SYNOP: As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object — artfully encoded with five symbols — is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon — a prominent Mason and philanthropist — is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations — all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

I enjoyed this book…despite all the hype.  But it was definitely not as good as Brown’s previous efforts.  I was intrigued that it was set in DC, as I don’t live that far from there and am familiar with a lot of the places they talked about, but outside of that I felt the story was a bit of a re-tread, not to mention that I had figured out the most important “twist” early on.  I did enjoy being back in Langdon’s company and the book slipped right on like a pair of slippers, but there was a spark missing.  I did thoroughly enjoy the parts on noetic science but The Lost Symbol was just a read and then quickly forgotten.  I’m hoping the next Brown book will keep me on the edge of my seat!

]]> http://bewitchedbybooks.com/2010/03/06/the-lost-symbol-by-dan-brown/feed/ 0 http://bewitchedbybooks.com/2009/09/06/evil-without-a-face-by-jordan-dane/ http://bewitchedbybooks.com/2009/09/06/evil-without-a-face-by-jordan-dane/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:26:18 +0000 Shelly http://bewitchedbybooks.com/?p=240

SYNOP:

Haunted and Obsessed
She sleeps with a Colt Python in her nightstand and her senses on alert—Jessica Beckett isn’t taking any chances. Hiding a chilling secret, living in a world of snitches and felons, good cops and bad dreams, Jessica is a bounty hunter who brings lowlifes to justice. But not even she can imagine what she’ll face when she tracks an online predator who has abducted a naive teenage girl.

Making Promises That Can’t Be Kept
Former NFL quarterback Payton Archer swore to his sister that he’d find her only child. But the police have no leads and the teen’s trail has turned cold. Plagued by personal demons, Payton’s never considered himself a hero. But this time he has to be.

And Fighting a Faceless Enemy
Joining forces to save the seventeen-year-old girl, Payton and Jessica discover that she’s nothing but a pawn in an insidious, terrifying global conspiracy. They’re battling a new kind of criminal. And soon their race for answers will become a dangerous struggle for survival.

I enjoyed a lot of things about this book.  I loved Jess. She was sassy and bold and was quick to think outside the box.  She would be great as an amateur sleuth in her own series.  I also loved how Dane wove danger and tension throughout the story and I enjoyed the couple of little twists I didn’t see coming.  The story was taut and an excellent thriller with the bad guys being scary bad.  I also like Nikki, the teen who runs headlong into trouble.  She was very real and plucky yet the events changed her realistically and I liked that.  I enjoyed reading about the mysterious Seth Harper and can’t wait to read The Wrong Side of Dead.  And I am so very intrigued by Alexa Marlowe!

But two crucial things kept me from giving this book an A.  One was the sheer number of characters that made it hard to really get to know some of them.  Sometimes their presence felt forced.  And the whole romantic relationship between Payton and Jess just seemed silly and minor.  They had so little time together (first meeting on page 234 of the book!) that their attraction didn’t feel real.  I felt more chemistry from Alexa and Garrett than Payton and Jess.  It just felt out of place and made me want to skim the few parts where they interacted emotionally (like the awkward hotel scene) to get back to the action.

Dane has made me think of internet chat rooms in a whole new light.  And I enjoyed wondering how they were going to thwart a plan that was obviously so large and out of their scope.  It wrapped up a bit too nicely but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of the Russian…at least I hope so cuz he’s creepy and awful and deliciously scary!  Give Evil Without a Face a whirl.  I think if you like thrillers you’ll enjoy this one.  It’s up for grabs on my Paperback Swap bookshelf!

Book Synop:

The three girls have been inseparable best friends since the third grade — Josie, the athletic one; Perri, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen; and Kat, the beauty, who also has brains, grace, and a heart open to all around her. But their last day of high school becomes their final day together after one of them brings a gun to school to resolve a mysterious feud. When the police arrive, they discover two wounded girls, one so critically that she is not expected to recover. The third girl is dead, killed instantly by a shot to the heart.

What transpired that morning at Glendale High rocks the foundation of an affluent community in Baltimore’s distant suburbs, a place that has barely recovered from an earlier, more comprehensible tragedy. For the shell-shocked parents, teachers, administrators, and students, healing must begin with answers to the usual questions — but only if the answers are safe ones, answers that will lead back to one girl and one family and absolve everyone else.

For Homicide Sgt. Harold Lenhardt, this case is a mystery with more twists than these grief-stricken suburbanites are willing to acknowledge — and the sole lucid survivor, a girl with a teenager’s uncanny knack for stonewalling, strikes him as being less than honest. What is she concealing? Is she trying to protect herself or someone else? Even the simplest secrets can kill — and kill again if no one is willing to confront them.

Simply exhilarating!  Laura Lippman’s To the Power of Three kept me on the edge of my seat.  It takes a special book for me to want to “cheat” and sneak a look at the ending.  I am never one for much self-control so I must admit, I looked.   But I still read the whole book.  At some points I thought the story was a little disjointed with it flashing back to the girls past.  And admittedly, those parts didn’t keep my interest as well as the present. Lippman does an excellent job of getting into the high school girls’ heads. It’s all very believable and some parts had me a little choked up.

To the Power of Three isn’t a traditional mystery where the reader can figure out the who, what, where and why. She crafts it so well that while you know the who, you can’t begin to guess the road that led to Perri, Josie and Kat’s fateful meeting in the girls’ restroom. I can’t wait to read What the Dead Know!

Book Synop:

A violent ghost in a world where spirits are rarely mean-spirited is a clue to a deeper mystery in this engrossing dark fantasy debut from comics-writer Carey. Felix Fix Castor is an itinerant exorcist who (like a certain famous group of Hollywood ghost-evictors) alternates between dispatching spooks and doing stage magic at ungrateful children’s birthday parties. When he’s summoned to end a haunting at London’s prestigious Bonnington Archive, he finds a vengeful specter with a blood-veiled face that resists methods for extirpating the usually docile dead. When Castor begins probing more deeply, he quickly finds himself harassed by a ravenous succubus, a belligerent fellow exorcist and a slimy Eastern European pimp.

Mike Carey’s The Devil You Know intrigued me…after I was able to slog through the first 80 pages. At page 20 I was scratching my head. At 40 I was getting mildly annoyed. By 60 I was ready to throw the darn thing up against the wall. But by 80 I was hooked. I typically don’t give a book that long to gel for me. But since this was my first book in months that I sat down to read and since the last few months had been so impossibly crappy, I thought I might have been projecting my feelings onto the book.
A part of me feels that The Devil You Know could have been edited better. it was very dense. Lots of description, lots of ironic internal dialogue, but, that’s the main character, Fix. It’s how he is. A little over the top. A smartass who is inside his head — a lot.
The story was intriguing once the plot actually settled down and began moving. Fix is an exorcist. A good one, who has made mistakes in the past. One mistake in particular has transformed his best friend into a half demon lunatic and Fix suffers from this — boy does he suffer. Anyway, he’s been brought in to get rid of a ghost, but slowly he becomes intrigued as to why the ghost is there and as he investigates the story behind her death, his life becomes more bizarre.
Carey did a wonderful job with the dialogue. Fix has a great personality. He self-deprecating and a little condescending. The other characters were…ok. I liked his friend Pen and I was definitely intrigued by Rafe/Asmodeus but the people that were integral to the actual storyline at the building where the ghost haunted were a little stereotypical and/or a bit annoying. I liked the paranormal mixed in with London landmarks and British humor. I think this might be a solid start to an intriguing mystery series. But I will have to read Vicious Circle in order to get a solid feel for this author.
If the prose could be tamed a bit and the extraneous information strategically taken out, then I will stick with Fix.

Book Synop:

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was….

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

At first I wasn’t sure about this book. I had read all the hype and for some people, hype makes them run out and buy the book/movie/cd etc. but for me, hype just makes me want the object to gather some dust and then when my mind has shed all the gushing accolades, I pick it up and try it out. So, much Like Abby Cooper, this book was bought the first week it came out, but it has set on my TBR shelf for quite a while.

And here is where I have to admit that sometimes you have to believe the hype. One part of me is glad that I waited to read this — so I could immediately start reading Visions of Heat (The Psy-Changeling Series, Book 2) (Berkley Sensation). The other half of me is smacking the back of my head wanting to know why I waited so long to pick out Slave to Sensation (The Psy-Changelings Series, Book 1) (Berkley Sensation).

It always makes my heart happy when someone creates a brand new world for people and creatures (for lack of a better word) that could be part of the same ol, same ol. Nalini Singh has created a very rich world where Psy, Changelings and humans have an uneasy peace — of sorts.

Lucas and Sascha are incredible characters. Their chemistry is white hot and I found myself following Sascha’s path into emotion with avid interest. Lucas was a bit more alpha than I typically like, but it suited his position and his character. I guessed early on the identity of the killer but enjoyed watching the trap to capture him unfold. Sometimes things were a bit repetitive, but all in all I enjoyed learning about this new world and these new people.

Book Synop: It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake…Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away.

As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he’s closing in on her — and everything and everyone she loves.

Don’t look … Don’t trust… Don’t Tell.

There are few things that are scarier to me than reading about women who run away from their abusive husbands and then are stalked by them. It creeped me out in The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner and it did so again in Don’t Tell by Karen Rose.

I really liked the character Mary Grace/Caroline. I believed in her strength and her reactions seemed very real and believable. I also really believed her way crazy husband, Rob Winters. It’s scary to think of any man being like Winters, but it’s even more horrifying to think of them as part of the system that’s supposed to protect us. I did have a small problem buying Max Hunter. He seemed to be a little all over the board. And I understand this was because of his own problems that he’s had and not faced, but I’m not sure I believed in him and Caroline as a couple.

Overall, the story flowed fairly well and I read it in one sitting (two books in one day! Holy Moly!) and I was very happy to see Special Agent Thatcher again. I had already read Rose’s Have You Seen Her? which was another great suspense novel.  I’ve bought all her books and I’m sure I’ll love each and every one those too.  I’ll let you know as I go through them.

Book Synop: A storm’s rage. A woman’s desire.

A man with the power to set them both free.

He can summon lightning at will. Emerge unscathed from the center of a tornado. Strip a woman down to her barest defenses through the sheer force of his sexuality. He’s gorgeous, dangerous, and the target of parameteorologist Haley Holmes’s latest mission. Haley has been dispatched to the Louisiana bayous to investigate the phenomenon known as Remy Begnaud–a man with a gift he never wanted: the ability to control a storm’s fury. But even a woman trained in bizarre weather phenomena has no defense against the electrifying power of the ex—Navy SEAL…a power his enemies would kill to control.

With her agency monitoring their every move, Haley’s job is to seduce Remy, gain his trust–and help him harness his extraordinary gift. But who will protect her from this voracious lover who’s introducing her to a new world of erotic thrills—a man who grows increasingly insatiable with each new weather event? Haley knows a big storm is approaching—and with it will come unexpected delights. But so, too, will the storm unleash her greatest fears: an enemy bent on destroying Remy. And her worst fear of all—falling in love with this magnificent man, then having to betray him.

I started reading Riding the Storm thinking it was going to be a mix of paranormal and suspense/thriller and soon found that it was an erotic romance. Not that I minded, but I had to shift mental gears a little. There is only one word that comes to mind to describe this book — HOT!!! I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed meeting all the new characters from this world that Sydney Croft (aka Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler) created.  In fact, there were so many that I wish there were a few less so the story could focus that much more on Remy and Haley.

The powers that the characters had intrigued me. Remy had the power to control the weather, Annika could control/create electricity and Wyatt was telekinetic — just to name a few.

Haley was sent by ACRO to persuade Remy to join them and learn to control his gift and of course the bad guys want to get to him first! Thing is, Remy’s gift is tied into sex — his way of controlling what is happening. So there’s lots of sex and I can’t believe I’m going to say this…but I wish there had been a little less sex and more outmaneuvering the bad guys! I think this is a great start to a new series and I’m looking forward to Unleashing the Storm next March. I think if you like erotic romance, X-Men and stories like Rachel Caine’s Weather Wardens then this will be right up your alley!

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I received an e-mail from Marta Acosta asking if I would be willing to review her books, Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Series, Book 1) and Midnight Brunch (Casa Dracula Series, Book 2). I received them and then my reading hours went down the toilet.

But I have finally read Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Series, Book 1) and am happy to finally post my review!

Book Synop:  Vampires, Margaritas, Mahem.  What’s a a girl to do when she’s hidden away at the home of snobby vampires and her ex-boyfriend wants to drive a stake through her heart?

Milagro de los Santos can’t find her place in the world or a man to go with it. All the men she meets are like beach reads–fun, but superficial–and she worries that she is only a beach read, too. Then one night, at a book party for her pretentious ex-boyfriend, she meets an oddly attractive man. After she is bitten while kissing him, she falls ill and is squirreled away to his family’s estate to recover. Vampires don’t exist in this day and age, or do they? As Milagro falls in love with a fabulously inappropriate man, she finds herself caught between a family who has accepted her as one of their own and a shady organization that refuses to let the undead live and love in peace.

At first, Milagro really got on my nerves.  I felt like there was too much humor and that some of it was forced, but I as I continued further into the book I started to really like Milagro and her eccentric spirit.  And at first I really wanted Oswald to be more — more man? — I don’t know, just more.   But when you realize the position that Oswald is in, it kinda explains his actions, or lack of.

I loved the interaction between Milagro and Oswald’s family.  I especially loved reading the exchanges between Milagro and Edna.  Hilarious!  This book was a little of everything.  Humorous, romantic, a dash of suspense.  And even though the book clearly leaves openings for other adentures, it’s a good stand alone title as well.  Overall this book is about Milagro finding herself and growing.  I liked watching her go from party girl to someone much more mature and responsible.  The plot points that included CACA were sometimes a little hard for me to believe but they fit in nicely and Sebastion was a great character to dislike!

Overall, I really loved this different take on vampires.  The wit was laugh-out-loud funny in many places and I’m interested to see what happens between Oswald and Milagro in the future.

Book Synop: (from Amazon) Regulars at Nadia’s nature lodge don’t ask what she does in the off-season. And that’s a good thing. If she told them, she’d have to kill them. She’s a hit woman for a Mafia family. Tough and self-sufficient, Nadia doesn’t owe anyone any explanations. But that doesn’t mean she always works alone. One of her contacts has recruited her in the hunt for a ruthlessly efficient serial killer cutting a swath of terror across the country. The assassin is far too skilled to be an amateur—and the precision of the killings is bringing the Feds much too close to the hit man community for comfort.

To put an end to the murders, Nadia will have to turn herself from predator to prey as she employs every trick she knows to find the killer. Before the killer finds her…

Exit Strategy (Nadia Stafford Series, Book 1) is my first read by Kelley Armstrong. I’ve got her one of her paranormal books sitting on my TBR pile, but I’ve yet to pull it out. I was intrigued by the idea of a female hitwoman. Especially since she used to be a cop. The plot was well paced and I enjoyed the peak into the life.

Nadia has a mentor, Jack, who confused me a bit throughout the book. Jack doesn’t share much of himself, yet it’s obvious that he cares about Nadia. But there’s something so aloof about Jack that I’m not sure I’m rooting for him yet. Another man that might be part of Nadia’s picture is another hitman named Quinn. I really liked him. He was fun, rather open and jovial.

The ride to capture the rogue hitman who has now crossed the line into serial killer was fascinating. How do you catch someone who knows all the ins and outs like you do? This was a pretty solid first book, even though I expect even more characterization in the second one.

In fact, in the second one I’d like to see more of Nadia on the “job” for the mafia. I’d also like to see a little more of her “personal code” in a manner of speaking. I want to understand why she’s taken on this life (and it’s not just for the money). According to KA’s website, she’s contracted for only two books so far in this series — depending on how they sell. Well, I know I’m eagerly awaiting the next one!

Synop: (From B&N)
Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that powerful, centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted. And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.

Long-time rivals for Anita’s affections, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, alpha-werewolf, will need to become allies. Shapeshifters Nathaniel and Micah will have to step up their support. And then there’s Edward. In this situation, Anita knows that she needs to call the one man who has always been there for her…

I can’t begin to say how happy I am that the old Anita is (sorta) back in The Harlequin (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 15). I’ve missed her. I felt the series jumped the shark with Narcissus in Chains and I haven’t been the same rabid fan girl since then. I still feel there is waaaaay too much personal therapy being worked through from LKH’s personal life in the pages, but it wasn’t quite as annoying this time around. I do miss the period of time usually covered in the books. I do not like that only a day or so goes by. Couldn’t we have a week? Why can’t the Merry Gentry series be all about the sex and whacked out time periods and Anita could be, well what Anita was the first 8 books or so.

There still is not any significant character growth in The Harlequin. Nobody has grown (I’m not counting Anita getting new powers or new sex partners) in the last several books except Nathaniel. I’ve enjoyed watching him come into his own. But all the other characters are mired in stagnancy. Jean Claude is still the (mostly) unperturbed Master of the City. Micah is still perfect in his every move, gesture and breath. Richard is still the same annoying asshole that just can’t get his crap together.

Speaking of Richard. I want him to die a horrible, painful death. I’ll take my chances with him killing the triumvirate. Really. He is the whiniest most unappealing male ever. Every book Anita and him have the same fights and every time Richard gets his feelers hurt and he must run off and lick his wounds. ENOUGH ALREADY! It boggles the mind that this pansy is King of the Wolves. Or whatever his title is. Kill him, kill him, kill him.

Okay, now that I got most of my gripes out of the way, this was an interesting story. I liked reading about these assassins sent to take care of business with Malcolm’s church. I enjoyed reading more about Marme Noire (I probably spelled that wrong). I liked that the story has a definite beginning, middle and end. And best of all, I liked that Anita no longer has to have sex every fifteen minutes. There’s actually room for *gasp* a story! Now you may be wondering why I gave it a B+. Well, I’m comparing them against the last few books and comparatively speaking, The Harlequin is gold. Compared to other authors, stories, styles and other things typical literature is “graded” on, I’d give it a C.

I wish that I could steer clear of this series. but I liken it to the train wreck that you can’t help but rubber neck at as you go by. Finally, I didn’t feel as though The Harlequin was a total waste of money. I’m actually looking forward to the next one to see if it’s still heading in the right direction or if The Harlequin was a fluke.