The One with Catching Fire

155. Title & Author: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (391 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Young Adult & Science Fiction

Completed: 21 August 2010

Summary & Review:

After defying the Capitol in a desperate attempt to save both herself and her fellow Hunger Games competitor Peeta, Katniss Everdeen must now navigate the even more treacherous waters of politics. To avoid drawing further ire from the Capitol, she must do everything in her power to subdue the growing rebellions throughout the country. No mater what she does, however, her courageous and defiant act in the games inspires unrest among the districts of Panem. The Capitol is thus forced to take desperate measures to quell the insurgence: Peeta and Katniss must re-enter the arena and compete in yet another fight-to-the-death Hunger Games.

The beginning of this book was probably the strongest part of the novel because it was a completely different look at life in Panem than shown in the first book of the series, The Hunger Games (#153). But, once Katniss and Peeta entered the arena again, the story felt a little too reminiscent of the first book. It was almost as though Collins couldn't come up with a new story line for this second novel and just reverted to what she had done before. With that being said, however, I still enjoyed this book at least as much as The Hunger Games. I can't really say why I like these books, but they kept me reading, and when I finished this latest one, I was looking forward to the third and final entry in the trilogy.

Rating: 7.0

The One with Phantom Prey

154. Title & Author: Phantom Prey by John Sandford (469 pages)*

Genre: Fiction--Thriller

Completed: 12 August 2010

Summary & Review:

Minnesota cop Lucas Davenport delves into the investigation of the murder of a young Goth woman as a favor to her mother. As the investigation progresses, little is revealed about the original murder, but three other Goths, all friends of the first young woman, are killed in brutal stabbings. Davenport eventually realizes that motives for the two groups of murders do not seem to align, so he must hunt down two killers: one who killed for money, another who is killing for revenge.

I don't have very strong feelings about this book one way or the other. It was entertaining enough that I didn't get bored while reading it, but it was fairly forgettable. This is the kind of book that my dad would read, and then when he was stuck in an airport, buy it again because he had forgotten he had already read it. The writing was good, as Sandford's usually is, but the book was lacking a truly compelling antagonist, which is something that Sandford has excelled at in the past. For example, the killer in Eyes of Prey, #38 on this list, is a great character!

Rating: 7.0