24 Hours. Finished 4-23-14, 3.5/5 stars, thriller, pub. 2000

Unabridged audio, 10 hours. read by Dick Hill

24 HOURS — that’s how long it takes a madman to pull off the perfect crime. He’s done it before, he’ll do it again, and no one can stop him. 

But this time, he’s just picked the wrong family to terrorize. Because Will and Karen Jennings aren’t going to watch helplessly as he victimizes them. And they aren’t going to let him get away with it.

from Goodreads

Hickey seems to have the perfect plan to extort money from people.  It takes guts, help and planning, but the job itself only lasts 24 hours.  He spends the day with the wife, his wife spends the day with the husband, and the kidnapped child spends the day with a cousin.  He demands little money, enough that would be a boon for him but very little hardship for the victims.  His plan depends on timing and loyalty of the other two involved.  When Will and Karen are targeted things go as expected at first, but once there is a crack in one of the three, the rest are effected.

The last book I read by Iles was Third Degree and it felt similar in a lot of ways, in ways that left me disappointed.  I liked this one better because the plot felt fresh and it had more action, but the ‘being confined to your house by a madman’ was the same.  Nonetheless, this was not my favorite Iles but it was a solid thriller that will keep you guessing which one will be the victor in each of the two person scenarios.

I read and listened to this one.  The narration was good, Dick Hill always seems to be solid.

The Traveler. Finished 3-4-14, rating 3.5/5, fable, 48 pages, pub. 2008

Once, there was a boy named Charlie. He had a pretty nice life . . . but it wasn’t perfect. So one day he packed up all his time—all his round, squishy years and square, mushy months, down to every itsy-bitsy second—in his suitcase and locked it up safe, said goodbye to his parents, and set off to find something better to spend his time on. Charlie traveled all over the world in search of the perfect thing to make him happy, but that turned out to be much harder to find than he thought. In the meantime, his itsybitsy seconds and silky, smooth hours and raggedy days ticked away and vanished, and soon they added up to weeks and months and years—so that once Charlie stopped his traveling and realized what he really needed out of life, it was almost too late. Almost.

from Goodreads

I rarely have the opportunity to browse library shelves. I usually go in with a purpose or am picking up books on hold, so when I had forty free minutes at the library, I somehow found this very slim book in the fiction section.  I think the only reason I’m mentioning this is because if I actually just talk about the book my review would be over.

I thought this was a sweet 5 minute read.  There isn’t exactly anything profound about spending your time wisely as advice, but it left me with a smile on my face and a little nod in agreement.  If you have a moment I’d see if your library has a copy.  I also think it could be a cute gift for a young person going offi into the great unknown for the first time.  They might not fully appreciate the lesson (not many do in their youth) but it is packaged in such a way (easy to read with illustrations) that you can be pretty sure that at least they’ll read it!

This book  was written and illustrated by two brothers and dedicated to their sister.

So how often do you browse your library bookshelves?

The Never List. Finished 10-18-13, rating 3.5/5, thriller, pub. 2013

Unabridged audio read by Kristen Sieh.  8.5 hours.

For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, living as a virtual recluse under a new name, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias and the other survivors—who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, she begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.  

from goodreads

Living in Cleveland, this storyline reminded me of  Cleveland’s own horrific abduction and torture reality and even though it isn’t the type of plot I usually enjoy I thought I’d give it a try.  Jason and I listened to the audio on our road trip in October and we both thought it was eh or good depending on who or when you asked.  Around the halfway point we considered bailing because we just weren’t all that invested in it.  The story, while fast-paced and well written, was improbable and mired in the world of BDSM.  There were lots of things I didn’t like about it and when we were done I felt like I needed to take a shower to get clean from all of the depravity, but it was interesting and not like anything else I’ve read.  I’d read more from this debut author but not a sequel if that what she’s working on.

For the giveaway-BermudaOnion sent me her audio copy and I’d love to continue the goodwill and pass it on to one of you.  Just leave a comment and tell me you want it.  I’ll have Gage draw a winner next Thursday (12/12).  Open internationally.

“…I was walking with them all the way up to Montmartre, the highest point in the city.  I staggered up the last steps to find the Sacre-Coeur basilica’s dome gleaming in the sunlight, covered by rows of creamy scallops that reminded me of children’s drawings of ocean waves: very regular, quite fantastic.”  from A Parisian Spring chapter

Paris in Love by Eloisa James. Finished 7-5-13, rating 3.5/5, travel memoir, 258 pages, pub. 2012

Eloisa James is a professor of Shakespeare, a romance author, a wife, a mother, and a cancer survivor.  Weeks after her mother died of cancer, James found out that she too had breast cancer.  Calling it the ‘good kind’ her prognosis was always good and she never had that profound moment of divine clarity on life’s meaning, but she did feel the need for a change, a new experience.  She convinced her husband, also a professor, to take a year sabbatical so they could move to Paris for a year.  So, with kids in tow, off they went with varying degrees of excitement.

Let me say from the start that the idea of this sounds so incredibly tempting.  I’m not sure how I feel about uprooting the kids for a year, but I applaud her bravery in giving them a year they won’t forget.

This book started as her Facebook posts.  She organized and revised and put them into a lovely travel journal.  I most appreciated the longer essays as I thought they were more thoughtful and thought provoking than just the quick take posts.  I wish the book had been mainly essays with the short posts sprinkled throughout.

She touches on everything – the food, the clothes, the diet, the idea that French women don’t get fat, the schools, the housing, being an English speaking American in France.  I especially enjoyed her stories about her daughter’s school ordeals.  Being a pre-teen girl is no easy thing and doing it in a new country only adds to the hilarity (funny only at a distance. I’m sure).

I liked it.  I won this over at Amused by Books and I want to thank Leah for sending it my way.  Perfect for July in Paris 🙂

Timeless Desire. Finished 2-6-13, rating 3.75/5, romance, pub. 2012

I added this to my wishlist when I read Mary’s review and then she posted again when the ebook went on sale for 99 cents.  Never one to pass up a deal I bought it.  Keep in mind that I received a Nook for my birthday in October and have read only a few books on it.  I got caught at the salon (having my hair cut and colored for the first time in over 6 months. Yikes!) with NO BOOK.  But I did have my iPhone and the Nook app so it took me seconds to download this one but forever to read.  So here’s my deal, I think the further away from actual books I get the less enjoyment that I receive from reading them.  I like my Nook fine and find it great when I have insomnia but don’t want to wake Jason or leave bed, BUT I’ll still choose a real, honest to goodness book given the choice.  As for reading a book on the iPhone, I cannot possibly recommend it.  Yes, I always had a book with me, but it really didn’t feel like a book.  It felt like I was reading in between important things and for mere minutes at a time.  I’m glad I tried it and I’m not crazy enough to say I will never do it again, but my expectations for enjoyment are low.  Okay, just wanted to share so that you understand that my thoughts on this one are probably influenced by ADD iPhone reading.

Panna is modern librarian who buried her much loved husband two years ago and is still resisting getting close to another man.  At least until she finds a passageway that leads her to Captain Jamie Bridgewater in the early 1700’s.  Jamie is living on the border of England and Scotland and has the heritage of both and Panna’s arrival is catalyst for change.

I thought this was a fun time travel romance.  The sex scenes were imaginative for sure but I really hate the ‘it’s all a dream or fantasy’ sex scenes.  What’s the point?  Anyway, other than that I thought it was fun and I will definitely read more by Cready.  In paper this time.

I can recommend this for any romance lover.  The characters are sexy and Jamie and Panna’s stories were both compelling and worthwhile.