REVIEW: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Trilogy, Book 2) by Stieg Larsson

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My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

In this second book of the Millennium series, after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Millennium magazine is getting ready to publish a very revealing exposé on the sex trade and trafficking in Sweden. But just as the article and book are preparing to come to press, Dag Svensson, author of the book and article and friend to Mikael Blomkvist, is murdered in his home along with his wife Mia. Mikael is fairly certain that the murders have something to do with the material in Dag's book, but due to an unusual set of circumstances, Lisbeth Salander is being sought in connection with the crime instead. But now Lisbeth has gone into hiding, and while Mikael desperately searches for pieces of a really bizarre puzzle in an to attempt to prove her innocence, some of what's uncovered reaches deep into the highest levels of international security. It seems someone will do whatever it takes to keep a secret!

When I finished this book my first thought was, "Whoa, what a ride!" I'm not sure why several people told me they couldn't get past the first few chapters. I agree that like the first book in the trilogy, things may have started off a little slow, but before I was even halfway through, I was having a hard time putting this one down. Though this book could actually stand alone, it certainly adds a lot to have read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo first. For that reason, some initial character development and past story line summaries were scattered throughout the beginning of the book. Perhaps that turned some people off, I don't know.

One thing I have to mention again though, and I believe I said this in my review for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo too, I don't particularly care for the convention of calling characters by their last name. Especially with these non-American names which (to me) so many of them look or sound alike. What's nice about reading on the Kindle though is it makes it super easy to just highlight and search on the name to get a refresher, otherwise I'd probably find this a lot more burdensome than just a minor distraction. Overall, a great read and two thumbs up! I've already started on the final book in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

REVIEW: Cirque du Freak #11: Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan

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My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Eighteen years after he was pronounced dead and buried, Darren Shan is heading home. The Cirque du Freak is performing in Darren's home town, and though there's the chance he might run into people he used to know and have to explain why he hasn't aged, the greater threat is that this is where destiny has led him, and the fate of both the Vampire and Vampaneze races will be determined by a single battle that is to take place here with the Vampaneze Lord.

This is the 11th book and second to last in the Cirque du Freak series. As usual, it was a super quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like the author's way with words as he describes everything so vividly. And also, he throws in reminders of past characters and events as needed in the story line so even if you've gone awhile in between books, you can easily pick up and recall relevant events from previous books.

I noticed at one point they tried to make a movie out of these books, but it didn't do well at all. I don't recall the details but I remember that it didn't follow the book at all, way too many differences, and the screenplay didn't appear to be written very well at all. It's too bad really because if done right, this 12 book series could easily fit into a couple of 2 hour movies. And they'd be great!

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REVIEW: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

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My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Mikael Blomkvist is a 42-year old financial journalist recently accused of libel and facing three months in prison and some pretty hefty fines. After his trial, Mikael is approached by retired industrialist Henrik Vanger with an offer to write the Vanger family history and do a little extra research into the 1966 disappearance of his great niece Harriet. Henrik has been obsessed with Harriet's disappearance for the last 36 years and is convinced that someone in the family is behind her murder, despite the fact that the previous investigation has turned up no evidence to support that supposition. In exchange, Henrik offers to hand over some dirt on Hans-Erik Wennerström, the financier which Mikael is attempting to expose.

With help from some unlikely sources, including 24-year-old Lisbeth Salander, a genius hacker with Asperger's and a large assortment of tattoos and body piercings, they uncover some seriously sick shit that someone will go out of their way to keep hidden. And which puts Mikael right in the line of fire.

Though it starts off a bit slow, this book picked up speed about halfway through and got so that I couldn't put it down. I have to say this was definitely a multi-layered story with a lot going on and some serious undertones. For example, Lisbeth Salander looks and acts like some kind of anti-social street punk but she's actually extremely intelligent, has a near photographic memory, and is simply a product of all the shit she's been through. She's pretty much had to raise herself and up until recently, nobody has really taken the time or interest to help her acclimate. There's also the whole issue about violence against women which comes up several times in the course of the story, and again, the way Lisbeth deals with it, I'd say she's anything but a victim.

Because this was translated from the original Swedish text, there were a couple things here and there that bugged me a little. The author's habit of referring to characters by their last name instead of their first was one. Perhaps it's a European thing but I just couldn't wrap my head around a woman called Berger, or a young girl called Salander. (Which I kept wanting to read as Salamander. LOL) Also, some of the descriptions, especially pertaining to computer stuff, could be a bit tedious:

"He used the NotePad programme (www.ibrium.se), one of those full-value products that two men at the Royal Technical College had created and distributed as shareware for a pittance on the Internet."

Or,

"The rucksack contained her white Apple iBook 600 with 25-gig hard drive and 420 megs of RAM, manufactured in January 2002 and equipped with a 14-inch screen."

The above are just a couple of examples where the added details had absolutely no bearing on the rest of the story and seemed a bit out of place. I assume this was the way it came through in the translation, but I'm surprised all that superfluous detail wasn't edited out.

Those minor points aside, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next book in the Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, very soon.

REVIEW: Cirque du Freak #10: The Lake of Souls by Darren Shan

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

In The Lake of Souls, the 10th book in the Cirque du Freak series, Half-Vampire Darren Shan and Little Person Harkat Mulds set off on a quest to discover the person that Harkat used to be, before Desmond Tiny remade him into a "Little Person". As they step through the mysteriously glowing arched doorway, suspended midair in the middle of a field, to the strange world beyond, they have no idea of the kinds of odd and fantastical creatures they will soon encounter in the land beyond, nor if they'll even make it back alive.

This was another great but fast read in the Cirque du Freak series, which is very nearly at the end. Book 12 is the last in the series. Though it's been several years since I read my last Cirque du Freak book, the author is great about dropping in extra description at appropriate points to remind you of past events when necessary. It may even be easy enough for a new reader to pick up any book in the series without having read the previous ones, though they wouldn't know the characters nearly as well as someone who's followed the story from the beginning. As usual, the writing style is swift and the action is quick, which I believe makes it quite suitable in the young adult genre, and definitely had a hard time putting it down once I started reading. I have a library book I have to tend to now, but I look forward to returning to the world of Darren Shan again really soon.

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REVIEW: The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo, & the Poltergeist Accountant by Vivi Andrews

My Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

As a consultant to the dead, Lucy Cartwright receives nightly visits from the dead, usually from horny or sexually frustrated ghosts who have trouble moving on for one reason or another. But when she's visited by a live, hunky PI named Jake Cox who's investigating a murder and believes one of Lucy's ghosts has the answers he seeks, the sexual sparks between them are immediate and potent. Unfortunately, until Lucy's Cassanova ghost pays her a visit, the hookup between her and Jake is an itch that just can't be scratched since it would mean no more visits from the hornball ghosts.

This was a cute little short story. Some of the dialog seemed a bit cheesy at times, but mostly that was in the ghosts, and of course that's how they were supposed to be. As a short story, it held my interest even if the eventual outcome was a bit predictable and happily ever after. :)

REVIEW: From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 8) by Charlaine Harris

My Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

This is the 8th book in the True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie has returned home to Bon Temps and is hoping things can finally get back to normal after all the horrible events that took place at the Vampire Summit in Rhodes. The Queen is on the mend but several of her lieutenants are still MIA, and though Sookie's boyfriend Quinn did make it out alive, she has yet to hear from him.

But there's plenty else going on in Sookie's life to keep her from dwelling too much on her failed relationship. For starters, wars have broken out in both the Vampire and Were communities and as usual, Sookie is caught smack dab in the middle of all the ruckus, with lots more killings going on all around her. When the dust settles, it brings with it some some major leadership changes in both the Vampire and Were communities, and the lives of a few more supernaturals are lost in the uproar. But when one life is lost, another is introduced, or so they say, and to that end, Sookie is introduced to a new family member whose existence had remained secret up until now.

As the story progresses and Sookie grows more accepting of her blood bond with area 5 sheriff Eric Northman, I can only hope their relationship goes back to the way it was when Eric had amnesia, especially since Quinn no longer seems to be in the picture. I'd rather see Sookie with Eric anyway. Mmmmm Eric.... *drool*

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series, which according to the author herself, is slated to end after book 13. I will be sad to see Sookie go but hey, there will always be True Blood reruns to relive, in addition to the other projects Charlaine Harris is working on. :)

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REVIEW: Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire

My Rating: 4 out of 10 stars

The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm and the world comes to Montefiore.

In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia--decadent children of a wicked pope--no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest, he leaves Bianca under the care (so to speak) of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest salvation can be found as well ...

I had a difficult time making it through this book. The pace was pretty slow most of the way through, and the dialog and phrasing would often set my mind to wandering so next thing I knew, I wasn't even comprehending what I was reading. That's usually a strong indicator that I'm pretty bored with a book. :( I decided to plod through anyway. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed Wicked so much--both the book and the theater production--that I thought Mirror Mirror would eventually get there too, but alas it did not, and I was left feeling that my time could've been better spend with my nose in the next Sookie book which has been lying in wait on my night stand. :)

The reason I'm not giving this book a lesser rating is that even though I didn't enjoy it, I still felt the author himself is a good writer. I didn't find myself criticizing the story itself as I was reading as I do with other books with really bad writing. So just because this book wasn't my cup of tea, and I'm sure others will agree that it's a bit slow-paced, there may be others who enjoy it a lot more than I did.

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REVIEW: All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 7) by Charlaine Harris

My Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

Sookie has agreed to accompany Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq to the Vampire Summit in Rhodes. Also in tow are several of the other Louisiana vampires including Bill, Eric, Pam, and a few of the other area sheriffs. During the summit, the Queen is set to stand trial for the charges of killing her short-time husband, Peter Threadgill, King of Arkansas, and Sookie is prepared to serve as witness in the case. Unfortunately, due to the disastrous events of Katrina, the Queen's kingdom is in a much weakened state and so of course, many of the other vampires present are attempting to take advantage, and Sookie's telepath duties prove quite useful to the queen during all the wheeling and dealing and power struggles going on.

While in Rhodes (this is near Chicago, not the island in Greece), Sookie also meets up with the only other telepath she's ever met, Barry the Bellyboy, who now works for the Vampire King of Texas. Together, Sookie and Barry manage to uncover a deadly plot perpetrated by a group of haters wanting to take down a large number of vampires at the hotel where the summit is being held.

In addition to the summit events, there are several other sub-plots going on. Sookie's relationship with Quinn starts to get a bit complicated as he realizes how deeply she's tied to the vampires. In particular, her ties to Eric have grown stronger with the forced taking of more of his blood. (Yay!) One can only hope that Sookie and Eric wind up together from here on out, but of course Sookie will keep trying to deny their bond, even though it's apparent that Eric really cares deeply for her.

In the end, all is well, and Sookie saves the day, although several vampires (and humans) are indeed lost in another terrible tragedy. Though the main plot is wrapped up nicely, it's the underlying sub-plots which have you drooling for the next installment. I can't wait to see what happens next!!

Overall, this has got to be one of my favorite Sookie books in a long time! The action was non-stop and the underlying chemistry between Eric and Sookie is once again beginning to heat up. Woohoo!! Bring it on!! :)

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