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Archive for the ‘Suspense’ Category

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 296 pages, 2004

Rating: 7/10

Reason for Reading: I wanted a mindless read, and was hoping a non-Stephanie Plum book would freshen up Evanovich’s writing.

Synopsis: Alexandra Barnaby, aka Barney, is living a normal, rather ho-hum existence in Baltimore when she gets a middle-of-the-night phone call from her brother, Wild Bill, saying he has to go away for a while. Before she can get an explanation, Barney hears a woman scream right before the line is cut off, so she decides to head down to Miami to bail her brother out of whatever trouble he’s gotten himself into now. But when she gets there, she discovers a boat is missing, a security guard has been murdered, and when she decides to check out Bill’s apartment she sees someone’s clearly beat her to the job. The missing boat’s owner, NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, insists on joining Barney, leaving her with two battles instead of one - to find Bill, and to fight off the constant advances of Hooker.

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Humour, Mystery | Comments Off

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

Tuesday, December 7th, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 339 pages, 2004

Rating: 6/10

Reason for Reading: The first three books in the series (The Surgeon; The Apprentice; The Sinner) had Gerritsen sitting on top of the forensic mysteries genre, in my opinion.

Synopsis: When medical examiner Maura Isles arrives home from a trip to find cops in front of her house, gathered around a car with a dead body inside, it’s obviously not good news. It gets worse, though, as in the darkness of night the cops mistook the shot woman for her, they looked so much alike. So who is this woman? And perhaps more importantly, was the look-alike the intended victim, or is a killer on the loose and after Maura?

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Forensics | Comments Off

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Wednesday, September 1st, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 355 pages, 2004

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: A friend got me hooked on Hiaasen and his wacky goodness.

Synopsis: On a dark night aboard a cruise ship, Chaz Perrone flips his wife over the boat’s railing into the ocean and congratulates himself on a successful murder. But Joey didn’t die - she popped up confused and spitting mad, managing to survive by clinging to a bale of Jamaican marijuana until loner Mitch Stranahan hauls her out of the water. Rather than heading directly for the police, Joey decides to let Chaz think she died while she tries to piece together why he would suddenly feel the urge to kill her. And a little revenge seems like a good way to pass the time between her amateur sleuthing excursions, which seem poised to blow the lid off of some of Chaz’s dirty little secrets…

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Posted in Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense, Humour | No Comments »

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding

Tuesday, August 24th, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 306 pages, 2004

Rating: 6/10

Reason for Reading: I enjoyed Fielding’s sense of humour in the Bridget Jones books.

Synopsis: Olivia Joules is a bottom-of-the-barrel journalist who is often accused of relying more on her wild imagination than on actual facts, so when her boss sends her to Miami for the launch of a face-cream, it comes as no surprise to anyone that she becomes fixated on the idea that movie mogul Pierre is actually Osama bin Laden in disguise. Unfortunately, she also finds herself lusting after Pierre, and so, half out of a sense of duty to protect the world from terrorism and half to see if she’s found a guy worth dating, Olivia embarks on a self-appointed espionage mission to various locales around the world. She’s found her man, but now she must try to separate the facts from the fiction to see if Pierre belongs behind bars or between her sheets.

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Posted in Fiction, Chick-Lit, Suspense, Humour, Action, Spy / Espionage | No Comments »

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Saturday, July 31st, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass-market, 370 pages, 2001

Rating: 7/10

Reason for Reading: Coben seems to be a name that pops up frequently in the suspense/mystery genre, so I thought I’d give him a shot.

Synopsis: Eight years ago, Dr. David Beck’s wife was brutally murdered by a killer now sitting on death row for his crimes. Out of the blue, David gets an email containing information that only his wife would have known. Long-buried bodies are being uncovered, and new murders are being committed, but David is focused on the bizarre possibility that his wife might be alive. It seems impossible, but if it’s a cruel prank, it’s about to turn deadly…

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Mystery | No Comments »

The Stone Monkey by Jeffery Deaver

Thursday, July 1st, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass-market), 424 pages, 2002

Rating: 7/10

Reason for Reading: I’ve been trying to restrain myself from racing through all of Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, but couldn’t stop myself from reading The Stone Monkey, the fourth book (of five) in the series.

Synopsis: When a ship carrying illegal Chinese immigrants into America capsizes, criminalists Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs find themselves in a race to catch the notorious human smuggler whose elusive nature has earned him the nickname of the Ghost. At stake are the lives of the surviving immigrants, because there’s no way a driven criminal like the Ghost is going to leave behind any witnesses. With all of the Ghost’s underground crime connections it’s going to prove tough to find him, much less bring his killing spree to a halt.

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Forensics | No Comments »

The Empty Chair by Jeffery Deaver

Friday, April 30th, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass-market), 411 pages, 2000

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: I got into Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series thanks to a recommendation at Book Crazy, and I’ve found they make excellent slump-breakers. This is the third in the series.

Synopsis: Criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and his protégé Amelia Sachs abandon the bustle of Manhattan for the University of North Carolina, where Rhyme wants to try a highly experimental procedure for quadriplegics, which may be his only hope to get mobility beyond his head and one pinky finger - if it doesn’t make him worse. Before he can even finish his first consultation, the local police are knocking on the door and asking for their help. A teenage boy has been murdered, and two girls are missing. They need Rhyme and Sachs’ help deciphering forensic clues to find them before it’s too late.

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Forensics | No Comments »

Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

Tuesday, March 30th, 2004

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 372 pages, 1998

Rating: 6/10

Reason for Reading: My mom passed this one on to me; I wanted something quick to read.

Synopsis: A series of murders are being committed, and the only tie appears to be that three beautiful 20-something women, Ashely, Toni, and Alette, who each knew one of the victims, all work at the same computer graphics company. Who will David Singer be asked to defend in court, where a shocking bombshell will be dropped on the jury?

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Mystery | No Comments »

The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen

Tuesday, September 30th, 2003

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 342 pages, 2003

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: Gerritsen is the best forensic science-based thriller writer around.

Synopsis: It’s almost impossible to imagine - one nun murdered and another left for dead in a savage attack in a church in a secluded nunnery. Medical examiner Maura Isles, with the help of Detective Jane Rizzoli, must uncover the secrets the dead have left her. The criminals are hiding things, certainly, but the investigation is hampered because it seems that nuns can have secrets too…

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Forensics | No Comments »

Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes

Monday, September 22nd, 2003

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 342 pages, 2002

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: The Evanovich factor.

Synopsis: Millionaire Max, cousin of Nick in Full House, rolls into a quiet town (in a talking car, no less) in South Carolina, looking to help his brother-in-law Frankie run a campaign for mayor, and to check up on his unseen partner on the town’s newspaper, Jamie. Upon arrival, Max discovers two things: Jamie is beautiful, intriguing, and fiercely dedicated to a faltering newspaper, but engaged; and Frankie would make an excellent mayor, but a corrupt town council will do almost anything to stop him from getting in and uncovering them.

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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Romance, Humour | No Comments »

Archive for the ‘Suspense’ Category

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 296 pages, 2004

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 339 pages, 2004

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 355 pages, 2004

Rating: 9/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 306 pages, 2004

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass-market, 370 pages, 2001

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass-market), 424 pages, 2002

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass-market), 411 pages, 2000

Rating: 10/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 372 pages, 1998

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in mass market), 342 pages, 2003

Rating: 9/10

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Mass market, 342 pages, 2002

Rating: 9/10

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