Phantom Prey

Read Phantom Prey by John Sandford on my day off Monday and LOVED it!


Alyssa Austins daughter is missing, probably dead and Alyssa doesn't think the cops are doing enough to solve the crime. She bumps into her friend Weather and asks her to talk to her husband Lucas Davenport, an officer with the BCA. Lucas thinks Alyssa is a spacey hippy, but agrees to look into the case.
At the same time a mysterious Goth Fairy is on the trail to get revenge on the killer.

As usual Sandford has interesting things to say about humanity and psychology. Quote from page 282 &283.

Thought about Austin, and what she'd said about insanity, about how it was
nothing more than an extreme version of everyday quirks...

Good theory, he thought. Lucas had a theory of his own, sociological,
rather than psychological.
Some people, he believed, looked at
the world and saw a clockwork. Events happened and triggered off other
events, people did what they were programmed to do, and the results came out the
other end: love, hate, war, murder, children, whatever.

Other people, Lucas among them, looked out the window and saw nothing but
chaos: accident, chance, stupidity, intelligence, avarice, idealism, all rubbing
against one another in an unpredictable stew.

Last quote page 400.

She said this friend - she said his name was Loren- said there were riverboats
of souls going down the Mississippi, and some of these were glorious riverboats,
and some were like slave ships. The bad souls, obviously. She
thought Frances might still be here, but on a different plane. Not on a
boat yet."

The Women's Murder Club books 3 & 6

2 people at work recommended the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson and various co-authors. I think Maxine Paetro is my favorite of the co-authors. Anyway, now I'm hooked on the series. Lindsey Boxer is a cop in San Francisco, she and 3 friends are the Women's Murder Club. Claire the medical examiner is my favorite of the friends.

Starting with quotes from book 3 "The 3rd Degree". Page 13

"A house without music," her mother used to say, "is a house without life."

From '6th Target' at the beginning of chapter 55, page.139

I drove toward San Francisco General, my mind swirling with terrible, sinking
thoughts. Claire once told me this thing about brain chemistry, the nub of
it being that when you're feeling good, you can't ever imagine feeling bad
again. And when you're feeling bad, it's impossible to imagine a time when
you won't be circling the drain.

I'm not sure about the first part because I know what it's like to be laughing and yet still have a black pit inside of you. The second part makes sense to me though. When you are feeling down what really gets you is when you have no hope of the situation getting better.

Hidden Prey by J. Sandford

'Hidden Prey' another good entry in the John Sandford 'prey' series. 4 stars.

First quote is a long one on page 18. The capitals are the authors.

Weather rarely cried. She considered crying an insult to the feminie
mystique. But her lip trembled: "The door went up too
slow."
Lucas had been married only a short time, but his history with women had
been
intense. He know exactly what to say. He said, "Maybe
there's a
brownout or something, and there wasn't enough power. I was
afraid you'd
decapitated yourself. That you were hurt."
This
instead of screaming, "THAT'S BECAUSE YOU DROVE INTO THE DRIVEWAY AT
FIFTY
MILES AN HOUR, YOU FUCKIN' MORON."

Next one on page 38.

Flattery, Lucas thought; makes you feel warm and fuzzy, unless it makes you
feel manipulated and used.

Kind of reminds me of someone who shall remain nameless, that has been sucking up to me lately.

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

Gross, spooky, icky, creepy, disgusting. In other words classic Stephen King. 4 friends save a 'retard' from bullying by older kids. Duddits is different and special and their friendship with him changes them and their lives.
As adults on an annual hunting trip when the bizarre surrounds them Duddits may still be influencing them.

1st to die by James Patterson

A bride and groom are killed in their honeymoon suite. Lindsay is a homicide detective called in to investigate. Another bride and groom are killed on their honeymoon and another at their reception. Lindsay starts meeting with 3 friends to discuss the case. The Women's Murder Club is born.Interesting characters. Good mystery, lots of twists and turns. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

One quote that I wanted to save.

In their stark, ghostly expressions was the strongest statement I have ever
seen that life may not be governed by anything fair or clement.

A little depressing actually as I have been wondering lately exactly what does govern human life.

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

First in the Alex Barnaby series. Great new Heroine. Fun read, classic Evanovich. Mystery, mayhem, car chases, hit men, hot girls and NASCAR guy.
As it advertises "Creative cussing and sexual innuendo included."

3 quotes to remember. The first on page 21, kind of deep actually for a light, easy book.

He had a reputation for being a fearless driver, but I didn't buy into the
fearless thing. Everyone knew fear. It was the reaction that made
the
difference. Some people hated fear and avoided the experiencce.
Some people
endured it as a necessity. And some people became addicted to
the rush. I
was betting Hooker fell into the last category

.


Next starting on page 159.

Men never cease to amze me. I remembered reading somewhere a description
of men and women in terms of boxes. The female box had a bunch of knobs
and buttons and complicated instructions. And the male box had an off/on switch. That was it. Just a single switch.
Hooker's switch was always turned to on.

Thats it in a nutshell folks.
Now page 212, just for fun.

"Good thing you're such a tough guy," I said to Hooker.
"Yeah," he said. "And I'm going to protect you, too. Both of
you. You're going to have to hold still, thought. I can't protect
you when you keep spinning like that."
"Hang on. I'm going to take you to the emergency room."
"That's nice," Hooker said. "I like going places with you."

Lots more good stuff in the book. I highly recommend it, but only to people who aren't squeemish or easily offended, so actually I guess most of my aquaintences wouldn't like it.
*sigh*

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma is an excellent character, all the more so because of her flaws. She starts out rich, spoiled and thinking that she knows best (for everyone). It is so much fun to see her have to come to terms with her selfishness and mistakes. Throughly enjoyable, excellent read.