The Three Fates

Book: The Three Fates

Author: Nora Roberts

Bookshelves: 2011, fiction, Ireland, Nora Roberts, NYC, Prague, romance, USA

Begun: March 16, 2011

Finished: March 22, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: Ireland, New York City (USA), Prague (Budapest)

Characters: Malachi Sullican, Dr. Tia Marsh, Gideon Sullivan, Cleopatra “Cleo” Toliver, Rebecca “Becca” Sullivan, Jack Burdett, Anita Gay

Review: The Three Fates is another one of Nora Roberts triumphs. The plot revolves around three siblings (Irish siblings of course, as Ms. Roberts loves her some Ireland!) who are all descendants of a thief. Not just any thief. This thief stole a small silver statue off the Lusitania just as it was sinking (during WWI in 1918) off the coast of Ireland. The thief/grandfather was saved by Irish fisherman (as many of the survivors of the Lusitania were) and nursed back to health by a local family. Eventually, he fell in love with the daughter of the family, married her, and stayed in Ireland.

Now, Malachi, Gideon, and Rebecca Sullivan are determined to bring home the Three Fates (the name for the three sister statues - one was which was "stolen" by their grandfather). But they don't want the riches or to sell them, they are doing it for family honor.

Malachi is the first to set off in search of the Three Fates when he goes looking for Dr. Tia Marsh, an expert in Greek mythology. He believes that Dr. Marsh will be able to help him recover the fate that Malachi lost to a ruthless and unscrupulous antiques dealer named Anita Gay.

Following in his big brother's footsteps, Gideon heads off to Prague to run down another lead for the second fate where he comes across exotic dancer Cloe Toliver. Toliver's family was reputed to have the second fate and Gideon wants some information from the brash brunette who seems to have the street credit to back up her fire and ice attitude.

Sick of waiting at home in their coast town in Ireland, Rebecca (Becca) wants to travel the world like her brothers have been. Her chance comes when one of the ruthless Anita Gay's acquaintances comes to look for her. It turns out that Jack Burdett loves to collect antiques (even though he owns one of the most high tech security companies in the world) and that he hates being used by people (which is what Anita Gay was doing - milking him for any information he might have on Tia Marsh or the Three Fates). Well, wouldn't you know it? Burdett actually knows more than he thought he did about the Fates.

So from three unlikely sources comes the information to solve the puzzle on the Three Fates. Sprinkle love, humor, intrigue, action and the machinations of a true villain (read: Anita Gay), Roberts writes another great novel!

Recommended by: my friends, Erin and Tiffany V.

Recommend to: Nora Roberts Fans

The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl #4)

Book: The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl #4)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, Berlin (Germany), dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: February 17, 2011

Finished: February 19, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland (outside of Dublin), Berlin (Germany) and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Opal Koboi, Mervall Brill, Descant Brill

Review: (Spoilers for book # 2 (The Opal Deception) & # 3 (The Eternity Code) ahead): After more than a year in a self induced coma, Opal Koboi, the mastermind behind the events in The Opal Deception, has hatched a new plan. Awakening with the help of the Brill Brothers (Mervall and Descant, pixie twins who are something of a celebrity themselves (pixie twins being something of an extreme rarity)), Opal will destroy those officers and humans who helped to capture her the last time.

This list includes: Foaly, Holly Short, Julius Root, Artemis and Butler.

So when Foaly realizes that a goblin, who was apprehended during the B’wa Kell Goblin Rebellion round up, has snuck his way out of prison, Holly and Julius go into a tunnel (one of the magma flair tunnels) to get him. Only to come up against a mesmered creature.

A mesmered creature who is being controlled by Opal Koboi. As part of her devious plan, all the LEP’s sound recordings can’t work around the goblin and the computer screen that is attached to his chest. To top it off, she’s got technology working for her that will not allow the video recording to see her face on the computer screen, just a fuzzy blur where the picture should be.

And then all hell breaks loose. Somehow, the screen that was around the goblin detaches from him and attaches to Julius. This is when they are informed that it is a bomb. Opal tricks Holly into shooting at the screen (by telling her there is a sweet spot on the device that will save Julius). So now, it looks like Holly has shot her commanding officer. And when the bomb does blow up, Julius Root, Holly’s mentor and father figure, is killed. His last words were “live well.”

Holly takes off in her LEP suit and wings heading for Berlin where Artemis and Butler are in their Berlin hotel room after stealing a painting called the Fairy Thief.

Artemis has been obsessed with the artist who painted this pictures works for almost a year or so. He isn’t sure why he likes the idea of fantastical creatures (not remember his own friends who are members of the eight families of the People since Foaly had to mind wipe him and Butler after the John Spiro incident). Holly has to get to him before the BioBomb Opal hide inside the tube where the painting rest goes off.

It takes a lot (and some help from Mulch Diggums) but Holly convinces Butler and Artemis to help her clear her name and capture the rouge pixie whose plan for total world domination includes exposing Haven City to the humans who she plans to join up with (as a “human child” since having her ears rounded and a pituitary gland implanted.)

Can the friends save Haven and the world … again?

Awards: none

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl #3)

Book: The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl #3)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, Chicago (USA), dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: February 15, 2011

Finished: February 16, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland (outside of Dublin), Chicago (USA) and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, John Spiro, Juliet Bulter, Arno Blunt

Review: (Spoilers for book # 2 (The Arctic Incident) ahead) Artemis Fowl is back with another money making/world dominating scheme in The Eternity Code.

After two previous adventures with the People and their advanced technology (thanks to Foaly, the centaur), Artemis has gathered a bunch of equipment which never should have fallen into Mudman hands. Cannibalizing parts from LEP helmets and other items, Artemis creates the C Cube, a highly advanced and complicated “computer.”

In London, Artemis and Bulter meet with John Spiro, a shady American businessman who has made his money in technology, and his bodyguard, Arno Blunt, a New Zealander, at a small bistro. Artemis wants to blackmail Spiro into paying him 1 metric ton of gold to keep the C Cube and its technology off the market for one year, giving Spiro enough time to liquidate stocks in his own company before the C Cube’s release, which will ultimately bring down Spiro’s business.

Spiro, known for his ties to the Chicago mob and other shifty dealings, turns the tables on Artemis and Bulter when EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE BISTRO turns out to be working for him (Artemis finds this out when they all draw guns on them). Spiro leaves the restaurant with the stolen C Cube.

But Artemis has something else up his sleeve … a percussion grenade, which knocks out most of the assassins in the bistro. Still reeling, Butler goes into the kitchen to check out the people who were back there and to make sure that threat was neutralized. That’s when Blunt shows his face and attempts to kill Artemis.

Butler jumps in front of his charge (what he calls his principle) and takes a bullet meant for the teen. Laying dying, Butler clips Blunt in the temple with a bullet (knocking him out but not killing him). Unfortunately, Bulter is not so lucky. He knows the shot he took for Artemis is a mortal one and we see a very poignant moment between Artemis and his best friend/father figure as Butler dies.

But Artemis, being the boy genius that he is, will not accept Butler’s death and puts a plan into action; a plan that involves the bistro’s fish freezer, a cryogenics lab, and our dear friend Holly Short.

Artemis must save Butler and his C Cube from a corrupt businessman. Is there nothing the team of Holly and Artemis can’t do?

Great book. We see more of Artemis’s humanity as he delves into his psyche post-father-recovery. His father has been changed by his time in captivity and gold isn’t the only thing that is important to him anymore (much to Artemis’s consternation!). Great book!

Awards: British Book Award, WH Smith Award

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1)

Book: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1)

Author: Eoin Colfer

Bookshelves: 2011, dwarves, fairies, fantasy, fiction, Ireland, leprechaun, reread

Begun: January 27, 2011

Finished: January 28, 2011

Media Type: audiobook (downloaded from library online catalog and listened to on iPod Touch)

Setting: present day Ireland and Haven (underground land where the People live)

Characters: Artemis Fowl, II, Domovoi Butler, Holly Short, Commander Julius Root, Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Juliet Butler, Angeline Fowl, Artemis Fowl, Sr.

Review: Sometimes there’s something to be said when you are the smartest person of your generation. A mastermind, some might say. A criminal mastermind. Kidnapping, hostage negotiation, beating the best technical minds in the world … all at twelve.

Artemis Fowl, the second, is the genius son of Angeline and Artemis Fowl who reside outside of Dublin, Ireland in Fowl Manor. Artemis is trailed by his ever vigilante and protective body guard, Butler. Butler, early 40s, is highly skilled and trained (having trained with Madame Ko, the best martial arts and body guard teacher in the world).

Artemis is a sad character at the beginning of the book. We know that his father was taken hostage by the Russian Mafia off the Kola Penisula, while conducting some nefarious business transactions, and his mother has gone slowly insane from missing him. Artemis is basically alone save Butler.

In the absence of parental figures (Butler is not a parental figure because he goes alone with the boy genius’s plans and, most of the time, assists him!), Artemis has taken the family motto to heart: Aurum Potestas Est (Gold is power).

His latest scheme seems farfected on paper but brilliant in practice. After lengthy research, Artemis believes that, yes, there are fairies and other fantastical creatures living amongst us (or underground in this case) and that he can separate them from some of their riches. After tricking a fairy to give up her Book (the rule book which all magical creatures must live by), Artemis lays a trap and captures himself a fairy who has come above ground to complete the Ritual (which will allow her to regain her used up magic – something the fairies must do whenever they use up their supply of magic by taking an acorn from one location and planting it far away where an oak grows at a river bend).

And who do Artemis and Bulter catch? Fairy Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon squad.

A member of the Lower Elements Police Recon Squad (LEPrecon), Holly is held for ransom (gold). Her supervisor/mentor, Julius Root, does all he can to get the first female LEPrecon officer back. With the help of tunneling dward/thief, Mulch Digums, and technical savant, Foaly (the centaur), it might be possible that Artemis will not win this time … or will he?

Great read. Anyone who likes Harry Potter or the Bartimaeus Trilogy has to give Artemis Fowl a try! Worth it!

Awards: Massachusetts Children's Book Award (2003), Blue Hen Book Award for Chapter Book (2003), Garden State Teen Book Award for Fiction (Grades 6-8) (2004), Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award for Intermediate (2004)

Recommended by: don’t remember

Recommend to: Harry Potter fans, Bartimaeus Trilogy fans, anyone who likes fantasy or faires etc, 9 year olds and up (read by themselves) and 9 and under (read to them)

Book: Faefever (Fever series #3)

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
She's survived so much but can Mac survive Jericho Barrons?

Something big is coming on Halloween (Samhain) and all the others out there like Mac know it. The entire book is a lead up to the night of Samhaim with Mac spending the entire night hiding out.

To tell you the truth it was kind of disappointing seeing as the first two books in the series were so good. Oh well ... Dreamfever comes out in January 2010.

View all my reviews.

Book: Heart of the Sea (Gallaghers of Ardmore Series #3)

Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Darcy's only ever wanted two things ... money and someone to give it to her. When the rich great-grandnephew of Johnny Magee comes storming into town to build the music theatre behind the family pub, Darcy's life is thrown for a loop.

Devilishly handsome and rich, Trevor Magee has always had a strange pull to his father's native land of Ireland and the small out of the way town on the Irish Sea, Ardmore. He's just there to build the theatre, or so he thinks. Turns out ... he's there to fall in love with the untamed and wild raven haired Darcy Gallagher.

But will money and looks be enough for the self proclaimed money hungry Darcy? Or will Carrick and Lady Gwen's final words come to haunt them both?

A spectacular ending to the series. Honestly, I would have liked to see more Lady Gwen and Carrick in this one ... kind of like in the first one (Jewels of the Sun). The ending for Carrick and Lady Gwen was too short. Other than that, it was fantastic.

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Book: Tears of the Moon (Gallaghers of Ardmore Series #2)

Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A little bit of Irish mythology thrown in with some good old fashioned romance.

Shawn Gallagher is so wrapped up in his music and his life as a chef in his family's pub that he doesn't see what's right in front of him ... Brenna.

Firey hair and spirit Brenna has wanted to love Shawn since she was 14 and broken his nose playing baseball. When will he wake up and realize that she's here and ready for him? Probably when she offers to sleep with him.

But no, he turns her down and the game of cat and mouse is now in play. A side story of a Mr. Magee that wants to come to Ardmore and build a music theatre behind the pub and Jude and Aiden's pregnancy play out with Shawn and Brenna's story of love.

Great second book in the series.

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Book: Jewels of the Sun (Gallaghers of Ardmore Series #1)

Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A decent enough romance set in Ireland. (It's my soft spot and why I picked up the book).

After thinking she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Jude Francise Murray hops on a plan and heads to County Waterford to stay for six months at her grandmother's ancestrial home.

Aidan Gallagher, owner of the local pub, spies the lass on soon after she arrives and at once his roaming heart is tempted to put down roots.

With a touch of magic and a sprinkling of Irish lore and mythology that any good Irish child (myself included) has heard a number of times, Aidan and Jude come together. But will it last?

I nice "summer" read. Quick. It got me through the night when I was up with my cold, sneezing.


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