First Lines Friday... It's a Disappearing Act

I was intrigued when I read this first line, are you? Would you keep reading? Here's the blurb from the publisher about the book:

Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand only months into their whirlwind romance. Carrie, a British surgical intern, is too happy to care that she’s being impulsive. But as the wedding festivities stretch into the night, a group of armed men suddenly swarm the beach, taking Johan away. She never sees him again.

Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins, running a holiday cottage rental business on the side. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago, and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened on their wedding day all those years ago.

But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist tears apart everything Carrie thought she knew. The One Day You Were My Husband asks readers what—and whom—they would give up to return to a first love and to the people they once were.

The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh was released this week and published by Pamela Dorman Books. On my TBR list!

First Lines Friday... House Hunting Will Never be the Same

 

"Ginny calls around ten, just as I'm hanging up with a client. She sounds urgent.

"Margo, it might be perfect" 

I have heard this before.

"Four bedrooms, renovated kitchen, great yard. Right over the DC line--before you ask, yes, it's in the top-choice neighborhood. And guess what? No one else knows about it! It's not listed yet."

That part--the "It's not listed" part--stops me mid-sip of coffee. It pulls me up from my littel desk by the apartment's floor-to-ceiling window, a hunk of bait just juicy enough to make me forget that it could be wrapped around a sharp, painful hook. Ian comes to a standstill in the kitchen, his hazel eyes zeroing in on me."

                                                             ...Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

I have heard so many rave reviews of this book. Goodreads lists it as Fiction Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Horror. Horror?! Really? Well, all of it makes me want to read it now. Buying the perfect house could be competitive after all... Published last November by Celadon Books, Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino is on my TBR list and available at your favorite bookstore.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn... A Review

 Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn is a light, "fun" read by a writer that is primarily known for her 2 Victorian Mystery series that star bright female protagonists. Killers of a Certain Age is set in contemporary times, starring 4 women who were recruited while in college and trained to be international assassins for a group working outside of the “system" (Reminds me of the series Alias with Jennifer Garner). They’ve been at it for 40 years now and are on their retirement cruise... but it's not all fun and games and something is afoot on that ship…

Many people have characterized Killers of a Certain Age as The Golden Girls meet James Bond. In a way this is true. Deanna Raybourn takes us on a journey with these women in flashbacks to establish who they were and their relationships to the players in the organization as we navigate the present day “situation”. We learn quickly what that situation is… that someone or everyone is trying to kill them. They are hard pressed to trust anyone from the organization they worked for, and have to play detectives (and killers) in order to find out why they are on the hit list now and try and stay alive long enough to try and get it cleared up. 

Deanna Raybourn is a good writer and this is a good story. I found it to be on the lighter side with just enough to keep my interest, but not a lot to sink my teeth into. There is some humor, there is some danger, there is an interesting mystery to be solved and there are 4 main characters that you’ll like. I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed reading about those 4 women of a certain age breaking the molds that they would typically find themselves in with grace and a little kicka$$. I would definitely say, "Read it".

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn was published by Berkley September of last year. You can find this now at your local bookstore, or in my case, I took out the eBook from my local library! 

First Lines Friday...

“I remember the gunshots made a wet sort of sound, phssh phssh phssh, and each time he hit her she screamed. Do the math and the whole thing probably went on for as long as 10 minutes. I just stood there and watched.”

                                             ...Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates

A Thriller published by Picador and published January 9th!

First Lines Friday...

"The Reach is wide and quiet this morning, the pale blue sky streaked with pink mackerel-belly clouds, the shallow sea barely rippling in the slight breeze, and so the sound of the dog barking breaks into the calm like gunshots, setting flocks of gulls crying and wheeling in the air..."
                                                                                                ...The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Don't you just love the words rolling off your tongue as you say the pale blue sky streaked with pink mackerel-belly clouds? I do. And I love Ruth Ware's writing because I feel like I am sitting in a big comfy chair admiring all that's going on.

Hmmm... I wonder why that dog is barking... You are going to want to read this book and find out!


Does the first lines tempt you into reading more?

I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrsa Sigurdardottir... A Review

This book was such a thrill! Atmospheric, suspenseful, frightening. I was glad I wasn't reading this alone at night because I would have had to have all the lights on and I still would have been aware of every single noise in the house and want to hide under the covers. This book was chilling.

A suicide of an elderly woman, vandalism of a grammar school, the disappearance of two little boys decades apart, and the renovation of a house in a deserted islolated village, all happening within the backdrop of a cold winter in Iceland. All slowly building up tension and purpose, until the storylines collide towards the end. Yrsa Siguroardottir is the queen of crime fiction in her native country of Iceland, and after reading this novel, I can understand why! Right from the start you feel the cold and isolation of Iceland in the winter. The mood gets under your skin as you are reading. The characters are so real and believable. The crime and the investigation seem pretty cut and dry... at first... and then little things start to seem not what they seem to be and the investigation takes a whole new direction that is like a wild rollercoaster ride. There are revelations and plot twists... and secrets. Add things that go bump in the night, or whisper in your ear as you lie alone in the dark, and you have a fantastic ghost story as well.

If you love a good crime novel, Yrsa Siguroardottir will not disappoint you. The investigation of the crimes in I Remember You will keep your attention ( and on the edge of your seat) late into the night. If you love a good scary ghost story, this is defintely the book for you! Your heart will be beating a bit faster as strange things start to happen. The combination makes for an amazing read! I would definitely recommend I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrsa Siguroardottir, but read it with all the lights on!

I don't know why I was drawn to this book as my First Book of the Year. Possibly because Connecticut has been cold and desolate like the setting for the book, for the past couple of weeks as winter is settling in. What I do know is that I was hooked from the very first line and could not put this down. 5 stars out of 5 for this one! Published by Minotaur Books in 2014 and available for your KINDLE, or Paperback  now!

Graphically Speaking… Mind the Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers, a Review

Sometimes it's nice to take a little break from my more "serious" reading and open the pages of a graphic novel. Not that graphic novels are "light" reading, because some of the plots are just as complex as my "normal" reading, but I suppose they can be more like picture books for adults.

Recently I saw Image Comics letting reviewers download a graphic novel called Mind the Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers by Jim McCann. What struck me first was the cover, which I thought was stunning. So, I had to take a peek at the rest. I never heard of the author, Jim McCann, but learned that he had won an Eisner award for an earlier work called Return of the Dapper Men. The Eisner award is like the Pulitzer for Comics, so I was up for reading the story…

It starts out with some girl getting a phone call from her BFF, but the connection is lost. Girl tries calling BFF back with no answer, so girl call's Bff's boyfriend, who has no idea where she is either and decides to presumably go to where BFF lives to make sure she's ok. Then the scene cuts to people (Mom, Dad and Brother), getting phone calls that BFF has been hurt and is in hospital. Come to find out BFF is Elle  Peterssen who is beautiful, from a wealthy family and in a coma because someone tried to kill her on a subway platform in NYC. But everything seems a little suspect. The family doesn't seem very concerned and the circumstances are strange. Even the medical staff at the hospital seem a little off. And better yet, Elle plays a part in all this because even though she's in a coma, her spirit is hanging around, trying to remember. And so the story starts to unfold…

And it's a great one! Everyone is a suspect, and there are secrets, strange alliances and hidden agenda's. There's a reason Elle was attacked and she's determined to find out and save herself before the person can finish the job. Her BFF wants to know too, AND one of the doctors that got pulled from the case because she was asking too many questions wants to know what's going on. The paranormal take is so interesting too. What does happen to a person in a coma? Is there a place in-between life and death? That's what "The Gap" is here, but where Elle is, is for comatose people waiting to either go back into their physical bodies or move on. She has some great conversations about that with what appears to be her "host". AND, Elle has a special gift… she can slip into the body of someone who is just about ready to move on to the afterlife and communicate with the living for just a bit.

My final verdict? One and a half thumbs up! The plot is interesting, and I love that Elle is hanging around trying to solve the mystery too. The characters are developed well and we get a feel for them and what makes them tick. The artwork is nice, but a bit stiff, meaning that I don't "feel" the emotions so much from the characters visually. The story is what makes me want to read more, because I really want to know WHO DID IT! But I'm going to have to read quite a few more issues…

Mind The Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers is a trade paperback that collects issues #1 - #5. The story is up to issue #17 now, with some question on the series continuing because of a bit of a hiatus. Issue #16 came out in December of 2013, and then 5 months later the next issue came out with nothing since then. Usually, issues are published monthly. BUT, with the publisher releasing, or kind of re-releasing, the first issues for reviewers to share, I think Mind The Gap will be starting a regular run again. It figures I have to read 12 more comics now to catch up, but if you wanted to give this a try, I've read that issue #16 is the beginning of a new storyline and a good place to start reading. They supposedly do a recap so the reader will be familiar with the characters and take it from there.

Into mysteries? Like a little paranormal with your tea? This series should satisfy your hunger.

First Lines...

I was fourteen when I stopped believing in God. At the time it wasn't dramatic. I remember lying in the bedroom of that old, drafty house and thinking: If you are there, I hope you'll forgive me if I stop believing in you for a while, because right now I just don't see a reason. When you're fourteen, you don't have much reason to believe one way or the other. Everyone tells you what to do and anything you want is in within arm's reach Then you grow up, and you start disbelieving for other reasons."

...Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari

Play Dead by Ryan Brown... The Virtual Book Tour!

Football will Never Be The Same...

Play Dead by Ryan Brown... From Ryan Brown (son of Sandra) comes a fresh new voice in thriller fiction with PLAY DEAD, an imaginative, fast-paced novel about zombies bent on revenge in a football-obsessed Texas town. When a high school football team is murdered by a rival team, a local witch brings the dead players back to life as zombies so they can trounce their rivals in one last game and save their own souls.

Back of the Book... For the first time in Killington High School history, the Jackrabbits football team is one win away from the district championship where it will face its most vicious rival, the Elmwood Heights Badgers. On the way to the game, the Jackrabbits’s bus plunges into a river, killing every player except for bad-boy quarterback Cole Logan who is certain the crash was no accident—given that Cole himself was severely injured in a brutal attack by three ski-masked men earlier that day. Bent on payback, Cole turns to a mysterious fan skilled in black magic to resurrect his teammates. But unless the undead Jackrabbits defeat their murderous rival on the field, the team is destined for hell. In a desperate race against time, with only his coach’s clever daughter, Savannah Hickman, to assist him, Cole must lead his zombie team to victory...

With all the zombies, vampires and sea monsters these days, I just couldn't resist Play Dead! It's fresh, it's classic zombie, it's a little bit teen romance, and it's a great debut from Ryan Brown. It's a classic thriller with the story taking off right from the start. They take high school football serious in Texas, and a hatchett & a threat are what QB Cole Logan has to deal with game day. But it only gets worse from there... Ryan doesn't take himself too seriously when it comes to Zombies on the field. There's a bit of sarcasm behind the plot. And that's where the fun sets in. The story flows nicely, and characters are well written, and it's an enjoyable read! Hey, Football is tough when you're playing for your soul! Football fans will love this, and zombie fans as well....

About Ryan... As an actor Ryan Brown has starred on the daytime dramas Guiding Light and The Young and The Restless, and has appeared on Law & Order as well as in feature films for Lifetime Television. PLAY DEAD is his first novel. His short story JEEPERS PEEPERS will appear in the ITW Young Adult Anthology FEAR: 13 STORIES OF SUSPENSE AND HORROR. His short story SUSPENDED will appear in the ITW Anthology FIRST THRILLS. He lives in New York City with his wife and son. You can learn more about Ryan at RyanBrownAuthor.com

Ryan Brown is virtually touring with Play Dead courtesy of Gallery & Pocket Books Here are some of the other stops he's making along the way...

Cajun Book Lady: http://thecajunbooklady.blogspot.com/

Book Junkie: http://myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com/

Books and Things: http://melissawatercolor.blogspot.com/

Books Gardens & Dogs: http://maryinhb.blogspot.com/

Taking Time For Mommy: http://takingtimeformommy.blogspot.com/

Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

A Journey of Books: http://ajourneyofbooks.halfzero.net/

Pam’s Private Reflections: http://hip2bhomeschooling.blogspot.com/

Jeanne's Ramblings: http://www.jeannesramblings.com

I Heart Monster: http://www.iheartmonster.com

Rex Robot Reviews: http://www.rexrobotreviews.com/

My Five Monkeys: www.tableforseven-julie.blogspot.com

Just One More Paragraph: http://tweezlereads.blogspot.com/

Booktumbling: http://booktumbling.com/

Gnostalgia: http://gnostalgia.wordpress.com/

Star Shadow: http://www.starshadowblog.com/

Literarily Speaking: http://literarilyspeaking1.blogspot.com

A Journey of Books: http://ajourneyofbooks.halfzero.net/

Red Headed Book Child: http://redheadedbookchild.blogspot.com/

My Book Addiction and More: http://mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com/

The Wayfaring Writer: http://moonsanity.blogspot.com/

Pick of the Literate: http://bookrevues.blogspot.com/

Books and Needlepoint: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

Cheryl’s Book Nook: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/

Avid Reader: http://www.tarmyblogspot.blogspot.com/

The Friendly Book Nook: http://thefriendlybooknook.com/

Knitting and Sundries: http://www.jewelknits.blogspot.com/

A Musing Reviews: http://www.amusingreviews.blogspot.com/

Dan’s Journal: http://grumpydan.blogspot.com/

A Room Without Books Is Empty: http://detweilermom.blogspot.com/

Wendy’s Minding Spot: http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!