What to Read? … What to Read?

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I dug out an old movie favorite of mine the other day Who Framed Roger Rabbit? O.k. so it’s not a classic but did you know it was actually based off of Gary Wolf’s book Who Censored Roger Rabbit? Don’t look so surprised, a lot of movies that you wouldn’t think of are based off of books.

Enter a world where cartoon characters, known as Toons, live and laugh side by side with humans. Meet Roger Rabbit, up and coming comic strip star, his sexy wife Jessica, lusty thirty six year old Baby Herman with his three year old dinky, and hard boiled private eye Eddie Valiant.

Now don’t be fooled by the movie it only has the basics of this book. The book is…well let’s just say it’s not a family type of book. The only thing besides the bare bones of the book Disney put into the movie was Baby Herman’s famous “I have a 36 year-old lust and a 3 year-old dinky”. Gary Wolf tackles Censorship, Racism, Alcoholism and Pornography all set in a 1930’s detective mystery that involves Toons. If you have not read this book, go and search for a copy. I know you will like it.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday. When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna. They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day–which was something of an irony under the circumstances. The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.”

O.k. September is a hot month for book releases, on September 16, 2008 Stieg Larssons’s book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is being released in the North America. This is the first in his trilogy that unfortunately was cut short due to his tragic death in 2004.

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared off the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family. There was no corpse, no witnesses, no evidence. But her uncle, Henrik, is convinced that she was murdered by someone from her own deeply dysfunctional family. Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist is hired to investigate, but he quickly finds himself in over his head. He hires a competent assistant: the gifted and conscience-free computer specialist Lisbeth Salander, and the two unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

For those of you who have been in a country that has already had the book released, I have heard nothing but high praise, but PLEASE don’t tell me how it ends; if you do I will be very, very sad.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“I’ve never heard of Conrad White. Never attended a writers’ workshop, circle, night class or retreat. It’s been years since I’ve tried to write anything other than what I am contractually obliged to. But something about this day—about the taste of the air in this very room—has signalled that something is coming my way. Has already come.

I call the number at the bottom of the ad. When a voice at the other end asks me what he can do for me, I answer without hesitation.

“I want to write a book,” I say.”

Stories are like gossip; once you start you have the feeling of needing to know the end of the story, no matter what. That however could cost you your life; well ok; it would if you were a character in a book. Oh look I started rambling you probably are thinking Get on with it Sarah what book did you read and will I like it? So here it is The Killing Circle written by Andrew Pyper.  Check your local bookstore this one has several release dates.

Patrick Rush, a former bright light at the National Star now demoted to the reality TV beat, is still recovering from his wife’s death when he joins a writers’ group in Toronto. His goal: to write the book he’s always felt lived within him. Trouble is, Patrick has no story to tell. And while the circle’s members show similarly little literary promise, there is one exception: Angela. Her unsettling readings tell of a shadowy childhood tragedy and an unremitting fear of the Sandman, a “terrible man who does terrible things.” It’s the stuff of nightmares or horror films. Or is it?

Over the weeks that follow, a string of unsolved murders seem increasingly connected to Patrick. And then the circle’s members start to go missing, one by one. Still haunted by loss–and by a crime only those in the circle could know of–Patrick finds himself in a fictional world made horrifically real. But nothing will put him in greater danger than that ancient curse of natural born readers: the need to know how the story ends.

Pyper belongs to the rarified sphere of thriller authors who bring far more to the table than a performer’s understanding of how to draw an audience in. The Killing Circle, Pyper’s fourth novel, continues this mix of breathless suspense and literary underpinnings and on some level Pyper is the Paul Auster of the mystery world. You start off one place with the storyline and you end up at a completely different place and you never know how you got there - except that the ride was exceptional.

Do you want to know how it ends? Well if you do get a copy and read it. Honestly did you think I was really going to tell you how it ended?

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“Pitt felt a little stung. “Who is Cahoon Dunkeld?” he asked, avoiding looking at Narraway. He had a reverence for Queen Victoria, especially now in her advanced age and widowhood, even though he was perfectly well aware of her reputed eccentricities and the fact that she had not always been so popular with her people. She had been in mourning too long, retreating not only from joy but also from duty. And he had gained some personal knowledge a couple of years ago of the extravagance and the self-indulgence of the Prince of Wales, and knew he kept several very expensive mistresses. Pitt had been superintendent of Bow Street then, and the conspiracy around the Prince had cost him his job and very nearly brought down the throne. That was why Pitt was now working for Victor Narraway in Special Branch, learning more about treason, anarchy, and other forms of violence against the State.”

So many books and so little time; or at least that’s what it feels like. I had a very lazy type of day today so lazy in fact that I sat by my window in my comfy reading chair and watched the thunderstorm in between chapters. Hey! I’m good at multi tasking, it’s true…ok enough about that back to the book, which happens to be Buckingham Palace Gardens written by one of the best Victorian mystery author’s Anne Perry

The Prince of Wales has asked four wealthy entrepreneurs and their elegant wives to the palace to discuss a fantastic idea: the construction of a six-thousand-mile railroad that would stretch the full length of Africa.  But, alas, the prince’s gathering proves disastrous when the mutilated body of a prostitute hired for a late-night frolic (after the wives have retired to bed) turns up among the queen’s monogrammed sheets in a palace linen closet.

With great haste, Thomas Pitt, brilliant mainstay of Special Services, is summoned to resolve the crisis.  The Pitt’s cockney maid, Gracie, is also recruited - to pose as a palace servant and listen to the guests’ conversations, scan their bedrooms, and scrutinize their troubled faces for clues to hidden rivalries and attachments that could have led to murder.  If Pitt and Gracie fail to find out who brutally murdered the young woman - as seems increasingly likely - Pitt’s career will be over, and the scandal may just cause the monarchy to fall.

I have been a fan of Perry’s for a while now; I am particularly fond of the Pitt series, Perry has a way to bring you into the story, she breathes life into her characters so much that you share in their joys, disappointments and you forget that they are only alive in the imagination and words of Perry.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“She dropped her hand, considering his question, then began fiddling with some knobs on the dashboard. The screen didn’t change, but the air-conditioning whirred higher. Will chuckled, and she cut him off with a nasty look, suggesting, “Maybe while we’re waiting for Caroline to find a street map, you can get the owner’s manual out of the glove box and read the directions for me.”

Will tried the latch, but it was locked. He thought this pretty much summed up his relationship with Amanda Wagner. She often sent him the way of locked doors and expected him to find his way around them. Will liked a good puzzle as much as the next man, but just once, it would have been nice to have Amanda hand him the key.”

A lot of things can be fractured; a bone, mirror, picture frame and even a book Fractured was written by Karin Slaughter and is a sequel to Triptych and again features Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Wil Trent.

With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta’s most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager’s lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter’s attacker with her bare hands.

Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something that the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case—and adding another one to it. He is sure that another teenage girl is missing, and that a killer is on the loose.

Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him—and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.

Slaughter’s ability to provide her readers with an excellent storyline and superb mystery, she is able to delve into the characters emotions and backgrounds so deeply that readers feel they know these men and women. The return of our favorites like Will and his boss Amanda paired with new intriguing characters like Faith, Abigail and the monstrous villains will surly please its audience. Fractured is by far one of Slaughter’s best works, she gives her readers everything and then some.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“It shouldn’t have been a difficult decision and yet it was. She had grown close, or as close as someone like her could get, to an oddball collection of men who called themselves the Camel Club. She smiled to herself as she thought about the foursome, one of whom was named Caleb Shaw and worked at the Library of Congress. He reminded her remarkably of the cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz. Then her smile faded. Oliver Stone, the head of this little band of miscreants, was something altogether more. He must’ve had one hell of a past, Annabelle thought - a history that might even surpass hers in the unusual and extraordinary department, and that was saying something. She didn’t know if she could say good-bye to Oliver Stone. She doubted she would ever run across another one like him.”

Revenge, conspiracy and murder sounds like a perfect set up for a summer block buster movie. But it’s not, it could be some paranoid person who sees conspiracy theories EVERY where, but it’s not that either. Actually what it is, is an unforgettable novel. Stone Cold is written by David Baldacci and is a #1 bestselling author.

Oliver Stone, the leader of the mysterious group that calls itself the Camel Club, is both feared and respected by those who’ve crossed his path. Keeping a vigilant watch over our leaders in Washington D.C., the Camel Club has won over some allies, but it has also earned formidable enemies-including those in power who will do anything to prevent Stone and his friends from uncovering the hidden, secret work of the government.

Annabelle Conroy, an honorary member of the Camel Club, is also the greatest con artist of her generation. She has swindled forty million dollars from casino king Jerry Bagger, the man who murdered her mother. Now he’s hot on her trail with only one goal in mind: Annabelle’s death. But as Stone and the Camel Club circle the wagons to protect Annabelle, a new opponent, who makes Bagger’s menace pale by comparison, suddenly arises.

One by one, men from Stone’s shadowy past are turning up dead. Behind this slaughter stands one man: Harry Finn. To almost all who know him, Finn is a doting father and loving husband who uses his skills behind the scenes to keep our nation safe. But the other face of Harry Finn is that of an unstoppable killer who inevitably sets his lethal bull’s-eye on Oliver Stone. And with Finn, Stone may well have met his match.

As Annabelle and the Camel Club fight for their lives, the twists and turns whipsaw, leading to a finale that is as explosive as it is shattering. And when buried secrets are at last violently resurrected, the members of the Camel Club left standing will be changed forever.

There is a reason why Baldacci is a bestselling author with unrelenting pacing, stunning reversals, and two of the most compelling characters in modern fiction; Stone Cold is David Baldacci at his best.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“She dropped onto her belly and hacked away. Her trowel collided with something solid. Oh, God, not another rock. Shoving back her hair, she stared down at what her tool had just hit. Its metal tip had fractured a surface, and cracks radiated from the impact point. She brushed away dirt and pebbles, exposing an unnaturally smooth dome. Lying belly-down on the ground, she felt her heart thudding against the earth and suddenly found it hard to take a breath. But she kept digging, with both hands now, gloved fingers scraping through stubborn clay. More of the dome emerged, curves knitted together by a jagged seam. Deeper and deeper she clawed, her pulse accelerating as she uncovered a small dirt-filled hollow. She pulled off her glove and prodded the caked earth with a bare finger. Suddenly the dirt fractured and crumbled away.

She saw a graveyard.”

It was rainy and dull out today so there were no outdoor adventures for me. But that’s O.K. I simply finished reading The Bone Garden written by Tess Gerritsen.

Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. . . .

Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect.

To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the next victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his next lethal opportunity.

With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly interweaves the thrilling narratives of its nineteenth- and twenty-first century protagonists, tracing the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking. Bold, bloody, and brilliant, this is Tess Gerritsen’s finest achievement to date.

“An old mystery is crossed with a modern story in the latest from Gerritsen (The Mephisto Club, 2006, etc.).Julia Hamill, newly divorced and still smarting, purchases an old house outside Boston. Determined to dig a garden, she instead finds the bones of a long-dead woman–the apparent victim of murder–which starts her on a journey to ferret out the story behind her death. Julia connects with Henry, a no-nonsense 89-year-old with boxes of documents that once belonged to the now-deceased previous owner of Julia’s home. The two discover a mystery dating back to the 1830s. At the heart of it is a baby named Meggie, born to the beautiful but doomed Irish chambermaid, Aurnia. Married to a man who cares nothing for her, Aurnia lays dying in a maternity ward with her sister, Rose, at her side. Rose, a spirited 17-year-old, takes Meggie to protect her from Aurnia’s husband, but soon finds herself the target of a bizarre manhunt. Someone is after the child–and Rose, as well, because she witnessed a horrifying murder. The body count piles up as Rose struggles to remain free of those who would take Meggie from her. Meanwhile, a young medical student becomes the chief suspect of the West End Reaper killings when he stumbles onto another terrible homicide. Although he fights the prospect, eventually he and Rose join forces to solve the murders and protect the baby at the heart of the mysterious deaths. Readers with delicate stomachs may find Gerritsen’s graphic descriptions of corpse dissection hard to take, but the story, which digs up a dark Boston of times long past, entices readers to keep turning pages long after their bedtimes.”

I found Gerritsen’s depiction to be well-researched and accurate (at least, to my knowledge). This is Tess Gerritsen’s first stand-alone since she started her popular Dr. Maura Isles series. Though Dr. Isles does make a cameo appearance near the beginning of the story. There is always some trepidation when reading a stand-alone by a favorite series author but there is no reason for concern here. The characters are well developed; the plot is exciting and it has a shocking conclusion. Don’t let this one pass you by, give it whirl you won’t be disappointed.

Happy Reading

Sarah

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“Where am I?

A rush of icy air swept across Rylee’s bare skin.

Goose bumps rose.

Shivering, she blinked, trying to pierce the shifting darkness, a cold dark void with muted spots of red light shrouded in a rising mist.   She was freezing, half lying on a couch of some kind  and . . .

Oh, God, was she naked?

Was that right?

No way!

Yet she felt the soft pile of velvet against the back of her legs, her buttocks, and her shoulders where they met the rising arm of this chaise.”

I’m all excited; want to know why? My new bookshelf just arrived today and I spent the day figuring out how to put it together. With a few colorful words and copious amounts of tea I finally got it and I even had enough time to finish my book which is now the sole occupant of my new bookshelf. I think I will take a picture and pass it around the family. Make them feel all sad for an empty bookshelf. What!? If I had to I would sell my first born for a book. Oh and what book is sitting there looking all lonely and stuff, why Lost Souls written by Lisa Jackson.

Twenty-seven-year-old Kristi Bentz is lucky to be alive. Not many people her age have nearly died twice at the hands of a serial killer, and lived to tell about it. Her dad, New Orleans detective, Rick Bentz, wants Kristi to stay in New Orleans and out of danger. But if anything, Kristi’s experiences have made her even more fascinated by the mind of the serial killer. She hasn’t given up her dream of being a true-crime writer–of exploring the darkest recesses of evil–and now she just may get her chance.

Four girls have disappeared at All Saints College in less than two years. All four were “lost souls”–troubled, vulnerable girls with no one to care about them, no one to come looking if they disappeared. The police think they’re runaways, but Kristi senses there’s something that links them, something terrifying. She decides to enroll, following their same steps. All Saints has changed a lot since Kristi was an undergraduate. The stodgy Catholic college has lured edgy new professors to its campus and gained a reputation for envelope-pushing, with classes like the very popular “The Influence of Vampirism in Modern Culture and Literature,” and elaborately staged morality plays that feel more like the titillating entertainment of some underground club than religious spectacles. And there are whispers of a dark cult on campus whose members wear vials of blood around their necks and meet in secret chambers–rituals to which only the elite have access. To find the truth, Kristi will need to become part of the cult’s inner circle, to learn their secrets, and play the part of lost soul without losing herself in the process. It’s a dangerous path, and Kristi is skating on its knife-thin edge.

The deeper she goes, the more Kristi begins to wonder if she is the hunter or the prey. She’s certain she’s being watched and followed–studied, even–as yet another girl disappears, and another. And when the bodies finally begin to surface–in ways that bring fear to the campus and terror to the hearts of even hardened cops like Detective Bentz and his partner Reuben Montoya–Kristi realizes with chilling clarity that she has underestimated her foe. She is playing a game with a killer more cunning and bloodthirsty than anyone can imagine, one who has personally selected her for membership in a cult of death from which there will be no escape.

This was a fast paced, attention grabbing, can’t put it down and must finish it even if it’s 3am and you have to go to work in a few hours. Jackson has done a wonderful job with this book. Her characters come alive and the dialogue flows smoothly. This is a thoroughly entertaining read and I think you will be happy with this choice.

Happy Reading

Sarah

Thank you Amazon for the picture

“Kirov!

No, it couldn’t be Kirov, Jennings thought frantically, as he ran down the dock. Kirov was dead. Pavski had given him his word that the stories were all lies. He’d laughed and said that a ghost couldn’t kill.

And the person behind him was no ghost. It didn’t have to be Kirov. Jennings had made a lot of enemies in his life and any one of them might be the man behind him.”

A quiet weekend at last; no work; no running around and no having to see family; the only obligation I had was to dig into a new book. Ah now THAT is a perfect weekend. Hmm, I’m sorry what was that? Oh what did I read? Well that would have been Silent Thunder written by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen.

It was the assignment of a lifetime… Brilliant marine architect Hannah Bryson has been given the job of a lifetime. A U.S. maritime museum has just acquired the decommissioned Soviet submarine Silent Thunder for public exhibition. It’s Hannah’s job to make sure that every single inch of the legendary nuclear attack sub is safe for the thousands of visitors anticipated. Enlisting the aid of her brother, Connor, they examine the enormous vessel and delve into its long–and lethal–history. But is it really a trap? In the course of their investigation, Connor discovers a mysterious message behind one of the ship’s panels. But before he can figure out what it means, there’s a deadly assault on Silent Thunder… Though the U.S. government tries to warn Hannah away, she’ll stop at nothing to find the ruthless mastermind behind her brother’s death. Even if it means joining forces with a mysterious man who may be even more dangerous than the enemy she has sworn to bring down. As Hannah finds herself in the crossfire of an epic standoff, her only hope for survival is to unravel the sub’s explosive secret. But someone’s willing to kill to make sure Silent Thunder stays silent.

This was a co-effort between mother and son, how cool is that. Now was it a good effort, depends on who you are talking to; since you are talking to me then I would have to say yes for the most part. The action was good and there was a hint of romance but not overly. However there were times when the characters needed to be slightly more in character; but like I said it was only a few times. Do I recommend this book? Well yeah so go and get your copy…Now.

Happy Reading

Sarah

Thank you Amazon for the picture

“And it was true. For several months, there had been nothing discussed at the Opera but this ghost in dress-clothes who stalked about the building, from top to bottom, like a shadow, who spoke to nobody, to whom nobody dared speak and who vanished as soon as he was seen, no one knowing how or where. As became a real ghost, he made no noise in walking. People began by laughing and making fun of this specter dressed like a man of fashion or an undertaker; but the ghost legend soon swelled to enormous proportions among the corps de ballet. All the girls pretended to have met this supernatural being more or less often. And those who laughed the loudest were not the most at ease. When he did not show himself, he betrayed his presence or his passing by accident, comic or serious, for which the general superstition held him responsible. Had any one met with a fall, or suffered a practical joke at the hands of one of the other girls, or lost a powderpuff, it was at once the fault of the ghost, of the Opera ghost.

After all, who had seen him? You meet so many men in dress-clothes at the Opera who are not ghosts. But this dress-suit had a peculiarity of its own. It covered a skeleton. At least, so the ballet-girls said. And, of course, it had a death’s head.”

I was feeling a little down today so I decided I would watch some retro cartoons (the ones I grew up with) well that didn’t cheer me up and then I got bored. Off to the book shelf I went and brought down a well read and loved book. The Phantom of the Opera written by Gaston Leroux and before you ask it WAS a book before it was turned into a musical. By the time the book was finished I was in a much better mood.

In 1910, the mystery novelist Gaston Leroux, working from scraps of history, theatrical lore, and his own fertile imagination, created a masterpiece in Le fantome de l’opera, the story of a disfigured composer who lives in the labyrinthine depths of the Paris Opera. After the breathtaking debut of Christine Daae, the whispers of an Opera ghost seem to become reality as the young singer vanishes. As the Phantom strikes again and again, targeting foes from a jealous diva to a romantic rival, Leroux spins a thriller of obsession and violence with, at its center, a tormented murderer who awakens our deepest fears and sympathies. The inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long-running musical, Leroux’s novel is still more riveting than anything Broadway could produce.

Although I love the musical I love the book more. If you haven’t read the book, you should; if you haven’t seen the musical you should. Both will take your breath away.

Happy Reading

Sarah