Insurgent & Allegiant - Veronica Roth

I have now read the following two novels in the divergent series by Veronica Roth. 

I  am of the opinion that with character development & plot line Veronica is up there with Suzanne Collins & JK Rowling. These books are so in depth with real life possibilities they are almost frighting. This trilogy sucks you in from the get go & becomes an all consuming part of your day, leaving you heartbroken & lost after you tun the final page! 

In the final instalments we follow Tris through her emotional turmoil's & the learning curve she goes through as she battles to keep her world from turning more inside out. With more heartbreaking revelations, losses & new doors opened will she be able to keep her wits about her & her moral fibre intact?  & how will her & Tobias fare in a fight that is so much bigger than they are? 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I had read the cover of this a few times & put it on my mental 'to buy' list, but I saw the upcoming movie trailer for this while at the cinema & knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. This is absolutely brilliant, so much action & yet plenty of emotional turmoil thrown in for good measure. With characters the reader can believe in & identify with, this is a novel that you can get lost into in no time. It draws some parallels with what we already experience today & therefore can imagine how the world created by Veronica Roth could become our own.

Beatrice is facing the toughest decision of her life. Her world is divided into factions based on a populations beliefs for the reason war was rampant in the years gone by. These factions were created for peaceful co-existence, to eradicate the motives that caused war & create a harmonized world in it's place. Beatrice was born into one of these factions, but now at the blossoming age of 16 it is time for her to take the test of a lifetime & make the biggest decision she will ever make. Will she choose to stay in the faction to which she grew up, or does she betray her family & her faction by leaving them behind? And what impact will her choice have on her personally?

Now it is also a major motion picture coming out in 2014! Watch the Official Trailer below: 

Bookshelf Back In Time...

I have been re-reading the Hannibal series by Thomas Harris the past few weeks as it has been a long time since I lost myself in their atrocities. Thomas Harris can certainly twist a gruesome web. For anyone who has not read the trilogy I would recommend they get their hands on copies. Especially with the new (awful) Hannibal TV series that aired recently. The real feel for the character's is in the books where Thomas Harris unveiled them in all their darkness & secrets. The true identity of who these people are, & why they have become the people the are is all released throughout the series of these 3 horrifying books. 

Each novel is as intricately detailed as the last, weaving us through the labyrinth that is the world where Dr Lecter exists in the back of everyone's minds. 

Contrary to popular belief, Red Dragon is the first in this series - in the books & in the movie versions, followed by Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal being the Finale bringing up the rear. 

Silence Of The Lambs (1991) movie was made before Red Dragon (2002) & Hannibal (2001) is the third in the trilogy. Thomas Harris then wrote Hannibal Rising as a prequel to the others, & the accompanying movie came out in 2007.  

As expected you get much more detail in the books, however the movies do the books justice - most likely because Thomas Harris co-wrote those too. If you like psychological befuddling crime novels with some  stomach churning violence then these are definitely ones to pick up. 

12th Of Never by James Patterson

As is obvious by the title, this is the twelfth book in the Women's Murder Club series.

Lindsay Boxer is faced with two grisly cases, an English professor claiming to be having prophetic dreams that to the astonishment of Lindsay & Conklin appear to coming true, & the death of a young woman shot in her car, who turns out to be the girlfriend of a well known football star; as well as trying to juggle life as a new mom after her baby is born one stormy night. Mean while, Yuki is taking on a challenging case that could make her career as she goes up against one of the toughest & dirtiest defense lawyers in the business & Claire, who faces a devastating assassination of character and position after a security breech at the morgue

This one I have to say is not as gripping or as challenging as the previous stories in the Murder Club series. It focuses very much on Lindsay individually in her struggle with motherhood & her attempts at juggling the responsibilities of her job. It has lost that traditional 'Women's Murder Club' feel to it as the the other women's involvement in these cases is very limited & the corresponding story lines for Yuki & Cindy are not interlinked to the cases as they have been throughout the series which are also very much focusing on their own personal issues rather than an intertwining connection to the main story line. The only character that has a connection with a case is Claire, & even with this there are no real meeting's between the girls at Suzi's to discuss the in's & out's of their lives like we are all accustomed to from previous books, & Lindsay shows a rather self centered side in this, although it wasn't the intentions of the author's for it to come across this way.

Although a great read - I blast through it in two days - I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this one. 

Criminal By Karin Slaughter

Once again I have a slightly biased opinion - I adore Karin Slaughter! However her talent for the twisted is undeniable in this latest novel in the colliding Will Trent / Sara Linton series. 

With their fresh relationship still on ice and Will's elusive behavior over his past like a constant elephant in the room, it comes as no surprise that things become tense on all sides when Will has to confront his past head on after he decides to challenge Amanda when he finds her brandishing a hammer at his old abandoned children's home when he takes Sara there to open up about a few of the skeletons in his closet. 

As we travel back and forth through time discovering what Amanda already knows and Sara being thrown into a case Will would rather she knew nothing about, we begin to uncover a gruesome and sadistic killer whose aftershocks are reverberating right through to the present day! 

Can their relationship withstand the dark secret Will's being hiding? Or will a drop in visit from Will's wife Angie push them apart? 

The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell

Another chapter in the Scarpetta life story, and yet again, a riveting one. This story takes us through abduction, identity theft, untrustworthy employee's, dangerous temptation and of course, murder. 

After Scarpetta receives an email containing the only evidence to a missing person's case in Canada her concerns are raised as to why was it sent to her? When Lucy discovers that the email was sent using the iPhone of the paleontologist that went missing 9 months ago from as close to her own location as the local airport Scarpetta gets a familiar sense of dread. With no definitive leads to follow Scarpetta is forced to concentrate on what lies ahead, a court appearance she deems ridiculous and unnecessary and a call in of a body that has been found attached to an endangered turtle caught up in fishing ropes in the harbor. As the next few days unfold Scarpetta discovers that maybe all these seemingly unconnected cases have a common link after all, and can she find out the truth in time to save anyone else?  Meanwhile Benton has to come clean about another woman when Scarpetta comes face to face with her and Marino has some dangerous secrets of his own.

This is once again full of personal drama and the twisted plot of a cruel killer all combined into one spectacular story! 

Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs

I am an avid fan Kathy Reich's Temp Brennan series and therefore possibly a little biased in opinion when I say that once again, Kathy Reich's does not disappoint. Temp's latest case takes her on an emotional journey after  infant corpse's are found stuffed in closets and cupboards of a young woman's home after the hospital report of an Amy Roberts discharging herself showing sign's of having recently given birth. To discover the truth of this woman's motives Temp and Detective Andrew Ryan must follow the evidence, and this takes them into tight knit native american territory where there lies a dark secret in among the drugs and prostitution they encounter there; where they find who they believe are their prime suspects and have to work alongside Sergeant Ollie Hasty of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who much to Ryan's distaste is something of an attractive old fling from Temp's past. All the while their personal lives and worries are colliding when Temp gets a call from Katy and Ryan confides in Temp about his own daughter's latest troubles.   

This is a great read, keeps you guessing at every turn and pulls on your emotions as you make the discoveries along with Temp. It also has that undeniable simmering chemistry between Temp and Ryan where the reader is just dying for something to pull them close once again. With it's plot turn's and surprising twists and connections it's another novel that proves Reich's is still on top of her game. I'm still hooked, can't wait for the next one.