Spoiler Free Book Reviews

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb is another venture into the Realm of Elderlings, an exciting world that I’ve been drawn into since I read Assassin’s Apprentice. I’m a bit of a Robin Hobb cheerleader, so I can’t say my opinion of this book is not influenced by my devotion to anything she writes, but the brutal honesty in this review should be enough to convince you that I’m not simply a fanboy.

In short, this book frustrated me. I suspect that as Hobb’s writing style has matured, she is more likely to take on weightier subject matters, but I don’t feel that her attempt to be controversial has added to the quality of this book. I can’t go any further into the type of controversy, but it is sexual in nature.

If you have read other books by Robin Hobb, you’ll be excited to learn that the readers are reintroduced to a few our of favorite characters from the Liveship trilogy. We also learn a great deal more about life in the Rain Wilds and how the introduction of Dragons into the Elderling Realm has effected its people.

This book is in no way a complete story. The last page ends with absolutely no resolutions and until the next book is released in 2010 we’ll have no idea how this story ends. So, overall I can’t say that this book lived up to the hype. While it was fun to reenter the wonderful world Hobb has created, I feel that his book played at the end of a cheap modern romance novel rather than another epic journey, like her previous novels have been.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Intensity by Dean Koontz is by far the most exciting Koontz book I’ve ever read. I’ve been known to complain that some of his other novels seem to censor some of the more graphic parts of the story, but Intensity is raw and doesn’t cut any corners. I enjoyed the story and the characters were real and believable, however, again I found myself more interested in the antagonist rather than the protagonist.

I always seem to be drawn to characters with deeply disturbed inner monologs and Intensity was packed full of disturbing personal thoughts from a psychotic mind. If you don’t mind reading about corrupted and demented minds (think Law & Order SVU) then I would recommend this book. There’s a nice twist at the end although it’s not a “slap your forehead” kind of twist, but it is a nice punch to end the book with.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

Hideaway by Dean Koontz was published in 1992, but I’m just now getting around to reading all the great books by Mr. Koontz I’ve been missing out on. The last Koontz book I read was The Taking and I was greatly surprised at the drastic difference between novels.

While Hideaway was full of underlying themes and an overriding purpose, it felt more like a muted suspense/horror film that was trying to get away with a PG-13 rating.

I’m a fan of blood and gore and I was disappointed that Mr. Koontz pulled the reader back rather than exploring the vivid horror scenes that were happening throughout the novel.

I’m a believer that the raw details of life are what make characters real. If I wanted a synopsis I’d go watch the movie. I’m reading the book because I want to know the real story. I have not read all of Mr. Koontz’s books, but I was kind of hoping for a little more grit and less skimming.

And finally, I have to mention that I didn’t really start liking the book until towards the end. It took about half the book for us to learn just how demented our antagonist really is and by the time that fact was established, the resolution was closing in fast. I would have enjoyed a little less buildup and a little more detailed exploration.

Overall, I enjoyed Hideaway and I’ll be trying out another Dean Koontz novel soon, but I hope he doesn’t spare the horror in place of the suspense. If I want suspense, I’ll read slower.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Much like Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, Elantris is based on a kingdom under the rule of a tyrant. Mr. Sanderson’s style is very unique and it is always refreshing to read his very detailed stories.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the Mistborn series. I would recommend reading the Mistborn series. While Elantris is a very creative twist on fantasy, the storyline lacked the dynamic characters needed for such a densely packed epic.

There is a diverse group of characters, but I didn’t find many of them to be noteworthy. I was plagued with remembering all the different names of each noble family and towards the end of the book I really lost interest in all about a handful of the characters.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone that is tired of reading traditional fantasy novels. If you want something different that doesn’t take a trilogy to explain, try Elantris.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Taking by Dean Koontz is not a new book. It’s been out since May of 2004, but a friend of mine recently recommended the book to me so I went ahead and bought a copy on my Kindle. It’s been proven over and over again, when someone recommends a book to me it’s typically a great book!

The only books I’ve read by Mr. Koontz are the Odd Thomas books (which I have enjoyed), but they didn’t make me want to go running to the book store to find more books with Koontz written on the spine. However, The Taking is in an entirely new league.

From the first page, Koontz is a poetic fiend! I’ve never read an author that is able to use such an amazing vocabulary while thoroughly scaring the crap out of me. The plot was well constructed and the book didn’t lose many momentum from the first scene (which was awesome).

The characters had a well fleshed out past, but the real depth of the novel was in the atmosphere of a town undergoing an invasion from an unknown force. The book’s theme is a dark, delicious horror story that doesn’t reveal it’s true nature until the last chapter of the book.

Overall, I thought The Taking was a wonderful book, though it is at times very graphic and horrific in its grisly descriptions. If you don’t mind reading creepy novels that toe the line on demonic spirits, I would highly recommend The Taking.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Overlook by Michael Connelly is another great novel centered around a detective in LA named Harry Bosch. This installment takes place shortly after the previous Harry Bosch novel closed, Echo Park. As I’ve followed the series over the years, I just can’t get enough of the gritty world that Mr. Connelly has created.

I don’t pretend to know what it is like in a cop’s world, but I tend to believe that what I see on TV and movies is a load of crap. Mr. Connelly’s books are full of realistic characters and deep personal interactions between those characters.

The difference between Michael Connelly’s books and other authors is that the characters are the center of the novel’s focus. Rather than the story’s timeline determining the process of events, it feels like the characters themselves drive the events. I don’t know how Connelly does it, but the whole story feels like it is balanced on a pinhead. Rather than a steady progression of events, the reader is thrown into a dynamic world that feels alive under your fingers!

You might ask me, “Chris, how can a book be dynamic?”

Well, here’s an example. As I read this novel I began to pick up hidden clues in the case that the main character, Harry Bosch, is working on. It’s not just a story line, it’s a mystery that I’m involved in. The clues and how our characters react to them is what determines the events of the story. It’s exciting to be a part of and it makes this book vivid and dynamic.

Overall, The Overlook is a great book. I would recommend reading the entire Harry Bosch series, but this installment stands on it’s own.

Rating: 9 out of 10

No, First Family by David Baldacci is not another book about Barack Obama. It is an exciting thriller that begins with a kidnapping and ends with an extremely shocking revelation about the moral weight of power.

Initially, I was not too thrilled to find that Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were the main characters in this book because in their previous book, Simple Genius, I thought they were slightly stereotypical. However, in First Family I thought Mr. Baldacci did a great job of fleshing both of them out. I won’t spoil anything for you, but I will say that we finally get an opportunity to learn more about Michelle Maxwell’s haunted past that played such a large role in Simple Genius.

Speaking of the characters, another interesting aspect of First Family was that I found the antagonists to be more interesting than the protagonists. Mr. Baldacci gives the reader a chance to understand why the evil doers are so obsessed with going forward with their evil plans and, in my opinion, the back story behind the antagonists is more interesting than the protagonists. But maybe I’m just a fan of the underdog.

Overall, First Family may be my favorite David Baldacci book so far! There were multiple plots, extensive back stories, and gritty, complex characters (even they were the antagonists). If you haven’t picked up a David Baldacci book in a long time (more maybe you never have, GASP!) I highly recommend buying a copy on April 21.

Pre-order at Amazon

Rating: 9 out of 10

A reporter by the name of Jack McEvoy takes the lead in this Connelly thrill ride. Jack is most famous for his starring role in the 2002 novel called The Poet, which is my favorite Michael Connelly book (I highly recommend it). As we catch up with Jack many years after the events surrounding The Poet, he is now a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, but the recession and the popularity of internet news sites has put his job on the chopping block. As he rides out his last few weeks of being an employed reporter Jack comes across a story that will help him go out with a bang. And that’s how he meets the deeply disturbed, Scarecrow.

So apart from the plot, one reason why I really loved this book was because Mr. Connelly takes the reader into the mind of the killer. Murder mysteries are exciting to read, but unless we are intrigued by the characters, a book can become pretty dry. So what sets this book apart is that not only do we get to follow the hero throughout the novel, we also get to see inside the mind of the killer. And boy is the Scarecrow an intriguing character.

The Scarecrow, the novel, is structured much like The Poet, and Jack McEvoy reflects many times on how The Poet was the pinnacle of his professional and personal life. There is a lot of symbolic irony as we watch one psychotic killer take away what another psychotic killer created.

Overall, The Scarecrow is a thrilling crime masterpiece of murder and sexual perversion. I was capitvated from start to finish. There is no debate that Michael Connelly is a masterful author that continues to create vivid characters that struggle with their own personal battles. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of The Scarecrow on May 26, 2009.

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Rating: 10 out of 10

Die Trying by Lee Child is the second book in the Jack Reacher series. As I said in a previous post, I have found a new favorite author. Lee Child writes with an unfiltered energy. You know the world is really like, but everyone seems to edit out the ugliness of reality. Mr. Child gives us the gritty unfinished edges in his descriptions. I often grit my teeth at some of his more gruesome details, but for me (a horror film fan) it only makes the book that much more exciting.

I had heard Lee Child’s name before, be I had no idea that he is the world’s biggest selling novelist! He sells around 31.5 million novels a year and he also has a long list of awards for many of his novels.

So finally, Die Trying is another great novel. But if you just starting the Jack Reacher series, I recommend starting from the beginning of the series.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Same Kind of Different as Me by Rob Hall and Denver Moore is a true story about the unlikely connection between a black man born on a plantation in rural Louisiana and a white man who grows up in Fort Worth, Texas. I’m not really a fan of nonfiction, but my wife read this book and she insisted that I should give it a try because it was “awesome”. So I did and she was right, it is a wonderful book.

The book is very encouraging and uplifting. In fact if you take a quick glance at the Amazon reviews you’ll see words like “powerful”, “captivating”, and “compassionate”. It’s not an action or a thriller, but I still found myself reading this novel for hours at a time.

The beginning of the novel is very eye opening as it gives deals on how many uneducated black people where still bound in a form of slavery in the mid 1900s. As the story progresses, the reader is given a window into homeless poverty in a urban setting.

Overall, I really enjoyed Same Kind of Different As Me and I was very encouraged as I closed the cover on this spiritual nonfictional story. At times like these when we are all threatened with a worldwide crisis this was a peaceful reminder of what is really important in life.

Rating: 8 out of 10