Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Ronald Cotton, Erin Torneo, Jennife Thompson-Cannino
Memoir


Jennifer Thompson was a senior in college planning to get married when the unthinkable happened. One evening a man broke into her apartment and raped her at knifepoint. Jennifer memorized his face and her quick thinking allowed her to escape. She was able to come up with a composite drawing with the police and later was able to pick out Ronald Cotton in a lineup. Her testimony put him away in jail for a life sentence. A later re-trial would give Ronald two life sentences.

After eleven years Cotton was allowed to take a DNA test which cleared him. Under overwhelming evidence, the perpetrator eventually confessed.

Two years later Jennifer met Ronald and forged a friendship. This may all seem like a great plot for a fiction book but this is an amazingly true story.

Jennifer and Ronald come together to tell their sides of the story. Jennifer's account shows how frail eyewitness accounts can be. She was totally convinced she had the right man. The justice system unfortunately does have flaws and Jennifer and Ronald are aiming to fix some of them. Jennifer's account also shows how hard it is to find 'closure'. Even though the trial is done, there are appeals and appeals and it never goes away.

This book is about faith and forgiveness. Ronald had faith he would be found innocent and his forgiveness of Jennifer is uplifting and touching. He does speak about his initial rage but he overcomes this and never loses hope. I was amazed by the forgiveness by Ronald. He is an unbelievable person. Both Ronald and Jennifer speak of being the victims of the perpetrator. Jennifer and Ronald show us all what human grace is all about.


First Line: "Ronald Cotton stands a few rows behind Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, watching as she cranes her head through the crowd, looking for him among the faces of the parents who have come out to watch their children play soccer."

Picking Cotton at Chapters


Rating:

(4.5/5)

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Darkness More than Night by Michael Connelly

A Darkness More than Night by Michael Connelly
Mystery


Two of Connelly's characters from different series come together in this novel to create quite a gripping story. Terry McCaleb is an ex-FBI agent who retired from the agency after a heart operation and the birth of his baby girl. Detective Harry Bosch is with the LAPD and in the middle of a huge trial, trying to convict a Hollywood producer of murdering a woman.

McCaleb gets a call from an old colleague working a murder case to come up with a profile of the killer. McCaleb finds some points that the lead investigator misses and all roads point to Bosch. Bosch can't afford to be in the spotlight for a murder investigation because he is the star witness against the Hollywood producer.

This is another great book in the Bosch series. I really enjoyed McCaleb too, even though I hadn't read any of Connelly's books with McCaleb as the main character. I think the two characters would have made for a great partnership. Looking forward to the next book in the series!


First Line: "Bosch looked through the small square of glass and saw that the man was alone in the tank."


Rating:

(4/5)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Forest Lover

The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
Historical Fiction


Emily Carr is one of West Coast Canada's renown painters. Carr from a very early start knew she was different. She spurned her father's attempts to get her to be 'proper' and settle down into the rigid rules of early 21st century life. After her father's death she then went against her elder sister's wishes by escaping society. She travelled the West Coast painting forests and about the native tribes. Happening upon totem poles changed her life as she became obsessed with documenting the poles of the West Coast before they disappeared because of looting. Carr was a woman before her time as she found no problem with the very primitive conditions she encountered while doing this.

Unhappy that she was unable to paint the totems as she wished, Emily then went to France in order to learn more artistic techniques.

This book also tells about Carr's various friends. Sophie is a native who has baby after baby only to see them die and then she feels compelled to buy them Christian headstones. Harold, a son of missionaries, who is an Indian at heart and Claude a french fur trader who steals Emily's heart.


First Line: "Letting her cape snap in the wind, Emily gripped her carpetbag and wicker food hamper, and hiked up the beach, feasting her eyes on Hitats'uu spread wide beneath fine-spun vapor."


Rating:

(3.5/5)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Diary: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Diary: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk
Fiction


I expect nothing less than a novel completely off the wall from Palahniuk and this one gave me exactly that! Misty Wilmot is an artist who lost her inspiration after she had a child and got married. As a kid, she would paint pictures of houses of an imaginary place where she wished she could live. After entering art school she meets Peter, an odd character that captures Misty's attention with old costume jewelery.

Years later, Misty finds herself living on an island that resembles her childhood dreams with a husband in a coma after trying to kill himself, a pre-teen daughter, a meddling mother-in-law, and a potential lawsuit on her hands. Before Peter tried to kill himself, he wrote nasty messages about the island and his family in the walls of homes he remodeled. The continuous pressure to find inspiration has Misty confused about what all these messages mean and what the island is doing to her.

Writing the synopsis sounds like it should be an episode from Lost. Although, with a Palahniuk book this isn't too far from the truth. This story is twisted and messed up in every sense, but that's exactly what keeps you reading. You can't help but wonder what crazy plot twist will get thrown at you next and you certainly aren't disapointed once you put the book down. I passed an hour waiting to get in to see my doctor and get my prescription filled reading the end of this book without realizing I had been waiting for so long!


First Line: "Today, a man called from Long Beach."


Rating:

(4/5)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

In Golden Blood by Stephen Woodworth

In Golden Blood by Stephen Woodworth
Mystery/Thriller


The third book in the violet series sees Natalie Lindstrom still struggling as a single parent with no hopes of finding a job. She is a violet, a person who can summon the spirit of the dead with the use of a touchstone, something the person touched or owned while they were alive. Since Natalie gave up her government job, the government has been following her around and threatening to take her child, also a violet, into the government program. All violets must work for the government.

Natalie gets some under-the-table work and receives interest from the man running an archeological dig in Peru named Nathan Azure. Azure sends Dr. Abe Wilcox to convince Natalie to come act as a conduit for Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador that conquered the Incan Empire. Natalie soon finds out that Wilcox isn't exactly who he appears and Azure is only interested in treasure hunting at any cost.

This book, like the last two, was very easy to read. The concept is quite interesting and the ability of people to have a voice after death makes this set of books quite unique. Even thought the concept of treasure hunting in Peru was a bit ridiculous, the characters made up for it and it almost had an Indiana Jones feel to it at the end.


First Line: "As he did every morning, Nathan Azure rose at dawn, dressed, and shaved in the musty confines of his private tent scrutinizing the aristocratic severity of his Mayfair face in a travel mirror to make certain that not a whisker remained and that every strand of blond hair was in its proper place."


Rating:

(4/5)

Calder Born, Calder Bred

Calder Born, Calder Bred by Janet Dailey
Romance


Ty Calder was not brought up on Calder land. He has had to learn the ways of ranch life. One of those more than willing to teach him is Jessy. Jessy is a tomboy who has grown up on the land and can and will do anything any man can do.

Ty is determined to go off to university and learn about agriscience and new ways of ranching. There he meets Tara, beautiful and wise in the ways of business and politics.

The ranch needs some influx of capital. Will Ty, lured on by Tara agree to let the coal be mined on his property?


First Line: "The windswept Montana plains rolled with empty monotony beneath a freeze-dried sky."


Rating:

(3.5/5)

A Darkness More Than Night

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly
Mystery


Another fantastic book in the Bosch series.

A murderer has been killed himself. The investigator thinks that the killer will attack again but this case is at a stand-still. She persuades former criminal profiler,Terry McCaleb to come back after his recovery from a heart transplant. McCaleb works on the case and finds the clues that lead him straight to Bosch. Has Harry Bosch finally decided to take matters into his own hands and deal out his own kind of justice?

Bosch is very busy helping the DA to get a conviction on a high profile Hollywood producer. The producer loves to choke women while having sex with them. Bosch ends up approaching McCaleb to help him get out of this jamb.

This is a great mystery. This series just keeps on getting better and better


First Line: "Bosch looked through the small square of glass and saw that the man was alone in the tank."


Rating:

(4.0/5)

Gauntlet

Gauntlet by Richard Aaron
Thriller


Gauntlet is a scary thriller. A terrorist threat is imminent. The government has been warned but doesn't know how or where.

A bunch of Semtex, plastic explosive, has been purposely blown up in the desert of Libya as Libya is now friendly with the United States. However, CIA agent Richard Lawrence discovers some of the Semtex was hijacked en route. Is this part of the terrorist threat or will the terrorists release a dirty bomb?

The newly formed anti-terrorist agency, TTIC is charged with finding out what is going to happen. One of the members of the TTIC, Hamilton Turbee is a autistic computer genius who untangles all the webs to try to follow the trail of the Semtex. His boss dislikes his mannerisms and does not allow Turbee to do his job properly. Will anyone listen to Turbee?

The Emir has entrusted his terrorist plot to Yousseff. Yousseff is a self-made arrogant international drug lord without a compassionate bone in his body. His network of thiefs are hand-picked and very good at their jobs. Will their loyalty be tested?

Also involved are two RCMP officers who are trying to find out how drugs are entering and leaving Canada. How is it possible with the border being so tightly patrolled?

From Africa to Pakistan to British Columbia and the United States, this book covers a lot of territory. This book was difficult to follow at first because of the multitude of characters and stories around the main plot. A word of advice: stick with it as the reward is immense. A very thrilling suspense that has the reader on the edge of her seat. I couldn't read fast enough to see what was going to happen next. I hope never to see this scenario in real life.


First Line: "So how big a crater will it make if we blow up 660 tons of Semtex?"

Gauntlet at Amazon


Rating:

(4.5/5)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Fiction/Literature


Flora Poste is educated and reformed, but when her parents pass away she's at a loss for what she should do. Heaven forbid she learn how to work, instead she tries to stay with extended family, writing to four different family members asking if she can stay with them. She gets a response back from Cold Comfort Farm and the Starkadder family and decides to go stay with them. While she expects mystery and intrigue, things are a whole lot different than she expects. Cold Comfort Farm is indeed cold. The environment is quite dreary, with her cousin Judith being quite a downer, Judith's husband wanting only to preach to the Brethren rather than tend to the farm, 17 year old Elfine who wants to run in the fields and write poetry all day, Seth who only cares about movies, and a whole slew of other cousins. Then there is Aunt Ada Doom who keeps herself in the upstairs bedroom, threatening to go crazy if any of her children or grandchildren leave the farm. Flora has an overly cheerful demeanor and sets out to change her cousin's lives. She wants to make Cold Comfort Farm less cold and help her cousins reach their full potential.

The author has a mocking tone towards Flora at times, making fun of her naivety and cheerfulness. At the beginning, I found Flora kind of annoying but eventually got used to her and the way the author was trying to portray her. Other people have described this book as funny, which I didn't really find. Parts of it were amusing, but it wasn't laugh-out-loud funny.

Overall, I thought the book was alright. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. This book is #88 on the BBC List and I think there are far better books on that list than this one.


First Line: "The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living."


Rating:

(3.5/5)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Innocent Traitor

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
Historical Fiction


An extremely well-written book about Lady Jane Grey. Her parents were atrocious to her. Her father was a conniving schemer who wanted to be the power behind the throne. Even when defeated he was still scheming and using Lady Jane. Her mother was an uncompassionate woman who was ruthless and vicious.

Lady Jane was niece to Henry VIII and cousin to Mary and Elizabeth. She was the nine day alternative queen because the people were afraid of Mary and her Catholicism. This book describes the political machinations of the time. The necessary and unnecessary ruthlessness of the period.

Lady Jane had an amazing strength of character in one so young. She was also forced to grow up at an alarming rate. Lady Jane was basically a pawn to those people who she was surrounded by. A real tragedy.


First Line: "It is over."


Rating:

(4.0/5)