Bogormen

Title: Dødesporet (The Death Trail) (Louise Rick #8)
Author: Sara Blædel
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 314 pages
Date read: October, 2014

The Death Trail is an almost overgrown trail in a forrest close to Roskilde. It got its name from olden days where people used it to transport their dying friends and family to the large sacrificial oak to offer some of their blood to the old Nordic gods, in the hope that they would welcome them when they died.

But now it looks as if somebody is using the Death Trail again - or so Louise suspects when she comes across it during the search of a lost boy who's hiding in the forest close to her childhood home.


Unlike some of Sara Blædel's earlier books, this one took off right away and threw the reader right into the action from the word 'Go'. I had a hard time putting it down, and finished it much faster than I had expected.

Just as I had assumed, a lot of the loose threads from the previous book were picked up and neatly tied together in this one, and I think she did a terrific job of mixing Louise's past with her present in order to get everything sorted out.

As always the book ended sooner than I would have liked - i.e. with the arrest rather than the outcome of the arrest. I always want to see people brought to justice for what they have done, so I hope Sara Blædel will at least refer to that in her next book.

Title: Tiger Eyes
Author: Judy Blume
Genre: YA
Rating: 2.5/5
# pages: 222
Date read: June, 2013

Davey has never felt so alone in her life. Her father is dead - shot in a holdup - and now her mother is moving the family to New Mexico to try to recover. Climbing in Los Alamos Canyons, Davey meets mysterous Wolf, who seems to understand the rage and fear she feels. Slowly, with Wolf's help, Davey realizes that she must get on with her life. But when will she be ready to leave the past behind?

Slightly disappointing... although I don't know why, as I seem to remember being disappointed by it when I read it as a teen as well, but guess I'd somehow built it up in my mind anyway.

But the thing that got me is that it starts out really strong, so for most of the book I had high hopes about the outcome... but then it completely fell flat. To be fair I don't quite see how else it could have ended, but the way it was done seemed more than a little rushed.

Not Judy Blume's best work.

Title: Dødsenglen (The Angel of Death)
Author: Sara Blædel
Genre: Crime
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 306
Date read: June, 2011

"The Angel of Death" - an ancient and valuable icon - has been in the possession of the rich family Sachs-Smith for generations, but always as a well-kept secret. So it is a shock to everybody when it suddenly disappears one day... even more so when the police are able to tell the family that their mother's death some months earlier wasn't suicide, but is now investigated as a murder case.

Meanwhile, Louise Rick from Copenhagen Police is involved in a case about a woman who has gone missing during a vacation to Spain. One of the theories the police has is that she wanted to start a new life, but when a well-known movie instructor shortly after disappears without a trace in the same area, Louise no longer has any doubts: the two women have been kidnapped or killed.


A terrific continuation to the Louise Rick series. Sara Blædel clearly improves by each book - her writing is ever tighter and the plot more detailed. This one included a twist I had not seen coming, but which turned out to be completely believable in the scope of the novel.

My only complaint with this novel is that there was too little about Louise's private life and especially one huge (and important!) thread concerning her foster son was left hanging. I hope this is merely in order to pick it up in a later sequel - otherwise I think she made a huge mistake in not tying it off properly here.

But excellent entertainment regardless. Definitely one of the best in the series.

Title: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Author: Judy Blume
Genre: YA
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 93
Date read: February, 2011

No one ever told Margaret Simon that eleven-going-on- twelve would be such a hard age. When her family moves to New Jersey, she has to adjust to life in the suburbs, a different school, and a whole new group of friends. Margaret knows she needs someone to talk to about growing up-and it's not long before she's found a solution.

I've read this more times than I can count, but the last time was at LEAST 15 years ago - if not longer - so I actually remembered very little of it. It was a lot shorter than I remembered though, and I distinctly remembered a scene which turned out not to be from this book at all!

Read for the first time as a tween as undeveloped as Margaret herself, it's definitely a book that resonates with young women - even if sanitary pad technology has come a long way since then, and thank you for that! I'm not sure how much I would have liked it, if I'd read it for the first time as an adult, but I think I would still have been able to see its appeal to a younger audience. It's definitely one of those books I hope don't go out of fashion anytime soon.

...even if I was incredibly amused by the notion that a school would send home letters to 'warn' parents that they'd teach sex ed - I'm pretty sure it's a mandatory part of the syllabus here ;-) Oh, and the completely free assignment would have been completely unheard of at any school I've attended.

Title: Hævnens gudinde (Goddess of Revenge)
Author: Sara Blædel
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 420
Date read: July 2010, August 2014

While questioning a young widow whose husband had rocker connections, Louise Rick receives a phone call from her foster son, Jonas, who asks her to come immediately - a call party has been crashed by a group of bullies who wanted booze, and attacked the only adult there when they found none. 12-year old Signe tries to run away to get help, but one of the bullies ran after her, and chased her out in front of a car. She dies from her injuries later that night.

After the death of her only child, Signe's mother no longer feels there's any reason to live. But is her apathy due only to sorrow, or does she wish for revenge? A fire which ends up killing two of the bullies, suddenly makes everybody look at the distraught mother differently, but not everybody is as they seem.

Just like many of Sara Blædel's other books, Goddess of Revenge is slow to start, but once it picks up, it's well worth the effort. This one especially because I loved the secondary plot-line of Louise's issues with getting used to having a foster son.

Sara Blædel is good at introducing believable twists to the story that neither seem forced nor are spotted a mile away (not by me anyway!). Her writing is tight, and any small detail is likely to be picked up again later in the book.

The book very obviously paves the way for a 6th book in the series which would be fine by me!

Title: Knife Edge Author: Malorie Blackman Genre: Fantasy Rating: 8/10 # pages: 365 Date read: June, 2008

Summary: Persephone (Sephy) Hadley, now an 18-year-old single parent, is raising her biracial daughter in a sharply divided alternate England, where black Crosses suppress the white Noughts. She faces pressure from both her less-than-understanding Cross family and her disintegrating Nought family, and everyone in between. When her brother-in-law's violent behavior leads to murder, Sephy provides a false alibi to save Jude, but doing so irreparably damages other lives.

Review: This sequel to Noughts and Crosses is a lot slower moving, a lot darker than the first book in the series, and ends with an even bigger cliff-hanger. I'd already ordered the last book in the trilogy before reading this one, so it's not too big a deal, but it's always bothered me when books don't have a proper ending on their own. I don't mind threads being left hanging for the next book, but it should be possible to read each one without having to have the next around.

That pet-peeve aside, I did enjoy the book and had a hard time putting it down once I got properly into it. The racial issues handled in it are interesting, although I wonder if Malorie Blackman would have gotten away with it, if she hadn't been a black person herself (or whatever the PC, non-offensive term is these days). It did annoy me that Sephy was so quick to believe Callum though. I thought it was pretty obvious he was just trying to protect her. Perhaps that'll be brought up again in Checkmate.

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Title: Noughts & Crosses Author: Malorie Blackman Genre: Fantasy, YA Rating: 9/10 # pages: 445 Date read: November, 2007

Summary: Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society.

Sephy is a Cross -- a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought -- a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood, but that's as far as it can go. In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don't mix. Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum -- a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger. Can they possibly find a way to be together?

In this gripping, stimulating and totally absorbing novel, black and white are right and wrong.

Review: I came across Noughts & Crosses purely by coincidence while in London two months ago, read the first chapter and was captivated. However, I could see it was the first of a trilogy and didn't know if it could stand alone, so I wanted to wait and check that out first. I never did though, because I kept thinking about it, and wanted to read it, so shortly after returning from London I logged onto Bookmooch, and by an extreme stroke of luck found it there! (It'd just been added that very day).

Yesterday I finally had the time to read it, and absolutely LOVED it! It was everything I'd expected it to be and lots more. While certainly a very exaggerated view of racism I still think it raises some very valid points well worth exploring. I highly recommend it.

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Title: Kun ét liv ("Only One Life") Author: Sara Blædel Genre: Suspense Rating: 8/10 # pages: 350 Date read: July 2007, July 2014

A young immigrant-girl is found murdered and Louise Rick joins the team working on the case. Shortly after the team have another murder case on their hands, but is it the same killer?

Samra is from Jordan and attends 9th grade in Holbaek. She has Danish friends, but otherwise lives according to the guidelines set by her family.

The police is immediately put on the case of finding Samra's killer, and they spend a lot of time pressuring her family as they fear it may be a case of 'honour killing' as Samra is suspected of having a Danish boyfriend, and often sneaked out of the house to meet her Danish friends.

Samra's father and brother are arrested, but it's only when Samra's mother starts talking that the case starts to move forward.

The third book in the series of the female detective, Louise Rick. Fast-moving and fascinating story, and full of twists and turns where half are believable and the other half unfortunately a tad too far-fetched. Still, it's an interesting book, especially because of the insight into so-called "honour killings".

It took me a surprisingly long time to read this the second time through. I enjoyed it well enough while reading it, but it was just far too easy to put aside. Finally I got stubborn and decided just to push through and finish.

I've been on a "Famous Five" kick lately. However, the books are too short for me to do a seperate review of each one, so I'll do them in batches of ten instead. I really enjoy "Famous Five" books (though some more than others obviously), but always get so HUNGRY when reading them. They're constantly eating! ;-) Anyway, they're comfort books and always good for whiling away half an hour.

Author: Enid Blyton
Genre: YA, mystery

Review:
Five On A Treasure Island, 8/10
The very first Famous Five adventure featuring Julian, Dick, Anne, and tomboy George along with her beloved dog, Timmy. There's a shipwreck off Kirrin Island, but where's the treasure? The Five are on the trail, looking for clues... but they're not alone and time is running out.

Five Go Adventuring Again, 7/10
There's a thief at Kirrin Cottage! The Famous Five think they know who it is, but they need to prove it! Where can they find evidence? The discovery of an old map and very unusual hiding place is all they need to get to the bottom of this mystery and uncover the true culprit!

Five Run Away Together, 10/10
Who's been on George's island? What is locked inside the the mysterious trunk hidden on Kirrin Island? The Famous Five think they're on the trail of smugglers- until they hear a child scream... Probably my favourite Famous Five book.

Five Go To Smuggler's Top, 7/10
Can there still be smugglers at Smuggler's Top? The Famous Five go to stay at the large old house, and discover lots of brilliant hiding places, even underground tunnels! Then they catch people signalling out to sea - who are they?

Five Go Off In A Caravan, 9/10
On their caravan holiday, the gang are thrilled when they stumble across a circus troupe. Unfortunately some of the circus people have more sinister plans than just clowning around. Another of my favourites.

Five On Kirrin Island Again, 6/10
What is Uncle Quentin up to, all alone on Kirrin Island? He won't let anyone visit, not even George and the rest of the famous Five. But Uncle Quentin isn't really alone on the island - someone is watching his every move.

Five Go Off To Camp, 6/10
Spook trains in the middle of the night! And they seem to vanish into thin air - but where do they go? The Famous Five are on to it. But the discovery of an unusual underground tunnel system, and a train-service, has them puzzled. If they follow the tracks, will they solve the mystery? I'm not too fond of this one. Julian takes charge too much and leaves Anne and George out of things, despite repeatedly saying that George is "as good as a boy", he obviously doesn't mean it.

However, I love the fact that the Five actually AGE in these books. It's not like BSC where they're 13 forever. In the first book Julian was 13, now he's 16 which fits!

Five Get Into Trouble, 7/10
The Famous Five are distraught! Dick has been kidnapped - mistaken for somebody else! The gang finally track him down to a lonely, abandoned house but then they too are seized and held captive. How will the intrepid Five get themselves out of this mess?

Meh... Okay, but not much more.

Five On Adventure, 7/10
Julian, Dick and Anne are really worried - George and her devoted Timmy have just disappeared! Not only that, somebody has broken in to Kirrin Cottage. Could there be a connection? The Famous Five think so, but it's going to be tough getting to the bottom of this mystery.

Five On A Hike, 8/10
Famous Five are on a hike together, but Dick and Anne get seperated from the rest, when they get lost during a rainstorm. Dick is puzzled when he's woken by aman handing him a note and passing on a mysterious message? And when the Famous Five hear of an escaped convict in the area, they are on red alert. The police won't help, so the Five have no choice but to solve the mystery alone.

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