Smiling Jack by Ken Catran

Title: Smiling Jack



Author: Ken Catran



Published: Auckland : HarperCollins Publishers, 2010



Pages: 271



Snippet:"It was clear that deep secrets had been stirred, and were now swirling around me. There'd been three deaths already, and I had a disturbing sense that there'd be more."



Summary: Robert lives in a small, prosperous rural town where his father is a respected and trusted pillar of the local community.
When his father and uncle are killed in a road accident, Robert's comfortable world is shattered. At the time he barely thinks about the evil grin on the playing-card Jack found at the site of the accident. Until the third death. And the fourth. With Jack's leering, malicious grin there each time. Robert realizes he never knew his father - and as friends and neighbours turn against him, he is forced to look deep into the shadows if he is to get out alive. (Taken from Goodreads)



Review: I was a huge fan of Ken Catran's Talking to Blue trilogy which are big murder mystery books. So when I found out about Smiling Jack I got really excited and tried everything to get my hands on it. In a way I'm glad I did get to read it so fast and that I enjoyed it. But I think after Talking to Blue I had far too high expectations of Smiling Jack and it just wasn't as good.



Smiling Jack is a good read of its own right though. There's no doubt about that. If you're a fan of mysteries then you will enjoy Smiling Jack. By the end I had figured out who the murderer was but I hadn't figured out the motives or some other tiny little details so it was actually a nice surprise in the end.



I really liked Robert as a character.  He was just really down to earth and a great character.  I hated how the townspeople treated him though, I really thought they were far too harsh on poor Robert.  Apart from Robert none of the other characters really stood out to me although Sarge Peggy was pretty cool.



There was a twist at the end that was a little crazy but it wasn't too bad.



To be honest I felt like this book was written more for a younger young adult age group. The writing wasn't too advanced and it was quite simple. It doesn't take very long to read through at all.



Overall, Smiling Jack is a good book by one of my favourite New Zealand authors and I really hope that Ken Catran writes more murder mystery books in the future. If you ever get the chance to read Smiling Jack then I suggest you do because it is pretty awesome.



Source: Library



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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Graveyard Book





Author: Neil Gaiman





Published: London : Bloomsbury, 2008





Pages: 312





Snippet: "You are obvious boy. You are difficult to miss.  If you came to me in company with a purple lion, a green elephant and a scarlet unicorn astride which was the King of England in his royal robes, I do believe that people would stare at you, dismissing the others as minor irrelevancies."





Summary: When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. (Taken from Christchurch City Libraries)





Review: This is the third book by Neil Gaiman that I have read and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.  The Graveyard Book is split into 8 short stories that all relate to Bod at different times in his life and they all tie together which made it something different to read.





I got a lot of laughs out of The Graveyard Book which was a nice surprise.  I found myself laughing out loud at so many different parts of the book.





Character-wise I have to say that they were all really interesting.  I like Bod, he was different to others characters so it made it more interesting.   I liked Silas too, he was so mysterious.  After I finished the book I read a bit about what Silas is supposed to be and I have to say I really didn't pick up on that one.





The stories are all really enthralling and it doesn't really take long to read through each chapter because they're truly fascinating.





I have to say though, that this book is probably best suited for 10-12 year olds but at the same time it's still a really enjoyable read.





If you like ghost stories, or books similar to The Jungle Book, then I think you'll like The Graveyard Book.





Source: BorrowedSource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/murder
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Wicked by Sara Shepard

Title: Wicked





Author: Sara Shepard





Published: New York : HarperTeen, 2009





Pages: 310





Series: Book 5, Pretty Little Liars





Snippet: "It was as if Hanna had dreamed the whole thing."

Summary: The stalker's identity has finally been revealed but high school juniors Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and Aria seem condemned to repeat the past as they resume their unrepentant ways.





Review: Oh My Goodness! Wicked is such a great book.  So many secrets and so many mysteries, I'm dying to know more.

The ending was such a cliffhanger that as soon as I finished it I groaned inward because I hadn't gotten the next book in the series.

I'll be making this review short because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read the books or haven't read up to this one.  But if you haven't read it you definitely should read it because this is such an amazing series and really addictive so make sure you have ready access to all of the books.

I found Wicked to be a really good book, so suspenseful and so addictive.  A couple of things I kind of expected to happen but most of it really surprised me.  I just wish I could read the next book.

If you haven't discovered the Pretty Little Liars Series yet then you definitely should.





Source: Library



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All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Title: All Unquiet Things





Author: Anna Jarzab





Published: New York : Delacorte Press, 2010





Pages: 339





Snippet: "I put my hand to my head, suddenly dizzy."





Summary: After the death of his ex-girlfriend Carly, northern California high school student Neily joins forces with Carly's cousin Audrey to try to solve her murder.





Review: I am a huge fan of mystery stories and when I read that All Unquiet Things was a mystery story with no supernatural or paranormal elements I thought I'd give it a go.

I have mixed feelings about All Unquiet Things. The first part is kind of slow and the character's weren't that interesting in the first part either.

Luckily however, things started to get a lot more interesting and I found myself sucked into the mystery of the story.

Towards the end I was pretty sure I knew who the murderer was and I was proud to find out that I was right.

At the very end there was one part that I was hoping would happen didn't but you can't have everything.

Overall, All Unquiet Things isn't a bad read. If you find it hard to get into at first give it a chance because it gets better in the end.





Source: LibrarySource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/murder
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Unbelievable by Sara Shepard

Title: Unbelievable





Author: Sara Shepard





Published: New York : HarperTeen, 2008





Pages: 335





Series: Book 4, Pretty Little Liars





Snippet: "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the naughtiest of them all?"





Summary: Four girls living in a wealthy suburb discover the identity of a stalker who has been sending them shocking text messages, and uncover the mystery of who killed their childhood friend.





Review: Wow, wow and another wow for effect.  Unbelievable is quite literally unbelievable.  Meaning it is unbelievably good!





So much suspense too.  I had to get up really early the next morning and I stayed up really late to finish this book because the suspense was crazy and I just had to know what was going to happen.





Throughout Unbelievable I had an inkling of who A was and yes I was right but before that I was quite stumped.  I have my suspicions about who Ali's killer is though.  And I don't want to give too much away about anything so I'm just going to say that the end of this book did open up a new set of questions for me.





I thought it was sad watching all four girls go from having really happy lives into sad, depressing ones because people do things that other people won't like or could hurt other people but at the end of the day some of the things A pointed out about the girl's just didn't seem all that bad.  It was sad to see how A was so into getting revenge they couldn't see that they were becoming worse than the girl's.





Overall, I loved Unbelievable and cannot wait for the next book, Wicked, which is out now.  I think this series would be best read when you have access to a lot of the books at once because they are really addictive.





Source: LibrarySource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/murder
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Perfect by Sara Shepard

Title: Perfect





Author: Sara Shepard





Published: New York : HarperTeen, 2007





Pages: 298





Series: Book 3, Pretty Little Liars





Snippet: "Suddenly, she knew exactly who A was."





Summary: After their missing friend's body is found and another of their friends commits suicide, four former best friends live in fear of their secrets being exposed by someone who is stalking them via their cellphones.





Review: After reading the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series I was interested.  After reading the second book in the series I was addicted.  I think that now I've read the third book, Perfect, I am obsessed.  I simply cannot get enough of this series and I want to read more and more.





I'm glad I started this series later than earlier. I find myself having to read the next book straight after I finish the one I've just read.





Perfect is amazing.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it was perfect but I would say it was getting pretty close to it. I am truly blown away.





Some of the people I wanted to shake some sense into, others I feel so sad and so sorry for.  Like why can't A just let these girls live their lives! A is truly annoying me.  I want to know who you are A!!!





Oh and I really like Lucas, he seems so cool.  He'd definitely be someone I'd like to hang out with.  I hate how he was treated at one part because I had a feeling what was coming next would come.





The ending was such a cliffhanger that I really want to know more.  I hope that what happened isn't the end of things.  If you've read it you'll know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, I refuse to spoil it for you.





Well, there is only one thing I can do now that Perfect is over and I'm at the end of this review; and that is to pick up Unbelievable.





Source: LibrarySource URL: https://free1image.blogspot.com/search/label/murder
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Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

Title: Looking for JJ





Author: Anne Cassidy



Published: London : Scholastic, 2004



Pages: 299



Snippet: "It made her feel horrible for days after."



Summary: "Looking For JJ" explores the circumstances and motives behind the murder of a child - by her best friend. Seven years later, JJ has now been released, and has a new identity. But is there any way that she can lead a "normal" life?



Review: Looking for JJ was an interesting book. I thought it was alright but nothing overly special.



The main thing that kept me reading was what happened to JJ, what caused her to murder someone, and who did she murder. I was also expecting the ending to be something crazy. But no, the ending was a bit sad in some ways but at the same time it made the book a little pointless.



I think the characters I liked were Frankie and Rosie. They seemed pretty cool.



I also felt that part of the book doesn't connect with the other part. The JJ part and the Alice part, to me it just seems like there was something missing between the two.



Overall, I think that Looking For JJ was an entertaining read but it wasn't anything overly special. If you have some spare time and you like suspenseful novels then this book is for you.



Source: Library



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While I Live by John Marsden

Title: While I LiveAuthor: John MarsdenPublished: Sydney : Macmillan, 2003Pages: 300Series: Book 1, The Ellie ChroniclesSnippet: 'I think that was one of the effects the murders had on me.'Summary: For Ellie Linton, being back on the farm with her parents is what makes the terrible things that happened during the war -- the things she, Homer, Lee, Fi, and the others had to do -- all worthwhile. It's where she belongs.But the war won't let her go. A devastating tragedy has shattered any hope she ever had to reclaim her life, or herself. It's a new kind of fight. And the enemy isn't always from the other side of the border.
Review: When I read the Tomorrow series by John Marsden I really loved them. Then when I found out there was a series set after the Tomorrow series I was very excited because I did like this series. So when I finally read the first one I thought it was alright.
One thing I didn't think was so great was that none of my favourite characters except for Ellie were in it but there's a good reason for that.
While I did find it really interesting and I thought it was great how the book got straight into the action I did find it a bit dry in places and there was one part of the story where Ellie was thinking about her parents that I found a bit odd.
However, I loved how it talked about the aftereffects of the war.
This is a trilogy so I'll definitely be picking up the next two books in the series because I'm curious as to what can happen in those two.Source: Library
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1st to die by James Patterson

Title: 1st To Die
Author: James Patterson
Published: London : Headline, 2001
Pages: 343
Series: Book 1, Women's Murder Club
Summary: As the only woman homicide inspector in San Francisco, Lindsay Boxer has to be tough. But nothing she has seen prepares her for the horror of the honeymoon murders, when a brutal maniac begins viciously slaughtering newlywed couples on their wedding nights.
Review: I quite liked reading 1st to die for a change of pace. I've read another mystery book by James Patterson before and I have to say that it seems like 1st to die is very similar.
I loved the mystery element, I loved following along with the story to find out who the murderer was.
But then when the murderer was revealed I found the book went around in circles a little bit. I love twist endings but to me it just seemed like there were too many twists, it was just twist after twist after twist. Although, I read a lot of mystery books and for me the ending was kind of obvious. I had it worked out who was responsible for the killings. But it is always fun to find out if you're right.
The characters were all really cool though. I liked everyone in the Women's Murder Club.
I think that if anyone is a fan of adult books and murder mysteries then you would love 1st to Die and quite possibly the rest of the Women's Murder Club. I know that I will definitely be reading the rest of this series at some point.
Apart from the ending, 1st to Die is definitely a worthwhile read.
Source: Library
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