Book Review- Carl Hiaasen- Nature Girl

Carl Hiaasen- Nature Girl (Grand Central Publishing 2007) 2.5 Stars

Honey Santana is tired of receiving telemarketing calls during the supper hour. For revenge she tricks the telemarketer into coming for an all expenses paid ecotour of the Everglades. A Seminole who had a tourist die on him, is hiding out in the Everglades. What will happen when these people all meet, stuck on the same island?

I was a little bored with this book. The intro was not gripping and the rest of the book was not overly interesting. It was meant to be witty, and it succeeded in some parts, but in many parts the humour was pretty dry. The plot was a little weak and there were too many story lines going on all at once, which was kind of annoying. The characters were well done, which a redeeming quality for this book. Overall I would not recommend this book

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Joseph Finder- Vanished

Joseph Finder- Vanished (St. Martin’s Press 2010) 4.25 Stars

Nick Heller’s brother was grabbed outside of a downtown restaurant and Nick’s nephew, Gabe, has asked for his help in finding his dad. Special Forces training and a job as a spy for hire has prepared him for a moment just like this. He intends to locate his brother no matter what secrets he must uncover and what scandals he will unearth. He will find out just how little he really knows about his brother and that he may not be so innocent in all of this.

The introduction was not the most attention grabbing, but it was the perfect place to start the book. Without that intro the rest of the book would make less sense. It did take a bit for me to get into this book, but then it shifted gears and it was a very engrossing novel with a bunch of great twists and turns. The plot was pretty good, and you just never knew what was going to shock you next, including an ending I never saw coming. The characters were also well done. They had some background, but not enough so that you knew everything about them. Just when you though you knew a character, something came up to make you realize you know nothing about anyone in this book. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- David Morrell- Double Image

David Morrell- Double Image (Warner Books 1999) 2.25 Stars

When Coltrane retires from being a war photographer, he decides that he wants to take pictures of inspiring things instead of gloomy things. A woman has come into his life and now things are about to heat up. A killer has decided that he would make a good victim and his life is turned upside down. Lies and deception surround him, and he has no idea just what the truth really is, but he intends to find out.

I was highly disappointed with this novel. I liked the introduction. It grabs the reader’s attention and promises a great story. I only wish that it had come through with that promise. This book was pretty much two completely separate stories revolving around the same character combined into one book. The first book ends about halfway through and then the second book takes over. The first book had many pages of bore and then an action-packed ending. Then the second book starts with a boring introduction and is boring right up until the ending, which was again action-packed. The characters were pretty good, but could have been better. The main character was very deep. I was hoping for so much more when I started reading this book, and I am not sure why I even bothered trudging through to the end. I certainly do not recommend this book.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Todd Strasser- Free Willy

Todd Strasser- Free Willy (Scholastic 1993) 2.25 Stars

Jesse has been running away from foster homes all his life, preferring to live on the streets. Now he is with a new foster family and he has a new friend, Willy, a killer whale at the local aquarium. When Willy refuses to perform, the aquarium’s owner decides to try collecting on Willy’s insurance policy. There is just one problem; Willy must be dead in order to collect. Can Jesse save his friend in time?

I liked the introduction, not because it was particularly interesting, but because of the street kids. The youth care worker in me felt for these kids. I found the plot to be rather shallow, and lacking in many ways. At no point did it ever really grab me and make me say, “Hey this is a good book!” The characters were decent, but could have been stronger, which might have made the book a little better. It was interesting to see the connection between a boy and an animal. Overall I was pretty disappointed in this book. The movie was way better, and I do not say that very often.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Ridley Pearson- No Witnesses

Ridley Pearson- No Witnesses (Dell Publishing 1996) 3.5 Stars

When a psychopath seeking revenge begins to put poisoned food onto grocery store shelves, Daphne Matthews’ boyfriend finds himself receiving threats by fax. When she brings it to Boldt’s attention, they find themselves working the case for different reasons. How many will die before they bring this killer to justice?

I found myself kind of bored with this book at first, but the last two thirds of the book was very interesting. The plot was pretty good, with some good twists thrown in, not all of them unpredictable. The characters were also well done, and very deep. It might have been nice to have seen some snippets of the villain’s perspective to add to some of the intensity. The book did have some really intense parts that made it worth reading through the slow sections. The technology aspect was kind of nice to see, it was amusing at the least. The technology would have been ground breaking at the time, but now it is fairly outdated, which made me chuckle. I would recommend this book to Pearson fans.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Bonnie Buxton- Damaged Angels

Bonnie Buxton- Damaged Angels (Knopf Canada 2004) 3 Stars

When Bonnie Buxton adopted Collette she had no idea what a life of struggles she had found. Collette always struggled in school, had weird mood swings, lied, stole, and even threatened to take her sister’s life with a knife. Going to doctors was useless as they blamed her parenting, even when she suspected what it was they still told her she was wrong. Finally, many years too late, Collette was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD). This is her story.

I loved the first hundred pages or so, it was a touching story of a family trying to make it through all odds. Having worked in group homes I have seen the effects of FASD, and understand how difficult it can be to deal with them. The family is wonderful and this couple must be patted on the back for having gotten through it with some amount of sanity. That being said this book kind of tanked off in interest in the last half. It started to focus on many different people’s stories of dealing with FASD and it got to be too difficult to focus or keep track of who was who. She also gave a lot of information, which got to be kind of tedious. If the author had focused on a few stories and gave half the information it would have been much more interesting. Overall it was not a terrible book, and if you deal with FASD children you might be interesting in reading the book.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Lee Child- Gone Tomorrow

Lee Child- Gone Tomorrow (Dell Books 2010) 3.75 Stars

When Jack Reacher decides to ride the New York subway in the middle of the night, he never expected to witness something so devastating. Susan Mark was hiding something that everyone wants and now Reacher has taken it upon himself to play referee and if necessary, judge. He must sort through the lies in order to figure out the truth, that way he will know just who’s butt needs kicking.

The introduction was kind of different, it draws the reader in and throws a twist their way almost immediately. It did take a little longer to get into this book than I am used to with this series, but it got more and more interesting as it went along. The plot was pretty good, and got the reader thinking, throwing many a twist into the mix. All that is leading up to an explosive ending that will rock your socks. The characters are pretty good, although just when you think you know them, Child will show you that what you thought you knew wasn’t knowledge but simple supposition. Overall I did enjoy this book, but it wasn’t certainly not the greatest of his series.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- James Patterson and Maxine Paetro- The 5th Horseman

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro- The 5^th Horseman (Warner Books 2007) 3.25 Stars

When people start mysteriously dying at the Memorial Hospital, despite appearing to be quite healthy, Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club aim to get to the bottom of it. The hospital seems content to cover things up and save their reputation, but Lieutenant Boxer won’t let them get away with that. The hunt is on and they won’t back down until they find the killer responsible for these deaths.

This book had a rather interesting introduction. It makes you curious about just what is going on and how the Women’s Murder Club is going to get involved. It kind of went up and down in the interest level for me though; this may be due to the lack of focus. Different storylines intertwining kind of makes it hard to focus and get into any of the storylines. Each one on its own would have been fine, but together it just did not work. The plot was good, with a few twists, but for the most part it was pretty predictable. The characters were well done though; this was a redeeming quality of the book. Overall this is not the best instalment in this series.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com.

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Sid Fleischman- The Whipping Boy

Sid Fleischman- The Whipping Boy (Troll Books 1987) 3.75 Stars

Prince Brat (as he is so lovingly called by his people, not to his face of course), is becoming bored with his royal life and wants something new and exciting. Since he is not allowed to be spanked or beaten, he must have a whipping boy to take his beatings. Jemmy has been his whipping boy for many a year, but dreams of running away. An adventure awaits this unlikely pair and things are about to get interesting.

I remembered reading this book in grade 5 or 6 and I liked it. Of course it is not as good as an adult, but it was still a quick enjoyable read. The basic themes, the grass is not always greener on the other side, and don’t take what you have for granted, are great for kids to learn. This time period is kind of cool, so reading about it is interesting. The characters were pretty good for a short kid’s book. The plot was pretty shallow, but still decent for its short length. I would recommend this novel to middle aged children.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com.

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/