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Review – Funnel Vision – Chris Kridler

25 Nov

Funnel Vision
Author: Chris Kridler

Review Copy Provided by Author

Book Description:
Kansas photographer Judy Hale loves to chase storms, but at the heart of her passion is a fear she longs to quell, born of the tornado that destroyed her childhood. Handsome, devil-may-care tornado researcher Jack Andreas wants nothing better than to forget the past in his dangerously close encounters with the twisters he chases for science. He also chases women, and when he and Judy meet, sparks fly.

But Judy and Jack have dueling destinies as they cross paths with Judy’s sister Shannon, a directionless coquette; a clueless newbie storm-tour operator named Brad Treat; geeky, likable chaser Robinson Marvell; and a bevy of other storm chasers as they pursue the gorgeous, violent storms of Tornado Alley. Their stories intertwine as they chase the monster storm that forces Judy to confront her deepest fears and Jack to find the courage to face the ultimate twister.

Review
I’m always bummed when a book that I was looking forward to reading didn’t quite live up to the hype that I had placed on it. For me, Funnel Vision was one of those books. I have to admit, that since Twister, came out when I was in high school, I have been intrigued by storm chasers and what they do, and even considering getting into meteorology at one stage (unfortunately, my science grades in college were just not good enough). So when this book was offered up by the author in one of my goodreads groups, I was intrigued. The premise sounded entertaining, and since it was based on the authors experiences, I figured it would be a good read. Here is, for me, where it splits…the story regarding the storm chasing itself, I really liked. I thought that the author did a good job of detailing the adrenaline that these chasers must feel – both the official ones and the non-official “Weekend Chasers” (I don’t know if that is the right term, but it works for me). I think I might have enjoyed it more, if the drama of some of the characters lives had just been completely left out of it (and this is coming from someone who is an avid romance reader – yes, I admit it).

It was mostly the character interactions on the personal level that bugged me the most. When I see the phrase in a description, “sparks fly” I am expecting some kind of tension, interaction, development of a relationship, but for me, it was more like sparks fizzle. That and the development of the character as a skirt-chasing playboy – just pissed me off. Especially when you think that (hover here for spoiler). I also threw the book across the room at that point, I was so fustrated. Yes, I know that it wasn’t specifically marketed as a romance, but the description kind of led me to expect more. I guess if you don’t like the touchy-feeley romance stuff, you might like it, but if you are a romance reader, I would avoid it (and I don’t say that lightly). I also had an issue with how an issue played out later in the book, but I am waiting on a response from some law enforcement friends with an answer to my question before I vent…but essentially (hover here for spoiler)

But I am having a hard time rating this book, I would probably only give it 2.5 stars overall, mostly because of the issues that I mentioned above – but at the same time, it was very well written and you could tell how much the author knew about the topic, so I am conflicted. I may end up changing my review, but right now, I am going to leave it at 2.5 stars. But I am curious about what the author might write in the future.

 
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Posted by on November 25, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Quarantine – John Smolens

02 Aug

Quarantine
Author: John Smolens

Review Copy Provided via Netgalley by the Publisher
Expected Publication: September 15, 2012

Book Description
The year is 1796, and a trading ship arrives in the vibrant trading town of Newburyport, Massachusetts. But it’s a ghost ship–her entire crew has been decimated by a virulent fever which sweeps through the harbor town, and Newburyport’s residents start to fall ill and die with alarming haste. Something has to be done to stop the virus from spreading further. When physician Giles Wiggins places the port under quarantine, he earns the ire of his shipbuilder half-brother, the wealthy and powerful Enoch Sumner, and their eccentric mother, Miranda. Defiantly, Giles sets up a pest-house, where the afflicted might be cared for and separated from the rest of the populace in an attempt to contain the epidemic.

As the seaport descends into panic, religious fervor, and mob rule, bizarre occurrences ensue: the harbormaster ‘s family falls victim to the fever, except for his son, Leander Hatch, who is taken in at the Sumner mansion and a young woman, Marie Montpelier, is fished out of the Merrimac River barely clinging to life, causing Giles and Enoch who is convinced she ‘s the expatriate daughter of the French king to vie for her attentions–all while medical supplies are pillaged by a black marketer from Boston. As the epidemic grows, fear, greed, and unhinged obsession threaten the Sumner family and the future of Newburyport itself.

Review
I had previously listened to and reviewed Smolen’s book, The Schoolmaster’s Daughter, so when Quarantine showed up on Netgalley I jumped on the opportunity to read and review it. Having grown up outside of the US, I never really studied US history until college and then it was limited to very specific classes – so my knowledge of the fever that struck the east coast of the US in the late 1700’s is relatively little – most of what I know, I gained from reading Laurie Halsie Anderson’s Fever 1793

There were a variety of things that I enjoyed about the book – specifically the details about how the various medical practices from the time were incorporated into trying to save the town from the fever. I actually felt that if the focus had been solely on the struggle of the town and the quarantine, then the book would have been much better than it was. Unfortunately, it was the other story lines – the town surgeon and his fractured relationship with his family, the relationship between the women who could be construed as the town matriarch and her son and their scheming ways. I also have to admit, when I reached the last page of the book, I was confused with the outcome – yes, they managed to survive the fever and the town moved on, but all the other various plot lines, it was almost like the author had reached a page limit and decided to end it – I just felt like there wasn’t much resolution…

Overall, I don’t think I could give this book more than about 2.5 stars and while I don’t know of any fiction books similar to the subject, aside from the YA by Laurie Halsie Anderson, I would have a hard time recommending this book to many people, unless they were looking for this very specific event. That being said, I am more curious about the time period after reading this, so I am going to see about maybe picking up a non-fiction that discusses the period to read some more.

 
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Posted by on August 2, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – The Night Ferry – Michael Robotham

29 May

One of my pet peeves when it comes to books is authors who double-dip characters in books that aren’t part of series, because I feel like I am always missing something. That was precisely the case of what happened with The Night Ferry. I knew that the author had written a series, but for my purposes, I wasn’t looking to starting a new series, so I opted to read what I assumed to be a stand-alone. Unfortunately, I soon found out that while The Night Ferry was technically a stand-alone, the author did refer back to events that had occurred in previous books. So I ended up spending a good portion of my time, puzzling that out (my library didn’t have any of the other books in audio format and I was looking specifically for an audiobook at the time). When viewing other reviews of this book after finishing it, it does appear as though I wasn’t the only person who felt that way, which was nice to see.

Overall, I liked the story that was presented, although at the same time it did seem to be very obvious from the beginning as to where the whole storyline was going. I wasn’t surprised by any of the twists in the story as they occurred. Based on my experiences with this book, I am not sure whether I will rush out to try this author again, but at the same time, I do have my standard, at least two books by an author prior to giving up on them. so maybe I’ll check out one of the books in the series and see how that plays out.

This is the first time that I have listened to a narration by Clare Corbett but I ended up enjoying it. I felt that she had a good range of voices that she used through-out and I didn’t feel like any of the voices had been over-done or repeated through-out the various characters. I will likely pick up other books narrated by her in the future to see if she can maintain this ability in other books.

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Review – Last Rituals – Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

26 May

I’ll admit that I fell for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo craze when it was released…although I did wait until all three books were out before I read any of them.  Ever since then I have been on the look out for new Scandinavian authors to check out.  I am a regular participant on Goodreads and on there, moderate (along with my co-hort in crime, Naomi Blackburn – A Book and a Review) a Nordic Noir group.  Every month we feature a different author within the genre as a way to find those hidden gems.  For May, the author was Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, so to try her out, I started with the first book in her Þóra Guðmundsdóttir series, Last Rituals.

I was hoping for a fast moving, exciting kind of Noir, similar to Larseen, Fossum and James Thompson – unfortunately, I was to be disappointed.  The plot was rather slow moving and in general it didn’t feel like there was much character development, or even explanations as to why certain characters acted the way they did.  You find out early on that she has an issue with the secretary at her law office, Bella…but aside from the statement that she came with the building, you don’t know much else aside from the animosity that is between the 2 characters.  While I have been in situations before where I have had extreme conflicts of character with co-workers, this one just didn’t seen to be as developed as it could have been.  In the end, while I didn’t quite see the whole who done it when it was revealed, I also just wasn’t that surprised with the ultimate reveal (how is that for a bit of a convoluted sentence).

Based on my experiences with this book, I honestly don’t know if I will be rushing out to read any more in the series, and since my library only had the first book in the series – I wouldn’t be buying them, even if I was interested…she will remain firmly on the library borrow list in the future.

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2012 in Book Review

 

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