The Snowman

From Goodreads:

Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.
Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.
Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.
Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time

My Review: This book blew me away. I first read it on recommendation from Unfinished Person. I have to admit that I hate reading a series out of order but I did not know that it was a seris until I looked it up online. Plus it is what my library had as an ebook. I looked it up and my library has the physical books of the whole series so you know what I am going to read when I get back to Ohio.

Anyways There is this serial killer loose and Harry Hole is trying to catch him. The killer leaves a snowman in front of the house that he plans to abduct and to kill the woman. (I will never look at a snowman the same again). The snowman is symbolic as you will find out when you read the story.Harry Hole and his team go to great lengths to catch the killer which is Norway's first serial killer.  The twist and turns are such that you will never guess who the killer is before Harry does.  There are some books that proclaim themselves thriller and mystery but this one blows all other books out of the water. Nesbo even makes the Milimum Trilogy look tame.

The reader will find themselves connecting with Harry as he hunts down the killer. You will feel his frustrations and triumphs. There will be times when you think you figured out the killer only to find that it was not the killer at all.

I hesitate to say this is a stand a lone novel because there is some back story that if you haven't read all the books in order you will be left out. You can read it alone but u will miss some of the nuance of the story. I recommend reading the series in order.

This is a book (series) that I recommend everyone to read. You will not be disappointed.

On Her Own

From GoodReads:Barbara Zook was devastated when her husband David was killed. Will she be able to raise their four young boys and manage her beloved David's harness store on her own? When harness maker Paul Hilty arrives in Webster County, Missouri, he finds himself agreeing to help run Barbara's shop. Things are going fairly well until widower Bishop John Frey comes a-courting Barbara, and Paul's jealousy takes everyone by surprise. Will Paul try to beat out the competition or end up hightailing it back to Pennsylvania? Will Barbara marry for love or be forced to enter into a marriage of convenience?

My Review: This is a romance set in the Amish Community and with a Christian bent.

I felt sorry for Barbara  when a much older bishop started trying to court her. I did not blame her for resisting his advances. I also got mad when he stated that he wanted her so she could give him more kids. The whole thing reeked of being taken advantage of. Like all things in this kind of book though things worked out. The bishop decided he liked a woman his own age better and so ended up with her. Barbra who resisted Paul (who was her own age) advances. All she wants to do is raise her kids and work in her harness shop.

She is weak from giving birth so she accepts Paul’s help. The book goes on about how he tries to win her heart and how both wrestle with their feelings for each other then finally they end up together.

I have to admit. I felt like whacking Barbara over the head and telling her to spill her guts to Paul. I mean what's the worst that can happen? Then again I am not Amish so maybe I am missing something here. Maybe in Amish culture a woman cant be as forward with a man. While reading I did get frustrated. Other than that the book was ok. If you like romance and/or Christian books you will like this book.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

From Goodreads:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Review: This book is soooooo good! At first while you are reading it it builds up to the final climax and what a climax it is. It gives the story about Karou and how she goes to art classes and what she does with her everyday friends.

The plot is believable. I could connect with the characters and feel empathy toward them. I felt like I was walking down the street of Prague with Karou. I felt that I was her best friend and that she was sharing her life with me. At first it seems to be an ordinary life expect for the part where she works for otherworldly creatures.

Karou often wonders where she came from but no one will tell her. The reader is left wondering this also. It seems she has no parents as she was raised by a creature by the name of Brimstone. She tries to find out more about herself and what Brimstone does and what he needs with all of the teeth that he collects.

Then she meets an angel who is not like the traditional angel but rather a species from another world and she is left wondering more than ever who she is.

The reader knows no more than Karou does. It is not until the end of the book that we find out the whole truth. I cant say more than that as I don’t want to spoil the plot but when I read the last page I was like noooooooo I have to WAIT until the next book comes out?! It wont come out until November but this is one book I will be preordering.

This is a book that has something for everybody. Mystery, romance and intrigue and I am sure we all wonder where we come from and who we are at some point. So don’t miss out, read this book!

It’s Monday What are You Reading

                                

This week I have discovered Jo Nesbo. I first heard of him through Unfinished Person.  Lets just say not since I discovered Anne Rice have I fallen in love with an author. I went online and checked my library e books and found his two latest novels. I devoured The Snowman. I am now reading The Leopard. 

I I have to admit I do not like to read books out of order. When I return from my vacation I will go to the library and get all of his books and read them all in order.

The Right Guard

This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads:

Over one million military weapons and equipment are missing from the U.S. military inventories across the country. Who is stealing the weapons and why? CIA operative Eric Brent, and his revolutionary light weapon invention, is used by CIA to flush out a secretive, "phantom" group hostile to a wildly spending, intrusive U.S. Administration that threatens to destroy the American economy and shrink individual freedoms.
Hamlet takes you through the twists and turns of the secretive world of intelligence as the undercover assignment goes astray. Eric exposes a far-reaching and well-planned movement and an event that could alter the United States forever. Strained loyalties arise as the "phantom" group appeals to Eric and his superiors. At the height of his infiltration, a former lover, Jill, reenters his life and places them both in danger. Loyal forces within the intelligence community struggle to learn who is involved and organize counter-moves yet stay undetected. Each question ends in surprise as personal and professional conflicts for Eric arise. He is forced to reach back into his high-ranking father’s Nazi Germany past... to solicit help.
The year is 1978, yet The Right Guard resembles the present state of the political and economic climate of the U.S. and a possible, eerie scenario and outcome.
The Right Guard is an exercise in gripping, fast-paced realism that keeps the reader mesmerized through the eyes of those who live in the intelligence world.

My Review: I have to admit it took me longer to get into this book than usual. The laying out of the story felt tedious and the newspaper clippings that head each chapter drew me out of the story. I know it was to add realism to the story but it did the opposite to me.

What gained my interest is when the story started moving along and when the love interest between Eric and Jill started heating up. Most love interests to me feel forced but this one felt authentic given the circumstances.  There is one thing about danger and love that really gets me. I don’t want to give any plot points away but I kind of wish that it was more fleshed out.

The second half of the book when things start really moving along is a fascinating look into the intelligence life. It was interesting to see how Eric penetrated the Right Guard and how he lived undercover. I kept expecting him to get his cover blown but it does not happen. Witch in this case is a good thing.

Even though the book is set in the 70’s it does not feel dated at all. It feels like something that can happen today.  Actually while reading the book the scenes were so real that I felt that with todays political climate maybe it could happen soon. Or maybe something like this did happen but we the public is unaware of it. That’s how well the author wrote this story.

I fell in love with Jill when she first appeared in the story. I felt like whatever she did is something that I would have done were I in her shoes. I also loved Eric. As I have stated before it was fascinating reading how he worked and I was so happy when he and Jill got together.

If you like reading about political stuff and suspense and thrillers then you will enjoy this book.

The Sunday Salon

This past week has been seen glorious summer weather so I set up the deck stuff yesterday. Of course it dropped ten degrees when I did so. Oh well, that’s how it goes right?

Last week I finished reading The Right Guard. I liked it ok. A full review will be up tomorrow. So check back.

Today I am going to start with Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He wrote the book Flow and I am interested in learning his theories about creativity. Maybe it will help me tap into my own creativity more.

Today is going to spent outside reading. While I am far from my goal of reading a book a day, I have to admit that I do enjoy having all this free time to read and blog.

I have gotten into Scandinavian Crime Fiction. I think it is one of my favorite genres now. Do you Have any recommendations of books that I should read?

Happy Sunday everyone! What are you reading today

Taste Of Salt

From Goodreads:Josie Henderson loves the water and is fulfilled by her position as the only senior-level black scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In building this impressive life for herself, she has tried to shed the one thing she cannot: her family back in landlocked Cleveland. Her adored brother, Tick, was her childhood ally as they watched their drinking father push away all the love that his wife and children were trying to give him. Now Tick himself has been coming apart and demands to be heard.
Weaving four voices into a beautiful tapestry, Southgate charts the lives of the Hendersons from the parents’ first charmed meeting to Josie’s realization that the ways of the human heart are more complex than anything seen under a microscope

 

My Review: I admit that I picked up this book because it has Cleveland Ohio as a setting. I live near there so I was curious how the author would describe it and incorporate it into the story.

The city is like a character in the story. The author describes it spot on. The two main themes of this book is alcoholism and adultery.

The plot is authentic and believable. The characters draw you in and while they are messing up their lives you still root for them because you want everything to turn out OK. While I like happy endings as much as the next person, I also like authentic endings. In real life a sistuation does not always lead to a perfect resolved ending. This is the case for this book. It ends like such a situation would happen in real life.

The writing itself was beautiful. The rich detailed settings makes you feel as if you are really there. You can almost smell the ocean and see the streets of Cleveland while reading this book.