*Review* Impostor – Susanne Winnacker

 Imposter

Susanne Winnacker

320 pages

Read 2-23-14

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

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 Tessa is a Variant with extraordinary abilities. She could be a hero, but all she wants to do is fall in love …

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. There she trains with other Variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. Tessa hates everything about being an impostor – the stress, the danger, the deceit – but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

This book sounded very interesting, so when I saw it on Netgalley, I requested it and was lucky enough to get approved.  I also found this alternate cover, which I like even more than the original cover.  I liked the other cover a lot, don’t get me wrong, but this one is smoother and better fitting for the story than the original.

Tessa has a really cool power, she can morph into anybody she has touched, and she is given this really dangerous mission.  She has a lot of internal conflict over her mission, which is very understandable since she has to deceive so many people by posing as one of their loved ones.  Tessa was on okay character, but she could have been better.  I felt at some points she was a bit too obsessed with crushing at the wrong times, but did like Alec when he was being sweet to her and could understand why she would crush on him.  I also liked seeing her struggle with being part of a “normal” family.

As for the killer and such, it wasn’t really hard to figure stuff out and it didn’t surprise me at all who it was, but the ending scenes with the killer did get a bit exciting.  There were a couple small things that were left unanswered, so I hope that there will be some explanation in the next book.  Also, there was a character in this story that I hope had a bigger part in the next story since he was a bit pointless in this one.  The writing was pretty good, but there were some things that became a bit repetitive, not a lot though.

All in all I enjoyed the story and will be looking forward to the next book.

Interesting, good writing, good story, though no surprises in the end.

 

*Review* Psycho Inside Me – Bonnie R. Paulson

 Psycho Inside Me

Bonnie R. Paulson

Read 1-17-14

Format: E-book

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 I killed my first victim at thirteen years old – my age, not his. He was going to rape me, him and a couple of his friends. And so, I killed him. And then… I killed again. And again. 
At seventeen, I’m killing four to six times a year – maybe more. Don’t stress out. I only go after the pedophiles and rapists. There are more out there than I could cover in a lifetime. 
Saying I did this on my own would be selfish. Enforcing justice holds a glory all its own. But now, my lifelong friend and backup, Deegan, has been arrested. I have to decide if I want to give myself up and take his place or leave him with all the damning evidence. I don’t want to stop killing. But if I let him take the fall, I can’t kill anymore. And I need to keep doing that. 
But the worst part of it all? I love him.

Well….what can I say here.  The synopsis sounds so interesting and promising, I mean – first victim at 13?  Definitely an attention grabber, but…sad to say that I was not a fan of this book.  For a few different reasons.  I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this book, I truly did, but it just didn’t happen for me.  And guys…I’m not trying to be mean, I’m really not, but I don’t understand how this story has gotten so many 4 and 5 star ratings because there is just SO MUCH missing here.  It may be because of my background working with law enforcement, but….there were a bunch of gaps, and wait…but what about this? and how did this not happen??  Etc.

So, I will start with Cassie.  I understand why she feels the need to do this (I see nasty people like her victims on a regular basis, so yeah, I get why she would want to), and she was a mostly strong female main character.  I say mostly because who wouldn’t panic when they are about to murder someone?  Deegan is  sweet person to Cassie when they do their thing and go hunting, but I don’t like how he treats her the other times.

The writing style wasn’t bad, but it could use some improvement.  Like in the description department.  I love descriptions, but they just weren’t there for me.  I didn’t “see” what was going on the way I should have, especially for a story that could be incredibly gory with the murders.  There were also lots of jumps and stuff skipped and a huge one that had me yelling at my Nook.  For those who want to know below I am going to make a list of venting spoilers as to why I was not a fan of this story.

SPOILERS!!!!!

Ok, so here is my rant on why this book just wasn’t for me.

First, I never saw anything about any investigations.  NONE.  Not even when she killed the pervy cop.  Never even questioned.  No mention of any kind of DNA or hair evidence in vehicles, even when the pervy cop bit her nipple and had blood in his mouth.  There is no way that any police force wouldn’t scour the car and not find some kind of evidence of her there.

Next, there are big scenes missing I would have liked to have read.  Like her mom dying.  She was there, next day she was in an accident and gone.  That’s it.  Another missing scene that bothered me – you see how it says Deegan was arrested?  Yeah, you never see that either.  End of chapter they are sleeping together first time, beginning of next chapter is like 6 months later and she is visiting him in jail.  O.O  What??

And my final major complaint about this story…she killed 8 people while she was between 13 and 17, which yeah, is a minor, but they only gave her 4 years.  She calmly confessed to every single one of them, making it seem as if Deegan was not around and she did it herself and she got 4 years.  FOR KILLING 8 PEOPLE!  There was just so much that didn’t sit well or feel very realistic for me.

END SPOILER!!!!

So yeah, that’s my rant.  I’m not trying to be mean or nasty in any way, but this book just really bothered me with it’s holes.  I wanted to DNF, but I am still having a problem bringing myself to actually doing that.

Had a lot of potential, not enough description, missing a lot, wasn’t realistic for me.

*Review* The Ruining – Anna Collomore

 The Ruining

Anna Collomore

313 pages

ISBN: 9781595144706

Read 8-22-13

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

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Annie Phillips is thrilled to leave her past behind and begin a shiny new life on Belvedere Island, as a nanny for the picture-perfect Cohen family. In no time at all, she falls in love with the Cohens, especially with Libby, the beautiful young matriarch of the family. Life is better than she ever imagined. She even finds romance with the boy next door. 
All too soon cracks appear in Annie’s seemingly perfect world. She’s blamed for mistakes she doesn’t remember making. Her bedroom door comes unhinged, and she feels like she’s always being watched. Libby, who once felt like a big sister, is suddenly cold and unforgiving. As she struggles to keep up with the demands of her new life, Annie’s fear gives way to frightening hallucinations. Is she tumbling into madness, or is something sinister at play? 
“The Ruining “is a complex ride through first love, chilling manipulation, and the terrifying depths of insanity.

Sadly, this was another book that didn’t live up to my expectations.  I was hoping for something nice and creepy and a journey into madness and such, but really, it was slow and boring.  I even debating not finishing it, but being the person that I am, I can’t just not finish a book, so I trudged on through, hoping it would get better, but it didn’t.  I was not surprised by the ending, I already knew what happened when I reached a certain scene not even halfway through the book.  The first half was the hardest to read because it was so slow, nothing really happened yet, but the last third is where everything was and by that time, I was so ready for the book to just be over.

Annie was definitely not my favorite character.  She seemed kind of weak and she was constantly making bad decisions.  She would do something and I would just roll my eyes and and think to myself how much trouble she was about to get into, which she always did.  You would think a person would learn, but no, she kept making choices that would anger her employers.  Plus, she would act like such a kid at some points.  I don’t know why she liked Libby so much.  She was nice at first, but it didn’t take long before Libby  was acting completely snobby and treating Annie badly, but she still loved Libby.  Owen was pretty nice and I liked him, but I’m not sure what he saw in Annie since they fought most of the time, she even got mad at him the first time they hung out!

As for the psychological part, I wasn’t creeped out or feeling like I was going crazy.  I felt like there was an on-off switch for her mental state that was flipped it was so abrupt.  At one point, she questioned whether everything was real, at another (especially if Owen was around) everything was clear.  It just wasn’t quite right for me.  She seemed weak and did what everybody told her, even when she didn’t want to or thought it wasn’t right, she did it anyway and never stood up for herself.

As for the other twist in the book, it just seemed really unrealistic.  Here is my SPOILER complaint: Libby killed Walker’s first wife by cutting the break lines of the car and since she made it look like a suicide and like she saved the child from the car, they put an investigation on hold for years until young Owen came along and dug up stuff in a matter of weeks that the police force couldn’t see was obvious (including cut break lines on the car).  Really? No, it just doesn’t seem realistic.  So that is my gripe.  This book just wasn’t for me on many levels.  I am glad some people enjoyed it, but unfortunately, I wasn’t among those.

Unrealistic, didn’t like the characters, wasn’t creepy, not at all for me.

 

*Review* Dangerous Girls – Abigail Haas

 Dangerous Girls

Abigail Haas

400 pages

ISBN: 9781442486591

Read 8-18-13

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

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Paradise quickly gets gruesome in this thrilling page-turner with a plot that’s ripped from the headlines and a twist that defies the imagination.

It’s Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives.

But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. As Anna sets out to find her friend’s killer, she discovers harsh revelations about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

Awaiting the judge’s decree, it becomes clear to Anna that everyone around her thinks she is not only guilty, but also dangerous. And when the whole story comes out, reality is more shocking than anyone ever imagined…

This was quite an exciting read and it was very fast paced. However, my mind was not blown like I hoped.  I saw a few reviews where people were really shocked by the ending, but I was not shocked and I think that some of the possibilities I was thinking up were so much more out there than the actual ending that when I finally finished it, I was like “oh, okay, yeah sounds right.”

The beginning was just a little confusing at first since there were so many people in there group, but eventually you get everybody straight. All the characters were really well written and seemed like real people and I think that the media was portrayed well with how things can get skewed and misinterpreted.  Several times I found myself wanting to strangle the reporters.

Wouldn’t we all look guilty if someone searched hard enough?  pg. 255

Elise was somebody I liked sometimes and didn’t like other times.  She was a good friend to Anna, but as a person she wasn’t the best and she slept around a lot, but she was there for Anna when nobody else was. I liked Tate at first, but it didn’t last too long.

The storyline bounces around a lot from the vacation to the trial to the time she is waiting behind bars and so on, so if you get confused by back and forth changes be warned. I think the bouncing around added to the drama and the frenzy of what was happening.  The author even threw in TV transcripts and text messaging, very different.  I also found myself getting quite anxious when it came time for the verdict.  It was a very enjoyable read and it kept me turning the pages, so it was quite interesting, just not shocking.  I recommend it to people who like a good murder mystery and a twist ending.

Fast paced, full of tension, good  characters, not as shocking as I hoped.

*Review* I Hunt Killers – Barry Lyga

 I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1)

Barry Lyga

361 pages

ISBN: 9780316125840

Read 7-9-13

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library

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What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

This summary really had me interested in this book.  Told from the POV of a serial killer’s son?  Sign me up.  I wasn’t sure what I expected from this book, but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, and that’s a good thing, because it was better!  It was quite detailed when it came to crime scenes and it was pretty exciting.

Jazz is not your average high school guy.  His father is one of the most notorious serial killers, and he has to live with this and be reminded of it every day.  Though his father has been in prison for the past four years, he is still plagued by memories of him and how he was teaching Jazz everything there is to know about how to get away with killing.  Jazz is a strong character and I love his best friend Howie, who is quite the wise guy and provides a lot of humor.  Connie is likable and loyal to Jazz, though I didn’t feel quite as connected to her as the other two.

The killer is not obvious, which I really liked, but my only gripe is SPOILER: we still don’t know exactly who the person is.  We found out who he was posing as, but not who the person actually is.  But, it is supposed to be this way, so hopefully I will find out more in the next book.  The reader was also really good.  I liked his voice and how he played Howie was my favorite.  If you are wanting a good murder mystery/thriller, then I definitely give this book a chance.  It was a great read and kept my earbuds glued to my ears.

Great characters, good reader, interesting story, looking forward to the next book.

*Review* Brother / Sister – Sean Olin

 

Brother/Sister

Sean Olin

272 Pages

ISBN: 9781595143860

Read 8-18-11

     Brother/Sister is a very unusual book told from the switching perspective of Will and Asheley who are siblings.  They have something go quite wrong in their life and everything becomes a huge mess.  The novel is told from the siblings’ points of view as they tell their sides of the story.  The writing style is used in a way that makes it sound like the siblings are actually speaking, as if they are talking during an interrogation and you hear only their sides. 
     The book keeps you continuously reading to find out what is going to happen next, but all in all, it was not as exciting as I was hoping it was going to be.  There was a slight twist at the end, but I figured the twist was going to happen, and there wasn’t much action.  I thought the author did a good job at portraying the emotions of the characters, including the buildup of anxiety over what happened and how they were going to deal with it.
     The story itself is a very warped tale and situation, but it just didn’t fully suck me in.  It was a pretty quick read, though and I liked the way the book ended.  People who like mild thrillers may enjoy this book (I say mild because I wasn’t very nervous through it).

Quick read, not much action, twisted, good emotional dynamics.    3.5 stars.