Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly

Like any other reader out there, I love it when an author wows me so much that I just have to have more. Erin Kelly's fabulous and dark debut, The Poison Tree, was one of those books. In fact, in finding the original post to link up here, I realized I even called it a WOW read. Haha. Didn't remember that.

Anywho, when I saw that Kelly's second book was releasing soon, I immediately put it on the wishlist/must buy list. I was lucky enough to get a copy for review and am taking a brief break from it to put up a pre-pub post. The Dark Rose is due out on Thursday, Feb 2, so if you like deliciously dark psychological thrillers/mysteries, mark your calendar! (And The Poison Tree is due out in paperback Tuesday, Jan 31.)

Here's the description from Kelly's website (note the UK title is The Sick Rose):

Paul has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel – but one night, what started as petty theft escalates fatally. Now, at nineteen, Paul must bear witness against his friend to avoid prison.

Louisa has her own dark secrets. Having fled from them many years ago, she now spends her days steeped in history, renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan garden. Her fragile peace is shattered when she meets Paul; he's the spitting image of the one person she never thought she'd see again.

A relationship develops between these two scarred people, and Louisa starts to believe she can again find the happiness she had given up on... but neither of them can outrun their violent pasts.

A story of secrets and guilt, The Sick Rose explores the extremes of obsessive love and loyalty, devotion and desperation.

And here's an interesting piece wherein Kelly talks about the upcoming book and some of her inspiration:

The Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds

A bit of a change in reading pace, moving from high and epic fantasy to Marjorie Reynolds reissued Starlite Drive-In. It was such an easy and enjoyable read, though, that slipping out of the fantasy mindset and into Reynolds's own created world was no problem at all.

In the summer of 1956, a drifter arrived at the Starlite Drive-In. Callie Anne Benton's father manages and runs the theater, taking care of the day-to-day maintenance and obligations. But a recent injury has left him bitter and crippled. Nothing much changes in Callie Anne's daily routine. Not until Charlie Memphis arrives. The owner of the drive-in brings him in to help out, a general handyman if you will. Young Callie Anne is smitten by the stranger. And for Callie Anne's mother, who hasn't left their house for years, Charlie Memphis offers something new as well. Years later, bones are found on the grounds of the old drive-in and Callie Anne is forced to face that summer once again.

Within just a few pages, Reynolds sends readers on a trip back in time to a summer seen through the eyes of a pre-teen on the cusp of great change. It's easy to fall in love with Callie Anne. Her observations will strike a chord with readers of all ages.

I also enjoyed that fact that many of the other characters evoke mixed emotions. No one is a static, one-sided caricature of the standard good guy or bad guy. Each character has different sides to them and Reynolds does a good job of showing those through her writing.

Starlite was originally publishing in 1997 and has been recently rereleased by Harper.

Winter is here so read A Game of Thrones!

My reading ebbs and flows throughout the year. I've yet to find a real pattern to it, which makes it all that much more frustrating. Sometimes I can read an average book in a day. Other times, that same book will take me all week.

Historically, I've had pretty bad luck with vacation reads. At some point, I completely lost my ability to tune out what's going on around me, which means that I now get highly distracted on planes, in airports, anywhere in general. Which also means that my bag full of books usually goes untouched in spite of my best efforts.

I happen to be in a slow reading period at the moment and that coupled with the fear that I wouldn't actually read anything on my trip led me to finally, finally begin reading A Game of Thrones. Again.

It was much easier this second time around. I'd abandoned it early on back in 2005. If you've seen the show (and I highly recommend that you see it or read the book), it does follow the book very closely. The differences between the two were so minor, it's one case where you definitely get a very good representation of the entire story through the adaptation. And the casting! The casting is spot on. Maybe if I'd read the book before seeing the show, my thoughts might be different, but Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage were especially fantastic as Ned Stark and Tyrion Lannister.

It's a whopper of a read at 835 pages (with the appendices) and it took me all of a week in my current reading slump. Course I was poolside and the warm weather was so nice for afternoon napping...

For a synopsis of the show and book, hit the link above (see it) to read my show post. I can't wait for a chance to dive into book number two. No way am I waiting until the second season starts to find out what comes next!

Where's My Bookmark: Fires of Eden by Dan Simmons

I put off the vacation book hunt until the last minute, so Friday before last found me swapping out possible selections literally until our shuttle arrived. One thing was for sure, I would be taking along George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, but I envisioned a week of beachside reading and even that 800 page tome couldn't possibly fill it all (plus airport delays and plane reading...).

I did limit myself to mass markets, so that made it a bit easier. And for the sake of variety, I tried to cover all of the major subgenres. I had horror down to Peter Straub or Dan Simmons when I realized that the obvious choice was staring me in the face! In 1994, Dan Simmons released a book called Fires of Eden, in which a series of missing persons occurs at a new Hawaiian luxury resort. Perfect!

Well, Game of Thrones lasted me through the majority of the trip and I finally cracked open Eden the day before we were set to leave. I have to say, it's a fun vacation/plane/beach/anytime read.

Hawaii is in the midst of a historic volcanic eruption. The new Mauna Pele luxury resort should be packed full of tourists, but a series of murders and disappearances plagues the location. Byron Trumbo would like to unload the money pit as soon as possible, but bad publicity and a growing number of bodies may hamper his efforts. Things only get worse as he tries desperately to cover up the events. Meanwhile, Eleanor Perry has just arrived, set on following the path laid out in her great aunt's journal. Aunt Kidder visited the same spot back in 1866 and experienced something similar to the events of today. Along with Cordie Stumpf (nee Cooke -- of Summer of Night) and a local with more than a passing knowledge of Hawaiian folklore, Eleanor will do everything in her power to stop the inevitable disaster at Mauna Pele.

Amongst the ever growing list of Simmons's accomplished novels, Eden no doubt earns its fair share of criticism. It's a fun story, though, packed with Hawaiian lore that many are probably not familiar with. Simmons also ties in Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain) writings on the area, making him a main character in the 1866 flashbacks of Kidder's journal.

One review referred to the book as a sort of environmental horror story, which is kind of appropriate. Hawaiian gods and goddesses wreaking havoc on a greedy developer's golf resort sure makes for great entertainment and a really quick read.

Fires of Eden is unfortunately out of print at the moment.

New Releases 01/24/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

Taken by Robert Crais

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

Horizon by Sophie Littlefield (Aftertime #3)

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

Shatter by Michael Robotham (reissue)

Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

New on DVD:

Real Steel

50/50

The Whistleblower

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

I'm back!

Goodness, I go away for a week and there's so much to catch up on!

We made it home from The Bahamas. I was sad to say goodbye to that lovely place, even sadder when we arrived home to 30 degree weather :(

It was gorgeous there! Back to real life now, I guess.

New Releases 01/17/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty

The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb

The Rope by Nevada Barr (Anna Pigeon #17)

Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card (Ender's Shadow #6)

Raylan by Elmore Leonard

The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark

The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell

The Silent Oligarch by Chris Morgan Jones

The Odds by Stewart O'Nan

Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess by Simon Brett

Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell

Another Woman by Penny Vincenzi

Gone West by Carola Dunn (Daisy Dalrymple #20)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: 50th Anniversary Edition by Ken Kesey

Tempest by Julie Cross

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

New on DVD:

Abduction

The Ides of March

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley