Shutter Island by: Dennis Lehane

Review: Absolutely gripping! This was one of the only times that I had seen the movie before reading the book.  After reading this story I was shocked by just how closely the movie did follow the book.  Both were incredibly suspenseful and entertaining. 

    Shutter Island is a fast paced read that you don't want to put down.  The twist in this psychological thriller keeps you guessing right up until the end and even after that.  But everyone's mind is going to interpret it as they will (the movie will leave less to the imagination).  In this case I recommend both the movie and the book, but if you don't like spoilers check out the book first. 

Synopsis:  Teddy Daniels is a detective sent to Shutter Island to search for a missing patient who vanished from the asylum and it would seem, off the island itself.  A storm maroons Daniels and his partner for longer than he originally thought.  He begins to unearth some strange stories from the patients about illegal experiments and other disappearances. Soon Daniels realizes that if he doesn't escape it could be him next.

Rating: 8

The Mortal Instruments Series by: Cassandra Clare

Review: Fairly creative, and quite predictable.  All three books are quick, captivating reads.  Once again I find myself reading a story with a heroine who is an uncoordinated idiot.  And once again she has two guys that are in love with her.  It was discouraging for me when I first started reading it, but I got over it. The character development is limited but enough that the heroine is not nearly so pathetic come the end of the series.

     Clare does create an interesting world involving warlocks, vampires, shadowhunters, and many others.  However, her story line is quite predictable.  At the end of the first book a "twist" is revealed, however it is made quite clear what the real story is.  The main characters are just to blind to see the truth until the end of the third book.  This is also frustrating, because the truth is painfully obvious.

Synopsis: Clary Fray is at a dance club in Manhattan when she witnesses a strange murder.  She suddenly becomes sucked into a world that exists within our own, hidden by 'glamour.'  Her mother has been kidnapped and Clary and her new shadowhunter friends are out to get her back.  Her best friend Simon, who is a mundane, comes along for the ride and in the middle gets turned into a vampire.  Clary finds herself attracted to the shadowhunter Jace and the feelings are mutual.  She also discovers her uncle is a werewolf.  

     The most shocking discovery for Clary was that her mother was a shadowhunter who was married to Valentine, a shadowhunter bent on destroying all the downworlders, and those who sided with them.  Valentine died in an uprising, or did he? The mortal instruments are being stolen and each holds dangerous powers that can be manipulated by the beholder.

Rating: 7

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by: David Wroblewski

Review (spoiler alert): After hearing rave reviews of this book from People magazine and Oprah, I decided that I had to read it. It had a very slow beginning, considering that this story is about what happens to a mute boy and his dogs after his father's sudden death. Well, the father dies like close to the half way point in the book and you are just waiting for it. And waiting and waiting. Once he begins his adventures in the woods and the quest to find his father's killer it almost starts to get interesting but just doesn't.

I powered through this book expecting a fantastic ending, but was sadly disappointed. In fact I was horribly pissed off when both the boy and his uncle, who killed his father, both die.  Blurbs about this book can sound enticing, a mute child, ghosts, fictionally smart dogs, and a mystery.  Don't be pulled in.

Synopsis:  A boy born mute out in the country where he and his parents breed exceptionally smart dogs.  One day his Uncle appears into their live and problems begin to arise.  Under strange circumstances the father dies.  The boy eventually realizes it was his uncle's doing and escapes with some of the dogs he was training into the woods.  Eventually he returns and everything falls apart. 

Rating: 0

The Bone Garden by: Tess Gerritsen

Review:  Completely captivating, Gerritsen's writing pulls the reader right back into the 1830's for a suspenseful mystery.  Gerritsen paints a vivid picture for the imagination with her descriptive writing. And in addition this book was emotionally enthralling as well.

     The plot was well thought out and had me guessing right up until the very end.  I loved the back and forth from the present to the past, although the past was my favorite part.  This book read like a movie, I still have the images in my mind.  

Synopsis:  After going through a divorce, Julia buys a house out in Boston.  While gardening one day she happens to dig up a skull and unearth a mystery.  She begins to research the former occupants of the house, even driving up to Maine to visit with an elderly man connected to the resident.  What she finds is a string of unsolved murders from the 1830's.  Pregnant women dying during childbirth and nurses all  murdered.  

     In the 1830's Rose is an attractive and poor Irish immigrant whose sister just died giving birth to her niece.  Someone is after the baby, and Rose is the only person to have seen the dark shrouded figure who murdered her sisters nurse and possibly her sister.  She takes the baby and goes into hiding.

    Norris is a poor and talent student studying to be a doctor.  He has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes the prime murder suspect. Norris goes in search of the one person who has seen the real killer.  Together they work to find the answers behind these deaths and stop the killer.

Rating: 10

The Host by: Stephenie Meyer

Review:  Not nearly as captivating as her Twilight Saga, most the characters are extremely forgettable.  The writing is mediocre and it matches the storyline.  The storyline was a twist on an old classic, pod people taking over the world.  This plot had potential to be a great story, but its long and drawn out.  Meyer needs to shorten this book by 300 pages and it'd be a much better read. 

Synopsis:  Aliens take over the world, they are silver almost worm like creature implanted into humans brain. The alien host has to deal with the memories from its former human.  One alien, Wanderer, struggles in a constant mental battle with her human host, Melanie.  Eventually, she succumbs to her human and goes in search of her brother and the man she is in love with.  

      Wanderer stumbles on a hidden human colony living in the desert including the two men she was looking for.  The humans debate whether or not to kill her; she may be bringing the other aliens to wipe out their rebellion.  After a time they begin to trust her and incorporate her into their world.  She begins to sympathize with the humans, and doubt the decisions of her species to just take over another.  Wanderer becomes a great ally, she teaches them about her species and even helps them on raids into civilization.

Rating: 7