Book Review: Crime of Privilege, by Walter Walker

Crime of Privilege is a mystery/thriller that I enjoyed more for the characters than the actual thrill.

George is screwed. He’s gotten through law school, and has a job as an assistant DA on Cape Cod, but all of this has only been possible because of one night, long ago. George had attended a part at the family home of Senator Gregory and had witnessed some younger members of the family taking advantage of a very drunk girl also attending the party. The repercussions and cover up surrounding this event has changed George’s life.

Little does he know that it isn’t over yet, twelve years later, when a man asks George to get involved in the unsolved mystery of the murder of his daughter.  This father believes the Gregorys have something to do with the murder.

It seems as if George has no control over his own life. He’s been pulled into a vortex and can’t figure out how to get out. As he begins investigating, while getting pressure from his boss, the DA, as well as the family of the girl who was raped 12 years ago, he realizes he is more screwed than he ever thought.

The heart of Crime of Privilege is George’s figuring out how to get himself out of this mess. He’s torn between doing the right thing (and losing everything), and going with the flow (and continuing to enjoy the life he currently leads.) He honestly cannot trust anyone – because it seems everyone is working on some side of this case. I enjoyed watching George’s character go through this turmoil. I really enjoyed his partner, Barbara, too. She was a well-written character that allowed much of George’s growth.

The pacing of Crime of Privilege is good. I read it fairly quickly, and never got bored. As far as “thrilling,” I never really got the thrill. I thought it was pretty obvious who the killer was and the ending, while giving me a sense of justice, kind of fizzled instead of popping. There weren't any huge twists or revelations that surprised me.

I enjoyed the epilogue, and thought it added some closure to George’s plight – which I really wanted while reading Crime of Privilege.

I would recommend Crime of Privilege to those who like a light thriller that is a lot about the characters and not so much about surprising twists and turns.

Published by Random House, June 18, 2013
ARC obtained from LibraryThing Early Reviewers
413 pages

Rating: 3.5

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Stacking the Shelves - Vacation Edition

I'm travelling so not near my mailbox, but I did get some ebooks for review.

For Review:

Phoenix, by Elizabeth Richards, from NetGalley

I actually made a mistake requesting this one, since I haven't read the first. But I'll get on that!

Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas, from NetGalley

Can't wait to read this one!

Independent Study, by Joelle Charbonneau, from Edelweiss

Another one I'm really looking forward to!

That's it for me this week. How about you? Leave me your link! Be sure to stop by Team Tynga's Reviews to check out all the participating blogs.

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Book Review: Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily is a retelling of Peter Pan from the  perspective of Tinkerbell. But, it's really the story of Tiger Lily, since Tinkerbell follows her around and tells the story of Tiger Lily as she perceives it.

I don't think I've ever read the "real" Peter Pan. I've only been exposed to the Walt Disney version, so I can't speak to that aspect of Tiger Lily. But I found Tiger Lily to be a touching story and it really broke my heart.

In this version of Neverland, Tiger Lily is a member of the Sky Eater tribe, although she isn't really accepted because she is different.. They are very afraid of the Lost Boys, but they have a truce with the pirates. Well, Tiger Lily ends up meeting Peter Pan and all the Lost Boys in her wanderings. She keeps her relationship with them a secret, because she is betrothed to the dreaded Giant. She ends up in a relationship with Peter Pan, but things cannot turn out well.

And they don't. I really liked how Anderson developed the relationship between Tiger Lily and Peter. It is very slow and awkward, as you would expect. The secondary characters were also well developed and added richness to the setting and plot.

I think making Tink the narrator was an interesting choice, and I liked it. But I also got confused sometimes forgetting that "I" is Tink, not Tiger Lily -- since that's whose story we are hearing.

The ending, as I said, is heartbreaking, but also happy. Some unexpected things happened -- but maybe they were only unexpected because I've never read the original.

Tiger Lily easily kept my interest and I would recommend it to Pan fans, or those who enjoy fairy tale retellings. I don't think it's a story that had a huge impact on me or one that I will always remember, but I enjoyed the reading experience and will not hesitate to recommend it to the appropriate teen readers.

Published by HarperTeen, 2012
eBook, purchased
304 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

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Audio Book Review: Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box is a macabre, compelling book that gave me shivers at times. I've never read anything by Joe Hill, and I will be adding him to my list of authors to keep track of.

Jude Coyne, who once was a famous rock star, still enjoys collecting bits of supernatural paraphernalia.  When he gets the opportunity to purchase a ghost, he has no idea what he has gotten himself into. The ghost comes in the form of a black suit mailed to Jude in a heart-shaped box.

Thus begins a terrorizing journey for Jude and his girlfriend Mary Ann (who he calls "Georgia" since that's where she is from.) Heart-Shaped Box is a classic, scary ghost story that brings heart-pounding terror at times, and also made me a bit sick during some of the violent scenes. Jude and Georgia finally decide to leave Jude's home to get away from the ghost, but as the ghost (named Craddock) tells him, he'll never get away. Craddock intends to kill Jude, and everyone who Jude tries to get help from. But why? Why is this ghost so evil? Well, there's more to the story and I'll let you read Heart-Shaped Box to figure that out.  Turns out this wasn't a random on-line  purchase. This transaction was carefully planned by some really evil people.

I don't want to give too many specifics except to say this ghost is tenacious. Jude has two dogs that bring an interesting element to the story. Seems the dogs somehow protect Jude from the ghost. Jude and Georgia get more and more beat up as the story goes on. You really don't know what's going to happen or how this all can end -- and that's a big part of the appeal.

Speaking of the ending, I was worried that things would be left hanging. That we really wouldn't know what happened or the resolution would be incomplete. I can happily say that this isn't the case. I was very satisfied when I finished Heart-Shaped Box.

Most of the time, audio books seem to drag a bit because I only listen to a little at a time. So I hesitate to talk about pacing. I thought it was slow, but I was easily swept back into the story every time I turned it on, so I think it's just the format.

If you like your ghost stories scary, relentless, and a bit violent, Heart-Shaped Box is highly recommended. It's been a long time since I felt those shivers up the back of my neck!

The narrator of the audio is Stephen Lang, and he has this perfect, low, sinister voice. He also does a southern accent very well. I would recommend the audio book format, if you are interested.

Published by William Morrow, 2007. HarperAudio.
Copy obtained from the library
384  pages

Rating: 4/5

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Book Review: Dance of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin

Dance of the Red Death wasn't able to engage me as much as Masque of the Red Death. I'm not sure why, but I'd like to talk about it with you.

The world is the same, and they are once again in danger -- pretty much all of the time. But I didn't feel much tension. Part of the problem is that I didn't remember enough about Masque. I was unable to relate because I couldn't pick up on the feeling I had at the end of Masque. I remembered what happened, but not the emotions to go with it.

Not much happened in Dance of the Red Death until the end. It seems they are just floundering -- looking for people, things, cures, trying to keep each other safe--but they really don't make any progress towards these goals until the end, when it all happens at once. And I liked the end, but the rest of the book was flat by comparison.

I really couldn't care less about the romance in Dance of the Red Death. Once again, I couldn't remember the background of the two men well enough, so I couldn't decide which one to root for. I couldn't get emotional when a character died. I didn't really care about any of these characters for some reason.

After finishing Dance of the Red Death, I think it should have all been one book. I think one, slightly longer book could have covered this whole story quite adequately and with some editing could have been more engaging. A re-read of Masque would have helped with my enjoyment of Dance, but who has time for that. I really think that if a sequel is done well, it can pull you right back in no matter how long it's been since you read the previous book. And, for me, 2013 has been "the year of the sequel" having read so many great ones. Unfortunately, Dance of the Red Death won't be joining that list.

If you've read and enjoyed Masque, then I would still recommend Dance of the Red Death. It's an interesting world, and I do think that part is well done. And, I'm assuming you want to know what happens, so it's still worth your time.

Published by Greenwillow Books, June 11, 2013
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
336 pages

Rating: 3/5

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Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge -- May Update

Another month has come and gone so it's time to see how we're doing on our Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge! You can keep track of my entire year's progress here. My goal for the year is to read 25 books. This month was great, and I'm confident that I'll make my goal. It's funny though, that these books I'm reading aren't the ones on my list. I still have a huge list of books I can read in a day, but I never get to them!

Here's what I read in May:

12. Trapped, by Michael Northrop
13. Towering, by Alex Flinn
14. The Pregnancy Project, by Gabi Rodriguez
15. All I Need, by Susane Colasanti
16. Sky on Fire, by Emmy Laybourne
17. The Testing, by Joelle Charbonneau

How about you? Have you read any books in ONE DAY? Give me some suggestions.

If you would like to join us it's not too late! There's a link to the challenge page on the sidebar.

If you are participating, please leave a link to your post, or just list your books in the comments. Hope you are having fun with these "little gems."

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Stacking The Shelves - Slow is Good

Not much to report this week, but that's OK. I am looking forward to the one book I got, though!

From the Library:

Bloodrose, by Andrea Cremer

Hope you had a great week, and thanks for visiting! Hopefully you can visit some other blogs participating and our hosts over at Team Tynga's Reviews. Enjoy!

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Armchair BEA - Blogging Ethics

Design Credit: Emily of Emily's Reading Room

Today's Armchair BEA Question: Do you have recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is given to whom/where credit is due?  Have you had an experience with plagiarism?  How did you deal with it?  What are the guidelines as bloggers that we must follow?

I don't have much to say on the topic. I don't think I'm popular enough to be plagiarized.  I am careful about pictures that I post -- I don't want to use other's work without permission.

I have used Creative Commons once in a while and I recommend checking it out.

Since I don't have much to add, I'll be interested in reading your stories! Thanks for stopping by.

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Book Review: Room, by Emma Donoghue

Although well-written and well-paced, Room is not a book I enjoyed. Room is not the kind of book I usually read. So, why did I read it? Room is a nominated title on the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award list for 2013-14. There are 22 books on the list, and Room is the last book on the list that I needed to read.

I don't like books about realistic suffering at the hands of a demented human -- especially when the victim is a young person. I'm probably one of the only people in the world who hasn't read A Child Called It. I don't want to. But when it comes to the Abe Lincoln list, I'm stubborn, so I read them all.

Room is about a 5-year-old little boy, Jack, and his Ma who are confined to a room. There'a bed, a toilet, a stove, sink, rug, TV, and table. Jack was born in this room. His mother has been here since she was kidnapped 7 years ago.

So, it's awful. Depressing. Heartbreaking. And, yes, I guess somewhat hopeful, but it takes a long time to get to that point. Ma is ingenious in raising Jack to be healthy and smart. He can read. But he doesn't understand that there is anything outside of Room. When his Ma begins to describe the outside, Jack is very confused.

As I said at the beginning, the book is interesting. Jack is telling the story, so he has a backwards way of talking and describing, but it's easy enough to understand and adds to the realism. I guess it's too real for me.

This is not a book I would have picked up, had I not had a reason. I know what kinds of books I like -- and this isn't it. But, if you like this sort of story, then Room is a great one. I'm not going to give the book a rating, because my discomfort is purely a personal thing and has nothing to do with the quality of the literature.

Published by Little, Brown, & Co., 2010
Copy obtained from the library
321 pages

Rating: N/A

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Armchair BEA - Blog Development

Design Credit: Emily of Emily's Reading Room

Here's the assignment for today's post:  Tell us about things you've done to expand your blogging horizons, and the things you'd like to do but haven't managed (or figured out) yet. Come back here to link up your post, and then go see what other participants have to say. Let's foster our development as bloggers and learn from each other!

This is a real weakness of mine. I didn't start my blog to count followers. It was supposed to be a personal thing. And, my blog grows very slowly. I have over 500 followers, but I've been blogging almost three years. I actually have done LESS in the past year to attract people to my blog.

What do I do? I participate in a couple of memes on a weekly basis. I try to comment a lot (but never enough.) I mostly review books that are current -- either right before or right after they are published. I think my reviews are good. They are fairly short. They don't give away any spoilers -- actually I don't talk too much about the plot except in general terms. I concentrate on what I thought about the book. That's what I'm looking for when I read a review. I don't need six paragraphs on what happened in the book and then a two sentence, "I really liked it." That doesn't help me.

What SHOULD I do? I've wanted to update the design of my blog for a long time. Actually spend some money. I should be more active on Twitter -- but that takes away from my reading time. I should do more giveaways. I should post things besides reviews. Even though on other blogs I follow, I pretty much only read the book reviews, other people seem to like other stuff. Author interviews, book blasts, etc.

Will I do this? I might some day work on my blog design. I might try to have more giveaways. But other than that, probably not. My heart just isn't in the marketing aspect of blogging. I'm all about reading and reviewing. If I don't have many followers it's really OK.  Really.

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