By: Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before -- and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
The Hunger Games. The first of a series of novels penned by Suzanne Collins. By now, if you don't know about The Hunger Games, you have been stuck under a rock -- or you are just really out of touch with the culture of today. My wife came home from work with a smile and told me that a co-worker had just read The Hunger Games as a part of a program called Read To Succeed. The premise is that the book is passed to you to read, free of charge. The only catch is that after you have read the book, you pass it on to someone else who can continue the chain. My wife read the book, and then she passed it on to me. I have been wanting to read the series because it sounded like a decent premise and the story has taken the Nation by storm.
This review may irritate some people.
I just thought I would give fair warning.
The story follows Katniss Everdeen as she goes from being a single girl, on the outskirts of an impoverished district in the Nation of Panem, who is trying desperately to keep her family fed after her father died in a mining accident, to a player in a game. A very brutal game where there can only be one winner, and everyone else ends up dead. The Hunger Games are little more than a thinly veiled reminder that the Capitol controls everyone, and they can do anything they desire - including watch you die, solely for their entertainment. The Gladiatorial-esque Hunger Games pit one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts against each other in the hopes of having a good show of death, destruction, and carnage. Katniss uses skills that she has picked up, while hunting for food, as a defense and then eventually to attack those who would kill her. She must survive. After all, she promised her little sister that she would return.
As far as the plot itself goes, it's original, and the setting is believable enough, that I find the buy-in to be relatively easy. There were times I found myself eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen to Katniss and the boy tribute, Peeta, from District 12 as they faced challenge after challenge. Collins was able to weave the plot through enough twists and turns that it was almost unpredictable. . . Almost. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were a few times that she found herself written into a corner, so she pulled out a deus ex machina to get the story moving again. Though the story was compelling, it felt like it was written for a specific age group, and that group was not mine. Some of the character emotions and actions felt contrived to me, and that took away from the story. There were a couple of times I actually rolled my eyes - not at the characters actions, but at the way they were written.
The character development was quite well done. She gives you a full background on the major character, and just enough of a background on the minor characters - just enough to make you like them, then, well, the Games must go on, right?
That brings me to the inevitable deaths that occur within the Games themselves. This is, after all, the entire point of the Hunger Games (within the story, not the novel itself). They were not too graphic, but they were enough to get the vivid image of a death taking place. My only complaint is that the final kill was anti-climactic. There was plenty of build-up, but the payoff just wasn't there. It was like blowing a huge bubble and it deflating instead of giving a satisfying "pop!"
I don't believe that The Hunger Games lives up to the hype surrounding it. It is a quality story, and it can teach a few lessons (not the least of which is that you never really know what you are capable of until you are put to the test), but it just doesn't live up to the billing. I haven't read Catching Fire or MockingJay yet, so I obviously don't know how The Hunger Games will fit into the trilogy itself -- however, I am intrigued enough to seek out the other two books and see if Collins can bring the story to the levels that Hollywood will push it to.
Showing posts with label suspense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suspense. Show all posts
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Liquid Lies
By: Lois Lavrisa
A Compelling Story of Lies and Deadly Consequences
One dead body.
One girl with a deadly secret.
Body count rising.
Can she find the killer before she’s the next target?
Determination. Determination can be a positive thing. It can drive people to excel at their chosen vocation, it can create heroes out of ordinary people, and it can even help people develop healthy lifestyles that cause them to shed unwanted pounds. However, there is a bad side to determination. That negative can cause division within families if one sibling is determined to be 'right' regardless of the familial cost. Negative determination can cause companies to go bankrupt due to the CEO refusing to admit a wrong decision. And finally, negative determination can drive a reader to endure a horribly written book because "I'm going to finish it, at all costs!"
Sometimes it's better to just cut bait than force yourself to be subjected to bad writing. Do yourself a favor, don't read Liquid Lies by Lois Lavrisa. It's that bad.
Liquid Lies follows the story of one Cecelia Coe (CiCi for short) as she muddles through her life on virtual autopilot - haunted by the ghosts of a bad decision. Without warning, her past catches up to her and she is forced to make a split second decision. The consequences of her choice have unexpected repercussions and she unwittingly finds herself caught in a web of lies that began four years prior. Can she catch a killer before it's too late?
There, you're welcome. That was infinitely more interesting and well written than the entirety of Liquid Lies. Lavrisa has successfully defined the word "contrived", but it took her about a hundred thousands words to do it. The book starts out intriguing and the first few sentences gave me hope that there might be something good once I got past the terrible morass of the rest of chapter one, but that respite never came.
The story itself is interesting: a girl and her best friend, out on the best friend's 18th birthday, find themselves in a bad situation. In the process of defending themselves from assault, a death takes place, and that changes their lives. The best friend moves to Europe, and CiCi tries to get on with her life while keeping the secret. Fast forward four years and everything comes crashing down when the best friend comes back to town, and with her comes a flood of unwanted memories and a blackmailer demanding money. This was the point that I figured out what was going to happen and who it was that made it happen - and that was in chapter three.
The dialogue was forced, the plot was pushed, and Lavrisa teetered on the edge of a deus ex machina to finish the tale. I cannot count how many times I exclaimed, out loud (resulting in quizzical looks from my co-workers), "oh, come on!" How can one not find themselves incredulous when they are forced to read lines such as:
"I sucked at finding justice for {character name}. If {suspect name} was telling the truth, then I had to find another suspect." (Ya' think?
"I felt so low that I could walk under a pregnant ant." (That's pretty low.)
"I heard a slap or clap. Maybe, like all guys, they probably high fived each other." (I loved this one because, well, stereotypes are always a good thing, right?)
"My reasoning had some big leaps of faith and I stretched some logic and facts. But somehow I knew I was onto something big." (I'm sure that if things happen in the exactly perfect way, I can figure this whole thing out.)
""Listen, I don't want you to worry. I've got the mayor on my side. No one is going to kill anyone, anymore. Got that?""(Got it! I think. . .)
""They'll hurt anyone who gets in their way. It's like they're obsessed. People don't mean anything to them. Its like people are dispensable pawns on their way to get obtain power." (This one obviously eluded the editor. Perhaps this part came at a bathroom break when they had their Kindle read it to them.)
And now for my favorite one:
"The mayor must be under tremendous pressure and might not be thinking clearly at this point. He is so not going to be governor." (This so doesn't need any explanation or, like, anything attached to it. It so speaks for, like, itself.)
The spelling and grammar errors were rampant throughout Liquid Lies. It was like the editor fell asleep, and forgot where they left off. More than one time, I had to check and double check that my e-reader wasn't missing something. Thoughts were incomplete and sentences simply didn't make sense.
All in all, I can't believe I actually made it through. It's something I will try not to ever do again. I've had such good luck with free books from Amazon, I guess it was only a matter of time before I found a dud or two. I think part of the problem was that I had just finished a really good book and when I started the next one, it was really bad. So bad, in fact, that I stopped after chapter three. I didn't want this one to be another book I started and didn't finish, so I trudged ahead, ignoring my instincts. Next time, I will listen to my gut and run. . . Screaming.
A Compelling Story of Lies and Deadly Consequences
One dead body.
One girl with a deadly secret.
Body count rising.
Can she find the killer before she’s the next target?
Determination. Determination can be a positive thing. It can drive people to excel at their chosen vocation, it can create heroes out of ordinary people, and it can even help people develop healthy lifestyles that cause them to shed unwanted pounds. However, there is a bad side to determination. That negative can cause division within families if one sibling is determined to be 'right' regardless of the familial cost. Negative determination can cause companies to go bankrupt due to the CEO refusing to admit a wrong decision. And finally, negative determination can drive a reader to endure a horribly written book because "I'm going to finish it, at all costs!"
Sometimes it's better to just cut bait than force yourself to be subjected to bad writing. Do yourself a favor, don't read Liquid Lies by Lois Lavrisa. It's that bad.
Liquid Lies follows the story of one Cecelia Coe (CiCi for short) as she muddles through her life on virtual autopilot - haunted by the ghosts of a bad decision. Without warning, her past catches up to her and she is forced to make a split second decision. The consequences of her choice have unexpected repercussions and she unwittingly finds herself caught in a web of lies that began four years prior. Can she catch a killer before it's too late?
There, you're welcome. That was infinitely more interesting and well written than the entirety of Liquid Lies. Lavrisa has successfully defined the word "contrived", but it took her about a hundred thousands words to do it. The book starts out intriguing and the first few sentences gave me hope that there might be something good once I got past the terrible morass of the rest of chapter one, but that respite never came.
The story itself is interesting: a girl and her best friend, out on the best friend's 18th birthday, find themselves in a bad situation. In the process of defending themselves from assault, a death takes place, and that changes their lives. The best friend moves to Europe, and CiCi tries to get on with her life while keeping the secret. Fast forward four years and everything comes crashing down when the best friend comes back to town, and with her comes a flood of unwanted memories and a blackmailer demanding money. This was the point that I figured out what was going to happen and who it was that made it happen - and that was in chapter three.
The dialogue was forced, the plot was pushed, and Lavrisa teetered on the edge of a deus ex machina to finish the tale. I cannot count how many times I exclaimed, out loud (resulting in quizzical looks from my co-workers), "oh, come on!" How can one not find themselves incredulous when they are forced to read lines such as:
"I sucked at finding justice for {character name}. If {suspect name} was telling the truth, then I had to find another suspect." (Ya' think?
"I felt so low that I could walk under a pregnant ant." (That's pretty low.)
"I heard a slap or clap. Maybe, like all guys, they probably high fived each other." (I loved this one because, well, stereotypes are always a good thing, right?)
"My reasoning had some big leaps of faith and I stretched some logic and facts. But somehow I knew I was onto something big." (I'm sure that if things happen in the exactly perfect way, I can figure this whole thing out.)
""Listen, I don't want you to worry. I've got the mayor on my side. No one is going to kill anyone, anymore. Got that?""(Got it! I think. . .)
""They'll hurt anyone who gets in their way. It's like they're obsessed. People don't mean anything to them. Its like people are dispensable pawns on their way to get obtain power." (This one obviously eluded the editor. Perhaps this part came at a bathroom break when they had their Kindle read it to them.)
And now for my favorite one:
"The mayor must be under tremendous pressure and might not be thinking clearly at this point. He is so not going to be governor." (This so doesn't need any explanation or, like, anything attached to it. It so speaks for, like, itself.)
The spelling and grammar errors were rampant throughout Liquid Lies. It was like the editor fell asleep, and forgot where they left off. More than one time, I had to check and double check that my e-reader wasn't missing something. Thoughts were incomplete and sentences simply didn't make sense.
All in all, I can't believe I actually made it through. It's something I will try not to ever do again. I've had such good luck with free books from Amazon, I guess it was only a matter of time before I found a dud or two. I think part of the problem was that I had just finished a really good book and when I started the next one, it was really bad. So bad, in fact, that I stopped after chapter three. I didn't want this one to be another book I started and didn't finish, so I trudged ahead, ignoring my instincts. Next time, I will listen to my gut and run. . . Screaming.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Voynich Cipher
By: Russell Blake
When a sacred relic is stolen from its subterranean guarded vault, Dr. Steven Cross, amateur cryptographer, becomes embroiled in a deadly quest to decipher one of history's most enigmatic documents - a 15th century parchment written entirely in unbreakable code; The Voynich Manuscript. Stalked by secret societies, and aided by the daughter of a murdered colleague, a trail of riddles catapults Cross from England to Italy to the Middle East, where a Byzantine web of ancient secrets leads him to a revelation so profound it will change the world order.
Another one of my Amazon Kindle free finds, The Voynich Cipher looked like a decent read and, apparently, I caught it at a perfect time as it's now around $3 for the Kindle version. It pays to check Amazon often and to sort by price.
Now that the commercial is out of the way, this book was a really good read. Lately, I have been finding myself reading through archaeological novels, and The Voynich Cipher just so happens to be another of that genre - though written from a decidedly different perspective. I normally read books by Christian authors, but I have lately been grabbing anything I can from anywhere I can, just so that I can have a diversion at work. This book fit the bill perfectly. Almost too perfectly. I found that I didn't want to put it down. I actually downloaded Kindle for PC onto my laptop so that I could continue reading this book without having to drain my phone battery.
The Voynich Cipher follows the story of Dr. Steven Cross as he becomes entangled in a mystery, wrapped in danger, and delivered by a stunning beauty. Cross finds himself willingly giving up his business and his life to go off in search of an unknown treasure that can only be found after breaking a code that is unbreakable. Along the way, the fires of romantic passion are rekindled and he must decide if the object of his desire is who she claims to be.
As an aside, this book is the second in a series of books involving Dr. Steven Cross - however, I wasn't aware of that until well after reading The Voynich Cipher. You don't have to read the first one to understand this one, but I am going to be looking for the first one because I really like this character.
Blake really roped me in with this story. The plot is believable, the characters connect with you, and the first few chapters pique your curiosity like no other. I dove in and from the moment I finished the first chapter, I knew I was going to enjoy the ride.
That's not to say that it didn't have it's moments of predictability. I did see some of the twists a chapter or two ahead of time, but it wasn't enough to ruin the story, believability, or enjoyment of the book itself. There was also some sex scenes and references that I could have done without, but again, it didn't ruin anything for me.
Blake is no amateur, and it shows with his writing style. The Voynich Cipher is well paced and everything from the dialogue to the events that play out have a natural feel. Nothing seems forced. The only real drawback for me was that, though the history seems to be well researched, it seems that Blake should have dug a little deeper into the Bible for information on one character. If Mr. Blake ever reads this, Jesus didn't have any bones broken or crushed.
All in all, I found The Voynich Cipher to be an excellent read. I would highly recommend this book to just about anyone.
When a sacred relic is stolen from its subterranean guarded vault, Dr. Steven Cross, amateur cryptographer, becomes embroiled in a deadly quest to decipher one of history's most enigmatic documents - a 15th century parchment written entirely in unbreakable code; The Voynich Manuscript. Stalked by secret societies, and aided by the daughter of a murdered colleague, a trail of riddles catapults Cross from England to Italy to the Middle East, where a Byzantine web of ancient secrets leads him to a revelation so profound it will change the world order.
Another one of my Amazon Kindle free finds, The Voynich Cipher looked like a decent read and, apparently, I caught it at a perfect time as it's now around $3 for the Kindle version. It pays to check Amazon often and to sort by price.
Now that the commercial is out of the way, this book was a really good read. Lately, I have been finding myself reading through archaeological novels, and The Voynich Cipher just so happens to be another of that genre - though written from a decidedly different perspective. I normally read books by Christian authors, but I have lately been grabbing anything I can from anywhere I can, just so that I can have a diversion at work. This book fit the bill perfectly. Almost too perfectly. I found that I didn't want to put it down. I actually downloaded Kindle for PC onto my laptop so that I could continue reading this book without having to drain my phone battery.
The Voynich Cipher follows the story of Dr. Steven Cross as he becomes entangled in a mystery, wrapped in danger, and delivered by a stunning beauty. Cross finds himself willingly giving up his business and his life to go off in search of an unknown treasure that can only be found after breaking a code that is unbreakable. Along the way, the fires of romantic passion are rekindled and he must decide if the object of his desire is who she claims to be.
As an aside, this book is the second in a series of books involving Dr. Steven Cross - however, I wasn't aware of that until well after reading The Voynich Cipher. You don't have to read the first one to understand this one, but I am going to be looking for the first one because I really like this character.
Blake really roped me in with this story. The plot is believable, the characters connect with you, and the first few chapters pique your curiosity like no other. I dove in and from the moment I finished the first chapter, I knew I was going to enjoy the ride.
That's not to say that it didn't have it's moments of predictability. I did see some of the twists a chapter or two ahead of time, but it wasn't enough to ruin the story, believability, or enjoyment of the book itself. There was also some sex scenes and references that I could have done without, but again, it didn't ruin anything for me.
Blake is no amateur, and it shows with his writing style. The Voynich Cipher is well paced and everything from the dialogue to the events that play out have a natural feel. Nothing seems forced. The only real drawback for me was that, though the history seems to be well researched, it seems that Blake should have dug a little deeper into the Bible for information on one character. If Mr. Blake ever reads this, Jesus didn't have any bones broken or crushed.
All in all, I found The Voynich Cipher to be an excellent read. I would highly recommend this book to just about anyone.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Invisible (Ivy Malone Mystery Series #1)
By: Lorena McCourtney
Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it's only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.
Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?
I knew nothing about this book coming into it. I saw it for free via Amazon Kindle and it was a mystery. Kindle, Free, Mystery - they had me at "free". I had just come off of another free book (the previous entry in this review blog) that really surprised me with it's quality, and the pleasant surprise carried over to Invisible. The premise of the book is that a Little Old Lady (LOL) becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving an innocent young woman. After the death of her best friend and the desecration of a local cemetery, Ivy is suddenly at a loss of purpose with her life. Her recent discovery that she can become invisible opens the doors to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she CAN still affect change and bring justice to an increasingly broken world. She decides to stake out the cemetery in hopes of catching the vandals, but is instead privy to the disposal of a large object over the side of a bridge and into the river. Soon after, she realizes that she hasn't seen her best friend's renter in a while. The search for Kendra Alexander reveals a deeper mystery. One that goes beyond a few toppled headstones. Ivy finds herself being wooed and hunted all at the same time.
Invisible is, refreshingly, well written. I know nothing of the author, but she is evidently a Christian as there are plenty of references -scriptural and otherwise - to Jesus and the Bible. Ivy draws on her faith to get her through the situations she finds herself in. The pacing is well done, the characters well thought out, and the story itself is quite unique - yet at the same time, standard. The idea of a geriatric crime solver is prime-time tv fodder (Diagnosis Murder, anyone?), but McCourtney breathes a new life into it.
However, I must caution the reader: if you get this book, you will eventually find yourself drawn to the Ivy Malone series. Now I have to get the rest of the books!
Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it's only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.
Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can't resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities' attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor's match-making schemes can't slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?
I knew nothing about this book coming into it. I saw it for free via Amazon Kindle and it was a mystery. Kindle, Free, Mystery - they had me at "free". I had just come off of another free book (the previous entry in this review blog) that really surprised me with it's quality, and the pleasant surprise carried over to Invisible. The premise of the book is that a Little Old Lady (LOL) becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving an innocent young woman. After the death of her best friend and the desecration of a local cemetery, Ivy is suddenly at a loss of purpose with her life. Her recent discovery that she can become invisible opens the doors to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she CAN still affect change and bring justice to an increasingly broken world. She decides to stake out the cemetery in hopes of catching the vandals, but is instead privy to the disposal of a large object over the side of a bridge and into the river. Soon after, she realizes that she hasn't seen her best friend's renter in a while. The search for Kendra Alexander reveals a deeper mystery. One that goes beyond a few toppled headstones. Ivy finds herself being wooed and hunted all at the same time.
Invisible is, refreshingly, well written. I know nothing of the author, but she is evidently a Christian as there are plenty of references -scriptural and otherwise - to Jesus and the Bible. Ivy draws on her faith to get her through the situations she finds herself in. The pacing is well done, the characters well thought out, and the story itself is quite unique - yet at the same time, standard. The idea of a geriatric crime solver is prime-time tv fodder (Diagnosis Murder, anyone?), but McCourtney breathes a new life into it.
However, I must caution the reader: if you get this book, you will eventually find yourself drawn to the Ivy Malone series. Now I have to get the rest of the books!
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