"No one ever leaves alive, The house at 7 Ocean Drive"....The Bookbabe Review of The Murder House by James Patterson & David Ellis

I have a fondness for mysteries; and it seems I also have a fondness this month for James Patterson novels. This is my fifth time reading Patterson; however, it's my third time reading him so far this year. (Yes I am aware we are only 25 days into 2017 lol) The Murder House was just the type of page turner I needed. It was dark, twisty, and fast paced. Boy, oh Boy, how it kept me guessing. In the novel we are introduced to Det. Jenna Murphy, who is resettling into a new job in Bridgehampton, NY. Jenna was forced out of a job with NYPD after turning over evidence on dirty cops to the wrong person. So disgraced and wanting to get back to the job she loves she finds herself working for her uncle; in a small town PD.
Just a few weeks after arriving Jenna finds herself trying to weasel her way onto a Murder investigation. However, her uncle (the Chief of Police) puts up road blocks and stops her from getting into deep.
This does not stop Jenna, who is only interested in the truth and finds herself ass deep in a mystery that begins to feel as if it involves the entrie town. And perhaps there is a cover up to keep some the lid on something big. Thrust into the story as well is Noah Walker, the man accused of a horrific double murder. Jenna just can not shake the fact that Noah is not a killer. She can just smell a set up. But she can not really figure out The Who, the what and the why of it all.
Noah himself is just trying to keep his head on straight - all the while trying to understand what's happening to him and how he really fits into all of it. Sooner or later, and very reluctantly, Noah and Jenna are forced to confront one another and join forces to catch a murderer.

This book was one hell of a ride, intense and dark and twisty. It lead you down the path of a sociopathic killer who paraded himself as a pillar of the community. He is the last person you would expect in the end. It also reveals a dangerous secret that about Det. Murphy that even she didn't see coming. I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.com.

Quotes I liked:
"Simpleton with violent tendencies and the empathy of a rattlesnake, but other than that a dear boy"

One sit reads: The Trouble with Women by Jacky Flemming

This book has been floating around the Litsy community for a while so I thought I would give it a try. And boy did I not like it. I get that it was supposed to be witty and sarcastic; poking fun at sexism. However, it over did it and was vaguely insulting and obnoxious. I mean I get it but jeez. This could have been so much better. I have this book 3/5 stars on GoodReads.

Here are some images from the book:

New Releases: Coretta Scott King Memoir

It's only fitting that on MLK Day that I find out about the release of a new Coretta Scott King memoir. I really can not wait to purchase this book and to read about her life and how the movement shaped her and her family.

Here is the synopsis of this book:

Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose. While enrolled as one of the first black scholarship students recruited to Antioch College, she became politically and socially active and committed to the peace movement. As a graduate student at the New England Conservatory of Music, determined to pursue her own career as a concert singer, she met Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister insistent that his wife stay home with the children. But in love and devoted to shared Christian beliefs as well as shared racial and economic justice goals, she married Dr. King, and events promptly thrust her into a maelstrom of history throughout which she was a strategic partner, a standard bearer, and so much more.

As a widow and single mother of four, she worked tirelessly to found and develop The King Center as a citadel for world peace, lobbied for fifteen years for the US national holiday in honor of her husband, championed for women's, workers’ and gay rights and was a powerful international voice for nonviolence, freedom and human dignity.

Coretta’s is a love story, a family saga, and the memoir of an extraordinary black woman in twentieth-century America, a brave leader who, in the face of terrorism and violent hatred, stood committed, proud, forgiving, nonviolent, and hopeful every day of her life.

Martin Luther King, Jr Day

Today the U.S. honors civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. King was a man that used his power as a minister to bring about social change. He organized marches, sit ins, and boycotts. The most famous being the Montgomery Bus Boycott - which started with Rosa Parks and lasted for while over a year. King was champion for voting rights and helped to wage war on income inequality. He was a man that was killed way to young and left so much work unfinished. Some of his dreams where realized - desegregation happened during his lifetime. And voting rights were expanded to African Americans.
Of course some of the things King fought for still need work; still gets push back. We are seeing restrictions on voting and income inequality looms larger than ever. So in King's memory I want to dedicate my year to working harder on social justice issues that mean a lot to me - voting, education and, access to healthcare. We are all better people when we are helping to uplift one another Dr. King is proof of that.

^ this last photo is probably my favorite; it is of Dr. King with minister Malcolm X.

One sit reads: The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

In the hurry to get the rest of my reading goal met I have decided to do several one sit reads. And tonight's selection was The Sleeper and the Spindle. This small volume has been sitting on my TBR shelf for months. I really have no clue why it took me so long to get to this book.
In this book Neil Gaiman takes us to a small kingdom that is falling under a "sleeping spell" - a spell that was cast on a young princess in a Kingdom that borders their own. The young queen of this kingdom takes it upon herself to go and save her people; and she (along with the dwarves that accompany her) are immuned to the sleeping spell. Our Queen in question was once asleep herself for a year; in a glass coffin. (That should be a clue to who she is. She is never named).
They make their way to the castle; only to discover that things are not what they seem. The villain is killed in the end but there is no real happy ending. The people of the Kingdom the Queen rescues has no clue what happened. And the Queen heads back to her Kingdom to get married.
This little book seems to have two intentions 1)to let the reader know that women are capable and equiped to save themselves; 2) Not all fairy tales get happy endings - sometimes the endings are all to real. This book also left me with some questions like: Where did the villain come from? Will the Queen take the same lead in her own life? Will she marry because it's what is expected or because she wants to? Maybe she needs to rescue herself.
The main attraction of this book was the artwork (by Chris Riddell); the illustrations where gothic and hauntingly beautiful. Which is what I would expect in a book about spells, witches and queens. I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.com.

****Above is just some of the artwork for the book****

My next obsessions

So many books so little time; so then why in the world do I get caught up in series? I end up reading no Series books and falling in love only to be sucked back in....if it's not Robert Galibraith (aka J.K. Rowling), Cassandra Clare, or Sarah J. Maas then it's J.R. Ward.
I was introduced to her via my two friends Linda and Lauren. Both of who love her books and encouraged me to read them. I was not sold on the first one I read; Dark Lover. And for over two years the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series sat on my book shelf collecting dust. It was not until last year that I dusted it off and read it. Mainly because I was in between series and in need of an easy, uncomplicated read. It was then that I feel in love. And so here I am having read several books in that series and now I am turning to the Fallen Angel series. And man a live will these be my new obsession.
Talk about addictive; I just finished the first one and I can not wait to review it this weekend (along with three other books). These books are going to be my new obsession!

J.R. Ward; authoress of The Blackdagger Brother, Bourbon Kings and Fallen Angels series

A great way to keep your books....

I can not tell you when the last time was that I allowed a friend to "borrow" a book. A majority of the time I just buy my friends copies of the books I love; giving them away as gifts. Honestly if you lose or damage any book of mine I will most likely have a fit. I love my babies to much to risk them being ruined.