Calder Pride

Calder Pride by Janet Dailey
Romance

Cat Calder is a Calder though and though, stubborn, proud, intelligent and slightly haughty. When her fiancee is killed in a car accident. Cat spends her last night at school drinking and then in the arms of a stranger. Nine months later she has a baby.

When Logan Echohawk comes to town she is in major trouble. He happens to be the stranger and he has not forgotten that night any more than she has. How does Cat preserve her first love and come to grips with her developing love for Logan?

Calder pride is a love story in the series of love stories about the clan. A nice easy read.

First Line: "A north breeze swept across the private airstrip and rustled through the grass at its edges."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

McNally's Chance

McNally's Chance by Lawrence Sanders
Genre of book

In Florida, popular romance writer Sabrina Wright hires private investigator Arch McNally to find her missing husband. But Sabrina really has a much different reason for involving Archy. Her daughter Gillian recently learned that her mother who she thought had adopted her is really her biological mother. Gillian seeks her biological dad.

When the news leaks out among the rich and richer, three males try to hire Archy to keep a lid on the story. Sabrina had affairs with all three at about the time she became pregnant and each one has since been paying under the table child support to keep the author quiet. Now that the story is becoming public, someone kills Sabrina. Will Archy be next??

We also get a glimpse of Binky. Binky works as a messenger at Archy's father's firm. Binky decides it is time to move out and moves into a trailer right next to the beautiful Bianca, With Both Archy and Binky vying over Bianca and Al Rogoff the police next door, life gets complicated.

This book again plays off the irreverent Archy and although a mystery packs a few laughs in. The only negative is that Archy is not as tolerant of Binky as before but actually a bit mean.

First Line: "Sabrina Wright. She was perched on a faux leather stool at Bar Anticipation looking exactly as she id in her author photo on the jacket of her bestseller, Desperate Desire."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
Cozy mystery

This is the sixth book about the lives of Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency; her assistant, Grace Makutsi; and her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, proprietor of Tlokweng Speedy Motors.

This book continues to develop these wonderful characters. Grace and Charlie, one of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's apprentices have an argument causing Charlie to leave the shop. He falls in with some bad company. Note, Mma Ramorswe's first husband turns up trying his hand at blackmail. Precious takes care of him and seems to put her past behind her. Grace turns to dance classes in order to find a husband. She finds a sweet dear stutterer with two left feet. I can't wait to see what further develops between them.

I love these books. They are simple tales but told in such a sweet dear fashion one can not help but get caught up in the tale.

First Line: "Mma Ramotswe was sitting alone in her favourite cafe, on the edge of the shopping centre at the Garborone end of the Tlokweng Road."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

The Great Stink

The Great Stink by Clare Clark
Historical Mystery

The year is 1855 and London's notorious sewage system is going to undergo a complete renovation. It is much needed as the current tunnels are stinky and decaying to the point of collapse.

William May is an engineer just returned from the Crimean War. The war affected him to the point where he finds his only salvation to to cut his wrists down in the tunnels. This seems to keep the ghosts at bay and allows May to lead an almost normal life. When asked to become involved in a kickback scheme May refuses and eventually is accused of the murder of one of the suppliers of brick.

Long Arm Tom is a person who trolls the tunnels for valuables. He is asked by the Captain to do hide the body of the supplier. Tom is William's only hope of a normal life and really of any life at all. What will happen??

I enjoyed the historical part of this book and found the information about the sewers and the people of this era fascinating. The mystery however was a bit slow to start and I found my interest floundering a bit

First Line: "Where the channel snaked to the right it was no longer possible to stand upright, despite the abrupt drop in the gradient."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Strip Tease

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen
Mystery

Erin Grant has had to resort to stripping to make some money in order to get custody of her daughter. Her ex's job is stealing wheelchairs but the criminal is a snitch and therefore his criminal activities are hidden from family court and he gets custody.

During one of Erin's performances a groom-to-be gets carried away and Dilbeck, a congressman starts pummeling him with a champagne bottle. Mr. Peepers takes pictures of the whole event and assures Erin he can put pressure on Dilbeck to put pressure on the family court judge. Dilbeck involves Malcolm "Moldy" Moldowsky, the fixer. The end result is a dead Mr. Peepers.

The mystery continues collecting dead bodies and involving the lovable bouncer of the strip club trying to score a lot of money on a fraudent lawsuit.

Hiaasen writes a witty and funny mystery. I loved it

First Line: "On the night of September sixth, the eve of Paul Gruber's wedding, his buddies took him to a strip joint near Fort Lauderdale for a bachelor party."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Do They Hear You When You Cry

Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja
Non-Fiction

Fauziya Kassindja grew up in Togo, Africa in a privileged setting. Her father did not believe in the tribal practices of polygamy and Female Genital Mutilation (FMG). Fauziya's father died suddenly and she was pulled out of school and put into an arranged marriage as a fourth wife and then told to prepare herself for FMG.

Kassindja's sister went against her own husband to save her sister and help her to escape the country. But escape to what?

Kassindja ended up going the the US and applying for asylum. The customs officers immediately sent her to jail where she was kept for sixteen months. Fauziya was treated worse than the worst offender as she had no status. She was housed with murderers. Her health deteriorated to near death without any concern of any official.

Kassindja was lucky in that her cousin went above and beyond to help her and she met Layli Bashir, a law student and Karen Musalo, a refugee lawyer who helped her and eventually got her asylum.

This book really puts the immigration policy of the United States under intense scrutiny. I believe that Canada's policy is much the same although evidently we were among the first to grant asylum for FMG applicants. Kassindja was a brave and very strong person to withstand all the trials and tribulations and yes, cruelty she encountered on her journey. There has to be a better way to grant asylum to those who truly need it and send away those who don't.

Every single person should read this book as a means to better understand political imprisonment, human rights and how immigration policies do not work.

First Line: "I returned to my cell after lunch."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

The Last Temptation by Val McDermid

The Last Temptation by Val McDermid
Mystery

Carol Jordan is pulled into the European policing ring into the middle of a sting against a big criminal in Germany, Tadeusz Radecki. It turns out that Carol looks exactly like Radecki's deceased girlfriend and the police think Carol can use this to do business with Radecki. While Carol attempts to woo Radecki, she learns of a serial killer that her local police contact is trying to catch. Carol brings in her trusted friend Dr. Tony Hill in to draft up a profile to help catch the killer.

When Tony gets to Germany though, he has his work cut out for him. This killer seems to be killing only psychologists by drowning them and scalping them. What is the motive to this killer? What is he trying to prove? Tony must work against the clock to help find the killer.

I had troubles getting into this book, which is rare for a McDermid book. Though I suspect that could have been because it was around the holiday time and I kept thinking of all the things I needed to do. Once I was about 70 pages into the book though, I found that it picked up quickly and even though there were a couple of stories combined I was kept wondering what was going to happen.

There wasn't really a twist at the end of this book, which is a shame because McDermid usually does a good job of this. It's not McDermid's best works but it's still a good mystery and one that will keep you turning the pages.

First Line: "Blue is one colour the Danube never manages."

Rating:

(4/5)

Kiss The Girls

Kiss The Girls by James Patterson
Mystery

DC detective Alex Cross's niece goes missing from her southern college. Cross starts to investigate only to find that a large number of girls are missing under similar circumstances. When one of the missing girls escapes she tells a story of being captured by Casanova and being kept underground to be raped. She was lucky as most of the girls are finally murdered.

Meanwhile across the country in California another serial rapist/murderer is on the prowl. 'Gentleman Caller' has a gristler method of dealing with his prey. Not only that but it looks like Casanova and Gentleman Caller are in communication with each other and are collaborating and competing.

This is a typical Patterson page-turner. The story is good, the pace is fast but the short chapters drive me nuts

First Line: "For three weeks, the young killer actually lived inside the walls of an extraordinary fifteen-room beach house."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

All Things at Once

All Things at Once by Mika Brzezinski
Autobiography

Mika Brzezinski is a co-host of "Morning Joe" and an MSNBC anchor. Brzezinski also reports on "NBC Nightly News" and is an alternating news anchor for "Weekend Today." Prior to joining MSNBC, Brzezinski was an anchor of the "CBS Evening News Weekend Edition" and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to "CBS Sunday Morning" and "60 Minutes." In September 2001, she became CBS's principal "Ground Zero" reporter for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She is the daughter of former National Security Advisor and foreign policy expert Zbigniew Brzezinski. She is the mother of two children, and has been married to a journalist at ABC.

The above paragraph is from "About the Author" and recaps all the highlights of an amazing career. In this book Mika starts with her unusual childhood while living in the environs of the presidential family. Her family is unconventional. Her horse joined them in the house during Christmas. But her mother was an inspiration to Mika, giving her the impetus to having it all.

This book goes beyond the recapitulation of her career and rather provides an analysis into her successes and failures. Mika's life has been a series of ups and downs. Some failures were trying to have everything just too soon and some successes just plain being in the right place at the right time. Mika has an amazing ability to look at her life and determine where she went wrong. Her life is full of stress and not everyone will agree with all her choices but one can not help but admire a woman so in tune with her own desires, wants and needs.

I enjoy reading about other people's lives but this book also delves into the why which makes it that much more interesting.

First Line: "Her tiny body had gone limp."

Buy this Book
Rating:

(4.0/5)

Out Stealing Horses

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Literature in translation

A young boy, Trond spends time with his father in the Norwegian woods just after the war. One morning he goes 'out stealing horses' with his friend, Jon. Jon completely breaks down after causing a tragic accident in his family and disappears. Trond's father decides to cut down some of his forest for cash and then he leaves his family.

Trond, as an old man, comes to a cabin in the wilderness to reflect on that summer and finds out his neighbour is Jon's brother. This triggers a lot of memories about his father and Jon's family.

Petterson writes a philosophical book which starts with one tragedy and slowly unravels thread by thread other painful stories and feelings. Petterson paints a vivid picture of the beautiful Norwegian woods but stops short when writing about people's feelings

First Line: "Early November."

Rating:

(3.5/5)