LABOR DAY (Joyce Maynard) - February 26/10

I'm kind of conflicted on this one. On the one hand, the book really became quite involving in its second half and offered a vivid portrait of six days in the life of a outcast 13-year-old. But on the other hand, the initial setup of the narrative is simply too hard to comfortably swallow - with the cavalier way that the protagonist's mother takes in the escaped convict (and her decision to quickly fall into bed with him) just too out-there to easily accept. Without that little hiccup, Labor Day would probably have fared a whole lot better - as Maynard is a strong writer with an obvious talent for cultivating a very specific time and place. *** out of ****

PIRATE LATITUDES (Michael Crichton) - February 21/10

Though it started out well, with that sequence in which the main character assembles his team, Oceans 11 style, Pirate Latitudes suffers from a midsection that's simply too uneventful for its own good. Crichton is clearly interested in exploring the minutia of a pirate's day-to-day life on the open seas, but it's just not terribly interesting. The book does pick up, however, with an exciting kraken attack and a revenge-fueled finale. *** out of ****

THE LOVELY BONES (Alice Sebold) - February 14/10

Hmm. This one was a little frustrating. I was definitely enjoying it for the first half, although Sebold's reliance on overly flowery prose is a little irritating. But once the story zips ahead through time and we're asked to spend more and more time with characters we don't really care about (ie Ruth), my interest seriously began to wane. Maybe it's my own fault for expecting something that Sebold isn't interested in delivering - ie a linear look at a family attempting to cope with the loss of one of their own - but I just found the latter half of the novel seriously anticlimactic and often flat-out boring. **1/2 out of ****

YOUTH IN EXILE (C.D. Payne) - February 11/10

Although I did admittedly enjoy the last 30 pages or so - in which Nick finally consummated his relationship with Sheeni and also became a wart-watch millionaire - Youth in Exile is primarily an extraordinarily tedious experience that just feels like Payne is spinning his wheels. Desperate to keep the Nick Twisp story going, Payne offers up a whole host of entirely underwhelming subplots and forces Nick to spend much of the book disguised as Carlotta (I mean, really). It's so far from entertaining that it forces the reader to wonder what they ever liked about this series in the first place. ** out of ****

A PRAYER FOR THE DYING (Jack Higgins) - February 10/10

This incredibly breezy book - I read it in a day - tells the simple yet engrossing story of an ex IRA soldier who finds himself embroiled in a series of problems within a small town. Aside from Higgins' penchant for including interludes that aren't that interesting - ie a tour through a crematorium - A Prayer for the Dying is an exceptionally entertaining read that certainly makes me curious to check out some of his other books. *** out of ****

SHUTTER ISLAND (Dennis Lehane) - February 7/10

Wow. This is an incredibly entertaining read that boasts a twist ending I seriously did not see coming at all. Lehane offers up an incredibly cinematic story that moves at an impressively brisk clip, and it's worth noting that every time the story starts to slow down a bit, Lehane throws in another electrifying interlude or an out-of-left-field twist that instantly recaptures one's interest. ***1/2 out of ****

YOUTH IN BONDAGE (C.D. Payne) - February 2/10

This rather underwhelming sequel is certainly quite entertaining and amusing in parts, yet there's little doubt that the book - which only fleetingly allows Nick to reunite with Sheeni - simply feels as though its spinning its wheels for the majority of its narrative. **1/2 out of ****