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asphaltcowgrrlI will start with my first rec, a book I finished yesterday called Swerve by Vicki Petterssen. For a lady who generally writes urban fantasy, this switch to intense thriller was a brilliant one. What starts out as a holiday trip from Las Vegas to Lake Arrowhead, CA with her fiance, Daniel, turns into a horror movie before Kristine knows it. A quick pause at a reststop turns into a race against the clock for Kristine when Daniel is kidnapped. From there, things only escalate.
Practically from page one, this book is absorbing, sucking you in and not letting you go. The action never slows and neither does your heart rate as Kristine rushes (hah, her last name is Rush *snort*) to save Daniel. To add to the heart palpitations, you get an ever darker backstory to go along with Kristine's present. The way the two stories intertwine and eventually resolve themselves at the end is fabulous. There is an additonal twist that I never saw coming. But then, I always say that and everyone else saw it eight chapters back, so, take that for what it's worth.
I really loved Kristine Rush. She's spunky, takes no shit, and fights until the very end. This is the kind of woman you want on your side in a dark alley. To watch her grow and change and confront each challenge is quite a show. You're never quite sure how she's going to react, but you always know she's going to be kicking some ass as she does so. For me, she really was the highlight of this novel. The nonstop action is an added plus.
My second rec (I've had a busy reading week, what can I say?) is The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer. I only just finished this book about forty-five minutes ago, so please, forgive me if this is a bit scattered. Basically, I can sum up this entire book with one quote:
“Who can ever say, this is the last? Only one is true, but all of them feel true, and the tears we shed are equal every time.” ― Andrew Sean Greer, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
The premise of the book is this: 1985. After the death of her beloved twin brother, Felix, and the break up with her long-time lover, Nathan, Greta Wells embarks on a radical psychiatric treatment to alleviate her suffocating depression. But the treatment has unexpected effects, and Greta finds herself transported to the lives she might have had if she'd been born in a different era.
As a one-time psych major, this whole idea fascinated me. Mainly because my great aunt had electroconvulsive therapy during the mid-to-late 1980's and it had a disturbing effect on her memory. She'd forget things, repeat things, was wholly not herself at times. Once she stopped, she was fine, but now, it makes me wonder.
Greta Wells started out a bit slowly, I'll admit to that, but I think all the negative reviews on GR are a bit harsh (although, everyone is allowed their own opinions on things). But, once you got to the point where she started the ECT, it really picked up. That she had other lives in worlds like her own, but not quite, was something I was familiar with. The idea of alternate or mirror universes has long been a fascination of mine. She had three: One in 1918, in the middle of WWI. Another in 1941 where the world in on the brink of a second world war. And then her third, her 'real' life, in 1985 in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. What blew me away, however, was how these three lives interconnected and weaved through each other. Althogh the times were different and things weren't exactly identical, so much was still the same that it had to have been eerie for Greta as she travelled between them.
The person I felt the most for was Felix, Greta's twin brother. As a gay man in 1985, he had enough to deal with. But in 1941? Or even worse, in 1918? His story gripped me the strongest because it was the most tenuous, the most fragile. The one with the ability to become the most tragic. But Greta's love and devotion to Felix was the real thread that held it all together.
I wasn't sure how this was going to end and, I'll confess, I predicted it was going to end badly. I won't say one way or the other which way it fell, but I was both surprised and not. Is that vague enough for you? I will say this: read this book.
And because I promised quotes, here are a few I found on my Kindle:
“Wizard’s First Rule: people are stupid.” Richard and Kahlan frowned even more. “People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." - Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
I quote the shortned version of this (the very first sentence) quite often because it's so very, very true. And I find it amusing - my husband must've highlighted this because the last time I read this book, it was his hardback copy. Hmm... I never thought he had it in him.
Lastly, because I'm reviewing books, I thought this would be a good closer:
“Yeah. I think most of what they publish is bullshit. It was still a good story.” This struck Ig as a remarkably sophisticated observation." - Horns by Joe Hill
If you made it this far, score yourself five bonus points.
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Date: 2015-05-08 01:55 am (UTC)Hah, and I love those quotes! Especially the last two, both are so accurate. So very accurate.
I've never read an 'urban fantasy'. I'm not even sure what it is. My grasp of genres and the delineation between them is not very well developed. I feel like that's something I should work on.
And reading is too! So many good books out there, so little time.... Thank you for these recs! :D
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Date: 2015-05-08 04:28 pm (UTC)The Terry Goodkind quote has been a favorite of mine since I first read Wizard's First Rule in 1998 or so. The Joe Hill quote made me LOL when I read it in the book. So, I'm really glad you liked them. :)
The easiest way to explain urban fantasy is to tell you that Supernatural is essentially UF. It's a world like or similar to our own with paranormal elements. Vampires, werewolves, magic, etc. Some good UF series: The Hollows series by Kim Harrison, Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong (and they've made a TV series out of this called Bitten), The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, and The Signs of the Zodiac series by Vicki Petterssen.
All of that said, I don't generally read by genre. I'll read just about anything as long as the premise interests me. So, if you never grasp the fine line between genres, I wouldn't sweat it. Read what you like and like what you read. :D
Anytime you need something good to read, let me know. I read way too much, although so much less than I used to. And speaking of which... I have things that I need to take back to the library. LOL
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Date: 2015-05-09 02:42 am (UTC)I agree, I don't do genre reading. I feel like that would be terribly limiting. As long as the book sounds like it's got a decent plot, I'll give anything a try. :D
Will do! I always love your reading suggestions. You can take a book I've never heard of and make the story come alive in just a few paragraphs. :D
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Date: 2015-05-09 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-11 05:47 pm (UTC)But yes - an urban fantasy is basically any urban setting with paranormal happenings.
I'm with you. I have a friend who *only* reads mysteries and another who *only* reads romances (although, there's SUCH a variety in romance these days I can almost get that). I don't get that. Don't you get bored?
Aw, thanks so much. I'm happy to hear that since I do reviews *professionally* (and I use that term loosely). :)