Every Body Talks

Published: October 17th, 2012 (first published 1999)
Body Bags (Body of Evidence #1)
By: Christopher Golden
Daring Greatly Corporation
ASIN:  B009SLYJ4A

When Jenna Blake starts her freshman year at Somerset University, she's not only living on her own for the first time, she's moving closer to the father she never really knew.  It's an exciting time, filled with new faces and new challenges, not mention parties and boys and...corpses?

Jenna is torn about her future.  She'd like to be a doctor like her mother, but she can't stand the sight of blood.  Her father, a criminology professor, thinks he has the answer -- and sends her to interview for a job with the Medical Examiner -- an interview that takes place in the middle of an autopsy!

When a congressional aide goes violently insane, and then drops dead, the pathology team at Somerset Medical Center discover that his brain was ravaged with disease -- and loaded with insect larvae.  When Jenna takes on her new job, she is drawn into a web of terrifying disease, dangerous politics, and intriguing mystery.  And when one of her professors ends up dead, she starts making connections even the police haven't seen...which will bring her face to face with a pair of killers, one medical, and one all too human.

Review

       I didn't feel disappointed after reading this, like so many of the other reviewers here on Goodreads.  You want to know my secret?  Extremely low expectations, and the prior knowledge that Golden tends to be the master of the pulpy, Alloy-series type of book.  It was a story centered around Jenna Blake, an incumbent college freshman, who is unsure what she wants to do with the rest of her life.  All she knows is that her mother would love for her to be a doctor like her, but Jenna can't stand the sight of blood.  Her Dad gets her an interview with the local Medical Examiner, who hires Jenna as a pathology assistant.  The first big case is a man who was infected with a mysterious illness, of unknown origin and it becomes a priority to find out exactly what happened, when a teacher on campus dies of the same sickness.  Coincidence or murder?  That's what Jenna will have to find out, especially once her and her dad's lives are endangered.  Can she survive her first week at college?
       This book is extremely short and I didn't really expect too much, since it is the first in a ten-book series.  Also, it's original publication was sixteen years ago, in 1999.  Some of the language, situations, etc. are kind of culturally dated (not as bad as most though, surprisingly).  This type of book is the kind that people who are unfamiliar with YA, and it's ever-widening, reach like to cite when they malign it as all being unmitigated "trash."  It's pulp fiction, pure and simple.  I will say that it reminds me of Nancy Drew, in the sense that Jenna is pretty much just a cardboard cut-out, meant to move along the plot.  Hopefully she and her friends (roommate Yoshiko & southern-boy Hunter) will be better characeterized/fleshed-out in later books.  I do wish that the mystery had been more murder/crime and less of a politically driven, thriller type.  I liked it enough to continue and see if the next couple are any good, but overall I wouldn't recommend it unless you like the type of book that's pure, time-wasting cotton candy.  If you want a really great, plot and character-rich series by Golden, try his Hollow series, co-written with Ford Lytle Gilmore.  Now THAT is an awesome series! :D

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill -- Mini Review

Published:  July 4th, 2012

Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill (Batman and Robin Vol. II #1)

By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason (Illustrator), & Mick Gray (Illustrator)

DC Comics

ISBN-13:  9781401234874

Batman begins battling evil with his son, Damian, at his side and now realizes that the hardest part of the job may be trying to work together.  As Batman and Robin try to adjust to their new partnership, a figure emerges from Bruce Wayne's past: his name is NoBody, and he's not happy that Batman Incorporated is shining a light on his own shadowy war against evil...

Review

       For those of you unfamiliar with Damian Wayne's back story, here is the short version: Damian is the product of a drug-induced night of passion between Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) and Talia Al Ghul (daughter of the head of the League of Assassins).  When Talia decides it's time for Damian to learn the bat-legacy from his father (who doesn't know he exists), she drops him off in Gotham.  Unsure in his new relationship with his son, who is a miniature assassin and the exact opposite of Batman, they try to forge a connection despite their differences.  In turn, they clash at every possible crossroads between good and evil, black and white.

       Damian is still struggling with who he wants to be, his mother's son or his father's. As someone who has never read a Batman & Robin title before (including Batman and any of the other four Robins before Damian!), but being aware of Damian's origin story etc., I didn't have much confusion about the contention in his relationship with Bruce. I liked that this shows Bruce attempting to bond with Damian in a fatherly way as well, such as buying him a dog (a Great Dane that Damian eventually names Titus), and playing catch in the backyard. But when they're out in the field as B&R, I felt like I wasn't necessarily convinced that Bruce would even allow Damian to work as Robin. It's kind of like he didn't learn his lesson with Jason Todd. Yes, Damian's a trained assassin, but he's still an angry ten-year-old boy and often refuses to follow orders. In the fight scene in this book we get to see the consequences of Damian's borderline reckless behavior and the ways it brings him closer (and yet further in principle somewhat) from his father. The connection with Bruce's own past to the villain, NoBody, was interesting if somewhat contrived to display the dynamic of good vs. evil between father and son. Overall, a decent read. But definitely NOT my favorite of the New 52's so far.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

When The Lights Go Out

 

Published:  September 24th, 2013

Sleep With The Lights On (Brown and De Luca #1)

By: Maggie Shayne

Harlequin MIRA

ISBN-13:  9780778315544

 

Through the eyes of a killer

Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull. Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.

 

Review

 

      I haven't been reading thrillers/mysteries on a regular basis for years now.  It seems like they are all the same after awhile and nothing fresh is left to be surprised by.  This book didn't necessarily have the freshest premise ever, but it just might have helped rejuvenate my interest in thrillers!  Shayne's whole backbone to the book is the idea that evil can live on once its host is dead, through a process like organ donation.  The story is about Rachel de Luca who has been blind since she was a pre-teen and has made a fortune selling self-help books with a philosophy she thinks is complete crap.  Detective Mason Brown has a chance encounter with Rachel, shortly after which he witnesses his own brother's suicide.  Turns out Mason's brother had been hiding a secret from his family - he was a serial killer and the guilt was no longer bearable.  Mason covers it up and donates his brother's organs to make up for it.  Rachel receives corneal tissue belonging to him and starts to have visions of murders and a strange connection to a killer.  Searching for her own brother who has disappeared, can Rachel and Mason come together to find out the truth behind how the murders are continuing - when the killer is already dead?  And will they both make it out alive?

      Rachel is a sassy, sarcastic and mostly downright rude ball-buster.  She doesn't take anyone's crap, does what she wants and has no filter for what she says to people.  Mason was just an average cop, with a slightly screwed up family history until he was forced to keep his brother's twisted secrets.  They clash almost immediately and spend the entire book circling around one another, each unsure of the other's motives until almost the end of the novel.  I liked the usage of an old idea (seeing visions of murder through eyes donated by a killer), with the twist that the evil was hosted in the body and transplanted along with the organs.  It needed to find a receptive host to survive.  It didn't completely discount the fact that the people it took over were evil in there own ways.  But it did give way to the notion that there are different types and degrees of evil.  I loved Rachel as a character, especially a heroine.  She made me laugh a lot and still feel sorry for her when her past was given to the readers, including the loss of her sight.  My favorite thing was when she adopted an old, blind bulldog named Myrtle.  It just about broke my heart, because Rachel did it so Myrtle could live and not be put down at the pound.  But soon enough she was buying driving goggles and matching scarves for Myrtle and taking her everywhere. 

      The way the murder plot wrapped up wasn't all that unpredictable, but I still appreciated the resolution.  And the way Shayne developed the organ-killer/host idea and the amount of organs donated as a setup for further novels was pretty ingenious.  Overall I really enjoyed this novel, and the characters took it up a notch from the thriller with paranormal leanings that could easily fit in with the rest of the pack.  They made it distinguishable and unique and I'd recommend it for that alone.

 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published September 24th, 2013.*

Catch Me If You Can

Expected Publication:  September 24th, 2013

Find Me

By: Romily Bernard

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062229038

“Find Me.”

These are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead.

Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target.

Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?

Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.

But she’s going to find this killer no matter what.

Because it just got personal.

Review

     Wick has been in foster care now for long enough to know that the only person who can really help her, is herself.  So she is farming out her hacking skills to make extra cash for when she and her sister Lily are inevitably (in her opinion) kicked out of their current placement.  She's just trying to keep her head down and stay unnoticed at school and at home.  So when her former friend Tessa Waye appears to have committed suicide, Wick is shocked to find her diary laying on the doorstep.  Someone wants Wick to find out what really happened to Tessa - who killed her and why.  It will take all of Wick's hacking skills, the help of Griff, the one boy she just might be able to let in (with secrets of his own) and her inner detective to find the truth,  But when Wick's explosive Dad is released from prison and her sister Lily becomes the killer's next target, just what will Wick have to sacrifice to save Lily - and give her a life worth having?

     This was definitely different from my normal reads.  Normally I don't go for thriller/suspense books, but honestly most of the time this really didn't feel like it was committed to those as its primary genres.  For the the vast majority of this book, I felt like the plot was fixated on the criminal, family drama of Wick and Lily's Dad, their Mom's suicide and the foster system they're being bounced around in.  To me, this book was a lot more about a girl who has been bashed around by life learning to trust someone and change her life with the help of others.  Not to mention the crazed, pedophiliac killer.  Can't forget that of course!  The relationship between Wick and her sister was one of my main problems with this book which I otherwise enjoyed.  I just did not believe they were as close as they both said they were.  Wick did everything for Lily, who treated her like dirt and basically turned on Wick when they got taken in by a couple that treats them like their real daughters.  I wasn't feeling the sort of togetherness that Wick waxed on about so much.  

     Wick and Griff's relationship was also kind of a bit much for me.  They didn't even ever really talk to each other and all of the sudden when he's drawn into a hacking job with Wick's Dad's "friend" they start a flirtation, which leads to Wick trusting him implicitly in regards to her entire life.  This includes her half-cocked plans to draw out the killer using Facebook and tracking I.P. addresses from his online activity.  I am glad, in a way, that the book was more character focused than story focused.  Because if the story had been the point, this would have been just like reading some cheap paperback thriller, only even more predictable if that's at all possible.  I knew pretty early in who the killer was and the "motivations" behind it.  Really the mystery was non-existent and the only real suspense was how it was all going to go down when Wick faced off with the killer.  I liked this book quite a bit, but it was definitely NOT the best YA thriller/mystery I've ever read - not even close to it.  I would recommend this for some light fluff, maybe a good pick for reluctant readers as it did go by awfully quick.  If you're in search of complexity, pass this one by cause it'll only disappoint you.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is September 24th, 2013.*

The Girl Who Wouldn't Submit and Say 'Die'

 

Expected Publication:  June 11th, 2013 

The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die

By: April Henry

Henry Holt and Co.

ISBN-13:  9780805095418

 

“Take her out back and finish her off.”


She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.


In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

 

Review

 

     Cady wakes up in a place she doesn't recognize, not even knowing her own name.  But she's missing fingernails, has been beaten and hears two men arguing about killing her once and for all.  So she escapes to save her life, and it is very dangerous.  Once she's on the outside, Cady is taken under the wing of a mysterious teenage boy named Ty who gives her a place to stay and helps her hide from the people who come hunting her down.  But although Cady can run, she can't hide and time is running out for her and her family.  Can she protect herself, expose a secret conspiracy and save her family before it's too late?   I have read other books by April Henry before, my favorite of which was called Girl, Stolen and it starts out similar to this one.  I always wondered what would have happened if the main character, Cheyenne, in that book hadn't been blind.  The existence of Cady kind of answered that question for me as a reader!  She was a bad-ass, no question about that.  Even when she had no clue who she really was and thought she might have accidentally killed a man, Cady was determined to find answers and wouldn't let herself be caught.  The beginning and middle of the book are intense and kept me on the edge of my seat.  You discover everything as Cady does, so things come of as much as surprise to the reader as the characters.  I liked that Ty chose to risk himself to help the downtrodden girl in his line at McDonald's - and that he kept helping once he realized it was a life or death situation.  The action is very fast paced and the conclusion races toward you when reading it.  But I felt like the situation with "Aunt Lizzie" was glaringly obvious and definitely a step down from the subtler terrors of the book's beginning and middle.  Also, the introduction of the evil company working on *SPOILERS!!!* biological warfare was a bit much.  I mean, yeah, I could see an evil corporation torturing a teenager to get at her parent(s), but the CEO being involved reminded me of some campy cartoon villain.  "If it wasn't for those darn kids..."  I felt like things were wrapped up far too neatly at the end, with no true consequences (everyone lives and the bad guys are punished adequately, plus Cady gets the guy).  I did think that the reason Cady blocked everything out made complete sense though.  Overall, the plot was well drawn, the mystery was interesting and it was fairly decent in execution.  I just felt like there was some sloppiness near the end and that it became a little bit of a caricature of itself.

 

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Netgalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is June 11th, 2013.*

W.A.R....What Is It Good For?

Expected Publication:  July 2nd, 2013
This Is W.A.R.
By: Lisa Roecker & Laura Roecker
Soho Teen
ISBN-13:  9781616952617

This is W.A.R. begins with a victim who can no longer speak for herself, and whose murder blossoms into a call-to-arms.  Enter four very different girls, four very different motives to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan, and only one rule to start: Destroy James Gregory and his family at any cost.  Willa's initials spell the secret rallying cry that spurs the foursome to pool their considerable resources and deliver their particular brand of vigilante justice.  Innocence is lost, battles are won—and the pursuit of the truth ultimately threatens to destroy them all.

Review

 

     Everyone knows that James Gregory murdered Willa Ames-Rowan, but no one is willing to speak out against the most powerful family in town.  Those who go against the Gregorys tend to disappear or have bad things happen to them.  But Willa's best friends have had enough and are determined to exact justice for themselves, if the police won't take any real action.  Rose wants to help because she regrets not letting herself really be Willa's friend and also, she is feeling guilty from lying to her police detective Father about what she happened to see.  Rose joins forces with Lina, Sloane, and Madge to punish who they believe to be guilty - but when the truth is exposed what decision is truly the one to honor Willa's memory? 

     I feel like this one was a mixed bag for me personally as a reader.  I actually had originally thought this book sounded like a modern interpretation of An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.  It seemed like more of a cross between that book, the Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard and with a hint of John Tucker Must Die.  The beginning gives the last moments of Willa as she is being drowned and then cuts to Rose's narration of the aftermath (for some reason Rose's voice reminded me of the unnamed second wife in Rebecca - in the best way possible) scene at the exclusive Club they all frequent.  Rose's point of view caught me the most because she was completely on the fringes, with only a slight connection to Willa.  Her Mom is a club employee and her Dad is a cop.  But her interactions with the other girls made her my favorite character by far.  Lina is a complicated, tattooed girl with no one who cares about her, except for her friends.  Madge, Willa's stepsister, is the most vengeful and zealous of all the girls when it comes to waging W.A.R. and avenging Willa's murder.  Her intensity and overall bitchiness for a major portion of the novel kept me waffling as to whether or not I liked her character.  Sloane is basically the stereotypical smart Asian girl, except she got there by faking it and cheating in school.  Willa was the only person who believed in her enough to help her try to do things the right way.

     Plot in this novel starts out intriguing and full of wonderful ambiguity, but quickly devolves into something more teen 'movie of the week-esque.'    The girls' revenge ideas for James and his demented brother Trip are juvenile at best and completely ridiculous at worst.  They have $75,000 at their disposal and the best they can come up with is hormone therapy, nude picture scandals, and stealing Cartier watches to auction on eBay.  And they naively seem to think that these things are enough 'bad behavior' for the brothers to be disinherited based on a morality clause in their Grandfather's will.  Yeah, whatever!  I could barely suspend my disbelief on that part.  Also, a lot of the girls' plotting sessions, interactions with each other and thought patterns were extremely shallow and didn't move too far past the clichéd 'killing for the money' trope.  Some of the conversations between James, Trip and their Grandfather (any combo thereof) were pretty chilling though.  It was entirely predictable, but had a very nice tone to most of the novel.  My only real confusion was over the ending.  I won't give any details, but suffice it to say that the prose was beautiful, but nonsensical in relation to the plot (at least in my opinion).  The characters were decently developed, but my favorite was a tie between Lina (who was a truly good person) and Rose, who was completely loyal to the girls who became her friends.  Sloane's emphasized stupidity really bothered me though.  It's like the authors felt it necessary to emulate all the stereotypes in one fell swoop.  Overall a decent read that keeps you guessing at the details of the ending, even if you know most of it already.  This would be a good beach read for the summer, nice and relaxing with more fluff than anticipated.

 

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is July 2nd, 2013.*

Omens of Doom

Expected Publication: December 27th, 2011
On A Dark Wing
By: Jordan Dane
HarlequinTeen
ISBN-13: 9780373210411


"The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for.
And Death would be my willing teacher."


Five years ago Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s Ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death is with him because of her.

Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forget.

Review

   Abbey is obsessed with Nate Holden, but as her best friend Tanner likes to remind her he doesn't know she even exists.  So when Abbey goes out of town for the weekend with her Dad to their cabin to remember her Mom on what was her birthday, she doesn't think it will make much of a difference.  But she has noticed some strange things lately, these creepy ravens that have been watching her.  Also, Abbey is struggling with the guilt of knowing it was her fault that they were on the road the day of the crash that her Mom died in - oh yeah, she died too.  The only difference is that death let her go and she'd never figured out why.  Abbey is an outcast because of her Dad being an undertaker and she's considered a weirdo.  Right before she leaves town a website is posted, GoFarkYourself.com, that has cruel and explicit photoshopped pictures of her and her paralyzed best friend Tanner.  Nate is on his way to a climb of Mount Denali with his Dad and his friend Josh.  He's been waiting for this for years, but he's been having uneasy feelings and bad dreams.  He's scared something will go wrong.  Death reaches out to Abbey while posessing Nate's body so she'll trust him.  Death also longs to feel humanity once more and no longer wants to collect souls.  But posessing Nate comes at a price and that price just might be Nate's life.  Can Abbey save him before it's too late?  Are they really meant to be together or is it just a crush?  I liked this book in some ways and not at all in others.  It was really hard to relate to Abbey though, because her obsession with Nate came across as creepily unhealthy.  It was almost like that of a stalker objectifying the person they're after.  Also, she acted like a brat a lot of the time toward her Dad as if she was the only one suffering from her Mom's death.  Tanner was awesome, but I felt like Abbey took him for granted and I didn't understand what he saw in her.  I will commend her for being awesome enough not to ditch him when he became paralyzed the way his other friends did.  Nate was pretty one-dimensional and I felt like all I really knew about him was his name and that he liked mountain climbing.  I finished it because I wanted my answers and to see how it ended, not because I cared about anyone in the book all that much.  It was okay, but definitely NOT my cup of tea. 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. The expected publication of this book is December 27th, 2011.*