Book Review: Missing You by Harlan Coben

Missing You by Harlan Coben


Summary:
It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart—and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most vulnerable.

As the body count mounts and Kat's hope for a second chance with Jeff grows more and more elusive, she is consumed by an investigation that challenges her feelings about everyone she ever loved—her former fiancé, her mother, and even her father, whose cruel murder so long ago has never been fully explained. With lives on the line, including her own, Kat must venture deeper into the darkness than she ever has before, and discover if she has the strength to survive what she finds there.

Review:
This is the first Harlan Coben novel I've read and I understand that he is wildly popular. However, I was disappointed in this book.

I did like the main character, Kat, and I enjoyed the mystery of the book. But there were a great many characters and subplots in the book as well. I could see how they all eventually came together and I do enjoy that in a novel. Still, Missing You took a long time to really get going. It felt like the first half of the book was spent setting up the various plots and subplots, and introducing characters, to the point where I would have put it down if it hadn't been for the author's reputation.

The second half of the book moved way more quickly and was way more suspenseful.

Overall, there was something disjointed about the book. It had a good premise, but the descriptions were repetitive and it was hard to get in to.

Whiteout by Ken Follet

Book: Whiteout by Ken Follet, 2005 by Signet, 405 pages.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
As a Christmas Eve blizzard whips out of the north, several people converge on a remote family house. As the storm worsens, the emotional sparks-jealousies, distrust, sexual attraction, rivalries-crackle, desperate secrets are revealed, hidden traitors and unexpected heroes emerge.

My Thoughts:
This is the first book I've read by Ken Follett and I found it to be an easy read full of action and suspense. I really enjoyed parts of the book, the science and technology seemed well researched and authentic and the stakes kept getting higher and higher. There is international espionage and intimate betrayals.

The timeline on the book was so tight that it keeps you reading. The story takes place on Christmas Eve and day after a high tech lab is robbed and the culprits find themselves at the owner's family home.

Toni was a fun character - I love her self reliance and abilities, that she takes responsibility and can take care of herself. She is almost too tough to be true, but that is also part of the fun.

I thought the romantic tension between Toni and her boss, Stephen Oxenford, a bit off, it didn't quite work for me.

Overall, this was a fun, tense, packed book and, though I enjoyed reading it, I didn't love it.

Bedtime Story by Robert J. Wiersema

Book:  Bedtime Story by Robert J. Wiersema, 2010 by Random House Canada, 448 pages.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Following his bestselling debut, Before I Wake, Robert J. Wiersema returns with this exquisitely plotted blend of supernatural thriller and domestic drama.

For novelist Christopher Knox, getting up early every morning to write isn’t bringing him the sense of fulfillment it once did. It’s been ten years since his first novel was published, to some acclaim, and he’s hit a wall in trying to write his next. His marriage to Jacqui isn’t doing much better, and it’s been months since he’s slept anywhere but his office above the detached garage.

The part of Chris’s life that is going well, and brings him easy joy, is his relationship with his eleven-year-old son, David. While Chris may not make it to all of his son’s ball games, their nightly ritual of reading together at bedtime not only helps David overcome his struggles with reading, but is a calm within the storm for them both, when their days are so full of challenges. And what better way for a novelist to connect with his child than through their mutual love of books, and a bedtime story routine as unwavering as Chris’s love for his son.

When Chris comes across a book by one of his favourite childhood authors in a local used bookstore, he knows it will be the perfect gift for David’s birthday. To the Four Directions is not one Chris has read before, but he knows that Lazarus Took’s adventurous, magical stories of young heroes and other realms would be just the thing for David, as they were for him. David is less than thrilled to receive a book he’s never heard of before, however – he’d been hoping for The Lord of the Rings – and Jacqui is quick to see it as yet another sign of Chris’s detachment from David’s life.

But once they start reading the novel together, David is completely enthralled, to the extent that he truly cannot put the book down. The story, of a young peasant boy who is plucked from his home by castle guards and sent on a quest for a mysterious Sunstone, makes David feel like he is right there, in the action. Even after his parents have to take the book away from him, he can’t help but sneak it back to his room. As David is reading alone that night, he suffers an inexplicable seizure and falls into a state of unconsciousness. Doctors perform a barrage of tests, but cannot determine what’s wrong. And as David’s seizure recurs every night, his father learns that only one thing will calm it: being read to from his strange new book.

True to his nature, as someone with an inherent belief in the power of words, Chris becomes convinced that the secret of David’s collapse lies within the pages of To the Four Directions. After failed attempts to find out more about Lazarus Took from his estate, Chris traverses the continent in search of the truth. Meanwhile, David wakes up within the story he has been reading – as the boy he has been reading about – and finds himself facing perils unimaginable, in a world that he soon realizes was created to capture the hearts and souls of children like him. Because he’s not alone as he takes over the hunt for the Sunstone, but accompanied by those boys who have come before him. And as the quests of father and son lead them toward a fateful collision of worlds, David realizes that while he’s not the first to fall victim to the book’s horrific spell, perhaps he can prove himself strong enough to be the last.

My Thoughts:
What a great book!  There was something so different about this one, with its book within a book set up, as well as the mystery and fantasy, that I could hardly put this one down.  The story was cleverly designed and executed.

The relationships in this book are realistic and compelling.   I really felt for Chris, a struggling writer in the middle of a marriage that is breaking down and a tenuous relationship with his son, David.  He finds that he connects with his son by reading to him at night and when he finds a previously unknown book by his favorite childhood author, To the Four Directions, Chris is eager to read it to his reluctant son.

But then David has seizures and goes into a strange unconscious state.  His father figures out that he has actually gone into the book and will stop at nothing to save his son.

Then there is the great fantasy and magic.  I love the imagination of literally drawing people into a book.  I also happen to love young adult fantasy so enjoyed the To the Four Directions book that was told within the overall book.

I recommend this book if you are looking for something different and easy to read.  

Book Review: Brightwing by Sullivan Lee

Book:  Brightwing by Sullivan Lee, 2011, adult crime/romance.

Source: From the author.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Brightwing:  A Criminal Love Story

Edgar and Mallory Battle are on the run after a spectacularly violent escape. Now, with a trail of bodies behind them, they need a hostage against the inevitable standoff with the police. Their first doesn't last long, thanks to sociopathic Mallory. Edgar has been hiding his brother's crimes since they were kids. Now he's torn between family loyalty and self-preservation.

They carjack Lucy Brightwing, a criminal fresh from her own heist, with a fortune of uncut gems hidden in her vehicle. She could escape - but she won't abandon her millions. She could kill the Battle brothers, but she has to be careful. For one thing, if the law investigates, they'll find her ill-gotten loot. For another, her own life is sacred. She's the last member of a Florida paleoindian tribe thought to be extinct - the Tequesta. With her share of the money she plans to buy, bribe and blackmail her way into her own ancestral tribal lands in the heart of the Everglades: a Tequesta nation.

Lucy leads the brothers into her beloved swamp, determined to kill them. But when she falls for Edgar she must decide whether to risk her heritage and the future of her tribe to save the doomed brothers.

My Thoughts: 
This book was not what I was expecting, the crime is more of a backdrop than the point of the story, which is the developing relationships and the love story between Lucy and Edgar.  And I would call this a love story and not a typical romance.

The book starts off very exciting and grabs your attention right away.  This is a tough-talking, almost macho book, but with a light edge.  The criminals are hard and brutal at times, but also have their own kind of concious.

Book Review: The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry

Book:  The Dragon Factory (Joe Ledger #2) by Jonathan Maberry, St. Martin's Griffin, 2010, 486 pages.

Source:  Library.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Joe Ledger and the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) go up against two competing groups of geneticists.  One side is creating exotic transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenary armies; the other is using 21st century technology to continue the Nazi Master Race program begun by Josef Mengele.  Both sides want to see the DMS destroyed, and they've drawn first blood.  Neither side is prepared for Joe Ledger as he leads Echo Team to war under a black flag.

My Thoughts:
Joe Ledger returns in this fast paced, exciting second installment in the Joe Ledger series.  Maberry is a master of timing, creating tension, and gruesome imagination.  He has a way with first sentences, and The Dragon Factory is no exception:

Otto Wirths was the second-worst mass murderer in the history of the world.  Compared to him Hitler, Stalin, Attila the Hun, and even Alexander the Great were amateurs, poseurs who could not hold a candle to Otto and his body count. (p. 1)

There are so many things to grab attention here - it is hard to imagine worse mass murderers than Hitler, and this Otto guy is only the second-worst.  Who was the worst?  This sets us up for some scary characters.

The other thing that happens in this prologue is that we learn that things don't go well, that Joe will be on his own, injured with limited weapons, the Extinction Clock is just about to run out, but that he is still ready to fight to save humanity.  The rest of the book is told with the ticking of the Extinction Clock counting down like a time bomb and we know that it will come down to the wire.  This is great writing.

Dragon Factory is written in a hard hitting, macho style of writing that is perfectly suited to Joe Ledger, a member of the secret government agency, Department of Military Sciences.  This group saves the world from the worst of the terrorist threats without the world even knowing the threat exists.

Joe is an interesting character, tougher than tough, smart, strong, and yet human at the same time.  He struggles in his own mind about the things he has to do to beat the bad guys, how he has to become a warrior, though the civilized man in him is horrified.  Several of the other characters, especially Grace and Rudy Sanchez really humanize Joe.

There are so many creepy and horrible threats in this book, from the top two mass murderers ever in the world whose plan is so awful that it is hard to wrap the mind around it, to the creepy twins, and the horrors of using science for evil ends.  This is another area where Maberry excels, it is clear that he has done a lot of research on genetics and eugenics to add a layer of possibility to the story.

Finally, there is also the very interesting explorations about good vs. evil and nature vs. nurture.  I love it when books tackle big issues like these as I think it adds another dimension to the book.

I would highly recommend this book (or series for that matter) to those who like action, adventure, horror books. Be warned, though, these books are pretty violent and graphic.

Book Review: Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Book:  Patient Zero (Joe Ledger #1) by Jonathan Maberry, St. Martin's Press, 2009.  Zombie, thriller, suspense novel.  421 pages.
Source: library.

Wow, what a book - full of excitement, zombies, intrigue, fighting, betrayals, twists and turns!  And all of this done with a very human element.

Joe Ledger is a tough as they come, highly skilled cop who finds himself having to kill the same terrorist twice in one week.  This leads him to join the Department of Military Science, an ultra secret government agency designed to deal with a new breed of biological weapons, weapons which effectively turn people into zombies and threaten the whole of humanity.  Joe Ledger and his comrades need to stop the outbreak as well as find out who is doing this - is it a terrorist plot?  And, if so, who could be organized and skilled enough to pull this off?

I have to say that I am not one for gory novels, so I was not anxious to read this novel at first; however, I read Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin not long ago (see review here), and felt compelled to read more books by him.  For those who like vivid, descriptive zombie attacks and action scenes, you won't be disappointed.  This novel is very macho, tough talking, and moves along quickly with lots of intrigue.  There is scientific and military conspiracies, post 9/11 terrorist plots, super secret government organizations, romance, and so much tension that the book is hard to put down.  Joe Ledger is beyond tough - you can feel the testosterone oozing out of every pore of this guy.

Probably my favourite thing about Patient Zero is that it is more than a zombie book - there is a very human element.  Joe Ledger and his friends don't just kill zombies, we see the full impact on them as people who do what they know is right even though they know it will leave a mark on them, contaminating them forever.  One of Joe's friends is Rudy, a psychiatrist, and this allows Joe to talk and be vulnerable in the wake of what he has to do.  There is a great dichotomy set up here and this really made the book for me.

The story is told in an interesting way, alternating between the first person narrative of Joe and the third person narrative of some of the other characters.  This even alternated from the present time to the past at times to fill in the details of how the situation developed.  I think this was done effectively, though it did jar me occasionally to go from third person to first person.

It is obvious that the author did a lot of research as all of the science described sounded plausible, as do the  descriptions of terrorist cells and how they work, as well as how the American and British governments have reacted to terrorism. I enjoyed suspending reality so that zombies could be real in a present day scenario rather than in a dystopian future.

The next in the series is Dragon Factory, and the third, The King of Plagues, has recently been released.  I am anxious to read them to see what is next for Joe Ledger.

Book Review: Red Snow by Michael Slade

Book:  Red Snow by Michael Slade, Penguin Group, 2010.

I am going to attend the Shuswap Writers' Festival in Salmon Arm, BC at the end of May and am so excited that I thought I would try to read a book from each of the authors attending, or at least as many as I can before the festival starts.  That is why I chose to read Red Snow, quite honestly a book I probably would never have read otherwise.

Summary:
Red Snow takes place in December before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, BC.   Psycho killer, Mephisto, has a score to settle with RCMP detachment Special X in general and Chief Superintendent Robert DeClercq in particular.  He also has a grudge against most of the world, thinking it overpopulated.  Mephisto sets out to cause havoc, fear, and mass murder before the Winter Olympics start, while security is not as tight as it will be for the events themselves. 

My Thoughts:
As a resident of BC, I found Michael Slade's views on the 2010 Winter Olympics interesting - he certainly does not shy away from presenting his views on the politics, spending, money grabbing and general craziness that surrounds the Olympic Games. 

Michael Slade does an incredible amount of research on many topics for this book and is obviously quite knowledgeable about any history he presents.  I found most of this history interesting and relevant, but sometimes it was not very relevant.

There were a huge amount of characters in this novel and I quite frequently found myself confused about who people were.  Sometimes it felt like each chapter was about a new character and their point of view.  Many of these characters were obviously from previous novels and Slade spent a lot of time filling in details of their past and back story.  This, combined with the long passages of history, in some ways, slowed down the novel.

In other ways, the novel moved very quickly.  When there was action, it was fast, detailed and vividly gory.  There was a high body count with sickeningly horrible scenes of death described in creative detail.

Overall, though this book was not for me, I could appreciate Slade's creativity, interesting plot twists, and ability to create a truly horrible psycho killer against the realistic backdrop of the 2010 Olympic Games and real events, politics and scenarios of the time.  In the end, though, the horrible deaths and "blood and guts" were just not for me.  If you like gory suspense thrillers with abrupt language and lots of machismo, then this book may be for you.