The Mozart Conspiracy
By Scott Mariani

Despite what the title implies, the story is less about Mozart and more about a secret society trying to hide a conspiracy in the modern day.

Oliver Llewellyn was a concert pianist who played across Europe. One night while performing at a private party at a mansion in Austria Oliver walks into something he should never have seen and dies mysteriously; but not before sending his life's work to his sister, the famous opera singer Leigh Llewellyn.
After Oliver's funeral Leigh calls up a former love, ex-SAS agent Ben Hope. Despite their history they both sit down and examine Oliver's work and what they find is startling.
Oliver was researching Mozart and his possible involvement with an underground society called the Order of Ra. Unfortunately, the group still exists in Europe and they don't want outsiders investigating their secrets. Leigh and Ben find themselves in great danger and racing across Europe to escape the bad guys.

It sounds cheesy but it was actually very good. I expected it to be over the top with conspiracy theories and James Bond plots but it wasn't. The characters are likable, the book is focused more on the current day then a cheesy background, and the twist at the end will leave the reader shocked.

Postcard Killers

By James Patterson and Liza Marklund

This story will make you think twice about meeting strangers while on vacation...
Europe is being plagued by serial killers; an unknown couple is murdering young honeymooners all over the continent. Before they do, they send a postcard to a local newspaper with a Shakespeare quote warning the world that another murder has been committed.
The killers meet unsuspecting honeymooners and persuade them to go back to their hotel, they then brutally murder the two and escape before anyone finds the bodies.

Jack Kanon is an American policeman and his daughter Kimmy was murdered in Rome with her new husband by the postcard killers. Hunting down the murdering couple becomes his obsessive goal and he follows them across Europe as they leave a trail of bodies in their wake. 

Dessie Larsson is a Swedish journalist who receives a mysterious postcard in the mail, she frantically realizes it's the calling card of the postcard killers. Jack catches up with her and together they work to find out who and where the postcard killers are and who they may be killing next...

It was a good thriller; twists and turns abound and it's exciting to delve deeper into the minds of the psycho killers, especially when it turns out that they are murdering in the name of art.

  

The Adjustment Bureau

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthonie Mackie, Terence Stamp, John Slattery

Rating: PG-13

Score: 3/4

Based on the short story Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick, this is a story revolving around the concepts of fate, predestination, and free will.

David Norris is a popular New York politician running for the US Senate. Because of his rowdy ways, he does not win. On election night he goes to the bathroom to review his concession speech and meets Elise, a free-spirited dancer hiding from security because she crashed a wedding.
Only a few days later he meets Elise on a bus and they flirt back and forth realizing they are attracted to each other. She gives David her phone number. But David will have a hard time calling her because the adjustment team is on his tail.

The Adjustment Bureau is a secret organization that keeps everyone "on plan." The head of the bureau, the Chairman, has created a plan for every human on Earth and they have to stick to it. David's plan does not let him be together with Elise, he is meant to do great things but can't if he stays with her.  David doesn't like the idea of fate and decides to fight for free will by doing everything he can to find Elise.

There are obvious parallels between adjusters and angels, and the idea of the Chairman as God. It's a thought provoking story; are we here to fulfill a fate already planned for us or do we have the choice to do what we want with our lives?

It's not a confusing storyline to follow as some critics are saying, it's pretty straightforward and I would recommend it.

Unknown

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

Rating: PG-13

Score: 2.5/4

I expected this to be similar to Taken but it wasn't; yes, Liam Neeson is running around a European city searching for something, but, this time he's looking for himself and he's not a martial arts expert or a smooth talking ex-agent.

The movie opens with Martin Harris on a plane with his wife, they're flying to Berlin for a biotech summit. Once the couple arrives at the hotel Martin realizes he accidentally left his briefcase at the airport. He hops in a cab to go back, leaving his wife to check in. However, on his way to the airport the cab crashes and goes into the river.

Martin wakes up from a coma to find himself in the hospital, his memories are muddled and he just wants to get back to his loving wife. But, when he finds her back at the hotel she doesn't know him and there is another man named Martin Harris with her. Martin enlists the help of the cabbie who was in the car with him. Her name is Gina, she's an illegal alien from Bosnia trying to make enough money to get to America. With the help of an ex-Stasi agent (Bruno Ganz) Martin investigates his past life and the mysterious man who has taken his place.

The movie is gray, we are in Berlin in November and everything is slushy and frozen. The story starts off believeable, Martin is gentle and focused only on his wife. As the plot thickens it becomes more intriguing but also less believable; who would have thought botany was such a hot topic?

The Partner
By John Grisham

A burning car, an unidentifiable body, a grieving widow and daughter...90 million dollars missing...

Patrick Lannigan is a young partner for a firm in Biloxi. One day he dies in a horrific car accident and everyone mourns his death. But then $90 million goes missing and everyone begins to suspect the late Lannigan.  After all, the body was too burned to identify, he was acting strange the last few weeks of his life, and the money that was stolen jumped from bank to bank before disappearing.

Now everyone is trying to find him; the FBI, the businessman who's money was stolen, and they will stop at nothing to recover the money. Every chapter brings a new twist and turn and you can't help but hope that Patrick manages to escape the death penalty. 

But there are so many questions; why did Patrick run away, how is he connected to the gorgeous Eva Miranda, why did he steal the money, who is the poor soul who burned in his car, and most important of all: where is the money now?

If It Ain't Baroque, Don't Fix It

The Angel's Game
By Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Translated from Spanish in 2009, this book is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind which I did not know until researching this title. If the prequel is any indication then the bestselling Shadow should be wonderful.

David Martín is a young writer in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s. He writes sensationalist baroque novels but feels like he is not being true to his soul. David is approached several times by a mysterious man named Andreas Corelli who wants David to write a book with the power to change people.

Corelli wants a book about religion and he will do anything to persuade David, even release him from his contract with the publishers of his sensation novels in a mysterious and gruesome way. But David's demons do not always let him rest and focus on his work.

Soon David finds that there is something wrong with enigmatic Andreas Corelli. He also begins to investigate the former resident of his tower house who died under questionable circumstances and left a bloody trail of broken lives behind him...and may have been working for Corelli. But, while David investigates he himself is being investigated because everybody he comes in contact with meets a gruesome death...

This book is haunting and engaging and I had a hard time putting it down. The entire time I was thinking, 'If the right director got hold of this, the movie would be dark and magnificent and frightening.' You root for David while he battles his own thoughts and the dark house he lives in that holds many secrets. The plot takes unseen twists and turns and I loved every minute of it.  

Classically Frightening

Dracula

By Bram Stoker

We have all seen the cheesy spoofs of vampires, the sexual representation of blood-sucking, and of course the Twilight series picture of a vampire. But what was the beginning?

While Dracula was the first highly popular published novel on vampires, the myths of frightening creatures that will drain the blood out of living creatures have abounded for centuries.

Through his journal entries we find Jonathon Harker traveling to Trannsylvania to visit a client, the mysterious Count Dracula. Jonathon is a lawyer in charge of the purchase of London property for the Count. On his journey he will encounter strange folk and occurrences and multiple warnings to turn back. Being a rational Englishman he does not heed the warnings but does find himself becoming more and more frightened as he finally arrives at Castle Dracula.

Dracula himself is an enigma. He does not seem to eat, sleep at night, and Jonathon himself discovers the Count has no reflection in a mirror. After some searching Jonathon finds the Count supposedly sleeping in a box of dirt, with fresh blood trickling down his chin! He also discovers he is a prisoner in the castle until such time as the Count sees fit to release him...if at all.

There the story cuts away to Mina's journal, she is Jonathon's fiance and is eagerly waiting his return to England. In the meantime she is staying with her friend Lucy in the seaside town of Whitby. Through Mina and Lucy's diary entries we discover that strange things are being to happen to Lucy at night, she is sleepwalking and seems to be growing weaker. 

Dr.Seward is a paramour of Lucy's and the head of a lunatic asylum. When he witnesses Lucy's illness he sends for his old mentor and friend, the Dutch Dr. Van Helsing. 

Van Helsing's diagnosis is more frightening than Seward could imagine; Lucy is being drained by a vampire! 

The entire story is told through a series of journal entries, telegrams, and letters. This gives insight to many characters and depth to the goal of hunting down and destroying the terrible Dracula. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book! My version was an even 400 pages and easily read. An interesting aspect is that the real edge-of-your-seat climactic tension doesn't occur until the last fifteen pages, the previous pages are a magnificent build up. The characters are enjoyable, my favorite was Mina because of her sweet clarity and overall goodness. I would also recommend picking a version with an introduction to analyze the story. My version's intro was by Brooke Allen and she gives thought provoking insight as to why certain characters are more affected by Dracula than others, what role women play in the story, and why Dracula is such a memorable character. If you don't already know the story then read the analysis after the story.

Enjoy!

Book vs. Movie: Rebecca

Whenever a movie is made of a favorite book I'm always torn. I'm so excited that I'll get to see my favorite story acted out but on the other hand what if it's terrible? It would ruin the experience! Many times the movie will divert from the original storyline and sometimes it's tolerable and sometimes it's terrible. I would say that just about every time the book is better than the movie. But, a side by side comparison will also show the movie is not so bad. 

 

This is one of my favorite stories and a favorite movie as well. The novel was released in 1938 and in 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adapted it to the big screen. The movie won two Academy Awards, one of which was Best Picture. 

This is the story of the unnamed narrator, a young girl in the service of the odious Mrs. Van Hopper. While the two are in Monte Carlo the narrator meets the mysterious Maxim de Winter. Rumors abound over the secretive aristocrat who lost his wife in a sailing accident. After only a few weeks Maxim proposes marriage and the narrator goes to live with him at his Cornwall manor, Manderly. There the new Mrs. De Winter receives a chilly welcome at best from the residents of Manderly; her greatest advesary lies in the frightening Mrs. Danvers, the former companion and confidante of the late Rebecca De Winter.

Was the first Mrs. De Winter a perfect wife and socialite, a paragon of virtues who managed to make every one like her? Worse, is Maxim still in love with her?

Or...was she evil, distant, and up to something sinister that still lingers at Manderly even after her death.

Thrilling both psychologically and physically, the only difference between the movie and book was one alteration of the events. The Hollywood Production Code had requirements that demanded that change of the event, but the ending remains somewhat the same.  

Hitchcock adapted the film wonderfully, Joan Fontaine is the perfect second Mrs. De Winter. It's hard to live up to the shadow of the first wife, especially when no one will say anything about her.

Just Watched...

Red Eye 
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox

Rating: PG-13

Score: 4/4

I don't usually give out a full score, I go a half point below it because I don't really think a movie could be absolutely perfect.  But I love this movie so much that I think it should be a full grade.


Lisa is the manager of a luxury hotel in Miami. When the movie begins she is on her way back to Miami from Dallas where she attended the funeral of her grandmother. Unfortunately she has to catch the red eye, because of the weather the flight has been delayed. 
While waiting for the plane she meets a handsome stranger named Jackson. We see the attraction between the two as they chat in the airport and finally discover they are actually sitting next to each other on the plane. But then it all goes wrong. 
Jackson reveals that his goal is actually to eliminate a political figure who is staying at Lisa's hotel. Jackson can use Lisa's authority to put the target in a room that can be easily accessed by the assassins. Jackson's leverage over Lisa? Her father's life. 
Lisa must find a way to save her father and the politician...oh and escape the man in the seat next to her.


It's chilling without being uncomfortable. It's edge-of-your-seat thrilling without wanting to hide under the blankets. It's the perfect combination! By far the best of the movie is Cillian Murphy as Jackson Ripner. Right after he tells Lisa what he will do she stands up in her seat on the plane. There is a perfect shot looking down at him and his chilling eyes; they're cold and emotionless and his raspy voice will make you believe he means what he threatens. 

Global Warming: True or False?

S

State of Fear
by Michael Crichton

I used to think global warming was a real crisis; that people were harming the environment and something should be done to stop the damage.
Michael Crichton says that global warming is perpetuated by inadequate data; that research is conducted by bureaucrats, lawyers, and scientists funded by bureaucrats. In short, we don't have all the facts.

Peter Evans is a young lawyer; he is set in his ideas, he knows exactly what he believes in and has never really needed to defend his point of view. That is until his client, philanthropist and environmental activist George Morton, dies and it is revealed that everything was not as seemed with the foundation Morton was funding. Said foundation was preparing a massive lawsuit against the United States claiming that "since it was the largest economy and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide and
therefore largest contributor to global warming" it would be held responsible for the rising sea levels that were flooding native people out of their homes on the island nation of Vanutu. George Morton was giving more than eight million dollars to fund the lawsuit.
 However, as events unfold it's found that a group of eco-terrorists are creating "natural" disasters in order to
 make it seem as though global warming is a huge catastrophe and immediate action is necessary. In fact it's
 found that the sea levels around Vanutu have not risen at all.
The conclusion I reached at the end of this book is that, humans are not significant enough to impact our
 planet so much that the entire climate can change. The Earth is going through a phase, a phase it entered
 around 1850 after the Little Ice Age. In fact, the Earth is in a constant state of change and phases and
 this is simply a preclude to another cooling in a few thousand years. In short, global warming is not a crisis, it
 is not even caused or affected by humans in the magnitude that we have been led to believe.

What is your opinion? Is global warming simply a phase the Earth is going through or is it something more serious?