Now You See Her by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge/Book Review

Now You See Her

James Patterson (Author), Michael Ledwidge (Author)

"The prolific Patterson seems unstoppable." (USA Today )

"James Patterson knows how to sell thrills and suspense in clean, unwavering prose." (People )

"Patterson's novels are sleek entertainment machines, the Porsches of commercial fiction, expertly engineered and lightning fast." (Publishers Weekly ) 

Description

A successful lawyer and loving mother, Nina Bloom would do anything to protect the life she's built in New York--including lying to everyone, even her daughter, about her past. But when an innocent man is framed for murder, she knows that she can't let him pay for the real killer's crimes.

Nina's secret life began 18 years ago. She had looks to die for, a handsome police-officer husband, and a carefree life in Key West. When she learned she was pregnant with their first child, her happiness was almost overwhelming. But Nina's world is shattered when she unearths a terrible secret that causes her to run for her life and change her identity.

Now, years later, Nina risks everything she's earned to return to Florida and confront the murderous evil she fled. In a story of wrenching suspense, James Patterson gives us his most head-spinning, action-filled story yet--a Hitchcock-like blend of unquenchable drama and pleasure.

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Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (June 27, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0316036218

ISBN-13: 978-0316036214

Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

REVIEW

Books that Patterson writes with Ledwidge have been some of my favorites. This one is up to their usual standards. It's a twisty, turny tale that moves very quickly. Nina's a great character. I loved the pacing of the book and finished it in one afteroon! The quick pacing of this book is what raised it from a 3-star to a 4-star read for me. I was in the mood for something fast and wouldn't require a lot of thinking. This book was perfect for me.

Some things in the book are more than a bit too coincidental and there's melodrama enough for three books, but this is still a fun, summer thriller. I am glad I read it and think that some people that are bummed on Patterson might enjoy this book more than some of his more recent ones. Try a sample, and I think this book will hook you from the start as it did me. It's so easy to get caught up and swept away before you know it. Overall, great beach read. Perfect for summer vacation, and just in time!

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)/Movie Review

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Genres:Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi    Runtime: USA: 157 min

Release Date: 29 June 2011 (India)

Tagline: The battles are over. The war begins.

Director:  Michael Bay

Writer: Ehren Kruger

Executive producers  : Mark Vahradian, Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, Michael Bay

Original Music by Steve Jablonsky

Cinematography by Amir M. Mokri

Storyline

Autobots Bummblebee, Rachet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action taking on the evil Decepticons, who are eager to avenge their recent defeat. The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, to reach a hidden Cybertronian spacecraft on the moon and learn its secrets, and once again Sam Witwicky has to come to the aid of his robot friends. New villain, Shockwave, who rules Cybertron, is on the scene while the Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle it out on Earth.

Main Casts

Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Rich Hutchman, Frances McDormand, Kevin Dunn, John Malkovich, Julie White, Alan Tudyk, Ken Jeong, Glenn Morshower, Lester Speight, Buzz Aldrin, Bill O'Reilly, Ravil Isyanov

Budget:  $195,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:  $97,400,000 (USA) (3 July 2011) (4013 Screens)

Gross:  $348,540,006 (USA) (21 August 2011)

Production Co:  Paramount Pictures, Hasbro, Di Bonaventura Pictures

Filming Locations: Cambodia

Review

I liked the first Transformers, and while it did have its problems the second was better than I expected. I came into the cinema not expecting much, but I left feeling very underwhelmed. Other than the amazing effects, authentic sound, quite excellent action and above average cinematography and editing, this Transformers entry was a waste of time in my opinion.

In my opinion Transformers:Dark of the Moon is the dullest and worst of the three. The first half is poorly paced and dull to the point of boredom, and while the second half fares much better due to the action it came too late and wasn't enough to stop the film from becoming a messy bore overall. The dialogue is stupid and formulaic, the film is much too long and the story is choppy and confused complete with a messy ending.

Michael Bay's direction is another low point, it is murky and unfocused throughout, while the characters are either underused(the robots) or annoying(John Tuturro's character). The acting is not great at all, the voice work is decent, however John Malkovich is wasted, Shia LaBoeuf's easy going charm doesn't disguise the fact his performance is uncharismatic and dull, Patrick Dempsey(performance and character) is useless, John Tuturro tries hard but ends up over-compensating and the less said about the lovely but bland replacement for Megan Fox Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the better.

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One Summer by David Baldacci/Book Review

David Baldacci (Author)

It's almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children.

Then, unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no one able to care for them, the children are separated from each other and sent to live with family members around the country. Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together.

Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie's death, he reunites everyone at Lizzie's childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack will begin to learn to love again, and he and his children will learn how to become a family once more.

Publishers Weekly's Review

Legal thriller fixture Baldacci (Deliver Us from Evil) churns out a creaky, contrived family drama about Jack Armstrong, a terminally ill family man just praying to make it to Christmas. Sadness abounds, much more so when Jack's wife, Lizzie, is killed in a car wreck while on a medicine run. Plans are made by Jack's mean mother-in-law Bonnie: the three kids will get divided up among aunts and uncles across the country, and Jack will be put into hospice. Miraculously, Jack's health turns around, and he's able to reclaim his kids and move the brood from Ohio to the South Carolina shore where Lizzie grew up. There, he tries to reassemble the family and learn how to be a single parent, and just as they're beginning to settle into a functional family again, Bonnie sues for custody of the kids. Yes, it possesses all the subtlety of a dog fight, but it's also choked with pap ("No matter what you do, no matter how hard you fight, life sometimes just doesn't make sense") and so sappy you'd think Baldacci was earning a commission on each tear jerked.

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Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 14, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0446583146

ISBN-13: 978-0446583145

Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches

PRAISES

"If you know David Baldacci only as a thriller writer, you need to read more of David Baldacci. In One Summer, he writes as beautifully and insightfully about the pathways of the human heart as he does about the corridors of power. The twists and turns in this hugely emotional and unforgettable novel come from the resilience of one father's spirit and the revelation of the love that binds a family, in this world and even beyond. If you read one book this summer, make it One Summer." (Lisa Scottoline, author of Save Me )

"Just when you think David Baldacci has a permanent bird's eye view of the Pentagon from Air Force One, he surprises us all with a beautifully told story of the fate of a family devastated by loss and healed by love. One Summer has it all, humor, grace and redemption, delivered with humanity and wisdom in the capable and sure hands of America's great storyteller." (Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Very Valentine and Lucia, Lucia )

"One Summer is a beautifully written story about family, redemption and hope. Baldacci demonstrates why, regardless of genre, he's one of the world's foremost storytellers." (Richard Paul Evans, #1 bestselling author of The Walk and The Christmas Box )

REVIEW

Jack Armstrong is a former army ranger married to his other half...a marriage meant to be, made in heaven. Then he comes down with an unnamed fatal illness which will leave his wife and 3 children alone.

David Baldacci completes an artful and accurate description of what illness does to the whole family. The story is told from Jack's viewpoint..."he couldn't make it upstairs to his bedroom...It was another piece of his life taken from him, like he was being dismantled, brick by brick. ". The story is heart rendering and oh so true in its description of its` characters, in the thoughts of Jack, the actions of his wife and his teenage daughter. The two younger sons really do not have much depth in their part, but that does not hamper the story.

The family suffers another horrendous tragedy and blow after blow. Jack has to struggle to rebuild his life, his emotions and most of all his family. The bulk of the story takes place at his wife's family beach house, where we see a family struggling with the anger, the angst of the setbacks they are dealt.

This is a heart wrenching story, but also one that proves the power of love and determination and yes of miracles. It is for romantics and those who search for what life is all about, what people can do and learn and how they can change their lives. It shows the mistakes and tenderness that we all need to see and would find absorbing to read about. This is a book, a good story with all the interesting plot twists and turns of a mesmerizing summer read....Sometimes life doesn't work out and then maybe it does.

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Green Lantern (2011)/ Movie Review

Release Date: 17 June 2011 (India)  Runtime: USA: 114 min

Genres: Action | Crime| Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Sound Mix: SDDS  | DTS (Datasat Digital) | Dolby Digital

Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA 

A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe. 

Director:  Martin Campbell

Writers:  Greg Berlanti | Michael Green |Marc Guggenheim|Michael Goldenberg

Taglines: No Evil Shall Escape My Sight.  

Cast

Ryan Reynolds, Melanie Hebert, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard , Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Jay O. Sanders

Taika Waititi, Angela Bassett , Mike Doyle, Dylan James

Box Office

Budget: $200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: PHP 72,051,582 (Philippines) (19 June 2011) (231 Screens)

Gross: $115,601,139 (USA) (21 August 2011)

Production Co: Warner Bros. Pictures| De Line Pictures| DC Entertainment

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Super 8 (2011) /Movie Review

Release Date:  10 June 2011 (USA)   Runtime: USA: 112 min

After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon.

Director:  J.J. Abrams

Writer:  J.J. Abrams

Casts:

Joel Courtney , Riley Griffiths , Ryan Lee , Gabriel Basso , Zach Mills , Kyle Chandler , Jessica Tuck, Joel McKinnon Miller , Ron Eldard , Amanda Michalka , Andrew Miller , Jade Griffiths, Jakob Miller , Elle Fanning , Britt Flatmo

STORYLINE

In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined

Box Office

Budget:  $50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:  $35,451,168 (USA) (12 June 2011) (3379 Screens)

Gross:  $125,316,799 (USA) (7 August 2011)

Production Co : Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Bad Robot

SUMMARY

The film starts in February of 1979, at a steel plant in Lillian, Ohio. Elizabeth Lamb (Caitriona Balfe) has been killed in an accident. Though their family and friends are sad for her husband, Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler), their main concern is Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Elizabeth and Jackson's son. Joe was more attached to his Mom than his Dad, who was never really been there for his son.

Later at the Lamb's house, Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard) pays a visit. Jackson blames Louis for his wife's death, and forces him out of the house and puts him in his squad car. As Joe watches his father take Louis away, his gaze shifts to a silver locket in his hand.

Four months later, the local Middle School lets out for the summer. Joe's friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) has been shooting a Super 8 film for a film festival in Cleveland. Charles has rewritten the the story so that the detective now has a wife. Joe is unsure about this last-minute rewrite, but when Charles tells him that he has gotten Alice Dainard for the part (Elle Fanning), he becomes less-concerned. The two then promise to rendezvous later that night to film their scene, with plans for Alice to drive them.

Arriving home, Joe meets up with his Dad who takes him out for dinner. Jackson Lamb wants his son to attend a baseball camp for the summer, but Joe explains that he wants to help Charles finish his film. Both reach a impasse, having little more to say on the matter.

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X-Men: First Class (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date: 10 June 2011 (India)   Runtime: 132 min

Genres: Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline: Their powers would make them different. But destiny would make them allies. 

In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III.

Director:  Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Ashley Miller , Zack Stentz

Original Music by Henry Jackman

Cinematography by John Mathieson

STORYLINE

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.

BOX OFFICE

Budget: $160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $55,101,604 (USA) (5 June 2011) (3641 Screens)

Gross: $145,939,795 (USA) (21 August 2011)

Filming Locations: Englefield House, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Production Co: Bad Hat Harry Productions, Donners' Company, Marv Films

CASTS: James McAvoy,  Laurence Belcher,  Michael Fassbender,  Bill Milner,  Kevin Bacon,  Rose Byrne,  Jennifer Lawrence,  Beth Goddard,  Morgan Lily,  Oliver Platt,  Álex González,  Jason Flemyng,  Zoë Kravitz,  January Jones,  Nicholas Hoult ,

Teen Choice Awards 2011

Nominated

Movie Chemistry : Jennifer Lawrence , Nicholas Hoult , Zoë Kravitz , Caleb Landry Jones , Lucas Till & Edi Gathegi

Movie Villain : Kevin Bacon

Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Summer Movie Star: Female Jennifer Lawrence

Summer Movie Star: Female Zoë Kravitz

REVIEW

There are plenty of big action scenes throughout but it's the first half of the film that really impresses. Establishing these characters and the entire universe is done remarkably well and in a remarkably moving manner. This new spin on familiar "bad guys" Magneto and Mystique does give the actions and emotions for the characters a new level of appreciation and helps give them so much more depth and pathos. Both sides of the fence (Xavier's vision and Magneto's contempt) are advanced and the brilliance of the plot is that both sides are understandable and relatable. The viewer can simply sit and watch it unfold but also be emotionally invested in the journey. During the second half, plot threads move towards resolution and action picks up. Xavier is a shining example and his journey throughout the film matches that of Erik.

First Class never undermines the audience nor talks down to them and does all that is expected of it. It delivers great action, humor, effects and a strong connection between heroes, villains and those developing in between. The retro design is suave and making this a period piece gives it a cool and unique flavor. The collaboration between Singer and Vaughn apparently was a perfect blend. Vaughn did a brilliant job and Singer's vision from the first two films stayed in tact and was enhanced. I have to add that the score had a perfect heroic theme but was also moving and very well done. The overall impact of this film leaves you with a great sensation of a job well done. Fast paced yet filled with depth, spellbinding visual effects and a gripping finale. In the end, they succeeded in re-establishing these characters in a superb and interesting manner. There is more to offer and more depth to appreciate. I certainly can't wait for a sequel and inclusion of Scott and Jean from the original trilogy.

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