Theme Thursdays [Conversation] – 26May11

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Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This week’s theme is

CONVERSATION

My THURSDAY THEME for CONVERSATION is below.

Adam slipped from his horse and moved to lean against one of the large outcrops of rocks on the riverbank.
She joined him after collecting her bouquet, and he offered a handkerchief to use as a tie around the base of the stems.
“Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Very. Sara, why do flowers mean so much to you? They touch your office, your studio, your home.”
“I need the reminder that God loves to make detailed and beautiful things, and that act of creation is itself a sufficient reason to make them. These flowers will live and die here, the majority of them never seen, even though a busy road is less than a mile away.”
Taken from “Danger in the Shadows” by “Dee Henderson”

Leave a comment here with a link to your post. Do make sure to visit and comment on other Theme Thursdays.

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Alone by Lisa Gardner

The Book:

Alone . . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences.

Alone . . . that’s where the nightmare began for cool, beautiful, and dangerously sexy Catherine Rose Gagnon. Twenty-five years ago, she was buried underground during a month-long nightmare of abduction and abuse. Now her husband has just been killed. Her father-in-law, the powerful Judge Gagnon, blames Catherine for his son’s death . . . and for the series of unexplained illnesses that have sent her own young son repeatedly to the hospital.

Alone . . . a madman survived solitary confinement in a maximum security prison where he’d done hard time for the most sadistic of crimes. Now he walks the streets a free man, invisible, anonymous . . . and filled with an unquenchable rage for vengeance. What brings them together is a moment of violence—but what connects them is a passion far deeper and much more dangerous. For a killer is loose who’s woven such an intricate web of evil that no one is above suspicion, no one is beyond harm, and no one will see death coming until it has them cornered, helpless, and alone.

Source: From Goodreads

The View:

I have had this book in my TBR for a long time – on the same note I have to mention that I practically have all unread Lisa Gardner’s books on my TBR. I believe she is an author we have to look out for as she can create a plot so suspenseful that you would rather finish the book than have the story haunting you in your nightmares. I have read a few of Lisa Gardner’s books and they only keep getting better.

The plot was filled with suspense and for once I did not even attempt to make guesses. With each page turn and character introduction came a new suspect and so much more thrill. The story moved quickly but all the characters and events got their due time and explanations.

The characters in ‘Alone’ manage to leave a lasting impression. Catherine Gagnon is powerful and alternates between being the victim and the suspect so genuinely. Bobby is real and well drafted. The surge of emotions that embrace him are well described and makes you relate to him. Every aspect of the characters reactions to a situation are justified by past references or present happenings. When Bobby connects with Catherine in spite of all the warnings you wonder why he is being so stupid but the story of his past explains his feelings for a lone woman in a marriage.

I am a fan of Lisa Gardner and even if I was not one this book would have surely made me one. Rated a 5 on 5

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Theme Thursdays [Male Person] – 19May11

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This week’s theme is yet another easy one. As much as I like challenging themes sometimes we just want a break… dont’ we?

MALE PERSON
Description of a man/boy…

My THURSDAY THEME for MALE PERSON (Description of a man/boy) is below.

His little head was poked out one end. He had light curly hair and nice pudgy cheeks, but the saddest eyes I ever seen.
Taken from “Roseflower Creek” by “Miles, Jackie Lee”

Leave a comment here with a link to your post. Do make sure to visit and comment on other Theme Thursdays.

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Long Drive Home by Will Allison

The Book:

A devoted father and husband, Glen Bauer has a rough day while driving his daughter Sara back from school. He has a series of annoying road incidents that anger him and when it happens for the third time he decides to teach the rash driver a lesson. One wrong step and the driver of the Jaguar, sixteen year old Juwan Richards is dead. No one else witnesses the accident except for his daughter Sara and when the cops question him he lies to them. The suspicious cop still wants to talk to Sara but Glen and his wife Liz protect her privacy.

Is he going to be building up on the lies that he has already started telling or will he open up? Will that one moment of anger cause him his family and happiness? Will he ever be able to look into Sara’s eyes and be honest?

The View:

I read ‘Long Drive Home’ the day it reached me and you all know that we rarely get to do that. With all the unread books mounting up on the TBR pile (overflowing bookshelves and maxed-out Kindle) this is a near miracle. Few things dragged me to the book, the cover design, the 200+pages and the promise of a great story. A no-brainer!

‘Long Drive Home’ is a story that would touch your heart the minute you start reading it. A captivating tale of a man who makes a momentary mistake and repents it for a long time. Guilt overtakes his life and he chooses to explain himself to his daughter Sara by writing a letter. The letters are very personal and depict the struggle he has between doing the right thing and preserving his life.

I loved Sara, she stood out in the book and the author clearly seemed to understand a young girl’s state of mind. Every scene that Sara appears in is filled with a child’s innocence and a lot of overwhelming love. Glen’s character is well-developed and his commitment to his family, daughter and his marriage is visible in every action. The guilt he carries and the dilemma he faces between making the right choice and preserving his family life is portrayed remarkably. Liz’s character had some shortfalls but that would be attributed to the fact that this story is being told from Glen’s perspective only. Every now and then Glen makes it a point to mention that he does not want to blame Liz thus leaving Sara to make the decision of good versus bad.

The style of writing was crisp, to the point but yet the author managed to capture a wide range of emotions. The book not just stands out as an exceptional story of a man, one mistake and a life-time of guilt but also has some valuable lessons on anger, guilt and love. Rated a 4 on 5.

Have to share this little something on ‘Anger’

“Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame”

~~ Benjamin Franklin

To access Will Allison’s author video click here

I received a complimentary copy by Free Press in exchange for my honest review.

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Teaser Tuesday – 17th May 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules for participating in this meme..

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

I just finished ‘Alone’ and have not started a new one yet. So my quote this week is from Alone by Lisa Gardner.

“I honestly didn’t remember meeting them,” he said curtly.
“The Gagnons?” She shrugged. “Personally, I think they make quite an impression.”
“Was it only that one time that we met?”
“I’ve met them several times at a variety of functions, but the big shindings… I think you only met them that once.”

Taken from page 195 – “Alone” by Lisa Gardner