Tag: review (Page 24 of 27)

Flesh and Blood (Scarpetta #22) by Patricia Cornwell

December 19, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”0062325345″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dOm0iACuL.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”334″]

Thanks to the folks at publisher HarperCollins for providing this review copy!

I was dubious about reading this 22nd Scarpetta novel, as the last few were meandering, self absorbed, and boring. Thank goodness Cornwell seems to be back to letting action tell the tale, rather than have Kay muse constantly about how people treat her and how everything is a mystery. There is some of that here; Benton and Lucy seem uncommunicative at times, Marino is still angry, and Kay obsesses over how Marino describes her as cold and impersonal:

“You and me both,” Marino says as if something else is on his mind. “People shouldn’t get away with shit, I don’t care who they are.”

“Cold and impersonal,” I consider as if I’m amused but I’m not.

“I said sort of.”

“You’ve waited all this time to tell me that?”

“I’ve said it before including behind your back. You’re different now.”

“I was that bad back then?”

“Yeah and I was an asshole,” he says. “We deserved each other.”

Benton and Kay are hours away from flying to Florida for a week of vacation to celebrate Kay’s birthday when she is called to the scene of a shooting. As she investigates further she realizes that this may be linked to other shootings, as the victims are all somehow connected to her. There is a sleazy insurance investigator that is stalking Scarpetta, a 14 year old drowning victim that needs to be autopsied, and bizarre behavior from a congressman’s trouble son. Eventually all this comes together to implicate Lucy as the sniper–she has the ways and means, and may be going off the deep end. It’s up to her own flesh and blood, Scarpetta, to get to the bottom of everything.

The book is certainly better than the last few, but not as good as the first 8 or so. That being said, there is plenty of forensic science, autopy action, and a long and complicated section on guns, bullets, ammunition loads, and computerized scopes that can give minimally experienced shooters an edge on accuracy.

I want to say that I figured out fairly early on who they were alluding to as the killer, but I won’t spoil it here. Suffice it to say that there was plenty of things to keep me interested, as all the subplots got wrapped up and the tension built. The last few pages fly along as Benton and Scarpetta go on a dive to recover evidence. Just as I was relaxing and enjoying the last page—-BOOM! It ends on a cliffhanger; very out of character for Cornwell. Not my favorite type of ending, but this is a good way to ensure that people will be salivating for your next book.

Overall, I did enjoy it, as the characters seemed to be more of their normal selves. For the Greyhound lovers, Sock is still Scarpetta’s faithful companion, and I enjoyed how she and Benton seemed at ease and still in love in the beginning of the book. Let’s hope Cornwell keeps the good stuff coming.

Want your own copy? Click [easyazon_link asin=”0062325345″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]here.[/easyazon_link]

Calves in the Mud Room by Jerome O. Brown (plus INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY!)

December 16, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”0615967507″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31tDIS3QK4L.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”312″]

Many thanks to author Jerry Brown for gifting me these copies in exchange for this honest review.

Calves in the Mud Room is a study in contrasts; hard working teens and irresponsible adults, the haves and the have-nots, dreams and responsibility. Cows become angels, a boy becomes a man, and all the while, the winter wind howls and snow falls relentlessly.

Wade Summers is trying to borrow his mom’s car and finish his chores so he can get cleaned up for a date with Glory Schoonover. He’s done nothing but dream about her, and when she asks him to the Valentine’s Day dance at their high school, he can’t believe his good fortune. This may be the only chance he gets with Glory, she of the “juicy fruit lips, dark chocolate eyes, honey streaked corn silk hair with the chamomile-lavender scent“.

As Wade is finishing up the evening feeding he sees a heifer off by herself, not interested in food, restless. His joyous anticpation of the evening quickly turns to despair when he discovers his stepfather’s cows are calving early, in the middle of a ferocious blizzard:

Not tonight, no, not tonight, please.

He finishes feeding and swings the truck back around. The snow etches an opaque curtain and he loses the isolated heifer.

A black cow pie in the headlights sprouts a pair of legs and tries to rise. Wade hits the brake hard. The engine croaks.

Snowflakes eat at the newborn. There’s no story of birth in the snow. No fluids, no hoof prints, no imprint. The mother could be twenty feet away but all he sees are shreds of snow.

Wade’s stepfather is mean and useless, Glory’s moneyed family is condescending, and Wade is a teenager with raging hormones. Nothing but adversity surrounds him, and Brown’s lyrical, flowing prose shows Midwestern hardscrabble life in a terribly beautiful way. Almost every page illustrates the despair of farm life lived just on the brink of bankruptcy, made tolerable by alcohol and dreams of a way out. Brown creates unsympathetic characters with ease, giving the reader authentic dialogue and spot on introspection. Don’t let the simple plot (boy wants girl, simple things conspire against him) fool you—it’s told in a new light. The undercurrents of the subplots are telling and poignant also, and there are some unforgettable characters I’d like to know more about.

Is Wade forced to do the right thing because of the specter of his grandfather and the desire to rise above the bleakness? Or is Wade a good person deep down, regardless of his environment and dead end life? His character is revealed slowly, carefully, with information right in front of you, and plenty to see in between the lines.

What makes this book sing is the rolling, lyrical prose. Simple things like cows in a field, or detritus in a pickup truck take on a new light as Brown paints a picture on every page. Calves in the Mud Room must be read at least twice; once to see how things happen, and the second time to savor the words slowly, like a gourmet dish with its flavors perfectly blended.

This novella is truly a hidden gem that is a quick and lovely read. I loved it.

The author has generously donated a softcover copy of his book for a giveaway! He also agreed to be interviewed by us. Click here to read the interview. Use the box below to enter the giveaway!

[raw] a Rafflecopter giveaway[/raw]
Don’t want to wait for the contest to be over? You can get your own copy [easyazon_link asin=”0615967507″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]here.[/easyazon_link]

Doctor, Doctor by Merry Freer

December 14, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 1 Comment

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”B00NO0VV7E” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41abInfq3RL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”107″]

I found this book through my Twitter feed and the blurb made it sound exellent; so I downloaded it to my Kindle. The author Merry Freer said it was a “love it or hate it” kind of book.

Well, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I started to grow weary about halfway through, and then I started skimming, to see if I could get to some juicy parts. When I got to the 3/4 mark I gave up, with the reasoning that I have many other novels in my bullpen to get to, and life is too short to waste on bad books.

The story is based on true events; the author is manipulated and abused by both her boyfriend and her therapist. I didn’t get to the part that explains why the police were called to Mark’s (the boyfriend) house, but I really didn’t care either. See, the book starts off with the author waiting for the police to go to Mark’s house, and she feels guilty about it. The story then starts as a flashback–how she got a divorce, how her therapist helped her through the bad times, how she meets Mark, a handsome doctor–and then it just gets strange. Mark treats her well, then dumps her; the therapist offers to start seeing Mark, they get back together; the therapist seemingly tells the author “secrets” of what happens in Mark’s therapy sessions; and so on.

The first alarm bell was when I read about the unethical behavior of the therapist. Then I wondered why Freer would stay with a man that was so distant, manipulative, untrustworthy, and deceitful. I felt truly sorry for her, that she wasted her time with Mark when it would have been better for her to be alone. It seems like she was desperate and felt unworthy of someone better. It was annoying to me to keep reading about how she felt bad because of how he treated her, yet she was so in love with him and thought that things would become better somehow. Mark was a drug addict that cheated on Freer multiple times. Who would want to stay with a man like that? Maybe if I wasn’t so frustrated in her inability to get this guy out of her mind I would have kept going, but there was just a little too much of “I loved him so, why did he treat me like this? Why isn’t he calling me? Why is my therapist asking me to do this?” I know the idea of the book was that things were so off kilter, but I have no patience with hearing about how men take advantage of women. Since I didn’t finish the book, I can only hope that Freer has exorcised her demons and has found happiness either on her own, or with a real man who knows the meaning of love.

Want to read this yourself? Click [easyazon_link asin=”B00NO0VV7E” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]here[/easyazon_link] to purchase it. Let me know what YOU think.

Breeder by KB Hoyle (plus GIVEAWAY!)

December 9, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 1 Comment

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”B00PCDTM9A” cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/618%2B3dUTFwL.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”333″]

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. Check out the bottom of this post after you have read my review and enter a giveaway for signed copies of Breeder!

Review

I love a good dystopian story, and Breeder did not disappoint. The first part, when Seventeen/Pria was living in the Sanctuary, reminded me of Brave New World/The Giver/1984. The second part reminded me of the Matrix movies, when they were living underground.

Breeder is set in the future, where the Unified World Order has set rules for everyone to live by, rules for propagation of the human race, and specific boundaries that everyone abide by. Only the genetically perfect can Breed, and they are considered “better” than others and treated as such. Breeders live in Sanctuary, and their duty is to Carry and create life. Their routine is carefully planned out, their diet and vitamins meticulously calculated, and as Seventeen/Pria tells herself, “My life is perfect”.

One day, as she is waking up from an unknown procedure, she comes in contact with an Enforcer, who asks her what her name is. This is forbidden, and she is suspicious. However, she is unsure if she dreamed this, since the Enforcer (whose name is Pax) is a man, and there are no men allowed inside Sanctuary. As time goes by, she becomes depressed and wonders when she will be able to Carry again. (Conjecture: her unknown procedure was an abortion and she is having an emotional reaction due to abrupt hormonal changes.) The encounter with Pax stays with her, and she is naturally curious – a trait discouraged in Sanctuary. She asks questions here and there, and this comes to the attention of Mother, the leader of Sanctuary and the Breeding Program. Seventeen/Pria must fight for her life, as the world that she knows and loves turns against her.

The second part of the book take place in a desolate, hostile environment, and there is suspense and some great characters to hate. Pria (no longer Seventeen) finds herself reviled by some and viewed as a means to an end by others. As her knowledge of what the UWO has done, she becomes confused and realizes just how naive she has been. It takes a really long time for her character to develop, but Pria truly comes into her own towards the end.

There is also a twist that I didn’t see coming, that made my jaw drop. It may be a cliche, but it was well utilized to further the story. No spoilers here–you need to read it for yourself.

The story seemed to be coming to an abrupt ending, and just as I was wondering how things were going to wind up, I found out that it was a cliffhanger and this is the first book in a trilogy. AAAUUGGHHH! I’m not a big fan of the “multiple books” thing that is prevalent now, but this is no knock against the author. I’m not hating the player, just the game. Apparently I, along with a lot of Hoyle’s fan base, will be anxiously awaiting Criminal, the second book.

There really wasn’t anything to dislike about Breeder: the characters were multi layered, the dystopian world well thought out and described to a T, and almost all of the scenes were believable. This is not an overly scientific novel, and is a smooth read.

Here is an excerpt; Pax and Pria are on the run and have found a hiding place. Night has arrived and they are working out a plan for keeping watch overnight:

Silence, heavy and thick, falls between us. Awkwardness seems to creep up at unexpected times, and I wonder if it is always this way between women and men. I never felt awkward with any of my sisters, but whatever this is between Pax and me has a different feel to it.

“Anyway,” he says. “I sat against the wall over there.” He nods to an intact wall dividing the cabin into two spaces. “It’s not the warmest spot, but it gives you a good view of the access points without making you visible from the outside. Take this.” He hands me the Enforcer helmet.

“Okay.” I pick my way around the broken-down furniture and dried leaves. “So I just . . . sit and watch?”

“Keep your weapon ready,” he says. “If anything comes along, crawl over here and wake me up. But don’t worry—dawn is only a few hours off. I never saw anything other than a band of mule deer.”

I nod and settle against the wall, putting the helmet on so I can see. Pax lies down on his back right where I slept and falls almost immediately asleep. I watch his green-tinted chest rise and fall for several minutes before I remember I’m supposed to be watching the “access points,” as Pax called them.

Jagged shards of glass poke out from around the edges of the windows. The doorway gapes at me, a dark yawning hole that looks ominous even in the green glow of the helmet visor. A set of glowing green eyes outlined by a furry form with pointed ears stops outside the cabin and looks at me. Another coyote. I train my Air-5 on it and hold my breath, but it loses interest and moves on, its nose to the ground. I let out my breath. Hopefully that will be all the wildlife I see tonight.

Pax was right, it isn’t the warmest spot, but the cold air actually helps me to stay awake. Temperature, along with food and sleep, was highly regulated in Sanctuary so we never had to feel uncomfortable. As I think longingly about my warm bed in the dormitory, my head grows heavy and nods toward my chest. I jerk upright and stand to pace. I wonder how much time has passed.

Pax doesn’t even stir once in his sleep, but his eyes move beneath his eyelids. He must be having vivid dreams, like me. I suppose if his life has been as tumultuous as he’s painted it, he must have plenty to haunt his dreams.

How did I get here, pacing in the dark and cold in a structure well over a hundred years old with a weapon in my hand and meat in my stomach?

Just thinking about my stomach makes it growl, and I look around for the cook pot. It’s sitting on the hearth next to the embers of the fire, and I hope it’s still a little warm.

I pick my way over to it, stepping over Pax’s legs to reach it. Then I squat and lift the pot to my lips, testing the heat of the metal against them before taking a drink. It’s cool enough to touch, and I take several sips. The meaty flavor is still strange, but somehow satisfying.

Pax grabs my ankle, and I jump, spilling the broth.

“I’m . . . fifteen,” he says. “Fifteen . . .”

His eyes are closed and roving around beneath his freckled lids, making his golden lashes dance. I think he’s talking in his sleep.

“I know,” I say. “You told me you’re Enforcer Fifteen.”

“Fifteen,” he mumbles again. “Is . . . my . . . number.” His grip relaxes and his hand falls to the floor.

I let out a careful breath and carry what remains of the broth back to my spot against the wall. I’m not sure what that was all about, but I’d rather be out of his reach for now.

Want your own copy? Click [easyazon_link asin=”B00PCDTM9A” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]here[/easyazon_link]! Also, enter the contest below for a chance to win any of a bunch of great Breeder-related prizes!

[raw]

Release Date: December 11 , 2014

Published by The Writers Coffee Shop

Genre: Fiction: Dystopian

ISBN e-book: 978-1-61213-292-1

Available from: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and TWCS PH

~~SUMMARY~~

Everything about Seventeen’s life is perfect, from her genetics, to her home in Sanctuary, to her status as a Breeder in the Unified World Order. But all that changes when she meets a rogue Enforcer named Pax, who infiltrates Sanctuary and targets her for extraction from the Controlled Repopulation Program. Pax seems to know a little too much about her, and he plants dangerous doubts in her mind that accuse Sanctuary of hiding a dark secret, and that cause Seventeen to question everything she’s ever known.

When Seventeen’s life is threatened, she has little choice but to run away from Sanctuary with Pax. But for Breeders, contact with men is forbidden by law, and even the simple act of taking Pax’s hand is treason.

Mired in confusion, Seventeen travels with Pax to the outside world and takes the name Pria, the identity of her childhood. But she is far from certain she’s made the right decision when they discover an entire community of people who should no longer exist.

Seventeen, now Pria, is thrust into a position as a key player in a dangerous bid to bring down the Unified World Order. Meanwhile, Pax’s attachment to her and her growing attraction to him contribute to the ever-growing mysteries in her life.

Pria’s journey from a sheltered, naïve Breeder to a rebel agent requires not only external transformation but self-discovery. As her world crumbles, Pria must decide who she is and what she really believes.

But the truth comes at a cost, and uncovering it will require a greater treason than she could ever have imagined.

Goodreads * Add to Want To Read List

~~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~~

K.B. Hoyle is a bestselling author, a public speaker, a creative writing instructor, and a classical history teacher who uses her knowledge of the ancient and medieval worlds to pen speculative and fantasy tales for people of all ages. She has been married since the age of twenty to the love of her life, with whom she has four wonderful children. Find out more about her at www.kbhoyle.com.

~~CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR~~

Facebook * Website * Blog * Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Praise for Breeder

“Breeder was anything but a let down. The characters were extremely well written, making me able to empathize with Pria and Pax and the situation they find themselves in. I kept turning the pages because I just had to find out what happened to these people and, to my shock, finished the book in a day! ” – Angela Goodreads Review

[/raw]

Handbook of Canine and Feline Emergency Protocols by Maureen McMichael

December 7, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

I received this textbook from publisher Wiley-Blackwell in exchange for this honest review,

When an emergency presents to your small animal clinic, there isn’t time to find a textbook and search through the index for help. This second edition is designed to assist veterinary personnel find answers fast.

Highlights:

19 chapters spotlighting different emergencies by type
Chapters are in alphabetical order with thumb tabs
Spiral bound for easy handling
Over 165 cases detailed
Cases are outlined by history, clinical signs, diagnostics, treatment, and prognosis
At the end of each chapter there are references for further reading
Images accompany some cases for clearer understanding (update to Second Edition)
Companion website at www.wiley.com/go/mcmichaelhandbook that gives you access to calculations, review questions, video clips and more

This text is easy to understand and will help you triage and support animals in an emergency. There is even a chapter on Procedures and Protocols that walks you through uncommon (for single doctor small animal practice) tasks such as blood crossmatching, thoracotomy tube placement, CSF collection and lipid infusion. Each procedure is laid out with sections for indications, equipment, procedure steps, technique, complications, and contraindications. Some textbooks have an overabundance of information, causing overload at a critical time. For those who need a quick refresher to jog the memory that has been buried since vet school, this book is perfectly created.

I especially enjoyed the review questions on the website. You can test your knowledge in quick bites and get your answers right away, with an explanation. This book will be a terrific addition to any clinic library and will be referred to repeatedly in times of emergency.

Want your own copy? You can pick it up here.

Working Stiff by Judy Melinek, MD (plus GIVEAWAY!)

December 5, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 3 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”1476727252″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UsR65FmGL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”106″]

At the end of this post there will be a link you can click to enter a giveaway for a SIGNED hard copy of this book.

Some people have a firm idea of what being a medical examiner must be like: they swoop to the scene of a crime, wearing their best clothing, spend a few hours examining the body, then they hold a glamorous press conference to tell the world how stray hairs and stomach contents helped solve the crime.

Not so much. Becoming a medical examiner takes hard work, a strong stomach, the desire to see justice done, and the ability to listen to the dead speak. Dr Judy Melinek is one of those people, and Working Stiff is the story of her first two years as a rookie forensic pathologist. As luck would have it, she spent that time in the best classroom in the world: New York City, July, 2001. Not only did she experience the September 11th attacks firsthand, she also worked on the American Airlines flight 587 crash, and performed hundreds of other autopsies (both criminal deaths and natural causes).

Each chapter is about a different person, how they died, why they died, and how the cause of death was determined. Beware: there are extensive, gory, detailed descriptions of each body that would cause a normal person to gag, drop the book, and flee. However, if you are like me and enjoy reading about floaters, maggots, lividity, and a phenomenon known as “respirator brain”, then this is the book for you. There are a great deal of fun facts that you will love learning, such as:

“I could tell right away Fanelli had died of hypothermia because his stomach lining, which is supposed to be smooth and pink, was instead deep crimson and pitted with dark brown ulcers. When your core body temperature drops below 95 degrees, your body goes into a crisis management mode, cutting off the blood supply to nonessential organs in order to keep critical functions running. The interrupted blood to the stomach comes flooding back in the late stages of hypothermia and causes a reperfusion injury called leopard skin gastric cardia. To this day I have never seen a more clear case of it. Each body tells a story, and this one told the miserable story of a man freezing to death.”

The author’s way of telling a story is honest and filled with wry humor. Her emotions for the dead shine through, and her dedication to the job is evident, as she tells the story about a cold case that she solves with the help of a forensic anthropologist. Every case has its own moral, and the resolution is often poignantly brought forth in a gentle way, thanks to the wonderful writing style of Dr Melinek. This book is unique in that you can learn something about how the body works, how humans handle death, and marvel at how the smallest of details can make a world of difference.

I truly enjoyed reading this, as it fits perfectly into my preferred genre. In fact, my only complaint is that it was too short–I hope Dr Melinek has another book on the horizon soon!

I have one SIGNED copy for giveaway; use the box below to enter!

[raw] a Rafflecopter giveaway[/raw]

Want to buy your own copy now? [easyazon_link asin=”1476727252″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]Click here.[/easyazon_link]

As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust by Alan Bradley

December 2, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”no” align=”left” asin=”0345539931″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511OGbdkYQL.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”307″]

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing this review copy in exchange for this review.

This 7th outing of Flavia De Luce’s adventures is so much better than the last few have been. I was growing so weary of the same old thing that I skipped #6, [easyazon_link asin=”0385344066″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”no” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches[/easyazon_link]. To me, the plots were becoming rote: body, murder, adventure, droll humor, ending.

Now I regret not reading book #6 only because I feel like I missed a turning point. Chemistry loving Flavia is growing up, and the series is fresh again. The setting is new, the characters are new, and we are seeing a new side of Ms De Luce as well.

Flavia has been sent to a girls’ boarding school in Canada, which was noted in the ending of book #6. She is to become a member of an organization called the Nide, following in the footsteps of her mother, who is revered as a goddess at Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy. On Flavia’s first night there, a body falls out of a chimney, and wham! shes off working on another murder. She is very homesick, and references are made to the Buckshaw clan only via our heroine’s thoughts.

There is a lot of interaction between Flavia and the other students, and I found the conversations to be razor sharp and fun to read. The condescending tones which the adults use to interact with Flavia are gone, and it seems that everyone is treated more or less, as an equal. Of course, there is the caste system found in all schools, but since this is a classroom that is supposedly turning women into spies or the like, everyone is assumed to be intelligent and well-spoken.

I loved the whole tone of this book! The only problem I had is that it seemed that the plot was going in circles, with tiny plotlets added to round out her experience at school. Even though the conversations with her peers were scintillating, it seems that much of the content had to be read between the lines, and that got to be exhausting. By the time the murder was solved I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. Is Flavia IN the Nide? Was the ending happy or sad? It seemed to me that the secret society was like Fight Club–don’t talk about it. This vagueness was the only thing that bothered me. Otherwise, you will see Flavia maturing and coming to terms with new emotions, with flashes of the egotistical mad chemist here and there.

Bradley has given me new faith in this series, and I will go back to read #6. For those who have been following our girl all along–you will like this, as long as you don’t expect to be reading about Daffy, Feely, Dogger, and Bishop’s Lacey. This was a refreshing break; a cleansing of the palate. As Flavia would say, it was a “jolly good” read.

Want your own copy? Click [easyazon_link asin=”0345539931″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]here.[/easyazon_link]

Counteract by Tracy Lawson

November 28, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 1 Comment

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”left” asin=”1941523013″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ukvg-FdsL.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”324″]

Many thanks to Tracy Lawson for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Careen is heading to her university class one Friday in 2034 when disaster sirens blare. There is general confusion:

A frightened crowd gathered outside the university’s student center, pressing toward the doors and shouting over the siren. Careen fought to keep her balance in the undulating mob. The shrieking siren stopped abruptly, and in the unnerving silence, phones all around her pinged with incoming messages. She dug hers out of her back pocket.

“Campus alert. Shut up—it’s a campus alert.” The murmurs spread and seemed to calm the crowd. Hundreds of phones played the voice message in near unison, magnifying the audio so it was easily heard:

“Moments ago, the Office of Civilian Safey and Defense confirmed that a chemical weapons attack against the United States is imminent. Terrorists have released a latent cocktail of poisons into the atmosphere, where it can remain, inert, until such time as they choose to detonate it. You are directed to report to a designated distribution center in your area to receive an antidote that will protect you. Weekly allotments of this antidote will be provided free of charge for as long as the threat persists. The OSCD expects the terrorists to mount repeated attacks, so it is essential that you take the recommended daily dosage. Compliace is a small price to pay for your safety.”

Every face turned towards the cloudless, blue sky as someone’s sobs cut through the silence.

This dystopian novel starts off with a threat that we can all identify with, and goes on to show that the government has outlawed almost everything that makes us free, in the name of protecting against terrorists. Careen’s father has died in a terrorist attack, and so she is particularly scared. On the other hand, Tommy, whose parents died in a car crash, is recovering from his injuries suffered in that crash and is angry. He feels alone and just wants to die. When he joins forces with Careen and learns about the Resistance, his will to live becomes stronger.

We also read about the happenings behind the scenes at the OSCD, where some employees may not be entirely loyal to the current government regime. There is a particular character that I was very sympathetic to: Dr Trina Jacobs, whose suspicions land her into hot water. Her character was written very well, and I enjoyed how she handled herself against what the OCSD was throwing at her.

Lawson’s description of a future America, broken into quadrants so activity can be monitored better, is a chilling and plausible concept. The incarnation of the OSCD was unnerving, as the bok explained how this department gained so much power and changed the entire face of the nation. Perfect dystopian existence! As I read, I was quite glad that I was not living in Careen and Tommy’s world.

The dialogue is well written and there is suspensful action aplenty as they discover that the government is keeping vital information from them about the terrorist attacks. Who is part of the Resistance? Who can they trust? And what’s REALLY in that antidote? The good guys and the bad guys are not obvious right away, so you have to keep turning pages to see who helps who. The ending leaves things open for the action to be picked up again in the second book (to be published in 2015). I know I’ll be looking forward to what happens next!

Want to enjoy it the same way I did? [easyazon_link asin=”1941523013″ locale=”US” new_window=”yes” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]Get it here! [/easyazon_link]

Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality by Pauline W. Chen

November 25, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”030727537X” cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41cGXo4ZFOL.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”324″]

Final Exam was a book I picked up myself from the library. It was on my own personal reading list, which I haven’t been really able to get to these days. This is not a new book; it was published in 2007, but the ideas that Dr Chen speaks of should be relevant and in use today.

The mission of all doctors is to maintain life–by performing surgery, by prescribing medication, by encouraging life changes such as dieting or quitting smoking. But–everyone eventually dies, no matter how brilliant the surgeon was, or how much weight a patient lost. Many doctors gloss over this fact and prefer to focus on living and making a better quality of life.

Who will champion a better quality of death? No, Dr Chen is not going to talk about euthanasia, or discuss funeral services. She is going to bring to the forefront a subject that has been assiduously avoided in human medicine for a long time: death is very much a part of life, and it should not be spoken of in hushed tones or pushed to the back of one’s mind. To truly care for your patients, you must realize that death is truly part of life.

No one wants to consider their own mortality, especially someone who is going to the hospital for an operation. Dr Chen postulates that all doctors can give better care by embracing their own personal feelings and fears about death, and listening to what their patients are telling them, either with words or what their body is saying.

There is a great deal of explicit description in Final Exam: of medical procedures and people struggling to die, those with sickness or those who have developed complications after surgery. Dr Chen starts out with her own personal experience with a cadaver in medical school and brings us all the way to her visceral reaction when a good friend of hers dies.

This book’s message is a powerful one, and not for the faint of heart. I thoroughly applaud Dr Chen for suggesting that doctors make themselves more emotionally available and vulnerable. Too often a patient’s death is couched in a sense of failure, of medicine gone wrong. A delicate balance needs to be attained, and I hope Dr Chen has started a dialogue by writing this book.

I loved this. You can pick up your own copy [easyazon_link asin=”030727537X” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”yes”]here[/easyazon_link]!

Also, if you haven’t already, download the Kindle reading app here.

The Savant Of Chelsea by Suzanne Jenkins

November 18, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”yes” align=”center” asin=”B00D94QVSO” cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”yes” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FvXJmYI-L.jpg” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ width=”313″]The Savant of Chelsea[/easyazon_image]

The blurb for this book made it sound like it was going to be all about a surgeon with a severe psychological issue, and how she interacted (or didn’t) with the outside world. The first half was great–it was dark, and scary, and heart rending; when she told her story in graphic and disturbing flashbacks of how she was abused as a child, I shook my head in disbelief. It was all downhill from there.

The fictitious surgeon in the novel is torn apart when her illegitimate baby is taken from her one day. The rest of her life is spent thinking about her and wanting to find her, but afraid to because of a threat her mother made to her. After her mother dies, she goes back to her native Louisiana and tries to find closure.

From that point on, the book deteriorated into an obsession with children and a hard to believe personality change. In the beginning, this woman didn’t speak to anyone and was unable to dress herself or interact normally…she had assistants take care of things for her. She was driven to the hospital by a car service, did surgery like an automaton, and then spent her free time jogging on the streets of NYC to keep her demons at bay. After she returned to her native state of Louisiana, and certain events occurred (can’t tell you without spoilers), she essentially became a normal person. Very hard to believe. Major personality disorders don’t just spontaneously resolve.

The story then takes on a ridiculous twist, and the ending is abrupt and eye-rollingly impossible. Well, I suppose it’s possible, but highly unlikely in the real world.

Suzanne Jenkins touts the book’s ending as something that will galvanize the reader, either it will make you think, or not. Personally, I thought the book could have been shorter, especially all the stuff that took place after her mother died, and I was highly unsatisfied how the character of the surgeon changed from an unstable and fascinating person to a boring, seemingly “cured” normal functioning woman. It seemed as if there were two books with different people melded together. The premise was so brilliant, and the story was such a waste once the plot took that turn for the worst. I really wanted to like this book. I actually almost loved it up until Alexandra returned to Louisiana. At that point, the book’s personality changed, just like the surgeon’s did.

[easyazon_link asin=”B00D94QVSO” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”gimmethatbook-20″ add_to_cart=”yes” cloaking=”default” localization=”yes” popups=”yes”]You can get the book here![/easyazon_link] Please, tell me what you think. And if you haven’t done it already, download the Kindle reading app.