Tag: RATED 3/5

Scream For Me by Karen Rose (Atlanta #1)

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My Rating: 3/5

 Karen Rose is a RITA award winning novelist who has been writing since her debut book `Don’t Tell’ in 2003. Karen Rose then produced a series of books starting with Die For Me which was released in 2007. The series feature Special Agent Daniel Vartanian. This book is the second in the Series and is entitled `Scream For Me’.

I have only read one other Karen Rose book which was her debut novel and I was thoroughly captured by her writing style and thoroughly enjoyed every page of that book. When I picked up this one I was totally unaware that it was the second in the series but this had absolutely no effect on the enjoyment as previous events are explained in detail. If you wish to read from the beginning of this series I would suggest you don’t read onwards from this point as there may be spoilers relating to the first book.

In this second instalment we again meet Daniel who has recently buried his parents following their brutal killings at the hands of his own brother. Not only does he have that to deal with, but the fact that his brother Simon died at his own hands too. When a new case lands on his desk he is determined to absorb himself in this new case and catch the killer that seems to be replicating murders from 13 years ago. The problem with that is that the murders seem to be linked to a collection of photographs that belonged to his brother.

Alex Fallon is an ER nurse and is getting over the breakup of her relationship with a fellow Doctor. Alex has a murky past with her twin sister having been murdered thirteen years ago. When she finds out that her stepsister Bailey has gone missing she fears the worst. However Bailey has a history of drug abuse but would her own stepsister abandon a small child alone in her house just for her next fix. Alex doesn’t want to take any chances so takes Baileys daughter Hope into her own care and begins her own search for her stepsister.

Alex and Daniel inevitably cross paths when Daniel realises there may be a link between the murders from 13 years ago, the murders that are happening now and the disappearance of Bailey Crighton. Between them they try to make sense of what is happening and why.

The proper description for this type of book genre is romantic suspense. When I reviewed Karen Rose’s previous book I totally disagreed with that label but I have to say it is more fitting to this book. The story itself is far from a bed of roses and is largely based around multiple murders of young women. However all of her books do have a romantic element running through them. I have to say though, that in this case it just became part of the story as opposed to taking over from the central focus of the book. It runs along nicely and is integrated well without becoming too over the top.

You do have to pay attention as there are many characters introduced throughout which all have a part to play somewhere along the line. This author has a knack of switching seamlessly between a horrific murder scene and a scene in which two people are falling for each other despite the circumstances. I loved the element of the story which was written from Bailey Crighton’s point of view as the story is then staggered and the reader is drawn further into the reasoning for a lot of things the further in to the book they get.

Overall I think I preferred her debut novel to this but this was still a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. She has also introduced Daniel Vartanian’s sister Susannah along with Daniel’s friend Luke Papadopoulos who are to take a much more central role in the follow up to this book. I think Karen Rose is a great author and I look forward to reading the next installment.

9TH JUDGEMENT BY JAMES PATTERSON (WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB #9)

My Rating: 3/5

The women who have all been part of the `Women’s Murder Club’ do all appear in the story but to varying degrees.

You have Lindsay Boxer the lead character who is meant to be a feisty detective and she works alongside Rich Conklin. Cindy is a reporter and not only does she cover the case of Hello Kitty she is also in a relatively new relationship with Rich Conklin. Yuki is a lawyer and isn’t directly linked to the cases but appears in the story albeit briefly. Claire is a Medical Examiner and has a family of her own. She features more prominently in this story as she attends all the murder scenes.

The story itself is a vast improvement on the last one in the series. I have said before, and will say again, I wonder at the speed in which James Patterson produces books. They come out frequently and some books tend to have that slightly `unfinished’ feel to them. This one had some great twists in it and like I said before the actual storyline was pretty captivating. It made a change to have two stories running parallel through the book that eventually intertwine at the end. The chapters were written in the classic Patterson style; short and sharp. I have personally found that this makes the book very edgy and easy to get pulled along with.

The characters themselves are another matter altogether. As I have read every single one of the series you find yourself knowing the characters that bit more than a stand-alone novel. All I can say is WHAT HAPPENED? Our leading lady Lindsay Boxer has had a personality transplant, and not one that I like all that much. She has always been a very strong woman that has had to fight her way through the usual politics within law enforcement. Although she is involved in a long term relationship with Joe, she has always been fiercely independent. Suddenly she has become this wimpy woman with no backbone?!?

The other women characters are all pretty strong too but with the author and co-author suddenly `finding’ Yuki a man it seemed … well… just wrong. It didn’t fit, as the relationship between Cindy and Rich just doesn’t fit. I felt like the characters have changed too much and I can’t see many fans of this particular series liking it all that much.

Overall I am glad that the story and writing itself was a vast improvement but the characters lost so much that it made the book that little bit less enjoyable for me. I would still recommend.

Cut Short by Leigh Russell (Geraldine Steel #1)

226x346 (3)My Rating: 3/5

I read this book based on its review for a book that I may have normally overlooked. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found that it got a lot better the further into the book I got. The beginning was a little slow but picked up pace. As a reader I wanted to know a lot more about the character. In this debut novel we meet Geraldine Steel who has taken a DI position in Woolmarsh. She is thrown into the deep end with a serial killer on the loose who is preying on young girls walking in the nearby park. The great thing about this book is we see the serial killers actions as well as that of the police. We meet Geraldine’s boss Kathryn Gordon and her colleague Ian Peterson. The only thing I would say is that I am hoping in the follow up we find out more about Kathryn and Ian, as well as finding out a lot more about Geraldine herself. Would definitely recommend.

Happy Ever After by Patricia Scanlan

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My Rating: 3/5

First of all Patricia Scanlan’s writing style has always been the typical Chick Lit stuff. It is usually the stuff or romance gone wrong and then hopefully going right with some tears and hopefully laughter along the way. I am a typical Chick Lit fan in that I like this particular style of writing and Patricia Scanlan has always been one of my favourite authors for this very reason. Her books have in the past always captured me and I end up feeling a sense of contentment whenever I read her books.

This particular story is a follow on from her previous novel Forgive and Forget. Having said that you could read this alone and still pick up the story from where it left off. We meet Debbie and Bryan who are newly married, and Debbie’s battle to get her new husband to stop spending his money on parties, drink and drugs.

Connie who has done her bit for her daughter and son-in-law ends up having an interesting new man turn up in her life. Could this be what she has been waiting for? Unfortunately for Connie, her ex-husband Barry has re-married to Aimee. When Aimee finds out she is pregnant and Barry realises he may well have to go through parenthood all over again seeks solace by trying to get Connie’s attention. In the meantime unbeknown to Aimee and Barry, Aimee’s daughter Mellissa from her first marriage, is silently spiralling into a world of obsessive eating disorders. Everyone suddenly want’s Connie’s attention and she wonders, can she walk away from them and let them solve their own problems for once. Or will she help them all and lose the chance at her own happiness?

Patricia Scanlan manages to cover the real topics in life such as eating disorders, relationships with your ex and love later in life without making them too disheartening. The story runs along nicely with real detail and feeling and I thoroughly enjoyed it up until the very last chapter where it felt like the author got bored of writing and just finished with a very short and sweet epilogue. Almost felt like there should have been another 5 or 6 chapters to finish it nicely. I still enjoyed the book but ended up feeling a little disappointed.

Fractured by Karin Slaughter (Will Trent #2)

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My Rating: 3/5

I must say before I do this review that I am a huge Karin Slaughter fan and was VERY excited and waiting with baited breath for her new book. Maybe the reason I cannot decide how to rate this book is because I truly do love the characters Sara, Jeffrey and Lena who appear in other Karin Slaughter Books.

Karin Slaughter has released a series of books called ‘Grant County Series’ and they feature the characters of Sara Jeffrey and Len. This book is part of the ‘Atlanta’ series of books of which there has only been one so far.

Having said that this story features Will Trent who as a standalone character is a great guy. The opening of the book introduces us to Abigail Compano who has gone home and found every mothers worst nightmare. Her daughter is laying dead and there is a man standing over her with a knife. When a struggle breaks out Abigail doesn’t realise that it is about to change her life forever.

We then meet Special Agent Will Trent who gets teamed up with Detective Faith Mitchell to solve not only a murder but a kidnapping case. There are a lot of early twists and plot surprises so I won’t say too much for fear of adding spoilers to the review. They have to work in the relentless heat whilst not only trying to solve the case but dealing with each other as well as protecting the wealthy neighbourhood of Ansley Park.

Neither Will or Faith are perfect and between them they have a good working relationship but as the story develops you get to learn a bit more about each of them. Will suffers with dyslexia and goes to every length he can to hide this from everybody. He also has had an extremely difficult upbringing having been raised in an oprhanage.

I love the fact that Karin Slaughter does not go overboard with her characters being perfect. I think that this just makes them and the story a lot more believable. This story was definitely a page turner and a great read, I just think there may be something missing. I think I miss the characters from previous books such as Kisscut and A Faint Cold Fear as we have had many more books to get to know them. Maybe in the future Atlanta series I will get just as hooked as we see a bit more character development.

All in all I think this is crime writing at it’s best. Not only do we have ANOTHER great female author out there but she is up there with the best of them such as James Patterson, Mandasue Heller and Martina Cole.