All I can honestly say is, wow. The Ghost Walkers series gets better and better with every book. “Night Game” is the third book in the series and I have to say I was no less impressed with this book than I was the first two.

In the first two books you hear a little bit of talk of some of the girls - Lily, Dahlia, and Iris (Flame). Flame, as she prefers to be called, is the centerpiece female for Night Game. You’re also introduced, in the first two books, to a few of the men - Ian, Ryland, Nicolas, Gator, Kadan, & Tucker. Others come into play in the following books, but Raoul “Gator” Fontenot is the centerpiece male for Night Game.

Dr. Peter Whitney’s experiments did not stop with psychic powers, as both Flame and Gator know very well. Both were also genetically enhanced by Whitney - they are faster and stronger and can jump higher than ordinary humans. They also carry the same psychic powers - both control sound and animals. The only difference is - Whitney purposely gave Flame cancer and put it into remission twice. This was no ordinary cancer either - this one was designed by Whitney to make sure that Flame would have to return to him.

When Gator returns home to help his family find a family friend who has gone missing, Lily asks him to check the bayou for Flame, as she believes Flame may be there. Gator finds Flame easily enough, but she’s not willing to ever be brought back to Whitney’s clutches. And she isn’t about to believe that Peter Whitney is dead. As the story unfolds, doubts run high that Whitney really is dead - catching all of the Ghost Walkers, male and female alike, in a war against an enemy who may be known or unknown - and that will continue on through the Ghost Walkers series.

This book brings a greater sense of drama to the Ghost Walkers series, as well as brings up suspense - you can’t help but question yourself whether or not Peter Whitney is alive. While nothing is proven in this book, you know that at some point in the series it will be proven that he’s dead or that he’s alive. And believe me, I’m chomping at the bit to get the next book in the series so I can find out what happens!

Tags: book review, Christine Feehan, Ghost Walkers, Night Game

I have to admit, as I didn’t start reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer until after all the major hype began for the series, I went into reading the first book, Twilight, with high expectations. To be honest, I’m not at all sure those expectations were met.

First of all, we have Bella who states at the beginning of the book that she is “exiling” herself to the town her father Charlie lives in, Forks, WA. She doesn’t say why she is doing so at that point, and really, when asked later why she moved to Forks, her answer doesn’t actually give the impression of an exile. It gives the impression of a teenager who simply doesn’t want to stay at home alone.

Plus, we don’t really get any background information other than Bella’s mother hated Forks as to why she left and took Bella. Did she hate Bella’s father? Did she fall out of love with him? There were questions about why they’d actually split up that made me wonder the entire time, but that never were answered. Call me strange but I like to see some background and back story on characters.

Then we have Edward Cullen and his family. We first meet Edward at school when Bella appears fascinated with the group of four students who keep to themselves. Then Edward’s strange reaction at having to share a class and also be a lab partner for Bella leaves you wondering what’s up. Edward does explain why he reacted the way he did later, but still, it leaves you wondering about it.

The back story on Edward and his family is lacking. There simply wasn’t enough back story on the family. The most back story you get is on Carlisle and even then, it doesn’t begin to cover all the years that have passed from when each vampire was created. And Alice’s lack of past strikes me as an easy way out of not having any idea what to use for her background.

The biggest thing that bothered me however, was that there was an entire section I felt was missing from the book. It goes, literally, from Bella being in trouble, to Bella now being saved, with absolutely no record of what happened between her passing out and her waking up. I realize the book is mostly told from Bella’s point of view, but honestly, that would have been a great scene and I’d have loved to have read about the battle between Edward and whats-his-name. A very forgettable character in my opinion as you can see.

All in all, the book was good, a bit draggy in places, but could have used a bit more background and could definitely have used a better ending to the book. I have New Moon coming as soon as BOMC2 ships it, so I’m hoping that the books get better with each coming book. So far, I must say, I can’t see what the hype is all about.

Tags: book review, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, Twilight Series

This week, Booking Through Thursday has an interesting question to ask. To me, it’s a pretty darn good question too:

Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?

If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?

Personally I hate the library system. Ours is retarded - I was told I owe $150 for non-returned books that I was actually able to prove I returned because I found them on the shelves - but I am still being told I owe that $150 dollars. *roll eyes* So I hate our library system and I can’t borrow until I pay them what I don’t even owe anyways. LOL

But for me, I’ve always preferred to own my books. If it’s a book I don’t think I’ll like, then I might consider either borrowing it from a friend or the library (when I could) but frankly, I prefer to be able to say to myself “I’m in the mood to read ‘X’ now” in the middle of the night and not have to wait for the library to open the next day to check the book out. Plus, if the next day is a day the library isn’t open, I have to wait even longer - when I could just pull the book off my shelf and read it right away if I own it.

Besides, our library’s habit is to only carry a handful of books by each author and the one I want to read most is never one of the ones they carry. LOL

Tags: booking through thursday

Now this week’s Booking Through Thursday question is near and dear to my heart, and you’ll see why from the answer I give to the question.

What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”

My favorite book I ever got as a gift was “Nancy Drew The Mystery of Crocodile Island.” It was the first Nancy Drew book I ever got, and our next door neighbor gave it to me for my birthday. She’d actually noticed that most of the time when I was in the yard, I had a book with me instead of playing on my swing set, and decided since I loved to read, a book would be the perfect gift. She was right and the gift inspired a love of Nancy Drew books. I was a mystery kid from the word go!

Tags: booking through thursday

So I purchased a copy of Indelible and I read it over a 3 or 4 day stretch. I have to say that although the book was wonderful as usual, it was very hard to follow at first. The book bounces back and forth from a modern day crisis to things happening in the past in Jeffrey Tolliver’s home town of Sylacauga, AL. At times I had to stop and think for a moment and remind myself where we were in the story. LOL

However, it was just as “gotta know what happens” as the previous three books, especially since what you read about in the past in Sylacauga relates to what’s happening in the modern day crisis. Basically there’s a hostage situation at the police station and a lot of the major players are caught in the fray. Interspersed with that is a tale of friendship and betrayal from the beginning of Sara & Jeffrey’s relationship - based on a visit to Sylacauga. You won’t be able to put this book down any more than you’ll be able to put the first three down, that much I can guarantee you!

There are two more books in this series - Faithless & Beyond Reach. Triptych is also supposed be tied into the series somehow, but it’s not actually a part of the series. My next quest is to obtain a copy of Faithless so I can start it. I’m sure it will be just as good as the first four books in the series.

This one gets 4 stars, not because it as bad, but because it was hard to follow at times.

Tags: book reviews, Indelible, Karin Slaughter