THE PARIS VENDETTA by Steve Berry

THE PARIS VENDETTA by Steve Berry Review (3.5 out of 5 Stars)

The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 432
Source: Library
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The Paris Vendetta is Steve Berry’s fifth book featuring bookshop owner and ex-Justice Department field agent, Cotton Malone. Fresh off his recent case involving his father, Malone gets roped into helping his good friend Henrik Thorvaldsen seek revenge on the man who killed his son. As you may remember, Malone killed the gunmen who shot diplomat Cai Thorvaldsen in Mexico City, but Henrik is after the man who hired them, Lord Ashby. Besides being responsible for Cai’s death, Ashby is a busy guy: he’s part of a group trying to manipulate the world economy for profit, he has ties to a terrorist planning to bomb Paris, and he’s on a quest to find Napoleon’s alleged hidden treasure. Whew! [...]

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ALTAR OF EDEN by James Rollins

ALTAR OF EDEN by James Rollins Review (4 out of 5 Stars)

Altar of Eden by James Rollins
Release Date: December 29, 2009
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 416
Source: Library
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When I found out that James Rollins’ latest book, Altar of Eden, isn’t a Sigma Force novel, I admit I was disappointed. Then I reminded myself that prior to the Sigma Force series, Rollins wrote some exceptional standalone books like Subterranean and Amazonia (which, by the way, has more than a few similarities to the movie Avatar). Altar of Eden is Rollins’ first book to feature a veterinarian, but it’s reminiscent of some of his earlier books. The story takes place in Louisiana where US Border Patrol Agent Jack Menard has discovered a shipwrecked boat full of exotic animals. He brings in veterinarian Lorna Polk to examine them because they have odd abnormalities and seemingly heightened intelligence. Lorna suspects [...]

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THE EDGE OF FOREVER by Jeff S. Chimenti

THE EDGE OF FOREVER by Jeff S. Chimenti Review (2 out of 5 Stars)

The Edge of Forever by Jeff S. Chimenti
Release Date: April 9, 2009
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Pages: 304
Source: Publisher
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Natural and man-made disasters combine to form the apocalypse to end all apocalypses in The Edge of Forever by Jeff Chimenti. As the novel starts, widower/winery owner/ex-Marine Michael Hanson meets and is immediately drawn to small town waitress Cassie McMurphy. The same day they meet, he saves her from an abusive husband and they go on the run together, too distracted to give much thought to the strange, earthquake-like ground “jumps” they’ve been experiencing. Eventually, they discover the “jumps” are related to the volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park and they might be a sign that a catastrophic natural disaster is looming. If you think things couldn’t possibly get worse, you’d be wrong. The unstable ground [...]

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U IS FOR UNDERTOW by Sue Grafton

U IS FOR UNDERTOW by Sue Grafton Review (5 out of 5 Stars)

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Pages: 416
Source: Library
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I’ve been reading Sue Grafton since I was in high school, so, by now, private investigator Kinsey Millhone feels like an old friend. I love her stubborn independence, her converted garage apartment, her all-purpose wrinkle-free black dress, and her love of Quarter Pounders with Cheese. Kinsey is a little prickly and rough around the edges, but still endearing. In U is for Undertow, Kinsey returns for her 21st mystery and I think it is one of Grafton’s best yet.
The case starts when Michael Sutton arrives unannounced at Kinsey’s office with an odd problem. He recently remembered that on his 6th birthday he accidentally came across two men burying a large bundle in the woods. At the time, [...]

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GRAVE SECRET by Charlaine Harris

GRAVE SECRET by Charlaine Harris Review (4 out of 5 Stars)

Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
Release Date: October 27, 2009
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Pages: 320
Source: Library
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Grave Secret is the fourth book (and maybe the last if the rumors are true) in Charlaine Harris’ Harper Connelly series. Harris is best known as the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, which the TV show True Blood is based on. Like Sookie, Harper has a special gift that differentiates her from most humans. Since being struck by lightning as a teenager, she can sense the remains of dead people and “see” what killed them. There’s a demand for her talents and she and her stepbrother, Tolliver, make their living by charging for her services. In Grave Secret, Harper and Tolliver go to Texas at the request of Lizzie Joyce who has questions about the death of her wealthy [...]

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THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly

THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly Review (4 out of 5 Stars)

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Release Date: May 26, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 448
Source: Library
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The Scarecrow is Michael Connelly’s follow-up to his 1996 novel, The Poet. Newspaper reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI agent Rachel Walling return and once again partner to catch a killer. As a reporter in Denver, McEvoy helped snag a serial killer in The Poet and also wrote a successful book about the case. Twelve years later, he’s now a reporter in Los Angeles and is about to be laid off due to the decline of the newspaper industry. He’s been given two weeks to train his young replacement and he decides to write a story so good that they’ll regret letting him go. He ends up stumbling upon another serial killer, The Scarecrow, and, with dreams of a [...]

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KINDRED IN DEATH by J. D. Robb

KINDRED IN DEATH by J. D. Robb Review (4 out of 5 Stars)

Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Pages: 384
Source:Library
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Kindred in Death is the 29th entry in J. D. Robb’s (aka Nora Roberts) In Death series. After 29 books, it seems almost impossible for a series to still be fresh and interesting, but Robb manages to do it. I haven’t read all of the books in the In Death series, but I’ve read quite a few and I’m still as interested in them as I ever was.
For those that aren’t familiar with the series, the books are police procedurals that follow Lieutenant Eve Dallas as she solves crimes in futuristic New York City. They’re also pretty heavy on the romance between Eve and her sexy, mega-rich husband, Roarke. Eve is a tough, sarcastic cop who rubs people [...]

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206 BONES Book Review

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs (3 out of 5 stars)

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Scribner
# of Pages: 308
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206 Bones is the number of bones in the human body. It is also the name of the best-selling book by Kathy Reichs and inspiration for the television show named simply, “Bones” (to learn more about “Bones” the TV show check it out at Daemon’s TV). When forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan awakes, she finds herself in a pitch-black dark and musty room bound by the hands and feet. Temperance, or Tempe as she’s known to her friends, has no idea how she got there, but she’s determined to get out.
What follows is a series of flashbacks where Tempe works out the events leading up to her abduction. She recalls a trip to Chicago, with her colleague and ex-boyfriend Lieutenant Ryan, where she learns [...]

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A NORTHERN LIGHT Book Review

The Book Smugglers posted a new review for A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly.
A Northern Light Synopsis: Mattie Gokey has a word for everything. She collects words, stores them up as a way of fending off the hard truths of her life, the truths that she can’t write down in stories.
The fresh pain of her mother’s death. The burden of raising her sisters while her father struggles over his brokeback farm. The mad welter of feelings Mattie has for handsome but dull Royal Loomis, who says he wants to marry her. And the secret dreams that keep her going–visions of finishing high school, going to college in New York City, becoming a writer.
Yet when the drowned body of a young woman turns up at the hotel where Mattie works, all her words are useless. But in the dead woman’s letters, Mattie again finds her voice, and a determination to live [...]

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THE EYES OF THE DRAGON Book Review

THE EYES OF THE DRAGON by Stephen King

Although Stephen King wrote The Eyes of The Dragon in the late eighties, I only discovered it recently while snooping around in a used bookstore. It’s now one of my favorite books in my collection. Although King is undoubtedly great at writing horror and science fiction, my favorite works of his all tend to be in the fantasy genre. King is a master at creating different worlds and characters that are so captivating, he makes it look easy. In The Eyes of The Dragon, King has crafted a fun, page-turning, read that goes by all to fast.
So what is The Eyes of The Dragon all about? I’m going to actually quote an excerpt from the back of the book because when I read it, it immediately made me want to buy it:
“Once upon a time there was terror and [...]

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