Jenn\'s Bookshelves

Review: Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Jenn

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (June 5, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0385535155
Source: Publisher (via Edelweiss)

In a near-future world, the medical profession has found a treatment for various diseases/ailments: brain implants. These implants, referred to as amps cures such diseases as epilepsy and allows individuals who have lost limbs due to various injuries to walk again as well as treat those with mental impairments. What starts out as a medical treatment expands and soon policeman and the military are being armed with amps, giving them super-human strength and abilities. Perfectly healthy individuals are implanted with the device, giving them superior physical and mental abilities. Soon, regular people not implanted with the device are being cheated out of educational opportunities by amps with superior brain power. Unaltered athletes are forced to compete against amps with extreme physical capabilities.

Amped begins with a ruling by the Supreme Court revoking all legal protections from Amps, those individuals implanted with the device. Despite the fact that many of these “amps” are normal people who are being treated for some medical impairment, an extremely conservative politician begins to manipulate the public, creating a fear of those with the device.

Owen Gray is one of these individuals. His father was the designer of the implanted chips. As a young adult, Owen sustained a severe head injury which resulted in horrendous seizures. A chip was implanted to control the seizures…or so Owen thought. In reality, the damage his brain received was so severe that he would not have lived without it. The chip implanted was not standard issue but one his father obtained from the military. As the country around him quickly descends into a military state, Owen has now become one of the country’s most wanted men.

Forced to leave his life behind him, Owen hunts down the man originally behind this rogue group of soldiers, a sort of special forces that was ordered to disband due to the side effects caused by the implanted amps. He uncovers Eden, the place where all the research into these implanted chips began. In his journey, he learns about the power that has remained dormant in his brain all these years. Owen is just your average schoolteacher, or so he thought. In order to save the lives of thousands of modified human beings, Owen must learn how to control his powers and use them for the good of the nation.

Scattered throughout the novel are legal documents, providing the reader with an evolution of the government’s increased response to public outcry. In addition to Owen’s own observations, these legal documents provide the reader with evidence of the rapid decline of society.

Amped , like Wilson’s previous book, Robopocalypse, has a great deal of social commentary embedded in the text. Issues such as the value of a person, what makes a person, etc. are heavy to this storyline. These individuals have lost all legal rights and are eventually rounded up into camps for their “protection.” Legalized racism runs rampant, high-level politicians suggesting that these “amps” have lost what makes them human and therefore should not be treated as humans. “Regs,”those individuals that have not been implanted, brutalizing and killing amps without fear of prosecution.

This social commentary, compounded with a truly reliable main character that any reader can relate to, all add up to a truly impressive novel. Highly recommended.

Posted in Doubleday, Review, Science Fiction | Tagged apocalypse, implants, science fiction | 3 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Jenn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finish this week. It is hosted by Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of Booksso stop by and join in

Books Completed Last Week

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (audio) (review)
The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri (review)
Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

Currently Reading

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

Books to Complete This Week

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. Nichole Bernier
The Watchers by Jon Steele

What are you reading this week?

Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 1 Comment

TSS: Summer is Here!

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Jenn

Memorial Day is the official kick off to summer! That, and the dreadfully warm temps we’ve been having here. If this is any indication of what our summer is going to be like, we’re in trouble! My boys already have summer fever; they only have two weeks left at school. With all the end of school year events we’ve been going to, I’m looking forward to the end of school as well.

I’m spending this fine Memorial Day weekend reading and curling up with my early birthday present from my husband, an Asus Slider Tablet PC. My laptop met it’s unfortunate demise and I really can’t afford to go without a computer due to all the freelance work I do at home. I have to say I sort of love it 🙂

I plan on spending the rest of the weekend curled up with a few books; what do you have planned for the rest of the Memorial Day Weekend?

Following is a quick wrap of my week:

Frightful Friday Audiobook Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Review: The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri
Review: Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
Review: Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Zombie Mondays: The Zombie Tarot: An Oracle of the Undead by Stacey Graham

What were your favorite reads this week?

Posted in The Sunday Salon | 2 Comments

Frightful Friday Audiobook Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Jenn

Frightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week.

This week’s featured book is I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga:

Listening Length: 9 hours and 32 minutes
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Source: Personal copy

Jazz isn’t your typical teenager. His father, Billy Dent, just happens to be an incarcerated serial killer, one of the most prolific killers of modern times. As a child, Jazz was immersed in his father’s sick obsession so now as a young adult, he’s desperate to prevent himself from becoming the man his father wants him to be. Every little urge has Jazz wondering if this is how his father started out, if they are the early warning signs of his evolution into a sociopath.

In an attempt to right his father’s wrongs, and perhaps ease his conscience a little, Jazz helps his small time police force hunt down a new serial killer called the Impressionist. Using the expertise he gained from his father, Jazz soon realizes that the Impressionist is mimicking his father’s killing career. Luckily, Jazz is so familiar with each of his father’s victims that he is able to predict the Impressionist’s next steps. Will it be soon enough?

When I first learned about the premise of this book, I thought it was going to be a horrible take on the Dexter series. I was prepared to be let down; luckily, in this case, I was proven quite wrong. Lyga provides readers a truly chilling psychological thriller. The knowledge Jazz has about his father’s victims is so terrifying, it amazes me that this character is as “normal” as he appears to be. Growing up with a father telling you that cutting human flesh is just like cutting chicken would be enough to forever damage your average youth. Not Jazz, however. He’s dead set against becoming the man his father, and the local small town citizens, believe he is fated to be.

The secondary characters are quite rich. First, we have Connie, Jazz’s girlfriend. She’s safe…mainly because she is African American and statistics prove that they are rarely the victims of serial killers. Then there is his best friend and hemophiliac, Howie, a kid who bruises if you look at him wrong. A truly eclectic slate of characters that add a bit of comedy to potentially very dark novel. Given that this is a book about a serial killer, it’s pretty obvious that there will be some pretty gruesome scenes but it’s nothing too excessive or graphic.

I listened to the audio production of this book, narrated by Charlie Thurston. This is my first experience with this narrator and I hope it won’t be my last. He captures Jazz’s character, his anguish and pain and frustration, perfectly. He truly does a stellar job at narrating, making me forget that I’m actually not listening to the voice of a young man.

Bottom line: I Hunt Killers is a truly amazing and gratifying novel. I’m hoping it’s the start of a new series because I’m hooked!

Posted in Audiobook, Frightful Friday, Hachette Audio, Horror, Review, YA | Tagged serial killer, sociopath, young adult | 3 Comments

Review: The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Jenn

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper (May 15, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0062107968
Source: Publisher

Nora Cunningham is married to the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts state history. On the surface she appears to have a perfect life with two daughters, Annie and Ella. This perfect life is shattered when news of her husband’s infidelity is spread like a virus by the local media. Humiliated, Nora escapes with her daughters to Burke’s Island, a small bit of land off the Maine coast.

Nora spent her early childhood on this island but hasn’t returned since her mother disappeared decades ago. Not much of her family remains, save for her aunt. When she arrives, she is greeted with warmth from the majority of the island’s citizens, but there are a few who hold her, and her mother, responsible for some of the island’s tragic past. Then there is Owen Kavanagh, a shipwrecked man whose body Nora finds on the shoreline. He’s quite mysterious, his memory lacking due to his injuries.

The Island seems to be the perfect place for Nora to reevaluate her life, including her marriage and her mother’s disappearance, and plan a new course for her life…

This is where this book went wrong for me. At times I felt there was too much detail, too much information and then there were others I wanted more details. I wanted to enjoy this book, truly, given my fondness of the author’s previous book, The Lace Makers of Glenmara. Unfortunately, it fell short for me. I felt there was too much happening, too many details, that didn’t really come together for me at the end. Nearly halfway through the book I was tempted to stop, yet something inside me urged me to go on. Unfortunately, my hopes of the book really coming together, really moving me, didn’t happen.

It’s not that I didn’t connect with Nora, I really did. Perhaps without her character I would have stopped reading midway through the book. It’s just that so much was left hanging, so many things not tied together. The hints of Irish mysticism that were thrown in perhaps would have brought everything together if they were developed more. It’s hard to gauge with a book like this: would more information help in developing the storyline more or would it simply be unneeded, extra text?

That’s not to say that I wouldn’t encourage others to read this book. The setting is absolutely gorgeous, matched with the author’s beautifully detailed prose. Perhaps you’ll pick up on something I missed, something I overlooked. It really is unfortunate that this book fell short for me.

Posted in Harper Books, Review, Women's Fiction | 3 Comments

Review: Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Jenn

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Crown (May 22, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0307395057
Source: Publisher

Clover is a mom in her early fifties. Due to her husband’s busy schedule as a pediatrician, she gave up her passion as a journalist to attend to her children’s very busy social schedules. Her routine consists of making lunches, transporting her children to and from activities, cleaning the house and making dinner. She’s never really noticed by her family, including her husband Arthur, unless one of these obligations goes unfulfilled.

One morning, she steps out of the shower, looks in the mirror as she brushes her teeth, only to find she can’t see herself. It isn’t due to the steam on the mirror; she’s literally invisible. Obviously, she panics, pulling her son out of bed, questioning of he can see her. A college-graduate that has returned home as he struggles to find a job, Nick barely lifts his head to acknowledge his mother’s presence, much less look at her.

Minutes later she walks past a mirror and Clover is able to see her reflection. Puzzled by what happened, slightly concerned that these were symptoms of a stroke, Clover rushes to her best friend Gilda’s house across the street. Clover explains what happened, but Gilda takes it all in stride, assuming Clover’s claims of being invisible aren’t literal. She assures Clover that all women their age feels this way:

It’s just the plight of a woman after a certain age. No one can see you…we’re nothing but the ghosts of our former selves.

Clover goes on with the rest of her day, returning to her regular routine. The next morning, however, she wakes up to find herself invisible again. Once again, her husband and her children don’t notice. The clothes she’s wearing are visible, just not her body. Her family barely glances at her all morning, completely ignorant of the fact she’s not there.

At Gilda’s recommendation, Clover goes to the doctor who, like her children, barely acknowledge her existence. Continued to be shocked that no one other than Gilda has noticed a problem, Clover once again continues with her regular routine. Until, that is, she spots an advertisement in the paper announcing a meeting of invisible women.

At this meeting, Clover discovers a large group of women who are going through the very same experience as she. She soon realizes they all have something in common: They were all prescribed the same cocktail of drugs to battle medical issues for women of their age, including hormone replacement therapy, calcium supplements, and antidepressants. One pharmacological company is responsible for their current situation. However, like the people in each of these women’s lives, the drug company is oblivious to these women.

Meeting these other invisible women inspires Clover. She uses her “disability” to her advantage and begins to follow her family around during the day. She’s able to experience their lives in a way she was unable to before. She sees how stressful Arthur’s day is a t work, understands the frustrations her children are experiencing. She begins to repair damage to these relationships, a repair that perhaps couldn’t have been possible otherwise. Additionally, along with another invisible woman, Clover takes on the drug company that put them in this situation in the first place. In the end, her disability provides her strength to make right the wrongs in her life, giving Clover a confidence she hadn’t felt in years.

Calling Invisible Women is, without a doubt, the most unique take on the plight of women who have been forgotten and ignored by their loved ones. While I am nearly 15 years younger than Clover, I can state that there are times I have felt ignored or taken advantage of by my boys and husband. And, like with Clover’s case, this isn’t intentional. We all get caught in the daily routine of life, forgetting to be thankful for what we’ve been given. And while in this case the victims are women, I’m certain almost any individual can sympathize with Clover’s plight, feeling unappreciated or unacknowledged.

Clover embraces her invisibility with a great deal of witty humor. I’m not certain I could remain as calm as she did, given the circumstances. This leads me to the main issue I had with Clover’s character: she forgives her family for their ignorance about her condition. She sees how busy her husband’s work day is and forgives him, almost too easily. I don’t know that I would be as forgiving. Sleeping in the same bed as a person, having sex with that person, only to be oblivious to the fact they are invisible? Granted, there is a real need to suspend disbelief while reading this novel, for obvious reasons. Given there is a great deal of things I gained while reading this book, I can overlook this one issue.

In the end, Calling Invisible Women is a book that I find a large number of individuals, not only women, can relate to. Highly recommended.

Posted in Crown Books, Humor, Review, Women's Fiction | 3 Comments

Review: Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Jenn

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Harper (June 5, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0062197258
Source: Publisher

Catherine Bailey is a young, attractive, single woman. When she sees Lee, a bouncer at a local club, she’s instantly attracted. He’s breathtakingly gorgeous and when they begin dating, her friends are envious Catherine’s luck at love. Each become just as smitten with Lee as Catherine has, the perfect man in every sense of the word.

However, there is a dark and secretive side to Lee. Uncertain as to what he does for a living during the day, Catherine is even more alarmed when Lee shows up at her apartment, wounds covering his face. He remains secretive, suggesting that he is doing it for her own protection. Their relationship grows, Catherine eventually giving Lee a key to her apartment. They rarely see each other during the week due to Lee’s work schedule, but Catherine repeatedly comes home to see that things in her apartment have been rearranged. Lee eventually admits to entering her apartment in Catherine’s absence. She is wary at first, but his undying affection and unfaltering commitment to her eventually convinces her his actions are harmless. Yet Lee grows possessive of Catherine, demanding that she wear certain clothing, angered when he sees her receiving attention from the opposite sex. Speaking of sex, what started out as passionate lovemaking has begun to frighten Catherine. When she speaks of her concerns to her friends they insist she is blowing things out of proportion. She has the perfect guy; relationships go through peaks and valleys and perhaps it’s just the natural progression of their relationship.

When Lee begins to abuse her, physically and sexually, Catherine attempts an escape. This action forever changes her life.

Fast forward four years later. Lee is in prison for nearly killing Catherine. Catherine now lives alone, post traumatic stress disorder and an obsessive need to check her locks have taken over her life. She meets Stuart, her upstairs neighbor, an attractive and kind man. She feels safe in his presence. He encourages Catherine to seek counseling for her disorders and she agrees, finally seeing the light at the end of a dark tunnel. Her life seems to be improving for the better…until she receives a phone call stating Lee’s sentence has ended and he will be released shortly.

Suddenly, Catherine begins to see Lee everywhere she goes. Additionally, she sees her former best friend out of the corner of her eye, a friend that testified against her in Lee’s trial. She comes home to her apartment to find things moved around, Lee’s trademark behavior. But rather than succumbing to the terror she once experienced, she uses the confidence and strength she’s built up in the recent months to stand up against the man who nearly killed her.

Told in alternating time frames, shifting between past and present, Into the Darkest Corner is a terrifying look at an example of domestic violence. This is Haynes debut novel, and she holds nothing back. She doesn’t sugar coat the details of the abuse Catherine faced. A police-intelligence analyst herself, Haynes uses her knowledge to portray a truly chilling, yet completely plausible, stalking situation. The terror Catherine feels is so real it comes through in the author’s writing. Additionally, Catherine’s OCD is treated with compassion and, in reading of her treatment, the reader in turn learns a great deal about a disorder that is often downplayed.

The shifting of past and present may be a bit confusing to some readers, although each new passage starts out with a clear indication of the date. I found the side-by-side story lines incredibly ingenious; in the past we watch the progression of the abuse while in the present we watch Catherine become a stronger woman. It is if “present” Catherine is feeding off of Catherine from the past. She quite literally goes into the darkest corner of her soul to gain the strength and confidence to battle her horrific past.

I am truly astounded that this is the author’s debut novel. The talent she portrays in her writing, to me, appears to come from an author with decades of experience.

Bottom line: Into the Darkest Corner is a debut novel that I give my highest recommendation to, a novel certain to make my list of favorites for the year.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to participate in this tour. Please be sure to check out the full schedule of stops in this tour.

Note: violence, graphic scenes of a sexual nature

Posted in Harper Books, Review, Thriller | Tagged domestic violence, OCD, PTSD | 6 Comments

Zombie Mondays: The Zombie Tarot: An Oracle of the Undead by Stacey Graham

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Jenn

Cards: 96 pages
Publisher: Quirk Books; Crds edition (June 5, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1594745692
Source: Publisher

We’ve all seen tarot cards, whether in person or on screen. Imagine those tarot cards…zombiefied. This 78-card deck, along with a 96 page instruction manual, provides the user with tips on surviving the zombie apocalypse.

The instructions on the side of the box read:

In the event of a zombie attack: Get to a secure location, open this box, and consult the Zombie Tarot. This fully-functional 78-card deck offers valuable advice on life, love, family, friendship, automatic firearms, premature burials, cannibalistic children, and more.

The cards have a bit of a vintage look, making them appear as if they are relics from the past:

The illustrations, done by Paul Kepple are richly detailed without being too graphic.

The cards don’t guarantee to predict the future, but instead offer suggestions on how to survive a particular situation. The accompanying instruction manual provides detailed explanations of each of the cards and the course of action one must take. For example, the Six of Cups card represents nostalgia, memories, old flames. The advice: “Someone from your past may come for a visit. Just don’t mistake a friendly kiss on the cheek for a zombie gnawing off your face.”

Bottom line: The Zombie Tarot Cards are a must-have addition to any zombie-apocalypse preparedness kit. Highly recommended!

Posted in Horror, Quirk Books, Review | Tagged apocalypse, zombies | 4 Comments