Four Below by Peter Helton

 This book was sent to me for review by Nancy at  BestSellersWorld. 


Detective McLusky is a disgruntled DI in Bristol, England. Not happy about his social life, his food, his office, etc. 
There is a murder of an individual who is found in Leigh Woods, partly buried and stoned to death. The murder victim is a drug addict and so we are going down the path of believing that this is probably just that, a deal gone bad.
Within days, there are many drug related deaths that are not as easily explained away. It seems as if these drug deaths are caused by the addicts ingesting heroin that has been laced with anthrax, causing very disgusting deaths.
With all of this taking place, the death toll keeps going up, with victims being heroin/anthraxed to death, and others who are being found in the woods having been brutally killed with stones and beaten.
The story is well written, but I feel that it could have been carried further. There were so many characters in the last part of the book that we really didn't get to know and I did not understand their relevance, even in the end. The ending was really rather clipped and unsatisfying, as it seemed to be written just to tie up the ending.   

http://www.peterhelton.com/

Courtney Comes Clean by Maer Roshan

  This book was sent to me by Vera from Luxury Reading for review.

I have to be honest and say that I really do not have much knowledge of Courtney Love's music or life other than the gossip that I read in magazines. I really had never heard any of her music.
She seems to be a very intelligent, drugged-out trainwreck. Maer Roshan spent about a year with Courtney and writes about all of the paranoia that she experiences about her finances, her reputation, etc. Courtney Love has been an addict since she was 15 years old and has tried to rehabilitate over and over again, without much success.
She really appears to be a tragic figure that people will have a tendency to just dish dirt about. She really kind of fuels that with her actions and things that she does to acquire attention in the wrong manner. Does she use her fame as the widow of Kurt Cobain to fan some of these stories? I get the sense that it helps to fuel some gossip, but there is also the fact that she lost custody of their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, that adds to all of this.
I don't really think that this book had all that much depth to it. I think that Maer Roshan could have spent more time helping us to understand the woman more thoroughly and maybe get some real feedback about who she is. I did not walk away from this book with much more knowledge about her than I walked in with.

http://www.thefix.com/content/maer-roshan

Tidings of Fear by Ericka Scott

 This book was sent to me by Romance Junkies for review.

Lia has been called back to her hometown of Camel Cove, California, after the disappearance of her sister, Sylvie and Sylvie's son, Deion, whom Lia did not even know about. Lia and Sylvie have been estranged for about seven years, soon after the deaths of their parents. Lia had tried to tell Sylvie that she was psychic and thinks that she could have prevented the deaths, but Sylvie thought that Lia was being silly and the two went their separate ways.
Lia became a photojournalist and Sylvie pursued a career working for the government in an agency set up to protect the President from assassination attempts.Lia's career was progressing, but Sylvie's had run into problems and almost resulted in the death of the president. Sylvie had eventually written a book about how women could protect themselves from harm and it had become a best-seller.
Sylvie had been living with her lover, Margaret, and therefore, Lia wasn't sure how the birth of Deion was handled, whether through an affair or an adoption.
Lia finds herself involved again with a professor that she had a torrid affair with when she attended college seven years ago. Jared Trimble was her professor and lover and had a huge obsession with crossword puzzles, beyond his ability to attract many female admirers. She also comes to know one of Sylvie's former superiors in the government, Mark Powers, who also has a fascination with crosswords.
All of the 3 characters seem to have their own suppositions about the disappearance of Sylvie and her son. The local paper has had crosswords in recent months that have clues in them about the disappearance and murders of 7 other women and their children and the most recent puzzle contains the names of Sylvie and Deion.
The story is a quick read, although I found the characters not to be fleshed out much. There are many suppositions made during the book that lead you to believe some things and not really understand why you are led to believe them. But that is what a mystery is supposed to be about, right?
The writing is good, you want to turn the page and figure it out and that is what it's supposed to do.

erickascott.com  

Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream

  This book was sent to me by Vera at Luxury Reading for review.


Clementine Pritchard is a semi-successful younger artist who has determined that her life is not as she would wish it to be and has decided to clean up her life and commit suicide in 30 days. We are living her life with her for those 30 days as she sells her furniture, finds a new home for her cat, resolves things with her ex-husband, etc. We are with her as she visits restaurants and orders all of her favorite things, taste the fine wines that she has always wanted to try, and we are also there as she learns things that she might not have had the opportunity to do was she not intending to finish her life to the fullest.
Although the book makes you believe that the ending is probably already known, you really come to love Clementine and enjoy going through all of her experiences. The book is written with humor & sadness that you will absolutely enjoy. The whole thought of someone wanting to end their life is tragic, but the author, Ashley Ream, makes you understand the trials of what Clementine is trying to accomplish.
The story makes you ponder all that you might want to do before your end, if you had the chance to do that.


Ashley Ream has quickly become an author that will go on my list as someone to continue to watch. I could not help not wanting to turn the page and experience Clementine's last 30 days with anticipation.

ashleyream.com

Contest: Win Stephen King's new book "Wind Through The Keyhole", A Dark Tower Novel

Contest: Win Stephen King's new book "Wind Through The Keyhole", A Dark Tower Novel

The Visionary by Pamela S. Thibodeaux

This book was sent to me by Romance Junkies for review.

Alex Broussard has acquired a mansion that is in desperate need of updating and repair. The mansion is in Louisiana and he is in need of architects and designers who can restore the manor to it's proper state.

Alex calls upon T&T Enterprises to see if they would be interested in doing this work for him. Taylor and Trevor Forrestier, male and female twins, are two of the best and Taylor has been written up as genius in the designing field.

There is so much history about the manor that Alex has purchased and Taylor would not have turned this job away, no matter what her brother would have said. And the strong attraction between herself and Alex put another stamp on her approval.

Alex senses a very strong bond between the twins and at times it is hard to understand the extreme closeness that they share. Then, we learn the truth about what the twins had to endure as children who were abused by their father and the need for the two of them to be so tied to each other. They only had each other to rely on and therefore, need the bond strongly.

Taylor has tried to reach to God to alleviate her demons, but Trevor is not as quick to embrace a God he feels betrayed them. Trevor does not understand how the Almighty would let this go on without punishment for their tormentor.

Eventually Taylor and Pastor Hebert get through to Trevor about letting go of the pain and anger and releasing his demons. Pamela Thibodeaux has written a good novel with solid characters. You really do feel the strong connection between Taylor and Trevor and are hoping that both of them can get beyond the horrific childhood and become separate individuals who can lead their own lives, but still have each other to depend on. I really want to commend Pamela Thibodeaux for tackling such a tough issue in a contemporary romance and making it work.

pamelathibodeaux.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hoping to have more on the blog next year and to have read more exciting books. Want to write more on a personal basis also. Thank you for being my friends and please forward my blog to all of your friends, so we can all be friends together!