Giveaway: A Smattering of Iris Johansen

This is a bit of an odd collection of Iris Johansen's work, but Julie and I wanted to make sure we introduced her work to our readers.  Actually, one lucky reader will win three Iris Johansen novels:

1. Deadlock - (new hardcover)  Emily Hudson is an archeologist who travels the world in search of priceless artifacts from war-torn countries and other hot spots. Her best friend and partner, Joel Levy, is always at her side—until one day, her entire crew is massacred and Joel and Emily are held captive. Victims of one of the most ruthless and evil human beings on earth. For two weeks they try to survive, until Emily is the unwitting instrument in Joel’s demise. John Garrett has worked for the CIA, MI6, and whoever else needed his services. Now, the CIA comes calling with a desperate mission for him: save Emily Hudson. But their may be more to this job than they let him know. And soon, his connection to Emily has him questioning everything he thought to be true. Emily has vengeance on her mind. Will Garrett aid her in getting revenge? Can Emily help him get to the truth behind a bigger conspiracy? Or will they both die trying… 
2. Quicksand - (library bound hardcover)  Returning from Johansen’s New York Times bestselling thriller, Stalemate, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is still reeling from the disappearance of her daughter, Bonnie. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she enlists the clairvoyant skills of Dr. Megan Blair to help find her. No strangers to looking for clues where there seem to be none, the two women use their highly specialized talents to hunt down Bonnie’s elusive kidnapper and return her to her mother’s arms. But is Bonnie still alive? Will the two women find her in time? 
3. Chasing the Night - (ARC paperback)  Reviewed yesterday

This giveaway is open to residents of US or Canada only. Fill out the form below by midnight EST, on Wednesday July 13th, 2011 to enter.

Good Luck!

As always, Girls Just Reading uses Random.org to select our winners.

Group Review: Chasing The Night

Summary: CIA agent’s two-year-old child was stolen in the night as a brutal act of vengeance. Now, eight years later, this torment is something Catherine Ling awakens to every day. Her friends, family, and colleagues tell her to let go, move on, accept that her son is never coming back. But she can’t. Catherine needs to find someone as driven and obsessed as she is to help her— and that person is Eve Duncan. She knows that Eve shares her nightmare, since closure is also something that eludes Eve after the disappearance of her daughter Bonnie. Now, Eve must take her talents as a forensic sculptor to another level, using age progression as a way to unite Catherine with her child. As Eve gets drawn deeper into Catherine’s horror, she must face looming demons of her own.

Bonnie’s killer is still out there. And a new killer is taunting Eve and Catherine at every turn. Is Catherine’s son alive, or not? These two women endure the worst fear any mother can imagine in Iris Johansen’s latest thrill ride, a gut-wrenching journey into the darkest places of the soul. ~Product Description

Jenn's Review:  I've missed a few books in this series, but seeing as I've read Iris Johansen's books out of order before, I thought it would be alright.  I actually had to take a break from this series, because, though I truly enjoy it, I was getting frustrated with where it was going... or not going.  That, and the older I get, or perhaps the longer I'm a mother, the more trouble I have reading about the abduction or death of children.

Don't get me wrong.  I love this series.  Iris Johansen is one of my favorite authors.  I own all the books in the series in hard cover including those between where I left off and Chasing the Night  -and beyond (Eve came out in April).  She weaves a magnificent tale.  I just needed a breather.

That being said, it was good to be back with Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn.  I've missed them.  This book didn't dwell much on their relationship, but they're obviously in a good place again and I like that.  It's always Johansen's characters that get me.  She writes strong women, women who have been shaken to their core but who survive and endure.  They draw the reader in and are impossible to forget.  Catherine Ling is no exception.  Like all of Johansen's female characters, she's admirable, but not enviable.  Her story is unimaginably heartbreaking and terrifyingly believable.

Though the plot seems a little unrealistic, it is easy to forgive because it's good.  As usual, Eve gets pulled farther into a desperate situation than she should but it's easy to see how she could with a missing child on the line. Of course, this pulls Joe with her.

There is something about the flow of Ms. Johansen's writing that is engaging.  Point of view switches are tough, especially in thrillers, but the best authors always make the transition seamless, and she certainly does.  It also amazes me that, after all this time, Iris Johansen can still surprise me, as there was a twist I didn't see coming.

You know you've found a good writer, when you get so involved with the characters that their decisions upset you to the point of putting a series down for a while.  Perhaps now that I know where things are headed, it will be easier for me to visit where they've been. I highly recommend Iris Johansen's work (start with Face of Deception), just don't be surprised when you get emotionally attached to the characters.  She has a way of sucking you in.

Final Take:  4.0/5


Julie's Review: I was about to give up on Iris Johansen's Eve Duncan series after reading Blood Game but after finishing Chasing the Night, I'm ready to see it through to the end. I also feel that based on some upcoming releases this series is coming to an end. I'm actually ok with that based on what Ms. Johansen has done in this book.

Chasing the Night is the best Eve Duncan book in a very long time. It returns to what Eve does best: forensic sculpting. Well ok, this time she uses computer age progression but I felt that it was getting back to the roots of the series; Eve helping others.

We are introduced to CIA Agent Catherine Ling quickly in the beginning of the book and you can't help but admire her. She's tough, resilient and pretty much a kick ass kind of women. She enters Eve's life with a vengeance and never leaves. She is on a mission to rescue her son from the vicious Radovac who kidnapped him 9 years prior.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the other cast of characters that we were introduced to: Kelly, Kelsov and Natalie. I especially liked Kelsov even though you knew he was vicious in his own right. Ms. Johansen was successful in bringing the current fears of terrorist attacks into the plot. She did it in a manner that it didn't take away from the major plot of the book which was finding Catherine's son Luke.

I was also extremely thankful that she did not decide to mess with Joe and Eve again in this book. I've had enough of that in her more recent books. I don't mind tension but I don't like the feeling that they are going to split up.

Chasing the Night never lets up on the action and comes to a rousing conclusion. I enjoyed Eve and Quinn working with the CIA and Venable again. I liked that the novel was cemented in reality and not in the paranormal or vampire world.

If you haven't read an Eve Duncan book you could start with Chasing the Night and not feel completely lost. With the introduction of Catherine Ling it has become a whole new series.

I still have to go back and read Eight Days to Live which features Jane McGuire but I'm looking forward to reading Eve, Quinn and Bonnie.

Julie's Final Take: 4.5/5

Jenn's Review: The Love Goddess' Cooking School

Summary:  Camilla's Cucinotta: Italian Cooking Classes. Fresh take-home pastas & sauces daily. Benvenuti! (Welcome!) 

Holly Maguire's grandmother Camilla was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine--a Milanese fortune-teller who could predict the right man for you, and whose Italian cooking was rumored to save marriages. Holly has been waiting years for her unlikely fortune: her true love will like sa cordula, an unappetizing old-world delicacy. But Holly can't make a decent marinara sauce, let alone sa cordula. Maybe that's why the man she hopes to marry breaks her heart. So when Holly inherits Camilla's Cucinotta, she's determined to forget about fortunes and love and become an Italian cooking teacher worthy of her grandmother's legacy.

But Holly's four students are seeking much more than how to make Camilla's chicken alla Milanese. Simon, a single father, hopes to cook his way back into his daughter's heart. Juliet, Holly's childhood friend, hides a painful secret. Tamara, a serial dater, can't find the love she longs for. And twelve-year-old Mia thinks learning to cook will stop her dad, Liam, from marrying his phony lasagna-queen girlfriend. As the class gathers each week, adding Camilla's essential ingredients of wishes and memories in every pot and pan, unexpected friendships and romances are formed--and tested. Especially when Holly falls hard for Liam . . . and learns a thing or two about finding her own recipe for happiness.

Review:  I always have a hard time reading romances because they tend to be plot driven instead of character driven.  This is not one of those occasions.  The Love Goddess' Cooking School is a wonderful, romantic Food-Lit and I can't wait to share it. I think Melissa Senate's writing is much like Sarah Addison Allen without the magical realism... and you all know how much I love Sarah Addison Allen.

Melissa Senate has created characters that are incredibly easy to identify with - flawed but redeemable. It's been a long time since I read a novel where I felt connected with almost every character. Ms. Senate does an incredible job of making them empathetic. I loved them all.  From Liam, the single dad trying to keep his daughter's world from crumbling without her mother, to the recently divorced Simon who is finding his way as a 'weekend dad', to Mia who is trying so hard to figure out where she fits, to Tamara the frustrated serial dater, and Juliet the heartbroken -whose story definitely struck a chord.  It's Holly, however with whom I identify the most. Holly can't seem to find a place for herself, falls for the wrong guys, and sometimes sets too much stock in fate and destiny. I love her determination and her desire to see things through.  I love that she chose to continue her Nonna's legacy, even though it meant facing her fears and striking out on her own.

As I mentioned, this book is not plot driven, but the unfolding of the character's lives pulls the reader through it at a wonderful pace so that I wasn't racing to see what was going to happen next, but enjoying what was happening now.  Did I know where the book was headed?  Yes.  But it was one of those rare times when I wasn't in a hurry to get there.  I was just enjoying the world of Blue Crab Island and it's inhabitants.

The only thing that seemed a tad out of place were the recipes at the end of the book.  Not that they weren't related to the story, they were certainly recipes for the meals made at the cooking school.  Perhaps it was because the story was so fabulous, but, in the end, the recipes seemed a little superfluous.  I can see not wanting to break the continuity of the story by placing them at the ends of chapters, but I think to be included, they needed to be incorporated into the book somehow because it came off feeling like an afterthought.  Though not a bad afterthought and that is only my opinion...

I've used the word loved a lot in this post but that's because I thought this book was marvelous  - I'm actually running out of synonyms for excellent.  This review has been difficult to write because I don't want to gush about it, I'd rather just curl up inside it.  It's the perfect balance of love, friendship, and of course, good food.

Final Take:  5/5

PS.  There is a Reading Group Guide included for those with book clubs.  


*Also, read the first chapter here: Simon and Schuster

Children's Corner: Monsters Eat Whiny Children

Review:  New Yorker cartoonist, Eric Kaplan has written and illustrated this little gem.  I will say it's not for everyone, but if you have a warped, Edward Gorey-esque sense of humor, which we have in spades in our house, this book is a hoot!

My daughter is not afraid of anything, let alone monsters, but I think even children who are a little apprehensive will enjoy this one.  The children, Henry and Eve, are going through a "terrible phase" in which they whine constantly.  There father warns them that monsters eat whiny children, but they pay no heed.  And when a monster carts them off and puts them in a salad, they're still whining.  However, as the monsters get sidetracked with their indecision about the best way to prepare whiny children (whiny child vindaloo?), the children get a taste of their own medicine. Henry & Eve must amuse themselves while the monster's whine & bicker... and finally, in their boredom, they escape.

This book is perfect for my daughter and her "terrible phase" at the moment.  She understands the humor in it and will tell you that, "Children aren't for eating. That would be hurty!"  The minimalistic drawings are cute and imaginative. This one is a definite keeper.

About the Author

Bruce Eric Kaplan, known for his distinctive, off-beat single-panel cartoons, has been a New Yorker cartoonist for over ten years. He is also a television writer, and was an executive producer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, as well as a writer on Seinfeld (funnily enough, one of his most well-known episodes is one where Elaine becomes increasingly frustrated over what she takes to be an utterly nonsensical New Yorker cartoon).

He has authored and illustrated six adult titles for Simon & Schuster: the cult classic The Cat That Changed My Life; the collections, I Love You, I Hate You, I'm Hungry, No One You Know and This is a Bad Time; and Every Person on the Planet and Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell, both featuring the wonderfully neurotic Brooklyn couple, Edmund & Rosemary. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. 

And The Winner Is...

Congratulations to JHS who won the giveaway copy of  The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel. Alice has emailed you directly, so please send her your address so we can get you the book as soon as possible.

As always, GJR uses Random.org to produce the winner.

Julie's Review: Nine Dragons

Summary: Bestseller Connelly nimbly balances Harry Bosch's personal and professional lives, both of which take a substantial beating, in his 14th novel to feature the LAPD homicide detective. Bosch, last seen with his recently discovered half-brother, lawyer Mickey Haller, in The Brass Verdict (2008), investigates the shooting death of a liquor store owner. While the murder has none of the hallmarks of a regular gang hit, Bosch discovers the dead man was paying a weekly protection fee to a man Bosch suspects is part of a Chinese triad. Even though Bosch is warned to drop the case, he doesn't take the threat seriously until he receives a video showing his 13-year-old daughter, Madeline, being kidnapped in Hong Kong, where she lives with her mother and Bosch's ex-wife, a former FBI agent. Bosch flies to Hong Kong to try to rescue Madeline, prepared to face down one of the world's most powerful crime syndicates. Tenacious as ever, Bosch is even more formidable in his role as a protective father. ~amazon.com

Review: Michael Connelly never fails to disappoint me. Now granted I haven't read every single one of his books, but the ones that I have read, I have immensely enjoyed. Although I think I enjoy the books with Harry a tad bit more than the ones with Mickey Haller (aka The Lincoln Lawyer).

The novel starts off with it being a slow period in the homicide division but that quickly changes with the apparent murder of liquor store owner John Li. It wasn't a robbery that went wrong, because it couldn't be that simple. Quickly the case points to the Chinese Triad and Harry has to get the AGU (Asian Gang Unit) involved which causes him to work with someone new, Officer Chu. Harry doesn't trust anyone and that is magnified even more when he's working on a case.

Things move quickly on the case and it quickly spins out of control for Harry and the team. Not only that but the case quickly becomes personal for him. It seems that the Triad in Hong Kong have take his daughter Madeline hostage. Harry risks everything to go to there to save her.

Mr. Connelly writes at such a fast paced rate that it's hard to put the book down. You want to know what's going to happen next and how everything will be worked out in the end.

I really loved the ending of the book. There were several twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Although I will say that someone didn't seem so innocent to me early in the book so it wasn't a huge surprise for me at the end.

It seems that I read this book before I read The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch) and am out of sorts on a couple details but nothing that makes Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch) (See all Contemporary Literature) less enjoyable.

If you like crime novels than you should definitely check out Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series.

Final Take: 4/5