The Good Girl

 - By Mary Kubica

I have to say, I have a hate-like relation with this book. I read the book in one sitting, could not close it and let it be, at any point during my read. But, the more I think about it, the more I dislike it.

This book is about Mia Dennett, who was kidnapped and forced to live in a cabin by the abductor, Colin Thatcher. Eve and James, Mia's mother and father, seem to handle this abduction in two different ways; one with guilt and other with disbelief. Grace, Mia's sister, copes with this with her detached indifference. When finally found by the cops, Mia insists that her name is Chloe and that she does not remember much of anything else. Gabe, the investigator, seems to spend days waiting for information, while Mia seems to develop empathetic feelings towards her captor.

The characters were just flat out boring. Eve Dennett was the easiest to connect with, but certainly not to my liking. James Dennett was beyond annoying. Gabe was pathetic, Grace has a graceful mention, while Colin was just too unbelievable to be true and Mia, well, just falls flat. The more I think about characters, the more irked I am with them.

The story was told in three POV, with mix tense, the present ongoing story interspersed with past to unravel the in-between. While the story keeps the interest alive through the scores of pages, my issue is that this mix of past and present did not just click with the story. There were no good twists to the tale and the story was a bit flat, albeit slightly emotional. The final twist looked more as an after thought than part of the story.

Not the sort of book I would recommend to people. While it certainly makes a captivating read, it just is not compelling enough to feel that there is something amiss if not read.

Ugly Love

- By Colleen Hoover

Miles Archer has two simple rules, Do not ask about his past and do not expect a future with him. But with twists only life can offer, he finds himself at cross roads, where his rules may have to be broken, his past has to be confronted, his present has to be corrected, if he wants his future to be cherished. Does he have the courage to do it?

Sometimes life has a way of making one moment just perfect and the next, a raging tragedy. Miles experiences love at its best and finds himself wading through the ugliness of it. Is he capable of recognizing a lifeline? When faced with feelings that threaten to push him past the self imposed prison of unhappiness, is he brave enough to unveil the chance at happiness that life offers or is he too hardheaded to laugh in the face at a new beginning?

A compassionate and emotional story, told in alternating tones of past and present with a heartbreaking rendition of love and loss, interspersed with passion and hurt. This story is no light read, but definitely a fast read. I could not put the book down, despite the string of emotions it left me reeling in.

Author Colleen Hoover has an easy style and a fantastic articulation. She manages to evolve her characters quite well as the story progresses. She certainly captures the attention of the readers and holds it till the last page, prodding their emotional quotient along the way, stirring up feelings of sympathy, loss, love, hope and redemption. And I loved it, for all its bittersweet, painful and moving story line.

If you are interested in an emotional love story, feel free to pick it up!

Invisible

- By James Patterson with David Ellis

One of the best crime thrillers I read in recent times. Certainly a page turner that kept me hooked. James Patterson is not new at weaving a web of suspense, nor is his style unknown. He is a master plotter and this book does not disappoint his fans. Along with David Ellis, he manages to keep the reader engrossed in the plot with interesting twists and keeps the adrenaline pumping all through the novel.

Emmy Dockery is an FBI research analyst who lost her sister in a fire accident. Though the police rule it out as an accident, she believes its a murder committed by a serial killer capable of pulling off a perfect crime that looks like an accident. Without support from her superiors, she launches her personal mission, scouring through the internet for fires that look like accidents and the more she researches, the more convinced she is, that the fire was no accident but a perfectly executed murder. Having been disciplined by her superiors and mocked by newspapers, she turns to her ex-fiance, Harrison Books Bookman, who was an ex-FBI agent, to help her. Having gone through her research, though he is skeptical about the case, he believes in her and manages to get an approval for a small team of four members to take the case further.

The rest of the novel is about revelations: Is Emma, in her own mind fabricating a case because she is unable to accept her sister's death as an accident? Or, is Emma's research true? The truth in either case is tantalizingly close with every page turned, yet that bit far, to keep you engrossed, with enough twists in the plot to keep even an avid crime reader in suspense.

Not a book to overlook, definite read for any mystery lover.

http://www.amazon.in/Invisible-James-Patterson

Bad Luck and Trouble

- by Lee Child

Jack Reacher is an ex-military US army major, hitch hiking his way through the United States of America, to whichever place he thinks up next. With toothbrush, passport and a recently acquired ATM debit card, Reacher has minimal luggage and is always on the go. No permanent address, no phone, no email, he is as close to being untraceable on the planet as one can get. So, when tracked down by his past unit member, Frances Neagley, with a distress code that few in the world could understand, he immediately responds.

Back in his military days, Reacher was the head of a special investigative unit in the military, the Special Investigators. He hand picked eight members, who were the best the army could offer, and together they worked as a team to bring the bad guys down.So, when someone from this unit calls for help, it sure as hell is not for finding lost keys!

When he meets Frances Neagley in LA, she shows him an autopsy report of Calvin Franz, who was part of their unit. He was tortured and thrown out of the helicopter when alive, left as coyote food. His death has been brutal and vicious. She wants him to put the old unit back together to avenge Calvin Franz's death.

"You do not mess with the special investigators", was their tagline. But, now, someone did and in a gruesome way. And someone has to pay!

Reunited with survivors of his old unit, Reacher sets about hunting down the perpetrators. Trusting one another as they once did, not so long ago, they retrace the steps of Calvin Franz, only to find that they are facing something much bigger than avenging their own. What will they do?

Lee Child has done a phenomenal job of showcasing Jack Reacher, with a flare unmatched in crime thrillers, as yet. He weaves a web of suspense that leaves you breathless. He kicks up the adrenaline a notch, with every turning page. And he ties up the tale with a fascinating ending that leaves you in awe. He does not disappoint with this one. It is written with precision and dexterity well known to all his fans.

For me, personally, Jack Reacher is an enigma. For a while now, Reacher is shown as a drifter with his set of morales and a simple rule: You mess with me, you get what you get! He retaliates with precision and with a menace unmatched and unparalleled. And he delivers, every time.

However this novel is different to others, in that it is emotional or as close to emotional as Reacher could get. Military was an integral part of his life for a very long time. And the camaraderie he had with his Special Investigative team is more than that of his family loyalty. They believed in a code and they had each others back. And when someone messes with one of them, they would be dead men walking, as simple as that.

"You don’t throw my friends out of helicopters and live to tell the tale." - Jack Reacher.
That guy, I tell you, he tingles my spine and warms my heart. This is one book, you do not want to miss.

Happy Reading, fella readers!!

My Sister's Grave

- By Robert Dugoni

Oh Boy!! It was a fast paced, adrenaline pumping, emotional ride to closure. I could hardly take my eyes off the page.

Sarah Crosswhite disappears on a storm ridden night, while driving home. In the subsequent investigation, Edmund House, a convicted rapist , is tried and arrested for Sarah's murder, though her body was never found. The evidence was flimsy and the trial was a mere formality. The town moved on, however, her sister Tracy and her family, did not get the closure they sought.

Twenty years later, a dog digs up a bone that is identified to be that of Sarah Crosswhite. At that time, Tracy is with the Seattle Police department, as a detective, still trying to find the answers as to what happened to her sister on that fateful night. The evidence found in her sister's grave conflicts with the evidence twenty years ago. Tracy, convinced of a cover up, intends to seek justice. She reaches out to her childhood friend Dan O'Leary, who is now practicing law in Cedar Grove to help release an innocent from jail and to reopen the investigation of her sister's murder.

The rest of the story, moving between past and present, unveils the truth, bit by bit, as to what happened to Sarah. In her quest for truth, Tracy steps on a lot of shoes, but, she perseveres to the end, to find the answers. But, can she handle what she finds? Should she have left the dead for the dead, instead of seeking answers that should have been left buried, along with her sister?

Robert Dugoni does a fabulous job of keeping the suspense until the very end and misleading quite convincingly. I loved the characters in the novel. Just when I thought, this is the one who did it, I am faced with another side of the character, that had me rethinking! The characters had different shades, each contrasting and humane.

For a crime thriller, this still managed to evoke all the emotional triggers of love, affection, loyalty, friendship and courage, which was a pleasant surprise. The novel was well written, precise and logical. And the final twist?? I sure did not see it coming, I can tell you that much!

Not the sort to pick up if you are in a hurry to be somewhere. And certainly not for a bedtime read, you won't get any!!

For all fellow readers, who love a good crime thriller, this is a MUST read!!

Sleep Tight

- By Rachel Abbott

People do all sorts of daft things for no reason that anybody else can understand...

I LOVED it. I absolutely loved it. Rachel Abbott has done a phenomenal job of evolving the characters and the story, in a way that is captivating, enticing and ruddy brilliant. I have to say it, just one more time: I freaking loved it!!!

Ah, Olivia, my heart goes out to you! What an ill fated life did you live?  Her boyfriend leaves her and their two month old child, Jasmine, without so much as a word. A few weeks later, her parents are dead. And a few months later, she seems to be living a perfect life, married to a doting husband. A few years into marriage, she has two kids and lives in a semblance of luxury. Except, one day, Robert disappears with the kids, or so Olivia believes. However, he returns. A few years later, she disappears, along with the kids. There seems to be nothing amiss in the house, no chaos suggesting something out of ordinary and yet, something was missing. There were absolutely no photos of the kids or of Olivia in the house. Everything else looks the same. Except, for a LOT of blood that was cleaned, behind the locked doors of Robert's study. The cops investigating the disappearance seem to find a bread crumb trail, yet picking the crumbs left more questions than answers.

This is a dark tale of love, friendship and passion told at a mind-numbing pace and just when I thought its over, there was another curve ball thrown! Boy, I could not put this down and I could not get the characters out of my head.

What happened to Olivia and her kids? Why is the door to Robert's study locked? Whose blood was it in his study? Did he kill Olivia and the kids and buried them somewhere? Or was he a victim of some heinous crime? What happened to all the photos in the house? As the investigation progresses, unraveling the mystery, who is good and who is bad, who is the victim and who is the culprit? Every link is tied in the end, but that end was a fabulous journey, through the minds of the characters. Tom Douglas, the smart and determined chief investigator along with Becky, his partner, who is equally determined,  together peel off the layers to a gripping finale that will surely keep you at the edge of your seat.

I dare you to put it down!! Have fun, fellow readers!!

You

 - By Caroline Kepnes

I should say that this random pick was one of the best I read in recent times. Oh Gosh, it is deliriously creepy, unbelievably sensual, impossibly addictive. By the very subtext of the novel, I should not have liked the book, let alone loved it.

Joe Goldberg is obsessed. The story is about his object of obsession, told from his perspective. Guinevere Beck, or Beck as she likes to be called is an aspiring writer, who has no clue about life, who has some serious issues and is selfish enough to use people to get to her objective. While browsing in Mooney bookstore, she catches the eye of Joe Goldberg, who works there and he is instantly obsessed with her. While ringing her bill at the counter, they flirt a little and Joe decides that she is THE ONE. From that moment on, he stalks her every minute - quite literally!! Active on networking sites - Twitter and Facebook, and into emails and texting more than calls, Beck provides an easy access to her personal life to anyone on the internet. And he swallows up the whole of her social networking and gets hold of her mobile phone on a freak encounter and hacks into her email and inserts himself into her life, creating a fabricated life that eventually makes her fall for him. Will she find out about his secret? How does he play the act of an innocent bystander, while all the while knowing more about her than he confesses? In that narrow walk on the tripwire, who trips first?

For a debut novel, Caroline Kepnes was brilliant in her story telling and her play of words. She told a compelling dark tale of obsession, that left me astounded at her audacity for creating a character (Joe Goldberg) that snuck into my mind and played havoc with right and wrong, while I rooted for him. I should have cursed him for existing, yet, I could not help but be absorbed into his mind and live in it. The obsession was like a weed, growing in my mind too and that is the beauty of the novel. The characters just grow on you. While other characters have good roles to play and are introduced via Joe's reading of Beck's emails, they all play an important role in the novel. No character is undeserved, no word is misplaced and the novel is constructed intelligently, to drive you to obsession, page by page.

You, by Caroline Kepnes is definitely worth a read!