Virtuosity by Terry Bisson

Description:

"LOS ANGELES, 1999.

The idea is to create the perfect cop through virtual reality training - a game. But before you can create the perfect cop, you've got to create the perfect criminal. Sid 6.7 is a digitally enhanced humanoid - a composite of Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. In a computerised world of crime he's an unstoppable killer. The only problem is that Sid 6.7 isn't sticking with the program. He wants out - he wants to kill in the real world, and what Sid 6.7 wants, he gets. He's hit the streets of L.A., and there's only one man intelligent enough, and desperate enough, to go after him. Parker Barnes is a former cop convicted of murdering his family's killers. He's been used as a guinea pig in virtual reality training and he's come up against Sid 6.7 before. Now Parker's got his ticket out of prison on one condition: take Sid 6.7 down for real."

My thoughts:

I liked this sci-fi thriller about virtual intelligence combined with a physical body. Someday, I'll see the movie this book was based on. 

Date read: 9/15/2013
Book #: 26
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF/Thriller

ISBN-10: 0671537520
ISBN-13:9780671537524
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year: 1995
# of pages: 213
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Mystery Cats by Lillian Jackson Braun, et al

First sentence:

"When my sister and I returned from our vacation and learned that our eccentric neighbor in the wheel chair had been removed to a mental hospital, we were sorry but hardly surprised" [from "Susu and the 8:30 Ghost." by Lillian Jackson Braun]

Description:

"WHEN MURDER IS THE CAT'S MEOW...

This murderously entertaining collection assembles sixteen purr-fect tales of crime and cats by some of today's best mystery writers. Lillian Jackson Bruan's charming Siamese SuSu is the first to smell a rat in ta chilling tale of two spinster sisters and an eccentric neighbor. Edward D Hoch's favorite theif, Nick Velvet, accepts a commission to catnap a pampered pet named Sparkle and ends up a whisker away from death. Ruth Rendell leads an unwary motorist up the garden path to an elderly cat owner's cottage, giving a sinster twist to the old maxim, 'an eye for an eye.' These, along with thirteen other purebred stories of felines and felonies, make for spell-binding reading for mystery fans and cat lovers alike! " -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this set of feline mysteries.  Favorite stories included "The Lady Wore Black" by Hugh B. Cave and "The Theft of the Mafia Cat" by Edward D. Hoch.

Date read: 8/20/2013
Book #: 25
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0451171012
ISBN-13: 9780451171016
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1991
# of pages: 256
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Known World by Edward P Jones

First sentence:

"The evening his master died he worked again well after he ended the day for the other adults, his own wife among them, and sent them back with hunger and tiredness to their cabins."

Description:

"In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Edward P. Jones, two-time National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues. In a daring and ambitious novel, Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was an interesting book about slavery, race and families in Manchester County, Virginia. I liked the interactions between the characters, including Moses and Caldonia.

Date read: 8/15/2013
Book #: 25
Rating: 3*/5
Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 0060557559
ISBN-13: 978006055753
Publisher: Amistad
Year: 2003
# of pages: 388
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Midnight in Peking by Paul French

First sentence:

"By day the fox spirits of Peking lie hidden and still."

Description:

"January 1937. Life in Peking is a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition. The Japanese are encircling the city, and the discovery of the mutilated body of British schoolgirl Pamela Werner at the base of the Fox Tower is chilling. Is it the work of a madman? One of the ruthless Japanese soldiers? Or perhaps the dreaded fox spirits? Historian and China expert Paul French at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking." -- from the back cover



My thoughts:

This was an informative account of a mysterious murder in Peking on the brink of the Japanese occupation.

Date read: 8/10/2013
Book #: 24
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 9781410448965
ISBN-13: 1410448967
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Year: 2012
# of pages: 419
Binding: Hardcover
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The Round House by Louise Erdrich

First sentence:

"Small trees had attacked my parents' home at the foundation."

Description:

"One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning. Written with undeniable urgency, and illuminating the harsh realities of contemporary life in a community where Ojibwe and white live uneasily together, The Round House is a brilliant and entertaining novel, a masterpiece of literary fiction. Louise Erdrich embraces tragedy, the comic, a spirit world very much present in the lives of her all-too-human characters, and a tale of injustice that is, unfortunately, an authentic reflection of what happens in our own world today."-- Amazon description.

My thoughts:

I liked this book about the Objibwe tribe and a young man trying to make sense and avenge his mother's pain.

Date read: 8/1/2013
Book #: 23
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0062065246
 ISBN-13: 9780062065247
Publisher: Harper
Year: 2012
# of pages: 316
Binding: Hardcover
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Minion by L.A. Banks

First sentence:

"Sarah Richards stood in the middle of her bedroom trying to console her infant who was wailing at the top of her lungs."

Description:

"There is one woman who is all that stands between us and the eternal night. Here is an account of her Legend...

All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a spoken word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons -- predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires has been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music.

When strange attacks erupt within the club drug-trafficking network and draw the attention of the police, Damali realizes these killings are a bit out of the ordinary, even for vampires. Instead of neat puncture marks in the neck showing where the blood has been drained from the body, these corpses are mutilated beyond recognition, indicating a blood lust and thirst for destruction that surpasses any Damali has encountered before. Soon she discovers that behind these brutal murders is the most powerful vampire Damali has ever met -- a seductive beast who is coming for her next..." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book of the Vampire Huntress Legend series. I liked the interactions of the characters, especially Damali and her friends. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Awakening.

Date read: 7/25/2013
Book #: 22
Series: Vampire Huntress Legend, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0312316801
ISBN-13: 9780312316808
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Year: 2003
# of pages: 176
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Of Such Small Differences by Joanne Greenberg

First sentence:

"He stood in the cold outside and to the hinge side of the door so other people could move past him."

Description:

"John Moon was 25, good-looking, intelligent, gifted, and beginning to make his mark as a poet. Leda Milan was a talented and ambitious young actress. They met and were drawn to each other. But there was a barrier between them. Leda could see and hear. John could not.

Nobody ever said that love was easy -- or what a special kind of wonderful it could be. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about people trying to communicate. John, Leda, his family, co-workers - all make mistakes and assumptions about what others are trying to say. Yet even with problems, friendships are formed.

Date read: 7/20/2013
Book #: 21
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0451164199
ISBN-13: 9780451164193
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1988
# of pages: 271
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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