Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

ISBN: 9780525950608

Publisher: Dutton Adult

Rating: B-

From the mind that gave me one of my most beloved characters ever, Harlan Coben comes a thriller that has real value in today’s technogeek world. Should parents spy on their children and ALWAYS know what they are up to, or should they TRUST their children to make the same mistakes they made?

I am quite opinionated on this subject because, I was the child my mom always assumed was up to no good when in reality, I was the one who never did anything wrong for fear of retribution, so thinking about her electronically spying on me ticked me off because I was a big journal writer. That is akin to a parent reading their child’s diary especially with electronic ones like this.

When I think about growing up in the ’90’s I know mistakes were made, but I also know that I wasn’t diagnosed with ADD and I was never put on Ritalin or given anti-depressants in order to cope with my problems and inner demons, I journaled my feelings, I talked to my friends and I coped with their love and support, but I never would have considred a “pharm party” or anything of the sort, so this book seemed some what unreal to me that these kids today who are supposed to be so smart could be so mindlessly stupid. Granted, the book did touch on the subject of parents ignoring their kids and what can happen, but it just felt like it was a book and not a story.

I love Coben as a writer and I was excited to try one of his stand alone thrillers but this one really bored me and really could have been more thrill like, maybe it was more of a thinking mans thriller, but it annoyed me more than it made me think. It lacked a level of emotion that this type of book needs to carry it off, the parents were not sympathetic at all which made it hard to care about the book as a whole. They stopped “seeing” their kids and that is what makes this book hard to read because it was written in a stereotypical way that there is only 1 way their son Adam could be found out was by invading his private space and feelings it seems that they ignored everything else along the way and took the easy way out.

It really is quite a sensitive topic that I get all riled up thinking about it even now and I finished it a month ago.

Reviews to be coming shortly

I will be having reviews posted in the next month for:

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

Always the Bridesmaid by Whitney Lyles

Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

ISBN:  9780641835322

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Trade

Rating:  B

Meet Isabel Spellman; the PI with a past and the family drive her back there.  The only thing in Isabel’s life that keeps her grounded is working for Spellman Investigations, but when her parents drive her to the brink she is forced to consider giving up the only thing she knows in order to escape their family “issues”.  Will Isabel solve the last case of her career before time runs out?

Isabel is the perfect blend of Stephanie Plum and Veronica Mars.  She tends to let her mouth get her into trouble, but lets her skill get her out.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book when I first picked it up, I felt that the author was trying to force feed me the character development and I wasn’t too keen on that.  However, as the plot began to develop so did the characters of their own accord and the author let the characters grow on their own.  For me the characters natural progression is what saved this book because I didn’t think I’d be able to finish it.

I am more than glad I did because I ended up devouring the second half of this book with no qualms and no regrets.  The plot became engaging and the characters showed their flaws and a lot of heart.

I can’t wait to see what Curse of the Spellman’s brings to the table in the next installment of this new to me series.

Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern

ISBN: 9780143038900

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Rating: C

Cara must learn to unlock the secrets to her autistic son’s mind in order to help the police solve the murder of another child from his school. Will she be able to delve that deep into his mind or will her efforts prove to be fruitless?
I picked this book for my yahoo group Book of the Month read and I honestly couldn’t be more disappointed, I thought it would be a fascinating thriller that would force me as a reader to look beyond what I consider “normal”. However, it was so elementary and lack luster, it could have had huge potential, it fell severely short.

The ending felt rushed and completely underdeveloped and it annoyed me. There are certain times when a Happily Ever After shouldn’t occur, and this should have been one of them. Everything was just neatly wrapped up in a quick little bow and as a reader I felt totally jipped.

The characters and their relationships were just dull and 1 dimensional and not explored at all. Part of what could have made this book stand out would have been how all the people tie together, but the potential of this story was wasted, which is sad for me as a reader.

Reading Funk

It appears that I have been in a reading funk much of this year, barely connecting with the books I’ve been reading.  I’ve finally realized that it isn’t me, it was the books I was choosing because the moments that I have just been engrossed have been the books with characters I love, Mine to Possess and Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh, Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton, Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich etc.  These are  just some of the books that make me excited about reading this year.

I have read some other awesome books so far this year, but these are ones that I devour because I am so in love with the characters and the worlds that are created in these books.

Stephanie Plum is the reason I fell in love with reading as an adult.  Evanovich just engaged me from the start and had me reading the first 7 books in less than a week.

Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series just has me completely blown away with how in depth her characters are written and how strong her world building is, I never really appreciated world building until I started reading this series, and I will forever compare all others to her.

Harry Potter, while I am now appreciating the world JK Rowling has created, it never mattered to me before, but the characters and the friendships in these books were amazing and the small mysteries always had me digging and digging and digging for more.  This is the only series I re-read at least once per year because no matter what I always learn something new.

Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series introduced me to the paranormal genre and had me addicted from the 3rd book, I didn’t care for Anita in the first books because she wasn’t at all like me, but as LKH found her stride Anita has grown so much and has this rough exterior but a gooey center and that is all that matters because when she loves you it’s with her whole heart, there are no limits and that’s just a gift.

Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton

ISBN: 9780425222195

Publisher: Penguin USA

Rating: A

Jason has to go home, his father is dying of cancer and only has a few weeks left. Although estranged from his family for over 3 years, Jason feels he has to at least say goodbye, but he is afraid of the abuse he will face, since his own father doesn’t respect him, and refuses to believe Jason is straight, Jason’s mom begs him to bring a girl home so his father can die in peace. The only girl Jason would trust to come home with him is the one he will never ask, but when she offers all bets are off. What will happen when Anita and Jason make the trip to Promise North Carolina, will they survive the family inquest?

I love Anita Blake and the world that Laurell K Hamilton has created for these amazingly intense characters. There is an infinite amount of pleasure I get from revisiting St Louis and my favorite people who dwell there.

I’m a huge fan and I always have been and I always will be, I love seeing Anita become more human because for a while there I thought her more of the monster than the ones she is given the authority to kill. However, something happened to Anita when she became Nimir Ra of the Leopard Pard, she started to feel and understand emotion that ran deeper than her necromancy. I love watching her character grow in ways that I never would have believed possible. There is a scene where she is with Jason that actually made me get a little misty because it was a defining moment in this series and for their characters. Hamilton’s characters aren’t only three dimensional, but the individual flavors she pours into them makes me so eager to have the next one written and in my hand. I am always jealous when someone starts reading this series for the first time because to be able to fall in love with it was an awesome adventure.

I know there are people out there who read LKH just to count the sex scenes to me that is just wrong because they miss all the emotion that LKH puts into these characters. There are moments that I cheer for these characters I have grown to love so much and there are times when I am in total shock of what they go through for each other and because of each other, but each moment in these books matters.