Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen

I've put myself on a book diet so everything here on out should be from my stacks or borrowed from the library or other people.

This one is a library book. I have to say it makes me happy that my library lends ebooks. Just makes things so easy.

I like Gerritsen but I find I tend to skip over her books. This one was interesting and different than what I expected. In modern day, Julia is digging a garden in her new, rundown, backyard when she ends up striking a skull with her trowel. Cue dozens of medical examiners digging up her entire yard. We discover that the bones are old, approximately 1800s old. Julia meets up with a neighbor who is curious about the bones. They chat and part ways. An old man calls Julia, a cousin of the previous owner, and offers up documents that his cousin kept that might reveal who the bones belong to and Julia takes him up on his offer.

The real mystery is set in the 1800s and involves Oliver Wendell Holmes and the West End Reaper. It's interesting that the exciting part of the book, the mystery to solve, is set so far in the past.

There's a pretty good journey to discover owner of the bones (and we do) but that proved fairly insignificant compared to the other things we discover.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Wow.

I haven't read a book in a long time that caught me off guard like this one. I found out about it through the Books on the Nightstand podcast and was intrigued when they said you HAD to have someone to discuss this book with. They are right and I have no one :(
 

It starts out fairly tame. We have Nick and Amy, a seemingly "perfect" couple who are going through a rough patch but coming up on their 5th anniversary. The story is told alternating between Nick's current story and Amy's old diary. On the day of the anniversary, Nick heads to The Bar he owns with his twin sister and Amy goes missing, seemingly taken right out of her house.

The police are called and it's beginning to look pretty bad for Nick.

I cannot say anymore because I want you to happen upon the twists and turns. I want you to gasp and say "Oh HELL no" like I did. I want you to read this book in one day because you have to know what's happening. And then I want you to discuss it with me!

Hurry!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

I have a love/hate relationship with Odd. Not him, in particular, just the books. Odd Hours, the predecessor, was good, if a little too wordy but the others I just didn't like as much. But, I'm nothing if not dedicated and loyal, so I bought the new Odd book.

It's been a few days since I finished it but I think I liked it. It strayed a bit from the formula, of Odd helping deceased spirits, and I wasn't sure I liked it because that was the one quality about Odd that I loved.

He still sees and helps a spirit (2, if you count the horse) but the rest of the novel is pure sci-fi/weirdness. Koontz has always had me believe his stories might be plausible. And this one is the same way....if a bit a of stretch.

I don't want to give too much away, but Odd and AnnaMaria (from Odd Hours) have found themselves drawn to Roseland, a little estate that is anything but ideal and rosy. It takes a bit to figure out HOW it's not right but once Odd does, well, it flies right into the weirdness and creepiness and doesn't stop until the end.

Oh yes, Odd gets in touch with a new famous spirit. It should lead to some great stories if the new spirit sticks around.

Final decision: this is a good Odd book. Not great, like the first one, but good and different.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I was curious about this Percy Jackson character so I checked this out from the library, knowing full well it's a YA book (and I got burned with Twilight).


Some spoilers lie here.....




My reaction to PJ is quite the opposite to Twilight, I'm happy to announce. This is clearly written aimed at a younger audience but I enjoyed the story of Percy finding out he's a demi-god with Poseidon as his dad. Percy never knew his dad and never knew why he always had trouble not getting kicked out of schools. Once he ends up at the summer camp for demi-gods, he finds his place and some new friends (Annabeth and Grover - love Grover!) along with some enemies. Every god has an enemy or more, right?

Because it looks like camp has been breached, when a hellhound comes after Percy, it's decided Percy must go on a quest with AnnaBeth and Grover. His mission is to find the lightning bolt that was stolen from Zeus, who believe Poseidon is behind the theft, allowing Percy to steal it. It's also thought that Hades took it to start a war on Olympus.

On their quest, the trio face monsters, monsters and more monsters. Then descend into the Underworld to meet Hades himself.

No more spoilers but their quest isn't over and Percy proves himself a worthy little god.