Matt's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 22 Jun 2024 16:25:16 -0700 60 Matt's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)]]> 2548559
Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicenter of the Rotunda. It is, he recognizes, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him.

Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...]]> 509 Dan Brown 059305427X Matt 3 3.50 2009 The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)
author: Dan Brown
name: Matt
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/08/01
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves:
review:
Great story telling again from DB and some interesting philisophical discussion along the way. However i did feel as though he copped out of the main storyline somewhat and the mysterious atmosphere created by Rome, Paris and London for the first two installments was definitely missing in Washington.
]]> <![CDATA[Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 578587
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 620 Dan Brown 0552150738 Matt 4 3.82 2000 Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: Matt
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2008/12/01
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A New Earth: Create a Better Life]]> 6256415 ISBN has been moved to a newer version: here.

A modern manifesto, it calls us to awaken from our ego-based consciousness to a state of being based on Presence, which is nothing other than the absolute source of Being itself.]]> 313 Eckhart Tolle Matt 4 4.26 2005 A New Earth: Create a Better Life
author: Eckhart Tolle
name: Matt
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2009/08/01
date added: 2016/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2732977 Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret an will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.]]> 538 Stieg Larsson Matt 4 4.15 2005 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2010/08/20
date added: 2013/11/27
shelves:
review:
Slow to start but worth the perseverence. I liked the piecing together of the unsolved mystery from decades ago and the modern day legal wranglings added a great second dimension to the story. Will definitely read the second part now. I think the publishers must have done a rushed job of the proofreading - heaps of mistakes.
]]> <![CDATA[Without Warning (The Disappearance, #1)]]> 6556195
In Paris, an assassin wakes from a coma.

In the pristine forest of the Cascades, a lone hiker watches a plane crash into a mountain.

And just north of the Equator, a moder-day pirate, a rogue Tasmanian, is witness to the unspeakable.

A wave of inexplicable energy has slammed into America. And destroyed it.

Now, allied soldiers are fighting a war without command; an assassin flees from her would-be killers. The line of Presidential succession is in tatters. What will the world do without the last Superpower?

For the jihadists, Allah has performed a miracle. For the US and it's allies, Armageddon ahas arrived. Australiasia, for from the noxious waste darkening Europe's skies, beckons as a possible oasis.

But not all of America is gone. Here and there a city on the edge of the continent escapes the wipe-out.

Who and what will fill the void?]]> 560 John Birmingham 1405038128 Matt 3 3.50 2009 Without Warning (The Disappearance, #1)
author: John Birmingham
name: Matt
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2012/05/16
date added: 2012/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]> Beneath the Shadows 10123986 In this thrilling gothic suspense debut by Sara Foster in the tradition of Rosamund Lupton and Sophie Hannah, a young mother searches Yorkshire’s windswept moors for the truth behind her husband’s mysterious disappearance.

The answers are hiding Beneath the Shadows

When Grace’s husband, Adam, inherits an isolated North Yorkshire cottage, they leave the bustle of London behind to try a new life. A week later, Adam vanishes without a trace, leaving their baby daughter, Millie, in her stroller on the doorstep. The following year, Grace returns to the tiny village on the untamed heath. Everyone - the police, her parents, even her best friend and younger sister - is convinced that Adam left her. But Grace, unable to let go of her memories of their love and life together, cannot accept this explanation. She is desperate for answers, but the slumbering, deeply superstitious hamlet is unwilling to give up its secrets.

As Grace hunts through forgotten corners of the cottage searching for clues and digs deeper into the lives of the locals, strange dreams begin to haunt her. Are the villagers hiding something, or is she becoming increasingly paranoid? Only as snowfall threatens to cut her and Millie off from the rest of the world does Grace make a terrible discovery. She has been looking in the wrong place for answers all along, and she and her daughter will be in terrible danger if she cannot get them away in time.

Runtime: 9.66 Hours]]> 338 Sara Foster 1741668719 Matt 5 3.70 2011 Beneath the Shadows
author: Sara Foster
name: Matt
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2010/02/01
date added: 2012/05/16
shelves:
review:
Great read - it got the hairs standing up on the back of my neck! Loved the atmosphere that was conjured up by the creepy setting and characters and the story kept me guessing about what was going to happen right till the end. Inspired me to read Rebecca, which is also great.
]]> The Turning 3074263 The author of Dirt Music and The Riders captures the urgency of memory and the way an entire life can be shaped by one event from the past in this capsule of connected stories set on the coast of Western Australia.

Tim Winton's stunning collection of connected stories is about turnings of all kinds—changes of heart, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents, sudden detours, resolves made or broken.

Brothers cease speaking to each other, husbands abandon wives and children, grown men are haunted by childhood fears. People struggle against the weight of their own history and try to reconcile themselves to their place in the world.

With extraordinary insight and tenderness, Winton explores the demons and frailties of ordinary people whose lives are not what they had hoped.]]> 317 Tim Winton 0330422731 Matt 3 3.92 2004 The Turning
author: Tim Winton
name: Matt
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2011/09/12
date added: 2011/09/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Kite Runner 437129 340 Khaled Hosseini 0747566534 Matt 4 4.27 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2011/02/09
date added: 2011/08/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Caught 7880063 Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators by elaborate - and national televised - sting operations. Working with local police on her news programme Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team has publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friends to troubled teen, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.

In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben's trademark, Caught tells a story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who finally realises that she can't trust her own instinct about this story - or the motives of the people around her.

'Harlan Coben is the modern master of the hook-and-twist - luring you on the first page, only to shock you on the last.' - Dan Brown

]]> 388 Harlan Coben 1409112500 Matt 3 3.84 2010 Caught
author: Harlan Coben
name: Matt
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/26
date added: 2011/07/26
shelves:
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]]> The Last Whale 5397213 240 Chris Pash 1921361328 Matt 3 4.09 2008 The Last Whale
author: Chris Pash
name: Matt
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/20
date added: 2011/07/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[We Are the Weather Makers : The Story of Global Warming]]> 1615779 0 Flannery Tim 192114534X Matt 3 3.78 2006 We Are the Weather Makers : The Story of Global Warming
author: Flannery Tim
name: Matt
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/08
date added: 2011/07/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Infidel 81227
Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion of free speech as well as the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice. Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries ruled largely by despots. She escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Under constant threat, demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from family and clan, she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali’s story tells how a bright little girl evolves out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely or more significant.]]> 353 Ayaan Hirsi Ali 0743289684 Matt 4 4.17 2006 Infidel
author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
name: Matt
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2011/07/01
date added: 2011/07/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harpoon: Into the Heart of Whaling]]> 7388772 To many, the whale is a majestic mammal, the 'mind in the ocean'. What were once whaling towns have become homes to hordes of devoted whale watchers, and whaling, for the most part, was thought to have been vanquished. It was just a matter of waiting for those few misguided nations still whaling to come to their senses.
That never happened. Instead, the whalers came back. In 1987, the first full year after the worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed to, 100 whales were killed on the end of grenade-tipped harpoons. In 2005, the figure was around 2,500.
Harpoon reveals the political machinations and manipulation at the highest levels that have allowed some countries, particularly Japan, to continue hunting whales against the wishes of the world, with the IWC powerless to stop the slaughter.]]> 296 Andrew Darby 1741146119 Matt 3 3.75 2006 Harpoon: Into the Heart of Whaling
author: Andrew Darby
name: Matt
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2011/06/16
date added: 2011/06/17
shelves:
review:
Really well researched, interesting read. I didn't realise the extent to which the Soviets had been conning the world. I can't believe that the debate on this outdated industry rumbles on in to the 21st century. Go Sea Shepherd - keep up the good work and put it to bed once and for all.
]]> The Passage (The Passage, #1) 2776789
In Memphis, Tennessee, a six-year-old girl called Amy is left at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and wonders why her mother has abandoned her.

In a maximum security jail in Nevada a convicted murderer called Giles Babcock has the same strange nightmare, over and over again, while he waits for a lethal injection.

In a remote community in the California mountains, a young man called Peter waits for his beloved brother to return home - so he can kill him.

Bound together in ways they cannot comprehend, for each of them a door is about to open into a future they could not have imagined. And a journey is about to begin. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human.

And beyond.]]> 766 Justin Cronin 0752897853 Matt 2 3.94 2010 The Passage (The Passage, #1)
author: Justin Cronin
name: Matt
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2011/06/09
date added: 2011/06/17
shelves:
review:
Really, really long - I had to persevere really hard in the middle as it was very slow going. I enjoyed the last third much better as the pace picked up during the main protagonists' journey to discover answers. I also felt a bit let down at the end as there were questions left unanswered and more than likely a set up for the sequel. After investing so much time in it i wanted it done and dusted in one book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]> 243330 The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.

For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.

Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan

]]> 279 Malcolm Gladwell 0316316962 Matt 3 3.93 2002 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Matt
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2011/01/15
date added: 2011/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Four Fires 2344 986 Bryce Courtenay 155278391X Matt 3 4.27 2001 Four Fires
author: Bryce Courtenay
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2011/01/14
date added: 2011/01/14
shelves:
review:
My first Bryce Courtenay read and wow it was long - too long perhaps. I really enjoyed reading about life in Yankalille and Tommy and Mole's adventures goin bush and fighting fires and the horrors of the POW camps in WWII, however the middle sections to do with Mike's fashion career and Sarah's entry to uni and even Bozo's boxing career just seemed to linger on a bit long for me. 50:50 as to whether I would read another BC.
]]> Jasper Jones 7175910
Summer, 1965.

Late one night, thirteen-year-old Charlie Bucktin is startled by a knock on his window.

His visitor is Jasper Jones. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is intriguing. And he needs Charlie’s help. In the dead of night, the boys steal through town, and Charlie learns of Jasper’s horrible discovery.

Burdened by a terrible secret and the weight of a town’s suspicion, Charlie feels his world closing in.

After this summer nothing will ever be the same again.]]> 299 Silvey Craig 0099537540 Matt 4 4.01 2009 Jasper Jones
author: Silvey Craig
name: Matt
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/09/20
date added: 2010/09/22
shelves:
review:
Really liked it - I got a real sense of place from the writing. Absolutely loved the banter between Chuck and Jeffrey
]]> Breath 2176735 Breath is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one’s limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It’s a story of extremes—extreme sports and extreme emotions.

On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrillseeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentor’s past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wife’s peculiar behavior? Venturing beyond all limits—in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behavior—there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Winton’s lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literature’s finest storytellers.]]> 218 Tim Winton 0374116342 Matt 4 3.90 2008 Breath
author: Tim Winton
name: Matt
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2010/09/05
date added: 2010/09/05
shelves:
review:
Great writing conjured up powerful imagery of the ocean - made me want to learn to surf!
]]> The Slap 5396496
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.

In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye onto that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the twenty-first century. The Slap is told from the points of view of eight people who were present at the barbecue. The slap and its consequences force them all to question their own families and the way they live, their expectations, beliefs and desires.

What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children, and the fury and intensity - all the passions and conflicting beliefs - that family can arouse. In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the ever-growing middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant, provocative novel about the nature of commitment and happiness, compromise and truth.]]> 485 Christos Tsiolkas Matt 2
A far better example of story-telling from multiple character perspective is Sara Foster’s Come Back To Me. Here we find ourselves in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy which shapes the four main characters� choices later in life as they aim to reconcile the past and move forward. Whilst the characters� lives and feelings are very different from each other Foster’s expert storytelling allows us to understand motivations and decision making in a far more rewarding way than Tsiolkas in The Slap.
]]> 3.26 2008 The Slap
author: Christos Tsiolkas
name: Matt
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2010/08/31
date added: 2010/09/01
shelves:
review:
This book uses a really interesting premise (The Slap at a suburban bbq) to explore the lives and loves of family and friends who bear witness to the incident. There are moments of good writing which provide real food for thought � I particularly liked the chapter about Manolis and his thoughts on ageing and death. However the overriding feeling about the book that you cannot escape from is how unlike able virtually all of the characters are and therefore it is so difficult to derive any empathy for them or care about any of the consequences of their decisions. Do we need to empathise with characters to enjoy a book or can we just look at it and accept the characters decisions for what they are and not judge? The answer to this question will tell you whether you are going to enjoy The Slap.

A far better example of story-telling from multiple character perspective is Sara Foster’s Come Back To Me. Here we find ourselves in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy which shapes the four main characters� choices later in life as they aim to reconcile the past and move forward. Whilst the characters� lives and feelings are very different from each other Foster’s expert storytelling allows us to understand motivations and decision making in a far more rewarding way than Tsiolkas in The Slap.

]]> <![CDATA[Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls and Ganja]]> 590319 206 Amit Gilboa 9748303349 Matt 3 3.29 1998 Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls and Ganja
author: Amit Gilboa
name: Matt
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2003/11/01
date added: 2010/08/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Alchemist's Secret (Ben Hope #1)]]> 3084415 Where there’s Hope there’s trouble�

THE ALCHEMIST’S SECRET introduces hero Ben Hope, a former elite SAS soldier tortured by a tragedy from his past, who now devotes his life to rescuing kidnapped children.

But when Ben is recruited to locate an ancient manuscript which could save a dying child, he embarks on the deadliest quest of his life.

The document is alleged to contain the formula for the elixir of life, discovered by the brilliant alchemist Fulcanelli decades before. But it soon becomes apparent that others are hunting this most precious of treasures � for far more evil ends. It seems that everyone � from the Nazis of the past to the shadowy modern organisation known as Gladius Domini � wants to uncover the secrets of immortality.

Teaming up with attractive American scientist Dr Roberta Ryder, Ben is led on a wild and dangerous trail from Paris to the ancient Cathar strongholds of the Languedoc, where an astonishing secret has lain hidden for centuries…]]> 486 Scott Mariani 1847563406 Matt 2 3.95 2007 The Alchemist's Secret (Ben Hope #1)
author: Scott Mariani
name: Matt
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2010/08/25
shelves:
review:
Didn't really grab me - DB rip-off with not as good story telling. Didn't finish it in the end
]]> Last Chance to See 823526
]]> 206 Douglas Adams 0330320025 Matt 4 4.34 1990 Last Chance to See
author: Douglas Adams
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2000/01/01
date added: 2010/08/17
shelves:
review:
Great book and very sobering to think that some of these amazing creatures could be lost from the planet forever.
]]> <![CDATA[The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 269831
Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, a stunning historical truth will be lost forever...
(back cover)]]> 593 Dan Brown Matt 4 3.65 2003 The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Matt
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2004/12/01
date added: 2010/08/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Beautiful Malice 7034333 'Truth or dare?' She asks.
I hesitate. 'Truth,' I say finally. 'I can imagine one of your dares, and I don't fancy running down Oxford Street naked tonight.'
'Truth,' Alice says slowly, drawing out the vowel sound as if she's savouring the word. 'Are you sure? Are you sure you can be completely honest?'
'I think so. Try me.'
'Okay.' And then she looks at me curiously. 'So. Were you glad, deep down? Were you glad to be rid of her? Your perfect sister? Were you secretly glad when she was killed?'

Katherine has moved away from her shattered family to start afresh in Sydney. There she keeps her head down until she is befriended by the charismatic, party-loving Alice, who brings her out of her shell. But there is a dark side to Alice, something seductive yet threatening. And as Katherine learns the truth about Alice, their tangled destinies spiral to an explosive and devastating finale.

An intense and addictive psychological thriller.]]> 304 Rebecca James Matt 4 Great pace all the way thorugh.
Look forward to the next book.]]> 3.75 2010 Beautiful Malice
author: Rebecca James
name: Matt
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/01
date added: 2010/08/11
shelves:
review:
I was instantly hooked.
Great pace all the way thorugh.
Look forward to the next book.
]]> Rebecca 892601 Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . ."
The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 397 Daphne du Maurier 0330247093 Matt 4 4.34 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/01
date added: 2010/08/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Cell 815431
The event became known as The Pulse. The virus was carried by every cellular phone operating in the world. Within hours, those receiving calls would be infected.

Clayton Riddell, a young artist, knows he has to reach his son before the boy switches on his phone. And time is running out.]]> 475 Stephen King 0340921536 Matt 3 3.37 2006 Cell
author: Stephen King
name: Matt
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2009/01/01
date added: 2010/08/11
shelves:
review:
Loved the premise and the book started really strongly, however it didn't maintain the quality for me so I was left a bit disappointed by the end.
]]> Come Back to Me 8544432
When Mark introduces his date, Julia, to Chloe and her husband at a London restaurant, it's obvious that something is very, very wrong. Alex and Julia pretend not to know one another, but the shocked expressions on their faces tell another story.

As the mystery of Julia's identity unravels, a terrible tragedy from ten years ago gradually comes to light. While Chloe struggles with a secret of her own, Alex has to decide whether he should take Julia back to Australia to try to lay the past to rest, when doing so will risk all he has with the wife he loves.

And Julia must decide whether to finally confront Alex with the whole truth about what happened back then.

Set in London and Perth, Come Back to Me is a taut psychological drama that will keep you enthralled until the very last page.]]> 462 Sara Foster 1741668697 Matt 5 Love the writing
Love the twists and turns
Can't wait for book number 2!]]> 3.57 2010 Come Back to Me
author: Sara Foster
name: Matt
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/02/01
date added: 2010/07/20
shelves:
review:
Love the characters
Love the writing
Love the twists and turns
Can't wait for book number 2!
]]>