Love Me to Death, by Allison Brennan **

Six years ago, Lucy Kincaid was attacked and nearly killed by an online predator. She survived. Her attacker did not. Now Lucy’s goal is to join the FBI and fight cyber-crime, but in the meantime, she’s volunteering with a victim’s rights group, surfing the Web undercover to lure sex offenders into the hands of the law. But when the predators she hunts start turning up as murder victims, the FBI takes a whole new interest in Lucy.

With her future and possibly even her freedom suddenly in jeopardy, Lucy discovers she’s a pawn in someone’s twisted plot to mete out vigilante justice. She joins forces with security expert and daredevil Sean Rogan, and together they track their elusive quarry from anonymous online chat rooms onto the mean streets of Washington, D.C. But someone else is shadowing them: A merciless stalker has his savage eye on Lucy. The only way for her to escape his brutality may be another fight to the death.

You know a <500 page book isn't good when it takes me more than two weeks to read it.

I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, despite the name.  At first, it seemed as though it would rise above and make its way to  become an acceptable mystery, but it started to lose my interest by page 100.  The first half introduced a plot that could have had potential - a former victim of assault working with a volunteer group to keep parolees in  jail suddenly discovers that the criminals that she comes into contact with are being murdered.  Unfortunately, it wasn't presented in a manner that kept my attention.  I found my mind wandering, and more often than not, I had to reread pages because I'd been going over my grocery list or thinking about work.  

As if that's not bad enough, eventually the main character meets up with the man of her dreams and then everything goes down hill from there.  I'm not against a good romance, in fact I quite enjoy them; but this was not good.  In fact, there were times that the book made me uncomfortable.  It made me think of the middle age, over the top couples who are all about Public Displays of Affection and really need to get a room.  There's only so much hugging, kissing and cuddling that a murder mystery can take, and this one went too far. It made the female lead - who is supposedly an FBI applicant - seem weak and helpless when a kiss from her  beloved hero could make everything seem all better.

This is my first foray in to Allison Brennan.  From the recommendations that I'd gotten, I had hoped to have found a new source of easy to read but entertaining mysteries.  Unfortunately, I did not.

Mocking Jay, by Suzanne Collins *****

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

This is the last book in the Hunger Games series, which I read back to back. I loved it. Admittedly, there were a few brief chapters near the beginning that were a little slower than the rest of the series. Just when I started to think that maybe the third book wouldn't measure up to the others, the story kicked in and it was great.

I'm a little surprised that a YA book contained so much death, but it wasn't overly detailed about the violence. I would suppose that most kids are exposed to more violence and gore by watching TV or playing video games.

Excellent, well written book, and I've told a tonne or people to read the whole series.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins *****

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.
Suzanne Collins continues the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen in this second novel of the phenomenal Hunger Games trilogy.

Loved this book, and am about to start the next one. I highly recommend this series... it keeps getting better and better as it goes on.