Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

I finished Odd Apocalypse the other day. I was glad to see that it kept my favourite thing about the Odd series, which is Odd's sense of humour. I find his sarcastic jokes and his casual approach to the weird events around him hilarious.

I wasn't to sure about this book at first. I was disappointed that the women ghost didn't show up more. She kinda of appeared at the beginning asked for Odd's help then disappeared except for a few moments.

Another thing about this series is that the stories are getting really crazy. I've read lots of Dean Koontz books and I like his science fiction, with scary monsters, and futuristic machines and events, its why I keep reading him. But I always found the Odd series different. Besides the fact that he can see ghosts, the enemies that he faced were always real people and plausible events. In this book and the last one, Odd Interlude, the enemies that Odd faces have been more supernatural. There's nothing wrong with this, it just feels like the rules were changed on me.

Besides that one complaint of mine, I liked the book. It wasn't as much a page turner as his other Odd books, but it still had my attention. I like the Annamarie character, she was introduced in Odd Hours, and she has traveled with him sense. She is so mysterious and is always speaking in riddles, I think if I was Odd I would be annoyed by now and start insisting she answer directly or don't bother. I'm hoping we find out more about her soon. She seems to know everything and made a comment this time about being pregnant for a long time. It makes me wonder if she is an guardian angel, the way everyone listens to her whether they want to or not.

The next Odd Thomas novel, Deeply Odd, is coming out at the beginning of April.

Mystery Time by Janet Hannah

I was excited when I received this book in the mail from the author. I had read the outline in an email and thought it sounded like very interesting. I thought it was a good change to have a mystery novel whose main character was not a police officer or an agent, but a scientist, someone not usually associated with mystery and adventure.

The book started off great, the murder happened right away and they mystery of who killed the American microbiologist started. Alex and Hildegard witnessed the man's last words and were faced with the problem that one of their fellow scientists might be involved. Hildegard's watch was stolen during the murder, and her hunt to retrieve it drives both her and Alex to hunt the killers themselves. With a promising beginning the book looses it drive about half way through, when it is pretty clear who the killers were and the only mystery is how it happened and why.

I was also excited with the promise of an old watch and its special relationship to time as it is described in the outline. But unfortunaly Hildegard is the only character who experiences this, and it is never explained why. The history of the watch is discussed a lot, and it was interesting to read about its past owners and how it was passed among them, but I was disappointed that more was not said about this special relationship to time.

Overall I really liked the characters. Alex is calm, smart, calculating, and can take care of himself. We learn a lot of his past, which made him even more interesting and mysterious. Hildegard is a beautiful, classy and confident women, but doesn't let that define her in the world of science. She lets her intelligence and her work do the talking. They work well together, and I am hoping to see more of them, next time in a bigger and more complicated mystery that keeps me engaged in the story.

Before I go to Sleep by S.J Watson

I just started this book on Monday and I am done already. I took the train to visit my parents so had lots of time to read uninterrupted.

I really liked this book! It started off a little slow. The main ccharacter Christine wakes up every morning with no memory of the past. Each day she has be told her past, and relive all the pain of what had happened to her. (similar like the movie Memento) The book starts in the present day when Christine gets a phone call from a doctor, who tells her that she has a diary hidden in the house that will explain everything to her. From that point on we read Christine's diary starting a few weeks in the past. The book had me hooked because each day Christine learns more and more about the past she has forgotten. As she starts to learn more and is able to retain it through the use of the diary, new questions keep arising. A mystery begins to unfold, and like Christine I was unsure who she could trust in her life. Lies are being told and truths are kept hidden from her, knowing she will forget it all the next morning. In the third part of the book you finish reading the diary and are back in the present day, with all the knowledge she had collected over the past few weeks. Its at this point she must use all the collected information and finally discover what is going on.

The last part of this book was great. Everything she learns all comes together in a surprising and exciting conclusion. Unfortunately the ending really disappointed me. When I finish a book I expect everything to be tied up nicely. The mystery was resolved but the fate of the characters was left open. It reminded me of the end of inception. Were they in a dream the whole time or not? This book would make a great movie. I checked IMDB and it looks like they are thinking of making one but nothing has been decided yet.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

I bought this book because I read other blogs raving about it, then I saw it on the best books of 2011 list. Now that I finished it I understand why everyone loved it so much. It was a great book. I finished it on the way to and the way back from my parents house for Easter.

When I first started it I was under the impression that it was a mystery novel. A mystery does exist in the story, it is what brings the two main characters together. Paxton and Willa's grandmothers were best friends as children, even as their lives took different paths they continued to be there for each other no matter what. When Paxton restores Willa's old family house which had been in ruins since her grandmothers teen years, a skeleton is uncovered buried under a peach tree. Paxton and Willa's curiosity about what happened many years ago brings them together.

This book is about friendship, and what it means to be a real friend. It also is about being true to yourself and following the path that you want to take, despite what other may want from you. I liked the two relationships that the characters had, they were both very different but had the same underlining problems. The two unlikely friends made a perfect pair.

The most endearing part of the book which made it stand out from other romance novels I've read lately was the touch of magic that was delicacy weaved into the storyline. The way that it was Incorporated was so subtle that most of the time the characters didn't even realize that it existed. It was like a slight whisper from the past. The grandmothers believed in it, and they told their granddaughters of the magic surrounding the traveling salesman, but it was always dismissed as folklore and superstition. The author included it by slight smells in the air and unexplained sounds, in a way that the characters didn't seem to see the significance but the reader did.

I encourage you to pick up this book. Like me you will probably find yourself reading it every chance you get.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Here it is. I finally finished the book. I am not relieved because it was a bad book; I actually enjoyed it a lot. Usually when I read books this long I get bored of the story and find myself wondering how much more is left. In 1Q84 I noticed that the book was long when reading it, but I was not in a rush to finish it. The story stays interesting throughout the entire novel and I never bored of the characters.The storyline flowed easily, each character had a purpose, and their story felt important. While I was reading I kept sensing that there was some deep meaning behind everything that was happening. It makes you think, what am I missing here and what does all this mean?

I noticed that there were some sexual themes in this book. I don't know why they popped out at me, they are not inappropriately sexual or misplaced in the storyline. I would describe them as honest. All adults think and experience sex, and this book is not afraid of it and chooses to include it in the thoughts and actions of its characters. Maybe I noticed it because it was not the same as  the romance books we are used to where the scenes are designed to be romantic, these scenes are just a natural part of the story. I think the author uses them well to get her point across, although it can be a little unsettling at times. Only because they are so unashamed by it. Sometimes I find talking about sex has become a little foe paux in our society. Of course we joke about it all the time, I am referring to serious discussions, everyone is a little uncomfortable giving their kids that talk.

I would classify this as a science fiction novel as well as a drama and a mystery. In order to enjoy this book you have to appreciate the unexplained and unusual. Keep an open mind, some of the ideas are hard to understand and I was often confused with what exactly was happening. The book starts with a simple question of what happened to Aomame when she climbed down from the highway. Instead of having this question answered each chapter opens up new questions. I was constantly hoping for answers, and each time something was revealed it seemed that several more questions took its place. Tengo's story started a little slow but since the books layout has you switching from Aomame to Tengo every chapter, I got threw his chapters quick because I was trying to get to the next chapter to see what was happening to Aomame.Tengo's story does pick up later. The constant cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, kept me wanting to read on. For example, if I was left hanging at the end of a chapter involving Tengo, I would have to read through a chapter with Aomame (or perhaps another character) before I could find out what happened. This was a good strategy to keeping the reader always looking towards the future of the book. It disguises its length a little.

There is also small romantic part to the book, between the two characters Tengo and Aomame. It is not the main theme but it is an important part of the decisions and actions of the two characters. The characters are both very interesting and I kept wanting the learn more about their lives. The author made them both very believable by slowly giving information about their past. In each of Tengo's flashbacks, you learn a little more about him, which explains his actions and who he has become in the present day. Each dip into the past made me more curious about what weird event was happening to them both, and if their experiences were in any way related.

I would recommend this book, to anyone who is not afraid of a long novel. The author has created a very unique world, that asks questions about cults, religion, and our perception of the world around us. It is a very smart book that made me think about fate and if our paths are pre-chosen.

The Accident by Linwood Barclay

What drives this story is Glen's search for what happened to his wife. As he dwells deeper into her life the last few days she was alive he discovers she may have gotten herself into some dangerous stuff.

The Accident is surrounded by mystery. Unlike some books where the reader is aloud to see and hear things the main character can not, in The Accident the reader unravels the mystery at the same pace as Glen. At times this is good because you are confused with him as he tries to sort out the facts, at other times, mainly towards the beginning of the book, the lack of information makes it difficult to hold that much interest in the story.

As he delves deeper into his neighbours personal lives it seems everyone in the book had some dark secret except for him. It was like everyone around him was having a party and he wasn't invited. I don't know why this bothered me, perhaps I felt that it was hard to believe that he never noticed anything wrong until that night. I also found the book to be very discouraging at times when more and more clues were discovered, yet he never seemed any closer to revealing the truth about his wife's accident.

But don't misunderstand, this was still a good story. Once I got into it and was surrounded by all the characters and their many secrets, I was as determined as Glen to find out what happened. There were so many times when you think you have it figured out, and can't put the book down, only to be proven wrong with a new suspect to consider. This book teaches us that sometimes acceptance is just as important as discovering the truth.

If you like a mystery that will keep you on your toes, you should read this book. 4/5

Buy on Amazon