Category: M

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2009

REVIEW: Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin

Tara

Executive Privilege
by Phillip Margolin

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 443
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug. 15-19, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 42

First Line: Brad Miller woke up at 6 a.m. even though his meeting with Roy Kineer, the retired Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was scheduled for nine.

When private detective Dana Cutler is hired to follow college student Charlotte Walsh, never in her wildest dreams did she consider that the trail would lead her to the White House. But that is exactly what happens when Walsh turns up dead after a clandestine meeting with the President of the United States, Christopher Farrington. Her murder is blamed on the serial killer, the “D.C. Ripper.” Brad Miller, a junior associate in an Oregon law firm, still quite fresh out of law school, is given the case of the appeal of serial killer Clarence Little. Miller is stunned by Little’s insistence that he killed everyone that he was blamed for except for one: the death of the babysitter of then-governor, now-President Farrington. So a green lawyer and a small-time private eye have to come up with the hard evidence to prove that someone at the very highest level of the United States government is a brutal murderer and that it might very well be the President himself.

I LOVED this book!! It was fast paced and had twists and turns that kept me going all the way until the very end. Phillip Margolin is one of those authors that I have enjoyed every book that I have read of his and this one was definitely no exception. I really enjoyed the two story lines. Sometimes having two story lines is confusing to me, but Margolin definitely weaved his stories together beautifully. The characters were so well developed. I loved Brad and Ginny together! And Dana, well Dana was a firecracker!! The plot was really good too. I really recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller!!!

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2009

All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Tara

All We Know of Heaven
by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 310
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: Jan. 28-30, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 7

First Line: Once she understood that she was dead, her first thought was that heaven was overrated.

Bridget Flannery and Maureen O’Malley have been best friends forever. But one terrible car accident will take everything away from them. One girl will die, the other will survive, barely, with a very long road of recovery ahead of her. As time goes by and progress is made in the healing process, once again the two families lives are turned upside down. The doctors made a horrible mistake that fateful December night and misidentified the girls.

Based on what I am assuming is the case of the Taylor University students that were misidentified after a bad accident a couple of years ago, this story is really something to read. Mitchard really portrays the feelings of all of the characters in a way that is something else! I was unsure about giving Mitchard a second chance after not really being all that impressed by The Midnight Twins, but this book was really good! I would have rated this book a 5/5 had it not been for my growing dislike of Maureen. She got on my nerves after a while. Other than that, though, the book was a really great read.

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2009, READING CHALLENGES 2008

The Midnight Twins by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Tara

The Midnight Twins
by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 235
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 13-15, 2009
Challenge: What’s in a Name 2 – Time of Day in title category; Countdown Challenge; 2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 3

First Line: Meredith and Mallory Brynn looked exactly the same.

The Brynn twins are quickly becoming famous in their little hometown. On their thirteenth birthday they narrowly escape a deliberately set house fire, saving their younger brother and cousins from the flames. As they begin to heal, strange things begin happening to them. Being twins, they always had a sort of telepathy between the two of them. But since the fire occurred, they have been having strange dreams. As they begin to sort through these dreams, they realize that Meredith can see the past and Mallory can see the future. And what they see scares both of them. But they know that they are the only two in their town that can stop the danger that a boy that they have known since they were born is causing and will stop at nothing to keep the twins from stopping him.

Okay, seriously. I wanted so much to love this book. I am fascinated by twins and the telepathy that some of them experience. So when I saw this book reviewed on another blog, I ran to the library to pick it up. It sounded great! I’m starting to kind of get into young adult reads (they give me a sort of “break” from my reading occasionally). And I read a lot of this book in one day. But I just did not like it. I found myself struggling to keep the twins straight, there were a lot of occasions where Mitchard would start a sentence without indicating which twin was talking. I found myself waiting for the climax to happen – and when it did I was like, that’s it?! When I read in the author’s acknowledgements that she had never tackled a mystery before all I could think of was, this was a mystery? I just wasn’t impressed. I hastily put myself on the wait list for another one of Mitchard’s books at the library, but I’m not sure that I really want to read it now. This book was just okay for me.

AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2009

The Chemist by Janson Mancheski

Tara

The Chemist
by Dr. Janson Mancheski

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 449
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 2-7, 2009
Challenge: What’s in a Name 2 – Profession in Title category; Countdown Challenge; 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; 2009 1st in a Series Challenge
Yearly Count: 1

First Line: Jagged clouds scudded across the starless June night sky.

Last spring three young women went missing. Three months – three missing girls. There was no evidence that the cases were linked. There wasn’t even any evidence to suggest foul play. Then one of the women’s bodies was discovered in Lake Michigan, headless and full of date rape drugs. Detective Cale Van Waring has no proof, but he knows that these cases are indeed related and that these women are being abducted and possibly murdered. But eventually these cases end up in the cold case pile. After a long winter, spring has once again arrived. And with spring’s arrival, another young woman goes missing. But this time, Detective Van Waring finds a very loose trail. But with his boss watching his every move and his personal life starting to crumble, Van Waring struggles to solve this case before more young women goes missing or ends up dead.

This book was sent to me to spotlight on my blog. After a somewhat slow beginning, I was quickly hooked on this book!! It took me a while to read it simply because my life has been hectic. This should be a quick and easy read for people. I really enjoyed Detective Van Waring’s quick wit. And the interaction between him and his two colleagues on the police force, “Slink” Dooley and Anton Staszak was great in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel by Dr. Mancheski and I am looking forward to the future Van Waring books!

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2008

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Tara
New Moon
by Stephanie Meyer

Copyright: 2006
Pages: 563
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: Sept. 1-7, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – 500+ pages category

First Line: I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.

Bella Swan’s live is turned upside down when her one true love, Edward Cullen, and the rest of his family abruptly leaves town after a little incident at Bella’s birthday party. Edward feels horribly guilty and feels like it would be best if his family was not around Bella anymore and would no longer be a danger to her. But his absence absolutely breaks Bella. She mopes around the house, barely eating, barely talking, ignoring her friends, studying her schoolwork to the point of exhaustion. Her father, Charlie, simply doesn’t know what to do for her. But when Bella realizes that he wants to send her to live with her mother in Florida, she appears to break out of her trance. She begins to start interacting more with her school friends. And she becomes incredibly close with Jacob Black. But Jacob is falling in love with Bella. And Bella loves Jacob to a point – she needs him to be able to function, but she is still obsessed with Edward, she’s just learning how to hide it better. But Jacob has his own secrets to keep. Who would have thought that Bella, girlfriend of a vampire, would become best friend to a werewolf?! But in the end, it will be Edward that needs Bella to save him and it will take her all the way to Italy to do so.

Okay, the first part of this book almost made me sick. It was disgusting how whiny and obsessed Bella was with Edward’s leaving. Hey, I was a teenage girl and I had my heart broken once, but I didn’t stop functioning completely like Bella did. It really got on my nerves. So much so that I almost gave up reading. But I stuck with it and I was glad that I did. The ending was great, and I’m looking forward to the third in this series, I’ve already put my name in line at the library for it!!

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, M, Read in 2008

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Tara
Twilight
by Stephanie Meyer

Copyright: 2005
Pages: 498
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug. 18-24, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: I’d never given much thought to how I would die – thought I’d had reason enough in the last few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

Isabella (Bella) Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father. She meets Edward Cullen, and is instantly mesmerized by his perfection. Until Bella moves into town, the Cullen family is able to keep their distance from the rest of the students. But Edward and Bella are drawn to each other for some reason. And Bella will not rest until she knows Edward’s secret. But Bella doesn’t immediately realize that there is a reason why the Cullen’s keep to themselves and that by wanting to get to know Edward she is putting herself and her loved ones at risk.

Okay, I’m going to be honest here, this is not my usual type of book. I have *NEVER* read a vampire book simply because I never thought I would enjoy one. And really other than the Harry Potter books (of which I’ve only read 1,4, & 5) I’ve never read very much young adult. But I have to say it, I absolutely LOVED this book! I was hooked on it and enjoyed it soooo much! I’ve already put myself on the waiting list for the second in the series at the library and can’t wait until I get to read it!!! I highly recommend this book!