FEARLESS FOURTEEN by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum works for her cousin, Vinnie, as a bail bond enforcement agent or bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ. She’s not great at it which is why she drives a very beat up car and lives in an older apartment building. This is also why she occasionally will work for Rangeman. Stephanie frequently goes out looking for her skip with friend and co-worker, Lula.

Lula use to work the streets but is currently hired to do the filing in Vinnie’s office. Though she has left that profession, she still wears clothes that are a little too small for her full figured figure. She prefers to go chasing people who have not shown up in court or skips with Stephanie.

Both women have boyfriends. Lula’s is a big guy called Tank. Tank is the number two man at a security agency called Rangeman. Stephanie’s regular boyfriend is Joe. Joe works for the Trenton Police Department and is fond of Ranger, the owner of Rangeman.

Ranger has been interested in Stephanie since she started working for Vinnie and Stephanie isn’t immune to Ranger either which is why Joe doesn’t really like Stephanie to work with or for Ranger. Ranger has pretty much gotten out of bounty hunting but he still will help Stephanie out.

Fearless Fourteen is the fourteenth full length book with these characters. In this book, Ranger asks Stephanie to help with security on aging rock star Brenda. Lula tricks Tank into getting engaged. One of Stephanie’s skips, Loretta asks Stephanie to baby-sit her son if she doesn’t make bail before school is out which Stephanie agrees to and finds a child that looks exactly like Joe! Loretta’s brother, Dom, believes it is Joe’s son and threatens to kill Joe. Dom is also on parole for armed robbery with 9 million dollars still not accounted for and several people interested in finding it with the clue in Joe’s house! When people start getting killed and showing up at Joe’s house in the middle of the night, things start getting interesting.

My husband and I have been patiently waiting for this book to come out. We’ve enjoyed this series and find the stunts that Stephanie does extremely funny. I love the interaction between Stephanie and her love interests, Joe and Ranger. I was very disappointed in this book.

Stephanie’s interactions with Joe and Ranger aren’t what I’ve seen in previous books. Though Stephanie stays at Joe’s house, they act more like an old married couple than a couple that can’t keep their hands off of each other. Though there are a couple of references and inferences, mostly its statements about work or food. The dialogs Stephanie has with Ranger seem stilted and forced. Never has Ranger actually stated that he doesn’t ask Stephanie for many favors, usually it’s just the word babe. Most of Ranger’s interaction with Stephanie almost seems like a very busy businessman making time for an old friend. The spark just wasn’t there.

Stephanie is known for getting herself into silly situations and having unique skips, in this book the opportunities are present but the dialog isn’t. It’s as if the characters no longer care or it’s happened so often that it’s normal. When Stephanie is turned blue, Joe’s statement is that she looks like a smurf and continues on with what he was doing. Ranger doesn’t even see Stephanie in all her blueness! Her skips are unique but that is not played up or used. When Stephanie has to take in a guy that won’t wear pants, she asks like its no big deal. She wraps a coat around him and has him sit on newspapers in her car. Usually readers would get more of her feelings or thoughts. This lack gave that book a flat feel.

Even Stephanie’s poor hamster, Rex is neglected in this book. Usually if Stephanie is not going to be in her apartment for a day or two, Rex comes with her. In this book, Stephanie gets clothes together for a couple of days but just gives Rex food and water; though she does ask Joe to take care of Rex if something should happen to her.

While this is not Ms Evanovich’s best effort, it was okay. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a reader wanting to see what the Stephanie Plum series is about. There are much better books in the series. I’m hoping that this is a one time fluke and the next book is back to Ms Evanovich’s normal standard.

STEP ON A CRACK by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

I just finished this book the other day and thought like it would be a good idea to let the world know I like this book. Here is a review of the book that I think has all the potential for a Hollywood blockbuster.

Christmas is fast approaching. The former First Lady has been poisoned while sharing a romantic dinner with her husband in a posh New York City restaurant. A few blocks away, Maeve Bennett is dying of cancer. She and her husband Mike have adopted 10 children of various races and nationalities. Government leaders and celebrities fill St. Patrick's Cathedral for the funeral mass, attracting a massive crowd of spectators.

But, something goes terribly wrong and the entire congregation is kidnapped by an unknown group of gunmen who have no apparent means of success. Mike Bennett, a detective and former hostage negotiator is called in to assist. He quickly assumes the lead role in negotiating with Jack, the leader of the kidnappers. Cool, detached, and seemingly amoral, Jack simply asks for money and the stage is set. We learn quickly that he has help on the outside, the Neat Man, an obsessive-compulsive man who must always be clean.

James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge juxtapose the conflict Bennett endures as he faces a relentless and well-prepared foe while trying to cope with the impending death of his beloved wife and caring for a brood of children 3 - 12 years old. There are so many kids that a visitor at the hospital thinks he has brought some students from a school to sing Christmas carols for the patients. The authors of Step On a Crack deftly draw characters with the strengths and frailties of real people in real situations. The plot is not so unreal as to detract from our willingness to envelope ourselves in the story and "believe" in what we are reading.
It gives nothing away to say that Bennett brings resolution - after all, he is the protagonist. The best part is that the solution comes about through thorough, traditional police work. The focus and abilities of humans lead to the solution when one very logical thing goes wrong for the kidnappers. And, it was not the fortuitous discovery of a stray hair; Patterson does throw in a little dig at the plethora of CSI stories.

Step on a Crack is a sophisticated easy read. I read it in less than 3 hours, somehow compelled to continue reading about characters I wanted to learn more about and discover how things worked out. The language is simple and straightforward but that very characteristic lends authenticity to the telling of the story and elevates it beyond the last couple of James Patterson books reviewed on this site. The criticisms I leveled at Patterson for The Fifth Horseman simply do not apply here. As Shawn Stufflebeam, who first voiced some of the same criticisms as I, said in his review of Mary, Mary, "it will engage your imagination." Tim O'Brien, author of Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried and Morgan Writer in Residence at the University of North Carolina, said in a recent address that in a good story, "the last sentence should beg the next one. The last incident should beg the next." So it is with this Patterson novel, his best among recent outings.
In an interview quoted on his web site, Patterson says, "At some point I'd like to develop another hero figure, but it's hard for me to top Alex in a lot of ways because he's extremely human and very sensitive." Detective Michael Bennett is a new character for the creator of the Alex Cross and The Women's Murder Club novels. Fans of Patterson will certainly look forward to future novels in this new series for he has created another very human character who is different but in the same mold as Alex Cross. Bennett is one to whom we can relate on many levels. There is the poignancy of a dying wife and Bennett's sense of loss. There is the tough detective who is able to compartmentalize his life and deal with a major New York City crisis and still be there for and sensitive to the needs of his children.

James Patterson, of course, is well-known, having written 39 books to this point, beginning with The Thomas Berryman Number in 1976. A dozen of them have been co-written with five different authors. Patterson's "voice" comes through clearly in this fine effort. This is his first book with Michael Ledwidge, a mystery-suspense author in his own right with The Narrowback, Bad Connection, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. His advice to all of those who wish to write a novel is, even if you have the worst of jobs (He started as a Park Avenue doorman with a degree in English.), take notes. "It might be the most fruitful research you'll ever do."

Review From About.com

The Judas Strain by James Rollins

Here are a few Editorial Reviews on the Book

From Publishers Weekly
The special-ops trained scientists of Sigma Force battle the criminals of the shadowy Guild in bestseller Rollins's lively third Sigma Force thriller (after Black Order). An ancient and deadly plague, the Judas Strain (which afflicted Marco Polo), has suddenly re-emerged. Gray Pierce, a Sigma operative, and Seichan, a Guild defector, pursue clues to the nature of the plague to the Vatican, Istanbul (with a fine shootout in the Hagia Sophia mosque), Marco Polo's tomb and, finally, Cambodia's Angkor Wat. Meanwhile, Guild members hijack a cruise ship full of plague victims (to provide experimental subjects for the weaponizing of the plague), and Gray's parents are taken hostage (though the senior Grays prove feistier than their kidnappers reckon). Sophisticated the plot isn't, but Rollins includes more than enough action and suspense to keep readers turning pages. 8-city author tour. (July) 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

From Booklist
The crack, ultrasecret Sigma Force team returns in another adventure that, as usual, unfolds at breakneck speed. Sigma Force, made up of former Special Forces officers trained as experts in various scientific fields ("killer scientists," one of their number calls them), scours the world for technologies that could help or threaten the U.S. This time the group's mission involves a devastating bacteriological plague, a mysterious cryptogram that may predate humanity, and the deadly truth about what happened after Marco Polo's expedition to China. After a handful of Sigma Force novels, Rollins has fine-tuned the formula to precision: characters rendered in broad strokes, punchy dialogue, short paragraphs that propel us headlong through the story. The novels are like prose versions of comic books, or lightly fleshed out movie treatments. But this is not a criticism, at least not completely. The books' style perfectly matches their subject matter, and it's impossible not to be swept up by their energy and excitement. Action/adventure fans unfamiliar with Rollins' work should be emphatically urged to read this series. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved 

Lover Enshrined by J. R. Ward

This is the sixth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. It has reached first spot on the Paperback Mass-Market Fiction list of NYtimes bestseller list.

Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself- she sees the emotionally scarred male behind all his noble responsibility. But while the war with the Lessening Society grows more grim, and tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

THE SHACK by William P. Young

I am certain that there is no other book I've been asked to review more times than William P. Young's The Shack, a book that is currently well within the top-100 best-selling titles at Amazon. The book, it seems, is becoming a hit and especially so among students and among those who are part of the Emergent Church. In the past few weeks many concerned readers have written to ask if I would be willing to read it and to provide a review. Because I am always interested in books that are popular among Christians, I was glad to comply.
Throughout the book there is this kind of subversive strain teaching that new and fresh revelation is much more relevant and important than the kind of knowledge we gain in sermons or seminaries or Scripture. Young's readers seem to be picking up on this. Read this brief Amazon review as an example: "Wish I could take back all the years in seminary! The years the locusts ate???? Systematic theology was never this good. Shack will be read again and again. With relish. Shared with friends, family, and strangers. I can fly! It's a gift. `Discipleship' will never be lessons again." Another reviewer warns that many Christians will find the book difficult to read because of their "modern" mindsets. "If one is coming from a strong, propositional and, perhaps, fundamentalist perspective to the Bible, this book certainly will be threatening." Still another says "This book was so shocking to my "staid" Christianity but it was eye opening to my own thoughts about who I think God is." At several points I felt as if the author was encouraging the reader to doubt what they know of Christianity--to deconstruct what they know of Christian theology--and to embrace something new. But the faith Young reconstructs is simply not the faith of the Bible.
Because of the sheer volume of error and because of the importance of the doctrines reinvented by the author, I would encourage Christians, and especially young Christians, to decline this invitation to meet with God in The Shack. It is not worth reading for the story and certainly not worth reading for the theology.

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When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

A very enjoyable read, with a couple of pieces that may be among Sedaris' very best. It does however, feel like there are couple of essays that should have been left out of this collection-pieces that did not add to the book as a whole, or seemed too similar to each other. I do think that "Solution to Saturday's Puzzle" is one of the great pieces of humorous writing, up on a level with Wodehouse's "Clicking of Cuthbert," which it resembles in almost no way. Frankly, the book is worth it for the giggles and guffaws to be found in that story alone, the rest of the collection is icing on the literary cake (though perhaps occasionally spread a bit too thick).
Buy this book and enjoy the sharp hilarity of our dreary lives...and if you like it, you might want to try Marc Acito's new novel. He's another one of our wittiest writers.

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BLOOD NOIR by Laurell K. Hamilton

I cuddled in against Jason’s body, and he hugged me with arms and legs, and for once it wasn't sexual in the least, it was more like two scared kids huddling in the dark when they knew the monster under the bed wasn't just real, but was holding a grudge.

A favor for Jason, vampire hunter Anita Blake’s werewolf lover, puts her in the center of a fullblown scandal that threatens master-vampire Jean- Claude’s reign —and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen’s new rise to power.

Imagine the horribly malformed love-child of "Days Of Our Lives," Anne Rice and some really bad Mary Sue fan fiction.

That is the most accurate description I can think of for "Blood Noir," the fifteenth novel in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. Since it's a rather lame little novella pumped up to novel size, Laurell K. Hamilton spins up artificial drama and endless sexual angst that never really goes anywhere or does anything, but fills up plenty of pages. By the end, you'll be wondering what the point is.

Werewolf stripper Jason drops by Anita's house to whine that his estranged dad is dying, and he's broken up with his girlfriend because she wanted monogamy. Three guesses which is considered more traumatic -- monogamy or cancer.

So Anita comforts him the only way she knows how, and then agrees to pose as his girlfriend so he can prove to his dad that he isn't gay. Apparently his family is more worried about his sexuality than about his being a werewolf. But when they arrive, Anita finds that Jason is one of several look-alike men in his hometown, and one of them is a wealthy engaged stud who is having an affair with the wife of a local Master vampire. This, needless to say, stokes up lots of bad feelings.

It also causes a few personal crises, as Anita finds out that weird tabloid rumors in St. Louis are jeopardizing Jean-Claude's position, and local vampires are gunning for Jason because he looks just like his cousin. Unfortunately this is only the start of her problems, since the ancient vampire matriarch Mother of All Darkness is waking up -- or I should say, STILL waking up after several books -- and causing yet more trouble for Anita.

For your information, "Blood Noir" was originally a novella. But while the page-count has expanded to that of a full-length novel, Laurell K. Hamilton fails to expand the story along with it -- it still has a novella-sized plot, which appears to have been cribbed from the wastepaper basket of a hack TV writer. We've got lookalikes, confusion, family drama, and embarrassing headlines. Even the name of Jason's cousin -- Keith Summerland -- sounds lifted from a soap.

And Hamilton is pretty clearly making it up as she goes along, throwing in plot twists and contrived crises whenever the slow-moving plot starts lagging. Unfortunately she doesn't actually deal with the fallout of these twists -- most of them just putter out and never really get dealt with. Presumably Hamilton either got tired of writing and wanted to wrap up the book, or she didn't want to write any dramatic scenes that don't involve lots of orgasms, bodily fluids and Anita.

While there isn't as much plotless sex as in some of Hamilton's other books, sex is still the sole driving force of "Blood Noir." Breakups, personal crises, metaphysical problems and threats are all handled by Anita having sex with somebody -- and even in the sex-free portions of the book, the characters' sex lives are what propel things onward.

Anita continues to be a standard Mary Sue self-insert -- she's abrasive as a power sander, smart as a cinder block, adored and feared by all around her, and develops a new supernatural power every time she sneezes. Comically enough, her sex life is apparently the stuff of national interest now, despite the fact that she basically doesn't do anything to warrant anyone's interest except collect vampires and werebeasties for her expansive harem.

Thankfully that harem is rarely glimpsed in this book, and it's soon obvious why this is a good thing. The supposedly suave Jean-Claude has become needy and clingy, the appallingly creepy Nathaniel acts like a pimp, and Jason has been transformed into a self-absorbed slut who treats non-Anita women like sex toys. And Hamilton takes yet another pot-shot at Richard, dragging him into the plot just so Anita can remind us why we are supposed to hate him. Doesn't work.

"Blood Noir" is neither noir nor bloody, and the thin plot is stretched to the breaking point with lots of bad sex, whining, and plot twists that stupefy rather than shock. Truly ghastly -- and not the good way either.

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