Quicksand

Title: Quicksand

Author: Iris Johansen

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Rating: A-

Blurb: "Do you still miss your little Bonnie?"

This one sentence, spoken by a madman in an anonymous phone call, is all it takes to drag Eve Duncan right back to that horrifying day when her only daughter vanished without a trace. Since that day, her life has become an obsession to find Bonnie's remains and put the pain of her death at rest. However, one man wants nothing more than to prevent that from happening. He is every woman's waking nightmare: a brilliant, ruthless killer whose hunting ground stretches from coast to coast. But taunting Eve Duncan might be his first and last mistake...

For Eve is armed with more than just her talent as a forensic sculptor and her fierce protective nature. She brings with her former Navy SEAL Joe Quinn, an Atlanta detective who will do whatever it takes to bring Eve some kind of peace, even if he has to lie to her to do it.

Eve's only salvation may be through the mysterious skills of another woman whose chilling talent leaves her as tormented as Eve - and as driven to bring this monster to justice. But when lives are in danger, every step could be a trap, and every inch of solid ground seems to be shifting under their feet. And this killer wants nothing more than to lure Eve further and further into his swamp of madness...

Opinion: Quicksand is the latest in the Eve Duncan series, and sequel to Stalemate which was featured earlier. :) I really enjoy Iris Johansen novels because she writes very simply, but one thing which I find rather disappointing is that the plots are recurring. I can easily predict the ending of the novels and the way the plot will progress, and that's saying something for someone as dense as I am.

That said, she's not all dull and boredom. There is a slight twist of anticipation throughout the novel that keeps you reading and reading. The characters are well-developed, although Eve's anguish is beginning to grate away at me because, well, I keep expecting a fantastic discovery about her daughter and when I get to the end of the book, I feel all flat and disappointed because no, the leads were all false and therefore they are back to square one.

~rage-chan

Heartstopper

Title: Heartstopper

Author: Joy Fielding

Genre: Thriller

Rating: A-

Blurb: Welcome to Torrance, Florida. Population: 4160. As Sheriff John Weber would attest, the deadliest predators to date in his tiny hamlet were the alligators lurking in the nearby swamps. But that was before someone abducted and murdered a runaway teenage girl...and before the disappearance of popular and pretty Liana Martin. The pattern is chilling to Sandy Crosbie, the town's new high school teacher. With a marriage on the rocks, thanks to her husband's online affairs, and a beautiful teenage daughter to protect, Sandy wishes she'd never come to the seemingly quiet town with shocking depths of scandal, sex and brutality roiling beneath its surface. And as Sheriff Weber digs up more questions than answers in a dead-end investigation, one truth emerges: the prettiest ones are being targeted, the heartstoppers. And this killer intends to give them their due...

Opinion: Well, there wasn't much to keep me reading, I admit. It just barely grazed the edge of my interest with its blurb, and being bored, naturally I picked it up and started reading.

Still, it was half-way decent with a pretty solid plot, no real 'evidence' of savagery like other authors regarding how she described the murders, not much sadism, but interesting enough nonetheless to keep me reading until the end. I would've given this a B if not for the brilliant twist in the end. I gues maybe the author had dropped some pretty broad clues especially near the end of the novel, but being the dense person that I am, I suspected near about everyone except the killer. XD

Fielding also touches on issues like physical appearances ("Boobs, baubles, and bloated, boinking, blond bimbos." anyone? XD) and how shallow some people are, and that in reality, looks and appearances count for a lot, especially if you're a high school student. Because I still have my English essay to work on, I will not attempt to highlight the 'major issues' of the novel. XDD

I think this warrants a read, especially if you enjoy thriller/crime sort of stories. ~rage-chan