Review - "Box of Rocks" by Karla Telega

I wish I had saved this for my winter holiday! This is a fun read :-)

A bit about the book

Maggie and Cher are both 50+ and try to find something to fill their days. Maggie suffers from nervous breakdowns and therefore has no job. Cher is also without work, but she on the other hand has a lot of money and have just finished studying journalism. They decide to start collecting local stones as a hobby, and maybe find gold?

An archaeology student has apparently found evidence of an indigenous ancient tribe in one of the National State Parks, and this can be the really big thing - both for him and his university.

Bear has also found something interesting, and he guards his finding with whatever means. This can be his ticket to another life.

These three stories are connected, and with Maggie and Cher as the main characters in the novel. They find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation, and since Cher can be tied to one of the persons in this case both of the women are involved - maybe more than they bargained for when they started rock collection?

My evaluation

This is a fun novel to read! I don't find myself laughing on top of my lungs, but I more or less chuckle throughout the whole story. The narrative angle is from Maggie and Cher's point of view and the humor evolves around the fact that these two women are just about to pass their prime. Almost.. At the same time they want to do something with their life, to have a purpose, and this characterize the whole story. Incontinence, tendencies of a nervous breakdown and murder investigation is mixed with two crazy dogs, archaeology digging and previous adultery.

This is an easy read, and you don't find a very intricate and complex murder investigation going on. Even so, this was a book worth my time. As several other new authors I have read lately Telega doesn't do the same mistake of getting off track with tedious elaborate details. Her dialogue is spot-on without any nonsense. A result of few details is however, that the story feels a bit "thin". Then again, this novel may not need that. I would like to read more from this author and see how she develops her characters! This is a good start!

My rating

with a "+" behind it :-)


Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 309 KB
Print Length: 290 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0615497977
Publisher: Adoro Books; 1 edition (July 20, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B005DOZZS0

Lots of traces from the Viking's in my area - the reason behind our monument

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Review - "A Feeling in my Bones" by Gervase Shorter

Genre: Crime/Mystery

A bit about the author 

Born in England, Gervase spent his military service hunting terrorists through the forests of Mount Kenya. After studying medieval history at Oxford he caught the Transiberian train to Vladivostok on his way to Japan, where he lived for four years. He travelled back to Europe overland and then spent three years in Lisbon, moving in 1973 to Rio de Janeiro where he now divides his time between an apartment overlooking the lagoon and a farm 3,000 feet up in the mountains where he grows bananas, avocados, persimmon and pecan nuts. He is married with four adult children.

A bit about the book

Jake and Sally meet at the university and falls in love. Later they get married and live in the English countryside. Jake works as a consultant, a "fixer" between larger companies and Sally works as a book editor. On one of Jake's jobs abroad he disappears while on an assignment for a reclusive billionaire. Rumors says he's off to Africa, but Sally doesn't know his whereabouts. Everything is very secret. A month later Jake reappears in a mental clinic in Miami suffering from a nervous breakdown and their life changes dramatically.

What happened to Jake when he was abroad? Did he really go to Central Africa? Why does he behave so distant and strange? And where does all the money Jake suddenly inherited from the now dead billionaire really come from? Little by little Sally discovers the truth, and what she finds is so frightening that she has to run for her life.

My evaluation

This is a novel with a potentially very interesting story line! I get, however, more and more disappointed the further I read. Instead of building suspense around the main plot, the story gets off track again and again with uninteresting information and side stories.

Parts of the writing is very good and keeps me turning the pages. It is as if the author's enthusiasm comes and goes in waves. But overall I don't really get to know the main character and narrator of the story, Sally, even though I get a lot of information about her. She doesn't engage or intrique me. Jake's character seems also very vague. When I loose interest in the main characters I also loose interest in the story. Do I really want to know what this is all about?

The biggest disappointment however is the end of the novel, which could have been very interesting with the sketched main plot in mind. But I find it too rushed and abrupt finalized compared to the very good parts which lead up to "the grand finale". The end is as if the author lost the spark again - a little too soon. Again I am left thinking.. "what was this?" Not convinced.

My rating

of 5 

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 414 KB
Print Length: 252 pages
Publisher: Amazon; 2 edition (September 7, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B005UNJDFA

Pic of the day: Reminder of Summer

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Review - "Missing daughter - shattered family" by Liz Strange

Genre: Crime

My evaluation

I was pleasantly surprised! This was my first novel by Liz Strange, and I read it in one go. It was not fast paced action or heavy suspence that actually kept me turning pages, more the authors captivating writing and the always new twist and turns of the story. Strange manages to build a very stong set of characters in this book, without making it too complex. David, the PI and main character, is a very convincing ex policeman working on a missing daughter case - and there is, of course, much more to the story than we are led to believe at the beginning. The writing is easy going, without ever being slow, boring or superfluous. I just found myself reading on and on, eager to see if my own conclusions through the novel matched the end.

A nice touch to the story is the parallel development of David's relationship to a prosecutor and how the existing investigation affects his personal life. This adds depth to the novel instead of taking the focus away from the original plot. It's difficult to review a crime novel and avoid spoilers, so I just have to say - Give it a try, because this is a very good read! :-)

My rating

of 5

Paperback: 292 pages

Publisher: MLR Press (September 2, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 160820412X
ISBN-13: 978-1608204120

Pic of the day: Happy New Year from snowy Norway :-)

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Review - "The Devil's Star" by Jo Nesbø

Genre: Mystery/Crime

A serial killer taunts Harry Hole in Nesbø's searing third crime novel to feature the Oslo police detective to be made available in the U.S. (after Nemesis). 

Still suffering from alcohol-fueled demons and obsessed with hunting for evidence against a clearly dirty cop, Hole grudgingly agrees to help look into the murder of a woman whose finger has been amputated and a red diamond stuck under her eyelid. More bodies follow, with the murderer leaving identical five-pointed diamonds (the titular devil's star) at each crime scene. At first the killings appear to be random, but Hole soon discovers an ominous pattern.

"Harry had felt the gnawing ache for alcohol from the momenthe woke up that morning. First as an instinctive physical craving, then as a panic-stricken fear because he had put a distance between himself and his medicine by not taking his hip flask or any money with him to work. Now the ache was entering a new phase in which it was both a wholly physical pain and a feeling of blank terror that he would be torn to pieces..." 

My evaluation

Jo Nesbø writes as always good mystery novels, and his Harry Hole character is one of my favourites, even with - or perhaps because of - his many flaws. Nesbø brilliantly incorporates threads from earlier novels, including Hole's often tumultuous relationship with his lover, Rakel, without ever losing the current story's rhythm. 

This third novel is also very well written, with surprising twists and turns. When you think you have a good idea of what's happening, something complete different turns up. You never know what to expect, just as an exciting mystery/crime story should be!    

Jo Nesbø is my favourite Norwegian author at the moment, and has been for a few years now :-)

My rating

 

of 5 (with a tiny "+" behind the stars)

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 747 KB
Print Length: 544 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0099546760
Publisher: Vintage Digital (November 10, 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B0035OC80I
 

Pic of the day: A Buddha figure from Burma