The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Synopsis :

Audrey Niffenegger's dazzling debut is the story of Clare, a beautiful, strong-minded art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: his genetic clock randomly resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous and unpredictable, and lend a spectacular urgency to Clare and Henry's unconventional love story. 

That their attempt to live normal lives together is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control makes their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Time stood still for me as I enveloped myself into The Time Traveler's Wife recently.   This is not a new title and it was a very popular many years back and there was a movie adaptation as well.  I didn't read the book in it's height of popularity and neither did I watch the movie.  Such, I have no prior expectations from it other than it's a fairly thick book.

I have no idea why there are others who dislike the book and called those who do, having 'poor taste'.  Well I like the book. It wasn't the most easy book to read but the story itself was arresting enough for me.  It was emotional experience and I guess some people just don't have the imagination for it.

I won't analyse the book as to it's cultural connotation, no differential styles between characters and some even analyse to how many times certain phrase appears in the book! Well, that's them and I guess they don't get much enjoyment out of a love story for that's what this book is, not a science fiction, but a love story...a love story that transcends time and goes beyond dimensions.


I cry buckets at certain section of the books and yes, at the ending too....*sniff*  I love it.

The Ritual by Adam Nevill

Synopsis :

Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. A place of dark ritual and home to a bestial presence that is still present in the ancient forest, and now they’re the prey.

As the four friends struggle toward salvation they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees...

My first book by Adam Nevill was Last Days which I read last year.  Since then I have been on the lookout for his books but they are not in the mainstream bookstores.  The only stores of which stocked Adam's title, so far, from what I can see, is Kinokuniya in KLCC.

And for course, the state library of which was my initial introduction to Adam Nevill's titles.  When I was there a few weeks back, I can't help to to see if there's any and yes, The Ritual was the only title there at that time so even though I have a lot of other TBR titles at home,  I just have to have this one.

The Ritual is creeeeeepy.  It is horrifying and it's thrilling.  The image cover itself is already extremely creepy.  From the first chapter right up to the last, it's not a book to be read while at home alone thus you might scared yourself silly but that's what I did and scared myself silly I did too!  

There's a section in the middle of the book that was a bit out of syn, like the author was a bit at lost on how to progress on with the story but after a while, I think he managed to bring everything back together and tie everything together rather well.

I can't wait until I get my hands on anther title by Adam Nevill.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

Synopsis :

Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two.

DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab's DNA cases currently in court.


Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation.

Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

The Drop is the second of Michael Connelly's book that I read in recent years. The first was The Overlook read about four years ago.  The Overlook also features the same character but I guess he wasn't a very memorable character as I am not able to recall anything about him.

The Drop however, left an impression as it's a very thrilling thriller. It started off very well with the possibility of a crime and also investigation of a crime from a cold case.  There wasn't any connection but the movement from one case to another was very fluid and exceptionally captivating.

Harry Bosch wasn't a very nice person but where being a cop is concerned, I guess he is a good cop.

I highly recommend this book to those looking for a thriller. 

House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti

Synopsis :


A mind-bending supernatural thriller from the creators of This Present Darkness and Saint.

Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker -- two of the most acclaimed writers of supernatural thrillers -- have joined forces for the first time to craft a story unlike any you've ever read. Enter House -- where you'll find yourself thrown into a killer's deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose... and the only way out is in.

The stakes of the game become clear when a tin can is tossed into the house with rules scrawled on it. Rules that only a madman—or worse—could have written. Rules that make no sense yet must be followed.

One game. Seven players. Three rules. Game ends at dawn.


I bought this book because it's a collaboration of two heavy weights in the world of supernatural thriller especially one with Christian messages.  It sat on my shelf for a couple of years and for some reason and it was only recently that I decided to 'make an honest book out of it'. :) just playing with words here.

I love the cover....dark against an equally sinister and creepy background, it should house within it an equally dark and creepy story.  I was right and wrong at the same time.  The story was confusingly dark and creepy...confusing because everything just seems to go round and round and I got extremely muddled!  It was dark and creepy because there are scary moments and the message....I am not sure I am able to interpret it especially since there's always seems to be some sort of theology message behind books by these two authors.  

Can Susan be a representation of Christ who doesn't have to be in the world but yet came into the world (i.e. the house) to save those inside it?  And the characters and their actions, do they represent the dwellers of the world?  Perhaps someone can read and share with me your interpretation of this story?

Not Without My Sister by Kristina Jones, Celeste Jones and Juliana Buhring

Synopsis :

The true story of three sisters betrayed in the name of love, deprived of their childhood and robbed of their innocence.

The devastating first hand account of three sisters' courageous struggle to escape a perverse community that robbed them of their childhood.

I didn't want to put up the whole synopsis.  I thought that would be enough and let the sisters share their stories with you if you choose to read it.

Not Without My Sister is quite a difficult book to read as it evoked emotions of disgust, sadness and disbelief of what the sisters went through.  The book itself is not any of the above.  On the contrary, it's a book of courage and strong convictions.  It's what they went through and the people that abused them were disgusting.

What is terrifying is that Not Without My Sister is a true story and the sisters are somewhere out there in the world and they are not the only ones with stories to tell.  There could be more equally sad or even with more terrifying stories.

I gave this book up for sale at a recent book exchange session with other fellow readers.  While it's a good book, it's not a book that I would like to read again.  Let others get to know of the stories of these sisters.

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci

Synopsis :

Edgar Roy--an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility-is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins--en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered. 

It is now up to them to ask the questions no one seems to want answered: Is Roy a killer? Who murdered Bergin? With help from some surprising allies, they continue to pursue the case. But the more they dig into Roy's past, the more they encounter obstacles, half-truths, dead-ends, false friends, and escalating threats from every direction. Their persistence puts them on a collision course with the highest levels of the government and the darkest corners of power. 

In a terrifying confrontation that will push Sean and Michelle to their limits, the duo may be permanently parted.

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci brings reader to his two well know and probably pretty well liked characters, King and Maxwell.  I first met these two characters in another of David's title but I couldn't remember which title at this point.

That said, I think I would remember this book in years to come (hopefully) as it was a pretty good read.  The story is pretty thrilling and fast paced and I was pretty captivated by it especially since it was read during the recent long holidays that we had.

As for the ending, I won't actually call it a twist but it was a good enough ending for for that I do recommend this to you if you're looking for a thriller.

Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown

Synopsis :

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of past, tragic mistakes, she has led a life of virtual solitude, coming alive only when she hosts her show. To her loyal listeners, she is a wise and trusted friend who not only takes their music requests but listens to their problems and occasionally dispenses advice.

Paris's world of isolation is brutally threatened, however, when one listener -- a man who identifies himself only as "Valentino" -- tells her that her on-air advice to the girl he loves has caused her to leave him and that now he intends to exact his revenge. First he plans to kill the girl, whom he has abducted -- which he says he will do in 72 hours -- then he will come after Paris.

Joined by the Austin police department, Paris plunges into a race against time in an effort to find Valentino before he can carry out his threat to kill -- and to kill again. To her dismay, she finds that one of the people she must work with is crime psychologist Dean Malloy, a man with whom she shares a history that had a catastrophic effect on both their lives. His presence arouses old passions, forcing Paris to confront painful memories that she had come to Austin to forget.

As the clock ticks down, and Valentino's threats come closer and closer to becoming a reality, Paris suddenly finds herself forced to deal with a killer who may not be a stranger at all.

It has been a long, long while since I read anything from Sandra Brown.  I remember she writes thriller. I remember there would be element of romance in the thriller but beyond that I have quite forgotten about her.

Hello Darkness are among the lot I bought from someone from the capital city quite a while back.  She wanted to contribute to charity and thus selling her book.  I helped by buying them so, it was a win-win situation for both.

I brought this title with me during my recent work trip and alternating between the other book that I brought, it was a very pleasant trip as I was practically in the middle of nowhere!

Hello Darkness is quite a page turner.  Readers were kept guessing as to who 'Valentino' might be and he could be a few of the characters identified earlier to the the readers.  Playing the guessing game is part of the thrilling effect in this book.

It's a nice title to get acquaiented with this author again.