Update- mini review

Here comes my age old excuse of running around like a chicken with my head cut off again...*sigh* There have been several more crises in the real world and I have been tied up (and not in the good way). First I read Prowl, which was about oh one step or two above mediocre. It was an anthology of shifter stories. If I had to choose a bright spot it would be the Karen Chance piece. Second, I am leaving today on vacation and you all know that's when I do my best reading, the last vacation brought you three reviews. I don't know how many you will get out of me this time but I promised a few friends I would not be working for the day job on the trip, pleasure reading only. *wink* So on that note I bid you adieu, I will be home Thursday so hopefully I will have the blog rolling again on Friday. Who knows maybe one of these books will inspire me to blog lakeside. *grins*

Me, Myself & Why

Mary Janice Davidson is my Queen.... anyone who has been following this blog long enough knows this.  She went out in a different direction this time, this is a crime novel, and I wondered if I would be able to love it the way I do my cherished Betsy books. I was happy to discover this novel had her signature humor and sinister sarcasm throughout the story. She is MJ after all, I don't know why I doubted her.  This tale is not without its twisted characters. It is about an FBI unit known as BOFFO, which only employs people who, well let's just say are different. There is a paranoid schizophrenic, an agoraphobic, several varying cases of obsessive compulsive disorder, and our heroine, Cadence who suffers from multiple personality disorder. Cadence has 3 personalities, herself, Shiro and Adrienne, who she calls her sisters. She develops the disorder at three years old after watching her mother kill her father and then commit suicide. Shiro holds the memories of the murder and is the one who appears in times of stress and anxiety. Adrienne is violent, unpredictable and dangerous and shows up when Cadence appears to be threatened. Each "sister" has a special quality that helps the FBI unit. The three working together are a task force of their own. The case the story is based on is a serial murderer who is not only aware of Cadence's situation, but is enthralled by and obsessed with it. This book is laugh out loud funny, has mild romance in the background, plenty of action and many turns to the plot. It will keep you guessing till the very end and you will never see it coming. It is smart and witty and an absolutely phenomenal read. Thanks MJ for the autographed manuscript and for the opportunity to fall in love with yet another of your amazing heroines!

House of Reckoning by John Saul

Alright people this is a hell of a read. No romance which is not my norm, but I have always been a huge John Saul fan ever since I was 7 years old and my big sister stole my aunt's copy of Suffer the Children and we would hide in the closet with a flashlight to read it because our parents thought it would give us nightmares. It so totally did by the way but hey live and learn. This an amazing story about an old asylum which has become the family home to the descendants of the doctor who ran it. There is also a child artist who imagines things into her drawings that come to pass and a young boy who has been diagnosed as clinically insane because of the voices in his head, but the voices aren't his imagination he is being haunted by 17 distressed souls. It is full of suspense and heart pounding thrills. For those of you who have never read him, John has a innate sense of right and wrong and the guilty in his books always receive the most appropriate demises. These forms of justice always make me feel so vindicated. This book is no less incredible than his others. He weaves a web of intricate details you don't piece together till you pull back and look at the whole picture. He never fails to blow my mind.

I am NOT DEAD!!!

OK I know I haven't even posted so much as an update and for that I am dearly sorry loves, I am. It has been a roller coaster ride of crazy around here! I tried to read a book called Wicked Things and I couldn't even get through it. I literally fell asleep trying over and over. So word to the wise, don't bother. I never give bad reviews on here but that needed to be said. I also tried to read Shifters which is an anthology. Two out of the four stories were alright the other two were not really bad just the whole been there done that thing. Too many pieces from too many familiar stories and movies that it was too predictable. I like original ideas and concepts when it comes to my fantasy world. So between trying to drudge through those and working double time at the day job, plus a funeral to deal with you can see why I am desperately out of touch lately. That said I do have one more post to write with a good review so stay tuned a few minutes please.