fairywhispers's "2008 Bookshelf"

I love Dean Koontz and this is one of his better works. The characters are believable and engaging and the plot is original and suspenseful. At no point in the story was I bored. I was captivated from cover to cover and was often unable to put it down. I love the way Koontz uses religious imagery to cleverly twist the typical psychopath storyline. Definitely worth reading.

I was extremely disappointed in this book. It was not the standard of work I have come to expect from R.L.Stine. Not only was the story boring and predictable, the characters were flat and cartoonish. I will not be recommending Twisted to anyone.

Though not particularly thrilling, Book of Horrors is an easy, enjoyable read for those days when we don’t want to concentrate too hard. The paperback is small and light, making it ideal for handbags or overloaded school satchels. My daughter found this book a little more suspenseful than I did, so it could make a good introduction to the thriller genre.

Despite the fact it wasn’t the thriller I had been expecting, Obsession was a good read. Written in diary form, it tells the story of a very troubled young girl who has trouble coping with her life and family and finally latches onto another girl as her salvation. While I wouldn’t read this again, I would definitely recommend reading it once.

Better than Outbreak but not as good as Mutation, Mortal Fear is probably an average read. While there were a couple of surprises, this book was fairly predictable for the most part. The characters seemed a bit stiff and clichéd and the narrative, while technically correct, didn’t seem to engage me as it should. Mortal Fear is OK for a light read, but I wouldn’t choose it if I were after a good thrill.

This was a scary warning about what could happen if it becomes acceptable to fiddle around with genes in test tube babies. A scientist who messes with the genes of his own test tube baby miscalculates the consequences and creates a genius. A genius psychopath. A genius psychopath who wants to create an army of idiots. No-one writes medical thrillers like Robin Cook and Mutation one of his best. Definitely worth a read.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a refreshingly original novel told in first person from the killer’s point of view. It is interesting to get into the head of a psychopath who, though he has no conscience, tries to live by the ‘code of Harry’ – that is, he only kills people who deserve it. Despite some disturbing statements and chilling actions on the part of Dexter, by the end of the book we are left feeling sympathetic and definitely don’t want him caught. In fact, Dexter is only doing what most have us have wished for in our darkest dreams. I highly recommend Darkly Dreaming Dexter and look forward to reading more books by this highly talented author.

This was really difficult to get into at first because of the way the narrative kept switching between reports after the event and actual narrative during them. However, once I got used to the style, I found the story to be entertaining. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Carrie as much as other Stephen King novels I’ve read.

This was a thrilling book that I was unable to put down. The characters were believable, as was the storyline. It wasn’t so much thrilling as suspenseful. All the way through I was able to feel with the police who were responsible for trying to catch this killer. The biggest problem for police in catching serial killers is that there is very little they can do until the killer slips up in some way, and this is the problem faced in All the Pretty Girls. The motive for the murders was certainly a novel one, though.

And Hope To Die had an interestingly original plot and for once the guilty person wasn’t obvious by halfway through the book. The author’s writing style is easy to read and the characters believable. Best of all (and always good in a thriller) I was unable to put the book down, staying awake well into the wee sma’s in order to finish it. Definitely worth a read.