Book Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Gathering

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Publisher:  Harper

Release Date:  April 12th 2011

Series: Darkness Rising 

Source: Hardcover

Number of Pages: 359
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel...different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Sword of Summer

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

Synopsis: Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.

The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

A new series by Rick Riordan? Sign me up! I loved both the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Kane Chronicles. I'm determined not to get behind in this series like I did The Hero's of Olympus series.  Not to mention this one has the Gods of Asgard which mean Loki and Thor!  Hopefully Loki won't be an evil dude in this one. Anyway The Sword of Summer comes out on October 6th and its published by Disney Hyperion

Book Review: The Cloak Society Villains Rising by Jeramey Kraatz

Title: The Cloak Society Villains Rising

Author: Jeramey Kraatz

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Release Date:  October 1st 2013

Series: The Clock Society Book 2

Source: Paperback

Number of Pages: 311
Synopsis: The Cloak Society has finally taken down their greatest enemies-the Rangers of Justice-in a spectacular feat of supervillainy, and their long-awaited rise to power is imminent. But twelve-year-old Alex Knight has other plans-he has joined forces with Kirbie and the Junior Rangers of Justice to fight Cloak once and for all.

But fighting for the same side is easier said than done...especially when your new teammates aren't sure your days as a supervillain are over.

Book Review: Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

  

Title: Taken 

Author: Alexander Gordon Smith

Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Release Date:  October 27th 2009

Series: Escape from the Furnace

Source: Hardcover

Number of Pages: 273

Synopsis: Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison. 

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

Book Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Title: The Kiss of Deception

Author:Mary E. Pearson

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Release Date:  July 8th 2014

Series: The Remnant Chronicles

Source: Hardcover

Number of Pages: 492

Synopsis: A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

 

I'm Back!

So I guess I should apologies for dropping off the face of the earth. In my defense I never truly meant to be gone for so long. I just got behind on my reading and then got behind on reviewing and was never able to catch back up. But a New Year means that I'm done making excuses and that I'm going to try to stick with blogging. So keep following because not only am I going to become more active I'm also going to be improving my site.

Book Review: Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Title: Night of the Howling Dogs

Author: Graham Salisbury

Publisher: Laurel Leaf

Release Date: January 1^st 2007

Series: N/A

Source: Paperback

Number of Pages: 208

Letter Size: Small

Synopsis:

DYLAN'S SCOUT TROOP goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can't get along.

That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.