The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Amazing book. And the main characters cast for the movie seem to be pretty dead on. I can't wait to see it. I don't say that too often, but I am this time.

This book was definitely a page turner.

Michael Haller is a defense attorney who suddenly gets a call from  a wealthy potential  client, Louis Roulet. But while investigating the case, he uncovers some information that could possibly link to another case he has tried. Roulet realizes Haller is close to the truth, there is suddenly a murder (I won't spoil and tell you who) that points right back to Haller. Convinced that Roulet is setting him up, he has to continue to defend him all while trying to keep Roulet from finding out how much he knows about the previous case.

I can't say much more without giving something away so just go read it already.

I may have to recant

Remember how I said movies ruin books?

That was before I saw the previews for The Lincoln Lawyer! I mean, how can you really go wrong with Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe?

I have read several Michael Connelly books and really enjoyed them (especially The Poet series). This was not on my list yet, but it just jumped to the top. I may even splurge and buy it!

Kisscut by Karin Slaughter

*Tear*
I'm finally finishing the series, yes with book #2. However, May is going to be a great month. Two new series reads!! One from Slaughter and one from Patterson. Score.

Back to the review.

Once again, semi-graphic depiction of the evil that lurks. And another about kids. I may never let my son out of the house again. It begins with a stand off where Jeffrey is forced, which he later questions, to shoot a thirteen year old girl dead. This just begins the horrors that are revealed in a child pornography, abduction, sexual abuse fiasco. After discovering a dead, recently born baby, Sarah and Jeffrey begin the search both kids and adults for clues as to who all is involved.

I can't go into much more detail without giving away some big clues, so I will just stop here.

The 9th Judgment by James Patterson

I happened to be at the top of the waiting list somehow for this one, I thought it would take longer. Of course I relate better to these than the Alex Cross books because of the female leads. But I do enjoy them and I'm glad that the show was canceled, sorry J.P., but they couldn't keep up with the real thing.

The Women's Murder Club books follow four simple female characters of various professional careers and their love lives. If you haven't read them, go do that now and then come back and finish reading this.

And as I mentioned in my previous post, it's about a gunman who kills mothers and their babies. And I mean little babies, 2 and under. In case you haven't looked at my profile, my son will turn 2 in April. These books scared the sh*t out of me. I think about it every time I go to my car from work in the parking garage.

There is also another crime spree. A jewel thief who is breaking into houses during dinner parties and making away with some very expensive things. This story really blows up when one of the victims of theft is also gunned down. As a reader we know who the real killer is and are left wondering how Boxer and the girls will figure it out.

The storyline was good, but the ending really got me. After reading the Slaughter books and knowing how surprising an ending can be, well, I won't say more because I don't want to give it away. Just read it for yourself, preferably before 10th Anniversary comes out in May!! I love books in a series! But it deals with more babies... gah!

Jack and Jill by James Patterson

Ok, so I still picture Morgan Freeman sometimes, but I'm trying.

High society people are being murdered execution style with cryptic poems being left behind signed Jack and Jill. This becomes a big problem when it is revealed that Jack and Jill are the code names for the President and First Lady, who are the ultimate targets. At the same time in the poorer area of Washington D.C., a killer is beating small children to death from the same school where Alex Cross's son attends. Cross tries to stretch the hours of the day so he can work both crimes and keep his family safe.

I can tell such a difference in his earlier writings and his newer ones. I am starting at the beginning, because we know what happens when you don't. However, I couldn't get into this one much because the detail was not there. I didn't feel like I was in the room. The murders were just talked about in passing, no description. Which is probably a good thing, because I also just finished The 9th Judgment (review coming soon), I really have to stop reading books about baby murderers...

Regardless, it was an o.k. read and necessary for the Alex Cross storyline. Can't wait to get to the newer ones though.

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

This was the very first of the Sarah Linton books. She discovers Lena's blind sister in the bathroom stall. She has been raped, tortured and left for dead. Sarah is unable to save her and watches Sibyl die in her arms. The crime scene brings back a lot of memories for Sarah because she was attacked in Atlanta in the hospital bathroom and left for dead. Something she has yet to tell her now ex-husband Jefferey. Lena insists on staying on the case. The brutal details of Sibyl's murder are revealed and the hunt begins.

As in most of Slaughter's books, the detail of the crimes committed against the victims is spelled out with great precision. Some parts of the story were so graphic I cringed just reading them. This story will prep you for all the following novels if you choose to begin the series from the beginning.


I feel  cheated.. I listened to this audiobook at work, so I didn't get to play close attention the entire time and apparently I missed an entire murder! There was a second victim that I didn't know about. I may have to check it out and actually read it, I don't like being left out.

Next on the list

I have recently discovered audiobooks. I don't know if this is considered cheating, but it is so easy to listen to them while I'm working. I would still prefer to read, but this is the next best thing (except for the terrible southern accents of the narrator, gah!). Especially since it takes weeks for me to re-check a book after it expires online. Regardless, I am listening to Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter and then after Kisscut, I will be finished with her books. At least until the next one (Fallen) comes out, which I am already excited about! 

However, I have been trying to decide what to start reading next and the conclusion is: Janet Evanovich. Of course I will start with One for the Money. Why? Because they are making it into a movie of course! And you know I can't watch it until I have read the book! It just so happens that I came across this information, unfortunately I already know who plays the main character. Luckily, it's Katherine Heigl. I like her, so I 'm hoping it doesn't affect my opinion of the books. Also there are like 20+ of the books. I'm afraid that if I start, I may never get finished to continue to another author!

A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

I finally finished this one! It was a good read. Slaughter once again hits on a sticky topic when race is thought to be the motivation in a string of killings on a college campus.

When an apparent suicide leads Sarah to a crime scene she brings her very pregnant sister Tessa with her. As she studies the body of Andy Rosen, thinking something is not quiet right about the suicide, Tessa wanders into the woods to pee and is stabbed. Shortly after the girl who found Andy's body is murdered in another posed suicide. All the while Lena, who now works for the campus security, has a run in with Ethan White (Green), a white supremacists control freak, who takes a liking to her and won't leave her alone. He also becomes the prime suspect and Jeffrey wonders if and how Lena is involved.

The action is minimal in this novel, as is the character development. Readers do get the story of how Lena met Ethan, who will continue to haunt her for several more stories. The character attraction between the two eludes me. Despite Lena's past trauma, I cannot understand how she could be with such a person who rapes and beats her. I think this disconnection made this one of my least favorite of Slaughter's books so far. Although it did keep me guessing with a few surprises, even up to the last page.

Character formation and the movies that ruin them.

While waiting for my Slaughter books to become available via e-library, I had to find something else to read. A friend of mine has began reading the Alex Cross series. I must admit I was quiet interested in them myself, until I realized what the first two were... Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Both movies I have seen already, both starring Morgan Freeman. Don't get me wrong Morgan Freeman is cool and everything, but I like to form my own picture of the characters. And the actors never match my picture, usually for the worse (see below). But since I refuse to read the first two, I decided to try and start fresh with Jack and Jill and form my own Alex Cross (I'm thinking either a Denzel or Ryan Reynolds base to work with, but they are never that detailed). Sorry Morgan.


One of my biggest character complaints... Twilight. The only Cullen that resembled mine was Alice. Jasper was no where close. And I love Robert Pattinson, but my Edward was much cuter. However, the casting director got me with Jacob. The Jacob I envisioned was no where near as pretty as Taylor Lautner. Probably because I was trained to hate Jacob in the books because he battled my beautiful Edward. But the movie Jacob almost made me change teams, almost.

Sorry for the rant, but like I said before, I'm that crazy person that sits in the theater and compares the movie with the book. My non-reading friends hate me.

Fractured by Karin Slaughter

I'm getting closer and closer to finishing all of Slaughter's books. It will be a sad day. Luckily she already has a new one (Fallen) in the works. I hope she knows that I will be very sad if Will and Sarah don't get together in it!

But anyways, on to Fractured. This is the second book in the Will Trent series (remember Triptych?). Will is the functional dyslexic who works for the GBI. His boss, the ball busting Amanda Wagner, calls him to a scene at a wealthy Atlanta community. A mother (Abigail Campano) has strangled a man whom she found standing over her daughter's dead body with a knife. It doesn't take long for Trent to realize that the Atlanta PD screwed up. First off, it isn't the Campano's daughter who is lying dead at the top of the stairs. The father Paul, whom Will grew up with in state care, comes home and realizes it is not his daughter. It is then determined that the man at the bottom of the stairs is a younger boy who was also attacked by the killer. But in a mix up the mother murdered him thinking he was the killer. This fits in perfectly with Will assessment that their was another person taken from the home, via the bloody footprint on the stairs. Thus the search for Emma Campano begins. Detective Faith Mitchell is put on the case to work with Trent. With much of nothing to go on, they begin asking questions at both the private school the girl attends and at Georgia Tech where it is determined that the boy attended. Faith does take well to Trent due to his involvement in her mother's forced retirement after she was exposed in a case he was working. Even with this she can't help but respect his ability to read a crime scene. As the case winds on, it is determined that the killer has some sort of reading problem. This keeps Will on edge as he worries about his colleagues realizing he too has this problem. He also misses a few key pieces of evidence due to his lack of reading skills. After digging around and finding out that one of the girls' teachers has a past with young girls, they begin going after him and looking for an accomplice which leads them down a slightly disturbing road.

This is the beginning of Will and Faith's partnership. As with all of Slaughter's books she really brings out a connection with the characters. You see how Faith functions as a single mom as well as getting another look into Will Trent's past. You get a glimpse at the bond that Will and Faith will go on to forge as partners (unless you read out of order like I did, then you already know).  I don't really have any complaints, the story held up great even without a romantic tie that is usually in her books. A good, solid read.

Snailing along

Well, I started reading A Faint Cold Fear, but I'm still getting the hang of my new Nook and let my lending period expire before I finished it. So it is on hold. But I have started and am flying through Fractured now. The holidays have been hectic and I haven't had much time for leisurely reading. Hopefully I am getting back on track now. Review of Fractured coming soon (and by soon I mean in the next week-ish). Also I will be finished with the entire Karin Slaughter series soon, any suggestions who to read next?