).

  1. Double Cross by James Patterson
  2. Judas Kiss by J.T. Ellison
  3. Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark
  4. Cross Country by James Patterson
  5. Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson
  6. Divine Justice by David Baldacci
  7. Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson
  8. Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson
  9. The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson
  10. The Tenth Justice by Brad Meltzer
  11. The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
  12. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
  13. Supreme Justice by Phillip Margolin
  14. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
  15. The Vig by John Lescroart
  16. The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry
  17. Killing Her Softly by Beverly Barton
SERIES

Status on Series Reading, Dec. 2010

Tara

Well, anyone who follows my blog probably knows that I am a huge fan of reading books that are part of a series. I love getting to know the characters. Sometimes it feels as if I’m with friends when I pick up a good series. Anyways, I wanted to sit down and evaluate where I am in regards to my series reading before the end of the year. I had said in late 2009 that 2010 would be the year that I would really focus on getting caught up with some of the series that I had started. I am pleased as to the progress that I have made this year. I really stepped back from challenges and focused on reading the books that I wanted to read. I didn’t accept as many review books as was pitched to me because I wanted to only read what appealed to me the most. I might not have read as many books as I would have liked this year, but I am very happy with what I have read. Anyways, back to book series:

Series that I started this year:

  • Body Farm by Jefferson Bass
    • Carved in Bone
  • Camel Club by David Baldacci
    • The Camel Club
    • The Collectors
  • Thomas Pitt by Anne Perry
    • The Cater Street Hangman
  • Dirk Pitt by Clive Cussler
    • Pacific Vortex!

Series that I caught up with this year:

  • Maggie O’Dell by Alex Kava
    • Exposed
    • Black Friday
    • Damaged
  • Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles by Tess Gerritsen
    • The Apprentice
    • The Sinner
    • Body Double
    • The Mephisto Club
    • The Keepsake
    • Ice Cold
  • Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson
    • The 9th Judgment
  • Hailey Dean by Nancy Grace
    • Death on the D-List

Series that I worked on this year:

  • Alex Cross by James Patterson
    • Four Blind Mice
    • The Big Bad Wolf
    • London Bridges
    • Cross
  • Kay Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell
    • Body of Evidence
    • All That Remains
    • Cruel and Unusual
    • The Body Farm
    • From Potter’s Field
    • Cause of Death
    • Unnatural Exposure
    • Point of Origin
    • Black Notice
    • The Last Precinct
    • Blow Fly
    • Predator
  • Alex Delaware by Jonathan Kellerman
    • Blood Test
  • Lincoln Rhyme by Jeffery Deaver
    • The Coffin Dancer
  • Michael Bennett by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
    • Step on a Crack
    • Run For Your Life
  • Tom Kirk by James Twining
    • The Black Sun
  • Taylor Jackson by J.T. Ellison
    • 14

Books that I read that are part of a series, but picked up in the middle of the series:

  • The President’s Assassin by Brian Haig (Sean Drummond) 
  • City in Shadow by Evan Marshall (Anna Winthrop) 

So the first thing that catches my eye about the list is the fact that I was able to catch up on as many series that I started, that’s a great thing in my opinion. I also am happy with where I am on the Kay Scarpetta series – although it has definitely gone downhill as it progressed, I’m still interested in it (although I have trouble understanding how Kay can seemingly have a new job in a new city in practically every book…). I’m a little disappointed that I have only read one Kellerman book and one Deaver book, I had wanted to get a little bit farther on those two series than I did this year, but overall I’m very pleased as to where I stand in regards to my series reading.