Category: 5/5

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, Jane Rizzoli, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen

Tara

The Sinner
by Tess Gerritsen

Copyright: 2003
Pages: 355
Rating: 5/5
Read: June 2-5, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Celebrate the Author Challenge; Random Reading Challenge; RYOB 2010; Thriller & Suspense Challenge 2010
Yearly Count: 28

First Line: The driver refused to take him any farther.

Christmas is around the corner, and no one is unaffected when they get called out to a brutal crime scene at a convent. Two nuns are found, one dead and one critically injured, after being savagely attacked within the walls of the convent. When medical examiner does the autopsy of the dead woman, she is in for a surprise: Sister Camille gave birth shortly before her murder. When another body is found mutilated beyond recognition, it takes a while for Maura to realize that there might just be a connection between the two cases. But what Maura and Detective Jane Rizzoli uncover about these two cases will prove to be even more shocking and will hit even more closer to home for Maura.

This is the third book in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series. I particularly enjoyed this book. First off, it was told from Maura’s perspective, which is different from the first two books where Jane tells the story. So that was kind of nice, it let us into Maura’s world a little bit more. I also enjoyed what Jane was going through in her personal life, it really opened her character up a little as well. I know that after I read the previous book, The Apprentice, I complained a little about Jane’s character. I felt like she was a lot more developed and likable in this installment. I enjoy this series, which I find interesting because for the most part, I do not like medical-type books whatsoever. But I have really taken to these books. I’m looking forward to getting the next book in the mail so I can start it!

5/5, Alex Delaware, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman

Tara

Blood Test
by Jonathan Kellerman

Copyright: 1986
Pages: 349
Rating: 5/5
Read: May 29 – June 1, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 27

First Line: I sat in the courtroom and watched Richard Moody get the bad news from the judge.

Five-year-old Woody Swope was terribly ill. His parents were unsure about the treatment that he was receiving at the clinic. One day, Woody goes missing from the hospital. Without treatment, Woody’s chances of survival were slim-to-none. Child psychologist Alex Delaware is brought in by the attending physician and cannot seem to shake this case. Alex and his good friend, homicide detective, Milo Sturgis, have to track down Woody and whoever took him. Unfortunately, Milo is limited in what he can do with the case, so it will be up to Alex to unravel the truth behind this little boy and his situation.

This is the second book in the Alex Delaware series. I personally felt like it had a slightly slow start, but overall the book ended up being quite enjoyable. I found myself flying through it with all the twists and turns. Alex can sure find himself in some strange situations, even if his intentions are perfectly good. I was kind of disappointed that there wasn’t as much character development in this installment as I would have preferred, with Robin out of town the entire book and Milo just playing a secondary role in the case. There was also two story lines going on throughout the book which sometimes made for confusing moments, but overall it was a good book with a good storyline. I would recommend it.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

REVIEW: The 9th Judgment by James Patterson

Tara

The 9th Judgment
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 355
Rating: 5/5
Read: May 20-22, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;
Yearly Count: 25

First Line: Sarah Wells stood on the roof of the carport and snaked her gloved hand through the hole she’d cut in the glass.

A young mother and her baby are gunned down while leaving a shopping mall. There are no witnesses and all that is left for Detective Lindsay Boxer is a cryptic message written in lipstick. The same night a famous actor’s wife is brutally shot in her bedroom in what appears to be a burglary gone wrong. Lindsay has her work cut out for her in trying to piece together the pieces to all the puzzles. With women and children being murdered throughout the city and multiple burglaries occurring, Lindsay has her work cut out for her in order to solve both cases before it’s too late.

This is the ninth in the Women’s Murder Club series. Overall the book was good, but I really didn’t like how the book really revolved around Lindsay so much. I like the other characters in this book and there was just so little involvement with those supporting characters. The ending was interesting, it left a big question mark with me in terms of where the next book will take the WMC and it’s readers. In all honesty, I prefer the Alex Cross series to this one, but it’s still an interesting series.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, O, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: Victim Six by Gregg Olsen

Tara

Victim Six
by Gregg Olsen

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 406
Rating: 5/5
Read: May 8-12, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010;  RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 23

First Line: “Quiet, bitch,” he said. “Be a good girl and do as I say.”

When one girl goes missing the police assume that she’s run back to her home country. But when the second and third go missing they realize that something is not right. And when the bodies are discovered, Detective Kendall Stark can’t help but feel like she’s somewhat to blame for what is going on because she didn’t take the disappearance of the first girl very serious. When the body count reaches four and a fifth woman goes missing, things in the little town of Port Orchard, Washington hit a fever pitch. With the awareness of a serial killer in their midst, one dubbed the Cutter by the local newspaper, Kendall and her partner Josh Anderson have to do everything in their power to track down this killer and finally put an end to the terror in their town.

Gregg Olsen is one of my MUST read authors. Although I must admit, I’ve never read any of his true crime books (and I enjoy true crime) I have read all of his fiction novels. He can come up with some of the sickest, twisted stuff and I just can’t get enough of it! Now, I will state that this particular book started out slow for me. However, I stuck with it and definitely enjoyed how it ended up. I particularly liked how the title of the book made sense to me after I finished reading. Sometimes I wonder where book titles come from, but this one made perfect sense to me. Granted, Gregg Olsen’s books are not for the faint of heart, and I wouldn’t really recommend them to just anyone, but I can’t help but love his writing and I really enjoyed this one!

5/5, Alex Cross, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson

Tara

The Big Bad Wolf
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2003
Pages: 398
Rating: 5/5
Read: Apr. 27-30, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Celebrate the Author Challenge; Finish That Series Challenge;  RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 21

First Line: There was an improbable murder story told about the Wolf that had made its way to the police lore and then spread quickly from Washington to New York to London and to Moscow.

Alex Cross is having a little trouble adjusting to his new career in the FBI. It’s almost as if he’s halfway on the fast track when it comes to his agent training. But his first case as an agent has everyone confused. Throughout the country, beautiful women are being kidnapped. But it gets worse than that, these women are actually being purchased as slaves. Behind all this, is someone known only as the Wolf. No one really knows who the Wolf really is, although there are pretty good suspicions that he’s somehow involved in organized crime. Struggling with some issues in his home life as well as feeling slightly out of the loop in regards to this case, Alex Cross has to figure this out before the Wolf comes after Alex.

This is the 9th book in the Alex Cross series. This series has got to be my absolute favorite in the world, Mr. Patterson has really created some monsters in his Cross books! And the Wolf is no exception! I love that I still don’t know who the Wolf actually is, it makes me look forward even more to the next book in this series. I know some people aren’t too fond of Patterson’s books, but for me they are great! If I’m stuck in a reading slump, a Patterson book will usually draw me in with the first few pages. The suspense is always great and the twists and turns that come with the Alex Cross books are amazing. I just love them!!

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Kay Scarpetta, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell

Tara

All That Remains
by Patricia Cornwell

Copyright: 1992
Pages: 382
Rating: 5/5
Read: Mar. 11-14, 2010
Challenge:  2010 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2010; Thriller & Suspense Challenge 2010
Yearly Count: 10

First Line: Saturday, the last day of August, I started work before dawn.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is up against a serial killer who is targeting young couples. Four couples have disappeared already, with their bodies to turn up in the woods months later. When the fifth couple goes missing the tables seem to turn – for the girl that was taken is the daughter of a very powerful woman in Washington – the new “Drug Czar.” Feeling the pressure from above, Kay is determined to finally catch this elusive killer once and for all.

This is the third installment of the Kay Scarpetta series and another great one in my opinion. It was very fast paced and action packed. I also liked the character development involved – I really got to know Marino. I’m definitely looking forward to continuing on with this series and I’m kicking myself for just now starting to read these books (they’ve only been on my shelves forever!!!)

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: Black Friday by Alex Kava

Tara

Black Friday
by Alex Kava

Copyright: 2009
Pages: 295
Rating: 5/5
Read: Feb. 7 – 11, 2010
Challenge:  2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Finish That Series Challenge
Yearly Count: 7

First Line: Rebecca Cory stood her ground despite another elbow shoved into her shoulder blades.

It’s the busiest shopping day of the year – Black Friday – everybody is enjoying great sales and the true beginning of the holiday shopping season. People were minding their own business in the Mall of America … until three bombs go off in the food court area. The three young men that are carrying the bombs think that they’re just carrying jamming systems to cause chaos in the stores, unfortunately they become suicide bombers by the man carrying the remote control for the bombs. Maggie O’Dell is called in to profile. But things get a little personal when Maggie finds out that her brother Patrick could have been mixed up in all this mess. But when an informant finally confides in Maggie about the truth behind the entire situation she realizes that there will be a second place and that she must find out where it will occur in order to stop it and save more lives.

I love, love, love this series!! And this installment was especially good in my opinion. I’ve been to the Mall of America numerous times, not on Black Friday, but it always seems to be packed inside that mall, I can’t even begin to imagine if a bomb was really to go off in that mall. I found the way that Kava brought Nick Morelli back into the picture a little far-fetched, the odds of the way they ended up at the same disaster was a little suspicious. Personally I feel like that attraction ran its course a few books ago. But I liked how she brought Patrick back into the story. Overall I really liked this book. If you’ve never tried this series before, I definitely recommend reading them in order.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, K, Maggie O'Dell, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, SERIES

REVIEW: Exposed by Alex Kava

Tara

Exposed
by Alex Kava

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 373
Rating: 5/5
Read: Jan. 7-10, 2010
Challenge:  2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; Finish That Challenge Series; RYOB 2010; Thriller & Suspense 2010
Yearly Count: 2

First Line: Waheem was already bleeding when he boarded the crowded motorboat.

FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell and Assistant Director Cunningham cannot believe what is happening to them until it’s too late – they have been exposed. Exposed to a very deadly virus. Stuck in quarantine, Maggie beings to wonder if there isn’t some kind of a connection with the victims. Cunningham thinks it’s personal. And it is – they just have to figure out how. With nothing to think of except what could be going on inside her body, Maggie has to get inside this killer’s mind. And she needs to do so before this becomes an epidemic.

I love the Maggie O’Dell series. I was a little late in getting around to this one, mainly because medical-ish books are not really my cup of tea. But I should have known better- Alex Kava has never disappointed me yet. Since it has been so long since I read anything in this series, it was a little difficult for me trying to remember what had happened with the characters in the earlier books. There’s just something about the way Kava writes. Her books are always full of such great suspense and of course I absolutely love the psychological aspects!! I’m definitely looking forward to getting  Black Friday from the library so that I can get caught up on this series again until July when the 8th book in this series is set to be published.

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010

REVIEW: Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

Tara

Hold Tight
by Harlan Coben

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 477
Rating: 5/5
Read: Jan. 1-6, 2010
Challenge:  2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Celebrate the Author Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 1

First Line: Marianne nursed her third shot of Cuervo, marveling at her endless capacity to destroy any good in her pathetic life, when the man next to her shouted, “Listen up, sweetcakes: Creationism and evolution are totally compatible.”

Mike and Tia Baye know that they are losing touch with their teenage son, Adam. After losing his best friend to suicide, Adam has become more and more withdrawn. He spends all his time in his room on the computer. They decide that their best option to finding out what is going on with their son is to install some software on his computer that will tell them every website that he visits and logs all of his e-mails and instant messages. But what they end up finding and what it implies and eventually leads to is beyond anything that either Mike or Tia would ever have thought possible. Adam is in over his head and what he is involved with could end up taking the whole family down in the end.

I always love Harlan Coben’s books. They are always fast paced and enjoyable. This one was definitely no exception. There were many twists and turns, and even at the end I was kind of surprised by what really started everything that happened in motion. I think a lot of parents today can relate to how their children spend so much time on the internet and they don’t really know what’s going on at all. I personally liked how Mr. Coben made it really obvious that a lot of people don’t really understand how quickly children are growing up nowadays, but with Adam’s sister, Jill’s character, he really made it obvious. I’m a huge Harlan Coben fan, so it’s hard for me to not to rave about every book of his I read (although I do prefer is stand-alones to his Myron Bolitar series).

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, RATING, Read in 2009, READING CHALLENGES 2009, T

REVIEW: The Book of Names by Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori

Tara

The Book of Names
by Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 341
Rating: 5/5
Read: Dec. 30-31, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 74

First Line: Two men shoveled the sand under cover of darkness.

In each generation there are 36 people who hold the world in balance. The names of those 36 people are found in The Book of Names. If all 36 of those people are killed then the world as we know it will essentially end. Some  examples: Mt. Vesuvius erupted when 15 were killed; the Inquisition was triggered after 18 were killed. In the current generation, there are only three left to find and kill. So what disaster will happen once those three are identified and eliminated? It’s up to one man – David Shepherd to end the cycle. He sees all these names in his head and has been writing them down in a journal for years. He has no idea what these names mean or why they are coming to him. But when he learns the reasons behind these mysterious names coming to him he is horrified to find that the latest one that has come to him is his step-daughters name. Knowing he must save her no matter what, he sets out across the globe to finally end this once and for all.

I am such a sucker for action packed adventure that a book like this provides. It’s such a wonderful escape for me. It was also a great way to end my 2009 reading. Some of the stuff in this book was a little unbelievable, but I think that’s what made me like this book even more. I really enjoyed it. I don’t really know what I can say about this book other than that I recommend it to everyone. If you want a really good race-against-the-clock storyline this is a great place to start.