Summary: A story of three brothers: Ricky, Michael, and Joe Daley. All three are involved in crime. Joe is a police officer, Michael is a lawyer and Ricky is an expert burglar. Their father (Joe Daley Sr.) was a police officer. He was murdered and his murderer was never solved. Their city is Boston in the year of 1963. Crime is in the air and the Strangler is on the loose. Two stars for this one. I didn't like the way story went back and forth. I kept getting confused about whose story I was reading... And I guess it took me a while to read the whole thing. The characters were quite depressing and negative. But I guess you can't expect too much from a murder mystery. The writer, William Landay, got good reviews for his previous book [b:Mission Flats 1551111 Mission Flats William Landay http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185078559s/1551111.jpg 1543476] (I haven't read that one) so that is the reason I thought this book would be something. Oh and there were a few typos. Edit, edit, edit.
Interesting book about a young man and his quest of finding himself. Ivan Zoschenko moves back to the city where his football career was extinguished by a dumb luck accident. He gets a job as a Sheriff's deputy, but really slacks off at living a life. His nephews desperately seek his attention, but he always seems to be someplace else as if the right here right now concept does not apply to him. It takes one good woman and an old friend to knock some sense into him.
I thought it was a good book story-wise. Perhaps it would have been even better if the writer omitted the constant use of foul language. The story is about an old Coal mine town adapting to life after mining (because of a great decline in the mining industry). I thought it portrayed the today's society very well - a small town guy with dashed hopes now not quite sure what he is supposed to do next. In life people should not be defined by one goal. They should set numerous goals to keep moving forward. Ivan realized that by the end of the story. His leg got broken and he was not able to play football; everybody defined him as a fallen legend. Ivan didn't realize that people needed to remember the past in order to move forward.
A short summary:
The story follows Detective Mike Turner who works for LAPD's Internal Affairs department and is assigned to a special surveillance squad. He is a good cop who investigates crooked cops. This time his personal life gets mixed up with his professional life.
How can he set things straight? Can he catch the bad guys in time?
Overall it is a good book. Definitely worth checking out.
I would like to thank GoodReads for providing me with a copy of this book.
A short summary: Harrison Ambler is a Consular Operations agent - a sort of off the books government assassin. He is detained in a government operated mental health facility but he is not mentally unstable. Hal manages to break out only to find that life was wiped from existence. Who is responsible for this bad joke and why are there people gunning for him?
A very fun read. I would not have guessed the ending.
The book follows the lives of Miss Eliza Farren (an esteemed actress of theatre) and Miss Anne Damer (a young widow and the only sculptress of her time). Miss Anne Damer is a talented artist with a tainted reputation because she was accused of being a Sapphist. The story revolves about these two and how their friendship hurts them both.
I think this is the book that took me the longest to read.
I didn't find the book convincing of the time period it was supposed to portray. The writer used words such as “awesome” and “stylish” to make her point. The book was too lengthy making the story dry as the result.
Surely the writer has so much praise for her previous book “Slammerkin” that this newer one falls too short.
Emma Donoghue writes “everyone while awake was in the same world, but that all of them, while asleep, were in worlds of their own”. She certainly leaves readers out of her world with this book.
Thank you FirstReads for a copy of this book!
A short summary: A novel about a woman named Lucy Valentine. She is the daughter of a man who runs a matchmaking company. Her family has magical abilities that makes them good at putting everybody in great relationships – a gift bestowed onto them by Cupid himself.
However, Lucy lost her powers when she was very young giving her in process a new power (of finding lost objects). This makes her in a way powerless in the matchmaking world.
I think Lucy Valentine is quite charming, and cannot wait for the next novel.
A short summary: Kristi Bentz is a 20-something-year-old going back to school to get her degree in criminal justice.(?) She plans to become a true crime writer. At the university some of the girls have gone missing. Buzz around the town is that those girls were no good and who probably got messed up and run away. Buzz around the campus is that they have been taken by a vampire cult. Kristi starts investigating things on her own and gets herself in danger.
Lisa Jackson is a NY bestselling author, but I haven't noticed her books before. What can I tell you about this book? Did I like it? ...No. Did I dislike it? ...Yes. The whole serial killer-pervert-psycho persona was a bit over the top.
First of all I would like to say thank you to GoodReads' First Reads for providing me with this advanced copy.
A short summary: The story is set in the near future. Hundreds of thousands of people are plagued with a sickness called ‘Sleeplessness'. The story follows the life of a man named Park Haas. Park is married with a child. Park's wife is one of the sleepless. Park is a police officer. He lives to fight for justice among all the chaos caused by the plague.
What lines does he have to cross in order to fight for a better future? What does a ‘better future' really look like?
Apocalyptic scenario, crime, intense drama, what is this book missing? Not much. I liked it. This book is not sci-fi enough to have aliens running around, but sci fi enough to make you believe the story given could happen.
I was surprised that the ending left me a bit teary eyed (it's not the sort of a book to make you that sad). I would consider reading more works written by Charlie Huston.
Mercy is a mechanic, but she is also a shapeshifter coyote.
Her friends are werewolves, and on various occasions: vampires, faeries and ghosts.
Book #4 is centered on a story where:
Mercy pissed off Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, by killing off a vampire of Marsilia's clan. Mercy is in grave danger and so are those dear to her.
I liked this book. It was mildly refreshing. A bit different world of vampires and shifters than those found in Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels.
This is a book #2 about Deryni, humans with magical powers. Deryni are feared throughout the kingdom, therefore they have to hide their true identities from those who are not Deryni.
The story is centered about Alaric Morgan, who is a young Deryni boy pledged to king's service. He is to serve Prince (future king) Brion. But books gives various twists and turns that might put them all in danger.
The book is well written, with tons of different characters. I guess I should have read the book #1 first.
San Hasana Nazira je zamišljena priča o životu Hasana Nazira Čelebi - evlije koji napravi prelijepu Aladžu džamiju u Foči (Hotči).
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San Hasana Nazira je vjeski sklopljena priča o čovijeku koji se ne boji umrijeti, ali želi umrijeti kao vijernik. Negovo ime je zaprljala Asija, Sultanova mijlenica koja je širila priču kako je Hasan krao od Sultana novac da sagradi svoju džamiju. Hasanova porodica je umrla prije njega, čak i njegov sin Ibrahim čije je tijelo ukopao u mezar namjenjen sebi. Hasana u životu pogone tri iskrene ljubavi: ljubav prema Bogu, ljubav prema sinu (i porodici), i ljubav prema džamiji koju sagradi.
I tako Mirsad Sinanović ovim svojim romanom daje neki novi glas istorijskim događajima graditelja Fočanske džamije.
Dirk Pitt is the hero of this story. He works for NUMA - ‘Nautical Underwater and Marine Agency'. He is not really a scientist. He is more of an action-hero-super-guy type who faces danger in every situation and survives against all odds.
And this is a book #15? I am looking forward to getting in on the rest of the adventures.
No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien was one of the best sci-fi writers of his time. So much thought and passion went into creating his magical world where elves, dwarfs, hobbits, and other magical creatures reside. The Simarillion is actually the main book, the collective center of ideas, where all of his later works stem from (The Hobbit, The Children of Húrin, Lord of the Rings trilogy,...).
This book is extensively complex and while reading you have to pay really close attention. The book contains maps and various genealogies tables to show how the families are connected to each other.
This book is in fact a compilation of a eight short stories.
Some stories were more interesting than others.
The book's main theme would be cultural differences of Indian people living outside of India. Younger generations tend to distance themselves from their cultural roots and adopt whichever new culture they are placed in. Tension is created for the book's characters as the old tradition and new lifestyle try to co-exist.
I think that immigrants from any country can closely relate to this book because they are in a way forced to assimilate into their new environment much like Lahiri's characters.
Brida is a young woman in search of magic. She meets a man, teacher of magic named Magus, who turns out to be her soul mate. Brida is in love with her boyfriend who is also her soulmate. She is forced to choose between the two great loves of her life, while on the path to learning magic. And love, as it turns out, is one of most important ingredients of magic. Although I appreciate Paulo Coelho's writing style and wisdom, this book did not appeal to me too much. So far I have read only [b:The Alchemist 865 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Sw%2BUms-VL.SL75.jpg 4835472] and this book, and between the two The Alchemist is my favorite.
Summary: Wanderer (Wanda), a parasitic being, is implanted into a human host named Melanie. Time passes by and these two beings are trying to exist in one body.
Stephenie Meyer's writing style is of course revolving around romantic themes. Looking beyond that, the book looks into the value of human life in comparison to other beings in the universe (mostly these parasitic kinds). Humans are flawed beings, governed by feelings of selfishness but the greatest force of any species is the need to survive.
This books gives an interesting insight into the past of Mr. {now the President} [a:Barack Obama 6356 Barack Obama http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1204063514p2/6356.jpg]. He reflects on who he used to be - a young boy stuck between two different worlds; his growth and realization that in order to become who he needed to be - a man who understands where he stands and where he needs to go - both of those worlds have to somehow co-exist. I think in the end his realization is that a man's fate is not necessarily bound by his race, his current status in the community or some written or unwritten rule that something must be a certain way. A man's fate can be moved, steered, can be changed drastically if and only if he is willing to dream freely and do something to achieve those dreams. In a way {President} Obama says that his father fell short of his true dream; that his father did not nurture his dream to become all that he could have been.
I have not read the previous sets of Sookie Stackhouse novels but I have watched the TV show a bit. I do feel a little bit lost reading this out of order. (Why did Sookie break it off with Bill Compton? How come she is a faerie now? Why did Hoyt move away? When did Jason (and Sookie for the most part) get a new best friend(s)? How come he is a were-panther now?) Ok, I better get back and read the earlier sets to get my questions answered.
I can say that Charlene Harris did a good job writing the book. It is an easy read. If I had to chose between the TV show and the books I think the books would be my choice.
This is a story of political agendas, hidden personal agendas, scandal, hate, revenge, but above else romance and love. This was a fairly OK book to read. I enjoyed the poetry included throughout the story.
However, I found it a bit distracting that the writer of this book which was supposed to be portraying 14th century England had used some words clearly not in use back then. Words such as: “sported”, “fabulous”, “beautifully awesome”,... I also think the writer went too far with repeating and overanalyzing every detail.
A good book with focus on the law - a big chunk of crime and mix in a tad bit of romance in there too.
My favorite quote from this book would come from the latter part of the story:
“And I know now, as sure as any immutable law of nature, that the value of our existence can only be computed in the hearts of those we love, and who love us in return”.