Zoo [Hardcover]

I've finished "Zoo" by James Patterson.

Product Description

Once in a lifetime, a writer puts it all together. This is James Patterson's best book ever.

Total

For 36 years, James Patterson has written unputdownable, pulse-racing novels. Now, he has written a book that surpasses all of them. ZOO is the thriller he was born to write.

World

All over the world, brutal attacks are crippling entire cities. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, watches the escalating events with an increasing sense of dread. When he witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa, the enormity of the violence to come becomes terrifyingly clear.

Destruction

With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz races to warn world leaders before it's too late. The attacks are growing in ferocity, cunning, and planning, and soon there will be no place left for humans to hide.

About the Author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977, James Patterson's books have sold more than 240 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women's Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Michael Ledwidge is the author of The Narrowback and Bad Connection, and the coauthor of several books with James Patterson, including the Michael Bennett series. He lives in New York City.


Product Details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316097446
ISBN-13: 978-0316097444

My Review:

This book opens with a couple of brutal lion attacks against people (pretty gruesome stuff).  This book shows you what happens when animals are tired of being locked up in a cage, tired of being stuck in a house and eating really bad food.

The main character is Jackson a brilliant scientist who is complete smart ass.  He has hot sex-buddy who is with him even though he is known as a joke among the scientist world.  No one believes him about the animals being crazy - the ones that are still living.  He lives with a three-year old chimp named Attila who he stole from the research company he formerly worked for.  While working in Africa studying lion attacks his life is forever changed when he arrives home to find his former lover brutally murdered by Attila.

It was pretty shocking to hear what is causing all the animals to become murderous and dangerous.  It has to do with pheromones that triggers their killing instincts to attack in brutal fashion.

This book was a fast paced chilling and scary ride which will keep you up all night.
 
3/5

In the Mail Saturday 2012 (Oct 6)

In the Mail Saturday is hosted every Saturday at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews.

I received these in the mail this week.

For Review:

The Other Woman [Hardcover]

Jane Ryland was a rising star in television news … until she refused to reveal a source and lost everything. Now a disgraced newspaper reporter, Jane isn’t content to work on her assigned puff pieces, and finds herself tracking down a candidate’s secret mistress just days before a pivotal Senate election.

Detective Jake Brogan is investigating a possible serial killer. Twice, bodies of unidentified women have been found by a bridge, and Jake is plagued by a media swarm beginning to buzz about a “bridge killer” hunting the young women of Boston.

As the body count rises and election looms closer, it becomes clear to Jane and Jake that their cases are connected … and that they may be facing a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to silence a scandal.

Dirty politics, dirty tricks, and a barrage of final twists, The Other Woman is the first in an explosive new series by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Seduction, betrayal, and murder — it’ll take a lot more than votes to win this election.

Fallen Masters [Hardcover]

What do you get if you combine William Young’s The Shack with Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons? The answer is Fallen Masters, by New York Times bestselling author John Edward.

In the near future, signs and portents have begun to appear that point to a rushing cataclysm. Both political and religious world leaders see the patterns, and the scientific community confirm evidence of what they call “a dark matter” that is expanding into our universe, threatening the very fabric of our world.

But it will not be governments or religions upon whose actions the fate of the world rests. Rather it will be up to a small diverse group of men and women who will have to decide to use their free will to aid in the last great cosmic battle between good and evil as these apocalyptic forces clash — both here on Earth and on the Other Side.

An internationally renowned psychic, John Edward has helped millions of people to connect with loved ones on the Other Side. In Fallen Masters, Edward has written a riveting novel of metaphysical suspense, a final confrontation between good and evil as it unfolds on both the Earthly plane and the Other Side.

A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel [Hardcover]

I've finished "A Wanted Man" the 17th book in his Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.

Product Description

Reacher is back! A Wanted Man is a new masterpiece of suspense — from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.

Four people in a car, hoping to make Chicago by morning. One man driving, eyes on the road. Another man next to him, telling stories that don’t add up. A woman in the back, silent and worried. And next to her, a huge man with a broken nose, hitching a ride east to Virginia.

An hour behind them, a man lies stabbed to death in an old pumping station. He was seen going in with two others, but he never came out. He has been executed, the knife work professional, the killers vanished. Within minutes, the police are notified. Within hours, the FBI descends, laying claim to the victim without ever saying who he was or why he was there.

All Reacher wanted was a ride to Virginia. All he did was stick out his thumb. But he soon discovers he has hitched more than a ride. He has tied himself to a massive conspiracy that makes him a threat — to both sides at once.

In Lee Child’s white-hot thriller, nothing is what it seems, and nobody is telling the truth. As the tension rises, the twists come fast and furious, keeping readers guessing and gasping until the explosive finale.


About the Author

Lee Child is the author of seventeen Jack Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers Persuader, The Enemy, One Shot, and The Hard Way, and the #1 bestsellers The Affair, Worth Dying For, 61 Hours, Gone Tomorrow, Bad Luck and Trouble, and Nothing to Lose, as well as the short stories “Second Son” and “Deep Down.” His debut, Killing Floor, won both the Anthony and the Barry awards for Best First Mystery, and The Enemy won both the Barry and Nero awards for Best Novel. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in more than forty territories. All titles have been optioned for major motion pictures. A native of England and a former television director, Child lives in New York City, where he is at work on his next thriller, Never Go Back.


Product Details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (September 11, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385344333
ISBN-13: 978-0385344333

My Review:

A murder has taken place in middle of nowhere and the police already have a description of the car the two killers were seen driving off in.  The killers believe a third man in the car would help them get past the police road blocks.  They spot a hitchhiker on the road but unfortunately it's Jack Reacher who wants a ride out of Nebraska to Virginia.  As they get further away Reacher realizes there is something more about the people inside the car.  Back at the crime scene various agencies have gathered with different levels of skills and agendas with a female FBI agent as the key player (she's a female version of Reacher).

Finally the agents catch up with Reacher who was abandoned and when another murder takes place which gives them a clue to the killers.  Reacher teams up with a two female FBI agents to bring down the baddies with fatal results. We learn the reason who and why the first murder took place as Reacher closes on the killers.

The car scenes were very intense and suspenseful.

3/5

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

NYPD Red [Hardcover]

Product Description

It's the start of Hollywood on Hudson, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. Every night, the red carpet rolls out for movie stars arriving at premieres in limos; the most exclusive restaurants close for private parties for wealthy producers and preeminent directors; and thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous and beautiful faces in the world. With this many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert-and they can't afford to make a single mistake.

Then a world-renowned producer fatally collapses at his power breakfast, and top NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan is the first one on the scene. Zach works with his beautiful new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald - who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend - to discover who the murderer might be. But this is only the beginning: the most brutal, public, and horrifyingly spectacular crimes they've ever encountered are about to send all of New York into chaos, putting NYPD Red on the ropes.

Zach and Kylie know there's no way of telling what a killer this deranged will do next. With the whole world watching, they have to find a way to stop a psychopath who has scripted his finale down to the last explosive detail. With larger-than-life action, relentless speed, and white-knuckle twists, NYPD Red is the next mega-blockbuster from "The Man Who Can't Miss."

Product Details
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (October 8, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316199869
ISBN-13: 978-0316199865

Against the Storm (The Raines of Wind Canyon) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Against the Storm" the 4th book in her The Raines of Wind Canyon series by Kat Martin.

Product Description

Redheads like Maggie O'Connell are nothing but trouble. But Trace Rawlins, a former army ranger turned private investigator, takes the case anyway. After all, he knows a thing or two about women.

Trace can sense that something is wrong — Maggie isn't telling him everything. If these menacing calls and messages are real, why won't the police help her? And if they aren't real, what is she hiding?

As Trace digs deeper to find the source of Maggie's threats, he discovers a secret that no one was meant to uncover. And the only puzzle left to be solved is whether the danger comes from an unknown stalker … or from the woman he's trying his hardest not to fall for.

About the Author

Currently living in Missoula, Montana, Kat Martin is the bestselling author of over fifty Historical and Contemporary Romance novels. Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, also an author. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. "I love anything old," Kat says. "I love to travel and especially like to visit the places where my books are set. My husband and I often stay in out-of-the-way inns and houses built in times past. It's fun and it gives a wonderful sense of a by-gone era."

To date, Kat has over twelve million copies of her books in print. She is published in twenty foreign countries, including Germany, Norway, Sweden, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Russia, England, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Japan and Greece.


Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira; Original edition (October 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778312925
ISBN-13: 978-0778312925
My Review:

Maggie O'Connell is well respected professional photographer with a great life and a very successful future.  She is wondering why someone is stalking her and leaving cryptic creepy notes.  She turns to Trace Rawlins a former Army Ranger now a private investigator to find out who is breaking into her house and leaving those creepy notes.

Trace has weakness for redheads but there is something about Maggie that stirs his I really want her libido.  He is quite dedicated to his job and realizes mixing business with pleasure would be major mistake.  As he investigates further he realizes Maggie has withheld some important information from him.  She hasn't told him the whole truth about an incident in her teenage years when she accused a senator's son of rape.  That is the reason why she can't go to the police and besides they don't believe her.  Trace has been burned harshly by his ex-wife with her cheating ways all through their marriage so he now believes all red heads are liers.

When the security system that was installed at Maggie's home fails her house is burned and tracking devices are found.  Trace decides to amp up and set up a trap to lure the stalker.  The plan will go brilliantly only if Maggie plays her part as they practiced.

The romance between Trace and Maggie was very steamy and hot.  The love scenes were plenty full and a treat for the senses.  Hmm but I didn't really think the relationship between the two would last because Trace couldn't really get over the fact that Maggie was quite truthful with him (he kept calling her a liar) and Maggie made some very stupid mistakes and she didn't believe anyone in her past is the culprit (ex: Trace asked her to stay in the house but she left and didn't think anyone would find out).


4/5

New Releases 2012 (Oct 2)

Mad River (A Virgil Flowers Novel) [Hardcover]

Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what’s-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns.

The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157700
ISBN-13: 978-0399157707

Postcards from the Dead (A Scrapbooking Mystery) [Hardcover]

New Orleans is in the throes of another fantastic Mardi Gras celebration when the party gets crashed by a murderer. Now a scrapbooking sleuth is going to have to stop the partying to catch the killer …

There’s a parade rolling through the historic French Quarter, with gigantic floats, silver beads, and dizzying lights—and Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a small balcony on the fourth floor of the Hotel Tremain, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle down below. Her next subject will be Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop. Carmela has never been a fan of Kimber, but she isn’t about to turn down the chance of good publicity for her shop.

But before Carmela’s shop gets its five minutes of fame, a killer slips onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade. Carmela is horrified, but she quickly discovers the nightmare isn’t over. Because someone is now leaving strange postcards at Carmela’s shop—signed by the dead Kimber. Now Carmela and her friend Ava will have to risk their own necks to find out who’s posing as a ghost—and to expose a killer…

INCLUDES SCRAPBOOKING TIPS

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; First Edition edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425252752
ISBN-13: 978-0425252758

Deadly Patterns: A Magical Dressmaking Mystery (A Dressmaker's Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Bliss, Texas, is gearing up for its annual Winter Wonderland festival, but when a mysterious Scrooge ends the merriment with murder, it’ll take more than a ghost from Christmas past to set things right.
Designing a holiday fashion show set in the town’s most prominent historic mansion seems like a job tailor made for dressmaker Harlow Jane Cassidy. But with the mansion’s restoration still in progress and threatening weather on the horizon, she’s feeling on pins and needles more than reveling in holiday cheer.

Having volunteered to play Santa in this year’s festival, Dan Lee Chrisson was ready to move on after his divorce—until Bliss became his final resting place. Discovering his body puts Harlow at the scene of the crime. She’ll need plenty of help from friends and even her late great-grandmother’s spirited sleuthing if she’s to have a ghost of a chance of catching a killer who’s just jumped to the top of the naughty list ….

INCLUDES SEWING TIPS

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Signet; Original edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451238249
ISBN-13: 978-0451238245 

A Grid for Murder (A Mystery by the Numbers) [Mass Market Paperback]

Savannah Stone makes her living creating puzzles for logic lovers. But when a novice puzzle maker’s number is up, Savannah has to fill in the blanks to solve a murder ...

Savannah would almost rather drink poison than have tea with Joanna Clayton. Not only is the unpleasant woman one of the worst gossips in Asheville, North Carolina, over tea she flaunts her new assignment creating logic puzzles for a local newspaper — one that has repeatedly turned down Savannah’s work.

But when Savannah’s retired police chief husband, Zach, calls her later to tell her Joanna has actually been poisoned, she is more than puzzled — she’s troubled. Will the police consider puzzle envy a strong enough motive and think she decided to eliminate the competition? It’s time for Savannah to sort through Joanna’s long list of enemies to find out who was bitter enough to poison the prospective puzzle maker . . .

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425251640
ISBN-13: 978-0425251645

If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance (Berkley Prime Crime) [Mass Market Paperback]

At Gram’s Country Cooking School in Broken Rope, Missouri, Isabelle “Betts” Winston and her grandmother share the secrets of delicious home-style recipes. But there’s one secret they keep from their classes — their ability to talk to ghosts from the town’s colorful past …

Betts and Gram agree to help their friend Jake at Broken Rope’s Historical Society by accommodating some foodie tourists for the night and occupying them with cooking lessons. It couldn’t be worse timing when the pair encounter the ax-wielding ghost of Sally Swarthmore, one of Broken Rope’s legendary murderers, who pleads with Betts to help find her diary--a diary that could prove that Sally was really a victim, not a villain.

But they soon have a modern-day murder on their hands when one of the tourists turns up dead with a noose around his neck and two other tourists are nowhere to be found. Now Betts needs to put the cooking classes on the back burner to untangle two knotty mysteries and rope in a cold-blooded killer.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (October 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425251616
ISBN-13: 978-0425251614

October Releases

2nd
Mad River - John Sandford
Postcards from the Dead - Laura Childs
Deadly Patterns - Melissa Bourbon
A Grid for Murder - Casey Mayes
If Mashed Potatoes Could Dance - Paige Shelton

8th
NYPD Red - James Patterson

16th
Sleep No More - Iris Johansen
The Bone Bed - Patricia Cornwell

23rd
The Waterfall - Carla Neggers

30th

Stalked - Allison Brennan
Scorched - Laura Griffin
Stolen - Shiloh Walker

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Oct 1)

What Are You Reading is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Sheila from One Persons Journey: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

Post the books you read last week, book currently being read and books you plan on finishing this week.

Last week I read:


1.  Rev It Up - Julie Ann Walker
2.  Death on a Longship - Marsali Taylor
3.  Next of Kin - Sharon Sala

I’m currently reading:

1.  Against the Storm - Kat Martin

Books I’m planning on reading this week:

1.  A Wanted Man - Lee Child
2.  Zoo - James Patterson

Here's the link:

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-158