the Book Brothel

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 388 pages, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I’ve read a few of Patterson’s books a number of years back but took a break when they seemed to be getting a little too fluffy for my tastes…but enough time has passed to try again.

Synopsis: Katherine Dunne is disappointed to leave her new husband on shore but hopes that taking a trip on a personal boat with her former brother-in-law and three kids will bring them together again, a feeling they haven’t had since her first husband passed away four years ago. A disaster strikes and they’re going to be forced to work together if they want to live, especially when it seems that all the disasters at sea aren’t so natural…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 277 pages, 2008

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: New book in the Harry Bosch series! New book in the Harry Bosch series!

Synopsis: It’s the middle of the night when LAPD detective Harry Bosch receives a call about a murder - a doctor with access to radioactive substances was found shot in the back of the head. The entire city may be in trouble if Bosch can’t find out who killed him - all while dodging the FBI, who have their own agenda…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 482 pages, 1992

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: After having read Connelly’s Harry Bosch series for years I finally decided to start at the beginning of the series.

Synopsis: When Detective Harry Bosch is called to the scene of an apparent overdose, things just aren’t adding up for him. Sure, the deceased, a fellow ‘tunnel rat’ who fought alongside Bosch in Vietnam, had his share of problems after returning from the war, but things had been looking up. Someone wanted this man dead and they were prepared to kill him and do much more to hide their secret, and the renegade cop Bosch might be the only thing standing in their way…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 453 pages, 2006

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I like a good thriller, and the fact that it was set somewhere that I don’t often read about (Spain) was also a motivator.

Synopsis: Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón is investigating an unusual murder, in which the body has been stripped of all means of identification in a very professional manner, when the town of Seville, Spain, is sent into a panic from a massive explosion. It looks like a terrorist attack, but Falcón is about to discover that nothing is as it seems in a world where mind games matter as much as, if not more than, the horrible physical realities they inflict upon innocent lives.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market May 2007), 510 pages, 2006

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: I own The Zero Game but haven’t read it yet, so on to my usual bad habit of reading newer books first.

Synopsis: Wes Holloway was a presidential aide ready to take over the world until a would-be presidential assassin destroyed his face with a bullet and took out Ron Boyle, one of the president’s oldest friends. It’s now eight years later, and Boyle seems to be alive and a massive conspiracy underway, but unless Holloway can figure out who’s being targeted and what exactly is being covered up, he’s just a disposable pawn who might be in the way of the most powerful government in the world…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 259 pages, 2006

Rating: 7/10

Reason for Reading: I read the first few paragraphs and decided it was enough to make me want to read the whole book.

Synopsis: Annie Seymour is a journalist who’s about to discover the hard lessons of covering a story that’s too close to home. When a popular restaurant in her neighborhood burns down, and a body is discovered inside, Annie pursues the story despite the danger - possibly from someone she knows.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market June 2007), 279 pages, 2006

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: How could I resist something this wacky? Even the cover made me giggle.

Synopsis: Oh, what’s a lonely serial killer to do? Find a social club, of course. But what if, like ‘Douglas Fairbanks Jr.’ - a moniker in a club full of Richard Burtons and Chers and Errol Flynns - you’ve stumbled onto the club quite by accident? After a defensive retalation against his own would-be-killer leaves a stranger dead, Douglas goes through his wallet and finds a mysterious ad that he can’t resist responding to…and since he’s already there, Douglas decides to use the opportunity for good, and, shadowed by a government agent, starts to kill off the serial killers themselves. There are a few problems, of course - the possibility of the real serial killers figuring out what’s going on, and the fact that maybe his own killing spree shouldn’t be so much fun…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 341 pages, 2002

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I found a hardcover copy up for offer in the bargain section of an on-line site, and remembered how popular it had been when I worked at a bookstore, so I thought I’d see what the fuss was about. Better late than never, right?

Synopsis: Loaded (renamed Smokescreen in later editions) is the story of Allen Long, a marijuana smuggler that operated mainly between Columbia and the United States in the 1970s. He starts off making a documentary about smuggling, but quickly realizes that the things he wants the most - wild adventures, the best drugs, and money in such quantities that it’s weighed, not counted - are much easier to get if he becomes a smuggler. But what becomes of a man that’s always on the prowl for more of everything?

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 404 pages, 2005

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I haven’t read any fictional books about lawyers since John Grisham scared me away from the genre about a decade ago, but Michael Connelly? I’m there!

Synopsis: It’s L.A. lawyer Mickey Haller’s worst nightmare - a client that seems to be innocent. Strange thinking, maybe, but there’s a lot more pressure to keep an innocent man out of jail than there is to make sure a real criminal gets a reduced sentence. It helps, too, that his client, accused of viciously beating a woman, is rolling in money and doesn’t mind Haller racking up billable hours looking with his investigations, but when a close friend is murdered, Haller begins to see that every man may have his price, and if he underestimates anyone around him, he may find he’s the next murder victim…

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href="http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451215796/qid%3D1121833697/701-0826663-3059561"

alt="Seven Minutes to Noon by Kate Pepper" />

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 307 pages, 2005

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: The author’s name rang a vague bell for me (admittedly,

‘vague’ being the only type of bell that ever rings for me), so I picked it up when I wanted

to read a suspense novel.

Synopsis: When Lauren doesn’t turn up for their usual meeting in the playground

before their children get out of school, Alice doesn’t panic at first - she simply figures

her 8½ months pregnant friend has gone into labour. But as the days pass and no one

hears from Lauren, Alice begins to realize something horrible may have happened and everyone

- family, friends, strangers on the street - may have something horrible to hide. Alice

feels like she must find out what happened - not just for Lauren and her unborn child, but

because she fears being pregnant with twins herself might make her the next target…

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