Just One Look by Harlan Coben

Just One Look by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not long ago I discovered the author Harlan Coben through the First-Reads program here on Goodreads, and I was blown away by his writing and story-telling abilities. So much so, that I began a mission to find more books by him and to read them. I found this book at my local Goodwill store and was so excited, I was thrilled to read another Harlan Coben book.

Let me start by saying that this book did not fail to live up to my high expectations! I was engrossed in the book from the very beginning, and haunted by the innuendoes and twists that this story took, never realizing the final outcome until I read it, and even then, I went back to re-read some places to see if I had missed something that would have lead me to the ending, which I never found. It was so well-written and encaging. I can't say enough about the author and his ability. I have recommended this book to a number of people already.

Grace and Jack Lawson seem to be a normal, average middle American couple with two children until the day that Grace picks up some pictures at the photomat, and in the pictures is an old pictures, maybe 20 years old, that seems to have her husband in the group. Where did that come from? And why? The picture changes everything, recalling a time about 20 years earlier when Grace was involved in a life changing event, and somehow, this picture seems to be mixed up with that. As Grace questions, Jack disappears, and as an investigation continues, the former lives of Jack and Grace are uncovered and intertwined into a wild and unbelievable set of happenstances.

I found some characters that I had read in another book, and yet this is not a series, it's just that the books seem to be set in nearby locations and towns, so some characters carry over from one book to another, mostly backgrounds, but others as well, and it becomes like watching real life in that you meet a person and come to find out that they know someone that you know from another event. It is actually neat, and it really makes it that much easier to connect with the books, and the story and the characters, they seem so real!

If you have never read this author, you have just got to try one book. I have found that if I have no idea what to read next, all I have to do is pick up one of his books and I have an a perfect fit. He is an amazing writer and story teller.

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West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life by Jerry West

West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life by Jerry West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I received this book through the Goodreads First-Reads program. I like stories about real people, and I love hearing how they overcame things to become the people they are today.

This was a good book, but I am just not enough of a basketball fan to really understand and get into it all. I know, I live in Indiana, how can I not be a basketball fan, I don't know, trick of fate, but I have never really been all that into basketball, now football is another story altogether.

There were parts that were really good. The back history into his life, how he made friends and never seemed to notice the differences in skin color between people. I loved that, and I understood it and could grasp it. There were other parts, and to made it almost felt like a lot of name-dropping, when he would talk about another player, had how they did this or that, and tell their story and then wind it back to him. I just got lost in some of those and really had a hard time reading the whole book, as you can probably tell because of the amount of time that has passed since I got the book, until I finally started reading it until now! I mean, it really took me a long time to read this, because I had to keep putting it down and walking away from it for awhile before i could go back and read more.

Now, if you are a die-hard basketball fan, you will love this book. You might enjoy all the references to other players and times and accomplishments and the like. I still think the book was well-written and that it would appeal to men, but i just couldn't do it more than I did.

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