"The Innocent"

"The Innocent" is a novel by Harlan Coben and it's in memory of Steven Z. Miller.  That write up was intriguing enough for me to google Steven Z. Miller and the results I found indicate he was Dr. Steven Z.Miller.  Dr. Miller was the director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University.  He died tragically too young at age 46 in a plane crash leaving behind family and colleagues to mourn his loss.

This novel, however, isn't about Dr. Miller.  It's the love story of two people from completely different backgrounds.  Matt Hunter grew up in an upper-middle-class suburb in northern New Jersey.  Unfortunately, he caused the death of another student when he was in college as he was trying to intervene when his friend was being attacked.  Matt ended up spending time in prison for manslaughter and that changed his life.

While he was in college and on a getaway with friends, he met Olivia.  They felt a connection in the one night they spent talking together but he went home and expected he'd never see her again.  However, when their paths did cross years later after he was out of prison and working in a law firm with his brother, there was still a spark.  Now they're married, expecting their first child, and preparing to move into a suburb in the area where Matt grew up.

Life's course never runs smooth in Coben's books, though, and we have lots of twists and turns along the way.  A nun is dead and the head of the school where she taught has requested a former student, Investigator Loren Muse, to look into the death as she has concerns it might not be from natural causes.  While Loren is working that case, two men are found dead in different situations,  Matt Hunter becomes a person of interest in Loren's investigation due to a phone call the dead nun made to his sister-in-law's home.

In the meantime,Matt receives what appear to be compromising pictures of his wife with another man during a time she is supposed to be out of town on business.  He calls Cingle Shaker, a private eye he uses in the course of his job, to try to discover the true story behind the pictures.  When the FBI shows an interest in what they've uncovered, some feds show up to take the case away from Loren.  Loren is a determined young woman, though, and despite being told to stay away, she thinks there is something fishy going on with what might be a frame-up of Matt.

A showdown in Nevada where Loren, Matt, and Olivia all converge from separate locations leads to more deaths but also unravels the truth.  Will they be able to survive it?  As usual, Coben creates a great story and I rarely can figure out the twists behind them which always makes them a great read for me!

"The Innocent" has a bonus story at the end:  "The Rise and Fall of Super D."  I was concerned the whole short story wasn't there and almost didn't read it but it is complete and is another tale true to Coben -- a surprise twist I didn't see coming!  pazt

"The Fault In Our Stars"

"The Fault In Our Stars" is a #1 New York Times bestseller by John Green that has also been made into a major motion picture.  This book was recommended to me by a friend and I just finished reading it and now I want to see the movie, too.

This is the story of two teenagers, Hazel and Gus, and their small community of friends.  Hazel, who is being treated for cancer has been given a few more years thanks to a tumor-shrinking medical drug. She meets Augustus (Gus) Waters at a support group for teens battling cancer or survivors of cancer.  Although Gus lost a leg to cancer and is considered a survivor, he is at the group to support his friend, Isaac, who is about to be blinded by a surgery that will save his life.

Although Gus is immediately drawn to Hazel, Hazel is reluctant to become involved in anyone else's life.  Gus is very good, though, at worming his way into her life and Hazel finds herself the girlfriend of charming, good-looking Augustus Waters.  Their teenage love story is an incredible journey of ups and downs but overall it is a heartwarming journey of love and life.  I must read more books by John Green!  pazt

"Invisible Prey"

John Sandford's "Invisible Prey" is his 17th novel in his Lucas Davenport series.  This book also brings in Virgil Flowers (another of Sandford's series) as Davenport is assisting him with one of his cases.  Davenport begins to sense that there might be a connection but doesn't understand why two totally unrelated cases should be connected until his wife, Weather,sleepily suggests one night (as she's going to sleep) that he himself may be the connection.

Virgil's case involves a politician and a sex scandal while Davenport's case is the brutal murder of two women and the theft of antiques from their home.  As he investigates, he discovers connections to other murders that, at first glance, would appear to be totally unrelated.

As usual, Sandford weaves a story with twists and turns putting Davenport and others in danger and ending with a bang!  I've already put the next book in the series, "Phantom Prey," on my reading list. pazt

"At Risk"

"At Risk" is Stella Rimington's first novel.  Rimington is a former head of Britain's MI5 and this is her debut thriller introducing Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle.

One of the ways I define a good read is when the author describes settings in such a way that I feel I am there -- I can actually see the story unfold in my head just like I'm watching a movie.  It may help that I am somewhat familiar with Great Britain after many trips there to visit a daughter who married a Brit and lives there with her family.  However, I haven't been to all the places Rimington sets her story and I still have a vivid scene playing mentally.

In this initial Rimington thriller Liz Carlyle finds herself part of a British Intelligence Joint Counter-Terrorist group seeking an "invisible."  "Invisible" is actually CIA speak for someone who is an ethnic native of a target country who is able to move easily and unchecked in that country and give aid to terrorists.

Liz has an uncanny ability to bond mentally with her target, get inside the target's head, and instinctively come up with clues to help the task force find who they are seeking.  She knows the questions to ask and the searches to set in motion.  This is a good read but it doesn't move as quickly as some thrillers because it is more like the actual unfolding of clues would happen and those discoveries usually don't come rapidly.  pazt

"Just One Look"

"Just One Look" is another great mystery from Harlan Coben.  Coben's story lines are so unique that I almost always find myself wondering where he gets his ideas!

Grace Lawson is a wife, artist,and mother of two who loves picking up her pictures from the local photo store -- none of that digital stuff for her.  This time she's in for a surprise, though, when a photo from at least twenty years ago ends up in the middle of photos of the latest film she's developed. One of the men in the photo looks like a younger version of her husband.  When she shows the picture to her husband, Jack, that evening,he is upset and leaves the room to make a phone call. A short time later he leaves the house without telling her he is going out.  Although it is not unusual for him to leave during the evening to pick up groceries, he usually lets her know he is going out.

When Jack doesn't return, Grace becomes worried and calls the police but they can't do anything.  After all he is an adult and may have decided to leave on his own for whatever reason.  As the days go by and she tries to investigate on her own. she finds herself calling on friends as well as acquaintances from her past for assistance, support, and protection for herself and her children.

The more Grace investigates the more she learns how much she didn't know about her husband as well as having to admit there are blank spots in her own memory of the past.  The path she follows is dark and twisting and force her to a confrontation with a surprising twist.

I cannot recommend this book enough if you like a good mystery.  I'm usually able to get enough clues when I read a mystery to figure out at least some of "whodunnit" but Coben always surprises me and perhaps that is why I love his mysteries.  pazt

"Seasons' End"

"Seasons' End," a novel by Will North, is the third novel I have read by this author and, although each is very different, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them all.  I think my favorite is the first one I read, "The Long Walk Home" but all three have well developed characters with a depth that made me feel I was part of the lives that were being lived out in the story.  One challenge I did have with this book was an inability to keep up with all the characters.  Sometimes I had to flip back to see who was who and wished for a list with notes as to how they were connected.

In "Seasons' End" the central character is Colin Ryan, veterinarian on an island in Puget Sound.  Although he was raised on the East Coast, he met Tyler Strong when he was a student living in London.  Tyler convinced him that sharing a flat and expenses made sense for both of them. Charming Tyler easily persuaded Colin and from that Colin met Tyler's girlfriend, Martha "Pete" Peterson.

Tyler and Pete and another family had history together and spent the summer season at their family beach cottage compounds on the island where Colin now practices in Puget Sound and were gracious enough to include him.  However, he's almost an observer of their lives.

Although Pete did marry Tyler, their life has had its tragedies and Colin seems stuck having loved Pete from afar since he first met her.

This summer has been different -- full of jealousies, hot tempers, and passions.  On the last day of the season everything comes to a head and it changes all their lives forever.  pazt