Mystery and Suspense Challenge 2012

I am again signing up for Book Chick City's Mystery and Suspense Challenge for 2012.

I will be doing the first level, to read 12 mystery and suspense books in 2012. I will keep track of my progress here.

Books Read:
1. Smokin' Seventeen-Janet Evanovich
2. One for the Money-Janet Evanovich
3. Fade Away-Harlan Coben
4. Treachery in Death-JD Robb
5. Back Spin-Harlan Coben

Review-Fantasy in Death

Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The game started with a murder. Now, it's Eve Dallas's move.

It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced: the founder of the computer gaming giant U-Play is found decapitated in his locked, private playroom. And now Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction-and the price of defeat is death...
Typical Eve Dallas thriller. I did enjoy it, however since I'm not into the fantasy games, parts of this went over my head a bit and I found it a tad too futuristic and unbelievable. I kinda liked how Eve had already figured out who the killer was but wouldn't tell us, and I was happy to know that I guessed right (although I hadn't figured out the motive.) While this won't be one of my favorites from the series, I definitely recommend it if you're an Eve Dallas fan.



View all my reviews

Source: Library
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Review-Remember Me

Remember Me by Christopher Pike

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Shari Cooper was a typical teen with boyfriend trouble and cravings for chocolate cake. Now she's a ghost trying to solve her own murder.

This has always been one of my favorite Christopher Pike books. Excellent story with interesting characters, especially the main character, Shari. Through Shari we get an in depth look at death as she sets out to prove that she did not jump off a balcony to her death at a friend's birthday party, and that she was in fact, murdered. The suspects are the other kids at the party: Jo, Shari's best friend; Dan, Shari's boyfriend who has been cheating on her; Beth, the birthday girl whom Dan is cheating with; Amanda, a shy, quiet girl who is the daughter of Shari's housekeeper and the girlfriend of her brother; and Jeff, the guy Jo has a crush on. As Shari travels in the afterlife trying to make some sense of her death, she is joined by a former classmate, Peter, who was killed in a motorcycle accident and Jeff's brother.

This story is full of twists and turns and is an enjoyable, creepy read. Shari Cooper definitely gets her one wish when the reader is finished this story: people will remember her.



View all my reviews

Source: Library
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge, Young Adult Books of the '80s and '90s, Read Me Baby One More Time

Series Sunday Review (2): Drop Shot

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews.

1. Read an installment of a series.
2. Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
3. Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
4. Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

My Series Sunday pick for this week is Drop Shot, the second book in the Myron Bolitar series.
Drop Shot by Harlan Coben

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubled past who's now on the verge of a comeback and wants Myron as her agent. Myron, who's also got the hottest young male tennis star, Duane Richwood, primed to take his first grand slam tournament, couldn't be happier. That is, until Valerie is murdered in broad daylight at the U.S. Open and Myron's number one client becomes the number one suspect.

I liked the first book in the Myron Bolitar series, but I loved this one! Harlan Coben seems to be more comfortable with his characters and they all really shined in this story. I also liked the mystery better in this one, it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I was way off on who I thought the murderer was, but once I found out who actually did it, it made sense.

The humor in this book came a lot more naturally than it did in the first book. I really like Myron, he seems like a sweet, smart guy, although I wish he would start carrying a gun with him. At least he's always got his best friend Win to have his back.

I'm still a little iffy on the relationship between Myron and Jessica, although I did find them to be really sweet together in this book. I hope she doesn't hurt him again, although it seems like that's probably going to happen.

A solid five stars for this one, and I can't wait to read the next one in the series (which will be whenever it is available at my library).



View all my reviews

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge
Source: Library

Review-Sizzling Sixteen

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I remember when I first started reading the Stephanie Plum books, I couldn't finish them fast enough. I'd stay up until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't put them down. That hasn't been the case for the past 6 or 7 books, but I keep reading them in the hopes that they will go back to the glory days of books #1-9.

This was not the book. Nothing exciting happens in this book. Stephanie is no longer the funny, kick a$$ heroine that I grew to love in One for the Money. The same things happen in all the current books:

Stephanie and Joe have a domestic dispute and are on a break
Grandma Mazur wreaks havoc in a funeral home
Stephanie and Lula go for donuts and Cluck in a Bucket
Lula wears spandex
Ranger gives Stephanie a black car
Stephanie destroys car
Ranger gives Stephanie another black car
Stephanie and Joe make up at the end, only to be on a break again at the start of the next book

I'm OVER it.

Sizzling Sixteen is no exception to the same predictable formula. I no longer care about the mystery and whether or not Stephanie will find her skips. The only parts that are interesting to me is when she's at home with her family and when she's with Ranger. I used to be a diehard Stephanie/Morelli shipper but they are so boring, I've moved on to shipping Steph and Ranger. That would make these books so much more interesting, if she would dump Joe for good and move on to Ranger permanently. Or at least for awhile. Basically, they just need to do SOMETHING. I finish reading these books, and I think back "What actually happened in this book?" because it seems like nothing of importance happens anymore.

Only 3 stars for this one. I truly hope that one day we will get back the funny, fearless, sassy Stephanie I fell in love with all those books ago, and that the storylines go back to being as cute and crazy as they once were. Now the story lines are just a little too over the top and trying too hard.



View all my reviews

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Review-Deal Breaker

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






View all my reviews

This book was recommended by the lovely Literary Marie, and she describes the main character as Alex Cross meets Stephanie Plum. I haven't read an Alex Cross book in years, but from what I remember he was pretty cool, and of course Stephanie is AWESOME, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with checking this one out.

Myron is definitely very witty and charming, and I'd love for him to solve any case of mine. He's way more competent than Stephanie, but not quite as funny, but he's still cool. Just like in the Plum books, I liked the supporting cast as well: Myron's best friend Win, his assistant Esmerelda, and the police officer Jake. I wasn't a big fan of Myron's love interest, Jessica, at first, but she did grow on me.

The mystery (Myron sets out to find the missing girlfriend of his new client, whom everyone thought had been killed, but is now sending out pics of herself in a porn magazine) was intriguing and had lots of twists and turns. The killer was a surprise to me, because I really liked the character and didn't think of him/her as the possible killer or even a suspect at all, and was really hoping I'd see more of him/her in another book!

I did think there were parts that seemed a little forced and that Mr. Coben was trying too hard to be funny, but they were few and far between. I definitely enjoyed this read and I look forward to reading more about Myron Bolitar.

Source: purchased
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Review-Kindred in Death

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another great Eve Dallas book! I can't say enough about this series, it just keeps getting better and better. Eve and Roarke are fascinating characters.

In this one, a police captain's daughter has been brutally raped and murdered, seemingly by the new college guy she has been dating, and of course Eve is on the case. I love the ones like these that aren't too sci-fi/techy. I definitely recommend this series, although it's best to start with the first one, Naked in Death, to get the full background on Eve and Roarke's relationship.



View all my reviews

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge
Source: Library

Review-Deadly Sanctuary

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Clearly this book wasn't keeping me on the edge of my seat, since it took me nearly a month to finish. The storyline and the characters were boring. The mystery was so boring, I can barely remember what it was about. Something about a dead journalist and then someone planting some taratulas in the main character's (Kendall) shower.

This book wasn't a total waste of time, however. The relationship between Kendall and Tally was semi-interesting, even though it was entirely predictable. Kendall is the poor man's version of Stephanie Plum and Tally is the extremely poor man's version of Joe Morelli.

I don't know if there are more books in this Kendall O'Dell series, but I won't be bothering to find out. I'm glad this was a freebie and that I didn't waste money on it.



View all my reviews

Source: freebie from B&N for my Nook Color
Challenges Used For: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge, Show Me the Free Challenge, E-Reader Challenge

Mini-Review: Promises in Death

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Loved it! Definitely one of my favorite Eve Dallas books.



View all my reviews

Source: Library
Challenges: 100 Books in 2011, Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Mystery and Suspense Challenge 2011

My first challenge will be the Mystery and Suspense challenge hosted by BookChickCity.

The rules:
*Timeline: 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011

*Rules: To read TWELVE (12) mystery & suspense novels in 2011 (12 is the minimum but you can read more if you wish!)

*You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.



Books Read:
1. Promises in Death-JD Robb
2. Deadly Sanctuary-Sylvia Nobel
3. Kindred in Death-JD Robb
4. Deal Breaker-Harlan Coben
5. Sizzling Sixteen-Janet Evanovich
6. Drop Shot-Harlan Coben
7. Remember Me-Christopher Pike
8. Fantasy in Death-JD Robb
9. Visions of Sugar Plums-Janet Evanovich
10. Indulgence in Death-JD Robb