91. Read and Review 100 Books (29/100) So Cold The River - Michael Koryta

'It started with a documentary. The beautiful Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to unearth the life story of her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old billionaire whose childhood is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job, even though the only clues to Bradford's past are his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life.

In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary past--a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once intermingled. Long derelict, the hotel has just been restored to its former grandeur.

But something else has been restored too--a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to settle a decades-old score. And with every move, Eric inches closer to the center of the building storm.'


This is definitely not the type of book I would usually reach for however I was browsing Amazon's 'Recommendations for you' section and the synopsis caught me... Sitting in Denver airport with a 3 hour flight back to Houston looming in front of me, and nothing to read, I decided to give it a go.. and I'm really glad I did! 


This book is not your normal suspense novel - It incorporates great deals of symbolism - I loved how Koryta wove in the imagery and symbolism of that one big life changing 100 year storm... it helped to illustrate the impending doom facing both the protagonist and the two towns... The book builds just like a violent summer storm. 


If you're a fan of suspense/thriller novels or books that have a supernatural undertone , then you really should give 'So Cold The River' a read!! 

91. Read and Review 100 Books (21/100) The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest - Stieg Larsson

'The exhilarating conclusion to bestseller Larsson's Millennium trilogy (after The Girl Who Played with Fire) finds Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant computer hacker who was shot in the head in the final pages of Fire, alive, though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm. While she convalesces under armed guard, journalist Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Säpo, Sweden's security police. Estranged throughout Fire, Blomkvist and Salander communicate primarily online, but their lack of physical interaction in no way diminishes the intensity of their unconventional relationship. Though Larsson (1954–2004) tends toward narrative excess, his was an undeniably powerful voice in crime fiction that will be sorely missed.'

Excellent conclusion to the spellbinding, page turning, and yes sometimes disturbing trilogy! The final novel in the series concluded the story in a very fulfilling manner.. it successfully closed out each of the individual story lines... and although it kinda felt that the murder of the two journalists was nothing more than an excuse to move the reader in a certain direction at times it was still well addressed by the end of the book... I agree... Stieg Larsson will be sorely missed.