Booking Through Thursday - Favorite Unknown

Today's Booking Through Thursday question is:

Who’s your favorite author that other people are NOT reading? The one you want to evangelize for, the one you would run popularity campaigns for? The author that, so far as you’re concerned, everyone should be reading–but that nobody seems to have heard of. You know, not JK Rowling, not Jane Austen, not Hemingway–everybody’s heard of them. The author that you think should be that famous and can’t understand why they’re not…

My pick is definitely T.L. Hines. I read his book The Unseen last summer while on vacation, and WOW! It was a page-turner! After that, I read Waking Lazarus, also a great story. He has written others....I have The Dead Whisper On in my TBR stack, and Faces In the Fire is on my waiting list on Paperbackswap.com. If you haven't read T.L. Hines, you need to check him out!

~Mailbox Monday~ 7/6/09

I received 4 books last week!




Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert

Waking Lazarus by T. L. Hines:
~Jude Allman has died and come back to life three times, becoming a celebrity despite his best efforts to go unnoticed. When the world crushes in around this miracle man, this modern-day Lazarus, he chooses to vanish into the vastness of Montana. He changes his name and withdraws from the public eye, trying to forget all that came before. But the past, like Jude, won't stay buried.
A prowling evil circles his adopted hometown of Red Lodge, Montana. Children are disappearing - and Jude may have the key to solving the crimes, hidden inside the mysteries of his own deaths. His days as a recluse are over, and now he must face the questions that have haunted him for years. What if his resurrections aren't merely accidents? what is there's are reason behind it all? What if he's been brought back for just this moment?

Replay by Ken Grimwood:
~A time-travel classic in the tradition of Jack Finney's Time and Time Again, Ken Grimwood's acclaimed novel Replay asks the provocative question: "What if you could live your life over again, knowing the mistakes you'd make before?" Forty-three year old Jeff Winston gets several chances to do just that. Trapped in a tepid marriage and dead-end job, he dies in 1988 and wakes up to find himself in 1963, at the age of eighteen, staring at his dorm room walls at Emory University. It's all the same...but different: Jeff knows what the future holds. He knows who will win every World Series...every Kentucky Derby...even how to win on Wall Street. One thing he doesn't know is: Why has he been chosed to replay his life? And how many times must he win - and lose - everything he loves? Winner of the 1988 World Fantasy Award for best novel and published in eleven languages, Replay unravels the answers in a masterful skein that captivates our imagination.

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen:
~Halley and Scarlett have been best friends ever since they met. Halley has always been the quiet one; Scarlett braver and more outgoing. Halley has always turned to Scarlett when things get rough, and Scarlett has always known what to do. It's the perfect set-up. But everything changes at the beginning of their junior year. Scarlett's boyfriend is killed in a motorcycle accident; then she finds out that she is carrying his baby. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Now Halley has to learn how to be strong for Scarlett. It won't be easy, but Halley knows that she can't let Scarlett down. Because a true friend is a promise you keep forever.

What was in YOUR mailbox this week!

~Book Review~ The Unseen by T.L. Hines

I have a new favorite author. His name is T.L. Hines. He is an incredible author! I have read only one of his books (I am ordering his others) and I can honestly say that his writing is awesome.

The Unseen grabbed me from the first page and didn't let me go until the very end. Hine's story flows evenly. There are no disjointed paragraphs or chapters. I was able to keep all of the characters straight and not get lost along the way. Although the story is very straightforward, there are many twists and turns. It is a gripping story from start to finish!

From the back cover:
Lucas is a loner, but he's never alone. From secret hiding places, he peers into the lives of others - watching them while they work, while they commute, while they sip their morning coffee. He is a master at remaining silent and unseen in his carefully constructed world as an invisible observer.
But when a chance encounter turns the tables, the watcher becomes the watched. Caught up in an escalating series of events he is powerless to stop, Lucas discovers an underground organization with a chilling mission.
Anyone can be watched. No one is safe. And the most terrifying secrets of all remain unseen. Until now.

FIVE STARS
Thomas Nelson (2008), Hardcover, 400 pages
ISBN1595544526 / 9781595544520



A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
T.L. Hines writes "Noir Bizarre" stories, mixing mysteries with oddities in books such as WAKING LAZARUS and THE DEAD WHISPER ON. His work has won recognitions ranging from the Maryland Writers Association novel contest to LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "25 Best Genre Fiction Books of the Year" award.
He lives in Montana with his wife and daughter, where he defends an undefeated 3-0 record in air guitar competitions.

I'm Back!

Well, vacation time is over! It always goes too fast. We had a great time at the beach. The weather was good...sunny and in the 80's. The stretch of beach that we were at this summer was very crowded...I couldn't believe how many people were there! If we didn't get down to the beach before 10:00 am, we actually had a difficult time locating a place to put our chairs and umbrella! Just think of that....ridiculous! By the third day that we were there, I figured out what was going on, and it infuriated me. People would go down to the beach around 8 or 9 and would put up their umbrellas, or tents (so many people had these huge tents like something you would put in your back yard) and then leave....they were "saving" beach space for themselves. . It was crazy. At the resort where my cousin was staying, there was a big sign out at the pool that read "No Saving Chairs". She said people were doing it anyway....taking their beach towels down and draping them over chairs, then disappearing for two hours...probably eating breakfast. What is this world coming to? I just don't understand.......

Anyway, enough of my grumbling. We had a great time. I read one book while I was there (and what a GREAT book it was!) The Unseen by T.L. Hines. I highly recommend this book...it was intense...a real page turner!

Now that I am home, I need to catch up on so many things! At least I have one more day to relax before heading back to work tomorrow.

I hope that everyone has a great day today, and I am glad to be back....I missed everybody!