This editions book is "Before I Say Good-Bye" by Mary Higgins Clark.

This book was originally printed and Copy-Righted in 2000 but the over all feel you get from the descriptions in the book feel somewhat older - for example; recording and media storage devices in this book are portrayed solely as VCR's tapes and cassets. modern technology is not mentioned.

The book is a suspense novel centred around Nell Macdermott an attractive woman in her mid twenties whose life is rudely interrupted and turned upon it's head...and ultimately put in danger.

This book is only 272 pages long but takes much more time to get through then one might originally assume. The plot is complex and written from the view-points of many different characters, making it very interesting but somewhat thick to get through. -but very worth reading to the end.

Writing:
The writing style for this book is somewhat old fashiond; but it's not a bad thing. In the case of this book it really does help you get a feel for the book and it's settings. The writing flows easily from the page and is averagely descriptive - just enough so you know what's happening and can picture it and the character's in your mind but not so much that it's gruelling.

Time Line & Plot :
This book takes a while to get into things - but it truly does explode with excitement once you reach the thick of it. One interesting thing about the plot line for this book is that the chapters aren't really chapters. - each "chapter" is actually just the separation of one characters view point from another's and they vary from a good few pages to a single paragraph in length throughout. The time line in the book is distinguished by days which act like chapter markers do in most books. At the beginning this format of writing feels awkward and thick to read through (especialy at the beggining when there are an abundance of new characters), but once you're used to it helps to make the book more dynamic.

Characters:
There was an outstanding number of characters in this book; particularly at the beginning ... but new characters where introduced through nearly the entire book. However Mary did a wonderful job with most of them and was successful at creating interesting complicated characters that shifted and grew with the plot from the first page to the last.

Rating and recommendations:

This book feels slow at first but becomes an addicting suspense; I would say that this book is well worth reading / owning and would definitely do so again in the future.

This weeks book is "The Day of the Drones" by A.M Lightner.
This book is somewhat older; it's first printing was in 1969 and it's interesting reading it now because of the wording / terminologies from around that time really show through.

The book is centered around a young woman and her life and adventures (With others) in a post apocalyptic world 500 years after it's occurance. In this world being darker of skin is considered to be beautiful and held in high status. those of this culture are civilized and have families and receive education. while being lighter of skin is 'taboo' and greatly frowned upon. - those of the white culture lives like bees and are primitive.

The idea it's self behind this book is intriguing and is good for making you think. also the book is a very fast read with only 213 pages and fairly large print. However The Author did not do the idea behind the novel justice; there was nothing about this book aside from the idea behind it that made it interesting.

Writing:
The writing style it's self is very weak and choppy making it somewhat confusing as to what you are trying to read about. (i.e. the scene playing out in the book) it also is rather inconsistent; for the first half of the book the writing avoids details - to the extent that you never actually quite know what the characters look like - and then later tries to become more serious style.

Time line and Plot:
The time line of the books plot was also poorly laid out: The book was very slow to get into it's main plot line and then once it got there it was very rushed and closed rather quickly leaving many loose ends open.

Characters:
The characters (outside of the main one and her cousin) had very little if any depth and much like the writing style where inconsistent beyond just character growth.

Rating and Recommendations
This book is interesting if for nothing else then it's concept and though the writing is poor it's over very quickly, so I woudn't go out of my way to find it and most definitely would not buy or gift this book to anyone but would say it was ok to have read once.

thought? comments? :) all opinions are welcome here, please don't be shy and share yours :D