Alice Sebold- "The Lovely Bones"

I have certain things that just hit an emotional nerve. Children being robbed of their innocence or children having to grow up. Elderly people being unhappy or scared. It is because I feel like I can relate. I am a mix of an old person and a child. I am not in between. This book explores moving on from someone when they go away. That has always hit a nerve with me. Having to move away and go on from a loved one. 

Susie Salmon narrates this story as she watches her family from her heaven after she was brutally murdered by a neighbor. Her family slowly starts to heal, but never all the way. It depresses me with each sentence I read. 

I put myself in her shoes and I instantly have tears in my eyes. It is rare that a book or movie hits a chord with my emotions and this book does it well. That is saying something because it is rare that I can relate to things in this world. However, I will never read this damn book ever again because it tortures me so. 

Rick Mofina- "They Disappeared"

I have a tendency to feel for stories with little kids in them because my nephew is still little and I miss him a lot. This book was really hard for me to read while I am still so far away from my little G-baby. It also doesn't help my fear of big cities and crowds. 

Jeff Griffin and his family go to New York for a vacation. His son and wife end up kidnapped while sight seeing and he and his family are thrown in a grand plot of global consequence. It is always terrorism now a days. It is never a simple ransom kidnapping anymore. 

This book was good, but like all the other thriller kidnapping books it didn't have anything unique to it. It was extremely generic to me. No twists and turns of betrayal, nothing that made me say, "Oh, shit! Didn't see that coming!" I didn't expect that from this book, so it wasn't really disappointing. It is fast paced and easy to keep up with. I give it three and a half fake passports.