I am a NetGalley Member!

I recently signed up with NetGalley as a Professional Reader.  I honestly didn't know that there was such a thing!  I'd come across NetGalley before when reading other customer reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. but never really gave much thought to it.  I had no idea what it was and to be honest, I had no idea what an ARC was!  I just kept seeing NetGalley and ARC popping up under reviews and blog posts and decided to find out what the deal was.

I found out what ARC meant right away.  Advance Reading Copy.  Wait, what?  You mean I get to read a book before it gets released?!  Ok, I just died and went to book heaven.  So many books!  So little time!

Of course I signed up immediately.  I followed their recommendations and filled out my profile and tried to make myself sound good to the publishers because they are the ones who hold the keys to book nirvana.  After setting up my account, I started searching for books.  Once I found one that sounded interesting I simply clicked on a box to request a copy and it was shipped off to the publisher to give me a yes or no.

I was turned down quite a bit, especially by the bigger publishers.  They want reviewers with more book reviews under their belt I guess.  But I wasn't going to give up and I found a few that wanted to give this amateur reviewer a chance and I just posted my first review today!  Now to find more books...

Review for The Bones of You by Debbie Howells

NetGalley provided an ARC and my review is an honest opinion and nothing was promised in return for my review other than the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I was intrigued when I first read the synopsis for The Bones of You.  The perfect daughter from the perfect family is missing and later found brutally murdered.  A murder mystery, a family with a terrible dark side, an innocent bystander who gets drawn into the middle after extending the branch of friendship and ends up solving not only the murder but also exposing the horrible secret behind the "perfect family".

The plot was enough to get my attention.  Rosie Anderson, oldest daughter of the town's perfect family, is missing.  She is found murdered and it rocks the town to its core, especially Kate McKay.  She is a local gardener and horse woman who has a daughter the same age as Rosie.  She believes that these types of things just don't happen here.  Is there a stranger in their midst, preying on their children?  Are any of them safe?  Kate McKay asks herself this question as she thanks the heavens that her own daughter, Grace, is alive and well.  What can only be described as survivor's guilt, Kate befriends Rosie's mother, the beautiful and fragile Joanna Anderson.

Through this friendship, Kate begins to unravel a family secret, a darkness that hides behind the dazzling façade that the Anderson's have built for themselves.  The beautiful and graceful Jo, her husband and renowned journalist, Neil and their youngest daughter, Delphine.  As anonymous notes arrive, Kate slowly begins to unravel the web of lies and deceit that surround Rosie's life and death, not knowing where they will lead.  It will make her ask the question, is anyone really who they seem to be?

While I really did enjoy this book, I will admit that it did take awhile for me to warm up to the story and to the characters.  I put it down and took it up again several times before I was able to let the story suck me in.  Some of the characters were a little wooden and one dimensional.  In some aspects they were barely there, but for some of these characters I think it does fit the story perfectly.  There are some people who float through our lives and never seem more than just a ghostly image and I believe that is what the author has achieved here. 

While I did enjoy the backstory provided by Rosie's perspective, the change in perspective was a bit jumpy at times and I think this could be smoothed out to make it more cohesive and less jarring.  There were times that even though you knew it was told from Rosie's perspective, it was still hard to follow at points.  There are a couple entries where the perspective is Rosie's but it's someone else who is actually speaking and this can be a little confusing at times.  There were also a few shifts into Delphine's perspective and I think that these subtracted from the story instead of adding to it. 

Overall, I would give this novel a solid 3 stars.  It may take some time to grow on you, but I think it's worth a look if you like a book with a few twists and turns with a fairly satisfying resolution.

The Bones of You on Amazon

Harry Bosch Series by Michael Connelly

As if I didn't have enough series to follow, I started another one a few weeks ago.  A co-worker recommended the new Amazon produced show Bosch and said it was based on a book series.  I can't bring myself to watch a movie or television show that's been based on a book without reading the books first.  So that led me to my local library and luckily the first 15 (yes fifteen!) books were available immediately!  I checked them out three at a time and am now up to Echo Park, book 12 in the series.  I found out later that I only needed to read as far as City of Bones, the 9th book, to not lose anything by watching the series.  But I was hooked and am now reading now only all of the Harry Bosch books, but I've been hooked into reading a couple of books by Michael Connelly that don't have Harry as the main character, but he's there.  I had to read The Poet before I could read The Narrows.

I'm not actually going to review all of the books, that would take too long!  But I am going to recommend them to anyone who likes a good mystery and a good detective novel.  In Detective Hieronymus (rhymes with anonymous) Bosch you have a character who is flawed but likable.  His mother named him after a 15th century painter who was famous for his portrayal of earthly sins and his visions of hell.  This sometimes parallels Det. Bosch and his own struggles.  He was orphaned at an early age, spent time in Vietnam as a tunnel rat and seems to be constantly at odds with those in charge.  But he has an undeniable need and desire to do good, to make everyone count.  Every case matters, every victim counts no matter who they are or where they came from.  It didn't matter if they were the homeless man on the sidewalk or a Beverly Hills millionaire.  To Detective Harry Bosch, they all count, they all matter and he will do everything in his power to bring justice.

Even after reading 11 books in the series, I keep going back for more and am more than willing to branch out and get involved in other series by Connelly just to keep up with Harry Bosch.  And now that Bosch has been picked up for another season on Amazon, I'll have even more to look forward to once I get the rest of the series finished!

I will list the Harry Bosch books in order, but I'm also going to include some of the "offshoots" because I did find that I was a little lost when I first started The Narrows because they were talking about people and events that started in another book called the Poet that starred some of the supporting characters from the Bosch books.  I'll put those books in italics and it's also the order that I'm reading the books.

Happy Reading!!

The Black Echo (1992)
The Black Ice (1993)
The Concrete Blonde (1994)
The Last Coyote (1995)
The Poet (1996) Does not feature Harry Bosch but is the prequel to The Narrows
Trunk Music (1997)
Angels Flight (1999)
A Darkness More Than Night (2001)
City of Bones (2002)
Lost Light (2003)
The Narrows (2004)
The Lincoln Lawyer (2005) Part of the Mickey Haller series
The Closers (2005)
Echo Park (2006)
The Overlook (2007)
The Brass Verdict (2008) Part of the Mickey Haller Series
9 Dragons (2009)
The Reversal (2010) Part of the Mickey Haller Series
The Drop (2011)
The Fifth Witness (2011) Part of the Mickey Haller Series
The Black Box (2012)
The Gods of Guilt (2013) Part of the Mickey Haller Series
The Burning Room (2014)
The Crossing (2015) will be released in November 2015

Review for Docket No. 76 by Arita M. L. Bohannan

Docket No. 76 is a legal thriller that is surprisingly packed with vivid details, suspense, action and drama, all in a package of less than 200 pages.  Most stories don't reach this level of completeness even after twice and sometimes three times as many pages.

Little Dori has been brutally attacked in the home of her godfather, a well to do architect in New Orleans.  He is quickly cleared as a suspect and the hunt goes on for the attacker.  Once found, it's the job of ADA Sandy Morgan to bring him to justice.

Docket No. 76 is this case.  It's just a number, just one file in the many that come across her desk every day.  It's supposed to be an open and shut case.  They have fingerprints, DNA and the eyewitness testimony of little 5 year old Dori.  Little does Sandy know that her worst nightmare is going to walk into that courtroom.  One way or another, she has vowed to get justice for Dori.  But will it be justice or vengeance?

The details are striking and vivid, you get a clear picture of every character and the setting.  The action is fast paced and while you already know who did it, it's the how will he be brought to justice that has you racing through the pages.  The courtroom scenes are gut-wrenching and nearly brought tears to my eyes.

There were a few loose ends that never got tied up, but even that really didn't detract from the story.  An engaging story and one that I'm definitely glad that I picked up.  I typically don't go for shorter books, but in this case, I'm very happy that I did.

Review for 50 Halfs from First to Last by Brian Baleno

50 Halfs from First to Last follows the author through his first half marathon and his decision to run one race in each of the 50 states.  He had a little tale or story for many of the races. 

I wish he would have included a story for each of the 50 states, there were many gaps between the races.  I also wish they could have been a little longer and went into more detail about the races, how he chose them, the terrain, the race itself, the participants and the points of interest along the route.  Many of the stories were little more than when he arrived, what his timing was and a very little detail about where he was.  Each one left me wanting just a little more.

Many of the pictures were beautiful, but had little to no contextual clues along with them.

There were several pictures that seemed to have been cropped or attacked with the eraser function in MS Paint which led to the pictures being more of a distraction than a compliment to the story.  I'm sure this was done either due to copyright issues or because they did not have permission to publish the likeness of someone else who happened to be in the picture.

I don't want to take anything away from this amazing accomplishment, because it is absolutely amazing.  He had an opportunity that very few people will ever have in their lifetime and he also recognized that he may never again have the opportunity to see most of those states in his lifetime.  With that in mind, I guess I wished for a more vivid picture of what he went through during that two and a half year journey.

50 Halfs from First to Last on Amazon

Review for Every Town Needs a Russian Tea Room by Anne Steinberg

Every Town Needs a Russian Tea Room by Anne Steinberg is an emotional tale of two very different people who come together against all odds to find love and happiness in a world that doesn't believe they can have that love and happiness.  It's not your typical romance novel and doesn't have the typical romance novel ending and I think that's what made this book so enjoyable for me.  It was very real.  The emotions were raw and most of the circumstances were very believable.

Hallie Remington was a wife and mother.  After the recent loss of her son, she retreats from her loveless marriage and lives the life of a hermit in an apartment in New York City.  She's our poor little rich girl.  She comes from money but is the very picture of the adage that money doesn't buy happiness.  She is withdrawn, depressed and very close to losing her mind until the day she lets someone in.  That someone happens to be Nicholas, the houseboy that came with the apartment.

Nicholas is a Russian immigrant who has come to America to become a Master Chef and realize his dream of opening a Russian Tea Room, he believes every town needs one and is willing to travel the blue highways to find the perfect spot for his dream.  Slowly a friendship forms between Hallie and Nicholas, they both fill a spot in each other's heart and slowly that friendship develops into something more.  This isn't just a torrid affair.  They have seemed to find something that seems to be elusive for many people...true love.

Can love overcome the vast differences between Hallie's and Nicholas' worlds?  Can they truly find happiness together in a world that is so concerned with money and superficial standards?  Take the journey with Hallie and Nicholas and find out if they do find that happiness.  The characters are vivid and complete.  You find yourself going through a whole range of emotions toward them as the book goes on.  You want to yell at them, comfort them and encourage them and most of all, you really want them to succeed.

Every Town Needs a Russian Tea Room on Amazon

Review for Buried Threads by Kaylin McFarren

Buried Threads picks up pretty much where Severed Threads left off.  Rachel Lyons and Chase Cohen are treasure hunting partners and lovers.  They are offered a job finding buried treasure in Japan.  The Heart of Darkness, a katana with a very large emerald embedded in the scabbard.  There is a curse that goes along with the katana and will drag Rachel and Chase into a world of mobsters, intrigue, human trafficking and a touch of the supernatural.

I enjoyed the book, though not nearly as much as I did the first novel.  The characters were well drawn but I think this time there were just too many characters to try and keep straight.  It seems that the author really wanted to keep you in suspense as to who can be trusted, who is on the side of good and who is on the side of evil.  It was far to easy to get lost in the web that was being cast that unfortunately, it was hard to keep the thread of the story straight.  Instead of adding to the suspense and intrigue, it tended to take away from it.

The addition of Japanese words and phrases would have been easier for many to read if there was actually a reference to what the terms meant.  Sometimes it was made clear and sometimes there were just phrases put in with no reference whatsoever as to what they meant.

Ghosts, spirits, souls, reincarnation and the afterlife are represented here and for the most part it's done really well.  A light touch was used through most of the scenes where the supernatural was present and it seemed to flow with the story.  But there were a few times where it just seemed to be thrown in for the sake of being able to explain something away.

All in all, it was still a good read and went by fairly quickly.  There were a few sluggish areas and there were simply too many twists and turns involved that the main story seemed to get lost sometimes in the web of intrigue.  But all that aside, I'm interested in seeing what happens to Rachel and Chase next.  I hope that the author isn't quite done with them yet.  A note of warning, this book really isn't a stand alone novel, to understand some of the context, you should read Severed Threads first.

Buried Threads on Amazon