Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dannard

Publisher’s Summary: There's something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia. . . . Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about.

Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper:

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor . . . from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

My Take: The moment I saw the cover of Something Strange and Deadly and read the summary, I was more than eager to read this book. So the moment I got a copy in mail, I was more than eager to pick it up and start reading it right away. And now that I’ve read Something Strange and Deadly, I have to say that I’m in between liking it, and really liking it.

In the very beginning of this book there is a pretty awesome scene that has Eleanor (the protagonist) coming face-to-face for the first time with one of the Dead…and it delivers a mysterious message to her. Dun, dun, duhhhhn!!! (LOL…that sounded better in my head than after I typed it out!) And, at that moment, I was really intrigued by the story. But beginning almost right after that scene I had a really hard time getting into this book. I tried to rack my brain as to why I was struggling so much while reading this story. At first, I thought it was maybe just the time-era when the story was written. But then I realized that I love a lot of books written in the era of the 19th century. So now I’m left here thinking that maybe I was just feeling like I was reading a book without any paranormal elements to it. I guess the Dead and the ghosts that actually were in the story, weren’t in it enough for me…even though “they” are what this story is all about. Does that even make sense? Otherwise, the story was really good! There were a couple twists that I put together pretty quickly, but there was one twist that totally caught me by surprise!

As for the characters, I really like Eleanor! She is a really good protagonist, especially coming from that era in time. There’s also a character named Jie, who’s introduced a little bit later in the book who was probably one of my faves! Best of all, Daniel is an awesome love interest! Mysterious, smart, dangerous…I could go on and on!

So, basically, in Something Strange and Deadly you can find an awesome female protagonist in the 19th century era, a hottie boy who is off limits, with zombies and ghosts added into the mix! Does that sound like something you want to read?

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Publisher’s Summary: Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer:

A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock's thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

My take: Even though I’ve been getting mixed opinions about Hemlock, I started reading it with an open mind and discovered that I actually really liked it! I was immediately drawn to the story from the very first page.

One of the things I loved about Hemlock is that it’s not only an Urban Fantasy but also a murder mystery! I loved how I was swept into all the crazy left and right story twists while Mackenzie was investigating who killed her best friend! Twits like… Who is a werewolf? What really happened the night Amy died? Who, if anyone, should Mackenzie trust? There is one surprise after another all the way through Hemlock and the end even has a pretty awesome twist!!!

The characters in Hemlock are all pretty likable. Considering everything that Mackenzie had to go through from her past and now present…she is one tough chick! So, even though I’d like to tell you more about the other characters I liked, I think doing that would spoil the story for you. Because, while reading Hemlock, I found that I wanted to like each of the characters, but at the same time I wasn’t really sure if I could or should trust ANY of them. And as far as the romance goes, I of course fell for the “other” guy!

If you like a book with werewolves and/or a murder mystery then you should totally read this one! It’s really good.

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Publisher’s Summary: Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

My Take: If you liked Across the Universe, then you will absolutely LOVE A Million Suns because it is a hundred times better! It’s as if Across the Universe was just a taste test and A Million Suns is the whole gourmet meal…with dessert to top it off!

In Across the Universe, we find out that almost everyone on the entire spaceship has been drugged throughout their entire lives through the water system with a drug called Phydus. This drug made the crew zombie-like obedient to the ship’s captain…and it also caused the crews’ bizarre, uh, “seasonal” behavior! LOL!!! So, when Elder and Amy discover this truth during their investigation, Elder decides to remove the drug from the ship’s water system. And now that the people on the ship are fully aware and now know they’ve been lied to their ENTIRE lives, it causes ship-wide anger, depression and laziness. The ship is falling apart and it’s Elder’s job to keep order on the ship!

AND, to make matters worse, there is a murderer on the loose, and neither Elder nor Amy can figure out who’s doing it. So while Elder heroically struggles to try to maintain order on the ship, Amy stumbles upon clues to a maddeningly mysterious puzzle that might possibly give them answers as to why the ship (Godspeed) is behind schedule; answers which could also fix their problems to get the ship to the new Earth.

This book is extremely compelling and intense! There is awesome action, dreadful devastation, cruel chaos, horrific heartbreak and to top it all off…A HUGE TWIST!!! Now that I think about it, there are several awesome twists! How could this book not be totally awesome? Once again I have to say, if you loved or even just liked Across the Universe, then you will HAVE to read A Million Suns!

Buy it here:
Amazon ★ Barnes & Noble ★ Book Depository

Received ARC from Penguin Group at NCIBA Trade-show.

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Publisher's Summary:  I wasn’t free of my past, not yet.

Sydney’s blood is special. That’s because she’s an alchemist—one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiances in question, her future is on the line.

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she’s still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir—the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir—is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill’s guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places—a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside—and within—the school grounds. Now that they’re in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.



My Take: Yay! I cannot believe that this day has finally come! I feel like I have been forever waiting for the release of Bloodlines! And once again Richelle Mead has proved to me why I am a majorly obsessive fan of her Vampire Academy series and NOW her Bloodlines series! And when I say obsessive, I truly mean it! If you haven’t read Vampire Academy, I’m a pusher!!! I will keep pushing you until you read it! So if you haven’t read it, READ IT NOW! There was a discussion on twitter last night with a couple of my fave blogger friends about the popular thing going around, people getting VA tattoos of the molnija or the zvezda. While I have said that I would never get a tattoo, I would love to rock one of these markings, using henna!

Getting back to Bloodlines, this book had a completely different feel than VA and I think that is what made it even more intriguing!! We are now seeing the fabulous Vampire Academy world that I love and wish I was a part of, through the eyes of someone who feels the complete opposite of every obsessive VA fan (including myself). Sydney is a human who was raised her entire life to think of Moroi (pure blood-born vampires) and Dhampir (part Moroi and part human) as evil and unnatural beings who shouldn’t exist.

Sydney is on thin ice with the alchemists because they are looking at her like she is a “vampire lover.” Throughout the book she has to prove to herself and her people that she doesn’t have positive feelings for any of them (Moroi or Dhampir) or look at them as if they were just like humans. Before reading Bloodlines, I thought that Sydney’s opinion of the Moroi and Dhampir had changed because of her feelings about Rose. Rose may have lightened her up a little bit, but we now get to see in Sydney’s own mind how she really feels. Just when I thought she was warming up to them a little bit (the vampires in this book), she shows her ill feelings again. In the very beginning she and her colleague, Rick, are surrounded by Moroi and Dhampir in one house and Rick seems terrified. But while Syndey is extremely uncomfortable and counting how many of them she is surrounded by in that house, she seems to handle herself pretty well; however, she still doesn’t like the thought of having to share a room with a Moroi, even if it is sweet Jill. She thinks that Jill is a blood-crazed vampire who might attack her in her sleep. I’m lovin’ it!

As you probably know, there were several characters whose lives were dramatically turned for the worst at the end of Vampire Academy’s Last Sacrifice, so this was the perfect opportunity to put these characters in a new setting and give us the opportunity to learn more about them and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

The majority of this book is kind of like a mystery. It’s Sydney’s job to make sure that the vampire world is kept a secret and anything that could tip humans off to their existence needs to be stopped or destroyed. So when she runs into a couple things that she thinks she needs to be suspicious of, she is determined to get to the bottom of it.

This is a book that I will be pushing…so you might as well start reading now before I become a stalker!

Purchased with my own money.

1st to Die by James Patterson

Goodreads Summary:  James Patterson, bestselling author of the Alex Cross novels Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, and Pop Goes the Weasel, offers the first of a new series dubbed The Women s Murder Club, featuring a four-woman team that occasionally works outside the system. None of the gritty darkness or frenzied action is lost in 1st to Die, although the female protagonists offer an even deeper emotional context to this suspense thriller.

Inspector Lindsay Boxer of the San Francisco Police Department suddenly finds herself in the middle of two horrifying situations: The first is that she s just learned she has an often-fatal blood disease. The second is a double homicide case she s now heading up that involves the murder of newlyweds on their wedding night. Burdened with Chris Raleigh, a new partner reassigned from the mayor s office, Lindsay finds that she has too much to deal with and turns to her best friend, Claire, the head ME on the case. Claire offers helpful advice and human, friendly contact amid a job filled with violence, cruelty, and fear.

Soon a fledgling newspaper reporter, Cindy, makes contact with Lindsay looking for a career-making story. Although Lindsay can t officially comment on the case, the two women form a rapport, and Cindy joins Lindsay and Claire for their weekly meeting. When a second pair of newlyweds is murdered, and later a third, the investigation leads to a prominent crime writer, Nicholas Jenks, who has a history of spousal abuse and a predilection for kinky, dangerous sex games. With the help of an understanding assistant D.A., Jill Bernhardt, Lindsay tries to make a case against Jenks, who even had an affair with one of the slain women. Eventually Jill joins the Murder Club, and the four ladies share private interdepartmental information in an effort to track and stop the killer before he strikes again.

The major subplot -- Lindsay's facing up to her illness even while she learns to fall in love again -- carefully compensates for the novel s coarse scenes of brutality. Lindsay Boxer isn t merely an obsessed cop trailing a maniac; she s also a terrified woman confronting the onslaught of disease. The story lines balance out to show us the true mettle of someone who puts the safety of others before her own.

Again, Patterson s skill for producing furiously paced fiction are evident as the novel breezes by rapidly. The short chapters keep the narrative leaping with increasingly taut plot elements, but there s an emotional commitment that makes our protagonist even more amiable and involving. 1st to Die is a novel that works as an intense series of character portraits that will leave the reader touched and delighted.

My Take:  I like reading murder mystery on occasion. It is a lot of fun trying to guess the murderer along with the investigation.

I actually figured out who the murderer was pretty early on, but 2 things in the end caught me completely by surprise.

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