Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg

First book in a new series aimed at teenage girls, DC comics recruited novelist Castellucci (Boy Proof, 2004, and The Queen of Cool, 2005) to write this story about outsiders who come together, calling up themes from the author's popular YA novels.

Relocated to suburbia after a brush with disaster in the big city (aka Metro City) Jane and her family relocate to Suburbia. She has changed her entire phsical image down to coloring and cutting her hair drastically, interestingly enough both of her parents are hair dressers so can get jobs anywhere! We learn through the novel that Jane was close to a bomb that explouded leaving a mysterious man in a coma. She would visit him daily in the hospital, sharing her inner most thoughts and worries. Fueled by a notebook she found from a man she takes it with her and continues his diary so to speak.

She finds the urge not to be terrified of the world as a result, Jane rallies a small group of outcasts (all named some form or spelling of Jane) into a team of "art terrorists," called P.L.A.I.N. -- People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. Shaking the high school and town from its conservative complacency by putting bubbles in the city fountain and wrapping objects on the street as Christmas packages. Their activities end up rallying the local teenagers to their cause and working the adults into a dither. The book has its share of stereotypes--popular barbie dolls, droll drauma queen, the science geek, the psychotically overprotective mother, the irrepressible gay teen and the seemingly uninterested, distant boy who she is of course attracted to.

This book has been getting a lot of positive reviews hence why I wanted to read it but it felt rather flat and safe to me. After reading such fabulous graphic novels featuring rebel teens in "Ghost World" I was disappointed. I was discussing it with a friend of mine and we both agreed that it was for those who fear graphic novels so this helps them feel like now here is something not too risque. Too bad as it had a good premise.

Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart

Mary Grey is enjoying her day off by taking in the local tourist sights near her new home. She has recently left her native Canada to return to Northumberland where her great-grand parents had been born. Suddenly a young man confronts her, calling her Annabel and insisting that she is his cousin who disappeared eight years earlier. Mary manages to convince him of her identity but soon finds herself embroiled in a plot to impersonate the missing Annabel in her family home, Whitescar.

Gradually it becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seems, everyone there seems to have a secret, her Grandfather has not disclosed who will inherit the family farm, 'cousin' Con has not revealed the depths of his ambition, the missing Annabel left behind secrets when she fled, even the estate itself has been keeping things hidden. Eventually all is revealed with the usual Stewart flair for drama and romance.

I have always enjoyed a good Mary Stewart novel and this one did not disappoint. She is most well-known for her Merlin & other middle ages fantasy. But she wrote a lot of suspenseful romantic fiction in the 1950's & 1970's. She really does make you read and re-read passages as so much description and in this case clues to the ending are all there right for you. Stewart is able to write such intense characters but not so it feels cliched.

Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Spanning across 25 years, the story begins when newlyweds Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli emigrate to Cambridge, Mass., in 1968, where Ashima immediately gives birth to a son, Gogol. A pet name that becomes permanent when his formal name, traditionally bestowed by the maternal grandmother, is posted in a letter from India, but lost in transit. Ashoke becomes a professor of engineering, but Ashima has a harder time assimilating, unwilling to give up her ties to India.

There are several small scenes dealing with Gogol as a young child to a teen becoming ashamed of his Indian heritage and his unusual name. He sheds his embarrassing name as he moves on to college at Yale and graduate school at Columbia, legally changing it to Nikhil. In one of the most telling chapters, Gogol moves into the home of a family of wealthy Manhattan WASPs and is initiated into a lifestyle idealized in Ralph Lauren ads. After the death of Gogol's father interrupts this interlude, we see Gogol's attitude toward his mother and his culture change and he learns to embrace it. The story then move ahead a year, quickly moving Gogol into marriage, divorce and his role as a dutiful if a bit guilt-stricken son.

I liked this book more than I thought I would as it deals with so much guilt, taking one's family for granted and missed opportunities. Both Gogol and his mother evolve into better people because of life's struggles.

The book was made into a movie with the same name in 2006.

Blind Spot by Terri Persons

Female FBI agent, Bernadette Saint Clare, has the power to see through the eyes of a serial killer as he goes about his killing sprees. She's been kicked around field offices all over the United States and her latest assignment is in St. Paul. Hoping that her unusual vision and strange ability will be more welcome than they usually are to both her bosses and her fellow agents. She immediately draws a case involving bodies bound with unusual knots and each missing a right hand. A ring found at one of the sites leads her into the eyes of the killer, but his identity and motives remain unclear.

Because Bernadette makes wrong choices, I found myself wanting to shake her and say "it's him you idiot" as the author gives us almost too much information and not enough for the character to really develope herself.

Honestly I thought it was ok, but not as good as some of the reviews have been. It is an interesting concept but has been done before.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Thirty-three-year-old Jane Hayes, who has a fairly serious addiction to the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice, inherits a trip to Pembrook Park, Kent, England, the location of a resort where guests dress, talk, think, and act in ways that Jane Austen would approve. Refusing to lie about her age, even on vacation in a place right out of Austen's England, Jane finds herself quickly overcoming the obsession with Mr. Darcy that may very well have jeopardized her 13 "relationships" over the years. Left to walk in last to dinner, mildly obsessed with one of the hotel's gardeners, and annoyed by another guest's overeager attempts to bag a man, Jane is eager to return to Manhattan. Then she decides to give it all one more chance, since Great-Aunt Carolyn did see fit to pay for the entire vacation.

Very enjoyable read, I've read a few of Hales children's and YA novels so it was fun to see how she writes for adults. You can really see her love for Jane Austen.

White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz
Book 2 in the Arcane Society series - though this is set in contemporary times while book 1, Second Sight, is set in late Victorian era.

Clare Lancaster is a Level Ten para-sensitive – and a “human lie detector” and a member of the modern day Arcane Society. Over the years she has come to accept that someone with her extraordinary talent is doomed to have relationship issues. Clare has even been rejected as “unmatchable” by the Society’s matchmaking agency, arcanematch.com To her frustration she has ben applying to the Jones & Jones, a pyschic detective agency, and continually turned down for a job. In a way, Clare’s whole life has been a lie. Now, however, she has just met the half sister and family whom she never knew until seven months ago.

Her father summons her from California to play a role in his business empire. Clare rejects the offer. But after meeting Jake Salter, Archer Lancaster’s “financial consultant”, she is convinced that things aren’t what they seem. Salter’s careful conversation seems to walk a delicate line between truth and deception. Something sparks and sizzles between them – something more than the usual electricity between a man and a woman. Jake Salter is also a Level Ten para-sensitive with some dangerous psychic talents of his own. He, too, has been declared “unmatchable” by the Society’s matchmakers.

This one heats up pretty quickly as Clare and Jake are immediately attracted to one another and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where that is heading. The storyline flows fast as there is a murder within the first few chapters, Clare discovering the body, and several attempts on both Clare & Jake's life. The story leaves it open ended for continuation of the series. I've read quite a bit of Krentz and under her two of pseudonyms "Amanda Quick" and "Jayne Castle" and really enjoy her paranormal romances the best.

Butchers Hill by Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out the shingle as a P.I.-for-hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Her first client is Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalizing his car, just sprung from jail. He wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime for his own peace of mind, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses she locates start dying. Is the "Butcher of Butchers Hill" as it again? Or is there another, even more sinister force at work?

She reluctantly accepts a 2nd case of a woman looking for her sister. Tess quickly finds out that there is no sister and the woman she is looking for is the woman's real idenity. Passing the test she is then assigned to find out what happened to a daughter she gave up for adoption 13 years before. Both cases overlap as Tess tries to discover the truth buried under all the lies.

This novel was inspired by a real-life Baltimore homicide, the story of a man who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who had thrown rocks at his car. I find myself really liking this character with each book. We see how she is developing into herself. Lots of plot twists and I found myself wondering who was really the bad guy here.

Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Meet Isabel Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors—but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Isabel. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman, tail a Spellman, dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Isabel is the middle child, David her perfect old brother and Rae the 11 year her senior accidental 3rd Spellman. David became a lawyer to escape the madness of the family business, Rae embarrasses it. While Isabel, the rebel child, whether drinking too much or using drugs or always going for the wrong boyfriend she can't find her way.

So when Isabel's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Isabel's new boyfriend), that is the final straw. Isabel decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there is a hitch: She must take one last job before they'll let her go. The final job? A fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person's case. But when a disappearance occurs far closer to home, Isabel's final job becomes the most important case of her life.

This was a greatly entertaining novel. I really liked all the characters and you can't help but sympathize with Isabel who knows she lives in a crazy life but can't do anything else. From reading the author's notes it appears we may seem more adventures of the Spellman. But this can definitely stand on it's own and left me very satisified.

Good Behavior by Donald Westlake

While escaping from a robbery attempt, Dortmunder falls through the roof of a convent. The cloistered nuns take this as a sign from heaven and tell Dortmunder (by writing notes) that they will not turn him in if he helps to return Sister Mary Grace to their convent. Sister Mary Grace is a young nun who is being kept in a tower apartment by her millionaire father, who is trying to deprogram her, but she is firm in her commitment to remain a nun. She is able to smuggle out the details of the high-rise's security system to Dortmunder, and the big escape plan begins.

Of course nothing really goes as planed as with most of Dortmunder's plans. He brings in the usual cast of characters to help him by promising them the king of heists. First he has to find a company that isn't quite on the up and up. He makes a deal with J.C. Taylor who owns several companies in one office. She gets a fee upfront and lets them use her office and shipping department to send out the stolen goods that will be sold to various fences. They can steal what can be mailed out of one of the shipping dept. Meanwhile why they are stealing various good Dortmunder goes to rescue the nun. In typical "nothing goes quite right" Dortmunder fashion. He gets off on the floor below the top floor and finds himself involved with a rebel group about to go and take a South American county. He manages to get himself rescued by the nun but is found hiding in a dishwasher. The gang at first decides to leave Dortmunder on his own but then come up with their own plan to rescue him. The police are brought in to arrest the rebels but unfortunately are doing a search to look for any other stolen goods hence backing the gang into a corner. A hilarious scene in which the nuns are brought in and all the guys dress up like nuns to escape.

I alway laugh when I read a Dortmunder novel and I managed to miss this one. So I'm glad that I went back to catch up on this one.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Sequel to Case Histories. Jackson Brodie returns, following his girlfriend, Julia the actress, to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. He manages to fall into all kinds of trouble, starting with witnessing a brutal attack by "Honda Man" on another man stuck in a traffic jam. Another witness is Martin Canning, better known as Alex Blake, the writer. Martin is a shy, withdrawn, timid sort who, in a moment of unlikely action, flings a satchel at the attacker and spins him around, away from his victim. Gloria Hatter, wife of Graham, a millionaire property developer who is about to have all his secrets uncovered, is standing in a nearby queue with a friend when the attack takes place. There is nastiness afoot, and everyone is involved. Nothing is coincidental.

Through a labyrinthine plot which is hard to follow because the points of view are constantly changing, the real story is played out, complete with Russians, false and mistaken identities, dead bodies, betrayals, and all manner of violent encounters. Jackson gets pulled in to the investigation by Louise Monroe, a police detective and mother of an errant 14-year-old. Atkinson is good at keeping all the storylines straight as they cross and weave into a very complicated plot and an ending I didn't see coming. I almost did not read this book as I didn't care for Case Histories but I found myself wanting to know more about Jackson and how it might end.

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller

White-haired, leprechaun-size Kiki Strike is a new student at Atalanta School in New York City when she meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein, the narrator of Miller's debut novel. Together they begin a detailed exploration of the Shadow City, the subterranean rooms and streets under New York's subway system, and Kiki recruits a team of other precocious 12-year-olds, whose skills include hacking, chemistry, lock picking, forging, making handmade explosives, and mechanical engineering, to join them. Ananka, the team's urban archaeologist, will supply her family's extensive library and learn everything about rats, the current Shadow City inhabitants. As the girls try to obtain layered maps of New York City's infrastructure, they fear that terrorists with the same goals are putting the city in terrible danger. The peripheral plotline about a nefarious, exiled princess of Pokrovia, who is a fellow Atalanta School student makes the story flow.

The end of each chapter gives us tips from Ananka on topics such as "How to Be a Master of Disguise" and "How to Foil a Kidnapping" and many more. This book was great fun. I found the story fresh and exciting and I didn't want it to end. I liked how it didn't try to make everything take place in a week. The book actually takes place over 2-3 years. We see the characters develop and evolve into very interesting girls. I'm hoping we'll get to know more about the other girls as we only really get to know the most about Ananka (since she narrates) and Kiki. This reminds me of Aretemis Fowl but for girls.

Witch way to murder: an Ophelia and Abby mystery / by Shirley Damsgaard

Thirty something Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days--along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie--in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift--harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it--threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange--yet devastatingly attractive--man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.

Ophelia is a great character, so intent on not getting hurt again that the walls she's built inside have kept her from really knowing people, like her coworker Darci. Ophelia's past is slowly revealed throughout the course of the book, so readers learn why she is the way she is, just as she herself does. Abby is another good character, content in who she is and not caring what other people think. Rick, with his incessant questions is annoying at first, but grew on me as a character once his true reason for being in town was revealed. The magick that Abby (and Ophelia to a lesser extent) perform is very believable, as is Ophelia's struggle to accept her gifts and her past. The mystery itself is a bit darker than in most cozy mysteries, but pretty easy to figure out, since it's obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are. It will be interesting to see future books with these characters.

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain

America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by a nosy college roommate-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.

This book is the story of the real Nancy Drew. Taking 10 cases, it explores her life from the 1920's to 1992. As the times change, so does Nancy's life. But she still finds herself caught up in mysteries that often involve other famous teen sleuths like Frank and Joe Hardy, Judy Bolton, and Encyclopedia Brown. And they are quite eye opening for all concerned. Make no mistake about it, this book is intended for adults and not kids. There are lots of adult themes, and no halos are left intact.

The author nailed that part when she has Nancy talk about how we the readers never want to seem these characters grow up or change. On the other hand, I found the cameos by other teen sleuths (and there seems to be at least one every chapter) quite fun. Obviously, the more you know about them, the more you'll enjoy the references. Since I've read a lot of children's mystery series from the 1940's on I enjoyed having these cameos. Of course, some come out looking better then others. The storylines of each chapter are quite fun as they find Nancy in various points of history.

This is a fun read for those who loved reading mysteries from Nancy Drew to Encyclopedia Brown. It will make you laugh and feel nostalgic.

Deja Dead by Kathleen Reichs

Dr. Temperance Brennan is a fortyish American forensic anthropologist from the South, who is working in French-speaking Montreal. A recovering alcoholic, she is divorced, mother of a college-age daughter, troubled--and incredibly good at what she does. In a tight story heavily interspersed with fascinating scenarios of Montreal, Temperance (called "Tempe") is called upon to autopsy a young female victim of a pathologically gruesome murder.

When an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern within the grisly handiwork -- and her professional detachment gives way to a harrowing search for a killer in the city's winding streets. With little help from the police, Tempe calls on her expertise, honed in the isolated intensity of the autopsy suite, to investigate on her own. But her determined chase is about to place those closest to her -- her best friend and her daughter -- in mortal danger....

I'm a big fan of the show Bones - based on this series. So I was curious to see how they compared. Very differently but interesting to compare. It was interesing how the book is from the 1st person point of view but often I felt left out on why she was reacting or feeling they way she was. So I'm interested to see if Tempe's character is further developed.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus (Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth) when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train.

The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison. But there he also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. He also is introduced to an elephant named Rosie.

The book jumps from the present and him remembering the past. It has a mixture of extremely graphic violence and a dreamlike vision of his life in the circus. Then you are slammed back into his reality of living in a glamorized nursing home, alone with only his memories.

I liked how his life was summed up but did not find the ending believable but appreciated the romantic notion it gave. She has an interesting voice that makes you want to know what happens.

Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
It is England, 1915. 17 year Alexandra Fox lives a privileged life in Brighton. Her elder brothers are both of age for the war, one wants to be a soldier and the other a doctor and does not want to fight. Their disapproving father is a doctor but only sees the honor his sons must bring to the family by fighting the war. Alexandra wants to become a nurse but discovers she has a terrible gift. She can see the future. Her premonitions show her brutal horrors on the battlefields of the Somme, corpse worms crawling over the faces of soldiers soon to die. And worse, they show her what will happen to Edgar and Tom.

Like the Prophetess Cassandra, who witnessed a different war on the plains of Troy, Alexandra is trapped by her tragic power. Cursed by a fate too awful to bear - for who wants to see the end of their own story...? Alexandra's story leads her to the French battlefields, and the road to High Wood, pursued all the while by a mysterious vision of a raven, mocking and taunting her.

Interestingly told as the chapters count down from 101 to 1, leading more to the countdown to doom. It is told from the point of view of Alexandra as her dreams and visions show her the death of soldiers and eventually her brothers. Unable to help her brother Edgar she is determined to save Tom. So she goes as a volunteer nurse to France and the front. In France, she meets a soldier like herself who can see the deaths of those around him. Together they search for Tom. But will she be able to save Tom or is his fate already decided?

This read very fast and was an interesting twist on the typical teen historical novels. I would read more by him.

Strangers in Paradise: High School! by Terry Moore
Francine and Katchoo have always been a study in contrasts. Francine is soft, chubby, and flighty, prone to fits of giddiness and a constant worrier. Katchoo is hard, lean, and dangerous, prone to fits of violence, and constantly vigilant. That these two should be best friends baffles, until you delve into their high school years.

For Francine, torture came in the forms of being a klutz, always being the odd one out, being the starry-eyed romantic when she's just a chubby girl on the fringe. Francine has a family who loves her, a mother who feeds her whenever something goes wrong, a father who spends an awful lot of time at the office, and a brother more interested in college life than his little sister.
Katchoo, on the other hand, is a self-declared outcast. She smokes, she rides a motorcycle, she is just as likely to punch you as to acknowledge you, and generally has no use for the people serving the same four-year term at puncture high. But where Francine's family provides (in their own way) comfort when the chips are down, Katchoo's family is likely to be the reason the chips are down.

Maybe it's not so surprising that these two girls find one another, and take solace in beig outcasts together.

I have heard about Moore's series but never read any before. So now I need to figure out how to read them and start from the first volume.

Charm City by Laura Lippman

Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski is trying to bring pro basketball back to town, and everybody's rooting fro him -- until a devastating, muckraking expose of his lurid past appears on the front page of the Baltimore Beacon-Light. It's a surprise even to the Blight's editors, who thought they'd killed the piece. Instead, the piece killed Wink -- who's found in his garage with the car running.

Now the paper wants to nail the unknown computer hacker who planted the lethal story, and the assignment is right up the alley of a former newshound like Tess. But it doesn't take long for her to discover deeper, darker secrets, and to realize that this situation is really more about whacking than hacking.

We see more development of her relationship with several characters including her parents. We see more of Uncle Spike (who may not even be related to anyone) who has been found beaten to a pulp in his bar, leaving him in a coma. He left Tess his very bow-beaten greyhound who she finds herself nursing back to health.

The mystery is kind of not the most important thing as the person who ended up doing was kind of far fetched and I didn't see it coming. But I find myself wanting to know more about Tess and her friends and family. So I'll keep reading the next one.

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
This is a "between-the-numbers" Stephanie Plum novel. Stephanie already has two guys in her life (cop Joe Morelli and bounty hunter Ranger), reconnects with Diesel, a third heartthrob. Diesel offers Stephanie a deal: if he lets her find Annie Hart, a relationship coach who's become a big-ticket bond on Stephanie's Most Wanted List after fleeing a charge for a robbery she didn't commit, then Stephanie can do Annie a big favor by playing Cupid for a number of Annie's lovelorn clients, including a shy butcher, a desperate vet, an overworked single mom, a 30-something virgin and the marriage-phobic fellow who just happens to be Stephanie's pregnant sister's boyfriend. Diesel and Stephanie's short but sweet adventure ends on a teasing note that will leave fans hungry for the next juicy Plum-a-thon.

More of a novela than a full fledged novel it is still packed with laugh-out-loud moments. I felt kind of let down by the ending but it's no more a cliff-hanger than the previous books. So we'll see what comes out this summer. If Diesel is still around or left behind.

Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams (Myths, The)
by Alexander McCall Smith

A contemporary, lyrical retelling of the ancient tale of Angus, Celtic god of dreams and love. This is the latest entry in Canongate's Myth series, featuring such literary notables as Margaret Atwood, Chinua Achebe, and Karen Armstrong.

Angus is the son of chief Celtic god Dagda and Boann, a water nymph. Soon after his birth, the infant is snatched up by his formidable father and delivered to Dagda's other son, Midir, to be raised. Too young to know better, Angus assumes his brother is his father. The clever boy soon learns the truth and plays a trick on his self-absorbed dad. Alongside this playful plot, McCall Smith weaves modern-day yarns in which well-intentioned (and often devious) Angus transforms troubled lives: he remedies a newlywed couple's rocky start; bonds two beloved Scottish brothers, soon to be separated by thousands of miles; and quietly intercedes to prevent a father and son from coming to blows.

This was very different than previous novels by Smith. It felt kind of disjointed yet not at the same time. I've read most of his other series and I liked how this had a different voice. I cannot exactly say it was my favorite but it was good. I don't know how he finds time to write all that he does.