NYPD Red by James Patterson

Synopsis:

It's the start of Hollywood on Hudson, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. Every night, the red carpet rolls out for movie stars arriving at premieres in limos; the most exclusive restaurants close for private parties for wealthy producers and preeminent directors; and thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous and beautiful faces in the world. With this many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert-and they can't afford to make a single mistake.

Then a world-renowned producer fatally collapses at his power breakfast, and top NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan is the first one on the scene. Zach works with his beautiful new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald-who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend-to discover who the murderer might be. But this is only the beginning: the most brutal, public, and horrifyingly spectacular crimes they've ever encountered are about to send all of New York into chaos, putting NYPD Red on the ropes.

Zach and Kylie know there's no way of telling what a killer this deranged will do next. With the whole world watching, they have to find a way to stop a psychopath who has scripted his finale down to the last explosive detail. With larger-than-life action, relentless speed, and white-knuckle twists, NYPD Red is the next mega-blockbuster from "The Man Who Can't Miss."

I have been meaning to start this series for a while now. I am so glad that I finally did.

This novel was such a typical James Patterson book. . . so I loved it! Sometimes you can just tell when a book is his, and this was one of those.

I am always nervous about starting a new series, because you never know if you are going to like the characters and if they are going to grow on you or if you will just be indifferent through the whole book (or series, if you choose to continue).

Thankfully, I fell for the characters right away in this one. They were awesome right from the beginning and they all seemed to have great chemistry while preserving their own separate personalities. Nothing is worse than when all of the character arcs run together and they are hard to distinguish by nothing other than their name.

The actual storyline in this first novel was also interesting. We have seen high profile cases before with Alex Cross, but this was closer to the cases that Lindsay Boxer tackles out in California.

Overall, I really enjoyed this first book in the series. I didn’t find myself buying into much of the suspense but it was just an ENTERTAINING read to me.

If you are already a Patterson fan, you will dig this book. If you like crime novels or thrillers, you may be intrigued and eventually become a Patterson fan. Try it out!

5/5 Stars

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Hit and Run by Lurlene McDaniel

Synopsis:

If no one meant for it to happen, should someone be guilty? Analise: She knows the roads and feels secure riding her bike. Laurie: When asked out by Quin, Laurie is happy. Then his car hits something. Later, Laurie realizes there is a way to get Quin to date her. Quin: Because Quin is athletically gifted, his father expects him to get a scholarship. Nothing is to get in his way of college, athletics, money, and success. When he realizes what has happened, he decides he must not let it ruin his future. Jeremy: It's been the perfect relationship with Analise. Little does Jeremy realize that the beautiful wood he carves will be used for something for Analise. As the lives of people who never wanted to hurt others intersect, harsh realities of choices that cannot be changed are explored.

This book was a random pickup while I was at a discount book store. I had no expectations going into it. I picked it up for $2 and it looked somewhat interesting.

The good news: it was only $2. The bad news, for the author & publisher I guess, that is all that I would ever spend on this book.

Let me say this – It was not a bad book. I didn’t hate it.

BUT.

It was just very typical. It was a very average young adult novel that has been done multiple times. It was basically a lesser version of If I Stay with a few tweaks to the story line.

The random high school popularity storyline annoyed me and kind of made me want to throw my book at the wall. SPOILER ALERT: withholding the truth about the accident so this girl could get a boyfriend that she didn’t even like was so dumb. Pro-tip: don’t do that.

If you find this book discounted somewhere and have nothing else to read, you may not hate it. Otherwise, don’t even bother. Read If I Stay instead.

2/5 Stars

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Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Synopsis:

Do you remember the hospital, Colton? Sonja said. Yes, mommy, I remember, he said. That’s where the angels sang to me.

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy s trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how really, really big God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. Books about religion can sometimes be kind of preachy and pushy. Thankfully, this book wasn’t any of those things. I felt that it wasn’t at least.

I think it is a book that both believers and non-believers could enjoy. It is a sweet story about a little boy and what he saw while on the verge of death.

I think it was very well written, and there were some parts that made me laugh out loud. There was personality in the writing, which I wasn’t completely expecting.

It is pretty short, so it could be a nice weekend afternoon read if you haven’t picked it up yet.

If you are into memoirs, I would suggest giving this one a shot.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Pastors are supposed to be unshakable pillars of faith, right? But at that moment, my faith was hanging by a tattered thread and fraying fast.”

“If you haven’t heard your preschooler tell you he was dead, I don’t recommend it.”

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