Showing posts with label faye kellerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faye kellerman. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2009

Mailbox Monday - Also, PBS Interview with Gerritsen, Grafton & Kellerman.


Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.
Lots of books i've won in my box last week!

All The Pretty Dead Girls by John Mannin
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From Amaz
on:
One By One...Two decades ago, at a private women's college in upstate New York, a student was brutally attacked in her dorm room. Her assailant was never found...They Disappear...Sue Barlow arrives at Wilbourne College twenty years later. When a classmate disappears, Sue thinks it's an isolated incident. But then two other girls vanish...And Die...As fear grows on campus, Sue begins to sense she's being watched. And as the body count rises, she soon realizes that a twisted psychopath is summoning her to play a wicked game - a game that only will end when she dies.

Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain

From Amazon:
Chelsea Cain’s novels featuring Portland detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell have captivated fans through two nail-biting entries, Heartsick and Sweetheart, both of them multiweek bestsellers in The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.

Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her fa
ce graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free.Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts---Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil?

Chelsea Cain continu
es to deliver heart-stopping thrills and chills in the latest entry in this dynamic bestselling series.

So Happy Together by Maryann Mcfadden

From Amazon:
McFadden overreaches in her follow-up to The Richest Season, a too-busy family drama overflowing with common conundrums. Claire Noble, at 45, believes she's on the cusp of a new, liberated life—she's one year away from early retirement; her daughter, Amy, is grown and out of the house; and she and her fiancé, Rick, are planning to move from New Jersey to Arizona, where they can pursue their passions (photography for her, golf for him). The plans soon turn into pipe dreams when a massively pregnant Amy returns home, Claire's father's Parkinson's disease rapidly advances, and Rick has trouble coping with it all. In the midst of chaos, Claire drags her family to Provincetown, Mass., where she'll take part in a prestigious photography workshop while the town's romantic charms work their magic on Claire's clan. But with so many complications constantly disrupting the lives of major and minor characters, it's difficult to connect much less keep up with who's suffering from what. McFadden's prose has its moments of clarity and emotion, but the narrative leans too heavily on phoned-in sentiment to make an impact. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.



Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddon

From Amazon:
No one does coastal melodrama like veteran Siddons (Homeplace). Lilly Constable McCall, 53, has led an enviable life—marriage and children with a successful architect, her own success as a sculptor—but husband Cam's death sends her spiraling. She returns to the coastal family cottage in Edgewater, Maine, where she spent her childhood, and where Cam died. There, she recalls the summer of 1962, and the arrival in town of new girl Peaches Davenport, who envies all Lilly has. That includes the attentions of attractive older boy Jon Lowell, who awakens grown-up feelings in Lilly's 11-year-old heart. But it's Lilly's place as the daughter of a Washington, D.C., professor and the sporadically successful painter and activist Elizabeth Constable—that makes Lilly's childhood most attractive to Peaches, and to readers. Jon may have shared her first kiss, and Cam her home and children, but it's the changing relationship between Lilly and the elusive, enigmatic Elizabeth that makes this story fresh. (Aug.)

Saffron Dreams by Shaila Abdullah

From Amazon:
Saffron Dreams is a tale of love, tragedy, and redemption from the award-winning author of Beyond the Cayenne Wall...

You don't know you're a misfit until you are marked as an outcast.

From the darkest hour of American history emerges a mesmerizing tale of tender love, a life interrupted, and faith recovered. Arissa Illahi, a Muslim artist and writer, discovers in a single moment that no matter how carefully you map your life, it is life itself that chooses your destiny. After her husband's death in the collapse of the World Trade Center, the discovery of his manuscript marks Arissa's reconnection to life. Her unborn son and the unfinished novel fuse in her mind into one life-defining project that becomes, at once, the struggle for her emotional survival and the redemption of her race. Saffron Dreams is a nove
l about our ever evolving identities and the events and places that shape them. It reminds us that in the midst of tragedy, our dreams can become a lasting legacy.

Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck From Amazon:
Every slave story is a ghost story. The haunting words of an historian and former cane worker on the Caribbean island of Nevis launch Meghan Owen on her quest to unlock the secrets of an abandoned sugar plantation and its ghosts. After Meg's parents die in a car accident on the night of her engagement party, she calls off her wedding, takes leave of her job in Annapolis, and travels to land she's inherited on Nevis. A series of discoveries in an old plantation house on the property, Eden, set her on a search for the truth surrounding the shameful past of her ancestors, their slaves, and the tragedy that resulted in the fall of the plantation and its inhabitants. Through a crushing phone call with her lawyer, Meg learns that her father's estate was built on stolen money, and is being sued by multiple sources. She is faced with having to sell the land and plantation home, and deal with the betrayal she feels from her deceased father. In alternating chapters, the historical drama of the Dall family unfolds. Upon the arrival of British abolitionists to the hedonistic 19th century plantation society, Catherine Dall is forced to choose between her lifestyle and the scandal of deserting her family. An angry confrontation with Catherine's slave, Leah, results in the girl's death, but was it murder or suicide? Hidden texts, scandalous diaries, antique paintings, and confessional letters help Meghan Owen uncover the secrets of Eden and put the ghosts to rest.

Whats in your mailbox?


Tess Gerritsen , one of my fav. murder mystery author, posted a link on her blog.
(click on the picture to be taken to the site)


PBS did an interview with each one :
In celebration of Masterpiece mystery!'s Six by (Agatha) Christie, three best-selling female mystery writers — Sue Grafton, Faye Kellerman and Tess Gerritsen, — sat down with Tina Vaz in May, 2009, to discuss their famous characters, their admiration for Christie, and their tricks of the crime trade (they do it with more than mirrors — they need laptops and persistence).
Awesome interview!

Best regards,

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Book Review : The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman

The Burnt House
After reading many of Kellermans books, they start to all have the same theme.... Decker comes across a murder, he and his team investigate all the while his faithful family is going about their daily lives while putting up with Deckers 24 hour investigation vigil. But i still enjoy her books, the way she makes you feel like your evesdropping on the Decker family, their daily Jewish rituals. In Burnt House, there's a horrible plane crash, all perished, 9/11 still on everyones minds and a father who's daughter has been missing insists that she didn't die in the plane crash, that his son in law is the killer and he wants Decker to nail him. During his investigation he comes across another murder mystery that ties in with the original investigation.

On a scale of 1-10- 10 being awesome 1 being the worse, i would give this one a 7 because at times , the details are kind of boring.

Finished June 19,2009



From Publishers Weekly
A coincidence so improbable that a character comments on it renders bestseller Kellerman's 16th novel to feature Lt. Peter Decker of the LAPD and wife Rina Lazarus (after 2003's Street Dreams) one of the series' lesser entries. After a commuter airplane crashes into an apartment building shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport, Decker and his team investigate what many fear was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the parents of Roseanne Dresden, a flight attendant, suspect that their daughter was murdered by her stockbroker husband, Ivan, who claims his wife joined the doomed flight at the last minute. Roseanne was considering divorce, and Ivan stood to lose financially. As the probes into the crash and into Roseanne's fate converge, readers will find it a challenge to suspend disbelief. Fans of the extended Decker-Lazarus clan will enjoy catching up with old friends, but those looking for a plausible police procedural may be disappointed. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.





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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Library Load : Original post 6/6/2009

From the Library today:

The Red Scarf

I have been wanting to read this ever since i read the reviews. From Amazon:

Sophia Morozova's relationship with fragile Anna Fedorina begins through a small act of kindness at a 1930s Siberian labor camp. As the two inmates struggle daily to survive, they increasingly rely on each other for hope and comfort; when Anna falls ill, Sophia escapes, intending to find Anna's lifelong love, Vasily, and rescue Anna. Beautiful and charismatic, Sophia quickly becomes a force to reckon with in the town of Tivil, where she hopes to find Vasily, and her connections with powerful gypsy Rafik, the handsome factory director Mikhail Pashin and the stern but unreadable Aleksei Fomenko become satisfying sources of danger and desire. Furnivall (The Russian Concubine) paints a stark picture of rampant scarcity, grim regimentation and blaring propaganda in pre-WWII Soviet Russia. In pushing the limits of Sophia and Anna's love and friendship, she nicely pits small lives against a monolithic state, paradoxically composed of watchful villages. (July)

The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman

Love Kellermans books and i only have 3 more to read of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novels.

From Amazon:

From Publishers Weekly

A coincidence so improbable that a character comments on it renders bestseller Kellerman's 16th novel to feature Lt. Peter Decker of the LAPD and wife Rina Lazarus (after 2003's Street Dreams) one of the series' lesser entries. After a commuter airplane crashes into an apartment building shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport, Decker and his team investigate what many fear was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the parents of Roseanne Dresden, a flight attendant, suspect that their daughter was murdered by her stockbroker husband, Ivan, who claims his wife joined the doomed flight at the last minute. Roseanne was considering divorce, and Ivan stood to lose financially. As the probes into the crash and into Roseanne's fate converge, readers will find it a challenge to suspend disbelief. Fans of the extended Decker-Lazarus clan will enjoy catching up with old friends, but those looking for a plausible police procedural may be disappointed. (Aug.)

Book Review : The Forgotten - Faye Kellerman : Original post 6/1/2009







Kellerman books are richly detailed with the Jewish culture and history . I'm very curious and interested in the Jewish religion so i guess that's why i really enjoy reading her stories.

The Forgotten is about a boy who finds out about his forgotten grandfather and he's deeply disturbed and delving into the mystery comes up with horribly history, murder and deception.

On a scale of 1-10- i give this a 10. It was hard to put down.


The Forgotten






Series: Peter Decker Rina Lazarus

Part: 13


Summary :
Rina Lazarus and her husband, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Peter Decker, are shocked by an outrage that cuts close to the spiritual heart of their family. Rina's small storefront synagogue has been desecrated with anti-Semitic graffiti and grisly Nazi death camp photographs. The alleged perpetrator is seventeen-year-old Ernesto Golding, a "rich kid" obsessed with haunting suspicions about the origins of his Polish paternal grandfather. Then Ernesto is found brutally murdered, along with his therapist, Dr. Mervin Baldwin, at an exclusive nature camp that caters moneyed, troubled children. For Decker and his wife, unraveling the truth behind Ernesto's violent death becomes more terrifying with each sinister twist. For lethal secrets with roots in the horrors of a past genteration are coming to the surface, propelling Peter and Rina into a ghastly world of ruthless parents and damaged youth -- and toward a dark evil and its ultimate retribution.

Original title: The Forgotten
Original languages: English

Natalie

Prayers for the Dead -Faye Kellerman : Original post 5/3/2009


Prayers for the DeadBy Faye Kellerman







Summary :
The brutal murder of Dr. Azor Sparks in an alley behind a restaurant is greeted with public outrage and a demand for swift, sure justice. But the investigation into the well-known surgeon's death is raising too many questions and providing too few answers for homicide detective Lieutenant Peter Decker. Why, for example, would the family of a man so beloved respond to his slaying with more surprise than grief? And what linked a celebrated doctor with strict fundamentalist beliefs to a gang of outlaw bikers? But the most unsettling connection of all is the one that ties the tormented Sparks family to Peter Decker's own -- and the secrets shared by a renegade Catholic priest...and Decker's wife, Rina Lazarus.

Original title: Prayers for the Dead
Original languages: English


Azor Sparks, a well known heart surgeon is found brutally murdered. Azors 6 adult children, his biker buddies and his research team are under suspicion. Twists and turns and a surprising end makes this a very entertaining story.
On a scale of 1-10 i would give this a 9. Due to some parts were a little drawn out but gave the story more depth.

Prayers for the Dead





Now onto: The Mephisto Club By Tess Gerritsen

Novels:


Series:

Just Finished : Original post 4/26/2009

Justice by Faye Kellerman


Justice (1995) [Novel]
by Faye Kellerman


Rating: No votes (Rate!)
Reviews: None (show them) Review!

Series: Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus
Part: 8

Summary :
The cruel and bizarre slaying of a beautiful teen leads Detective Decker into the dark heart of an exotic subculture: the seamy, sometimes violent world of Southern California's rootless, affluent youth. But even the confession of a disturbed kid with cold "killer eyes" cannot soothe Decker's inner torment. For he knows in his gut this crime goes much deeper and higher than anyone expects -- and that true justice, brutal and complete, has yet to be done.


I really enjoyed te love story between Chris and Terry. As always , Kellerman does a terrific job with details and she must do alot of research . Rina didn't play a huge part in this one, just the loving doting wife of an overworked, dedicated detective.

So on a scale of 1-10 , 1 being the worst and 10 awesome, i would give this one a 9. So next up is Prayers for the Dead!


natalie

Currently Reading: April 18, 2009 : Original post 4/22/2009

Currently Reading April 18, 2009



SStalker by Faye Kellerman






Series: Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus
Part: 12


Summary :


L.A. Homicide Detective Peter Decker never wanted the perils of his job to touch his family. But now his two worlds have collided.

A first year rookie with the LAPD's Hollywood Division, Cynthia Decker became a cop against her father, Peter Decker's, wishes. But police work is in her blood, and she's determined to make it on her own -- even now, when her razor sharp instincts for danger are telling her that something is very wrong...

The signs are impossible to ignore: things being moved around in her apartment, the destruction of personal effects. But it's a harrowing trip down a dark canyon road that confirms Cindy's worst fears. Someone fiendishly relentless, and with decidedly evil intentions, is stalking her. And with Peter Decker isolated from her troubles by his own investigation into a disturbing series of car-jackings, it's up to Cindy alone to find out who in her personal and/or professional life wants her frightened or harmed...or dead.

Peter Decker- Rina Lazarus Series

Finished on April 21, 2009.

Started out a little slow but it ended up with alot of action. Would put this one on a scale of 1-10, 1 being bad, 10 being awesome at about a 7.

Currently Reading: Original Post 4/16/2008

I haven't posted for so long! Heres my current reading:

Last:
I just finished a Faye Kellerman book called Serpents Tooth. I really enjoy her books. Lots of Jewish culture since the main characters are Jewish which i find very interesting.

From Amazon:
The New York Times Book Review,
Serpent’s Tooth is something of a surprise because Faye Kellerman’s mysteries are usually so upfront and personal…. here she deviates from her formula by putting Decker in charge of a mass murder at a fashionable L.A. eatery. The scope of the investigation is broad and the moralizing is kept to a minimum, giving Decker a rare chance to do some solid police work
Faye Kellerman

Next Up on the list:

Me Talk Pretty One Day By David Sedaris

From Amazon:

David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of “SantaLand Diaries,” a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy’s. (It’s in two separate collections, both worth owning, Barrel Fever and the Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice.) Sedaris’s caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay “Jesus Shaves,” he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. “It is a party for the little boy of God,” says one. “Then he be die one day on two… morsels of… lumber,” says another. Sedaris muses on the disputes between his Protestant mother and his father, a Greek Orthodox guy whose Easter fell on a different day. Other essays explicate his deep kinship with his eccentric mom and absurd alienation from his IBM-exec dad: “To me, the greatest mystery of science continues to be that a man could father six children who shared absolutely none of his interests.”

Every glimpse we get of Sedaris’s family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist (”for whom the word pen had two syllables”) by cleverly avoiding all words with s sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn’t share his obsession with breasts, and sings “Light My Fire” all wrong–”as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match.” As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign “guessays” on what would happen in the next day’s episode.

It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia. The only possible reason not to read this book is if you’d rather hear the author’s intrinsically funny speaking voice narrating his story.
David Sedaris