Finders Keepers: Stephen King

Another Great King book. A writer who hasn't published anything in 20 years is murdered by one of his fans, Morris, who didn't like the way his trilogy ended. Morris had two accomplices who just want the money the author has squirreled away, but Morris wants the moleskin journals he has been writing since "retirement". After the murder Morris decided to murder his accomplices at a roadside rest and then goes home to read the journals. Before he has time to finish them he ends up in jail for raping a woman, which he doesn't remember because he was drunk. He spends the next 40ish years in prison. In the meantime a new family moves into his old home where he has hidden his stolen loot. They have fallen on hard times and the son, Pete, finds the chest and gives the money to his parents little by little until it is gone. He reads all the journals and falls in love with the author, deciding to be a writer himself. He finds a company called "Finders Keepers" and tries to sell the journals to them to generate more money for his family. About that time Morris is released from jail and finds his treasure is missing. He tracks down Pete and Pete naroowly escapes death with the help of a detective. In the end the journals are all burnt and Morris dies trying to save them.

11/22/1963: Stephen King

An English teacher in a small ton befriends AL, a man who owns a dinner that apparently has a portal in which he can travel in time. Al asks Jake to come to the dinner the next day because he has a proposition for him. When Jake shows up, Al looks years older and is dying from cancer (because he has been in the portal for years and it only shows up as 2 mins in present day. Al wants him to use the portal and go back to save JFK from being assassinated. Jake accepts and along the way affects many other's lives, he hopes for the good. He kills a father to keep him from murdering his family, then occupies man that would have had a hunting accident involving a neighbor girl, then falls in love with a librarian, Sadie, as he waits for the years to pass before he kills Lee Harvey Oswald. This part of the book is very slow and seems to go on forever as we wait for time to pass...Sadie is almost murdered by her ex-husband and gets a huge scar on her face. Jack succeeds in stopping Oswald, the secret service shoot him, but Sadie is killed in the process. Jack is obsessed with going back to the portal to go back in time to save Sadie. When he gets back to present time the world is in a nuclear haze and evilness has spiraled out of control. He meets a person who tries to protect the portal and explains to him that every time he enters the portal a time string is created and going back doesn't "reset" history. Jack realizes he can't save anyone and maybe things were supposed to happen like they did because every life he saves has to be balanced by a death. He comes back to present day and finds Sadie, who is now 80 years old and has had a good life. He dances with her and she can't help feeling she knows him, Sept 9th 1958.It was a very long story as you wait for time to pass until Jack tries to save the president. in a way King explains Deja vu. I missed something in the book because the "jump rope girls" evidently moved away, yet when he moves he waves goodbye to them- there must have been some significance there?

A Killer's Mind: Mike Omer

I LOVED this book, the characters were likeable, it was suspenseful and super-creepy, but original. Two detectives are paired together to help the police stop a killer who is embalming woman and then leaving them across the city. Initially the two detectives don't like each other, but after Zoe is nearly murdered they start working together. They do catch the killer who is embalming women by some clever thinking. The book ends with the man who almost killed Zoe sending a picture to her of him and her sister in a photo he had taken. I was bummed that the hometown killer was never caught and the boy who committed suicide cleared of the charge, but I assume that will be in the next book?

You are Old: Scott Dikkers

This was awful, I kept reading this train wreck out of morbid curiosity that it would have a redeeming feature- his attempt at humor is way off and the part about shooting people was just distasteful- who would publish something like this? Wishing I hadn't read it because now I am just disturbed.

Skin Tight: Carl Hiiason

Another hilarious book by Hiaason, that explores the underground around plastic surgery. A retired-ish investigator, Mick, tries to solve one of his older cases where a woman had plastic surgery and then disappeared.They closed the case as a kidnapping, but Mick doesn't buy it that some would kidnap a woman who was all wrapped up and looked horrible. He uncovers "Dr Graveline's" scandalous scheme and believes the missing woman was fed to the doctor's brother's wood chipper. Just like in life, each character has a life filled with humor and stress. Excellent book where gruesome moments are broken up with humor.

We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe: Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson

This book explain how much is unknown about the universe, by how much we do know, basically, the more we understand, the more we don't understand. The authors try to break up a dull text book like read with humor to keep people alert, but the book is interesting on its own.

Specimen 313: Jeff Strand

This story is narrated by Max, a biologically engineered Venus fly trap. His mad scientist creater brings vagabonds into the greenhouse in a rush to show them the plants, but feeds them to the venus fly traps.The doctor is delighted with Max because he can rip limbs off people, until he replaces Max's neighbor iin the greenhouse with specimen 313, a female who can bend over to grab prey.the doctor then brings in a young woman who we assume to be his daughter- in- law as he soon after brings in a baby who the plants believe to be his grandson.in the end the doctor decides to not just kill max, but torture him with acid, as he starts digging max up, specimen 313 eats him.