AUTHOR – Page 57 – Tales of a Book Addict

AUTHOR, Book Review, Eve Duncan, Fiction, J, Read in 2008, SERIES

Quicksand by Iris Johansen

November 28, 2008August 27, 2009 Tara

Quicksand
by Iris Johansen

First Line: Someone was watching him.

Eve Duncan is still searching for Bonnie, her little girl. Her search takes her to a man named Kistle. Kistle will lure Eve into a swamp with Joe. But in the end, it will be just another sick play that Kistle will make.

I’m getting kind of sick of the Eve Duncan series. I’m sorry, but how long is she going to drag on the search for Bonnie? I understand that the series is selling and that once she finds Bonnie the series will more than likely end, but come on, it’s the same stuff every time it seems like.

AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, R, Read in 2008

Dead by Sunset by Ann Rule

November 23, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

Dead by Sunset
by Ann Rule

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 528
Rating: 2/5
Read: Nov. 20-23, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime Category; Celebrate the Author

First Line: September 21, 1986, was a warm and beautiful Sunday in Portland – in the whole state of Oregon, for that matter.

Attorney Cheryl Keeton’s body was found in her van on an Oregon freeway. Her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the prime suspect. Unfortunately, there was no evidence linking him. He married again, to Sara, a physician. She adopted his three sons and they settled to have a fairytale life together. Unfortunately, things start to go wrong and everything becomes a nightmare…

I was not really impressed by this book. I usually like Ann Rule’s books, but this one seemed to drag a little bit. Maybe it was because I didn’t know anything about this case before picking the book up. I’m not sure, this one just didn’t appeal to me very much.

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

Trust Me by Brenda Novak

November 20, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

Trust Me
by Brenda Novak

First Line: You already heard, right?

Four years ago Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She saved her own life by fighting back with a knife. Her attacker, Dr. Oliver Burke, would be caught and sent to prison, but her life was already changed. But when she learns that he is being released from prison, she doesn’t know what to do. The detective that was on Skye’s case has to do everything he can in order to keep Burke behind bars. Unfortunately, Burke gets out … and he is determined to finish what he started…..

I enjoyed this book quite a bit! It took me forever to read though, and it should have been a quick and easy read, but life kind of got in the way 🙂 Anyways, I really liked this book, and I’m definitely looking forward to finding the next book in this series, Stop Me, and finding out more about Skye and her two friends.

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

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

November 14, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

Mystic River
by Dennis Lehane

Copyright: 2001
Pages: 448
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Nov. 10-14, 2008
Challenge: Books Awards II, Book to Movie, Triple Eight – From my TBR Shelf

First Line: When Sean Devine and Jimmy Marcus were kids, their fathers worked together at the Coleman Candy plant and carried the stench of warm choclate back home with them.

When Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus and Dave Boyle were children, something happened that would forever change their lives. A car pulled up to them while they were out playing, one boy got into the car and the other two didn’t. That would end up changing their friendship and themselves forever. Years later, their lives would be tied together again by murder.

I wasn’t really impressed by this book like I thought I would be. I enjoyed it, but just not as much as I thought I would. I also never saw this movie, I don’t know why I missed it, but I hope to see it in the near future.

AUTHOR, Author Debut, Book Review, F, Fiction, Read in 2008

In the Woods by Tana French

November 9, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

In the Woods
by Tana French

First Line: Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950s.

When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl who is an up-and-coming dancer, is found murdered at a local archaeological dig, Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox get the case. But what they find is harrowing at best. There are strange similarities between this case and a 20 year old case involving the disappearance of two young children from the same neighborhood. But what really makes this case difficult, is that for Ryan, those two kids from the previous case, were his best friends. It will take a lot out of these two Detectives to piece this case together and find the killer, and it will fracture their friendship and working relationship before Rob is technically forced off the case because of his connection. But when they finally figure the case out, it will be a shocker.

I wanted SO MUCH to love this book. But in the end, I just didn’t. I was disappointed. I tend to not like a lot of fluffy and pretty words, and I felt like this book had a lot of them. Just give me the story – I don’t want any long flowing descriptions that are pointless in the end. And I felt like this book had that problem. And the ending, oh my goodness … it was such a disappointment, it really and truly was! Maybe that’s because there really was no ending. I just wasn’t impressed by this book.

Alex Delaware, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, Read in 2008, SERIES

Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman

October 22, 2008August 27, 2009 Tara

Compulsion
by Jonathan Kellerman

First Line: Kat loved breaking the rules.

A tipsy young woman disappears from the side of the highway. A retired schoolteacher is stabbed to death in broad daylight. Two women are killed after closing time in a small-town beauty parlor. All these cases seem to have no connections – but they do. They are linked by the killer’s use of luxury vehicles. This killer will baffle Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware. But they will chase this killer until they come face to face with the madman once and for all.

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest here. This book was somewhat of a disappointment to me. I’ve read a small amount of Alex Delaware novels, but I’ve never been so disappointed in one of them before. I was really bored out of my mind, if you want the truth. This book just wasn’t up to par in my opinion.

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

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

October 20, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

The Sleeping Doll
by Jeffery Deaver

First Line: The interrogation began like any other.

CBI Agent Kathryn Dance is interrogating a modern day Manson killer, Daniel Pell. He escapes and Dance is put on the case to track him down. But Pell is always one step ahead of Dance, it seems. So Dance has to review the case that put him in jail – the murders of William Croyton, Croyton’s wife and two of their three children. The child that survived, Theresa, who was dubbed the Sleeping Doll, is who Dance wants to see in order to figure out what Pell might be up to. But with a psychopath like Pell on the loose, time is of the essence.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a little slow in the beginning, but once it picked up – boy did it pick up! And there were surprises left and right. I couldn’t possibly say enough good things about this book.

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

Last Known Victim by Erica Spindler

October 17, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

Last Known Victim
by Erica Spindler

First Line: The gods were watching over New Orleans.

August 2005. Katrina has hit. In the wake of the storm, a gruesome discovery is made – in one of the refrigerator “graveyards” one tossed out fridge contains 6 female right hands. The perpetrator is dubbed “The Handyman.” But with all the problems that Katrina created on the evidence, the case is put on the back burner. But two years later, Captain Patti O’Shay is still grieving for her husband, fellow cop, who was killed in the line of duty. When another “Handyman” victim’s hand is found, she fears that there may be some connection to her husband’s death. And she will go all out in order to find the person that took him away from her – even if it has her going against everything she’s ever learned in her line of duty, and at the risk of her job.

I really loved this book!! It was a quick, easy read. I really do enjoy Erica Spindler’s books!! I highly recommend this great book!

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

White Hot by Sandra Brown

October 16, 2008July 21, 2009 Tara

White Hot
by Sandra Brown

First Line: Some said that if he was going to kill himself, he couldn’t have picked a better day for it.

When Sayre Lynch’s little brother, Danny, commits suicide, Sayre breaks her vow that she would never return to her hometown. She comes back for the funeral. But what she finds when she gets back is that nothing has really changed. Her father is still a tyrant who owns the iron foundry, her other brother is still running the place, but they have hired a lawyer by the name of Beck Merchant. It is Beck that sort of reaches out to Sayre when she first gets there – but is he doing that because her father ordered him to or is it for other reasons…. either way, what she will find in her little hometown will end up surprising her.

I really enjoyed this book. I read a lot of it on a plane ride, and it was perfect for that! The pages just fly by once you get into it. And the ending is really great, I highly recommend this book!!

Archie and Gretchen, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2008, SERIES

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

October 3, 2008August 27, 2009 Tara

Heartsick
by Chelsea Cain

First Line: Archie doesn’t know for sure that it’s her until that moment.

Detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a brutal serial killer. But in the end, she caught him. And she tortured him and let him go. But why would she let Archie live?! That’s the question that has haunted Archie ever since. But when a new task force is formed because of a new killer on the loose, Archie is called back into duty to lead it. With the local news following this case 24/7 Archie can’t solve the case soon enough. But the question is, will he solve it in time to save himself?

Okay, in all honesty, I have heard a lot of good things from various people in regards to this book. So when it finally arrived in my mailbox via PBS, I was beyond ecstatic. But did it live up to my expectations?! Unfortunately, not really. However, in the end I ended up giving it a high rating because the ending was really a curve ball and was enjoyable. I just had a lot of issues with a few of the characters, mainly Susan and Gretchen. So I’m not sure if I will pick up the next Cain book, “Sweetheart” but I’m glad I read this one at the same time.

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this: