Nora Roberts

Chasing fire / Black hills - Nora Roberts - 2011/2010 (Kindle)

Blurb (Chasing fire) ....

There's little else as thrilling as firefighting - at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are in Rowan's blood: her father is a legend. She's been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home - even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering.
Fortunately, this year's rookie crop is one of their strongest ever - and Gulliver Curry's one of the best. He's also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids' arcade. But everything is thrown off-balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year's tragedy. Rowan knows she can't complicate things with Gull - any distractions in the air or on the ground could mean the end - but if she doesn't find someone she can lean on, she may not make it through the summer..

                              Blurb (Black hills) ....

Lil Chance fell in love with Cooper Sullivan pretty much the first time she saw him, an awkward teenager staying with his grandparents on their cattle ranch in Montana while his parents went through a messy divorce. They spent every summer together, treking in the Black Hills, tracking cougar and falling in love. Then Cooper broke her heart and moved back to New York City. Ten years later and Cooper has given up his job in the police force to run the ranch after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Lil has stayed true to her love of cougars and of the Black Hills and opened an animal sanctuary. She has been targeted by animal rights campaigners in the past but this time someone seems intent on murder. As hikers are killed, animals mutiliated and a family member goes missing, Lil knows that she has no choice but to turn to Cooper for help in her fight for survival ...

Nora has a fabulous skill of setting the background, building up the characters and throwing in suspense and bit of romance to create stories of pure escapism.
I can recommend both these stories and if you throw in some chocolate, coffee and a comfy chair you are in a good place.

Visit Nora's website: http://www.noraroberts.com/index.html

Unlocked

Unlocked by Ryan G. Van Cleave - 2011

Blurb ....
Andy is the janitor's son, an outcast, a nobody. Then the rumor starts-that Blake has a gun in his locker. In a moment of misguided hopefulness, Andy steals the keys from his dad and opens up Blake's locker, hoping that finding the gun will change his own status. But the gun isn't there and Andy remains an outcast. When an unlikely friendship develops between the two loners, Blake shares most of his secrets with Andy, including the gun. But there's one secret that worries Andy more than anything-the date circled on Blake's calendar. Does Blake have something planned? Something that Andy can prevent? In a fascinating look at how teens deal with the now constant threat of school violence, debut author Ryan G. Van Cleave provides a unique, emotional perspective on how it feels to be the one who can prevent a tragedy.


This verse novel is set in a junior high school in America.  It is based around 2 boys and how they deal with their 'social status'. One boy Andy is on the 'outer' and desperately wants to belong.  Blake however has purposely distanced himself from his peers since the death of his father in Iraq. Then one day the rumour starts. Does Blake have a gun in his locker?? And if the answer is yes, why does he?? Is Andy brave enough to find out?? This contemporary story is powerful and even though it is a quick read Andy and Blake will stay with you for days to come.

Visit Ryan's site: http://www.ryangvancleave.com/

Grave minder

Grave minder by Melissa Marr - 2011

Blurb ....

Three sips to mind the dead . . . 
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." 
Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soon discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker—in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past—can set things right once the dead begin to walk. 
Although she is still grieving for Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to in Claysville, and that what awaits her may be far worse: dark secrets, a centuries-old bargain, a romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility—to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.

Well this is certainly a new one for the supernatural genre. When I started reading this story I wasn't sure if I was enjoying it. However, once the story started picking up the pace it just became more weird and unusual and yet I found myself waiting for the next page. The whole premise for this novel revolves around a small town in which the role of the grave minder and the undertaker are solely responsible for making sure the dead stay dead. Lots of gruesome scenes and creepy evil stuff makes this story and interesting read. Not sure if Melissa is making this a series (I wouldn't be surprised) I have no doubt that it will be a hit.
Just how much I liked this book, the jury is still out. I would really like to hear what you think if you have read it.
Visit Melissa's site: http://www.melissa-marr.com/

Hell Island

Hell Island by Matthew Reilly - 2005

Scarecrow Series

Fabulously quick read (all of 108p.). Fast, action-packed and mysterious makes this novel a great escape. It's planet of the apes v's Halo, what more can you want from a book? I really enjoy reading Matthew Reilly. He is able to capture all the ingredients that make you want to read more. He blends action with humour, history and technology while adding a big dose of good v's evil. I can confidently recommend any of his books and I hope he keeps writing for years to come.
I have also read 'Seven ancient wonders" from the Jack West series and all I can say is WOW what a journey. Loved it!

Visit Matthew's site: http://www.matthewreilly.com/

Graffiti moon

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley - 2010

Honour Award of The Children's Book Council of Australia, YA 2011

Blurb ....
Lucy is in love with Shadow, a mysterious graffiti artist.
Ed thought he was in love with Lucy, until she broke his nose.
Dylan loves Daisy, but throwing eggs at her probably wasn't the best way to show it. Jazz and Leo are slowly encircling each other.
An intense and exhilarating 24 hours in the lives of four teenagers on the verge: of adulthood, of HSC, of finding out just who they are, and who they want to be.

For me this story took a bit to warm up, however, once it did it was on a roll. It's aimed at 17 to 18 year olds by the use of its contemporary language and subject matter with the ups and downs of relationships. I really liked this story.

Cath Crowley takes you on a journey looking through the eyes of it two main characters, Lucy and Ed. So each chapter is seen through Lucy's eye's then the next through Ed's. The story begins on the last day of Year 12 and the events that unfold throughout the night and finishes the next morning. Basically, Lucy wants to meet the elusive Shadow, a graffiti artist whose work really speaks to Lucy, and spends her night trying to find him. Ed however, is doing his best making sure she doesn't. I'm not going to spoil the story and tell you what happens, you will just have to read it to find out!!

Visit Cath's site: http://cathcrowley.com.au/

H.I.V.E. series

H.I.V.E. series by Mark Waldon - Bloomsbury 2006-

Blurb ....
Otto Malpense may only be thirteen years old, but so far he has managed to run the orphanage where he lives, and he has come up with a plan clever enough to trick the most powerful man in the country. He is the perfect candidate to become the world's next supervillain.
That is why he ends up at H.I.V.E., handpicked to become a member of the incoming class. The students have been kidnapped and brought to a secluded island inside a seemingly active volcano, where the school has resided for decades. All the kids are elite; they are the most athletic, the most technically advanced, and the smartest in the country. Inside the cavernous marble rooms, floodlit hangars, and steel doors, the students are enrolled in Villainy Studies and Stealth and Evasion 101. But what Otto soon comes to realize is that this is a six-year program, and leaving is not an option.
With the help of his new friends: an athletic martial-arts expert; a world-famous, beautiful diamond thief; and a spunky computer genius -- the only other people who seem to want to leave -- can Otto achieve what has never been done before and break out of H.I.V.E.?

H.I.V.E stands for Higher Institute of Villainous Education.

 I have just read book 3 in this series and am thoroughly enjoying it. The premise behind this series at first didn't grab me, as I love reading good v's evil thillers, but it didn't take long into the first book that I connected to the main character Otto. Otto is fourteen year old boy who grew up in an orphanage. He is extremely gifted and uses his talents for the shady side of good. He gets abducted and finds himself, with other gifted teenagers at the H.I.V.E. Institite on an island in a remote part of the world. There he befriends Wing, Laura and Shelby who between them all are a truly gifted force to be reconned with. For those who love reading Charlie Higson, Anthony Horowitz and Jack Higgins will love the ride this series takes you on.

Visit Mark's site: http://www.markwalden.net/blog/