White Heat by Brenda Novak

Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop shared one night of sex six months ago and it did not end well. Now they are being paired up as their roles of private investigators in Department 6 to investigate a religious cult/commune and the disappearance of one of its members. It sounds like a piece of cake assignment for Rachel, until she finds out that she will have to infiltrate the cult by posing as Nate's wife; and since she still has feelings for Nate, she will find this assignment a challenge.

Most of the novel is the almost lack of sizzle between these two as they try to infultrate the cult which is situated in a ghost town called Paradise. The cult is run by Ethan is is quickly established as a sociopath who lives off other's grief and drugs and sex. Honestly how this cult kept it together let alone how Ethan managed to keep these people in the cult I have no idea. He spends more time having sex or doing drugs than actually interacting with anyone. The only interesting twist was the gay relationship he started with his henchman.

It read quick but really had little sexual tension or substance to the story. I know that there are 2 others in the series but really have no interest in read them.

120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors

Translated from Swedish, well known Swedish comicbook writer and rapper Simon Gärdenfors descides to go on an adventure and sublets his apartment for 120 days. He then posts on his website to get people to sponsor him for a maximum of 2 days. Simon gave himself only two rules: he couldn't return to his apartment and he couldn't spend more than two nights at the same place. Based on the responses he makes his map of where in Sweden he will go.

He scrupulously keeps a road diary and relies on his cell phone to keep in touch with friends and the love of his life. This of course doesn't stop him from having sex with anyone who will let him. He spends more time thinking about but it's still kind of shocking to see it done by a cartoon.

As all good things, they must eventually come to an end. He's had a great summer of alcohol, sex and adventures. Not everything went well as some of the previous girls he slept with are not happy with him and keep calling. So he spends a great deal of time avoiding them. He is way too casual about unprotected sex and not really caring about their age either. The book is kind of deceiving as it looks so cute and charlie brown like but it's way more adult than that.

So I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I found the premise interesting so that is why I wanted to read it. I was a bit disgusted by how casual Simon treats sex while touting his love of another woman.

Tricked by Alex Robinson

A new graphic novel that follows the paths of six characters who weave around one another, all finally meeting in the story's violent climax. The six are Ray Beam, a blocked and exhausted rock star; Nick, a small-time grifter; Phoebe, a daughter in search of her father; Steve, the very worst kind of music fan; Lily, a young girl drawn into Ray's artistic drama; and Caprice, a self-defeating waitress.

Again Robinson makes the characters real and believable. I think my favorite characters was Caprice, the waitress. Probably because she is a larger woman like myself. But I found her interaction much more believable than the relations between Ray Beam and Lily. The sections on Steve really terrifying and difficult to read. Robinson made it even more scary by making the text hard to read as it got more out of focus and scribbly.

I had just finished Box Office Poison a few weeks ago and enjoyed the more condensed storyline that focused on these 6 people whose lives are intertwined by a situation that hasn't happened yet. To keep the supsense going the chapters go from 49-1 almost like a countdown to the conclusion. But he really has a way of writing a story that is gritty but intriguing at the same time.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

Grieving the loss of his fiancee ,Stormie, killed during the climax the previous novel. Odd Thomas returns a year older later, now 21 he feels almost ancient and more rueful than ever about his gift for seeing ghosts. Elvis is still around and seems more morose than ever.

Early one morning Odd is awakened by Dr. Wilbur Jessup who appears in his pajamas. Instantly Odd knows that Dr. Jessup is dead and goes to investigate and finds the physician brutally murdered and Danny missing. Dr. Jessup is the stepfather of Danny who is Odd's best friend. Odd tracks Danny and his abductors to an abandoned casino-hotel, closed by an earthquake that killed dozens five years ago.

Quickly Odd discovers that it's a trap. Danny is bait to draw Odd to Datura, a spookily self-absorbed, wealthy porn entrepreneur and New Age nut, who, obsessed with violent death, wants Odd to make ghosts visible to her. He can't, but there are eight ghosts in the casino, one of whom comes in handy when Odd escapes Datura and her two gorillas, rescues and hides Danny, and engages in the protracted, lethal game of cat-and-mouse that changes everything for Odd.

I'm intrigued by how Koontz is developing the Odd Thomas storyline and curious to see how the future books develop.

Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson

Although the story is about an entire group of people, story of Sherman, Dorothy, Ed, Stephen, Jane, and Mr. Flavor it focuses on friends Sherman and Ed. Sherman is just out of college, wants to be a writer, but for now works in a bookstore as a clerk. He moves in with Stephen and Jane at the beginning of the story and we see his relationships develop and revolve around the apartment and the bookstore.

The shy and insecure Ed wants to become a cartoonist. Ed's storyline focuses more on him trying to gain some confidence, honesty and loyalty in the comic industry when he gets hired to work for Irving Flavor a short unhappy man who Ed discovers created one of the most successful comic book characters evermade - Nightstalker. But never got more than the $50 payoff he took 20 years previously. So Ed's mission becomes getting Mr. Flavor the reconognition and money he deserves. But as we see Mr. Flavor's history we learn that reality is very different than the stories he tells.

Most of it takes place during a year but the ending gives you a look into their futures. Robinson does a great job at making the characters look like real people (flaws and all) and has a great way of writing dialog that feels real. While this may look like a graphic novel it is more of a visual approach to fiction as it is presented in chapters.

Hide by Lisa Gardner

Follow-up to the book, Alone. Bobby Dodge, once a sniper for the Massachusetts State Police and now a police detective, gets called to a horrific crime scene in the middle of the night by fellow detective and ex-lover D.D. Warren. An underground chamber has been discovered on the property of a former Boston mental hospital containing six small naked mummified female bodies in clear garbage bags. A silver locket with one of the corpses, which may be decades old, bears the name Annabelle Granger.

Most of the story follows an unnamed woman who has been on the run for over 20 years. We eventually discover that she is Annabelle Grander. When she decides to go report to Boston Homicide offices it causes quite the stir. Especially since she physically resemblances to Catherine Gagnon (whose life Bobby saved in Alone). There is instant chemistry between Bobby and Annabelle which leads to complications.

It takes about half the book to discover that Annabelle isn't the only one who has reinvented herself. I did enjoy the background research that the first half of the book focuses on. I found Annabelle's character much more believable and enjoyed this suspensful book. Also I did not figure out who the bad guy was and was shocked when it was revealed. I did get annoyed at the end as I find Gardner seems to love to dwell on human suffering a bit too much.

But it was a good weekend or vacation read.

Colorado Kid by Stephen King

Fresh out of journalism school, Stephanie McCann is an intern at a weekly newspaper in an obscure corner off the coast of Maine. She is writing homey features and reporting on trivial stories, but she rather enjoys it. Then a big-city reporter comes to town to gather stories about "unsolved mysteries." The paper's owner and the managing editor send him away unsatisfied, and then tell Stephanie the only real unsolved mystery on the island.

Years earlier, two high school sweethearts found a dead body on the beach. There was no identification, and only a few items found with the body gave any hope of telling where he was from. Eventually it is revealed that they found out the man was from Colorado, which led to the identification of the body. The actual resolution to the mystery never comes, as the point of the story is to only share the mystery of it and how no one wants to read an incomplete story. hmmm... almost feels like a dig there by King.

I read this as I'm enjoying the SyFy show Haven that is based on this story. I had no idea how losely based as the TV show really has nothing about the story. I did enjoy the story as it's really an oral storytelling by two oldtimers who are sharing their love of the mystery with a newcomer who at heart is one of them. I have to say I enjoy King's novelas best as he has a way of capturing the situation and making one feel like you are a part of the story.

Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine

Betty Weissman is 75 when Joseph, her husband of 48 years, announces he's divorcing her. Soon, Betty moves out of their grand Central Park West apartment and Joseph's conniving girlfriend, Felicity, moves in. Thanks to Cousin Lou, Betty has a place to escape in a rundown Westport, Conn., beach cottage. But things quickly get more complicated when Betty's daughters run into their own problems. Literary agent Miranda is sued into bankruptcy after it's revealed that some of her authors made up their lurid memoirs, and Annie, drowning in debt, can no longer afford her apartment. Once they relocate to Westport, both girls fall in love—Annie rather awkwardly with the brother of her stepfather's paramour, and Miranda with a younger actor who has a young son.

This is a lovely story of heartache and family loyalty. The conversations between Betty and her daughters are ripe with prior resentments as well as trying to be supportive of such a shocking life change. My favorite parts were the dinner parties at Cousin Lou in which his father-in-law is suffering from Alzheimer's and doesn't know where he lives. This seems like it would be sad but honestly I laughed as he is really ok where he is but has no idea of who anyone is. He keeps asking who the man with the comb over is that keeps talking to him. What makes this funny is the person he is talking about is his daughter who has a hairdoo that rivals cotton candy. This is just one example of the wonderful conversations that take place in this story.

I would not call this chiclit but rather a lovely summer read for any age.

Faking it by Jennifer Crusie

Matilda "Tilda" Goodnight, whose chance encounter in a closet with cute con man/thief Davy Dempsey leads to madcap mayhem and breathless romance. He's trying to steal back the money he filched from Clea Lewis, ex-girlfriend (and possible husband killer), who had taken it right back. Tilda just wants her last "Scarlet" painting, which Clea has bought to impress Mason Phipps, her rich art-obsessed beau. It's the last of six forgeries Tilda did for Tony, her now deceased gallery-owner dad, and Tilda is determined to preserve her newly squeaky-clean reputation.

The whole Goodnight clan and supporting cast are entertainingly loopy. There's Tilda's mother, Gwen; her sister, Eve/Louise, a split-personality teacher/diva; her gay ex-brother-in-law, Andrew; and her precocious teenage niece, Nadine. Add a host of shady characters and would-be hitmen, and the breezy plot thickens and puffs up like the light airy doughnuts all Goodnight women are attracted to but eventually forsake for muffins: "Muffins are for the long haul and they always taste good. They don't have that oh-my-God-I-have-to-have-that thing that the doughnuts have going for them, but you still want them the next morning."

Crusie is known for her complicated romantic plots and this is no exception but more complicated than I remember. But it made for a nice weekend read. She writes comedy well and adds a nice blend of romance that is believable. Her characters are interesting and made me want to finish the story.