The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

1930, Shantou, China
On a winter night shortly after the New Year festivities, Chen Kai sat on the edge of the family kang, the brick bed. He settled the blanket around his son.
“Gwai jai,” he said. Well ­behaved boy. “Close your eyes.”
“Sit with me?” said Chen Pie Sou with a yawn. “You promised . . .”
“I will.” He would stay until the boy slept. A little more delay.


Title: The Headmaster's Wager
Author: Vincent Lam
ISBN: 9780385661454
Publisher: Fourth Estate/2012
Pages: 391

Percival Chen (Chen Pie Sou) is the headmaster of a English School in Saigon, Vietnam. He is also a gambler, womanizer and also into bribing the Govt officials to keep his school on the top. Mak, one of the teachers' in his school has links and gets everything done for him. Chen does not know the connections Mak has and does not wish to know either.

Chen's son Dai Jai gets into trouble and has to be sent out of Saigon to China, their home country. Chen meets a young woman Jacqueline, who is half Vietnamese and half French. In his loneliness, he falls for her and they have a son. Meanwhile, there are sweeping political changes in Vietnam and Chen cannot escape it. Then he discovers certain secrets which totally change his life. Dai Jai too is somehow lost to him. 

The Headmaster's Wager has characters which are flawed. Chen is not a lovable character yet we are with him through his journey. There is love, honour, betrayal and the ultimate sacrifice. For the loved one. This is not a fast paced novel but I could not put it down in the last half. I gained knowledge about China, Vietnam and most of all human faults and frailties. 

This is one of those novels which makes reading worthwhile and blogging a pleasure.....

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

The rocks glow red above the sea, embers of the day’s heat below our balcony at the Hotel Marie.

Down here, on the southern rim of the country, out of the mistral’s slipstream, the evening drops like viscous liquid: slow and heavy and silent. When we first arrived, the stifling sultriness made sleep impossible; night closed in like the lid of a tomb.

Now, in the few hours I do sleep, I dream of all we have left behind: the hamlet on the hill and the whispering trees. Then, with a start, I'm awake again, remembering.

Until it happens to you, you don’t know how it will feel to stay with a man who has done a terrible thing. Not to know whether the worst has happened or is yet to come; wanting so badly to trust him now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: The Lantern
Author: Deborah Lawrenson
ISBN: 9780062049698
Publisher: Orion Books/2011
Pages: 341

Some might feel the prose as overwritten but I felt that the rich and detailed prose totally sets the mood of the novel. Lush it is, lyrical it is not. And after a few pages, it draws us in. 

The narrator has fallen in love with Dom, who composes musician. He seems to be rich. Dom calls her Eve. Soon after they both move to Provence, Les Genévriers. It seems to be falling apart yet Eve loves the house. She can feel someone being always present in that house.
Dom is not comfortable taking about his first wife, Rachel. But Sabine, a local woman, wants Eve to talk about Rachel with Dom. She has her own reasons. Somehow the stay in Les Genévriers does not seem conducive for both but they are reluctant to acknowledge that fact. Then three local girls go missing. And two bodies are found in the grounds of Les Genévriers while landscaping for a garden. Who bodies are those?

A parallel story is about Bénédicte Lincel, who had lived all her life in that house. She is the other narrator, an old woman, and she sees ghosts in the form of her evil brother Pierre and older sister Marthe, a blind perfumer, who had disappeared from her life abruptly. The blindness is symbolic too, in a way. The Lincel family is blind to the faults of the sadist Pierre. 

The novel goes forward by alternate narration by Eve and Bénédicte Lincel. Both the story lines seem unconnected but it all unravels in the end. The Lantern has some supernatural elements, just right for my taste. There are many flaws but it is what makes the novel interesting. It has the right amount of Gothic element.

In many review, I read that, The Lantern gives us a strong feeling about being similar to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I did not think so. Rachel is nothing like Rebecca. And the only similarity is that in both novels, the narrators are unnamed. 

When the Cookie Crumbles by Virginia Lowell

"Take me to Bon Vivant on Friday, seven p.m." Del kissed the tip of her nose and stepped into the porch.
"Done," Olivia said, following him down the front steps.
"And one more thing." he said.
"Yes?"
"I'll expect to see you dressed as a tavern wench."



Title: When the Cookie Crumbles
Author: Virginia Lowell
ISBN: 9780425251485
Publisher: Berkeley Prime Crime/2012
Pages: 294

Olivia Greyson and Maddie own The Gingerbread House. They bake great cookies. Now they are baking an exact replica of Chatterley Mansion for 250th Birthday Celebration of Chatterley Heights. Paine Chatterley, presumed dead, arrives in town, with his wife, Hermione, to claim his heritage and forbids everyone to visit his mansion. He is not keen to have the celebrations. The Mayor, Karen Evansen, wants the celebrations to go on. She asks Olivia to talk to the Chatterleys. 

Then Paine is found dead in his bathtub. Many of their precious heirlooms are destroyed and Hermione is overwrought. All these cast a shadow over the forthcoming celebrations. Olivia and Maddie, along with their baking, try to look for clues. They find themselves in the midst of unpleasant secrets of the Chatterley family. Olivia has to get into the bottom of all this.

Along with Del, the local police officer, who is also Olivia's boyfriend, they find the killer. The murderer is someone very close and unlikeliest of all. 

This is a good cozy mystery, the characters are very life like. I loved the cookie baking, decorating details. Maddie is a real good friend to Olivia. Elle, Olivia's mother is an interesting character. I loved the interesting stories about cookie cutters. For all cozy mystery lovers out there, I would say, go for it!

One Dead Cookie by Virginia Lowell

Olivia Greyson could feel his eyes watching her. She knew what was going on, and she refused to be duped. Olivia concentrated on the cardboard box next to her on the sofa. The contents glowed in the soft light from the lamp on the side table. Olivia lifted one of the objects, a shiny aluminium butterfly shape, possibly the last cookie cutter her friend Clarisse Chamberlaine had purchased. A few weeks later she'd been murdered. 

Title: One Dead Cookie
Author: Virginia Lowell
ISBN: 9780425260692
Publisher: Berkeley Prime Crime/2013
Pages: 293

Olivia and Maddie own a cookie shop, The Gingerbread House. Their baking is so good that all their cookies are eaten up in no time! They bake for any kind of theme parties. It is Maddie's engagement party and both are busy baking for that.

Trevor Lane, a soap opera star is found dead on the porch of The Gingerbread House. It seems he is not so popular with the people over there. He has too many enemies. When Olivia and Maddie's childhood friend Stacey's ex-husband is implicated, they know they have to find out the murderer. In the the midst of mad baking they surf the net and talk to people.

Both Oilivia and Maddie are very endearing. And so is Olivia's puppy, Spunky. OLivia tiny mother Ellie to is a memorable character. They solve the case on Maddie's engagement day. 

With mad going ons and weird stuff happening, this is one good cozy mystery. It is 4th in the series of the cookie cutter mystery but is a stand alone novel. Reading it one simply wishes to keep on munching decorated cookies. I learnt a lot about cookie cutters! 

Back From The Dead by Peter Leonard

“We’re going to surprise them,” Harry said. “And if they’ve done anything to Colette, you’re the first one I’m going to shoot. Believe that if you believe anything. Take off your coat, throw it over here and turn around.” He did and Harry checked the two outside pockets of the jacket, found a parking receipt, and a pair of handcuffs. There was also a piece of notepaper that had an address on Crooks Road in Troy and a phone number. “This where they have Colette?”

Title: Back From The Dead\
Author: Peter Leonard
ISBN: (P) 978-1-61188-063-2 (E) 978-1-61188-064-9
Publisher: The Story Plant/2013
Pages: 282
Genre: Suspense

Back from the Dead is sequel to Voices of the Dead. Harry Levin, a holocaust survivor and Ernst Hess, a Nazi death angel again come to confrontation. Hess has supposedly been killed by Levin in Voices of the Dead but wakes up to a hospital bed. He knows he has to find Levin and kill him. 

Levin can't believe that Hess is alive but he cannot ignore all the signs that point him that way. He knows he has to stop Hess from killing more Jews and for that he has to travel all over the world to kill Hess, again.

Leonard does not disappoint. He takes us into a action packed roller coaster ride. With touch and go suspense, this novel is as good as Voices of the Dead. With a conclusion which is deeply satisfying. I look forward to read more from Peter Leonard. 

The 12th Victim by Katia Lief

Title: The 12th Victim 
Author: Katia Lief
ISBN: 9780091944780
Publisher: Ebury Press/2012
Pages: 368
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back Cover:

The police call him the working girl killer. But no woman is safe…

The 11th victim is found only a short distance from Karin Shaeffer’s house. At the crime-scene she discovers a local prostitute stabbed to death, the knife left embedded in her body.

It is the signature of the ‘Working Girl Killer’ – a serial killer who has terrorised New York City for the last three years. The police are clueless but when Karin’s best-friend becomes the lead investigator, she finds herself drawn into the investigation as a consulting detective.

But as she struggles to understand the dark twisted mind of a murderer, next time the killer is going to strike all too close to home…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My views: 

The 12th Victim is the second novel featuring Karin Schaeffer. She seems to have recovered from the dark phase of her life with her second husband, Mac and son Ben. 

A local prostitute is killed with a knife, Karin finds the body and then the body count keeps adding up. When her son's part time nanny too is found murdered, it is too close home
for her. She is not new to murders or serial killers. 

When her best friend becomes a suspect, Karin cannot keep still. She has to find the killer at any cost. And unravels something sinister which involves children. She makes it her goal to protect Dathi, her son's nanny's child. 

Just when one thinks that the killer has been identified, there is a twist. With a good, racy pace, the novel takes us into a roller coaster ride and keeps us totally engrossed. We also like the single minded way of Karin to achieve her goal to nab the killer. 

Katia Lief gives us great moments too despite the grisly murders and grim situations. She also tries to tell us about cultural differences and the common thread running between those. I am going to read more of her novels....

Sons and Princes by James LePore

Title: Sons and Princes
Author: James LePore
ISBN: ISBN: 978-0984190522
Publisher: The Story Plant/2011
Pages: 332

Chris Massi is the son of legendary Mafia hitman Joe Black Massi, who has been murdered. Chris has stayed away from organized crime despite his family affiliations to it and also he had been married to the daughter of Anthony “Junior Boy” DiGiglio, who is the last of the Mafia dons. Ed Nolan, a U.S. attorney, and former childhood friend of Chris, has a grudge against him and falsely indicts him in security fraud which gets Chris disbarred from practicing law. When his  former father-in-law offers Chris a chance to take revenge on the man who got his father killed, Chris has to choose between his law-abiding existence or live up to his legacy.

Before he can make a choice, his son seems to be enamoured by the mafia and organized crimes. And it is his job to get Matt out of it. Without taking help from anyone, he plunges into the midst of it all. All this leads him into snuff films, and drugs, which somehow connects to his ex father-in-law. The plot thickens with lots of murders, shoot outs, double crossing and totally unexpected revelations. 

The line between good guy and bad guy gets blurred. James LePore has created believable characters, realistic, and those who hurt or can hurt. The plot has many twists and keeps the reader on the edge. The loyalty and honour within the mafia is commendable. Outside of it, is what is disturbing. LePore has the ability to make us think what is good about the bad and vice versa. I have read all his novels and he has mastered the craft of keeping his readers enthralled. 

All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard

Title: All He Saw Was The Girl
Author: Peter Leonard
ISBN: 9780571255740
Publisher: Faber and Faber/2011
Pages: 304 

After reading Voices Of The Dead by Peter Leonard, I decided that I was going to pick all his books. So when I was offered to review All He Saw Was the Girl, I was thrilled. I was notdisappointed at all!

I had a roller coaster ride throughout the novel. It has the ingredients of an action movie. Drug Mafia, kidnapping, car chasing, and a love story. And all that happens in Italy, that too due to a misunderstanding! One American exchange student is kidnapped by mistake and ransom is paid for him. He feels bad about that and decides to get back the money. Without any help from anyone, he takes on the kidnappers and gets involved with the drug mafia, all by himself. 

The story jumps from one character to other but it is seamless and certain situations are so hilarious that I chuckled loudly while reading!! Here the black and white smudges into grey. No one is perfect and also no one is totally black, other than the mafia, of course! Seemingly distant situations are related in a such a way that one feels tickled by it.

What appealed to me most was the sarcastic way of thinking by the various characters. That alone makes the novel very delightful!! I am going to read all of Peter Leonard's novels!!

Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard

He put the pen on the desktop, picked up the coffee mug and took a sip.
"A foreign diplomat kills an American citizen and there's nothing you can do about it. Is that what you're telling me?"
~~~Page 21

Title: Voices of the Dead
Author: Peter Leonard
ISBN: 9781611880328
Publisher: The Story Plant/2012
Pages: 296

Set in 1971, Voices of the Dead takes us back to the horrors of the Holocaust. Harry is scrap dealer. His daughter is killed in an accident caused by a drunken German Diplomat. The diplomat has immunity and can't be prosecuted. Harry wants justice at any cost and follows the diplomat to Munich. Harry is Jew who has survived a Dachau, a concentration camp. When he revisits Munich, he relives the horror and finds links of it with the German Diplomat. There are random murders of Jews and somehow all these are linked. Harry slowly unravels all that but he cannot prove anything. How justice is meted out is the highlight of the novel. The writing is good, and Leonard can do dialogue excellently.

It might appear to be a thriller but has so much pathos about Holocaust. It cuts deep into the reader's mind and heart. The pace is such that, one does not wish to put it down at any point. It is a dark book, which might not gel with everyone. But I think all of us should read everything ever written on/about the holocaust. We owe it to those who died because of it, and survived despite it. 

Voices of the Dead made sure that I read more novels by Peter Leonard. And that of his father, Elmore Leonard.

Posted for Partners In Crime Tours

Gods and Fathers by James LePore

 "Leave your guns," said jack. "Take theirs."
"Leave our guns?", Matt said.
"They are CB guns, Matt," said Clark. "Untraceable."
~~~Page 249

Title: Gods and Fathers
Author: James LePore
ISBN-13: 978-1611880298
Publisher: The Story Plant/2012
Pages: 261

I love novels with strong influence of espionage and intelligence. Terrorism is an international issue and LePore has dealt with it very well. In fact he does it rather well, in all his novels. 

Matt DeMarco is a lawyer and his estranged son Michael is charged with rape and murder of his Girl friend Yashmin. Debra, Matt's ex-wife is married to a rich Syrian, who seems to have links with Islamic terrorism. Matt has to save his son, who seems to have been set up. When the investigating officers are killed one by one, Matt knows he has to do something about it. This takes him into deep, murky world of revenge, terrorism and killings.

Given the prevailing situation in Syria and the Arab world, I found the novel engrossing. The characters are well developed. And grow on us. Evil is personified very well. I liked the underlying plot. I look forward to read more novels by James LePore...

Blood of My Brother by James LePore

“I waited too long, Dan. I’m sorry. If I was the one killed like that, you’d have started the next day. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m starting now.”
~Page 123

Title: Blood of My Brother
Author: James LePore
ISBN: 9780981956886
Publisher: The Story Planet/2010
Pages: 313

Blood of My brother is a suspense novel with good thriller elements. It grips the reader right from the start. It has that human element too, which any reader will relate. This novel takes us from Newark, New Jersey to Miami and Mexico. It takes us to places where corruption rules the roost and drug cartels are a way of life.  

Jay Cassio and Don Del Colliano have been friends since they were 5-year-olds. It formed under the shadow of racial riots of 1967 in Newark, New Jersey. From that day onwards, they became best of friends. Dan has always been there whenever Jay had needed him. And that too without asking. After Jay's parents die in a plane crash, it is Dan who sticks to him and gets him out of the tragedy. 

Jay becomes a successful lawyer and Dan, a private Investigator, not very known at that, yet their friendship deepens and they are more like brothers now. A woman, Kate Powers, Jay is representing, is found dead, with her head cut off, her husband Bryce Powers is suspected of murder, but he too is murdered. Initially it is thought of as a murder-suicide. Dan too is brutally murdered, with marks of torture inflicted on his body, Jay thinks it is a coincidence. He goes around asking questions about his friend's murder and finds that FBI is somehow involved and want him to not to pursue it.

But he can't let it go as his best friend is dead and he wants to know why. He remembers that Dan had mentioned a woman, for whom he had acted as a courier of large amount of money for a good commission. Jay is determined to find that woman, who also seems to related to the Powers' murders somehow. Everyone is looking for her. FBI, Jay, Mexican drug lords. She seems to have disappeared into thin air. 

Isabel Perez has nowhere to run, and she wants freedom desperately. She also wishes to kill the powerful men, who disrupted her life completely. For that she has to fight those powers, which no one has dared to fight. Her path gets crossed with Jay and together they know, they have to fight, in which they can either win or die. And both are fully prepared for that. Can Jay take revenge? Can Isabel escape from her past? From her cage? Can they have a future without their pasts? Blood of My brother covers these and gives us more.

Finally, it all about choices. Jay. Isabel. Dan. Not to forget the other characters. They meet, mix, amalgamate and leave the reader wanting more. And we must not forget the bigger issues of corruption, drugs, and using sex as a power. These rot the system. Any system.

For all those lovers of Crime Fiction...I say go for it....Blood of My Brother is well worth it. 

I thank the author for my copy. You can also check out my review of  

The World I Never Made by James LePore

Sunday Salon: Remedies by Kate Ledger

Title: Remedies
Author: Kate Ledger
ISBN: 9780425234488
Publisher: Berkeley Books/2010
Pages: 384

After a LONG time, I finished a novel. And it feels good.

Remedies is set in Baltimore, where Simon Bears is practicing Doctor and his wife Emily is a partner in a Public Relations firm. They have a 13-year-old daughter, Jamie.  On the surface everything seems to be going great for them. However, time has stood still for them since they lost their infant son 15 years ago. They are in a mode of denial about their relationship. And Jamie too is living under the shadow of her dead sibling, Caleb.

Simon Bears treats Chronic patients by trying to relieve their pain. Then he stumbles upon something which seems to be working for relieving the persistent pain. He knows it is a major breakthrough. He also pursues unusual interests. Emily is totally dissatisfied with her life and when she meets an old lover, she knows she wants out. Jamie deals with her pain in her own way. Each one them seem to be unaware of the other's problems. 

Remedies speaks about pain. Of the body, the heart and the mind. And can one or all of it be cured? Kate Ledger has tackled that very well. The dilemma a modern couple goes through. Or they way they are unable to communicate with each other. And also that, it spills over to their daughter. 

Kate has tried to deal with these issues but somehow Simon and Emily seem out of the reader's reach. And Emily's relationship with Jamie, was something, I could connect with. No mother leaves her own child to her own devices the Emily does. Yet I will say, Kate Ledger knows that a broken marriage can't be resolved that easily. Not unless both make an effort. Despite some hiccups, she writes well. I will look out for her next novel.  

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

"I haven't said a word to the bastard since the night I turned thirteen. I was strapped to the bed. It was my birthday present to myself." 

~Page 646, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Title: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN: 9781849162753
Publisher: Quercus/2009
Pages: 743

The last of the millennium trilogy seemed very long to me. Maybe because I am going through a reading slump. I really wanted to know so much more about Lisbeth Salander yet my reading was pretty slow. This has more narration than action. And tries to tie all the loose ends about Salander.

Starting from where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off, it makes the reader yearn to save her life and protect Salander. She is seriously injured and is in the hospital with no visitors allowed. And she is also accused of couple of murders. In this novel, we learn how much wrong has been done to her since she was 12 years old, a mere girl. All this to save her father from being exposed and along with him, the nexus of certain government officials of Sweden. 

Blomkvist along with well wishers of Salander is determined to save her from this nexus. We get to meet Dr. Teleborian, the evil doctor who is instrumental in locking up Salander.

Despite her isolation, and along with the help of her friends, we find Salander again in her elements. This novel has political undertones and of course the courtroom scene is such that one can't waver from it till the end.

I will say this again that Larsson has created memorable character in Lisbeth Salander and not only her, his depiction of the evil characters is also very good. I say Lisbeth Salander is not going to die in the mind of the readers for a very long time to come. 

A-Z Wednesday: What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy

Title: What the Bayou Saw
Author: Patti Lacy
ISBN: 978-0825429378
Publisher: Kregel Publications/2009
Pages: 336

Back Cover:

Since leaving Louisiana, Sally Stevens has held her childhood secrets at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband Sam, has heard the truth about what happened when she was almost twelve years old.

Now a teacher in Illinois, Sally has nearly forgotten the past. But when one of her students is violently attacked, Sally's memories of segregation, a chain link fence, and a blood oath bubble to the surface like a dead body in a bayou. Lies continue to tumble from Sally's lips as she scrambles to gloss over harsh reality. Finally cornered by her deceit and nudged by the Holy Spirit, she resolves to face the truth, whatever the consequences.

My views:

Sally has all but forgotten her past. It all comes back when one of her student's is brutally raped. Now that student is a coloured one. Sally finds racial prejudices all around her in the investigations. No one wishes for a white man to be involved in the crime. Sally has her misgivings and does not how to handle it.

Her memories come to surface. She remembers her childhood friendship with a coloured girl, Ella Ward. And also the secret they both shared. No one was aware of their umlikeliest friendship. Sally had let down her friend by keeping her mouth shut, which had affected Ella's family.

Now this incident makes Sally question herself. And she knows, she has to stop her lies to get to the bottom of it irrespective of the consequences. And she has to redeem herself in her friend Ella's eyes.

The novel raises the age old issue of race. Sally and Ella become friends. Ella can go to any length for Sally but Sally doesn't. Ella had hoped that Sally would come out with the truth but Sally doesn't. Sally's silence destroys their friendship.

Here we see Sally continue to lie at the drop of a hat. And it catches with her. When skeletons tumble out, she knows she has to tell the truth. It is pegged as a Christian fiction. That does not bother me as I feel that choosing rightous path is mandatory for everyone, irrespective of religion.

What is hidden in the Bayou is what we have to find out here.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

She shoved the taser into his crotch and fired off 50,000 volts, holding the electrodes against him for at least twenty seconds. Nieminen was transformed into a vegetable.
~Page 526

Title: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN: 9781906694159
Publisher: Maclehose Press/2009
Pages: 649

As everyone knows, The Girl Who Played with fire is the second book of the Millennium Trilogy, the first book being, The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo. When the book opens, we find that Salander has travelled a lot after the first book. Here she buys a luxurious apartment, furnishing it with the best of everything. And no one is aware of that fact. She gives her old apartment to one of her friends' and receives all her mail there.

In this book, we get to learn a lot about Lisbeth Salander's past. How the system is responsible in crushing her, which includes her teachers, doctors, lawyers and media. Everyone is insensitive to her and ill treated her at one time or the other. Only three people seem to care for her, the owner of the Millennium, Mikael Blomkvist, and Armansky, her past employer and Palmgren, her previous mentor/guardian.

When three murders occur in a single night, Salander is suspected of those as her fingerprints are found on the gun. However, no one can find her anywhere. Blomkvist comes into the picture as two of those who have been murdered were going to write a big sex-trafficking, which was to be one of Millennium's big expose.

When Blomkvist sets about finding out about the murders, he is horrified to learn about the ill treatment of Lisbeth since she was 13 years old. Somehow the trail leads to something which connects to Lisbeth's past. The reader is just as horrified as Blomkvist.

It is a long book, which explains a lot about Lisbeth, her past and her present. The way she deals with issues. Nothing scares her. She is a genius in hacking and uses that to her advantage. She has fought the system for the last 10-12 years and has survived. The author created an unforgettable character in Lisbeth Salander. One might forget the story but not her.
I look forward to read the third book.

Lethal Experiment by John Locke

"You've been lying in this bed, unresponsive, for..." he consulted a chart. "Three years, two months and five days."
"You'are shitting me."

~Page 169

Title: Lethal Experiment
Author: John Locke
ISBN: 9781440196249
Publisher: iUniverse/2009
Pages: 264

Back cover:

Donovan Creed, former CIA assassin, is a smart-aleck tough guy who can't resist a noble cause. Despite a ton of baggage and a penchant for call girls, he always finds a way to beat the bad guys. In this sequel to Lethal People, Creed is forced to choose between his thriving contract-killer business and his desire to live a normal life with the beautiful Kathleen Gray and her newly-adopted daughter, Addie. Before that can happen, he has to take care of some lethal business involving a former lover. Lethal Experiment is a breezy, fun page-turner, featuring grisly humor, outrageous characters and sexy dialogue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lethal Experiment" is a stand alone novel even though it is the second one of the Donovan Creed storyline.

In "Lethal Experiment", the best question asked is, "Would you take money, in this case $100 large, with the only stipulation that someone would be murdered?" It is a hard question to answer. The offer is great and the temptation is high. What would one do? Donovan Creed has the ability to surprise us all. His ways might be outrageous, but his intentions are good.


The quirky characters grow into us and we look forward to reading all the Creed novels. There are three in all and I have read all. Locke has created a memorable character in the shape of Donovan Creed.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Title: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN: 978184724692
Publisher: Maclehose Press/2008
Pages: 554

I received this book from my secret Santa (Veens, I think!) in December 2009. It was in my wishlist. I got around reading it last week. Once I started, It was difficult for me to set it aside, even with work and all.

It is the first book in the Millenium triology. Stieg Larsson is not there to see his success. What does one say about a book, which is a huge success? To give it credit, it is not an over-rated book.

Three unlikely people's life gets entangled, Henrik Vangar, head of the Vangar corporation, Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist and Lisbeth Salnder, a somewhat weird security specialist. They get together to find out the missing child in the Vangar family. The girl had disappeared three decades ago with not a trace and Henrik still is pained by that fact.

When Blomkvist dwells deeper into the family secret, someone is determined that he ought not succeed. When the secrets do come out, they are so horrifying that everyone just wants to forget those. Lisbeth is brilliant computer hacker, who can't follow the society's norms. She is her own law and can go to any length to take care of herself.

It is not the mystery that is takes us in. It is Lisbeth who baffles the reader. She is an oddity yet we take to her. We might not agree with her ways but there is some kind of justification of what she does. She and Blomkvist make a great team although both don't seem to be aware of it or if they do, they do not acknowledge it. Lisbeth is not someone one can forget. She is gonna stay there for a long time. I am definitely going to check out the other two books.

Teaser Tuesdays: Lethal People by John Locke

"What I remembered most about Mrs. Carmodie was she had a double-decker butt. While normal butts curve like the letter C, Mrs. Carmodie’s butt got halfway through the C, then extended several inches in a straight line like some sort of shelf before finishing the curve. The shelf on her butt was wide enough to hold two cans of soda."

Title: Lethal People
Author: John Locke
ISBN: 9783440151712
Publisher: iUniverse/2009
Pages: 242

It is the first in the Donovan Creed series, who is a weird detective. He is not above duping people for money. Mostly from other crooks.

The novel opens with a fire in a house, where three people die. Only Addie, a five tear old survives. She has scars both on her body and her psyche. She is a very endearing character. Donovan creed takes to her. He is attracted to Kathleen, who too loves Addie.

Investigating the fire, Creed finds something which points out that it was an act of arson. Cred comes in contact witrh DeMeo, who is out there duping innocent people's money by killing them. And he does it such a way that no one suspects him. Creed with more weird characters gets into the bottom of it.

It is one hell of a book. Despite the grimness, it is weird and funny. Fast paced and dialogues keep us hooked. Liked the various quirky characters. They kind of make the novel plausible and adventurous.

Not bad for an afternoon read. Thanks to the author for my copy!

Saving Rachel by John Locke

Title: Saving Rachel
Author: John Locke
ISBN: 97814401724
Publisher: iUniverse/2009
Pages: 147

Sam Case never imagined that his life would take such a turn in a space of few hours. He has just been with his mistress, and is kidnapped, witnesses two murders and then his wife disappears. He has to choose between his wife and mistress, which of them to save. Not a easy one for any one. A computer wizard, he has always led a good life. When crooks want him to give him the codes of the people he helped multiplied their money, he doesn't know what to do. Enter Donovan Creed, who is not what he seems to be.

What follows is a riot, and a ride where everyone is double crossing each other and only Sam seems to the good guy! He tries to keep his wits and when he discovers unknown facets of Rachel, his wife and Karen, his mistress, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't wish for anyone to die and has to save his own skin too.

It didn't take long to finish this book, a definite page turner, and the ending is unexpected and very satisfying. This is the third in the Donovan Creed series and I got the other two too, thanks to the author, who sent me all three! I don't know what made me read the third in series first! Whatever the reason, I say go for it.

Yes, My Darling Daughter by Margaret Leroy

"I died, Grace. I died in the water," she says. Her voice so calm and matter-of-fact. I feel the lurch of my heart.

~page 220, Yes, My Darling Daughter by Margaret Leroy

Title: Yes, My Darling Daughter
Author: Margaret Leroy
ISBN: 9780374126018
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books/2009
Pages: 340

Set in London and Ireland, Yes, My Darling Daughter has all those elements, which can hold the reader's interest till the end. Grace, a single mother of four-year-old Sylvie, works in flower shop in London. Her daughter is not like any other child. She acts beyond her age and seems to know something which is the beyond the understanding of Grace.

When Sylvie starts to get mean with her playmates and also has frequent tantrums, along with sporadic panic attacks, Grace doesn't know how to deal with it. Sylvie has this unknown fear of water, anything that involves water scares her and she has nightmarish attacks. Sylvie also keeps drawing a small cottage and speaks of stuff, that she has not seen but somehow knows. And then one photograph triggers certain something and Sylvie continually keeps saying it is her home and she lived there. Somehow Sylvie seems to get farther away from Grace. The place turns out to be somewhere in Ireland.

Getting panicky and as a last resort, Grace gets in touch with Adam Winters, a University professor, who has done some studies on Paranormal behaviour of children and also about behaviour pertaining to past lives. After one sesseion with Sylvie, Adam suggest that they travel to Cold Harbour, Ireland and find out what Sylvie is trying to tell them. He has certain theories what must be the reason of Sylvie's behaviour. He warns Grace about violent memories but tells her there is nothing to worry about.

Arriving there, Sylvie recognises the places and also tries to find Lennie. Now who is Lennie? And for that matter who is Sylvie? And when they do find something, Sylvie simply clams up, going silent, withdrawing from Grace. Grace senses and knows that Sylvie is troubled and wants to help her. And Grace is scared too that somehow she might lose Sylvie to something she can't understand.

The past life and present have merged in this novel and the supporting characters somehow make it so plausible. The paranormal element doesn't seem out of context. A book that holds interest and satisfies that something which every reader wants and wishes for. A satisfying feel after reading it. At places Sylvie might feel unlovable but what else can expect from a girl, who had died violently in her past life. Grace, as a mother is supporting, loving and even when not understanding Sylvie's behaviour is always there for her.