Special Prices for Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Review

Are you looking to buy Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Review

I find it so surprising--reading the angry, negative reviews--that the people who hated the book hated it for exactly the reasons why some steer clear away from the the spiritual-journey-memoir genre. Yes, the author is self-absorbed, yes, she seems to think of only trite stuff, yes, she seems self-indulgent with her problems. And yes, she's allowed. It is after all a book that is positioned to address these things in the author's self; who otherwise would not be searching for something more: more meaning and more appreciation in/of her life.
Here is a woman who shows all the possibly-perceived-as-lacking-substance thoughts of hers and we are throwing tomatoes at her. One thing, she obviously wasn't afraid of that. She wasn't aiming to be coming off as some deeply wise woman but a fumbling girl-woman trying to break out of what she felt was imminent disaster (had she had the baby and delayed her need to find out what she truly wants from her life she might have left not only her husband, but their child, or most probably ending up not leaving out of guilt and becoming crazy instead: exposing her family to that for years; not an uncommon reality). She is not one for anti-depressants, remember.
This memoir falls in the same category as the TV show Sex and the City (of which it was compared to in a review here). Both get trampled for being supposedly superficial, covering the silly plights of city girls who don't know what they want and yet have everything. But this book--as the TV show--actually are part of a wider story that is illiciting reactions from the public because it reflects the transition in which women in the modern world are experiencing: now that we have equality with men professionally, now that we are liberated from all the limitations being a woman dictated two generations ago, how does that affect us? From a distance, in a glance, it seems that women have all the cards to play with now. But this book and many other works by women and/or about women of this generation show that having all those cards does not mean Happiness.
There are still things in society--in regards to a woman's role--that grates. And then there are things within our Modernised, Westernized, Individualized, Ambitious selves, that are lacking.
This is what Miss Gilbert's search is about, and what she represents.
On a collective level, much of the modern world is in search of God, Spirituality (one just needs to walk through bookstores in the US and see the plethora of soul searching self help books on the shelves). This is what needs to be observed and understood as a phenomena in the West; the small voices, small cries, here and there by those who come up with the balls to share their journeys and thoughts with us--no matter how trite-sounding, how shallow-seeming--are part of a collective howl for the meaning of life.
Elizabeth Gilbert's voice is just one of many that calls for recognition as part of a chorus for something that firstly, many women are hollering about, and secondly, humanity in general--humanity in the first world--are crying for: some kind of guidance, indication, that the collective paths we fought for and chose (the best education, career ambitions realised, a certain amount of money needed to live that certain kind of magazine-lifestyle life--which is what Liz Gilbert's life is a reflection of, remember--love in the form of marriage and what society dictates) are truly the things that give us peace and happiness in the infinite sense.
Eat, Pray, Love might not be that deep, wise voice representing the deep, wise journey into the deep, wise self. But this book's packaging and tone, hell, its WORDS, never did say it was. It is a fumbling--almost child-like in its guilelessness--show of the ego's awareness and needs, and its attempt at searching for what many people from all walks of life only wish they could go out and find: THEMSELVES. SELF, being the keyword here. And in this memoir, ultimately, God, being in each of our selves.
To the people who were disappointed that the author didn't seem to give a hoot about India's poverty, they must have not read the book through: Miss Gilbert never ventured out of her ashram and the little village it is located in, after making a decision to further develop her meditation skills and thus skipping the rest of India. She also ignored Italy's corruption with her indulging in good food and focus on learning and enjoying the Italian language. Again, the critics missed the point of this memoir. It's a book about a writer, a New Yorker, a recently-divorced-woman-in-her-early-thirties' journey to heal and find spiritual strength through various means: pleasure first to recover (Italy), spiritual examination and purging (India), combining the two for balance (Bali), which would result hopefully in the kind of substance and depth and balance that so many critics mentioned she lacks.
One doesn't pick this book up to: 1. Be exposed to India's poverty and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 2. Be exposed to Italy's corruption and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 3. Be exposed to Balinese wiles and expect the author to discuss that in depth. (which she actually did in the account of the Balinese woman she raised money for to buy the land the woman needed to build a home).
Next time you pick a book up at the bookstore, call up your powers of perception before purchasing it. A book IS pretty much its cover. Did everyone really expect a book titled "Eat, Pray, Love" A Woman's Search for Everything, to be an experience of religious fervor, one that would reveal the secrets of the universe? It's a story about a girl who thought everything she thought she wanted, would bring her happiness. It didn't. It didn't for her, and possibly not for many other women. If it took this one woman to go to Italy, India, and Indonesia, to get away after a difficult and painful divorce to heal and get perspective--instead of festering and turning into a pile of flesh in depression--then by all means. Yes, she financed her travels through her book advance--after giving away the suburban home and NYC apartment to her ex-husband. And if she wrote this book for us, it's really for us to appreciate and enjoy the ride with her. Anybody else who got so upset needed only to put the book down and pick another one to their taste. If anything, that's this book's lesson: Do what makes you smile and thankful for life.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Overview

Want to learn more information about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Buy for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Review

Are you looking to buy Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Review

To be honest, when I first started reading "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" I expected a haunting thriller, full of horror and danger. That is not what this book is. Instead, this book is fantasy/adventure combined with a very unique style of photography, which made the book better than I ever thought it would be.
Story - Jacob Portman desires an adventurous life, much like the life his grandfather describes to him in various stories. However, when Jacob realizes that he can never have an adventurous life, he just tries to be normal and fit in. He's not popular or extremely smart, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about him at all; but when his grandfather dies and leaves Jacob a cryptic message, Jacob is sent on a hunt to find his grandfather's past and ends up traveling all the way to Wales. Once there, Jacob discovers much more than he ever could have imagined about his grandfather and is thrown into the midst of a very peculiar situation.
Writing Style - If I had to compare Ransom Riggs to any other author, I would have to compare him to Lemony Snicket. In fact, this entire book reminded me very much of Mr. Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. Don't get me wrong, Riggs did not steal Lemony Snicket's writing style at all, but Riggs just simply reminded me of him, which is a positive since I pretty much love anything that Snicket touches.
Something else that I feel Riggs did superbly was explain the detail of everything in the story. Even without the occasional photographs of people and things in the story, I was able to visualize the locations and details because of the fantastic descriptions.
Now, as for the photographs, they added a whole new dimension to the story. They didn't turn the novel into a picture book or something else that we normally associate with children; rather, they added a new level of immersion to the story, with the reader being almost able to see exactly what Jacob is seeing as he looks at the many photographs scattered throughout.
The book is truly addicting, but it isn't perfect; there are a few kinks that I feel needed to be worked out. The major kink being the fact that the attitude of some of the characters just doesn't seem to match the story! The abundance of cursing and crude humor just doesn't make sense with some of the characters or the plot of the story. Also, there were a few things that weren't developed as much as possible and could have been explained more and built upon.
Warnings - Language, Mild Violence, Mild Peril
Overall - In all fairness, my last complaint was very nitpicky and small, and I don't want to give anyone the impression that this is not a good book. For a first novel, it is fantastic! There are a few things to improve on, but I think Mr. Riggs is off to an amazing start! I immensely look forward to his second novel, which I assume is in the works based on the cliffhanger at this end of the story. I would say that, most likely, teens will enjoy the book more than adults, but it really does have a very interesting plot that many will love.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Overview

Want to learn more information about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman Review

Are you looking to buy Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman Review

This book is not a `war story'. It is a rendering of a man who was far more complex than the one-dimensional hero who was portrayed in the media and who, through no fault of his own, was basically used as propaganda by the US government. Interestingly, that was one of the threads woven throughout the book, along with the use of Jessica Lynch as a tool to boost support of the war.
Krakauer does a great job in the beginning of the book by contrasting the carefree life of an American boy growing up in the suburbs vs. groups of boys being groomed by the Taliban to become terrorists. His description of Pat Tillman's early life gives insight into how he came to make the decisions that ultimately resulted in his joining the Army.
Some of the detail in the middle of the book got a bit cumbersome. However, it was a useful primer on some of the things that went terribly wrong in Iraq in Afghanistan during Tillman's time there, and I'm not certain that Krakauer could have told the rest of the story without the level of detail provided.
Nonetheless, the author provides a refreshingly honest look at a man who at times I found rather unlikeable, frankly. Without question however, the picture of Tillman that emerges is one of a man who cannot be categorized easily. His complexity was well illuminated in the book, which was a far more honest and respectful portrayal of his life than if he were simply portrayed as the `good' character in a morality play.

This book does not paint a rosy, cozy picture of the US government's actions, of the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan, or, it must be said, of Pat Tillman himself. But that served to make both the book and the man more interesting.

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman Overview

Want to learn more information about Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Buy for Through My Eyes Review

Are you looking to buy Through My Eyes? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Through My Eyes. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Through My Eyes Review

Reading this with my daughter has been a gift I'll treasure forever. I hadn't expected a young man to have much wisdom to share just being so young (and he addresses that nicely), but I have found more than just the story enjoyable - the book has been a great conversation piece for me with my 10 year old daughter. I am grateful Tebow created this story for family and friends to share together. What a gift!
Example - the chapter about Tim's mom's pregnancy impressed me with the delicacy and dignity he (with Nathan Whitaker) uses to offer the story. Here, I had expected a more evangelical Tebow (which I would have been fine with), but it never got "preachy" - just inspiring and touching the heart deeply.
Generally, to me, Tebow seems to present his faith as HIS and absolutely the only right answer FOR HIM. He doesn't express his faith as the only truth for everyone, but rather uses his platform to explain how valuable it has been to him personally. I didn't get the feeling that he was holding himself up as the gold standard whatsoever (again, I might have been just fine with that, because he does seem to be a fine modern example of a young man dealing with fame and faith beautifully, and, besides, I couldn't be offended because I happen to agree with him in this respect).
I am thrilled his story has been genuine, heartfelt and inspiring. And he hasn't really even lived but a small portion of his lifetime yet - so I can't wait for the sequel! :)
I hope that one leads to the greatest heights of his hopefully legendary career. More importantly, a legendary LIFE :)
UPDATE: BOOK SIGNING, TATTERED COVER, DENVER 06-04-11 > What a class act this man is! Took my daughter and my neice to have their books signed. They both feel so blessed that they got to shake his hand as he looked sincerely into their eyes and told them it was HIS honor to meet THEM! OMG - to see a child's heart touched (and eyes tear) from hearing such an inspiring remark from someone who is larger than life to them both. He treated them as if they were the only people there for that moment.
My neice leaves in 6 days to work at orphanages in Africa for 3 weeks and was overjoyed that I gave her Through My Eyes to read on her trip. She's going to LOVE having this book with her - in her hands and in her heart as she works in Africa! GB2 to Mr. Tebow!

Through My Eyes Overview

Over the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume-winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a unique story to tell-from the circumstances of his birth, to his home-schooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.

At every step, Tebow's life has defied convention and expectation. While aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always been filtered through the opinions and words of others. Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened.


Want to learn more information about Through My Eyes?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

39% Off Discounts: Best Buy for Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias Review

Are you looking to buy Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias Review

Wonder Girl is an incredible and wonderful biography of Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
More than a sports or golf book, Van Natta writes a compelling story of the greatest athlete of all time and shows her from every angle, warts and all, as she trail blazed through the first half of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, Babe is largely forgotten today as the super star she was back in the early half of the last century. A front line warrior for woman's rights in sports, Olympic gold medalist, founder of the LPGA, and the first celebrity to fearlessly bring cancer awareness into America's living room, Babe did it all in such a short time.
Van Natta brings all of these acomplishments and more back to the forefront for the public who have forgotten her in his new book in a compassionate, honest and reverent manner. Wonder Girl is a moving portrait of one of America's greatest daughters and a must read for all.

Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias Overview

This is the extraordinary story of a nearly forgotten American superstar athlete. Texas girl Babe Didrikson never tried a sport too tough and never met a hurdle too high. Despite attempts to keep women from competing, Babe achieved All-American status in basketball and won gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics.Then Babe attempted to conquer golf. One of the founders of the LPGA, Babe won more consecutive tournaments than any golfer in history. At the height of her fame, she was diagnosed with cancer. Babe would then take her most daring step of all: go public and try to win again with the hope of inspiring the world.A rollicking saga, stretching across the first half of the 20th century, WONDER GIRL is as fresh, heartfelt, and graceful as Babe herself.

Want to learn more information about Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lowest Price Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel Review

Are you looking to buy Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel Review

This book was very hard to review without spoiling anything. I can honestly say it was the most engrossing book I have ever read. From the beginning, until the very last words I was completely sucked in. In fact, I actually cried while reading the very first chapter, it was that emotional in such a short amount of time. All of the pressing issues are solved and the questions are answered. Only one major question remained at the end of the book, but the answer was something Mac decided she didn't really need to know. I don't have a problem with this as a little mystery makes things much more interesting in the end.
Mac is thoroughly tested over and over in this book, but just as she has in the past, she survives, she endures, and somehow comes out the other side stronger. She has grown so much from the girl that stepped off the plane, yet somehow never once lost who she really was at the core, despite being pulled in so many different directions. I understand now why everyone believed she only had a slim chance of choosing the "good" side of the prophecy. The odds against her were almost insurmountable, and a lesser person would have failed where she persevered. I truly admire her, and her willingness to stand up for what she believes in. I don't think a better person could have been picked for the fate of the world to rest on. Oh, and just as a little side note, she does finally kiss a man that she can't breathe without, and finds that breath is of little consequence. As far as who that man is, well you will just have to read Shadowfever yourself to find out. ;)
I'll admit, as much as I wanted this book, I also was a little hesitant to read it. I wasn't sure how just one book could tie up all of the issues and leave me with a sense of happiness and satisfaction. I am very happy to say that I was wrong and that I should never have doubted the author. The book was every bit as good as the predecessors and left me more than satisfied. Many times after reading a final book in a series I will feel almost hollow and just generally disappointed. Not because the book was bad, but because I just didn't feel any satisfaction in the ending or knowing that I was saying goodbye to the characters. With Shadowfever, this just is not the case at all. The ending is everything it should be, leaving me happy and content, an absolutely rare feat in any final book.
I would highly suggest not reading this book if you haven't read the first four. You need that foundation to give this one the justice it deserves. As the Author promised, it is a story about light, not darkness. However, as they say, the night is always darkest before the dawn and that definitely is the case with Shadowfever. Be prepared for one heck of a roller coaster ride full of countless emotions that will leave you reeling, and desperate to know what happens next. If I could rate this higher than a "five," trust me, I would. I hope everyone enjoys Mac's final trials in life, love, and war as much as I did. My hat goes off to the author for this amazing world she created and the awesome cast of characters. Bravo!

Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel Overview

“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it's good." MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever. Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister's murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years. What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh-a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds. In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves. Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card? From the luxury of the Lord Master's penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac's journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.From the Hardcover edition.

Want to learn more information about Shadowfever: A MacKayla Lane Novel?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Special Prices for The Hobbit Review

Are you looking to buy The Hobbit? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Hobbit. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

The Hobbit Review

[This is a review of the 70th Anniversary Edition, not so much of THE HOBBIT itself. I've reviewed the book proper elsewhere, and would rather focus on the actual edition itself.]
THE HOBBIT is one of those few books that I have felt justified to buy multiple copies over the years. It is a book I have read and cherished, and a book I dearly love. THE HOBBIT is a novel that deserves to be bought multiple times over, and I always enjoy looking at new editions of this classic work. So imagine my excitement when I found out they would be publishing a 70th anniversary edition of one of my most cherished novels!
This has been a big year for Tolkien fans. Christopher Tolkien published THE CHILDREN OF HURIN, a newly completed version of Turin's legend, in April. We've gotten (at long last), THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, expertly handled by brilliant Tolkien scholar John D. Ratcliffe and published in two separate volumes. And of course, we have the 70th anniversary of Tolkien's first primary work, THE HOBBIT, which this edition is published in celebration of that momentous occasion. And does it live up as a major new edition of this fantasy classic?
That's a pretty easy answer. The answer is NO.
First off, here are the positives. The 70th anniversary edition is pretty much how the first edition of THE HOBBIT was actually published back in 1937 with some notable improvements, and conforming to Tolkien's pretty exacting specifications, including how the dust jacket should appear, as well as the art and maps that accompany the text.
These are the notable differences between the first edition and this edition. Due to cost, Tolkien was not able from a production standpoint to have the book appear exactly as he envisioned. The 1937 publication cut some of his artwork, the map was not how he so desired, and the dust jacket, due to printing cost, was limited to three primary colours (green, black, and white). Originally, Tolkien wanted the sun on the front cover and the dragon on the back cover to be totally in red, but this was not feasible.
Obviously Tolkien's work is successful enough that these production costs are no longer an issue, and so this is a relatively accurate facsimile of what Tolkien would have wanted to publish in 1937 had money not been an object, as it too often is in the real world. For that, this edition has some worth.
Now, there are some negatives. And these are big negatives.
First off, paper quality and binding. It's bad.
Then there's the actual art work. The colour artwork is quite nicely implemented into the main text, and overall I don't have a problem with the colour artwork from a production standpoint. The paintings are bright and colourful, and remain true to higher quality prints of Tolkien's phenomenal painting. But unfortunately the same cannot be said of the black and white illustrations. Like a reviewer said before me, it appears Tolkien's drawings were reproduced on a cheap scanner. Tolkien's artwork is highly valuable, but unfortunately the drawings here are rather badly reproduced in this edition.
Then there's the advertisement for LOTR at the end that's rather annoying. They reproduce the first chapter of FELLOWSHIP and place it at the end of the novel, acting like a cheap plug for Tolkien's masterpiece. I don't have any problem with plugging LOTR, but to me this inclusion of the first chapter just cheapens the whole book, especially when it's supposed to be a major edition of a major work. We all know about LOTR. Do we really need the first chapter here? Rather tacky, to say the least.
Then there's the problem of Christopher Tolkien's forward. This is what I was most looking forward too, actually. Having read E. A. Solinas's review, I was under the impression this was a new forward prepared specifically by Christopher for the 70th anniversary of his father's work. Not the case. It's simply a reprint of the forward he wrote for the 50th anniversary of THE HOBBIT, twenty years previously.
As far as textual authenticity, I must be honest in the fact that I've only browsed it at a Borders bookstore, but I'd be very surprised if they did not use the text from The Annotated Hobbit, as it is the most definitive and accurate text yet established for the book. Still, I can't verify that that is the case.
Overall, this is a fair edition of THE HOBBIT. It could have been a lot more. What sets this apart from the other copies is this is how Tolkien truly envisioned how he wanted the book to appear, and for that fact alone, this is a valuable edition to the Tolkien collector. Unfortunately the poor production quality of the black and while illustrations, the rather tacky inclusion of LOTR's first chapter, and the disappointment of the publishers' just reprinting a twenty year old introduction to the 50th anniversary publication rather brings the whole affair down. I think I'll pass on this one.
For those looking for the best edition of Tolkien's book, buy THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT, first published in 1988 and republished in a new format in 2003. The second version of THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT is the definitive edition of this phenomenal work as far as I'm concerned.

The Hobbit Overview

Want to learn more information about The Hobbit?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Buy for The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two Review

Are you looking to buy The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two Review

I really liked 'Name of the Wind' (like, I guess, most people reviewing this book so soon after publication).
Is this as good? No. Rothfuss is a fine writer so this is still pretty damn readable, and it's even more epic and sprawling than the first so you can disappear into his world for even longer. But it's nowhere near as tight as the first novel. 'Name of the Wind' felt meticulously planned, with every incidental little detail part of the wider story. In "Wise Man's Fear" there's a LOT of detail, a huge chunk of which seems meaningless.
Early in the book the main character constructs an elaborate device which protects him from arrows and crossbow bolts. We learn exactly how this works in great detail - and then never hear about it again. We meet a mysterious librarian, who then vanishes from the book. Later a malevolent Arcanist attempts to assassinate a powerful noble, is foiled and then disappears until the end of the book when we're told he's been killed by someone else. We never find out why he tried to murder the noble. The book is filled with odd little dead ends: the hero decides to flee from a school where he's held semi-prisoner, organises his escape, explains various complicated details of his plan and then decides not to escape.
What makes this even more frustrating are the parts of the story that scream for more detail. The hero meets the most dangerous, evil creature in all of existence - he randomly stumbles upon it while out for a walk - and the book implies that this is the most significant event in his entire life. That gets about two pages. Just for comparison, searching through the woods for some bandits gets about two hundred pages.
Like I said, Rothfuss is a good writer. So the hundred-page digressions are entertaining and fun to read - but it is basically just a shaggy dog story, which is disappointing since "Name of the Wind" delivered so much more.

The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two Overview

Want to learn more information about The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Retribution (Dark-Hunter) Review

Are you looking to buy Retribution (Dark-Hunter)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Retribution (Dark-Hunter). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Retribution (Dark-Hunter) Review

Any fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books, can tell you that this is a series that requires you to pay attention. Sure, on the surface, each book is a romance featuring a different couple with some preternatural connection. But from the very beginning, these books have had an ongoing story playing out in the background. First it was just the battle between the Dark-Hunters and the Daimons; Greek mythology played a big part. Then we had some Atlantean lore thrown in the mix. Beyond Acheron's book, demons began to play a bigger role and by the time we got to Bad Moon Rising we had a new subplot that Kenyon is calling the Hellchasers, featuring Thorn and his bad-boy gang. I made a real effort to try to connect to that because I thought that's where the series was going next. I was wrong.
Sundown's story is, in some ways, a throwback to the old books. It features characters we haven't seen much of in a long time. Characters like Sundown, himself... Zarek, Sin, Sasha, and Talon. But in other ways, it's dramatically different. Kenyon put almost everything she's been building on pause for this one to introduce an entirely new Pantheon of Native American gods and mythology. There are Dark Hunters and Daimons in the books, but at times I felt like it was unrecognizable from the books preceding it. Ash is just a mention (other than a "bonus scene" at the end.) Artemis & Nick each have a cameo. No Savitar. No Stryker, Jaden or Jared. It just felt disconnected.
That's not to say it was bad. It wasn't. The romance features Sundown and Abigail. It begins with the heroine trying to kill the hero because she thinks he murdered her parents. After their deaths, she was raised by Apollites. When she was grown, they gave her demon blood to make her strong enough to kill Dark Hunters. In her quest to get to Sundown, she kills someone important in the Native American pantheon, which sets the stage for an apocalypse. As the book progresses, she must overcome her misconceptions about Sundown and work with him to try to avert the disaster she has set in motion. And they fall for each other in the process. Kenyon is at her best when she does romance. And while this relationship isn't my favorite of hers, I did enjoy it.
It seems Kenyon plans to continue with the Native American storyline in the next book. It will feature Dark Hunter Ren, who was a major player in this story. I don't know how I feel about that. The bonus scene at the end, featuring Ash & Tory really brought home for me how much I missed the New Orleans gang and the mythology I know. But I have no doubt I'll be there next year, to follow where Kenyon leads. It's never a dull ride. 4 stars.

Retribution (Dark-Hunter) Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon comes the next thrilling installment in her blockbuster Dark-Hunter® series

Want to learn more information about Retribution (Dark-Hunter)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lowest Price Shipwrecked (Kindle Single) Review

Are you looking to buy Shipwrecked (Kindle Single)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Shipwrecked (Kindle Single). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

Shipwrecked (Kindle Single) Review

I was familiar with the story because I was told it in person around the campfire years ago. It was a great feat of strength and survival with a bit of humour thrown in.
To read Mishka's story not only put it in colour but in High Definition.
I downloaded it at work just before lunch hour and even though people were waiting on me for lunch break, I had to keep reading and couldn't wait to get back to the story.
One thing that I don't care for is when writers write for the sake of writing. I like a good story told by a great story teller. If the author can write a great story without pissing around all day, then I can stick around to the end. I think that Mishka took a great story, a true story, and added the colour and surround sound to turn it into a great 3D experience for the reader.
Good job, I want to say now go out and produce more of these great stories but I am afraid that you may not always survive the research part.
Normy Iguana

Shipwrecked (Kindle Single) Overview

In the Year of the Shark, a chance encounter between a ne'er-do-well writer and a tropical storm left him marooned on the deserted end of a Caribbean island and charged with the rescue of his four shipmates. There, Mishka Shubaly learned some valuable life lessons - among them that in the absence of whiskey, wine and water, urine will get the job done.

Want to learn more information about Shipwrecked (Kindle Single)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Buy for Unlikely Friendships Review

Are you looking to buy Unlikely Friendships? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Unlikely Friendships. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Unlikely Friendships Review

I am an animal lover, and this book made me smile. The stories are so sweet, and the photos are beautiful. There are so many wonderful stories of unexpected animal relationships. This would be a great book as a gift, or just to have around as a pick-me-up. Loved it!

Unlikely Friendships Overview

It is exactly like Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid . . . " Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey-an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx. Ms. Holland narrates the details and arc of each story, and also offers insights into why-how the young leopard, probably motherless, sought maternal comfort with the calf, and how a baby oryx inspired the same mothering instinct in the lionness. Or, in the story of Kizzy, a nervous retired Greyhound, and Murphy, a red tabby, how cats and dogs actually understand each other's body language. With Murphy's friendship and support, Kizzy recovered from life as a racing dog and became a confident, loyal family pet.

Want to learn more information about Unlikely Friendships?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer Review

Are you looking to buy Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer Review

David Roberts'"Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer" is an amazing amalgam of psychological jigsaw puzzle, wilderness travel writing and the best ever episode of the TV show "Cold Case."
The first part of this unfailingly fascinating study introduces us to Everett Ruess who, in 1931 at the age of sixteen, "started traveling by horse and burro and on foot through the canyons and plateaus" of the western USA, particularly the southwest. An aspiring artist and watercolor painter, the details of his traveling and his psyche are pieced together by diary entries as well as a steady stream of letters to his parents Christopher and Stella, his brother Waldo and a small assortment of friends and folks he met along the way. Described by famous American author Wallace Stegner as "one of those, a callow romantic, an adolescent aesthete, an atavistic wanderer of the wastelands" who "was after beauty, and he conceived beauty in pretty romantic terms."
Everett Ruess' wandering through vast expanses of the west, usually solo and very often the only white man to have been to certain natural wonders, continued on until his unexplained disappearance in 1935. At this point Mr. Roberts' book switches from a semi-biography of Everett into the story of his parents' and brother's attempts, with the help of a vast number of colorful real-life Western characters, to finding Everett himself or, at worst an explanation of his disappearance.
As a way of preserving his legacy after a variety of search and rescue missions all failed, the Ruess family from 1935 on tried to find a publisher for a collection of his writings and art. Finally in 1940 a California publisher brought out a "miscellany" titled "On Desert Trails With Everett Ruess" which, though it sold poorly, "went viral" (as we would call it today) and a Ruess cult was born, gathering momentum over the decades, including the aforementioned Wallace Stegner who devoted a chapter to Ruess is his 1942 book "Mormon Country."
This cult of personality continuing growing internationally and was further spurred on by the 1983 publication of "Everett Ruess: Vagabond for Beauty by W. L. Rusho.
Jump forward to the spring of 1992 when "a twenty-four-year-old man from suburban Washington D.C....hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness to live off the land." His name was Chris McCandless and four months later his "emaciated remains were discovered by moose hunters near the northern boundary of Denali National Park."
Enter well known nonfiction writer John Krakauer. Assigned by Outside Magazine to write a story about the tragedy, in 1996 he subsequently expanded that story into the best selling book "Into The Wild" (ultimately converted to the screen as an Oscar nominated movie directed by Sean Penn). While researching for the expansion into a book length project, Mr. Krakauer was told by David Roberts [the author of this book] that McCandless sounded an awful lot like Everett Ruess.
Mr. Krakauer promptly went out and read the aforementioned "Everett Ruess: Vagabond for Beauty" and was so impressed by the similarity of the two that he included 11 pages about Everett in "Into The Wild," kicking the Ruess cult into orbit in the way only a huge bestseller can, paving the way for this book's existence.
But all was not over in the search for Everett Ruess. After 75 years new clues were found, new theories proposed and super-modern technologies used to try to find answers once and for all for this conundrum. The final third of "Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer" tells the ongoing saga.
This book is fascinating with as many twists and turns as a narrow mountain trail or a good murder mystery. The writing is propulsive and I finished the 375+ pages in 3 sittings. At the risk of sounding silly, it was like reading television. Obviously from the book's title we know that the disappearance was officially unsolved but the answers are rendered pretty clearly, a welcome reward for staying with this wonderful book with a fascinating title character and a wide, colorful supporting cast.
If I had to quibble about anything, certain comments and excepts are repeated several times through the three sections of the book leaving me thinking "I remember the first two times you used that quote."
Definitely recommended.

Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer Overview

Finding Everett Ruess by David Roberts, with a foreword by Jon Krakauer, is the definitive biography of the artist, writer, and eloquent celebrator of the wilderness whose bold solo explorations of the American West and mysterious disappearance in the Utah desert at age 20 have earned him a large and devoted cult following. More than 75 years after his vanishing, Ruess stirs the kinds of passion and speculation accorded such legendary doomed American adventurers as Into the Wild's Chris McCandless and Amelia Earhart.“I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the street car and the star sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities." So Everett Ruess wrote in his last letter to his brother. And earlier, in a valedictory poem, "Say that I starved; that I was lost and weary; That I was burned and blinded by the desert sun; Footsore, thirsty, sick with strange diseases; Lonely and wet and cold . . . but that I kept my dream!"Wandering alone with burros and pack horses through California and the Southwest for five years in the early 1930s, on voyages lasting as long as ten months, Ruess also became friends with photographers Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange, swapped prints with Ansel Adams, took part in a Hopi ceremony, learned to speak Navajo, and was among the first "outsiders" to venture deeply into what was then (and to some extent still is) largely a little-known wilderness.When he vanished without a trace in November 1934, Ruess left behind thousands of pages of journals, letters, and poems, as well as more than a hundred watercolor paintings and blockprint engravings. A Ruess mystique, initiated by his parents but soon enlarged by readers and critics who, struck by his remarkable connection to the wild, likened him to a fledgling John Muir. Today, the Ruess cult has more adherents-and more passionate ones-than at any time in the seven-plus decades since his disappearance. By now, Everett Ruess is hailed as a paragon of solo exploration, while the mystery of his death remains one of the greatest riddles in the annals of American adventure. David Roberts began probing the life and death of Everett Ruess for National Geographic Adventure magazine in 1998.Finding Everett Ruess is the result of his personal journeys into the remote areas explored by Ruess, his interviews with oldtimers who encountered the young vagabond and with Ruess's closest living relatives, and his deep immersion in Ruess's writings and artwork. It is an epic narrative of a driven and acutely perceptive young adventurer's expeditions into the wildernesses of landscape and self-discovery, as well as an absorbing investigation of the continuing mystery of his disappearance. In this definitive account of Ruess's extraordinary life and the enigma of his vanishing, David Roberts eloquently captures Ruess's tragic genius and ongoing fascination.From the Hardcover edition.

Want to learn more information about Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lowest Price The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Review

Are you looking to buy The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Review

Since I read Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" over five years ago, I have refused to eat any fast food of any kind. Both morally and nutritionally, my position is that if I were to eat that food again, I would be tacitly accepting an industry that is abhorrent on so many levels. Knowing what I now know, that degree of cognitive dissonance is simply too great for me to overcome.
When my son was born two years ago, my thinking about food choices returned and has become an important part of my day-to-day consciousness.
When I first read about "Omnivore" online, I found the premise compelling. What exactly am I eating? Where does it come from? Why should I care? Exactly the kind of book that I'd been looking for, especially as I try to improve my own health and try to give my little guy the best start in life.
I bought the book as soon as it came out and found it to be highly enjoyable, yet almost mind-numbingly disenchanting. We all know about corn and cows and chickens and how the government subsidizes their production (mainly through corn subsidies). But Pollan has given me a completely new view of corn, its processed derivatives, and secondarily, has made me rethink my view of the farmers growing this stuff and the industries who buying it. There is so much wrong with this picture.
Corn, in the wrong hands, can be used for some terrible things, among them high fructose corn syrup (a major player in the obesity epidemic) and as feed for cows (who get sick when they eat it, requiring anti-biotics!). I can't compartmentalize anymore, just because meat tastes good. As Pollan clearly outlines, there is a very selfish reason why the beef industry doesn't want us to see inside a slaughter house. Many of us would never eat it again if we saw how disgusting and cruel the process typically is.
In the section on the ethics of eating animals, Pollan compellingly summarizes animal ethicist Peter Singer's case against eating animals, making a strong argument for vegetarianism. Then he tries to argue for a more moderate (read: carnivorous) world view, and I have to admit, I wasn't convinced. I am a lifelong meat eater, but am seriously thinking about switching to a vegetarian diet. I can no longer reconcile the slaughter of animals with my own appreciation of them. And beyond slaughter, there are plenty of health benefits to eating a plant-based diet.
Here's my bottom line: If you aren't prepared to question your views on food, or are afraid of what you might learn, then you really need to avoid this book. This has all made my head spin and my heart ache over the past month. Faced with the facts, I actually feel as though I am mourning the loss of my old diet. But I am terribly ambivalent about becoming a vegetarian, not at all happy to be making such a drastic (yet healthy) change. I am embarrassed about it, and worried about how I will deal with a meatless lifestyle in the years ahead. I am glad Pollan opened my eyes to this, but secretly wish I weren't so curious about these issues. The truth hurts.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Overview

Want to learn more information about The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Buy Cheap The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch) Review

Are you looking to buy The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch)? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch). check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch) Review

This terrific follow-up to The Lincoln Lawyer, featuring troubled defense lawyer Mickey Haller, also includes famed police detective Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch, who has been a hero in thirteen previous Connelly mysteries. Though Haller and Bosch work on opposite sides (one on defense and one on prosecution) and even live on opposite sides of the bay, they are thrown together against their wills and must cooperate if they are going to see justice served. Haller has just returned to law practice after a hiatus in which he has dealt with his demons and his addictions, the result of a long, painful hospitalization and several complex surgeries after he was "gut shot."
Haller has inherited the entire caseload of former prosecutor Jerry Vincent, who became a defense attorney after Haller beat him soundly in a court case. Vincent has been murdered in the garage beside his office, his laptop and case notes missing, with the biggest case of his career due for trial in less than a week. Walter Elliot, head of the highly successful Archway Pictures, is being tried for the murder of his wife and her lover, and he refuses to agree to a continuance, even though Haller, new to the case, recommends it. This case, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, soon begins to overlap with another of Vincent's cases--one taken pro bono, and not in any of Vincent's files or on his calendar--a complete "mystery case" to Haller.
As he works, Haller relies on stalwart friends and associates, all of whom show their own personalities here as they support Haller and try to keep him from backsliding under stress. His first former wife, Maggie McPherson, a prosecutor, needs to be reassured that he is stable enough to be a father again to his daughter. His second former wife, Lorna Taylor, still works with him, though she is now living with Dennis Wojchiechowski (Cisco), Haller's investigator. Harry Bosch, who is investigating the Jerry Vincent murder for the police, frequently overlaps with Haller regarding issues in Vincent's cases, and they occasionally meet. Though they are alike in many ways, their hostility is often palpable.
As Haller looks for the "magic bullet," the "get-out-of-jail-free" card that would clear Walter Elliot of a double murder, he must explore issues of bribery, jury tampering, fraud, police misconduct, organized crime, legal malpractice, federal crime, and even international crime--not to mention murder, including potentially his own. The novel, written in exceptionally clear prose, keeps all the complications from becoming overwhelming as the author recreates the legal one-upsmanship of a case going to trial. Connelly draws the reader in and increases the tension by making him/her an "expert" on the legal importance of events to the Elliot case. Exciting, beautifully crafted, filled with non-stop action, and always centered on achieving justice, this novel is completely satisfying--one that has it all. n Mary Whipple
The Lincoln Lawyer : A Novel
The Overlook (Harry Bosch)
The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch)
The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch)
The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde
The Harry Bosch Novels Volume 2: The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, Angels Flight

The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price No Rest for the Dead Review

Are you looking to buy No Rest for the Dead? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on No Rest for the Dead. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

No Rest for the Dead Review

Twenty six authors writing in collaboration to tell the story of an innocent woman wrongly executed for her husband's murder. Huh? Twenty six authors? One book? When I read the synopsis of No Rest for the Dead and then looked at the list of contributing authors I knew that I just had to read this book. Could this work? WOULD this work? Yes it works just fine, thank you! Each author writes one chapter, or story, labeled with their name so you do know who wrote what. But the "who wrote what" dynamic quickly gets back burnered. Some of the writers aren't normally favorites but in No Rest for the Dead, it didn't matter to me. Every chapter and every story was seamless, every word was brilliant. What matters is that No Rest for the Dead is a great read and a great who-done-it.
As requested by the deceased, innocent Rosemary Thomas in her will, ten years after her execution, all who were present on the night of her her husband's murder are to be brought together again in a sort of memorial. A letter is to be read by Rosemary's best friend. I immediately expected a "Nick Charles" type of scene when I read that all of the suspects would be together in one room. Nope...didn't happen. And that's OK. There's another, more interesting way that the facts are exposed and the mystery is solved.
No Rest for the Dead is a well told, well laid out and plotted mystery, I couldn't stop reading it. It's rather like a well designed quilt, all of the separate pieces are finally stitched together to make a solid piece. It's the fine stitching and the weaving of the threads that bind the pieces that make the finished quilt strong and sturdy. That's what you have in No Rest for the Dead. A strong and well crafted story.Hands down, this is one of the best books I've read this year! The solution took me by surprise and no, I didn't see it coming. And I can usually figure these things out.
Buy it, read it, share it.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
This e-galley was provided to me by the publisher and in no way affected my review.

No Rest for the Dead Overview

More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel, a one-of-a-kind collaboration that combines the skills of America's greatest storytellers to produce one spellbinding whopper of a mystery. Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown. Faye Kellerman. J.A. Jance. Jeffery Deaver. Kathy Reichs. Lisa Scottoline. Jeff Lindsay. Only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind the creation of No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from mind to mind of each Creator." Recently, twenty-some of the nation's leading mystery and thriller writers joined together to form The American Detection Club, a group dedicated to publishing high-quality anthologies and serial genre novels. In No Rest for the Dead, their first endeavor, the group has collaborated to create the mystery behind the murder of Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco's Museum of Fine Arts. Though Thomas's wife was convicted and executed for the crime, detective Jon Nunn is not convinced. Ten years after the murder, Nunn gathers together all who were present on the night Christopher died, intent on uncovering the truth, suspect by suspect. Edited by the talent at The Strand Magazine, the home of mystery fiction since 1890, No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America's very best could achieve.

Want to learn more information about No Rest for the Dead?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense Review

Are you looking to buy Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense Review

"Money to Burn" by James Grippando follows investment banker Michael Cantella, who works in the prestigious Wall Street firm Saxon Silvers and is an ambitious man until his rich life starts turning into a nightmare.
The book starts off in November 2003, with Michael going on a Saxon Silvers sponsored Caribbean cruise, along with his girlfriend Ivy Layton and his fellow investment bankers. When they board the cruise in Miami, Ivy immediately feels like she doesn't fit in with the gossipy girlfriends of Michael's work colleagues and suggests they charter a private cruise. To her surprise, Michael agrees and the love-struck pair even marry while enjoying their cruise. Shortly afterwards, Michael wakes up and Ivy has disappeared.
Fast forward May 2007, and Michael is married to his high school friend Mallory and still working at Saxon Silvers. Much to Mallory's annoyance, he secretly remains in love with Ivy, despite her disappearance.
Shortly following his thirty-fifth birthday, Michael wakes up to find out his investment portfolio has been wiped out--with his entire balance transferred to an off-shore account that he never had. As if that isn't enough, reports start circulating that Sexton Silvers is in trouble following the leak of information concerning its twenty-two billion dollars write-down of sub-prime mortgages.
At the same time, Michael starts getting accused of insider dealings and even of financially engineering Saxon Silvers ruin. The rumors are headed by TV reporter Chuck Bell, who has a ball destroying both Michael's reputation as well as the firm's, while refusing to reveal the identity of his secret informer.
Meanwhile, Michael receives a strange package that blows up in his hands and discovers that he's being spied on. Someone is out to ruin his life and destroy Saxon Silvers.
Overall, "Money to Burn" was an engaging read. I read the entire book in one day. Originally, I was drawn to this book because of its relevance to the recent Wall Street melt down. But setting non-withstanding, the book is filled with some powerful action sequences and plot twists.

Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense Overview

Want to learn more information about Money to Burn: A Novel of Suspense?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price The Postcard Killers Review

Are you looking to buy The Postcard Killers? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Postcard Killers. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

The Postcard Killers Review

First off, it was my fault that I read this. I should have learned from Patterson's past books, on how bad this would be, and I should have listened to myself. I used to like Patterson a lot, but now his books are hit and miss, much more of them are a miss, and this is no exception. This is a clunker.
I won't ever bother going over the plot. I read it once and I don't want to remember it. Honestly, it's that bad. What makes it that bad? Well my fellow reader, I'm glad you asked.
The Characters: All of the characters are annoying. One of the main characters is Jacob, a cop from NYC, and he annoyed the bejesus out of me. He flashed his badge and expected people to jump and do what he wanted. The problem is that he was pretty much all over the world doing it. I guess it never occurred to him that his NYC police badge would mean diddly squat outside of his jourstiction. People were doing what he wanted, pretty much. If he didn't get what he wanted, he'll throw a hissy fit and throw things through windows and start yelling a people like he owned the place. The other main character was Dessie, who's a sometimes gay and sometimes straight reporter. I guess she hasn't made up her mind yet. Not only is she a reporter, but she feels the need to solve big crimes for the cops. I found that to be laughable.
Also, the repetition of things grated at me nerves. How many times do we have to hear different and the same characters tell us that "The American smells", "Can't the American take a shower", "Why does the American smell so bad." "Hasn't the American heard of soap?" Okay we get it, Jacob stinks.... do we really need to read bout it so much? Speaking of repetition let's talk about Dessie, the sometimes report/crimfighter, shall we? Over and over again we are treated to , "Why did the killers contact me?" "Why did the killers choose me?" "Why would the Postcard killers send me a postcard". Then if that isn't enough, we're treated to other characters ask over and over, and over, "Why would the killers contact you?" Then when the killers do their things, we get to see them do the set up over and over, and over. When they started setting the victims up, I knew exactly what they'd do and what they said before they did it. Yeesh!
The writing style if just awful. There's no plot twits, nothing to keep the reader hooked to the page. Nothing like, "OMG, I never saw that coming!!" The sad truth my friends, is that we see everything coming, and there are no surprises.
Usually, I'd say get it from the library, I won't even suggest that. This is a clunker. Don't even waste your time on this.

The Postcard Killers Overview

Paris is stunning in the summerNYPD detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of Europe's most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren't what draw him--he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each cafe through the eyes of his daughter's killer.The killing is simply marvelousKanon's daughter, Kimmy, and her boyfriend were murdered while on vacation in Rome. Since then, young couples in Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Stockholm have been found dead. Little connects the murders, other than a postcard to the local newspaper that precedes each new victim. Wish you were hereNow Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson, who has just received a postcard in Stockholm--and they think they know where the next victims will be. With relentless logic and unstoppable action, The Postcard Killers may be James Patterson's most vivid and compelling thriller yet.

Want to learn more information about The Postcard Killers?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Hell's Corner Review

Are you looking to buy Hell's Corner? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Hell's Corner. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

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

Want to learn more information about Hell's Corner?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Special Prices for The Most Dangerous Thing Review

Are you looking to buy The Most Dangerous Thing? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Most Dangerous Thing. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

The Most Dangerous Thing Review

Lippman explores a mythologized childhood in the woods that skirts Dickeyville, a suburb just inside Baltimore. Five children, Gwen, tomboy Mickey and the wild Halloran brothers, Sean, Tim and Gordon (Go-Go), spend their summers exploring, far exceeding the boundaries of their parents' permission to remain on the outskirts of the wilderness. The unity of five, Go-Go the youngest, following the older kids like a happy puppy, gradually evolves with the onset of adolescence, until a fateful summer where a ramshackle cottage is the scene of tragedy the night of a fearsome hurricane. Thirty-two years later, Go-Go is dead, either by accident or suicide, his descent into bad behavior long a familiar theme in the Halloran family. Go-Go's history is littered with secrets, the long habits of parents keeping silent about bad things infecting five friends who have secrets of their own. None of them have survived that final summer unscathed, brought together finally by the loss of the boy who raptly copied everything they did and hid the ugliest secret of them all.
The narrative voice dissects the lives of each, Gwen, Tim, Sean, Go-Go and Mickey (who has changed her name to McKey). But Lippman fleshes out these pivotal characters with their mothers and fathers, the family patterns, the facades of marriage and secrets passed from one generation to another. Often the pages feel weighted with regrets, of mistakes made and roads not taken: a beautiful, artistic mother who once dreamed of Paris and painting; a woman who trades on the artifice of her body even as her beauty fades to blowsy, changing men like costumes; fathers who act on behalf of their children, adding another layer of deceit to an already senseless tragedy; adolescents eager to explore the adult world and taste forbidden fruit, only later to be burdened with the consequences of their carelessness.
In a provocative and thoughtful novel, Lippman is not content to let events drive her story, delving relentlessly into personalities, motives, the collision of egos and the instinct for self-preservation. Guilt is reduced to nearly equal portions, a collective tragedy, a collective secret that begs for release. As expected, the truth provides a measure of relief, the breaking of silence the only palliative to now-adult lives filled with mistakes and opportunities. Humanity is, after all, a complicated thing. Lippman avoids the easy dismissal or the facile explanation. No, this is murkier territory, where only one body remains buried, secrets intact. Luan Gaines/2011.

The Most Dangerous Thing Overview

Some secrets can't be kept. . . .

The Most Dangerous Thing

Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past—and the terrible lie they all shared.But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years.

And then the revelations start.

Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what they've done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear on them and everyone close to them?Each one of these old friends has to wonder if their secret has been discovered—and if someone within the circle is out to destroy them.


Want to learn more information about The Most Dangerous Thing?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Buy Cheap The Reversal Review

Are you looking to buy The Reversal? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Reversal. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

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

Want to learn more information about The Reversal?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...