The Printed Page

Archive for the ‘Pondering the pages’ Category

Title: The Sheen on the Silk
Author/website(s): Anne Perry
514 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: March ’10
Genre: Historical fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Definitely
Would I read more from this author: Yes
Journal notes: Loved it! It is an incredibly wonderful HF novel. I was totally immersed in Byzantine culture for the three days I spent reading this novel. The sights, the sounds, the people and the lifestyle are vividly portrayed in The Sheen on the Silk. I was Anna’s shadow as she searched for the truth. This story is filled with political and religious intrigue. I found some of the religious intrigue to be a bit complex simply because this is a historical period I have little familiarity with. And for those of you who read Ms. Perry’s mystery novels there is a murder mystery within these pages. It is one of my favorite books this month and will most likely make the favorites list for 2010.

Arriving in the ancient Byzantine city in the year 1273, Anna Zarides has only one mission: to prove the innocence of her twin brother, Justinian, who has been exiled to the desert for conspiring to kill Bessarion, a nobleman.

Disguising herself as a eunuch named Anastasius, Anna moves freely about in society, using her skills as a physician to manoeuver close to the key players involved in her brother’s fate. With her medical practice thriving, Anna crosses paths with Zoe Chrysaphes, a devious noblewoman with her own hidden agenda, and Giuiliano Dandolo, a ship’s captain conflicted not only by his mixed Venetian-Byzantine heritage but by his growing feelings for Anastasius.

Trying to clear her brother’s name, Anna learns more about Justinian’s life and reputation—including his peculiar ties to Bessarion’s beautiful widow and his possible role in a plot to overthrow the emperor. This leaves Anna with more questions than answer, and time is running out. For an even greater threat lies on the horizon: Another Crusade to capture the Holy Land is brewing, and leaders in Rome and Venice have set their sights on Constantinople for what is sure to be a brutal invasion. Anna’s discoveries draw her inextricably closer to the dangers of the emperor’s treacherous court—where it seems that no one is exactly who he or she appears to be.

(The Sheen on the Silk was provided to me by Katie at Ballantine Books, a division of Random House. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Title: Burn
Author/website(s): Ted Dekker & Erin Healy
368 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication date: January ’10
Genre: Suspense, faith-based
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes & no (Ted – no; Erin – yes)
Would I recommend this book: You betcha
Would I read more from this author: The Bride Collector is sitting on the bookcase shelf right now. And sitting there it will be until my April tour date.
Journal notes: First off let me say if you don’t usually read faith-based fiction but love great suspense novels you need to read Burn. When faith is mentioned it is true to the story line and doesn’t stand out. Burn is one very, very good suspense story. I was first introduced to Mr. Dekker’s novels last year when I read The BoneMan’s Daughters. At that time I added Mr. Dekker to my auto-buy & favorite authors list. And reading Burn only confirmed that I’d made a smart decision. Burn was bit different due to a paranormal aspect but very interesting in concept. Mr. Dekker and Ms. Healy collaborated on Kiss which will soon be joining my Kindle library.

The past Janeal thought had burned away is rising from the ashes.

Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend–at serious risk to her own life–or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered . . .

But the past is quickly coming back to haunt her. Both the best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There’s a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there’s an even greater debt she must face–and if the chaff isn’t burned from her own heart, it will consume her.

(Burn was provided to me by Amy at Phenix Publicity. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Title: The Day The Falls Stood Still: A Novel
Author/website(s): Cathy Marie Buchanan
298 pages
Publisher: Voice
Publication date: August ’09
Genre: Fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: DNF’d @ pg. 148
Would I read more from this author: Depending on subject matter/topic
Journal notes: Simply a story that didn’t appeal to me once I started reading.

Set against the backdrop of WWI and Niagara Falls, this debut tells the story of young Bess Heath and her struggle to navigate a quickly modernizing world. A child of privilege, Bess sees her fortunes change when her father loses his job. Cast into poverty, her family disgraced, Bess tries to hold things together while her sister slips into depression, her father drinks and her mother withdraws. After another tragedy strikes, Bess finds comfort in the love of Tom Cole, a river man with a mysterious connection to the falls. Overcoming the deep privation of the war and their own limited means, the two begin building a life together and renew their commitment to each other and their family. Based loosely on the history of Niagara river man William Red Hill, the book incorporates mock newspaper articles with limited success, but does integrate some detailed depictions of domestic life and fascinating natural history into an otherwise uneventful romance.

(The Day The Falls Stood Still was provided to me through a banner ad at Shelf Awareness. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Title: The Apple: Based on the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust Love Story
Author/website(s): Penelope Holt & Herman Rosenblat (Wikipedia link) / The Apple
200 pages
Publisher: York House Press
Publication date: August ’09
Genre: Non-fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: I would
Would I read more from this author: Depending on subject matter/topic
Journal notes: Come the end of this year you will find The Apple on my favorite books list for 2010. I was vaugely aware of the controversy surrounding Mr. Rosenblat’s memoir. I had seen some headlines but frankly paid little or no attention to the details. After reading The Apple it matters little to me whether Mr. Rosenblat’s story is pure fact, fiction or a some combination thereof. It was a story that touched me. There is a love story there just not the one most readers believed they’d find. It is story of deep, profound love – parent for child, sibling for sibling. Until I can walk the path of Mr. Rosenblat’s life I have no right to judge.

Oprah called the tale of love in a concentration camp that lies at the heart of holocaust survivor, Herman Rosenblat’s controversial memoir, “The greatest love story every told.” But when his story is attacked and his memoir cancelled, Rosenblat must defend his narrative. The Apple first tells the story of his struggle to survive the camps and the girl he says helped him by tossing apples over the fence. It then uncovers the story behind the story: Why did an old man weave real love with a dream of love into an account that touched and inspired many, but also ignited a firestorm of criticism.

(The Apple was provided to me by May at York House Press. I was not paid and this pdf file has been deleted from my Kindle.

Title: The Timer Game (A Grace Descanso Novel, book #1)
Author/website(s): Susan Arnout Smith
336 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: January ’08
Genre: Suspense/murder mystery
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: I would
Would I read more from this author: I started the 2nd Grace Descanso, Out At Night, as soon as I finished The Timer Game
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

Do you really want to play?

Grace Descanso was going to be a pediatric heart surgeon–she was a brilliant up-and-comer with a bright future in a heart-breaking, innovative field. Then she took two months off to work in a clinic in Guatemala, and came back nearly destroyed. She won’t talk about why, but she quit medicine altogether. Now, five years later, Grace is a crime scene tech in San Diego, going to AA meetings, scraping by and living to be a mom to five-year old Katie.

Everything falls apart again when Grace is summoned to work what looks like a routine crime scene. Hours later, two colleagues have been brutally murdered and Grace herself is under investigation for shooting the killer. Katie’s all she’s got. But when Katie is snatched, Grace is thrown into a nightmare world of timed riddles that she must solve in order to find her daughter before it’s too late. Welcome to The Timer Game.

Title: Out At Night (A Grace Descanso Novel, book #2)
Author/website(s): Susan Arnout Smith
293 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: March ’09
Genre: Suspense/murder mystery
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: DNF’d @ pg. 131
Would I read more from this author: No
Journal notes: One word – boring. While I enjoyed The Timer Game and thought it was a decent murder mystery I couldn’t develop one iota of interest in Out At Night.

The next installment of Susan Arnout Smith’s gripping detective series starring CSI detective Grace Descanso. Opening just one day after the ending of The Timer Game, CSI agent, Grace Descanso has to come to terms with the reality of introducing Mac into Katie’s life, as her father. As the three spend time together in the Bahamas, Katie begins to develop a bond with her father. Grace knows that life as she knew it, with her daughter, has come to an end. It is not long before Grace’s personal life is interrupted. Thaddeus Bartholomew, a history professor is forced at gunpoint to drive to a soy field. As he lies dying, he leaves a message on his answerphone at home in Morse code: find Grace Descanso. Cut off before finishing, the FBI need to know why he asked for Grace. A journey into a world of activism and violence, secrets and lies, ‘Out at Night’ is a break neck rollercoaster of a thriller, gripping from the first page until the last.

(Out At Night was provided to me by Nicole at Authors on the Web. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Title: Easy Innocence (A Georgia Davis mystery, book #1)
Author/website(s): Libby Fischer Hellmann
396 pages
Publisher: Bleak House Books
Publication date: June ’08
Genre: Suspense/murder mystery
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: I started the 2nd Georgia Davis mystery, Doubleback, as soon as I finished Easy Innocence
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

In this fast-paced mystery, the author of the Ellie Forman series introduces suspended cop and now PI Georgia Davis. Georgia is hired to help clear a mentally ill man, Cam Jordan, who is accused of killing a teenage girl, Sara Long, in a local forest preserve. It looks like an open-and-shut case; Cam’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and the victim’s blood is on his shirt. However, Georgia and Cam’s lawyer suspect Cam is being railroaded. Through her investigation, Georgia finds Sara was killed at a high-school hazing, and a local teenage prostitution ring is operating on the North Shore, a privileged, upper-class area north of Chicago. Also, there is a shady real-estate deal going on. Even when Georgia finds enough evidence to cast doubt on Cam’s culpability, she continues her investigation, intent on finding out who killed Sara and why. Georgia is a loner with a minimalist lifestyle who is recovering from her breakup with her boyfriend. She is a principled, compassionate character, determined to do the right thing, even if it doesn’t follow conventional assumptions.

Title: Doubleback (A Georgia Davis mystery, book #2)
Author/website(s): Libby Fischer Hellmann
344 pages
Publisher: Bleak House Books
Publication date: October ’09
Genre: Suspense/murder mystery
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in this series and I intend to read the 4 books in the Ellie Forman series starting with An Eye for Murder
Journal notes: 12 days and 7 books into the new year and I’ve discovered my 1st new favorite/auto-buy author. . The Georgia Davis mysteries are more complex than initially meets the eye and lead the reader to unexpected places. I was hooked from the first page to the last. More from the author will be making appearances here at The Printed Page throughout the year.

Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she’s returned, apparently unharmed. Molly’s mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she’s willing to overlook the odd circumstances.

A few days later, the brakes go out on Chris’s car.

An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank, may have misappropriated three million dollars. Not convinced that his daughter is safe, Molly’s father hires PI Georgia Davis to follow the money and investigate Chris’s death.

(Doubleback was provided to me by the Librarything Early Reviewers program. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Title: Voodoo Season
Author/website(s): Jewell Parker Rhodes
273 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication date: July ’06
Genre: Fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Only if this subject/topic interests you
Would I read more from this author: I might depending on the subject/topic
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

Medicine and voodoo may seem at odds, but Marie Levant, first-year resident at New Orleans’s Charity Hospital, discovers she has a gift for more than one kind of healing. Rhodes develops this theme to full advantage in her second book (after Voodoo Dreams) about this descendant of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. Strange forces are at work in the humid heat, and Marie is plagued by disturbing dreams and the sense that she has lived this life before. She employs her inner strength and feminist powers in pursuit of the murderer of the gentle and handsome young man who shared her bed one evening, awakening feelings she had too long ignored. Marie’s mother fled to Chicago when she was small and cleaned houses to survive. When the mother died mysteriously, the daughter went into foster care. Events intensify with Marie’s delivery of a dead girl’s living baby. She feels herself the mother and resolves to find the baby’s origins.

Title: Yellow Moon
Author/website(s): Jewell Parker Rhodes
293 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication date: August ’09
Genre: Fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Only if this subject/topic interests you; I actually DNF’d Yellow Moon @ pg. 102
Would I read more from this author: I might depending on the subject/topic
Journal notes: This is one of the review books I accepted last year. It was a book I was very much on the fence about accepting but the story line sounded intriguing enough for me to say yes. And a good lesson for me about why I’m limiting the genre of books reviewed in 2010. This is 2nd book in a trilogy which consequently means I needed to read book #1 (Voodoo Season) before starting Yellow Moon. Both Voodoo Season and Yellow Moon are well written stories that simply don’t appeal to me. I’d say if you have a strong interest in this subject/topic you would probably enjoy these two books. These books have some faction to their story lines as they make reference to Marie Laveau, a renowned practitioner of voudou in New Orleans. Usually when I DNF a book and/or author I simply won’t read anymore from them. Not so for Ms. Rhodes. Her historical novel Douglass’ Women holds great appeal for me and I hope to be able to read it this year.

In Rhodes’s superb sequel to 2006′s Voodoo Season, a wazimamoto, or African vampire, stalks Dr. Marie Laveau, a 21st-century doctor, modern voodoo practitioner and descendant of the legendary Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Haunted by the unquiet spirits of people killed by the wazimamoto, the young doctor vows to stop it with the help of new boyfriend NOPD Det. Daniel Parks; her Creole boss, Dr. Louis DuLac; and others devoted to Marie and her young adopted daughter, Marie-Claire. As the blood of the victims nourishes the vampire so it can completely assume human form, Marie must summon all her powers to vanquish it.

(Yellow Moon was provided to me by Karen @ Anita Halton Associates. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward or being donated to my local library )

Title: Compulsion (An Emily Stone novel)
Author/website(s): Jennifer Chase
308 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Publication date: October ’08
Genre: Suspense
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Probably
Would I read more from this author: I picked up the next Emily Stone right after finishing this one
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

Emily Stone doesn’t have a badge. But that hasn’t stopped her from tracking down some of the West’s most dangerous child-killers. Armed with a digital SLR camera, laptop computer and her trusty Beretta, Stone uses her innate gift for detective work to identify the perps — and then anonymously e-mail the evidence to the cops.

Now, the hunt for two brazen serial killers on the loose right in her own coastal California town threatens to expose Stone’s identity — unraveling her carefully constructed cover and jeopardizing her life’s work. But when she gets too close to the action, this razor-sharp hunter becomes the hunted. Cooperating with the handsome local police detective could be the only hope for stopping the rampage directed at unsuspecting young women — and saving herself. Can they piece together the clues in time?

Title: Dead Game (An Emily Stone novel)
Author/website(s): Jennifer Chase
376 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Publication date: November ’09
Genre: Suspense
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: I would
Journal notes: I enjoyed both Compulsion and Dead Game. If you can get past the uneven writing style and editing of Compulsion there is a decent suspense thriller within the pages. Even though Compulsion was bit rough around the edges I wasn’t ready to toss aside Ms. Chase’s storytelling and was looking forward to reading Dead Game. Right from the start the writing style of Dead Game was vastly improved and a much more enjoyable read. Both books kept me turning pages as Emily and Rick pursue those who commit unspeakable acts only to find themselves prey for those very same characters. As this series continues to evolve I imagine it becoming one of my favorites and making it to my auto-buy list. And yes I’m looking forward to reading a third Emily Stone novel if there is one.

In her independent efforts to catch child killers, Emily Stone discovers the evidence that the cops can’t—or won’t—uncover. Now, this covert investigator is back on the hunt for the world’s most sick and twisted murderers. But even with help from ex-police detective Rick Lopez, this time she’s facing her most dangerous opponent yet.

The headlines in the San Jose Mercury News blare updates on a serial killer who seems able to slaughter with impunity. Men, women—it doesn’t matter; the victims serve only to satisfy a perverted need to kill. The killer watches the moment of death on multiple computer screens, over and over again. The only connection is that they’re all devotees of the latest video-game craze—a sophisticated brain-puzzler called EagleEye.

When the killer goes after Lopez’s law-enforcement mentor, Lopez and Stone decide to give the cops a little extra, unsolicited help. What follows takes them deep inside a shocking high-tech world, a kind of social-networking community for serial killers. But when they start getting too close to the truth, all hell’s going to break loose.

Now, Stone and Lopez become the killer’s next target as Stone must make a difficult decision to leave the ones she loves in an all-or-nothing effort for survival. Can they stay alive long enough to blow the whistle on this unlikely perpetrator?

(Dead Game was provided to me by the author. I was not paid and this pdf file has been deleted from my Kindle )

Title: Knight of Desire (All the King’s Men, book 1)
Author/website(s): Margaret Mallory
384 pages
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: July ’09
Genre: Historical romance
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: I picked up book #2 right after finishing this one.
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

FEARLESS IN BATTLE

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she’s keeping secrets and dares not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

Title: Knight of Pleasure (All the King’s Men, book 2)
Author/website(s): Margaret Mallory
363 pages
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: December ’09
Genre: Historical romance
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: Looking forward to book #3, Knight of Passion coming in June of 2010.
Journal notes: Even though this was a review book it was pure pleasure reading. Honorable, handsome knights in shining armour. Beautiful, feisty damsels most certainly not in distress but in a spot of trouble and usually with their besotted knight. Hot, steamy passion with the requisite lovers quarrels. What perfect way to start the new year. I devoured both these books in about 2 days. A perfect blend of love, loyalty and spying to save King and country. June can not get here fast enough.

A note to Ms. Mallory if you should happen upon this post. Even though we got just very small glimpse of Robert’s past in Knight of Pleasure please consider writing his story if you’ve not already done so. He is such a great character and his story deserves to be told.

THE GREATEST PASSION

Lady Isobel Hume is an expert swordswoman who knows how to choose her battles. When the king asks her to wed a French nobleman to form a political alliance, she agrees. But that’s before the devilishly charming Sir Stephen Carleton captures her heart-and tempts her to betray her betrothed, her king, and her country.

IS WORTH THE GREATEST PERIL

Sir Stephen Carleton enjoys his many female admirers-until he dedicates himself to winning the lovely Isobel. When a threat against the king leads Isobel into mortal danger, Stephen must prove that he is more than a knight of pleasure … and that love can conquer all.

(Knight of Pleasure was provided to me by Anna at Hachette Book Group. I was not paid and this book is being donated to my local library )

Knight of Passion (All the King’s Men, book 3)
June 2010

Title: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home
Author/website(s): Rhoda Janzen
DNF’d @ pg. 162
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date: October ’09
Genre: Memoir
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: No
Would I read more from this author: I don’t think so
Journal notes: My love of memoirs and having Mennonite cousins sparked my initial interest in reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. The first chapter of this book is an absolute laugh riot. I could totally identify with, or imagine myself, in Rhoda’s situation. After that opening chapter I had high hopes for this book that were quickly dashed the more I read. It digressed from funny to OK to a snooze fest. I found myself reading the words on the pages and losing focus on the gist of her story. By the time I got to the end of a chapter I didn’t even remember enough of the beginning to put everything in between together. I stewed for about six hours at work trying to decide if it was worth finishing having only a bit more than hour’s worth of reading left. Finally I decided to move on to something else. This is another book that most readers will love and I’ll be in the minority – oh well.

At first, the worst week of Janzen’s life—she gets into a debilitating car wreck right after her husband leaves her for a guy he met on the Internet and saddles her with a mortgage she can’t afford—seems to come out of nowhere, but the disaster’s long buildup becomes clearer as she opens herself up. Her 15-year relationship with Nick had always been punctuated by manic outbursts and verbally abusive behavior, so recognizing her co-dependent role in their marriage becomes an important part of Janzen’s recovery (even as she tweaks the 12 steps just a bit). The healing is further assisted by her decision to move back in with her Mennonite parents, prompting her to look at her childhood religion with fresh, twinkling eyes. (She provides an appendix for those unfamiliar with Mennonite culture, as well as a list of shame-based foods from hot potato salad to borscht.) Janzen is always ready to gently turn the humor back on herself, though, and women will immediately warm to the self-deprecating honesty with which she describes the efforts of friends and family to help her re-establish her emotional well-being.

(Mennonite in the Little Black Dress was provided to me by Jason at Henry Holt and Company. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )