This is a pre-released book I won on Goodreads . I finished it in just a few days. According to the book cover it will be released April 27th
This book is about a woman, Abigail, who moves to an island just two weeks after being released from the hospital. She was in ICU for months after her home caught fire, killing her husband and her 4 year old son. Not knowing what to do with her self, she moves to Chapel Isle, an island off of the North Carolina coast. Here she takes over the caretaker's home of a lighthouse. The lighthouse is no longer functioning but that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done on the place. Abigail throws herself into cleaning, repairing, and painting the old place all the while trying to to disrupt the legendary ghost of the lighthouse. She definitely feels like the outcast in this little town as she tries to get a feel for all of the towns people. The question is weather she can get past the eccentricities of the small town people, and what to do with life now that it is distinctly different.
I thought the book was very good. I'll give it a 4 out of 5 stars. The writing flowed very well which made it an east page turner. I liked all of the characters and that they each had their own little story. The author did a great job at not getting to carried away with each persons past. It really felt like you got to know them just well enough to understand them. I could easily see this becoming a series where each person's own story comes into play. I was happy that there wasn't a love interest thrown upon the poor widow, and that even in this small town of busy-bodies, a lot of people came to her offering friendship without asking questions. One thing unique to this book layout was the chapters. Labeled A-Z, each chapter was a new word, in dictionary form, explaining the premise of each chapter. I have never seen a book with chapter headings and names this way. While it was interesting, the one thing I found annoying was that I felt I had to keep going back to the beginning of the chapter to remember what the word was to describe it. I did this with all 26 chapters. My only suggestion would be to head each page of the chapter with the word that represented it. Other than that I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone.
What a neat idea is this! I think this would be cool in your bedroom or even in the bathroom.
This is the 14th book in the Savannah Reid Mystery series. I have read all of them so far and this was just as good as the others. McKevett does a pretty good job of not being too redundant. I've read many books in a series where each time your forced to be re-introduced to every character and all of their habits. For those people who pick the book up in the middle of a series. That's not the case in these books. She does mention a few things that are already known if you've been reading with her all along but it's tolerable.
In this story Savannah is determined to prove the hot-headed, mean spirited, loud mouthed gym "Nazi", Clarissa, killed her own husband. Savannah doesn't diet, the word is not in her vocabulary, and she is happy to be a "plus size gal". Clarissa owns a new gym in town where her motto is "No Pain, No Gain." She yells at the gym goers over a loud speaker. Calling them tub-o, lazy ass, and telling them to move their lard. After visiting the gym to catch a peeping tom Savannah hates the woman. Soon after visiting the gym, Savannah and her cop friend Dirk are informed that Clarissa's husband has been missing for 5 days, and it's not surprise when he turns up dead. From that point on Savannah and Dirk have many suspects that seemed more than able to kill poor Mr. Jardin.
The story takes quit a few twists and turns, some expected, some surprises to me. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. The only thing holding me back from the 5th star is the relationship between Savannah and Dirk. After 14 books I was really hoping they would finally get together. They do have their sweet moments, but they are few and too far between. The other thing that bothers me at times is Savannah's unwillingness to turn her annoying sisters away when they drop by uninvited and demanding all of her attention. She chalks it up to her southern hospitality, but it drives me nuts.
I would recommend this book even if you haven't read the others. They are fun to read and the antics between Savannah, Dirk and their "co-worker" Tammi are always interesting.
I finished this book in two days. I thought the layout of the story was very unique. I don't believe I've ever read a book that starts at the end and works it's way to the present. I did think it was a little redundant for Doetsch to mention before the 1st, or 13th chapter, that it in-fact is suppose to read this way. If you can't figure that out on your own...
The book follows Nick Quinn as he tries to save his wife from an untimely death, one that he is being blamed for. While in the interrogation room Nick is visited by a man who tells Nick he could save his wife's life. He leaves him with a letter and a pocket watch, he can't touch either until he is out of the room. The man leaves and Nick is left to find his way out of the room in less than 15 mins.
Shortly after the clock strikes 10:00, Nick finds himself back in his office, just after his wife was shot. Which he realizes is in the past. After reading the letter he learns the the pocket watch he was given allows him to travel back in time one hour at a time, to try to save his wife, Julia. Of course, this carries the lesson of "The Butterfly Effect". Every thing he does can and will effect his future as well as those he loves. It takes him quite a while to figure this out, but he does make a lot of discoveries along the way. We find out his wife has a few secrets, the police force is not always what you think it is, and more than just Julia has been effected by her death.
I don't want to give away the story. I'd like to give a review based on how I felt about the book. That being said, if I ever have "spoilers" I will mention it right off the bat. I would read this book again. I thought I knew the "bad guy" but was surprised, more than a few times. I loved the revelations that came about after each hour. I like a book that keeps me on my feet. It was a bit suspenseful which made it a page turner for myself.
I'd be happy to hear how others felt about this book, please feel free to comment, either on the book or my review. As this is my first one, I'd be happy to hear feed back.
I've wanted to have a reading/book blog for a while. I've finally found the motivation to create one. I hope you'll enjoy it.
My goals for this blog are as follows:
~ Read 100 books by the end of 2010.
~ Write a review, progressing as I go, for each book.
~ Have a little bit of a following. I hope.
~ Start doing "Give-a ways". I've never done this before, but have plenty of books. I hope to be creative with this too.
I hope you enjoy. Please let me know how you like it and if I should change any thing.
