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9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (audio)

December 6, 2010 by

9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, and read on audio by Carolyn McCormick, begins with the murders of a mother and her young infant.  It’s clear that Lindsay and the other members of the Women’s Murder Club are in for a rough ride this time around.  McCormick does an excellent job providing different personalities and voices for each character, though at some points in the audio her interpretation of coroner Claire Washburn’s voice is a bit too deep and masculine.

Lindsay is not only tasked with finding the lipstick killer who kills women and children firms, but she also must take on a high profile case involving a movie star, Marcus Dowling, whose wife was murdered following a robbery.  Is the husband acting or is he devastated by the death of his wife, and was the robbery committed by the famed Hello Kitty cat burglar coincidental?

9th Judgment delves into how being a solider in war can twist your psyche, and how when these men return from combat, things are just not the same for them or their families.  Additionally, this novel connects characters in ways that are unusual and surprising, deals with physical abuse, and more.  In terms of depth, this novel has more of it than some of the others given that the motivations behind the criminals are examined.

Patterson and Paetro make a good team in the Women’s Murder Club series, although readers may find that some of the story lines are not as well crafted as some others.  However, in 9th Judgment, readers will find that even though they are introduced to the criminals in the first few chapters, how their capture unravels is titillating and edgy. Overall, this installment in the Women’s Murder Club series is a great addition and will have readers looking forward to the next one.

My husband and I listened to this one on our commute northward for Thanksgiving and finished it up on the way back.  He enjoyed the chase scenes for their vivid description and the comedic elements as Lindsay plays go-between for the FBI and the lipstick killer.  There were fewer instances of sound effects in this one, with just a few gunshots in the beginning, which was fine with us.  We’ve grown attached to these characters, even the latest member of the club, Yuki Castellano.  At one point near the end, my husband and I almost thought we’d have to write Patterson a scathing letter, but alas we just had to listen onward to learn that our fears were misplaced.

This is my 15th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

August 26, 2010 by

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning is the first in the MacKayla Lane fantasy/paranormal series and is a wild ride into the unseen aspects of our own world where the Fae live among us behind masks. Mackayla has a pretty carefree life in Georgia as a bartender and part-time college student living at home with her parents.  Her sister Alina lives in Ireland where she attends college full-time, but the sisters remain close and talk on the phone almost daily.

Unfortunately, this charmed life comes to an end when her sister is murdered in a foreign country, and it seems like the police simply give up on the case.  Haunted by the images of her sister’s mangled body and the deterioration of her family, Mac decides its time to go to Ireland and track down a killer.  Once there, she’s faced with startling images and a realization that she’s not as normal as she thought she was.

“It was gray and leprous from head to toe, covered with oozing open sores.  It was sort of human, by that I mean it had the basic parts:  arms, legs, head.  But that was where the resemblance ended.  It’s face was twice as tall as a human head and squished thin, no wider than my palm.  Its eyes were black with no irises or whites.”  (Page 94)

Moning’s writing is vivid, and MacKayla is a strong female lead in this suspenseful book that incorporates the paranormal.  Once in Ireland, Mac’s world is flung in many different directions and she has to determine which end is up and what the best route to take is.  She’s feisty — even when she’s in denial — particularly when faced with beings more powerful than herself and one’s that attempt to impose their will on her.  With additional characters, including some Fae and the imposing Jericho Barrons, there are plenty of twists and turns in this novel.

Readers will enjoy their introduction to the Fae world and to Mac.  Moning is a wonderful writer.  As a first introduction to this paranormal world, readers will find they can still be grounded in reality.  Darkfever provides just a taste of Mac’s new world and will leave readers wanting more.

About the Author:

Karen Marie Moning was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children. She graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Society and Law. After a decade of working with insurance litigation and arbitration, she quit her job to pursue her dream of a writing career. Four manuscripts and countless part-time jobs later, Beyond the Highland Mist was published by Bantam Dell and nominated for two prestigious RITA awards. Author of the beloved HIGHLANDER series and the thrilling new FEVER series, featuring MacKayla Lane, a sidhe seer. Her novels have appeared on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers lists, and have received many industry awards, including the RITA.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, Random House, and Karen Marie Moning for sending me a copy of Darkfever for review.

Giveaway for US/Canada only:

1 copy of Shadowfever, the newest book in the series that hits stores in December.

1.  Leave a comment about if you’ve read about the Fae or what you would like to know about the Fae.

2.  Tweet, Blog, Facebook, etc. and leave a link for a second entry.

Deadline:  Sept. 10, 2010, 11:59PM EST

Giveaway for International (outside US/Canada only):

1 copy of Darkfever, the first book in the series, gently used.

1.  Leave a comment about what part of my review intrigues you most.

2.  Tweet, Blog, Facebook, Etc. the giveaway and leave a link for a second entry.

Deadline is Sept. 10, 2010, 11:59PM EST

PLEASE BE SURE TO TELL ME WHICH BOOK YOU ARE ENTERING FOR.

See the rest of the MacKayla Lane tour stops.

This is my 42nd book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

This is my 14th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, fiction, giveaway, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose

July 30, 2010 by

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose is the third book in the Reincarnationist series and FBI Lucian Glass remains on the trail of Dr. Malachai Samuels.

Reincarnation and the use of memory tools to reach deep into past lives reappears in this novel, alongside the use of hypnosis.  Glass is recovering from injuries sustained in The Memorist (If you missed my review of book 2, The Memorist, please check it out.), but he’s not eager to sit out the investigation on the sidelines.  In Vienna, he’s accosted while looking at the only translation of a list of memory tools, which would surely entice Samuels.

But there are other mysteries to be solved beyond who steals the list.  The Iranian government is eager to get its hands on a sculpture of Hypnos, even if it means court battles and other underhanded means.  Lucian’s past also resurfaces when a painting stolen from a framing shop where his girlfriend worked reappears more than 20 years later slashed to bits.

“Young and handsome, with sensitive eyes, sensuous lips and a finely wrought nose, his bone structure was elegant and the expression on his face was both sultry and serene . . . as if he was slipping into a dream himself.” (Page 105)

M.J. Rose carefully crafts a variety of characters and weaves in several story lines, while maintaining suspense and drama.  Not only are their mysteries to solve and memory tools to find, but Lucian must find himself and reconcile his past lives in order to move beyond the 20-year ball of pain he’s carried in his chest.  Overall, The Hypnotist is a fast-paced, absorbing read that will keep you on the edge of your seat this summer, but this thriller is a thinking-person’s game.  Can you solve the mysteries before FBI agent Glass?  The only way to find out is to pick up your copy or enter this giveaway!

About the Author:

M.J. Rose is the internationally bestselling author of several novels and two non-fiction books on marketing.  Check out her website, follow her on Twitter, and on Facebook. Check out a 100-page sampler from the Reincarnationist series.

The television series Past Life was based on Rose’s Reincarnationist series. The real stories about how she was inspired to write each book in this series as well as the knowledge she has about reincarnation and the art world make Rose an interesting and compelling blog guest. She’d love to visit.

Giveaway Details:  1 copy of The Hypnotist and a phoenix pin (US/Canada)

1.  Leave a comment on this post about whether you believe in reincarnation or not and why?

2.  Don’t forget to leave a way for me to contact you.

3.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc. and leave me a link for an additional entry.

Deadline is August 13, 2010, 11:59 PM EST


This is my 13th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.


Thanks to M.J. Rose, Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc., and TLC Book Tours for sending me a copy of The Hypnotist for review.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, fiction, giveaway, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,

8th Confession by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (audio)

July 13, 2010 by

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro’s 8th Confession is read by Carolyn McCormick, and does a fine job differentiating between the characters.  In this book, Lindsay Boxer is confronted with a personal, life-changing decision and is bogged down in several high-profile cases.  Rich men and women are being murdered in their homes, but there is no cause of death — at least any that Claire can find during autopsy or through toxicology tests.

“Claire waved a computer printout, said, ‘Toxicology was negative.  No poison, no opiates, no narcotics, no nothing.  Cause of death? No idea.  Manner of death? No idea.  Something stinks, and I don’t know what,’ she told us, ‘but the likelihood of these two individuals, with completely negative autopsies and completely negative toxicologies, expiring at the same time is statistically astronomical.'” (Page 111)

Meanwhile, Cindy Thomas uncovers the murder of Bagman Jesus, a local homeless man, who she believes is revered by his community.  Investigating the murder becomes her obsession, but she also finds herself tied up in another passion — Richie Conklin, Lindsay’s partner and secret desire.

Readers will see the sparks fly between these friends and between the sheets in this thriller.  Unfortunately, there seems to be too much of a focus on the bedroom, and very little focus on the investigation — whether Lindsay is mulling over her feelings for Rich or her love for Joe, her live-in boyfriend.  Once the focus is back on the killer, readers will be sucked into trying to uncover for themselves how the murders are being committed.

The audio, just like the book, is fast-paced.  However, 8th Confession is not as strong as some of the other books in this series.

This is my 12th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Worst Case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (audio)

July 7, 2010 by

Worst Case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge is the third book in the Michael Bennett detective series.  Readers will not have to read the other two books in the series to follow along as this New York Detective takes on a child kidnapper with a social agenda.  Bennett is a single father with 10 children — not all of them biological — whose holy grandfather Seamus and nanny Mary Catherine make his life a little less hectic and in some cases even more so.

Bennett must not only balance his fatherly duties with detective work, but also must learn to separate the cases he works on as part of major crimes.  New York is an excellent location for this detective, with its high crime boroughs and its high class residents.  Worst Case is narrated superbly by three narrators, Bobby Cannavale, Orlagh Cassidy, and John Glover as each voice takes on either Bennett, FBI child kidnapping expert Emily Parker, or the serial murderer.

“Without pausing, he veered to my left, bounded up onto the low iron railing, and dove without a sound off the bridge.

I think my heart actually stopped.  I ran to my left and looked down.  The guy was plummeting toward the water when there was a strange bloom of color that at first I thought was an explosion.  I though he’d blown himself up, but then I saw the orange canopy of a parachute.”  (page 187)

Readers will enjoy the fast paced, short chapters with their clipped sentences as tension builds and Bennett runs in circles around the city at the behest of the killer.  The narrators of the audio pulled off the New York and Virginia accents as they read through the book, although the sound effects of gun shots and other items were a bit disturbing, especially when driving late a night on dark highways.

Worst Case is another sign that this series about Michael Bennett is just heating up.  Another suspenseful winner.

This is my 11th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein

June 23, 2010 by

Garth Stein’s Raven Stole the Moon was originally printed in 1998, but was recently republished by Harper following Stein’s success with The Art of Racing in the Rain (my review). The Tlingit legend — including that of Raven — that becomes Jenna Rosen’s life is absorbing, blurring the lines of reality and folklore.  Jenna’s life fell apart upon the death of her son in an accident, and she spirals out of control, seeing psychiatrists and taking addictive pharmacological substances.  After emerging from a drug haze, she and her husband Robert go through the motions until Jenna makes a definitive move to change her life.

“The two options were mutually exclusive.  There was no middle ground.  Maybe I’m a little crazy and there are some spirits.  No.  It was either/or.  And Jenna was determined to find out which.”  (Page 199)

Set in the 1990s in Alaska and Washington State where it’s about “recapturing the glory of the eighties at a discount,” Stein crafts a surreal tale where reality blends with the past, the present, and folklore turning men into beasts and soul robbers and generating three dimensional characters ready to deal with the unknown and irreparable grief.

“Digging deep down into the crust of the earth, pumping black goo up to the surface, cooking it in aluminum containers so it can be used in a BMW.  The evolution of Man smells like gasoline.”  (Page 35)

Despite the tragedy in these pages, readers are on the edge of their seats as they ride with Jenna through the Alaskan wilderness to unravel the mystery behind her son’s death and uncover her heritage as a descendant of the Tlingit tribe.  Along the way, Jenna is joined by a lonely young man and a wild dog, while being pursued by a private investigator hired by her husband to find her.  Just as Jenna relaxes, the unknown creeps up on her alongside the harsh reality of the life she left behind, which all threatens to impinge on her life suspended in limbo.

Stein not only create dynamic characters; Dr. David Livingstone, the shaman who is consulted during the construction of Thunder Bay, resembles the original from Joseph Conrad‘s Heart of Darkness who was based upon a real missionary and explorer of Africa.  Stein’s Livingstone undergoes a transformation to take on the visage of evil, but he is also a presence that hovers over the story, like Conrad’s character.

Readers will be surprised by how much is packed into Raven Stole the Moon and by how quickly the story unravels and carries them along down river with Jenna and her compatriots.  The only possible nit-picky thing to point out is that the time line gets a bit muddled when jumping between the story of how Thunder Bay came to be and Jenna’s current journey, which could have been rectified by revealing the story of Thunder Bay as Jenna makes her way through the wilderness.  However, that is a minor complaint in an otherwise captivating, suspenseful story that readers will be hard pressed to forget when the final page is turned.

This is my 10th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, fiction, Harper Collins, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

Challenges Completed! Others Not so Much!

June 18, 2010 by

I joined this challenge a bit late last year, but it ran from May 2009 through May 2010 (click on the image for more information).  I completed the deep end of the challenge, which required me to read and review 11-15 books of contemporary poetry and poetics.

See the books I reviewed here.

I joined the 2010 Ireland Reading Challenge (click on the image for more information) at the Shamrock Level for 2 books.

Check out my book reviews here.

I’ve completed this challenge by reading 3 books.  Check them out here.

Ok, that’s it for the completed challenges.  For the other challenges and my progress, here you go:

I’ve read 34 out of 50 books for this challenge.  Check them out here.

I’ve read 3 out of 10 books for this challenge.  Check them out here.

I’ve read 5 out of 11 books for this challenge.  Check them out here.

I’ve read 9 out of 12 books for this challenge.  Check them out here.

I haven’t even started this challenge.  It ends June 30 and you have to read, listen or watch between 3 and 6 items.

I’ve read 4 out of 5 spinoffs/rewrites and 0 out of 6 Jane Austen originals.  Check them out here.

I’ve met the requirement to read 2 books of poetry, but I’m not sure I’ve finished a badge yet.  I’ve read 5 contemporary poetry books, which I think qualifies for a badge.  Check them out here.

I’ve read 2 out of 6 vampire books from any series.  Check them out here.

I have not started this challenge either.  I think this one is perpetual, so I may be good on this front.

Filed Under: 2009-10 Valparaiso Poetry Review, 2010 All About the Brontes Challenge, 2010 Clover Bee and Reverie Poetry Challenge, 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, 2010 Vampire Series Challenge, Ireland Challenge, Jane Austen Challenge 2010, New Authors Challenge, Reagan Arthur Challenge, sookie stackhouse reading challenge, South Asian Reading Challenge, Vietnam War Challenge 2010

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

June 16, 2010 by

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni‘s One Amazing Thing is brilliant in its ability to capture reader’s attention and hold it throughout the narrative as the points of view change and characters share a life-changing moment.  Divakaruni’s writing places readers in the room with her characters and traps them there, making the terror of their impending doom real.  Each character is at the visa office seeking papers to travel back to India when something happens and causes the building to partially collapse upon them.

“I am Cameron, he said to himself.  With the words, the world as it was formed around him:  piles of rubble, shapes that might be broken furniture.  Some of the shapes moaned.  The voices — no, it was only one voice — fell into an inexorable rhythm, repeating a name over and over.”  (Page 11)

Uma is among the first of the characters introduced and she’s a college student who enjoys observing others and creating stories for them, which is why she suggests that each of the survivors — in an unknown disaster — tells the group about one amazing moment that changed their lives.  Many of the stories are heartbreaking, but all of them serve as a basis of understanding.  They create a place from which these different people, with their various prejudices and perspectives brought together by circumstances beyond their control, can begin to accept one another.

“Farah.  She had entered Tariq’s life innocuously, the way a letter opener slides under the flap of an envelope, cutting through things that had been glued shut, spilling secret contents.  Her name was like a yearning poet”s sigh, but even Tariq was forced to admit that it didn’t match the rest of her.”  (Page 30)

Book clubs will have a lot to discuss, including what makes life worthwhile to what moments in life would you revisit if you were trapped.  Imagine seeing one amazing thing before you die.  Then recall your memories.  Yes, you have seen one amazing thing though it may have seemed ordinary at the time, but it becomes extraordinary to you.  Divakaruni’s prose is frank and her characters are dynamic and flawed.  One Amazing Thing is just that.

Thanks to Divakaruni for sending me a review copy of her novel.

***I also appreciated that One Amazing Thing is printed on Certified Fiber Sourcing as part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.***

About the Author:

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. Her themes include women, immigration, the South Asian experience, history, myth, magic and celebrating diversity.

She writes both for adults and children. Her books have been translated into 20 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Russian and Japanese. Two novels, The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart, have been made into films. Her short stories, Arranged Marriage, won an American Book Award. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston.

This is my 3rd book for the 2010 South Asian Author Reading Challenge.

This is my 34th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

This is my 9th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, fiction, Green books, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews, South Asian Reading Challenge Tagged With: ,

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson (Joint Review With Mom)

April 23, 2010 by

James Patterson’s I, Alex Cross is the latest book in the Alex Cross series, and it will shock readers.  Cross must face a death in the family, a health crisis with another family member, and a horrific series of murders that involve call girls, an exclusive gentleman’s club, and a wood chipper.

“I brought home the files I’d gathered and took them to my office in the attic after dinner.  I cleared off one entire wall and started tacking up everything — pictures of the missing, index cards with case vitals that I’d written up, plus  a DC street map, flagged everywhere that victims had last been seen.”  (Page 48)

Each book in the Alex Cross series can be read alone, though readers will miss the evolution of his character if they don’t read them in order.  Patterson is skilled at building tension and suspense in these novels through short chapters, changing points of view, and clipped sentences.  Readers will be running alongside Cross as he uncovers the true identity of the killer, known only as Zeus.

“This was the kind of homicide that used to make me wonder why I keep coming back for more, year after year.  I knew that on some level I was addicted to the chase, but I used to think that if I figured out why, then I’d stop needing it so much, maybe even turn in my badge.  That hadn’t happened.  Just the opposite.”  (Page 48-9)

Cross is a deeper character than most main characters in crime novels, with his psychology degrees, his intense organization during cases, his family, the loss of his wife, and the face offs he has with a variety of criminal masterminds.  Patterson has kept this character fresh even after 16 books, and he still has room to grow.  I, Alex Cross is a welcome addition to the series.

I’m going to turn over the reins to my mom, Pat, for her review of I, Alex Cross.

One of the best books written by James Patterson.  All of his books are exciting and suspenseful and make fast reads.  In I, Alex Cross, Detective Alex Cross is at his birthday party when he gets the phone call about a brutal murder.  He finds out that his niece Carolyn isn’t who she pretends to be and has a life that nobody knows about.  Cross is called in to work on the case.  A five-star read!

Thanks to Hachette Group for sending myself and my mom a free review copy of I, Alex Cross for review.

Don’t forget about the Alex Cross giveaway going on now through April 24th at 11:59PM EST.

***

Please stop by the next stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour at Everything Distils Into Reading and In Bed With Books.


This is my 8th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, fiction, Hachette Books, Pat review, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (audio)

April 20, 2010 by

Dennis Lehane‘s Shutter Island is a creepy novel about a U.S. Marshal with a tragic past who saw dark sides of humanity that many have never seen.  U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is a former intelligence officer during WWII called to Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane to find a patient who has gone missing even though she was locked behind doors.

Chuck Aule is Teddy’s partner on this escapade, and they scour the island looking for the missing patient, who has left them a code to crack — the Law of 4.  The code is simplistic and easily cracked by Teddy, who believes he’s stumbled upon island of horrors in which doctors experiment on patients much like the Nazis and Soviets did during the war.

Lehane’s narrative gets a little bogged down in inane details about the origins of names and other details that are extraneous.  However, his descriptions of the island, the patients, and the water are vivid.  Characters from orderlies to doctors and patients are unique and easily discernible from one another, which is a testament to Lehane’s skill as a writer.  The characters could have easily been similar or stereotypical for a mental-prison hospital.

However, readers may find that they’ve heard this story before, that there are too many clues left for the reader to unravel the mystery long before the main character, Teddy Daniels.  The narrator, Tom Stechschulte does an excellent job changing his voice for each character and reacting to the fast moving dialogue.  Overall, Shutter Island is an entertaining mystery with a twist that may not be as surprising as expected.

***

Please stop by the next stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour at Bermudaonion and 32 Poems Blog.


This is my 28th book for the 2010 New Authors Challenge.

This is my 7th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: ,

Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

April 17, 2010 by

Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo is a book within a book in which the introduction is written by the character Alex Cross and sets up the impending story of his ancestors.  Abraham Cross lives in Eudora, Miss., and he helps the narrator, Attorney Ben Corbett uncover the truth behind the alleged lynchings in Mississippi and the rest of the South and to collect evidence for President Theodore Roosevelt.

“On the front lawn two adorable white children in a little pink-painted cart were driving a pony in circles.  On the wide front veranda I could see the children’s mother observing their play and a small army of black servants hovering there.

This was a vision of the old South and the new South, all wrapped into one.  There, gleaming in the drive, was a handsome new motorcar, brass fittings shining in the sun.  And there, rushing across the yard in pursuit of a hen, was an ink-black woman  with a red dotted kerchief wrapped around her head.”  (Page 136)

Ben Corbett is a progressive attorney who moved from Eudora, Miss., joined the military, became an attorney at Harvard University, and moved to Washington, D.C., with his young wife and twin girls.  He’s asked by Roosevelt to investigate the lynchings in the South and bring back evidence so that he can deal with the problem.  Patterson and DiLallo offer up an authentic step back in time for this mystery, with appearances by W.E.B. Dubois and other historical figures.

Alex Cross’s Trial is a well-written off-the-beaten path novel in the Alex Cross series.  Abraham Cross, a former baseball player with the Philadelphia Pythians, is an unassuming Black man living in the South, who has struggled against racism, but is willing to stake his life to make a real change in the nation.  Readers will enjoy the quick page of the novel, the historical setting, and examination of issues that still exist today.  Patterson and DiLallo have done a fantastic job in making a unique addition to the Alex Cross series.

For a couple takes on Cross Country, visit my mom’s review and my review.  Also take a look at Washington, D.C., and my Alex Cross poem.  Check out the other bloggers posting for Detectives Around the World Week. Thanks to Hachette Books for sending me a free copy of Alex Cross’s Trial to review.

Giveaway Details:

For those who have been following the Detectives Around the World Week, anywhere in the world, please answer the following question in the comments and leave me your email:

What has been your favorite post during the week and why?

Those who do not answer the question will not be entered, and I will select a random winner for the three latest Alex Cross novels, Cross Country, Alex Cross’s Trial, and I, Alex Cross through Randomizer.

Deadline is May 2, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.

***

Please also stop by today’s National Poetry Month Blog Tour stop at She Is Too Fond of Books and A Circle of Books.

This is my 6th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, Detectives Around the World 2010, giveaway, Hachette Books, historical fiction, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Cross Country by James Patterson

April 16, 2010 by

James Patterson’s Cross Country is full of action, conspiracies, and danger.  Detective Dr. Alex Cross is called to the scene of a horrific murder of an entire family when Cross realizes that Ellie Cox was his first love in college.  Her death and that of her family tug at his heartstrings and strengthen his resolve to find her killers.

As he investigates the crime, he discovers a gang of boys led by a man calling himself the Tiger is behind the murders and much more.

“The boy was eleven years old and fearless as a crocodile in a muddy river.  He raised his pistol much larger than his own hand and fired it into the shivering father’s forehead.”  (Page 5)

Through short chapters and quick action scenes, Patterson builds the tension in Cross Country, leaving readers on the edge of their chairs as Cross hunts down another vile criminal who recruits boys as young as ten who have been orphaned in a number of African nations to become killers.  Traveling to Nigeria, where it is clear Cross has not seen as much horror as he thought he had, the detective lands in hot water with local police and a swath of criminals.

“I shook off whoever was on my right arm and swung at whoever had my left.  None of them was stronger than me, but collectively they were like fly paper covering every inch of my body.  I fought even harder, fighting for my life, I knew.”  (Page 183)

Patterson is an excellent story teller, and Cross Country has more violence in it than the previous Cross novels.  Readers may be disturbed by the sexual violence and blatant murders committed by the criminals in this novel.  Additionally, the resolution of this novel comes about more because of luck or circumstance than because of Dr. Cross’s deductive skills, which readers traditionally look forward to in these novels.  However, those looking for a great police procedural with a mix of nearly impossible overseas intrigue, Cross Country is for them.

For another take on Cross Country, visit my mom’s review. Also take a look at Washington, D.C., and my Alex Cross poem.  Check out the other bloggers posting for Detectives Around the World Week.  Thanks to Hachette Books for providing me with a free review copy.

***

Also don’t forget about today’s stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour at the life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object, her giveaway, and Evelyn Alfred.

This is my 5th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.


Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, Detectives Around the World 2010, fiction, Hachette Books, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,