Thursday, February 21, 2013

Chosen by Denise Grover Swank


 

4 stars

I like to solve problems.  I do it for a living and I am known to analyze too much by my friends and family.  So it is not a surprise that I like mysteries.  I hadn’t heard of Denise Grover Swank but I found this book on Amazon’s free books and decided to give it a try. 
Emma Thompson is the single mother of Jake and there are “bad guys” attempting to hurt him.  She struggles to keep Jake safe while attempting to give him a normal childhood.  Not so easy when people are chasing and shooting at you.  The reader is not informed why people are chasing Jake, but the action is well written and draws you in. 
Will Davenport is introduced as a mercenary, a bad guy, but not associated with the bad guys chasing Jake and Emma.  The interactions between Will and Emma alert the reader to the classic romance setup between Emma and Will.  The jealousy, bickering and conflict are all there and I like them both and wanted them to just go with it.
Now the story gets a bit spooky.  Up to this point, the story gives us mystery, romance and a bit of a supernatural trend.  I don’t put the book down.  Who are the true bad guys in the book?  Jake’s behavior become mysterious as does Emma’s behavior.  At this point in the book I have a flashback of Dean Koontz’s Servants of Twilight when the reader is thrown into a similar puzzle.  Hmmm…Servants of Twilight is one of my all-time favorite books.  Could Jake Thompson and Joey Scavello be similar characters?  Hmmm….  I won’t spoil it for you.
I went on to purchase and read Hunted (The Chosen #2) and Sacrifice (The Chosen #3). 

Friday, February 8, 2013

Quotes that I love







You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

~William J.H. Boetcher

I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

~Christopher Reeve

Not since the days of slavery have there been so many people who feel entitled to what other people have produced as there are in the modern welfare state, whether in Western Europe or on this side of the Atlantic.

~Thomas Sowell

The homemaker has the ultimate career.  All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career.

~C.S. Lewis

The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

~Mahatma Gandhi