Twisted

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When one of her closest childhood friends disappears, former FBI

Special Agent Sloane Burbank takes the case – even though her ex-

lover Derek Parker is the agent in charge.

I’ve been waiting for 2 weeks for the postman to deliver this book to me. Andrea Kane is a favourite of mine. Her Scent of Danger was the first book I’d read by her and I found it to be a wonderful mystery. And to tell you the truth, I thought that this book would be written in the same style. I was both right and wrong in that regard. While the style was still in the same vein, this book was a more in-depth, drawn out affair delving into the turbulent world of FBI agents. Former FBI Special Agent Sloane Burbank is wonderful as the tortured heroine, struggling to get her life back together after suffering life threatening injuries in the line of duty. The breakdown of her relationship with Special Agent Derek Parker during this very emotional time has left her wary of forming relationships. That is until the call that sees her heading back into the line of fire as a case brings her back into the life of Derek.

Derek Parker is no knight in shining armour. An ex-Ranger he knows his faults, but doesn’t seem to see what happened between himself and Sloane as partly his fault. Her resignation from the agency was seen as a cowardly retreat to him. As the story evolves, and emotions rise to the surface, it is clear to readers that he loves this porcupine of a woman, but didn’t understand the depths of her trauma after her near death experience. Their love-hate relationship is wonderfully addictive to read.

The killer is suitably cunning and vicious. Ms. Kane gives you an insight into an unstable mind that is just chilling at times. When the killer was revealed I was truly shocked. I definitely wouldn’t have thought it was that person (no spoilers here :P), and even looking back there weren’t that many hints. If you figured it out before the reveal then bravo to you. Maybe I was having a slow day? Anyhow, the killers motives weren’t so out of left field that you were left scratching your head about why they did it. This time, the killer’s motives were heartbreakingly simple to divine once you know who it is.

For a mystery, cosy mystery, police procedural or thriller buff this would make a nice addition to their collection. There is a follow up book with Sloane and Derek, Drawn in Blood, that picks up six months after this book. It’s been getting mixed reviews, but I’ll be keeping my eyes out for it.

Rating: 4 / 5
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Shoot it! . . . Shoot it!

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As a self confessed book obsessive I was eagerly anticipating the next installment of the Anita Blake series... I should have borrowed my library's copy instead.

Although this is the 19th book in the series, it lacked the pace and storyline of the first books in the series. This book is full of the usual violence - after all, she is a vampire executioner, but the story was lacking and the characters seemed to be repeating the same mistakes over and over and over.... The sexual content of the last few books in the series has put alot of people off as the characters seem to be driven by what happens between the sheets. I want a good story where sex is part of it, not a story that revolves around how much sex they have.

What once had pride of place on my bookshelves is now pushed back behind my Mercedes Thompson, Guild Hunters, Merry Gentry and Kate Daniels books. With Hit List due out in only a few months, I'll be reserving a library copy so as not to make the same mistake again.

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Why don't they like us?

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This was the book that started it all off... I was trolling through author Karen E. Olson's blog this morning reading a post about getting copies of her OOP 'Annie Seymour Mysteries' series.  So I went on Amazon, tried to buy a copy and found out that I wasn't eligible....

WHY THE HECK NOT?

It seems truly bizaar that I can't download an copy of a book that's gone out of print.  Seriously, I can order books online from Amazon (US & UK), Book Depository, etc., but not electronic books.  It shouldn't be that much of an issue for people in other countries to download these items.  It's not like they don't charge us enough for it anyway!  Come on Amazon... Australian's read ebooks too.

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Bookshelf Envy

I don't think I need to say anything more :)
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Sleepless night... Miserable day

It's been such a miserable day, and its not even 10am yet.  Last night, the wind howled through the nearby bushland, and between the gusts hitting the house and the creaking branches... lets just say that I didn't get enough sleep.  Instead, I tried to read using the closest book I could find (which turned out to be Black Hills by Nora Roberts) and spent the next hour or so taxing my already exhausted brain.  So this morning I'm less than stellar.  Thankfully though, the rain has held off but it is so dark and dreary outside that I've had to turn on the lights in the room.  Finger's crossed that I'll be able to get some washing done today.


Unfortunately with all this rain comes boredom.  I spent last night rearranging my huge bookshelf (a converted queen-sized waterbed frame that's wide enough to double up books on each shelf) trying to find a book that I was going to buy from Book Depository.... but thought it looked a tad familiar.  So after pulling out over 150 books, there it was.  Right on the bottom of a stack, in the back of the shelf.  Cheeky little monkey it was. 



Only 3 of the 6 shelves!

So today I've started my next little project.  I'm going to catalogue all my books on the computer so that I can't double up on titles.  Wish me luck people, because the last time I took a stocktake of any description was a few years ago and then I had more than 600 titles... and that was before my paranormal and mystery-suspense phase.  I think I'm going to have to invest in a barcode reader or else my fingers just might drop off after I get through typing all the info.  Oh well, it's good practice for my library course now isn't it.... so my count at the moment is 56, and only the huge bookshelf, and 2 smaller bookcases to go {looks dazed and confused}. 

Thankfully the software program that I found (All My Books) lets me add items by ISBN and then searches Amazon (or Borders, etc.) for the books details.  This will save me hours and hours of typing, and probably my families sanity too :D  Just be aware that if you do searches in batches, and your on dial-up, it has a tendency to freeze.
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