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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Book Review: One For The Money

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the Stephanie Plum novels as a rule. This series makes me actually laugh out loud. Whenever Stephanie goes over to her parents for supper, something is bound to happen, courtesy of Grandma Mazur more times than not. I finally got around to reading the first in this series and I'm glad I did.

Stephanie Plum is out of work and getting desperate for money. Her car is about to be repo'ed, she has been pawning off her stuff to pay her bills, and the rent is coming due again soon. Running out of options, she hears about a filing job at her cousin Vinny's bail bonds shop and reluctantly goes down there to apply. The position has already been filled, but Vinny's secretary tells Stephanie that the real money is in bounty hunting; why, they have one right here that is worth $10,000 if she's interested in it.

Meet Joe Marelli, an ex vice cop who is wanted for murder and who has jumped bail. Stephanie knows Joe intimately well - or she used to when they were teenagers - and Vinny gives her one week to catch him or else he will give the file to someone else. Being that Stephanie has no clue how to be a bounty hunter, she gets in touch with the best in the business, Ricardo Manoso a.k.a. Ranger, to give her a crash course in hunting fugitives. Before the end of the book, Stephanie manages to steal a car (or, as she calls it, "commandeer" a car), get shot at, almost get blown up, and punched in the face by a stalker.

There is quite a cast of characters in this book - an insane boxing world heavyweight champion and his head-in-the-sand manager, a couple of hookers named Lula and Jackie, and of course Stephanie's parents and grandma Mazur. It's quite a rollercoaster ride and a lot of fun.

4 stars out of 5


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Book Review: Divine Evil

Divine Evil by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Clare Kimball is a famous sculptress when she returns to her hometown of Emmitsboro, Maryland to confront the ghosts of her past. She moves into the family home, the site of her father's suicide. Although a lot of the town has stayed the same in the years since Clare left, many things have changed. The wild and rebellious Cameron Rafferty is now the town sheriff and he has his own demons to face. An old grave of a baby is dug up in the cemetary and the dirt hauled away. A runaway teenage girl is missing, last spotted just outside of Emmitsboro; only problem is, no one saw this girl anywhere in town. Then a gruesome murder happens to someone Cam knows only too well. It doesn't take long for Clare's past to come crashing down around these two either. Clare finds out that her father may have been involved in a cult and that maybe his death wasn't a suicide or accident after all. The more time Clare and Cam spend together, the closer they become and the more nervous they make certain people in town. Because while on the surface Emmitsboro may look like Mayberry, it is hiding a very dark evil secret. And someone will go to any lengths to keep that secret hidden.



Overall, it was an okay book. I did figure out who most of the people involved in the cult were before they were revealed, but I did not guess the real ringleader - that was a shocker to me.



3 stars out of 5


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Book Review: Trace

Trace by Patricia Cornwell

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
This book wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. The Last Precinct was a better read. There wasn't much action in this one, the characters weren't fleshed out very well at all, and the capture of the bad guy was very, very anti-climactic. I didn't even care much for Scarpetta in this book; her niece Lucy seemed to be a self-absorbed rich b***h; I don't know why she put certain characters in with others (she has Benton in Aspen "babysitting" Lucy's employee, who was attacked in Lucy's home). There is no resolution of a feud between Scarpetta and Virginia's new chief medical examiner, and really no hint that this will be re-visited in a future book (maybe she resolves it in another novel, I haven't heard). This book was quite a let down all the way around.


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Book Review: Eclipse

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This third novel in the Twilight series is better than the first two I think. It is a continuation from New Moon and it's best read in order. Basically this one has the Cullens joining forces with their bitter enemies the werewolves to protect Bella from Victoria (who was introduced in the first book, Twilight). Along the way, Bella has to choose between her love for Edward and her growing love for Jacob. I can't really say too much about the book without giving a lot of it away, but when Bella makes her choice, it is very bittersweet. I actually teared up a little at the end.

Hopefully the fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, will be another good read, as each book so far in the series has gotten better than the one before it, IMO.


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Book Review: Undead and Unappreciated

Undead and Unappreciated by MaryJanice Davidson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have found a new series to read. This was a more entertaining read than I was expecting, really. Betsy Taylor is the vampire queen, tricked into marrying the tall, dark and handsome king, Eric Sinclair. She lives in a Twin Cities mansion with Sinclair and their friends, most of whom are alive and who are aware of Betsy's status. (It sounds creepier than it actually is.)

Betsy finds out she has a half-sister she never knew about who is currently a student at the University. Her name is Laura. She is blonde haired, blue eyed, sparkly, bubbly and gorgeous. And oh yeah, she's also Satan's daughter, destined to rule the world someday...


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Book Review: Welcome To The World Baby Girl!

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!: A Novel by Fannie Flagg

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is one of the best ones I've read in a very long time. It tells the story of Dena Nordstrom, America's blonde haired, blue eyed #1 female newsperson in the 1970's. The book jumps back and forth between the 1940's and how Dena's parents met and her childhood, to 1978 New York City. It could easily get confusing, but Fannie Flagg writes it so flawlessly it isn't hard to follow at all.



It mainly centers around Dena and how her life is out of control - she drinks too much, goes out too often and cannot handle any type of relationship. And on top of all that, now she has a bleeding ulcer. What's a girl to do? Go see a psychiatrist. Only problem there is, the second she walks in his office, he falls in love with her. So he refers her to another doctor, aptly named Dr. Diggers, who keeps asking her questions about her childhood and her mother in particular.



What can Dena tell her? Her mother was a very private person and Dena did not know her well at all. During Christmas break one year, Dena flys to her mother's apartment in Chicago, only to find that her mother has disappeared off the face of the earth. Why? Where did she disappear to? What secrets was she keeping? Was her mother a Nazi spy? A sleazy reporter thinks so, and he would like nothing better than to destroy Dena and her reputation. Dena has to put the past to rest and the only way to do that is by solving the mystery of her mother's past and what exactly happened to her.



Along the way in this book, you meet some interesting characters, mainly in the town of Elmwood Springs, Missouri - Dena's hometown and the place where she finally becomes whole again.



4 stars out of 5


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