{Review} CRASH & BURN by Lisa Gardner

ISBN #: 978-0525954569

Page Count: 400

Copyright: February 3, 2015

Publisher: Dutton Adult

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

For Sergeant Wyatt Foster, a routine inspection of a car accident quickly escalates into a full-blown manhunt: the driver, Nicole Frank, has miraculously survived, but her little girl Vero is missing in the remote New Hampshire woods. Wyatt mobilizes every resource in the state, until Nicky's husband drops a bombshell: there is no Vero. Nicky, suffering from a brain injury, made her up.

Or did she? The more Wyatt investigates, the more the questions mount. One thing is certain: Vero wasn't in the car. Is the little girl a delusion haunting an injured mind? Or is she all too real, whereabouts unknown, and in grave danger?

Mandy's Review:

Even though I enjoy reading novels from authors I'm not familiar with, there's always a bit of hesitancy in my decision to read one of their books. Will they really be as good as the reviews say? Is the plot really as engaging and thought-provoking as the summary makes it out to be? Before I tell you whether or not Lisa Gardner measured up to the hype, let's discuss a bit about the plot of Crash & Burn.

For 22 years, Nicky and Thomas, her husband, have been moving from city to city. They design and paint props for movie sets so staying in one place isn't a requirement for them. Their job allows them the freedom to move when and where they want. Together, the couple has a strange dynamic. Nicky fears and trusts her husband. She loves and hates Thomas. Their relationship is somewhat volatile and it's hard to imagine them lasting as long as they have.

Nicky has had three concussions in the past six months. Three concussions so close together has caused Nicky's memories to become muddled. She's imagining a six-year-old girl. She frequently smells smoke and feels the heat from a fire that doesn't exist. She keeps hearing the word "run" in her head, but to where?

Wyatt, understandably, is leery of believing a person could have as many memory issues as Nicky seems to be having. He's not sure if she's toying with him and the investigation or is telling the truth. Nothing's adding up and is frustrating the heck out of Wyatt. Normally, by the second or third day of an investigation, he'd be able to piece together at least one or two clues. With Nicky's situation, he can't get anything to fit in a way that makes any kind of sense.

Now, you want to know if Lisa Gardner has measured up to the hype, don't you? Well, I can tell you unequivocally that, yes, she does. Even though this is the third Tessa Leoni novel (and, yes, Tessa plays a role in Nicky's story), Crash & Burn can be read as a stand alone. You do not have to read the first two in order to understand this one. I, however, will be going back to read the first two because if they're in any way, shape, or form as much of a mind ... fornication ... as this one, then I know I will love them.

Crash & Burn kept me guessing almost all the way through. Just when I thought I might have figured out a piece of the puzzle, something would happen to make me doubt myself. I absolutely love when an author can mess with my mind like that. I loved that not everything was revealed at once, but over several chapters keeping a reader engaged and on the edge of their proverbial seats. I have found another must-read author for me and I would HIGHLY recommend Lisa Gardner (especially Crash & Burn) to all of you mystery/thriller lovers out there. You will not be disappointed.


*A physical copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

{Review} THE GERTRUDE THRESHOLD: A NOVELLA by Christopher Brooks

ASIN #: B00P1SZSAS

File Size: 543 KB

Page Count: 126

Copyright: October 29, 2014

Publisher: Ragged Right Media

Novella Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Brandon knows today will be his last. He has been dreading this moment his entire life. Scientists had long ago predicted the year and the day when all living things, everything Brandon has come to know, would go up in flames – the day Earth hit the Gertrude Threshold.

For seventy years, Brandon had aged with the sun. He’d watched it grow bigger and the Warming fry the planet. Science was powerless to stop it. Plants withered. Oceans dried up. Humanity went mad. People sought safety underground. Radiation poisoned the world they left behind above.

Now, Brandon languishes on his deathbed. He looks after his grandson, Ky, and again wonders what survival left him with. Ky’s parents, John and Ellen, wander throughout the underground tunnels. Ellen mourns the loss of everything she and her child will never experience. Desperate to spend his final hours with the man he has grown to love, John abandons his wife and child.

Brandon, his family, and the underground survivors have no future, only the past, and less than 24 hours to reclaim the years the Warming stole while Earth begins to fall apart around them.

Mandy's Review:

If you're a religious person, then I'm sure you've heard that there will come a day when God will send His Son, Jesus, to claim the saints and then the people left behind will have 1,000 years to rule the Earth until it'll be destroyed and a new Jerusalem implemented. I may have gotten parts of that wrong, but I believe that to be the gist. The thing about what I just said is that nobody knows the time when this will happen. Christopher Brooks has written a story in which the entire planet knows the day and time the Earth will be destroyed and all living things will cease to exist. As a way to prolong their life, the survivors of the Warming have gone underground to live out their final days in tunnels and compartments made to look like homes.

When the novella began, I was a little confused. It's set a little ways into the future so there's some technology and AI equipment being used that made me wonder what was happening. It took about a chapter for me to get with the program and realize how things work.

Brandon's decided to live his final hours remembering his wife and their life together. Unfortunately for him, his grandson, Ky, has been left in his care while Ky's mother goes to church and Ky's father sees one last patient. Ky tends to disrupt Brandon's thoughts and causes Brandon to focus and interact with his grandson.

Ellen, Ky's mother, has decided to take some comfort from tradition and go to church for one final Mass. Going to church doesn't provide Ellen with the comfort she was seeking, so she wanders the tunnels in search of peace. The peace she finds wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

John, Ky's father, has decided to see one last patient. Over the years, John has fallen in love with Darryl. He knows Darryl had a wife and probably isn't interested in men. However, knowing you're living the very last day of your life can cause people to do strange things that they'd never normally do.

Overall, the thought process behind this novella is sound, but I don't know that it's my style. The way it ended wasn't very conclusive. You're left to draw your own conclusions as to whether or not there are actually survivors or if the characters at the end of the last chapter die as well. I do enjoy the ambiguity of the ending. I just think it's the whole concept that's not really up my alley ... or tunnel, as it were. If you're a fan of apocalyptic writing and the end of the world, then I'd recommend this novella to you.


*An ecopy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

{Review} THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS by Gavin Extence

ISBN #: 978-0316246576

Page Count: 416

Copyright: June 25, 2013

Publisher: Redhook

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

The universe works in mysterious ways ...

Alex Woods was struck by a meteorite when he was ten years old, leaving scars that marked him for an extraordinary life. The son of a fortune teller, bookish, and an easy target for bullies, he hasn't had the most conventional childhood.

When he meets curmudgeonly widower Mr. Peterson, he finds an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make it count.

So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at Dover customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the passenger seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he's fairly sure he's done the right thing ...

Kathy's Review:

(Re-printed with her permission from her personal blog, Grown Up Book Reports)

In my mind, there are only two ways a book that heavily references Kurt Vonnegut can go. Either it’s going to get major fire from me because it doesn’t measure up, or it’s going to be a total home run. As my favorite author and a major influence on my life and writing, Vonnegut is on a level that I don’t think “just anyone” can go and try to emulate or mix in to their own writing.

I’m pleased to report that Gavin Extence hit a home run.

The Universe vs. Alex Woods is a quirky novel, starring a young boy whose life is altered by fate – he is hit by a meteor in his own house, as it crashes through his roof. He survives the incident and goes on to become a very thoughtful, intelligent young man who, in another twist of fate, becomes friends with a retired widower with no one in his life. Mr. Peterson is a lover of literature, particularly Vonnegut, and he turns Alex on to the writing. The two start a Vonnegut book club with some of the other people who have kind of randomly happened to cross paths with Alex – a neurologist, for instance.

Peterson becomes gravely ill with a rare condition, and Alex must care for him in his last days. It’s what he does, though, that almost lands him in jail…

How’s that for a teaser? Anyway, in addition to the Vonnegut references and passages and just general nod to the great author, Alex Woods is touching, funny and just all-around well done. With an unforgettable set of characters, including both Alex, Peterson and a few supporting roles such as Alex’s tarot card-reading mother, and a knack for capturing emotion and relationship building without knocking you over the head, I’m going to give this one of my highest marks. Definitely recommend, Vonnegut fan or not, and it’s one I will plan to return to at some point in my life.

{Review} ONE PLUS ONE by Jojo Moyes

ISBN #: 978-0525426585

Page Count: 384

Copyright: July 1, 2014

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.

Mandy's Review:

We're in a time period where the definition of "family" has come to mean many different things. There's still the standard, more traditional idea of a family (mother, father, children), but now we support blended, non-traditional families. This is one of the ideas Ms. Moyes uses in this novel.

Jess used to be a wild child who could care less about the rules and that's what her boyfriend, Marty, loved about her. When Jess became pregnant, they decided to marry. The once wild Jess now became a more responsible, careful Jess ... especially when Marty's other child (Nicky) comes to live with them. All of the responsibility was too much for Marty and he left. Two years after leaving, Jess is still trying to be understanding and makes no demands on Marty for child support. She believes he'll make the situation right once he gets back on his feet. In the meantime, Jess still works two jobs and barely makes ends meet.

Nicky continues to live with Jess, even after his father leaves. His mother is a crazy lady whom nobody wants around. When we meet Nicky, he's your typical Goth-like teenager who doesn't like to talk and gets teased by others. Occasionally, he'll even get beat up by the local bullies. Nicky never retaliates, though, and nobody understands why Nicky's so passive. It's because Nicky is wiser than his years. Instead of feeling angry about the bullies, he pities them. Nicky knows that the bullies probably realize they'll never amount to much in life and they take their frustrations out on the first person available.

Tanzie, short for Costanza and the daughter of Jess and Marty, is a 10-year-old math genius. She loves working at math problems and is well beyond her years in this subject. She is presented with an opportunity to go to a private school on a 90% scholarship. The problem is, the balance of the tuition fees is still more than Jess can afford. Their solution? For Tanzie to compete in a Math Olympiad and win the 5,000 pound prize, which would cover a couple years' worth tuition at the private school. The problem? The Math Olympiad is in Scotland, more than one country away from where they live.

Ed has always been a geeky tech guy. He and his buddy Ronan start up a tech company. Over the years, it has grown to the point that they sell it so they only have to worry about writing code and coming up with the next great idea. When you're at the top of your game is when you tend to become too confident in your position and one fatal mistake can bring you crumbling down. That's what happens to Ed in the form of an ex-college friend whom he had always had a crush on but could never speak to. Dating her now shows Ed that all he was missing was a crazy, emotionally unstable female. To let her go gently, Ed gives her a check to invest in some stock that will soon be worth more than it is, allowing her to make money selling it so she can pay off her bills and go traveling.

One Plus One refers to Tanzie's love of math, but it also refers to when two people come together to form a relationship. This novel is emotionally engaging and you find yourself invested in the lives of the characters. I love the interaction between the four people mentioned above. I love how they each have their own dramas, yet they're a perfect blend together. I love how each chapter is in one of the four characters' voice so that the reader gets to know each of them intimately. All around, One Plus One is a satisfying read and is my favorite Jojo Moyes book thus far.


*A hardcopy of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

** This also counts towards one of my 2015 Amazing Book Race reads.

{Review} WEST OF SUNSET by Stewart O'Nan

ISBN #: 978-0670785957

Page Count: 304

Copyright: January 13, 2015

Publisher: Viking Adult

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a troubled, uncertain man whose literary success was long over. In poor health, with his wife consigned to a mental asylum and his finances in ruins, he struggled to make a new start as a screenwriter in Hollywood. By December 1940, he would be dead of a heart  attack.

Those last three years of Fitzgerald’s life, often obscured by the legend of his earlier Jazz Age glamour, are the focus of Stewart O’Nan’s gorgeously and gracefully written novel. With flashbacks to key moments from Fitzgerald’s past, the story follows him as he arrives on the MGM lot, falls in love with brassy gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, begins work on The Last Tycoon, and tries to maintain a semblance of family life with the absent Zelda and daughter, Scottie.

Lupe's Review:

This was brilliant. A very well done portrait of a man whose decline into oblivion, both social and physically, is portrayed as one of grace, but not always dignity.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, by the late 1930's, is no longer the Hollywood big act he used to be. After Gatsby, for which, he believes, is all he will ever be known for, he begins a steady decline into alcohol and debt. His wife, Zelda, holed up in a mental institution and his daughter, Scottie, about to begin college, F. Scott is falling apart. He doesn't have enough money (or enough booze) for him to get by. He borrows against writings he hasn't even thought of yet, with hopes that they will get picked up and be successful. He begins a tumultuous affair with a gossip columnist, Sheliah Graham, and tries, unsuccessfully to quit drinking and smoking to be healthy. All of the stress takes its toll on him, and F. Scott Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack.

This, we all know. What we don't know are all the behind the scenes extras, like how cut throat the lots were between all the writers who were there, and even all the actors. Back then, as now, actors most definitely called the shots, and all the bigs are here, from Joan Crawford, to Clark Gable and even Shirley Temple. Amidst all this, you have F. Scott, struggling to find a place and make his name mean something again, all while maintaining an affair (Sheliah) and his mental ill wife (Zelda) and college bound daughter (Scottie).

It is within all this madness that I came to admire Fitzgerald. Even though he was clearly falling apart at the seams, he always made sure that Zelda and Scottie never knew. His love for Zelda was palpable in every scene they shared, every letter they wrote to each other, as was his love for Scottie. It surpassed even his love for Sheliah, which I believe was only ever infatuation, since Sheliah was just a fill in for his lonliness and sorrow of the decline of Zelda's health.

I have only in the last year read The Great Gatsby and was hooked onto Fitzgerald's writing. He flows with a rhythm that just oozed 1920's flair and his prose is fantastic. I never knew much about his background, but this novel definitely made me a forever admirer of his work.

(This was not my original review. Unfortunately, my comp crashed before it saved...and I didn't copy it yet. So this one is a much watered down and not as lengthy version.)


*A physical copy of the novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.