Year: 2010

PRIVATE BY JAMES PATTERSON

My Rating: 2/5

I finished James Patterson’s co-written book `Don’t Blink’ a couple of weeks ago and thought that I would never be able to read a book as bad as that with his name on it. Boy was I was wrong!

First off there are so many plots and sub-plots that you’re constantly thinking “Who”? That’s just the first gripe. The story itself is told in such a manner that it is almost rushed. You never get to connect with any of the characters because they don’t appear for long enough.

Plot wise you would think that a school-girl serial killer and Jack’s best friend being murdered would be enough but clearly not for James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. In addition to this we see Jack’s twin brother in trouble because he owes the Mob $600,000 as well as American Football Referees fixing matches. In my eyes this sort of level of plot detail is far too much for the style of writing many of his fans are used to.

Jack is the main character and all we seem to hear about is his war-torn past. Now don’t get me wrong if it’s relevant to the character and/or story then fine, but this just seemed to come across as rambling at times.

In addition to the plot and character problems there is the believable factor. I am fully aware that any fiction novel, especially one with James Patterson as co-writer, will have a certain element of things that are slightly outside the normal realms of life. However, this book really went overboard with the mention of a crime lab owned by Private that is better than the FBI has?!? There are also a number of scenes where Jack randomly turns up at the home of one of the leading figures of the Mob un-announced. I think there was too much of this type of scene which took it from being over the top to laughable.

There are very brief moments where we see Jack’s love life come to the forefront. Unfortunately for the ladies in question it is so brief that they probably weren’t even aware of it. The story felt rushed, incomplete and totally ridiculous.

All in all I was AGAIN disappointed with a James Patterson book. I still debate in my own mind whether the reason is because JP doesn’t contribute to the co-written books that much, or whether I am just tiring of his work. I think it must be the former as recently he has produced a reasonable offering with Worst Case featuring Michael Bennett. Like a fool I have pre-ordered his next book due Postcard Killers which is a co-written book due for release early September 2010. I am pinning my hopes on this particular one a little more as Lisa Marklund is the co-writer and as I understand it, has not co-written with JP before.

DON’T BLINK BY JAMES PATTERSON

My Review: 1/5

I pre-warn you, I am on a serious case of getting on my soap box here so if you don’t want to listen to 50% opinion and a 50% rant to the author then please feel free to read no further. The fact that I read this in a day and a half, and then spent a 20 minute walk moaning about it to my sister speaks volumes. You read the jacket and find yourself thinking “it sounds pretty good”. How wrong could I have been?

The story is the most important part of a book closely followed by the writing style and talent of the author. Clearly James Patterson though both these things were irrelevant. There has been a lot of hype over the deal between JP and his co-authors with some people claiming that JP contributes very little to these books, however nothing has ever been confirmed or denied from the Publishers.

This story was just awful and to be truthful so farfetched and ridiculous it made the plot from the film Crank look realistic! I have to mention in particular the first major scene which is the murder of a mob lawyer. Now you have to bear in mind that this scene is set in one of New York’s most `happening’ restaurants which is full to the brim. This `assassin’ manages to walk in (obviously he knew the Maitre D’) walk past all the packed tables and manages to approach the table and cut this man’s eyeballs out. I have no knowledge, but I am guessing that this sort of killing in real life takes a little more than a minute or so. But still this killer manages to do all of this in an exceedingly short space of time. Once the task is complete, the whole restaurant is screaming but luckily there are two off duty police officers who `draw their weapons’. However, the killer manages (with two guns pointed at him remember) to produce two guns of his own. Not only does the killer manage to retrieve his two guns before the police discharge their weapons, he also manages to kill them both with a single bullet to the middle of the forehead. Following his miraculous shots he exits the building through the kitchen and vanishes! Now do you see what I mean about the ridiculous storyline? I know this is fiction, but come on!

Aside from the major flaws of the story being so farfetched it’s ridiculous it also lacked any real oomph. The characters are one dimensional and the dialogue between them is laughable. The only good thing about this whole book is the fact that the chapter layout and style is the typical Patterson special. Short and sharp, it’s just unfortunate that it’s the only positive I can find. The ending was predictable and everything wrapped up like a perfect Christmas gift.

Never before have I read a Patterson and hated the characters as much as I did in this one. The main character Nick Daniels is like a modern day Indiana Jones but even Indiana doesn’t get as unlucky as this guy. Nearly every chapter produces a scene where the guy is ‘nearly killed’. His so called relationship with another character in the book Courtney was like something out of a teen flick and made me cringe. Never one to give up I read the book from cover to cover and found that the nearer to the end I got the happier I felt. The sooner I finished this mess of a book the better. If this was a debut novel with no authors name on the front I would be surprised if many readers bothered finishing it, let alone reading another.

This may seem ridiculous to people that I feel so strongly about a book, but I just feel…..well robbed would be the best description. I have personally contributed a lot of my hard earned cash to a man that is an excellent writer with an extreme talent, who for some reason seems to enter into any deal that has his name on the cover?

I still believe that James Patterson is a one of the most talented authors out there that can produce books that all his reader’s love. However, I am beginning to think that JP maybe doesn’t care what his readers/fans think? I mean he is hardly doing this for the money now so why does he continue to co-write such a vast number of books? I would rather have to wait a year for one book that would be his work and his work alone.

Mr Patterson, your readers deserve a refund!

Kiss Heaven Goodbye by Tasmina Perry

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My Rating: 5/5

As usual when I receive a Tasmina Perry book I prepare myself for the sheer weight of it as all four of her previous novels have been hefty. This current one was no different and I was eager to get started.

We meet four very different characters in this story that will sway your perception of them very early on. Miles and Grace Ashford are brother and sister and could not be more different. They are spending their summer on their parent’s private island and have both come to enjoy the summer. Miles has brought his friend Alex Doyle along who is almost like the class geek, but they have somehow become firm friends. Along with Alex is Sasha Sinclair who is currently dating Miles and has her eye on becoming the future Mrs Ashford.

The book is written in stages and we see the story from that first summer in 1990 where all four of them become part of a dark secret that they will all carry with them. Each of them goes their separate ways and the book progresses with each of them over the next twenty years bring us to the finale set in 2010.

As usual Tasmina Perry has surpassed my expectations and produced a first class book which is everything you want from a great Chick Lit novel. The story itself was so well written with the progressing years for each character. We see snippets of each of their lives and how their successes are affecting each of them. Their lives cross many times over the years and that dark secret is the cause of pain and suffering for all of them in one sense or another.

The characters are written with such insight and I found myself loving Alex and Grace almost as much as I disliked Miles and Sasha. The story was a great pace and each little nugget of information relating to the past kept me curious about the original incident until the very end of the book.

Although the story is considered Chick Lit, I loved the fact that there was a very dark side to both the story and characters. There was also a very surprising twist at the end which was very discreetly hidden and made perfect sense once the story was complete.

Although this book was hefty I devoured it over a day and a half. All the key ingredients for a great chick lit book were in here, glamour, tragedy, success, power and sex. Yet again Tasmina Perry has produced an absolutely brilliant book and right now I cannot think of many authors that write as well as her consistently. Each of her 4 previous books has rated no less than 4 stars on Amazon and in my opinion that rating is well and truly deserved. If you have never heard of her and like this genre of book I cannot recommend her highly enough.

A Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

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My Rating: 4/5

Okay, firstly I have to say that I am usually of the `trashier the better’ kind of attitude. If I am reading Chick Lit, I love the sleaze and glamour of it all. On the other side of the fence, I love a good crime thriller where we see the regular cop heroes turn up at every given opportunity. However, this book certainly doesn’t fit into the Chick Lit genre and I would be at a loss as to where to place it. It is a `real’ book, that’s the best way I can describe it. There is no gush, no fairytale typical storylines, and certainly no murders!

Rosy Thornton has managed to produce a book that doesn’t just tell you a story; it parks your butt on a plane and actually takes you there. Her style of writing is unusual in comparison to what I am used to but it is brilliant all the same. I could almost imagine myself sitting in the corner of Catherin Parkstone’s kitchen in the Cevennes Mountains and actually watching her life unfold. The characters are written really well and there is such an element of realism that you find yourself swept along with the tale. The scenery is so well described that it has left a vivid picture in my imagination of what everything and everybody should look like.

The story itself was great too and we meet Catherine’s local neighbours, who are at first very `French’, making Catherine have to work a lot harder to become part of the community. Catherine’s sister Bryony makes an appearance in Cevennes after making a radical decision to take a sabbatical from work. This complicates Catherine’s life more than she cares to admit. She struggles to get her priorities in her head the right way round. Although both her children are grown up she finds herself constantly worrying about whether they will be okay and whether moving to this remote part of France was a good idea after all.

The book is structured so that we see her time at her home progress over a number of months which makes it so much easier to imagine the different times of year in this area. It also gives the reader the element of how far she has come and what the future will hold.

All in all this was a fantastic book. I will admit that I would never have chosen this from a bookstore as it doesn’t look trashy enough for me, but boy am I glad I read this. A wonderful book with a real touch of realism that is perfect for curling up with. I would highly recommend this book and Rosy Thornton will definitely be added to my list of authors to pre-order from.

Scandalous by Tilly Bagshawe

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My Rating: 5/5

Sasha Miller is a young Cambridge physics student. She sets off for Cambridge with aspirations to become a scientist. What she doesn’t realise is that she will pay the ultimate price for her ambitions. Her tutor, Theo Dexter, looks like a movie star. He has it all, the looks, the charm and the intelligence. He is also a married man. Sasha finds herself on the wrong end of Theo’s self centred ways and leaves the UK for good with her heart broken. She is determined to make a life for herself so heads to the US and finds herself taking her career on a whole other path. Meanwhile, Theo’s wife Theresa is also suffering. When Theo casts her aside for a younger and more attractive woman she too tries to move on with her life. What she doesn’t realise is that in years to come not only will she meet up with Sasha Miller once again, but she will be asked to seek revenge against Theo.

Oh…my…GOD! Where have I been? This book has been in my ever growing pile of books to read for a little while and to be frank, would have stayed towards the bottom were it not for the rave reviews for it on certain websites. I am so glad that I made the time to read this because it was a corker of a book.

Although I tend to read a lot of crime and thriller type books I love a good Chick Lit book. I find that most of the more mainstream authors I have read or at least tried one of their books. Tilly Bagshawe however failed to reach my radar. I am also a huge fan of the Jackie Collins type smutty `bonkbusters’ (I can almost hear people sighing with disdain). Tilly Bagshawe managed to create a perfect combination between the `bonkbuster’ and the traditional `chick lit’.The characters were written brilliantly and you found yourself either loving or loathing them which is a true sign that the author is doing their job! Sasha Miller is more predominant in the first half of the book and slowly as the book and years progress we see much more of Theresa.

The book is set over a number of years but Tilly Bagshawe has managed to get the balance spot on in terms of time. We see just the right amount of each segment of their lives before moving 5 years down the road. She has created possibly one of the most arrogant male lead characters in this book which I just love. Not only do we get to see the book set over different times, but different parts of the world as well. It is set in Cambridge and then we move across the waters to New York once people’s lives move on.I loved the fact that none of the storyline was predictable. Once I had finished I had a real sense of satisfaction and couldn’t wait to order another of her books. She wrapped everything up nicely and managed to pull out many surprises over the course of the book. I read this book over a day and a half and am still slightly in shock that I have never read any of her work before.

This book had everything you could want, sex, glamour, revenge, love and fantastic characters. As a reader I could not ask for anything better and would highly recommend this book.

Live To Tell by Lisa Gardner (DD Warren #4)

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My Review: 4/5

Danielle Burton is the lone survivor of her family massacre over 25 years ago. She currently works in a children’s psychiatric ward trying to help if not save children. It is fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the event and she feels powerless to stop all the old emotions from returning. In a nearby working class neighbourhood, a family is found dead. There is one survivor the father, who is clinging on for life in the Intensive Care Unit. Detective DD Warren is called to the scene and soon realises that this is not a simple open and shut murder case.Victoria Oliver is trying to just get through each day of here life. She tries her best to keep her son safe from himself and the outside world but the day to day struggle becomes harder when she realised the biggest threat is from her own son.The lives of Danielle, Victoria and DD will soon collide, only none of them realises just how great the consequences are going to be.

I have been a fan of Lisa Gardner’s since I picked up one of her earlier books. I almost always pre-order her books so that I don’t miss a publication date. Her books in the past have proved to be absolutely edge of your seat suspense. This book, well, in a word I have mixed feelings.I read the first review on Amazon from a lady in the US who read one of LG’s earlier books entitled `Alone’ and then read this current book next. The lady had stated in her review she wondered if they were the same author and I know where she is coming from.

LG has always written really fast paced thrillers and the characters are always really strong and passionate people that are thrown into the deep end of a story. In one respect this book is no different. However, there is one major element to this story which threw me which was the `supernatural’. Now I must point out that I do NOT read supernatural type books and do not subscribe to the `supernatural belief system’. Therefore, this element of the story threw me a bit.

Although the mention of supernatural is recurring throughout, this element of the story is strictly surrounding only one character. I think that you can choose to take this element which ever way you please. It is also clear that two of the main characters, namely DD and Danielle are `non-believers” which I think adds to the realism of the story. The ending can be read in two different ways as well. I think the author used the supernatural element in addition to the other characters as opposed to the only answer. I thought that the supernatural element to one side, LG has again produced a fantastic story with great characters and a really strong plot. Although some fans may not think this is one of her best I actually really enjoyed it.

A lot of this book is based around the children that are housed in the psychiatric unit in a hospital and the kind of behaviour that they display due to varying medical conditions. Danielle is a nurse on that ward and a good chunk of the story centres in the unit and its children and staff. Lisa Gardner writes these children’s problems with great care and it makes you realise that taking a pill isn’t always the answer for some sick kids. I also read at the end of the book that LG was compelled to write this into one of her stories due to her own personal experience with a friend’s child.

It was great to see DD Warren back in the hot seat, although for some reason in this latest book she has become a sex-starved workaholic with a very bitter outlook on life. Don’t get me wrong, she was a great character to begin with and I always like realism in a character. I just didn’t remember her being quite so harsh. All of the slight negatives regarding supernatural to one side, I still thoroughly recommend Lisa Gardner and cannot wait for her next one (albeit hopefully with less woo-woo in it).

Broken by Karin Slaughter (Will Trent #4)

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Kat’s Rating: 5/5

Kat’s Review: Karin Slaughter has hit the jackpot with this latest book. She has now merged the two series (Grant County and Will Trent) and this is the 2nd book in the Georgia series. What a book! It starts out with a young girl having been murdered at the lake and initially it looks like suicide but Lena Adams soon realises that may not be the case. With a suspect in custody and Sara Linton back in town, Sara receives a phone call to say the suspect wants to see her. When Sara arrives at the station, the suspect is dead and that sets off a chain of events that puts them all in the middle of it. Will Trent arrives in town and together they try to solve the crime. Karin Slaughter has successfully pulled off the merger of two series and has created a great platform for all the characters. I had my doubts with the Will Trent Series but was always a huge fan of Grant County.The two together are even better! Great storyline, nothing too contrived or obvious and all the favourite characters showing their true colours. Absolutely loved this book and cannot wait until her next release.

Deadlock by Sean Black (Ryan Lock and Ty Johnson #2)

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My Review 4/5

Sean Black released his debut novel Lockdown in June of 2010 as this was the beginning of a series featuring Ryan Lock. His follow up book Dead Lock was released a month later.

I read Sean Blacks first book and absolutely loved it. Ryan Lock is an ex-military bodyguard who has worked private security and has now set up his own company that can be called upon for any type of job. He has a partner Ty Johnson who is an ex-marine who Ryan met whilst in Iraq. Together they make a formidable team and seem unafraid to take on any type of work.

Their latest task at first seems to be quite straightforward. All they have to do is keep a prisoner by the name of Frank `Reaper’ Hays alive for a week. He is a very important witness for the states prosecution against the white supremacist gang the `Aryan Brotherhood’. What they soon realise is that the job is a little more difficult than they first realised. Frank Hays is a prisoner inside Pelican Bay Super Max prison. For them to protect him, they need to do it from the inside.

They enter Pelican Bay as supposed convicted felons that have been sentenced to twenty years. The only people that are aware of the truth are the FBI and the prison warden, or at least that’s what they hope.

The Aryan Brotherhood is responsible for the killing of an undercover FBI agent and his family and the FBI are determined to see the group brought to justice. However, Hays is not a willing participant when he realises Ryan Lock has been assigned as his cell buddy and protector. It is soon very clear to both Ty and Ryan that looking after the prisoner was not their main problem in prison, it was staying alive themselves.

The story itself was great as was the pace of the book. I loved the fact that we are now in the midst of a character series where the reader waits to find out what happens to the characters. However, as much as I enjoyed the book I only found myself grappling with one element. The character Chance is a woman that is involved in the plot and is very much on the side of the Aryan Brotherhood. I have no issues with the fact that this woman was running around killing people but the fact that she was heavily pregnant while doing it smacked of a certain `disbelief’ element. Aside from that, the rest of the book was as good if not better than his debut.

The characters Ryan and Ty are explored a little more although I am looking forward to finding out a bit more about both of them in the next instalment. The end of the book wasn’t bad at all and the prison element of the story was first class. It shocked me to read at the end of the book that the author had actually `done time’ at Pelican Bay in the course of his research. Not only is he a brave man, but an incredibly clever one. The scenes in the prison were written by somebody that `really knew’ what it was like to be inside those walls. Overall a fantastic read that has made me look forward to his next book.

The Driver by Mandasue Heller

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My Rating: 3/5

The Grange Estate is known locally as a `rough estate’ and Joe Weeks has just moved in. Joe is laid back but is quite eager to make friends with his neighbours. He meets Carl and Cheryl and before long he is one of them. With their regular parties and weed smoking, Joe fits in a treat.

 Eddie Quinn also lives on the estate and is known as the hardest man around town. He is also living from his reputation which is one that you don’t wish to cross. When Joe is asked if he wants to work as Eddie’s driver he jumps at the opportunity. Joe soon runs into Katya who is a very frightened prostitute who is trapped as a practical slave and wants nothing more than to escape from Eddie. Joe soon gets drawn into a dangerous life surrounded by death, drugs and prostitutes.

Well first off I have to say I was shocked at the small offering that arrived when the book turned up. I am used to receiving a Mandasue Heller book that is a hefty offering as opposed to this slimmed down version. I picked up the book hoping that this one was better than her last book as I wasn’t that impressed with it. Initially the first few chapters seemed to be going well. We get introduced to Joe and get to know the goings on of all the people who live on the estate. Joe as a character isn’t the strongest Mandasue Heller has ever written but he was a likeable guy.

We also see the bad guy Eddie who again I didn’t think was that strong a character. Yes he seemingly had the right ingredients, the build, the attitude and the hard man look about him. Unfortunately that was all he had! Around the halfway mark I was beginning to wonder when the gritty storyline would jump in but sadly it didn’t materialise. The book wasn’t an awful read by any means it just wasn’t particularly strong or memorable.

The last portion of the book saw a rise in tempo slightly but it had an air of `unfinished business’ about it. In actual fact this was how I felt about 90% of the book. You felt like you got to know the people involved but beyond that, nothing. I have read all of Martina Cole’s books and felt bitterly disappointed that her more recent stuff was nowhere near as good as her original works. Sadly, it seems that Mandasue Heller is suffering the same fate. The storyline felt very lacklustre and had no real oomph in it. In addition to this, nothing that drastic or meaningful happened. I can tell from the writing style that Mandasue Heller still has a great writing style, but sadly the plot and characters are seriously lacking her usual standards.

I was bitterly disappointed with this and was hoping that we would see a return to her previously wonderful writing. Although the writing is there, it seems that nothing else is there with it. If I am being honest I wouldn’t recommend this particular book of hers and would say try her earlier works which were brilliant. I can still live in hope that she will return with a vengeance with her next book.

The Love Verb by Jane Green

My Rating: 4/5

Jane Green is a best-selling author that has been writing since 1997 with her debut novel Straight Talking. Once I had discovered her, I read every single book she had published. I then ensured that all of her new publications were on my pre-order list. However, when I reached her book Girl Friday I felt such disappointment. I felt like she had gone off the boil and lost her touch. When I saw that her new book had been released, I ordered it with the hope that maybe the last book was a blip. I think that after reading this book I am in two minds.

This book is about two sisters Callie and Steffi. Callie is the typical mother with husband and two kids who lives in the suburbs very happily. Her younger sister Steffi is the free spirit that still lives in the heart of New York, moving from job to job and man to man. Callie has everything and more, her children are her life, her relationship with her sister is good and she is still madly in love with her husband. Steff is working as a chef in New York and dating her latest in a string of Rock Star boyfriends. We also meet Lila who is Callie’s best friend. In the past she has struggled with relationships but has now met the man Ed who she thinks is `The One’.

It is extremely hard to give an idea on how the book progresses as it would be a major spoiler, but hence to say there is a `life changing experience’ that effects everybody’s life. The characters are written in true Jane Green style and I felt like her writing was back to her best. Although her writing was great the story itself was a little too sad for my liking. Having read to the end of the book Jane Green has written a chapter about why she has written this book and I have to say I believe this book was a good thing for her to do.

The story itself was well constructed and the characters were loveable. Many people will be able to empathise with the situation but I defy many to not reach for the tissues when reading it. I can only hope that this book was her comeback and maybe a soul-searching experience for her. I just hope that Jane Green in future returns to her well-loved recipe of great writing and storytelling with that feel good feeling about it. I would recommend this book but just be warned that is not the happiest book you will read and maybe you need to be prepared for that.