212 by Alafair Burke (review #129)

Title: 212

Author: Alafair Burke

Publisher:

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Format: Review Copy for TLC Book Tour

Alafair Burke is an author that I discovered while shelving at my library job. She was one of the authors that motivated me to create my first challenge, The A-Z Mystery Author Challenge. I realized there are so many mystery authors out there that I have never read and I really wanted to expand my list of authors to read. She has two series and I picked the one that takes place in New York City. I read the first book in this series called Dead Connection featuring Detective Ellie Hatcher. I really enjoyed it!

When I had the opportunity to read this one for the book tour, I jumped at it. Even though this is book 3 in the series, I still wanted to read it.

Here is a brief description from the publisher's website:

In New York City, Nights Are Dangerous. Days Are Numbered.

When New York University sophomore Megan Gunther finds personal threats posted to a Web site specializing in campus gossip, she's taken aback by their menacing tone. Someone knows her daily routine down to the minute and is watching her—but thanks to the anonymity provided by the Internet, the police tell her there's nothing they can do. Her friends are sure it's someone's idea of a joke, but when Megan is murdered in a vicious attack, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced that the online threats are more than just empty words.

With smooth, straight-talking partner J. J. Rogan at her side, Ellie tries to identify Megan's enemies, but she begins to wonder if the coed's murder was more than just the culmination of a cyber obsession. Phone records reveal a link between Megan and a murdered real estate agent who was living a dangerous double life. The detectives also learn that the dead real estate agent shared a secret connection to a celebrity mogul whose bodyguard was mysteriously killed a few months earlier. And when Megan's roommate suddenly disappears, they know they have to find her before another young woman dies.

Even though I didn't read the second book in the series, I don't feel I missed too much. Ellie's character has definitely grown a bit. She has more confidence and definitely throws herself in her cases. She has a new partner, whom I really like, and their relationship is a good balance of skill and sharp personalities.

I got a chance to meet Alafair Burke at BEA. She was signing copies of her new stand alone thriller, Long Gone. I told her how I discovered her at my library and that she motivated me to start my challenge. She was really nice and said she looked forward to what

I thought of her new book.

I gave her my card and she even said she recognized the name of my blog! Cool!

What I really like about the two books that I have read so far is that they are detective stories. Burke obviously knows her stuff when it comes to the ins and outs of police work, lawyers, courts, prisons, crime scenes. It reads like a well made cop show. I like that.

Even though it is about a horrible crime; a murder, it still dishes it out rather simply. You follow the two detectives as they break down the case and down some troubled paths to find the truth.

There are some mystery books that rely on too much drama and suspense to make it an exciting read. That's okay for me too, when I'm in the mood. But sometimes I'm also really into trying to piece the intricate pieces of a crime together. Who are the lead suspects? What steps are we going to take to find out who did it? What is the motive?

Review: 5/6

Once again, I really enjoyed 212. I'm curious about her other books too and will definitely find some time to read them. I'm glad I started with this series. She knows NYC and I like reading books that take place there. Ellie has grown on me more as a character. She is tougher, but yet still real. Overall, Burke has written another well played detective story with real characters.

I recommend for fans of any genre within mystery. You will get a little legal thriller, a little psychological drama, a solid mystery and some good detective work.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour.

Other Stops on the Tour:

Wednesday, June 8th: The House of the Seven Tails

Thursday, June 9th: A Bookish Way of Life

Monday, June 13th: Chaotic Compendiums

Wednesday, June 15th: Life In Review

Thursday, June 16th: My Reading Room

Monday, June 20th: Chick With Books

Tuesday, June 21st: A Bookworm’s World

Wednesday, June 22nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, June 23rd: Rundpinne

Author Info:

Learn more about Alafair at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This is one of the books that created a bit of buzz at BEA. I did not get a copy there but met a lovely man from Random House who sent it to me after I got back.

I just started it and I can tell it will be a literary sensation come fall.

If the cover does not enchant you, watch this book trailer.

The Night Circus

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Book the Saved BEA

Here is my story of how one book saved BEA for me.

Of course, I had every intention of getting tons of books that I was excited about, but this year I was really enthused about the great children's authors that were going to be there. Most importantly, I was excited about my son's favorite Mo Willems. He writes the fabulous chapter books that feature the serious Elephant and the charming Piggie. We absolutely adore these books in our house and have read them all multiple times.

Mo was #1 on my list to get to bring home for my little kiddo.

He was a ticketed event for Wednesday. I woke up bright and early, like I have mentioned before but when I arrived at BEA at 7:20am (The tickets went on sale at 7), he was sold out.

Well, I cried. Yep, it all came out. It just came over me. I was disappointed in myself. I was missing my son. And darnit, really, 7:20? Not one more ticket? Grr. Argh.

Well, Stacy was a delight and she hopped on Twitter to see if we could get me a ticket. It didn't work but it was a very sweet try on her part.

At this time, exactly, was when I first met Steph and her mother. Not my finest hour but oh well.

There was little I could do at this point so I tried to shrug it off and went on with my day. We headed to the autograph area and I got in line to get another favorite of my son's, the Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney. I figure I could bring home a close second, that should be okay.

The one great thing about BEA is, I found, that it is easy to chat it up with people in line. So I started doing this again with a few ladies in front of me, all librarians. We got on the topic of the ticketed events and the one lady pulled out a stack of tickets.

I gasped and said "Do you have a Mo Willems tickets?"

And she said, ''Yes, but I don't think I will make it."

I blurted out, "I will pay you for it!"

She kindly said, "You don't have to pay me for it. Here you go."

Well, I started crying again and thanked her and told her she will make my son's day!

She smiled and said "You better get going in line, it's pretty long!"

At this point, I think I shouted out a "Bless your heart" (blame it on Stacy's southern influence!) and ran off.

I actually was one of the first people in line and didn't have to wait for long. Mo was a very nice man when I told him we loved his books.

I tucked his new book, "Should I Share my Ice Cream?" in my bag to bring home, not to ship, so I would have it ready to read the night I got back.

And that's what the pictures are above.

Our facial expressions change to go with the mood of the book as Elephant stresses about whether or not to share his ice cream with Piggie.

Delightful!

I did end up running into that same woman later in the day, in another line and thanked her once again. Not that she would read this post. I don't even think I gave out my business cards at that point so she has probably forgotten her kindness.

But, darnit, I love book people!! Thank you!

Anyway, that's my story of the Book (and the kind librarian) that Saved BEA.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

BEA/NYC: Day 2,3 and 4

I realized that I did not take a lot of pictures and pictures are the fun thing to look at right?

What does everyone look like? How large is BEA anyway?

Because of my sad lack of pictures, I am just going to combine my posts for the whole week.

Day 2 in NYC I woke up ready for the day. I was rested. I ate breakfast. I was set to go get in line for a ticket to meet Mo Willems, the author of Elephant and Piggie books. This event is its own post, which I will post after this. Bright and early I got a text from the lovely Miss Stephanie from Steph the Bookworm (see above).

We met up with her and her mom, who was also very lovely. It is really hard to "stick" together at BEA, especially with more than one person, so unfortunately our day was spent texting each other's locations and enthusiasms rather than "hanging" out. That's okay, we had to get books!!!

And books we got!

She was delightful and we did get a chance to spend more time together at the Atria Blogger Party at Simon and Schuster, which we shared a cab to and also at the

Book Blogger Convention.

The picture below was taken down at the shipping area of BEA. I kept "running" into Sandra Brannan during the week. On Tuesday, right after I met up with Stacy, she literally jumped up and down in front of me screaming my name and I was so wiped out, I didn't even notice.

:(

Well, there are thousands of people there and you do get a tunnel vision. :(

Anyway, that was a pleasure to catch up on the very first day. The second day I ran into her in the bathroom. Very classy, I know but we chatted for quite awhile away from the busyness of the crowds upstairs. And then on Thursday, the delightful creature that she is, she took Stacy and I out for a beautiful lunch to say thanks!

THIS was one of the two big highlights of the week. Thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon spent with her. Such a genuine person to be around.! I miss her already.

Sandra Brannan

Wednesday night was really fun with the Harper Collins Blogger Party and dinner with Heather from Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books and several others. Stacy and I were pretty beat by the end of this day, rolling in to our hotel around 11pm.

Stacy and I made a lot of contacts on the exhibit floor. With my red hair and her southern charm, we had it down! We both had fun going from booth to booth talking it up with various publishers. We did a good job communicating with one another with what we wanted to do and we would split up and come back together. I thought we worked quite well together.

At the end of the day on Thursday, we got lucky and visited the Scholastic booth right at closing. We ended up talking to the nicest sales gal there and she invited us to a party with Libba Bray, Meg Cabot and Maggie Stiefvater. She also gave us galleys of Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick!!! Stacy and I both squealed a little.

Piggie and Elephant

Thursday night was amazing! Not only did I finally get to see inside Simon and Schuster, one of my favorite publishers, I got to meet the people behind Sandra Brannan. The lovely folks at JKS Communications had a little get together and it was so much fun! I saw Sandra again, met Marissa (who I've emailed back and forth a zillion times!) and Amalie Howard, the author of Bloodspell. SHE WAS SO VERY AMAZING!! I am sad I do not have any pictures of this event or the Book Blogger Convention.

Friday was the BBC and it was even better this year. I saw Melissa from The Betty and Boo Chronicles again! I finally met Natalie from Coffee and a Book Chick and a whole host of others. The panels were great and the author speed dating was really fun too. I met Daphna Ziman, the author The Grey Zone, Chitoka Webb, author of Something Inside of Me and Jim Higley, author of Booble Head Dad, all incredibly inspirational people.

Friday night Stacy and I were pretty wiped from networking we went out for sushi and saw Bridesmaids at the largest movie theater ever in Times Square. I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a long time. A nice way to wrap up the week.

The next morning we were both up early to head to the airport.

Sad but we were ready to see our families! I can't wait for next year.

Overall, it was wonderful week filled with passionate, caring, like minded, book loving people. I've never felt so comfortable talking to strangers before and I hope that feeling continues in the many years to come.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

BEA/NYC: Day 1

Last year I did a day by day post of my week in NYC for BEA and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It also helps to organize all the things I did to share them with you all.

I don't want to miss anything!

BEA officially started on Monday of last week but in an effort to save money I chose to fly in on Tuesday. I arrived in the city around 12:30.

I mastered the Air Tran and the subway to find my way to my hotel for only $8. Now that beats a $50, nausea inducing, 50 minute cab ride!

My roomie, Stacy from A Novel Source, was to be arriving around that time so I camped in the lobby and prepared for my time in the big city! I had been up since 3:45 am and after traveling all morning, I was pretty pooped.

After furious texting back and forth, poor Stacy urged me to just head over to the Javits Center. She, unfortunately, was on a 2 1/12 hour shuttle ride from hell.

I was determined to get a peak at Ice-T and Coco. I knew I wasn't going to meet them or get their book since I wasn't able to get a ticket.

Ice-T and Coco

Oh well, a picture will do. This is how close I could get.

I got my bearings and checked out what else was going on. Lines were long at the Autograph area and I didn't have a ton of energy to start walking the floor. Soon enough Stacy texted me that she had arrived and we finally met face to face!

The rest of the afternoon was spent slowly walking around gathering up a few books. Pictures to come when I get my boxes. I had plans to meet my pal Christine from The Happily Ever After for dinner. She met me at Javits and we headed back to the hotel so I could freshen up.

Christine and Michelle

I had been invited to a cocktail party from Simon and Schuster to celebrate the release of one of their children's books. I was so pooped that we opted to go for dinner first. We had a blast! We talked and talked and because I was so tired and dehydrated,

one martini kept me feeling just fine.

Christine and I popped over to the event and circled the floor but honestly I was really zonked. I needed my rest for my big day tomorrow.

We headed back to the hotel around 8:00 and after some settling in, fell asleep.

More to come.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by.

red headed book child

Welcome to Red Headed Book Child

Welcome to Red Headed Book Child book review site.

Most of you know that I will be in New York City this year for BEA and the Book Blogger Convention. I am very excited to be a part of it again this year.

For my readers, I will have a review up for Save Me by Lisa Scottoline later this week and a guest review for Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

up later this week as well.

For anyone stopping by new to my site this week, welcome! Please visit my About page and Contact page for more information on me!

To sum it up, I am a book lover with over a decade in book selling and currently work at my local library. I love all genres but my favorites are literary fiction, mysteries and memoirs.

I spend most of my days desperately trying to potty train my toddler. Luckily I have lots of books to keep me company when I am sitting on the bathroom floor waiting for "it" to happen.

Forgive the cheesy photo of me but it is baseball season after all. Though we should not talk about how the Minnesota Twins (my team) are doing...

I look forward to my week in NYC meeting more wonderful bloggers,

authors, publicists and publishers.

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Red Headed Book Child

Things that are going through my head before BEA.

Last year I was really super organized when I went to BEA and the BBC. I had everything planned to the "T" and you know what? It all ended up in the air anyway. All for the best really.

This year I am taking a casual approach because I know a little bit what to expect and I don't really want to rush. I know I have to wear comfy shoes. I know that I should have business cards in hand. I know to be polite and professional because this year I'm going completely as a blogger and I know that it is a privilege.

But I have to admit, my head is still spinning with all the stuff that is going on and though my approach may be more casual, I can't shut my darn mind off.

So, here is a glimpse of what is going through my brain in anticipation of BEA.

(I warn you. I'm random and weird and I get distracted VERY easily)

- Crap, my hair is so not red right now. I have WAY too much grey.

- Do I have TIME to color my hair?

- Are they going to think I'm a fraud?

- Note to self: squeeze in hair appointment.

-Whew. Done.

- Where are my Keens? I need them for my trip. Oh dear, they are really worn out.

-I really should send that giveaway book out to Jenny from Take Me Away before the 4th of July.

- What a bad blogger I am. I haven't even posted about BEA yet really.

- I am so bummed that I will not get to meet Ice-T.

-It's weird that I'm most excited about him and Mo Willems. What range I have.

- What if I'm not nearly as interesting in person as I am in the blogosphere?

-Do people really think I'm interesting?

- Will I be able to talk that much to strangers?

-Gosh, I hope I don't drink too much out of anxiety.

-I wonder if Stacy from A Novel Source snores.

-I wonder if I'll snore.

- I really need to pack.

- I can't believe we still have to take off our shoes at the airport. yuck.

- I hope I can figure out how to get to the hotel from the airport.

- Boy, I really need to stop thinking so much.

You get the idea?

I can't wait to meet all of you!

I hope my mind will be calm by then :)

red headed book child

I'm going to BEA! Are you?

Folks, it's been a tough decision this year. I battled with lots of feelings about taking a trip for myself again and NOT taking one with my husband this year.

Do we have enough money? No, not really.

Am I comfortable traveling alone? No, not really.

What if I'm pregnant? Well, that's not happening right now, no matter how hard we try. :(

So, I made the decision to just do it. Money be damned! (okay, the tax money helped a bit!) My husband is very supportive and we are planning on a mini camping trip for the summer, he and I. YAY!

So, I will be going Tuesday, May 24 through Saturday May 28. This is going to be completely 100% Red Headed Book Child meets NYC. Last year, i went with friends and we did a lot of NON book blogger stuff. This year I plan on maximizing all there is to do with tours, cocktail hours, dinners, etc!

I am planning on rooming with Stacy from A Novel Source. YAY! And I plan on hanging out with Steph from Steph the Bookworm. I am SO very excited to meet these ladies and have tons of fun in the Big Apple.

Are you going?

If so, what do you have planned?

Are you going alone? With other bloggers?

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child