Salon – Andrew O’Hehir

I loved getting to know Gaby’s children. Each of them were dealing with their own issues making this an interesting story. One was having marital troubles, one had a husband fighting cancer, another is a very successful lawyer who is married but puts in way to much time at her job, and finally one is trying to get a book published. Each child’s story would have made for an interesting book in itself but roll them together and it made the plot of this book move along nonstop. I loved the plan Gaby came up with to get her children home, an idea that was totally new, hooking me, making me wonder myself who she would marry. There was even a twist thrown in that actually surprised me.
Overall if you enjoy family stories where the family seems as real as a your next door neighbors, and want to feel a bit of the magic of the holiday season then your going to want to pick this book up. Normally when I think of James Patterson I think of action packed thrillers, but he can certainly pull of a nice Christmas time family story as well. Highly recommended!
*A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.*

Reviewer: Mary C. Cameron “free-lance writer”

I think Nora Roberts is one of the best writers that I have read; however, the amount of books that she reprints with new titles is ridiculous. I have bought 3 books now under new titles that I already own. I hope that she actually starts making new books instead of just reprinting old ones. This book used to be in an anthology that I read 4 years ago. I will no longer be buying her books because of this.

Reviewer:E. Hayes “Shoe Major”

Good for an afternoon read. Woman’s character pretty well developed. Man rather insensitive to what she’s discovering and having to cope with while developing a new relationship with old school boyfriend.

Reviewer: SommerKlein

I absolutely love Nora Roberts’ books and the J.D. Robb “In Death” series. Unfortunately, I have a very good memory and within the first page I recognized this book as an “oldie but goodie”. If you’ve not read it, do so. It’s great. But for those of us waiting for NEW novels, this is a disappointment when Amazon/Kindle claims it a “new” release. Please be honest with us.

Reviewer: Maggie

Nora Roberts is on the top of my favorite writer’s list. I have read probably 95% of all her novels under this name. As with her other novels, Unfinshed Business is wonderful. Her developement of characters is fascinating and she always makes you want for more each time you read one of her novels. Unfinished Business is the same. Can’t wait for more. You can’t go wrong with a Nora Roberts novel.

The Book is Available Here: Amazon

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an international best seller and is set in Sweden. It takes a little effort to get accustomed to all the Swedish names and places but then the story moves with lightening speed. There are two key plots happening simultaneously. In one, a Swedish financial investigative journalist publishes a libelous attack about a powerful industrialist and is sentenced to jail, fined a ruinous sum, and has his career torn to shreds. Another industrialist, Vanger, hires the journalist to investigate the 36 year old disappearnace of his then 14 year old grand niece. There has been no trace of her in all these years and she is assumed dead. Yet, every year on his birthday, he receives a mysterious gift of a pressed flower, mimicking a gift his missing grandniece used to give him when she lived there. Vanger, an old man, is tormented by the flower gifts, and wants one more chance to find out what happened to her and who killed her. What the journalist uncovers about the Vanger family’s hitherto unknown secrets and connections to the Nazis, will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.

The book is titled after yet another character, Lisabeth Salander, a societal outcast and social ward of the State, uncivilized without any desire to obey societal norms, and replete with piercings, tattoos, and a goth/biker appearance. In short, at first glance a totally undesirable and unsympathetic person. She is a researcher with a corporate security firm and ends up working with the journalist. In truth, she is a survivor of abuse in all forms with low self esteem, and an inablity to trust. She is a genius with Asberger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, who sees patterns in things ordinary mortals miss and uses incredible computer hacking skills to accomplish her goals. She is fascinating: ruthless and tough to a fault, yet internally vulnerable, struggling to comprehend her own feelings. She has an appeal that draws you to her, rooting for her, and wanting to understand her. Lisabeth is unforgettable, unlike most characters that populate mystery thrillers. There is such depth here.

The book is a thriller on many levels: The story about the Vanger family itself, the journalist’s crusade to redeem his reputation, Lisabeth’s vendettas and development, and of course, the truth about what actually happened to the missing Vanger heiresss. This is a superb novel and impossible to put down. Utterly stunning. Probably the year’s best book. SUMMER 2009: SEE MY REVIEW OF THE SEQUEL, “THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE”, ANOTHER OUTSTANDING BOOK.

The Book is Available Here: Amazon

The story shifts gears to Kinsey and May 5 1988 (for those in the know Kinsey’s birthday). Than we switch to several weeks before her birthday and a few weeks after the events in U is for Undertow. Kinsey while shopping witnesses a shoplifter and at the end is almost getting run over. Somehow Kinsey by witnessing a minor incident becomes embroiled in something bigger than she imagines.

Throughout the novel the point of view shifts between Kinsey, Dante, and Nora (a rich housewife tiring of her husband).

Grafton has gone back and forth with third and first person in her most recent novels. However its my humble opinion that this is the first one out of the bunch that was expertly done. I was able to see so many layers in all three of the main characters in this story.

We don’t at first see how these three people will fit together but when you start to see the connections you are gobsmacked by Grafton’s well crafted plot.

Already waiting on bated breath for W…..

Overall grade: A+

V is for Vengeance starts off with the story of a young man who meets a bad end at the hands of a loan shark and his brother. The book then moves to the present day of the book (1988) and starts off with Kinsey Milhone witnessing a shoplifting incident with two women. One gets caught and the other literally drives over Kinsey in the parking lot making her escape. Two days later, the woman who was arrested ends up dead in the same spot as the young man in the beginning of the book. Kinsey is hired by the man who was engaged to the dead woman to find out what really happened because he does not believe she committed suicide. Kinsey is soon involved in uncovering a ring of professional thieves, a police conspiracy, blackmail, and a man with interesting family connections known as “Dante”. All the while she has an obnoxious reporter dogging her investigation and causing trouble.
Also weaving through the book is the story of an unhappy wife named Nora, who realizes her husband is cheating and takes steps to protect herself. In the course of covering her bases financially, she meets Dante and begins an unlikely relationship with him. There is an interesting twist in the book that involves both of these people and ties into the modern day activities.
One of the things I enjoy about this series is the fact that it is set in the 80′s. Kinsey has to rely on research, hard work, and legwork to get her job done. She has no internet or cell phone to do work for her. I love it when she needs to get to a pay phone to call someone when she is out working on a case or making a carbon copy of something. I find myself thinking “If she only had a ………”
Kinsey is a solitary person who has very few real relationships in her life. She can only rely on herself this book reinforces that fact. Her ex-boyfriend Cheney is working with a cop who hates Kinsey so she feels cut off from one of her resources. Her neighbor and best friend Henry is gone to visit an ailing relative so Kinsey doesn’t have him to run things by. She works and lives alone with the occasional acquaintance that comes into her life. Her solitary nature is a running theme through all 22 books in the series and I felt she was particularly alone in this book. It is a common theme for a male detective to be a “loner” but not so common for female sleuths. It is possible the lack of people distracting her contributes to her strong intuition about cases and her excellent observation skills.
This book has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested. The continuity of the story from earlier books makes it enjoyable for long time readers but it can be enjoyed by a new reader as well. I wonder what we will all do when Ms. Grafton reaches the end of the alphabet!

The Book is Available Here: Amazon

As it is however, K.A.C. is really only half a novel. Despite a rather extreme plotline of the president’s children going missing, and a potential plot that may rival 9/11, Patterson doesn’t bother to put in the authorly effort required to pull this melodrama off.

Even with the nation-shaking events mentioned above, there is very little sense that the Washington Alex lives in is in the midst of crisis. We do hear Cross talking about all the acronyms (FBI, CIA, NSA etc) but aside from fairly run of the mill jurisdiction tussles the story just feels like another weekly murder mystery.

Plot aside, the prose of K.A.C. isn’t quite as agonising as Cross!! Country!!!, however trademark exclamation points do make a few too many appearances, especially in the beginning chapters. Point of View leapfrogs around like an electrocuted toad and the humour of this book is hit-and-miss at best.

I’m trying desperately to avoid a spoiler here, but I have to say that rather than tying together several different strands of plot, Patterson mangles together two concepts, both too big for their boots, and leaves a feeling of ‘how many fan-fiction short stories did I just read?’

Let me be clear – I’m extra ranty because this was almost a good book. There is some killer action, and some tense moments. For die-hard fans this is a must read. For people with more than half a brain: not so sure this one is worth it.

I have been a constant reader of every Alex Cross book since the beginning and am a major fan.
They are usually exciting and great entertainment for a few hours. I really look forward to them.

But then comes this stinker.
The plot seems like cheap cardboard. I was one step ahead of every twist and I’m usually far from that good.
The character development was nil.
The home backstory that I always enjoy was reduced to tossing in a random girl, a hardly filled out charter school and leaving it at that.

Alex, who is brilliant, bumbled his way through the book and the villain, who doesn’t hold a candle to Kyle Craig or even Gary Seneji, is reputed to be really smart and Alex can’t get a take on him. I didn’t buy it for a minute.

The terrorist villains were even more cardboard.

It seemed to me that this was the sort of outline that Patterson would give to one of his factory workers to turn it into something palatable. The major plot points were there, but the color was sorely missing.

Maybe Patterson is trying out a new marketing strategy of a series of “write your own Alex Cross book” since that what this one seemed to me. It was nothing more than notes for a potentially good book.

Alex seemed weak and nasty.
Nana seemed even too strident for her usual over-the-top portrayal.
The kids got short shrift.
Sampson was there for as place holder.

We deserve better.
Lots better.

The Book is Available Here: Amazon

I just don’t buy into the Lee Child – Jack Reacher clone idea. If I wrote the book, sure, call your lawyer, Lee – I’m not creative enough to think of such a good plot. But Baldacci made his bones a LONG time ago. He has a long track record of superior writing. Every now and then, there will be some plot overlap within genres, and thrillers are no exception.

Zero Day is written with all of Baldacci’s usual skill and perhaps even a little bit more energetic dialogue.

The novel is set in the coal fields of West Virginia. That’s my home. And so I look at this with an unusually critical eye for accuracy as will was for perceptions of disrespect – Believe me, West Virginians are REALLY touchy.

I hit the annoyance button on both accuracy and respect, but I’m not sure if that’s fair. If I read something set in, say, Washington State, I won’t know what’s true and what’s not, because I’ve never been there. That doesn’t keep me from enjoying the book.

Coal mining is a background theme of Zero Day. The health effects of mining are made up from whole cloth. For instance, there’s no explosion of childhood cancer rates around coal mining. This not say that coal mining is good for you – the effects are simply more subtle and some would say more insidious. Baldacci suggests that surface mining does not take place because of extraction costs but because it uses fewer workers. That one is just a head-scratcher – it’s all about money. And Baldacci seems to think that it’s hard to find coal. Nope, not even. It’s not like the old oil and gas wildcatter days when the developer took a chance on a dry hole. Coal seams are very well know, and the development work is about the details of extraction.

And Zero Day’s portrayal of West Virginia is, well, fictional. “Moonshine stills” are not a significant law enforcement problem. There are no little mountain lions hopping about in the woods. What I took the most umbrage to was dialogue by a minor character who was removing personal property from the home of someone who had just died: “A lot of folks around here ain’t got nothing. They find out you died and ain’t got no relations, your stuff’s gone before you know it.” If I say that about the character of the people in your neighborhood, I’m hoping that you would be peeved. That may happen here, as elsewhere, but it certainly isn’t a cultural trait or a common practice.

But to apply my own rubric, there’s nothing that takes Zero Day below five stars. It’s plot, characters and action are every bit on a par with Baldacci’s prior works.

But, Jeez, Dave, next time pick on Ohio or New York, OK?

The Book is Available Here: Amazon

-Plot was extremely slow for first 2/3.
-Ending was extremely rushed and abrupt.
-Characters not developed as well as normal NR writing
-Too much expository writing regarding the Inn and it’s construction.
-Relationship between two main characters not developed and deepened as normal NR writing.
-Two “B” storylines seemed to come out of nowhere

NR typically has a “formula” for her shorter novels or series. Knowing the formula has never bothered me, and even if it is predictable, her writing, descriptions, dialogues, romantic entanglement descriptions are all enjoyable and intriguing. However, I found myself bored with this book, which I normally never am when reading NR (except her In Death series). I was disappointed. As I read, it felt like someone else wrote it. It didn’t feel true to what I love most about NR.

All that said, I will probably still read the next two hoping they get better.

I enjoyed this book on many levels. I work in Chicago for Litigators, not the low-level “boutique” firm of Finley and Figg but a mid-sized prominent defense firm which gave me an advantage in terms of legalese and the procedures. I could not identify with Oscar Finn, the aging attorney, who felt he wasted the last 30 years with this crummy practice or Wally Figg, a drunk who is chasing the big pot of gold and will pull almost anything to sign up a client. However, I have met many David Zinc’s, the burnt-out bright attorney who knows he cannot stand one more 100 hour week of entering billable hours for his cold-hearted large firm.

Grisham recaptured the heroes of his earlier books in David Zinc. We first meet David when he is enduring a full-fledged panic attack, as he is about to begin another day at the Rogan Rothberg 600 attorney firm. After losing all control, David spends the rest of his soul-searching day in a neighborhood bar and later he drunkenly washes up at the doorstep of Finn & Figg. David teams up with these low-level guys and begins to learn their ropes and seizes the moment. He is a good man with a beautiful, smart wife, Helen. He does not cut corners and uses his own money to help and investigate a horrific injury to a Burmese boy. In this case, Grisham aims his anger at American toy companies who have bought Chinese toy manufacturers that apparently manufacture lead poisoning rather than safe toys.

Suffice it to say, Grisham was able to neatly include the mistreatment of illegal immigrants, the hypocrisy of the drug companies (Varrick Drugs is the chief antagonist), the frauds who will try anything to cheat someone out of money, product liability law and the real victims. The main culprit is mass tort litigation where the victims remain victims while the plaintiff and defense lawyers reap the millions. Grisham slows David’s progress but the reader knows that this Harvard grad is really smart and when he can understand the particular law, Federal court and how to litigate, we know he will be a star. Through it all, David is a good friend and a reputable attorney (despite Wally’s influence). One of my favorite scenes takes place when David explains his new career to his father, a judge in Minnesota. Expecting the judge to be of no use or patience, his response is not volatile. Later, we learn his father taught David the moralities of the court decisions.

Grisham has crafted an entertaining book, once again. Some parts were totally unbelievable and he gave the reader almost every character imaginable: the slovenly ex-wife looking to score big in a lawsuit, the beautiful, sexy defense attorney (Nadine) for the drug company, sarcastic but loyal secretary (Rochelle) to Oscar and Wally, the bartender who has heard it all (Abner’s), and of course, the insurance companies who will continue to profit win or lose. The reader prevails in this clever tale; it’s a fun page-turner that really does not insult one’s intelligence. Setting the story in Chicago, of course, adds to the lack of civility and no holes barred zingers. However, he had several errors regarding Chicago areas and neighborhoods. These would be quite obvious to a Chicagoan. He needed a native Chicago editor! 4.5 stars

The Book is Available Here: Amazon