I'm back to J.D. Robb. It feels like I've been reading her forever but I still have not finished her series. This one was pretty good. I think I like the later ones. I know I like it better when she figures out who done it but by actually "working the case" instead of just coming to the conclusion without any evidence to support it, like some of the earlier books I've blogged about before.
A police woman has been killed. She was the girlfriend of the coroner, Morris, a friend of Eve's. Eve and Peabody are working the case. They interview the other cops in the victim's squad but can't figure out how someone got into her apartment complex and why she was leaving with her guns on when she was killed.
Eve and Peabody uncover a connection between the victim and the son of a killer Eve convicted awhile ago. He has a connection to both Eve and Roarke and wants the worst for them, however, he's in jail. His son dated the murdered cop but would he kill his lover for his father?
In the midst of the case, there is a bridal shower for Louise at Eve's house. The shower is every woman's dream. Count me in if I am ever lucky enough to be invited to a gig like that. Ahhhh, the fantasy........
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Black Tower by Louis Bayard
I can't remember how long it's been since I've said I love historical fiction so I will say it now. I simply adore historical fiction. I have read so many books on Englands history, especially regarding Henry VIII but I have read very little about France and their royalty. After reading this book I want to know more and more.
There is a diary from an earlier time before a 10 year old boy, Louis XVII was put to death. The boy was very ill and a doctor who was hired to take care of the boy became very fond of the boy and tried as hard as he could to take care of the boy. The boy was eventually hung, or was he? There is speculation that the boy was removed and another boy hung in his place.
Fast forward to the current time of the book, not the current times but a time after Napolean's rule and a time when the prior families rule has been restored. A death has occurred and the famous detective Vidocq is investigating the death and working with a Doctor Carpentier who's name was found on the victims body.
Is there proof that Louis XVII is still alive? Why are people dying who knew Dr. Carpentier's father? If the father knew something, why didn't he tell his son or his wife? If they find him, what will the current ruler do? Will he give up his throne for his nephew?
Vidocq and Carpentier work diligently on discovering answers to all these questions and they finally think they have all the answers but do they really? Or has someone duped them again?
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was suspenseful but not so much so that I couldn't function otherwise. There was a lot of material here that would have leant itself to that kind of breathless suspense but the author did not take advantage of it. I still loved it and I can't wait to do some research to find out the real story of the family and times after Napolean's rule.
There is a diary from an earlier time before a 10 year old boy, Louis XVII was put to death. The boy was very ill and a doctor who was hired to take care of the boy became very fond of the boy and tried as hard as he could to take care of the boy. The boy was eventually hung, or was he? There is speculation that the boy was removed and another boy hung in his place.
Fast forward to the current time of the book, not the current times but a time after Napolean's rule and a time when the prior families rule has been restored. A death has occurred and the famous detective Vidocq is investigating the death and working with a Doctor Carpentier who's name was found on the victims body.
Is there proof that Louis XVII is still alive? Why are people dying who knew Dr. Carpentier's father? If the father knew something, why didn't he tell his son or his wife? If they find him, what will the current ruler do? Will he give up his throne for his nephew?
Vidocq and Carpentier work diligently on discovering answers to all these questions and they finally think they have all the answers but do they really? Or has someone duped them again?
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was suspenseful but not so much so that I couldn't function otherwise. There was a lot of material here that would have leant itself to that kind of breathless suspense but the author did not take advantage of it. I still loved it and I can't wait to do some research to find out the real story of the family and times after Napolean's rule.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
Temperence Brennan starts out telling a story about a childhood friend she spends time with in summers. Once summer the friend disappeared and the family would not tell Tempe where the girl went and Tempe's young attempt at trying to locate her friend came up with nothing.
Flash forward to current time and Tempe is flying to Montreal to work in her office there. She ends up working with several young girls and begins a long voyage into trying to find out what brought these young girls to her table. The voyage causes her to stumble over clues to her long missing friend.
Tempe's colorful sister Harrie comes to visit. Her ex gets engaged and Ryan goes back to his ex. Lots of stress in Tempe's life.
Tempe and Ryan end up finding out there is a very bad person out there who is getting young girls into pornography and possibly killing them. They just don't know who it is and suspect the husband of Tempe's long lost friend's sister. No one will tell Tempe where here lost friend is and what happened to her years ago. Is she the body of a girl who winds up on her autopsy table and did her brother in law kill her back when? The long lost friends mother worked at a hospital that helped people with leprosy years ago and leprosy is very contagious. There is a mystery surrounding the old friends mother's death. Could it have been leprosy?
I enjoy Kathy Reich's books. I learn a lot about different illnesses and medical terms. It's probably not for everyone and I don't rush to read more but I do like them. I will read more.
Flash forward to current time and Tempe is flying to Montreal to work in her office there. She ends up working with several young girls and begins a long voyage into trying to find out what brought these young girls to her table. The voyage causes her to stumble over clues to her long missing friend.
Tempe's colorful sister Harrie comes to visit. Her ex gets engaged and Ryan goes back to his ex. Lots of stress in Tempe's life.
Tempe and Ryan end up finding out there is a very bad person out there who is getting young girls into pornography and possibly killing them. They just don't know who it is and suspect the husband of Tempe's long lost friend's sister. No one will tell Tempe where here lost friend is and what happened to her years ago. Is she the body of a girl who winds up on her autopsy table and did her brother in law kill her back when? The long lost friends mother worked at a hospital that helped people with leprosy years ago and leprosy is very contagious. There is a mystery surrounding the old friends mother's death. Could it have been leprosy?
I enjoy Kathy Reich's books. I learn a lot about different illnesses and medical terms. It's probably not for everyone and I don't rush to read more but I do like them. I will read more.
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs
Temperence Brennan is in South Carolina staying in a friends house at the beach and helping out the local coroner's office. A mysterious body shows up and Tempe is thrust into a full fledge investigation. The deaths are very different and the victims are very different kinds of people. So why are they are turning up dead? There is a retired police officer, a girl who is connected to the mob, and a homeless person all dead by different causes.
Tempe's husband, who she has been separated from for years, shows up to work on a case and tries to woe Tempe. Shortly afterward, Ryan shows up for a visit. Can they all stay together under the same roof? Does Tempe still have feelings for her husband?
I have said it before, I like Reich's books. I don't rush to read more of her books, like the Deaver book I recently read but I do enjoy the stories. They are interesting and I must say I enjoy the science I learn from reading her books.
Tempe's husband, who she has been separated from for years, shows up to work on a case and tries to woe Tempe. Shortly afterward, Ryan shows up for a visit. Can they all stay together under the same roof? Does Tempe still have feelings for her husband?
I have said it before, I like Reich's books. I don't rush to read more of her books, like the Deaver book I recently read but I do enjoy the stories. They are interesting and I must say I enjoy the science I learn from reading her books.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Third Degree by Greg Iles
I have never read this author before but I certainly will in the future.
There is a special needs teacher who is married with two kids. She has been having an affair with her true love who just broke it off with her. Her lover's wife won't let him have a divorce without taking away custody of his kids. He can't live with that so he decides to stay with his wife even though she treats their autistic son badly.
The husband of the special needs teacher is going through some very bad things at work. He is a doctor who is being audited by Medicaid and his partner has done some creative accounting that could result in jail time and huge fines. The husband started out as an innocent party at first but a year ago asked to make more money and knowingly became more involved with Medicaid fraud.
A nurse sends the husband an email to search his house to look for a something hidden that could hurt him. The nurse wanted him to find the evidence planted against him by his partner but what he found was a letter from his wife's lover. The strain of the audit and the betrayal of his wife and the stress from a secret he's been keeping for a year sends the doctor over the edge. The day and night is soon filled with terror that will change the lives of everyone involved forever.
It didn't take long for this author to reel me in. The terror started early on and I had to read on and on to find out what happens next.
There is a special needs teacher who is married with two kids. She has been having an affair with her true love who just broke it off with her. Her lover's wife won't let him have a divorce without taking away custody of his kids. He can't live with that so he decides to stay with his wife even though she treats their autistic son badly.
The husband of the special needs teacher is going through some very bad things at work. He is a doctor who is being audited by Medicaid and his partner has done some creative accounting that could result in jail time and huge fines. The husband started out as an innocent party at first but a year ago asked to make more money and knowingly became more involved with Medicaid fraud.
A nurse sends the husband an email to search his house to look for a something hidden that could hurt him. The nurse wanted him to find the evidence planted against him by his partner but what he found was a letter from his wife's lover. The strain of the audit and the betrayal of his wife and the stress from a secret he's been keeping for a year sends the doctor over the edge. The day and night is soon filled with terror that will change the lives of everyone involved forever.
It didn't take long for this author to reel me in. The terror started early on and I had to read on and on to find out what happens next.
Puerto Vallarta
Vacationing in Mexico in August with three teenagers. I probably don't need to say anymore. It's always interesting to balance things with teens. They want to sleep while we want to do sightseeing. The entertainment can be really great though when all is going well. I wouldn't trade a minute with my family.
We arrived Saturday around 11:30 am. It was a beautiful but steamy day. Lunch at the country club. Beach. Jet ski's. Malecon. Dinner and sunset.
Sunday. Brunch at the Country Club. The best brunch I have ever had. Breakfast items and local mexican food and free drinks. It doesn't get much better. We spent the afternoon at the beach and went to La Pesche for dinner. The food was wonderful and everyone had a lovely time. Until I tried to go to bed. I was sick as a dog. Apparently the local wine had more in it than I bargained for. I later talked with a woman who had the same problem when she drank the local red wine.
Monday. I spent the day sick as a dog. Bob went Parasailing. The kids went to the beach and spent lots of time in the lobby using the internet.
Tuesday. We went on the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. It was so much better than I even imagined. Our guides were amazing and made it so much fun for everyone. The view from our ziplines was amazing. We all zipped along the usual way and all of us tried it upside down. We could not was the smiles off our face if we wanted to.
Wednesday. We spend the day at the Beach. In the evening we went to Tulum for shrimp. It was really very good but way too expensive and it was buffet and limited menu only. Not what we expected.
Thursday. We decided to rent a car because taxi's are so expensive for a family of 5. We drove to Sauyalita. It was very nice and very "mexican". Just what we were looking for. It's a very quaint town. Lot's of places to eat and drink on the beach. Great waves for surfing. Not so great for boogie boards. Aaron got hit in the head by a surf board. We went back to the condo and looked for Parasailing for Aaron and Jacquelyn. They LOVED it! For the evening we decided to go to Le Kliff for dinner and we stopped by Senior Frogs on the way. A cruise ship was in town so the place was hopping. The girls really enjoyed the entertainment. We headed to Le Kliff for dinner and sunset. The view here for the sunset is the most amazing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. On the way home it started to rain hard. Driving through downtown was a challenge becauce the water was coming down hill rapidly and forcefully. We were driving, actually floating, towards home. It was so scary!
Friday. We took a tour to Yelapa. The boat ride over to an island on the way to Yelapa to snorkel was fun. The boat crew was very funny and entertaining. The snorkeling was pretty lame but okay. Yelapa is interesting. I'm not sure it is the "MUST see" that I read about but it's pretty cool. We walked back to the water fall and that was lovely. When we walked back to the beach it started to rain and kept on raining. It was so cool in the rain and there was no place to get out of the wet. If I could have had a place to secure my camera I would have been fine and I would have just swam but as it was I stayed put to try and keep the camera dry. We were all glad to get back on the boat to go home. That evening we went to the Malecon with the girls. Aaron did not want to go. We went to Senior Frogs. We had balloons made for us. Jackie got a temporary tat of a cross on her ankle. It looks really cool and really lasts. We had dinner and drinks and a lovely time. The girls had planned on dancing but they happened to have a band that night that was playing 80's rock and roll and it wasn't very danceable.
Saturday. We chilled on Saturday for the most part. Bob and I had coffee on the deck and watched the waves and read. We let the kids sleep in while we went over to Vallarta Adventures to get the pictures taken by their photographer in Yelapa. We went to the airport to eat and bought more stuff we didn't need and some liquor in the shops. Vacation over and back to the States.
We all liked Puerto Vallarta and most of us would love to go back. There is so much to do there and the people are REALLY nice! The taxi's and drivers who tried to cheat us and the people walking the beaches trying to sell "cheap" no name tours are the only negative things we came across.
We arrived Saturday around 11:30 am. It was a beautiful but steamy day. Lunch at the country club. Beach. Jet ski's. Malecon. Dinner and sunset.
Sunday. Brunch at the Country Club. The best brunch I have ever had. Breakfast items and local mexican food and free drinks. It doesn't get much better. We spent the afternoon at the beach and went to La Pesche for dinner. The food was wonderful and everyone had a lovely time. Until I tried to go to bed. I was sick as a dog. Apparently the local wine had more in it than I bargained for. I later talked with a woman who had the same problem when she drank the local red wine.
Monday. I spent the day sick as a dog. Bob went Parasailing. The kids went to the beach and spent lots of time in the lobby using the internet.
Tuesday. We went on the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. It was so much better than I even imagined. Our guides were amazing and made it so much fun for everyone. The view from our ziplines was amazing. We all zipped along the usual way and all of us tried it upside down. We could not was the smiles off our face if we wanted to.
Wednesday. We spend the day at the Beach. In the evening we went to Tulum for shrimp. It was really very good but way too expensive and it was buffet and limited menu only. Not what we expected.
Thursday. We decided to rent a car because taxi's are so expensive for a family of 5. We drove to Sauyalita. It was very nice and very "mexican". Just what we were looking for. It's a very quaint town. Lot's of places to eat and drink on the beach. Great waves for surfing. Not so great for boogie boards. Aaron got hit in the head by a surf board. We went back to the condo and looked for Parasailing for Aaron and Jacquelyn. They LOVED it! For the evening we decided to go to Le Kliff for dinner and we stopped by Senior Frogs on the way. A cruise ship was in town so the place was hopping. The girls really enjoyed the entertainment. We headed to Le Kliff for dinner and sunset. The view here for the sunset is the most amazing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. On the way home it started to rain hard. Driving through downtown was a challenge becauce the water was coming down hill rapidly and forcefully. We were driving, actually floating, towards home. It was so scary!
Friday. We took a tour to Yelapa. The boat ride over to an island on the way to Yelapa to snorkel was fun. The boat crew was very funny and entertaining. The snorkeling was pretty lame but okay. Yelapa is interesting. I'm not sure it is the "MUST see" that I read about but it's pretty cool. We walked back to the water fall and that was lovely. When we walked back to the beach it started to rain and kept on raining. It was so cool in the rain and there was no place to get out of the wet. If I could have had a place to secure my camera I would have been fine and I would have just swam but as it was I stayed put to try and keep the camera dry. We were all glad to get back on the boat to go home. That evening we went to the Malecon with the girls. Aaron did not want to go. We went to Senior Frogs. We had balloons made for us. Jackie got a temporary tat of a cross on her ankle. It looks really cool and really lasts. We had dinner and drinks and a lovely time. The girls had planned on dancing but they happened to have a band that night that was playing 80's rock and roll and it wasn't very danceable.
Saturday. We chilled on Saturday for the most part. Bob and I had coffee on the deck and watched the waves and read. We let the kids sleep in while we went over to Vallarta Adventures to get the pictures taken by their photographer in Yelapa. We went to the airport to eat and bought more stuff we didn't need and some liquor in the shops. Vacation over and back to the States.
We all liked Puerto Vallarta and most of us would love to go back. There is so much to do there and the people are REALLY nice! The taxi's and drivers who tried to cheat us and the people walking the beaches trying to sell "cheap" no name tours are the only negative things we came across.
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm on a run lately because I have read or listened to several really good ones lately. I actually had "FUN" reading this book. It might be because most of the book is during the time the main character is a teenager and he is an obsessed and overly curious teenager. It was just like being there without all the hormones.
There is an orphan in Venice in the 1400's. He is noticed by a chef and asked to join the chef in the kitchen. It is a dream come true for the boy who has been stealing his food to survive. There is no pay but he gets room and board. The Chef is an honest and good man with amazing skills with food.
The orphan is a teen and obsessed by a girl. He just knows that if he has a love potion that he can get his dream girl to fall in love with him and all will be right. The orphan asks the chef to help him. The chef knows it's foolish but he remembers what it's like and wants to help the boy. He uses his culinary knowledge to help the orphan out. It turns out the chef has a lot of culinary secrets. The orphan isn't the only one who wants to know the chef's secrets.
The council of Venice is looking for a book that contains secrets. The orphan boy thinks his Chef knows about the book. In his quest to find the book and what the chef knows about the book the orphan becomes a man and finds out that some secrets are best kept secret and some obsessions are nothing more than that.
This is a lovely story of becoming a man and of friendship, family and sacrifice. The time in Venice is a very dark time in history where laws were made by men in power who were allowed to make laws for their personal gain and to even kill for little reason.
Here is the website for the author: http://www.ellenewmark.com/book.php I was hoping to find out about other books but alas there are none. I will check back every now and then hoping to find out about a new book.
There is an orphan in Venice in the 1400's. He is noticed by a chef and asked to join the chef in the kitchen. It is a dream come true for the boy who has been stealing his food to survive. There is no pay but he gets room and board. The Chef is an honest and good man with amazing skills with food.
The orphan is a teen and obsessed by a girl. He just knows that if he has a love potion that he can get his dream girl to fall in love with him and all will be right. The orphan asks the chef to help him. The chef knows it's foolish but he remembers what it's like and wants to help the boy. He uses his culinary knowledge to help the orphan out. It turns out the chef has a lot of culinary secrets. The orphan isn't the only one who wants to know the chef's secrets.
The council of Venice is looking for a book that contains secrets. The orphan boy thinks his Chef knows about the book. In his quest to find the book and what the chef knows about the book the orphan becomes a man and finds out that some secrets are best kept secret and some obsessions are nothing more than that.
This is a lovely story of becoming a man and of friendship, family and sacrifice. The time in Venice is a very dark time in history where laws were made by men in power who were allowed to make laws for their personal gain and to even kill for little reason.
Here is the website for the author: http://www.ellenewmark.com/book.php I was hoping to find out about other books but alas there are none. I will check back every now and then hoping to find out about a new book.
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