Month: April 2014

Heather’s life is certainly not what you would call “cozy.”  With an absent dad and a mom who lives inside a bottle, Heather does what she can for her sister and herself.

She never thought she would complete in Panic.

Panic was a game for students who were newly graduated from their senior year.  It happened during the summer and while the game itself was dangerous and frowned upon by adults and authority figures alike, the stakes were high with a high payoff.  The games were dangerous and you could be killed, but if you chicken out you are out of the game… for some of the students, it is do or die… either way.

When home circumstances hit an all time low, Heather knows it is up to her to figure out a way to care for her sister and provide something better for themselves.

And this years Panic is paying out at an all time high.

Dodge does not fear Panic.  He is sure that he can win and what he is hiding will be his motivation.

But Panic is filled with those with secrets….

For Heather and Dodge… there really is no choice.  And along the way you never know what sort of alliances you can build, knowledge you can gain, and relationships that can make a world of difference.

I chose to listen to Panic because I have adored Loren Oliver’s past reads…  Before I Fall, Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem.  She writes YA stories with great twists and turns which are a delight to read.

 Panic was a great next step for her.  With the excitement of Hunger Games (without that level of “you all must die!”) I found Panic to be an interesting look at what could go on underneath the proverbial watchful eye…

There are some interesting twists and turns in Panic, and while I can not say that it is a favorite of the Oliver books for me, it holds great potential.  Rumor has it that is has already been snatched up by Paramount Pictures to be a movie.  One that I would definitely go see.

Lucy Dane’s life has been a smattering of secrets, mysteries and lies – starting from when she was just a child when her mother one day up and disappeared to, years later, when Lucy’s friend Cheri also disappears; only to be found later, murdered and displayed.

Shaken by this second loss of someone close to her, Lucy decided to dig in and see if she can learn more about what happened to Cheri, and if in any way that will lead her to clues about her own mother.  What she uncovers are secrets that are too dark to fathom, and a little to close to home.

Weight of Blood came to me through no other source than my own.  Usually I find books through other readers recommendations or authors I adore… but this one I stumbled across on Audible.com and it sounded as though it had potential.

And it did.

When I think about this book I come up with words like engaging.  Powerful.  Mysterious.  McHugh’s words pour like water from a fountain, smooth and clear.  I enjoyed the story line and immersed myself fully into learning the secrets of the Dane family and those close to them. 

3 narrators take us through the audio version of this book and the transactions are so smooth between them that when I looked it up right now, I was surprised to see there were three. 

While the book deals with some topics that are frightening – they are also not far fetched, and in the end what is put into print here is a truly believable (and based somewhat off a true story) and easily imagined in a small town hidden amongst the Ozark Mountains.