Mind Catcher by John Darnton

This is the first John Darnton book I have read but, unfortunately, I am not motivated to try his others after stumbling through this slow-moving and less than original novel. I found the book somewhat boring up until when, and I do not think I am giving anything away here, the computer sends its first message (those who have read it will understand).

The plot is quite simple: an evil doctor believes he can capture the "soul" of a person and keep it alive even if the body dies. Not overly original but if told right, it could be a really fun read. Yet the avenue to get to the substance of the story is somewhat winding and the book feels almost padded for length. I thought it could have been about 100 pages shorter.

The biggest thing that irks me is how this book seems to flip between genres. One minute it's a ghost story, then a medical thriller, then a science fiction novel, and closes out with a climax right out of the movie "Flatliners." What kept me reading was the father-son story but otherwise I barely made it through the novel. I was also disappointed the ending did not fully resolve the elongated story that preceded it.

I guess there are two types of books for someone like me who reads at night; those that keep you up at night and those that help you fall asleep. I would put "Mind Catcher" in the latter group.

Turn of the Screw by Henry James

This classic book is a ghost story of sorts. It is not the traditional kind, with chains and things, but it is more of a psychological suspence story. A young governess goes to take care of two children- Flora, age 8, and Miles, age 10. She soon learns that their old governess and her lover both mysteriously died. As the story goes on she begins to see apparitions of the two dead people, and she is convinced that the children have something to with it. During the whole story she works to save them from the ghosts. However, you are left to decide the whole time whether what she is seeing is real or if the kids are really guilty or if she is psycho or what.

I liked the way the plot went because I was left to figure out and interpret things for myself the whole way along. James did not just come out and say things but left them to be interpreted by many different ways. This may be frustrating for readers who like the story to be spelt out to them, but if you like suspense and trying to see a story from many different viewpoints, you will like the story too.

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

The Lock Artist is unique for only ONE reason: the locks, lock picking, and safe cracking. That's about it. The whole time I kept thinking I've seen this whole framework before.

Here's the breakdown:

Young boy has a tragedy, It scars him, causes him to never speak again and shapes his boyhood. Boy falls for girl. Girl in danger so boy must "protect" her by doing something he doesn't want to do. Boy goes on journey, always thinking back to girl, Boy eventually reaches end of the line, Rescued just in time, Boy finds himself, faces his demons, and owns up for his mistakes.

Done. Sadly that's about it. The best parts of the book were the discussions on lock picking and safe cracking. Steve Hamilton gets it right and makes it interesting. Unfortunately the long time line of the book, coupled with jumps back and forth, numerous characters and situations, end up being too much to keep up with. By the end of the book, which ends in a rather let down to the reader I thought, you're left with a dozen questions. Where happened to this person, that person, why did that happen, etc. Too many loose strings.

Nice attempt but needs a lot of work.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

An intriguing mash-up of a horror novel and historical fiction. Simmons starts with a real-life 19th century nautical expedition that disappeared in the arctic while searching for a northwest passage, and whose members must have perished from the elements, disease, and starvation, and adds a monster. Simmons is a master of detail and atmosphere: his writing captures the many particular realities of life on an 1840s British naval vessel, the grueling, claustrophobic experience of being stranded in arctic cold and darkness, and the gradual disintegration of human order as circumstances grow more desperate.

In a way, the monster plot is superfluous to the story, which is intense enough without it. As it is, the deliciously grim descriptions of hauling a sledge across a frozen waste or trying to sleep in fifty below zero weather while sick with scurvy, running out of food, and hundreds of miles from anywhere will make you feel grateful for being at home in a warm bed. But Simmons uses his creature as an effective background presence in the story, symbolic, in the way fictional monsters usually are, of the folly and weakness of man in the face of the wild.

The book moves at a slow pace, which had me occasionally skimming pages to the more exciting parts. And some character vantage points seemed to be there just for a sense of atmosphere, which made me wonder if I would have missed that much had I gone with the abridged audio version instead of the printed edition. Still, the oppressive grip of the story pulled me through to the end.

Social Crimes by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

Social Crimes is about a wealthy, spoiled and completely naive woman name Jo Slater. Jo marries a wealthy older man that promises nothing other than financial security. Despite the parties mingled with the elite of New York, Jo claims to be so much more grounded and humble. She is not. When her gluttonous wealth is stripped away, Jo's life becomes one pathetic attempt after another to regain the life she once possessed.

Now broke, overweight and gasp.....middle class, Jo finds herself so consumed with bitterness and anger that she begins obsessing how she can both regain her wealth and social status and quench her thirst for revenge against the woman who stole it all out from under her, the Countess. Her arch nemesis, The Countess Camille De Passy, has basically stepped into Jo's role as New York's social lioness.

This is a story that plays as the ultimate revenge, but instead it becomes so much more....or less depending on how you look at it. The story moves at a quick and interesting pace. I was never bored but I was never amused either. Even though Jo Slater is supposed to be the heroine of the story, I found her to be pathetic, naive, shallow and utterly shameful in her attempts to regain her wealth. She never aspires to be anything more, just a rich woman with a lavish lifestyle. I don't think anyone is supposed to actually feel sorry for her or like her. Good. I don't. The antagonist, Camille, becomes the more interesting and diabolical character. I like her. She may be a cold blooded creature but at least she has a plan that works...for the moment anyway.

Gone for Good by Harlan Coben

"Three days before her death, my mother told me-these weren't her last words, but they were pretty close-that my brother was still alive..." So begins Harlan Coben's powerful and harrowing page-turner, Gone For Good.

Narrated by Will Klein, the youngest son of a middle class New Jersey family, now working as the Director of Covenant House for runaway teens, he recounts the story of his popular and charismatic brother Ken, who eleven years ago vanished after being charged with the rape and murder of a neighborhood college girl. The Kleins always believed in his innocence, and after so much time passed without a word or clue, had come to the conclusion that Ken must be dead.

This all changes when his mother's declaration sends Will on a search of the house where he finds a current picture of his brother hidden in his mother's bedroom. Now with the help of his girlfriend, Sheila, the love of his life, he's determined to find Ken, bring him back home, and clear his name. But his plan soon begins to unravel when Sheila disappears, and her fingerprints are found at a grisly murder scene two thousand miles away in New Mexico.

With the help of Covenant House street friends, Will begins to connect the ghosts of the past with the puzzling events of the present, and uncovers secrets, lies, and betrayals that shake the very foundation of his family, and what they thought to be the truth.....

Harlan Coben has written a suspenseful and compelling thriller that grabs you from page one and never lets go. This is a novel that has it all...an intricate story line full of twists, turns, and more than a few unexpected surprises; smart, clever, and eloquent writing with a real ear for dialogue; and intense, riveting, vivid scenes that set you on the edge of your seat and keep you there.

But it's Mr Coben's original and marvelously well drawn cast of characters that makes this novel sparkle, and he is able to breathe life into even the most minor figures, and bring them to life on the page. With a stunning climax and very satisfying ending that ties up all the loose ends, Gone For Good is a roller coaster ride of a thriller that doesn't disappoint, and should definitely find its place at the top of mystery/thriller lovers "must read" lists.

The Girls' Guide To Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

This is a thin little book comprising of seven short stories. They are all, with the exception of one, written in the first person by Jane Rosenal, a female New Yorker in and out of psychoanalysis. They take place during various periods of her life; the first one when she is fourteen and the last apparently when she is in her mid-thirties.

Her stories consist of observing the human beings in her life, and the events which occur to them and her, and making sarcastic comments about them. She doesn't really like anybody except for her father, who appears only intermittently, then dies. She has a boyfriend who is 28 years older than her but she doesn't like him either. She doesn't like her boss. She doesn't like her first boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, who was kind enough to invite them to her Caribbean estate. She doesn't even like her first boyfriend. The reason I know she doesn't like these people is that she remains aloof and distant from them, and makes cynical and bitter remarks both to them and about them.

In the middle of the book there is a story written in the first person by Nina, who is a downstairs neighbor of Janie. She contributes nothing to the Janie mystique, and all she does is recount an unusual dinner party. Why this story is contained here, I do not know.

In the last story, which shares the title of the book, I finally get a glimpse of what this collection could have been. It is about Janie's efforts to attract and finally hang onto a man by a using a self-help guide which encourages her to play coy. Ironically, by using these techniques, she almost loses the man of her dreams. It is only by reverting to her own personality that she is able to keep him. This story is unique in that it is the only one where she allows herself to come out of her shell. For once, I see her vulnerabilities, and she becomes human to me. I begin to empathize with her; and her jokes, instead of being brittle and prickly, become funny, and touching. The story is symbolic of the book as a whole: like Janie, when the author finally opens up to us, I respond.

But unfortunately, it is much too little, and much too late. Despite its being well-written and occasionally clever, there is no depth here, and, except for the last story, no warmth.