Finished 3-21-12, rating 4/5, YA, 304 pages, pub. 2011

Book 1 of a new YA series.

I don’t read many young adult books, so I’m fairly picky when I do pick one up, but this is by one of my favorite authors and a continuation of the Myron Bolitar series so it was a no-brainer.  For those who love Myron this is a nice way to transition out of the series (if that is what Coben’s planning).  Myron is still around, but only marginally and his ward/nephew is a lot like him.

Mickey’s dad is dead and his mother is a junkie in rehab.  His uncle Myron, who had been estranged from his dad since before he was born, agreed to take him in while his mom cleaned herself up.  Mickey is living with Myron in the house his dad where grew up, going to the same school his dad did, and being lured in to the same urban legends of the neighborhood.

The Bat Lady is someone feared and ridiculed so when she tells Mickey that his father is not dead he doesn’t know what to think.  But he has other more pressing problems, like being the new kid at school and having your brand new girlfriend disappear.  He also befriends or is befriended by  two of the school outcasts, Spoon and Ema, who help him get into and out of trouble depending on the day.

This book felt very similar to Coben’s Myron series and as a fan I appreciated that.  Mickey is a boy who grew up a nomad, living around the world with his parents until he was 14, only a year before, so it stands to reason that he may have more worldly smarts that most kids.  Only he may have been too much like Myron in his propensity to find trouble for him to truly seem like a kid.  And the bullies at school seemed a little like caricatures.

I really liked the story and, as always, the plot was intricate and moved along at lightning speed.  There was a cliffhanger at the end, but the second book is coming out this fall so I don’t have to wait long to find out more.

I thought this was a good foray into the YA genre and I loved visiting Myron, even if only for a few minutes here and there.

Finished audio 3-15-12, rating 3.75/5, fiction, pub. 2010

Unabridged audio 9 hours 30 minutes. Read by Hope Davis.

Mary Beth Latham has a nice family. She and her husband still share a romantic love life even with three teenagers in the house.  Their oldest daughter, 17 year old Ruby, and her long-time boyfriend Kiernan are breaking up, which is hard since he was like part of their family.  One of her 14 year old twins, Max, is having growing pains and might need to start seeing a therapist.  All pretty standard fare in a fiction novel.  Until…

Well, let’s just say, something happens.  Something that moves the story from a story about motherhood to one about family tragedy.  There is really no way to review this book without giving too much away, so I won’t give details, but I did mostly like it.  The shocking event wasn’t totally unforseen, but it threw the trajectory of the story off just enough to make the book seem like two separate books.  I had some issues with the story before and then after, but the book was ambitious.

I know I read reviews for this but because I waited a while to read it I didn’t remember them, which was a good thing.  If you like your fiction on the darker side I think this would appeal to you.

Have you read it?  Without giving too much away what did you think of the twist in the middle?  I give it a thumbs up just for shock value.

I thought the narration by Davis was excellent.

This was from my library.

Finished 2-23-12, rating 4/5, thriller, 465 pages, pub. 2003

Book 7 in the Jack Reacher series (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) (Book 5) (Book 6)

I don’t usually read a series the whole way through but after my last enjoyable outing with Reacher in Without Fail I just wanted a little more time with the studly renegade.

Jack sees a flash from the violent past as he’s walking down the street and is shocked enough to contact someone from his days in the military. His request for information sets off alarm bells in the FBI and Reacher is contacted for answers and then help.  He will be working off the books deep undercover for a drug kingpin and his family.

I love Reacher and his uncompromising view of the world.  He thinks bad things should happen to bad people and he doesn’t mind making those bad things happen, even permanently.  The body count in each book is fairly high and there’s usually a sexual conquest in each book.  I’ll be interested to see the total numbers for both when the series is over.  This wasn’t my favorite one, it was a little meandering, but I did like the flashbacks that allowed us to see Reacher in the military, before he became a lone wolf combing the country.

I think if you like the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford you’ll like this series too.

This book was from my personal library.

Finished audio 2-17-12, rating 4/5, suspense, pub. 2010

Listened to this on a Playaway.  9 hours unabridged.  Read by Angela Dawe.

Annie is a real estate agent and after an open house she finds herself kidnapped by ‘the freak.”  She is held captive for over a year, repeatedly raped and forced to endure truly unimaginable things.  You know right from the beginning that she survives and is somehow set free because the story is told by Annie’s sessions with a psychiatrist after the fact.

I may be one of the last bloggers to read this and I’m glad I finally got around to it.  I’d read so many reviews that I was amazed that a few things still surprised me.  For the gripping thriller everyone says it was, I thought it took awhile for me to really get interested in Annie’s story. It wasn’t until a certain point in her captivity (no spoilers here) that I really wanted to know that she would be okay.  I was worried about her!  Also, I was under the impression that this was mainly the story of her being kidnapped, but in reality much of the story deals with what happens after.  And there is no shortage of things that happen upon her return to the real world.  Just when you think Annie will catch a break, another twist will keep her and the reader guessing.  My heart really did break for Annie even if when we meet her in the sessions she has a hard edge and is pretty messed up.

I liked this debut novel even if there were a few things that kept me from loving it.  One of them being what my expectations were and what this story really was and the other being the somewhat slow start for me.  I think lovers of thrillers with sometimes graphic descriptions will love this one.  If you are more the cozy mystery type then this is probably one to skip.  I am looking forward to reading her next one.

I really liked the reading by Angela Dawes.  I thought her voice really captured Annie’s spirit, broken as it was.

I checked this out of the library.

Finished audio 2-11-12, rating 4/5, mystery, pub. 1923

Unabridged audio 6 hours. Read by Hugh Fraser.

Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings are off to France to answer a letter from a man in trouble, but they are too late.  Paul Renauld has been murdered and left in a shallow grave.  His wife is overwrought and his son is suspect, and what about his supposed mistress and her daughter?  There’s no shortage of suspects.

This is Christie’s third book and second with Poirot and narrated by Hastings.  Poirot grew on me a bit in this one.  I like smart guys and he wasn’t quite the insufferable know-it-all he was in the first (The Mysterious Affair at Styles).  This time around he had to outsolve the French Detective Geraud.

Hastings had a love interest and I wasn’t that crazy about his infatuation with the mysterious Cinderella.  The only other complaint I will make it about this cover and the title, really.  Renauld was found on the border of a golf course, but that is the only connection to golf.  Seems a bit misleading to me.

I thought the mystery was good and even though I had my suspicions about certain characters, the truth was so much better!  This was a fun audio book with a solid narration.

I read this for the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge, where I am reading all of her books in order.

Finished audio 1-31-12, rating 3/5, pub. 2007

Unabridged audio read by the author.  10 hours.

The three beautiful Heaney sisters are known as the Dreamy Heaneys.  They are the oldest of six in a tight-knit Chicago family in 1943.  As World War II rages on Kitty and Louise send their boyfriends off to fight Hitler and the sisters spend their nights at USO dances and writing letters to soldiers they’ve met.  Kitty finds herself compelled to aid the war effort and Louise is patiently waiting for Michael to come home so they can be married.  Their youngest sister just wants to make sure she never gets left behind and is in some ways more knowledgeable than her sisters.

This book has come at an interesting time for me.  My grandmother’s health is failing and listening to this book made me feel closer to her as I could so easily picture her life during her younger years.  Well, maybe not her life, but certainly the feeling of the country at the time.  Berg really drew me in and I learned so much about the girls who got left behind and what their lives were like when the men were off fighting.

I don’t read many WWII novels, just not my thing.  The only reason I chose this one is because I hope to read everything Berg has written, love her, and this was available at the library.  This is quite a departure from the other books but as I was reading I found myself thinking it might end up my favorite.  I loved the Heaney family and strong-willed Kitty, loyal Louise, and perky Trish.

Until the end.  Oh, the end.  I’m still trying to come to terms with it a day later.  I hated it.  I got what she was trying to do, but I hated it.  It made me dislike my favorite character of the book.  It was disappointing and, as you can see, I’m still ticked off about it.   As I looked at some of the reviews at B&N & Good Reads I know I am not alone.  I wasn’t even sure how to rate this book, a 4.5 for everything up until the terrible and rushed ending, which I’m giving a 1.

So, have you read it?  What did you think of the end?

I borrowed this audio from the library.