Wednesday Reads

April Fool’s Day!! But it’s no fool when I tell you I’ve read THREE books in the past week. And they weren’t skimpy books, either. Yeah, I know. I should be writing. I’m getting there. Honest! Anyway, here’s what I read this week:

Mar 24: “Saint Odd” by Dean Koontz, book 7 in the Odd Thomas series, a horror at 338 pages long. Blurb from book: Odd Thomas is back where it all started…because the time has come to finish it. Since he left his simple life in the small town of Pico Mundo, California, his journey has taken him to places strange and wonderful, mysterious and terrifying. Across the land, in the company of mortals and spirits alike, he has known kindness and cruelty, felt love and loss, saved lives and taken them—as he’s borne witness to humanity’s greatest good and darkest evil. Again and again, he has gone where he must and done what he had to do—for better or worse—with his courage and devotion sorely tested, and his soul forever changed. Every triumph has been hard won. Each sacrifice has taken its toll. Now, whatever destiny drives him has finally steered his steps home, where those he cares for most surround him, the memory of his tragically lost true love haunts him, and one last challenge—vast and dreadful—awaits him. For Odd Thomas, born to serve a purpose far greater than himself, the wandering is done. Only the reckoning remains. I’m not sure how I feel about this ending. It is an ending, that’s for sure, but seems like Odd went through a whole bunch of convoluted stuff (in other books) just to get to that. Did I enjoy the book? Sure. Doesn’t mean I understood it all, though (but then, do you ever really understand ANY of Koontz’s books?). And then I realized I missed a book. Yeah, this says it’s book 7, but Odd called it #8. There’s a novella (actually, a 3-part novella which makes one good-sized book) between 4 and 5 that I completely missed. I have it now. When I want all books to the series I want them ALL. And I’ll read it, too. Eventually. I like Odd Thomas (the character).

Mar 28: “Die Again” by Tess Gerritsen, book 11 in the Rizzoli & Isles series, a crime/suspense/thriller at 330 pages long. Blurb from book: When Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are summoned to a crime scene, they find a killing worthy of the most ferocious beast—right down to the claw marks on the corpse. But only the most sinister human hands could have left renowned big-game hunter and taxidermist Leon Gott gruesomely displayed like the once-proud animals whose heads adorn his walls. Did Gott unwittingly awaken a predator more dangerous than any he had ever hunter? Maura fears that this isn’t the killer’s first slaughter, and that it won’t be the last. After linking the crime to a series of unsolved homicides in wilderness areas across the country, she wonders if the answers might actually be found in a remote corner of Africa. Six years earlier, a group of tourists on safari fell prey to a killer in their midst. Marooned deep in the bush of Botswana, with no means of communication and nothing but a rifle-toting guide for protection, the terrified tourists desperately hoped for rescue before their worst instincts—or the wild animals prowling in the shadows—could tear them apart. But the deadliest predator was already among them, and within a week, he walked away with the blood of all but one of them on his hands. Now this killer has chosen Boston as his new hunting ground, and Rizzoli and Isles must find a way to lure him out of the shadows and into a cage. Even if it means dangling the bail no hunter can resist: the one victim who got away. Wow, this book had me guessing alllll the way to the end and then I still hadn’t guessed correctly. Awesome read! Have to say, though, that the beginning of this book (in first person, present tense), kind of threw me for a loop. But it started to make sense after the first few chapters. The majority of the story is told in third person.

Mar 31: “Invaded” by Melissa Landers, book 2 in the Alienated series, a YA sci-fi at 356 pages long. Blurb from book: Cara always knew life on planet L’ehir would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her. Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side. Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life. The Way clearly needs humans’ help…but with what? And what will they ask for in return? I’m enjoying this series, although I find it just a BIT far-fetched that the fate of both planets rests on teenagers. You all see how I acted when I was young (via the diary entries I post every now and then), so forgive me if I find it hard to believe a seventeen-year-old would be so mature. Have they really changed all that much from the 70s? I don’t think so. Still, this is an interesting story and the sci-fi isn’t at all techy (thank goodness).

So… Plan on pranking anyone today? Have you ever? If so, please share. Maybe I can use some of it in a future book set around April 1. I’m sure I can find a secondary character who likes to prank people. J

Happy reading!

Stacy