Book 55 Subterranean by James Rollins

I was introduced to James Rollins by my BF Dawn. She is quite the fan of Mr. Rollins and in her future bestsellers circle has gotten some words of wisdom from him for her writing career.

Dawn introduced me to Mr. Rollins through the book "The Alter of Eden" which I thought was an amazing read. I absolutely loved this book, and now work to find books by James.

Anyway..on our yearly (sometimes semi annual) trip to Canmore Alberta, I discovered a copy of Subterranean at the used book sale for the public library there.

Actually I found a LOT more than Subterranean there, but that's another story....

So after struggling through Twisted Branch (book 54) I picked up Subterranean hoping to be swept away with Mr. Rollins literary finesse. Unfortunately, I was not that impressed....

Subterranean centers around a research team hired to explore caverns underneath the island of Antarctica. They venture into what they think is an unexplored set of caves, or what they think is an unexplored set of caves...little do they know the previous research team disappeared and has never been found.

Ok, so the best way I can describe this book is like a cross between Aliens and Indiana Jones. You have the action\adventure of Indiana Jones (alas, there's no chilled monkey brains), and sort of extraterrestrial creatures of Aliens.

There is one scene in the book where Ashley (one of the main characters) walks into a cavern and sees eggs all over the floor with a Mama monster in the background. I couldn't help but picture Ripley walking into the "egg room" in Aliens.

Don't get me wrong, the book was good, just not my thing.

I wanted to enjoy it, but really...didn't.

My next book was Lover Mine by J. R. Ward. I actually have already finished it (I should have done this blog entry a week ago), but with Christmas shopping, decorating etc. etc. I haven't found the time to sleep, nevermind blog.

I'm going to catch up I swear!

Book 54-Twisted Branch by Chris Blaine

When Dawn and I started this challenge of 100 books in 2010 we agreed that we would find new and exciting authors to read. My sister borrow this book from a friend, and lent it to me thinking it would be something that would interest me. Yeah...if I enjoyed watching paint dry or dust settle.

Twisted Branch is the story of Sam Ford, a History teacher for Jefferson Junior High. He is a respected teacher who enjoys his job and the kids he teaches..until a student accuses him of sexually molesting her. Sam is forced to run, and run he does, to the town of Cape May where the Abbadon Inn awaits.

The Abbadon in was built in the 1800's and is owned by the Mitchell, and Rachel Morrison who live there with their strange son Carl. Carl is unable to attend school in the town, as he is bullied and harassed by the other kids. Sam comes to the Inn looking for work, and the Mitchells hire him to teach their son.

Sam is penniless, and is forced into living in the Abbadon Inn to support himself, but soon finds out the Inn may not want him there. Strange noices, nasty smells and heating problems lead Sam to delve deeper in the history of the Inn and try to make sense of what is going on. It may cost him his sanity, or his life.

Sounds like a decent story huh? Yeah well I don't know how many times I almost put the book down, getting to tired of listening to Sam deal with issues in his love life, and personal doubts. The story completely dragged on, going no where, until about the last 70 pages. It was really quite disappointing. I had such high hopes for this book (so much so I went on to ebay and bought the next book in the series before reading this one).

I've probably gotten myself into trouble. As I have mentioned before, if I start a book in a series, I HAVE to finish the entire series...maybe I'll get lucky when I read the next one...and Chris Blaine's writing technique has improved dramatically.

Book 55 is Subterranean by James Rollins.

Till next time!

Book 53 Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Wow...it's taken me a few days to finally get around and doing this post...lets hope I remember what I read! LOL!

Book 53 was Beautiful Darkness which is the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, so unfortunately I can't tell you to much of the plot without spoiling some of the story before it, for those of you who have yet to read the story.

Beautiful Darkness is about the continuing story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes. These two met in the first novel, Ethan, the basketball star, and Lena, stranger to the town of Gatlin and neice of the town recluse Macon Ravenwood.

These two meet and fall in love, but it is strained due to their "differences" After suffering a tragic loss, Lena pulls away from Ethan, she says she is desperate to find her self. Ethan is having more visions of Lena and other strange people...he doesn't know who they are, but he has a feeling they are trying to tell him something about Lena. Ethan sets off to find her, and help her through whatever struggles she is going through.

Honestly I wasn't all that interested with Beautiful Creatures (the first novel) but I am a die hard for reading an entire series (even though I haven't finished the Harry Potter books yet. Tsk Tsk!), so I picked up Beautiful Darkness.

Again, this book wasn't a "hold you to the end" type of story, but it was engrossing enough to keep me turning the pages. Maybe it's just me?? I'm more of a "hack em up" type of girl, than a lovey dovey type of girl...Dawn you'd probably like these novels. They are more your groove :)

But! I am not regretting picking up this book, it was enjoyable, and answers some questions from the first book. It's kind of like making a puzzle and having a time when all the pieces are fitting into place.

What is different about this book is that it is told from the perspective of the main male character Ethan,which is definitely a change. It's nice to see an author stepping out of the usual female "oh my god I love him" garbage in novels. Definitely a breath of fresh air on the fiction front.

The next book I am reading is called Twisted Branch by Chris Blaine. I've never heard of him before (this book was lent to me by my sister, who borrowed it from a friend) but I am going to step out of my usual author scope and try someone new! I THINK the story is kind of like a ghost story with blood. EXACTLY what I like!

Till next time!

Book 52-The Cellar by A. J. Whitten

My BF Dawn, always one to give me leads on good reading, directed me to the website www.netgalley.com. This website allows people to request advance reader copies of unpublished (or yet to be published) books. While scanning the provided titles, I can across a YA novel called The Cellar by A. J. Whitten. The tagline reads "Romeo and Juliet with Zombies", can we say my interest was peaked with this words??? Oh Hell Yeah! So I sent the request to the publisher to read the book, and waited about a day until it sent it to me to view. Alas, they only sent it to me in PDF form, so I was unable to load it into my Kobo (I tried, honestly I did). So I was stuck at my computer reading this novel. This idea didn't sit well with me, but I figured I would tough it out. The whole premise of the book was something I definitely wanted to experience, so I sat at my computer and turned the first page...

Right from the first chapter I was sucked into the story, it wraps around you like a proverbial boa constrictor that holds you in it's clutches and squeezes. until you almost can't breathe. I remember after the first few chapters, I was sitting at my computer, and I was honestly dieing to have a bath, you know, relax and just let the day go...but I couldn't leave the computer and this book!

The story focuses on Meredith and Heather Willis, two sisters trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, after their father is killed in a car accident. The two of them struggle with their feelings and are usually arguing with each other, until the house next door which has stood empty for some time is finally purchased by the St. Germains.

Adrian St. Germain has taken the school by storm, every girl is fawning all over him, and wants him to notice her...almost every girl...not Meredith. Meredith finds Adrian cute, but something is eating at her (no pun intended) that says Adrian is not what he seems. Could it be his strange recluse mother? The strange hallucinations she's having? Or the fact she swears she saw "something" behind his ever present sunglasses, which he wears even at night.

Meredith knows something is strange, and when her sister starts to go out with Adrian, she knows she has to come between their "love" to save not only her sisters life, but her own as well.

I am absolutely in love with A.J. Whitten! This book had it all! Gore, emotional trauma, revenge, and of course a love story. It was a fiction smorgasborg! A fictionasborg? Sorry, I'm a little tired :P

Now I am on a crazed hunt to find their other book, The Well, it sounds just as amazing as The Cellar!

Till next time!

Book 51: Henry VIII: Wolfman by A.E. Moorat

Walking through the local Chapters bookstore with my BF Dawn I happened upon this book and was instantly reaching for it. I have always been fascinated by the story of Henry VIII,his wifes and their untimely end via the executioners axe (anyone want to start singing "I'm Henry the 8th I am??) This book followed the history of Henry fairly well, but added in quite a bit of fictional accounts to make it not read like a high school history assignment.

Many authors are jumping on the "historical fiction"bandwagon. From "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, they are all giving us a different taste of the history most of us already know. They are enjoyable, gory and often humorous accounts of what we have all been told in textbooks.

Henry VIII: Wolfman took some time to get rolling, I struggled a bit getting into the story. Although after forcing myself to continue to read, I was pleasantly surprised. The book moves along at a good pace, that keeps the reader interested enough to keep picking up the book and turning those pages (after about the half way mark, anyway).

I found it strange how the book was not all that intriguing in the first half, but after that I couldn't put the book down, it literally "drew me in" giving me a different look at a King that we have all been told was ruthless and heartless. I know this is a work of fiction, but you can't help but empathize for Henry who is struggling with his change, and the impending war with the Wolfen. Didn't you all read in your high school textbooks how in the 1500's werewolves were running rampant in England?? No?!?!

Anyway, if you do enjoy history with a bit of a twist, pick this one up.

My to be read pile has grown...after a book sale in Edmonton with the Public Library, and the Canmore Public Library book sale..I think I am drowning in books. My husband is going to kick me and my books out of the house soon...as we have no where to live!

Well no, not seriously, but the pages are starting to cause a bit of a space issue...I REALLY need my out library.

Till next time!

Book 50-Absolution by Dawn Ius

This book is another novel that has not been released yet to the public, but I am giving you all a little peek at this book written by my best friend Dawn.

Now I read this book when it was still in the "works" and thought it was amazing then. After some feedback from her agent and editors, Dawn had to make some changes. I was pretty upset with the changes (basically taking out all the gore and good stuff), but after reading this "new and improved" version I am pleasantly surprised.

I find the book so much better without the gore, and violence (GASP! Can't believe I am saying that!), it seems to flow better and is more complete...if that makes any sense :)

The book is a story about Cait, a reporter, who is forced to quit her job after her car is blown up by Nico, the person who she is doing a report on. Nico is a private investigator to the stars and Cait knows he isn't working between the lines of the law.

Cait is offered a job with Skeptic magazine. This job sends her to Italy to do a story on the Nivola, a ceremony in the Catholic Church where a Bishop retrieves a nail from the crucifixion of Jesus, and it is said to grant miracles. Many people have witnessed this ceremony and attest to the miracles. One lady was cured of cancer, another got pregnant after trying for seven years. Cait's job is to find two sides of the story, believers and non believers, but someone has a different plan for Cait...and it has nothing to do with her writing about the Nivola.

Father Amadeo Duretti on the eve of the Nivola ceremony, is forced to listed to Nico Pasquali's "confession". Nico is Amadeo's brother in law, and Amadeo is forced to decide which is more important to him, his love for his sister, or his love for his God.

All of the characters stories wind together into a "miracle" of a story, that moves at a solid pace, and keeps the reader enthralled.

Dawns use of description in the book really gives you a good view of what the city of Milan looks and feels like. You can almost feel the air whisper through your hair, see the greatness of the Duomo, and smell Nico's cigars.

When this one hits the shelves I definitely recommend picking it up. For those of you who are into the psychological thriller genre it is definitely a keeper. And I'm not saying this because she is my BF, I'm saying this because I REALLY enjoyed this book!

Watch out world! My buddy Dawn is coming to the fiction world! Future New York Times bestseller here!

Book 49-Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath

I've said it many times on this blog...I love J.A. Konrath, and with every book I read by him I love his characters and writing style more and more.

Rusty Nail is the third book in the Jack Daniels mysteries. This one takes place after the events of Bloody Mary. Jacks mother is in the hospital suffering from a coma, Latham, Jacks beau has left her, and her cat Mr. Friskers is running amok in her home as usual. Jack is trying to keep her personal, and professional life together when a video tape shows up at her work.

The video shows a woman tied to a chair, naked. The woman struggles against her binds, but then a person walks slightly into view, and slices her throat. Jack is struggling to figure out why this video seems very, very familiar....

This story was one of the better Daniels novels. The story line really shows how much of a kick ass cop Jack is, but also how she is a sensitive and caring individual. I love how Konrath can take Jack from a sarcastic smart ass (reminds me of myself) to a dead serious police officer working to get the job done. She is able to dish the butt kicking out, but also able to take some beats as well. I totally respect (and love) her character.

Reading the kill scenes in this book made me smile. The killer is one twisted S.O.B. who enjoys peeling the skin off his victims while they are alive, cutting a small hole in the stomach and feeding intestines to the victim (Choo, Choo here comes the train!), and other wonderfully gorey death scenes filled this book. Konrath definitely has a knack for describing the gore factor in words, he does an absolutely "fandibulous" job.

Finally we have the humor. All the Jack Daniels books have a nice mixture of intensity, gore, romance, and laughs. I actually caught myself laughing out loud as some of the crazy things the characters say and do...I loved Harry with the midgets! To know what I am talking about, go pick up the first book in the series, Whiskey Sour, and get to know Jack. You won't be disappointed.

I was planning on reading the next book in the Daniels series "Dirty Martini". I want to catch up on the series as I have been given a copy of "Shaken" the newest book in the series via email by Joe Konrath (It was a surprise to all of us who pre-reviewed Draculas. Thank you Joe!) but my BF Dawn just read what sounds like an amazing YA novel called "Under My Skin". It sounds really good! If you want, check it out on her blog, it tells you about the book! http://dawn-ius.blogspot.com/2010/10/book-49-under-my-skin.html

Dirty Martini, or Under my Skin...decisions, decisions...