Review of Jeffery Deaver's "Roadside Crosses"

I just finished Roadside Crosses tonight by Jeffery Deaver and it was excellent, as expected. He writes thriller, suspense type novels that have a bit of mystery as well. This book was very exciting and fast-paced; it definitely kept me guessing, intrigued, and engrossed.

I'll try my best to give a brief summary, despite the story's complexities. It opens up with a roadside cross being discovered on a highway in California. In case you have been living under a rock, roadside crosses are usually put up in commemoration of people who were killed in auto accidents near the location of the death. People also place flowers and other small gifts, sometimes adorning the cross with names, dates, and decorations. The roadside cross that was spotted by a police officer was made of tree branches, and had a bouquet of red roses at the bottom of it. In the center was a date to signify the death... however, the date was for tomorrow. Hmm...

As the story evolves, it is discovered that someone is placing roadside crosses as a warning or sign of a murder they will be committing on the date written on the cross, usually today's date or the following day. The primary suspect is a high school boy, Travis, who has been viciously attacked on a very popular and widely read local blog, The Chilton Report. The blog reported a story in which Travis was blamed for an auto accident, killing two girls. Many of his fellow high school classmates left feedback on the blog, saying horrible things about him. Now that Agent Kathryn Dance, the lead investigator on the case, has suspected him, he has seemed to vanish, but the crosses keep appearing, and people who commented on the blog about Travis continue to be attacked.

I won't say more about the summary, but this has barely skimmed the surface. There is so much to this story, including many "twists and turns" and surprises. There are many subplots as well that make up a good portion of the story too, including an investigation into Agent Dance's mother, Edie, a nurse at the local hospital, being accused of committing a mercy killing on a patient.

I love Jeffery Deaver's novels, and this book was not a disappointment. The only thing I found negative about the book is that there is a lot going on and it can be a bit confusing at times. However, it all comes together at the end, just pay close attention! His books are very exciting and realistic crime stories. He knows his stuff too, as he used to be a lawyer. His books are quick paced and a ton of fun to read. As a supplement to the book, Deaver even created a Chilton Report blog, which is pretty neat. I would highly recommend this book. I was never really into the thriller/suspense genre until I started reading his books. I would also recommend his bestseller, The Bodies Left Behind, which I read a few months ago and also really enjoyed.

Currently Reading: Moments With Baxter by Melissa Joseph. This is a book of photos and short essays about an 18 year old therapy dog named Baxter. He "volunteers" at a hospice spending time with patients who are very ill or close to death to provide them comfort and joy. I heard about him through this video I saw. It's incredibly sad, because Baxter is old and has many ailments of his own including the inability to walk. However, I also think it is wonderful that he provides joy to many people when they need it the most. I am also starting Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey, a young adult novel that was recommended and loaned to me by my good friend, Stephanie.

"The Girls From Ames" Review

I just finished The Girls From Ames from Jeffrey Zaslow. This book is a true account of 11 women who grew up in small town Ames, Iowa and are now in their 40's. They have remained friends since childhood. I liked this book, but it was kind of dull and boring at times, and I was slightly disappointed by it because there was quite a buzz about it, (I believe it was on the bestseller list for a bit too) and it was not as good as I'd hoped.

Like I said, I did think it was a nice story. It interested me because I too have a very tight knit group of friends and I love those people very much, although it is a MUCH smaller group than the 11 women in this story. The kind of lifelong friendship portrayed in this book is a very unique and rare one so it was nice to see their story chronicled. I know that's how it will be with my three best friends as well (Taylor - who is my unbiological sister and closest person to me, Chris - who completely understands me and my awkward humor, and Stephanie - my oldest friend since third grade!) so I enjoyed reading their story.

The women have gone through a lot over the years including the death of one of the 11, illnesses, family deaths, divorce, raising children (22 combined for all of them), fights, and many other things that have created so many memories for them.

The thing I didn't like much about the book was that it jumped around so much that it was really hard to get to "know" many of the girls. It really focused a great deal on a couple of them, but a lot of them were not featured quite as much. I just didn't feel as though I could connect with the people in the story, and as a result, could not care much about them. I think it's really important in books, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, that you care about the people or characters in the book. The book also was not really in chronological order, and jumped from story to story too much.

If you are looking to read a nice story about friends, this could be a good book to read. Like I said, I did it enjoy it for the most part, but it was just not what I had hoped for.

I also wanted to say thanks to Kathryn Casey, the author of the previous book I reviewed, for checking out my blog last week! It was very exciting for me to have an author read my blog and she said she loved my review. So check some of her books out - she's great!

Currently Reading: Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver who is awesome! He writes really suspensful thrillers/mystery stories. His books are very exciting!