November #3 - FADE OUT

Title: Fade out

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: New American Library

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22866-6

Series or stand-alone: #7

Setting: Morganville, TX

1st Sentence:

Eve Rosser's high-pitched scream rang out through the entire house, bouncing off every wall, and, like a Taser applied to the spine, it brought Claire out of a pleasant, drowsy cuddle with her boyfriend.

Comments:

Life in Morganville with the undead continues for Claire, Eve, Shane and Michael (well, kinda for Michael)and as usual something goes wrong! Well, a lot of somethings...

I still enjoy this series after seven books and I look forward to the next one, KISS OF DEATH, out in 2010.

November #2 - ABANDONED

Title: Abandoned

Author: Cody McFadyen

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-553-80695-3

Series or stand-alone: #4

Setting: Los Angeles, CA

1st Sentence:

Present Day
Everyone is alone.

Comments:

Description from author's website:
For FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett, the wedding of one of their own was cause for celebration. Until a woman staggered down the aisle, incoherent, emaciated, head shaved, and wearing only a white nightgown.

No one knows who she is or where she’s come from—or why she’s chosen to appear in a church filled with law enforcement agents. Then a fingerprint check determines that the woman has been missing for nearly eight years—that once she was someone’s wife, someone’s mother…and a cop. Imprisoning her in a dark cell, depriving her of any contact with the outside world, her enigmatic captor was a man she didn’t know and who seldom spoke, who punished her only when she failed to follow his most basic instructions designed to keep her alive.

Cold, businesslike, seemingly indifferent to his victims, he’s a predator with an M.O. as terrifyingly inscrutable as any Smoky has ever encountered. As she fits together the pieces of what remains of his victim’s fractured life, a chilling picture emerges of a killer every bit as calculating, masterful, and professional as Smoky and the team she leads—a professional psychopath who doesn’t take murder personally and never makes a mistake.

There’s a reason he let one of his victims go free. And by the time Smoky pierces the darkness of his twisted mind, it may cost her more than she can bear to lose to escape. For a trap snapped closed the moment she took this case too much to heart.

This is an author that I have not tired of yet. I look forward to every single Smoky Barrett book, they are just that good.

November #1 - THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE

Title: The time traveler's wife

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Publisher: Harcourt Books

Copyright: 2003

ISBN: 978-0-15-602943-8

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Chicago, IL (Lincoln Park)

1st Sentence:

Prologue
It's hard being left behind.

Comments:

I had great reservations about this book because it was so long and different from what I typically read. However, I enjoyed it very much and it quickly was added as one of my top 5 favorite reads of 2009.

Henry is a chrono-displaced person - he time travels. He is also a librarian at the Newberry Library. He's been time traveling since he was a child - usually going back in time. During his travels he met Clare and theirs became a love story of great proportions.

I was reading this book while experiencing my first meetings with my newly found brother and so it took me quite a while to finish because I really had to focus on the time jumps that Henry made.

October #6 - ENDS OF THE EARTH

Title: Ends of the Earth

Author: Tim Downs

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59554-308-0

Series or stand-alone: #5

Setting: Sampson County, North Carolina

1st Sentence:

Podlesny, Russia
The old man looked at the driver of the car.

Comments:

"Bugman" Dr. Nick Polchak gets called into the homicide of a man shot in the back. The killed man's wife was Kathryn from the first book and Nick calls in Alena, the witch from book #4, along with her dogs, to help.

I put the "Bugman" books on my must-read list years ago. However, having said that, this book was a disappointment to me. In my reading I scowled several times and thought, "It doesn't happen that way! The wheels of justice do NOT turn that quickly!" and secondly, he ended this book with a cliffhanger which is something that I don't appreciate in books and has been a deal breaker for me in the past. I already have one author I will not read again because of a succession of cliffhangers. I really hope Mr. Downs doesn't make it a habit.

October #5 - THE WELL

Title: The well

Author: A.J. Whitten

Publisher: Graphia

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-547-23229-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Maine

1st Sentence:

Prologue
The boy would be his.

Comments:

Summary from author's website:
If Hamlet thought he had issues, he should have talked to Cooper Warner.
His mother’s normally sunny American-pie, car-pool driving demeanor has turned into something— Homicidal.

And what’s worse, she has help in her hunt for Cooper: A ravenous monster living at the bottom of the old well in the woods behind their house. She’s determined to deliver her 14-year-old son straight into the creature’s eager clutches.

Cooper’s doing his best to avoid becoming the monster’s next meal, but he can’t get the thing’s voice out of his head. It talks to him, taunts him day and night about the terrible destiny Cooper must fulfill. He turns to his girlfriend, Megan, for help, but then, to Cooper’s horror, the creature takes her prisoner.

Now, it’s up to Cooper to fend off his murderous mother, finish his Hamlet paper, and enter the putrid lair at the bottom of the well to rescue his girlfriend. And when he confronts the creature, this high school freshman must make the toughest decision of his life: kill, or be killed.

This horrific tale, inspired by Hamlet, puts a modern, terrifying twist on the Shakespearean classic.


This was a spooky YA book - a great read for the Halloween holiday and I really liked the Hamlet tie-in. The author is a pseudonym for author Shirley Jump writing with her teenage daughter, Amanda.

October #4 - THE CLEANUP

Title: The cleanup

Author: Sean Doolittle

Publisher: Dell

Copyright: 2006

ISBN: 0-440-24282-7

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Omaha, NE

1st Sentence:

Prologue
$avemore
1. Meat and frozen
Worth couldn't get over the looks people gave him.

Comments:

Matt Worth was busted down to working security detail at a grocery store after hitting a superior officer. When his co-worker Gwen comes to him for help, he obliges. But he may have gotten in over his head.

I like Doolittle's work. This book was kind of reminiscent of something by Elmore Leonard, dark and gritty with some humor thrown in. Worth's character made me laugh several times...out loud. I'll be reading more by this guy.

October #3 - DOOM WITH A VIEW

Title: Doom with a view

Author: Victoria Laurie

Publisher: New American Library

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22779-9

Series or stand-alone: #7

Setting: Royal Oak, MI

1st Sentence:

They say that we all face certain tests in life.

Comments:

Abby and her partner Candice Fusco travel to Washington D.C. to work a case of political official's missing kids, but one of the agents they must work with, Harrison, is a confirmed skeptic in Abby's abilities. She will have to change his mind.

The thing that like best about this series, other than the psychic angle, is how it moves forward, unlike some series where everything seems to stay the same. Abby and Dutch have moved forward in their relationship as have Abby and Candice with their business which seems to follow real life, something missing from a lot of series on the market.

October #2 - RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Title: Running out of time

Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks

Copyright: 1995

ISBN: 978-0-689-81236-1

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Clifton, IN

1st Sentence:

The light woke Jessie, though it was just a glimmer downstairs.

Comments:

Summary from book:
When a diptheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, 13-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1996 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children.

This book was fast paced with a very scary premise and a great "What if?" hook. I am a big fan of Peterson Haddix.

What would you do if you found out that in all actuality the present time was 150 years in the future from what you know?

October #1 - TOUCH

Title: Touch

Author: Francine Prose

Publisher: Harper Teen

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-06-137517-0

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Germantown, PA

1st Sentence:

"Are the boys who assaulted you present in the courtroom?"

Comments:

This book is a young adult book about ninth-grader Maise's concepts of friendship, loyalty, self-acceptance, and truth which are tested to their limit after a school bus incident with the three boys who have been her best friends since early childhood.

I enjoyed SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson better than this book, although it kept my attention. I thought there was a lot of repetition and could have been a short story but I would give it to any of my YA readers.

NANOWRIMO 2009

Starting tomorrow, November 1, 2009, I along with thousands of others will be taking on the challenge of creating a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. NaNoWriMo has become an annual event for me. I've been doing it since 2001 and have completed the challenge four out of seven years. This year, I hope to make it number five.
My book will be an account of the search and finding of my brother, given up for adoption before I was born. With nothing to go on, I pursued him for 21 years and finally found him on Facebook 13 days ago. The similarities are striking and we both said that I had to write about it because you really can't make this stuff up! I know I've got 50,000 words in me.
This year's for us, Blaine.

Stay tuned...

September #6 - FEAR THE WORST

Title: Fear the worst

Author: Linwood Barclay

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-553-80716-5

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Milford, CT

1st Sentence:

Prologue
The morning of the day I lost her, my daughter asked me to scramble her some eggs.

Comments:

Tim is just a regular guy who sells cars to get by. One day his daughter just vanishes. At the hotel where she works, no one has ever heard of her. No one has seen her and with every passing day, Tim becomes more frantic. How does he find her, when nothing is as it seems? This was a really good suspense story that had me guessing up to the end. Barclay has moved to my 'must-read' list.

September #5 - CHASING THE DEVIL

Title: Chasing the devil: My twenty-year quest to capture the Green River Killer

Author: Sheriff David Reichert

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

Copyright: 2004

ISBN: 0-316-15632-9

Series or stand-alone: True Crime

Setting: King County, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington

1st Sentence:

Prologue
The River
The Green River's source is one mile high in the Snoqualmie National Forest and just south of a spot on the map called Stampede Pass.

Comments:

The non-fiction account written by the man who was lead detective and later became sheriff, of the Green River Killer taskforce. Dave Reichert was on the case from when he received the first call about bodies on August 15, 1982 until a conviction was brought on November 5, 2003. This book is a very compelling albeit sad account of the Green River killings but a fine story of sticktoitiveness.

September #4 - PROJECT 17

Title: Project 17

Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz

Publisher: Disney * Hyperion Books

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-15231-2124-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand alone

Setting: Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, MA, near Boston

1st Sentence:

We each went to Danvers State Hospital, the old abandoned asylum on the hill, with the intention of spending one night before the place got torn down.

Comments:

Derik decides to make a film, REAL WORLD style, using the asylum as the backdrop and many interesting things happen during the night. The book is written from the POV of several characters and is in first-person present tense although I didn't notice it much. I thought it might be off-putting but I didn't have any problems. This would be a good read for the 13+ crowd and great for Halloween displays. A spooky book for tweens and teens.

A Good Excuse

Okay, so this time I have a very good excuse.

If you've been reading my posts for awhile, you may have remembered that I wrote a post back in June of 2008 pertaining to the book THE GIRLS WHO WENT AWAY and my own story about my search for a brother who was given up for adoption before I was born.

After 21 years of looking, I found him last week! It has been a crazy roller coaster of a ride! We are just starting to connect with each other and trying to catch up on nearly 40 years of missed experiences.

I am fortunate that my story turned out beautifully as there are so many adoption reunions that go horribly wrong. Laws need to be changed. There's no other way around it. And they need to be changed sooner rather than later. All you have to do is check an adoption registry to see how many people are searching for those affected by adoption.

I am of course keeping track of the books that I am reading (although they've been very few and far between over the past week!) and I will return to blogging shortly. Right after I learn everything there is to learn about the brother that I have found. Kidding! I'll be back soon.

September #3 - METHLAND

Title: Methland: The death and life of an American small town

Author: Nick Reding

Publisher: Bloomsburg

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59691-650-0

Series or stand-alone: Non-fiction

Setting: Oelwein, IA and Ottumwa, IA

1st Sentence:

Prologue

Home

As you look down after takeoff from O'Hare International Airport, headed west for San Francisco, California, it's only a few minutes before the intricate complexity of Chicago's suburban streets is overcome by the rolling swell of the prairie.

Comments:

This was a very sobering book, although the information wasn't new to me as Oelwein is about thirty minutes away from where I live and work. The author writes about how meth invaded Oelwein and other small towns across the country and nearly ruined them. I was interested to find out, however, that the first "kingpin" of meth in Iowa was not really a king, but a queen. And the sister to a native celebrity to boot. Reding interviewed many people, including the Mayor, Police Chief, Dr. Hallberg, Nathan Lein, some DEA members and several tweakers.
There were some incorrect local references, but overall, this was a compelling book.

September #2 - IT SUCKED AND THEN I CRIED

Title: It sucked and then I cried: How I had a baby, a breakdown, and a much needed Margarita

Author: Heather B. Armstrong

Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4169-3601-5

Series or stand-alone: Non-fiction

Setting: Salt Lake City, Utah

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Many years ago I started a personal website so that I could share my thoughts on pop culture with a few of my friends scattered across the country.

Comments:

This book is about Heather's decision to attempt mommyhood and all of the lying liars who led her astray.
Heather rocks! I lurve Chuck! I've enjoyed watching Leta grow up and now Marlo has come along. Jon makes me laugh, but not as much as Heather. And Coco, well, Coco is just crazy. That's all I need to say, really.

September #1 - KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND

Title: Kitty and the dead man's hand

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-446-19953-7

Series or stand-alone: #5

Setting: Las Vegas, NV

1st Sentence:

This was embarrassing.

Comments:

Kitty and Ben go to Las Vegas and Kitty does a live show at one of the hotels. A convention of bounty hunters is going on and Ben is kidnapped. Some of the characters try to kill Kitty but at least one has her back. A typical quick read and I'm on to the next. These books won't win a Pulitzer Prize, but this is one of my favorite current series.

August #6 - BEST FRIENDS FOREVER

Title: Best friends forever

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Atria Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-7432-9429-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Pleasant Ridge, Illinois and Key West, Florida

1st Sentence:

Dan Swansea came awake in the darkness, not knowing for a minute who he was or where.

Comments:

For whatever reason, I own several of Jennifer Weiner's books, but this is the first that I've sat down to actually read. I will have to fix that and soon!

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler become best friends when Val moves in across the street from Addie at age 9. But as they grow older, they move apart - Val is the popular cheerleader and Addie the fattie. Flash forward fifteen years when Val shows up on Addie's doorstep claiming something horrible has happened and only she can help.

The book examines the true strength of friendships and although I found some of the happenings within the book to be utterly preposterous, that's okay. I'm still breaking out some her older books.

August #5 - BEAT THE REAPER

Title: Beat the reaper

Author: Josh Bazell

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-316-03222-3

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Manhattan, NY

1st Sentence:

So I'm on my way to work and I stop to watch a pigeon fight a rat in the snow, and some fuckhead tries to mug me!

Comments:

This was a strange book and nearly a month later and I'm still at war with myself as to whether or not I truly liked it.

Peter Brown, aka Pietro Brwna, used to be a hitman for the mob. Killing people - bad people, lots of people. Then one day he went into the WITSEC program and emerged as Peter Brown, doctor. When a patient at the hospital recognizes him for who he once was, the race is on...to stay alive.

Like I said, it was strange. I liked it, I didn't love it, I made it through it, but I'm not sure I'd put it on my top 10 or even top 25 list for the year.

Maybe I'll like the movie better.

August #4 - THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE

Title: The weight of silence

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Publisher: Mira

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-61523-426-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Willow Creek, IA

1st Sentence:

Prologue

Antonia

Louis and I see you nearly at the same time.

Comments:

One August morning, Calli Clark and her best friend Petra go missing. Calli is, however, a selective mute and has been for three years since a traumatic experience when she was just four-years-old. The book is told from multiple points of view and although it's written in different tenses, it is a great suspense book as we look for the girls and learn what happened all those years ago to quiet Calli.

I would recommend this to my patrons who are fond of Jodi Picoult's books. The best thing about this book, really, is that the author is from Dubuque. I gotta support my Iowa authors and I've been really happy to see all the buzz this book has been getting.

August #3 - DARK PLACES

Title: Dark places

Author: Gillian Flynn

Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-307-34156-3

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Kansas City, MO and Kinnakee, KS

1st Sentence:

Libby Day
Now
I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Comments:

Libby was just seven-years-old when her family was slaughtered and her brother Ben convicted of the crime - devil worship and sex abuse rumors abounding. Now, present day, Libby is out of money and she is approached by a group who are willing to pay her to dig into her past and right some wrongs. And what she finds, may surprise even her.
This was a great story and probably the most "literary" book I've read all year.

My favorite sentence, from page 291:

The air conditioner was blasting, as was a sound system, playing cacophonous jazz, the soundtrack to a brain seizure.

Cacophony is one of my favorite words in the English language.

August #2 - IF THERE BE DRAGONS

Title: If there be dragons

Author: Kay Hooper

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 1984

ISBN: 978-0-553-59050-0

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Montana

1st Sentence:

"Please, Cody? You're the only troubleshooter I know."

Comments:

At the request of his friends, Cody goes to the wilds of Montana to check on Brooke Kennedy, a raven-haired, green-eyed psychic beauty with relationship issues. During the course of a blizzard, Cody breaks down Brooke's defenses - and in 251 pages, they live happily ever after.
There was an overabundant usage of the word "shutter", a lot of adverbs, and even though a psychic was involved, it was way too lovey-dovey ("I love you. I love you, too, darling.") for me. It was, however, a reissue of an older book, so I'm blaming that. I know Hooper is a much better writer than this book portrayed.

August #1 - UNDONE

Title: Undone

Author: Karin Slaughter

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-385-34196-7

Series or stand-alone: #1 (Merges the Will Trent series with the Grant County series)

Setting: Atlanta, GA

1st Sentence:

They had been married forty years to the day and Judith still felt like she didn't know everything about her husband.

Comments:

This book merges the Sara Linton series with the Will Trent/Faith Mitchell series and brings new life to both of them, IMO. I was kind of angry at the end of the last Grant County book but Sara is moving on and I see some possible romance in her future. Women are disappearing and being brutally tortured and the three of them lock together to figure it all out. There's a new twist for Faith and Will, well, he still can't read but that endears his character to me. I have a soft spot for those who rise above their challenges.

Technical difficulties

As you can see my blog looks a little different. Yes, I'm having technical difficulties. Colors have changed but everything else got sorted out. And although I have several books to post, I will not post until I get my blog figured out.

New books to come soon...

July #11 - A BAD DAY FOR SORRY

Title: A bad day for sorry

Author: Sophie Littlefield

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-55920-5

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Prosper, MO

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Whuppin' ass wasn't so hard, Stella Hardesty thought as she took aim with the little Raven .25 she took off a cheating son-of-a-bitch in Kansas City last month.
What was hard was making sure it stayed whupped.
Especially on a day when it hit a hundred degrees before noon. And you were having hot flashes. And today's quote on your Calendar for Women who Do Too Much read Find serenity in unexpected places.
"Fuck serenity," Stella said. And she shot the trailer.

Comments:

I had to write the author and ask for permission to post the entire prologue because that was really what made me fall in love with Stella Hardesty; that was all I had to read to know I would continue on with this book and then this series. Stella rocks. She helps abusive men see the error of their ways, by whatever means necessary. Stella is definitely NOT your typical character, both in her 50s and menopause (a deadly combo), but I think that is what endeared her to me so much. Well, that and her side profession. Gee, I wish I could have her job.

July #10 - TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

Title: Th1rteen R3asons why

Author: Jay Asher

Publisher: Razor Bill

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59514-171-2

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone YA book

Setting: All over the town

1st Sentence:

"Sir?" she repeats.

Comments:

From the book flap:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on the porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains that there are 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself - a truth he never wanted to face.

So, wow! This book was powerful! moving! stunning! spectacular! One of my top 3 favorites this year.

July #9 - LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS

Title: Living dead in Dallas

Author: Charlaine Harris

Publisher: Ace Books

Copyright: 2002

ISBN: 978-0-441-00923-7

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Bon Temps, LA and Dallas, TX

1st Sentence:

Andy Bellefleur was as drunk as a skunk.

Comments:

I read this years ago but I'm re-reading the series because I'm watching the TrueBlood series on HBO and after Season 1, I noticed some discrepancies and needed to refresh my mind. I've been a big fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books for years. I like the show, but I love the books.

July #8 - SWORN TO SILENCE

Title: Sworn to silence

Author: Linda Castillo

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-37497-6

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting:Painters Mill, OH

1st Sentence:

Prologue
She hadn't believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night.

Comments:

The peaceful town of Painter Mills, OH is changed when a serial killer returns after sixteen years and begins killing young women again. Kate Burkholder was one of the local Amish until she survived a brutal nightmare and left the Amish faith. Now, years later, she's returned to serve as her hometown's Chief of police and she is determined to catch the madman terrorizing her town.

A great story with good timing, but most importantly, I actually liked the characters, Kate, John Tomasetti and the whole crew (Glock, Pickles and Skid). Something that doesn't happen often for me.

July #7 - CHERRY BOMB

Title: Cherry Bomb

Author: JA Konrath

Publisher: Hyperion

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4013-0281-8

Series or stand-alone: #6

Setting: Chicago, IL

1st Sentence:

NOT INCLUDED FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET. GEESH, JA, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I CAN'T PUT THE FIRST SENTENCE ON MY BLOG...

Comments:

I'm sure Mr. Konrath wasn't thinking about THE HOOK, LINE AND STINKER when he wrote the first sentence of CHERRY BOMB, but he should have been.
Well, we find out who died at the end of book #5 in the first sentence of this book, Alexandra Kork is back to finish what she's started. Lt. Jacqueline Daniels teams up with some of her favorite people to play Alex's little game. There are a few small surprises, a few BIG surprises and a killer ending. This book has great pacing and JA's typical whit via his characters. I loved it!

July #6 - SWEETHEART

Title: Sweetheart

Author: Chelsea Cain

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-312-36847-0

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Portland, OR

1st Sentence:

Forest Park was pretty in the summer.

Comments:

The body of a woman is found in the park and it reminds Archie of his first case, the first victim of the Beauty Killer, Gretchen Lowell. Of course, it can't be her, because Gretchen is in prison, but along with Susan Ward, a newspaper journalist, they discover the identity which turns into another big case. Then Gretchen escapes, and Archie knows he is the only one who can stop her for good.

This book was another thrilling ride, but not for the weak of heart. One of my FB friends posted the question on his profile lately: Which fictional character would you least likely want as a boyfriend/girlfriend? My answer is Gretchen Lowell.

July #5 - LIFE ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR

Title: Life on the refrigerator door

Author: Alice Kuipers

Publisher: Harper Collins

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-06-137049-6

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone YA book

Setting: Duluth, MN

1st Sentence:

Hey Claire-Bear,

Comments:

This is a book told in letters or more specific, notes left on the refrigerator door, between a mother and daughter. Claire's mom, Elizabeth, is a single mom and a doctor and doing the best she can. One day she finds a lump and the story goes on from there, between mother and daughter, about coping, handling, adjusting, living and dealing.

I had mixed feelings about this book, some of which I found expressed in another blog post about this book. My biggest complaint: A doctor, an OB-GYN at that, who doesn't have a pager or cell phone? Totally unrealistic.

I guess the book couldn't have been an epistolary if phone conversations were included, but still...

July #4 - ACCIDENTALLY DEAD

Title: Accidentally dead

Author: Dakota Cassidy

Publisher: Penguin Group

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-425-22159-4

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Hackensack, NJ - Long Island, New York

1st Sentence:

"Marty?"

Comments:

This is the second in the series but the first one I read because it has, what else? Vampires. Nina Blackman is doing her job as a dental hygienist when she is bitten and turned into a vampire by one Gregori Statleon. Nina is a fun character - she curses a blue streak, she's confrontational - hey, she's a lot like me!

I would recommend to my other vampire reading friends, but I'd hesitate on offering to people I know who are offended by the F WORD. Nina's pretty fond.
I will go back and find the first book THE ACCIDENTAL WEREWOLF and the next book, THE ACCIDENTAL HUMAN, when time allows.

July #3 - ANSWERING 911: LIFE IN THE HOT SEAT

Title: Answering 911: Life in the hot seat

Author: Caroline Burau

Publisher: Borealis Books

Copyright: 2006

ISBN: 978-0-87351-569-6

Series or stand-alone: Non-fiction

Setting: White Bear Lake, MN

1st Sentence:

Maybe you and I have already spoken, but we didn't exchange names.

Comments:

Since I'm married to a police officer, and for the past 10 years I have heard and seen pieces of "the job", I thought that I could relate to this book. And I did. It is a memoir of a 911 dispatcher, who tells stories that any dispatcher or someone related to law enforcement, knows. Funny, sad, disturbing stories about what human beings can and will do to one another or just what can happen to them as individuals.

I thought the story was good but rated it low at a 3 1/4 star. I would have rated it higher, but the editing was poor and I kept getting yanked out of the book. I read it anyways and I enjoyed it but sometimes not enough is too much.

July #2 - THR3E

Title: Thr3e

Author: Ted Dekker

Publisher: West Bow Press

Copyright: 2003

ISBN: 1-59554-341-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Long Beach, CA

1st Sentence:

Friday, noon
The offices had no windows, only electric lanterns to light the hundreds of spines standing in their cherry wood bookcases.

Comments:

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up. 28-year-old theology student Kevin Parsons receives a call one day telling him to confess his sin or else something bad will happen. What happens next is a roller-coaster ride of a cat and mouse game between Kevin and someone named Slater, the crazy cat who knows Kevin's sin. This book was made into a movie, but I recommend reading the book first because the movie WILL give away the ending.

July #1 - NO TIME FOR GOODBYE

Title: No time for goodbye

Author: Linwood Barclay

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-553-59042-5

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Milford, CT

1st Sentence:

May 1983
When Cynthia woke up, it was so quiet in the house she thought it must be Saturday.

Comments:

One morning, 14-year-old Cynthia wakes up to find that her entire family has vanished - and never a trace of them - never to return. 25 years later, she'll learn the truth about what happened.

This was a real page-turner and one of my favorite's this year! I gave it 5 stars in my little, handy-dandy book log and I have both of his next books at home, ready to read.

June #7 - FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN

Title: Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Author: Janet Evanovich

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-38328-2

Series or stand-alone: #15

Setting: Trenton, NJ - THE BURG

1st Sentence:

When I was a kid, I was afraid of spiders and vegetables.

Comments:

It's Evanovich. What else can I say? I fell in love with this series what seems like 20 years ago and I look forward to each new one. This book has typical Stephanie Plum moments and she does some side work for Ranger. This book also features Lula a bit more prominently. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments for me and I was sorry to see it end. Well, I guess I'll just wait another year for #16...

June #6 - IMMORTAL DANGER

Title: Immortal danger

Author: Cynthia Eden

Publisher: Brava

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-7582-2006-8

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Los Angeles, Las Vegas

1st Sentence:

Prologue
So this is what death feels like.

Comments:

This book had a good storyline but the language at times bordered on pornographic, so much to the point that I did put it down several times. I would not recommend this to many of my vampire readers unless I knew they could take the language presented in this book without offense.

Adam's niece is kidnapped and he searches out Maya to help him track her. Maya used to be a cop before she was turned; her character is sexy and kick ass. For me, Maya's strong character was the saving grace for this book and I will probably not be reading more of this author's works.

June #5 - BONEMAN'S DAUGHTERS

Title: BoneMan's Daughters

Author: Ted Dekker

Publisher: Center Street

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59995-195-9

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Austin, TX

1st Sentence:

The day that Ryan Evans's world changed forever began as any other day he'd spent in the hot desert might have begun.

Comments:

This book is a real page-turner! Ryan is serving as Naval Intelligence in Iraq when he is captured and caused to witness some severe atrocities. When he finally makes it out and goes stateside, well more drama. There, the BoneMan has resumed his work and he has someone close to Ryan and engages him in a cat and mouse game.
The book has excellent plotting and moves very fast! I couldn't put it down! One of my favorites of 2009.

June #4 - GONE

Title: Gone

Author: Michael Grant

Publisher: Harper Teen

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-144876-8

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting:Perdido Beach, CA

1st Sentence:

One
299 hours, 54 minutes
One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.

Comments:

From the book:

In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have "the Power" and are able to perform supernatural feats and those who do not.

Reminiscent of LORD OF THE FLIES and with several stereotypical characters, although it was large book (coming in at 558 pages!) it kept my interest and I'll be looking for the second book HUNGER to see if some questions are answered as it just kind of ended. Then I found out it is supposed to be a six-book series, so I guess that answers one question!

Another reviewer said it reminded them of the book THE GIRL WHO OWNED A CITY. Great, another book to look up! Just what I need...

June #3 - OVER MY DEAD BODY

Title: Over my dead body

Author: Michele Bardsley

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22677-8

Series or stand-alone: #5

Setting: Broken Heart, OK

1st Sentence:

Friday, June 21
Killing Braddock Hayes changed my life - such as it was - forever.

Comments:

Simone Sweet is the local mechanic in Broken Heart and has been working on the Invisishield with Brady Hayes. However, she has a secret and she'll do anything to protect it and her daughter. Then her ex-husband shows up and things go all kinds of crazy. This was a quick, fun installment in the series.

Michele's first book made me blush from head to toe; now I rip through them with no problem. Not too much romance; not too much vampire. I think Ms. Bardsley doles out a great combination to satisfy both camps.

June #2 - CARPE CORPUS

Title: Carpe Corpus

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Nal Jam

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22719-5

Series or stand-alone: #6

Setting: Morganville, TX

1st Sentence:

"Happy birthday, honey!"

Comments:

Bishop is ruling with a heavy hand and keeping a death grip on the town. But a resistance is brewing and people of importance are trying to bring him down. Vampires are still going crazy and he may be the only one to help them.

This book had the intro to some great new characters. My favorite was Ada.

I've been reading vampires since before they were cool and this is one of my top favorite YA vampire series.

June #1 - KITTY AND THE SILVER BULLET

Title: Kitty and the silver bullet

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-446-61875-5

Series or stand-alone: #4

Setting: Denver, CO

1st Sentence:

I hated the smell of this place: concrete and institutional.

Comments:

A good installment in this series. Kitty is called back to Denver because her mom is sick and she finds herself in the middle of some vampire wars. This book had a lot going on to progress the series and I'm looking forward to #5.

May #8 - BITE ME

Title: Bite me

Author: Parker Blue

Publisher: Bell Bridge Books

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-9802453-8-7

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: San Antonio, TX

1st Sentence:

The stench of rotting garbage filled my nostrils as I scoured the streets of San Antonio for something to take the edge off.

Comments:

Valentine, or Val for short, is part demon and she uses that to find and kill vampires. When her parents kick her out she goes to work with the Supernatural Crime Unit and partners with Dan, but at her young age she's having a hard time dealing with a lot of things and it appears there is a vein of rogue vampires waiting to get their butts kicked and she thinks she'll help them out with that!

It was a good story with potential. I found it dragged in a few spots but overall it was a pretty quick read.

May #7 - ADDITION

Title: Addition

Author: Toni Jordan

Publisher: William Morrow

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-158257-8

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone debut novel

Setting: Glen Iris, Australia

1st Sentence:

It all counts.

Comments:

Grace has OCD. She is a counter and a lot of her quirks resonated deeply with me, also a sufferer of OCD. The book is chock full of information of interesting people I'd never read about or even heard of and it's about Grace trying to sustain a normal relationship without losing herself.

May #6 - THE 8TH CONFESSION

Title: The 8th Confession

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-316-01876-0

Series or stand-alone: #8

Setting: San Francisco, CA

1st Sentence:

The old chrome-yellow school bus crawled south on Market Street at half past seven that May morning.

Comments:

This is #8 in the Women's Murder Club books and someone is killing off the rich and elite and there are no signs or symptoms of foul play. In a side story, Cindy finds a homeless man beaten and shot several times and tries to find out who he is.

The book has an interesting choice of murder weapons.

I was amazed at how boring the cover was though. I suppose when you're James Patterson, you no longer have to put any effort into the packaging of a book because people are going to buy it. I get them all from my library so it's no money out of my pocket but I was a little disappointed in this. But I like Lindsay and crew so I will continue to read this series, boring cover or not. I just won't buy 'em.

May #5 - YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME

Title: You are so undead to me

Author: Stacey Jay

Publisher: Razor Bill

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59514-225-2

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Carol, AR

1st Sentence:

Prologue
The cold wind swept across the hill, whistling through the headstones that poked from the ground like dozens of crooked baby teeth.

Comments:

Summary from the book:

Megan Berry, a Carol, Arkansas high school student who can communicate with the dead, must team up with her childhood friend Ethan to save homecoming from an army of flesh-hungry zombies.

Yeah, that about sums it up! This was a fun story with a believable main character (she sounded 15-16) who was dealing with a responsibility that was handed to her at birth. I'll be looking to read the second in the series.

May #4 - CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

Title: Conspiracy of silence

Author: Martha Powers

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-1-933515-18-2

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Grand Rapids, MN

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Clare Prentice sat on the edge of the examination table, the blue hospital gown tied at her neck.

Comments:

This is one of the few books that I've read which deal with adoption which is a subject near and dear to my heart. The writing was okay; I found it to be very similar to Mary Higgins Clark's style. I remember the older books by Powers' as being more suspenseful, but it's been years since I read them so my memory may be skewed.

May #3 - THE BAR CODE TATTOO

Title: The bar code tattoo

Author: Suzanne Weyn

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Copyright: 2004

ISBN: 0-439-39562-3

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting:Year 2025

1st Sentence:

Outside, rain drummed against the window.

Comments:

Kayla Reed is about to turn 17, the age when she can get her barcode tattoo. However, when a traumatic thing happens in her life, it triggers an expanding suspicion of the tattoo or "too", in this book. Along with a small group of other teens opposed to the tattoo, they work together to find out what's up with the barcode and Global-1, a company which seeks to control the world.

This was quite scary in a 1984 Orwellian way but a very interesting concept. I've put #2 on my TBR list.

May #2 - REVENGE OF THE SPELLMANS

Title: Revenge of the Spellmans

Author: Lisa Lutz

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4165-9338-6

Series or stand-alone: #3

Setting: San Francisco, CA

1st Sentence:

Therapy Session #19
[Partial transcript reads as follows:]
Dr. Rush: 'Two weeks ago you mentioned that you were being blackmailed.'

Comments:

I read all three of the books in the series thus far in one month I liked them that much and I look forward to more.

If I had to pick a favorite thing from this book it would be their acronym used to describe what Izzy's brother goes through: MILFO (Mid-life freak out!)

Keep 'em coming, Lisa!

May #1 - AFRAID

Title: Afraid

Author: Jack Kilborn

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-446-53593-9

Series or stand-alone: Possibly #1 or stand-alone

Setting: Safe Haven, WI

1st Sentence:

The hunter's moon, a shade of orange so dark it appeared to be filled with blood, hung fat and low over the mirror surface of Big Lake McDonald.

Comments:

Jack Kilborn is the pseudonym of one of my favorite authors, JA Konrath and this book is the first in a more horror-like series.

A helicopter crashes in Safe Haven, WI and it all goes to hell from there.

A great story but very graphic and violent. I would not recommend this to my weak of heart patrons. I prefer his alter egos Jack Daniels series better, but I will look for the next book written by this author.