Category: Read in 2009

Alex Cooper, AUTHOR, Book Review, F, Fiction, Read in 2009, SERIES

Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein

Tara

Final Jeopardy
by Linda Fairstein

Copyright: 1996
Pages: 310
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 15-23, 2009
Challenge: 2009 RYOB Challenge; 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; 1st in a Series Challenge
Yearly Count: 4

First Line: I sat on my living room sofa at five o’clock in the morning with a copy of the mock-up of the front page of the day’s New York Post in my hand, looking at my own obituary.

When Alex Cooper wakes up one morning to find her obituary in the morning newspaper, she is stunned. But what really throws her for a loop is the fact that the body of a friend and Hollywood actress, Isabella Lascar, was misidentified as that of Alex’s and caused all this confusion in the first place. Isabella was shot while driving towards Alex’s vacation home. Was Isabella the target, or was it Alex? Alex knows that she has to get to the bottom of this and has a feeling that Isabella’s recent brush with a stalker is what is at the heart of this case, but her curiosity and innocence will land her squarely in the sights of a crazed killer.

I really don’t know what to think about this series. I have previously read Entombed which is about, I don’t know, the 6th or 7th in this series. But honestly, I’m not impressed nor unimpressed. I’m still undecided on what I really think about this series. This book was not as good as Entombed was. I’m sure I will continue reading this series, I’m just not in any real rush. I would recommend giving this series a try, but it’s not one that I would rave on and on about either.

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.

Archie and Gretchen, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2009, SERIES

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

Tara

Sweetheart
by Chelsea Cain

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 325
Rating: 5/5
Read: Jan. 11-13, 2009
Challenge: What’s in a Name 2 – Body Part in title category; Countdown Challenge; 2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 2

First Line: Forest Park was pretty in the summer.

Archie and Gretchen are back!! The police detective and serial killer’s lives once again intersect. This time Archie is investigating a body that was dumped in the same area as Gretchen’s first known kill. It brings back bitter memories for Archie. With the help of Susan Ward, Archie identifies the Jane Doe in the park and his case is only made even bigger by the identification. But everything has to be put on hold when the Beauty Killer case is blown wide open: Gretchen has escaped from prison! While everyone else is panicking, Archie is somehwat relieved. He knows that Gretchen is the person who has wrecked his life, and he also knows that he is the only one who can catch her. With that in mind, he formulates a plan that will help him get out from underneath the spell of Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer. Are you ready, Darling?

Okay, I’m going to be honest here. I wasn’t really very impressed by the first book by Chelsea Cain featuring these two characters, Heartsick. But this book – I absolutely loved!!!!! You have to read the first book to understand what is going on in the second, and this second book actually answers a lot of unanswered questions from the first book (which was one of the complaints that I had about the book). Either way, though, you HAVE to read this book!!! I absolutely adored it. I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series, because I’m dying to know what happens. Oh and by the way, when you read that the character of Gretchen Lowell has been compared to the greatest serial killer since Hannibal Lecter – believe it!!

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!