A Book Blogger's Diary

Zero Day by David Baldacci  When an entire family is found murdered in a rural, coal-mining community in West Virginia, John Puller, Army CID, is sent to investigate this all alone. While Puller finds this suspicious, he follows his orders and starts looking into it with the aid of local cop, Samantha Cole. Note - This book was received for review/feature consideration. ----------------------------------- If you like this post, then please consider subscribing to my Full Feed RSS . You can also Subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Alex Cross's beloved DC is in turmoil as Saudi terrorists unleash deadly attacks upon the city at a time when all the alphabet agencies are already scrambling about trying to locate the two kidnapped children of the President of the United States. Is there a connection? The misleading title, a two-pronged storyline that proceeds at two different paces and with varying degrees of suspense, the overall similarity (at least of the kidnap scenario) to a previous (and stellar) Alex Cross novel (Along Came a Spider) and various questions unasked and/or unanswered make for an embarrassingly tepid reading in James Patterson's latest Kill Alex Cross (Little Brown & Co, 384p, Isbn-0316198730). There's no mistaking that the quality of Patterson’s writing continues to shrink along with the length of his chapters. The terrorist plot is the one spot of (mild) interest in an otherwise cliched story. The planning and dedication that goes hand in hand with fanaticism, the splinter cell...

Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure: A Tara Holloway Novel St.Martins, 384p, Isbn-0312551266 IRS very Special Agent Tara Holloway is out to nab every tax-cheating sob in the Dallas metroplex area, a job that's surprisingly not as safe and dreary as one might imagine. She's in the thick of things, literally kicking ass and shooting off bullets to keep the tax-evading hordes in line, all the while trying to keep her perfect French manicure intact. While in the race to net her boss that magic number of $1million in recovered taxes, Tara gets involved romantically with a guy who seems perfect. If only he kept company with men who didn't have a history of cheating innocent people of their hard-earned bucks. Will Tara's perfect manicure survive the resulting war between her heart and her head? I rather liked this story. Not only is it sassy and sexy and gave me a lot of tips on how not to get on IRS' bad side (lol), but it's also set in one of my favorite places, Dall...

Ballantine, Isbn-034550691X In this captivating novel of romantic suspense, New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard brings us deep into the wild, where a smart and sexy outdoor guide and her ruggedly handsome competitor must join forces to survive—and avoid becoming what they never expected to be: PREY Linda Howard's books are a general hit or miss for me. Veil of the Night is one book of hers that I still remember with fondness and that's the only reason I made it past the synopsis for this book. Reason - it screamed predictability and in that aspect I was proved right. What's different is Howard's treatment of it which makes it somewhat interesting. I'm not saying I loved it, but then I didn't hate it either. As mentioned before, the story is way predictable: Angie and Dare (the name, the hoarse voice, the attitude - all  kept screaming Clint Eastwood to me) are in the same business - camping/hunting guide - and unfortunately Dare is better so he'...

Kill Me If You Can Little Brown, 384p, Isbn-0316097543 An assassin who calls himself the Ghost, shoots and kills a Russian mobster at Grand Central station in New York. In the resulting mayhem, Matthew Bannon, an impoverished ex-Marine turned art student, stumbles upon the dying mobster and soon walks away with a bag full of diamonds. Prince, a bigwig in the Diamond Syndicate mob, wants his stolen diamonds back at all costs and the Ghost is re-hired, this time to kill Bannon and get back the diamonds. As a precaution, another expert killer is also set the same task. Who comes out on top and how makes for a somewhat entertaining, if highly predictable, read. Spoiler + Cautionary note to all readers - There are Incest scenes in this story ! Spoiler Alert! One of the twists in this story involves incest (family members having sex). Too many details of that incestuous lovemaking are repeatedly provided. Frankly, it was enough to make me want to vomit. It added absolutely nothing to the p...

Georgette Heyer From the queen of Regency romance Georgette Heyer, Sylvester: or The Wicked Uncle is an enjoyable and witty story from start to finish. Sylvester, the Duke of Salford, is a man of consequence and ready to marry. He has his pick of eligible London beauties; if only he couldn’t find flaws in them, which he does. Hearing of a girl from his beloved mother, he goes to see her. He’s disappointed to find Phoebe Marlow has neither beauty nor conversation. She also wants nothing more in life than NOT to marry him. He learns this when she runs off to London in harsh winter weather so as to avoid what she believes is an imminent proposal from him.   Sylvester: or The Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer When inclement weather and other misfortunes conspire to throw the two together, Phoebe unleashes her wrath on an icily polite Sylvester. With refreshing honesty, she sharply criticizes his arrogant behavior and regularly takes him to task. This novel experience at once angers and ...

Sourcebooks Casablanca, 347p, ISBN: 1402238835 Synopsis - Returning to his family seat from Waterloo, Gervase Frant, seventh Earl of St Erth, could have expected more enthusiasm for his homecoming. His quiet cousin, stepmother, and young half-brother seem openly disappointed that he survived the wars.  And when he begins to fall for his half-brother's sweetheart, his chilly reception goes from unfriendly to positively murderous. Yes, this is a sort of a murder mystery, my dear Heyer fans. Or rather attempted murder, I should say (that's not a spoiler, for I'm sure you guessed the hero can't be murdered - right?). I feel the real mystery lies in the romance part of it, for till the end the reader is left wondering who exactly will end up with whom. Not at all the usual sort of fare we've come to expect from this wonderful romance author of yester years, but one which she writes surprisingly well. Before I explain all that, let me begin by telling you about our ...

Chronicle Books, board book, 10p, ages Infant-3, Isbn-9780811879521 Children can't get enough of color, but making them learn the names of these beloved colors is another task. Which is why I'm always happy to introduce my kid to the world of colors with simple, yet fun and informative books like this one. This clever board book has pages of different colors. Each glossy colored page has a flap with a die-cut shape, lifting which reveals a brightly colored image of familiar things. For example, on a page covered with green lily pads, there's a lily pad shaped die-cut. Lifting that up reveals a green grinning frog underneath. Purple flowers are scattered across another page only to reveal purple butterflies underneath, while flying black bats populate another and lift up to reveal a witch flying on a broom. The charming die cuts along with the surprise that awaits beneath each, were the inspiration for many delighted squeals of surprise and laughter among my kids. My older k...

St. Martin's, 374p, Isbn-031265121X As a former Navy SEAL turned cop, Joe Quinn has seen the face of evil and knows just how deadly it can be. When he first met Eve Duncan, he never expected to fall in love with a woman whose life would be defined by her dual desires to bring home her missing daughter and discover the truth behind her disappearance---no matter how devastating. With the help of CIA agent Catherine Ling, they make a shocking discovery that sheds new light on young Bonnie’s abduction and puts Quinn squarely in the crosshairs of danger. Eve’s first love, John Gallo, a soldier supposedly killed in the line of duty, is very much alive---and very much a threat.   Emotionally charged, with one shock after another, Quinn reveals the electricity of Joe and Eve’s first connection, and how they fell in love in the midst of haunting tragedy. As their search takes them deeper and deeper into a web of murder and madness, Joe and Eve must confront their most primal fe...

Sourcebooks Casablanca, 368p, ISBN:1402238797 To say that the beautiful and tempestuous Lady Serena is highly upset to find that her recently deceased (and highly eccentric) father, the Earl of Spenborough, left the care of her fortune and control over her marriage to her jilted fiancé Ivo Barrasford, the Marquis of Rotherham, is to understate the case. Too much time has elapsed since Serena broke her engagement to her childhood companion, Rotherham, (and that too after the invitations had been sent - such a scandal !) for them to feel anything but discomfort at this bit of posthumous matchmaking on the part of the Earl. Or so they both declare. Used to commanding a large household and having acted as her father's hostess from a young age, energetic and politically-savvy Serena soon finds herself in doldrums when her life is suddenly reduced to a small Dower house with none but her father's young widow, Fanny, for company and a social sphere consisting of occasional visits from...

Otherworld, Book 12 Dutton, Isbn: 0-525-95220-9 Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she’s powerless to help herself. At the conclusion of Waking the Witch , Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would help a young girl. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise. And now, witch hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell casting talent, the thing she counts on most.  In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Spell Bound gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and others, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within...

Chronicle Books, ages 5 and up, 42 cards in drawer box This fun and easy-to-play card game featuring Bob Barner's colorful and lively animal characters is sure to be a family favorite. Players try to gather as many of the same cards as possible to create sets of each animal, including panda bears, lions, elephants, and more! The oversized cards come in an elegant drawer box with a ribbon drawstring, making them durable for years to come. Cards are always fun to play with whether sheltering inside from blistering heat, traveling somewhere or just driving. I'm not comfortable with introducing my kids to the traditional card games, but these animal cards are just the right alternative. They feature 40 brightly colored images of various kids of animals on the oversized cards, plus 2 instruction cards. The rules of Rummy as to played by these cards is explained and all that remains is for the fun to begin. My kids proved to be bit young to understand how this game works, so in...

St. Martin's, 341p, Isbn-031236394X Synopsis - A priest murdered in his church…a homeless man slaughtered in a toilet... these are just the first of two seemingly unrelated murders plaguing a sweltering New Orleans. As the murders continue it becomes clear that glass restoration artist Mira Gallier is somehow at the heart of it.  Whether she’s the one killing people and leaving weird Biblical quotes at the murder scenes or someone connected to her is, are the questions that plague the uneasy partnership of homicide detectives Spencer Malone and Karin Bayle.  Meanwhile Mira is convinced her dead husband has come back to life. Could that be a clue? ******** Erica Spindler is at the top of her game in this edge-of-the-seat Hitchcockian psychological drama. Her skill is evident whether describing a character’s heart-rending survivor’s guilt, capturing the subtle nuances of a police partnership, or building an atmosphere of exponentially ominous tension. This subtle, intelligent p...

An encrypted text message sends James Bond to Serbia where he diverts what he thinks is a plot to derail a train containing toxic chemicals. He soon learns this is just the tip of the iceberg and follows clues that lead him to a recycling company’s owner with an obsession with death, decay and privacy. Flying all over the world, Bond races against time to save thousands of lives…from what, he himself doesn’t know. ********* Without reading Ian Fleming’s 007 novels, it’s not possible to tell where the novels left off and the movies picked up. However Carte Blanche, Jeffrey Deaver’s endeavor to continue the series in print, certainly has a Hollywood-like feel to it. Deaver does a good job of continuing the traditional aspects of the Bond story - fast cars, gorgeous women with odd names, fiendishly clever villains and lots of gadgets (or rather apps - in keeping with modern tradition, Bond has an app for that, no matter how improbable). Also in tradition, Deaver’s globe-trotting Bond make...

William Morrow, Isbn-0061434426 Bill Moore already has a lot, but he wants more . . . much more.He's got a lucrative job selling condos in the Florida Keys, a successful wife, a good marriage, a beautiful house. He also has a five-year plan for supersuccess, but that plan has begun to drag into its sixth year without reaping its intended rewards. So now Bill's starting to mix it up—just a little—to accelerate his way into the future that he knows he deserves. Then one morning Bill arrives at work to find a card waiting for him, with no indication who it's from or why it was sent. Its message is just one word: modified. From that moment on, Bill's life begins to change. At first, nothing seems very different. But when things begin to unwind rapidly, and one after another, people around Bill start to die, it becomes increasingly clear that someone somewhere has a very different plan for Bill's future. Confused and angry, Bill begins to fight against this un...