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Donna C. (darkcoffeeclouds) - Reviews

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Absolute Power
Absolute Power
Author: David Baldacci
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 388
Review Date: 7/24/2018


This book was Baldacci's debut novel and I loved it! I'm so glad I finally read it because it was so much better than the movie. In the movie they changed some of the details and leave out a big character. I did like some of the changes since Clint Eastwood played Luther and it made sense with him. It didn't have that thriller aspect like the book did though.

Jack, who was a public defender but recently got a new job in a big law firm with a chance at becoming a partner. He is engaged to the daughter of a billionaire and his life seems to be going really well. He can't stop thinking about Kate though. He and Kate were engaged to be married but she couldn't accept that he liked her dad, who was a thief. She also couldn't deal with the fact that he defended criminals when he was a public defender. Kate became a prosecutor and came down hard on people like her father. She wouldn't have anything to do with him anymore since he ruined their family and she also cancelled her engagement with Jack.

When Luther breaks into a mansion everything is going great until someone else comes in. He has to hide in the vault hidden behind a mirror and wait until they were gone. That's when he realizes the mirror is a one way mirror and he can see everything in the room. He watches as the lady of the house is brutalized and murdered and then the scene is cleaned up to remove all traces of who had been there. One thing was missed though and Luther saw it fall. As soon as they left he came out and grabbed it and escaped through a window. They soon realized what was missing and went back to find it but instead found it gone and a rope hanging out the window. Luther knew he had to run for his life. He got out of there and quickly left the country. He knew no one would believe him if he went to the police with what he knew. No one would believe who killed her. He finally decided he had to go back and try to get justice but he knew it could mean losing his life.


Acceptable Risk (Audio Cassette) (Abridged)
Acceptable Risk (Audio Cassette) (Abridged)
Author: Robin Cook, Jill Eikenberry (Narrator)
Book Type: Audio Cassette
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 16
Review Date: 11/4/2009


This audio book was really good. I couldn't go to bed until I finished it! I have read other Robin Cook books before this one so I was suprised this one wasn't quite as freakishly scary! It was good though. I always love it when a book is looking into someone's past and trying to understand what happened... in this case, it involved witch hunts and hangings and what could have been the real cause of all the histeria.


All She Ever Wanted
All She Ever Wanted
Author: Lynn Austin
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 73
Review Date: 2/6/2018


This book was so good that I have been feeling out of sorts since finishing it. I miss it. It is a Christian Fiction that wasn't a flimsy romance story. It wasn't even just ONE story. It started with one story and then gradually unfolded into several stories that intertwined and slowly revealed a total picture of one family. No one knew all of the story but when they got together the pieces all fit.

The story starts out with a mother who is having a very bad day. She argued with her boss and walked out and now thinks she may be fired for it. She was sitting in her car when she got the call that her teen daughter had been caught shoplifting at the mall. Her husband decided to send her daughter to a counselor to see if they can help. The counselor discovers that the daughter is acting out because she wants a closer relationship with her mother. She said her mother never talks to her and she knows nothing of her mothers family. She wishes she knew her grandparents and aunts and uncles but her mom wont speak of them. One day in therapy the counselor wants her mother to join in on the session and the daughter pulls out a birthday invitation that had been crumpled up and tossed in the trash. It was a party her aunt Annie was throwing for her grandfather. She asked her mother why she doesn't know her aunt or her grandfather and why she wont go. Finally, in an effort to repair her relationship with her daughter she decides to go. She and her daughter go on a road trip and as they drive she tells her story, the story of her childhood.

That is just the beginning though and as they arrive and meet more people they hear more stories and slowly begin to understand why people behaved the way they did.


Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, Bk 1)
Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, Bk 1)
Author: James Patterson
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1063
Review Date: 3/7/2017


Alex Cross is a detective and a psychologist and he and his partner are investigating a triple homicide on Southside when they are pulled off the case to help locate two missing children. Alex and his partner are furious that the death of a black family is so easily disregarded and the kidnapping of 2 wealthy white children made the priority. The children were kidnapped from a private school for high profile families who had secret service protection. Alex Cross wants those children found safely but he can't get the image of the little black child that had been murdered out of his mind.

This book is fast-paced and has a lot of twists and turns. It is a great read.


Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, Bk 4)
Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, Bk 4)
Author: Debbie Macomber
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 518
Review Date: 1/27/2011


I really enjoyed this book as I have all of Debbie Macomber's books. I love the characters, especially Alix, and with each book I learn more about them. These are the type of books that are so good you insist your friends read them too. I wish I lived on this street with all of these wonderful people.


Beading Basics
Beading Basics
Author: Carole Rodgers, Carole Rodgers
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 3/11/2018


I've learned a lot from this book and have really enjoyed the projects in it. There are some I have yet to make that are not my style but I plan to change them up a bit to be more to my liking. I like the illustrations, photos and for the most part the instructions were good. When I learning the wire wrapping part I did have to look up a video on Youtube to get it right but otherwise the instructions were good.


Before I Say Good-Bye
Before I Say Good-Bye
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 410
Review Date: 6/30/2017


Nann knows her stuff when it comes to politics. She was raised by her grandfather after her parents died and he was a congressman until he retired. Her grandfather taught her everything she needed to know to be a successful congresswoman but her husband doesn't want her to run. She has been writing a column for the paper and he wants her to keep doing that so they can have a family. Her grandfather doesn't like her husband and has her come to see him to try to persuade her one more time since his successor for the party has decided not to run again. Now is her chance and she wants to take it. She decided to do it despite her husband's objections and they get into a big fight when him storming out the door. The last thing she said to him was a cold shot that maybe he shouldn't come back. The next day he had a business meeting on his boat with 3 other people he worked with when it exploded. Nann feels horrible for the things she said to him and now will never be able to ask for his forgiveness. She wants to find out who blew up his boat and why. Her aunt thinks a friend of hers that is a renowned psychic can help but Nann isn't sure she can believe in what she does.

This book was a little confusing at first because there are so many different characters that were hard to keep straight at first. Sometimes I had to look back to remind myself who someone was. After a while, I got used to the stories and it got easier when they started to connect.


Before I Wake
Before I Wake
Author: Anne Frasier
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 72
Review Date: 7/8/2019


Arden was an FBI profiler before everything went wrong; before her parents were murdered by the killer she was trying to stop. She completely closed herself off and ran. She went to a small town where no one knew anything and she could be someone else for a while. Dr Harris had tried to help her forget those horrible memories by a process called Bleaching but it didn't work. Arden forgot some of the good stuff along with the bad.
Now she wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. Then the man responsible for the murders was executed and she thought it was over until Agent Fury showed up. He said he got a letter from the killer saying he didn't kill her parents. The killer is still out there and copycatting the original murderer's MO. Agent Fury wanted her to come back to the program, project TAKE (Through a Killer's eyes), designed to help the agents get into the mind of the killer using solitary confinement and sensory deprivation. She had to go even though she hated the place. She had to find the murderer and stop him.


The Big Killing
The Big Killing
Author: Annette Meyers
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 2.9/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 3/29/2018


It took me forever to get into this book. The first part was very boring and I almost quit reading it. It finally got interesting enough to hook me so I had to find out how it ended. I decided to read this book because I have the 4th book in this series so I looked up the first book. Now I don´t want to read anymore. This series is about a duo of headhunters called Smith and Wetzon but Smith is a very unlikable, shallow, cardboard character. Wetzon isn´t very smart and some things seemed obvious but she was clueless. There were a lot of names thrown around throughout the book, clients or people Wetzon knew, and it was impossible to keep track of them all.


Black Rainbow
Black Rainbow
Author: Barbara Michaels
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 72
Review Date: 5/14/2018


This book seemed interesting in the beginning but then it seemed to drag on and on. I'm glad I finally read this so I can move it out of the house and make room for better books.


Blue Lightning (Shetland Island, Bk 4)
Blue Lightning (Shetland Island, Bk 4)
Author: Ann Cleeves
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 14
Review Date: 9/26/2017


Another great book by Ann Cleeves. She never disappoints. I don´t know how she can keep coming up with great books.

Detective Jimmie Perez is taking his fiancé home to meet his parents on Fair Isle when a woman is found murdered. Jimmie is the only one there to investigate the murder and with a wild storm raging there is no way to get any help in. He has to do things the old fashioned way without his team and forensics. The woman murdered was a scientist working in the lighthouse that had been converted into a conservatory for studying birds. The door had been locked so the murdered had to be one of the people inside. Jimmie sets himself to the difficult task of interviewing everyone and gathering evidence on his own when he finds another woman murdered. Thankfully the weather lets up so he can get his team in to help with the case.

I have to say this one had a surprise ending. I felt it coming but I didn´t want to believe it. Now I can´t wait to see where Ann takes Jimmie Perez next.


Boxed In (Annie's Attic, Bk 8)
Boxed In (Annie's Attic, Bk 8)
Author: Karen Kelly
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 13
Review Date: 4/1/2017


I thought this book was slow moving at first and the goofiness of Annie and Alice seemed uncharacteristically juvenile but more into the story it got more interesting. I looked up a lot of the details about the American Indians mentioned and found them to be true and not fiction. I enjoyed reading about Tomah Joseph and looking at pictures of his actual birch bark boxes. There are even some on ebay. The places they traveled to are also real places in Maine and I was surprised to realize that even Stony Point is a real place. I ended up liking this book more than most of the others because of these details but also because the story was different than the usual. The stories can seem very redundant, all starting with Annie finding something in the attic, but this one seemed different from the beginning.


The Breaker
The Breaker
Author: Minette Walters
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 78
Review Date: 10/20/2017


Two young brothers spotted a naked woman laying on the beach. They were spying on her with binoculars when they accidentally dropped them down the side of the cliff. The woman didn't move and they realized something was wrong. She wasn't just sun bathing, she was dead. They ran to find help and found a man who called the police. The police discovered the woman had been raped and drowned. They start questioning everyone that was there to try to identify the woman and also find her killer. Later, at a nearby marina, a blond toddler was found wandering around alone. An older couple brings her to the police and they begin trying to find her parents. They put a picture of the little girl on the news in hopes that someone will recognize her and someone does. An older woman is sure that little girl is her grand-daughter and phones her son. He doesn't really think it could be his daughter because she would be so far from home but when his wife doesn't answer his calls he starts to worry.


A Can of Peas (Lake Emily, Bk 1)
A Can of Peas (Lake Emily, Bk 1)
Author: Traci DePree
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 85
Review Date: 9/9/2018


I really enjoyed this book. It's about a young man named Peter whose grandfather just passed away. He has many fond memories of helping his grandfather on the farm in Minnesota and wonders why his father didn't stay there to take over the farm. He resents his father, who is a musician, for always moving around while he was growing up and for missing his grandfather's funeral. Peter is between jobs and he and his new wife Mae are staying in her parents basement, which hasn't been ideal. Mae's mom doesn't think Peter is good enough for her and Mae ends up leaving with their mother-daughter relationship in ruins. Peter's Grandmother mentioned one day that her husband Roy had always hoped someone in the family would take over the farm and Peter thinks that is what he wants to do. He talks to his wife and his grandmother and they decide on a trial period to see how it goes. Mae finds out very quickly that outsiders have a hard time fitting in with small town folks where everyone knows everyone's business. Peter loves farming but has a hard time keeping up and is worried about paying back his operating loan. The story continues to tell of some of their trials on the farm.

I really like how the author inserted short chapters in italics that tell a small story from the past just before a chapter where that person is involved in the present. That allows the reader to get to know the people in the small town and how they relate to one another. You learn a little bit of history right when you need to. The stories are very well written and make you feel for the people in the story. After reading this book you are left wondering what's next and there are two more books "Dandelions in a jelly jar" and "aprons on a clothesline".

This isn't just a book about farming. It's about being new and and trying to fit in where newcomers aren't welcome. It's about love.... and family. It's about coming through difficult times unscathed and knowing you are not alone in the world.


The Case For Christ
The Case For Christ
Author: Lee Strobel
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 129
Review Date: 6/7/2017


This book was interesting and there were some things I found surprising but I read this book thinking specifically about the people that I know that are set in their belief that God is not real and Jesus was just a man. I already believe in God so I was hoping for something that would be very convincing for someone who doesn't believe, at all. I felt that the fact that many of the experts got their education from faith-based schools would cause those people that don't believe to feel those experts were biased. Also, since this was approached as a "case" being investigated and presented to a jury I was waiting for the cross witness or the other attorney (disbeliever) to ask their questions of the expert witnesses. The author does ask the experts what they think about some things critics have said or written in their books etc., but these things seemed pretty mellow most of the time or completely out there. I know there are some scholars on both sides that have had some intense debates that would be more interesting to witness for me. A lot of the time the experts were giving their opinions and the author seemed to accept them too easily when I know other people would still have doubts and questions. Of course, this book is about the author's personal experience and how he went about this process for himself and each person is encouraged to do their own investigation.


The Chase (Isaac Bell, Bk 1)
The Chase (Isaac Bell, Bk 1)
Author: Clive Cussler
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 203
Review Date: 2/2/2012


I really enjoyed this book. The story is woven into historical details making it very interesting. It was the first Clive Cussler book I've read. It's one of those books that starts with an unfinished view of the ending and leaves you wondering what that is all about. Then it takes you back 40 years to to when it all started. Someone is robbing banks and getting away without a trace because he kills any witnesses. He uses disguises and seems to magically disappear when it seems there is no way out of town that isn't being searched. Issac Bell is the keen eyed detective that is called in to catch the "butcher bandit".


A Child Called 'It': One Child's Courage to Survive
A Child Called 'It': One Child's Courage to Survive
Author: Dave Pelzer
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1968
Review Date: 9/22/2006


This is a very sad story but one worth taking note of. I had this book sitting around my house for years refusing to read it because I didn't want to be burdened with the details of another person's sad life. My own are bad enough. I finally read it and it broke my heart and made me pull my boys close to me and tell them both how much I love them each and every day. Every child deserves love and affection from someone, especially their mother. I could just see his sad eyes right through the ink on these pages. This book doesn't keep you down too long though. It is a fast read and leaves you with a story of a man who lived through this nightmare to be a stronger human being with an amazing will to survive. He chose to use his past as a stepping stone to a higher plane. He's not an "it" but a real american "super hero".


Christmas Letters
Christmas Letters
Author: Debbie Macomber
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 223
Review Date: 9/23/2012


This was not one of my favorite books by Debbie Macomber. I really enjoy reading the blossom street series and when I read this book tied in with the story I wanted to read it. It was okay but not something I'd recommend. It was supposed to be a romantic comedy and maybe it is just not my thing but it just seemed too... well it didn't make any since. It all seemed too unbelievable to be enjoyable for me. I did enjoy parts of it though and chuckled a few times (which is the only reason I gave it that half star) but I can't really recommend it to anyone.


Christmas Wishes:  Christmas Letters / Rainy Day Kisses
Christmas Wishes: Christmas Letters / Rainy Day Kisses
Author: Debbie Macomber
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 253
Review Date: 6/19/2017


I've had this book on my shelf because one of the stories, Christmas Letters, was part of the Blossom Street Series by Debbie Macomber. I've read it before but it had been so long I couldn't remember it and I am rereading the series starting from the beginning. I thought Christmas Letters was the better story of the two in this book and enjoyed the humor in it. The other story, Rainy Day Kisses was okay but I am not big on romance stories.


The Color of Magic (Discworld, Bk 1)
The Color of Magic (Discworld, Bk 1)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 432
Review Date: 11/3/2017


A strange tourist sets off on an adventure to see new things and experience adventure. He has lots of gold but he doesn't have to pay anyone to carry his luggage since it has its own feet. He becomes acquainted with a wizard, a lousy wizard but he's not a bad guide. Together they see some amazing sights and may or may not live to tell about it.


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