Friday, September 08, 2006
The Innocent – Harlan Coben (A Thrill Ride)
I love Harlen Coben! I have liked all his books that I have managed to lay my hands on.Some mistakes can change your life forever. For Matt Hunter, that mistake came in one terrible moment when his attempt to help a friend and stop a fight resulted in an accidental death. Matt was convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. Time that his peers spent in college, Matt endured behind bars.
Now nine years after his release from prison, his innocence long forgotten, he's an ex-con who takes nothing for granted. With his wife Olivia pregnant and the two of them closing on a house in his hometown, things are looking up. Until the day Matt gets a shocking, inexplicable video call from Olivia's phone. And in an instant, the unraveling begins.
The Innocent is a great story and a compelling tale of the choices we make and the repercussions that never leave us.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger (Trashy but Fun)
Devil Wears Prada was a very funny and easy read. Although Andrea has no desire to work in fashion, publishing or otherwise, she takes the job as Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly’s junior assistant after being assured that, after a year of service, she can pretty much secure any job she wants in the city. Miranda Priestly is human evil incarnate: she forgets Andrea's name, forces her to make two trips to Starbucks in a single morning, and never once compliments her on her clothes. On one level this is a straightforward revenge novel, but on a deeper one it's really about the ice-water shock of leaving college and getting a real job. Andrea as a character is interesting and easy to relate to as she struggles to both fit into a world she is a stranger to and keep her sanity.Andrea chronicles the abuse she suffers from her boss and the shallowness and egocentrism of the fashion industry. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for sheer entertainment.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Hard Way – Lee Child (Page-Turner)
My friend finished reading “The Hard Way” and she wanted me to read it too. This was my first Lee Child novel and it will definitely not be the last one. As expected (since it was my friend’s recommendation), it turned out to be an exciting read. I have fallen in love with the character, “Reacher", who I am told would keep appearing in other Lee Child novels. Reacher may well be one of the most enigmatic characters in modern fiction. Jack Reacher is a keeper :-)Jack Reacher, the ex-military cop is working to retrieve the kidnapped wife and daughter of Edward Lane. Lane runs a private army staffed by ex-Special Forces veterans, and once the ransom is paid without the family being returned, he sends Reacher to find the kidnappers. It's a job that seems straightforward to Reacher, but the farther he digs into the case, the more he uncovers the evil of Lane's past, a past that led directly to not just this kidnapping, but one of Lane's first wife. It's a situation where nothing or nobody can be trusted, but Reacher must decide to do the right thing.
Even though the book is not very suspenseful, it is fast-paced and is a thriller. I would highly recommend this book to all you fiction fans out there. I am ready to read the rest of Lee Child’s novels!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Shadowfires – Dean Koontz (Bad)
So, finally I have had enough of Dean Koontz. Every time I picked up a new book, I wanted to think it was different from the rest. But it is not. His books certainly are not the kind I’d enjoy. I find them silly, and unbelievable. So I guess that’s the last one for me.Rachel divorces her husband and whilst arguing outside the courthouse a truck kills the husband – except, perhaps he is not dead! Rachel’s husband, Eric escapes from the morgue. It so happens that he has been his own guinea pig for his immortality experiment. Still furious with Rachel, he sets out to track her down and slaughter her and her boy friend, Benny. Unfortunately, the experiment has gone horribly wrong and is transforming him into something unspeakable at a terrifying rate. Now the couple must find and kill Eric before he can do any more damage, while running from men from Eric’s company who want to put a bullet in her head to keep her quiet about the experiment.
“Shadowfires” is unrealistic. I do realize that it is science fiction, but even then it is difficult to digest. It was a tedious and painful read and I was fighting hard to complete it. Suffice it to say - no more Dean Koontz for me…
Daddy’s Little Girl – Mary Higgins Clark (Disappointing)
She let me down! I have liked almost all the other books I’ve read of hers. They are fast paced and have a good ending. "Daddy’s Little Girl" does not have a twist nor is it a very exciting read. It is something you’d want to read when you have nothing else to read.When Ellie Cavanaugh was eight years old, her fifteen-year-old sister did not come home one night. Her frantic parents put Ellie to bed before she had the chance to tell them about Andrea's hiding place in Mrs. Westerfield's garage. The next day Ellie goes to the hiding place and sees the bludgeoned body of her sister and runs home to tell her parents.
When Rob Westerfield, the convicted killer, comes up for parole twenty-three years later, Ellie returns to New York, the scene of the crime, hoping to prevent his parole. She is, however, up against a rich and powerful family that is able to now produce an eye-witness that will clear the family's name. Ellie fights back with a website outlining all the reasons Westerfield should remain in prison. Many people want Ellie and her website stopped and one person is willing to kill again to accomplish this.
I’d say – don’t waste your time on this one.
Monday, July 10, 2006
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed Got Wild And Got A Life – Kaavya Vishwanathan (Okay)
I have been trying to lay my hands on “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed Got Wild And Got A Life”, but no bookstore sold it - for obvious reasons. I finally found it in a ‘used books’ store. The book may just be the most controversial book of this year. I think we need to cut the kid some slack. I’ve not read “Sloppy firsts” or “Second Helpings” and don’t plan on doing so anytime soon. I only read the book for the reason most people did - because a 17 year old girl got an amazing and unreal signing amount of half a million dollars and because of the controversy that surrounded the book. Like they say “any publicity is good publicity”.At 16, Opal is her high school's valedictorian, president of three honor societies, and first chair in the regional orchestra. She even took welding classes to appear well-rounded. Her admission to Harvard looks like a sure thing. But at Opal's interview with the Dean of Admissions, he sets aside her impressive resume and asks the one question she never saw coming: “What do you like to do for fun?” Opal is stumped and screws up the interview.
As an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) from suburban Woodcliff, New Jersey, Opal Mehta is urged to be part of an experiment for “young people who want to live and experience life.” She promptly turns to her greatest fans, her mega-involved, equally serious parents, who proceed to come up with a plan.
But the plot is far-fetched (Harvard is concerned about an applicant`s love life?) and predictable. And over bearing parents who manage their kid’s life using acronyms? Few parts are difficult to digest but overall the book was a fun read. It is a book that most teenagers would certainly enjoy.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Let Me Call You Sweetheart – Mary Higgins Clark (Gripping)
I have read most of Clark’s books and I am a fan. For pure entertainment I turn to her books. As expected, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” was a great read.Skip Reardon was convicted of murdering his wife, Suzanne. Suzanne was Dr. Smith's daughter. He was a plastic surgeon. Kerry McGrath had to take her daughter, Robin, to a prominent New York plastic surgeon following an automobile accident and runs into a woman from her past in the waiting room. Suzanne Reardon, the "sweetheart murder" victim from a case McGrath prosecuted 10 years earlier, is supposedly dead, and her former husband is on death row after having been convicted of murdering her. McGrath sets out to restore the scales of justice in this twisty tale of homicidal obsession.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good mystery. You will continually guess who the real murderer is but be ready for some twists and turns. I am waiting to read her “Two Little Girls In Blue”. I am sure it will turn out to be a good read.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back – Terry McMillan (Sweet)
I am not sure how to react to “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”. The storyline was different and fun. However, I couldn’t get past the grammar and writing style. I do understand the need to write in a particular way to establish “your style”, but it did not work for me. And my personal opinion is that McMillan is a bit (unnecessarily) racist and pokes fun at white folks without a real context (no, I am not white). Of course I have no right here to say much because I never went through the hardships that blacks went through sometime ago. But when you want to present such facts and want to make a point, I think you should do it in a more tasteful way.Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy - and she does it all. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW, and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind it too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love - and all of love's nasty fallout - anyway. But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core - not just by the relaxing effects of the sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean - and is almost her son’s age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.
Just go ahead and read it for the fun of it. Ignore the grammar and writing style and you’ll end up enjoying the book. After reading this book, you’ll surely want to visit Jamaica, mon!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Tell No One – Harlan Coben (Action Packed)
I have become Coben’s fan. I bought “Tell No One” a few months ago thinking that I had not read the book. I bought the book after I read “Just One Look”. When I read the first few pages, I realized that I had read this book quiet a while ago and I had absolutely loved it. I had borrowed the book from a friend and I did not remember the author’s name at that time. Anyway, this is a good book to own.For Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.
Everyone tells him it’s time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible–that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.
This books reads so fast you hardly have time to hold the pages as they breeze by. This is an excellent thriller that you should take to the beach. Go read it!
Gone for Good – Harlan Coben (Pulse - Pounding)
Phew!! That is how I felt after every few pages of “Gone for Good”. Harlan Coben sure knows how to keep his audience on the edge. True to form, Coben keeps the plot twists coming fast and furious, and readers will give up trying to guess the outcome quite early on; yet the book's entertainment value lies less in its plot than its characters.Eleven years ago, Julie Miller was found brutally strangled in the basement of her house in the township of Livingston, New Jersey. On that day, Will's brother, Ken Klein, became the subject of an international manhunt accused of the crime. He has not been seen since. Will has tried to get on with his life in the intervening years. He has a beautiful new girlfriend, Sheila, and a job working with the homeless. But when his mother reveals, on her deathbed, that Ken is still alive, and shortly afterwards Sheila disappears, the cracks start to show in his landscape again. But it is only when he finds that Sheila herself is wanted for a savage double murder that his life actually starts to fall apart...
Read this if you are in a mood for a good suspense book. It was an extremely fast-paced and exciting read. I'm so happy to have discovered this author!!
