Book Review: The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The Pact- Jodi Picoult

Synopsis:

Emily Gold and Christopher Harte have known each other their whole lives, having grown up next door to each other in the small town of Bainbridge, New Hampshire. Virtually inseparable, the two are best friends and soul mates, with their friendship blossoming into a romantic relationship when they reach their teens. Their parents, Melanie and Michael Gold, and James and Gus (Augusta) Harte, are just as excited at the romantic union between their children- unsurprised at the turn that their friendship has taken- and impatiently wait for the day when they will be able to call each other in-laws, rather than just best friends.

But everything changes one night when Emily and Chris are admitted into hospital- Emily with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The gun, belonging to Chris’ father, is found at the scene, with one unspent bullet still remaining in it. Chris tells police that the second bullet was intended for him, to complete the suicide pact he made with his girlfriend, but that he fainted before he could take his own life.

Doubting Chris’ story, the police decide to launch an investigation, naming Chris as the main suspect, and treating Emily’s death as a homicide…

What I gained from reading this book:

As with all of Picoult’s novels, The Pact raises some serious issues- most notably issues regarding teen suicide and love- and challenges the sincerity of the old saying, ‘Innocent until proven guilty’.

Chris’ life is irrevocably changed as he finds himself on trial for his beloved’s murder. His intense love for Emily, and his willingness to see her happy -whatever the cost- is his ultimate downfall. He learns who his true friends are, and discovers just how far his mother is willing to go to show her unwavering support for her son. Similarly, he sees how, despite his distancing himself from the problem, his father still tries to show compassion for Chris’ cause.

All of this is in direct contrast to Melanie Gold’s reaction to Chris’ involvement in her daughter’s death. Melanie, despite knowing Chris his whole life, is unable to comprehend that her daughter was suicidal, instead preferring to pin the blame on Chris, labelling him a murderer. She refuses to believe that her daughter wouldn’t talk to her about any problem that she may have had. This raises the question: How well do we ever really know our friends and family? There is always the perception that we should know when something is wrong, but in actuality, sometimes these problems can remain a secret until it’s too late to do anything about them. This book highlights the anguish faced by two grieving families, and serves as a lesson to readers that sometimes we don’t know people as well as we’d like to think we do.

Positives:

This novel is beautifully written- Picoult makes it easy to understand and feel the conflict that Emily experiences in her relationship with Chris. Similarly, the tension and the emotion surrounding Emily’s death and Chris’ subsequent incarceration and trial, is extremely life-like, and draws us into the characters’ world.

Negatives:

This novel could be a little bit depressing for some people. Emily believes that all of her troubles will disappear if she can find a way to end her life, and as we progress through the book, we can see that this belief is what pushes her to make the decisions that she does- ultimately turning Chris’ life upside down. People who are looking for a light and fluffy read should steer clear from this novel.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Genre: Family/ Relationships

Recommended for: People who would do anything for love, even if the end result involves serious repercussions.

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Book Review: Out by Natsuo Kirino

Out - Natsuo Kirino

Synopsis:
Masako, Yayoi, Yoshie and Kuniko work the night shift at a boxed-lunch factory in the Tokyo suburbs, creating thousands of ready-made meals each day.
Despite their differences in age and social standing, the women have quite a bit in common- each burdened with difficult relationships, financial woes and familial pressures. While working in the factory isn’t the most social of jobs, the women are able to form a tentative friendship, which helps to break up the gruelling monotony of the production line, and allows them to vent their frustrations with one another.
One day, driven by anger and an intense hatred of her gambling, philandering husband Kenji, Yayoi finally snaps and strangles him to death. Not knowing who else to turn to, Yayoi calls Masako and begs for her help in disposing of the body.
For reasons that even she’s unsure of, Masako agrees, and enlists the help of the others to dismember and dispose of the body.
Despite their care in making sure Kenji’s body disappears for good, some of his remains are discovered in a local park, and soon police are looking for suspects in his murder case.
But the women have more to worry about than detectives, when they learn that a yakuza-connected loan shark has discovered their secret and is threatening to expose them unless they meet his demands. Worse still, a nightclub owner, who the police wrongly accuse of Kenji’s murder, is out for revenge after he loses everything. With his business destroyed and the terrible secret from his past revealed, he is determined to find the real culprits and make them suffer.
Can Masako, Yayoi and the others find a way to distance themselves from the crimes they have committed? Or will they face the ultimate punishment for what they have done? Their own deaths…

What I gained from reading this book:
Appearances can be deceiving, and this is shown throughout the entire novel.
To the public, Yayoi appears to be the innocent housewife- worrying about, and then grieving for her murdered husband- when it’s a known fact to us, the readers, that she killed him in a fit of rage. Masako acts as a protector to Yayoi and the others but she has reached a plateau in her life and finds herself yearning for something, although she has no idea what. Kuniko has a reputation for wearing expensive labels and driving a flashy car, but she’s heavily in debt and struggles financially. Yoshie struggles to deal with her difficult life, yet she represents herself as a model worker at the boxed-lunch factory. Satake has a cool persona in his club, but inside he is hiding a terrible secret from his past as a former yakuza mobster.
There are many more secrets, hidden by many more characters, but my point is that while you think you might know someone intimately, there is always a secret hiding behind the persona. In this novel, most of the secrets are revealed in time, and perceptions are changed because of them, much the same as in real life.

Positives:
The characters in Out are well-developed and you can’t help but get drawn into their lives and the dramas they face. There are so many stories inexplicably linked through the murderous actions of one person- Yayoi- and it’s interesting to see how the whole novel comes together because of her need to retaliate against her husband’s gambling and infidelity.

Negatives:
I have to admit that the ending of this novel kind of threw me. I definitely wasn’t expecting the scenario that takes place, and I’m not sure I can really comprehend the sudden turnaround of some of the characters.
However, while I’m not really a fan of the ending, that’s just my opinion.
You’ll have to read the book to understand what I mean about its conclusion, and form your own judgment.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Crime/ Thriller

Recommended for: Fans of foreign crime writers

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Book Review: How To Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints) by Kathy Lette

How To Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints) - Kathy Lette

Synopsis:
Cassie O’Carroll and her best friends, Jasmine Jardine and Hannah Wolfe, couldn’t be further apart in terms of looks and lifestyles, but their differences do nothing to hinder their strong friendship.
Cassie is a harried mother of two who juggles two full-time occupations- working as a primary school teacher, and looking after a household filled with the injured animals her vet husband takes in.
Hannah lives with her ‘artist’ partner Pascal, runs her own art gallery, and sees her career as the perfect substitute for having a childless relationship.
Jazz, on the other hand, gave up a promising career as a chef to become a stay-at-home mum to her beloved son Josh, and a domestic goddess for Studz- her incredibly rich husband who is renowned for his humanitarian efforts in the medical field, and his flawless work as a cosmetic surgeon.
When Jazz is thrown into prison, accused of murdering her husband on their ‘make-or-break’ trip to Australia, her friends are unable to believe that she is capable of such criminal activities.
But as Cassie recalls the months before the unexpected arrest, she realises that her friend’s sanity may not be completely trustworthy. This is especially the case when she considers all of the betrayals, adultery, toy boys, marriage counselling, work issues and acts of revenge that the women have experienced within that time, and which have impacted immensely on their relationships with their husbands and partners.
It would be enough to drive any self-respecting, modern housewife mad. But could Jazz really have put an end to her marital woes and bumped off her husband?

What I gained from reading this book:
The main thing readers ‘learn’ from perusing this novel is that marriage is a one-way ticket to hell! But there is also a less overt message of love nestled deep within the often-caustic marriage storylines. Cassie habitually complains about her husband Rory’s inability to do anything domestic in the household, but she still defends him when her friend Jazz brings up the issue of his lack of cleanliness. When events in the novel see her and Rory reach breaking point, she comes to realise that even though he has his faults, she still has strong feelings for him, and that a life with him and his messy ways is better than a life without him. This realisation is important for readers because it shows that every relationship has its ups and downs and sometimes the only way to solve the problem is to endure the hardships, and attempt to make things work, no matter how difficult it seems.

Positives:
Lette never fails to put down men in the most humorous, tongue-in-cheek ways possible. Of course, some of the phrases she uses are clichéd, and don’t really come up often in natural conversation, but they’re still good for a laugh.

Negatives:
There are many people who probably won’t be amused with the author’s continuous insinuations about the relevance of men in the family household. Admittedly, sometimes the consistency of her putdowns can get a little overwhelming. But this book is marketed as a comedy, so if Lette’s humour doesn’t appeal to you, then you can always put it down and find something else to read.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Black Comedy

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading Kathy Lette’s ‘man-bashing’ literature.

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Book Review: And Hope To Die by J.M. Calder

And Hope To Die - J.M. Calder

Synopsis:
Lieutenant Solomon Glass has faced many demons while working in the Homicide and Serious Crime division, but none have challenged him more so than the case he is working on now.
A nine-year-old girl, Amy Gardner, has just been abducted- the fourth child taken in the past year. Like the previous three abductions, this one follows the same sadistic pattern- a package arrives at the family home, addressed to the mother and containing a body part. An anonymous letter follows, telling the mother that in order for her child to be released alive, she will have to take her own life. So far, two women are dead and, for reasons unknown, a third is spared and her child released physically unharmed.
With no clues as to who the abductor could be- or what his motive is- and with the public starting to become increasingly alarmed, Glass and his team find themselves at a loss. The kidnapper always seems to be one step ahead- able to anticipate every move that the police make- and the chances of finding Amy alive are growing slimmer every day.
But then the sadistic activities start to become more personal, as the kidnapper begins to insinuate to the lieutenant what he has suspected for some time- the abductions directly involve Glass and his less-than-admirable past, and the children and their mothers are just pawns in a very deadly game.
In a race against time, Glass and his team have to find Amy, outwit the person holding her captive, and ensure that no other children, or their mothers, meet the same fate.

What I gained from reading this book:
This novel highlights the sadistic plots that some people will create in order to feed and nurture the symptoms of their ‘God complex’. This is when some sick individuals feel justified in creating life and death situations in order to exert their power and control over others. Although the abductor in this case is only fictional (luckily), his actions have surely been replicated (although not in exactly the same way) throughout history, in the form of murderous predators who enjoy holding power over their victims. This novel serves as a reminder that these kinds of people actually exist in society, and that they could be the person you least expect to participate in such gruesome behaviour.

Positives:
In many crime novels, it takes a while for the author to set the scene and introduce readers to all the main players in the story. But in And Hope To Die, readers are thrown right into the middle of an ongoing police investigation, knowing just as much about the ‘predator’ as the police who are trying to solve the case. This scenario makes the story much more engaging for readers.

Negatives:
Some moments in the novel’s plotline were a tad predictable, even if they didn’t seem particularly possible during the moments they occurred. Afterwards, however, when each of these moments is explained, the sense of predictability that you felt reading the novel proves to be right. While this helped to move the story forward, it also put the novel into the not-quite-original category for crime narratives.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Crime/ Thriller

Recommended for: People who are interested in crime novels where the reader only learns as much as the investigators at a particular point in time.



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Book Review: Size Doesn't Matter by Meg Cabot

Size Doesn’t Matter - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
Heather Wells is finally living the life she’s been dreaming about for so long. She has a steady boyfriend- who also happens to be her remedial math assistant professor- and although he isn’t Cooper Cartwright (AKA the love of her life) the relationship is going perfectly. That is, of course, except for the 5 kilometre morning runs and vegan lifestyle, which Heather feels she could do without. But for her boyfriend Tad, it may be going too perfectly, especially when Tad tells Heather that he has a question he needs to ask her.
Suddenly for Heather, the ‘rebound’ guy is starting to get a little too serious.
But all thoughts of what the question could be are dismissed when Heather discovers the dead body of her latest boss, Dr Veatch, slumped over his desk with a bullet in his head.
Despite promising numerous people that she’ll stay out of this one, Heather can’t help but investigate the mysterious reason behind her boss’ demise. Could the culprit really be one of the graduate students, who are striking for better work conditions? Or could boring, rule-abiding Dr Veatch have had ties with the mob? After all, it was a clean and professional-looking shooting, and they are in New York.
Whatever the case, Heather is determined to solve the murder, finish studying, end the graduate student strike and convince Cooper he really loves her (despite being with Tad), all while keeping on a low-calorie diet that may or may not be solely made up of junk food.

What I gained from reading this book:
In this novel, Heather finds herself putting on an act for her boyfriend. She pretends that running 5km every morning with him is not a chore, and that she is happy to eat three-bean salad for lunch over the less-healthy option of a bowl of chili covered with melted cheese.
Although she does her best to hide it from him, you can’t help but feel sorry for Heather as she covers her true feelings about different situations regarding Tad. For example, while on their run early in the morning, she pretends to be cheerful because ‘I’m very careful not to let Tad see my real morning persona. Because he’s not ready for it. Yet.’ She also dislikes the fact that Tad doesn’t own a television, yet doesn’t fully voice her opinion about it.
Even though she has been going out with him for about three months, she is still hesitant to let him see what she is really like, and this is something that I think is quite prevalent in today’s society- some people don’t allow their partners to see their true personality because they are worried about what their partner will ultimately think.
Cabot highlights this problem through Heather, showing readers that the inability to properly communicate with a partner can only cause problems further on in the relationship.

Positives:
Cabot introduces a few new characters in this novel, including outrageous Southern PR woman Muffy Fowler, who is on a quest to find a husband, and Reverend Mark Halstead, the handsome but slightly suspicious new youth minister. Most of the characters from the previous novels also make appearances in this book, which will keep fans of this miniseries amused.

Negatives:
The reason for Dr. Veatch’s death, which is revealed at the end of the novel, is a bit of a letdown. But I know that people have killed for stranger things than that in real life, so I can’t really make a comment. Also, anything more brutal would have taken the humorous edge away from the novel and its subsequent happy ending, so I suppose Cabot had fewer choices available to her when it came to removing Dr Veatch from the scene.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoy both Cabot’s writing, and the witty characters she creates.

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Book Review: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
Heather Wells is about to embark on her first semester of classes- while simultaneously working as the assistant dorm director at Fischer Hall- and she couldn’t be more excited. Even though she will have to take remedial maths classes because her SAT scores are so low, Heather hopes that the free classes following her work probation will help her to forget the horrors that befell her the year before.
The promise of earning a BA, coupled with the fact that she has a cool new boss who isn’t hell-bent on killing her, convinces Heather that this year will be one to remember.
But unfortunately for Heather, her plans for a stress-free year don’t include finding the decapitated head of a popular cheerleader in a pot in the cafeteria.
With everybody warning her not to get involved in this particular murder mystery, Heather is more than happy to comply. But then her sense of intuition and justice comes into play and she finds herself asking questions about certain suspicious characters. Before she knows it, Heather is in over her head (no pun intended), trying to inconspicuously solve the case.
With the investigation taking up her time, her ex-fiancé Jordan getting married, her ex-con father showing up on her doorstep and her housemate still oblivious to her love for him, it seems that Heather will be doing more than just studying this semester…

What I gained from reading this book:
This book shows that sometimes there is more to some people than meet the eye. The dead cheerleader, Lindsay, is well liked and popular with her peers and the staff at New York College, but she also has a darker side that she keeps hidden. Likewise, another character in the novel is not as he appears, and it isn’t until towards the end of the story when the reader discovers exactly who he is.
These characters act as reminders that even if you think you know somebody really well, you are probably only seeing the surface of the person that they are trying to portray. People often hide secret parts of themselves from others and it isn’t until something happens that the truth comes out.

Positives:
Once again, the character of Heather is charming and utterly relatable to anyone who has ever suffered from their own insecurities. Her little conversations with the local drug dealer Reggie, as well as student Gavin and the staff at the dorm are also very entertaining, written with classic Cabot wit.

Negatives:
As much as I enjoyed this story, I just didn’t think I could give it any more or fewer stars, considering some of the other novels I have read and reviewed over the last year or so.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoyed reading Size 12 Is Not Fat.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
The life of Heather Wells has been far from ordinary. Once the darling of the teen pop world, and engaged to famous singer Jordan Cartwright, Heather was at the top of the entertainment game. That was, of course, until she rebelled against singing the sugary pop songs that were written for her, witnessed Jordan in a compromising situation with fellow singer Tania Trace, was abandoned and robbed by her mother and saw her dad end up in jail.
Now she works at a New York College dorm as the assistant resident hall director- a job that will guarantee her free university tuition if she passes probation- and boards with sexy private investigator, and Jordan’s older brother, Cooper, in his nearby brownstone apartment.
But Heather’s life is about to change a whole lot more, and not for the better.
When some of the female residents of the dorm fall to their deaths from the building elevators, Heather suspects that foul play is involved. She doesn’t believe the university administrations’ views that the girls were involved in elevator surfing, a predominantly male ‘sport’.
Enlisting Cooper’s help, and relying on a whole lot of junk-food to get her through, Heather’s on a mission to track down the killer of Fischer Hall and put an end to the student deaths…

What I gained from reading this book:
The opening chapter of this novel touches on the sensitive issue of weight, clothing sizes, and what is considered the norm for women’s body shapes. Heather is in a change room trying on pairs of jeans when she overhears the woman in the next stall complaining that the jeans she’s trying on are too big, despite the label saying that they are her size. This prompts the salesman at the store to mention that their clothes use the ‘vanity-sizing’ system, designed to make larger women feel better about wearing a ‘smaller’ size even though they’re still wearing exactly the same size, with only the number on the label reduced.
As a size 12- the size of the average American woman- Heather is outraged by the insinuation that size 12 is fat, and so the title of the novel is born.
Vanity sizing, although common with some clothing companies, is luckily starting to get phased out as more and more women become comfortable with their bodies and the image they want to project. For some readers, Heather’s sizing experiences may be a comfort, especially since she is portraying the image of a normal-sized girl, rather than a stick-thin heroine.

Positives:
Heather, while she has her quirks, is a somewhat relatable character. She is a fairly normal girl who loves to eat junk food, lusts after her housemate Cooper with an almost obsessive tenacity, and would rather have a bath than a shower because she’s too lazy to wash while standing. Although these aren’t behaviours that most people indulge in, readers are still able to relate with her character and see parts of their personality within her.

Negatives:
The character of Heather can be a little irritating, especially in the first few chapters where she continually calls her workplace a dorm, only to correct herself and call it a residence hall- every single time! But luckily this annoying affliction does ease up as you get further into the story.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading stories about former pop stars who’ve reconstructed their lives.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: The Other Extreme by T.J. MacGregor

The Other Extreme - T.J. MacGregor

Synopsis:
Jay Hutchin is an esteemed judge and respected member of the community. But while he is looked upon as an authority of the judicial system, he is also leading a secret life away from the courts, by having an affair with an up-and-coming actress named Diane Jackson- a woman who is taking Hollywood by storm and also seeing other men on the side. When Jay kills Diane in a jealous rage, he has to try and do everything in his power to prevent the press from discovering his involvement. This is especially crucial after the President’s chief of staff contacts Jay to inform him he is on the shortlist for a possible appointment as attorney general. With the FBI delving into his life to determine his suitability for the position, Jay has everything to lose if his role in Diane’s death is made public.
Meanwhile, defence attorney Kit Parrish is hired to defend Diane’s boyfriend, who has been arrested for the murder. While she is collecting evidence for the defence, FBI agent Ben Webster enters her life, reopening a cold case which involves Kit’s brother Pete, who disappeared a decade before. If that’s not enough to contend with, Kit also has to deal with her son’s strange behaviour, which is triggered by voices only he can hear.
Kit faces many challenges in her efforts to save an innocent man from a life sentence, put the real culprit behind bars, and help her son uncover ghosts from memories that belong to someone else.

What I gained from reading this book:
This novel shows how jealousy and greed can change people’s lives, and how too much power can corrupt even those whose duty of care shouldn’t be compromised. Although Jay Hutchin is a figure of authority, he finds himself stooping to the level of the people he convicts in an effort to reign supreme and ‘beat’ the judicial system. He even goes so far as to plan the downfall of Diane’s boyfriend, who has been arrested for her murder despite his innocence. This shady portrayal of the judge helps to raise awareness that there are people out there who consider their interests before everyone else’s, and that this is not just a weakness held by people of little power.

Positives:
This story holds all the trademarks of a political thriller like you’d see on the big screen, with paranormal elements such as memory transfers also thrown into the mix. It’s difficult not to get drawn into the intertwining storylines.

Negatives:
The sub-plot involving Kit’s son Ryan and the memories he keeps on dredging up is interesting, but it is also very easy to determine whose memories they are. This predictability, despite the characters not piecing it together, can sometimes be infuriating for readers.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Paranormal Thriller

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading a good murder mystery, even if some of the characters seem to have abilities beyond the norm.

Book Review: The Blood Hunters by Katherine Ramsland

The Blood Hunters - Katherine Ramsland

Synopsis:
When four dead bodies are found throughout Bucks County in Pennsylvania, Detective Teri Lewis has her hands full; these deaths are unlike any that the seasoned homicide investigator has ever seen. The victims have been burned from the inside out before their death, are missing blood, and have been bitten- by snakes and other creatures that aren’t quite human- in what is believed to be part of some strange vampiric ritual.
While Detective Lewis follows false trails and dead ends to find the culprits, a young vampire by the name of Christian is sent to Mexico by his elite squad to extract a rival vampire, who holds special abilities that can solve the vampires’ problems back in Bucks County. With the vampire’s existence partially compromised, and human authorities coming ever closer to discovering the real creatures behind the murders, it’s up to Christian to bring the much stronger vampire back, and prove to his peers that he has what it takes to be a part of the vampire elite.

What I gained from reading this book:
In this novel, both Christian and Detective Lewis feel that they have something to prove. Both have previously made very public mistakes that have either cost the credibility of their positions or endangered others. The situation involving the murders is their chance to redeem themselves in front of their peers and earn back their respect. Through this underlying theme, readers are able to see that everybody feels the need to prove themselves, regardless of outwards appearances, and that this need is universal.

Positives:
It is interesting how the author is able to juxtapose the lives of vampires with those of humans and draw links between how each species affects the other. Usually in most vampire stories, readers only see the point of view of either the humans or the vampires, and so this novel is unique in that both sides are covered.

Negatives:
This isn’t just a vampire story- it is also a forensic case where humans are trying to solve murders, so if you don’t really want to read about the coroner’s determinations of the victims’ deaths and would prefer to read just a vampire horror story, this probably isn’t the book for you.
Rating: 6 out of 10

Genre: Horror/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoy well-plotted murder stories, even when they know who the culprit is from the start.



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Book review: Panic by Jeff Abbott

Panic - Jeff Abbott

Synopsis:
Evan Casher is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, who thinks his life is moderately normal- especially in comparison to his film subjects. He has a great new girlfriend, and his mother and father, a travel photographer and computer consultant respectively, have a strong and steady marriage.

But everything changes when Evan receives an urgent phone call from his mother, telling him to return immediately to the family home in Austin. She offers no explanations, and Evan, understandably expecting the worst, travels across Texas to see her.

However, when he arrives at the house, he discovers his mother’s brutally murdered body lying on the kitchen floor, a hitman waiting for him, and his life in mortal danger.

With his father missing and his girlfriend gone AWOL, Evan learns that the important people in his life are not who he thought they were. He has to sift through the entangled web of lies and deceit that create the foundation of his life, in an effort to discover the truth about his past, before he too suffers the same fate as his mother.

What I gained from reading this book:
This book is a good reminder that you shouldn’t take anything for granted. Evan’s whole life as he knows it is ripped apart, and with no warning, after his mother’s untimely death. Evan has to struggle to put the pieces back together and create some semblance of the life he once knew.

Positives:
This fast-paced novel, which takes place over 29 days, is big on gun-toting characters but its Abbott’s well thought out plot that makes this book such an intense and interesting page-turner. With a storyline that could easily be adjusted to suit the big screen, Abbott manages to create an exciting, and somewhat believable story filled with intrigue, assassins, spies and mystery.

Negatives:
This book is probably not a good choice for people who are looking for a light and entertaining read. Panic is very much a murder and espionage-type novel, filled with car-chases, shoot-outs and the obligatory bad guys. You won’t find any sweet storylines here.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Genre: Crime/ Thriller

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading murder mysteries with a twist

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