The Seventh Child

The Seventh Child by Erik Valeur

What is it about the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians that they can write about horrific deaths as they were commonplace fender benders in life?

This book is part mystery, part murder mystery.  Being an adoptive parent, there were aspects of this book that were difficult.  The author, himself and adoptive child, wrote often of how many adoptive children felt like they didn't belong and how they were broken or discarded.  Granted, in this book the children were pretty much all told about their adoption around the age of 13 or 14 which made them feel as though they had been lied to by their parents all this time.  This made them question what else had been a lie, their love for the child?  Anything else they were lying about?  In one situation, the child was an adult and had never been told and only just learned as he helped solve a mystery involving these other people.

This was a pretty good book although a bit on the creepy side. If you like creepy murder mysteries, I think you might like this.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan

I had someone recommend this book as "geeky and fun" because of it's references to various computer programs.  This book, however, is so much more that that.

This book combines Old Knowledge and New Knowledge and weaves them together with a wonderful mystery - several actually.  I hesitate to say much more because I don't want to accidentally drop any spoilers.  I will say this, you should read this book.  It is a fun and entertaining escape.

I, Alex Cross

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson

The Alex Cross series of books is really popular but I'm pretty sure this was my first one.  The first book in the series is Along Came a Spider.  This particular book is number 16 and I think he's up to 20 now.  James Patterson is an extremely prolific writer but most of his books are co-written.  The Alex Cross series is one of the few that seems to be coming from him directly.

This was a good police thriller mystery book.  It's clear why Patterson is a bestselling author.  He can definitely write a good thriller.  I have read a fair amount of mystery/thrillers in my time and I'm usually pretty good at guessing about mid-way through the book.  It was pretty late in the book before I had an inkling of who it could be.

If you want a fast thriller for summer vacation, this is a good one.

Hush, Hush Saga

Hush Hush, Crescendo, and Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

I am thinking that fallen angels and Nephilim are the new vampires.  There are a whole slew of books out there, especially in the young adult fiction world, that involve angels, archangels, fallen angels and Nephilim.

This is the story of Nora, a high school sophomore in Maine whose father was recently murdered.  She and her mother are trying to make their lives work with just the two of them and everything seems to be going fine.  Then, one day, Nora's biology teacher decides to make a change to the seating chart so Nora no longer has her best friend as a partner, she has a mysterious new transfer student named Patch.

Soon, Nora learns that when God first created humans, he put angels on the earth to watch over them and protect them.  Some of the angels lusted for the human women and when their children were born, Nephilim, the archangels of heaven ripped the wings from these angels and they became "fallen".    Still roaming the earth, the fallen angels do what they like.  Fallen angels have some of their angelic gifts like mind control but they can't feel.  They have emotions and they can see and hear but they don't taste and they don't have the sense of touch.  From the moment their wings were ripped from their backs, they wanted nothing more than to have the human sensory experience.

Two weeks a year, during the Jewish time of Cheshvan, fallen angels have to ability to possess the body of another.  Human bodies are weak and often die within a week but the bodies of Nephilim are strong and can easily last.  The downside of this possession is that the spirit of the Nephilim is still in the body when the fallen angel is but the Nephilim has no control at all - they are a helpless bystander in their own body.  The Nephilim are forced to swear an oath of fealty to the fallen angels so they have no choice in the matter of possession.

Needless to say, only two weeks a year isn't enough for many fallen angels and they are always searching for another way.  The Book of Enoch supposedly tells of how a fallen angel can become human by killing his Nephilim.  The Nephilim are immortal though so things get complicated and involve killing a human progeny of the Nephilim when she is sixteen.  At the same time, the Nephilim are tired of being vassals for the fallen angels and are planning a way to stop the process before the next Cheshvan.

Nora and Patch slowly unravel mystery after mystery.  This is a young adult novel so there is the teen romance aspect even though Patch appears to be a couple of years older than Nora but is really hundreds of years older.  The frustrating aspects of teen romance, such as not communicating, are very present and affect more than just the romance - of course.  This is an entertaining series thus far and book 4 which is titled Finale? is scheduled for release in late October of this year.  I will probably read it just to finish the series.  I can see a spin-off series ensuing from this but I am okay not reading any more than just the four books.  The world of fallen angels is an intriguing one but not compelling enough to read much more.

The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This is a book about people who love books. It was wonderfully written. There are stories woven within stories to create a rich fabric.

The basics of the story are this, a young, amateur biographer named Margaret Lea is hired to write the life story of a famous and prolific author, Vida Winter.

Vida Winter is nearing the end of her life and she has one last tale to tell. It is the story of siblings, twins, and secrets. Margaret Lea has a secret of her own and it will come out as well before all the stories have come to an end.

I really enjoyed this book. It is easy to climb into this story and get lost. I don't want to give too much away because I knew very little about the book when I first began reading and the journey was a fun one.