Category: 5/5

5/5, Alex Cross, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, RATING, Read in 2011, SERIES

2011.64 REVIEW – Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson

Tara

Kill Alex Cross
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 364
Rating: 5/5
Read: Dec. 19 – Dec. 24, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 64
Format: Print
Source: Library Copy

Blurb: Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene of the biggest casee he’s ever been part of. The president’s son and daughter have been abducted from their school – an impossible crime, but somehow the kidnapper has done it. Alex does everything he can but is shunted to the fringes of the investigation. Someone powerful doesn’t want him too close.

A deadly contagion in the DC water supply endangers the capital, and Alex sees the looming threat of the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. He is already working flat out on the abduction, and this massive assault pushes him completely over the edge.

With each hour that passes, the chances of finding the children alive diminish. In an emotional private meeting, the First Lady asks Alex to please save her kids. Even the highest security clearance doesn’t get him any closer to the kidnapper – and Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes. A full-throttle thriller with unstoppable action, unrestrained emotion, and relentless suspense, Kill Alex Cross is the most gripping Alex Cross novel James Patters has ever written.

Review: Oh how I do love a good Alex Cross book! This is one of the very few book series that I am actually caught up on. And considering I haven’t really been reading (this is the first book I’ve finished in December), I *knew* Mr. Patterson’s Alex Cross would not disappoint me!

As usual this book sucked me in from the first page. It brought flashes back to me of the very first Alex Cross book, Along Came a Spider, where Alex is involved in a high-profile kidnapping. The terrorist portion of the storyline was very interesting as well, especially considering *SPOILER*: one of the terrorists gets away *END SPOILER*

Let’s just face it, I’m a huge fan of the Alex Cross series. I have nothing bad to say about this book. All I can do is recommend this series and this book to every single one of my readers.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, RATING, Read in 2011

2011.61 REVIEW – The Confession by John Grisham

Tara

The Confession
by John Grisham

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 515
Rating: 5/5
Read: Oct. 25– Nov.7, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 61
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, Travis Boyette abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donte Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donte is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

Review: My grandmother gave me this book with a glowing recommendation of it. I also had two co-workers gush about it as well. So when I picked it up, I knew that it would probably be pretty good. But I had no idea just how good it would be. I was hooked from pretty much the first page. And while it took me forever to read it had absolutely nothing to do with the book itself (again, life is getting in the way).

I could go on and on about this book. I could tell you why it’s so powerful and such a great read. But really, it’s something that a person needs to read themself. I am 100% against the death penalty, and I felt as if this book really points out some of the flaws in the justice system and the death penalty itself.

I have only read one other John Grisham book (The Client) and I read that years ago. I have just about every one of his books on my shelf, so I’m not entirely sure as to why I haven’t read more of them. But either way, I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Empty Coffin, Fiction, O, RATING, Read in 2011, SERIES

2011.60 REVIEW – Envy by Gregg Olsen

Tara

Envy
by Gregg Olsen

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 285
Rating: 5/5
Read: Oct. 17– Oct. 24, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 60
Format: Print
Source: Library Copy

Blurb: Evil comes in all sorts of flavors. Some bitter. Some deceptively sweet. That’s what Katelyn discovers on the day she dies. One minute she’s a depressed teen with a loser life. The next, she’s lying on a stainless steel slab, eyes glassy, skin frosted over, and very, very dead. Was it: Suicide? Murder? Who’s to blame?

Twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan stumble upon the truth, which is far more disturbing than they could have ever imagined … and which sheds light on another secret, a hidden past even they don’t know about.

Inspired by a ripped-from-the-headlines true crime about cyberbullying, Envy is the gritty first volume in a new bone-chilling series that takes you to the edge – and pushes you right over.

Review: More time has passed since I finished this book than I had intended. I didn’t immediately write a review of this book because I wanted it to set in a little bit. (Well, I should know better than to put anything off, I’m such a procrastinator).

This is a first in a new Young Adult series by an author who writes adult fiction books that I love. I’m not a huge YA reader, but I do read a few YA books a year, and this is definitely a book that I’m glad I got the chance to read.  It will definitely be interesting to see what happens in the future installments.

For the most part, this is a mystery, but there is a slight paranormal edge to it. Being a person who is not a huge paranormal fan, I was not put off by the slant it had at all. I have always been intrigued by twins and the relationship that they have, so I really enjoyed following Hayley and Taylor and seeing them interact. Being young ladies who are starting to have boyfriends, Hayley having a boyfriend whereas Taylor did not, definitely made for some interesting passages. The jealousy over feeling left out was evident.

I would have liked to have known more about Katelyn. I felt as if there was a lot that the reader never knew about her. Like how on earth she ever got to be friends with a girl like Starla in the first place! And when it was finally revealed what Katelyn had done to Starla, well it was so little in comparison to what Starla (but was it really her? 😉 did for revenge.

Port Gamble is portrayed as a very small town. The accident that occurred there years before would have devastated the entire community. And then to have something happen again years later, well it seems like that would be almost too much for such a small place to deal with. Being from a small town myself, it made me recall how the entire town felt when two popular teenagers were killed in a terrible car accident my senior year (one of whom was in my class). It’s amazing how something like that can really touch so many different people’s lives.

Okay, so I realize that I’ve now rambled on about this book and really haven’t said much at all. It’s just one of those books where you don’t want to really say too much. All I can say is that I would highly recommend this book and I am eagerly anticipating the 2012 release of Betrayal.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, Review Book, U-V-W

2011.56 REVIEW – It’s Classified by Nicolle Wallace

Tara

It’s Classified
by Nicolle Wallace

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 325
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 15– Sept. 18, 2011
Challenge: No Challenge
Yearly Count: 56
Format: Print
Source: Review Book

Blurb: Charlotte Kramer, America’s first female president, is beginning her second term and is determined to make her mark on history though events do seem to be conspiring against her. Melanie Kingston, her best friend, just signed on as secretary of defense. Will their relationship survive? Dale Smith is the senior communications advisor to the vice president and knows a secret that could not only ruin her own career, but put the credibility of the White House on the line. Tara Meyers is the most popular vice president in recent history, but does her public image march her private life? When a classified terror threat is made public, all the weaknesses of this presidency are laid bare – and with the country’s safety at stake, someone in the White House isn’t taking any chances.

Review: I requested this book from Atria Books after seeing it offered in a glocalpen.com email. I was immediately intrigued by the description of the book. This sounded like a book that I would love. When I received the book in the mail, I will admit that I was a little disappointed to find that it was actually a sequel. I don’t normally like to read books out-of-order, so I was a little leery before I even began the book – was I going to be able to understand what was going on? Would my lack of knowledge from the first book hurt my opinion of this book? But I cleared my mind of those thoughts and began reading.

There might be some spoilers in this review, so proceed with caution 🙂

And read is just about all I did! From the first page I was absolutely hooked. Throughout reading I could tell that there were probably some things from the first book that would have been important for me to get a good understanding of what was really going on. But honestly, that didn’t have much of an effect on my opinion of this book.

Told in alternating chapters, the reader gets to see into the daily lives of Dale, the media liaison for the vice president; Tara, the vice president; and Charlotte, the president. When the book opens up on Dale being interrogated in some kind of legal proceedings, we immediately understand that something big has happened. But it takes awhile for the true story of what is going on with the vice president to emerge. But once it does, wow, is it a big revelation for the entire book. After the reader understands what is going on it’s just a downward spiral from there.

There are definitely some shady things going on within the Kramer White House. Secret affairs, cover-ups, leaks, mental breakdowns. It would definitely be an interesting place to work. But I must say that I was immediately suspicious when a certain staffer gained the trust of Dale so easily. He was …. slick. There was just something about him. And after finishing the book, I was immediately aware of how spot on I was about him.

I sincerely hope that the author writes another book with these characters. It will be interesting to see what happens to Charlotte Kramer as she continues in her second term as president. She has promoted the abovementioned slick guy to a position extremely close to her. And someone has tipped Dale to the fact that the fundamentally accepted version of events might not have been the way things occurred. It would definitely be great to see what else happens.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book who enjoys a strong line of female characters and a great storyline with superb writing.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, R, RATING, Read in 2011, Read-a-Long, SERIES

2011.53 REVIEW – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Tara

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J.K. Rowling

Copyright: 1999
Pages: 435
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 8– Sept. 12, 2011
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly Count: 53
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter’s defeat of You-Know-Who was Black’s downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, “He’s at Hogwarts … he’s at Hogwarts.” Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Review: Harry Potter, oh how I love you! In my own opinion, the latter books are definitely better than the earlier ones. So I’m definitely excited that we’re getting to this point in the read-a-long! (Because we’re getting closer to my personal favorite in the serie: Book 5!!).

I don’t really feel as if I need to “review” these books. But if I must ……

I love them. Everyone should read them.

End of review. 🙂

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, L, Nonfiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, Review Book

2011.51 REVIEW – We’re Not Leaving by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

Tara

We’re Not Leaving: 9/11 Responders Tell Their Stories of Courage, Sacrifice, and Renewal
by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 300
Rating: 5/5
Read: Sept. 3– Sept. 7, 2011
Challenge: What’s in a Name 4 Challenge
Yearly Count: 51
Format: Print
Source: Review Copy

Blurb: We’re Not Leaving is a compilation of powerful first-person narratives told from the vantage point of World Trade Center disaster workers – police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and other volunteers at the site. While the effects of 9/11 on these everyday heroes and heroines are indelible, and in some cases have been devastating, at the heart of their deeply personal stories – their harrowing escapes from the falling Towers, the egregious environment they worked in for months, the alarming health effects they continue to deal with – is their witness to their personal strength and renewal in the ten years since. These stories, shared by ordinary people who responded to disaster and devastation in extraordinary ways, remind us of America’s strength and inspire us to recognize and ultimately believe in our shared values of courage, duty, patriotism, self-sacrifice, and devotion, which guide us in dark times.

Review: I received this book courtesy of Rebecca with The Cadence Group. Wow.

I don’t know what else to say about this book. The events surrounding 9/11 are such a sensitive topic and with the 10th anniversary knocking on our door, I was immediately interested in getting this review opportunity. The emotions of the people who lent their stories to this book just pour out from the pages. As a reader, my heart broke numerous times just reading what people went through.

Personally, I watched the events unfold on television from the safety of my midwestern high school through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old. At the time I don’t think I really understood what was going on, I didn’t really grasp the enormity of what I was seeing. And then again, I did. I knew this was serious. I had studied all about the different wars that America had fought through the years. But this was no war (at the time) … this was an attack on our soil against our people.

This book really opened my eyes to what everyone went through. You can only feel so much watching things on television. But hearing the words of some the people who lived through this, well that puts things in an entirely different perspective. That makes it more real to someone like me.

I think that the introduction does a good job at explaining what this book is all about. From page xvii:

The testimony in this book is different in that it speaks both from and to the soul. Through their deeply personal and unique perspectives, the stories of 9/11 responders in their own voices, help us understand the human impact of the World Trade Center disaster and encourage us all to heal.

Healing. That’s something that we all had to do together. As a country. And I don’t think we’ve healed entirely. I think that 9/11 is still a sore that is opened up at any given moment.

One of the things that struck me when I was reading this book was the amount of guilt that a lot of the responders felt. Countless people were running into the madness when so many people running away. And yet some people still feel guilt. Guilt because they couldn’t save everyone. I can’t understand what that feels like, obviously, having not been there.

I felt like what I did wasn’t enough and that it was a defeat and that so many people died. (Page 12)

The enormity of what happened on that fateful day in New York City was a lot for me to understand. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to visit New York City in 2008. I went to Ground Zero. I can’t tell you what it felt like to see that big gaping hole in the middle of the city. The emptiness of it spoke volumes. All around you skyscrapers are everywhere in New York City. That’s the norm. But there was just … nothing. And to know what used to be there and what happened, it’s just unbelievable. I was also able to go inside the museum. Wow. Definitely do that if you have the opportunity.

Everything with the World Trade Center, depends on where you were – people standing to the left of you might’ve been killed; people standing to the right of you could’ve survived. It was just all [in] the positioning. (Page 56)

That one sentence says all that can be said about who lived and who died in the Towers. It was all a matter of where you were and when you were there. There was no rhyme or reason to it.

“Where were you when….?” that will be the age-old question that will be asked countless times over the next decades. And just like those who were alive when JFK was assassinated, every single person will be able to tell you exactly where they were when they first heard. For me it was 1st period Algebra II class, junior year. That day will stay with me for the rest of my life. As it should. It’s part of our history now. We can only learn and grow from it.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, R, RATING, Read in 2011, Read-a-Long, READING CHALLENGES 2011, SERIES

2011.48 REVIEW – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Tara

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J.K. Rowling

Copyright: 1998
Pages: 341
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug 22 – Aug. 27, 2011
Challenge: TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 48
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart; a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom; and the unwanted attention of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone – or something – starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects … Harry Potter himself!

Review: When can you go wrong with Harry Potter? And how can you critique these books? If anyone can answer those two questions, please let me know! Personally, I think this installment is better than the first one. But I think that I feel that way simply because the first one tends to read a little childish (my opinion only). We get to see inside Dumbledore in this book more than in the first one, and anyone who’s read this series, knows just how important Dumbledore is to Harry. Although I am re-reading this series, the books feel brand spanking new to me. Maybe it’s because it’s been so long since I’ve read the earlier books. Either way, it’s definitely got me read to move on to the third book!!

I just want to share a quick passage that made me laugh out loud. From page 341:

“Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won’t they?” said Hermoine as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. “When they hear what you did this year?”

“Proud?” said Harry. “Are you crazy? All those times I could’ve died, and I didn’t manage it? They’ll be furious…”

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, S

2011.45 REVIEW – Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Tara

Still Missing
by Chevy Stevens

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 340
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug 12 – Aug. 15, 2011
Challenge: TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 45
Format: Print
Source: Library Book

Blurb: On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals: Sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin – which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist – is a second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over. The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Review: WOW! This book really sucks you in from the first page. I should first say that this book is very graphic and not for the faint of heart. I’m not easily offended or upset. I read the first 50 pages quickly on the first night I picked the book up. A couple of days went by as I tried to finish another book I needed to get wrapped up and reviewed and then I picked this one back up last night. I flew through it. I stayed up way past my bedtime to read as much as I could before having to finally give it up when my eyes just wouldn’t stay open any longer. I finished it up today. And let me tell you, it’s such a chilling and thrilling read. The twists and turns are unbelievable. The descriptions of Annie’s time in captivity feel unbelievably real. Personally I liked that the book was told in her psychiatric sessions solely from her viewpoint, there was no interruptions by the psychiatrist whatsoever. That made the book feel so much more raw. I just want to kick myself for waiting so long to pick this book up!

Here’s a few reviews that made me pick this book up:

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, R, RATING, Read in 2011, Read-a-Long, SERIES

2011.44 REVIEW – Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Tara

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone
by J.K. Rowling

Copyright: 1997
Pages: 309
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug 12 – Aug. 14, 2011
Challenge: TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 44
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb: Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility. All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley – a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry’s room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in eleven years. But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry – and anyone who reads about him – will find unforgettable. For it’s there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him … if Harry can survive the encounter.

Review: This is the third time that I have read this book, it never ceases to amaze me. I am re-reading the series all over again as part of the Harry Potter Read-a-Long hosted by Pretty Deadly Reviews. In this first installment Harry finds out he’s a wizard. He has always known that he’s a little bit different from everyone else, strange things tend to happen around him when he gets angry. His early years have not been easy on him. His home life is about one step above abuse/neglect. He lives in a closet. His cousin is horrible to him. His aunt and uncle treat him like he’s such a burden. He never gets anything except Dudley’s hand-me-downs. He doesn’t have any friends. But all of this changes when he gets that invitation to study at Hogwarts. Suddenly, he has friends and is having the time of his life. But trouble always seems to find Harry, no matter where he goes, and it will be up to him and his new best friends, Ron and Hermoine, to keep a very valuable thing out of the wrong hands. I love this series and I’m so glad to be starting all over again!

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2011, READING CHALLENGES 2011, SERIES

2011.35 REVIEW – Shelter by Harlan Coben

Tara

Shelter
by Harlan Coben

Copyright: 2011
Pages: 304
Rating: 5/5
Read: July 16 – July 17, 2011
Challenge:  TwentyEleven Challenge
Yearly Count: 35
Format: Print (ARC)
Source: LibraryThing EarlyReviewer copy

Blurb: After tragic events tear him away from his parents, fifteen-year-old Mickey Bolitar is sent to live with his estranged uncle Myron. For a while, it seems his train wreck of a life is finally improving – until his girlfriend, Ashley, goes missing without a trace. Unwilling to let another person he cares about walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley’s trait into a seedy underworld, revealing a conspiracy so shocking it will leave him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.

Review: I received this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program. I am a huge fan of Harlan Coben. His stand alones are great. I’ve only read one of the Myron Bolitar novels, but since Myron takes a backseat to his nephew Mickey in this book, it didn’t affect anything. This is a young adult novel, but Mr. Coben doesn’t hold much back. The situations that Mickey finds himself in are interesting. His friends are funny and well-rounded. Ema is especially intriguing – there’s something about her that we don’t know about yet, but it has made me very interested in finding out more about her character. Spoon provides some great comedic relief in just the right places. Mickey’s character is very real because he is dealing with some very real events in his life – his dad is dead and his mom is a junkie. Any fifteen-year-old kid is going to struggle with that situation, but Mickey seems to deal with it as best as he can. Overall, I’m very interested in this series, I think that Mr. Coben has started a new series that could really grow into something great. It will attract young adults and his faithful adult readers as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

This book will be released in September, 2011.