False Convictions by Tim Green (Rating 4)
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 978-0-446-40152-4
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (from the book jacket) Tormented by death threats and assassination attempts, Casey investigates a prosecution apparently rife with lies. From the judge, the lawyers. the jury, to the police, she traces a web of corruption surrounding the destruction of one young man. But in all the chaos, Casey’s hardest challenge may be just staying alive.

  My Thoughts: Casey Jordan, Texas attorney, beautiful and famous since having had a movie made about her and a recent case that she won. Enter Robert Graham, handsome, philanthropist and founder of the Freedom Project. The offer is one million dollars for her firm and all she is to do is exonerate 2 felons, within a year, who have been convicted wrongly. Sounds easy enough! But as she obtains details for her first case, of a man who has been locked up for twenty years, unsavory facts are surfacing, and not about her client. How do politicians, judges, police officers and even the “mob” tie in to this old case? How is it that she is arrested for falsifying evidence? And is Robert Graham really who he says he is?

  My Opinion and Rating: This was the first book by this author that I read from a long list of previous novels. I personally enjoy when a book has chapters that are just a few pages. I find myself thinking “just one more chapter” and read the next 7 or 8, and this book was just that. The suspense was gripping, and at times, fast paced. The characters were intriguing and came to life with the author’s writing style. The ending left this reader quite disappointed though. The book was thrilling until the seemingly unrealistic finale. However, I gave this book a rating of 4 stars for the overall riveting plot.

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.

Death of a Valentine by M. C. Beaton  (Rating-4)

Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 978-0-44-54738-3
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me for my honest review.
  Synopsis: (from the book’s jacket)
Amazing news has spread across the Scottish countryside. The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth will be married at last. Everyone is the village of Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Macbeth’s newest constable and blushing bride-to-be. While locals think Josie is quite a catch, Hamish has a case of prenuptial jitters. After all, if it weren’t for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighbouring village, there wouldn’t be a wedding at all.
  My Thoughts: This was the first book that I read, of many that have been written, by this author. After getting past the Scottish dialect, I was pulled in and rooting for Sergeant Macbeth. A small town police sergeant who uses his common sense and gut instincts in solving crimes. A modern day Mayberry mystery.
  My Opinion and Rating: I gave this book a rating of 4. An enjoyable and fast read. Macbeth was a character that one could not help but like. The two page prologue, which introduced the setting of Macbeth’s wedding and his feelings on this memorable day, grabbed this reader in and wanting more. The plot of the Valentine murder had me turning the pages to find out who-done-it from the multiple list of characters. A recommended mystery read !!!

Death of a Valentine by M. C. Beaton  (Rating-4)

Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 978-0-44-54738-3
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me for my honest review.
  Synopsis: (from the book’s jacket)
Amazing news has spread across the Scottish countryside. The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth will be married at last. Everyone is the village of Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Macbeth’s newest constable and blushing bride-to-be. While locals think Josie is quite a catch, Hamish has a case of prenuptial jitters. After all, if it weren’t for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighbouring village, there wouldn’t be a wedding at all.
  My Thoughts: This was the first book that I read, of many that have been written, by this author. After getting past the Scottish dialect, I was pulled in and rooting for Sergeant Macbeth. A small town police sergeant who uses his common sense and gut instincts in solving crimes. A modern day Mayberry mystery.
  My Opinion and Rating: I gave this book a rating of 4. An enjoyable and fast read. Macbeth was a character that one could not help but like. The two page prologue, which introduced the setting of Macbeth’s wedding and his feelings on this memorable day, grabbed this reader in and wanting more. The plot of the Valentine murder had me turning the pages to find out who-done-it from the multiple list of characters. A recommended mystery read !!!

Doors Open by Ian Rankin  (Rating 0)

Published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-02478-5
At the request of The Hachette Book Club, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis:  (From the book’s jacket) Three friends descend upon an art auction. Software mogul Mike Mackenzie wants something money can’t buy. Banker Allan Cruickshank is burdened by a painful divorce. And Robert Gissing, an art professor, is frustrated by paintings hidden away in private hands. In a conversation over drinks, the three seize on an impossible, unthinkable, suddenly inevitable idea: steal the art. There has to be a way.
  My opinion and rating: This is my opinion and my opinion only. I was unable to finish this book. I read close to 75 pages and nothing pulled me in to the storyline. I had to keep rereading paragraphs due to fact that I found it to be boring. I am used to reading mysteries and/or suspense where there is something gripping within the first few chapters and that wasn’t the case with this book. Mr. Rankin is a best selling author and I am sure that other’s will have a different opinion of Doors Open but for this reader, it was not something I enjoyed.  (Rating 0)

Doors Open by Ian Rankin  (Rating 0)

Published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-02478-5
At the request of The Hachette Book Club, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis:  (From the book’s jacket) Three friends descend upon an art auction. Software mogul Mike Mackenzie wants something money can’t buy. Banker Allan Cruickshank is burdened by a painful divorce. And Robert Gissing, an art professor, is frustrated by paintings hidden away in private hands. In a conversation over drinks, the three seize on an impossible, unthinkable, suddenly inevitable idea: steal the art. There has to be a way.
  My opinion and rating: This is my opinion and my opinion only. I was unable to finish this book. I read close to 75 pages and nothing pulled me in to the storyline. I had to keep rereading paragraphs due to fact that I found it to be boring. I am used to reading mysteries and/or suspense where there is something gripping within the first few chapters and that wasn’t the case with this book. Mr. Rankin is a best selling author and I am sure that other’s will have a different opinion of Doors Open but for this reader, it was not something I enjoyed.  (Rating 0)

Among Thieves by David Hosp  (Rating 5)
Published by Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 978-0-446-58015-1
At the request of The Book Group, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis: Portion from the front jacket…In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers entered Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, tied up the guards, and escaped with 500 million dollars’ worth of paintings. The heist provoked a massive search for both the thieves and the lost masterpieces. But the paintings never surfaced and the mystery remained unsolved. Now, almost twenty years later, there case threatens to break wide open.
  My thoughts: Scott Finn, who has known the streets of Boston and the foster care system as a child, but was able to turn his life around and become an attorney. He is asked to take on a theft case from a former acquaintance of his earlier years. And accepting to defend Devon Malley, it thrusts Finn into a situation that is far from easy. Enter Boston’s “mob” associates, murders, having to become care taker to Malley’s 14 year old daughter, and a kidnapping. And how does this all tie into an unsolved 20 year cold case art heist?
  My opinion and rating:  (Rating 5) Once again, I was given the opportunity to read an extraordinary book. It was Grisham meets Parker. From the first chapter to the last page, the fast paced action never stopped, at times the reader forgets to breathe. The ending is a total surprise, one that this reader never saw coming. I could not put this one down. Bravo!!!!!

Among Thieves by David Hosp  (Rating 5)
Published by Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 978-0-446-58015-1
At the request of The Book Group, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis: Portion from the front jacket…In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers entered Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, tied up the guards, and escaped with 500 million dollars’ worth of paintings. The heist provoked a massive search for both the thieves and the lost masterpieces. But the paintings never surfaced and the mystery remained unsolved. Now, almost twenty years later, there case threatens to break wide open.
  My thoughts: Scott Finn, who has known the streets of Boston and the foster care system as a child, but was able to turn his life around and become an attorney. He is asked to take on a theft case from a former acquaintance of his earlier years. And accepting to defend Devon Malley, it thrusts Finn into a situation that is far from easy. Enter Boston’s “mob” associates, murders, having to become care taker to Malley’s 14 year old daughter, and a kidnapping. And how does this all tie into an unsolved 20 year cold case art heist?
  My opinion and rating:  (Rating 5) Once again, I was given the opportunity to read an extraordinary book. It was Grisham meets Parker. From the first chapter to the last page, the fast paced action never stopped, at times the reader forgets to breathe. The ending is a total surprise, one that this reader never saw coming. I could not put this one down. Bravo!!!!!

Original Sin by Allison Brennan (Rating–4.5)
Published by The Random House
ISBN 978-0-345-51167-6
At the request of The Book Trib, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis: Moira O’Donnell conceived, for the sole purpose to become a human sacrifice for the underworld, flees from her mother’s grasp.  She finds refuge in the hills of Ireland learning the ways to stop this demonic state that her mother controls. She also learns and now knows the danger that mankind will experience if her mother isn’t stopped  Moira spends seven years traveling the world to locate her mother.  There is only way to stop Fiona ODonnell, and that is murder.  Along her travels, she teams up with a demonologist and a trusting sheriff, in small town, USA.
  My Thoughts: I was very apprehensive when I first accepted this request as I have never read a book in the genre of paranormal. The author’s imagination and writing style is nothing less than believable and at times I was questioning if there was some truth to this work of fiction. Add to that a fast paced action, mystery, love story and the war between good and evil. This was the first book that I had read of this author’s but will not be my last.
  My Opinion and Rating: I gave this book a Level 4.5 rating. It took approximately 6 chapters for me to get involved with the characters and true basis of the story line. There was some disappointment with the ending. I am, however, aware that this is the first book in a series of seven deadly sins, and will hopefully have some of my questions answered in the next installment that I have already placed on my “to be read” list.