Category: Fiction

3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, Maggie O'Dell, Read in 2008, SERIES

The Soul Catcher by Alex Kava

Tara
The Soul Catcher
by Alex Kava
Copyright: 2002
Pages: 402
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 20-23, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – From my TBR Shelf Category; A Well-Rounded Challenge; Series
Challenge Season 2

First Line: Eric Pratt leaned his head against the cabin wall.

FBI Agent Maggie O’Dell thinks that there will be nothing more than routine when she begins to consult on two separate cases. But as she continues to work, she realizes that there might just be a connection between the two seemingly unrelated cases. And that connection is Reverend Joseph Everett, a charismatic leader of a religious sect. But Maggie is not at all prepared when she learns that her mother is part of Everett’s group. Unfortunately the only way that Maggie is going to be able to figure out what is going on with Everett is to use her mother as a pawn in a deadly trap.
I’m going to be honest here. There are currently 5 books in this series. Reading this third book in the series, brings me to a total of reading 4 of the 5. And although I read the first, second and fourth late last year, I vaguely remember them. And I hate to say it, this is the worst one I’ve read. I was just disappointed with this one. I was really flying through this one and enjoyed it right up until the end. The ending was just horrible! It sucked, to be honest. It was just a complete let down to end the book in such a fashion (a horribly unbelievable fashion). I have the fifth in the series on hold at the library and hope that it’s better.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Dismas Hardy, Fiction, L, Read in 2008, SERIES

Dead Irish by John Lescroart

Tara
Dead Irish
by John Lescroart
Copyright: 1989
Pages: 420
Rating: 4/5
Read: July 16-20, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – First in a Series Category

First Line: From his aisle seat, Dismas Hardy had a clear view of the stewardess as her feet lifted from the floor.

Dismas is a former husband, father, cop and attorney. Currently he’s living alone and tending the bar at the Little Shamrock. All he wants is some normalcy in his life. What he gets instead for his good friend and boss to ask him to look into the death of his brother-in-law, Eddie Cochran. The police think it’s a suicide, but his family thinks it’s a murder. As Dismas dives into this new task he doesn’t know how to explain it, but he feels that the family is right – Eddie was murdered. Now as his ex-wife reappears in his life, his friend at the police department, Abe Glitsky can’t seem to believe Hardy’s murder claims, he doesn’t know what else to do. But he knows that he wants to do right for his boss’s sister, Frannie, her unborn child, and Eddie’s family. But what he will find in the end will shock everyone.
This is the first in the Dismas Hardy series. I really, really, really enjoyed this one! The person who ends up being the murderer was completely surprising for me. I’m looking forward to exploring more of this series when I get the chance.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Harry Bosch, Read in 2008, SERIES

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

Tara
The Black Echo
by Michael Connelly
Copyright: 1992
Pages: 412
Rating: 4/5
Read: July 9-16, 2008
Challenge: Celebrate the Author Challenge; Triple 8 – First in a Series Category

First Line: The boy couldn’t see in the dark, but he didn’t need to.

LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch is surprised when he is able to identify the body in the drainpipe. It’s Billy Meadows, a fellow Vietnam “tunnel rat” who fought side by side with him. But Billy’s murder turns up evidence that there’s more than just murder to this story. Meadows’ death will take Bosch to clues of a bank heist that was never solved. It’s when working with a female FBI agent that Bosch will discover the true identity of the bank robber and murderer, and it’s a familiar and shocking face.
I enjoyed this book. I thought that it was a slow start, but the ending was REALLY good! Perhaps it was just because I’ve been swamped at work and haven’t had much spare time to read lately. Either way, I’m glad that I finally read this book. It is definitely an interesting read and one that should not be missed.
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, F, Fiction, Read in 2008

The Disappearance by J.F. Freedman

Tara
The Disappearance
by J.F. Freedman

Copyright: 1998
Pages: 486
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 1-8, 2008
Challenge: Initials Challenge

First Line: The weather had been raw and miserable virtually every day for two months; this was the worst winter in a couple of decades, way worse than those of ’95 or ’82, a continuous, relentless, El Nino-driven hard-falling rain from right after Christmas all through January and February, torrential sheets of cold piercing needles crashing down days at a time without cessation, soaking the ground past saturation, waterlogging everyone and everything.

When fourteen-year-old Emma Lancaster vanishes from her bedroom one night everyone panics. The daughter of a prominent media tycoon, something like this was not supposed to happen to their family. But when her body is found eight days later, all hell breaks loose. Although their are no immediate suspects, her death rips her family and friends apart. A year later when a close family friend is arrested after incriminating evidence is found in his car, it looks like an open-and-shut case. But it will end up being far from that. Defense attorney Luke Garrison has a funny feeling about this case and not even an assassins bullet will stop him from trying to discover the truth.

This book was okay for me. It was extremely slow in the beginning. But it picked up the pace. I found that about 200 pages into it was when it really picked up. The ending was twisted, I never would have guessed which way the author was going to go. I enjoyed the ending a lot. But like I said, it was just an average book.

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Lucas Davenport, Read in 2008, S, SERIES

Invisible Prey by John Sandford

Tara
Invisible Prey
by John Sandford

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 420
Rating: 4/5
Read: July 1-6, 2008
Challenge: No Challenge; personal read

First Line: An anonymous van, some-kind-of-pale, cruised Summit Avenue, windows dark with the coming night.

When two elderly women are murdered in a wealthy Minneapolis neighborhood, it looks like a random robbery gone wrong with nothing of real value being stolen. But when Lucas Davenport begins to probe the murder he realizes that this was not only not random but things of major value were stolen. As he continues investigating, he sees a pattern emerge and one can only wonder what path it will lead him down….

This book was really, super good! I really enjoyed it. It is fast paced and enjoyable. You know who the killers are early on in the book but it’s an enjoyable ride trying to figure out how Lucas is going to pull it all together. Highly recommended.

3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, R, Read in 2008, SERIES

Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs

Tara
Deadly Decisions
by Kathy Reichs

Copyright: 1999
Pages: 368
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: June 25-29, 2008
Challenge: Title Master Challenge

First Line: Her name was Emily Anne.

When nine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is fatally shot on a Montreal street, Dr. Temperance Brennan feels compelled to stop the senseless killings that she encounters. The fact that little Emily Anne was an unintended target by a ruthless biker gang war only fuels Tempe’s anger even more. But when she delves deeper into the cases more and more bodies keep popping up. And it won’t be until her nephew, Kit, is in the line of fire before it will all come to a screeching halt.

This book was just okay for me. I skipped the second in the series (a pet peeve of mine) because I needed to read this one before my July 1st deadline in the Title Master Challenge. Did I enjoy this one?! Not particularly. I love the TV show Bones, but for some reason this series just isn’t doing much for me. I own the others in the series and will probably trek on, but I’m still unsure about this series. It was just okay for me.

4/5, Alex Cooper, AUTHOR, Book Review, F, Fiction, Read in 2008, SERIES

Entombed by Linda Fairstein

Tara
Entombed
by Linda Fairstein
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 500
Rating: 4/5
Read: June 21-24, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: I looked at the pool of dried blood that covered the third-floor landing of a brownstone on one of the safest residential blocks in Manhattan and wondered how the young woman who’d been left here to die yesterday, her chest pierced by a steak knife, could still be alive this afternoon.

Manhattan ADA Alex Cooper is horrified when she realizes that the Silk Stocking Rapist is back on the streets raping women. But she’s mystified when the skeleton of a young woman is unearthed standing upright in a wall in a Greenwich Village brownstone where Edgar Allan Poe once lived. It’s a scene that Poe could have written. It will take a lot of strength and patience in order to get to the bottom of this case. It takes Cooper and her coworkers to the Bronx Botanical Gardens where a secret society of Poe fans may hold all the answers to this macabre story.
This was my first Alex Cooper experience. While I enjoyed it, I felt it could have been better. The story line was great but in some places I found myself struggling to keep up. It seemed to me that she used way to many descriptions in some places where I really didn’t need them. I know that sounds weird, but I just want things to be plainly spelled out for me, I don’t need elaborate descriptions or anything and that’s what I got out of this book. Will I be looking more into this series, of course, but I also hope that it improves some.
5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2008

The Innocent by Harlan Coben

Tara
The Innocent
by Harlan Coben
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 503
Rating: 5/5
Read: June 19-20
Challenge: Triple 8 – 500+ Pages Category

First Line: You never meant to kill him

Matt Hunter’s life as he knows it ends one night when he was innocently trying to break up a fight and ended up a killer. Nine years later, as an ex-con, he has it all – a wife, a baby on the way and they’re in the process of buying a house. But one phone call from his wife’s cell phone will tear everything he’s worked for apart. He will find himself once again in trouble with the law, this time completely innocent, and on the run trying to figure out his wife’s past.
Let me just say first, I LOVE HARLAN COBEN!!! I mean, I absolutely love everything I read by this guy!! I have yet to find a “eh” book by him. This one was just a total roller coaster ride! I had no idea what was going on and was completely shocked at the end! I highly recommend this book!
3.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2008

The Titanic Murders by Max Allan Collins

Tara
The Titanic Murders
by Max Allan Collins
Copyright: 1999
Pages: 256
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: June 14-18, 2008
Challenge: Back to History
First Line: From the beginning, mystery and controversy have been stowaways on the Titanic’s crossing into history.
Jacques Futrelle, famous mystery author was one of the many passengers on the maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic in April, 1914. He was one of 1,500 passengers that did not survive the sinking. When author Max Allan Collins received an anonymous phone call asking if he knew that there had been bodies found during a trip to the wreckage. The first thought that pops into mind, is, well, yeah of course there would be bodies, it’s essentially a cemetery. But when the caller states that they were found in canvas bags, he immediately gets Collins’ attention. What follows is Collins’ take on what had happened on board the Titanic based on the information that Jacques Futrelle’s daughter Virginia gives him.
When I saw this book in the used book store I grabbed it up simply because it had the word “Titanic” in it’s title. (Self-proclaimed Titanic junkie right here!). But I really enjoyed it. I only rated it a 3.5/5 simply because it could have been so much more, but after reading the Epilogue I understood why it was written the way that it was. Collins wanted to stick to as much historical facts as he could and it’s really what makes the book so interesting. He includes things about the ship, the passengers and the crew that he learned from his research that I didn’t know anything about. If you enjoy anything related to the Titanic or just like a good mystery pick this book up.
3/5, AUTHOR, B, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008

The Deadly Dance by M.C. Beaton

Tara
The Deadly Dance
by M.C. Beaton
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 233
Rating: 3/5
Read: June 7-8
Challenge: Title Master Challenge; Celebrate the Author Challenge; Initials Challenge

First Line: The thing that finally nudged Agatha Raisin into opening her own detective agency was what she always thought of as the Paris Incident.

After getting mugged in Paris, Agatha Raisin decides that she’s going to open up her own detective agency. Shortly thereafter she realizes that it’s not as the movies portray. She has to deal with missing pets and even finding a man’s son who has run off with his car (with the car being the most important thing to the man). But when Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in and states that there has been a death threat made on her daughter, things finally begin to heat up for the agency and Raisin. It will take all Agatha has and will even put herself into danger in order to get to the bottom of this case.
This was just an okay book for me. It was a little what I consider fluffier than what I normally read. It was a nice break from my “harder” reading, but I’m definitely not rushing out to look for the other books in this series, but I’m glad I gave her a try.