Review: Detective Cross

Detective Cross by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book #24.5 in this series, this is one of James Patterson's Book Shots - the novellas he writes for those who want to read but may not have time for a full length novel. The result of this is these do tend to be pretty fast paced and this is no exception. The exception for this one, however, is it does mention things from the previous book so it would definitely help to read that one first - even with having read it, I didn't quite remember what had happened that this book refers to more than once as a somewhat important plot point.

Detective Cross in this case is not Alex, but rather his wife Bree, Metro PD Chief of Detectives, who gets an early morning call that an IED has been left at the Washington National Mall - and she has less than an hour to find it. This ends up being the first of several IEDs the bomber leaves in his wake for reasons unknown until the bomber is ultimately caught.

The bombers reasons were heartbreaking and sadly relevant to today's society. The book was definitely fast paced as I mentioned and there was a twist in who the bomber was - or rather, it was not who I expected it to be in a way I can't say without spoiling it. My only complaint is that because Bree and the FBI, rather than Alex, were the focus, Alex's best friend and fellow cop was noticeably absent from this book!

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Review: Gone

Gone by Jonathan Kellerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Swept Under the Rug

Swept Under the Rug by Jennifer L. Hart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second book in the Laundry Hag series, I enjoyed this one but didn't love it like I did the first, which was a bit disappointing.

Having survived her ordeal with a corrupt cop in the first book, Maggie Phillips is still cleaning houses for the elite and is still working as a CI for the police department and an overzealous one at that as she wants to solve cases, not just provide helpful information in regards to them. Working at one client's she "discovers" a mysterious fax which the police dismiss until the wife of the recipient disappears and Maggie suddenly finds herself having to prove she wasn't behind it. And if that wasn't enough, her brother Marty has reappeared, this time with a pregnant girlfriend in tow, her best friend's marriage is over and her own marriage seems to be on the rocks as well - mostly due to Maggie's own paranoia.

This was a quick, entertaining read. It wasn't quite as humorous as the first one but the characters felt more real: Sylvia's reaction to her cheating husband and Neil's reaction to Maggie being targeted and framed being among the best. I can't really find anything I would say was a huge fault with it (other than it definitely could have used a second set of editing eyes); the bar was set pretty high for me with the first one and even knowing sophomore efforts rarely measure up, I think my expectations were just too high. That said, I am looking forward to seeing what scrapes Maggie gets into next!





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Review: Double Fudge Brownie Murder

Double Fudge Brownie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 Stars As I hovered over checking this book out from the library, I asked myself "Am I going to regret this?" The last couple of books have been awful but I went ahead and did it. I don't know if it's because I read this one instead of listened to it, or if it was because I was on vacation when I read it or if it's actually just a better book but I found this one didn't totally suck.

It starts out with the Swensen sisters and Doc Knight whisking Delores off to Las Vegas so Doc and Delores can elope. This part of the book, for the most part, was rather enjoyable. A quarter of the book later, the clan is back in Lake Eden when Hannah finds yet another murder victim - this time it's the judge who is about to preside over her vehicular manslaughter trial, which makes Hannah look like a good prime suspect in lead detective/boyfriend Mike's eyes. And of course, Hannah manages to stay one step ahead of Mike and the rest of the police force to solve the murder.

So here's what went wrong: Hannah is awaiting trial, with a substitute judge who doesn't know her presiding, yet she is allowed to fly halfway across the country for her mother's surprise elopement? Um, okay. And while I mostly enjoyed this part of the book, Hannah's family conspiring to play matchmaker by having her college crush, Ross, appear as Doc's best man was pretty contrived. Especially when the scheme worked and they fell madly in love after about two minutes and Delores then regretted it thinking Hannah was moving too fast - and was going to hurt her steady dates, Mike and Norman, in the process. Maybe, just maybe, you should have stayed out of it then.

Back in Lake Eden, Hannah (who barely works at her bakery anymore) is irate when Mike suspects her of murdering the judge. Hannah, who was ALONE in the judge's antichamber when it happened having been summoned prior to the start of HER TRIAL can't understand why Mike might think she has motive?? Seriously, Hannah, you are smarter than that. I believe the point was to get Hannah to realize that Mike might not be husband material after all, but really, Hannah should have figured that one out long ago.

But the worst part was Hannah's 7 year old niece being a cell phone expert. I understand today's kids are growing up with phones and tablets, but most of them do not sound and act like they should be selling them.

So what went right: the wedding was sweet. Michelle is probably my favorite character in this series as she's the only one whose life seems to be realistic. Hannah actually did something more intimate with a man than just hugging him and her stale love life finally has a resolution. And reading this did feel like visiting old friends and did help pass the time spent traveling from Point A to Point B in horrendous traffic much faster.







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Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars. This was our book club selection for this month and I had heard people either love it or they hate it; our book club leaned more towards those who liked or loved it with a couple who did not like it. I fall somewhere in the middle.

I found this book to be hard to get into, but then I hit a point where I couldn't put it down. But then a couple of things at the end stretched things a bit too far for my taste and that disappointed me.

The book starts off with the 1969 discovery of the dead body of Chase Andrews, former star quarterback from the small town of Barkley Cove, NC. It then goes back to 1952 and starts to tell the story of then 6 year old Catherine "Kya" Clark, a young girl who lives in a shack in the marsh with her family. The book is then divided into chapters of present day (1969) as Chase's death is investigated and the past as Kya, aka "Marsh Girl" grows up alone, having been abandoned one family member at a time until she was left to fend for herself at the age of 10, until the two timelines finally intersect in 1969.

It's a remarkable story in many ways. It was hard not to root for Kya, who was quite smart for someone who had only gone to school one day in her life. Though she did have somewhat of a surrogate family, it did seem a bit far-fetched, however, these people left a child to literally grow up on her own.

While the writing style definitely helped with the development of the characters in terms of showing who was poor and uneducated (the marsh people) vs the educated and more sophisticated townsfolk, there were times I felt the use of the southern style of language was distracting and took away from the story. I also got bogged down in some of the more scientific explanations in regards to the mating habits of insects, though I did read after I finished the book Delia Owens is a scientist by trade. Sadly, I glossed over a part of the story in this regard that directly impacts how the book ends.

It's a book I will likely recommend but with the caveats I found it hard to get into and it's a bit technical in places, but overall, it is a really good story for the most part, especially in the middle.

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Review: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A friend recommended this book after he read it and used some of the tactics presented to help me negotiate the sale of my house. After listening to a string of fiction books, I decided to give this one a try both out of curiosity and because the first few from my TBR list I tried to check out I had to put on hold.

I see it has a lot of rave reviews and while there is some advice in here I will likely find useful and put into practice to help communicate better (using "It seems" rather than "I feel" or "You did") I agree with those who said this is basically a book on how to manipulate others into getting what you want. But then again, isn't that what negotiation is all about in some respects?

I also felt that in the wrong hands, the chapter regarding how you want to start with "no" because it's really a "yes" waiting to happen could be a dangerous concept. Trust me, there are times that my "no" is NOT a challenge to change my mind and no really does mean no. Though at the same time I can also admit that there are times when I say "no" but am actually curious and I agree sometimes saying "yes" really is just to end the conversation rather than an expression of actual interest.

It wasn't a bad book. Though my friend had shared snippets with it as he read it, I didn't entirely know what to expect from it. As I said, I found some of it to be useful in terms of helping to communicate better, but I also felt a lot of it seemed rather manipulative. Though I do appreciate the reviewer who commented about receiving a grant after following the advice of using a precise number (admittedly not knowing if this was the reason for success) and that is something that as a fellow grant writer, I may have to try!

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