Audiobook: Zom-B by Darren Shan

by:  Darren Shan
published by:  Little Brown Books for Young Readers
publish date:  October 16, 2012

When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish.  B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse.  When dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks.  That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers.

I picked up the audiobook for Zom-B at the library because it sounded like a good story.  I was happy to hear that Emma Galvin was the narrator for the audiobook.  If you haven't listened to one of her audiobooks I highly recommend them.  I've listened to Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth and Graveminder by Melissa Marr.  All of them were well done, including Zom-B. 

Zom-B is a really short book.  The audiobook was only about 3 1/2 hours long.  It tells the story of B.  Who is a girl by the way.  That little tidbit is a little unclear at times because she's shaving her head and beating people up a lot.  She lives in London with her racist father and complacent mother.  She BSes her way through school until the zombies show up.  Then she has to make the tough decisions.  Is she going to fall back on the racist teachings of her father or is she going to follow what she knows is right in her head and heart?

I've read a lot of negative comments about this book regarding the issue of racism.  It would be one thing if B was a straight up racist because her dad was.  Then it might be politically incorrect.  However, I think the writer does a great job with her struggle between wanting to please her dad and wanting to take her own path.  A lot of kids have that issue, maybe not with racism, but maybe religion or career.

Zom-B is the first book in a series.  There's a fantastic twist right at the very end so I can't wait to read the next book to see where the story of B goes next. 

Clean Your Shelf Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the "Clean Your Shelf" Giveaway Hop.  You are at stop #51.  For the complete list of participating blogs, go here.

We have 4 books to giveaway.  4 separate winners will be chosen. (US only please) To enter, please fill out the rafflecopter below. Good Luck!!

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Review: Barefoot by Elin Hildebrand

by:  Elin Hilderbrand
published by:  Little, Brown & Co.
publish date:  July, 2007

It's summer on Nantucket, and as the season begins, three
women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a local
boy, home from college. Burdened with small children,
unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues,
the women--two sisters and one friend--make their way to
the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all
trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed
in-vitro attempts, discovered her husband's infidelity and
then her own pregnancy; Brenda embarked on a passionate
affair with an older student that got her fired from her
prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister
Vickie, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with
cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting
as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, something
more, while the women confront their pasts and map out
their futures.

You'd think maybe by now I'd be tired of Elin Hilderbrand books.  I'd be tired of books about people spending their summers on Nantucket.  You might think all her books are the same.  It amazes me that they aren't.   Elin Hilderbrand is hands down one of my favorite "chick-lit" writers. 

I've never been to Nantucket.  I lived in Massachusetts for TEN YEARS and never went there.  Over the last couple of years since discovering Elin Hilderbrand and her books, I feel like I've been there.  I crave to go there.  Her books make Nantucket feel like such a tangible place as you're reading them, it makes you feel like you're right there with the characters.

The book Barefoot is no different than her other books.  It's an excellent story.  All these women and their problems are crammed into one tiny cottage for the summer.  A local boy, Josh, becomes their savior for the summer.  He takes care of the whole household in various ways.   I really liked all the characters in this book, except maybe DeeDee, Josh's ex-girlfriend, but the reader isn't supposed to like her.

Barefoot is one of Elin's older books, but if you haven't read it, I recommend it.  It's a great warm weather read for these cold days of winter.

Blog Tour: Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo

Author: Giacomo Giammatteo
Publisher: Inferno Publishing Company 
Date of publication: April 2012

A string of brutal murders has bodies piling up in Brooklyn, and Detective Frankie Donovan knows what is going on. Clues left at the crime scenes point to someone from the old neighborhood, and that isn't good.

Frankie has taken two oaths in his life - the one he took to uphold the law when he became a cop, and the one he took with his two best friends when they were eight years old and inseparable. Those relationships have forced Frankie to make many tough decisions, but now he faces the toughest one of his life; he has five murders to solve and one of those two friends is responsible. If Frankie lets him go, he breaks the oath he took as a cop and risks losing his job. But if he tries to bring him in, he breaks the oath he kept for twenty-five years - and risks losing his life.

In the neighborhood where Frankie Donovan grew up, you never broke an oath.

Murder Takes time is the debut offering by author Giacomo Giammatteo.  I have to say that for a first time author, he has a hit on his hands.  I'm not usually a "mob" story reader.  But I really liked this book.  From the first chapter, I was hooked.  The plot was well thought out and intriguing.  It definitely had me guessing.

The story alternates between the present and the past.  For Frankie, the past holds the key to the present. He is hunting a killer who he is convinced is someone from his past. Clues are being left for him by the killer. The murders are very brutal. He struggles with the question of what he will do if he is right.  Can he do the right thing, or will promises made as a child tear him apart?  The story in the past is a harsh look at what it was like to grow up into the mob world.  It was sad to see the boys grow up way too fast.   I don't want to give away too much of the plot because it would ruin the book.

I definitely recommend this book!  Mr. Giammatteo has a bright future ahead of him and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future!

About the Author:

I live in Texas now, but I grew up in Cleland Heights, a mixed ethnic neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware that sat on the fringes of the Italian, Irish and Polish neighborhoods. The main characters of Murder Takes Time grew up in Cleland Heights and many of the scenes in the book were taken from real-life experiences.
Somehow I survived the transition to adulthood, but when my kids were young I left the Northeast and settled in Texas, where my wife suggested we get a few animals. I should have known better; we now have a full-blown animal sanctuary with rescues from all over. At last count we had 41 animals—12 dogs, a horse, a three-legged cat and 26 pigs.

Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who takes walks with me every day and happens to also be my best buddy.

Since this is a bio some of you might wonder what I do. By day I am a headhunter, scouring the country for top talent to fill jobs in the biotech and medical device industry. In the evening I help my wife tend the animals, and at night—late at night—I turn into a writer.

TRAILER:  http://youtu.be/UL4UVQ0pwys

AUTHOR SITES:   Website   Facebook    Twitter

PURCHASE LINKS:   AMAZON link    B&N link

Review: The Uninvited by Heather Graham

Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira (Harlequin)
Date of Publication: August 2012

After the day's final tour, docent Allison Leigh makes her rounds while locking up... and finds a colleague slumped over Bedford's desk, impaled on his own replica bayonet.

Resident ghosts may be the stock-in-trade of stately Philadelphia homes, but Allison - a noted historian - is indignant at the prospect of "ghost hunters" investigating this apparent murder.

Agent Tyler Montague knows his hauntings and his history. But while Allison is skeptical of the newcomer, a second mysterious murder occurs. 

Has "Butcher" Bedford resurfaced? Or is there another malevolent force at work in Landon Mansion? Wary, yet deeply attracted, Allison has to trust in Tyler and work with him to discover just what...

The Uninvited is the final installment in the Krewe of Hunters series, or at least for this team.  Overall, I enjoyed the entire series.  The mysteries have been very good. As for this latest one, I was happy with the mystery.  There were many suspects to chose from and I had a hard time figuring out the killer.  In the end the killer made sense.  I find that with a big suspect list, this isn't often the case.  I also enjoyed the history that was woven throughout the book.  It was interesting and I never felt like it was just an information dump.

What I didn't care for was the romance.  I'm not sure if it made sense to me and it felt forced.  As in The Unholy (my review)  I thought the book would have been fine without the romance.   I felt like we were told they should be together instead of feeling the relationship.   The recap of the relationships that the Krewe members have was a nice touch. It is always nice to see how the couples are doing.

If you haven't given this series a try, I encourage you to do so now. I am a fan of Ms. Grahams and I am looking forward to see what she comes out with next!

Throwback Thursday: Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Author: Elizabeth Peters
First published in 1975 by Dodd Mead

Amelia Peabody, that indomitable product of the Victorian age, embarks on her debut Egyptian adventure armed with unshakable self-confidence, a journal to record her thoughts, and, of course, a sturdy umbrella. On her way to Cairo, Amelia rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been abandoned by her scoundrel lover. Together the two women sail up the Nile to an archaeological site run by the Emerson brothers -- the irascible but dashing Radcliffe and the amiable Walter. Soon their little party is increased by one -- one mummy, that is, and a singularly lively example of the species. Strange visitations, suspicious accidents, and a botched kidnapping convince Amelia that there is a plot afoot to harm Evelyn. Now Amelia finds herself up against an unknown enemy -- and perilous forces that threaten to make her first Egyptian trip also her last...

I read the first of the Amelia Peabody books about 20 years ago.  When I saw it available on my library's download site, I thought it might be fun to revisit the book.  Crocodile on the Sandbank is still as good as I remember.  While the mystery wasn't too hard to figure out, I still had fun and enjoyed the adventure in the desert.

I love the characters in the book.  Amelia is such a great character.  She is convinced she is plain and will be an old spinster.  She is also smart and compassionate.  I loved the banter and chemistry that she has with Emerson. They are well matched!  While the romance is subtle, it was still very endearing.  As for the peripheral characters, who wouldn't fall in love with Walter and Evelyn.  Walter's declaration of love was very sweet and one of the best I have read.

I have not read beyond book 2 I think and I have been trying to figure out why I never continued.  I am going to dig through my book shelves for the next book.  With 20 or so books in the series, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Review & Giveaway: The Prophet by Ethan Cross

Author: Ethan Cross
Publisher: The Story Plant
Date of Publication: October 2012

OLD ENEMIES… Francis Ackerman Jr. is one of America’s most prolific serial killers. Having kept a low profile for the past year, he is ready to return to work – and he’s more brutal, cunning, and dangerous than ever.

NEW THREATS… Scarred from their past battles, Special Agent Marcus Williams cannot shake Ackerman from his mind. But now Marcus must focus on catching the Anarchist, a new killer who drugs and kidnaps women before burning them alive.

HIDDEN TERRORS… Marcus knows the Anarchist will strike again soon. And Ackerman is still free. But worse than this is a mysterious figure, unknown to the authorities, who controls the actions of the Anarchist and many like him. He is the Prophet – and his plans are more terrible than even his own disciples can imagine.

With attacks coming from every side, Marcus faces a race against time to save the lives of a group of innocent people chosen as sacrifices in the Prophet’s final dark ritual.

The Prophet is a well written and well thought out book.  There are many twists and turns. I liked that there were surprises throughout the book, so I was kept guessing.  This book wasn't a comfortable read.  There was a lot of death and often the death was gruesome.  The author also explores the line between good and evil.  Often the line is very blurry.  Marcus struggles with this question throughout the book.  As he does his work for The Shepherd group he finds it is getting too easy for him and his heart seems to grow colder. It will be interesting to see how he deals with his conclusions in the next book.

When I went into this book, I wasn't aware that it was the second in a series.  The thing that I didn't like about the book was that I kept feeling like I was missing information.  It took me a while to connect the dots between all of the characters.  Therefore, it took me a while to get into the book.  I also felt like there were a lot of characters to keep straight.  I wonder if I had read the first book, The Shepherd, would I have felt more comfortable with the story. 

Despite this, I think The Prophet is worth a read.  You may want to pick up The Shepherd first.  Want to win a copy of The Shepherd to get you started? Just enter using the Rafflecopter below. US Entries only, please.

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About the author:

When a fireman or a policeman would visit his school, most of his classmates’ heads would swim with aspirations of growing up and catching bad guys or saving someone from a blazing inferno. When these moments came for Ethan Cross, however, his dreams weren’t to someday be a cop or put out fires; he just wanted to write about it. His dream of telling stories on a grand scale came to fruition with the release of his first novel, the international bestseller, THE SHEPHERD.

Ethan Cross is the pen name of a thriller author living and writ- ing in Illinois with his wife, two daughters, and two Shih Tzus. In addition to The Shepherd and The Prophet, he has published two no- vellas––The Cage and Callsign: Knight (with Jeremy Robinson).

AUTHOR SITES:

  Website   (http://www.ethancross.com/)   

  FaceBook  (https://www.facebook.com/EthanCrossBooks)                                 

  Twitter   (http://twitter.com/EthanCrossBooks)

Review: With this Kiss by Bella Riley

Author:Bella Riley
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date of Publication: March 2012

Love can find you when you least expect it . . . Fireworks. That's what innkeeper Rebecca Campbell wants. And no matter how close their friendship, she and her former fiance never shared that. Now, with a broken engagement behind her and a promise she's vowed to keep, Rebecca is determined to make a new life for herself in Emerald Lake. She just never expected sparks to fly this quickly . . . 

Coming home and falling for his little brother's girl wasn't Sean Murphy's plan. Rebecca's sweet smile and kind heart make Sean feel at home-something he's never felt before. But a secret lingers between them, and no matter how powerful their attraction, Sean can't give his heart to a woman he can't trust. Or can he? As the days pass, Rebecca and Sean find it harder and harder to deny their desire. And they are in beautiful Emerald Lake, the perfect place for falling in love . . .

With This Kiss is the second book in the Emerald Lake series by Bella Riley.  While the story follows some of the same characters from the first book, I really felt like this one could be a stand alone book.  Rebecca Campbell  runs the Inn with her best friend,Stu, who is now her former fiance.  Even though people in town have been speculating left and right about why the wedding was called off, Rebecca stays silent.  She decides to hold his secret and let people think what they want. Sean Murphy, not knowing the wedding is off, comes home to a big mess.  He is intrigued by Rebecca and is dying to know why his little brother let her get away.  What he didn't count on was falling in love with her.  Sean is holding a sceret of his own.  It is one his mother asked him to keep for her and it has torn him apart for years.

I enjoyed With This Kiss.  The story speaks to the dangers of keeping secrets, especially when they are not your secrets to keep.  I thought Stu was incredibly selfish in asking Rebecca to keep his secret.  Despite the reasons, I would probably have a hard time forgiving him for taking off and leaving me to pick up the pieces...life long friend or not.  But, what Sean's mother burdened him was a lot worse.  I was glad that Rebecca finally decided to break her promise in the end.  It really was the right thing to do and I felt it helped me believe their HEA more.


I enjoyed the glimpse into Sean's grandmother's romance.  As in the first book, her story follows along with the main story in the present.  There is a life lesson that helps Rebecca and Sean find their way to love.  I hope the next book features the third sister and her story. 

 If you like small town series with endearing characters, definitely give this one a shot.  The first book, Home Sweet Home ( Grand Central Publishing, October 2011), is a great book about long lost loves.  It's definitely worth a read as well!

Blog Tour: A Merry Little Christmas by Anita Higman

Author: Anita Higman

Publisher: Summerside Press

Date of publication: October 2012

Franny Martin is an Oklahoma farm girl who's preparing to spend the holidays alone...again. Then Charlie Landau shows up one day, all wealth and polish, and offers to buy Franny's farm. Franny has no money to speak of, but she is clever and spirited, and she's more than happy to sell the farm and move to the city.

As Sinatra croons from the radio and Christmas descends upon her charming farm, Franny teaches Charlie the curious and sometimes comical ways of country life. In the process, they unearth some discoveries of the heart-that sometimes love comes when you're least ready for it. Will the holidays bring their most impossible dreams within reach?

A Merry Little Christmas is a very sweet book.  It was a quick read and I was able to reading it in one afternoon.  While the story takes place during the Christmas season, I wouldn't really call it a "Christmas" book.  The story takes place in the 60s when racial equality is not even close to a reality.  Times were more innocent and things were a lot slower paced.

I liked the overall story.  It is one of faith, forgiveness, friendship and love.  Franny has lived on her farm for her whole life, but she longs to see more of the world.  When Charlie shows up at the farm and offers to buy it, she jumps at the chance.  Her adventure takes her to the city where she makes a new dear friend.  It also brings her back home to the place she realizes she belongs.

Charlie and Franny were very sweet with each other  This is a very clean romance and it just made their fall into love that much sweeter.  As Franny and Charlie come to care fore each other, their love for each other is tested, but that just makes it stronger. I do wish that the story had been a bit longer.  I thought that the time frame for everything was a bit fast.  The resolution with Charlie's father was a little too quick and wrapped up neatly in a bow for me. 

This is the first book that I have read by Ms. Higman.  I definitely would recommend it to anyone!

Meet Anita:

Best-selling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has over thirty books published (several coauthored) for adults and children. She's been a Barnes & Noble "Author of the Month" for Houston and has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Anita loves good movies, exotic teas, and brunch with her friends.

Find out more about Anita at http://www.anitahigman.com.

Guest Post: Stant Litore author of Strangers in the Land

Please welcome author Stant Litore, author of Strangers in the Land.  He joins us today with his thoughts on zombie apocalypse...Are you ready?

Author: Stant Litore

Publisher: 47 North

Date of publication: October 2012

STRANGERS IN THE LAND retells one of our earliest biblical stories as an episode in humanity’s long struggle with hunger and with the hungry dead. These are the stories of our spiritual ancestors, who faced the dead without electricity or firearms or petroleum, often with little more than a prayer and a hatchet or a stick. It's the story of what they saw when they gazed into the unseeing eyes of the walking corpses, and what they did next.

Four will stand against the dead: Devora, who sees what God sees; the slave girl Hurriya; Zadok, a legend among warriors; and the widower Barak, fighting to keep his vineyard free of this new peril. But can they stand together? For the living fear each other—fear the strangers in the land—as much as they fear the hungry dead.

So, zombie apocalypse. You’re ready?

I keep a Templar sword by the bed. Just in case. Actually scared to death of the hungry dead. On one of our first dates, my future wife and I rented Dawn of the Dead and about five minutes in, I quietly got to my feet, tiptoed out, and retrieved my wood-ax from the shed. Set it right against my armchair. Felt much better through the whole movie after that. The fact that Jessica was more amused than alarmed by this likely is one reason she and I now wear wedding rings.

Actually though, you have to understand that it’s not just one big outbreak we have to watch for. Zombies have been here all along, devouring our history from the inside. In every generation, there has been a plague somewhere. That’s what The Zombie Bible is about – how generations of our ancestors wrestled with the restless dead. How they fought for survival and for sanity in the centuries before electricity or guns or the CDC. Moviemakers like to freak me out with warnings of an imminent global collapse and a world rendered wasteland inhabited only by the dead gnawing on the last bones. But in fact tomorrow or the day after may only be the latest chapter in a long and grisly story.

I’ve been collecting these tales for a while. I have a place up in Colorado where there are few trees and you can see the dead coming from a long way off. I write each evening to scholars and archaeologists who can piece together bits of our half-eaten and half-forgotten memory. If you stop by or take a look in one of my books, I’ll tell you a few tales. How the prophet Jeremiah was left in a dry well three days with the dead tossed in after him. How Polycarp the martyr used to bring rest to dozens of the dead with a touch of his hand and his soul-searching eyes. How in the twelfth century BC Devora, an aging prophetess, led a tribal people against great herds of dead, her blade uplifted above her like a slice of moon against the night sky.

These are tales that will fascinate you and they are tales that will break the heart. Because whether today or three thousand years ago, one’s dead are never faced without terrible cost. Our ancestors understood that better than we, and we can learn from their stories.

About the author:

Born a farmer's son in the Pacific Northwest, Stant Litore took the college road and eventually earned his PhD in English, but remains passionate for things that grow. He spent several years in a dim corner of a library, repairing bruised and battered books, before heading overseas to backpack through Europe. Haunted by the hunger and poverty he witnessed at home and abroad, he began spinning stories about the hungers that devour us and the hopes that preserve us. Today he lives in Colorado with his wife and their two daughters, writing about the restless dead and the restless living. He avoids certain parts of the mountains during the dark of the moon. STRANGERS IN THE LAND is his first published novel.

Review: The Twelve by Justin Cronin

by:  Justin Cronin
published by:  Ballantine Books
publish date:  October 16, 2012

At the end of The Passage, the great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. In the second volume of this epic trilogy, this same group of survivors, led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals: the first offensives of the Second Viral War.

To do this, they must infiltrate a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral—but whose side, in the end, is she really on?

The Twelve was easily my most anticipated book this year.  I could not wait to get my hands on this book.   Honestly, I got a little teary eyed when the ARC came in the mail.  No lie.

I got a few chapters into it and realized I was going to need the audiobook.  There are just certain kinds of books that do better in audiobook form for me personally.  Since I originally started The Passage in audiobook, I kept hearing The Twelve in Scott Brick's voice in my head and that was just messing up my reading.  So I went down to the library and put my name on the waiting list.  Fortunately I didn't have to wait long.

I had a little bit of trouble keeping the time line straight in this book.  There are some jumps back and forth in time.  Generally, they were pretty straightforward and easy to follow along with.  There's a specific incident that happens in a cornfield in Texas.  Everything associated with this incident is what would throw me off.  I had trouble keeping track of who everyone was in relation to the original colony and the Texas settlements. 

Looking past all that, perhaps if I paid better attention and kept up a little better, I liked this continuation of the story.  It carried over some of the characters from the first book and introduced some new ones.  I really liked where the story line of Lawrence Gray,  one the guys in charge of monitoring the test subjects in The Passage carries on in this book.  His story introduces the diabolical Horace Guilder and crazy Lila (Brad Wolgast's ex-wife).

I found this book to be a strong second book in a trilogy.  Often times, second books aren't worth much, but this had a lot to offer.  There was a lot of world building and introduction of new characters.  There were a lot of questions at the end of this book.  I don't want to post them because I don't want to be spoilerish, but if anyone wants to chat about it, I'm definitely down for that!

And if anyone is curious about Book 3, it's called The City of Mirrors and it's due out 2014!