Hour Game by David Baldacci

Another Baldacci thriller. Not sure if I liked it or not.

The book starts with one woman dead, and what seems to be a quick and simple case to solve. By the end of the book, 9 more people are dead, and 2 deaths from years ago are figured out. A serial killer is on the loose and intent on wreaking havoc and making people pay. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are private investigators on the case.

At the same time, Sean and Michelle are paid to look into a burglary involving a very powerful family. They know that the man accused of the burglary is innocent, but they don't have time to find out who is guilty before the man is killed...by the serial killer. So what seems to be two unrelated mysteries are suddenly mixed up together.

And mixed up is truly the correct term. There are so many twists and turns and suspicions and theories, that it was very hard to keep everything straight all the time. In the end, both cases are solved, but not in the way you might think.

What I found maddening about this book was that the main character, Sean, would think things through and would discover things but wouldn't let the reader in on the secret. So he would have a theory and give little hints about it, but you don't find out what the theory is until all the characters in the book do. It's just annoying to me when you can sometimes know the thoughts of a character, but when it really matters, you aren't let in on the secret.

Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

March Murray returns with her teenage daughter, Gwen, to the Massachusetts town where she grew up for the funeral of a family friend.

March can't seem to stay away from Hollis, a boy that she loved growing up. March doesn't know much about the life Hollis led while she was gone from the town. But she doesn't care, and seems pulled to him.

Neither March's close friend nor Gwen like Hollis, and are both upset when March decides that she and Gwen will move in with Hollis and Hollis' nephew, Henry.

It was at this point that I really started disliking the book. There were so many questions that I had. Since I was listening to an abridged version, maybe the full version would answer the questions. My main concern was that March left her husband in California to make a quick trip home for a funeral. And weeks later decides to move in with another man. What about her husband? How do you make the jump from visiting your old home town to moving in with another man? And what does her husband say or do? Why doesn't he come to Massachusetts to talk with March and find out what's going on? After all, it's his daughter there too.

Back to the story, though. We then find out that Hollis's first wife repeatedly had bruises and died basically from neglect. After March & Gwen move in with Hollis and Henry, Hollis cuts the phone line, puts March's car out of commission, and confiscates the mail before March can see it. Oh, and I think Gwen falls in love with Henry even though he is her 1st cousin.

Hollis bullies Gwen and March into submission and Gwen finally gets the guts and brains to ask her dad for help getting back to California. Hollis then finally scares March enough and she leaves him. After she leaves, he is killed in a car accident.

What is March's response? Does March return to her husband? Who knows because the abridged book didn't tell me.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The final chapter in Bella and Edward's life. It was actually my favorite book of the series...surprisingly.

It begins with Bella and Edward's wedding. Jacob is of course heartbroken over the marriage, but knows that he has tried and can not change Bella's mind. Bella and Edward honeymoon on a private island off the coast of Brazil. While there, Bella realizes that 1) she is pregnant with Edward's "baby" and 2) she will do anything to protect the life within her.

As Bella's pregnancy progresses at an astonishingly quick rate, the "baby" is slowly taking all the life from Bella. Jacob's werewolf pack finds out about the pregnancy and plans to destroy Bella and the baby. Because of this, Jacob leaves the pack and unwillingly starts his own pack. Bella finally gives birth, but not before the baby has broken most of her bones and caused her a massive amount of blood loss. To save Bella's life, Edward turns her into a vampire. Jacob imprints on the baby, Renesmee, to Bella and Edwards' dismay.

Bella loves her new life as a vampire and delights in her daughter. That couldn't be the end of the book, though. Of course there has to be a life-threatening conflict somewhere. The most powerful vampire family comes to find Bella, Edward, and Renesmee to destroy them. In a surprising plot twist, it is Bella's special vampire skill that saves the family and convinces their enemies to leave them alone permanently.

And then there was happily ever after.

Based on Beth's opinion of the book, I was all set to hate it. But I actually loved it. I loved that Bella finally got what she wanted. Jacob's pain was finally resolved in imprinting with Renesmee. That also took care of keeping Jacob in Bella's life. It tied all the unresolved things up, but seemed plausible at the same time (as plausible as having a vampire baby is.)

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Another installment in the lives of Edward and Bella.

What will happen when Bella finally graduates high school...will she become a vampire?

What will happen of the friendship between Bella and Jacob? Will Edward allow Bella to continue the friendship?

A mad vampire wants to kill Bella to get even with Edward. As soon as the plot is discovered by Edward and his family, the local werewolves get involved to help protect Bella. What a shocker - Bella is again in danger!

The werewolves and vampires work together to destroy the threat.

Bella and Edward make a deal: they will get married and Edward will then turn Bella into a vampire.

I like this book the least of the whole series. I couldn't stand how controlling and "perfect" Edward was. I also liked Jacob, and hated how Bella would treat him at times.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

New Moon is the second book in the Twilight Series.

Edward decides that Bella needs a clean break from him, so he completely removes himself from her life. Bella, as any lovesick puppy would do, has a total emotional breakdown.

As time goes on, Bella connects with an old friend, Jacob. Jacob clearly adores Bella, and Bella grows to rely on Jacob and call him her best friend. Sounds great, but there is a twist...Jacob has his own dark secret.

Edward ends up returning to Bella's life, and life gets even more complicated between Edward, Bella, and Jacob.

I really liked Jacob in this book, but got very tired of Bella believing that her life was over when Edward was gone. Overall though, another good and fast read.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I read this book in 3 days. If that says anything about how much I liked the book. Which is wierd, because I wouldn't guess that I would like a teen book about a normal high school girl who falls in love with a vampire. Seriously. Not kidding about the vampire part. The book moves really fast, and is really easy to read.

Bella has to move from living with her mom in Phoenix to living with her dad in Forks, Washington. When Bella starts her new school, she seems drawn to gorgeous but distant Edward, even though he alternates between acting like he wants her dead, and acting as if she's not even there. In a freak accident, Edward saves Bella's life using inhuman strength and speed. Bella knows something is up with Edward (and his 4 adopted siblings), but can't figure it out. A friend shares a legend with Bella that Edward and his family are vampires, and have been living in the area for many, many years.

In the meantime, Edward seems drawn to Bella, despite the way he acts. Edward once again saves Bella's life by being in the right place at the right time, and they begin a tentative friendship. As they become closer, Bella knows that Edward and his family are vampires, but she can't seem to stay away from them. Edward comes clean about being a vampire, and tells her that although his family still crave human blood, they quench their thirst with animal blood.

About three things I was absolutely positive:
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him–and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be–that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Edward keeps his darker vampire tendencies in check, and falls in love with Bella. His family accepts Bella, because they can see his love for her. Bella's life is in jeopardy towards the end of the book when another pack of vampires travel through Forks and discover the odd relationship between Bella and Edward's family.

The Collectors by David Baldacci

The camel club strikes again!

This book took me a while to get into, just like the camel club did. And though I liked the book, I never felt like I couldn't put it down.

You follow a group of con artists who pull a "long con" for $40 million on a casino king in Atlantic City. In the meantime, you read of an assassin who targets different people in Washington DC. And finally, you also read of the camel club and their quest to research a conspiracy theory regarding different deaths in DC. You know that the 3 storylines will converge at some point, you just don't know when, or how they will. It turns out that the mastermind con artist (Annabelle) is an ex-wife of a murdered co-worker of a camel club member. Confused? I was for a while!

Annabelle works with the camel club to uncover the plot behind the seemingly unrelated murders. The camel club discovers that the reason for all the murders is that people are selling secrets to various enemies of the US. They discover the complicated plot to get the secrets from government agents through to the people who are buying the secrets. During all of this, the casino king is hunting down Annabelle to make her pay for her mistake of conning him.

The book ends with the spy plot revealed, but the casino king is hot on Annabelle's trail. Can't wait for the next camel club installment to find out if Annabelle will be discovered...