Wish me Dead by Helen Grant

The first book I read by Helen Grant was The Vanishing of Katharina Linden and I loved it. I was so glad I did, because I'd never heard of it before buying it. I only got it because it was featured at my local bookstore as Helen Grant is a local author. Since I live in Belgium and don't read in French or Flemish, I was pretty excited about the whole local author thing. 

Now, having read Wish Me Dead, I can safely put Helen Grant on my favorite authors list. The combination of young adult lit, mystery, creepiness and folklore is right up my alley. And the Bad Münstereifel setting is wonderful.

Wish Me Dead is the story of Steffi and her friends, who come across a local myth about a witch and decide to see if there is any truth in it. Strange things start happening and people start dying - is it possible that just wishing something to happen is making it come true?

Chilling and entertaining, a great read. If you haven't discovered this author yet, you're missing out!

In the Woods by Tana French

Um, I think Tana French owes me an answer to the second mystery? There are two cases in the book and only one of them is solved - I was very very very disappointed when I finished! I know that it makes the book different and all that and that in theory it's a positive that all loose ends aren't tied up like in Hollywood, but I wanted to know who did it!!!

There, I got that out of my system. Kinda. Nah, I still want to know who do it. :-)

For the rest, I thought the book was great. I loved the Irishness of it, first of all, the specific way sentences and phrases were built and the distinctive slang of the Irish. I loved the writing, but only once I got into the story, so perhaps I was just following plot by then. I found the language way over-flowery at the beginning, to such an extent that I had to re-read sentences and was wondering if I shouldn't just put the book down.

What I loved most was the relationship between Rob and Cassie, the two detectives working the main case. I absolutely loved the way  they were with each other and the way their relationship grew. There was such warmth, such closeness in it. The way the author wrote them interviewing people and working in general was spectacular. That private relationship somehow made them think like one person, they knew each other completely and this was indispensable to getting witnesses to talk. I don't like what happened to them in the end but I understand that there wasn't any other place Rob's character could go.

All in all, a very enjoyable page-turner.

Have you read The Likeness? Is it worth reading?

Challenges: 2010 Countdown, Orbis Terrarum

No Time For Goodbye

Reading a thriller like this, a real page-turner, makes me think that I don't read enough of them. Linwood Barclay's story claims to fly off the pages and it does, great reading to get your mind off other serious things.

From the cover: "You wake up. Your house is empty. Your family has disappeared without a trace...". I guessed part of what was going on, but only because the back cover says something about the killer's 'shocking identity', so I started putting the most unlikely candidates in the murderer role and came up with something that made sense.

Anyway, if you like these sorts of books then this is a good one to add to your list. Has anyone read anything else by this author? Worth getting?

Challenges: 2010 Countdown Challenge, Every Month is a Holiday, R.I.P. IV, Suspense and Thriller Challenge

Odd Thomas

I'm back! :-) Well, I'm not that happy about my vacation being over, but I have another mini one coming up in a week and a half so it's not too bad. I hope that I can get my blogging motivation back up again too. I'll have more time come September, as I'll be working part-time due to some pregancy related stuff - nothing serious, just annoying.

So, Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas... this was a July read for me, I've just been away from a computer since then. I can't say that I loved it, although I wanted to. I liked Odd, but I wasn't completely engrossed by the story, which is what I expected. Odd can see dead people and this ability helps him solve certain crimes. It also obviously seriously influences the kind of life he leads, not always for the better. But he accepts his destiny and tries to make the best of it. In this particular book, he uses his gift to stop an evil man from committing his planned crimes. It works of course, but not without consequences.

I found the idea for the story better than the story itself, for some reason. The only time that I was remotely excited about the book is at the end, after a twist in the story line that I totally wasn't expecting. That part is still on my mind.

I'm kind of curious about the next book in the series, but I'm not sure it's worth it. What do you think?

Challenges: 1st in a series, Celebrate the Author, Suspense and Thriller Challenge

Code to Zero

My first book of the year was a Ken Follett - Code to Zero. I picked it up while at my parent's place at the end of 2008, but since I only finished it this year, it counts for 2009.

I think I've read a few of the older Ken Follett books - most of which I enjoyed as great fast-paced thrillers. I then read Pillars of the Earth, which was completely different and fantastic. I still have to get World Without End...

Reading Code to Zero meant back to thrillers for me... I can't remember the last time I read anything in the genre, which is strange, since I remember always liking thrillers. This one was good, action-packed and with a human side, which I like. Basically, a man woke up in a train station and couldn't remember who he was. He started on a quest to find out the truth and found a lot more than he bargained for - including the FBI and an interest and involvement in the space race. He eventually found out the truth about his life, of course.

What I liked most about this book is that as the main character was finding out more and more about the life he led, he often couldn't understand the choices he made. As soon as he was no longer emotionally involved and did not remember any of the baggage, life and the important things in it looked completely different. And looking at things differently helped him make decisions that were better for him and which made him happier.

Oh, and I read it in Polish. :-)

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 999 Challenge, Genre Challenge, Numbers Challenge, Suspense and Thriller Challenge