Tag: Highly Recommended

5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, O, Read in 2008

A Cold Dark Place by Gregg Olsen

Tara
A Cold Dark Place
by Gregg Olsen

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 372
Rating: 5/5
Read: Aug. 16-19, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: Women with transparent vinyl purses that exposed the shredded remainders of coin wrappers stood in line.

Cherrystone, Washington is generally a quiet place. But in the span of one week they are the victims of a horrible tornado that devastates part of the town as well as learn that there was a triple murder of a well-liked family. Only one family member of the dead family is missing, oldest son Nick, and single mother and cop Emily Kenyon is determined to find him. But when her daughter, Jenna, declares that she feels that there is no possible way that Nick could have committed the slaughter Emily cannot believe the steps that Jenna will take to back up Nick. As Jenna disappears with Nick to who knows where, Emily must piece the puzzle together before a crazed serial killer kills them all.

This book was really amazing! I picked it during my overnight trip to Cincinnati because my Michael Palmer selection was horrendous. I was absolutely hooked!! I couldn’t get through it fast enough to find out what the ending would be! I highly recommend this 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.

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!
4.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, R, Read in 2008

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Tara
Blood Brothers
by Nora Roberts
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 314
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: June 4-5, 2008
Challenge: Title Master Challenge

First Line: It crawled along the air that hung heavy as wet wool over the glade.

Every seven years in Hawkins Hollow mysterious things happen for one week in July. People go mad and do unspeakable things without any memory afterward. The strange happenings is what brings author Quinn Black to Hawkins Hollow in order to do research for her upcoming book featuring Hawkins Hollow. When she arrives in early February to interview three men who were boys when the terror first began, Quinn herself begins to experience strange things. It will take all the bravery and strength of six men and women to bring this terror to an end.
This is the first in the Sign of Seven Trilogy. It definitely had it’s ups as well as its downs. There were a few spots that were wayyyy weird, but the topic of the trilogy is weird to begin with. But I’m definitely looking forward to getting the second one through PBS.
5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Read in 2008

The Woods by Harlan Coben

Tara
The Woods
by Harlan Coben
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 508
Rating: 5/5
Read: May 24-27, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: I see my father with that shovel.

Prosecutor Paul Copeland is still dealing with the loss of his sister, Camille, twenty years ago. One night she walked into the woods with her summer camp boyfriend and never came out. While working one of the biggest cases of his career, new evidence comes to light. A man’s body has been found, brutally murdered. Evidence points to Copeland, who insists that he is looking at the body of his sister’s boyfriend. The possibility that Gil survived that night brings hope to Copeland that perhaps Camille did as well. Now on a mission to find out the real truth about his sister and that awful night in his teenage past, he will open doors that have been closed for quite some time … doors that most people want to remain closed.
This book was really, really good! I was hooked in from the first few paragraphs. For someone who has been in quite the reading slump, this book was a wonderful relief! This book came highly recommended to me from my mother and grandmother … and for those of you reading this blog: Read this book! Immediately! It is definitely NOT to be missed!!!
4.5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Inferno Collection by Jacqueline Seewald

Tara
The Inferno Collection
by Jacqueline Seewald
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 255
Rating: 4.5/5
Read: May 10, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: “May I help you?” Kim Reynolds said the words automatically to the next person who approached the information services desk as she replaced the World Almanac under the ready reference counter.

University reference librarian Kim Reynolds is intrigued when her good friend Lorette Campbell approaches her asking if she’s ever heard of the university having an “Inferno Collection.” But before Kim can figure out the answer to her question, Lorette turns up dead. With the police assuming suicide, Kim sets out to prove them wrong by retracing Lorette’s steps before her death, only to find herself in harm’s way.
Oh my goodness! This book was amazing. I picked it up on a whim at the library today and started it at 2 and didn’t put it down until 6 when I finished it! It was wonderful!! I was practically hooked from the first page. It’s a really great book that I highly recommend. Loved it!!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

3rd Degree by James Patterson

Tara
3rd Degree
by James Patterson
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 339
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 6-7, 2008
Challenge: Suspense & Thriller Challenge – Terrorist thriller

First Line: It was a clear, calm, lazy April morning, the day the worst week of my life began.

In this third installment of the Women’s Murder Club, terrorists are at work on Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer’s streets. After more and more people are murdered for the “cause,” Lindsay calls a meeting with the girls. But the investigation will put one of the Women’s Club members in grave danger.
This book was amazing!! I really, really enjoyed it!! It’s almost heartbreaking in places. And the ending is truly shocking. I highly recommend this book. This series is great!! This book is definitely the best one in the series so far!!
5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

Tara
The Virgin of Small Plains
by Nancy Pickard
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 336
Rating: 5/5
Read: March 29-31, 2008
Challenge: Eponymous Challenge

First Line: Abby Reynolds braked her truck on the icy highway, startled by what she imagined she saw off to the side of the road.

For nearly twenty years, a rural Kansas town has tended to the grave of an unknown teenage girl who has become known as “The Virgin.” The discovery of her body changed the lives of teens Mitch Newquist, Abby Reynolds, and Rex Shellenberger. For Mitch, he inexplicably left town the day after she was found, leaving his girlfriend, Abby and best friend, Rex, behind without a reason. But nearly twenty years later, Mitch will return to the small town of Small Plains in order to finally put a name on the Virgin’s grave and in the process will change the entire town forever.
This book was awesome! There were so many twists and turns. And the ending was a complete shocker to me! I loved it!! Highly recommended!
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2008, S

The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve

Tara
The Pilot’s Wife
by Anita Shreve
Copyright: 1998
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 16-17, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: She heard a knocking, and then a dog barking.

For a pilot’s wife, that middle of the night knock at the door is part of life. But when that knock comes on Kathryn Lyon’s door, she is not only unprepared to hear of her husband’s death, but also of the damning circumstances surrounding the explosion that took out his plane and 103 other people on board. But she can’t really give up – she realizes that she must find out who her husband really was, regardless of what the results will do to her heart.
This was a really good book. It read extremely quickly for me. I had trouble putting it down. I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t believe the twists and turns that occurred throughout the book. The ending is not at all what I expected, and I really enjoyed this book!
5/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2008

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Tara
The Pact
by Jodi Picoult

Copyright: 1998
Pages: 496
Rating: 5/5
Read: March 14-16, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: There was nothing left to say.

Chris Harte and Emily Gold have been joined at the hip since birth. They had no choice, with their mothers being best friends, they were always together. So it was no surprise to anyone when their friendship turned into a romantic relationship. However, when Emily is found dead in the arms of Chris, dead of a supposed suicide pact, no one can comprehend what could have happened. Emily’s death will rock their little town, change their parents’ life forever and possibly be the end of Chris’ life as he knows it.
This book was great! After hearing many great things about Jodi Picoult, this book was the only one that I could find available on paperbackswap.com and decided to give it a shot. I read it in three days and was absolutely entranced by it the entire time. The way that Picoult weaves her story is amazing. The characters came to life, I could feel the feelings that the characters were feeling. It was just a great book all around. Highly recommended.