Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon

I read about Dismantled on someone's blog, and as I had read and enjoyed Ms. McMahon's previous novel, I decided to give this one a try. I should have stuck with what the reviewer said, because I didn't really enjoy the book that much. I give it a C.

Inside cover:
Henry, Tess, Winnie and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto- "To understand the nature of a thing it must be taken apart"- these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.
Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour's drive from the old cabin. Each is desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide- apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler style postcard- it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma. Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die- or has somehow found a way back to seek revenge?

I really didn't like any of the characters, so I think that was part of the problem with the story. I didn't care about any of them, except maybe for Emma, and thought that they were all very selfish. There were also paranormal aspects, which we all know is not exactly my cup of tea, so that lowered my rating a bit as well. There was quite a twist at the end of the story which redeemed part of it, but part of the time I was reading I kept asking myself why I was even reading it. I probably should have just moved on but didn't.

Well hate to make this short, but I have a wedding to go to. I really don't want to go, but am sucking it up. Have a great night everyone and Happy Reading!

Sleep No More by Greg Isles

This was my first book by Mr. Iles, though I do have several more sitting on my TBR shelves. I have been meaning to read one of his books and decided to grab this one off of the shelves. The premise sounded so interesting, though I was just a bit disappointed. I give it a B+.

From Amazon:
In Sleep No More, Greg Iles returns to the territory of some of his best-loved works, the steamy and hypnotic small town Mississippi where Iles himself grew up. John Waters is a husband and father happy with his lot in life, though he has not always felt that way. Years earlier he escaped an obsessive love affair, which he feared might consume him. The woman in question disappeared after Waters married, and later he heard that she was killed in New Orleans. But now, Waters has an uneasy feeling that she has resurfaced to trouble him - and entice him - once again. A woman he meets casually stuns him with a smile and a secret only this former lover would know. But when this alluring stranger is suddenly murdered, Waters's quiet life is enveloped in a whirlwind of guilt and suspicion, revealing the shadowy sides of love and friendship, and the terror that can result when passion becomes obsession.

The description sounds just like my favorite type of psychological suspense. A psycho coming to wreak havoc on the seemingly "perfect" little family. The depths that someone would go to in the name of love. Unfortunely, the book also contains one little aspect that I could have done without... the supernatural. I am not sure why, but I just really do not like books that deal with supernatural, unless it is psychics. I know it is popular in fiction today, however, it just isn't my cup of tea. That being said, however, the writing was excellent and I was throughly enthralled with the book. I have been working a lot this week, so while it took me a couple of days to read it, last night when I had some free time I read over 200 pages and finished the book. I really recommend trying out Mr. Iles books, and know that another one of his books is in my near reading future!

I am not sure what I am going to read next. However, I went to a local B. Dalton bookstore in our mall for a gift and they were going out of business. Everything was 20% off and I didn't buy anything! I am sticking to my ban of buying any new books. I was quite proud with myself and just had to share it with you. Happy Reading!