Blue Monday
by Nicci French
Narrated by Beth Chalmers
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Suspense
Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
Publish Date: March 1, 2012
Format: Audio, 11 hours | 14 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Medium
Rating: 4 of 5
Blue Monday is the first book in a new series by Nicci French featuring psychotherapist Frieda Klein, a solitary character whose life is her job.
We begin 20 years ago with an unsolved child abduction. Joanna Vine’s sister was supposed to be keeping watch over her on their way home from school but she was distracted for a moment, and Joanna disappeared. Now another child has gone missing only this time a boy, and under similar circumstances. This couldn’t possibly have been done by the same person, too much time had passed between the abductions. Or had it?
Meanwhile Frieda has a new patient who is having disturbing dreams of a little boy, a child he longs to have. The description of the child he sees matches that of the missing boy, Matthew. Frieda is disturbed by this and informs the police. At first the police don’t take Frieda’s concerns seriously, but soon a connection develops between this abduction and the one from 20 years ago, and Frieda becomes involved in the case.
I love a good mystery and Blue Monday, my first experience reading Nicci French, had all the right elements. It’s a suspenseful, well-plotted and fairly complex mystery with just enough creepy to give the reader a few shivers, but not so intense as to scare away more sensitive readers/listeners.
The story is told from Frieda’s point of view with occasional short, disturbing, passages from the missing child, Matthew. Frieda spends time introducing us to what I believe will be recurring characters in future books in the series. The pacing is moderate through most of the book but picks up towards the climax at the end and contains a couple of neat twists, one of which I didn’t suspect until just before it was revealed. The ending I predicted, but I believe we, the reader, were supposed to see that coming. Perhaps Frieda doesn’t see this yet because we will be revisiting this plot element in the next book, and I hope we do. Think of an episode of television’s Criminal Minds, where the hour is over but you want to know more about the bad guy.
Even though the plot was fairly complex, the audio was a pleasure to listen to. I never lost the story line and always knew which characters were speaking. Narrator Beth Chalmers did an excellent job with the accents and the pacing. Her rendition of Josef, Frieda’s handyman, was delightful and her voice for Matthew, the frightened abducted child, had just the right amount of fear.
Overall a good psychological suspense story and recommended first book in a new series. I’m looking forward to reading more of Frieda Klein in future books in this series.
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Source: Review copy from the publisher.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who entered.
[Winners were selected by random.org.]
The Good Father
Georgette
and
Mary Ann
Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit
A Journal For Jordan
[Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop]
Natalie
More Opportunities To Win
Upcoming events include the No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop which runs from April 17th through 22nd. Almost 100 blogs are participating in this giveaway of a book or bookish item with no hoops to jump through to enter, and many are international. I will be giving away a copy of Wanna Get Lucky by Deborah Coonts. This is book one in the Lucky O’Toole Las Vegas adventure series and the giveaway will be open internationally.
Next week I will be posting my review of the new John Grisham novel, Calico Joe, and will be giving away two copies (US only). Baseball fans, you won’t want to miss this one. Other upcoming giveaways are The Book of Madness and Cures and The Lifeboat.
In the meantime, check the sidebar for giveaways hosted on other blogs.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Tulips
Daffodils at the cottage door
Azealia
Window Box
Almost Wordless: Chicago Flower & Garden Show March 2012.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Believing the Lie
by Elizabeth George
Narrated by Davina Porter
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: January 1, 2012
Format: Audio, 23 hours | 8 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Advanced
Rating: 3 of 5
Secrets, silence, lies. The dysfunctional Fairclough family has many of them as Inspector Thomas Lynley soon discovers when he is sent undercover to investigate the death of Ian Cresswell, nephew of the wealthy and influential Bernard Fairclough. The police have ruled it an accident, but a few people had a motive to want him dead, or did they?
This is the seventeenth Inspector Thomas Lynley novel and I knew I was taking a chance jumping into a series that has been running this long. I would be missing a lot of the back story, but I like mysteries and thought I would give it a try.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get engaged in the story until almost half way through the book. I know, you’re thinking, huh, you actually listened for 10 hours and weren’t into the story? Well, yes, I did, because I wasn’t sure if I was having problems because I was coming into a series at the 17th book, or if it was the story itself and I wanted to give it a fair chance. In the end decided it was a little of each.
After I finished the book, I had mixed feelings about it. There were too many characters and way too many story lines and subplots for me. And a few of them were unbelievable. The story was not tightly plotted and the author tackled a range of subjects including alcoholism, homosexuality and transgender identity, infertility and surrogacy, and even child pornography.
There were a few twists towards the end that I didn’t see coming until the last minute, but it wasn’t enough to save the unsatisfying ending. There was not enough of a mystery for me; really no mystery at all, just a long, psychological drama. [Next sentence is a spoiler, highlight to read]:
After 23 hours of story we are told there was no murder. Oops, it really was an accident!
Narrator Davina Porter did a fine job with a huge cast of characters, but the unwieldy story line made the audio version difficult to follow. Maybe if I was already familiar with the characters in the series it would have been easier to concentrate on the multiple story lines, remember all those people and the location changes. Sometimes it’s just easier in print. A map of the area and a list of characters would have helped immensely. This book in audio is not a good choice for those new to audio or the easily distracted.
Although I wasn’t thrilled with the book, I did like a few of the story lines and characters. I would have enjoyed it more if it had a little more editing, a little less detail and fewer hours of listening. Perhaps I should try one of the earlier Inspector Lynley novels. Anyone have a suggestion on which one to read?
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The April host is Cindy’s Love of Books.
I participated in bloggiesta the past three days which kept me very busy working on the blog and learning new things. There is a wealth of information to be had from all the wonderful bloggers who participated and generously shared their knowledge and their time. I highly recommend joining in the next Bloggiesta in September, even if it’s only for a few hours.
I’ve only been requesting/accepting a limited amount of print books as I’m falling behind on my reading/reviewing. Why? Because it’s been so nice outside so early in the year. I have a new landscaping project I’m working on and I’m always expanding and rearranging my garden. That’s why I love audiobooks. I can still read while I’m working. So I’m happy to accept audio copies for review.
From Harper Audio for review:
Voyagers of the Titanic
by Richard Davenport-Hines
On the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the “Titanic” comes a magnificently written history that brings into focus the people involved in this legendary tragedy–the dealmakers and industry giants behind the ship’s creation as well as its passengers, both aristocrats and immigrants, and its crew.
From Penguin Audio for review:
Unnatural Acts
by Stuart Woods
When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. But as Stone and his erstwhile protégé, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case—and an old one comes back to haunt him—he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go…
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
by Jenny Lawson
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started.
How was your week?
Whew! Bloggiesta has officially ended. If you missed the fun, don’t worry, there will be another installment later this year. Mark your calendars for September 28, 29 and 30.
What I Accomplished
I didn’t count the total hours I spent working on the blog, but I did devote most of Friday, a chunk of Saturday and a few hours on Sunday to the project. Although I didn’t get everything on my list done, I feel I accomplished most of my goals.
Mini-Challenges
I especially enjoyed the mini-challenges. I officially participated in four of them but visited all of the challenges in an effort to learn a little bit about everything. My wrap-up post has the details.
Artistic Changes:
I created a new cover photo for my Facebook Page. Facebook has changed the design of their Pages and instead of a landing page, visitors are now directed to the timeline and a cover photo.
I changed the background of the blog. I was tired of the old one and wanted something different but I didn’t want to use a print or a pattern. So I created a gradient graphic and tiled it in the background. I also wanted to remove the ugly orange rss logo from the header, but my template will not allow that change and I am stuck with it.
Work on the blog
I backed up the blog, which was very easy. WordPress has an export feature for the text portion.
The self-hosting research is ongoing. I need to read more before I decide on a host. The process itself seems fairly simple. WordPress provides detailed instructions and an import/export feature. My template is available in wordpress.org. I already own my domain. All I need now is a host.
I added a copyright notice to my review post template and will put it at the end of each post. I made the text smaller and lighter in color so it is not obtrusive, but can still be noticed. This is not required to preserve my rights but it’s extra protection against someone who says their didn’t know about copyright. I had a few incidents last year where another blog copied a post verbatim without permission. I don’t know if this will help, but it can’t hurt.
I wrote a few blog posts but not the one I intended to write. I hate when that happens!
Other Stuff
I attended one of the twitter parties. I don’t do twitter very often but once I got Tweet Deck set up for #bloggiesta it was fun. I was even able to help with a few technical questions. Yaay! I will have to do twitter more often.
I did not get to clean up my email and google reader. Fail! I always seem to leave those housekeeping items for last.
I visited other blogs during the kickoff and mini-challenges. I will be visiting more tomorrow to see what everyone else did this weekend.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
I participated in four mini-challenges. I learned about Pinterest, search engines and how to use Windows Live Writer. I also got a start on getting my tags and categories better organized.
1. Use Pinterest for Promotion
at Joy’s Book Blog.
I opened a Pinterest account a few weeks ago but wasn’t sure what I would use it for. So I pinned a few photos and forgot about it. Now I know I can use it to promote my book reviews and it is as simple as can be. I’ll be adding a Pinterest button to my sidebar but until then click here to see my book board. If you’d like to try Pinterest and need an invite, send me an email.
2. Get Noticed by Search Engines
Curious about SEO and Google Page Rank, I choose this as one of my challenges. There is a wealth of information at this challenge and I know I will be referring back to these helpful pages again. The key points I learned about SEO are:
• Always use alt-image tags
• Interlink to your old posts
• Link to other bloggers
I reviewed a few of my posts and added back links and outgoing links, checked my key words with google’s keyword tool, and added alt tags to my images.
3. Learn Windows Live Writer
Until I saw this challenge I had not even heard about Windows Live Writer. To be honest, I tend to avoid all software by Windows other than the operating system itself, so it was a surprise to find that they came up with something that works.
I use WinXP so I needed to download Live Writer. Now that I’ve tried it, I see that it’s something I would not use very often. The ability to write off-line would be helpful, but most of the other features are already a part of the WordPress interface, plus I do a lot of coding in HTML. I’m not familiar with Blogger, but from the comments I’m reading this would be an enhancement and probably more useful for those on that platform. Either way, I’m glad to have learned something new.
4. Organize Categories/Tags
I’m still working on this one. I underestimated the amount of time it would take to get through three years of posts and add tags. My goal is to streamline the categories into a few broad classifications and use tags for the detail. I started by reviewing the least used categories and eliminating them. Next I will combine subcategories and then review my tags. This will be an ongoing process.
Did you participate in any challenges?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 