Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Gifts and Consequences by Daniel Coleman

I won this book from the Member Giveaways on Library Thing.

Within the last 10 minutes, I finished this book, and had to wipe away many tears. This was such a touching story! This is an example of how one person's life can affect so many others.

The main character, Jonathon, is a multi-millionaire who has all the money in the world, but does not have the one thing he truly desires - his wife Susan. Susan had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and as she started wasting away, Jonathon decided he would help people in Susan's name. He has a team of workers that help him locate particularly desperate people who, for one reason or another, have expressed the desire for something while giving back in return. Jonathon enters into agreements with these people giving them an awesome gift, if they, in turn keep up their end of the bargain. Some do and some don't, but the choice is ultimately thiers. This book comprises these individual's stories and whether or not they live up to their end of the bargain, resulting in either whatever they had wished for, or to have to pay the consequences. The end of the book involves the death of Susan, after years of wasting away to nothing, as Alzheimer's will surely do to a person. I was very overwhelmed at the sheer emotion the last part of the book gave me. What a lesson to be learned. I encourage everyone to read this book as it has a wonderful message!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Threat Warning by John Gilstrap

I won this book from the Member Giveaways on Library Thing.

I have not read any other books by John Gilstrap and I certainly will be looking for them in the future after reading this awesome book! The action was incredible in this book; I had trouble putting it down.

I always like stories that have a possibility of being true in one way or another. This book was one of those stories. It is about a secret group of elite operatives, not employed by the government, but the government is aware of their existence. Jonathan Grave, a main member of the team is coincidentally present when an machine gun attack on a busy rush-hour bridge in Washington D.C. happens. He tries to take out the shooter, who is part of a homeland terrorist group. The shooter gets away and carjacks a mother and her son as they are returning home that night. The rest of the story is "edge-of-your-seat" action.

Great book; I will be looking for more from this author!!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Hotwire by Alex Kava

I won this book from Goodreads.

I haven't had the pleasure of reading any of the other books in the Maggie O'Dell series, but I did enjoy reading this one!

This book reminded me of Patricia Cornwell's books with a female heroine. It encompasses two seemingly unconnected crimes, the first of which Maggie "stumbles" onto, while investigating cattle mutilation in the Nebraska forests. A group of kids were found, some injured, some dead, after a party they were having in a remote area. They had been experimenting with the drug Salvia and had described seeing flashing, shooting lights, much like fireworks, after taking the drug. All of a sudden, electric voltage ran through the air, killing two kids and injuring several others. Maggie happened to be in the area and becomes the lead investigator at this site. At the same time, in Virginia, Maggie's "friend Colonel Dr. Pratt was called in to investigate a second outbreak in that area, of school children falling violently ill after eating their school lunches. Everything is tied in together as a big cover-up of U.S. governmental secret operations. Maggie and Dr. Pratt solve thier prospective cases and bring about justice.

This was a good book, one that I had trouble connecting the dots with until the last third of the book, when everything came together. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Only Time WIll Tell by Jeffrey Archer

I won this book from Library Thing's First Reads.

This is a very good book! It is the first book in a series and is a great story of a boy named Harry Clifton. This book starts out in the early 1900's in Bristol, England. Harry's father, Arthur Clifton, who is a dock worker, mysteriously vanishes with no explanation. His mother, Maisie Clifton, is forced to go to work in a tea shop to support them. This story encompasses a span of time from when Harry begins school, until the time that Harry is set to go to college at Oxford. There are many important people from Harry's life who tell this story from their perspective as the story goes on.

I loved how the author switches the story-tellers at each important point in Harry's life. There is action, adventure, romance and mystery in this book.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series, as this book is ended at a pivotal point, which makes the reader eager to continue this story. Very good, delightful book!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Prophecy: The Fulfillment by Deborah A Jaeger

I won this book from Library Thing's Early Reviewers.

I was a bit hesitant about this book, as it seemed to be a "religious" book. However, it was not overbearing.

This book starts out with a scene of a man and a pregnant woman, racing to get away from people chasing them through the woods. We then are introduced to Stephen Bishop, who is a student of religious history and we learn that he has been accepted to the Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. He starts having dreams, which he believes are prophecies. When he arrives in Nashville, he is greeted by Dr.Macomb, who he will be working under at the university. Dr. Macomb has a 17 year old daughter, Jillian, who is the girl that he has been seeing in his visions as carrying the Son of God.

This is the basis of the book and I don't want to give away any more, although I must say that those who are open-minded about religion will not be sorry with this book. There were times that I was brought to tears with the touching sweetness and glory of this story.

Great book!