Books I've read this past week

I'm an avid reader, and with so much travelling on trains this past week, I've had even more chance than normal to do some extra reading. I don't often read 'serious' book, I much prefer fun, silly books that are easy to read.

Picture perfect by Jodi Picoult

First book I read (sorry about the dodgy pic!) was 'Picture Perfect' by Jodi Picoult. The book is about a woman who has amnesia and finds out she's actually married to a famous film star, however as she begins to regain her memory she comes to understand that her life is far from perfect.

I believe this was one of Jodi's earlier books that's recently been republished (but I could be wrong) if so it explains why it lacks some of the more thought provoking plots of her later works. It's still a good story and I enjoyed it, but it doesn't have quite such a unique angle on the topic of domestic violence as I would have expected based on some of her other books.

Jump Cut by Max Allan Collins

 Next I read a Criminal Minds media tie-in novel by Max Allan Collins. This is a continuation of my current obsession with all things Criminal Minds. Even though the reviews on amazon weren't great for all three of the Criminal Minds books, I decided to get them anyway and see what I thought for myself.

This is the first book in the series, and the only one to include Gideon placing it in the second half of series two timeline. The team head to Kansas to investigate homeless people being murdered.

I found that the story over all fitted quite well within the framework from the T.V. series, however it wasn't anything really special. The biggest compliant I came across in other reviews was that the plot could have just been another episode of the show, and the writer made no effort to make the most of his medium by elaborating on a story that wouldn't be possible to produce in a 45 minute T.V. show. I found that whilst I agree with this sentiment, it's not really a big issue for me. I think that the T.V. show does a fantastic job of not being constricted by it's limitations and including everything from its plots, and so the book followed suit.

The only slight criticism I have of the book is that the author seemed to get a few of the characterisations a little inaccurate, at least as far as I perceive the characters to be from watching the show. There was also a little too much emphasis on what people were wearing/eating/listening too music.

Overall I really enjoyed the book, and don't feel that I wasted my time or money on it, and in a few years time I may read it again, I'll also lend it to other fans of the show that I know.

Killer Profile by Max Allan Collins

Following on from reading 'Jump Cut' I then read 'Killer Profile', another media tie-in for Criminal Minds by Max Allan Collins.

In this book the team, now including Rossi instead of Gideon head to Chicago to investigate a series of murders based on the crimes of other famous serial killers.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one. There was still a little too much emphasis on what people were wearing for fans of the show, but in fairness to the author if your also making your book accessible for people who aren't as familiar with the characters than descriptions of people are necessary.

Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong

The final book I read this past week was 'Waking the Witch' by Kelley Armstrong.
I've been waiting for this book to come out since I finished reading the last one a year ago. Kelley Armstrong is the only author whose books I buy in hardback because I'm just too impatient to wait for them to be released in paperback!

This is the eleventh book in the 'Woman of the Otherworld' series and it's narrated by Savannah Levine.

It's Savannah's first time as a narrator and she's all grown up now, having first appeared in the books as an annoying 12 year old, daughter of Witch Eve Levine and Sorcerer Kristof Nast. Savannah goes to a small town in Washington State to investigate a series of murders of young woman that have ritualistic overtures.

I enjoyed the book being from Savannah's P.O.V. but that was about all. Definietly not one of Kelley Armstrong's best efforts, the plot was a little thin in some places and didn't flow very easily and it wasn't very cohesive. None of the plot points fitted together very well and things just kept happening that weren't very logical to the story. The end twist felt like something that was thrown together at the last minute as there were NO indicators at all throughout the book that would allow the reader to come to that conclusion without being told first.

Having been looking forward to this book for a while I was a little disappointed, however I shall continue to await the next one with anticipation in the hopes that this was just a blip.