Fiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer

August 12, 2015

Click to purchase

Patrick has Asperger’s Syndrome, and his mother handles it by drinking. While still very young, his father is killed by a hit and run driver, and Patrick becomes obsessed by death, bringing home dead animals for dissection, bound and determined to learn what happens after death.

He never does, but that doesn’t stop his trying; his disability gets him admission into a college anatomy class. There he works with a team of medical students dissecting Corpse 19; their task is to determine a cause of death, but Patrick soon realizes that this corpse was, in fact, murdered, but no one will listen to him.

In a concurrent story, life in the coma ward at a hospital takes a deadly turn when a doctor is witnessed murdering a patient by another coma patient who cannot talk.

Readers who loved “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon may find satisfaction here on a more gristly and adult level. I did.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer. Atlantic Monthly Press (August 4, 2015). ISBN 978-0802123961. 320p.

Comments Off on RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Florida, Legal | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner

August 11, 2015

Click to purchase

Two reviews…first up: Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

I have loved Jennifer Weiner since her first book, Good in Bed, and she has grown since then, graduating from smart chick-lit to smart women’s fiction, and this new one is a coming of age/contemporary romance at its best – and it’s still smart.

Rachel Blum is a sickly child, born with a heart condition that requires constant monitoring and many surgeries. During one hospitalization, she wanders into the ER, bored and looking for a story. She meets Andy Landis, a biracial young boy with a broken arm and a missing mother. She keeps him company, tells him a story and gives him a stuffed animal. Eventually his mother shows up and Rachel is sent back to her room.

Fast forward to college and Rachel is on a trip to Atlanta for a charitable organization. A good looking young man catches her eye, and yes, it is Andy. Thus begins a life-long love affair that survives different socio-economic classes, geographical separations, breakups, other relationships, a scandal, and so much more.

Weiner makes us wonder, is there such a thing as a one-and-only love? Can you meet your soulmate as a child and love them forever? Can a spoiled Jewish princess find happiness with an Olympic runner from the Philadelphia projects?

These characters are complex and real, and this is a beautiful coming of age story in addition to a sweeping romance. Best of all, the book is totally unputdownable – I couldn’t stop turning the pages and when I finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters, and that is the highest praise I can give. Don’t miss it.

From Becky LeJeune:

Eight-year-old Rachel Blum is recovering from her latest heart surgery when she meets Andy Landis. He’s brought into the emergency room with a broken arm, his mother nowhere to be found, so Rachel decides to keep him company.

As teens they cross paths again, this time on a volunteer trip to Atlanta. Andy remembers the girl who sat with him in the waiting room – Rachel Blum. Bloom like flower… For Rachel it’s love at first sight but for Andy, the trip marks the first time he really sees the differences that stand in their way.

For years, the two connect and part ways, date and break up, and fall in and out of love. Only time will tell, though, whether Rachel and Andy are truly meant for one another or if their fate lies elsewhere.

Weiner’s latest is a sweet but very realistic love story. Rachel and Andy grow and change as the years pass and face a lot of things most people never will – a life threatening heart condition, the pressure of being an Olympic athlete – but they also face a lot of things the average reader can relate to. They learn from one another, they make mistakes, and they piss each other off. Royally. It lends an air of believability and realism that I think most stories of this kind are missing. And it’s exactly this realism that ultimately pulls the reader in: Rachel and Andy could be your best friends, your sister, your brother, or even you… You’ll laugh with them, cry with them, and root for them all the way through the final pages.

WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner. Atria Books (August 11, 2015). ISBN 978-1451617818. 400p.

Kindle

Audiobook

8/15

Comments Off on WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction | Tagged: Book Discussion, Food | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

EVER AFTER by Jude Deveraux

August 10, 2015

Click to purchase

Nantucket Brides Trilogy, Book 3

According to her publisher, Jude Deveraux is the author of more than forty New York Times bestsellers and has more than sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide. And I’ve never read her. This book arrived at my front door and I loved the cover – that is one gorgeous dress – but it is the third book of a trilogy that I haven’t started. I contacted the publicist to see if the books stand alone or need to be read in order, and like most romances, she said go for it, you won’t even notice, and she was right.

This is a contemporary romance set mostly on Nantucket, but the setting is pretty much irrelevant to the story. Hallie Hartley lost her mother very young, and her father remarried, and when he and her stepmother die, Hallie is left to care for Shelly, her much younger stepsister. Shelly is gorgeous and spoiled, and Hallie has her hands full. She has just graduated as a physical therapist when things come to a boiling point.

Hallie inherits a house on Nantucket from a relative she’s never even heard of, and the house is seemingly haunted, which she learns after she gets there. She is offered the opportunity to work with just one patient, Jamie Taggert, who has severely injured his knee in a skiing accident. Hallie figures Jamie to be the ultimate rich playboy but a job is a job and she escapes to the island. There is an immediate attraction between them but Hallie is determined to keep things professional. She slowly realizes that there is more to this rich playboy than he or anyone from his enormous family is letting on.

The ghosts are amusing, not scary, and all the family drama adds complexity to this romance. I can see why Deveraux is so popular. Guess I’m going to have to go back and read the first two books in this trilogy.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

EVER AFTER by Jude Deveraux. Ballantine Books (June 23, 2015). ISBN 978-0345541857. 368p.

Kindle

Audiobook

Comments Off on EVER AFTER by Jude Deveraux | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas

August 9, 2015

Click to purchase

I often get romance suggestions from Barbara, one of my co-workers who is a huge romance reader. She was cleaning out the paperbacks at work when she came across this title and told me to try it. She said it is old but it is one of those books that she has read and re-read, so I gave it a try. And I’m glad I did.

Sara Fielding lives with her elderly parents in a small English town out in the country. She has been hoping that a local young man would propose, but after four years she is beginning to give up. Sara is also a novelist, writing under a pen name, and her most famous book is about a prostitute.

Sara has a curious nature and a soft spot for the downtrodden, and she tries to highlight the social issues of the day in her novels. She has decided to write a new book about the popular gambling hells, and takes herself off to London to do some research. The most famous and opulent gaming hell of all is Craven’s, and the owner is reported to be one of the richest men in England.

Derek Craven came from lowly beginnings and created an empire, not an easy thing to do then. He has never married, preferring to have affairs with married women, ending them the minute he feels they are getting too close. His childhood was brutal at best, so his rough and tumble demeanor is no surprise. What is a surprise is how taken he is with Sara and her innocence.

The innocent yet smart woman saving the damaged man is a standard in the romance genre, and this is an excellent example. I loved this book.

Note – this cover is actually an update, the book was reissued this summer and from what I can tell has been in print continuously since 2000. There are probably thousands of paperback romances that have gone out of print in that time so while that may not sound like a big deal, trust me, for a paperback romance to be in print for that long, especially to be reissued with a new cover 15 years later, is a very big deal. But having read it, I completely understand. If you like historical romance, please add this to your reading list, you will be very glad you did.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas. Avon; Reissue edition (June 30, 2015). ISBN 978-0380773527. 400p.

Kindle

Comments Off on DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff

August 8, 2015

Click to purchase

Eve Rossi is an FBI hostage negotiator with a troubled past. Her last negotiation didn’t end well and then her stepfather, a retired CIA operative, passed away. She is on leave when she received orders to return to work; someone has taken several people hostage at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, a New York City landmark.

The hostage taker has wired explosives to his hostages and to every known entry of the building. The Church is panicking about losing even a pane of stained glass, but Eve is worried about the hostages, especially as they start to die.

She calls in her old team, Vidocq, a group of career criminals with unique skills. Each member of the team is introduced through FBI reports interspersed throughout the novel. News updates also break up the chapters and the tension as the story propels forward. The chief suspect is a cop on suspension, Eve establishes contact with him but his demands are puzzling – all he wants is for the FBI to round up five specific people to bear witness.

Eve’s team is working against a tight timetable to try and find these people and to determine what, if anything, they have in common with the hostage taker. Pintoff skillfully ratchets up the tension and throws more than one curveball into this twisty, exciting read.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff. Bantam (August 18, 2015). ISBN 978-0345531407. 432p.

Comments Off on HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave

August 7, 2015

Click to purchase

Cleave presents us with the most unusual and commanding book to come along in many years. His principal character is an author who has written extremely successful crime novels involving murder and dark retribution by characters in the books. Jerry Grey, writing under the pen name of Henry Cutter, has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the height of his career and Paul Cleave picks him up while confined to a nursing home.

Jerry’s memories flow in and out of reality and he believes that he has committed the crimes depicted in his books. He also believes that he has murdered his own wife with whom he is madly in love. Written in the first person, Cleave takes Jerry and his persona Henry Cutter in and out of his conceptions of which crimes he has committed. Very ably done, the novel has every ingredient of a first class description of a serial killer who seems to remember certain details of his crimes. He also loses his grip on these memories from time to time, and we do not know if he is indeed a mass murderer or innocent.

Medical staff at the nursing home he is confined to keep insisting that the crimes he recalls are memories of the situations and characters in his books and are not real. But Jerry finds more and more evidence in articles found, copies of his diary, and physical discoveries that lead him into thinking that he is a serial killer. The twists and turns in the plot make doubly sure that anyone reading the book will not be able to put it down until completed, and afterward enjoy a sigh of pleasure at finding such a novel to read.

8/15 Paul Lane

TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave. Atria Books (August 4, 2015). ISBN: 978-1476779171. 352p.

Kindle

Audiobook

Comments Off on TRUST NO ONE by Paul Cleave | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES by Denise Grover Swank

August 6, 2015

Click to purchase

Rose Gardner has been the dutiful daughter for twenty-four years despite her abusive momma. Rose is a charming character, incredibly naïve and sweet, but she finally snaps; she tells off her momma and creates a list of 28 wishes on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt that includes things like wear high heels, kiss a man, and get cable TV.

While working at the DMV, she has a vision about herself being murdered; turns out her momma is the one who gets murdered and Rose is the prime suspect. Her mysterious new neighbor, Joe, is incredibly helpful and adds a bit of romance.

There is a lot of humor in this book that borders on but never quite crosses over to silly, and the mystery here almost takes a backseat to Rose and her declaration of independence.

This is the first book in a new series, with the next two following in September and October, respectively. It is light, fluffy Southern fun and should appeal to Mary Kay Andrews and Charlaine Harris fans.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES by Denise Grover Swank. Crooked Lane Books (August 11, 2015). ISBN 978-1629532196. 288p.

Comments Off on TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES by Denise Grover Swank | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Humor, Mystery | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE ETERNAL WORLD by Christopher Farnsworth

August 5, 2015

Click to purchase

The proverbial Fountain of Youth is a legend that has filled the minds of mankind for centuries. The Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon is reputed to have looked for it on his trips to the new World five hundred years ago with no success. Suppose a group of Conquistador’s had actually found it. Would it have brought them great happiness as well as financial rewards, or would it prove to be a curse making living forever a horror because of its unnatural state.

Christopher Farnsworth brings us a novel based on the supposition that it was discovered by a group of Spanish soldiers 500 years ago in what is present day Florida. The soldiers kill the Utiza, i.e., the Indians living around the fountain in order to keep the prize for themselves. The only survivor is the Chieftain’ daughter, a girl named Shako who commences to hunt her people’s killers down through the ages to our times.

The source of the fountain is destroyed in our day and Simon de Olivares, the leader of the conquistadors is forced to try and get the water fabricated in order to continue life. The Spaniards have evolved the means to set up a very successful company and hire David Robinton, a scientific genius, who has been on the verge of a great discovery to come work for them in order to replicate the water needed to continue eternal life.

While David goes to work for the group the battle between the former Spanish soldiers and Shako nears a climax. Shako sets up a meeting with David and the two initiate a love affair while events move forward towards a climax between her and the Spaniards.

The reader must postulate the possibility of an actual fountain of youth in the hands of a group of people, but doing that will allow for a fast and rewarding read An engrossing novel, that while not an all-nighter is entertaining and keeps the reader entertained. Certainly a book that will cause further investigations of Farnsworth present and future novels.

8/15 Paul Lane

THE ETERNAL WORLD by Christopher Farnsworth. William Morrow (August 4, 2015). ISBN: 978-0062282927. 352p.

Kindle

Audiobook

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE INSECT FARM by Stuart Prebble

August 4, 2015

Click to purchase

Roger Maguire is mentally challenged, probably somewhere on the Autism spectrum, and as an adult, his childhood obsession with an ant farm grows into a full-blown insect farm housed in buckets, crates and aquariums filling the backyard garden shed. His younger brother Jonathan also has an obsession, his girlfriend Harriet, a musician.

Jonathan knows he will eventually have to take care of Roger, but when his parents die in a house fire, that responsibility comes much sooner than expected. Jonathan and Harriet marry quickly but she remains at college, and they maintain a difficult, long distance relationship, which grows more complicated when Jonathan realizes that another musician is after his wife.

Things come to a head with Harriet, who ends up dead with Jonathan covered in her blood. He has no memory of the murder, but goes into panic mode, hiding the body and plotting ways to throw blame elsewhere. Roger remains in his own world, and Jonathan continues to care for him as events unfurl around them.

This book starts out super creepy, but quickly morphs into an extremely compelling story about brothers. A compelling read.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE INSECT FARM by Stuart Prebble. Mulholland Books (July 7, 2015). ISBN 978-0316337366. 320p.

Comments Off on THE INSECT FARM by Stuart Prebble | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE DEAD GROUND by Claire McGowan

August 3, 2015

Click to purchase

Paula Maguire is a forensic psychologist working with the Missing Persons Response Unit in Ballyterrin, a small town in Northern Ireland’s border country. She usually investigates old cases, but when a newborn baby goes missing from a hospital, Paula is assigned the case.

To complicate things further, she is pregnant and not sure who the father is. Then a woman is ritualistically, brutally murdered, and the pressure becomes intense. Someone in this tight-knit community is taking very young babies and even cutting them, unborn, from their mothers.

Paula follows this bloody trail with little to go on, while she is agonizing over a deeply personal decision. The history and culture of Northern Ireland are explored, along with themes of religion and fanaticism, but at its soul, this is a tale of motherhood and loss. All of the victims are children and pregnant women, which makes for very dark reading.

This is the second book of the series (after The Lost,) and probably should be read in order. While not for the faint of heart, this compulsively readable thriller should appeal to Meg Gardiner or Val McDermid fans.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE DEAD GROUND by Claire McGowan. Headline Book Publishing; First Edition edition (April 1, 2014). ISBN 978-1472218568. 400p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi