basykes

• Rated 4 stars

“Just can't get away from those Tess Gerritsen books! This is Book 6 in the Jane Rizzoli series and I'm wondering where she is going with this, since Medical Examiner Maura Isles seems to be leading a very weird life that is definitely taking her somewhere, but it is for some future book for us to know, I guess.

This one deals with satanic cults and even more bizarre murders and a chase which take the victim across Europe in the hope of evading her would-be killer. While there is lots of suspense, I don't think it rises to the level of "Vanish," but still enough to keep those pages turning once you pass a certain point.”

basykes wrote this review Sunday, August 17 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I bought this book after Douglas' audio book, "Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning." I was impressed with what an engaging writer he is and when I realized he had written a book about what it was like to recover from his stroke, I wanted to read it. This is a short, easy book (few pages, big print!) but filled with interesting obsevations on his symptoms and what he went through during recovery. I wouldn't say this was the best , most informative book I've ever read, but it was interesting.”

basykes wrote this review Monday, August 4 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“What is it that they sing in Hello Dolly ? "It's so nice to see you back where you belong?" After a bit of a stray into dog mysteries and (auto)biographies, I was back in the blood and gore of a medical mystery. This is apparently book 1 of 5 (so far) featuring Detective Jane Rizzoli of the Boston P.D., hot on the trail of "The Surgeon," a killer who strips his victims, ties them spread eagle to the bed and then proceeds to surgically remove their uteruses, all while they are awake.

His principal target seems to be Dr. Catherine Cordell, who escaped "The Surgeon's" predecessor two years ago. That man has now been executed and it appears that there is a copy cat who knows just a bit too much about how the previous murders were committed. He is intent on finishing the job on Dr. Cordell which his predecessor did not.

Lots and lots of blood and gore in this one, and enough suspenseful and chilling incidents to satisfy the most ardent of thriller devotees.”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Poor Jane Rizzoli. Here she thought she had "The Surgeon" all safely behind bars and then people start showing up murdered in the same way he committed his crimes. And then the unthinkable happens -- he manages to escape from his maximum security prison and there are blood trails all over the place.

I don't know why a mild-mannered person like myself likes these books, but I do. I was glued to the pages from start to finish.”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“While this is classified as another Jane Rizzoli book, it really centers more on Medical Examiner Maura Isles, who returns from a trip to France to discover a rather unpleasant thing--someone who looks like her twin has been murdered in her driveway. This sets off a search for a mass murderer who appears to have been leaving a trail of blood all across the United States for some 30 years or more. Less blood and gore than previous Gerritsen books, but another page turner. I finished this book on a drive between Santa Barbara and San Jose (fortunately, I was not the one behind the wheel).”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“ This actually comes in between "The Apprentice" and "Body Double." Explains some stuff that happens in "Body Double," but reading it out of sequence didn't matter. Still a page turner. The crime in this one is the murder of a young nun in the convent of a cloistered order and the near murder of an older nun, who remained in a coma. What is the connection between the nuns' murder and that of a faceless, hand-less and foot-less body found in an alley?

Jane Rizoli has just discovered she's pregnant; Maura Isles is toying with getting back with her ex-husband, until his behavior makes her wonder why exactly he came to see her after 3 years anyway.

Lots to keep your interest, even with three dogs fighting over who gets to sit in your lap.”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“ It's been a long time since I've been as engrossed in a book like I was in this one. I bought it because I needed something to read while I waited to get my hair cut. I became so engrossed with it the next day that I was up until past 1 a.m. reading. I finally had to put it down and then got up in the morning and read straight for about 2 hours until I finished it.

It's the story of trafficking in young girls from Eastern European countries, bringing them to this country as sex slaves and holding them as prisoner....who is doing the trafficking, what very public figures are involved, etc., etc. It is very definitely a book that grabs you very early on and doesn't let go. One of the best Gerritsens I've read.

I think I need to take a break and read another author for awhile, though!”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“ Tess Gerritson is such a skillful, knowledgeable writer of medical thrillers that this book surprised me with what appears to be a similarly knowledgeable book about space travel. Astronauts trapped on the space station while a strange virus runs rampant. They are running out of time. The government has decided to let them die rather than attempt a rescue because of the danger if the disease--whatever it is--should get loose on earth.

Only Dr. Jack McCallum, about-to-be ex-husband of Emma Watson, the space station doctor, cares about rescue, but can he do it and will he be in time?

Probably isn't a 5-star, but definitely a 4-1/2 star. Gerritson is that kind of writer.”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“ This was the perfect audio book for my trip from Mendocino back home. Just about the right length and an easy listening book of actor/author Douglas on his life, his kids, his grand kids, and lots of political observations that can only be that honest from someone 90 years old. He devotes an entire chapter to Mel Gibson, for example. Something that hadn't occurred to me before was that the Passion Play was originally designed as a way to incide Christians to rise up against Jews (is that why the most famous one is in Germany?) and that Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was just one long Passion Play, designed to incite violence against Jews...he juxtaposed that against Gibson's antisemetic remarks following an arrest for drunk driving.

Everyone comes in for his or her share of chastisement, yet he makes perfect sense...a good reason why he'd make a lousy politician.

I have to admit that Kirk Douglas was never one of my favorites and that I bought this book simply because Audible.com was having a sale and the length of the book was right, but I'm very glad that I did. In fact, I actually went to Amazon and bought his book about his stroke.”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“ Even if you don't recognize Leslie Jordan's name, you've probably seen him as Karen's diminutive nemesis, Beverly Leslie, on Will and Grace or any one of hundreds of unforgettable characters he's created. I saw him in a production of Southern Baptist Sissies in Los Angeles several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him "up close and personal" (literally, since I bumped into him in the lobby after the show!)

Jordan's collection of stories entertains and yet fills me with a great sadness for him and for the thousands and thousands of gay children growing up in fundamentalist Christian homes. He is quite candid about his years of alcoholism and drug-addiction (he's sober now and working his recovery beautifully) and I was left with wondering how many gay people are driven to substance abuse by the attitude of parents and religions.

This is a quick, fun read that is filled with wonderful lessons about learning to accept yourself, and our responsibility to be kind to others. "I found that happiness is a habit. Happiness is a choice. And happiness is something you have to really work hard at. I found that love is not a noun. Love is a verb. And it is in the action of offering loving service to others that we receive our self-love. I have found that the greatest healing is laughter, and I have been blessed to have the gift, as my daddy told me, of being able to make people laugh. I treasure that gift."”

basykes wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )