Private: London by James Patterson

Yay for snow days! I was able to read quite a bit over the break. I received this book for Christmas and finally had the time to read it.

The book is about a college student, Hannah Shapiro, who goes missing. Hannah has a past and has since been put under the protection of Private by her father. She is going to college in London, so the local Private office is watching her. One night she gets kidnapped, and the investigators are on a search to find her and figure out why she was taken. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose in London.

As with most Patterson books, there are two stories going on at once, plenty of twists, and a love plot. I really enjoyed this story. Some of his recent stories, especially in the Alex Cross series, have been hit or miss. Which is a shame because Patterson has always been my favorite author. Private is one of his newer series and I love it. After the success of the first Private, Patterson announced he was going to write a Private based off different office in different countries and collaborates with an author.

This novel was great for many reasons. First, there were enough turns in the story to keep things interesting. There was also good detail about each of the characters that led to strong character development. I also liked that Jack Morgan, from the original book and LA office, took part in the story. It was a great way to tie all the novels together with a common thread. It's a quick read, and for Patterson fans, a return to the kind of writing we expect from the author.

<3, jacq

American Sniper by Chris Kyle

I heard about Chris Kyle on the news, and after reading "No Easy Day" last year (EXCELLENT book) I was interesting in reading another book on the war from a soldier's point of view.  It didn't disappoint.

In the book, Kyle talks about the war and his part in it.  His job as a sniper is usually to set up camp at a good vantage point and make sure that the area is clear for the Army/Marines to move in.  He worked in Fallujah (known as the most dangerous city in Iraq for a period of the war).  Their objective was to slowly move in and take the city back from the insurgents, with the help of the Iraqi police to give them the confidence and training to take their city back.  He also discusses his wife, and how the war affected their family.

The book was incredible.  In a lot of ways it was similar to "No Easy Day" in that they were both Seals.  Once difference I enjoyed was how much Kyle discussed the war and their missions, where "No Easy Day" discussed a lot of training and building up to one specific mission, the one that killed Bin Laden.  For someone like me, with no military experience/background/insight, it's enlightening to read about the war from a soldier's point of view.  Even more interesting to compare it to the news and see what gets reported.

I will say this.  Chris Kyle is a great soldier, an incredible sniper, but if I met him in person I doubt we would actually get along.  There were little things he did (rummage people's apartments, take things he liked) that gave me the sense of someone arrogant and rude.  That being said, those are traits that would make a good sniper, as confidence is key. Like him or not on a personal level, he was an incredible soldier and an asset to the country.

Unfortunately, right after this book was released, he was murdered on a gun range by a fellow veteran who was mentally deranged. I'm glad he was able to share his story. If you are at all interested in military, or just details of the current war from a more personal standpoint, I highly recommend this book as well as "No Easy Day."

<3, jacq

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I have heard from multiple friends (and the awards buzz) that this movie was awesome, so I decided to read the book.  The hubby got me a gift card for my kindle for Valentine's, SO much better than flowers, so I had some credits to spend.

The book is about a guy, Pat Peoples, who gets to leave the "bad place" (mental health facility) and go home.  He doesn't remember a lot about why he went to the bad place, but he knows he was married to a girl named Nikki and he is working to better himself so he and Nikki can get back together.  Through a friend he meets Tiffany, who has a past of her own, and they forge a friendship.  In order to talk to Nikki again, Pat agrees to do a dance competition with Tiffany.

This book was great on so many levels.  There are a lot of sub stories, and the relationships in the book are very well developed and written.  There is also enough mystery about Pat's past to keep you hooked and curious.  After reading the book, I understand why so many people loved the movie and why Bradley Cooper and J. Law got so many nods for awards.  If the movie is half as good as the book (which I hope to find out soon), it's got to be incredible.

<3, jacq

S.E.C.R.E.T. by L. Marie Adeline

This book was written under a psuedonym by a Canadian executive producer.  I found it on a blog last December, and heard it was like a fresh version of Fifty Shades of Grey (a trilogy I really enjoyed).

The book is about a girl named Cassie who was in a bad marriage, and when her husband died she lost herself.  She works as a waitress in New Orleans and has been in the same routine/funk for the past five years.  One day, a regular leaves behind a notebook, and Cassie reads part of it.  It's a pretty scandalous journal, and it introduces Cassie to a group called S.E.C.R.E.T. that is all about helping women find themselves again, or gain some confidence.  She starts this journey with the group and learns a lot about herself along the way, and starts to get her life back together.

There were a couple things I didn't like about this book.  First, once the "sexy time" started, the story itself kind of fell off.  It became a string of these encounters, and while those are always fun to read, they're really only fun if they have a good storyline or plot.  Or else it becomes a little repetitive and boring.  I think that's what drew me to the Fifty Shades series.  Romance is NOT my normal genre, yet in that story it had romance, mystery, suspense, some danger, and the characters seemed grand yet had a believable quality.  I was hoping for the same here, and the characters started off with a lot of promise.  Unfortunately though, a lot of the character development was short and they ended up falling flat.  Second, I didn't like the ending.  It left a lot up in the air, and there hasn't been a mention as to whether or not this was going to be a series.  As average as I found the book, I still want to know how it all ends! 

Overall, it was an okay book.  If you're looking for something exciting and somewhat short (it's only 290 pages), it would be a good read.

<3, jacquie

The Racketeer by John Grisham

It's been awhile since I was able to post!  We started a new person at work at the training/backwork has been crazy.  But...I was able to read a great Grisham.

The Racketeer is a story driven by the murder of a federal judge.  He was murdered with his mistress in his cabin, and a hidden safe was emptied.  Malcolm Bannister, a lawyer serving time in prison under the RICO act, knows who did it.  He thinks he was unfairly put in jail (and it seems as though he was just swept up in a huge indictment) and wants to use Rule 35.  Rule 35 is when a prisoner trades information for commuting his time.  He gets the attention of the FBI and starts working with them to help them catch the murdere and get himself out of jail.

I have always been fascinated by politics and the law, so Grisham is a favorite author of mine.  His legal mysteries are just the style I love to read.  In this book, you have the main story, riddled with sub plots, and it all comes together in a twist at the end in typical Grisham style.  I love how his stories seem to take completely unrelated people, and put them together in a way you can't guess.  Sometimes, reading murder mysteries gets frustrating because it becomes easy to deduct the ending, or the characters act too predictably.  Grisham is always a breath of fresh air.  Definitely a great read.

<3, jacquie