Category: Read in 2008

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, N, Read in 2008

The Widow by Carla Neggers

Tara
The Widow
by Carla Neggers
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 332
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 19-24, 2008
Challenge: Eponymous Challenge

First Line: Abigail Browning squirted charcoal lighter fluid on the mound of papers she’d torn up and piled into her backyard grill.

Abigail Browning experienced things on her honeymoon that no women should ever have to go through – her 4 day old marriage ended tragically when her husband, Chris, was shot and killed while on their honeymoon! Seven years later, now a homicide detective, she simply cannot get over the senseless murder of her husband. She can’t let it go. On the seventh anniversary of her marriage, she receives an anonymous call that sends her back to the scene of the murder. But her presence back on Mount Desert Island will cause things to spin out of control. As she pairs up with Owen Garrison, the search-and-rescue man who was too late to save him, they will have to push their feelings aside in order to stop a killer.
This book was really good! There was a little bit of romance, but it wasn’t overpowering, which is how I like my books to be for the most part. The killer was a complete shock for me! It kept me guessing up to the very end. New author for me, and I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended!!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2008, SERIES

Marker by Robin Cook

Tara
Marker
by Robin Cook
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 658
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 7-19, 2008
Challenge: Suspense & Thriller Challenge – Medical thriller; Celebrate the Author Challenge; Triple Eight – 500+ Pages category

First Line: In the wee hours of February 2, a cold, steady drizzle drenched the concrete spires of New York City, shrouding them in a dense swirl of purplish-pink fog.

Medical Examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery’s relationship with fellow colleague Dr. Jack Stapleton begins to crumble when she wakes up and realizes that Jack simply cannot make a commitment to her and that her proverbial clock is ticking if she wants to have a family. So in order to distract herself during this turbulent time she dives into her work. But she soon realizes that there might be a serial killer over at Manhattan General Hospital preying on young, seemingly healthy, patients who are in the post-operative stage after elective surgeries. However, convincing her fellow medical examiner colleagues that there is a series going on is going to be harder than it sounds. Although she slowly begins to unravel the mystery, it won’t be until Laurie herself has to have emergency surgery at Manhattan General that the mystery will finally be solved.
I’m going to be honest, medical thrillers are not really my cup of tea, but I’m starting to get used to them. I enjoyed this one even though it took me forever to finish! I recommend this one. I find Robin Cook to be rather readable and enjoyable, I will probably be looking for more of his in the future.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Nonfiction, Read in 2008, U-V-W

Mistaken Identity by the Van Ryn & Cerak Families

Tara
Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
by Don & Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen & Whitney Cerak

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 261
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 11-14, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – Bio/Autobio Category

First Line: Colleen Cerak woke up with a start to the sound of the phone ringing.

April 26, 2006. A date that the community of Taylor University will never forget. Returning from a banquet, a university bus carrying students and staff were hit by a truck. The accident scene was terribly violent and chaotic. Five people died. One survived. Laura Van Ryn’s family couldn’t believe that their little girl survived the terrible accident. Whitney Cerak’s family struggled to cope with the loss of their loved one. As Laura began the grueling healing process, her family was there to witness every moment. For five weeks after the accident she was showing amazing progress and the Van Ryn family thought that they were well on their way to returning to normalcy. Then it happened.
“Okay, Laura, I would like for you to write your name for me, the occupational therapist said. … W-H-I-T-N-E-Y…” (pg. 165-167)
The Van Ryn’s simply could not believe it. Had they been caring for Whitney Cerak for the past five weeks under the impression that it was their precious Laura?! Had the Cerak family actually buried their baby girl thinking it was Whitney?! Slowly, they began to remember strange things that “Laura” had recently been saying. Getting names wrong, not recognizing people. Just little things here and there. But it all made sense: “Laura” was actually Whitney!
Once the dental records did indeed confirm the fact that the girl who survived the horrific accident was actually Whitney Cerak, the Cerak family was contacted with amazing news.

“We have reason to believe that the girl identified as Laura Van Ryn is, in fact, your daughter Whitney Cerak.” (pg. 3)

Colleen Cerak could not believe her ears. Could they really have buried a girl other than Whitney? Could they have buried Laura instead?! No one in the family had the strength to view the body before burial … then Colleen began to think, five weeks!?!? How had five weeks gone by without the truth being obvious?! When the Cerak’s were reunited with their daughter, Whitney, everything was perfect.
But then, the Cerak’s wondered, how are the Van Ryn family coping?! They were the ones who, five weeks ago, felt amazingly blessed that their daughter survived a horrific accident in which she should have died. Now they were feeling the despair and heartbreak that the Cerak family had been experiencing for the past five weeks. And to make it worse, the Van Ryn’s were caring for a girl that they believed to be their daughter when in fact it was a stranger to them. How is something like that even possible?!
This book tells their story. It is heartbreaking. It is uplifting. It is amazing. I enjoyed it. Although I am not particularly religious, I understood that their story had to be told from that aspect since both of the families faith is a huge part of their life as well as this story. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It’s a must read.
4.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Inferno Collection by Jacqueline Seewald

Tara
The Inferno Collection
by Jacqueline Seewald
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 255
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: May 10, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: “May I help you?” Kim Reynolds said the words automatically to the next person who approached the information services desk as she replaced the World Almanac under the ready reference counter.

University reference librarian Kim Reynolds is intrigued when her good friend Lorette Campbell approaches her asking if she’s ever heard of the university having an “Inferno Collection.” But before Kim can figure out the answer to her question, Lorette turns up dead. With the police assuming suicide, Kim sets out to prove them wrong by retracing Lorette’s steps before her death, only to find herself in harm’s way.
Oh my goodness! This book was amazing. I picked it up on a whim at the library today and started it at 2 and didn’t put it down until 6 when I finished it! It was wonderful!! I was practically hooked from the first page. It’s a really great book that I highly recommend. Loved it!!
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008

The Midnight Club by James Patterson

Tara
The Midnight Club
by James Patterson
Copyright: 198
Pages: 349
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 28-May 4, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: The night that John Stefanovitch was shot couldn’t have been colder, or the stars more dazzling in high winter skies.

When NYPD Detective John Stefanovitch is shot and paralyzed one cold night, he thinks his life couldn’t get worse. But it can. That same night, his wife is shot and killed in their apartment. Who is behind this?! A man known as The Grave Dancer, The Midnight Club and what they call “street law.” And Stefanovitch will stop at nothing to catch this crazed psychopath.
I’m going to be honest here …. this has to be the most disappointing James Patterson book that I have read to date. I was completely uninterested in it. I usually read his books in 2 days tops, but this one just kept dragging on. I didn’t like it much at all. I felt it hard to follow and am still unsure as to what really was supposed to be going on in the book. I just wasn’t impressed by this book whatsoever. I wouldn’t recommend this one at all.
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’.