Damaged by Alex Kava (ARC)
Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-53199-3
At the request of Doubleday, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: FBI Special Agent and profiler, Maggie O’Dell, has been asked by friend and colleague Charlie Wurth, from The Department of Homeland Security to work with him on a special assignment in Florida. The coast guard had recovered a drum usually used by fisherman to preserve their daily catch, except in this particular drum, are human body parts carefully wrapped and appearing to be from multiple victims. Once Maggie has accepted this mission, Charlie then tells her there may be a bit of a glitch, Florida is in the path of a Category 5 hurricane. And why are soldiers who have had routine orthopedic surgery, in Florida, dying, Dr. Benjamin Platt, another friend of Maggie’s is having a race against the clock. The time frame of the story takes place over a 5 day period but each minute is filled with suspense.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: This was not only the first, in what I understand to be one of seven (7) of Maggie O’Dell stories, that I read but also the first Alex Kava novel. This book was what I call “the just one more chapter” reads, whereas the chapters are only a few pages long and by the time you realize it, many chapters have been read. And add this twist into the mix…there were 3 different mini mysteries going on at the same time which were rotated every 3 chapters and then Ms. Kava weaves all 3 “stories” into one fast paced, heart racing and action packed ending. Without giving too much away and/or including any spoilers, all I can say is the way she describes certain scenes in this book, I found that I was holding my breath in sheer fear and anticipation. As I said, this was my first Alex Kava’s Maggie O’Dell novels but it won’t be my last. I have a lot of catching up to do.

THANKS TO JUDY AND THE FANTASTIC 

PEOPLE AT DOUBLEDAY

I HAVE 2 COPIES OF THIS GREAT BOOK

TO GIVE AWAY. HERE IS WHAT YOU

NEED TO DO TO WIN ONE.

*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE

AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU, IF YOU WIN

* +1 LEAVE COMMENT WHY YOU WANT TO WIN

* +1 IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG

(IF YOU AREN’T, FOLLOW BUTTON ON RIGHT SIDE)

* +1 GRAB MY BUTTON AND PLACE IN YOUR SIDEBAR

*** ENTER HERE ***

***U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY***
***NO P.O. BOXES***

GIVEAWAY ENDS SUNDAY, JUNE 20th AT 6PM EST!!!
WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND
WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND OR
ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN.
***GOOD LUCK !!!***

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,

in exchange for my HONEST review.

No items that I receive

are ever sold…they are kept by me,

or given to family or friends.

Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week ‘leftovers.’ Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn’t worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
  My questions and thoughts are about commenting. 
How many comments do you post daily?   What determines what blog you post on?  Do you find yourself commenting on only the same ones all the time?   Do you have a system or even something like a spread sheet to be fair as to what blogs you visit to comment?  My blogroll is quite long…and with the Book Blogger Hop that Jennifer at Crazy For Books hosts every Friday, it is getting longer and longer.  But I can’t help but adding more since there are so many great blogs in cyberspace.  I try to refresh my page many times during the day to read the postings in my Google Reader and if something catches my eye, I will visit and comment.  But I also feel that I may be missing out on some good blog postings.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Let’s have a Slapdash !!!!!

Did you hear, or should I say read, a Read-A-Thon is starting tomorrow.  I found it via Review From Here’s blog.  Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century is hosting.  It starts tomorrow at 8am (whatever time zone that you live in) and goes until Sunday 06/20 at midnight.  I’m not sure if I will sign up with the challenge of how many books I will read or if I challenge myself in hours.  Hmmmm something to think about until I sign up with McLinky. 

Want to sign up too…link provided above.  Since I plan on participating, I am off to get all my memes’ drafts done ahead of time.  Hope to see you at the challenge, and if you do,  Good Luck!!

Damaged by Alex Kava (ARC)
Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-53199-3
At the request of Doubleday, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: FBI Special Agent and profiler, Maggie O’Dell, has been asked by friend and colleague Charlie Wurth, from The Department of Homeland Security to work with him on a special assignment in Florida. The coast guard had recovered a drum usually used by fisherman to preserve their daily catch, except in this particular drum, are human body parts carefully wrapped and appearing to be from multiple victims. Once Maggie has accepted this mission, Charlie then tells her there may be a bit of a glitch, Florida is in the path of a Category 5 hurricane. And why are soldiers who have had routine orthopedic surgery, in Florida, dying, Dr. Benjamin Platt, another friend of Maggie’s is having a race against the clock. The time frame of the story takes place over a 5 day period but each minute is filled with suspense.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: This was not only the first, in what I understand to be one of seven (7) of Maggie O’Dell stories, that I read but also the first Alex Kava novel. This book was what I call “the just one more chapter” reads, whereas the chapters are only a few pages long and by the time you realize it, many chapters have been read. And add this twist into the mix…there were 3 different mini mysteries going on at the same time which were rotated every 3 chapters and then Ms. Kava weaves all 3 “stories” into one fast paced, heart racing and action packed ending. Without giving too much away and/or including any spoilers, all I can say is the way she describes certain scenes in this book, I found that I was holding my breath in sheer fear and anticipation. As I said, this was my first Alex Kava’s Maggie O’Dell novels but it won’t be my last. I have a lot of catching up to do.

THANKS TO JUDY AND THE FANTASTIC 

PEOPLE AT DOUBLEDAY

I HAVE 2 COPIES OF THIS GREAT BOOK

TO GIVE AWAY. HERE IS WHAT YOU

NEED TO DO TO WIN ONE.

*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE

AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU, IF YOU WIN

* +1 LEAVE COMMENT WHY YOU WANT TO WIN

* +1 IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG

(IF YOU AREN’T, FOLLOW BUTTON ON RIGHT SIDE)

* +1 GRAB MY BUTTON AND PLACE IN YOUR SIDEBAR

*** ENTER HERE ***

***U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY***
***NO P.O. BOXES***

GIVEAWAY ENDS SUNDAY, JUNE 20th AT 6PM EST!!!
WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND
WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND OR
ANOTHER WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN.
***GOOD LUCK !!!***

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,

in exchange for my HONEST review.

No items that I receive

are ever sold…they are kept by me,

or given to family or friends.

Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week ‘leftovers.’ Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn’t worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
  My questions and thoughts are about commenting. 
How many comments do you post daily?   What determines what blog you post on?  Do you find yourself commenting on only the same ones all the time?   Do you have a system or even something like a spread sheet to be fair as to what blogs you visit to comment?  My blogroll is quite long…and with the Book Blogger Hop that Jennifer at Crazy For Books hosts every Friday, it is getting longer and longer.  But I can’t help but adding more since there are so many great blogs in cyberspace.  I try to refresh my page many times during the day to read the postings in my Google Reader and if something catches my eye, I will visit and comment.  But I also feel that I may be missing out on some good blog postings.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Let’s have a Slapdash !!!!!

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose
Published by Mira Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2675-5
At the request of Media Muscle The Book Trib, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (from the book jacket): Haunted by a twenty-year-old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a special agent with the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation-dedicated to the science of past-life study-where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.
  Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of the world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history-the theft of a 1,500-year-old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: The first chapter of this book pulled me right in where a young artist arrives late to a meeting only to find Solange, a friend, clinging to life due to what appears to be a vicious attack. The next thing he feels is pain, his own pain as he gets attacked. How could I not be pulled in to this plot?  On to Chapter Two, and it starts to take another turn. The characters and story line are now very confusing to me. I also find, and this is only my opinion, the detailed descriptions of art history became quite boring. I try to continue reading but the book is just not holding my interest. Unfortunately, I did not realize when I accepted to read this book, that it was the third of a series. Maybe if I had read the first two books, I wouldn’t have had this outcome. Regrettably, I had to put this book aside, it just wasn’t for me. I can not say if I would recommend this read or not, since I was unable to finish it.