Torn by David Massey

The blurb on the book leads you to believe that this is a love story, but I found it to be very little of that and much more about the daily pressures of war and how it effects those involved in it.  It is told from the point of view of 19 yr. old British medic Ellie who is stationed in an area of Afghanistan.  I enjoyed the relationship of Ellie and a youngster that they have captured after his group of "young martyrs" fired upon her unit.  She promises to help him find out what really happened in his village. This book does an amazing job of conveying the uncomfortable, frantic stress of combat for those that are living in the area as well as those that are fighting the war. The youngsters in this book made me think back to a book I had read earlier call "Kids of Kabul" about children that have grown up in a war torn country and what they want out of life.  I recommend reading both of these books.

Sylo by D.J. MacHale

Super exciting book!! A secret branch of the US Navy has quarantined an island off the coast of Maine.  The townspeople are being told it's a virus...but is it really?? Tucker believes there is more going on than they are being told.  He has seen people drop dead with no warning, and a bizarre midnight explosion over the ocean as well as weird aircraft in the sky.  Can Tucker and those he has befriended figure out what is going on???  Guess you will have to read it and see.  This is, of course, the first in a series.  I have ordered the others and can't wait to see how the story continues.

Confessions: The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

RIVETING!!  That is how I find these books.  We met Tandy Angel in the first book, "Confessions of a Murder Suspect," followed by the next one, "Confessions: The Private School Murders,"  and now she is back for her third mystery. I feel like each book gets better and better.  In this book, the family has moved to Paris and Tandy starts looking for answers about her sisters death (mentioned in previous books) and how much her "evil" uncle really knows about things. Although I have read all three, I think you could read them without having read the previous ones.  The authors give you enough details about what has happened previously without giving anything away about those mysteries in case you wanted to go back and read those also.  I really enjoyed this book, there is lots going on and I LOVE books that talk about all the places in Paris...it's one of my favorite cities.  

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

A couple of weeks ago the street lights went out at 70th and A streets.  Traffic was backed up for blocks, no one seemed to know what to do.  Now imagine something like that on a worldwide scale and you have the premise for The Rule of Three.  Everything that has any type of computer in it has shut down in some type of viral catastrophe.  No one knows why it has happened, but the longer the situation goes on, the worse and more dangerous things get.  16 yr. old Adam and his neighbors work together to keep them and their little part of their world safe, but they are not sure how long it will last.  I enjoyed the way the author built suspense throughout this book.  You could tell that the situation was getting worse and worse and it just kept you reading to see how they were going to make things work. I am pretty sure there will be another book coming.