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.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Massie Dobbs mystery - 4th in the series

Set in 1930's England just before WWII is going to begin. Georgiana Bassington-Hope, a pioneering female war reporter who was a classmate of Maisie's at Girton College (Cambridge), asks Maisie to investigate the death of her twin brother, Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a WWI veteran and artist. The police have ruled Nick's fall from a scaffold at a Mayfair gallery before his masterpiece could be unveiled an accident, but Georgiana suspects foul play. As Maisie delves into the art world and the dead man's unusual family, we see that class divisions still abound and dangerous political undercurrents of homegrown fascism in early 1930s Britain.

Massie Dobbs books are more about psychological development versus a true mystery. A lot of this book has Dobbs evaluating her life and those around her. I enjoyed the development between her and Billie (her assistant) whose family suffers a tragedy. Dobbs suffers from a melancholy spirit and has to find if anyone can make her happy. But I love how we see an independent woman deals with society who tries to dictate what she can and can not do. I like how the author merges history with for me is an unknown time in history. I've heard her speak a couple of times and she spends a lot of time researching her books and keeping the characters as authentic as possible.

Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

First in the Jane Lawless series

After discovering a sorority sister drowned near her Alma mater, restaurateur Jane Lawless embarks on an investigation to untangle the events that led to Allison Lord's death. Because little evidence exists, the police assume Allison committed suicide; but Jane is somehow convinced that the young woman was murdered. Besides the mystery we see the many issues such as fundamentalism, homosexuality, bigotry and psychological that torment the characters. Jane is herself a lesbian but while she observes various behaviors the issue is never brought up except with her good friend, Cordelia Thorn. Cordelia is really the more interesting of the 2 as she is an actress and loves food. We find out that Jane's partner died several years ago and she has isolated herself off and is trying to find her back.

It was an interesting story and it was kind of refreshing to read a lesbian story that didn't focus so much on the sex but rather the relationships. I'm intrigued enough to want to read more books that feature Jane Lawless.

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

First in the series, this book comprises of 110 sections was originally serialized in the Scotsman. We follow the lives of residents of an Edinburgh boarding house. We're first introduced to Pat, 21, who is on her second "gap year" (her first yearlong break from her studies was such a flop she refuses to discuss it). She is employed at a minor art gallery and newly settled at the eponymous address, where she admires vain flatmate Bruce and befriends neighbor Domenica. A low-level mystery develops about a possibly valuable painting that Pat discovers, proceeds to lose and then finds in the unlikely possession of Ian Rankin, whose bestselling mysteries celebrate the dark side of Edinburgh just as Smith's explore the (mostly) sunny side. The possibility of romance, the ongoing ups and downs of the large, well-drawn cast of characters, the intricate plot and the way Smith nimbly jumps from situation to situation and POV to POV.

I can see how this was written as a serial as each section has a bit of an ending with a bit of a cliffhanger so you want to read the next installment to find out what happened next. I love all of McCall Smith's works and enjoyed this as much as his other series. I listened to this on CD in the car and it was something I looked forward to every day while driving. I'm so glad that there are more out there to read.

City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

It is February 1940, San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up, and the cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice--whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic.

I've read quite a few reviews so was excited to read it. I enjoyed a lot of it but did feel that I was given too much information about the main character. She's a PI who used to be a callgirl who used to be a nurse in the Spanish war. We just kept getting more layers that it almost overwhelmed the story for me. But she's a tough cookie, she drinks with the boys and doesn't give up when she gets beaten up. Plus she is out to find the answers no one wants to even ask the questions for.

Interesting storyline and characters and the ending was done well. I'll look for the sequel.

Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

In 2004, cartoonist Marchetto, a hyperstylish was busy capturing "fabulista" humor, in the New Yorker and Glamour. She was engaged to a fabulous guy, perennially cool restaurateur Silvano Marchetto, whose personal style perfectly matched her Manhattan-centric life. Just weeks before their "secret" wedding she found a lump in her breast shortly. Telling Silvano was bad enough but having to tell him that she didn't have health insurance was even worse. She was convinced he would leave her but his only concern was that she be ok, the rest would take care of themselves.

Cancer Vixen tells the story of what happens next, and how her inner circle— stylists, gossip columnists, shoe designers and assorted others you'd only find in New York City, rallies round to help her beat the disease and get married on time and in high style. Marchetto wears her best high heels to chemotherapy and remarks on the similarities between her hospital gown and Diane von Furstenberg designs.

I didn't expect to have such an emotional reaction as I did reading this story. It reminded me of Sex and the City but dealt with more serious issues. I really enjoyed it but found it informative as well. And learned never, never, never let your insurance lasp!

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, lives in the quiet English village in the 1950s. Flavia is the youngest of 3 girls who live with their widowed father. Their mother died just after Flavia was born. She spends much of time in her laboratory working with chemicals as well as is preoccupied with retaliating against her lofty older sisters. She is sneaking around after hours when she overhears a rude, redheaded stranger arguing with her eccentric father, a philatelic devotee.

Equally adept at quoting 18th-century works, listening at keyholes and picking locks, Flavia learns that her father, Colonel de Luce, may be involved in the suicide of his long-ago schoolmaster and the theft of a priceless stamp. The sudden expiration of the stranger in a cucumber bed brings for the mystery of who the man is and why he died there. She uses her local library and her connections with the other villagers, but when her father is arrested for murder she must prove who did it.

I really wanted to like it but just felt annoyed by how precocious and prickly Flavia is. It wasn't until the final chapters of the book that I even started to like her and enjoy the book. And that was because she got herself kidnapped and started to show she wasn't perfect.

There is a sequel and I may read it down the road but it will be awhile.

Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver

Features Lincoln Rhyme & Detective Amelia Sachs and introduces Kathryn Dance an investigator from the California Bureau of Investigation who is an expert interrogator and uses kinetics to spot lies witnesses and suspects present.

At first what seems to be 2 separate cases eventually intertwine in didn't see it coming moment. Sachs is investigating her first case solo in which a businessman supposedly commits suicide. But how does a man with a broken thumb tie a noose to hang himself? While Rhyme is investigating a serial killer who calls himself the watchmaker. But like an onion you keep pealing back the layers to find an even more complicated storyline.

I wanted to read this as I was curious about Kathryn Dance who is introduced in this book. But I wasn't disappointed either as it was a complicated yet intriguing story. I really liked how everything tied together in the end and it felt believable.

Body on the Beach by Simon Brett

Carole Seddon, a fiftyish divorcee late of the Home Office, has settled in a small town of Fethering, content to live a sensible, orderly retirement. But two events conspire to disrupt Carole's rigid routine: the arrival of an alarmingly casual new neighbor who insists on being called, merely, "Jude"; and the discovery of a dead middle-aged male on the Fethering beach.

When Carole informs the police about the body, they dismiss her as a menopausal hysteric; after all, their subsequent search of the area yielded no trace of evidence. But when a haggard, drug-deranged woman appears at Carole's door with a gun, demanding to know if Carole located a knife on the body, Carole realizes that the corpse had been moved just before the police search. The situation gets more dyre when a local teenage boy is found washed up on the beach, it's Jude who convinces Carole that the two deaths are somehow connected and deserving of the two neighbors' full attention.

We learn a lot about Carole's mundaine government working life but while hints of a more exotic life for Jude we really learn very little about her.  It's interesting as her character seems open but she won't even give out her last name.

I really enjoy Simon Brett and know that I read this many years ago but enjoyed it very much.  Yet more books to read now.

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
 Latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series
 The story starts out with the kidnapping of her cousin, Vinnie, who's being held for ransom in the high six figures. As Stephanie, sidekick Lula, and office manager Connie soon realize, Vincent Plum Bail Bonds is seriously in the red due to Vinnie's gambling. Vinnie's also gotten caught up with local mobster Bobby Sunflower in a complicated scheme. Even though her sleazy cousin isn't her favorite person and chasing oddball felons isn't her ideal career, Stephanie knows family loyalty counts for something, plus she owes him for giving her a job all those years ago. So with Lula and Connie in tow--and romantic interests Morelli and Ranger lurking in the background Stephanie is causing hauvic once again.

For me this book fizzled rather than sizzled.  I was disappointed.  There were some comedic moments but honestly I think she just needs to go with either Morelli or Ranger and just ride it out!  It seems that the last few books have her skipping back and forth.   I'll continue to read this series but I hope the next one has a bit more fun in it.  It just felt flat to me.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley
To win the hand of the lovely Ramona Flowers, he must defeat her seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends in video-game style battles.  This time out, he's got to fight the handsome twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi who are even more awesome than Scott himself. More importantly, now that he and Ramona are cohabiting, they face danger from the jealousies and insecurities of couple hood.  Scott and Ramona both carry emotional baggage from their previous relationships. Scott cheated on one or more of his ex-girlfriends, who have names like Envy and Knives. As we know Ramona has several ex-boyfriends but dated the twins at the same time! 

The ending is rather bittersweet as Ramona just kind of pops out of existence.  It leaves you wondering how this will resolve. There is more mature feel to this series now as we see Scott become more of an adult especially with his relationships.  There is still that teen angst but thankfully not so prevalent.  A movie version of this series has been released but I think I'll wait until it comes out on cable or DVD.

Winter Widow by Charlene Weir

San Francisco policewoman Susan Donovan moves to Hampstead, Kans., when she marries the small city's police chief, Dan Wren, only to become a widow within six weeks. Shocked and enraged, Susan gets herself appointed Hampstead's temporary police chief and vows to find Dan's killer. When a reporter, daughter of the area's leading family, is strangled while investigating Dan's death, the mayor responds to local pressure and threatens to fire outsider Susan before more citizens die. She wins a five-day reprieve but must survive various assaults, from humans and animals, before she can solve the cases.

I had read a later book in the series and her backstory intrigued me so I finally read the first in the series.  Coming from the midwest you get a real feel of the cold isolation that the open plains are. She has to deal with a small town mentality where men run the show.  Much of the story is her internalizing the situation and trying to deal with the grief she is feeling.  Not bad for a first book.