The San Diego County Library Reader Jana Suggests...

2008-02-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

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JANA'S BOOK SUGGESTIONS.

2008-01-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

The Death Artist by Jonathan Santlofer

Reading this book, I kept thinking what a great movie it would be, done right, as good as "Silence of the Lambs", in my opinion. Kate McKinnon Rothstein, a former Astoria, NY cop, now philanthropist and art expert is drawn into a murder case when a close friend/surrogate daughter becomes a victim of a killer, the self named "Death Artist". His crime scenes mimic paintings, not so famous ones, so Kate being the art historian, and having her previous police experience, becomes an invaluable asset to the case. Kate is also one of the heroines I love to follow in series mysteries, tough, smart and like the male counterparts of fictional cops I love, prone to acting first and explaining later. The killer begins to correspond with her and soon she and more of her loved ones are in danger. This was an engrossing novel, I'm almost done with "Color Blind" the next one in the series so I'll keep you posted.

2008-01-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

There's no place like here by Cecelia Ahern

After seeing this author's other book immortalized in the movie P.S. I love you, I remembered I had this one. I like this author, her books are always unique and interesting. Sandy Shortt has a missing persons agency in Ireland, when ironically while meeting a client in Limerick, she up and disappears. Her client, Jack Ruttle, finds her abandoned car and is worried, but he can't get anyone who knows her to share his concern. Sandy has a habit of taking off and not letting anyone know where she's going, so all who know her treat her disappearance casually. In order to compensate for his feeling of hopelessness in the search for his brother, he becomes obsessed with finding her. Meanwhile Sandy has found herself in a strange land with quite a few of the missing people she has spent all of her adult life searching for. She begins to share stories of the loved one's that are still searching for the people in the community, making them happy and frightened in equal measures. She is also discovering missing items that she has obsessively looked for all throughout her life. This book had kind of A Wizard of Oz theme to it, one of my childhood favorites so I liked this book.

2008-01-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Anatomy of Fear by Jonathan Santlofer

This was a really quick read but a terrific new mystery series. Nate Rodriguez is a sketch artist for the NYPD, his drawings are interpersed throughout the book, a surprisingly welcome addition in a fiction novel. Nate also has a bit of second sight, the "perps" he draws are occassionally not from victims descriptions, sometimes he just sees them and draws them out of his own imagination. When a detective sees an accused criminal and the exact likeness to said man in Nate's drawing, she enlists his expertise in a murder investigation. The case involves an artist as well, left with each body is a drawing of the murder, drawn with such detail that Nate is sure the victim was not just killed but stalked as well. It was an engrossing book, I kept dragging my poor dog out for walks to get back to my reading! Always a good sign when I can't wait to get back to a book, his next installment of this character will be out in April. I'll be reading it, and trying his other series as well.

2007-12-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Perfect Match by Kimberly Cates

I love this authors romances and once again this one didn't disappoint. Rowena Brown has felt like an outsider, with her family, with her new town. One place she's always felt loved is amongst the animals she rescues and sells into homes with families that will cherish them. When her newest orphan tears up an older ladies teapot collection and proceeds to get himself arrested (as arrested as a dog can actually get), Rowena meets the hero of our story. Cash Lawless is overrun, with his job as a lawman, his single father status with his one daughter who is handicapped and his other who is just plain sad, and now a huge dog whom Rowena insists should become a new member of his family. Once again I came away from this book misty-eyed, as I do in most of her books, and hoping she writes again soon.

2007-12-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman in Audio Form

With all my insatiable reading I haven't ever picked up a Tony Hillerman book, I did enjoy the movies made from three of the books (Skinwalkers, Coyote Waits, Thief of Time) but this was the first time I had actually sat down with one of the series. I liked it. Tribal policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is now retired, his protegee Sgt Jim Chee on the verge of getting married to Bernadette Manuelito. They're both drawn into a case involving missing diamonds, a 1956 two-plane collision, and a mystery man who may dwell somewhere in the Grand Canyon. Soon Chee, his friend Cowboy Dashee, and Bernie are venturing into the Grand Canyon to find the mystery man in order to clear Cowboy's cousin Billy Tuve of a robbery charge. Soon it becomes apparent that more than just they are in the canyon and the others might not have such selfless motivation. It was a quick read, only 6 CD's, and unabridged at that so I found that aspect of the book appealing. I also liked the characters, Bernie and Jim are a good couple and Cowboy and Billy are entertaining too.

2007-12-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart

Another romantic suspense novel, this book is also part of a series but I'm behind on even purchasing the other installments. In this one, second of the series, Genevieve Spencer gets more than she bargains for when she tries to deliver legal documents to a rich man, Harry Van Dorn, on his yacht. He turns out to be a villian, not above kidnapping women just to abuse them and throw them overboard. Luckily for Genevieve, there is also a secret agent from a clandestine agency on board and he was sent on a deep cover mission to kill Van Dorn. Whether or not she gets saved or saves herself, keeps the suspense level high, and the romance is one of those hate/love beginnings that always makes a good plot point.

2007-12-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

Missing by Jasmine Cresswell

Part one of an ongoing series about possibly murdered bigamist Ron Raven and his two families. In this novel, his legitimate daughter, Megan, is determined to find the three million dollars her father borrowed from a bank using her mother's family ranch as collateral. One big challenge is her father had taken out the loan with his not so legitimate brother-in-law, Adam, in Chicago who is just bitter enough to take the ranch out of a need for revenge. When they meet sparks fly and they decide to team up and find the missing money. The clues leads them into dangerous situations with people who will stop at nothing to keep the money out of their hands. This authors work is always enjoyable and there's romance intermingled in the suspense to keep me interested.

2007-11-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

The Color of Blood by Declan Hughes

The second in the series featuring the character Ed Loy, a licensed private detective in America, but working unlicensed in his native Ireland. I really like these books, I'm always amazed at how thrashed Ed gets and yet he won't give up until he solves the cases. In this one a wealthy man hires Ed to locate his missing daughter, who may have been kidnapped. Soon the case becomes more and more complicated when skeletons lurking in his client's closet are unleashed and people start dying. Always entertaining, I sometimes got lost in the sea of characters but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

2007-11-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Another hilarious Stephanie Plum. In this book, her ex husband Dickie Orr is suddenly missing and since she was the last one to attack him in front of witnesses, (he's a lawyer, enough said..) she looks like the likely suspect. In between exploding taxidermy and her arch enemy Joyce Barnhart, it's another typical month for Stephanie. Ranger is still too hot to handle, her boyfriend, Joe, is distracted by a mysterious case and barely around. Her Grandma Mazur and Stephanie are still driving Stephanie's mother into ironing every garment in the house so it's business as usual for every one's favorite bounty hunter. A really fun series with wacky characters, I laugh out loud throughout.

2007-10-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

The Woods by Harlan Coben in Audio

A road trip for me means another review of an audio book for this blog. I hadn't read this author before and I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Paul Copeland is a New Jersey prosecuter with a violent murder in his past, his sister was killed by a serial killer at a summer camp they both attended. As a matter of fact he was supposed to be on guard duty the night the murder happened, leading him to feel an intense responsibility for the loss, hence his current profession as crime fighter. The book follows the trial he is working on, a rape case similar to the Duke Lacrosse scandal in our news last year. Soon, the murder, his family, an old romance, all becomes intersected when the rape defendent's father hires a private detective agency to dig up dirt on "Cope" as he is called. I liked the humor in his character, he made me laugh quite a few times, despite the tragedy in his life. Another entertaining story.

2007-10-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown in Audio Form

I really only enjoy listening to her books now which I find odd, used to be any book I read could be devoured either way, read or listened to, this author I don't finish if I'm reading it manually. In this book a former NFL football player Griff Birkett, who just spent years in prison for throwing a football game to erase his gambling debts, is summoned to a millionaire's mansion and made an offer he can't refuse. Well, he should really, but monetarily he can't. He has to impregnate the man's very beautiful wife but only if no one but the three of them know so they don't have the option of In Vitro fertilization. So begins only one of Griff's very real problems. A sinister man is tailing him from the moment he's released from prison and he proves that he will stop at nothing to send Griff right back to prison by any means he can. Soon people are dying and Griff is on the run and on top of that he finds he's fallen in love with Laura Speakman, the millionaires wife. Engrossing mystery and a dash of romance mixed in to make it even better for me. I liked it.

2007-10-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Marriage Wager

by Candace Camp

I do enjoy my historical romances, this author I always read without exception, a welcome break from the death and destruction in the mysteries I read. Constance Woodley is a spinster/orphan being used as a chaperone for her cousins when unbeknownst to her a wager is being made at a party, one that will change her whole world. When a society lady takes an interest in her, Constance is immediately suspicious, it doesn't take her long to get to the truth. Her look is being improved upon slowly in order for her newfound friend Francesca to win a wager with a gentleman, that she can find her a match by the end of the season. Inviting her to her family home, Francesca is surprised when the man Constance takes an interest in Francesca's own brother. This was an entertaining story, a pleasure to read as usual.

2007-10-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer in Audio form

I picked this one up because of the upcoming movie and found it very moving and tragic. The author, after his intensive research, even going so far as to trek into the same Alaskan wilderness himself, obviously felt a great sympathy for his protagonist. The subject of the true story is Chris McCandless, a young man who in 1992, graduated from Emory University, donated the leftover of his college money to charity, dumped most of his belongings and hitchhiked across the country to get to Alaska. Everyone who helped Chris in his quest, even strangers who picked him up, liked the young man and tried to get him to abandon his quest out of concern for his safety. He wouldn't be stopped, his disdain for his upbringing and the estrangement between he and his parents, his obsession with the works of Jack London and Thoreau, all conspired to keep him on his trek. He would make it to Alaska and unfortunately died from starvation in an abandoned bus. The book was intensely sad but I couldn't help but be in awe of the passion it took to just abandon all worldly goods and chase a dream like he did, albeit with tragic results. Worth abandoning my fiction addiction to listen to this book.

2007-10-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Walking in Circles before Lying Down

by Merrill Markoe

This book was really funny, kind of a Dr Doolittle of modern times. Dawn Tarnauer has a hilariously odd family, two marriages behind her and boyfriends that sense she's an easy mark and take advantage of her financially. The only solid area of her life are her dogs, first Swentzle, a Lab-Newfoundland mix than when he's gone, Chuck, a Pit Bull she adopts at the pound. Working at a Kennel she becomes inordinately close with her dog clients until suddenly she's able to communicate with them all. The conversations with them, and her wacky sister Halley who becomes a Life Coach to the rich and famous, are the funniest parts of the book. It was a fast and quirky book, I really enjoyed the characters, especially the sometimes crude dogs.

2007-09-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Dexter in the Dark by Jeffry Lindsay in Audio Form

The long awaited third book in the Dexter series, I can only listen to this one since the narrator does such a great job in bringing Dexter to life, a far better job than I could do if I simply read the series. I especially enjoy the fact with the characters being on television I can link the actors playing them with their characters in the book as well. Not much I can say without giving plot points away so I'll just say I liked it, but I missed one aspect of it that was quite prevelent in the other novels. I'll look forward to the next one.

2007-09-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Another installment in the Goldy Schulz mystery series. Once again dead bodies pile up around her, and once again she can't help but involve herself in the investigating, much to the dismay of her cop husband. Even after she's assaulted, Goldy still can't help herself, she has to know whodunit. A character introduced in the book Double Shot, who's supposed to be dead, has reappeared but as yet Goldy is the only one to have seen her. She can't get anyone to believe her, so she tries on her own to find out if it could be her, as well as trying to cater parties, chauffeur her son, solve murders... all this makes for another entertaining book in a fun series.

2007-09-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis

I hadn't ever read this author before but all reviews of the novel were raving so I picked this one up. Paul Riley in the late eighties prosecuted an open and shut serial killing case and has been a famous and successful litigator ever since. The first murders followed along the first verse of an obscure song whose lead singer committed suicide. Now, in 2005, the year in the book when present tense, someone else is killing following the second verse of the song. For years, Paul had been haunted by the first killers last message to him before execution and so even though he doesn't have to, he decides to help investigate the new killings. Soon all the evidence is beginning to point to Paul and messages he had been receiving over the years soon begin to show the killer had been contacting him for far longer than he'd ever expected. I was in for plenty of surprises in this book, Paul has near misses with the killer, and mysteries about the first case are soon to be solved. A very engrossing mystery.

2007-09-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Secrets of a Lady by Tracy Grant

Formerly titled "Daughter of the Game"

Another historical romance, somewhat larger a tome than I'm used to but very enjoyable nonetheless. Charles and Melanie Fraser are living a happily married life when one evening their young son Colin is snatched from their home, the kidnapper is insisting that Charles has a very valuable heirloom ring and he won't return their son until the ring is returned to him. In order to find the ring and get her son back Melanie realizes she must tell Charles a secret she has kept from him the seven years of their marriage, a secret that isn't normally a plot point in the romances I read. In their quest to save their son, they must deal with their personal problems and a shadowy figure who has tried many times to kill them, his identity when later revealed, quite a shock. I found everything about the book surprising, the plot twists, the main characters who aren't as lily-white as they usually are in these novels, and the interaction between them and the suspects.

2007-09-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Dead Connection by Alafair Burke

I tried this one because I'm such a big fan of her father, James Lee Burke, and this is one of her titles not a legal thriller but more a police procedural, my personal favorite. Ellie Hatcher has just gotten a temporary promotion in her position in the NYPD, from burglary to homicide, working with a man with a reputation in the precinct for not being able to share his hunches with his partners. The case is a man killing women from an Internet dating service called "First Date", each woman is found with a paper in her pocket linking her to the site. When a gun from one of the murders is linked to another murder seemingly unrelated, the case gets trickier, involving the Russian mob and the FBI and maybe even one of their own. This book was good, I was glued to it in order to find out the identity of the villain and hadn't guessed who he was prior to that. Hopefully the author will continue to write stories for this character, I would love to know if they ever clear her detective father's name, maybe in the next one, fingers crossed.

2007-08-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Pleasure Trap by Elizabeth Thornton

Thinking about Kathleen Woodiwiss got me in the mood to read a historical romance and this particular author has always written good ones. Eve Dearing isn't an ordinary historical romance character, as well as being an author of gothic fiction, she also has a touch of what she calls Charisma, but what we call second sight. When another writer publishes stories in a paper that other people recognize as tragedies that happened on the grounds of their manors, all heck breaks loose and people start rabidly searching for the author named "Angelo". Ash Denison is asked by a fellow military veteran to investigate for him and unmask the culprit, which leads Ash to meet Eve and the romance and mystery begins. I really enjoy taking a break from the modern books I read the most and experiencing the different time period. While this novel also features murder and mayhem it also incorporates romance too, something I've always enjoyed in my reading material.

2007-08-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke

As I've mentioned previously, I love this author's books. This is the newest Dave Robicheaux novel, post Katrina, and he is overwrought with the devastation of his neighboring town of New Orleans. He and his fellow officers go into the jurisdiction to help out after the storm and Dave is drawn into the murder of some looters that brings some very unsavory characters into his own life as a result. The looters, prior to the two out of the three being shot, had made the fatal mistake of stealing from a crime lord. Pretty soon in his investigating, Dave and his family finds themselves at the wrong end of the gun, but unsure of who their enemies really are. I always like returning to this character and his numerous reoccurring characters, especially Clete, his P.I. buddy who always gets him into situations he regrets. Another page-turner by an exceptional author.

2007-08-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

I read this book because of a customer suggestion and enjoyed it. The author is the well known actor from the television show "House" and the humor he injected into the novel was one of the things I liked most about it. Thomas Lang is approached to do a killing and when he very kindly goes to warn the target, he is than drawn into a world even he, with his former military experience, is finding difficult to escape from alive. He wise-cracks even under pressure which reminded me of my favorite detective created by Robert Crais, Elvis Cole. The books skewers everyone from Americans, to tough military men, to assassins. I enjoyed it, though at times, I found it hard to keep up with the many twists and turns it took.

2007-07-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard

I've been a fan of this author forever but like all romance novelists turned "suspense" authors, I really miss the romance books! This one is still good, I still read them just as voraciously but I really miss the prevalence of romance in her newer titles. Bailey Wingate, now a widow, married into a nightmare family. Her two adult stepchildren are making her life miserable since she is in charge of their trust funds and doles it out reasonably when they want an unreasonable amount. When her private plane goes down with she and the pilot only alive because of his skills in crash landing, they continue to live because of her MacGuyver skills with the only items she can find in her luggage. I liked the strength in both characters and even the minor characters keep the book very enjoyable. I'll be looking forward to her next one, suspense or not.

2007-07-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

In memory of: Kathleen Woodiwiss

1939-2007

Best Books I think:

Ashes in the Wind

Flame and the Flower

Shanna

The Wolf and the Dove

As a teenager new to the romance novel, those aforementioned books opened a wonder in me, still in existence today, even though a variety of the books I read now are mysteries. Simply for the fact that very few measure up to these titles, I can't even tell you how many times I've reread them. They are definitely romances so if you hold that genre in low esteem (I had brothers, I know this prejudice exists) than I wouldn't recommend you try these books. If you love the genre (and I know many people do, in my years at the bookstore, the romance expert was the most highly utilized) then please read these. The historical romance has lost one of its greatest contributors, I will have to sit and reread those again just to experience the feelings very few books and very few authors produce.

2007-07-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

Dirty Martini by J.A. Konrath in Audio Form

I really like this series, sometimes the villains created by this author can be so gruesome, this one especially. He's called the Chemist and he kills indiscriminately by contaminating restaurants, deli's, even special events like wedding receptions. What is especially creepy is the insects he sets loose in certain places, that kept me scratching at invisible cockroaches during certain scenes. Jack Daniels, the main character, is terrific, she's tough and determined, amazingly still doing her job after all the times the killers aim for her and her family. In this one she loses her friend and partner Herb to the Robbery and Vice division when he gets tired of the target on his head. Then her boyfriend Latham proposes and she finds herself unable to accept. More and more personal and professional problems are thrown at her in this installment but I love the humor and the narration by the two voices.

2007-07-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

The Red Dahlia by Lynda LaPlante

The second in the Anna Travis series, this one was just as good as the last one. Someone with an obsession over the Black Dahlia case, which happened in America in 1947, has committed the identical crime in Surrey, England. Anna is now working under a different boss since her brief relationship with James Langton in the last book but suddenly when her current one is struck ill, she's back to working for him and it's a little awkward. They are soon embroiled in the case however; and like the last book they have a high profile suspect and very little physical evidence but determination for no one to escape justice. Another good book, another good detective.

2007-07-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

Forever Odd by Dean R Koontz

I liked this book but found myself a little less on the edge-of-my-seat as the first one kept me. This installment focuses on one mystery as opposed to the many he solved in the last novel. It starts with Odd being visited by a neighbor, a dead neighbor, and when he goes to his house he discover him dead alright, but the victims handicapped stepson is missing. Following his instincts to an abandoned Indian Casino, Odd is hunted by an evil lady named Datura and her two henchmen who want to steal his powers and than kill him. He has all he can do to outwit her since she's seriously crazy and armed with the two thugs, but he starts to wise up to fact that lies and violence might be the only way to get out alive. Another good book.

2007-07-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Above Suspicion by Lynda La Plante

I was a Prime Suspect fan when I discovered them in DVD a few years ago, so when I saw this book starting a new series by the author I snapped it up at the library. This one is very good, almost like Jane Tennison (the main character in Prime Suspect) if we had followed her when she first started as a murder detective. Only the Inspector here is named Anna Travis and this is her first murder case. The murders are brutal, all victims are prostitutes except the one Anna is unexpectedly brought on to investigate, due to an unexpected loss of a team member on the case. The victim is just a young girl who unfortunately is at the wrong place at the wrong time and unlike the previous murders, a witness is discovered. When the description links them to an actor it becomes an impossible task to find hard evidence to link him to the crimes. Anna is a good character, even though she's new to the job she makes a few of the major breaks in the case, as well as juggling a new attraction to the team leader and even the actor she's investigating. I am now reading the second installment called the Red Dahlia, I like this author and her characters, I'll continue to follow her new titles.

2007-07-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

This book is a relatively new character for Deaver, Kathryn Dance was a minor character in the last Lincoln Rhyme Novel. She's a body language expert who is sent to interview a Charles Manson type killer in which new evidence has been unearthed, linking him to another murder. Lots of twists and turns as with all this authors books, he likes to keep you in the dark sometimes with the plot twists, the detectives know before us, I'm used to finding out what they know right when they know it. The villian is smart but evenly matched by Kathryn, I liked how strong her character is, I hope there's more books in her future.

2007-06-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Spare Change by Robert B. Parker

I love the Sunny Randall P.I. series, she's tough and funny and always being underestimated by the bad guys. In this one she's assisting her father, a former cop, in a task force recently brought back together by a resurgance in killings by the murderer dubbed "The Spare Change Killer". Sunny has an unresolved situation with her married ex-husband that takes a different turn in the middle of this story bringing an interesting twist back into her personal life. Along with a few social visits with the man the task force is sure is the killer, Sunny has a lot to deal with in this installment and handles herself as she always does, with humor and the help of her good friend Spike and her dog, Rosie. A very quick read, as always with the author, but very entertaining.

2007-06-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund

By Blaize Clement

A light mystery that is very enjoyable because the characters, even the one's the main character pet sits, are very entertaining. Dixie Hemingway, a former cop who because of a personal tragedy chooses a much more calming profession as a pet sitter discovers that sense of calm is only an illusion as in each book, a dead body turns up. In this mystery, a follow-up to the last book "Curiosity killed the Cat Sitter", a client's Dachshund, Mame, is the one whom discovers the dead body, most specifically the hand attached to the dead body. As before, Dixie is stuck aiding the investigation due to her own sense of self preservation and her unbidden talent of getting people, even strangers, to open up to her about everything. I liked the hint of romance thrown in between her and the detective assigned the cases and look forward to the next installment.

2007-06-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Dress by Kimberly Cates

To soothe my recently distressed nerves, I had to put down the murder and mayhem books for a while and switch to romance. This book is written by a terrific author and didn't disappoint. A continuation of the author's earlier books (Picket Fence published in 2005 and Gazebo in 2006), Emma McDaniel is a movie star who lands her role of a lifetime in a character piece that may finally get her recognition as a serious actress. The only trouble is she has to put up with a cranky Scotsman who resents any intrusion into his dig for ancient artifacts, especially intrusions of the Hollywood variety. That initial animosity which makes for a good romance also works well here too. Throw in feisty old men, rambunctious dogs, and a backstabbing college student and that makes for a very entertaining time in reading.

2007-06-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Another exciting Harry Bosch novel, I love how Michael Connelly is keeping them coming now, I would be happy to read one a year, I like them that much. Harry Bosch is now with another partner, a young man who insists he call him Iggy, which true to form, Harry will not do. That is just one of many things he and his new partner clash over on their new case together, not the best beginning, but one which always occurs between he and his partners. The victim, because of his profession and missing radioactive material, brings the case to the FBI's attention and also brings back a love interest of Harry's, Rachel Walling. The ending was a surprise, once more it takes a smarter perp than this one to throw one over on Harry. This series never disappoints.

2007-06-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

What's a Ghoul to Do by Victoria Laurie

Another one of the "I see dead people" books, kind of a trend right now it seems. I like this author, her books always have a touch of humor and a touch of the supernatural. In this one the main character is a "Ghost Buster", whom, along with her trusted assistant Gilley and her very vocal pet parrot, will rid anyone of their pesky poltergeists. They get more than they bargain for when they take on Dr Steven Sable's ghosts in his recently deceased Grandfather's lodge. The dead and live villains seem to be trying to kill them. This book is a fast funny read.

2007-05-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

Odd Thomas by Dean R. Koontz in Audio Form

This was a good book if you enjoyed the Sixth Sense, the main character whose actual name is Odd Thomas, is unique in more ways than just the fact that he sees dead people. He doesn't have a burning ambition beyond his job as a fry cook, other than maybe, oh, if he could, work at the local tire store. His girlfriend, also a unique character, is perfect for him because of her own uniqueness and they love each other intensely. Most of the book Odd thinks he's chasing after a man who aspires to be a great serial killer, starting on a specific date. He's in for quite a few surprises, including self preservation when someone unknown sets him to take a murder rap, only by luck does that person not succeed. Soon he discovers there's something catastrophic headed for his town, he just has to find out where, whom, and when in order to thwart the taking of innocent lives. The reading was good, the ending left me shocked, and raving at my CD player like a crazy person. Always a good recommendation, to leave a person so affected, or so I believe.

2007-05-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb

I stopped reading Nora Roberts but couldn't quite quit this series of hers. Set in the future, Eve Dallas is a New York City cop, tough as nails and married to a rich Irish businessman named Roark. An odd couple who met in the first book and are still going strong well into this series of books, this one involves murder at a plush private school. There's conflict between Eve and Roark in the form of an old girlfriend who reappears out of nowhere and deliberately causes a rift between them. The ending was quite a surprise, I didn't expect the villian to be who it was, I liked the interaction between the killer and Eve. Another engrossing installment.

2007-05-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

At first this book was a little disconcerting, it's content throughout the whole novel is years of letters and E-mails from its main characters. I missed the normal interactions between the subjects, the joy of reading for me is being in someone else's head for the length of the book, that was sorely missed. Mostly all we're given is the aftermath of conversations and developments, it took me a long time to get used to that. I had to know how it ended so the interest was definitely there to read it, despite that unfortunate drawback. I will continue to read this author, her other two books were wonderful. "P.S. I love you" and "If You Could See Me Now"

2007-05-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell

This book was very good, I thought the ending a little inplausible but during parts of the book, I actually spoke out loud, it had me so interested and surprised. The main character Shae-Lynn is a former police officer now driving around her Pennsylvania mining town as a taxi driver. When her long lost sister shows up, very pregnant, and being chased by a Russian, a lawyer and a socialite, she has all she can do to juggle them and other problems that hit her unexpectedly. I really enjoyed all the relationships in this story, even the characters who appear briefly, are quite memorable. She doesn't publish frequently but her books are always a great read, this one was worth the wait.

2007-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Obsession by Karen Robards

One of my favorite authors who luckily averages about a book a year is back with another good one. The book starts with a bang, with the heroine and her college friend bound and gagged in her Washington DC townhouse while bad guys ransack the place. Only the heroine, Katherine, lives and she ends up hospitalized with a case of selective amnesia. Even her own reflection isn't familiar, she believes she looked differently most of her life. Her next door neighbor, Dan, is the first person she recognizes when she wakes up in the hospital. Even though she has a feeling they clashed once upon a time, when her feeling of personal danger overwhelms her she escapes and accepts a ride with him. Her feelings of danger are not unfounded when she is pursued by her boyfriends henchmen, and other people who may or may not want to finish the job they started in the beginning. I didn't breeze through this one like I do her other novels but I wasn't disappointed either. My devotion to her work will continue...

2007-04-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

No Safe Place by JoAnn Ross

Another good mystery/romance by this author. A Chicago cop whose blown the whistle on her dirty colleagues is contacted by the New Orleans police that her twin sister is dead, she rushes there and runs into an ex-cop, now a PI, named Nick Broussard. He knew her sister and is investigating what looks like her suicide, she insists on proving it murder, and their romance blooms despite a lot of personal danger. I always enjoy New Orleans characters and Nick is no exception. Kate, the heroine is good too, tough and no nonsense, she's a very strong character. As usual this author did not disappoint, a very good read.

2007-03-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

This author's works always affects me deeply, she's amazing at telling stories in a unique manner with stand-out characters and topical subjects. This one tells the story of a school shooting, going back and forth before the actual event and after. She gives the viewpoint of mostly everyone, from the victim, to the shooter, and even the parents of both the shooter and of the victims. She's an amazing writer and the story really draws you in until what you're supposed to be doing gets put aside so you can finish. Another absorbing book from this author, keep a box of tissues handy if you cry at tearjerkers.

2007-03-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

Stealing Home and Slice of Heaven by Sherryl Woods

I enjoy reading these light romances when I've read too many of the murder and mayhem titles. This is going to be a series of three books, The Sweet Magnolias, it's the title of the three leading ladies in each book who are given the moniker by their small southern town. The first book is about Maggie, a stay at home mom who is left by her husband and to add insult to injury the woman he's leaving her for is pregnant. Her teenage son is most affected by the change and his behavior brings help in the form of his baseball coach, help to Maggie and to her brooding offspring. The second Magnolia (in Slice of Heaven) is Dana Sue and she also had a cheating husband but most of the town only remembers her kicking him out dramatically by throwing all his clothes out in their front yard. He stays out of town for quite a few years until an emergency with their teenage daughter forces him to come back and face his estranged wife. They're both good books, I can't wait to read Helen's story coming soon in "Feels like Family".

2007-03-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Like all the novels of hers that I've read, this one wrenched my heart. With school shootings so prevalent nowadays it's also a very topical subject and she does a terrific job at showing the different views, of the victims and the school shooter and his family. From the moment Peter started school he was bullied, from the moment he was born he was best friends with Josie. At eight, when their friendship is torn apart by their mom's break in their friendship and in high school when Peter's days are full of misery he becomes a powder keg and no one sees. As she normally does in her books, she jumps from past to present intermittently, giving us different views of the characters at different stages of the story. A definite must if you love character driven stories, I know I always have.

2007-03-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

High Profile
by Robert B. Parker

Another good Jesse Stone mystery. A famous talk show host and his girlfriend are murdered in Jesse's small town of Paradise, Mass. Once again Jesse and his entertaining staff have to have contact with the rich and the unpleasant in order to narrow down the list of suspects. The only flaw I'm beginning to find in these books is Jesse's attachment to his ex wife Jenn, especially since he and another good character of Parker's, Sunny Randall, have started a relationship. Jenn, is also in this book, being guarded by Sunny against a stalker/rapist, another shady story which makes Jesse's attachment to Jenn a little less interesting as her character grows more and more duplicitous. Despite that, it was a quick and interesting read.

2007-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

The Watchman
by Robert Crais

A long awaited Joe Pike novel, I loved getting in his head and finally learning more of his history. It never hurts to revisit Elvis Cole either, and where there's Joe Pike, there's always Elvis Cole. Joe has a favor called in from a mercenary contact, guarding the body of a Paris Hilton type after she's involved in a car accident. Time and time again their safe house information is leaked and what looked like just a simple babysitting job becomes a chase to the death by enemies unknown. The heiress character turns out to be a more interesting person than expected and she works well with Elvis Cole and forms an attachment to Joe. Another great book from a terrific author, I devoured it quickly.

2007-02-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

Gravewriter by Mark Arsenault

Another author I've never read before but came away happy that I experimented. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, the main character, Billy Povich, is a compulsive gambler and an obituary writer not making enough money to pay the bookies who are after him. Barely scraping by emotionally after the death of his estranged wife, he's not the best father to his precocious young son either. To make his life more complicated, he's called to serve on a jury of a murder trial, one which he begins to take more seriously than anything else in his life. Along with a social worker, Billy begins to solve the case on the sly, feeding the information of what he uncovers to the defense attorney anonymously. All the characters were good, even an "enforcer" of one of his bookies brought a little bit more to the story. Overall, I would suggest this title.

2007-02-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hide by Lisa Gardner

Wonderful, wonderful! I tore through this book and it's not a small novel either, I was surprised at how quickly I finished with the size being what it was. A continuation of the story of Bobby Dodge which was started in "Alone", this one begins with a gruesome crime scene. Six young girls are found dead in plastic bags in an underground pit on the grounds of an abandoned mental hospital. One of the girls is identified by an engraved locket and the name is leaked. A character is introduced when she comes forward claiming to have once been Annabelle Granger. "Annabelle" bears a striking resemblance to a character in Bobby's previous story, Catherine Gagnon, and she is reintroduced into this book when they travel to interview her. This book had twists and turns and I always enjoy how many of this authors works feature recurring characters. A terrific read, I was also pleased to see a starred review in Publishers Weekly. I'm not the only one who loves it!

2007-02-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Another terrific biography where all the characters are so interesting and unique they are as enthralling as fictional characters. If you ever feel sorry for yourself in regards to your childhood, I recommend you read this book. You'll begin to feel like you were born with a silver spoon after experiencing her growing up years, I know I did. Once again I was drawn to it by a great cover (as I was The Tender Bar), she's been in the media for awhile, now I read she's a correspondent for MSNBC. In this book, she's one of four children to parents who do less growing up than their children throughout this memoir. It was funny and sad and I hated putting it down. Definitely a must read for those who enjoy reading about people who triumph over adversity. I found her and her siblings amazing.

2007-02-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

Storm Runners by T. Jefferson Parker

Another good one from this author. Once more his hero is a tragic figure, a cop who lost his wife and son in an explosion meant for him, in which he also barely escapes with his life. The villain is a high school buddy of his, the head of a terrifying gang in Southern California who manages to do his commanding from inside a jail cell with the help of corruptible prison guards. After many surgeries, and a year of drinking himself sick, Matt can no longer be a cop and is hired by a friend with a security company and given a new job as bodyguard. His new charge, a local on air weather person has what she assumes is a stalker. When Matt catches the culprit and has him arrested he discovers there's more to the story than just that. Pretty soon his new job brings him into contention with his nemesis again and he must protect Frankie, the heroine, who turns out to be not just your ordinary everyday weather girl, but a potential rain maker. It was an exciting book, it brought me to a halt on one of my walks when the final showdown happened, which occurs very rarely.

2007-01-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Impulse by JoAnn Ross
(currently, this title is only available from SDCL as an audio book)

This mystery was very graphic but also a real page-turner too. There's a murderer in the small country town of Hazard, Wyoming. He begins his killing with a young figure skater who has escaped from her whirlwind life as an Olympic phenom but her life is cut short in a gruesome manner. The sheriff is a transplanted city cop who lost his edge after a shoot-out and returns home to raise his newly discovered teenage son. The heroine of the story, Faith Prescott, a local radio personality whose past is more traumatic than I'm used to in these romances, has a mystery person coming for her too, is it the killer? This book kept me interested, it took no time at all to finish because the romance and mystery was solid, the author did a good job at giving me some red herrings on the identity of the murderer. Another good book.

2007-01-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

The Unbidden Truth by Kate Wilhelm

(in audio book form, read by Anna Fields)

On a road trip this last weekend, we listened to this book, an author I hadn't ever read before. I knew I liked the narrator so I borrowed it from the library. It was a surprisingly exciting legal thriller and I was happy to discover this is one of a series of books featuring a lawyer named Barbara Holloway and I will happily backtrack to catch up. In this book, she is hired quite mysteriously to defend a young pianist in a murder charge, who couldn't have afforded Barbara's fee were it not for a womans group who picks up her tab. There is all sorts of intrigue in this book, the young pianist has a forgotten past, and the victim isn't exactly what he seems, and danger abounds for everyone surrounding the case. Barbara is a tenacious character, she isn't intimidated by anybody! We got home before we could finish and I had to find out how it ended so I finished listening to it as I unpacked. I love a book that hooks me that thoroughly.

Request the print version here

2007-01-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

Rapid Fire by Donna Ball

Another light mystery, this one is about a dog trainer/kennel operator who lives on a remote mountain of North Carolina, these are quick and enjoyable reads. Raine has an adorable dog Cisco, a Golden Retriever featured in this book and the previous one "Smoky Mountain Tracks", whose always such an exceptional character for being four legged and unable to talk. In this installment, Raine is interviewed by the FBI because of a childhood friend and former boyfriend who may have become an eco-terrorist and may be returning to their small town to pick up some ill gotten gains. She doesn't want to believe it of him and as a result she clashes with her not quite ex husband who firmly believes it is true and wants him caught. There's the added mystery of a dead man and a marauding bear, all combining to keep your attention.

2007-01-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

The Wrong Kind of Blood by Declan Hughes

This was a really good book, set in Ireland with the main character, a now American private eye, returning home for his mothers funeral. After attending her services he gets a gun to the back of his head and intrigue abounds from that point on. Even with my big city toughness I was still surprised at how violently our hero gets abused, the bad guys almost kill him numerous times, with fists and using few weapons. Plenty of people are killed and each corpse found makes Ed wonder about the fate of what he thought was his runaway father. I was shocked at the ending, I never once predicted the villain, or a few other twists to the story. I'll be waiting patiently for his next book due April 1, 2007, The Color of Blood.

2007-01-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

Jana Suggests...
A Vision of Murder &
Killer Insight

This is a light but very entertaining mystery series, unique because it involves a psychic who always sees more than than the villains like and chaos ensues when they all try to kill her. In "A Vision of Murder" she and her handyman Dave decide to buy and fix up old houses with a loan from her rich sister. Unfortunately the first house happens to be haunted and a murder is recreated over and over, almost killing Dave with his own power tool. With the help of her boyfriend Dutch they set out to solve the murder in order to rid the house of its evil spirits and head off her sister's very dangerous nervous breakdown.
In "Killer Insight" Abby goes to Denver for a friend's wedding after a breakup with her boyfriend Dutch and proceeds once again to see too much and have a killer on her trail. Bridesmaids disappear and a reading for the bride goes awry, causing the wedding party to self destruct. I zipped through both of these books quickly, the characters are funny and the stories are action packed, I really enjoy this author.

2007-01-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

Cross by James Patterson

This will probably be the last Patterson novel I read and since the whole world loves him I won't be putting a dent in his readership at all. They're entertaining but becoming like many authors in my opinion who publish so frequently, pretty similar to the last installment. In this Alex Cross novel there's a serial rapist/hit man on the loose who Alex had a momentary and sinister contact with early in his children's life. The villain is very scary but other than that, I fought a feeling of deja vu throughout the whole novel. I will leave him to his other fans, many of my family members included in that large number.

2006-12-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

If you like Romance...Jana Suggests...Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

I scored with another advanced reader's copy at my other job, this book isn't due out until February, I was very happy to get this author's title. She's one of the few of my favorite romance authors who didn't switch over to murder mysteries. Her books are always funny and full of wonderful characters, her stories never just revolve around two people, there's always multiple love stories in her books. This continues her theme in multiple novels involving a pro football team. This creation is about a star player with a playboy reputation and a lady who suddenly finds herself dumped and broke. They are terrific characters and the small town they land in for awhile is full of eccentrics and just plain mean inhabitants. I breezed through this book, enjoying the lack of murder and mayhem and the infusion of light comedy, as usual I think she needs to write more often. Other than that absolutely no other complaints.

2006-12-18T11:38:00.000-08:00

Jana Suggests...Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris

Not a book for light reading but long awaited by Thomas Harris fans. I absoluted hated the previous book and was glad this one was better. This installment really clarified the history of Hannibal and how he developed into the villian he became. Thomas Harris' books are more cerebral than most of the fiction out there so it's not non stop action but engrossing nontheless. I'll be interested to see the movie they're releasing in 2007 with a relatively unknown actor as the young Hannibal. The screenplay was written by the author as well, hopefully that will make the adaption true to the story. Recommended reading for those who enjoy serious crime stories.

2006-12-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

Jana Suggests...Madman's Tale by John Katzenbach

I always enjoy this author's titles, for some reason I bought this and didn't read it until now, after reading his newest book "The Wrong Man". I was mad at myself for not reading it sooner, I enjoyed the book immensely. The main character comes alive with every chapter finished, he's a young man with a mental illness, who after receiving a flyer for a reunion at a mental hospital in which he was involuntarily committed, decides to attend. There he is given the idea to write about the experience by a fellow ex-patient. What follows is his recollection of a murder that occurred there, and his involvement in the investigation. A terrific read, I really felt for all of the characters and liked how the book ended.

2006-11-27T11:59:00.000-08:00

Jana Suggests...Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Harry's baaack! One of my favorite detectives, Harry Bosch is back and better than ever. This book begins with a cold case that Harry has never put away, despite the fact that everyone else, except the victim's parents, have given up on. When a jailed killer confesses to the murder in order to receive a life sentence and not the death penalty, Harry is skeptical. He was convinced someone else was guilty, but in order to find the corpse, he agrees to speak to the confessed killer. That is the start of an engrossing new addition to one of my favorite series', I couldn't wait to pick it back up again and enjoyed this book thoroughly.

2006-11-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Jana Suggests...The Ruins by Scott Smith

This book packs a punch after you get through the first quarter of it, in the beginning you're wondering where it's going and then you know, and its hard to put down. It would make a terrific movie, in a Jurassic Park kind of way, I liken the book to that novel because it engaged me in the same manner, you never knew what was going to happen after each chapter. The "villian" the term used so as not to give anything away, is rapacious and scary, and incredibly adaptable. Read this book only if you like to be put on the edge of your seat.

2006-10-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

If you like Suspense...Jana Suggests...Ricochet by Sandra Brown in CD Book form.

Oddly enough I discovered reading this author in book form led me not to finish her books, although she's one of my favorites. So I decided to try the audio book and discovered it had nothing to do with her writing, just me, I guess. This one was engrossing, the main character is a police detective, Duncan Hatcher, determined to see a man with his own crime syndicate, tried for the murders of his own employees. Without the help of the presiding judge who makes what Duncan knows is a bad call and releases the man back to society. To add to his stress Duncan must investigate a murder in the house of the aforementioned judge, a suspicious self defense death involving the judge's beautiful wife. There are many twists and turns in this novel, I enjoyed it and also liked the narration by Dennis Boutsikaris, an actor with a great voice.

2006-10-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

If you like Romance...Jana Suggests...Second Sight by Amanda Quick

A must-have author for lovers of romance, her books under any name are all good, solid reads. This is the name she uses for her historical romances, these particular characters are quite unique because both have an other-worldly talent that saves them throughout the book when their lives are endangered. The heroine is unique in her era as she is a photographer and the sole support of her siblings and Aunt, quite pragmatic about ever having a family of her own. When she is hired to photograph some very valuable pieces found by a secret society and decides to have a fling with the man who hired her all sorts of challenges ensue. Like all good romances they are soon united in love and solving murder mysteries. I like her books and this one didn't disappoint.

If you like Biographies...Jana Suggests...A Twist of Lemmon by Christopher Lemmon

I don't read too many biographies but this one featured one of my favorite actors and since it was written by his son I thought I would like it. I could have done without a lot of the golfing moments, but it seemed to be such a big part of Jack Lemmons life it might have seemed like a glaring omission to those who knew and loved him if they weren't included. I enjoyed the stories, the little known fact that Jack Lemmon loved but punished a lot of pricey cars. That he had little poodle's that he loved. His friendship with Walter Matthau brought me a lot pleasure knowing their rapport wasn't just acting. This is a very slim book but I'm glad I read it, he seemed to live and love a full life, just like in his movies.

2006-09-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

NEW RELEASES COMING SOON WITH REVIEWS TAKEN FROM AMAZON.COM:

Under Orders
Dick Francis
Publishers Weekly: Beloved series character Sid Halley, a champion jockey, makes a welcome return in the latest fast-paced crime novel from bestseller Francis.

Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
John Grisham
Book Description on Amazon.com: John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.

Echo Park
A Harry Bosche Novel
Michael Connelly
Publishers Weekly: Smooth prose and plausible characters- even the secondary figures-elevated this several notches above the standard cop vs. serial-killer thriller.

The Collectors
David Baldacci
Publishers Weekly: In bestseller Baldacci’s entertaining if overly long sequel to “The Camel Club” renegade CIA agent Roger Seagraves has set himself up in the business of freelance assassination and selling our countries secrets to the highest bidder.

Wild Fire
Nelson DeMille
Publishers Weekly: Starred Review** This tour de force of relentless narrative power neither stops nor slows for twists or turns, but charges straight ahead in the face of danger.

Cross
An Alex Cross Novel
James Patterson

Shape Shifter
A Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novel
Tony Hillerman
Publishers Weekly: Starred Review** A picture cut from a glossy magazine, Luxury Living, draws retired Navaho tribal policeman Lt Joe Leaphorn into a hunt for a soulless killer in bestseller Hillermans 18th Leaphorn/Chee whodunit.

Dear John
Nicholas Sparks
Publishers Weekly: Hot on the heels of True Believer and sequel At first Sight, Sparks returns with the story of ne’er do well turned-Army enlistee- John Tyree and well-to-do University of North Carolina special education major Savannah Lynn Curtis.

Grave Surprise
Charlaine Harris
Publishers Weekly: Peppered with the author’s trademark deadpan wit, this book should help make Harper and Tolliver as popular as Sookie Stackhouse, the heroine of Harris’ vampire mystery series.

Death of a Writer
Michael Collins
Publishers Weekly: Collins, whose “The Keepers of Truth” was short listed for the Booker, presents a sardonic view of academia in this literary crime novel.

2006-09-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Jana Suggests...Rise and Shine...By Anna Quindlen

This author is always terrific, she doesn't write enough fiction books, though. I have to wait too darn long for her novels! This one is really good, I always enjoy books about sisters and these are two very unique ladies with a very unusual family dynamic. The older sister is a famous television personality, living a jet setter life with her husband and son. The younger sister, Bridget, is in public service, making minimal pay, a second mother to her sister's son. All that changes one fateful morning when Meaghan says something unacceptable on the air and her life comes crashing in around her. The book centers on their relationship and all the ripples Meaghan's mistake causes in their lives and the lives of their families. I liked the characters, especially Meaghan's son Leo, and Bridget's companion Irving, I thought those two jumped off the pages when they were in the story. Another terrific addition to my book shelf.

2006-09-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

Jana Suggests...Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline

I stopped reading legal thrillers a while back, I've recently become more interested in the police procedural as opposed to the legal justice system. The title of this one intrigued me as well as enjoying a few of her audio titles, so I decided to check this one out at the library. The title character is a recently appointed federal judge, one with a secret life, one that will be exposed in a big embarrassing way. When her most highly publicized cases becomes a circus with her ruling, leading to an unexpected crime, and to all sorts of adversity for our heroine. It was an exciting read, you never knew what was going to happen to her next. I also enjoyed reading this book because she was a unique character and she never did what you expected.

2006-08-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Jana Suggests...Sea Change by Robert B. Parker

Another quick but good read. This one I should have read before Blue Screen by the same author but I didn't acquire the books in the right order. Jesse Stone is an ex-LA cop now the Chief of Police of a small town in Massachusetts called Paradise. In this novel he and his small team are investigating the death of a woman found floating at waters edge during an event in their town called "Race Week". I wasn't expecting the twists and turns in this story, the introduction of a new detective in Fort Lauderdale looked promising, maybe Mr. Parker can center another series on her perhaps? The suspects in this one were quite a distasteful group of people, leaving me to wonder about the morals in some of the idle rich. Despite that, I enjoyed this book, and will be waiting for the next Jesse Stone, book and TV movie, I like them both.

Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath...in Audio...

Another good Jack Daniels mystery, the same humor, the same graphic scenes, many of the same challenges facing our put-upon team of Chicago homicide detectives. This time it looks like an old case is coming back to haunt Jack and Herb in the form of a death tape, much like the videos they received from the Gingerbread Man, in the first book. As with the other books in this series, the bad guy always pursues the detectives instead of waiting around to be caught. Kind of like an alternating cat and mouse game, sometimes the detectives are the cats, sometimes they're the mice. These are just terrific books in audio, I hope they don't alter the narrators in the next one, I get caught up in their authentic accents and the alternating dialogue. I've come to the last in the series until he writes another, the wait begins...

2006-08-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

The following reviews are taken from other sources, as reported by Amazon.com:

New Books coming soon to the County Library:

Ricochet
Sandra Brown
Publishers Weekly: Starred Review** No one does steamy suspense like Brown, as shown by this expert mix of spicy romance and sharply crafted crime drama.

Out Cold
William G. Tapply
A Brady Coyne Novel
Publishers Weekly: Longtime series fans will be most rewarded. .

Triptych
Karin Slaughter
Publishers Weekly: Bestseller Slaughter departs from her Grant County crime series with a stand-alone thriller notable mainly for a jolting mid-book twist, similar to one Ira Levin used with more subtlety in “A Kiss before Dying.”

Mask Market
Andrew Vachss
Publishers Weekly: Hard-boiled crime fans will enjoy the latest entry in Vachss’ long-running Burke series.

Messenger
Daniel Silva
Booklist: Starred Review** An engrossing and beautifully written contemporary spy thriller.

Phantom
Terry Goodkind
A Chainfire Trilogy
Part 2
Publishers Weekly: Despite the simplistic good vs. evil conflict and bland prose, the author expertly juggles many complex plot lines and brings to life a host of colorful characters.

2006-08-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Jana Suggests...Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath in Audio

Once again this author can get very graphic, his killing scenes are sometimes too much for me but I'm hooked into the characters and I'm kept glued to each books conclusion. The narrators are exceptional with the dialogue and the perfect Chicago accents, I don't think I'd enjoy reading it any other way quite as much. In this one, the killer is just as depraved as the Gingerbread Man but the twist is he might be a cop, one thing Jack doesn't want to believe. This book also gives Jack quite a bit of personal conflict. Her mother is getting older and less capable, her ex husband who she never quite gotten over has come for a visit and is complicating her new relationship with a man she met in the last book. Her partner is experiencing a mid-life crisis that is affecting their relationship so Jack is dealing with all sorts of problems, personally and professionally with her usual juggling expertise. I am currently reading third one and I will continue to follow this series.

2006-08-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

Jana Suggests...Blue Screen by Robert B. Parker

This is one of my favorite characters, Sunny Randall, a female private detective with a cute dog, a "connected" ex- husband she can't stop thinking about, and a smart mouth that sometimes gets her into trouble. The beauty of this author is you can breeze right through it, all his books are mostly dialogue so between this series and his Jesse Stone series, it takes no time at all to be up to date. In this novel the two characters meet when Sunny is hired by an actress to be a bodyguard to her in Jesse's jurisdiction. When someone close to the actress turns up dead they both team up to investigate. I really liked this book, I liked my two favorite characters not only meeting but having a relationship, I'll be waiting breathlessly for the next installment and hope its another combination story.

2006-08-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Jana recommends...
Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke

This series is always good, the main character is very unique because of how stubborn he is, and the steps he takes to solve the crimes is always the hard way and yet he solves them in the end. He's not the most popular policeman in the New Iberia, Louisiana police department because his intractable belief system sometimes clashes with the people who aren't so upstanding but he can't seem to leave his career behind no matter how many times he tries. In this story, his newest case is a young college girl who everyone else believes committed suicide but he can't be convinced of it (see intractable statement above) so he delves deeper and suddenly a domino effect of deaths ensue. If that weren't enough, Dave also has to deal with a tragedy from his drunken past that he has carried guilt about and concern for his ex-partner who seems once more to be in harms way. As always he deals with all this and more, making the story action packed but I think this author belongs on a literature shelf with Raymond Chandler, his writing is a literary notch above standard fiction.

2006-07-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

If you like Audio Books...
Jana suggests...
Whiskey Sour by J.A.Konrath

Getting hooked on the audio series Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich has led me to branch out book wise, in my search for humor immersed in the story. I discovered this author by accident when reading a newspaper called Book Page, he answered a few questions put to him and he made me laugh. I wasn't disappointed when I listened to his book either. His character, a woman police officer, named Jack Daniels (No, you didn't read that wrong, Jack Daniels is her name) is investigating a serial killer dubbed "The Gingerbread Man". I had to skip some parts of the serial killer's history because I sensed it was going to get too graphic for me but other than that brief fast forward moment I really like this series, so far. The one thing besides the humor that this series has in common with Stephanie Plum is the locations have a life of their own, New Jersey for Stephanie, Chicago for Jack.

2006-07-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Cover of Night by Linda Howard

This is a good author but her books aren't as engrossing as I've found in the past, I still enjoy them, just not as much. It sure had a lot of action, an accountant on the run from his connected client with a disc of his financials, checks into a bed and breakfast in a remote town in Idaho. Not surprisingly men are hired to find him and when their first attempt fails they try again, this time in a big, violent way. What they don't count on is the two retired marines who live in the town, well versed to war, and well matched despite the fact that there is a gap in their numbers. There is romances included but because of the dire plot, it wasn't as strong as I usually like. I'll always read her books, just won't be as impatient for the next one as I used to be. It is entertaining though for people who like action.

2006-06-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver

This is a very engaging series, Lincoln Rhyme is like no other detective, he always manages to catch the villain while in a bed well away from the crime scenes, thanks to his partner in life and career, Amelia Sachs and other members of his team. The two main characters are forever sealed in my mind as Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, thanks to the movie "The Bone Collector" but once I get into the book I forget all about that in the hunt for the killer. This one was especially good because it had a surprise twist and I wasn't expecting the ending either. Another good installment in a favorite series of mine.

Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock

What a terrific book this was, I read it in a day, and nowadays with the many demands on my time, that speaks a lot to how good it is. The character is an eight year old girl with more problems than joys in her young life, and a little sister named Emma to protect from an abusive stepfather and a mother too abused to be much help. Carrie is a wonderful character, she came alive in the pages, I cried at what they endured. This was a wonderful book and I'll be looking forward to this author, she has a stirring voice. What an ending, it knocked me out, I'm still thinking about it days later. A must read for people who enjoy Women's fiction.

2006-06-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

If you like Memoirs...Jana Suggests...The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer

I loved, loved, this book! This one will sit on my favorites shelf next to"Angela's Ashes" and "All over but the Shoutin'". The common thread between all three is exactly what I like to read, a strong mother and the authors childhood challenges. His family leap off the pages, his grandparents, his Uncle Charlie, the patrons he loves in a cherished neighborhood bar. I must've looked silly as I read this book in public, he made me laugh and cry, exactly what I love to do as I read. Its a terrific book and I recommend it with no fear of recriminations in the age of the James Frey scandal to anyone who enjoys books.

If you like Women's Fiction...Jana Suggests...The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

This book kept surprising me, so many unexpected tragedies kept happening right when I thought we were dealing with the only one. The author includes a few pages of graphic novel every so often in the front of some chapters and for the first time they caught my interest, usually I skip over everything but the written word. This author always writes the inner dialogue of almost every character, a trait in her novels that I love. This book had a surprise ending too, I didn't expect it at all, I thought I had guessed correctly but soon discovered I was wrong. This is another engrossing book from this author, I'd recommend it highly.

2006-05-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

If you like Womens Fiction...May I Suggest..

But Inside I'm Screaming by Elizabeth Flock

At first I found the flashbacks a little disconcerting but when I became accostomed to them, I enjoyed the book immensely. I always like books when they cover the challenges facing women who want to be perfect and fail, as I used to do the same thing. The main character is an anchor woman on a national news channel called ANN, and she fails in front of the whole world, making her recovery even more important, so she can return to her livelihood. She checks herself into a mental hospital and there we meet the people who will show her that our illnesses are in different degrees and hers are not insurmountable. I liked this book quite a bit, I think all women can relate. I'll be waiting for this author's books.

2006-05-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

If you like Mysteries...May I suggest...

The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker

This crime novel had a very interesting twist, the main character, a police detective in San Diego, CA, had been thrown from a hotel window by a man he was trying to apprehend and barely escaped death. As a result of the fall he is now able to detect a persons emotions as they speak, making him a human lie detector. He has to investigate the death of a former officer of Internal Affairs, and the book does a great job of making the victim a very strong character throughout the book. The author is always good and as usual I raced through it, and was surprised by the identity of the culprit. Another enjoyable book by one of my favorite authors.

2006-05-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

If you like Mysteries...May I Suggest...

Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson

This is a good mystery series because the main character is always fun, she's like a modern Lucy Ricardo from the I Love Lucy sitcom, good intentions that always gets her deeper into trouble. She's a caterer who works in Denver, Colorado for mostly rich clients and she always manages to become involved in a murder investigation, much to the dismay of her husband who happens to be an actual detective. The author includes her character's recipes in the back of the book for anybody who can stop reading long enough to cook, I am not one of them. I found this a nice addition to an amusing series.

2006-05-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

If you like Romantic Suspence...May I suggest...

Vanished by Karen Robards

I wait for this author with bated breath and she never disappoints me. Like most of my favorite authors, she used to write primarily romance novels but has branched into the romantic suspense genre. This one starts with a bang, the main character, a lawyer with quite a few enemies, including a few police officers, finds herself in the middle of what looks like a robbery but as the novel progresses becomes something much more. To add to the mystery, a child calls her in the middle of the night, sounding exactly like her child who had disappeared without a trace, seven years before. The action never stops, even featuring quirky secondary characters, and all sorts of subplots to keep me enthralled. Well worth the wait.

2006-04-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

If you like Romantic Suspense…you might like…
All Night Long By Jayne Ann Krentz
This one has been out a while but I finally managed to get to it and it was very good as is usual with this author. The main character is a woman with a tragic past who is lured back to the small California town she left as a teenager by her estranged best friend who sends her an e-mail claiming she knows something very important. It turns out whatever she knew she took to her grave with a suicide only Irene, the main character, believes is suspicious. Irene is a reporter and she’s staying at an Inn ran by an ex-marine who finds her very intriguing, pretty soon they’re finding love and answers in this very enjoyable romance.

If you like Mysteries…you might like…

Dearly Devoted Dexter and Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeffry Lindsay
One negative review I received from the long list of people I already recommended these titles to, led me to the conclusion that this series is something not everyone can enjoy. Dexter is definitely an anti-hero but one that has me hooked, in a big way. He is a blood spatter expert for the police but has a “hobby” that someday might lead him to be the hunted and not the hunter amongst the detectives in his department. I listened to the book on audio and for some reason I’d find myself leaning forward like I would if I were watching a great movie. I hear its going to be a movie on a cable pay channel and I’ll be the first to find a way to watch it, like everyone though I will probably prefer the books. Both books were a terrific read, he’s sardonic and his sister is a character, I can’t wait for the next installment.

2006-04-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

If you like Mysteries… Jana suggests…

Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
I discovered this author only a few years ago and am now thoroughly hooked. His Elvis Cole novels are wonderful but once in a while he puts out a stand-alone novel like this one and those too manage to keep and hold my attention. This one was interesting because his main character wasn’t an anti-hero or a hero, just a man with more faults than most whom seeks redemption when he discovers after a long prison stint that his only son, a cop, is dead. The twists and turns that his investigation takes him on kept me engrossed and as usual I enjoyed every moment, every character.

Shadow Man by Cody Mcfayden
This book will be released in June but the advanced readers copy I received from one of my employers caught my attention after a review I read from the FBI profiler John Douglas on the Internet. The book was highly graphic but great, the main character, a female FBI agent who lost her family and was scarred on her face by a now dead serial killer was very well written and surprisingly in depth for a male author. I thought it was a terrific book.

Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag
Another one of my favorite authors but her books is very far apart time wise so I’m always excited to see a new one. This one was worth the wait. A judge presiding over a case of a man who is being prosecuted for the brutal murder of a woman and her two foster children must rule on whether his “prior bad acts” will be admissible in his trial. Her ruling and the immediate furor it causes leads to non-stop action and the insertion of a lot of good and bad people who we follow breathlessly throughout the book. Highly entertaining fare.

If you like Woman’s Fiction… Jana suggests…

The Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
Another terrific author, this one never fails to have me crying through the book and at its conclusion. At the start of the book, the main character Julia, a child psychiatrist, has just had her life upended when one of her patients does something tragic and she might be held responsible in court for not seeing it coming. In another state, her chief of police sister, has just found a wild child perched in a tree and now needs Julia’s help in unraveling the mystery behind the girls past and her sudden appearance from the wilds of Washington State. The sometimes-troubled relationship of the sisters, the tight bond formed between the wild child and Julia, were wonderful and I loved the book as I always do this author.