Category: SERIES

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, Harper Connelly, Read in 2009, SERIES

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Tara

Grave Sight
by Charlaine Harris

Copyright: 2005
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 19-21, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 20

First Line: The silent witnesses lie everywhere, passing from one form of matter to another, gradually becoming unrecognizable to their nearest and dearest.

Harper Connelly has an interesting job. She finds dead people. After being struck by lightning as a teenager Harper has had this uncanny ability to “hear” the dead. She is able to find people who have gone missing and bring closure to the family. She can even tell what the person died of. So she travels the country with her stepbrother Tolliver helping families find their loved ones – for a price of course. This time Harper finds herself in the small town of Sarne. She is there to look for a teenage girl. But in a small town, some secrets aren’t meant to be brought out in the open. So when Harper begins to uncover the truth behind the girl’s disapperance it becomes very clear that some people want Harper out of town at the very least.

Okay, so I was unsure about this book, but the description definitely sounded interesting. However I was pleasantly surprised by this book!! It was a quick and enjoyable read. I really took to Harper as a character and I’m definitely looking forward to getting to the second book in the series soon! Highly recommend this book.

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2009, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

The 6th Target by James Patterson

Tara

The 6th Target
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 386
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 6-15, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 15

First Line: A killer in waiting, Fred Brinkley slumps in the blue-upholstered banquette on the top deck of the ferry.

A madman opens fire on a ferry as the boat is coming into the dock. Several people are dead, and one member of the Women’s Murder Club was injured. While Lindsay is hunting down the truth behind the ferry massacre, she is also having to deal with children of wealthy families being abducted. But the kidnappers are not contacting the families for ransom. Lindsay must deal with all of this and her personal life in order to figure everything out and bring peace back to San Francisco.

Now don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy a good James Patterson book. However, his books are quite formulaic after a while. If you want a quick and easy read – this is it. However, there’s no “meat” to his stories. When I first started reading the Women’s Murder Club books I couldn’t get through them fast enough, but for some reason I’m hitting a slump with them. I mean it took me a week to read this book, I can usually knock out a Patterson is 2 days tops. I might have to give them a break for a while before picking up another one.

AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Kay Scarpetta, Read in 2009, SERIES

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

Tara

Postmortem
by Patricia Cornwell

Copyright: 1990
Pages: 327
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Feb. 18-26, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; 2009 1st in a Series Challenge; RYOB 2009; Suspense & Thriller Challenge – Forensic mystery subcategory
Yearly Count: 13

First Line: It was raining in Richmond on Friday, June 6.

Someone is killing women in Richmond. Someone who is going completely undetected. A “Mr. Nobody” if you will. Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is determined to get to the bottom of these cases and find out who is behind these brutal killings. Even when it becomes apparent that someone is trying to sabotage Kay’s investigation from inside her own office she will not back down … even if someone might even want her dead …

I finally got around to reading the first in this series. I’ve only read a few of these books here and there, but this one is not as good as some of the later ones that I’ve read of this series. However I am glad that I finally read the first book and can start to understand more things about this series as I continue on with it in order now.

AUTHOR, Book Review, E, Fiction, Read in 2009, SERIES, Stephanie Plum

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

Tara

Three to Get Deadly
by Janet Evanovich

Copyright: 1997
Pages: 321
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Feb. 10-12, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 11

First Line: It was January in Trenton

Uncle Mo has missed his court appearance and Stephanie Plum is the bounty hunter charged with taking him back into custody. Unfortunately, Uncle Mo is considered a saint around Trenton. However, as the body count begins to add up , Stephanie finds herself involved with drug dealers and people wanting to kill her.

This book was not as funny as the second one in my opinion. However, I did enjoy this one. I usually don’t read books that are of a lighter, more humorous tone, but for some reason I enjoy this series.

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, G, Kinsey Millhone, Read in 2009, SERIES

C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton

Tara

C is for Corpse
by Sue Grafton

Copyright: 1986
Pages: 213
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Feb. 5-9, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 10

First Line: I met Bobby Callahan on Monday of that week.

Kinsey Millhone meets Bobby Callahan at the local gym. Kinsey is doing physical therapy after getting shot on her previous case. Callahan is at the gym doing his physical therapy after barely surviving a horrific car accident. Bobby knows that someone was after him and that the car accident was not an accident, but unfortunately the accident took away most of his memory and he can’t remember who was after him or why. So he hires Kinsey to find out what really happened that night and what it was that he knew that was worth killing over. But three days later, Bobby is dead and Kinsey is more determined thane ver to find out what it was that Bobby knew that would get him killed.

This book was pretty good. Like I’ve said about the two previous books in this series that I’ve read, it’s hard to get an entire story into 200 short pages. But this story was actually pretty good. This series is definitely getting better for me and I’m looking forward to reading ‘D’.

AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Myron Bolitar, Read in 2009, SERIES

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

Tara

Deal Breaker
by Harlan Coben

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 343
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Feb. 3-5, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009; 2009 1st in a Series Challenge; 2009 Celebrate the Author Challenge
Yearly Count: 9

First Line: Otto Burke, the Wizard of Schmooze, raised his game another level.

Sports agent Myron Bolitar is representing rookie quarterback, Christian Steele. But when Christian receives a mysterious phone call from who he thinks is his former girlfriend who has been missing for over a year everything starts to spin out of control for Christian. And it is Myron who is at the helm of investigating what is really going on. But what he will find out will shock him more than he can believe possible.

This is the first in the Myron Bolitar series. I enjoyed it. However, I personally feel that his stand alone books might be better than this. I am going to continue this series, but I’m really not in much of a rush to do so.

Alex Cross, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2009, SERIES

Jack & Jill by James Patterson

Tara

Jack & Jill
by James Patterson

Copyright: 1996
Pages: 466
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 8

First Line: Sam Harrison swung his agile body out of the silver blue Ford Aerostar, which he had parked on Q Street in the Georgetown section of Washington.

Jack and Jill have come to the Hill. That’s right, there’s a serial killer couple on the streets in Washington D.C. And they’re killing celebrities. And leaving a little rhyme at each crime scene. This is only one string of killings going on in the city though. There are also little children being killed. And unfortunately, the celebrity murders are getting more press than the children’s murders. But Dr. Alex Cross has a bad feeling that somehow the two are connected. It will take a lot out of Alex in order to figure out what is really going on in his city.

I love James Patterson’s books. I’m definitely enjoying reading this series. They keep getting better and better. I really recommend this series if you’ve never tried it before.

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.

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!!

Alex Cross, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008, SERIES

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson

Tara
Kiss the Girls
by James Patterson

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 458
Rating: 4/5
Read: Nov. 28-30, 2008
Challenge: Book-to-Movie Challenge

First Line: For three weeks, the young killer actually lived inside the walls of an extraordinary fifteen-room beach house.

Alex Cross’s niece, a law student at Duke, has gone missing. Cross is immediately drawn to the area in order to find his niece. But what he encounters is that there are more than one young woman missing and that this case might even be connected to another case that is going on in Los Angeles. Is there one killer who is traveling across country or are there two and if there are, are they communicating?! It’s a twisted case that Alex will finally work out in the end.

This book was much better than the first one in the Alex Cross series, Along Came a Spider. I felt a little rushed to read it in order to finish it before the challenge was over. But I really did enjoy it quite a bit. I’m definitely looking forward to getting the 3rd and 4th books in this series in my mailbox in the next few days 🙂