Category: AUTHOR

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Charlie Parker, Fiction, Read in 2008, SERIES

Dark Hollow by John Connolly

Tara
Dark Hollow
by John Connolly
Copyright: 2000
Pages: 504
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 18-22, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: I dream dark dreams.
Charlie Parker returns to the house his grandfather raised him in. But he cannot escape the feeling that something is not quite right when a good friend of his and her baby are brutally murdered. He sets out to find out who was behind the murder. But he’s still reeling from the murder of his own wife and daughter the year before. His emotions will undoubtedly get the better of him from time to time in the chase for the madman.
I’m going to be honest. I was not really impressed by this book. Maybe it was because I was trying to read it when I was trying to get everything situated for our big move to Kentucky. Whatever the reasoning, I just didn’t care for it. I had trouble concentrating and it took me way too long to finish it. I had read The Killing Kind last year and loved it, but this one was definitely a disappointment for me.
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, R, Read in 2008

A Rose for Her Grave by Ann Rule

Tara
A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases: Ann Rule’s Crime Files: Vol. 1
Ann Rule
Copyright: 1993
Pages: 513
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 13-17, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime category; What’s in a Name – Plant category

First Line: Janis Miranda was a little bit of a thing.

Ann Rule’s Crime Files opens up with the story of Randy Roth. Roth was a man who courted, married, killed, and collected insurance on the women he victimized. The way that he appealed to women was amazing! And the way that he demeaned strong, independent women was even more shocking. But that story only takes up the first two-thirds of the book. The rest of the book is spent focusing in on four other true crime cases that Rule covered in the Pacific Northwest. Although Rule is my absolute favorite true crime author, I was disappointed by this one. I think that she does a much better job when she is focused on just one case. The four mini-cases really weren’t long enough for her to do them justice. This book was just okay for me. [With this book, I also finish the What’s in a Name Challenge. I will be posting a challenge wrap-up shortly.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

4th of July by James Patterson

Tara
4th of July
by James Patterson
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 416
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 7-9, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: It was just before 4:00am on a weekday.

Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer finds herself in the defendant’s seat after a short car chase which ends fatally. She retreats to her sister’s house for privacy before the trial is set to begin. There she is faced with a small town who is in the grips of a string of unsolved, grisly murders. Being the cop, she can’t leave things alone and gets involved. Not only is she facing financial ruin in San Francisco, but she is also facing a cold-blooded murderer who will stop at nothing to keep Lindsay from discovering the truth behind the murders.
Another good book in the Women’s Murder Club!! This one was not as good as the 3rd Degree, which is the best in the series so far. The middle of this book was a little slow, but the ending … Oh My Goodness! It was a total shocker! I couldn’t believe it, I had no idea who the killer actually was!! I highly recommend this series!!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

3rd Degree by James Patterson

Tara
3rd Degree
by James Patterson
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 339
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 6-7, 2008
Challenge: Suspense & Thriller Challenge – Terrorist thriller

First Line: It was a clear, calm, lazy April morning, the day the worst week of my life began.

In this third installment of the Women’s Murder Club, terrorists are at work on Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer’s streets. After more and more people are murdered for the “cause,” Lindsay calls a meeting with the girls. But the investigation will put one of the Women’s Club members in grave danger.
This book was amazing!! I really, really enjoyed it!! It’s almost heartbreaking in places. And the ending is truly shocking. I highly recommend this book. This series is great!! This book is definitely the best one in the series so far!!
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, Kinsey Millhone, Read in 2008, SERIES

‘A’ is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

Tara
‘A’ is for Alibi
by Sue Grafton
Copyright: 1982
Pages: 215
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 1-3, 2008
Challenge: Celebrate the Author Challenge; Triple Eight – First in a Series Category

First Line: My name is Kinsey Millhone

Private investigator, Kinsey Millhone vaguely remembers the case of the murder of slick divorce attorney Laurence Fife, some 8 or 9 years previously. Fife’s wife, Nikki, was tried and convicted of the murder and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Now Nikki is out on parole and comes to Kinsey to prove that she did not kill Laurence. Kinsey is reluctant to take the case, eight years cold and seemingly solved. But she takes it thinking there is no way Nikki would bring this up again if she was indeed guilty. But what Kinsey does not expect to find along the way is a second eight-year-old murder and a brand new murder.
I had read part of this book a few years ago and decided to pick it up again since I now own most of the series (I think I’m missing K, O and T). Overall, I was a little disappointed in this. I felt that the writing was a little lacking. Of course, it’s hard to write a novel in 200 short pages. However, I am indeed going to continue this series and can’t wait to get to ‘B’.

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

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

Tara
The Virgin of Small Plains
by Nancy Pickard
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 336
Rating: 5/5
Read: March 29-31, 2008
Challenge: Eponymous Challenge

First Line: Abby Reynolds braked her truck on the icy highway, startled by what she imagined she saw off to the side of the road.

For nearly twenty years, a rural Kansas town has tended to the grave of an unknown teenage girl who has become known as “The Virgin.” The discovery of her body changed the lives of teens Mitch Newquist, Abby Reynolds, and Rex Shellenberger. For Mitch, he inexplicably left town the day after she was found, leaving his girlfriend, Abby and best friend, Rex, behind without a reason. But nearly twenty years later, Mitch will return to the small town of Small Plains in order to finally put a name on the Virgin’s grave and in the process will change the entire town forever.
This book was awesome! There were so many twists and turns. And the ending was a complete shocker to me! I loved it!! Highly recommended!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Eve Dallas, R, Read in 2008, SERIES

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

Tara
Naked in Death
J.D. Robb
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 306
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 23-27, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – 1st in a Series; Suspense & Thriller Challenge – romance thriller

First Line: She woke in the dark.

New York City police Lieutenant Eve Dallas thinks she’s seen it all in her 10 years on the force. But when the case of a murder of a Senator’s granddaughter comes across her desk, she experiences something she’s never thought about – being seduced by a possible suspect in the murder case. Even though every ounce in her body tells her to ignore the millionaire Roarke’s advances, she finds herself falling more and more. And before long, she realizes that she will need his help and resources in order to solve this murder.
Overall, I really liked this book. However, I felt a slight disappointment with it. I guess I had myself pumped up for a little more solidness to it. This book is set in the future, like the 2050s, but there was no real explanation for any of the technological advances when I felt like they were a little necessary. I’m sure I’m going to continue with this series, but I felt that this book could have been more solid.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

2nd Chance by James Patterson

Tara
2nd Chance
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2002
Pages: 400
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 21-22, 2008
Challenge: Numbers Challenge

First Line: Aaron Winslow would never forget the next few minutes.

The Women’s Murder Club returns in this second installment of the series! This time, they are up against a brilliant murderer who is seemingly killing people at random. But Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer is under the impression that the killings are somehow related and that there is a serial killer on the loose. But in order to convince her boss and co-workers, she has to enlist the help of her girls in the Club. And what they find out will rock the city to it’s core.

This was another great one from James Patterson! This one read so incredibly fast and was a great read!! I still do not know why I waited so long to start this series, but am definitely glad that I’m reading them now!!

Finishing this book also completes the Numbers Challenge. (My first finished challenge! Yay! – I’ll post a end-of-challenge round-up post shortly).

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, Read in 2008

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Tara
Odd Thomas
by Dean Koontz
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 446
Rating: 3/5
Read: March 18-21, 2008
Challenge: Eponymous Challenge

First Line: My name is Odd Thomas, though in this age when fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist.

Odd Thomas is a young man with a gift. He uses this gift in order to get justice for those who cannot help themselves. But when a strange man comes into the diner where Odd works as a short order cook, he’s never encountered anyone as evil before. With the help of his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, they must stop this strange man before he can wreak havoc on their little community.
I’m going to be honest … this book was weird. And usually I like weird books, but this one was not really wonderful. It definitely had it’s great parts, but overall I was a little bored throughout the book. I found myself struggling to pay attention to it. I am not sure I will continue this series, although I have the next one. It will be a while before I will want to pick up the second one.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve

Tara
The Pilot’s Wife
by Anita Shreve
Copyright: 1998
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 16-17, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: She heard a knocking, and then a dog barking.

For a pilot’s wife, that middle of the night knock at the door is part of life. But when that knock comes on Kathryn Lyon’s door, she is not only unprepared to hear of her husband’s death, but also of the damning circumstances surrounding the explosion that took out his plane and 103 other people on board. But she can’t really give up – she realizes that she must find out who her husband really was, regardless of what the results will do to her heart.
This was a really good book. It read extremely quickly for me. I had trouble putting it down. I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t believe the twists and turns that occurred throughout the book. The ending is not at all what I expected, and I really enjoyed this book!