Tag: fiction

Classic/Historical · Fiction/Science Fiction

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

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reid_9781524798628_jkt_all_r1.indd| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camilla finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

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My thoughts:

Is it as good as the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo? That is one big question and to be frank, I have to say….no! No it is not, but it’s pretty damn close.

Daisy Jones and The Six! What a story and I so wish it was real. Just so that I could listen to the music, read more about those people and see picture after picture. It is quite an epic plot and story, just as character driven as expected. It was an amazing story, the characters are deep, complicating and Reid has done a wonderful job creating the atmosphere and settings of the 1970’s rock and roll environment and mindset. The writing is beautiful, easy, jet complicating to such a degree where you feel constantly pulled in. Just as I remember from TSHOEH and I’m happy that it was not just a fluke, but Reid really does have an talent for artful writing.

It keeps touching difficult subjects as drugs, sex, abortions, marriage, cheating, children, family and so on. But my biggest problem with it is that it lacked the deep it needed and somewhat expected. I missed that angst filled aura which grabs your heart, rips it in shreds and then glues it back together before it shoves it back in your chest with an force out of this world. TSHOEH had it, DJATS has not. I felt it was somewhat flat, missing that emotional punch and the ending came way to fast.

But Taylor Jenkins Reid is one talented author and I have gotten even more interested in reading all of her books now.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Mephisto club – Tess Gerritsen

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32254| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: PECCAVI

The Latin word is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman’s brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It’s a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O’Donnell-Jane’s professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club.

On top of Beacon Hill, the club’s acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us.

With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it’s clear that someone-or something-is indeed prowling the city. The members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own-or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil, where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced . . . one whose work is only just beginning.

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My thoughts:

The sixth book in the series about detective Jane Rozzoli and the medical examiner Maura Isles. A series I have lately fallen completely in love with, even though I have already seen the whole TV show several times over. But the show travels so far away from the book series in the end that now, I hardly notice it anymore.

Not one of those five books before have received less than for stars. That is how good this series been so far. This is however the first time because I did not enjoy number 6 as much as I thought I would and quite frankly I’m a little disappointed.

The story, plot, murders and all that is still on point. It is exciting and filled with suspense. One star! The red thread and resolution in the end was easy to follow, nice history and interesting twists. One star! It was nice to meet the characters again and meet more of the Rizzoli family and drama surrounding it. One star! But that’s it. Three stars is what I give. I didn’t like how little we actually got to be with the main characters. It felt like it was the side characters who run the story. Who solved the crimes and hunted the bad guys. And Isles was just a sad, middle age woman, feeling sorry for herself throughout the book and Rizzoli was just detached from it all and frankly quite cold. It is not what it was in the earlier books.

Everyone can have a bad day (read book) and I think that this is Gerritsens bad day in this series. At least I’m hoping it. Because I really want to read more.

 

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Forgotten Secrets – Robin Perini

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29643051| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: At age ten, Riley Lambert watched helplessly as her sister was abducted from her bedroom. Fifteen years later, she’s channeled the pain of her past into a career as an FBI profiler. Riley devotes her life to bringing violent criminals to justice…and secretly uses government resources to search for her sister, who was never found.

When Riley gets a call from the only man who’s ever swept her off her feet with a killer two-step and dangerous smile—ex-Navy SEAL Thayne Blackwood of Singing River, Wyoming—it stirs up dark memories. Thayne’s sister, Cheyenne, has been kidnapped. There are no leads, and the only witness is the victim’s Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother.

Desperate to find Cheyenne, Thayne needs Riley’s expertise. With time running short, they delve into dangerous small-town secrets while fighting against an increasingly ruthless adversary. But when her past and his present collide in a shocking revelation, can they overcome the secrets that have kept them apart?

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My thoughts:

 

I have had this, and I’m not kidding, in my kindle cloud since 2016. It was time to get this one read and I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised.

First of, I did not like Perini’s writing at all. It had no flow and was at times confusing and almost rough to read, if it makes sense. Even some names are “terrible” and extremely hard for me to figure out how to pronounce. That’s not pleasant feeling to have and most of the books I have DNF:ed have been because of the writing. When starting it I actually though for myself that this would be a one, two star rating if I got through it but most likely I would DNF it. Imagine my surprise when the story, character and plot captivated me to such a degree that I devoured the book and ended on a four star rating.

Yes it was great. Surprising, hard to foresee what would happen (Except a few things) and it kept throwing curve balls at you. Great plot building and character development.

I’m happy and satisfied and even though I don’t like the writing that much, I can actually see myself reading the second book about the little town, Singing River.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Breakdown – B.A. Paris

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29438850| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

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My thoughts:

“Unfulfilling, a little melodramatic and anticlimactic.”

It is the first time I read anything by Paris and I have to say that I’m surprised over how little I liked it. Had its moments of course, but it was not what I had expected and not really for me and I love Thrillers.

I would call it a straight forward, light, predictable, thriller, where you are not supposed to think too much. The writing is mediocre and the last 50 pages was filled with misspellings. It makes me wonder how many misspellings there was in the whole book. Since English is not my first language, misspellings is mostly something I do, not detect and if I do see some, there is usually a lot more that I do not see. And that it was so many makes me feel that both author and editor just gave up in the end. And the whole “mystery unravelling” through SMS is, for me, a cheap and unimaginative way of unravel all the secrets. The ending is nothing to boast about either. Unfulfilling, a little melodramatic and anticlimactic.

And I didn’t like the character that much. Specially the main one, Cass. How can you be so gullible, naive and whining but still be so “smart” in the end? There are just several things that are contradicting each other and that makes me want to throw the book away. Unfortunately I had made a commitment to read it and in the end it did have some moments and I’m satisfied enough to finish it. I would however not recommend it to a fellow reader.

 

Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror

Code Zero – Jonathan Maberry

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19433029| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: For years the Department of Military Sciences has fought to stop terrorists from using radical bioweapons—designer plagues, weaponized pathogens, genetically modified viruses, and even the zombie plague that first brought Ledger into the DMS. These terrible weapons have been locked away in the world’s most secure facility. Until now. Joe Ledger and Echo Team are scrambled when a highly elite team of killers breaks the unbreakable security and steals the world’s most dangerous weapons. Within days there are outbreaks of mass slaughter and murderous insanity across the American heartland. Can Joe Ledger stop a brilliant and devious master criminal from turning the Land of the Free into a land of the dead?

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My thoughts:

“Thank you so much for not following those impulses I’m certain you had while writing, and that you gave me an ending which gives me hope for a future.”

I want to use several swearwords right now. All toward Maberry who once again gave me a scare that this will not end as I wish. He is a master with curveballs and surprises. Many of them not that great and I cried. Yes I cried at the end, thinking it would be the end for me, for this series and for Joe Ledger. But thank you! Thank you so much for not following those impulses I’m certain you had while writing, and that you gave me an ending which gives me hope for a future. A future where I feel the will to read more, know more and once again need more.

First off, out of all the six books I have read now, I’m thinking Code Zero to be the weakest of them all. The plot  is nice and it ties together nicely with the first book (Patient Zero) but I found it a little boring and it did not keep me captivated and interesting. At 60% I had the desire to put it down.

Second, there is not enough Joe. He is the sole reason I read this series but it is so many POV and Joe is not one of the main ones you get to follow. He has not enough “page time” in my opinion.

And third, there is so much fighting and all the scenes is starting to blend together and are not that interesting anymore. To be hones I have started to skim those parts of the book due to that it no longer interests me.

Overall a strong three star rating and I would love to see this one as a movie. I think it would be perfect for the silver screen. Note that several say that if you don’t want to read book 2 to 5 you don’t have to. I however do not recommend that. There is so much stuff happening that makes a difference and sense to why the plot line is going the way it goes. Maberry does a great job with briefly and concisely explains what have happened in the past, but it is shallow and it will not give you the dept I personally think you need. I, who have read the books, do not need more but I can imagine that if you have not, it would not be sufficiently to the meaning of the plot.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Vanish – Tess Gerritsen

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591908| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Medical examiner Maura Isles is looking at another body in a slab. Not a new experience for her, but she’s in for another shock when the body opens its eyes and proves to be alive. And violence swiftly follows, as the mystery woman–strikingly beautiful–kills a security guard in the hospital she’s taken to, before capturing a group of hostages. One of them is a pregnant woman–Detective Jane Rizzoli, no less. And if Jane can find out what this lethal abductor wants, she may be able to save her own life–and those of the other hostages. But the clock is ticking.

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My thoughts:

“A brilliant thriller with a topic we cannot forget about.”

Done with the fifth book and even though I did not find it as good as the third and fourth one, it was still a great book. The plot line, even though it was published back in 2005, is still relevant to this day and it’s terrible to think how true it actually is. A brilliant thriller with a topic we cannot forget about. Human trafficking is a multibillion dollar industry and there is a lot of sick and powerful people out there who defends it. I’m not turning this review to a political debate, but it is disgusting to know that there is people out there who do and enjoy this is making me sick.

The characters feel a lot more stable and grounded which gives the book a feel of completion. It is warm, nice and captivating in a way where it is hard to put it down. I did not find it just as good as the last two due to some parts I feel went by too fast. But other than that, this is still a great series I want to read more from. It’s so good and to think that this one is almost 15 years old is quite impressive when you think about how far the technology have gone forward in those few years. Just imagine what is to come when continuing and reading the next 7 books.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Body Double – Tess Gerritsen

Book Chick1 Comment

591907| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Dr Maura Isles stared at the corpse in the car, at the face illuminated by Rizzoli’s flashlight beam.

It’s me. That woman is me…

Maura Isles deals with death. As a pathologist in downtown Boston, she has seen more than her share of corpses. But never before has the body on the medical examiner’s table been her own.

There can be no denying the evidence though. The dead woman is her mirror image right down to the most intimate physical details. Even more chilling is the discovery that they share the same birth date and blood type.

Then a DNA test confirms that Maura’s mysterious double is indeed her twin sister, and suddenly an already bizarre murder investigation becomes a disturbing excursion into a past full of dark and deadly secrets.

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My thoughts:

“Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.”

This series is only getting better and better. I threw myself over this one right after I finished the third book and now I feel the need to throw myself over the fifth book to. That is how good this series has turned out for me. This is just another fantastic continuation in the “lives” of Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles and I’m in love. And wow what a plot. Filled with secrets and mystery that is unraveling into a believable and realistic plot, but without all that gory stuff that is so popular.

The story line is not at all like the ones in the TV series and it was perfect. You get to know new things about the characters that has been changed when writing the TV series and that made me even more attached. We also get to follow Isles the most of the time and even though I’m not as huge fan of the book Isles as I am for the TV Isles i enjoyed it immensely.

It is a real page turner. The ending took me by total surprise, fitting but not what I would have wanted. It only fueled my need for more and not surprisingly, I threw myself over the fifth book to. Damns this is good.

 

 

Romance · Suspense · War/Military

Blindsided – Kaylea Cross

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32951240| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: It’s a Titanium Christmas reunion… Grace and Alex Rycroft have just moved into their newly renovated house in upstate New York and they’ve invited the whole Titanium Security crew to celebrate an early Christmas with them. But not all is merry and bright. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned. When the unthinkable happens at a veteran’s charity event in the middle of Manhattan, the team must pull together to take down the attacker and rally around a wounded teammate in the tragic aftermath. With one of their own left fighting for his life, it’s going to take a Christmas miracle to pull him through and make the holiday season bright. (*Note: This novella is a final wrap-up of the Titanium Security Series and is not meant to be read as a stand-alone.)

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My thoughts:

“Perfect, just perfect.”

The last book in the Titanium Security series and I cried like a baby. It was so wonderful to meet them all again, but “stuff” happens and it was terrible, but in the end it was the most perfect closure on a great series and I could not have asked for more. I have nothing more to say but only that this series is worth reading by everyone who likes romantic suspense in a war environment where both the male and female characters is strong and lovable. Perfect, just perfect. Kaylea Cross has several series in the same caliber and I hope they are just as good.

The order the Titanium series should be read in is as following:

Ignited
Signed
Burned
Extinguished
Rekindled
Blindsided

Adult fiction/Erotica · Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction

The priory of the orange tree – Samantha Shannon

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29774026| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

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My thoughts:

“This was certainly an epic journey and overall I really enjoyed it.”

Wow. It feels like someone have stolen my breath away and taken a piece of my body and soul. This was certainly an epic journey and overall I really enjoyed it. The world is so complex, extremely rich, colourful and truly a work of art. Then we have the characters. And they are many, who together weaves a story of love, hate, good and evil. Thanks Shannon for the character overview in the end of the book. Without it I would have had even bigger challenges with keeping track over who was who and who did what. Even with the help it was quite overwhelming at times and that is one of my two negative feelings toward the book. Thankfully there is mostly four point of views you are following which makes it easier.

The other negative thought I have about the book is that it is too damn long. I wouldn’t say it bored me per say, but it made me indifferent. At sometimes I read it mostly automatically because I knew if I stopped, I would have it hard to pick it up again. At other times I devoured it and could not put it down. It was somewhat inconsistent and that made me somewhat detached.

In the end I am happy. I would probably not reread it anytime soon, but I may read it again sometime in the distant future. And I do agree with the hype around the book. It is worth reading for everyone who wants or need an epic journey through the lands in this epic adult fantasy.

 

 

 

 

Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror

Pet Sematary – Stephen King

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51YOjBvyolL| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis:

The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed. Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago. Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive threat.
But behind the house and far away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully cleared path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial. A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding…

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My thoughts:

“This was actually a lot better than I expected but that ending though. Come on!!”

I’m not easily frightened! Specially not by books but this was really one of those few who made my skin crawl right from the beginning. And it is all due to this skill with taking something real, something you know or could imagine experience and twist it to this ugly, supernatural, frightening thing of reality that just hooks you deep in your soul. And Stephen King has that skill and in The Pet Sematary he excelled.

But however, I have said it before and will say it again, that ramble is my biggest problem with books written by King. He can go on and on about a thing in a middle of a conversation or a suspense filled moment and sometimes it is so extensive that I loose where in the conversation I was or what was happening. It made the suspense simmer down and me come back to reality, which changed the amount of impact it had on me. It doesn’t defined the book and make it a bad one per say and I can honestly say that this is one of the best I have read so far this year. That is just one of the things with King I have a problem with and it takes some of the experience away and in this case, also one star.

Other than that, I enjoyed this immensely and I’m now looking forward to see the new movie who had premier now in April. This was actually a lot better than I expected but that ending though. Come on!!