Mary Higgins Clark has done it again in her latest novel, Where Are You Now? 

This is a very fast paced read.  You will want to have some time when you first open this book because once you start, you just will not want to stop until you reach the end. 

We quickly find that Mackenzie has been missing for 10 years but every Mother’s Day, he calls his mother to let him know that he is ok.  But he does not return to his family.

His younger sister Carolyn, barely 16 when her brother disappeared, is now a law school graduate and is ready to start her career as a lawyer.  But before she can go on, she decides that this is the year, she will wait for her brother to call and let him know that she has made it her mission to find him.

This triggers a series of events that sends Carolyn’s world spinning.  It seems her brother is determined to stay out of sight. 

Ok no spoilers will be given but Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorite writers.  She let me down a little with Two Little Girls in Blue but she brought me back up with this one.  This is a serious page-turner and the best thing I liked is that I was surprised right until the very end.

This gets 4 tattered pages!!

Dead Right is the last of the Stillwater trilogy.  This is where the horrid truth finally comes out.

To recap, the Reverend Lee Barker has been missing for over 20 years.  Everyone in town believes the Montgomerys killed the reverend and have buried him on the family farm.  But there is never any proof.

Finally, Madeline Barker, the eldest sibling of the Montgomery family and the natural daughter of the deceased Reverend Lee Barker, decides that she needs to know the truth once and for all.  She uses all of her savings and hires some hot-shot detective from California.

Madeline’s natural mother committed suicide when Madeline was about 12.  Shortly thereafter the Reverend remarried and Madeline becomes part of the Montgomerys.  She has always believed them to be innocent of her father’s death.  But she refuses to believe that her father could have just walked away ands left her behind–his only natural daughter. 

Hunter Solazano hails from Los Angeles and he soon finds out that small towns can be just as horrid as a big city.  He is a great detective and he is determined to find the truth.  However, he soon discovers that some truths are better left undetected. 

Again, I will not give away all the details.  I did like this book a little bit less but that’s because I did not like the character of Maddie as Madeline is affectionately called by her family, as much as I liked the characters of Grace and Clay.  this is probably because I could understand why Clay and Grace made the decision they made.  But Maddie didn’t always make what I would call “safe” choices.  Then again, she had already lost her mother tragically, so I can see that she had a lot at stake. 

The story of the Montgomerys and Maddie does come to a conclusion and all loose ends are nicely tied together.  This trilogy would make a great book club discussion.

 This one gets 3 1/2 tattered pages!

I received this “FORWARD” from a very good friend of mine recently.   I did forward the email to others because it was a petition and I’m all for our first amendment rights!  There were about 900 signatures and if I didn’t forward, these would be lost.  However, I did not attach my name to the bottom of it.  Before I explain why I didn’t, here’s a copy of the email:

Subject: Social Security – IMPORTANT
Mom was a homemaker and Dad worked all his life and paid into SS. Dad has passed away and now mom can barely make ends meet. While the possible ‘illegal’ alien in front of her at the grocery store buys the name brands, mom goes for the generic brands and day old breads. She doesn’t have out of state calling on her phone because she can’t afford it and shops at the thrift shops and dollar stores. She considers having a pizza delivered once a week ‘eating out’. She grew up during the depression, watched her husband go overseas to fight in WW II a year after their marriage, and then they went on to raise, feed and clothe 5 children, struggling to pay tuition for parochial schools.

The Senate voted this week to allow ‘illegal’ aliens access to Social Security benefits. I’m sorry, but how can the Senate justify this slap in the face to born and bred, or naturalized, citizens. It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If they give benefits to ‘illegal’ aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives? This is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to receive Social Services. If you do not wish to sign the petition yourself, please forward on to anyone you think might be interested. If you don’t forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names. If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to anyone who might want a voice. Thank you!

To add your name, click on ‘forward.’ You will be able to add your name at the bottom of the list and then forward it to your friends.

WILL THE 1,000th PERSON TO SIGN, PLEASE SEND IT ON TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS (mail to: President@WhiteHouse.gov )

PETITION FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Mr. President:

The petition below is a protest against the recent vote of the senate which was to allow illegal aliens access to our social security! We demand that you and all congressional representatives require citizenship for anyone to be eligible for social services in the United States.

I had to go out and get the second installment ofBrenda Novak’s Stillwater trilogy almost as soon as I finished the first book.  The end is a cliffhanger and I wanted to know what happens next.  My anxiety had already been built up from Book #1.  And I was not disappointed.

In the previous book, we learn a lot about Clay Montgomery, Grace’s older brother.  Clay has sacrificed his own life to keep living on and watch over the family farm/home.  He guards the farm with a rifle and he has good aim.  He is big loveable, handsome and emotionally-withdrawn.  This of course makes him a magnet for the women of Stillwater.  Clay always has someone in his bed if he wants it.  

At the end of the book #1, we are introduced to Allie McCormick, a cold-case detective from the big city of Chicago.  In this book, we find out that she has come home to Stillwater to live with her parents a while after a bitter divorce.  We also find out that she is going to dig her teeth into the coldest case ever–the disappearance of the Reverend Lee Barker, Clay’s stepfather.

This book centers more around Clay and of course Allie’s blooming relationship.  Clay is faced with getting involved with a woman who he cares about just as much as he cares about protecting his family’s secret.  Or getting her involved in something he knows goes against her training as a detective.  

Allie is in law enforcement and she is faced with loving Clay or staying true to her duty as an officer of the law and betraying the man she loves.     

Again, I will not give up any secrets but this was a great read as well.  The pages turned themselves!

This gets 4 tattered pages!

This book is a first novel for this writer and it reads like the lyrics to the ballad that was Pan Yuliang’s life.  The novel is a work of fiction based on the life of Pan Yuliang, a painter from Shanghai (thus the title!).  It took the writer approximately 10 years to write this book!  Sounds incredible but she did justice to Pan Yuliang’s life. 
Pan Yuliang was an orphan who was later sold into prostitution by her uncle who was supposed to be her caregiver.  I guess fortunately, she ends up in a brothel where many significant political leaders and government officials frequent.  She ends up being the concubine of Pan Zanhua, a customs inspector.  He enrolls her to study art, her passion, at a school in Shanghai.  She is so talented that she ends up in Paris furthering her art and does pretty well in Paris.  When she returns to China, the people are not ready for her.  She often opted for painting nudes, which the people of China found alarming, especially in a woman of course!  She had also grown accustomed to a European lifestyle.  China’s political atmosphere was in the midst of a revolution.  Finally, Pan Yuliang has to choose between her passion for her art and the man who gave her her life back. 
The writer took some real events of a misunderstood and under-appreciated painter and gave it life.   She filled in the blanks of a life that would otherwise have remained obscured. 
I did not know anything at all about Pan Yuliang until I read this novel.  I think the novel shows an incredible imagination on the part of the writer.  Her prose is very smooth and lyrical and was a joy to read.  For me, Pan Yuliang’s artistic life was reminiscent of the Mexican artist–Frida Kahlo.  Frida also painted the unobservable and shocking.  It seems they were women ahead of their times.
5 Tattered Pages!!

NOTE:  I entered a contest to win a copy of this book and an oil paint set   I’m not a painter but I was really interested in the book!  The writer emailed me to let me know I had not won but she would send a copy of the book anyway if I was interested.  Of course I said!  A few days later the book arrived.  It was a great novel and although I don’t personally know the author, I want to thank her (if she ever reads this)   Keep them coming!!

This was my very first time reading a Brenda Novak novel and I am very glad that I picked it up. 

Dead Silence marks the beginning of the Montgomerys’ odyssey.  This book is the first installment of the ”Stillwater Trilogy.” 

My attention is immediately captivated by the character of Grace Montgomery.  Grace is an Assistant District Attorney, who left the town of Stillwater 13 years earlier to start a new life.  And that she did because she is very successful in her career.  However, she is not as successful at love.

Grace returns to Stillwater to try to make peace with her past before she decides to marry her suitor. 

As we get to know Grace’s mother, her over-protective brother Clay and her mother, we realize that although all families have secrets, this family has a deadly secret.  As more as divulged about the circumstances leading to the death of Grace’s step-father and the small town’s beloved pastor, the reader finds that they are sympathizing with Grace.  

I will not divulge any secrets or spoilers but this is a must-read because I never thought I’d find myself sympathizing with a would-be murderer.

And remember that in this book the end isn’t really the end–it’s a new beginning.

THIS GETS 4 TATTERED PAGES!

I first “met” Christine Feehan on my myspace page.  I had never read any of her novels and didn’t think I ever would because I noticed many of them were more like comic books.  I read literature for goodness sakes!! LOL 
Well, I went into a B. Dalton bookstore and on their bargain table for $1.95 lay “Dark Hunger” by Christine Feehan.  I threw it in my basket with a couple of Anita Shreve and Jodi Picoults I had picked up!  It laid around on my TBR (“to be read”) shelf for a while.  One day as I was leaving for a doctor’s appointment, I glanced at my shelf and spotted the very thin volume of “Dark Hunger.”  I figured this would help pass the time and quickly stuck it into my handbag. 

I checked in at the doctor and promptly sat to read my comic book.  It was a great story.  I cannot say how much I enjoyed it.  This is book #14 in Chrsitine Feehan’s “dark series.”  There are about 18 or 19 books so needless to say I have missed a lot of backstory although it’s a completely stand-alone novel.

Christine Feehan takes us into a fantasy world full of vampires, werewolves and a special race of women.  She also adds romance and sex appeal.  And you get pictures!  What more can you ask for?

Granted, this may not be literature and it may never be taught at a respectable university but it really should be.  There is something to be said for the graphic novel.  So take one of these along on a train ride or to the beach or to a doctor’s waiting room.  The time will fly and you will be the better for it. 

This gets 4 tattered pages!

I’m so sorry but there is definitely something wrong when one police officer/detective/whatever his title, shot 31 times!!!
What on earth would ever make you shoot a gun 31 times?  It’s not like it was an automatic machine gun–the kind that just keeps shooting if you leave your finger on the trigger.
He had to shoot a few times, stop, eject clip, reload clip and shoot again–several times.  This gave him plenty of time to recoup his thoughts and at some point realize he was NOT doing the right thing.
I’m not a technical expert so I’m not really sure how that all works.  There were many more shots fired by two other officers but I was just taken aback by the fact that ONE officer alone could possibly shoot 31 times.  How can that happen and it be right?  This wasn’t about race.  This wasn’t about the fact that some or all had prior criminal records.  This is about the fact that a person (or maybe all 3)  that we all count on to protect us went a little overboard when faced with pressure. 
I know that officers put their lives on the line every time they put on that uniform and I am thankful; but they should also be very self-aware.  If you feel you can’t handle the pressure, let someone know.  Take care of it–BEFORE you go shooting 31 times!

This was the first time I have ever read a book by Linda Fairstein and I have been missing out! 
This book is the most recent installment in a long-standing series featuring the character of Alexandra Cooper.  “Coop,” as she is lovingly referred to by Mike, a detective she works closely with, is an assistant district attorney in NYC.  In Killer Heat, Coop, Mike and Mercer (another detective), are on a race to stop a serial killer who has a penchant for women in uniform.  In the meantime, Coop is also busy trying a case of rape that is 35 years old and finally solvable through DNA testing.  And as if that weren’t enough, a group of gang-bangers whose leader she prosecuted and put away previously, is out to get her. 
I enjoyed this book tremendously.  The characters are immediately captivating.  Fairstein describes Coop in such a way that the reader becomes immediately invested in what happens to her.  In this book, we learn that Coop has just met a Frenchman and she could be falling for him.  However, we also learn that her fiance was murdered and she is still dealing with the repercussions.  There also seems to be some undercurrent of a love interest between her and Mike.  
I read a lot of suspense/thrillers and I found a couple of things in Killer Heat that make Fairstein stand out.  First of all, the heroine is involved in many different things at one time.  There isn’t just one storyline but several and they intertwine.  Another thing that is different (again I don’t know if she does it in all her books) is how she uses history and her description of places to teach us all sorts of trivia. 
In this book, we learn all about Governor’s Island and Bannerman Island.  These are real places off the coast of NY.  I really enjoyed reading the history, especially since I’m pretty close to NYC.
I definitely enjoyed everything about this book and have just added another author to my favorites’ list.
5 Tattered Pages

   This novel is an autobiographical account of Alice Sebold’s rape when she was a college freshman.  In this novel, Sebold shares with her reader intimate details about being raped and how her life changed afterward.  She describes the violence in such detail that you “see” it vividly occur as you read.   Alice’s life was tainted by this rape.  How could it not be?  She returns to school and eventually graduates but not before more trauma and tragedy occur.  She does win the case against her rapist which is extremely difficult to do, but this doesn’t really do anything for her emotionally.  In some ways, I think it may have hurt her because it seems that after winning the case, she became somewhat of a celebrity and this damaged many of her relationships with peers and may have caused other problems. 
However, she manages to finish her classes and obtain an education.  She eventually becomes a college professor.  She travels quite a bit.  She also ends up with a nasty little heroin habit.
All in all it was an interesting read, meaning that you as the reader do want to know more about her life, so Sebold does capture her reader’s attention.  However, I did feel a little bit cheated at the end because the last couple of chapters dealing with her drug habit and adult life, seem to have been written in a rush.  It was like she needed a few more pages or something.  There was not as much detail in these final chapters as there could have been.  Her soul was not written into those final pages. 
I am left wanting to know more about the man she was living with and how she happened to get involved with him.  I also wanted to know exactly how big a drug habit she got into–when and how did she take her first hit?  Did she like it?  How did she feel?  Why quit? 
I also know she managed to find a great man, who she is married to and I would have liked to know more about that.  I guess what I wanted was a happy ending but I could see why she would not put that part of her life in this book.  This was more her own personal journey into an abyss and her struggle out of it.  It was like a journal she decided to share with the world about a very bad part of her life.  
It’s really difficult to rate an autobiographical account of someone’s life especially when it’s infused with such trauma.  Please understand that this is my own personal opinion about the “story” not her life.
This book gets 4 tattered pages!