THE THEORY OF ATTRACTION

TITLE: THE THEORY OF ATTRACTION

AUTHOR: Delphine Drayden

Pages: 136 (approx)

Date: 15/07/2012

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from Carina Press

            Through NetGalley / Kindle

Camilla has been watching (or is it stalking?) her neighbour Ivan for a while now. Ivan is a scientist who lives for his research, goes through his daily routines on a strict and very predictable schedule, doesn’t appear to have a social life and seems ignorant to the fact that Camilla is an interested female.

When Ivan approaches Camilla with a request, it isn’t for the date she wouldn’t mind having with him. Instead he asks her for help. He is expected to go to an important fund-raiser for his work but hates events like that and is well aware that he is like a fish out of water when it comes to small talk and socialising.

When Camilla agrees to give him a few lessons in social niceties she sees it as a chance to get a bit closer to him, and although she tries to get him to pay attention to her while she’s teaching him, she doesn’t get her hopes up.

But, there are these small, almost hidden smiles she occasionally sees on his face. Do they mean anything? Could they mean that he might, after all, be noticing that she is a woman, or is she imagining things?

On a night out with friends, Ivan seems to change and when he asks her to let him be in charge, Camilla accepts, especially since she enjoys the feel of his hand on her legs.

What happens next is not something Camilla could ever have imagined. It turns out that Ivan doesn’t only need to be in charge of his life, he also needs complete control over his bedroom and the woman he takes there.

As Camilla is discovering a submissive side to herself she never knew she had she can’t stop her feelings for Ivan from deepening. But is this socially awkward man feeling the same, or is this only another experiment for him; one that will end when the fund-raiser has been dealt with?

This was a nice romantic story with interesting characters.

While Camilla is a more or less run of the mill girl, in love with an apparently unattainable man, Ivan makes for fascinating reading. As the reader learns more about him it becomes clear that he isn’t just socially awkward but may well suffer from some sort of autism like disorder. This is not something that is explored in any depth, but the suggestion is there and it gives the reader something to think about and adds an interesting dimension to the book.

Although there were times (early on) when I felt this was a bit of a silly story, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and even softly laughing at times. Ivan’s apparent social inaptitude and the way Camilla reacted to it, was on several occasions very funny.

I enjoyed the way the reader has as little insight in what is going on with Ivan as Camilla had. I had my suspicions about the man, but as he keeps on surprising both Camilla and the reader this book is never as predictable as it could easily have been in the hands of a lesser author.

There are quite a few erotic scenes in this book as we follow Camilla’s introduction to the BDSM scene. But, this is more than just a book filled with erotica. Before we get to even the suggestion of intimacy the author has established the setting and the characters and by the time our two main characters do get together the reader is as eager for it as Camilla is.

The descriptions of Ivan and Camilla’s adventures in the bedroom, while steamy and sexy, are never offensive or even shocking. Yes, this is a book about a BDSM relationship, but first and foremost it is a book about intimacy, pleasure and two people getting together on a level they are both comfortable with.

I saw somebody describe this book as “the Big Bang Theory goes BDSM” and that is such a good description of this book that I just have to borrow it. How good a comparison this actually is may be demonstrated by the following quote:

“To me, all this is just a way to experiment with our own bodies and minds. To test the boundaries of what we can do with ourselves, what we’re willing to do. A chance to be both observer and subject.”

Overall I’d have to conclude that for me this was a nice, easy to read, at times funny erotic romance. One that may well lead to me checking out other titles by this author.

THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES

TITLE: THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES

AUTHOR: MARCUS SAKEY

Pages: 388

Date: 14/07/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: Received from Book Geeks

Own

On a cold and abandoned beach a man comes to. He is naked and throwing up seawater. He is very cold and has no idea who he is, where he is, why he is there or why he is not wearing clothes. All he knows is that he will have to get warm or he will die.

Dragging his exhausted body across the beach he stumbles upon a beautiful and unlocked BMW. He gets into the car, manages to turn it on and with the heater at full blast slowly gets his body temperature up to a more normal level.

In the trunk of the car he finds clothes and shoes that fit him perfectly and a look through the contents of glove box uncovers an owner’s manual for the BMW in the name of Daniel Hayes as well as a Rolex and a black semi-automatic gun.

Since the man can’t remember who he is no matter how hard he tries he decides that since the clothes fit he might as well assume he is this Hayes person.

The man checks into a cheap motel in the hope that a good sleep will restore his memory but when he wakes up he still has no idea about his past. He does have a strong impulse to turn the television on at six which brings him to a show called Candy Girls and the character called Emily; a girl who brings out strong emotions in him although he doesn’t know what the emotions are or what they mean.

When a policeman, his gun drawn, comes looking for Hayes in his motel room he makes a run for it. And since Hayes has an address in Malibu according to the manual and the BMW has California plates that is where the man sets off for. But while he hopes to be travelling towards answers and clarification he will find himself entering a nightmare, shocking revelations and more questions once he arrives in Los Angeles.

I would absolutely love to be able to share more about the plot in this book but I can’t. Revealing anymore about this story would amount to spoiling this book for future readers. Surprises, twists and unexpected discoveries fill this book from the very first page, and not knowing what to expect is part of what makes this a very good thriller.

The fact that the main character has no better idea about what is going on than the reader does gives this thriller an added edge. The reader can never be sure if the main character, his thoughts or his conclusions can be trusted. The amnesia, which lifts only very slowly, ensures that neither the reader nor Daniel Hayes can be sure whether he’s a good guy or a dangerous criminal.

It is clear from early on in the book that there is another man, one who is looking for Hayes, who is obviously up to no good, but the reader has no idea why and, initially at least, Hayes doesn’t even know somebody is after him.

As Hayes tries to figure out who he is and why he was trying to kill himself in Maine, so far from where he lives, the reader can only hope that his memories will return to him in time to save him from whatever it is that is haunting him. That is of course, if he actually deserves to be saved.

In conclusion I would like to say that this is a great thriller; one that will keep the reader turning the pages to find out what exactly is going on and how it could possibly end on a positive note. The amnesia and the despair that accompanies it are enough to make this a true page turner. The fact that Sakey has added a lot of other mysteries and twists ensures that this is the sort of book that is almost impossible to put down. A book only to be started when you have enough time to just keep on reading.

THE UNINVITED QUESTS

TITLE: THE UNINVITED GUESTS

AUTHOR: SADIE JONES

Pages: 259

Date: 11/07/2012

Grade: 4+

Library

The year is 1912 and the Torrington family is in danger of losing their house, Sterne. Unless second husband and stepfather Edward Swift can secure a loan in Manchester, the family will lose the place Emerald, Clovis and Imogen (Smudge) have called home all their lives.

With Swift away on his rescue mission the rest of the household is preparing to celebrate Emerald’s twentieth birthday. But what should have been a quiet get-together over dinner turns into a nightmare when a train accident close by brings a group of rather sinister looking travellers to Sterne’s door looking for refuge.

Then, just before the family and their guests are due to sit down to dinner, one last train passenger shows up at the house. Unlike the earlier arrivals Charlie Traversham Beecher is obviously a first-class traveller and before anybody is quite sure what has happened he has joined the birthday party, much to Charlotte Swift’s distress. Charlie and Charlotte appear to know each other and Florence Trieves, the housekeeper, is clearly shocked to find the man in the house.

While the storm outside the house gets ever fiercer, the atmosphere in the house gets creepier as well. From the dinner that fails to appear as expected, via the ever rowdier and apparently growing group of refugees to the cruel and unusual game introduced by Charlie, Emerald’s evening is rapidly heading towards disaster. And just when it appears that things couldn’t possibly get any worse…

This is a very enjoyable story and not quite what it at first appears to be. What starts off as a comedy of errors appears to turn into a drama only to become a supernatural story with a charming happy ending.

None of the characters in this book are what they at first appear to be either. While, at the start of the book, the characters seem like rather superficial, selfish and almost stereo-typical products of the times they live in, they all end up surprising both the reader and themselves before the story has ended.

Great comic relief is provided by Smudge as she embarks on her “great undertaking”.

For some reason reading this book was not as smooth for me as I would like it to be. I found that I had to read sentences at least twice on several occasions just to make sure I understood what I was being told. It didn’t ever irritate me or make me want to put the book down, but it happened often enough for me to take notice.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading this book. The story and the way it developed and ended surprised me and put a smile on my face. And any book that does that for me is a book worth reading.

SLAVE

TITLE: SLAVE

AUTHOR: SHERRI HAYES

Pages: 267

Date: 10/07/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: #1 Finding Anna

            Received from Smith Publicity - The Writer's Coffee Shop through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

Stephan Coleman is single but has been a Dominant for five years when a friend of his tells him about a girl he has met at a party. The girl was with a man named Ian and obviously unhappy and scared.

Like Stephan, Ian is a man who likes to dominate his women, but unlike Stephan he doesn’t believe in voluntary submission; Ian’s women are his slaves.

Shocked by what he hears, Stephan contacts Ian and arranges a meeting. As soon as he lays eyes on the young woman named Brianna, who is obviously very scared, he offers to buy her off Ian; an offer which is accepted.

Bringing Brianna Home, Stephan finds himself in a situation he isn’t prepared for. While Brianna is completely submissive she is also petrified of him and the situation she finds herself in. All Stephan can think to do is try and win her confidence, show her that he won’t force her to do anything she is uncomfortable with and help her rebuild her life.

Eighteen year old Brianna doesn’t know what to make of the situation she finds herself in after Stephan buys her. After ten months of being abused and misused she is scared and prone to panic attacks whenever memories of her earlier life come back to her. And she is unsure as to what exactly her position in relation to Stephan is. While she calls him “master” and follows his orders, he doesn’t act the way she expects him to. He doesn’t hurt her, doesn’t force himself upon her and keeps on telling her that she is safe. And while she would love to believe that she has found safety, she knows she’s just a slave and not worth anything. After all, didn’t Stephan buy her?

Will Stephan be able to convince Brianna that she has choices and is safe? And when he does, will she stay with him or will she decide to leave him? Because Stephan has fallen in love with vulnerable Brianna and wants nothing more than a relationship with her, but he also loves her enough to not demand anything she isn’t willing to give.

This story proves that a person should never judge a book by its cover or its title for that matter. When I requested this book I was fully expecting an erotic tale with a BDSM theme. And while BDSM is exactly the lifestyle Stephan has chosen for himself there is no sex, of any description, in this book. The two main characters don’t get anymore intimate than holding hands and the occasional kiss.

This is a book about a young woman who has been broken by a hateful and despicable man and the lengths another man is willing to go to in order to make her whole again. As such this is a beautiful story. Who wouldn’t want a man like Stephan - a man willing to do just about anything to make them happy - in their life?

This is also a very well written story. Both Brianna’s fear and Stephan’s heartfelt care are palatable. While there where times when I found myself wondering whether Stephan’s approach to the situation was the right one, I was never in doubt that his intentions were anything but good.

This is an emotional read. It is impossible not to have your heart break at least a little bit for Brianna. The emotional and physical abuse she’s been subjected to should not be experienced by anyone, ever. And the strength she tries to summon in order to live up to Stephan’s expectations is both inspirational and devastating. And reading Stephan’s side of the story is just as emotional; his emerging feelings for Brianna, his confusion over these new to him feelings and his wish to only do what is right for her, despite what that might mean for him, is wonderful.

Because this story is told by both main characters in turn the reader gets a great insight into what it going on inside them. It does mean that a few scenes are described twice, but since both perspectives are so very different it never feels repetitive.

I was captivated by this story and am very glad that I already have the sequel downloaded for reading later this month.

EXISTENCE

TITLE: EXISTENCE

AUTHOR: DAVID BRIN

Pages: 550

Date: 10/07/2012

Grade: 4

Details: Received from Book Geeks

Own

In a near future (the 2050’s or thereabouts) everybody in the world is connected with each other and their surroundings through a virtual network, inter-active glasses and various implants. At this time, during which space exploration has been suspended, Gerald Livingstone is an astronaut whose job it is to collect and dispose of the space junk which can be found in huge amounts, orbiting our Earth. When he spots a strange and shiny object floating around, his curiosity gets the better of him and he makes the unauthorised effort to retrieve the item.

What appears to be a manufactured crystal seems to come to live when Gerald touches it. It turns out to be a sort of repository containing a large number of different aliens all of whom are competing to get Gerald’s and later the world’s attention. And although their message appears to be urgent they are very evasive when it comes to explaining themselves or their ultimate purpose.

At about the same time, Peng Xiang Bin, a young Chinese man desperately trying to build a life for himself, his partner and baby by scavenging the new coastline discovers a second crystal, one whose messenger claims that those inside the first crystal are liars.

With the whole world involved in the discussion about what to make of the aliens’ warnings and proposed solution, various people decide to take positions and push their personal causes.

There is Tor Povlov, a journalist whose body was destroyed in a terrorist attack who now operates on a cyber level with the aid of a virtual think-tank, Hamish Brookeman, the famous author of doomsday books who advocates an anti-technology course of action, and Lacey Donaldson-Sander one of the super-rich de-facto rulers of the world to name but a few. With everybody, including the aliens, having an agenda of their own, the big question is whether or not humanity is equipped to deal with and survive the alien’s arrival.

This book starts of very slow. The near-future-world has to be introduced and build as do the various characters, their backgrounds and motivation. But even when the story does really kick off this still isn’t a quick read. The story is filled to the brim with facts, speculation and details which will prove important further on in the story. If the reader wants to fully appreciate this story they’d do well to take their time and try and absorb what is happening.

From the moment humanity discovers that the artifact aliens have a purpose of their own, a purpose that could destroy Earth the question becomes and remains who is outsmarting who? Are the humans smart enough to anticipate every trick in the aliens’ book or have the latter foreseen any attempts at foiling their purpose and is humanity destined to repeat mistakes made by other races?

It was this question and the fact that it never appears to get a definite answer that really got me invested in the story. There were times when I could see an ulterior motive before the characters in the book did and could only hope that they would come to the same conclusion. At other times those characters where way ahead of me, taking actions that filled me with dread but appeared to turn out for the best later on, although the question always remained; did they really find a safe solution or are they still being tricked into a false sense of security?

It is a shame that there are one or two story-lines that did not appear to serve a real purpose in the overall context of the book. For example, as much as I enjoyed the adventures of Hacker and his encounter with the dolphins I’m not sure why it had to be part of this story or what it was meant to illustrate that couldn’t be seen through any of the other story-lines. The prophet, Tenskwatawa, was another interesting character that got introduced in the early part of the story only to disappear again without having served any obvious purpose. And while the autistics and resurrected Neanderthals do seem to have a role to play later on in the story I can’t help feeling that a lot more could have been done with their storyline.

Maybe this book suffers from too much story. I can’t help feeling that the author had a host of great ideas and then tried to squeeze them all into one narrative. It is quite possible that spreading them out a bit would have led to a more satisfying reading experience.

Overall though I was fascinated by the main story in this book from the moment it was fully introduced and I know that I will be thinking about it even now, after I read the last page. And any book that manages to capture my attention to such a degree deserves to be praised.

On a separate note, I loved the cover on this book and the 3-D picture it shows.

KISS THE DEAD

TITLE: KISS THE DEAD

AUTHOR: LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Pages: 359

Date: 03/07/2012

Grade: 3.5

Details: no. 21 Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

            Received from Book Geeks

Own

Anita Blake is an equal-opportunity executioner. She kills every vampire, regardless of apparent age, race, sex or religious affiliations.

As a vampire hunter, necromancer and US Marshall Anita Blake is always on the trail of the dead, the un-dead, the not-quite-dead and the not-quite-human although most of those closest to her fall in exactly those categories.

Now that laws have been passed legislating how to deal with non-human criminals, it is no longer allowed to just shoot and kill any-thing/-body not human.

When a group of vampires abduct a fifteen year old girl though, determined to have her join their ranks, all bets are off and Anita and her police and Marshall colleagues pull out in force to rescue the girl before it is too late. Two dead police officers later the vampires have sealed their fate; they can all be executed without any need for an official warrant.

What surprises Anita though is that all the vampires in the group she encounters were recently turned and very ordinary. They look like teenagers, soccer mums and grandparents; unthreatening on the surface but lethal in practice. And all of them refuse to submit themselves to a vampire master.

Because Anita is connected to Jean-Claude, the Master vampire of St. Louis she is perceived as the ultimate enemy by these free-thinking vampires and with not all of them captured during the raid and their creator unknown, the danger is far from over after the last shot has been fired.

The above is really only half of the story. The first 150 or so pages of this book deal with Anita and her colleagues hunting, fighting and killing the rogue vampires. And then the story turns into something else completely. Suddenly it is a book about Anita and her relationships. It turns out that she has multiple partners, so many in fact that I decided to not try and keep count. And, over the course of the next 150 pages she has sexual relations with quite a few of these partners; relations which are described in quite some detail but didn’t quite work for me as erotica.

This is the 21^st book in a series in which I’ve only read seven previous and much earlier titles. And, I have obviously missed a lot in the stories that were told in the books I didn’t read.

I have no idea how Anita ended up with, at the very least, 8 lovers, quite a few of whom she considers her partners and claims to be in love with. I imagine that Hamilton introduced the various characters in previous books and then couldn’t bear to get rid of them again, but I have to say that this many relationships and close body action was a bit too much for my liking.

In the last few chapters of the book the reader is suddenly back in the (non-sexual) action part of the story when somebody related to the rogue vampires gets a hold of a few of Anita’s partners and she has to use her special connection to her lovers to save them.

So, what to say about this book? It wasn’t a hard book to read. The writing is smooth and the story moves along at a steady pace.

On the other hand, the book as a whole didn’t really feel like one story. In fact, this could easily have been two separate books; one about the vampire hunting and another one about the various intimate relationships the main character has. If either part had been published as a stand-alone story you would not have missed the other part because they just didn’t feel that connected to each other.

I would say that this is a book that should probably be read by those who have read all the previous books in the series since there are a few characters mentioned in the book that have no part in the story but (probably) reflect back to earlier events. It is therefore quite possible, if not likely, that up-to-date fans of Laurell K. Hamilton will get more out of this book then I did.

THE YARD

TITLE: THE YARD

AUTHOR: ALEX GRECIAN

Pages: 531

Date: 01/07/2012

Grade: 5-

Details: First in series

            Received from Book Geeks

Own

Walter Day has only recently been appointed as an Inspector with New Scotland Yard and is unsure why he deserved this promotion and if he is up to the job, when a gruesome discovery is made in a London train station. The repeatedly stabbed body of Inspector Christian Little is found inside a suitcase, his eyes and mouth sewn shut. Little was one of only twelve Scotland Yard Inspectors but nobody had noticed that he was missing and nobody had been looking for him when his remains were discovered.

The year is 1889 and Scotland Yard has only been operating for a year. Created after the London police failed to indentify and capture Jack the Ripper the new murder squad consists of only 12 investigators who between them have to deal with all the murders in London.

With the public’s trust in the metropolitan police at an all time low the last thing the newly formed Yard needs is another serial killer (even if both the term and the phenomenon are still unknown at the time), especially one targeting police officers.

Walter Day is the first investigator on the scene of the gruesome discovery and is soon joined by Dr. Bernard Kingsley, Scotland Yard’s first forensic pathologist. Together these two men will head the investigation into the murder of Little, working the few clues they have to the best of their abilities yet unable to prevent the murder of another policeman.

At the same time someone is targeting men with beards, slicing their throats and shaving them. While the victims in both cases have nothing in common, most in Scotland Yard are unable to believe that there are two individuals out and about killing people for their own, disturbed reasons. It seems that London and Scotland Yard will have to come to terms with a new sort of crime as well as new methods of investigation if they want to have a chance of staying ahead of the criminals.

The description above only covers part of the story featured in “The Yard” and only some of its host of interesting characters. With this book being the first in a new series, the reader is introduced to what I assume will be the returning characters and their lives. While I enjoyed finding out more about the various players and their motivation I did feel that all the background information, while enlightening, did at times take the pace out of the story. But, I see why the author would take the time to share those details and as far as “complaints” about this book go, this would be my only and minor one.

This is not a mystery in the strictest sense of the word since the reader is aware of who is committing the murders and why long before those investigating them even come close to finding out. You can’t call this a police procedural either since Scotland Yard was so newly formed that there were as yet no procedures for the investigators to follow. Walter Day and Dr. Bernard Kingsley are making their procedures and investigative methods up as they go along with the investigation. Occasionally running into opposition, disbelieve and scepticism they represent the start of the modern age of crime investigation. They take and compare fingerprints although they are not recognised as unique yet and inadmissible in court, Kingsley sees the need to collect and keep evidence rather than disregard it and proceeds to do so, just as he modernizes and humanizes the conditions under with autopsies are performed.

The Victorian setting in this book is almost a character in its own right. The descriptions of London, the over-crowded conditions and the total disregard for little children and those falling between the cracks of life are shocking to the modern mind.

What I really liked is that it wasn’t just the investigators who lacked sophistication in this story. The murderer is, to the modern reader of thrillers, just as amateurish as the police. It seems, and makes complete sense, that as the police investigations got more advanced, so did the criminals, trying to stay ahead of those who would stop them. A fascinating but completely logical idea.

I really enjoyed this book. Reading about the start of the now so famous Scotland Yard was fascinating and the characters introduced in this story are all multifaceted and easy to be interested in. I’m looking forward to finding out where Alex Grecian will be taking these people next and to learn more about the evolution of crime investigation.