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

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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.

Hosted by Jennifer from CRAZY FOR BOOKS
Here are the instuctions from her site:
Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!

So, if you’d like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky on her site, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let’s connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!

Pretty please – Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

The Journey Home by Michael Baron
Published by The Aronica-Miller Publishing Project, LLC
ISBN-13: 978-0-9819568-6-2
At the request of The Story Plant, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Subject: (from back of book): Joseph, a man in his late thirties, awakens disoriented and uneasy in a place he doesn’t recognize. He sets out on a journey to find his home with no sense of where he’s going and only the precious, indelible vision of the woman he loves to guide him.
  Antoinette is an elderly woman in an assisted living facility who has retreated inside her head. There, her body and mind haven’t betrayed her. There, she’s a young newlywed with a husband who dotes on her and an entire life of dreams to live. There, she is truly home.
  Warren, Antoinette’s son, is a man in his early forties going through the toughest year of his life. With far too much time on his hands, he decides to try to recreate his memories of home by attempting to cook his mother’s greatest dishes and eat them with her.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Michael Baron delivers again !! Another heart tugging, thought provoking, tender and emotional story written only the way Michael Baron can. Filled with mouth watering descriptions of meals that evoke memories of the past. He takes the reader on a journey, along with the characters, to find their way home. But where is truly the place called home and how do we get there? This story touched an emotional chord in my heart, on a personal level, due to the cross road I am also on. While reading how Warren tried to recreate his memories with the smell of meals being cooked, also brought to mind, meals and memories of my own past. Mr. Baron hit this one out of the park !! Like any good meal, The Journey Home, needs to be devoured in one seating.  Bravo !!

Hosted by Jennifer from CRAZY FOR BOOKS
Here are the instuctions from her site:
Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!

So, if you’d like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky on her site, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let’s connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!

Pretty please – Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.