Book Reviews | Book Chatter

BoneMan’s Daughters

By Ted Dekker, Read by Robert Petkoff
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Pub. Date: April 2009
ISBN-13: 9781600246043
Edition Description: Unabridged

The blurb from Barnes and Noble:

Military intelligence officer Ryan Evans is married to his work; so much so that his wife and daughter have written him out of their lives. Sent to Fallujah and captured by insurgents, he is asked to kill children not unlike his own. The method: a meticulous, excruciating death by broken bones that his captor has forced him to learn.

Returning home after the ordeal, a new crisis awaits. A serial killer is on the loose, and his method of killing is the same. Ryan becomes a prime suspect, which isn’t even the worst of his problems: Ryan’s daughter is BoneMan’s latest desire.

In a story that is devastating in its skill and suspense, – Ted Dekker brings to bear his ability to terrify and compel in BONEMAN’S DAUGHTERS.

The Short of It:

Dark, creepy and a bit twisted yet entertaining at the same time.

My Thoughts:

*no spoilers*

I won this audio book from Dar over at Peeking Between the Pages and thought it would be perfect to listen to during my commute, both to and from work. You see, I am not a big audio book listener. I have the perfect commute for it but I tend to lose interest as my mind wanders while driving. However, I gave this one a shot and found myself completely lost in the story.

It’s twisted but not overly graphic and yes there is bone breaking and yes, I did find myself cracking my knuckles a a lot while listening (I know, I am one sick puppy!) but it held my attention and had enough suspense to keep me listening. I did tire of the “it’s not me, it’s him” scenario. Listening to it, it seemed to go on too long but it didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of it.

Although not terribly graphic, I would refrain from playing this in the car, on the way to swimming lessons and you will probably never want to use Noxzema again in your life but that’s okay.

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

By Laurie Viera Rigler

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9780525950769
304pp

The blurb from the author’s website:

Part comedy, part love story, part time-bending social commentary, RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT is the story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in the body and life of twenty-first-century Los Angeleno Courtney Stone. Jane had long wished to escape the confines of a life where she could not live alone or travel alone, and where her only career options were marriage or maiden aunt. But leaving 1813 England behind and awakening in a high-tech, low-morality world is not what she had in mind. Nor is Courtney’s tiny urban box of an apartment in Echo Park, complete with bars on the windows and graffiti on the gate. Gone are the rolling lawns and hovering servants of Jane’s family estate. Nothing—not even her own face in the mirror—is the same. The only thing that is familiar, and the only thing she seems to have in common with the strange woman in whose life she has mysteriously landed, is a love of Jane Austen.

The Short of It:

A light-hearted romp through present day society.

My Thoughts:

A lot of readers are calling this book a “sequel” but it is in fact a parallel storyline to Rigler’s first book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. In Confessions, Courtney ends up in the 1800’s and hilarity ensues. This book tells us Jane’s half of the story as she experiences life in a modern day world.

I have to say that I did not enjoy this book as much as the first. I know! I am cringing as I type this but I think I know why. In this book, Jane has to learn how to live in OUR world. This includes working, paying bills, getting frustrated with technology, etc. Since I live that life now, it wasn’t an escape for me. Smart phones and DVD players just aren’t that exciting when you use them all the time. I want adventure! I want to go to another world and lose myself for a bit. I didn’t get that with this one just because of the nature of the story. It’s present day, hello!

With that said, I think that Jane’s story may have worked better if it had been integrated along with Courtney’s. It would have been a good mix of the past and the present. I know that when I was reading the first novel, I often wondered about Jane and what was going on in her world.

Overall, it did explain some leftover items from the first novel so if you are curious about the other half of the story, do pick it up but know going in, that it is slightly different in the telling since its focus is the here and now. I actually think the two together would make a really fun movie.

Here’s the book trailer: