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Title: The Undertaker's Widow
Author: Phillip M. Margolin
ISBN: 9780751524536
Publisher: Warner Books/1998
Pages: 372
Book Description
Judge Richard Quinn is young, idealistic, and honest to a fault. That's why he's handed the most sensational homicide case in Oregon history. Locked in a race for the U.S. Senate, Ellen Crease gunned down the intruder who murdered her wealthy husband. In a single, brutal instant she became a widow, a victim, and a hero. Soon it becomes clear that a deadly plot of murder, blackmail, passion, and double cross is unfolding around Judge Richard Quinn. And unless he breaks the rules, justice will not only be blind, it will be the final victim.
My Review:
Senator Ellen Hoyt is in the midst of a campaign. Late one night, someone enters her home with the intent of robbery or murdering her or her husband, who is a rich man, an Undertaker. Ellen guns down the man who had killed her husband. First she is taken for grieving widow, a victim which helps her in the campaign. But her rival can't stomach that. They have to get to her and they find it via Judge Quinn, who is as upright as one can be. However, Richard Quinn has some personal issues. His marriage is crumbling. A moment of weakness gets him into a spot. Powerful people want him to put down Crease. They have to get her out of the way. Quinn faces the truth that justice can be bent to suit ones end. He is at his wits end to protect himself and also the senator.
He tries to investigate it all by himself. And finds some unpleasant facts. He gets embroiled in murder, and blackmail. Is he able to save himself? And the senator?
It is good legal thriller which keeps the reader on the edge. The motive and murderer are unknown until the end. The ending comes as bit of a surprise. A good year end read. Those who like thrillers will enjoy this fast paced book.
Title: One Scream Away
Author: Kate Brady
ISBN: 9780446541527
Publisher: Forever/2009
Pages: 423
One Scream Away is all over the book blogging world, either reviewed or in giveaways. It is what is supposed to be psycho thriller, or should I call it romantic thriller? The latter sounds more like it.
Chevy Bankes is free from prison and is hunting for Beth Denison. On his way to her, he kills a lot of women and leaves behind lots of clues including antique dolls. After he kills those women, he calls Beth from their cellphones and lets her know he is getting nearer and nearer. He likes to listen to the sreams of those women he kills and keeps a record of those.
Neil, a ex-FBI agent is brought in see how is Beth involved in all this. At first it is taken that she is somehow involved with the murderer or is an accomplish in those murders. Neil discovers she is a woman with a past and can go to any length to protect her six year old daughter. Although Beth lets him protect her and her daughter, yet she conceals her secret. Chevy is always one step ahead. He knows exactly the whereabouts of Beth and her daughter and is getting closer and closer.
Neil falls for Beth in a very short period of time. Ok, she has a sweet daughter but that isn't any reason for falling in love with her so fast?
One Scream away is kind of a fast read. And utterly forgettable after reading it. Chevy has some problems. He has a mother fixation and loves his sister Jenny dearly. And kills woman for no apparant reason. A true psychopath one might call him. However, killing so many innocent women just to get to Beth did not gel with me. I found there are too many people trying to protect Beth but what about those other women, who were killed? And what took the police so long to learn about Jenny, especially when she had gone missing since she was a small child? And how does Chevy find her after all these years. Beth kept her past hidden for seven years. If she had told it all seven years back, Chevy would still be in jail, all those women still alive and no novel written by Kate Brady! Is that a good thing or bad, I am not sure!
I like psycho thrillers. And getting into the killers mind. And not being able to predict till the end about the motivation. Here I could predict it much before and somehow knew about Chevy's mother and his sister right in the middle. And I am not really all for drop-dead georgeous ex-FBI agents whose brains seem to be in the wrong place.
This book is for those, who don't wish to think much after reading it. For all its fault, it is definitely a very fast read and I did like the epilogue. That redeems this novel to a large extent. Of course it works well for increasing your book count too.
Title: The World I Never Made
Author: James Lepore
ISBN: 978098608723
Publisher: The Story Plant/2009
Pages: 262
Pat Nolan arrives in Paris to identify the body of his estranged daughter, Megan. They have had a love-hate realtionship. However, when Pat looks at the body, he knows it is not Megan's. However, he doesn't let the Paris police know and gets the body cremated as soon as possible. Pat somehow senses that by faking her death, Megan is reaching out to him, asking for his help. He has to find her. Meanwhile, there are people who suspect that Megan is very much alive and only way to get to her is by following Pat. Abdel Lahani, a powerful Saudi businessman settled in Morocco has his own reasons to find her. Megan and he had a torrid affair and he is not prepared to let go.
Catherine Laurence, a Paris detective takes a long needed leave from her work and joins Pat Nolan on his quest for his daughter. Nolan and Laurence journey through France, Morocco and Czech Rebuplic with the French Police and a band of International Terrorists behind them. This proximity leads them to find love with each other. Both have demons to kill yet both their souls merge.
A World I Never Made is relatable in the present context of terrorism. The back and forth movement of the novel helps it understanding better. Pat and Catherine are moving in the present but Megan's story moves from the past. Both threads do not interfere with each other and only converge when it needs to be, not before. It also depicts fanatics at their best, with no rhyme or reason. It is an unputdownable novel.
Yet I found a few loose ends. When Megan and Pat do meet, they separate just as soon. It was kind of a let down. Catherine's relationship with her husband is mentioned but no reason is given why she hated him so much. And why she feels guilty now that he is dead. Terrorism is main theme of the novel. And it could have been covered in a bit more detail.
However, one does find redeeming features where there are people who take care of Megan, no matter what, hiding her and also giving their own lives for her. Megan is not really with the terrorists but she is researching about it. For those very reason, I can say it is a very readable book. Thanks James, for the signed copy!
Title: the rivers run dry
Author: Sibella Giorello
ISBN: 9781595545336
Publisher: Thomas Nelson/2009
Pages: 317
Raleigh Harmon is a geologist as well as a good FBI agent. But she is not good at work politics. As it is thought she is not good at taking orders, she is shunted out to drought stricken Seattle from Richmond as a disciplinary action. Raleigh Harmon does not let it unfaze her. As she soon as she arrives, she finds that a hiker has gone missing. A hiker who belongs to one of the rich families and her parents don't want it publicized. Initially there is no ransom note. But the note does turn up. Raleigh in her own way looks for clues about the missing girl, taking the help of forensics. Everyone else considers it as a open and shut case but singlehandedly she vows to find the missing college girl.
On her way to it, she also discovers many skeletons tumbling out of the cupboards, those truths which had been hidden carefully by the missing girl's parents. Her bosses are not very cooperative but she does not let that come into her work. She gets to the bottom until she unravels what happened to the girl, Courtney, who also is a gambling addict.
Raleigh is a very likeable character. She has enough problems of her own. Her mother's behaviour at times borders on the weird. And her aunt has a clairyovant for a friend, who seems to be after Raleigh predicting danger for her. But Raleigh is least fazed by all of it. She is good at her job and she also is not one for giving in to emotions. She is rational and practical. She is also not above asking for help when she needs it.
Giorello's writing is very visual. Her use of imagery is astounding. The poetic language would have kept me on, no matter what. She also knows what she is writing about. It is a well written novel, with a sense of place, fast-moving plot and a very endearing, no nonsense heroine. This book also talks of spirituality but in no way it is jarring. I for one would look out for more novels from this author. I simply fell in love with her poetic prose.
Thanks to the publisher for this book.
Also reviewed by:
Deenabooks
Blue Rose Creek, California Maggie Conlin left her home believing a lie. She believed that her life was normal again.
Title: Six Seconds
Author: Rick Mofina
ISBN: 9780778326120
Publisher: Mira/2009 Pages: 469
This year I have been reading a lot of crime fiction. Six Seconds too belongs somewhat to that genre. It is more a novel on terrorists and terror attacks, Jihadists and all. The issue which is very contemporary. When I requested for an ARC of the book, Rick Mofina was kind enough to send me one.
When Maggie goes to pick her son from school for a soccer match, she finds out that Jake her husband had picked him and vanished without a trace. Maggie runs from pillar to post but with no avail.
A nurse Samara, has been raped and has lost her husband and Son in Iraq to merciless American soldiers. She vows revenge on them. To achieve that she gets involved with truck driver, who used to do Iraq rounds.
Daniel Graham who belongs to Royal Canadian Mountain Police is trying to forget his sadness over his wife's death by pulling the trigger on himself near Faust river, when he is somehow compelled to watch out for rescue operations. He does manage to get hold of a little girl who dies in his arms, after uttering a few words. He feels so guilty and has to find out what happened to the Canadian family who seem to have been drowned.
All three events seem disconnected, yet there is something which is common for all. Graham's search leads him to a school in Montana where the Pope is supposed to visit. Although Graham is told to give up his search, he has to go on. And thus he unravels a plot to kill the Pope, all in six seconds. However, no one knows how as no weapon, nothing is detected.
In the backdrop of todays terrorism, this novel feels as if it is real and feasible. And it keeps us hooked too. The leader of the terrorist group remains unseen and faceless. This makes it very scary too. Isn't it what is happening today? Mofina sure knows how to write a crime fiction, or should I call it terrorism fiction? I wouldn't call the prose great but who really thinks about that while reading a fast paced crime thriller.
Author: Louise Penny
ISBN: 9780755341016
Publisher: Headline/2008
Pages: 312
Rating: 3.5/5
This novel is set in an exclusive hotel, The Manoir Bellechasse, which is situated deep in the Canadian wilderness. It is peak of summer and the place is a escape from the mundane world. Homicide Chief Inspector Gamache along with his wife, is there for their annual visit. Stinking rich, snobbish Finney family is there too, for a family reunion. All the members of the family are weird and quirky in their own ways. They have gathered here in this particular place to pay a tribute to their father, Charles. It seems they don't like him at all but are here only for their mother's sake.
Tensions are running high, old jealousy come into surface and escalates into a murder being committed. The big question is who is the murderer and what is the motive. Most important is, how could it have been committed? All of the family is a suspect. And then there are a few hotel employees who are not above suspicion either.
Chief Inspector Gamache has lot of questions with no answers and he too has his own demons to slay. In the course of the book, many interesting things are revealed about the family members. The book managed to hold interest. Louise Penny has a good style of writing. I liked to learn about the place it is set in.
Monday 5 May, 2.21 pm
Title: Long After Midnight
Author: Iris Johansen
ISBN: 0553571818
Publisher: Bantam Books/1997
Pages: 430
I had picked this book a long time ago. And had not got around reading it as I thought it was a romance like other Johansen novels I had read, although the back cover had nothing of that sort. Recently I was sorting through my books to give away a lot to the old age home. I don't know what made me pause and pick it up to read yesterday.
Kate is a doctor who is really into researching genetic engineering. She has a nine-year old son, Joshua, who is the core of her existence. Noah Smith, another genius in the same field wants her to join forces with him. To test run something called RU2, which can save people suffering from diseases like cancer, AIDS as it has ability to repair the degenerated cells. Even before she can make up her mind to join him, her ex-husband, a police officer is killed in a car explosion. It becomes apparent that she and her son were the main target.
Noah Smith's research centre had being bombed and he had been presumed to be dead. But he is alive and warns Kate about the danger on her life. She does not believe him until she is confronted by a psychopath killer, Ishmaru. Thats when Noah gets Seth, a friend of his to watch over Joshua and her mother-in law, Phyliss. They do develop RU2 but something happens that can completely stall it. The pharmaceutical giants don't want it to come out to save their big bucks.
With desperate people after her, Kate has to save her own skin along with Joshua's. And also she has secret which must not come out.
With a psychopath killer stalking Kate at every point, Seth being there to protect her, Joshua being her main concern, Kate still wants RU2 to come through. She knows it can save millions of people. She is very scared but she has to go one and push it forward.
The novel is fast paced, with a nail-biting edge. I am glad I finally read it.
Title: Dantes' Inferno
Author: Sarah Lovett
ISBN: 684955984
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/2001
Pages: 318
I had not heard of Sarah Lovett before this book. I picked it mostly because the title interested me and the premise beckoned me.
The novel starts with a bomb blast in a museum where a teacher and a eleven years boy are killed. Edmund Sweatheart, a professor studying bombings is devasted as the boy is related to him. A serial bomber is threatening to destroy Los Angelos city. Before bombing any place he does give information about it in the lines of Dante Alighieri's work. Dr Sylvia Strange is assigned the job of getting into the mind of that bomber. John Dantes, a brilliant scholar, is suspected of the said crimes. The glitch is, he is already in a high security prison. It seems he has a compatriot who does his bidding. But how do they get in touch?
What made John Dantes turn the corner? Slowly we see Dr Sylvia Strange being affected by Dantes. He has the power to disturb her and seems to have some kind of hold on her. Is Dantes faking his insanity? Is he as troubled as he seems? How is he connected to M, the bomber who is outside.
Dantes' Inferno is a good psycho thriller. It keeps us completely enthralled in it. The nine circles of hell are very well marked in here. References to Alighieri's work is brilliant. Lovett's prose is very good. Fast paced and a page turner.
Perched on the top of the elevator, Lucas peered at the woman below and created an elaborate history in his mind.
Title: The Unseen
Author: T. L. Hines
ISBN: 9781595544520
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 383
I received the book from the publisher. I had not read any book by T L Hines before this.
The Unseen is a very unusual book. It is about Lucas, who observes people. From any nook or corner, literally. He has got equipments to drill holes on top of elevators, walls and closets, where he can hide and watch them. From there, he collects photographs or any such personal stuff and thinks of those as his totems. These totems give him solace in his loneliness. However, he does possess some ethics. He does not watch anyone at their homes or neither does he photograph anyone.
Lucas has no past, he had been brought up in an orphanage and he also has no future as he is not much involved with anyone. He does odd jobs to sustain himself and also saved for himself quite a bit. His life takes a turn when he himself is watched. His world crashes down. He has nowhere to go as he can be easily tracked by those people, belonging to Creep Club. And those who watch him are thorough professionals. They don't have any hang ups about watching people in their homes and taking photographs. They get voyeuristic pleasure out of it.
The Creep Club wants to enroll him initially, but he is not open to offer. A person named Saul, who wants to expose Creep Club members, tries to make use of him. Lucas has some reservations. He does not want to cross the line. However, he comes to know of a murder about to happen and tries to warn the involved person. It backfires on him and he is taken to be criminal, who is at large. It seems the watchers want him dead too. Only he can save himself as he has no one else to fall back on.
The Unseen right from the beginning is very gripping and gives the reader a creepy feeling. While reading it, one thinks if anyone is watching. If yes, from where? The book moves in a good pace. It has lots of twists and turns. Although at first we are revolted by Lucas, as it progresses, we start to like him. We feel his loneliness. We feel his sadness. He does not remember anything from his past before he came to the orphanage at the age of six. He only remembers one line, Humpty Dumpty had some great falls. He does not why or how he came about it.
I am definitely going for more supernatural thrillers by T L Hines. I just couldn't put down the book after I reached half way through.
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Reading this novel inspired to write a poem somebody watching you, which I have posted on my other blog, rooted. A review in poetry? Not quite! I reproduce it here:
suddenly you experience fear
looking around you seek that source
thinking what schemes set about
false feelings of true panic
where nothing seems postive
unaware that from unknown peepholes
someone stares at you
without any fear of discovery
overhead from the elevators;
or mesh between two closets-
it pricks from undergrounds too;
in the labyrinth of pipes
under those crowed highways
he keeps himself hidden
with much deception
he might be your neighbour
one of your best mates yet
creeping into your life
possesing a perverted mind,
filled with sadistic streak
