#74 - Black Out

Book No: 74
Title: Black Out
Author: Lisa Unger
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Published: 2008
Obtained: 2008/Shelfari
Completed: 9/15/08
No. of Pages: 358
Rating: 4/5*****

I have read and enjoyed both of Unger’s previous books Beautiful Lies and Sliver of Truth, which featured Ridley Jones. This book is a standalone and once again presents a roller coaster ride of suspense, physiological terror and string taut tension.

Annie Power’s is living a fairy tale life as the wife of a well to do businessman, Gray and mom to her beautiful daughter Victory. She has a fabulous home, cars, money live in help, and everything you could ask for. Annie Power’s however is hiding a huge secret- five years earlier her husband Gray, who is involved in private security, helped her fake her death to escape from the clutches of psychopath Marlowe Geary, a serial killer who Annie had been involved with during his killing spree. Annie remembers almost nothing of the years she spent with Marlow, suffering from disassociation and memory loss. Although her husband has assured her that Marlowe is dead, when a necklace Marlowe once gave her shows up in front of her home Annie is sure he has come back for her. As she begins to remember more and more of her past she also begins to suspect her husband is lying to her about his work and is plunged into a cat and mouse game with a corrupt police officer when she is witness to a crime. As more and more of her memories come back Annie knows that she must face her past in order to have a future.

This story had really intense pacing and made me stay up way too late at night trying to get to the end of the book. I did find the ending a bit convoluted but overall this was a non-stop ride through an unsettling landscape of some very dark and twisted characters. Read it with the lights on.

#28 - The Tunnels

Book No: 28
Title: The Tunnels
Author: Michele Gagnon
Genre: Suspense
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2008/Kindle
Completed: 4/21/08
No. of Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5*****

I seem to be on a serial killer jag.

At a small Northeast college female students have been found murdered, in the old tunnel system underneath the schools grounds. Enter FBI special agent Kelly Jones and her partner Roger Morrow, assigned to try and find the killer before he strikes again.. In addition former FBI Agent Jake Riley is now a private investigator, hired by the father of one of the victims, and Jake isn’t bound by the same rules as the FBI team.

Nicely done, very good pacing, plausible suspects and good lead characters. The banter and respect between Kelly and her partner rings true, and although there is a hint of attraction between Kelly and Jake, it doesn’t overwhelm the mystery or the suspense. I plan on reading Boneyard the next Kelly Ryan book, due this July.

#27 - A Wicked Snow

Book No:27
Title: A Wicked Snow
Author: Gregg Olson
Genre: Suspense
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2008/Kindle
Completed: 4/20/08
No. of Pages: 400
Rating: 4/5*****

Hannah Griffin is a Crime Scene Investigator in a small town in California. She is also a wife and mother, but very few people know that she is the daughter of one of the most infamous murderers in Oregon, where Hannah lived as a child. Relocating and rebuilding her life, Hannah has tried to forget the horrors of her childhood, and has done a great job, until a mysterious package is sent to her and the past comes roaring back when it appears that Hannah’s mother, long thought dead, may still be alive.

I really enjoyed this book, very tautly written and well plotted, although I have to say that the ‘present day cop-survivor of a childhood tragedy’ device is getting a little cliché. In spite of that small complaint I liked the pacing and the characters in the book, even if Hannah could get tiresome, trying to look at things from her point of view she was lucky to survive and make an almost normal life.

I did not know that the author has written true crime books prior to this, but his background comes through with his attention to detail and understanding how wicked people can be. A first rate thriller and a new author for me. I’m looking forward to getting A Cold Dark Place, the ‘teaser’ chapter at the end of this book was really tantalizing.

# 24 - The Dollmaker

Book No:24
Title: The Dollmaker
Author: Amanda Stevens
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2008/Paperbackswap
Completed: 4/13/05
No. of Pages: 376
Rating: 3/5*****

Clare and Dave’s young daughter disappeared seven years, without a trace. Dave found his solace in a bottle, leading to the end of his marriage. Claire has remarried, but that marriage is falling apart. When she sees a doll in a shop window, a doll that looks remarkably like her missing daughter, Clare turns to Dave, who is now sober and a private investigator, to find out what the dollmaker knows about their child’s disappearance.
Although the book has a good premise, and the characters of Clare, Dave and others are well developed, this book was for me neither suspenseful nor thrilling. I found it a solid read, but figured out the mystery fairly quickly and found nothing too remarkable about the book, I never felt that edge of the seat excitement I look for in books of this kind. A good, but pedestrian thriller.

#15 - Mystic River

Book No: 15
Title: Mystic River
Author: Dennis Lehane
Genre: Suspense
Published: 2002
Obtained: 2003
Completed: 3/03/08
No. of Pages: 448
Rating: 4/5*****

Three young boys from the mean streets of Boston lives are forever altered when one of them is abducted. Jimmy Marcus and Sean Devine did not get in the car with the two men who turned onto their street one day, but Dave Boyle did. Although Dave manages to escape from the pedophiles the friendship is never the same and all three men move on with their lives. Sean is now a police officer, Jimmy a reformed mobster who spends a few years in jail and changes when his wife dies while he is away, leaving him to raise their daughter Katie. Dave is married but hasn’t done much with his life, still harboring the pain of his past. All three of these men’s lives come together again when a teenaged Katie is murdered; Sean is the lead investigator, Jimmy is wracked by grief and guilt, and Dave becomes increasingly unraveled as many of his secrets become exposed.

Powerfully written with unforgettable and complex characters, this is one of the best suspense books I have read in a very long time. Each character seems so real they almost come off the page. You empathize with them; shake your head at their weaknesses but care about each one. The language is real, the situations are real and the question of morals and ethics is explored time and again. Good people do bad things; sometimes bad people can do good things, and there is a strong sense of karma throughout the book. The ‘what if’ questions of making a different turn on a given day and the consequences are explored and the scars that are left on three boys as they mature into men is examined in their day by day reactions to Katie’s death.

I have never read Lehane before, but I plan to remedy that situation. I have A Drink Before the War on my TBR and I will definitely read that one very soon.

#9 - Beautiful Lies

Book No: 9
Title: Beautiful Lies
Author: Lisa Unger
Genre: Suspense
Published: 2006
Obtained: 2008/Audible.com
Completed: 2/11/08
No. of Pages: N/A
Rating: 4/5*****

Are You My Daughter? With those four words Ridley Jones easy going, nice safe life comes crashing down all around her.

After enjoying her 15 minutes of fame for saving a toddler from certain death by taxi on a NYC street, Ridley Jones finds that there is a downside to all the publicity she receives as a hero. One of them is a picture of a man, a woman and a little girl with the mystifying question scrawled across the bottom. After thinking it is some sick joke Ridley decides to confront her parents, who reassure her that she is indeed their child. But there is a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. When Ridley meets her new neighbor, the very appealing Jake Jacobson, she tells him her story. Offering to help her find out if there is any truth to her doubts Ridley and Jake begin a roller coaster search for the truth that confronts all the Beautiful Lies we often live with without even knowing they are lies.

I enjoyed this suspense mystery very much. It was nicely paced, well written and kept me guessing until the end. I have the sequel Sliver of Truth already. A very good and entertaining read that doesn’t take the easy way out by tying everything up in a neat bow, lots of loose ends and questions remain. High recommend.

#3 - The Water's Lovely

Book No: 3
Title: The Water’s Lovely
Author: Ruth Rendell
Genre: Mystery
No. of Pages: 340
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2007
Completed: 1/20/08
Rating: 3/5*****

I have never read a book by Ruth Rendell so I was looking forward to discovering a new author. Unfortunately I did not care for this book much, and if it is indicative of the books she writes I think it would be quite a while before I would read her again. The story started well enough with one of the characters recurring dream of what appears to be a murder. However after that it became a never ending account of self serving whining people who inexplicably all seem to be connected by the most tenuous of threads. There were really only three people I cared about, and they seemed to be there only as a comparison to all the other ninnies in the book.

The plot involves Ismay and Heather, two sisters who are very close. Their stepfather died under mysterious circumstances 12 years earlier, and their mother has receded into mental illness, cared for by her sister Pam. The four women live in the family home which has been converted into two flats, with the two sets of sisters occupying one apartment each. We follow their various love lives, including a happy marriage, a disastrous love affair and some terrific views of middle aged dating, including speed dating, Internet matches etc. Most of the plot involves long winded musings, mostly by Ismay, who was the most annoying character in the book with no spine at all. I was barely into this book when I was hoping she would do something, anything except mope and ruminate on lost chances.

The coincidences that move the plot along are improbable, and almost never ending, one after the other. The book is supposed to be a suspense tale, but read at times like an afternoon soap. The story just plods along, and the ending not only annoyed me, but seemed completely unnecessary. I literally threw the book down after reading the last page.

Since this author has won numerous awards, and there were many passages that I thought really well written I may give her another go, but someone would have to talk the book up a lot before I’d try another one.

Book #1 of 2008 - The Missing

I actually finished reading this a few days ago for Shelfari's Suspense & Thrillers group. This was the January read, and it appears most people enjoyed the book which was a relief for me since I recommended it. It had been on my TBR mountain for a while and I saw this as a good opportunity to try and clear out another book.

Book No: 1
Title: The Missing
Author: Chris Mooney
Genre: Thriller
Published: 2007
Obtained: 2007/Paperbackswap
Completed: 1/1/07
Rating: 3.5/5*****

This is a fast paced thriller, with many interesting characters. The major problem with the book is it is a theme that has been done before (Kiss the Girls by Patterson is one that comes straight to mind). Still and all with its short chapters, twists and turns and super creepy villain it is a well done serial killer thriller. I did figure out some of the plot twists but because I cared for the main character that wasn’t a problem at all. The ending doesn’t quite tie everything up into a neat little bow, and I liked that also!

While hanging out in the woods near their home, three teenage girls witness a murder. In their haste to escape a backpack is left behind, and soon the killer is on the trail of the witnesses, determined to leave none of them alive. Only one of the girls escapes his wrath, and we flash forward twenty years later, where Darby McCormack is now a CSI for the Boston PD. While investigating a missing girl case Darby finds a woman hiding beneath the porch of the victim's house. Soon it becomes clear to Darby that this case is leading her back to her own past encounter with a murderer.

Despite some predictable plot lines the character of Darby was so well written and I was so invested in her that I had to continue on until the end to see if she gets the bad guy. I would love to see another book featuring the intrepid Darby McCormick, and her partner Coop, I think there may be a romance in there, though that wouldn’t be necessary for me to enjoy another outing with Mr. Mooney.