Posts tagged with "Suspense"
Broken
Posted by jkadus on 03/08/11
Before retiring to bed one evening, an author looks out of her living room window and sees a line of people in her driveway. First in line is a young woman cradling a baby, behind her a fastidious man in his 40s, then a thin graying older woman, etc. These people are, she realizes, characters in her upcoming novels. She is awoken in the middle of the night by footsteps on the stairs leading to her bedroom. The door opens and the fastidious man from the driveway enters her room. He apologizes for intruding but feels compelled to ask her to write his story before the others. Eventually she agrees. His name will be Alvar Eide, he is 42, single, works for an art gallery and leads an orderly yet uneventful life. All of which suits Alvar perfectly until the author decides to introduce a young homeless female drug addict into his story. It all begins innocently enough when a young woman walks into the gallery on a brutal Norwegian winter day and Alvar offers her a cup of coffee to warm up. Soon she appears on his doorstep and becomes an integral yet potentially damaging aspect to his life. As the direction of his story shifts in an increasingly uncomfortable direction, Alvar “visits” the author and implores to alter the course of events.
Leeches
Posted by Ultra Violet on 05/03/11
Translated from Serbian, and set in 1990s Serbia, a journalist is caught up in a suspenseful situation when he follows a mysterious woman. As he reports on the things he finds, the plot intensifies. I enjoyed the look into modern Serbia.
Long Gone
Posted by jfreier on 09/06/11
Alice Humphrey is the daughter of a famous Hollywood director but is struggling to make it on her own in the high stakes world of Art in New York. Alice is out of work again when she meets Drew Campbell, a handsome and mysterious Art rep who offers her the dream job of running her own Art gallery. The offer comes with the knowledge of an anonymous owner who only asks that her first showing is of an unknown and controversial artist . The opening is big hit but when Alice returns to the gallery the next day everything is gone except the dead body of Drew Campbell, Alice is the only link to to the unknown murder victim and is thrown into world of deception and conspiracy. This book is a hip, fast paced journey that will keep you guessing until the end.
Ricochet
Posted by Pam I am on 10/24/11
Sandra Brown is wildly popular for her romantic suspense novels and I recently decided to give her a try. I thoroughly enjoyed Richocet with its many plot twists and adreniline rushes. Duncan Hatcher is a handsome, rugged, police detective who is on a mission to put away killer Robert Savich. The book opens with Judge Cata Laird declaring a mistrial in the Robert Savich case. Duncan Hatcher is incensed and wants to nail Robert Savich. Fast forward, and there has been a burglary and subsequent murder at the Laird household and Duncan Hatcher is the investigating detective. It turns out that Elise Laird shot the intruder. It also turns out that Elise Laird is beautiful and Duncan is captivated by her. Duncan and his partner investigate the shooting at the Lairds and uncover inconsistencies. Elise even makes a claim that her husband hired the intruder to kill her. Duncan is torn between his attraction to Elise and his duty as an investigator. This book comes to an exciting conclusion with some definite romance thrown in. I found it entertaining and exciting. I would read Sandra Brown again!
Savages
Posted by jfreier on 06/04/12
Ben, Chon and their girlfriend Ophelia are living the Dream, spending their days in a mansion in Laguna Beach, together a happy dysfunctional family of sorts.
Ben the Botanist grows the best pot in SoCal and Chon the ex Navy Seal helps distribute and sell it, all along guided by their Muse Ophelia, all is well until they get an offer they can't refuse.
The Baja Cartel wants a cut of the business and make it clear that no is not an option, after some thought they say no and the fun begins.
Chon leads the way with his expertise to turn the tables on the cartel and a scary, violent and sometimes funny high octane ride begins.
Don Winslow-- is one of my favorite writers and he has a winner here.
Check the trailer for the new movie out in July.
The Night Strangers
Posted by mingh on 01/23/12
Former commercial Pilot Chip Linton and his wife Emily decide to move their family further away from the memories of Chip's horrific plane landing on Lake Champlain. Many people died and he is wracked with guilt. The Linton's, along with their twin daughters, move into a rambling Victorian house in a remote part of New Hampshire. Their neighbors seem polite and watchful of them and there is much for the family to do.
The twins begin to hear voices in the house. They can't see anyone but the voices are all around them. The Linton's find out more about the house and how it has been abandoned for many years after the suicide of the twelve year old son of the former owners. Chip Linton finds a small doorway in the basement that looks like it used to be the coal chute. However, it has 39 long bolts to seal it. The exact number of people who died in Chip's plane crash. He begins to unseal the bolts.
Chris Bohjalian creates wonderful well-rounded characters who are dealing with elements that they have never seen and never believed in. Chip begins to unravel and believes the voices. Emily, the Mother, knows that she has to save the twins, but from what? We have entered Stephen King territory.
Bohjalian does a great job of creating the suspenseful and spooky atmosphere that this book needs. Is this all happening in Chip's head? if not, what are the intentions of the townspeople? What really did happen in that house so many years ago? Read it to find out.
The portrait of Mrs. Charbuque
Posted by Ultra Violet on 05/23/11
Piambo is a renowned portrait painter who has lost his inspiration. When he is offered a commission for a ridiculous amount of money to paint a woman he must never see, he gets caught up in a magical, disturbing story that has him questioning reality. Nineteenth Century New York is the backdrop for this surreal thriller.
The Singer's Gun
Posted by mingh on 02/01/11
Anton Waker grew up in a family of cheats and frauds. When he leaves the business of making false passports and other IDs which his cousin runs, the family begins to wonder. After all, he will need to become another person to escape his past and the past of his family. Leaving his wife on their honeymoon in Italy to do one last deal with his cousin, Anton reviews his life, his loves and what binds a person to another.
When a corporate investigator blackmails a former client and girlfriend to dig into his and his family's background, Anton wonders whom he can trust. Can he trust his friend, his former girlfriend, his wife, his cousin, even his parents? This suspenseful swirl of a novel keeps you guessing along with Anton. Is someone setting him up to die?
The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes
Posted by jfreier on 06/21/11
A man awakes' on a cold, deserted beach alone and naked, nearby is a new BMW, filled with clothes and shoes that fit him and an I.D. of Daniel Hayes and a gun!. Is he Daniel Hayes? Why is here? What did he do?
The man is haunted by nightmares and the memory of an actress from a popular T.V. show. Does he know her? The mans I.D. says he lives in Malibu, so he sets off from what he finds out is the Maine coast to find out who he is and why the police and a very evil man want him.
A great story with deep characters and a relentless pace. This is Marcus Sakey's most ambitious book yet and I think his best.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Posted by mingh on 01/02/12
In a series of letters addressed to her husband, Eva Khatchadourian talks about their love and their life before and after the birth of their son Kevin. Just before his sixteenth birthday, Kevin walked into his high school with a crossbow and killed eleven people. She tries to explain what it feels like for a Mother to learn that her son has done such a horrible act. Is she to blame? The husband? The world? Who has caused this terrible tragedy?
We learn, how in love as a young couple they were. How they agonized over whether and when to have children. But Eva just can't shake the feeling that there is something wrong with their son from day one. He hates her. Franklin, the father, cannot believe that a child this young can have these feelings for a parent. Franklin suggests maybe she should seek therapy. At this point in the story you begin to wonder if she is mad, or if we are reading a story of a "bad seed."
The author keeps you guessing until the very end about what really happened. How could this Mother be so cold? How does the husband respond to these very brutal and telling letters? The reader also begins to look for clues in the letters about what is really going on with this family.
A chilling book now turned into a movie to be released in January in the Chicago area.
