Killer Instinct

I was a virgin to Robert W. Walker's books but that's not a bad thing because now I'm not any longer and I really enjoyed myself. A LOT.

KILLER INSTINCT (Diamond Books, c1992, ISBN 1-55773-743-6)is the first book in Walker's Jessica Coran series. Dr. Jessica Coran is an FBI medical examiner, brought into a case by Otto Boutine, featuring a killer who is draining his victims of their blood in vampire-like fashion across the Midwest.

The book begins:

Something akin to a fetid spirit moved past the sheriff and his deputy when the warped cabin door creaked open, revealing a black crypt.

For me, this was a fast-paced story with interesting characters and a good, solid plot. The only thing I didn't care for was Walker's overabundant use of ellipses (you know...the dot dot dot...thing) which distracted me to a great degree but I continued on to enjoy the story, trying to ignore the punctuation until I was finished with the reading. Sometimes I succeeded...sometimes not.
I loved that the book featured the Midwest (Wisconsin, Iowa City, IA and Chicago, IL)since this is where I make my home. I always find it refreshing to see in print a book that isn't set in New York, California, Florida or Texas.
I have given the author the benefit of the doubt as this book was published fourteen years ago and writing styles change as an author continues with his/her craft. Because of that, I will read the next book in the series because I truly enjoyed Dr. Coran's story.
She's the kind of gal with which I'd get together to drink coffee and discuss disembowelments. That's my kind of girl.

Triptych

Karin Slaughter is darker, bleaker and better with this stand-alone, TRIPTYCH (Delacorte Press, c2006, ISBN 978-0-385-33946-9), in my opinion.
The book begins:

Detective Michael Ormewood listened to the football game on the radio as he drove down DeKalb Avenue toward Grady Homes.

John Shelley is newly paroled from prison after doing a stint of 25 years after his conviction for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Mary Alice Finney. But there's a problem for John: similar murders are occuring and the similarities could land John back to prison, someplace he does not what to go.

Angie Polaski works undercover for the Vice Squad and meets John while working the streets and Will Trent is an agent with the GBI,(Georgia Bureau of Investigation) brought in to work on the cases in question.
The three make up the triptych of the story, their lives paralleling each others in more ways than one.

Okay, so this book is not for the weak-stomached. I have written before that I thought I was jaded to violence in books, grit and gore, that nothing seemed to bother me anymore in the books I read.

This book bothered me. On several levels. And there was one scene...I was reading on the couch and my jaw literally dropped because the revelation sucker-punched me right in the head and I had to read it again just to make sure I read it correctly. And then I read it one more time, just to make sure.

This book is not recommended for people who won't read about crimes against women or crimes against children and I wouldn't call the graphic violence gratuitous, but be warned that there is quite a bit of it. I would recommend it however, to everyone else. Even those people who really like her Grant County series.
Just leave a light on for this one.

Snow Blind

SNOW BLIND is the latest book by PJ Tracy (GP Putnam, c2006, ISBN 0-399-15339-6) and wowzer, this book, the 4th in the Monkeewrench series, is one zinger of a book.

Set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it starts with the discovery of two police officers murdered and rolled up into snowmen during a snowman building contest. When another cop is found in the same fashion several towns away it becomes apparent that something is afoot. Grace McBride and the rest of the Monkeewrench gang team up with their computer sleuthing skills to aid Leo Magozzi, Gino Rolseth and Iris Rikker, the new sheriff to Dundas County, by trying to find a common denominator to the slain police officers before it becomes too late.

The book begins:

They had to sit for a time after dragging the body so far in the heat-two young women in sleeveless summer dresses, hugging their knees on the hillside while the hot wind danced in their hair and crept up their skirts and a dead man lay behind them.

There are many positives about this book including the break-neck pacing and the mystery wrapped up in a mystery. If there was anything negative to be said about this book, it would be that the Monkeewrench only plays a small part in this book as opposed to the others. If you're looking for a Monkeewrench book, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a great read, check this one out.

Sleeping with fear

Well, I've been reading them one right after another.

First up, is SLEEPING WITH FEAR by Kay Hooper (Bantam, c2006, ISBN 0-553-80318-1). Set in Hazard County, Opal Island off of South Carolina, Riley Crane, a clairvoyant, wakes up one morning with no memories of the past weeks and her clairvoyance lost to her as well. Riley was on assignment to investigate occult activity when a bloody murder occurs. Her lover and local DA, Ash Prescott plays a significant role in the book as well and I wouldn't be suprised if we saw him again.
This book was the third book in Hooper's FEAR trilogy, another Bishop FBI psychic book which I look forward to each and every time.
This book, although quick paced and high in suspense took me a while to read but I think my at-the-time upcoming wedding had a lot to do with that. I anticipate Hooper's next endeavor as usual.

It begins:

Even before she opened her eyes, Riley Crane was aware of two things.

Gone to the chapel

Okay, so it's been almost a month since I've posted but as you can see, I've got a very good reason...I married my long-time love on August 19th and life is just starting to settle down after post-wedding stuff.

I've read a couple of books since my last post; I just haven't had the time to write my thoughts about them but I promise that it is one of my top priorities and I look to flood my blog (Ha!) with posts in the upcoming couple of days.

Please don't give up on me. I've not given up on any of my readers. I've just been preoccupied for the past couple of months but now my life will get back to normal.


Weddings are crazy...

Copycat killin'

The book, COPYCAT by Erica Spindler (Mira, c2006, ISBN 0-7783-2312-9) was a good escapist read while I prepare for my wedding happening this Saturday. I tried reading THE GIRLS WHO WENT AWAY but it was just to intense for me to finish, what with everything going on in my brain as the countdown continues. It is waiting for me until after my wedding is complete.

---

COPYCAT'S blurb:
Five years ago, three young victims were found dead, posed like little angels. There were no witnesses. Strangely clean scenes. The Sleeping Angel Killer called his despicable acts "the perfect crimes."

The case immobilized the close-knit community of Rockford, Illinois, and nearly destroyed homicide detective Kitt Lundgren's career—and her life. During the investigation, Kitt tragically lost her own child to illness. She was devastated by the death of her daughter; and the final blow was the crushing realization that she let the killer get away.

Familiar with every nuance of the cold case file, Kitt knows there's something different about this new rash of killings—a tiny variation that opens terrifying new possibilities. Is the Sleeping Angel Killer really back, or is a copycat killer re-creating the original "perfect crimes"?

But Kitt has no authority in this investigation. Young, ambitious detective Mary Catherine Riggio is heading up the Sleeping Angel Killer case. M.C. knows that Kitt wants back in and she's smart enough to realize that Kitt's obsession with the case has given the detective an insight that M.C. lacks. But M.C., intent on proving herself, fears Kitt will blow the investigation—again.

Then Kitt starts receiving disturbing phone calls. It's him—the Sleeping Angel Killer—and he makes Kitt an unthinkable offer: help in finding his copycat. Forced to rely on each other, Kitt and M.C. must decide whether to place their trust in a Murderer ...ar risk becoming victims of a fiend who has taken the art of the perfect murder to horrific new heights.

---

The first sentence:

The girl's hair looked silky.

My thoughts:
This was a good installment from Spindler. I always recommend her to library patrons who like MH Clark, Carlene Thompson and Wendy Corsi Staub. This book kept me guessing right up until the end and caught me by surprise with the killer, however I was a little disturbed by some of the actions taken by both main police officers in this book but then I got over it. It could be just my frame of mind.

This book is not recommended for people who don't like violence against children books.

Skinny bitch

I finished SKINNY BITCH by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (Running Press, c2005, ISBN 0-7624-2493-1) this afternoon after reading the whole thing in small bites over the course of a month.

Honestly, it was not what I expected.

I thought I was getting a book with humorous diet tips. This book included chapters about slaughterhouses, the government's lies that are effecting your weight, and A LOT of vegan lifestyle information, which I am not and never aspire to be, no matter how much weight I'd like to lose. I like cheese too much. (I know, I know...it's all about the casein.)

However, just because it wasn't what I was looking for in a book, I did finish it and years ago I made it a point to bring something away from every book I read. With this book, I copied down some of the recommended reading suggestions from the end of the book. In addition, my favorite chapter was "Don't be a pussy" where the girls talk about vice items which I struggle with regularly and sometimes succumb to and sometimes not.

Their advice with these diet smashers was this:
         If you decide to partake in a vice item [after thirty days], it cannot be out of weakness or for lack of preparation. You should never be somewhere and just say, "Fuck it." It should be a calculated, scheduled, premeditated choice. The portion should be decided on beforehand, should be smaller that you would normally have had, and served on a plate.

That's pretty sound advice and one that I will take on my future journey with weight loss. (Down 48 pounds since February 2006.)

I probably could have appreciated this book more if it had been written by someone other than a model agent and former model. For example, maybe by someone who was ever larger than a size 14. But then, that's just me. Form your own opinions.

This book will not sit well with my readers who do not appreciate cuss words in their readings.

The first line of the book:

Okay.

No really, that is the first sentence...

Have a good weekend and happy reading!

Who wants tetnus?

J.A. Konrath has penned the third novel in the Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series, RUSTY NAIL (Hyperion, c2006, ISBN 1-4013-0088-X) and it was a fun read.

Jack Daniels in a lieutenant with the police department in Chicago, Illinois and has had some tough years dealing with a psychotic named "The Gingerbread Man." This time around, Jack receives some snuff films that look like the work of the Gingerbread Man but she knows it couldn't be him. No, this time it's even worse.

Jack's partner, Herb Benedict is here along with her ex-partner and thorn-in-the-side Harry McGlade. Harry is getting married to Holly Frakes, a bombshell who is good with a gun and totally misunderstood.

Although there were some highly improbable moments, quite a bit of graphic (and some may say gratuitous, but not me!) violence and I figured out who the bad guy was right away, it's Konrath's killer humor that will always have me coming back for another round of Jack!

It starts:

The sound begins.

Out of sight

Okay. So, I loved this book!

NO END IN SIGHT: MY LIFE AS AN IDITAROD RACER by Rachael Scdoris and Rick Steber (St. Martin's Press, c2006, ISBN 0-312-35273-5) blew me away and I'll tell you why in a minute.

First things first. The book starts:

I am a sled dog racer.

Phew! Now that I got that taken care of, I can tell you about Rachael. She was diagnosed with congenital achromatopsia at a young age which caused her legal blindness. But let me tell you, this girl didn't let that get her down. She got up and went. Whereever she could. Her big thing was she wanted to race sled dogs. Her father raised them, she helped with the young pups and she wanted to race them. And her father finally let her. At the age of 11, her father hooked up a sled to two sled dogs and allowed her to run a one-mile course. The rest is history.

This book follows her trials both on and off the racing circuit. A lot of it focuses on her blindness and the politics she had to contend with regarding her blindness. And although being blind is not WHO Rachael is, but a facet of her overall makeup, the adversity she faced was hard to comprehend at times. Mind you, these are prejudices she faced just in this decade.

Rachael's goal was to run the Iditarod. Did she make it? You'll have to read more.

*****Click here if you have to know! After reading the book, I did!

Superheroes

In Norma Howe's THE ADVENTURES OF BLUE AVENGER (Harper Tempest, c1999, ISBN 0-06-447225-6), David Schumacher is living his life in Oakland, California. On his 16th birthday, he changes his name to Blue Avenger and things begin to happen that impact his life, like his association with Omaha Nebraska Brown, the girl in school that he likes and the results to his quest for a perfect, weepless merigue for his lemon meringue pie.

According to her website, this is the first book in a trilogy. I may search out the remaining books when I have some free time but they aren't on my 'must read now!' list.

The book begins:

Scientists say that in human males, a single seminal emission contains something in the neighborhood of 300 million spermatazoa.

An interesting first sentence for a book geared toward the tweenagers...although definitely a hook!