Big Jack by J.D. Robb

J.D. Robb is the alter ego of author Nora Roberts. Nora Roberts books tend to be romance oriented. J.D. Robb writes futuristic mystery novels based on the character Eve Dallas.

This has long been one of my favourite series to follow. There's the inevitable mystery, futuristic police procedures and a nice little romance between the main character Eve Dallas, a New York city police officer and her uber-wealthy, ex-thief turned honest husband.

Big Jack is the continuation of the story started in Nora Roberts book, Hot Rocks. It's based on the story of the descendants of some thieves involved in a diamond heist. Eve's continual battle is against the idea that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. Or can people from horrible and evil families change. This is a theme in most of the books of the series and mirrors Eve's own struggles with her family's lack of moral fiber

I highly recommend looking for these books in used books stores and starting in on the series if you enjoy mysteries with a hint of romance and humour.

Away by Jane Urquhart

This is not my normal kind of reading. I prefer to read multi-layered mysteries with complex and interesting characters. But if you’ve read a few of my previous reviews you will have noticed a theme of evil and mayhem and I decided I really needed a change of pace for a few books.

My sister gave me this for Christmas and it took me a long time to really get into the book. No murder and mayhem but there are complex and interesting characters. It’s a very lyrical almost poetic book. It’s a romance but not just a romance between men and women but between people and their land. The conversations are as taciturn as the people. This story is not driven by dialogue.

It’s a story about a woman in Ireland who falls in love with an injured sailor who washes up on her beach and dies in her arms. The experience changes something in her mind and she becomes “away”. When someone is away they are both here and not here. Her family eventually moves to Canada and the ability to be "away" moves along with them so that future generations are affected by this. As settlers in a new land they face hardship and dangers and even find love.

The writing is beautiful. One of my favourite chapter beginnings is "When summer was finished the family was visited by a series of overstated seasons". You just know that the Fall and Winter are going to be devasting ones by a simple turn of the phrase.

This is a book that should be read on long, lazy afternoons as the story needs to take hold in your mind. It's hard to read in small chunks as the story can become confusing. It's worth reading though so save it for a vacation and spend the day lost in another world that will make you feel as if you've been away.

The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles

Somehow in the midst of all my packing I’ve managed to read another big book. The Devil’s Punchbowl is a continuation of the Penn Cage series by Greg Iles. At 736 pages it had to be good to keep my attention with everything else that’s going on in my life.

The plot centers around the evil that has come to Penn’s small town where he is now the Mayor. It involves gambling, prostitution and illegal dog fights. There is a bit of a sordid quality about some of the scenes but it is entirely appropriate as much of what he is describing is horrific.

The evil engulfs Penn and his family and most of the book is about the way he deals with it all. The characters are well developed and it’s definitely a page turner. This book won’t appeal to everyone as the subject matter is not the best but the way it’s written and the outcome makes it worth the read.

Contemplating a Kindle

Amazon's Kindle is finally available in Canada. As I mentioned in my last post I'm in the midst of moving and there are a lot of boxes of books! I love being surrounded by books and like being able to hold one in my hands but I've been seriously considering buying a Kindle for the ease of storage and carrying around. I always have a book in my purse and sometimes they are heavy!

So readers of my blog, do you have a Kindle? Do you like it? Is it worth the $300.00 or so that Amazon is currently charging for it? I'd love to hear from any of you that use one.

Or how about a Sony e-reader?

Reading Pause

I thought I'd better stop by and say hi. Reading has paused for a couple of very good reasons. 1. I've finally bought my first home and am moving at the end of March. This means that boxes are piling up, some books have been packed and that lots more needs to be done! and 2. The Olympics are here in Vancouver! I've never been a sports fan, I don't watch sports of any kind but I am mesmerized by these Olympic games. I've been glued to my tv set and have learned fun new words like, Twizzle (a one footed, multi-rotational spin in Ice Dancing). I'm fascinated by the fact that each sport has it's own language.

I did buy the next two books in the Healing series by Nancy Rue so will eventually post reviews on those and the Last Days by Joel Rosenberg.

I've started getting requests to review books and will eventually have a policy about what books I will review and how to get them to me.

I'm not abandoning the 100 book challenge. I hope to catch up, eventually.

Inside the Revolution by Joel C. Rosenberg

This isn’t my usual kind of reading material. But my book club wanted to read it and so I embarked on a 3 month reading of this book. It took a long time to go through it; partly because there is so much to digest and partly because it is so big. But I finally finished it last week and now I’m glad that I put in the time and effort to read it.

Joel C. Rosenberg is an author of several fiction books about the Muslim world. His bio says that he is a writer and communications strategist and has worked for some world leaders including Benjamin Netanyahu and Steve Forbes. He is considered an expert on the Middle East.

This is very comprehensive and easy to read. He gives a great deal of information about Iraq, Iran and Islam. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes the Radicals and their belief that Islam is the answer and Jihad is the way. That was the hardest part to read as you discover more and more about their theology and beliefs behind some of their practices. The second part is about the Reformers; people who still believe that Islam is the answer but that jihad is not the way. These people are working towards reforming Islam and cooperating with the non-Muslim world. The Third part was the most encouraging to read. It’s about the Revivalists who believe that Jesus is the answer to the problems in the Middle East. It was amazing to read the stories about how God is working in this troubled part of the world. If you want to read this book and find the whole thing daunting then start with the end. Read the last few chapters and feeling encouraged, you will be able to cope with the information at the start of the book.

This book will give you hope that God is indeed working in the Middle East. It will also challenge you to do your part in helping Muslim people come to know that Jesus is the answer.

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

Louise Penny is a Canadian author and fast becoming one of my favourites of all times. I’ve read all the books so far in her village series and each is better than the last.

In A Rule against Murder we meet once again the main characters from the previous novels. This time the Chief Detective and his wife are on vacation at a luxurious Inn outside the village of Three Pines (the scene of her previous novels). Unfortunately some of the other guests are members of an obnoxious family that are attending a family reunion. Immediately we encounter the layers of story that Penny excels at. There are secrets within secrets and in no time at all, a murder is committed.

Even though this is a murder mystery, the murder is almost a secondary plot line. The story is developed around each character and their secrets. Her writing is poetic. In fact the Detective is often quoting poetry and using it to help solve his crime.

If you haven’t read any of her books before start with the first one, Still Life and continue on. While the stories aren’t continuous the characters are and it’s like getting to know some new friends if you start at the beginning.

I can’t recommend her books highly enough. If you enjoy mysteries and good writing you will like A Rule Against Murder as much as I did.