Book Review: Murdering Mr. Monti

Murdering Mr. Monti by Judith Viorst


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Murdering Mr. Monti turned out to be a better book than I thought it would be. For an eavesdropping, murder-plotting, adulteress like Brenda Kovner to be someone the reader actually LIKES is quite an accomplishment for an author. It all starts when Brenda's son announces his engagement to Josephine Monti, the painfully shy youngest daughter of overbearing Joseph Monti. It's bad enough that he is going to lose his daughter, but when she decides to convert to Judaism, Mr. Monti declares war on the Kovner clan. He bankrolls a shady land development deal with Brenda's other son then demands a balloon payment that he cannot possibly repay, he is behind two couples who are suing Brenda's pediatric surgeon husband Jake, and now threats keep coming to the house via crazy singing clowns, maniac van drivers and faxes. What can a mother do but protect her child? And the only way Brenda sees to protect not only her son, but save her whole family, is to murder Mr. Monti before he can destroy their lives.
As you can imagine, chaos ensues.
This was a fast read, a kind of out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire type of book and more than once I found myself chuckling. And I was pulling for Brenda all the way.
3 stars out of 5

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Book Review: Islands

Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book started out slow for about the first half, but by the end I wasn't able to put it down. It's the story of four couples who call themselves the scrubs because they are all involved in the medical community of Charleston, South Carolina in some way. The main character is Anny who marries Lewis and is welcomed wholeheartedly to the group. The unquestioned heart of the group is warm and gracious Camilla; she is the one that is credited for holding the group together through a hurricane, deaths, fire and change.
Towards the end of the book there is a mystery to be solved and I was surprised at the conclusion of it, but the book itself is an excellent one and I would recommend it for reading when it's cold outside.
3.5 stars out of 5

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Book Review

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
MacKayla Lane, Mac for short, is a 22 year old Southern belle whose idyllic existance comes to a crashing halt when she learns her sister Alina has been murdered in Dublin, Ireland. The police don't have many clues to follow and soon the case gets relegated to the cold case files. Everyone seems to have given up on finding Alina's killer, even Mac's parents, so she flies to Dublin herself to see if she can find anything out. Almost immediately strange things start to happen to her - hallucinations mostly - and when she has one in a local pub, she finds out about something called a Sinsar Dubh. Mac has no idea what that is, but every time she mentions it, people get mighty peculiar.

Eventually she meets Jericho Barrons, wealthy and mysterious owner of Barrons Books and Baubles, who at first tries to warn her away from Dublin, telling her she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Turns out that Mac is a Sidhe-Seer, someone who can see beneath the glamour of the mystical Fae and see them for what they truly are underneath...horribly disfigured monsters. She also meets V'lane, an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women. V'lane is a seelie Fae, the lighter or fairer of the two classes, and therefore completely irresistible. The ugly Fae are called the unseelies.(I know...I rolled my eyes too, but it's really a good book.)

The Sinsar Dubh is a centuries old book of the most powerful magic ever known and everyone is after it including Fae, mobsters, vampires and Barrons himself. When he discovers Mac is not only a Sidhe-Seer, but a Null (one who can freeze the Fae for an instant and who gets nauseous every time she is near anything to do with the Sinsar Dubh or the Fae) he teams up with Mac to find the book.

This is the first book in a series and there is a cliffhanger at the end, so they are best read in order.

5 stars out of 5

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Book Review: Rose Madder

Rose Madder by Stephen King


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
90% of Rose Madder is a departure for Stephen King in my opinion. There is only a small part in the middle of the book which is more his typical style, and of course the ending is what you would expect it to be. The cover of the book, which made me wonder how in the world a bull skull with flowers on its horns fits in with the story, but eventually it does get explained. It's just too bizarre for me to explain it in a few words so I won't even attempt to.
This is a story about Rose Daniels, the classic battered woman. The batterer in this case is her husband, police officer Norman Daniels. Norman is a psychotic, sadistic, controlling, sexist, racist piece of work. A spot of blood on the bedsheet is the catalyst for Rose to leave him after 14 years of hell. Rose Madder tells how Rose Daniels became Rosie McClendon, independent woman. Of course she meets a new man, falls in love, gets a good job and her own place, and of course Norman is going to follow her to teach her a lesson or, as he puts it "talk to her up close", all because she dared to steal his bank ATM card and take $350 (or so he tells himself). By the end of the novel he is a stark raving lunatic. A strange painting Rosie buys at a pawn shop figures prominently in the story, and this is where the King-ness comes into play.
When Rosie's fear turns to anger, you almost sit up and cheer because you want so badly for her to be free of Norman. When Norman finally gets his comeuppance, fittingly it is at the hands of women who are stronger than him.
Overall, this was a very good read. 4 stars out of 5

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