The Rules for Disappearing (Rules for Disappearing #1)

  Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you participated in the Witness Protection Program. For Meg Jones, a new process everyday: learning and becoming a new person. It's lonely, frustrating, and unnerving. Many thanks to Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced reader's copy of Ashley Elston's debut novel.

Description (from the Publisher): Shes been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that shes been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last. Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they've given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do-or see-that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all of the Suits rules-and her dads silence. If he wont help, its time she got some answers for herself. But Meg isn't counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who's too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there's only one rule that really matters-survival.

Review: Like most readers, I was initially drawn to The Rules for Disappearing because it featured a main character in a Witness Protection Program. Meg Jones and her family have been under Witness Protection for eight months and have been relocated six times. Any day the U.S. Marshals can come to their door to tell them to pack up their things and transfer them to a brand new location. The family will be given new personal histories to memorize, new names, and new appearances. They must never make a mistake. They must always stay in character.
  I had mixed feelings towards Meg. I felt terribly that she had nightmares and was always on edge and uneasy. I loved how Meg took care of her little sister who barely speaks, but her incessant blaming her father for their current situation irritated me. Whatever he's done or seen to land them in this predicament has destroyed the family forever, Mr. Jones has become the scapegoat for the family's frustration and anger. Mr. Jones didn't help the situation either by being so incredibly secretive and not really stepping in when Mrs. Jones drank. I was hoping that the author would focus a bit more on Meg's parents, but the mother is pretty much drunk whenever she appears on the page and the father appears to really try and be their for his family, but ultimately I didn't really think they were three dimensional characters.
  The novel's first half is tense and captivating, as the Jones family tries to adapt to a new home in rural Louisiana. The characters struggle under severe uncertainty and dysfunction. Their new home is dreary, they have very little money, and every bump in the night could mean trouble. Meg has set up some of her own rules that she must follow to keep her profile low: Don't make friends, don't trust anybody, don't use the Internet. Again and again, she tries to discover who is after her family and what happened last June that started this whole mess, but her father won't discuss it. Soon she starts to break her own rules when she gets closer to the truth.
  Elston then breaks the tension when Meg falls in love with a charming boy named Ethan. Their romance was sweet and slowly build throughout the book. Ethan didn't really stand out for me as a character, but he was nice and helped Meg though he had figured out that Meg was lying about her identity pretty quickly. He does help Meg confront a repressed memory, and hits the road with her to free her family for good.
  I have to say that I was disappointed when we learned why the Jones family is in the Witness Protection Program. I thought the answer was too convenient and for me, the plot loses its emotional resonance and becomes implausible, I think some readers will likely enjoy the action. Though we get answers by the end of the book, the author leaves a single unfinished story line for a very likely forthcoming sequel. While I enjoyed this book for the most part and it reminded me a lot of Lois Duncan's books that I read in junior high, I'm not entirely sure if I'll pick up the next book.

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language, underage drinking, and strong violence. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.

If you like this book try: Shadowlands by Kate Brian, Don't Look Behind You by Lois Duncan

Crash (Visions #1)

    When asked for a recommendation on a good romantic supernatural suspense series, one of my go-to authors is Lisa McMann. I absolutely adored her Wake trilogy, which grabbed my attention right away from the first book. The captivating and quickly moving plot and extremely likable characters are the main reasons I think McMann's books are hit with reluctant readers. You simply don't have a chance to be bored, especially when the author started a brand new, four book series called Visions. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series which is available now.

Description: Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that. What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.
   The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

Review:  Crash is a mash-up between Romeo and Juliet and the horror movie series Final Destination. Julie Demarco keeps seeing on vision of an out-of-control snowplow crash into a restaurant, causing an explosion and killing several people inside on nearly every flat surface--billboards, televisions and road signs. With a depressed grandfather who committed suicide and a moody, hoarder father, she's almost certain that her visions is a sign of some mental illness. She keeps the terrifying images to herself, certain her Italian family will commit her if they find out about her visions. In addition to the puzzling and horrific images, the restaurant in jeopardy belongs to no one other than their rival pizza parlor, and one of the dead is Sawyer Angotti, Julie's one time good friend and her secret, lifelong crush and son of the adversarial restaurateur.
  McMann succeeds in creating another unput-downable supernatural thriller. With quick pacing, realistic dialogue, and the right amount of romance (which thankfully isn't insta-love), the story takes flight and I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next. Julie is a strong female protagonist, who is aware of her shortcomings but her determination to thwart a disaster regardless of who is involved is admirable. Instead of impulsively plunging head first like most of the heroines we encounter, Julie uses clues from her ever more frequent visions to try to figure out the exact time of the crash in an attempt to prevent it from happening, risking her already shaky standing with Sawyer, her parents and her classmates. Her relationship with Sawyer and her siblings are natural. McMann fleshes out Sawyer's character as he becomes his own person as he and Julie discover some dark family secrets. My only complaint about Crash is the lack of explanation of how the vision works and I'm hoping this will become clearer as the four book series continues. While the book doesn't end in a cliffhanger per se, there are many questions left unanswered and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the second book told from Sawyer's point of view called Bang, which is set to release later this fall.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some strong language in the book and some disturbing images. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.

If you like this book try: Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann, The Bodyfinder series by Kimberly Derting, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Running into the Darkness Blog Tour: Guest Post by D.A. Bale + Giveaway!

  Even though I'm on a blogging break, I wanted to take some time and introduce to you a suspenseful read by D.A. Bale. Before I let D.A. talk about her expectations of what makes a good suspense/mystery book, check out the cover and synopsis for her book, Running into the Darkness, and be sure to check out the cool giveaway at the end of the post.

Death follows Dr. Samantha Bartlett throughout her life until it claims everyone close to her. There's one powerful man responsible on whom Samantha sets her sights for revenge. The price is her soul. For centuries, sex has been the weapon of men...now it's her turn.
“I never intended to kill the President. As a doctor, I swore an oath to protect life – not take it. But that was before...”
Second year resident, Dr. Samantha Bartlett, is swept from the frigid New York winter to once again confront the sting of death back home – and face those she left behind. But she’s not alone. A strange man she dubs Shades haunts her every step as she seeks answers to the inferno which claimed her grandmother, an eerie reminder of her parents’ deaths. The secrets Samantha uncovers forever changes her image of those she only thought she knew.
Confronted by Shades, Samantha joins a secret underworld known only as the Elite, where a web of power and control is woven deep within governments worldwide. Their sights are set on the power structure of the United States, and Samantha becomes the unlikely key to infiltrating the White House at its most intimate levels.  The quest for blood threatens to destroy Samantha. From the darkness there is no escape.

D.A. on what makes a good suspense/mystery read

  Have you ever picked up a novel and got what you expected?  Now let me ask another question.

Was this a good thing? Call me weird – and yes, I’m okay with that designation – but I’m not necessarily happy with the expected when I read.  Don’t get me wrong here; there are certain anticipations with every genre. When you read romance, you know the guy will eventually get the girl.  With mystery, you’re trying to figure out who did it.  Horror, you expect to pee your pants when the boogeyman jumps out from under the bed.  Readers are typically perusing the shelves for something familiar from their genre of choice.

 But what if you were surprised?  Pleasantly surprised? Thrillers and suspense are some of my favorites:  action, adventure, and the bad guys getting their butts kicked by the good guy/girl.  However, when I figure out pretty much the entire plot in the first few pages, it turns what could have been an interesting read into a real letdown. So in my opinion, what makes a good thriller?  I’m glad you asked.

   Thrillers are usually known for action, action, and lots of action, but I also like moments woven into the story that allow me to get to know the primary characters.  What is it in their backgrounds that play into motivation for why they make the choices they do throughout the novel?  How have their choices led them to where they are?  These tidbits give them purpose, help me determine whether their actions have merit and make them feel three-dimensional – like real people.  I need to feel connected to them in some way.

 Layers to the storyline add depth and dimension, keeping me guessing as to what potential direction(s) the novel could take.  It’s a good book when I am not sure what happens next or how a character or event ties into the main arc.  Many stories are very linear:  point A leads to point B, to point C, and so on until we get to point Z.  That works for a lot of people.  But I love the novels that take me from point A to point M, back to D and so on.  That’s rather the way I write too!  But the important thing is that all of these little loose ends eventually tie together somehow.  If secondary or tertiary characters and situations are tossed in willy-nilly and never meet the main arc somewhere, it just seems more like unnecessary filler.

 What about the bad guys?  They need to be REALLY bad!  Not caricatures, mind you, but nasty, sick, twisted, and messed up characters who don’t give a rats-rear-end about anyone but themselves and the power they crave.  If you have any knowledge of history, it’s full of super nasty individuals (Hitler anyone?).  You many have experienced a few bad guys of your own in real life – I have too.  When there’s a really good bad guy, it makes their comeuppance that much sweeter.

Believe it or not, a dose of humor makes for a good thriller read too.  Humor gives another element of depth to people, as long as it is still true to the character and isn’t too disruptive to the story flow.  It also allows for a bit of a breather in the midst of non-stop action and when the stakes ramp up and threaten to spin out of control.

So give me a good thriller to read any day, as long as it keeps me on my toes, on the edge of my seat, and still guessing about what’s coming when I turn the page.  This, in my opinion, is what takes the expected into the realm of pleasantly surprised.  Happy reading!

 Thanks for the enlightening post, D.A.! If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, it is available at Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

To learn more about D.A., please visit her website, on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

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Forbidden Reads: Tenderness by Robert Cormier

Welcome to my new feature called Forbidden Reads! Join me in celebrating your freedom to read. My goal for this soon-to be- regular monthly feature is to highlight challenged and/or banned books from each literary audience: children, YA, and adult. Not only will I be doing a review of the book, I will also include information as to where and why the book was challenged/banned. Today I'll be reviewing Robert Cormier's controversial YA suspense novel, Tenderness, which was published in 1997.

Description (from Goodreads): Eighteen-year-old Eric has just been released from juvenile detention for murdering his parents. Now he's looking for tenderness--tenderness he finds in killing girls. Fifteen-year-old Lori has run away from home again. Emotionally naive and sexually precocious, she is also looking for tenderness--tenderness that she finds in Eric. Will Lori and Eric be each other's salvation or destruction?

Review: Cormier is known for his gritty novels. His most widely known book, The Chocolate War, is a staple in YA literature and unapologetically looks at the important issue of bullying which we are still struggling today. Tenderness is a mesmerizing albeit extremely disturbing plunge into the mind of a psychopathic teen killer. The book is compelling, short, and quick to the point. The story is simple as it follows two teens who are desperately searching for something called tenderness. 
  Eric Poole is handsome, clean cut, and with a vulnerability that plays well before the cameras. He is about to be released from the juvenile facility where he has spent three years for killing his mother and stepfather, who were believed to have abused him. The fact that he murdered his parents without provocation and has also killed and sexual assaulted a few girls (a fact that is certainly known only to Eric himself). Veteran cop Jake Proctor is almost positive that Eric is the serial killer, but he has no hard evidence to prove his suspicions. When Proctor's covert endeavors to obstruct Eric's release fail, the teen walks out of the facility, glorying in his cleverness and in great anticipation of renewing his obsessive search for "tenderness." 
  The really suspense begins with Eric carefully avoiding controversy until he can escape to another town and Proctor anxiously watching and waiting for the young man to make a mistake. Neither villain nor cop suspects that Eric's undoing will come in the form of 15-year-old runaway Lori, who sees her own desire for affection mirrored in Eric's haunted eyes.  Lori is a complicated character. My reactions toward her varied from a selfish, vulnerable, obsessive child to a sexually precocious and an intuitive young woman. A victim of sexual harassment and abuse, Lori blatantly and aggressively uses her sexuality to get what she wants. Like Eric, she is obsessed with a search for genuine affection, and she's every bit as committed to pursuing it.
  While I was engrossed in the story, I didn't think this book was textured enough to satisfy today's YA readers. The chapters that switch from Eric and Lori's point of views aren't labeled though their voices are clearly distinct. There are, however, a number of intriguing psychological underpinnings that made me pause and think. There are strong hints of incest as we get a clear focus of Eric's fixation for his young victims: girls who have long, dark hair, medium height, just like his mother's.  Sex, though never explicit, plays a big role in both Lori's and Eric's behaviors. 
  Even though we don't get a whole lot of background to the story, particularly with Eric's parents, both main characters are fully developed. Though the characters are introduced separately, their perspectives smoothly transition once they finally meet. As readers, we know that Lori's time might be quickly shorten when she meets and spends time with Eric, but I never expected the book's final twist. The irony of Eric and Lori's ends is searing. The idea that humanity is a switch that can be turned off and on by will is the most disquieting aspect of the novel. It is also what ultimately makes the book so dark, seductive, and well  forbidding. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Why it was challenged: According to Marhall University Library, the book was challenged in 2003 at the Fairfax (VA) school libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for "profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture".

Words of Caution: There is some profanity in the book, but nothing that isn't spoken in a PG-13 movie. Lori mentions that her mother has an alcohol and drug problem, which highlights her isolation and the way she behaves. She is harassed by her mother's boyfriends who don't disguise their lecherous desire for her. There are scenes of sexual suggestiveness: In the beginning we see Lori's mother's current boyfriend brushes against her. Later a hitchhiker who Lori allows him to kiss and fondle her, but these incidents aren't graphically depicted but give enough of a set-up for readers to fill in the details. While difficult to read, I though these scenes were necessary to show how sexualized Lori has become without really thinking about what she is doing which is the point that Cormier is trying to make. Her opinions of adults never go beyond their sexual desires because that is all that she has known. As mentioned in the review, Eric is a serial killer and there is obviously going to be violence associated with him. We are briefly told that he strangles his victims and there are clear suggestions that he sexually assaults his victims. In almost all popular adult books, the author spends time detailing the act of crime.  Cormier, however,  spends more time focusing on Eric's psychological state. Due to the book's mature themes, I would feel comfortable in recommending this book to older teens (i.e. Grades 10 and up).

If you like this book try: Right Behind You by Gail Giles, The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin

Strands of Bronze and Gold

  I haven't heard of the Bluebeard fairy tale until I ran across the name when I read the best-selling graphic novel series, Fables by Bill Willingham. From the context in which he appeared and after doing a little bit of research, I couldn't believe I'd never heard of it before. Jane Nickerson's debut novel, Strands of Bronze and Gold revisits the Bluebeard story and sets it against the backdrop of Pre-Civil War Mississippi. Please note that this review is based on the advanced reader's copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley (Thank you!)

Description (from the Publisher): When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.
   Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold is a Gothic retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale set in Pre-Civil Mississippi. When Sophia’s father dies, she is sent from Boston to Wyndriven Abbey, the Mississippi plantation of her godfather, Monsieur Bernard de Cressac. At first Sophia is caught up with her new luxurious lifestyle- beautiful gowns, jewelry, and extravagant dinners all made simply for her. Slowly, she finds herself being attracted to Bernard as he makes her the center of his world. Soon Bernard's attention becomes claustrophobic as he refuses to let her go outside the mansion. She becomes more and more suspicious of the plantation slaves’ living and working conditions, the vine-shrouded outbuildings she is not allowed to explore, and the various treasures belonging to Bernard’s former wives, all dead, that she finds in the attic. She even feels like there are ghosts following her and trying to deliver a message which she can't unravel until it is too late. In spite of her uneasy attraction to Bernard’s increasingly romantic intentions, Sophia finds herself falling for Gideon Stone, the local minister who also has the quiet reputation among the slaves of assisting in escapes to the North and who is much more aware about Bernard's sinister background.
  Strands of Bronze and Gold is a decent read that has some strengths and weaknesses, however some of the weaknesses are hard to ignore. Nickerson does a good job in slowly building up the suspense and uneasiness surrounding Sophie. Though we can forgive her of being so swept up when she first attends Wyndriven Abbey, it really takes our heroine quite some time to figure out that there is something truly disturbing about her godfather Bernard. As our protagonist, Sophia isn't all that remarkable. Similarly, Bernard doesn't stray very far from the Bluebeard caricature. Nickerson definitely captured his wild mood swings and his lecherous looks made me shudder, but there is really no explanation of why he is a psychotic killer. I would have liked a bit more exploration with his character as well as more time spent with Sophia learning about Bernard's previous wives. Sophia's discovery along with meeting a new and dull love interest, Reverend Stone, happen all too quickly and conveniently.
  Despite all these flaws, I was truly disappointed on how the topic of slavery was addressed in the book. I can see how the author tried to draw parallels between Sophia's caged life to those of Bernard's slaves, but it didn't quite make it there. It touched the surface just like how it touched the surface about the fairy tale's theme of the fatal effects of feminine curiosity.
  Strands of Bronze and Gold is a book that is an entertaining read as long as you don't really think too much about it. Readers interested in fairy tales, a historical setting, and mystery would enjoy the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language, sexual innuendo, allusions to domestic abuse and rape, and disturbing images. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.

If you like this book try: Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood, The Rose and The Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block

The Cove

 The Cove by Ron Rash is a haunting, powerfully moving novel, set in the rural backwoods of North Carolina near the end of World War I. The gripping plot, Gothic atmosphere, and striking descriptions, in particular of the dismal cove, The Cove would is my recommendation for a great romantic suspense read.

Description:  Living deep within a cove in the Appalachians of North Carolina during World War I, Laurel Shelton finally finds the happiness she deserves in Walter, a mysterious stranger who is mute, but their love cannot protect them from a devastating secret.

Review: In the Appalachians of North Carolina near the end of WWI, lonely Laurel Shelton lives with her brother, newly returned from the war, in a forbidding place known as the cove. Shunned all of her life by the townsfolk of Mars Hill because of a large purple birthmark which they believe is mark of her witchcraft, Laurel despairs of ever making a life for herself. Believed to be doomed to a life of solitude and loneliness in an isolated and presumably haunted cove, Laurel stumbles upon a stranger who plays the flute beautifully. Stunned that a person would actually volunteer to be near the cove, Laurel is drawn to the possibility of human contact. She momentarily flees and chides herself that it was only an illusion until she sees same flute player the next day, but only this time he isn't playing his beautiful music but is shaking from the cold and many bee bites. Laurel makes a rapid decision to heal the stranger and nurses him back to health.
  The stranger is later revealed by a note in his clothes claiming his name is Walter and that he is mute. Walter, however, is hiding his true identity because he is well aware that it would place all the lives he has come across in grave danger. As Walter recovers from his injuries, he is able to help Laurel and her brother on the farm as his thanks for their assistance in sheltering and providing for him. Slowly, Walter and Laurel form a bond of trust, friendship, and soon much more. There are not overt gestures of love exchanged between Laurel and Walter, but the romance is clearly evident in the quiet times they spend together. For Walter, Laurel presents an opportunity to forget his past and get a fresh start. For Laurel, Walter is her hope for normalcy and a chance of having to live her life in reality rather than in her dreams. Unfortunately, Laurel and Walter have to face uncertainty and test their relationship as Walter's real identity is revealed. While readers could easily have figured out who the real Walter is, I was more engrossed in how Rash effortlessly summons the rugged Appalachian landscape as well as the small-mindedness and xenophobia of a country in the grip of patriotic fervor, which I don't think is a coincidence considering our politics today. Each character that Rash has created is three dimensional and fully realized. Though the book's ending broke my heart and made me wonder if that cove is truly haunted, I thought the story was powerful and was satisfied that the social commentary stayed at the subtle yet at the same time profound level. I look forward to reading more books by Rash.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language including racial slurs, a brief scene of implied rape, and sexual situations that are not explicitly described. Recommended for older teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: This Rock by Robert Morgan or Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell