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Happy Birthday: A Novel

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Happy Birthday: A Novel Review

It's been awhile since I've read a Danielle Steel book. This book sounded interesting to me because I guess I have birthdays on my mind these days. Amazing how they come around so quickly.
And the truth is Happy Birthday wasn't a horrible book (I have read worse), but it was nowhere near as good as her earlier books. Still, the book has all the elements that Steel lovers enjoy, and for summer reading, you could do a lot worse. The book moves swiftly and Steel dishes out love and pain, as usual, with a happy ending. The book wasn't as well fleshed out as other books by Steel. The characters didn't have a lot of depth and the plot could've been a lot stronger. Steel formula varies little, so there are no huge surprises or differences. If you love Steel, you'll love this book. If you've overdosed on Steel, give it a skip. If you've never read Steel before, read one of her earlier, preferably earliest, books before starting with this one. (You'll be a lot happier with any one of the first five to ten.)
I give it three stars because it wasn't terrible and was pretty much what I expected it to be.
Overall, okay read. I recommend the book to Steel fans and diehard Steel lovers. Other romance fans may prefer to pick a different book and wait for this one to come out in paperback or get it from the library.

Happy Birthday: A Novel Overview

In this beguiling new novel, Danielle Steel tells the story of three very different people, each of whom, on the same day, reaches a crucial turning point in life-a rite both bittersweet and full of hope, a time to blow out the candles, say goodbye to the past, and make a wish for the future.Valerie Wyatt is the queen of gracious living and the arbiter of taste. Since her long-ago divorce, she's worked hard to reach the pinnacle of her profession and to create a camera-ready life in her Fifth Avenue penthouse. So why is she so depressed? All the hours with her personal trainer, the careful work of New York's best hairdressers, cosmetic surgeons, and her own God-given bone structure and great looks can't fudge the truth or her lies about it: Valerie is turning sixty. Valerie's daughter, April, has no love life, no rest, and no prospect of that changing in the foreseeable future. Her popular one-of-a-kind restaurant in downtown New York, where she is chef and owner, consumes every ounce of her attention and energy. Ready or not, though, April's life is about to change, in a tumultuous transformation that begins the morning it hits her: She's thirty. And what does she have to show for it? A restaurant, no man, no kids.Jack Adams once threw a football like a guided missile. Twelve years after retiring from the NFL, he is the most charismatic sports analyst on TV, a man who has his pick of the most desirable twentysomething women. But after a particularly memorable Halloween party, Jack wakes up on his fiftieth birthday, his back thrown out of whack, feeling every year his age. A terrifying act of violence, an out-of-the-blue blessing, and two extremely unlikely love affairs soon turn lives inside out and upside down. In a novel brimming with warmth and insight, beginning on one birthday and ending on another, Valerie, April, and Jack discover that life itself can be a celebration-and that its greatest gifts are always a surprise.From the Hardcover edition.

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Best Price Hell's Corner Review

Hell's Corner

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Hell's Corner Review

Oliver Stone has led so many lives he lost count. For all the losses he has suffered there has been the gain in his friends and cohorts known as the Camel Club. A group of people that are as different they come together and make one large, right group. They solve crimes, take care of each other and never fail to have one another's back. But this latest case is one Stone has to handle on his own and no one including him is happy about it even though the President of the United States is asking for his help.
But before Stone can do his work for the President a bomb goes off across the street from the White House creating the scenario where conclusions are drawn, angles are worked and assumptions made. While everyone is running to the right the masterminds are veering to the left and keeping everyone off balance including all the alphabet agencies in Washington, DC. Stone is drafted back into the service of the government with the promise that all past indiscretions would be erased yet the problem for Stone is that his sins have been of such huge proportion he is not sure this is a statement based in fact. But Stone finds himself partnered with an MI6 agent who is as cunning as he is and keeps up even while running after him. The Camel Club goes from upset at being turned away to forcing its way into the investigation and from that moment on the determination to capture the criminal and figure out what is really going on grows to a proportion even Stone can't control.
But the agency he is now working for is throwing him off with smoke and mirrors, bodies are piling up, misconceptions abound and everyone becomes a suspect. Stone wants the nightmare to stop but for every decision he makes that draws a resolution to the case another one shows up to prove to him the last one was way off base and leads blow away with the wind.
Without his group Stone knows he can't solve this case but in this particular situation is the gain of apprehension worth the answer to who did the deed?
This series blows me away every time because the characters have so much depth and they are written with such clarity that you feel they just passed you on the street and said Good Morning. Stone may lead this merry band of misfits but he is not their leader he is a member of a close knit, well thought out group of people that can easily carry any book on their own and have proven that in the past. Mr. Baldacci knows how to write a great story and this one stands out in that it will scare you to realize the fiction he is proposing is probably fact and I hope there is a retired Agent Stone out there protecting us.

Hell's Corner Overview



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The Reversal

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The Reversal Review

Michael Connelly brings together criminal defense attorney Michael (Mickey) Haller and his half-brother, the cynical and battle-scarred LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, in "The Reversal." Mickey calls himself "the defender of the damned," a job he has had for over twenty years. "During that time," he states, "I'd grown a suspicion and distrust of prosecutors and police...." Still, the L. A. District Attorney convinces Mickey to go over to the dark side as an independent special prosecutor in the second trial of Jason Jessup. The defendant has already spent twenty-four years in San Quentin for abducting and strangling twelve-year-old Melissa Landy. Over the last two decades, Jessup filed numerous motions and appeals while steadfastly proclaiming his innocence. Much to his delight, the California Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sent the case back to Los Angeles County "for either retrial or dismissal of the charges." Against his better judgment, Mickey agrees to take the case, partly because it will give him an opportunity to work with his ex-wife, deputy district attorney Maggie McPherson, and Harry Bosch, who will be their investigator.
Jessup has a groundswell of support from the liberal media and an organization of lawyers known as the Genetic Justice Project. Although the physical evidence against Jessup may be a bit shaky, Melissa's sister, Sarah, who was thirteen when the murder occurred, vehemently stands by her eyewitness identification of Jessup as Melissa's abductor. However, Sarah has a history of drug abuse and run-ins with the law which the defense will undoubtedly exploit in an attempt to discredit her.
This is one of Connelly's most suspenseful and involving legal thrillers in years. It has incisive and realistic dialogue, compelling courtroom scenes, well-drawn characters, and a carefully constructed plot. Fascinating details about surveillance, trial strategy, forensics, and police procedure add to the book's verisimilitude. The only false note is that when Mickey is on the scene, he is the first-person narrator, but otherwise, Connelly writes in the third person. This is slightly jarring; Connelly might have been better off sticking to the third person throughout, especially since Haller, McPherson, and Bosch all share the spotlight. Another familiar face is FBI profiler Rachel Walling, who makes a strong cameo appearance when Bosch requests her analysis of Jessup's behavior. Harry stands out as the person most invested in nailing Jessup, partly because Harry has sole responsibility for his fourteen-year-old daughter whom he adores, and partly because he has worked tirelessly on hundreds of homicides during his thirty-five year career as a cop. He is passionate about finding the bad guys and putting them away so that they cannot do any more damage.
In "The Reversal," the author effectively shows how politics and public opinion influence the legal process; how the stress of trying a high-profile case can lead to mistakes in judgment; and the importance of always being prepared for the unexpected. Readers who crave a feel-good ending may balk at the novel's disquieting finale. Others may find Connelly's conclusion thought-provoking, daring, and original. It certainly demonstrates the ways in which life's vicissitudes and the capriciousness of fate can undermine the search for truth and pervert the course of justice.

The Reversal Overview



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Best Price Maine Review

Maine

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Maine Review

I began reading this book hesitantly and with low expectations. The story sounded intriguing, but I didn't know what to expect based on the other reviews I had seen. I have to say, though, that I loved this story from beginning to end. I liked that the book essentially had four narrators, all women from the same extended family, but from different generations and different immediate families, if that makes sense. We hear from each of them several times throughout. Each woman gets her own chapter when it's her turn to narrate, and key plot points are revealed or explained in bits and pieces from each woman's perspective.
For me, the characters were the best part of the book. I could identify with all of them, but with one in particular. They were all so unique, so interesting and quirky, yet completely believable. The writing was simple but flowed well. Honestly, I couldn't put the book down, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy but pleasantly layered read.

Maine Overview



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Safe Haven

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Safe Haven Review

This certainly isn't a traditional sappy love story that Sparks usually writes. Sure it has the love story and it's set in North Carolina, but he puts in an element of danger. I have read all of his books and I love them all, however I am definitely tired of the "I love you" on the first date that practically occurs in all of his novels. The rest of this novel makes up for that quick love. It truly is impossible to put down. I made the mistake of starting it before bed, figuring I would read a few chapters and go to sleep - Well, I stayed up all night and finished it. They way it's written is strategic and effective in keeping the reader wanting more (which is why I had to finish it in one night). Sparks has said that this is the next movie adaptation and I'm sure it will work well. There is something for everyone: love story, family life, internal conflicts, danger, and a twist at the end. Well worth the money (the physical book is more $ than the Kindle version - so I don't know what everyone is complaining about; he's a best-seller, it came out yesterday - of course it's not going to be $5!) Overall, I loved it and I don't regret my purchase at all. I'm just sad I finished it already! Can't wait for the next one!

Safe Haven Overview

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

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Then Came You

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Then Came You Review

I'd be lying if I said that I love everything Jennifer Weiner has written. While I consider myself quite a fan, I have found my enthusiasm for her work waning a bit with her last few books. I desperately needed a Weiner novel to redeem my faith in her as an author. When I was offered a review copy of Then Came You I was both thrilled and hesitant. I wanted to love one of her books again but was afraid I would be disappointed. Disappointed, I was not!
Then Came You was absolutely fabulous! Written like a Jodi Picoult novel with different narrative voices or points of view, Then Came You tells the story of four women, with little in common, who become hopeless entangled with each other through a surprising common bond: a child. With infertility and science at the core of this novel, Then Came You is surprisingly emotional. How each of the four women come together to play a role in the life of this child is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Weiner crafted a very well-written story. The characters came across as very honest and genuine. The plot of the novel, while it could have easily become bogged down by the mundane or unimportant, flowed crisply and really kept me engaged. I couldn't put this novel down because I was so invested in the characters and the plot. Weiner also evoked much emotion from me. I laughed aloud at portions of this book. I also cried.
Then Came You was an amazing read. One that I thought about long after I read the final page. I highly recommend this novel.

Then Came You Overview

An unexpected love story'Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she's ashamed to invite to Parents' Weekend. With the income she'll receive from donating her “pedigree" eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband's salary, she thinks she's found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus' daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems' With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women's lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.

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Best Price Split Second Review

Split Second

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Split Second Review

Whether you are someone who has been a fan of bestselling author Catherine Coulter's thrillers or even her romance novels, SPLIT SECOND will give you a little of both.
From the very beginning of the book Coulter shows you how quickly even a trip to the store can turn into a life or death situation, but with the return of characters like FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock you know that they are willing to risk their lives in order to do their job and do it well.
This becomes something that tests them both professionally and mentally when they are faced with what seems like a deranged serial killer who is intent on causing unspeakable pain and horror. As the story develops, though, there seems to be something more at play--and when the identity of the culprit is realized, there is a race against time in order to stop more senseless deaths.
Joining Savich and Sherlock on the case are two other dedicated agents,Cooper McKnight and Lucy Carlyle. As with Savich and Sherlock, however, this case brings out a more personal element that threatens to destroy everyone around it.
With SPLIT SECOND the action comes fast and furious as do the personal relationships that we see develop throughout the story. There is also another element that Coulter is known for that comes through as well: the human component. We get to know slivers of the characters---both the heroes and the bad guy(s)---that helps us in understanding the way they react to situations and even what drives them.
There's no other way to say it: SPLIT SECOND is a literary winner that reminds us how the life we know can change in an instant. Coulter has delivered another home run for readers.

Split Second Overview

The number-one New York Times-bestselling author returns with another pulse-pounding thriller. A serial killer is on the loose, and it's up to FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock to bring him down. They soon discover that the killer has blood ties to the infamous and now long-dead monster Ted Bundy. Savich and Sherlock are joined by agents Lucy Carlyle and Cooper McKnight, and the chase is on. At the same time, Agent Carlyle learns from her dying father that her grandfather didn't simply walk away from his family twenty-two years ago: he was, in fact, murdered by his wife, Lucy's grandmother. Determined to find the truth, Lucy moves into her grandmother's Chevy Chase mansion. What she finds, however, is a nightmare. Not only does she discover the truth of what happened all those years ago, but she faces a new mystery as well, a strange ring that holds powers beyond her ken. As the hunt for the serial killer escalates, Savich realizes he's become the killer's focus, and perhaps the next victim. It's up to Lucy to stop this madness before it's too late.

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Lowest Price The Ideal Man Review

The Ideal Man

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The Ideal Man Review

I am a huge Julie Garwood fan and have read every one of her novels. Saving Grace is my absolute favorite and I have read it multiple times. I was really disappointed in this book. It took me a long time to get into it and put it down several times. Normally I can't put down a Garwood novel and read it cover to cover forgoing sleep when necessary. The conversations were choppy and the amount of detail detracted from the story because it just didn't flow. It read like an amateur novelist during the conversations. I did like the characters a lot and wish that I could have enjoyed their dialogue more because they had merit. It was also such a contrived and convoluted plot that had elements that were not essential to the story and should have been left out. Some of the relationships were poorly developed and not resolved, especially the relationship between Ellie and her evil sister, Ava. I kept waiting for Ava to "get it" or at least get what she deserved but then it just kind of fizzled out. I wasn't able to really lose myself in the book and then it wrapped up with a few quick lines. All of this being said, I would still rather read a bad Julie Garwood book than a good book by many other authors. This is definitely not worth the $12.99 kindle price and I would wait until it drops below $9 to purchase.

The Ideal Man Overview

New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood delivers a contemporary romance that's pulse-pounding in every sense of the word.Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter's face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he's definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she's attracted to him in a way she can't explain.Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister's wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she'll be called to testify. But they've been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence-or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie's shadow until the trial, and it isn't long before sparks fly.

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Buy Cheap Full Black (Scott Harvath) Review

Full Black (Scott Harvath)

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Full Black (Scott Harvath) Review

Like the phenominal financial thriller I just finished reading, Chaos and Kingdom, Full Black brings up the same dramatic questions of what it means to be American and conspiracy-esque who can you trust in government or society today? Chaos is 100% local while Thor spans the globe in his intricate plot, but the depth of story and philosophy behind the story are right up there.
What could make 9/11 look like a mosquito bite? What the enemies of America (not just the Jihadist) have been planning since well before that fateful day (since the 1940s), according to the latest thriller by Brad Thor, The Dark Knight of the author's career. Full of fantastic but believable international intrigue from China to Sweden and the crux of it boiling down to a plot to completely bring the United States to its knees. How? By pulling the plug. Thor uses the brownout in the Northeast a few years back to illustrate the importance energy has on American society. We can't live without it. After a few hours, we freak out. After a few days, we run out of water and start dying. After enough time, the entire society would collapse--pretty scary stuff. When it's done from the inside, it's even scarier.
Along the way, Thor drops gems of knowledge on the reader making him or her reflect on politics and economics. There are certainly layers in this book--it's deep. In this way, I think Thor is turning more heady and bold in his writing approach. I for one am glad for that.
If you have read Thor in the past, get ready for a shocking eye-opener of a book. This will be your favorite of his works. It's the same detailed Thor but with much more bite. It's a step up in Harvath as a character and Thor as a writer. I've liked Thor's stuff before, but this one I will tell my friends to read.

Full Black (Scott Harvath) Overview

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor brings readers his darkest and most intriguing thriller yet-a terrifying story of espionage and betrayal-brilliantly paced with superb nonstop action.Born in the shadows and kept from heads of state, there are some missions so deadly, so sensitive, that they simply don't exist. When one such mission goes horribly wrong, a wave of dramatic terrorist attacks is set in motion. Their goal: the complete and total collapse of the United States.With the CIA's intelligence abilities hobbled, former Navy SEAL Team 6 member turned covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath launches an audacious plan to infiltrate the terrorists' network and prevent one of the biggest threats the United States has ever faced. Simultaneously, a foreign wet work team has been sent to California. Their target: one of Hollywood's most famous filmmakers. While working on a secret documentary project, movie producer Larry Salomon has unknowingly exposed one of the world's wealthiest and most politically connected powerbrokers-a man with a radical anti-American agenda poised to plunge the nation into deadly, irreversible chaos.As the plots rocket to their pulse-pounding conclusion and the identities of the perpetrators are laid stunningly bare, Harvath will be left with only one means to save America. Unable to trust anyone, he will be forced to go Full Black.Intense and frighteningly realistic, FULL BLACK is, hands down, Brad Thor's most riveting thriller to date.

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Special Prices for Portrait of a Spy Review

Portrait of a Spy

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Portrait of a Spy Review

Okay, here's the thing from a reviewer's viewpoint. You would probably not be reading the reviews of Daniel Silva's newest book in his Gabriel Allon spy series if you weren't already familiar with his writing. Silva's written 10 or so novels in the series and I think I've read most of them. And this one, "Portrait of a Spy" is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. But it is similar to all the others I've read. And for me, a reviewer, it's a difficult book to review for that reason.
Daniel Silva is deeply concerned with the Middle East and the problems with radical Islamism that have risen from there in the last 60 years or so. Silva uses his books - characters and plots - to speak intelligently about those problems and the repercussions - terrorist bombings in both the Middle East countries and in Europe. Silva seems to publish a new book in the series every July. Now, this year and this book, 2011 and "Portrait of a Spy", pose a fairly tricky problem for Daniel Silva. How much of the "Arab Spring" - which actually began in mid-December, 2010 - does he include in his story? And does he include the assassination of Bin Ladin, which occurred fairly close to the time of publication? I could tell that he makes reference to Bin Ladin's death in a line towards the end where the text could still be changed in final proofs. The "Arab Spring" is mentioned towards the end. That's the problem he may have faced with the plot. But it's with the characters he's really facing problems.
Gabriel Allon has not changed much in the 15 or so years he's been the subject of Daniel Silva's pen. And Chiara, his younger Italian wife is still gorgeous. They are still trying to retire to the English countryside and really go back to art restoration. But the Mossad is still trying to drag Gabriel back in to work on missions for them. Shomrom is still the aging lion of King Saul Boulevard, still hunting down the same Islamic terrorists. Other peripheral characters like English art dealers are still doing their selling and Israeli, British, and American agents are still doing their spycraft. In effect, not much has changed in the lives of Gabriel Allon and his cast of characters. I would love to see some further character development by Silva in next year's Allon book. Give him a kid - who is not killed in a terrorist attack. Let Chiara age a little and maybe become less gorgeous. Give her a haircut. Finally kill off Shomron, who seems to be a pain in everyone's side in Israeli intelligence.
So, why am I giving "Portrait" five stars, even with my silly complaints and comments? Because, it is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. It gives the reader - who is usually well-acquainted with the characters and on-going plot line - another good read. And that's really the reason for a reviewer to write a review and for a reader to read one.

Portrait of a Spy Overview


Art restorer. Assassin. Spy.

Gabriel Allon has been hailed as the most compelling creation since "Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond" (Rocky Mountain News). A man with a deep appreciation for all that is beautiful, Gabriel is also an angel of vengeance, an international operative who will stop at nothing to see justice done. Sometimes he must journey far in search of evil. And sometimes evil comes to him.

In a dangerous world, one extraordinary woman can mean the difference between life and death. . . .

For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London—a visit to a gallery in St. James's to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds.

Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted "a beautiful and seductive tongue." A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks.

Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past. A woman waits there—a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood. . . .

Set against the disparate worlds of art and intelligence, Portrait of a Spy moves swiftly from the corridors of power in Washington to the glamorous auction houses of New York and London to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert. Featuring a climax that will leave readers haunted long after they turn the final page, this deeply entertaining story is also a breathtaking portrait of courage in the face of unspeakable evil—and Daniel Silva's most extraordinary novel to date.


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Best Price State of Wonder Review

State of Wonder

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State of Wonder Review

I am amazed by Ann Patchett's ability to write such riveting books about such a breadth of topics. Bel Canto (P.S.) is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, and I never thought she'd be able to match that. With this book, I think she has come close.
State of Wonder is the tale of an epic journey. After an employee of a pharmaceutical company dies in the Amazon, a fellow researcher is sent to find out exactly what happened to him. She is also tasked with clarifying on the company's behalf exactly how much progress has been made on the drug being studied there. The visual picture of the Amazon painted by Patchett is vivid and captivating and the characters are very well-defined and sharply rendered. The plot moves along at a nice pace, though admittedly it does slow a bit in the middle.
As for criticism, the science in the book is a little vague and seems slightly "off". However, the experiments are a sort of backdrop and not the main focus so it's not that big a deal. And Patchett does manage to cover an awful lot of political and ethical issues related to drug development and reproduction that are so nuanced as to appear to occur using sleight-of-hand.
Overall, another very strong book from Patchett and a definite recommend.

State of Wonder Overview



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Chasing the Night

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Chasing the Night Review

I look forward to the Eve Duncan books, and this had all the good points of the earlier ones. It was very readable and difficult to put down. The new co-protagonist is Catherine Ling, a very brave and highly skilled CIA operative with a checkered past of childhood poverty & abuse and a life on her own at a very young age. Nine years ago, her 2-year-old son Luke had been stolen from her. Unlike Eve, who knows in her heart that her daughter Bonnie is dead, Catherine believes Luke to be alive. She has come to Eve to ask her to age-progress her son so that when she rescues him (as she firmly believes she will), she will know him. Although Eve is at first reluctant, Catherine's passion wins her over. Aided by Kelly, a 14-year-old genius whom Catherine had rescued and who can see patterns where others cannot, by Joe, and by Venable, her CIA superior, they discover where Luke is being kept. And then they set out to rescue him.
The book is exciting and action-filled. Catherine is one of the cleverest and most capable women I have come across in a long time. Kelly is very likeable and is sure to grow into an amazing woman as well. Johansen does well with strong females.
One does wonder why Eve & Joe never married and why she hasn't had a child with him; does he resent that her obsession with Bonnie has prevented him from true fatherhood?
I was disappointed that we never found out who the little girl was whose skull Eve was working on in the beginning of the book, why she was so brutally murdered, and if the killer was caught & brought to justice. I do think this should at least have been mentioned. I missed Jane, but there was no real part for her in the story, so it's not major.
My main objection, and the reason I gave this 4 stars rather than 5, is that all of the villains lately seem to be horrible, sadistic, truly evil psychopaths (or sociopaths?). The one who was holding Kelly & her father captive was just the first. Not only the main villain but his henchmen were all cut from the same cloth.
I'm getting sick of it. Why can't Eve come up against a villain who is charming, intelligent, not sadistic, and only kills when absolutely necessary--a Thomas Crown type perhaps? I would enjoy a true battle of wits and less blood.

Chasing the Night Overview

A CIA agent's two-year-old child was stolen in the night as a brutal act of vengeance. Now, eight years later, this torment is something Catherine Ling awakens to every day. Her friends, family, and colleagues tell her to let go, move on, accept that her son is never coming back. But she can't. Catherine needs to find someone as driven and obsessed as she is to help her- and that person is Eve Duncan. She knows that Eve shares her nightmare, since closure is also something that eludes Eve after the disappearance of her daughter Bonnie. Now, Eve must take her talents as a forensic sculptor to another level, using age progression as a way to unite Catherine with her child. As Eve gets drawn deeper into Catherine's horror, she must face looming demons of her own. Bonnie's killer is still out there. And a new killer is taunting Eve and Catherine at every turn. Is Catherine's son alive, or not? These two women endure the worst fear any mother can imagine in Iris Johansen's latest thrill ride, a gut-wrenching journey into the darkest places of the soul.

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Purchase Cheap Inside of a Dog Review

Inside of a Dog

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Inside of a Dog Review

Scientifically, we might know a lot more about rats than we do about dogs. There are some experimental labs that have dogs as subjects, but lab rats get a lot of scientific attention. Dogs get a lot of domestic attention, but scientific study of dogs, and the ways they get along with humans and with other dogs, has not been a high concern. That may be because we think we know dogs; they are frank and open, and we live closely with them. Alexandra Horowitz thinks we don't know enough, and some of what we know is wrong, and she is out to change our perception of dogs and to do it scientifically. She has to work at making herself a detached observer; she might be a psychologist who has studied cognition in humans, dogs, bonobos, and rhinoceroses, but among the first sentences of her book _Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know_ (Scribner) is, "I am a dog person." Is she ever. She didn't deliberately make Pumpernickel, her mixed breed live-in friend (she is an advocate for adopting mutts), a subject of scientific study, but Pump was her entrance, for instance, to the dog park where she could film the interactions of other dogs for acute detailed study later. She gives loving anecdotes of the late Pump in every chapter to illustrate her more objective findings, nicely showing how her scientific examination of dogs paid off in her understanding of her own dog. There are people who worry that scientific examination of any phenomenon takes away the mystery and specialness of the phenomenon, and among the fine lessons in this amusing and enlightening book is that this is far from true.
Dogs do not sense the world we do. To take one of Horowitz's examples, a rose for humans is a thing of visual and olfactory beauty, and also has connotations of a love gift. Dogs are having none of this. It is just another plant among all the plants that surround it; it does not look attractive, and unless some dog has urinated on it recently, it does not smell attractive. Otherwise, the rose doesn't exist. The dog's world is one largely of smells. Everyone knows that dogs are better at detecting odors than we are. It isn't just that they can smell more scents, at thinner concentrations, than we; it's that they gaze at the world by sniffing, and it presents a very different world from ours. Smell, for dogs, has plenty of meanings, but one of them is time. A strong spell is new, a fading one is old. Not only that, but the future may be borne on a breeze if the dog is walking upwind. In scents, the dog doesn't just experience the current scene in an olfactory way, "...but also a snatch of the just-happened and the up-ahead. The present has a shadow of the past and a ring of the future about it." Dogs are evolutionarily descended from wolves, and sometimes dog owners are advised to treat their dogs as lower-caste members of a pack. Horowitz prescribes caution in such interpretations. Dogs are not wolves and have cast away many wolf traits during their evolution. A person (non-wolf) attempting to subdue a dog (non-wolf) in wolf fashion is missing what is special about the human-dog bond. Dogs, for instance, like eye contact; wolves avoid it. There are many experiments described here (some of which Horowitz has herself been in charge of), and one of them involves "gaze following". Dogs can look at our eyes, and can tell where we are looking, so they look over that way, too. The sections of the book that are the most fun are the ones on play. Dogs play more than wolves do, and unlike most animals, they play as adults. It is a bit of a mystery; it isn't essential for dogs to play to get their needed social skills, and it does cost energy and the risk of injury. Horowitz describes the play cues dogs give that can only be seen by humans using very slow video replays, but which keep the play non-aggressive for the participating dogs. Dogs are good at following these rules; a strapping wolfhound and a tiny Chihuahua can negotiate a play session efficiently, with the former handicapping itself to enjoy the mock aggressiveness of the latter.
Horowitz has provided a useful service in her brightly-written summary of experiments and current theories on the minds of dogs. I have an idea that people keep dogs around not just because of their goofy affection for us, or because they are so entertaining, but simply because they are interesting. It is fun to see how a creature who has evolved an intelligence different from our own gets along in the world. Horowitz's book helps explain that interest, and heighten it.

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Best Buy for Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang Review

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

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Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang Review

I was very disappointed in the newest book by Chelsea Handler. I read "Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea" and could not stop recommending it to anyone I knew enjoyed a laugh. Funniest book ever. "My Horizontal Life" was pretty funny as well, but this book made me cringe. The first chapter made me nauseated. The rest of the book consisted of emails between the writer and her siblings that weren't even amusing, just plain boring. The few stories that were thrown in had little humor, or point. It seemed she wrote it in a hurry, and didn't bother to check if her stories were up to par. Even the editor seemed lax--I found multiple errors throughout the book. It is a Chelsea Handler book, so that earned two stars right there, and there were a few moments that made me almost chuckle, earning another star. On the whole it was a very lazy attempt to get money out of existing fans. Mission accomplished, by 18 dollars is gone.

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Purchase Cheap If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska Review

If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska

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If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska Review

Life in Alaska is different. Life in small-town Alaska is quite a bit different. Haines, a community in the Southeastern region of the state, has a population of only around 2,000 people. The high school has a mere 100 students, with a grand total of two school buses to transport them. Though most of the roads are now paved, there is still not a single traffic light. Nobody puts numbers on their houses, because there is no individual mail delivery - all mail is picked up at the post office. There are few land routes in and out of the town, and air and water travel are limited to good weather conditions. The town has no hospital. Those needing medical care beyond what the local clinic can attend to must either fly to Juneau, Alaska's capital, or drive to Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory.
Author Heather Lende moved to Alaska with her then-newlywed husband right after graduating college, spent a short time in Anchorage, and then traveled to Haines where she has lived ever since. She writes the obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News, the local newspaper, as well as a column entitled "Duly Noted," which consists of short blurbs about current minor news related to the community. Through her work at the paper, gathering information for the obituaries she writes, she has become very close to many members of the community, and has many heartfelt and interesting stories to tell. This is the focus of the book.
Other reviewers have criticized the book for being too "self-centered" but that is exactly what a memoir is - a personal reflection. Flip to the back cover and you'll see "Travel / Memoir" printed right above the barcode. Lende's writing accomplishes two things: It takes us into the close-knit world of a remote Alaskan town, and it relates what the author has seen and experienced to her own life, showing us how living in Haines has affected her personally. There is no plotline to the book. It is a collection of vignettes about life and death in the town and surrounding area, and they are arranged in no distinct topical or chronological order, but nevertheless manage to come together into a pleasing whole. The vignettes are also interspersed with excerpts from Lende's "Duly Noted" column, giving us further insights into what is important and noteworthy to people in this small community.
This is not grand literature, but the writing is clear and enjoyable to read. It is not really as humorous as it is advertised to be (though there are some funny moments), but I do not think this was the intent in the first place. It is a heartfelt glimpse into small-town life, and though I am originally from Alaska myself, I have no experience living in a small, remote community, and found the book intriguing. Though I don't think I could live permanently in such a place, I am now very interested in visiting Haines myself, and I think the book may well have the same effect on other readers. It's a light, quick read, but definitely worthwhile, even if all you're looking for is a way to pass the time on an airplane (which is, in fact, how I read the book). I'd certainly recommend giving it a shot.

If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska Overview



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