Help for the Haunted by John Searles

 Published September 17, 2013

from William Morrow

Description

It begins with a call in the middle of snowy February evening. Lying in her bed, young Sylvie Mason overhears her parents on the phone across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they have received, since her mother and father have an uncommon occupation, helping "haunted souls" find peace. And yet, something in Sylvie senses that this call is different than the rest, especially when they are lured to the old church on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear, one after the other, behind the church's red door, leaving Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to sleep only to wake to the sound of gunfire.

Nearly a year later, we meet Sylvie again struggling with the loss of her parents, and living in the care of her older sister, who may be to blame for what happened the previous winter.

As the story moves back and forth in time, through the years leading up to the crime and the months following, the ever inquisitive and tender-hearted Sylvie pursues the mystery, moving closer to the knowledge of what occurred that night, as she comes to terms with her family's past and uncovers secrets that have haunted them for years.

I enjoyed this a lot, but I couldn't help but consider some of the messages in the book. I can't mention most of them because I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll try to stick to general ideas.

I felt that a lot of mistakes were made by the parents that you see through Sylvie's flashbacks. Sylvie's sister Rose is supposed to be taking care of her but is doing a terrible job; She's too selfish to care for anyone but herself (though she doesn't exactly do a great job of that either). But most of Rose's issues go back to how she is raised and the choices her parents (mostly her father) made.

Sylvie goes looking for answers about her parents because it is her testimony that will play a big part in the conviction of who the police think killed her parents. What she finds out will forever change what she thought she knew about them, but she also finds out a lot about herself along the way.

Help for the Haunted is a great story and I didn't want to put the book down- full of mystery and wonderfully written.

Zoo by James Patterson

 

Description

All over the world, brutal attacks are crippling entire cities. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, watches the escalating events with an increasing sense of dread. When he witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa, the enormity of the impending violence becomes terrifyingly clear.

With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz races to warn world leaders before it's too late. The attacks are growing in ferocity, cunning, and planning, and soon there will be no place left for humans to hide.

This was one of those books that I couldn't put down. It had an interesting plot, action & tension to keep me interested and some scenes that had me a little scared... I was worried, OK?

Animals all over the world are attacking humans. It isn't normal attacking either. It's this crazy coordinated animal mob kind of attack, pets are turning on their owners and the animals are really smart about the attacks. Then of course there is the political aspect of everything. Oz knows something is up and has been trying to warn people for years, but politics blah blah blah and the world is doomed because nobody will listen and politicians are being ignorant. I feel like Patterson was trying to make a point here, making me think he has an issue with politicians and the way things are run; Ignoring the problem until it can't be ignored anymore.

And then there's the obvious undertones: animals aren't the bad guys, we are for ruining the Earth! We brought this on ourselves! (This may be true but still... not a new concept). A different take on why it's happening though, I'll give him that. Something I thought was a little strange was that half way through the book it jumps ahead 5 years in time. Possibly to show that nature won't make that swift of a change overnight? And maybe that's why people don't notice things that happen gradually unless they're paying attention? Just speculating, here.

What I didn't like was the lack of emotion by the main character, Oz. It's (mostly) narrated in the first person and I was getting so angry that he didn't seem to be emotional at all when people around him died. He would be like, oh no! This person I cared about was killed! Death and stuff... whatevs. And then go back to what he was doing, at one point making a really weak joke. Gah!

But, overall, it was an entertaining read for a lazy day. And (added bonus) if you have a kindle and want to sample the book a little bit before you decide if you actually want to buy it or not, you can get a free preview of the first 23 Chapters!

Updated: I also recently (as of June 2013) listened to the audio book. If you choose to listen to the audio book, beware that the guy that reads the book is bad at Chloe's French accent. I considered fast forwarding the parts where she talked because I was so annoyed.

Congo by Michael Crichton

Description

Deep in the African rain forest, near the legendary ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, an expedition of eight American geologists are mysteriously and brutally killed in a matter of minutes.

Ten thousand miles away, Karen Ross, the Congo Project Supervisor, watches a gruesome video transmission of the aftermath: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside dead bodies--all motionless except for one moving image--a grainy, dark, man-shaped blur.

In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, a gorilla with an extraordinary vocabulary of 620 "signs," the most ever learned by a primate, and she likes to finger paint. But recently her behavior has been erratic and her drawings match, with stunning accuracy, the brittle pages of a Portuguese print dating back to 1642 . . . a drawing of an ancient lost city. A new expedition--along with Amy--is sent into the Congo, where they enter a secret world, and the only way out may be through a horrifying death . . .

I liked this novel despite the technical mumbo-jumbo, of which there was a lot. I am easily distracted and there were quite a few times when descriptions of things went on and on and I started to imagine it sounding like the adults in Peanuts cartoons "woh wah wah woh wah wah wah..." I mean, I'm glad Crichton put so much effort into researching things, but could we get back to the gorillas, please?

Now on to the good stuff. I loved Amy the gorilla (but who wouldn't? She's awesome!). The action scenes were what made me keep coming back and not want to put the book down. Karen Ross often goes between someone I liked and disliked, which worked for me because if you have a character in a book you can't stand you just want them to die a horrible death... or is that just me? Overall it's a book I would recommend people read even with the boring over detailed parts.

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Description

"Relentless terror." The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The classic, blockbuster thriller of man-eating terror that inspired the Steven Spielberg movie and made millions of beachgoers afraid to go into the water. Experience the thrill of helpless horror again -- or for the first time!

Everybody should know about Jaws by now so I shouldn't have to explain in too much detail. There's a big great white shark off the beaches of Amity. It starts eating people because it's hungry.

And I can't believe it but... I liked the movie better. This has only happened to me 3 times so I feel like the odds are still really good that "the book will be better" in general. But not in this case. Or these books. But, to be fair, Jaws is one of my favorite movies so... seeing as it isn't much like the movie it didn't really have a chance.

I hated just about all of the characters... nope, scratch that, I hated all of the characters at one point or another. There was some suspense when it came to the shark attacks but for the most part it focused on the crappy behavior of the people involved. I suppose it was a study about people's behavior in situations that threaten the livelihood of a small summer town, but I could have skipped it. In fact, I did skip some pages here and there. There was no difference. I didn't have a connection with any of the characters that would make me care about them so when they were eaten I thought that sucks for them, but that was about it.

The shark is just being a shark (though the scene when it attacks the boat... crazy!) and it is hardly the evil villain it's made out to be in the movie. Also, you'll learn a lot about sharks and fish so there's that.

The Taking by Dean Koontz

The Taking by Dean Koontz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'll be honest- this book freaked the shit out of me. So much that when my husband was gone on a work trip while I was reading this, I made my dog sleep in the room with me. I guess that may be a sign of good writing- that it can scare you that much.

The entire book is filled from beginning to end with mystery, suspense and horrible, frightening images. I've never been that afraid to pick up the book and see how the story progresses. Eventually I made myself read the end before I finished the book so I wouldn't be so worried as I read it. Considering how freaked I was, I'd say it's a good book.



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