NOS4A2 by Joe Hill Joe Hill is the son of Horror Legend Stephen King and his father has taught him well. This does not mean that he is riding his father's coat tails, oh no, Joe Hill has a voice all his own and let me tell you it is CREEPY! I loved this book. If you are a fan of horror and like to be scared, sit back and enjoy the ride. It will be a long one, 686 pages.
Victoria McQueen has a special bicycle it allows her to cross a bridge into another world and find things that are lost. This is where she grabs the attention of Charles Manx, a 140 year old vampire who likes to steal children's souls. He takes them to "Christmasland' where they are never seen again. Victoria is the only one of Manx's children who got away. She becomes his obsession. He kidnaps her son and Victoria must save him before he becomes one of the lost souls.
Ashfall by Mike Mullen Alex is your typical 15 year old high school student fighting for his independence. His parents are planning a family trip Illinois for the weekend and of course Alex does not want to go. After much debate his mom finally caves and allows Alex to stay home by himself, this will be a decision they will both soon regret. There is a super volcano under Yellowstone National Park and it erupts, taking everything and everyone out that is in its path. Alex makes the decision to travel from his home in Iowa to Illinois to find his family. He is in a race for his life, everything he has known is gone and now it's kill or be killed.
I really liked this book from the first page it sucks you in and you can't help but think, what would I do? Alex's character is strong and believable but he is also flawed and I think that is what makes this book so good.
BZRK by Michael Grant The Armstrong brothers, Charles and Ben, are twins but they are no ordinary twins, they are conjoined. They own the Armstrong Fancy Gift Corporation (AFGC). Charles and Ben had such a horrible life they wanted to spare the rest of the world the pain, so they invented nanobots that control human emotion. Their intention were good, no emotions no pain, but sometimes the worst experiences come from the best intentions. Enter Sadie Mclure, her father and brother also work for AFGC and are killed in a horrible accident. As the details of the accident unravel so does the secret they were keeping and Sadie is pulled into a war to save free will. This is definitely science fiction and not for the squeamish. Grant goes into great detail about the way the nanobots enter the brain and control their host. I am not a big sci-fi fan but I really enjoyed this book. This is the first book in a series.
Caring is Creepy by David Zimmerman Lynn Sugrue is a 15 year old self-centered, manipulating, all around nasty teenager. I found myself really disliking her and her best friend, Dani, by the end of the book but it did not stop me from reading it. Lynn's mother is a nurse who works too much and is too busy with her pill popping boyfriend, Hayes, to notice that her daughter is playing a very dangerous game. Enter Logan, a 25 year old soldier in the Army, who meets Lynn on the internet. Logan has his own troubles. He is AWOL. I found this part of the story a little hard to believe, I would like to think that no matter how busy or distracted a parent might be they would notice their 15 year old daughter having a relationship with a 25 year old man. Everything comes together in the end and Lynn's world will never be the same.
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore A Novel by Robin Sloan Clay Jannon is a web designer in San Francisco, or at least he was before the recession, now he work the night shift at Mr. P's bookstore. This is no ordinary bookstore and it doesn't take Clay long to realize something is definitely different about the place. There are very few customers and the ones who do come in treat it more like a library than a store, borrowing and not buying the books, per instructions of Mr. Penumbra. Upon further investigation Clay learns they are part of a secret society trying to decode a 500 year old book to find the secret of immortality. Clay recruits some of his techy friends to try and decode the book. It is high-tech vs no-tech full of unexpected twists and turns. This book reminded me of National Treasure crossed with the Da Vinci Code. Do I think everyone will like this book? No, but I did. If you are a techy and like to read adventure and suspense then this is the book for you.
Pure by Julia Baggot First let me start off by saying this is the first book in a trilogy, so if you are expecting a nice clean ending it doesn't happen. I really liked this book but I found the relationship between Pressia and El Captain a little hard to swallow. Pressia is a 16 year old girl who lives with her grandfather. They have survived the "Detonations", which happened 9 years earlier and totally changed the world. If you were outside the dome when the detonations happened you where fused to your surroundings; if you were lucky enough to be inside the dome then you escaped unscathed and you were "Pure". It is Pressia's birthday and she must choose, become a heartless solider or die. Today is the day she starts fighting for her life.
Girl Stolenby April Henry Imagine going to the store with your mom, you're sick, you just feel awful and you fall asleep in the back seat, only to be abruptly awakened by a would-be carjacker. Well that's what happens to 16 yer old Cheyenne. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, she's blind! Griffin is the want-to-be carjacker, who only does it to make his loser dad and friends accept him. When he arrives home his dad is not exactly thrilled, that is, until he realizes the Cheyenne is worth a whole lot of money. Her dad is the CEO of Nike and would be willing to pay a lot of money to get her back. This is where the story takes a turn. You start to feel sorry for Griffin and realize he is a victim of his surroundings. Cheyenne is a strong and believable character. This is an easy and quick read but don't let this fool you, you will be hooked from the moment you start reading.
