Portrait in Death

Portrait in Death by J. D. Robb
Mystery

Nadine Furst, news reporter and ally of Eve Dallas has received the pictures of a beautiful young person posed when dead. Dallas finds the body in a dumpster. Eve is now on the trail of a murderer who believes he can capture his victim's images. He is a perfectionist and every detail of the crime seems to be perfected. The murderer observes and records his victims every move until he can own and record their image for one last time.

Eve is ecstatic that Somerset, the butler she loves to hate but loves he takes such good care of Roarke, is going away for 2 weeks. On the morning he is to depart Somerset falls and breaks his leg. Curses!!

Trueheart, a rookie cop gets to go undercover and has to save himself from suffering the same fate as the other victims.

Roarke finds out about his past. Roarke handles things very differently from Dallas and his finding out and the resolution of his feelings and how Eve goes about helping Roarke deal with his past is very touching.

Another great book in the series. After 16 books in the series, the characters continue to develop. The murder in each book takes a back seat to the wonderful way in which these characters interact.

First Line: "We begin to die with our first breath."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Certain Prey

Certain Prey by John Sandford
Mystery

Carmel Loan gets whatever she wants and she wants Hale Allen. A pesky little detail is that he is already married to a wealthy socialite. Carmel is an intelligent, beautiful and driven lawyer. Carmel contacts a former client and arranges for a 'hit'.

Clara Rinker is a petite and attractive Southern bar owner who happens to be the mafia's best professional killer. She comes to do her job and it should be a walk in the park but an innocent policeman comes to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets shot also.

Enter Lucas Davenport. He not only makes the connection between Carmel and the 'hit' but also starts to find out about the hit man. When Carmel and Clara join forces to eliminate some witnesses the killing spree escalates and soon even Lucas is in their sights.

The Prey books are not really a who-done-it but a how will justice be served series of books. They are excellent but this time I felt the connection between Carmel and the murders was intuition at best and not based on investigation or testimony. A bit too far from just plain good police work for me.

First Line: "Clara Rinker."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Kabul Beauty School

Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Memoir

Deborah Rodriguez decides to help women in Afghanistan by teaching them how to run a beauty salon. This is something that would allow these women some income and a small bit of independence. Debbie describes the ordeal of starting such a venture from the donation of products and equipment in the US to transportation and the set-up of a school and then even the lottery type system to pick out the students.

The bravery of the Afghani women is unbelievable and their ambition and thirst for knowledge is wonderful to see.

This is not the best written book as the language is simplistic. I did not connect with Debbie at all but felt she was one of those brash, loud, opinionated 'Americans' the rest of the world has come to dislike. Debbie was just out of an abusive relationship when she started this project and I wondered how she could leave her young sons over and over again. Surely they would need her at this time.

While in Afghanistan Debbie becomes the second wife of an Afghani. He is very open-minded, but she becomes upset when she finds out that his first wife is pregnant. Please, is she that naive?

This was an extremely interesting story but I just couldn't relate to the author.

First Line: "The women arrive at the salon just before eight in the morning."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
Fiction/Romance

Charlie St. Cloud and his brother Sam are huge baseball fans. When Charlie borrows a neighbour's car to drive to the Red Sox game, the brothers don't think anything of it. On the way home, they are involved in a horrible accident and Sam doesn't survive his injuries. Charlie has no signs of life for a moment, but comes back after making a promise to his brother to never leave him. Now, many years later, Charlie is leading an incredibly sheltered life, working at the graveyard, in order to stay close to his brother.

Charlie is gifted or cursed with the ability to see not only his dead brother, but also the other spirits in the graveyard who have just died and are passing on. Every night Charlie plays ball with his brother and cannot be late or else his brother starts to fade, which has never allowed him to become close to anyone else, until he meets Tess. Tess is an independent woman who is set on sailing around the world by herself but feels a spark with Charlie shortly before she's set to sail off.

This book is a very easy read and could be classified as a romance as much as fiction/literature. It's not too sappy, though I found it to be quite predictable. I was a bit worried it was going to become a Romeo/Juliette story line but thankfully it didn't go down that path. It's a pretty sweet story. I watched the trailer for the movie after finishing the book and it looks to be quite different from the book (and quite stupid to be honest). Read the book rather than watch the movie!

First Line: "I believe in miracles."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Young Adult/Literature

Ed Kennedy just happens to be in a bank when a really bad bank robber holds up the bank. Ed manages to stop the robbery and is lauded as a local hero. Shortly thereafter he receives his first ace in the mail. An ace of diamonds with the name of three people on the card. Ed soon realizes that he must visit these people and bring them a message.

Some of the messages are good, such as keeping company with an elderly lady and reading her Withering Heights. Some of the messages are bad, like it being suggested that he murder a man that rapes his wife every night. Ed knows that there are more cards coming and more messages that need to be sent and they get harder and harder with each card.

This is supposed to be a young adult book but it sure doesn't read like one. The themes are more mature than what I would expect to see in a young adult. As soon as I started reading this, I was hooked. Even though Zusak uses a lot of short sentences, which doesn't always lead to a well written book, that's not the case. I very easily connected with the characters and couldn't put the book down to learn how Ed was going to help out each of his messages and which message he was going to give them. I like this book just as much as The Book Thief, which I also thoroughly enjoyed!

First Line: "The gunman is useless."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

Rachel's Holiday

Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
Fiction/Literature

Rachel has had an accidental overdose of drugs. She finds herself in the hospital and then railroaded by her family, friends and boyfriend into The Cloisters for a two month rehab program. Rachel doesn't think she abuses drugs but she needs a holiday and will love the jacuzzi,gym and pampering you get at these places. NOT

Rachel soon discovers she is in for some serious therapy with a therapist who has been there and knows the steps the addict goes through. The Cloisters is not full of 'beautiful' people and further they expect Rachel to do some work. Hello, reality.

Marian Keyes has written a novel about addiction from the viewpoint of the abuser. The reader at first wonders if Rachel is really an addict and then slowly realizes as Rachel does the extent of the addiction. Keyes has done a masterful job at this. Also Keyes interjects some humour which makes this an entertaining read

First Line: "They said I was a drug addict."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Fiction/Literature

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. They were taught to be healthy and artistic and told over and over about how special they were.

After many years Kathy is now a carer and Ruth and Tommy have re-entered her life. Their shared past forces them to re-assess their choices and understand their future.

This book is a science fiction but one would hate to totally classify it as such because of the wonderful way in which Ishiguro has written the story. His writing style is calm and conversational which seems to make the telling of this story even more horrific. He uses the same style as in The Remains of the Day.

I just have to interject that with a friend like Ruth, Kathy doesn't need any enemies. What a bitch!

I loved reading the book and the story tends to remain with you for some time. Ishiguro has dealt with some very controversial subjects without the story becoming a political platform. Very thought provoking!!

First Line: "My name is Kathy H."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb

Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb
Mystery

When a woman is found dead on the pavement, suspected of being thrown off her balcony, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called to the scene. She brings her aide Peabody and they quickly determine that the woman was dead before she fell. Digging in to her past, Dallas finds that the woman was scheduled to meet a man she met in a chat room for poet enthusiasts. Following the threads, Dallas determines that the man she met drugged her with two different drugs and served her very expensive wine before raping and killing her.

Once again, Peabody and McNab are at each others throats for most of the book. When they finally get back together it's a bit of a relief. Hopefully it stays that way for the rest of the series because their whining is childish and annoying.

There's really nothing to say for this novel that I haven't said for every previous novel in the past. It was fun and thrilling at the same time!

First Line: "Death came in dreams."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
Historical Romance

This is a first-rate historical romance. Penelope Featherington is a plump, plain wallflower spinster whose destiny seems to be caring for her mother. Colin Bridgerton, the brother of Penelope's closest friend, is attractive, suave and debonair. Colin has just returned from being away.

Penelope has worshiped Colin from afar for most of her life. Colin, tired of being thought of nothing but an empty-headed man about town, suddenly discovers Penelope.

Together they discover each other's secrets and start to grown up. They enjoy the 'balls' in London and all the gossip that abounds. A lovely romance where the plain Jane finds Mr. Right. I especially liked Mrs. Danbury and her no nonsense approach to life.

First Line: "On the sixth of April, in the year 1812 - precisely two days before her sixteenth birthday - Penelope Featherington fell in love."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Fiction/Literature

Sarah, a ten year old girl, lives in Paris with her parents and brother when in 1942, French police come knocking on their door. Sarah hides her brother in a cupboard and locks him in so that the police can't take him, thinking she'll be back within the day to let him out. However Sarah doesn't know that the French Police are rounding up Jewish families and taking them to the Velodrome d'Hiver with over 10,000 others.

A stain on French history, sixty years later, Julia Jarmond is asked to write a piece on the roundup for her newspaper. An American living in Paris, Julia didn't know about this, but finds herself much closer to this piece of history than she knows. The apartment that she is moving in to with her husband and child is the one where Sarah lived and locked her brother in the cupboard.

This book switches between Sarah's narrative and Julia's narrative. Sarah's narrative is much more honest but more painful and sad. She tells her story that starts as a naive child but very quickly learns about what her parents have hidden from her and why she is being taken from home.

It's pretty easy to see where the story is going to go, but it's an interesting journey to get there. I found it simply written but got in to the novel quite quickly. About 2/3rds the way through the novel, Sarah's narrative stopped and I think it would have added a special touch to the novel to have one last chapter with the final part of her story at the end of the novel. After I had finished, I looked up the Vel d'Hiv and read about the history of this horrific event. I had never heard about it in the past and felt that this novel was a perfect way to bring this event to light.

First Line: "The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door."

Rating:
(4.5/5)