Tag: Books

The 6th Target, by James Patterson

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Cover ImageFinished 6-15-09, rating 3/5, mystery, pub. 2007

This is the 6th book in the Women’s Murder Club series

I dropped my eyes to the victim, a large African American woman, her face mostly covered with an oxygen mask, an IV line running into her arm,  Blood soaked the sheet tucked tightly over her body.

I felt a pain in my chest, my heart catching on a full second before my brain put it together.

The victim was Claire Washburn!

My best friend had been shot on the ferry!

Chapter 4

When a madman goes on a shooting rampage on the ferry Lindsay is called in and she finds Claire a victim.  So, begins another installment of these four friends tackling the bad guys of San Francisco.  While Claire fights for her life in the hospital and Lindsay is on a mission to find the ferry killer, Cindy is having trouble at her new apartment building.  Yuki is charged with the task of prosecuting the killer – a seemingly open and shut case.

On a personal level, Lindsey is back to her detective ways and teamed up with a new partner, the ladies man Conklin.  And she is having problems with Joe.  Problems I never really understood, but, oh well.

My complaint about this series hasn’t changed all that much.  The relationship between the women is off and that doesn’t really seem to get better.  But after reading the 5th book a day before this one, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised to find the writing not nearly so off putting.  I think the writing was better and yet I liked it less.  Go figure.  For me there were a few too many things going on in this one.  It was still a page turner, but I’m writing this two days later and I can barely remember it.  It was good, but not memorable.

5th Horseman, by James Patterson

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Cover ImageFinished 6-14-09, rating 3.5/5, mystery, pub. 2006

5th book in the Women’s Murder Club series

In the 1820’s, a couple of sweethearts named Burke and Hare were in the cadaver procurement business.  For a while, they dug up bodies for sale to Edinburgh’s medical schools – until they realized how easy it was to produce fresh corpses by grabbing live victims and sitting on their chests until they died.

Burking was still in good standing today.  Postpartum mommies do it to their kids more often than you’d ever want to know.  Slip the child between the mattress and box spring, sit on the bed.

If you can’t expand your chest, you can’t breathe.

Chapter 12

 Lindsay, Claire, Cindy, and Yuki are back in a drama that starts with patients dying in the hospital at an alarming rate and continues with young escorts being murdered, dressed up and left in fancy cars to be found.  Right from the beginning it turns personal, when Yuki’s mother is admitted into the hospital that is being sued for malpractice and becomes one of the victims of a hospital murderer.  If you are already scared of going to the hospital, this book will not help you.

Lindsay is having her own doubts about her promotion and asks to be put back on the street, but her boss says no.  Sexy Joe is back and more lovable than ever.  Considering we’ve had little time to get to know Yuki, it’s too bad this book did not show her in any other condition than mourning and depression. 

I liked the storylines and how the two big cases worked together.  This was more about the cases than the women.

This one did strike me as more poorly written than the others – and that’s saying something.  The language and banter were beyond cheesy and it was hard to find a sentence over 5 words or a paragraph with 5 sentences.  After a hundred pages or so I was able to laugh at the absurd conversations and lack of any depth and just enjoy the story. 

This series is not a favorite of mine, but they are page-turners and quick reads.  And summer is the perfect time for those.  Come back tomorrow for my review of The 6th Target.

Teaser Tuesday – Deep Shaker

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 teasertuesdays31Grab your current read

  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  • Hosted my Miz B

But as attractive as it is, I’ve never gotten over the feeling that architecturally it belongs in another city, that it was picked up from someplace like downtown Houston or Phoenix and dropped into the middle of Cleveland.  It certainly clashes with the gothic grandeur of the gray arches and heaven-reaching green spire of the Cathedral of St. John a block away on Superior.

Deep Shaker by Les Roberts, Chapter 4

Cover Image

A whole series of mysteries by a guy who loves Cleveland.  What are you reading?

EDITED TO ADD–He is talking about the Galleria on 9th and St. Clair, downtown Cleveland.

New York, New York Quiz

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KATHY from Bags, Books, and Bon Jovi  really knows her New York literature and movies!

My New York trip inspired me to have a quiz featuring some of the more prominent books set in in the New York City area.  I’ve given you a quote from the book AND a photo from the movie.  Here’s how to play…Identify these famous novels by telling me the book and author.  Leave a comment with the # of the first line and the title of the book and I’ll cross it off the list.  No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun!  

1. “I love New York on summer afternoons when everyone’s away. There’s something very sensuous about it – overripe, as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands.” The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald – Kathy

2. I don’t want to own anything until I know I’ve found the place where me and things belong together.  I’m not quite sure where that is just yet.  But I know what it’s like…. It’s like Tiffany’s…. Not that I give a hoot about jewelry.  Diamonds, yes.  But it’s tacky to wear diamonds before you’re forty…  Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote – Kathy

3. Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.   The Godfather by Mario Puzo – Kathy

4. Over the past ten years, for the first time, intelligence had become socially correct for girls.  Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe – Kathy

5. “It seems stupid to have discovered America only to make it into a copy of another country.”  The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton – Barbara

6. “There is just this for consolation: an hour here or there, when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we’ve ever imagined , though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning, we hope, more than anything, for more. Heaven only knows why we love it so.”  THE HOURS BY MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

7.  I was leaning against the bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping, when a girl got up from the table where she had been sitting with three other people and came over to see me. She was small and blonde, and whether you looked at her face or at her body in powder-blue sports clothes, the result was satisfactory. “Aren’t you Nick Charles?” she asked.  The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett – Kathy

8.”…there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.”  American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis – Kathy

9. I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline. Particularly when one can’t see the details. Just the shapes. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York and the will of man made visible. What other religion do we need? And then people tell me about pilgrimages to some dank pesthole in a jungle where they go to do homage to a crumbling temple, to a leering stone monster with a pot belly, created by some leprous savage. Is it beauty and genius they want to see? Do they seek a sense of the sublime? Let them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel. When I see the city from my window – no, I don’t feel how small I am – but I feel that if a war came to threaten this, I would throw myself into space, over the city, and protect these buildings with my body.  THE FOUNTAINHEAD BY AYN RAND

10. Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse had signed a lease on a five-room apartment in a geometric white house on First Avenue when they received word, from a woman named Mrs. Cortez, that a four-room apartment in the Bramford had become available.  Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin – Kathy

So, get to guessing!

Lethally Blonde, by Kate White

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Cover ImageFinished 6-13-09, rating 3.5/5, mystery, pub. 2007

Book #5 in the Bailey Weggins mystery series

It all started with a coincidence.  Not one of those totally creepy coincidences that make you feel as if someone has just walked across your grave.  In fact, later I could see that the phone call I got that late summer night wasn’t all that unexpected – but at the time it made me catch my breath.  And, of course, it was the start of everything horrible that happened…

first paragraph

Bailey Weggins is a chic New York gal in her 30’s with a fun job and a revolving door of hot men.  She also seems to find trouble and danger if there is any to be found.  In this latest installment she is contacted by a hunk from her past, who just happens to be the next big It guy in a new prime time tv show.  Chris is worried that his friend and fellow actor, Tom, has disappeared.  The police aren’t too concerned about it and he knows that Bailey is a great one to get to the bottom of the things.  Bailey agrees to help and the two also fall back into bed together.  As her inquiries lead to a dead body, spooky calls, druggings, and more death, Bailey wonders if she’s in over her head.

I liked that this mystery took her away from her job at the magazine a bit and we were able to get a better feel for the city.  This was perfect for me since I picked it up and started reading it while in New York. 

Bailey is fun.  She is the hip New Yorker that you’d want to be friends with and share juicy stories.  And the mystery is good too- I didn’t have any idea until very close to the reveal at the end.  Not only is her ex Chris back, but another ex, Beau, is back and looking Bailey’s way.  Not sure how much bed hopping is appropriate, but it was close to my limit.  If you’ve never been the big town girl with a cool job, mysteries to solve, and attractive men in your bed then Bailey is just what you need.  Live vicariously through her.

Twelfth Card, by Jeffery Deaver

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Cover ImageFinished 6-9-09, rating 3/5, mystery/ thriller, pub.2005

#6 Lincoln Rhymes series

“You like that actor broke his neck?” She slurped her coffee, added more sugar.  Slurped again.

“That’s right”

“An’ you can’t move nothin’?”

“Not much.”

“Damn”

“Keesh,” Geneva whispered. “Chill, girl.”

“Just, you know, damn.”

Chapter4

Paraplegic Lincoln Rhymes is back in his Upper West side townhouse with his usual cast of of friends.  This time he is called to investigate an attempted attack in Harlem on 16 year old Geneva Settle.  Geneva was researching her ancestor, Charles Singleton who had been a freed slave 140 years ago, when she had eluded an attack using her street smarts.  The attacker goes on to kill a bystander and a police officer at the scene, so it is all hands on deck to protect the girl and to find out what had made her a target.

Lincoln is also dealing with some personal insecurities.  After months of machines working his paralyzed body it is finally time to find out if it has made any difference and he is willing to use any excuse to put this off.  Sellitto has a close encounter with the killer and has become a bit gun-shy, a bad thing when you are chasing dangerous men and women everyday and a good way to get yourself killed.  Kara, the musician from the last book makes a  small appearance.

This was my least favorite of the series so far for a few reasons, but what it all comes back to is that is felt more like a politically correct history lesson than a thrilling mystery.  The slang used by Geneva and her best friend seemed stereotypical and tired.  The old mystery involving  the freed slave also working with the black activists of the time was not interesting enough to keep the story moving.  I’m no lawyer, but the end seemed very outlandish to me.

Deaver’s books are always well written, fast-paced, and full of many twists and turns.  This one was too, it just wasn’t quite up to the level of his others.  And it did seem very appropriate to be reading this while I was in New York!

The Vanished Man, by Jeffery Deaver

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Cover ImageFinished 6-3-09, rating 4.5/5, mystery/thriller, pub. 2003

This is the 5th book in the Lincoln Rhymes series

Kara asked, “You know what illusion is?”

“David Copperfield,” Sachs replied, shrugging, “Houdini.”

“Copperfield, yes.  Houdini, no – he was an escapist.  Well, illusion’s different from sleight of hand or close-in magic, we call it.  Like…” Kara held up a quarter in her fingers, change from the coffee.  She closed her palm and when she opened it again the coin was gone.

Sachs laughed.  Where the hell had it gone?

“That was sleight of hand.  Illusion is tricks involving large objects or people or animals.  What you just described, that that killer did, is a classic illusionist trick.  It’s called the Vanished Man.”

Chapter 7

Paraplegic forensic specialist, Lincoln Rhymes is back with his girlfriend and partner in crime Amelia Sachs.  This time the NYPD has them working on a case involving a man who proves to be so illusive that he can vanish from a room and be standing right in front of you and you wouldn’t know it.  Based on some evidence they found at the scene, they decided that he was a magician and brought in Kara, an aspiring magician, to help them figure out this killer’s next move. 

This is an over-the-top mystery that has more twits and turns than probably necessary, but every one was exciting.  I never quite got a handle on what the killer was up to and I was surprised right up to the end.  Note that I did mention is was over-the-top.  Many of the twist stretched the limits of believability, but that’s what made this fun for me.

I loved the insights into the world of illusion.  The killer also uses mentalism.  So, if you like the television show The Mentalist you will appreciate this guide to his tricks! 

I also really liked the growing, yet understated relationship between Lincoln and Amelia.  And Amelia’s quest to become a Sergeant really made me root for her in a way that I haven’t in earlier books.

If you like CSI (any of them) this is the series for you!  As always, start at the beginning, The Bone Collector.

9 in ’09 with Nina Vida

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NINA VIDA This week I asked the author Nina Vida to answer a few questions.  She is the author of seven books and gives hope to anyone who thinks it is too late to start a writing career.  Visit her website and her blog to learn more about Nina and her books.

Thanks for stopping by Nina!

1. You began your writing career after your children were out of the house and some encouragement from your husband.  Can you tell us a little about how you became a published author?

When the children went to college, so did I, majoring in English, with no thought of writing anything more complicated than a grocery list.  As part of my course work I was required to take a creative writing class.  I said to myself, oh, no, creative writing, what do I do, what do I say.  But I was stuck with it.  So I wrote an essay about my sister, who had had heart surgery at age 38 and how it had affected the way I looked at life and health and everything else.  The professor loved it, said it made her cry.  My husband (who had been a Navy journalist) read it and said he thought I should try my hand at writing a novel.  I had always been a fanatic reader, but reading a book and writing one are two very different pursuits, and I couldn’t conceive of myself as a writer, so I resisted.  I told my husband that writers were born writing, they wrote books and poems in the cradle, that writing was a sacred profession, not to be taken lightly.  He wouldn’t give up.  Finally I agreed to try, and that was how it began.  Every evening my husband read what I had written that day, and then we discussed it, and after a while I began to get the hang of it. 

2. How was the writing experience different from your first book to your last?

The writing experience from the first book to the seventh was a tremendous learning curve.  Whatever talent a writer has, nothing worthwhile is accomplished without craft, and craft only comes with writing, writing and more writing.  Which is what I did.  I kept writing, and with each book I struck out farther from shore, began exploring stylistic tropes, began thinking in terms of imagery and metaphor, but always wanting to tell a story and tell it beautifully.

3. What is the best writing advice you ever received?

The best writing advice I ever got was from my husband at a time when prospects for getting my first novel published looked bleak.  “Your time will come,” he said, “and in the meantime where else can you get all these cheap thrills?”

4. How do you feel about the new electronic readers?  Do you have a Kindle or plan on buying one?

I don’t have a Kindle, but my husband does, and he loves it.  I’ve learned never to say no to anything new, but right now I still like the smell of a book and the feel of the pages turning beneath my fingers.  I even like the dog-eared look of a well-read book. 

5. You’ve written books in a few different genres.  What is your favorite genre to read?

 I read mostly literary or mainstream fiction, but an author who uses language distinctively, who has genuine insight into his characters, who uses dialogue in a realistic way, and who knows how to tell a story without padding the book to death with unnecessary exposition – that’s my kind of author, my kind of book.

6. I love quotes.  Do you have a favorite?

A favorite quote:  Take nothing on its face; take everything on its evidence.

7. What are you currently reading?

I just finished “The House on Fortune Street” by Margot Livesey.

8. If you were trapped in the life of one fictional character who would you choose?

Elizabeth Bennett in “Pride and Prejudice,” because she’s so smart!

9. And finally, what are you working on right now and do you have a book hitting the shelves soon?

I’ve recently finished work on a novel about Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II.

Books by Nina- The Texans, The End of Marriage, Between Sisters, Goodbye Saigon, Maximilian’s Garden, Return from Darkness, Scam

Comfort & Joy, by Kristin Hannah

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Cover ImageFinished audio 6-2-09, rating 3/5, romance, pub. 2005

Joy is facing her first Christmas since she came home one day to find her sister in bed with her husband.  As she is trying to come to terms with the holiday her sister, Stacey, shows up at her house, pregnant and offering a wedding invitation.  Instead of facing the betrayal of the two people she has loved most marrying each other she heads to the airport, ready to hop on a plane to anywhere.  She chooses a charter flight to Canada and the plane adds to her run of bad luck by crashing. 

Joy walks away from the crash and takes refuge in an old fishing resort in the rain forest of the Pacific Northwest.  There she is befriended by a boy who has just lost his mother and develops a crush on the boy’s father.  Joy faces the truth of life back home and coming to terms with her sister.

I found this novel a bit tedious for the first few discs, but it was easy to follow (you could almost say too easy) and so it worked out okay for car listening.  Then about halfway through there was an interesting twist that awakened my curiosity and imagination.  Unbelievable, yes, but romantically appealing. 

My biggest problem with the book was Joy’s relationship with her sister.  It was completely unbelievable.  I don’t have a sister, but if this sister says she loves you and is your closest friend and then not only sleeps with your husband, but continues the relationship, even starting a new family with him, well, I’d have to say your sister may not love you all that much.  But somehow Joy attempts to forge ahead with a relationship and it seems so silly.  It seemed like the moral of the story and yet it was completely unbelievable.

It was very uneven storytelling.  I didn’t mind listening to it in the car, wouldn’t really recommend it.

Throw Out Fifty Things, by Gail Blanke

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Cover ImageFinished 5-31-09, rating 2.5/5, organization/self-help, pub. 2009

Because you’re free and clear now, because you know who you are and what you stand for, because your energy and spirit are renewed, because you have gifts to give and the courage to give them, it’s time to make your declaration to the world.  It’s time for you to come forward, without waiting to be invited, and state your purpose.

Chapter 25

The subtitle of this book is Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life.  The author goes through your house, room by room, and tells you where and how to find things that can be thrown away, given away or sold.  Emotions. positive and negative, can be linked to the stuff we keep and you want to keep only the stuff that brings you happiness and represents who you are right now.

The second half of the book all deals with the emotional clutter.  Letting go of regrets, letting go of thinking the worst, and letting go of the need to feel secure are just a few of the kinds of chapters you’ll find.  They are filled with stories of people who the author has helped.  And there are lots of stories.

From the title of the book and the fact that I found it in the organization section of the library I was expecting something different that what I got.  The early sections that dealt with actual, physical things was good, even if maybe there were a few too many stories.  I liked the some of the tips and found them helpful.  But the second half was a complete self-help book urging you to change yourself for the better.  Needless to say this optimistic cheerleading was not why I was reading the book and I didn’t like it at all.  It’s almost like she ran out of actual organization ideas and decided to make the second half a motivational speech.

There are many organization books out there better than this one.  If you are looking to change your life then maybe you will enjoy this book more than I did.

Since there are lots of book lovers out there I am going to include one thing from the book I really appreciated.  www.booksforsoldiers.com is a way for you to clear out old books and ship them to the men and women protecting our country.  I haven’t done it yet, but plan on seeing what I can do in the near future.  You should check it out too.