Until You're Mine, by Samantha Hayes

In this psychological thriller, someone is killing pregnant women, cutting the fetuses out of them and leaving them to bleed to death. The reader hears from three point-of-views. Claudia Morgan-Brown is the step-mother of two twin boys, soon-to-be mother of a baby girl, and working as a social-worker until the last possible moment. Her husband, James, is in the military and is about to be deployed. To help her with caring for the children and the house, the two have hired a nanny, Zoe. However, something about Zoe seems off to Claudia and, given that Claudia's husband's away and she has no adult but Zoe in the house, Claudia is beginning to worry about whether or not the new nanny can be trusted.. The more we hear from Zoe, the more it seems that Claudia might be right to worry. It becomes clear to the reader that her name is not Zoe and that her purposes for taking the job as a nanny are neither monetary or altruistic. The third point-of-view is that of the police officer in charge of the case, Lorraine. Her husband and her are going through a rough patch (brought on by his infidelity) and trying to hide it from their daughters. On top of that, she needs to hunt down the person who is slaughtering  pregnant women before that person kills again.
<P>The book is well-written. The author and editor have good spelling and grammar skills and there aren't any sentences that are phrased awkwardly. The book is suspenseful and it would take a genius to guess how things turn out. Although there are subtle clues to the killer's identity and why certain characters do what they do, they are very subtle and the reader is genuinely surprised by the way things unfold. The only thing I'd say could be improved is the connections between the different characters. It seems as if every single main character is connected in some way. While, for a story to work, there needs to be some connections, I feel that there are some ones that are needless in the case of this book. For instance, Lorraine's husband's one-night stand just happens to be with one of the view-point characters, whose sister just happens to have had an affair with the father of one of the murdered pregnant woman's child. I can see including maybe one of these connections, but both seem a bit extreme. Although both do contribute to why certain things unfold the way they do, there could have been alternative explanations that didn't involve as many coincidences. Other than that, though, it was a great book and I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

<P>: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Blogging For Books program in exchange for an honest review.

The Room, by Jonas Karlsson

In this (kind of bizarre) novel, the main character, Bjorn, moves to a new company. It immediately becomes clear that there is something odd about this man. He looks down on his coworkers and presumes to give them orders. He even thinks about ordering his boss around and these thoughts seem to come naturally to him. Bjorn doesn't seem to think that there's anything odd about this. After all, to his mind, he's far superior to everyone else in terms of talent and creativity and it's so obvious that even they must see it. Soon, Bjorn comes upon a room at the Authority (his company). It seems like a typical room in an office. Except it contains a mirror. While in the room, Bjorn begins to feel even more confident of himself and seems to work even better. However, it soon becomes apparent that the room only exists inside Bjorn's mind and that, when he thinks he's inside, he's really standing still and staring at the wall. This disturbs his coworkers to the point where they begin to demand he's fired. Bjorn believes that they are all lying and trying to drive him insane. He plans to get revenge by conducting such exquisite work that the head of the company has no choice but to cater to Bjorn's demands (which are to fire all those who have offended Bjorn).

<P>This book is quite thought provoking. While I suppose one has to entertain the thought that Bjorn might be correct and everyone else is lying about the room, given his personality, thought pattern, and the fact that, even according to Bjorn's own calculations, there is no space for the room to exist, the reader is certainly more inclined to take the view that Bjorn is mentally ill. He comes across as a cross between Dwight and Creed (for Office fans).  However, even after the reader reaches this conclusion, the book still makes one ponder about the definition of existence, mental illness, and society's treatment of the mentally ill. After all, Bjorn firmly believes in the room's existence and nothing seems able of piercing this delusion. Clearly it exists for him. Furthermore, even though he's most likely hallucinating and delusional, Bjorn seems able to go through his day to day life and his hallucination seems to even aid him in his work. However, his coworkers seem unable to accept him because of his mental illness. To be fair, I'd probably be creeped out by someone staring at a wall for long periods of time. At some points he even takes people into the room, which to them just involves them staring at the wall together. That would be unnerving for most people. Furthermore, his perception of his own superiority makes it difficult to like him. However, Bjorn doesn't hurt anyone, keeps to himself, and completes all his work (and sometimes other people's work). One has to wonder, given these circumstances, shouldn't his eccentricities be ignored? After all, he's fulfilling his contract and the side-effect of his mental illness doesn't seem to get in the way of anyone's well-being. In fact, the room seems to allow him to excel at work, benefiting the Authority. Why is it so hard to just ignore his mental illness? This book forces one to ponder these questions and offers no definitive answer. However, the lack of answers isn't as unsatisfying as one might imagine. In fact, I think the book wouldn't be as interesting if there was an ending that was wrapped up in a bow.

<P>Overall, I'd give this book a 5 out of 5.

<P>Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Blogging For Books program in exchange for an honest review.

The Land that Time Forgot, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

An old 'classic', this tale of a lost world has often been forgotten by contemporary readers in favor of more prominent books such as, Jurassic Park, the Lost World (both Crichton's and Doyle's), and, Journey to the Center of the Earth. While those books are certainly worthy of the attention, I have to say that Burroughs' take on a hidden world is just as entertaining. The book begins during WWI with a man finding a message in a bottle washed up on a beach. The message tells the story of Bowen J. Tyler, an American passenger on a boat. The boat is attacked by a German U-boat, but Tyler, his dog, Nob, and a female passenger, Lys La Rue, manage to escape in a lifeboat. They are picked up by a tugboat, which is also sunk by the U-boat but, with the help of the tugboat's crew, they manage to capture the U-boat. Unable to convince any allied nation that they are not German, they wander through the sea and, at last, set upon a strange island. This island, Corona (aka Caspka), is inhabited by creatures thought to be extinct. In addition, there are multiple tribes of cavemen (literally. They live in caves), each at a different stage of civilization. The group discovers oil on the island and things look like they're going to be alright, when the Germans take off without the other passengers and the allies are left alone on this dangerous island.

This book is delightful and filled with adventures. It's well-written, the characters are believable, and each event leaves the reader wanting more. It leaves off on a cliff-hanger which, seeing as there're two sequels, is always good. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

There are, however, some instances of racism. It's not done to the point where it's occurring every few pages, but it's still noticeable. For instance, at one point, the narrator states of himself, "I could have gone on my knees to her and begged her forgivness- or at least I could have, had I not been Anglo-Saxon". Another time he says of the German captain "He, being a Prussian and a gentleman, couldn't stoop to such menial labor in the presence of his men". Now, it's difficult to know how to take these instances. On one hand, the book was written in 1918, when racism still ran rampant in the United States of America. It would be odd to not find some hint of racism in it. To some degree, one might be tempted to excuse the racism by saying that the narrator would have been a product of his time and upbringing. However, everyone's a product of one's time and upbringing. No one is raised in a perfect world where their role models are completely righteous and one never has to struggle with moral quandaries. Despite this, people do have the ability to look at the world around them, talk to different people, see how different beliefs measure up to realities and, in the end, judge for themselves what's right and wrong. Racism in a particular time period may be common but, in every society, there have been people who have worked to overcome it in themselves and others. Because of this, even if it's understandable for a person to be racist, I can't in good faith say it's ever right and, as a result, this characteristic of the narrator detracted from the book. Overall rating, 4 out of 5.