book review

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (a book blurt)

/ Karina Pinella / 8 Comments

Another engrossing book by the author who wrote the “The Grant County” and “Will Trent” book series. All are thrillers and full of action, some more relentless than others, but they still make you grit your teeth. This newest installation is a standalone; it’s about two sisters who become estranged from each other because of a man, who marries one of them. More than 20 years later the two sisters reunite after the sister’s husband dies. Or does he? The widowed sister begins finding out disturbing things about her spouse, who had provided her with all her needs. Was he a genuinely loving and gentle man, or was he part of a secret pornographic ring? Full of graphic scenes and unbelievable depravity, the story makes you want to read through the night until your eyes can’t stay open anymore.

I’ve listed below, in the order they were published, the series and standalone books that I’ve read by this author. I will also continue to update the list below, as I continue reading her new publications.

The Grant County series
Blindsighted
Kisscut
A Faint Cold Fear
Indelible
Faithless
Beyond Reach

Will Trent series
Triptych
Fractured
Undone
Broken
Fallen
Snatched
Criminal
Busted
Unseen
The Kept Woman
The Silent Wife

Standalones
 Coptown
Pretty Girls
The Good Daughter
Pieces of Her (2018)

After You by Jojo Moyes (a book blurt)

/ Karina Pinella / 11 Comments

This is the sequel to Me Before You, which is about an ordinary young woman who goes through an extraordinary transformation after caring for a paraplegic young man with whom she falls in love. At first, After You feels almost anticlimactic because the first book was so intensely emotional; here we’re left to pick up the pieces. But then the plot begins to unfold into another love story. With humor interspersed with some serious themes like loss, separation, and abuse, the book makes for an interesting read. The movie, Me Before You, is now out, featuring Emilia Clarke, who plays the ordinary girl, Louisa Clark.  (I haven’t seen the movie, although I’ve heard it leaves out a serious theme that a movie understandably cannot cover well in a short time.)

[To read a review of Me Before You, check out Bookidote’s review.]

Gone Again by James Grippando (a book blurt)

/ Karina Pinella / 6 Comments

This is the 13th of a book series featuring Jack Swyteck, a defense attorney, who at the beginning of his career defended death row inmates for some agency. As the series continues, we see Swyteck eventually getting his own law practice and jumping into and out of romantic relationships. This particular story line touches on the subject of adoption.  Since this is a suspense story, the focus is on the darker side or challenges of such subject. Interesting twists here as we try to learn what happened to an adopted 17-year-old. Is she still alive? Suffice to say this is one of the more interesting stories in the Swyteck series.

In my earlier review of one of Grippando’s books, I listed all the books I’ve read in the order they were published, including all of the previous Swyteck books. So check out the list if you wish to read his earlier works:
Cash Landing by James Grippando

Subsequently, I’ve read Grippando’s new publications, which I will continue to list below as I finish reading them.

Penny Jumper
Most Dangerous Place
A Death in Live Oak

The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 5 Comments

This is the fifth of a book series that features FBI Agent, Carla Windermere, who earned the nickname, Super Cop, because of her arrest record, among other reasons. She’s teamed up with Kirk Stevens, a state investigator, who at one time sat in a Minneapolis precinct in the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) division. In this installment, he is now sharing an office with Carla at an FBI office based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Continue reading →

The Truth about Retirement Plans and IRAs by Ric Edelman (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 10 Comments

April 15 is the last day to contribute to your retirement account for 2015, so I thought I’d talk about this book, which is a reference published in 2014.  Although the book covers various retirement plans, the information is applicable to those who want to save money in general because it discusses various investment products. This is a must read for those earning any amount of money. You don’t have to earn over $5,000/year to get started with a basic IRA.
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Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 5 Comments

This is the 15th of a book series featuring Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast, a highly intelligent and intriguing FBI agent, who usually works on cases that interests him. He comes from New Orleans, where his ancestral family is reputedly wealthy from pharmaceuticals. His character is one of the most unique ones I’ve come across compared to all the characters I’ve read in a thriller/mystery/action book series. Since I don’t want to make this narrative overly dense, I will simply say that Pendergast is the true Renaissance man with super evolved senses.
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Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 3 Comments

This is another addition to the long-running Kay Scarpetta book series about a forensic medical examiner. The newest release starts out with a reminder of one of the memorable characters in the series–a diabolical character who makes you think she is always a step ahead of our heroine, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a woman of many talents and skills. Although not a practicing lawyer, Scarpetta has a law degree in addition to a medical degree. She’s a certified scuba diver, as well as a gourmet chef. She has her own forensic business now and lives in a posh neighborhood in Cambridge, Mass. with her handsome, highly intelligent FBI agent husband, Benton.
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Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 5 Comments

This is a bittersweet story about two violinists from two different time periods—contemporary and between pre-Nazi-occupied Italy and 1943. Their tales are told in every other section of the book. Professional violinist, Julia Ansdell—whose story is set in contemporary times—brings into her life a mysterious music composition she finds inserted in a music book she purchases in a small Italian antiques shop. Upon finishing a performance, she decides to shop for souvenirs and buys the book before flying back to the U.S., where she lives with her husband, Rob, and three-year-old daughter, Lily. Continue reading →

The Dead Student by John Katzenbach (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 3 Comments

This is a book about revenge and retribution with damaged characters trying to find ways to cope. The main character, Timothy “Moth” Warner is a PhD student and a recovering alcoholic whose sponsor is his uncle, Dr. Edward Warner, a psychiatrist. Warner, a veteran alcoholic himself who was nearly 7,000 days sober (more or less) is found dead. Cause of death is ruled a suicide, the final conclusion based on evidence. But Moth doesn’t believe it because he knows his uncle would never desert him; he was not suicidal and he had too much good in his life to live for. And so, the search for the truth begins . . . Continue reading →

The Tournament by Matthew Reilly (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 4 Comments

The Tournament is a historical fiction. This is a departure from the other books I’ve read by Matthew Reilly, who has written a series of pulse pounding fiction books. He proves what a versatile and excellent writer he is with this gem of a novel. The story is a fictionalized account in first person of young Queen Elizabeth I’s experience when she travels to Constantinople to witness a chess tournament, and her witness to other events that supposedly shape her views as a woman and a ruler. Continue reading →