Mac Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hang fire, youth. I've asked the mods to change the title to simply Mac Reads without the 2009 bit. It's 'cos I'm a little anal and want to keep it all together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Yeah I saw you had asked it to be changed. On another note, the book sounds quite good, might have to have a look at them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 Aye, fella. It's worth poking your nose into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 Little Girls Lost by JA. Kerley Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues – and, as yet, no bodies. With public anger reaching dangerous levels, homicide detective Carson Ryder finds a case hopelessly tangled up in murky local politics. Ryder’s bosses have one last hope though: Connor Sandhill, a former cop whose uncanny ability to solve baffling crimes is legendary. But Sandhill left the police in mysterious circumstances and his presence on the case causes uproar. With the hunt ever more urgent, he and Ryder must form an uneasy alliance. At the root of these disappearances is something truly evil – and its source is closer to home than either could have imagined. There is darkness to this novel that, at times, makes one think that maybe one shouldn’t be reading these things. Fortunately, Kerley’s ability to take his readers to that limit and then pull them back is impressive. His understanding of his audience is clear as he takes terrible horrors committed by man and weaves them into a fast-paced novel with black humour (not quite as liberally in this novel, though), plot-twists and action, leaving the reader unable to put the blessed thing down. I had to finish it. Kerley has created one of my favourite crime fighters in Detective Carson Ryder and I’ll eagerly await his forthcoming novel Buried Alive, which will hopefully be out soon. I’ve mentioned this guy before and recommended him to a bunch of people – Ben, you’ll love this – and I do so again. This book is a knock-out! 9.5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 You're going to have to give me a list of some sorts with the order that these go in. I finished The Hundredth Man and loved it. Common my friend, educate my taste in crime books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Little Girls Lost by JA. Kerley Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbielleRose Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Little Girls Lost by JA. Kerley Great review Mac! I'll be stealing this one and adding it to my own list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Great review Mac, sounds like this is right up my alley, and kinda similar to one of my favourite books by Erica Spindler, it's called Copycat, and I think you'd like so check it out bud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 The book order is this Ben. The Hundredth Man The Death Collectors The Broken souls Blood Brother In the Blood Little Girls Lost. Thank you. I loved The Hundredth Man so I am sure that I will enjoy these as well. Mac my good friend, another thanks for the recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Thank you. I loved The Hundredth Man so I am sure that I will enjoy these as well. Mac my good friend, another thanks for the recommendations. My fav is The death collectors. I LOVED that book, you are in for a real treat Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 My fav is The death collectors. I LOVED that book, you are in for a real treat Ben. I do hope so.. Might be making a trip to town a bit quicker than I thought. As soon as this snow clears of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami Twenty-two-year-old Sumire is in love with a woman seventeen years her senior. But whereas Miu is glamorous and successful, Sumire is an aspiring writer who dresses in an oversized second-hand coat and heavy boots like a character in a Kerouac novel. Surprised that she might, after all, be a lesbian, Sumire spends hours on the phone talking to her best friend K about the big questions in life: what is sexual desire and should she ever tell Miu how she feels about her. Frustrated in his own love for Sumire, K consoles himself by having an affair with the mother of one of his pupils. Then a desperate Miu calls from a small Greek island and asks for his help, and he discovers that something very strange has happened to Sumire. Wonderful. Murakami, once again, envelopes you into his magical world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 What a great review Mac and thank you for sharing I say this so often but I will say it again, the beauty of Haruki Murakami is the fact that he knows people, his insights are amazingly in depth but at the same time, so simple and it is lovely to read, to experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 What a helluva review Mac!! I feel moved by your words, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 That's a lovely story, Mac, and a great review. I'll be adding this one to my wish list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Amazing review Mac, definitely going to be getting ahold of this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbielleRose Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 That was such a touching story Mac. I may have to put this one on my reading list. I've never read anything by Haruki Murakami before but have seen his name around the forum a lot. This may be a good one to acquaint myself with his work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I may have to put this one on my reading list. I've never read anything by Haruki Murakami before but have seen his name around the forum a lot. This may be a good one to acquaint myself with his work. CaliLily you should, it's a great one. Mac has just made me want to reread it and read all the other Murakami novels after that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted February 7, 2010 Author Share Posted February 7, 2010 Breathless by Dean Koontz This is a story about new life being created from a heaven-like realm beyond our understanding and materialising on Earth to unite the people in love and harmony. I am beginning to think that old Dean's going off the boil a little bit these days, not having turned out a real belter since From the Corner of his Eye and this disappoints me. I feel that, because he bangs 'em out ten to the dozen, he has stopped crafting them so well. Sure, it's easy to read and poetic with characters you quite like (or sort of dislike) but they seem to lack the substance they used to have. 6/10 Not a bad read, but not a brilliant one either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexiepiper Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 (edited) Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it much Mac, I agree I'm finding his newer ones not as good, but I have some of his older ones to catch up on, so it's not so bad for me Have you read any Tess Gerritsen? Her Rizzoli/Isles series in particular is fantastic, but she has a few stand alone books such as Bloodstream, Bone Garden, Life Support that are great as well Edited February 7, 2010 by lexiepiper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Hi Mac, what a great review on Sputnik Sweetheart. I read Norwegian Wood and I have to admit I wasn't impressed. I was really disappointed that I didn't like the book considering the reviews I have heard about Murakami's books. I am just hoping that I picked the wrong book to read first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Hi Mac, what a great review on Sputnik Sweetheart. I read Norwegian Wood and I have to admit I wasn't impressed. I was really disappointed that I didn't like the book considering the reviews I have heard about Murakami's books. I am just hoping that I picked the wrong book to read first. Norwegian Wood was the first book I reviewed on this little thread - I loved it, but you're right in that it is a little different from his other works. Don't give up on him! Try Kafka on the Shore, this was the very first of his I read and became a huge fan from this novel. Now then, I've been on my jollies down in Cornwall so haven't been here for a week. However, I read a couple of books, so here's what I thought of 'em... The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom On his eighty-third birthday, Eddie, a lonely war veteran, dies in a tragic accident trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his – and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. I am sitting, as I write this, in the large bay window of a pub – The Atlantic – forever looking up and gazing at the huge expanse of ocean. It’s most distracting. The village I’m staying in, Porthleven in Cornwall, is peaceful yet industrious with its team of Fishermen, the shops filled with local produce, the pubs full of music and laughter. My family have had a cottage here for the best part of twenty years, and I adore it. The sun is setting, orange and blue collapsing together, roiling clouds grasping at the last rays of light and scattering fire across the sky. It’s really quite indescribably beautiful. And why am I trying to paint this picture? The Five People You Meet In Heaven is perhaps the perfect book to finish whilst sitting in a pub with a pint of fine ale by your side and the sun sinking towards the horizon. As I closed the book, my attention was drawn towards the sea and the sky and I’m thinking about the big things: life; love; purpose and connection. This novel inspires depth of thought from the outset. Albom writes in such an easy style that it feels as though he’s beside you, chatting away. I’m going to have to go and buy his other stuff now. 9.5/10 – wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay A charming monster. A macabre hero. The serial killer who only kills bad people is back on the prowl – at least he would be if he could shake off his permanent shadow. Ever since their paths first crossed, the handsome, charming homicidal maniac Dexter Morgan has been pursued by Sergeant Doakes. Dexter may well be a Miami PD blood-spatter analyst, but Doakes has a pretty good idea of how Dex likes to spend his free time, and he’s determined to catch him in the act. Then a body turns up, horribly mutilated and barely breathing. To trap the torturer, Doakes and Dexter will have to work together – and one of them will have to be the bait… I like this author. He is sharp, witty and quick-paced. I enjoy the character of Dexter and the ambiguous nature if his proclivities. He recognises that he doesn’t feel things in the same way that ‘normal’ people feel, but by that token he feels them somewhat vicariously and Jeff Lindsay has a knack of allowing the reader to feel this too. There are some disturbing scenes in this novel – if you’re squeamish, I would possibly avoid this (it certainly made me go “urgh” more than once!) – but Lindsay seems to appreciate his audience and pushes only so far before he moves on to other things. I wouldn’t call this novel gratuitous, though. I felt that the grim bits were appropriate for the plot and pace. I have the next two to read and am already looking forward to meeting our man Dexter again. 8/10 – pacey and fun, with a bit of grit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 The sun is setting, orange and blue collapsing together, roiling clouds grasping at the last rays of light and scattering fire across the sky. It Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Most excellent reviews, Mac! I too loved Albom's 'Five People,' and even though I've read it, your review made me want to rush out and read it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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