Mystery
Lucifer's Shadow follows two parallel stories that take place about 250+ years apart. The 1733 story follows Lorenzo Scacchi, a printer's apprentice, in the time of Vivaldi. Lorenzo and a young Jewish woman put their necks on the line to play and write music. Something that, ironically, they would have no troubles doing in the time period of the later story. That story involves Daniel, an Englishman brought to Venice by Scacchi to help "sort a library". Of course, nothing of the sort happens and Daniel follow in Lorenzo's footsteps very closely, but in a different era.
I loved the effect of the parallel stories, and even though they were very close, I didn't find myself getting bored by other story because the characters were very real. The descriptions were also fantastic. I have never been to Venice (or anywhere in Italy) but the book helped me paint a great picture.
There were plenty of twists and turns. Some that I never expected, which puts the book up a couple notches in my mind because usually I can figure out what is going to happen before it actually does.
However, there are some completely unrealistic aspects of the book. A violin picked up out of a coffin after 10 years of being underground would be warped, and the strings would be brittle. Of all places in the world to play a stringed instrument, I imagine that Venice would be very troublesome because of the water, which would create constant problems with tuning.
Overall, quite an enjoyable mystery!
Rating: 
(4/5)
A Pure fluff book! Shelley Schwartz is a Jewish princess. She is spoiled but now wants to turn her life around. Shelley has disappointed her father time and time again. Her father turns the agency which is her birthright over to Ross. Shelley now has to really work to show her worth. She actually turns the worst clients into money-makers. At the same time enter Miriam, Shelley's mother, the quintessential Jewish mother, busybody and matchmaker. Finally there is Ross. Sparks flies,tempers fly, need I say anything more?
This is an exceptional story. The writing is wonderful with prose so good you can feel yourself there. There is always that something extra in a story that is so well written. 
This is an interesting story of a young girl who is captured by the Shawnees during an Indian raid. I found Mary to be devoid of much emotion. Mary seems to have been so traumatized by her experience that she at first doesn't speak or laugh and then just seems to go through the motions. She blames her father for his inaction at the time of the raid but suffers the same inaction several times during the book. Although the descriptions of Indian life and Mary's assimilation into it is fascinating, I found some of it hard to believe. I do not think the Indians would be worried about the slave girl's emotions. Also it is hard to believe that the whites would just leave Mary alone after they found out about her. Larsen does portray the Indians as a caring spiritual community.
Don't let the title fool you, Paul Rusesabagina is no Ordinary Man. The inspiration behind the movie Hotel Rwanda, Rusesabagina comes out with his autobiography to give you a richer view of his life, Rwanda, and what happened inside of the luxurious Hotel Milles Collines that saved the lives of over 1,200 Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide. 
This is another pretty good book from Robb. As usual, the chemistry between Even and Roarke is palpable. It's pretty juicy! The mystery itself wasn't as well pieced together as her previous two. I didn't really feel that the clues were leading up to who the murderer was until Roarke started questioning around about it.
I do not give up on many books but this is one I just could not get into. It is very confusing with the different narratives. Also by page 120 the stories still weren't connected. There are too many books I would rather be reading 
This book is about catching a person who unintentionally murders people instead of putting them in 'locked-in' syndrome, where they can think but are paralysed. Allison was a true brave soul who tried to communicate and the reader can really relate to her as the only living victim. I also felt the detective was arrogant and there seemed to be several parts of the story not fully explained. We got a snippet of his past but were left hanging and wondering about the rest. ****SPOILER**** Also as Thorne had saved Anne's daughter and herself why was the ending with regards to her and Thorne so unsatisfactory. The reader does not get the feeling they are really involved romantically. Why the murderer was so concerned with Thorne is an absolute mystery. I too guessed the murderer. Not a very satisfying mystery but the concept is interesting 
From the Publisher