During a poorly planned robbery, a store clerk is left dead. Now the three Minnesota teens, Jimmy Sharp, Becky Welsh, and Tom McCall try again and their second victim dies in a car heist during the getaway. With two murders under their belt, the teens sense of fear of the unknown has reached such a level it is like an adrenaline rush. They decide as long as they have gone this far, they might as well settle some old personal hurts.
And the crime spree begins.
When Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Virgil Flowers comes on the scene, he walks into a case that is already a hot mess. The teens have so far avoided getting caught leaving a wake of destruction. While they seem to have no morals, they are not dumb. Virgil is put in charge of the case but it is like herding cats when you try to get all the different areas of the law to play nice together. While Virgil works to bringing in the kids alive, that is not a shared feeling throughout the investigation.
Virgil eventually is able to make contact with one of the teens who is having second thoughts about the plans. Now Flowers is trying to get to the teens to get them out of this mess alive, before the other arms of the law get to them first.
Hot mess is a great way to describe this one. I think this is my first John Sanford and I was surprised at the raw bluntness of the book…. harsh words, insane and graphic acts of crime, fast paced action… you open this read and you are thrust head long into the middle of the action and be careful not to get hit by the blood splatter.
*whew*
I enjoyed John Sanford’s writing, and his characters even if he wrote some without a soul or a conscience. Creepy characters are not a deal breaker for me, kids with no sense of right and wrong hit a gray area for me. I did however like Virgil Flowers, described as an aging hippy type, log hair, flowered shirts… he somehow alone leveled this read out bu his sense of humor and his battle against his upbringing by his Pastor Father who has given Virgil an underlying faith that even against his will, curbs his decisions.
I personally don’t think I will seek out any more of the Virgil Flowers novels, I would however like to take another look at John Sanford and see what else this great author writes.
Delilah would rather be reading a book then hanging out with friends, taking on sports, or hitting the coffee shops like most girls her age. She has been labeled a loner, and that is fine by her.
But lately, it has been just one book that has her attention and it’s a bit embarrassing as it is a Fairy Tale written for someone much younger than she with illustrations and the whole works. But there is something about this book called Between The Lines that speaks to her….
I mean… REALLY speaks to her. Because one day, Prince Oliver calls out to her literally from the pages. Page 43 to be exact…
and both their worlds change.
Oliver has a life within the book, he plays a role when the book is open and does his part, as all the characters do, to perform for the reader. When the book is closed, the characters have lives, playing chess, baking cakes…. but Oliver has seen the world behind the readers face when the book is open and he knows there is something more out there… something he longs for, and the fact that Delilah’s face is pretty nice to look at, just makes him want out of the book even more.
So… how do you pull a character out of a book? Oliver isn’t no background character like third henchman on the left… nope… he is the main protagonist.
So Delilah and Oliver work together to try to figure out a way for him to be released from the book. Oliver finds his world flat and bland and Delilah really doesn’t have much more of an exciting one. Can this fairy tale really have a happy ending?
So I am in Barnes and Noble recently (yes, yes, my Mother Ship) and I am craving a little YA. This book caught my eye and after reading the first few pages I knew I wanted to know how this story would end.
Jodi Picoult explains in the beginning of the book that this story line was actually her teenage daughter Samantha’s idea. Samantha called Jodi one day while she was on a book tour and said she had an idea for a story. What if the characters within a book had lives once the cover was closed, just like we do when we are not reading? Jodi liked the idea and offered to write the story with Samantha. This decision led to a two-year project of writing and editing through weekends, evenings, and during summer vacation… the result? Well….
I read Between The Lines in about 4 hours. I literally did not want to put the book own. Beautiful illustrations pop up on the occasional page and lets just say, I can see why Delilah was fascinated with Oliver. The story alternates between the Fairy Tale, Delilah, and Oliver and honestly to me it was brilliant. I always love books that break the mold and this is one that did just that.
The book is sweet and funny. When it is Oliver’s chapters and he is trying to understand Delilah’s world, there are some funny moments. For him, if it doesn’t exist in the book, he knows nothing of it… here is a funny section from page 21 that Oliver narrates as he is trying to understand the readers world:
I’ve learned many things the otherworld has that we don’t: television (which is something parents do not like as much as books); Happy Meals (apparently not all meals bring joy, just the ones that come in a small bag with a toy; and showers (something you do before bedtime that leaves you drenched).
I really enjoyed the book… it has its flaws but nothing that was a deal breaker for me and I honestly loved the break from serious reading to enjoy a sweet tale of fairy tale romance between a Prince and a book lover (I personally think, the way it was meant to be.)
I will keep this book with my other books by Picoult, but this one I think will hold a special place in my heart as it is not the hard story line that she writes for adults, but a softer side that I really really enjoyed. I recommend this book for YA lovers young and old…. not every YA book needs to be tricked out with hot guys on motor cycles, high school age gorgeous vampires, or dystopian bread makers, some just require a prince….
Arlene left Alabama a long time ago and with it, a deeply buried secret. She had made a deal with God that she had held true to these past ten years….
Then Alabama came knocking on her door in Chicago in the form of a once classmate, Rose May Lolley. And Rose May is asking questions… questions that Arlene never wanted to have to answer and questions that have her making her way back to all she left in Alabama along with her boyfriend Burr, who has been wanting to meet Arlene’s family for a long time.
Be careful for what you wish for…
Arlene already knows her strong Southern Baptist family is going to have trouble with her African-American boyfriend, but really, Burr is the least of her worries. Arlene’s long kept secret is starting to come to the surface and she must do everything she can to keep the past in the past, because what happened in Alabama… really needs to stay in Alabama. Buried deep.
Last year I listened to Joshilyn Jackson’s book Back Seat Saints on audio and really enjoyed it. At the time I did not know that this book was actually written and published before Back Seat Saints and involves many of the same characters.
What was fun about this book was that it took a small character (Arlene) from Back Seat Saints and made her the main protagonist. It did not seem to make a difference that I listened to them in reverse order. Some of the story line overlaps within the two books, as Rose May Lolley and Arlene encounter one another in the earlier book, but this is fun and interesting as while Back Seat Saints is told from Rose May’s perspective, Gods In Alabama is told from Arlene’s. It’s hard to explain but I for one thought it was brilliant and lapped up both reads.
I listened to both on audio and audio book lovers, you are going to LOVE this narration by the author. The fun Alabama accent with have you feeling like you are right there enjoying the down home craziness right along with them.
Seriously, a joy to read. I had so much fun with this one and look forward to reading Joshilyn Jackson again.
Liv Bergen lives a small quiet life of managing a limestone mine in Colorado. It may not be the life that many women would seek out, but Liv enjoys what she does and would have it no other way.
Then a young female employee of the mine is found murdered and suddenly Liv’s life is anything but quiet. The mine soon becomes a part of the crime scene and police and FBI are coming around with questions. Then Liv’s former classmate, now FBI Profiler, Lisa comes into town and takes residence at Liv’s home when all the hotels are full. Soon Liv discovers that the crimes are too close to home and she can either sit back and wait to see what will happen next or she can work on being part of the solution.
As Liv starts looking at clues, she discovers she has a sort of knack for putting things together and the murdered may soon find that Liv Bergen is his worst nightmare.
I first met author Sandra Brannon in New York in 2010 at the Book Expo. It was a short time before this, her first book was about to be released and Sandra was a little nervous and I instantly took a liking to her. As Jill at Rhapsody In Books recently said in a review, “You can not meet this author and not like her immediately”.
In The Belly Of Jonah was a good solid mystery. I love it when fiction teaches me something and I learned a little bit about mining, and even a little about forensics. This book is a great fast paced read that is never over the top out there (and that can be scary!) but feels like a good level mystery with awesome good guys, and of course the notorious bad guy.
I enjoyed the book so much and like it when a book takes me from the pages to my laptop to look at words and scenes more closely. While In The Belly Of Jonah is written as a series, it is just as easily a stand alone read. I for one enjoyed it so much I want to jump into the second book now – and it may please you to know that three books in the series are currently available: Lots Return To Sodom, and Widow’s Might.
The Bookies Review…
I was thrilled when my book club chose In The Belly Of Jonah for our January 2013 read . I was also thrilled when Sandra offered to SKYPE with us! It was out first SKYPE with an author and it was a lot of fun! The girls really enjoyed talking with Sandra. It was fun to hear about her back ground in mining and her characters and who they may be designed after.
Sandra had sent us a goodie box:
and in it was chocolate rocks for each of us (ahhhhhhh!!!!) and she sent us ingredients to make a drink:
This is the makings of a “hairy buffalo” which Sandra says is like a Colorado Bulldog but with chocolate milk. 😛 When Sandra was in the cities in September I went out to dinner with her and a girl from my book club and introduced her to the Colorado Bulldog. This was a fun gift that we will try next month. 😀 Thanks Sandra – you are funny and amazing!
Another fun moment of the evening was when one of the girls n out book club decided to reveal a little secret by making her own book cover:
Very creative! Laura is pregnant and she announced it to out book club with this cover… Sandra loved this!
and finally, we had a great group picture that we took for Sandra but really – I like it too 😀
ps… if you are wondering about the doll… we reenacted a crime. Enough said. 😉
When up and coming Lawyer on her way to partner, Emma Tupper’s mother passes away, Emma decided to take the trip to Africa that her mother had always dreamed of. Taking a month long vacation at this point in her career didn’t make for the best timing, but Emma wanted to do this and knew she could bounce right back to where she left off in no time.
In Africa Emma becomes ill and unable to return as planned. Then the earthquake hits and no planes are coming or going and phone lines are down.
Six months later, Emma finally makes it home only to find out home is not how she had left it. When her rent wasn’t paid, the apartment was rented out to someone else. Her bank account was froze once the news spread that she was missing and presumed dead. Emma’s boyfriend had moved on to someone else, and it appears while she was making her way up the corporate ladder, someone had kicked the ladder out from under her.
What do you do when everything you had and knew about yourself is gone?
I have enjoyed every book that Catherine McKenzie has written. She comes up with real feeling quirky characters and scenes that are interesting and definably out of the norm. Take Emma for instance, at one time had it all going her, now borrowing clothes from a male stranger.
Forgotten is a bit of a far fetched story. This is where for me the story falters a bit. I had trouble wrapping my mind around everything that had gone wrong and there were several lose ends throughout the book that my mind kept (and still is) picking at.
I really liked the love interest in the book (although he too is somewhat of a loose end) and I especially likes the case that Emma is given to work on in her firm. As you can see I had some ups and downs with this one, I liked it, but I didn’t love it.
What would you be willing to sacrifice to be who you want to be?
When Desdemona was at the peak of her breakthrough as an artist in 1935, she made a hasty decision to marry Asa Spaulding, a solid and stable man, and make a home in the town of Cascade to be there for her bankrupt father whose health is quickly failing. While Desdemona felt in her head this was the right decision for the circumstances, her heart strongly disagreed.
And who’s head has not been overrun by their hearts wants?
With Cascade being considered to be flooded to provide water for Boston, Desdemona is even more restless with her decisions. When she becomes attracted to a fellow artist Jacob who provides her with everything her husband can not, she knows it is time to make the hard choices that hopefully can correct the wrong ones she made in her past.
But at what cost? Is it possible to turn away from a choice without causing further damage? And even as she contemplates a brighter future, would she be able to live with herself for doing so?
Cascade, Massachusetts
First. Let’s take a pause for this beautiful cover. Cover love at its finest, cover alone would cause me to pick up this book wanting to know more, and honestly… it did factor in on my choice to read this book.
While set against the backdrop of the Depression and WWII, Cascade (thankfully) focuses more around Desdemona and her relationships with the men in her life and the decisions she must make. While beautifully written, Cascade is not for the person looking for a quick read. It takes times to absorb this slower paced detail oriented book. You really get the feeling you are brought fully into the world that is Cascade.
For me, the book was good but the slower pace was a deterrent. Perhaps it was the time of year that I chose to read this that made it more of a struggle for me. Desdemona is not the most likable character, her choices… well, if you read it you will see. Cascade, in my opinion, is a book to take your time with, to read over several sittings and contemplate what would you do put in a similar situation?
Well written, filled with historical facts that will make you think and learn, and those are always pluses for me.
Thank you TLC Book Tours for giving me a little history
James Kier was quite the real estate developer. He had made a fine career out of cutting deals with vulnerable people, metaphorically cutting their throat in the process. He had everything he ever wanted and more than he could ever need. In his wake, his soon to be ex-wife Sara was trying hard to keep moving forward while battling a fast-moving cancer and his adult soon to be married son wanted nothing whatsoever to do with him.
Oh well… collateral damage is bound to happen.
But now, James is reading a newspaper that is announcing his death. Apparently he had crashed his BMW in the snow storm the previous night and was pronounced dead at the scene. Clearly a mistake and no doubt a costly one for some poor reporter, James thought as he dials up his lawyer… but then he has second thoughts about so quickly announcing the mistake. Perhaps this would be a way to find out what people really think of him…
and find out he does.
Following some painfully harsh comments on the internet, James is quick to learn that some he thought were his allies are clearly not… and perhaps someone he wrote off too quickly surprisingly comes to his defense.
In this new light shed brightly on his true character, James decided to take a real hard look at those he has hurt while building himself up and seeing if in this season perhaps he can make some changes to who he was and take this “resurrection” as a new chance at life.
I wish I would have been able to get this review up a week ago because this turned out to be a wonderful read for the season. Never a big fan of holiday reads as I find them usually too mushy and dull… I admit I went into this book club read a little “dragging of the feet.” I was surprised to find not only did this book have a backbone, I could hardly put it down as page by page I wanted to know what would happen… would James be able to make amends or was it too late – beautifully, it turns out to be a little of both.
James is not a likable person. He has done things so terrible that I think even I would slam the door in his face. Throughout his building of fame and fortune he destroyed careers, families, and lives. As he tries to make amends you get a Dickens “Christmas Carol” feel to the book, James seeing for the first time what his decisions had cost others.
The book was a quick read, in a matter of a couple of hours I had it finished, but it was not finished with me. It really made me think about decisions I make and the people in my life. After reviewing this with my book club for our December read I think it is safe to say that none of us came out of the last page unscathed, we all had been emotionally touched at one point or another in the book.
Bookies Thoughts
The Bookies enjoyed this read and while it was a fast read we had to admit it did pack a punch. There was a good discussion over James’ treatment of Sara and her ability to forgive…. was she a soft person who was easily walked on, or was Sara something stronger… a person who could see beyond the current situation and know that deep down there was someone different underneath.
An excellent discussion book.
For our December meeting we had a fun white elephant gift exchange, a baby shower for one of our Bookies who will be a new mom in January and we each pitched in $10 to purchase a book in the bag for our Library, which is a program where they check out 10 copies of the same book all at once for book clubs and other reading groups. We purchased, Defending Jacob.
It’s so hard to find a decent apartment that is affordable.
When Nate gets a tip on an apartment at an incredible price with utilities included he jumps at the chance to get at it. While the building is old, the studio like apartment works for Nate and he is moved in quickly.
Things in the building are a little off. As Nate meets the other tenants he finds that each apartment is very different and each tenant has a reason to not really care because, as previously stated – the price was right. Yet as the tenants continue to meet up, Nate finds things to be more and more strange. There is a strange staircase int he basement… and lets not even get started on Apartment that has been painted shut and padlocked and never NEVER rented out.
As the tenants work together to solve the mystery of their building cautiously avoiding the building manager, things become more and more strange…
I discovered this book on audible.com last week and thought it sounded really interesting. Sci fi is not normally my thing and for the most part the book did not give off a sci-fi feel (until the very end).
I really enjoyed the mystery and the friendships built-in this book. Never creepy or gory I found I enjoyed this audio right from the very first. Narrator Ray Porter did a fantastic job for a multiple character read. Normally I don’t like books with many characters playing front and center as I find it confusing to get to know them – but that was not the case in 14, the characters were introduced to Nate at a good pace and perhaps because it was a first meeting for him as well. it seemed to work for me too.
Half way through this read I knew I wanted to try something else by this author as well. I see he has many other books but they all looked pretty sci-fi based to me and again, not my style. This one seemed to be his first dabbling into a bit of suspense/adventure and mystery almost taking center stage. Although I may try him anyway as I was so impressed with this one.
Again, I listened to this on audio. While not my usual genre, I think this would greatly appeal to lovers of sci fi. This book won the best sci-fi audiobook of 2012 by Audible.com.
The Blackadder family has waited a long long time to bring their name back to restoration. Stemming back all the way back to young Alison’s grandmother who was captured and forced into marriage with a man named Hume. Quickly sending her son William away so he was not captured and killed, the times have changed and history is made….
Now in Scotland 1561, William is aboard a ship with Alison who has been kept safe by being disguised as a boy since she was a young girl. Now with the long-awaited Queen returning, William feels the tide is about to change, and he hopes, in his favor. It is now up to Alison yo let go of the learned male ways of walking and talking, and instead take on the role of a lady in waiting to the Queen.
Alison, has to wonder, how is she about to pull this off?
Ahhhhh. It has been a long time since I have been able to indulge in historical fiction. The Raven’s Heart was an excellent selection to break back into a genre that I enjoy. Based on the true story of Mary Queen Of Scots, author Jesse Blackadder weaves a fictional thread through what we know to be true and adding in this delicious tale.
Alison’s role in the book is a tough one, perhaps if she had grown up as a lady things may have been easier but, readers of this book will find that having been raised as a boy to protect her from danger has caused this change to be difficult.
I like a book that engages me from the start and I was lucky and pleased to discover this one did. The fast pace on the novel kept me up late at night not being able to find a break in the action to put it down until, droopy eyed, I had to. Now that – makes for good reading!
While a love interest is apparent in the novel, this is not a romance, instead the book leans on action, suspense, and a little mystery. Filled with characters that felt real, I found the book overall to be an enjoyment to read and learned a little history along the way.
Note: You probably noticed that the authors last name is the same last name used in the book. Author Jesse Blackadder traveled to Scotland in 2004 to trace the roots of her name… her name signifies the original Blackadder Estate and House, by the time she left, this story was coming together in her head.
What does a typical start to your day look like? Maybe you wake up to an alarm clock, or at least look at a clock when you wake up. You might make coffee, cook breakfast, check your email, shower, blow dry and style your hair, turn on the radio, or your IPOD while you start your day and eventually get in your car and go – to work, to run errands, make a call on your cell phone., stop and get a coffee at your favorite coffee shop…
Now. What if everything that required electricity no longer worked? What if something called an Electric Magnetic Pulse (EMP), something like a nuclear bomb that hits the earth’s atmosphere and wipes out the magnetic field that covers the earth and all things that require electricity (or have electrical parts like our vehicles) come to a stop.
For months. Maybe years.
We can no longer run water through an electric pump. Keep our food cold in refrigerators. Make a pot of coffee, cook our food on a stove, watch tv or use our computers to get a report of what is going on…the elderly in Nursing homes no longer have working monitors, electric wheel chairs do not work, pace makers… Fire trucks, Police cars, don’t move. You can’t call a friend to see what happened, you can’t watch tv or listen to a radio.
There would be a panic and a rush on grocery stores – but it is cash only as credit cards can not be run. (Do you have a large amount of cash on you?) Pharmacy’s are over taken as the panic sets in no one bothers paying anymore, it is now looting and survival of the fittest.
as time goes on and food becomes scarce, the family pet suddenly may be needed to feed your family…
freaked out yet?
In One Second After, this is exactly what happens. John Matherson lives a small quiet life in North Carolina, has two daughters and is a teacher at the local college. His wife had passed away a few years earlier. When everything shuts down, cars abandoned on the interstate, planes drop out of the sky, people leave their posts at their jobs; John knows something big has happened and he has to protect his family. When the town leaders realize that an electric pulse has hit the United States, John makes a list of what they need to survive. With one daughter who is a diabetic insulin is a must to find.
As the days turn into weeks, and the weeks into months, people turn on each other for survival. Students are recruited to protect the town as waves of people try to get in, homes are guarded with loaded rifles and it becomes common to hear that someone was shot and killed as they tried to steal from a neighbor.
The mechanism for a 400 km high altitude burst EMP: gamma rays hit the atmosphere between 20–40 km altitude, ejecting electrons which are then deflected sideways by the Earth’s magnetic field. This makes the electrons radiate EMP over a massive area. Because of the curvature and downward tilt of Earth’s magnetic field over the USA, the maximum EMP occurs south of the detonation and the minimum occurs to the north. – Wikepedia
This book was brought to my attention by a friend over a year ago. I found the topic frightening and fascinating and while listening to this book on audio I found it really was both frightening and fascinating. Joe Barrett does a wonderful job narrating this one.
I think what is most frightening about this book is that this could actually happen. As I look around my house and think how much I count on the lights to work, the electric pump to bring heat into my home this time of year, my cell phone to work, the faucet to provide water for my coffee, tea, cooking – and Lord knows I do love my lap top time…..
what if all that came to a screeching halt? Scratch that… not even screeching… a silent stop.
Think about how much as a society we have come to rely on things to work by the slip of a switch, a push of a button or a flip of a handle.
While I admit, sometimes I think that the world was probably a better place before we had such access to one another, while I do love the conveniences of going to Facebook and seeing what happening with friends and family, we sure have become a society of being in each others business…. and sharing info, shoot… I am as big of a social network junky as many! But what if we were sent back 50 – 100 years back to when you heated your homes with wood, everyone had gardens to provide food and raised animals for meat. While yes, a lot of work for sure, when people were busy working together as a family – was that a better way?
I am just thinking here because that is something this book will make you do… think.
I thoroughly enjoyed the read and highly recommend this book.
For more audio reviews, check out Jen’s Sound Bites at Devourer Of Books.
Book Journey 