Posts By: Giselle

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Crazy Dangerous Tour Stop

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Today I’ve got the Crazy Dangerous blog tour dropping by to give you a sneak peek of the book which released by Thomas Nelsonon May 1st.

Crazy Dangerous
Andrew Klavan
Release date: May 1st, 2012
by Thomas Nelson

Goodreads / Purchase

“You probably want to hear about Jennifer and the demons and how I played chicken with a freight train and—oh yeah—the weird murder and how I found out about it—you’re definitely going to want to hear about that. But first, I have to tell you about the stupidest thing I ever did . . .”

Sam Hopkins is bored with his status as a preacher’s kid. So when a group of guys notorious for being in trouble offers him friendship, he accepts. Before long, he has several new skills—including hot-wiring cars.

At school, there’s an eccentric loner named Jennifer. When Sam defends her from being bullied, she begins to seek him out as her only friend. Her ramblings often seem illogical . . . but then start to contain grains of truth. One leads Sam to discover that one of his new friends has been killed. And then she tells him, “I’m looking for the devil.” Sam doesn’t know what that means, but he knows it’s a matter of life and death that he figure it out.

Everyone else thinks Jennifer is suffering from schizophrenia. But Sam is starting to wonder if there could be something prophetic in her words. Discovering the truth is going to be both crazy and dangerous.

 I haven’t read this one yet, but one of my best blogger buddies, Jenni from Alluring Reads, highly recommends it,
Excerpt 
From Chapter Twenty-One

I tucked my chin into my chest to hide my face. I pushed the cart along the hall, moving as quickly as I could. Sure, I was in disguise, but it wasn’t much of a disguise, was it? I mean, if someone walked by me really fast without paying too much attention, they might not notice anything peculiar. But the second anyone took a closer look at me, I was pretty much toast. A smallish sixteen-year-old kid with his overalls rolled up at the cuffs and sliding down at the sleeves: I must’ve looked like a sixth grader dressed up for Halloween. If I was going to reach Jennifer—if I was going to find out what she’d seen and what she thought was going to happen—I was going to have to do it fast, before anyone spotted me.

Where did I begin to look? I didn’t think there’d be any patients down here in the cellar. The halls were pretty empty. There were no nurses or aides or anything that I could see. Most of the doors were closed, and the few that were open revealed offices, baths, and a furnace room. I figured I had to get upstairs.

Luckily, there were arrows painted on the wall pointing to the elevators. Also luckily, I reached the elevator without bumping into anyone. Even more luckily, no one came by after I pushed the button and stood waiting for the elevator to arrive.

The door opened. The elevator was big, empty. My cart and I both got on. There were only two more floors in the building. I had seen the offices on the first floor, so I guessed that the patients’ rooms would be on the second. I pushed the button for the second floor.

That’s when my luck ran out.


Award winning author, screenwriter and media commentator Andrew Klavan is the author of such internationally bestselling novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Don’t Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas. Andrew has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award five times and has won twice. His books have been translated around the world. His latest novel for adults, The Identity Man, has been praised by Nelson Demille as “fast paced, intelligent and thought-provoking; a great read!” Television and radio host Glenn Beck says “Andrew Klavan never disappoints…one of the best illustrations of the power of redemption that I’ve ever read.” His last novel Empire of Lies was about media bias in the age of terror, and topped Amazon.com’s thriller list. Andrew has also published a series of thrillers for young adults, The Homelanders, which follows a patriotic teenager’s battle against jihadists. The books have been optioned to be made into movies by Summit Entertainment, the team behind the mega-successful Twilight film series.

This post is a part of the Crazy Dangerous Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound

Waiting on Wednesday (39)

Posted by on 06/06/2012 • 63 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week:

Level 2 Lenore Appelhans Release date: January 15th, 2013 by Simon & Schuster Add it to your Goodreads

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew…

Review: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Posted by on 06/05/2012 • 32 Comments

Monument 14Emmy LaybourneSeries: Monument 14, #1Release date: June 5th 2012by Feiwel & Friends

Goodreads / Purchase

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school…

Review: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Posted by on 06/04/2012 • 52 Comments

When someone sees a zombie book there are two reactions: 1) Oh zombies, scary and gory! AwesomeSAUCE! or 2) Ewww zombies! Icky! – pass. So this is a warning: As far as zombie books go, This Is Not A Test has to be one of the tamest. It’s not gory, nor is it an adrenaline filled story. Yes there are zombies and it can get intense at times, but funnily enough, it is not about the zombies. It’s about a girl who doesn’t want to live in this world anymore. She can’t keep going with a dad that beats her, and a sister that left her. This book is about finding the will to live in all this melancholy. Surviving in a school with others who only want to make…

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (6)

Posted by on 06/03/2012 • 83 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

Hi lovelies! How’s everyone’s week been? Mine has been super busy, especially this Saturday which was spent running around and cleaning to get ready for my kid’s 2nd bday party that’s today 🙂 And we are finally in JUNE! How exciting is that!! With June comes summer, and with summer comes my Summer Lovin’ giveaway! Did you see? You could win an epic summer release or an ARC of Lucid! Other highlights this week includes my Angel Eyes tour stop where you can read my review and win a copy of the book. There was also the launch of the…

Review: A Midsummer’s Nightmare

Posted by on 06/02/2012 • 29 Comments

After hearing so much about Kody Keplinger, I finally took the plunge and picked this one up – it will not be my last. It may be a bit formulaic, but I enjoyed the characters immensely, and Whitley’s story is full of drama, attitude, and misgivings that makes it a real page turner.

Whitley’s constant partying and flirting has given her quite the reputation, and her only vacation from all of this has turned out to be more of a nightmare. Whitley’s problems are intense. She’s the kind of character that is not necessarily likeable as she makes dumb, reckless choices and complains incessantly. Strangely, however, I didn’t find this irritating; her less than endearing qualities is what makes the story all the more appealing. It gets us to care,…

Fresh Batch (June 3rd – 9th)

Posted by on 06/02/2012 • 23 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

All These LivesSarah WylieRelease date: June 5th, 2012by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Goodreads / Purchase

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky.  She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal.  And Jena is wasting away.  To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives.  Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get…

Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Posted by on 06/01/2012 • 37 Comments

Shadow and BoneLeigh Bardugo  Series: The Grisha Trilogy #1Release date: June 5th, 2012by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Goodreads / Purchase

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha,…