Book Review: Bubble

Bubble by Anders de la Motte
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publication Date: February 2014
Source: Netgalley

The stunning conclusion to the groundbreaking Scandinavian crime trilogy featuring a deadly game that blurs reality and fiction in a world obsessed with social media.

This all turned out to be a bit much, with too many characters and too many things going on to keep track of what's going on. And that's not even mentioning the confusing nature of the book to begin with. There is not a likable character to be found in these books. HP in particular is completely unlikable. And somehow he manages to survive anything that happens to him, and get out of any scrape he's in. He's like a superhero, except there's no reason why he should be. It's just that's the way things needed to go for the author to advance his story. It was all way too out there to be believable in the slightest.

Book Review: Buzz

Buzz by Anders de la Motte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publication Date: January 2014
Source: Netgalley

It’s been four months since he was dragged into the Alternative Reality Game that nearly cost him his life, and HP is still on the run. He has everything he ever wished for—freedom, money, and no responsibilities, but he still isn’t happy. Plagued by insomnia and paranoia, HP misses the rush and attention of The Game. Sometimes he almost wishes the Game Master would find him.

In Dubai, HP meets Anna Argos, a sophisticated and beautiful Swedish IT millionaire. When she disappears, HP is questioned by the police. Fearing he has been found by The Game, HP returns to Sweden after being released from custody. Determined to uncover the truth about Anna’s disappearance, HP uses a fake identity to apply for a job at ArgosEye, the company Anna worked for. In the business of online information management, ArgosEye is involved in some questionable practices, under the control of Anna’s husband, the CEO Philip Argos.

Meanwhile, HP’s sister Rebecca has started dating Philip Argos. When she unknowingly reveals her brother’s real identity to Philip, the police try to bring HP in for questioning again. On the run again, HP refuses to give up and tries to uncover what is really happening at ArgosEye. Before he can find the truth, HP is stopped in his tracks. Thinking he’s about to be thrown in prison, HP is taken to the outskirts of the city and left in the woods, where an elderly man hands him a piece of paper. HP believes the game is over, but is it really just beginning?

This book is pretty gripping, and one exciting thing happens after another, keeping you turning pages. However, I can't say that it is a fun read. There is really nothing happy that happens in this book, it's all pretty depressing.

Besides that, I don't like any of the characters. They are just not very good people. I also found it a little hard to follow at times when the POV would shift, basically from paragraph to paragraph. No chapter break, or even some kind of sign, you just have to figure it out as you go.

All that said, I will read the next one, because the story is interesting, and I'd like to see where it all goes.

Book Review: Game

Game by Anders de la Motte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
U.S. Publication Date:  December 2013
Source:  Received copy from the publisher

Follow the rules and everybody gets hurt . . .

One Sunday morning after a long night of partying, Henrik “HP” Pettersson, a slacker with a lot of ego and very little impulse control, finds a cell phone of an unfamiliar make on a commuter train. Through insisting and slightly uncanny messages that refer to him by name, the phone invites him to play a game. HP accepts without hesitation.

The rules are that HP must complete tasks that range from childish pranks to criminal acts, as allocated by the mysterious Game Master. HP is the perfect contender—alienated from society, devoid of morals, and desperate for fame. His completion of the assignments are filmed and uploaded onto a protected server where viewers rate the Players’ performances.

The Game starts out innocently enough and then becomes increasingly risky, threatening the safety of someone close to HP. He is determined to become a superstar, but when the dark and tragic secrets of his family’s past are at stake, HP must make a choice. Will he suffer the humiliation of defeat, or will the need to win push him to the limit—no matter the cost?

I'm not quite sure what to think about this book. On the one hand, it was pretty interesting. There are lots of twists and turns, and the reader really doesn't know exactly what's going on, even to the very end. The main character was so unlikable that it made the book hard to read. It's no fun being inside the head of a jerk for a whole book. But somehow, when finishing the book, I kinda want to read the next one. So I guess you could say I liked the book well enough.

Forget Me Not (+giveaway)

Title: Forget Me Not
Author: Vicki Hinze
Genre: Christian Suspense/Thriller
Page Count: 329
Why I read it: blog tour for publisher
Grade: C+

Synopsis:
Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He’d failed to protect his family.
Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace.
The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts? 

My review:
I spent a lot of the time while reading this book being confused.  I couldn't quite figure out what was happening, or who was who, or much of anything, to be honest.  There seemed to be too many characters doing too many different things.  Most of the time I'm not a fan of books that slowly unveil what's going on, layer by layer, leaving me feeling lost and confused for a good share of the book, and this was no exception.

That being said, the writing was good.  It was suspenseful, even if I didn't quite buy a lot of the things that were happening.  I'm okay with that in fiction, though.  Sometimes it's okay to suspend belief for awhile, and just go with the story.  This one was very fast-paced with a lot of stuff going on.  The story switches viewpoints almost constantly.

If you're not a fan of religion in your books, skip this one, because it does tend to get rather preachy and in your face.  The Christianity in this book is not subtle at all.  On the other hand, if you like your characters to rely heavily on God, and to have their whole character shaped around their faith, then you might really enjoy this book.

I don't read a lot of Christian suspense type novels, so I can't really say how this compares to others of it's genre, so it's hard to recommend this one or not.  I'd say it relies heavily on personal preference here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  To find out more about this book, click here.

And lastly, I've got one copy of this book to giveaway to one of my readers.  To enter, just leave a comment here.  You must be a follower of this blog to enter (that way I can easily find you if you win).  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, and will end on April 19th.