The Children's Game by David Wise

First sentence:

"The bears, as expected, had been excellent."

Description:

"William Danner, an ex-spy dragooned back into the CIA, must find the mole whose sabotage of the agency's covert operations threatens to destroy the CIA itself. Haunted by his past, investigating a tangled mix of intrigue, he finds himself simultaneously battling the KGB, a group of mysterious "old boys" fired by the CIA, and his own agency. When he uncovers a spine-chilling plot at the highest levels of government, he risks his life to stop it -- and to save his daughter and the beautiful woman he loves. In the process he discovers new truths about his own life as a man playing The Children's Game." - from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this espionage thriller with its many twists and turns. I especially liked how Danner figured out how to get an important disc from a rather unique hiding place.

Date read: 4/27/2010
Book #: 29
Challenge: TBR Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0312132425
ISBN-13: 9780312132422
Publisher: St. Martin's
Year: 1983
# of pages: 280
Binding: Hardcover
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Blood Magic by Matthew Cook

First sentence:

"For three days we run, and the Mor follow."

Description:

"When the inhuman Mor crawl up from the underground to torment the world above, Kirin joins the battle against them as scout and archer for the Imperial Army. The power of her blood magic, a dark sorcery even she does not understand, has given her the ability to raise grotesque creatures from souls and dead flesh -- loyal, lethal warriors that aid her in the fight to survive. She finds comfort in the arms of Sergeant Jazen Tor, but it is beautiful and gentle Lia Cho, a woman who can call lightning from the skies, who helps Kirin discover the truth about herself . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good fantasy featuring Kirin, a young woman with powers she doesn't always understand. I liked how she gradually learned about the cost of her actions and I look forward to reading the sequel, Nights of Sin.

Date read: 4/22/2010
Book #: 28
Series: Kirin Widowmaker, #1
Challenge: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0809572001
ISBN-13: 9780809572007
Publisher: Juno Books
Year: 2008
# of pages: 264
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Witness in Death by J.D. Robb

First sentence:

"There was always an audience for murder."

Description:

"Opening night at New York's New Globe Theater turns from stage scene to crime scene when the leading man is stabbed to death center stage. Now Eve Dallas has a high-profile, celebrity homicide on her hands. Not only is she lead detective, she's also a witness - and when the press discovers that her husband owns the theater, there's more media spotlight than either can handle. The only way out is to move fast. Question everyone and everything . . . and in the meantime, try to tell the difference between the truth - and really good acting. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good mystery featuring Eve Dallas. I liked the mix of theater and crime and the way Eve figured out who the killer was.

Date read: 4/17/2010
Book #: 27
Challenge: A to Z Challenge 2010
Series: In Death, #10
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425173631
ISBN-13: 073042517363?
Publisher: Berkeley
Year: 2000
# of pages: 338
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Peel My Love Like an Onion by Ana Castillo

First sentence:

"I remember him dark."

Description:

"Peel My Love Like an Onion is the breakthrough novel from Ana Castillo, author of the wildly praised So Far from God -- a lyrical, steamy, and moving story of a love triangle set in the colorful world of flamenco dancing.

Carmen "La Coja" ("the cripple) Santos is a flamenco dancer of local renown in Chicago, despite the obstacle of a gimpy leg, the legacy of a childhood attack of polio. From the beginning of her professional career, she has carried on an affair with Agustin, the married director of her troupe -- a romance that is going stale from over-familiar lust and an absence of honesty. But when she begins a passionate liaison with the younger Manolo, Agustin's godson and a dancer of natural genius, an angry rivalry is sparked. Add to that the looming reassertion of her crippling disease and Carmen's vexed relations with her mother, one of the most exasperating parents in recent literature, and you have all the ingredients for a love story a la Ana Castillo -- equal parts soap opera, tragicomedy, and rhapsody. Laced with sarcastic asides and dead-on observations, Peel My Love Like an Onion is a universal work inbued with love's power to vex and exalt." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a very good love story interlaced with music and dancing. I liked how Carmen learned to find her own voice and dignity.

Date read: 4/14/2010
Book #: 26
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2010; TBR Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0385496761
ISBN-13: 9780375496766
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 1999
# of pages: 213
Binding: Hardcover
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Seahorse in the Sky by Edmund Cooper

Description:

"Eight men and eight women, with curious bumps on the backs of their heads, and no memory of anything but an interrupted journey, a flight that never landed. They emerged from their green plastic coffins one by one, into the sunlight of an endless alien plain." -- from fantastic.fiction.co.uk

My thoughts:

This is a good science fiction story about different groups of people finding themselves in a very new and unexpected place. I liked how they figured out how to get beyond the river valley and learn who brought them there and why.

Date read: 4/7/2010
Book #: 25
Challenges: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0340129751
ISBN-13: 9780340129753
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Year: 1980
# of pages: 192
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

First sentence:

"My mother is standing in front of the bathroom mirror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick."

Description:

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain.Suddenly, at age twelve, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian in perfect squalor.The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau.Here, there were no rules, there was no school.The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, and Valium was eaten like Pez.And when things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock therapy machine under the stairs.... RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is at turns foul and harrowing, compelling and maniacally funny.But above all, it chronicles an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

My thoughts:

At times both funny and disturbing, this was a very interesting memoir showing the good and bad in human relationships.

Date read: 4/7/2010
Book #: 24
Challenge: Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir

ISBN-10: 0312283709
ISBN-13: 9780312283704
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2002
# of pages: 304
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings

First sentence:

"Now before the Beginning, there was no Time, and all was Chaos and Darkness."

Description:

"Althalus is an unrepentant rogue and scoundrel. Yet of all men in the world, it is Althalus who will become the champion of humanity in its desperate struggle against the forces of an ancient god determined to return the universe to nothingness.

On this way to stealing The Book from the House at the End of the World Althalus collides head-on with his unique destiny-- and Dweia, a seductive goddess who just happens to be a cat. Dweia can manipulate time. Unfortunately, as can her evil brother. . . and he has been using his own dark magic to rewrite history itself. The only people who can stop him are Althalus and a ragtag group of men, women, and children. But they have no reason to trust Althalus -- or one another." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this fantasy adventure very much. I liked how Althalus and his friends learn to work together as they battle Daeva and the forces of darkness. I also like the use of "doors" to get from place to place (and from time to time).

Date read: 4/3/2010
Book #: 23
Challenge: A-Z Challenge 2010, Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0345440781
ISBN-13: 9780345440785
Publisher: Dell Rey
Year: 2000
# of pages: 792
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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