River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke

River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
Fiction/Literature

Johnnie Mae is a 12 year old living in the Black community of Georgetown, DC in the 20s. Her family just moved north from the south, believing there were more opportunities for Johnnie Mae and her younger sister Clara. However when Clara drowns in the river during a summer swimming outing, Johnnie Mae and the family change forever. Johnnie Mae believes it was her fault since she was responsible for looking out for her younger sister. Now, whenever she sees water it affects her.

I picked up this book because it was on Oprah's list and her recommendations are usually pretty good. This is definitely not one of them. This book felt like ramblings about a family to me. There really wasn't much of a start and there certainly was no conclusion, which made me feel like there was no point to the book. I almost dropped it half way through but figured that something of interest would have to happen in the second half of the book. Guess what? It didn't.

This is a completely pointless book.

First Line: "Dangerous ideas come to life and spread like sparks on dry twigs."

Rating:
(2/5)

A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Fantasy
Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, King of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms are dead. There is now turmoil and several men declaring themselves to be king. Robert's son Joffery, young, cruel and arrogant is the obvious king but is controlled by the Lannisters. His mother Cersai and his uncle Tyrion each try to put forth their own agendas. Robb Stark has declared himself the King of the North. Robert's brothers, Renly and Stannis have also declared themselves kings.

At the same time, the Wildings , north of the wall are amassing and might move south just as summer turns into winter.

Political intrigue, brotherly rivalry and people masquerading as servants while the country dissolves into war are all part of the story.

I found the story was sluggish in parts. About halfway through, the story did pick up and proceeded at a quicker pace. My two favourite characters are Arya and Bran. Both of them are so courageous.

First Line: "The comet's tail spread across the dawn, a red slash that bled above the crags of Dragonstone like a wound in the pink and purple sky."
Rating:
(4.0/5)

Three in Death

Three in Death by J. D. Robb
Mystery
Three great novellas in the In Death series (7.5,12.5, 22.5)

Interlude in Death

Eve must go to the off planet resort, Olympus to give a speech. She meets a legendary cop that wants to put Roarke behind bars because Roarke's father was one of the crooks who got away. When the cop's bodyguard is murdered, Eve must find the killer before Roarke is charged .

Midnight in Death

One of the serial killers Dallas has already put away escapes. This killer has a list of who put him away starting with Judge Wainger who has shown up dead and tortured in Rockefeller Square and ending with Dallas. Dr. Mira is also on this list. This is a more personal one.

Haunted in Death

Eve Dallas gets a surprise when she goes to Twelve East Twelfth and finds a dead body with gunshots wounds and even more surprising is the over eighty year old skeleton. Ghosts couldn't have killed so, who was the murderer. A bit of paranormal and some old fashioned detective work in this short story.

I do not usually enjoy short stories but these were interesting and great to read

First Line: "The Faces of murder were varied and complex."
Rating:
(4.0/5)

Deep Purple by Mayra Montero

Deep Purple by Mayra Montero
Fiction/Literature/Erotica

Agustin Caban is a music critic that's retiring from the newspaper where he writes reviews about the local orchestra. His old boss convinces him to write a memoir of the musicians he has met and, consequently, slept with. Caban examines those whom he has had sexual trysts, both male and female, with and compares them to the instruments they have mastered.

The substance in this book is lacking. It seems that the author wished to write an erotic book and this was the best idea she could come up with to excuse her pornographic writing. It would be interesting to explore the commonalities between a person and the instruments they play but I was disappointed by the way it was done here. Caban is a married man, yet he's writing a book on his affairs? I'm sure his wife would enjoy that.

I think the only thing I can say is that this is written better than a standard erotica novel usually is.

First Line: "Saying good-bye to one's profession is like saying good-bye to sex, one clings to it, I cling to this brief piece of writing as if it were a woman's body, the last I will ever embrace in my life."

Rating:
(2.5/5)

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Fiction

Caroline is a thirteen year old that lives with her father in a forest park in Oregon. They have lived there for four years and are very careful to make sure that no one finds them. They move their camp every so often, they only walk on stones so the grass doesn't look flattened, and they have perches in the tree to watch if anyone is coming. They go in to town every so often to purchase food items.

Caroline's father teaches her school subjects but is also very strict. There are many things she can't do and when a runner comes upon their camp one day, Caroline believes its her fault he sees her so doesn't tell her dad for fear he'll get upset. The runner comes back with police though, and brings Caroline and her father in to the police station, which may cause their lives to be completely changed.

The premise of this book is quite interesting. People can live off the grid and can't integrate back in to society. I thought the portrayal of Caroline was well written. She didn't have the social graces that a regular 13 year old would have but she was still quite smart. The father, however, I was always a bit suspicious of.

The ending of this book was quite a disappointment and looking back on the story, there were some things that just didn't make sense. Unfortunately I found that the book started falling apart about 2/3rd the way through it.

First Line: "Sometimes you're walking through the wood when a stick leaps into the air and strikes you across the back and shoulders several times, then flies away lost in the underbrush"

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Eskimo Hunts in New York

The Eskimo Hunts in New York by Stefan Kanfer
Mystery
Jordan Gulok is an ex-navy SEAL on assignment in New York.  Gulok is an Inuit.  He works for the Navy but is a lone operator so that the Navy can dis-associate with him if necessary.  His main contact Rear Admiral Clausen has been assassinated and he is now truly alone.  His assignment is to determine the business of Argo.  Ostensibly, Argo is a company that sells sporting equipment around the world.  There are pointers that seem to show that Argo is selling illegal pharmaceuticals such as those used for controlling hypertension, heart conditions, etc.  These drugs are not made properly and when sold have caused injuries and deaths.  There is a great profit to be made from this illegal business.

Argo was controlled by a Turk but now is operated by a faction of the Russian Mafia.  Gulok tries to follow all his leads but someone is always one step ahead of him.  Is there a mole in the Navy?  Rose Ho from the Navy Office helps Gulok out and seems to be his only ally.  In the midst of all this New York is experiencing a blizzard which is shutting the city down. 

This story is a fast-paced mystery which is a delight to read.  I loved the Inuit philosophy interspersed between the chapters.  This gave some insight into Gulok's thinking and background.  Can't wait to see what this Eskimo hunts in Miami!

First Line: "The darker side of the human spirit is not refined away by civilization."

Buy this Book

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Face the Fire

Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
Romance
This is the last in the Three Sisters Island trilogy. The story this time revolves around Mia Devlin. Mia owns the book cafe and is a self-assured confident witch who is very much in control of her powers.

A long time ago she fell in love with Sam Logan and was left heart-broken when Sam moved off the island. Sam returns to take over his family's hotel and assumes that Mia is more than willing to take up from where they left off. Mia, however does not want a repeat of the past and is unwilling to give her heart up once again.

This also is the conclusion to the curse of the island and the three witches must face the danger and save their beloved island

I hated the character Sam. He is too cocky, too self-centered and arrogant for my tastes.
I wish Mia had told him to hit the road. However, this is a romance and we must have a happy ending.

First Line: "Her heart was broken."
Rating:
(3.5/5)

Untold Damage by Robert K. Lewis

Untold Damage by Robert K. Lewis
Mystery

Mark Mallen used to be an undercover cop with the goal of ridding his city of drug lords. In his paranoia that he would be found out, Mallen shoots heroin to figure out what it really feels like, knowing that he will be able to stop. Except he can't stop himself, he keeps shooting and eventually gets kicked off the force. He loses his wife, child, and years of his life.

Four years in to his haze, there's a knock at the door. It's a detective he once knew asking after his best friend Eric Russ who was shot and killed. Mallen knows Russ from the academy, where Russ became a beat cop and when Russ was killed, he had Mallen's name and address in his pocket. This normally wouldn't be unusually, however Mallen and Russ hadn't spoken for years. Infact, Russ too had turned to drugs and did some time on the inside.

Mallen wants to know why Russ had his information and who killed his friend. But he can't do that without quitting heroin. Is it enough motivation to stop taking H?

This novel is described as gritty and it's a perfect description. There is nothing tidy about this story. It has drugs, revenge, multiple murders, jail, dirt and grime. The characters are gritty too. All of them have good and bad, though the bad seems to want to be prominent in most of them.

I enjoyed Mallen as a character. He had his problems but seemed like a smart guy. I only wish that he had a bit more trouble resisting heroin because it seemed a bit too easy of a quit for me.

The only real complaint I have about this book is that at times I found Lewis' writing style distracted from the story. A sentence usually includes a subject, noun, and verb but Lewis would write a string of sentences that have no subjects. For example: "He decided to go to the bar, the house suddenly too small to hold him. Went downstairs to his room. Put on some different pants. Combed his thinning hair back."

I'm sure there will be another book in this series. It would be great to see Mallen become a private detective (I couldn't ever see him returning to the force) and getting back with his ex-wife. It should make for an interesting read!

Visit the author's blog.

First Line: "Mallen woke up with the needle still in his arm."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Divided in Death by J.D. Robb

Divided in Death by J.D. Robb
Mystery

Lieutenant Eve Dallas' husband Roarke is called by his secretary to help her daughter Reva. Reva went over to her best friend's house to confront her for sleeping with her husband and instead finds the two of them in bed, dead. She gets knocked out and framed for the murder, but Dallas quickly sees past that. Who would set up a wife to take the fall for her husband and mistress? When Dallas finds out that both the husband and the mistress were Homeland employees, everything changes. Dallas also learns some things about her past when she opens up some files though and it's something that affects both her and Roarke.

The mystery part of this story was quite good, as per usual with these types of books. You think you know who has done it and usually something turns everything on its head to prove you wrong. A big part of this book, however, was Dallas learning about her past and fighting with Roarke over what to do about it. These two have argued in previous books and I've always felt that the tension between them during their arguments was manufactured and fake. I felt similarly with this argument. Their relationship is obviously very strong and I just can't see the issues they get in to causing strife like what they experience. It's a minor thing but since it went on for most the book, it bothered me most of the time.

First Line: "Killing was too good for him."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Fiction/Literature

Clay Jannon was laid off as a designer from NewBagel, which had engineered the perfect bagel. Looking for a new job, he walks past a bookstore called Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore with a help wanted sign in front. On a whim, Clay walks in and asks for a job and soon finds himself working the night shift of this always-open bookstore. Clay is asked to take specific notes about each customer that comes in, although some of the customers are not typical bookstore customers. It seems like Mr. Penumbra also has a lending library, as some of his clientele will come in (at any time of day or night) and exchange one book for the next. The books all have weird names and Clay can't help but look in these books even though he's explicitly been told not to. Everything in the books are in code. Clay can't figure out what this book store is but when a young Google employee walks in to his store he wonders if she can help out.

This book is incredibly charming. Whenever Mr. Penumbra is in a scene and calls Clay "my boy" or they describe him smiling, you can't help but be endeared to him. All of the characters in this book are well written. Each is quite unique and serves a very important purpose to the story. Sloan does a fantastic job of bringing in elements of the story that are required for major plot lines further without making it feel unnatural or forced. I found the plot almost graceful from this stand point.

There's a geeky thread to this book that reminded me of Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, another book which I really enjoyed. Google and its employees play a big part in this book and there's a lot of talk about coding and algorithms which, being a computer science graduate, I quite enjoyed. The entire story has an upbeat feeling to it which is rather unusual these days.

First line: "Lost in the shadows of the shelves, I almost fall off the ladder."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

The Overlook by Michael Connelly
Mystery

Bosch is back, in yet another department of the LAPD. He gets a call to take a recent homicide at the overlook of Mulholland where Dr. Kent was shot in the head. When his FBI friend Rachel Walling shows up at the scene, Bosch knows there's something bigger to this crime. Working with his new partner, Iggy, provides some additional strain as they work to solve the case. Eventually they determine that radioactive material was stolen and part of the reason why Kent was killed. Are there terrorists out there planning an attack?

Bosch has a new partner in this book, coming from two previous partners with big personalities that came across well in the series. Iggy's personality hasn't come across yet, other than the fact that he wants Bosch to call him Iggy. I was hoping to get a better picture of who his new partner is but I didn't get that from this book and what I did get, I wasn't overly impressed.

Having just come off the back of finishing the TV show Homeland, I actually found this book a bit of a let down. But I think that's only saying that Homeland does a better job of terrorism than Connelly does, which is OK because Connelly is a master of detective novels.

First Line: "The call came at midnight"

Rating:
(3.5/5)