Cold Cold Sea

I had a love/hate relationship with this book.  It was a thriller and and and like a bad addiction, I could not stop reading until I finished the book. As sick and twisted as some of the characters were, I wanted more and the author delivered!  I read this book over the weekend with my three year old at my beach house...I will be keeping a closer eye on my kids now!

You Got Me!!!

Very rarely do I read a book where an author captures my attention.  In this case,  right off Ms. Cooke had my full attention, because the subject matter dealt with a therapist working with a severely emotionally disturbed child, who came from an unstable home.  Since this was my job for many years, I was fascinated to read about the dynamics and issues that went on between the therapist, social worker, and the boy, and as geeky as this sounds, how policy worked in Northern Ireland.  I was immediately sucked in, and could not put it down.  I was impressed at how realistic it seemed, even when sometimes the lines between therapist and patient seemed to be crossed, maybe I was getting a little too  into the story, but in the end...Carolyn Jess-Cooke, You got me!

"Bones" meet Ruth Galloway

The Janus Stone -by Elly Griffiths

This book caught my attention because there seemed something familiar about it. A woman who digs up bones for a living and has a “thing” for her police-officer/co-worker. It had a very familiar sound to it...Oh yeah! It sounded like the show I love to watch every week “Bones!” But this was by a Brittish author, not Kathy Reichs, so could it be better? To be honest, I'm a huge “Bones” TV show fan, but the books I have found boring and predictable. This is one of those rare occasions I thank screenwriters for working with authors. So could this Elly Griffiths keep my interest?

Well, I must say, I have found my “British Bones,” Ruth Galloway. She is bright, savvy, and the cast of characters that join her in The Janus Stone, are all very colorful bunch! The book is extremely well written and covers a variety of areas from Roman archeology to Druid rituals. It wasn't overly predictable, and it was overall, very interesting. This is the second Galloway book by Griffiths, and hopefully the series will continue.

I think I have found a new calling...

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead by Paul Elwork

This was a rather creative idea put into writing, and turned into a fun and entertaining read! The book is about a scheme two precocious thirteen year old’s concoct to entertain, and spook the neighborhood children, by convincing them that the main character, Emily, can contact the dead. Like most childhood schemes, adults eventually find out, and Emily finds herself in predicaments deceiving adults and learning some of their deepest secrets. It is told from a thirteen year old's point of view, for the most part, with some historical flashbacks, as Emily begins to uncover some of her own family secrets.

The book was not exactly what I thought it would be about, instead it was more about family bonds, secrets, deceit, love, and lessons learned. Though, the title and description may have been a bit misleading, I will admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it in one afternoon. I love being surprised by books I normally would not read!

Does a Serial Killer Keep a Diary?

Duncan's Diary: Birth of a Serial Killer- by Christopher Payne

So I was VERY excited to read this book! I mean, with my background in forensic psychology, I was excited to see how this author could capture the transformation of a budding serial killer and the book sounded cool. Well, Payne did a good a good job in the beginning, but other than redundant gore and sex...not that it offended me in any way, but just bored me...I found the book hard to read because it seemed so repetitive and predictable. The main character Duncan, was a smooth operator, like most serial killers, and did an excellent job of eluding friends and family. I was also disappointed that it wasn't in “diary” format”. The author did a good job doing his research on serial killers, but the book wasn't that exciting. Although, it did teach a valuable lesson on internet dating!