BOOK REVIEW: DEADLY COOL BY GEMMA HALLIDAY

Title: Deadly Cool

Author: Gemma Halliday

Genre: Young Adult, mystery

Published on: October 11, 2011 by HarperTeen

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name.

But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer’s next victim.

I usually research a book before I buy it, but this one drew me because of the cover. Admit it, the girl on the cover has got pretty mesmerizing eyes. Call me cliché, but baby blues have got such a beauty. I didn’t really start reading without prior info, though. The book description finished the job, and I was sold. I like mysteries, especially if they have some romance. The main character seemed compelling as well.

Deadly Cool has Hartley Grace Featherstone as its protagonist and narrator. We meet her just after she’s broken up with her boyfriend, Josh DuPont. He’s cheated on Hartley with another girl. Infuriated, Hartley sets out to confront them both. She is accompanied by her best friend, Samantha. The pair are in for a surprise when they get to Josh’s house. His new girlfriend, a color guard named Courtney, is found murdered in Josh’s closet. And he’s nowhere to be found. Hartley and Sam leave the house in a panic, after which the cops show up. The evidence they find seems to incriminate Josh.

BOOK REVIEW: A MILLION WORLDS WITH YOU BY CLAUDIA GRAY

Title: A Million Worlds With You

Author: Claudia Gray

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Published on: November 1, 2016 by Harper Teen

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite Caine’s hands. Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud since she first traveled to another universe using her parents’ invention, the Firebird. Only now has she learned the true plans of the evil Triad Corporation—and that those plans could spell doom for dozens or hundreds of universes, each facing total annihilation.

Paul Markov has always been at Marguerite’s side, but Triad’s last attack has left him a changed man—angry and shadowed by tragedy. He struggles to overcome the damage done to him, but despite Marguerite’s efforts to help, Paul may never be the same again.

So it’s up to Marguerite alone to stop the destruction of the multiverse. Billions of lives are at stake. The risks have never been higher. And Triad has unleashed its ultimate weapon: another dimension’s Marguerite—wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

In the conclusion to Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed. It’s a battle of the Marguerites…and only one can win.

The Firebird trilogy ends with this entry, A Million Worlds With You. It takes place not long from where the previous book ended. The main character is Marguerite Caine. She’s a teenager and the daughter of two brilliant physicists. Dr. Lera Kovalenka and Dr. Henry Caine invented the Firebird, the device from which this series gets its name. The Firebird is a high-tech pendant capable of transporting the wearer into parallel universes. This power is obviously invaluable, which inevitably means that nefarious entities seek to control it.

In Ten Thousand Skies Above You, Marguerite saved her friend/love interest Paul Markov. The series main antagonist, tech magnate Wyatt Conley, scattered pieces of his soul throughout the multiverse. Conley is from a parallel reality dubbed the Triadverse. The Triad is his evil group. They helped the Caines create the Firebird, and now are after something else. This book opens right into the action. Marguerite is inside one of the universes she’s visited previously. Only, she’s in grave danger...and there's nothing she can do about it.

BOOK REVIEW: MISTRESS BY JAMES PATTERSON AND DAVID ELLIS

Title: Mistress

Author: James Patterson, David Ellis

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: March 11, 2014 by Grand Central Publishing (latest paperback edition)

Ben isn't like most people. Unable to control his racing thoughts, he's a man consumed by his obsessions: movies, motorcycles, presidential trivia-and Diana Hotchkiss, a beautiful woman Ben knows he can never have.

When Diana is found dead outside her apartment, Ben's infatuation drives him on a hunt to find out what happened to the love of his life. He soon discovers that the woman he pined for was hiding a shocking secret. And now someone is out to stop Ben from uncovering the truth about Diana's illicit affairs.

In his most heart-pumping thriller yet, James Patterson plunges us into the depths of a mind tortured by paranoia and obsession, on an action-packed chase through a world of danger and deceit.

I’m fully aware of James Patterson’s fame in the book world. He’s up there with J.K. Rowling among the most successful authors of all time. I haven’t read one of his many books yet, but Mistress has been on my radar for some time. I was finally able to get it for Christmas last year. The cover art was intriguing, and so was the synopsis. Was it any good? Read on to find out.

The book’s protagonist and narrator is Ben. He’s a rather unique, eccentric guy. Ben’s thoughts go eighty miles an hour and take sharper turns and more one-eighties than a crook under pursuit. I haven't read about any fictional character quite like him. You never know what he’s going to do next. Ben’s mostly obsessed with movie and presidential trivia. His biggest obsession, though, is the focus of the book: Diana Hotchkiss. She’s said to be a strikingly beautiful woman. Ben is friends with Diana, but he sees her as a woman he can’t have.