March #5 - HANDLE WITH CARE

Title: Handle with care

Author: Jodi Picoult

Publisher: Atria Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-7432-9641-0

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Bankton, New Hampshire

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Charlotte
February 14, 2002
Things break all the time.

Comments:

A short synopsis from the author's website:

When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

This is my favorite book read this year! There are some touchy medical ethics involved, some personal moral issues and a strong writing of family dynamics and failed relationships. In addition, the struggle of a family living with OI was written in such a way that I hope it spurs others to educate themselves on this issue.

March #4 - RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

Title: Run for your life

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-316-01874-6

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: NYC, New York

1st Sentence:

Getting stuck on a bus in New York City, even under normal circumstances, is a lesson in frustration.

Comments:

The bad guy, aka "The Teacher" is handing out a lesson in civility to the snobby and wealthy elite, but do his targets have a relationship? That is Michael Bennett's job to figure out as he traipses around the city, when not dealing with his kids, who are sick. This book was slower moving for me than the first book in the series but it's one of Patterson's better series IMHO, so I will continue to look for the continuations.

March #3 - LESS THAN DEAD

Title: Less than dead

Author: Tim Downs

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-1-59554-307-3

Series or stand-alone: #4

Setting: Endor, VA

1st Sentence:

Northern Virginia, 1998
The sheriff looked out over the crowded backyard.

Comments:

Senator Braden is paying for the construct of the new Patriot Center outside Endor, and a worker uncovers an unknown graveyard. Double bodies are found stacked on top of some of the graves, and Dr. Nick Polchak is called in to investigate. This was another solid Nick Polchak book; I love his sense of humor. Some passages made me snort, some made me chortle. I'd read all his books just for the one-line zingers he comes up with!

March #2 - THE GRAND FINALE

Title: The grand finale

Author: Janet Evanovich

Publisher: Harper Collins

Copyright: 1988, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-06-059875-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Seattle, WA

1st Sentence:

Berry Knudsen eased her battered army surplus Jeep over the curb, pulled the emergency brake on, and studied the only mailbox in the deserted cul-de-sac.

Comments:

This was the 10th book in the lost Janet Evanovich romantic reprints. While delivering pizza to Jake, Berry meets and falls head over heels for him although she tries to resist because he doesn't fall into her "plan". Can she get over that little detail and be happy or will she live a life like the three senior ladies she's taken in?
It was a quick read but I'll be glad to just go back to reading the Stephanie Plum books because they really are the best by this author.
Who would name a child or adult for that matter, Lingonberry? Janet Evanovich, that's who!

March #1 - KITTY TAKES A HOLIDAY

Title: Kitty takes a holiday

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Warner Books

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 0-446-61874-8

Series or stand-alone: #3

Setting: Outside Clay, Colorado

1st Sentence:

She runs for the joy of it, because she can, her strides stretching to cover a dozen feet every time she leaps.

Comments:

After book #2, Kitty has gone to ground with the hopes of writing a book, when Cormac drops off an unexpected package for her to tend to. On top of that, someone is trying to scare her into leaving but there is something even more dangerous lurking around. A fascinating topic in the book: skinwalkers.

February #6 - FACE OF A KILLER

Title: Face of a killer

Author: Robin Burcell

Publisher: Harper

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-112230-9

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: San Francisco, CA

1st Sentence:

Sydney Fitzpatrick eyed the bottle of scotch, watched the bartender pour the amber liquid into her glass, and wondered how much of it she'd have to drink to forget it had been twenty years since her father had been killed.

Comments:
A hook of a first sentence!

From the author's website:

Facts lie . . . Two decades after the murder that shattered her world, FBI agent and forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick confronts her father's killer face to face. But the inmate who's scheduled to be executed for the crime is not what she expected. Heightening Sydney's unease, she receives a photograph sent to her by a man just prior to his suicide, causing her to question everything she believed about her father. Now she wants the truth—no matter where it's hidden, no matter how painful . . . or dangerous. But Sydney Fitzpatrick is about to trespass on sacred ground. And being a federal agent will offer her no security or shelter if it's her own government that wants her dead.

I have such a hard time with some books knowing what to write without giving away too much information. This was one of them. I liked it and I really liked Sydney's character. I'm afraid I liked the Kate Gillespie books better, but because I am a fan of the author, I am willing to give this series a shot.