Review The Secret Friends

The Secret Friends - Perawan Suci Maria, Kidung Kematian & Eksekusi Termanis Wanita Pujaan (Darby McCormick #2)

by Chris Mooney

Sesosok jasad wanita kembali ditemukan mengambang di dermaga Boston, setelah beberapa bulan sebelumnya jasad dengan ciri luka fisik yang sama juga ditemukan di sana. Bagian belakang kepala keduanya bocor, dan di saku mereka masing-masing ditemukan patung Perawan Suci Maria.

Darby McCormick, detektif CSI, ditugaskan memimpin penyelidikan kasus yang menjadi sorotan publik tersebut karena salah satu korbannya adalah anak dari konglomerat Boston, Jonathan Hale. Ternyata, bukan hanya Darby yang tertarik dengan kasus itu. Malcolm Fletcher, matan agen FBI yang kini menjadi buronan, ternyata juga sedang memburu si pembunuh.

Kini Darby harus berpacu dengan Malcolm untuk dapat menemukan si pembunuh terlebih dahulu. Dan Darby tidak tahu siapa yang harus lebih dipercayainya, apakah Malcolm yang mengaku sebagai Dark Justice atau rekannya sendiri yang terungkap telah menggelapkan barang bukti...

Dastan Books 2010

Saya: Ini salah satu buku bagus yang diberi Obral sampe harganya tinggal Rp 15.000. Sungguh beruntung mendapatkan buku2 dengan genre kriminal-ritual-agamis seperti ini dengan harga murah. Seperti kebanyakan novel tulisan orang Amerika-Eropa dengan genre ini, maka biasanya kisahnya seputar tindak kriminal pembunuhan. Adapun pembunuhan itu mempunyai visi dan misi, semacam maksud yang hendak dicapai, semacam ritual untuk memperkenalkan sesuatu.

Yang menarik--dan sering klise--adalah korbannya cenderung gadis, yang kemungkinan masih perawan. Dalam TSF ini gadis2 itu menghilang ketika pulang dari suara atau tempat. Dicurigai diculik oleh seorang lelaki kuat yang menyekap dan membunuh mereka dengan rapih sehingga polisi tidak mendapatkan bukti, sidik, dan dugaan pelakunya.

Yang menggetarkan adalah penemuan patung Perawan Marian dalam saku yang dijahit pada baju korban. Apakah pelaku terobsesi pada Perawan? Atau pelaku melakukan ritual sesat? Siapa yang bisa menduga, hati dan pikiran begitu luas. Betapa berbahayanya dengan tidak kritis, bahkan cenderung fanataik dan dibutakan oleh teks yang ditulis oleh keterbatasan tangan dan pikiran manusia.

Klise: simbol2 Kristen sering dijadikan novel yang menghebohkan dan menarik perhatian sehi laku keras, dengan dalil yang bisa benar bisa keliru: membuka mata dunia pada sejarah pada sisi lain. Tapi bagaimana pun, sebagai karya sastra, TSF telah berhasil menghibur pembaca dan memberikan sumbangan tersendiri untuk sastra dan pengetahuan dunia.

Keri: Very good book. Very intense. Darby McCormick is called to a special CSI task force to try and solve a couple of murders of young women. Darby is suddenly thrust into a place where she is not quite sure whom her enemies or friends really are except for her crush buddy Coop. Chris Mooney is a very talented writer and I think is under-appreciated.

Karen: THE SECRET FRIEND is a contemporary American crime fiction thriller. A serial killer with their own desperate and cruel background. A religious element. A corrupt ex-FBI agent. A bad cop. And a CSI - Darby McCormick - as the central protagonist. Darby is pulled into the case of Emma Hale and finds herself up against a lot of things. There's the lack of evidence or an explanation for why somebody would have snatched Emma, kept her alive for months, and then killed her. There's Emma's powerful and wealthy father who wants answers enough to run his own investigation. There's the second student dead in similar circumstances and it's obvious that this killer is not going to stop unless he's caught. There's the either incompetent or corrupt police force that haven't been able to solve the case. There's a pushy and politically motivated senior officer. And finally, there's the lurking presence of the FBI agent gone bad - the vigilante fugitive from law, taking the law into his own hands.

THE SECRET FRIEND may appeal to a particular type of reader. Fans or believers in CSI's actively investigating cases and those interested in the "technical wizardry" that goes along with crime scene analysis. There are certainly snippets of technical information sprinkled through the book which show the depth of the research or knowledge that went into the writing. To help widen the possible appeal, you've got all these other elements built in - the rogue FBI guy with the astounding connections - inexplicably one step ahead of the cops and Darby all the way; the corrupt cop; the serial killer who may just engender sympathy in some readers; the lurking presence of the closed down institution - where all too many horrible events could have occurred.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this book doesn't appeal to many readers, but for me it was too much. Whilst it was competently written, the main sub-plot, the rogue ex-FBI agent, just didn't work for me and as he got more and more focus, I got less and less interested. The serial killer's motivations and behaviour seemed to have some potential, but they don't remain the main focus of the book and kept getting lost in the other sub-plots and the snippets of forensic information that were packed in.

Mary: Back to reading Chris Mooney, the second of his series, the first one "The Missing" was very enjoyable, so now I have a new series, C.S.I. (C.S.U.) Darby McCormick. Two students (female) have been abducted, one kept for 6 months, then shot and dumped in the river and Darby is called in to a new specialised unit C.S.U. and asked to lead the investigation by the under-pressure Commissioner. Another student is soon abducted and the race is on to find her before the killer strikes again. There's a religious nut, a very creepy ex-F.B.I. profiler and a former sprawling ruin of an Asylum thrown in for good measure. I liked it, and it's got a few books in the series, which is always good. Just started the next one, so I'm all set for tonight.

Heidi: I don't give out the 5 stars lightly. I loved this book. I read it in 2 days and could have read it straight through if had been allowed!

I enjoyed the plot, technical aspects and the characters as well! I will be looking for more of Chris Mooney's books for sure!

Godzilla: Good on technical stuff, but thin on plot.

The characters aren't particularly strong or believable. But if you suspend your disbelief the book rockets along at a good pace. Fairly gory, and it felt overdone in places.

I can't say I'd be rushing to pick up another novel by this author, but as it was given to me by a friend, I don't want to be too critical either.

Sparhawk: Released this was the second in a series but decided to read it. Enjoyed it. Liked the main female character and can see her developing well. Will try now for the first in the series and any others.

Review The Deep

Dasar Laut - The Deep (Ingo #3)

by Helen Dunmore, Satya Utama Jadi (Illustrator)

Petualangan Sapphire dan kakaknya, Conor, di dunia bawah laut masih berlanjut. Banjir dahsyat telah menerjang batas-batas antara dunia manusia dan Ingo, dan sekarang, jauh di dasar laut sana, sesosok monster menggeliat bangun dari tidurnya. Menurut legenda bangsa Mer, hanya mereka yang berdarah campuran Mer dan manusia yang bisa menjinakkan monster ini. Sapphy harus kembali ke Dasar Laut, dengan bantuan ikan paus sahabatnya, untuk berhadapan dengan makhluk menakutkan itu. Tetapi Conor dan sahabat Mer-nya, Faro, tidak mau membiarkan Sapphy pergi tanpa mereka...

Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2010

Saya: kehidupan makhluk setengah manusia setengah mer (sappy n Connor Threwhella) kembali lagi ke rumah lama mreka yakni di Senara...membawa pengetahuan bahwa kehidupan di sekitar kita lebih dari apa yg kita lihat (bukan magic) tp kemajemukan (yg jarang manusia bisa terima)...

"masalah Mer yg gak dimengerti Sappy...Faro selalu penuh misteri seperti Ingo...lalu datang Morlader (Mer) dengan pesan yg jelas: ayo ke Ingo"

"Sapphy datang ke Rapat Besar. Ervys kita kita baik n bijak tapi kurang ajar. Dan tahulah Sapphy kalau dia dan kakakx hrs membantu Mer"

"Sapphy bertemu Saldowr yg ternyata lemah n sedang menyembuhkan lukanya...Faro seperti biasa yg mengajakx...tp ada bahaya besar di belakangx"

"kata Saldowr, Dasar Laut akn mengamuk n menghancurkan Ingo, smua akan hancur, makhluk itu suka makan anak2 Mer"

"sekarang Roger dan Jennie pergi ke Australia untuk berlibur. Connor n Sapphy tinggal, mereka memang ingin tinggal. Grany menjaga mreka."

Noname: Dimulai dengan keluarga Saphire yang kembali tinggal di Senara karena rumah mereka di St.Pirans hancur terkena banjir.

Saphire diundang hadir dalam pertemuan kaum Mer, membicarakan bangunnya Kraken sang monster yang bisa menghancurkan Ingo (dan dunia manusia).

Untuk menidurkan Kraken kembali, kaum Mer harus menyerahkan anak mereka, atau meminta orang berdarah campuran untuk melakukannya. Karena Saphire sudah pernah ke Dasar Laut, kaum Mer berharap dia bisa membantu mereka karena Mer tidak bisa pergi kesana. Dalam pertemuan kaum Mer juga, Saphire kenal dengan Ervys, Mer yang berniat menggeser kedudukan Shaldowr, dan menjadi pemimpin kaum Mer.

Jadi di buku ini ada cerita tentang petualangan Saphire bersama Conor dan Faro ke Dasar Laut, bertemu Kraken.
Loh kok Faro bisa ke Dasar Laut ? Dia kan Mer.. harusnya ga bisa.. haha ternyata Faro juga berdarah campuran, tapi kok bisa punya ekor ya.. *buat buku selanjutnya kaya'nya hiks*
Seperti biasa ceritanya ringan, enak dibaca, ga perlu pake mikir..bisa sambil mengkhayal dah.. :)

Dan sebelnya, kirain ini sudah tamat..
hah.. ternyata enggak... cape deey

Truly: *buku pembuka setelah terkena bencana tidak sempat baca* *kecepatan penuh......* Masih seputar urusan dunia manusia di tanah dan dunia mer di bawah laut.
Petualangan seorang gadis kecil, sepertinya lebih cocok ABG Sapphy serta kakak laki-lakinya Conor dan Faro sahabar dari dunia mer kian menegangkan. Urusan kali ini melibatkan sejenis monster laut.Dan hanya Sappy yang mampu menundukkannya, itu pun masih kata legenda sehingga harus dibuktikan kebenarannya.

Kalimat yang paling mengena dari buku ini adalah "Jangan pernah bilang takkan pernah....Tak ada yang tahu pasti apa yang akan terjadi" Coba covernya tetap berwarna biru..
kian suka

Uci: Ternyata buku ketiga yang paling seru dibandingkan dua buku sebelumnya, padahal memutuskan untuk tidak beli dan pinjam saja :D Kali ini Sapphire harus menghadapi monster paling mengerikan di Dasar Laut, dan saya suka penggambaran monsternya yang tidak sekadar bersosok mengerikan, tapi juga meneror secara psikologis...mirip-mirip monster tak berwujud di novel Sphere.

The Deep seharusnya menjadi novel terakhir dari trilogi Ingo, tapi sepertinya endingnya masih memberi ruang untuk cerita lanjutan ya..

Jennifer: Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com
New troubles loom for Saffy, her brother, Connor, and their friend, Faro. Not just because the Kraken - an ancient monster of the deep - has threatened to destroy Ingo unless the Mer give over their young. A new danger is rising, with aspiring leader Ervys gaining strength by encouraging prejudice against those who aren't full-blooded Mer.

Faro's mentor, Saldowr, believes the people of Ingo have another option in Saffy, who entered the deep and managed to survive - an impossible feat for all but a handful of the ocean's inhabitants. He presents Saffy with the monumental task of returning to fight and defeat the Kraken.

Despite the brewing tensions between Ingo and Air, Saffy and Connor agree to help, on the condition that they're allowed to see their father (who traded life as a human to become Mer) upon their return. Armed only with Granny Karne's rowan seeds and Saldowr's magical mirror, Saffy, Connor, and Faro embark on a perilous journey inside the mouth of a whale.

While it's easy enough to dive right into THE DEEP without reading the first two books in Helen Dunmore's INGO series, I highly recommend all of them. I was so eager to follow the events of Saffy's life and discover the source of her family's connection to the sea, I gobbled up these books in a matter of days.

THE DEEP is a page-flipping installment which takes the three main characters to the edge of an unknown world, forcing them to confront their deepest fears against a treacherous enemy

Stella: seri Ingo yang paling kusukai sejauh ini. suasana fantasinya lebih kental & petualangannya pun lebih menegangkan & seru dibanding buku 1 & 2. chemistry antara Sapphire & Faro semakin nyata muncul di permukaan. jadi makin suka dengan tokoh Faro & look forward for the forth book to read :)

Erin: The whole Ingo series is interesting but not something you HAVE to read. Although, if you like mermaids you will probably really enjoy this book.

Jess: I didn't realize when I started this book that it was the 3rd in a series. Oh well. It was a good enough read but not one I would recommend (maybe I would have liked it better had I read the other novels first).

Katie: This third book in the "Ingo" series seems to be wearing the story a bit thin. The whole 'Kraken' plot has been done with the "Emily Windsnap" series and with the monster being a shape-shifting being who feeds on negative emotions, it makes the characters seem disrespected and slightly degraded. How is the heroine supposed to stay strong if so many depressing life-altering situations have been thrown at her since the 1st book? The sub-plot with her missing father who left the family to supposedly persue a mermaid extra-marital affair, has thickened with Sapphire finally meeting her merman half-brother, but her father & mermaid step-mother she has only seen in visions. Her bargin for entering "the deep" to seek out the kraken, in exchange for freedom of choice for her father to leave Ingo, may be fruitless since he may not want to leave. Now her mother on land & her new beau have announced they will be moving to Austrailia and want to take Sapphire & her bother Connor along. They want to stay close to Ingo, but the mer-people have announced that their kind (which could also include Sapphire as an honorary member) must cross Ingo in a rite of passage ceremony. Could this involve crossing the East Austrailian Current, the strongest and bigest of it's kind? Hopefully the next book has the answers.

Alvi: After the wonderfully written Ingo and Tide Knot I was surprised to find that The Deep ended up being so clunky and slow. Not really much happens in the 320 pages and there's no sense of urgency, mystery or need to keep turning the page. Sapphire and her brother Conor are summoned back to the ocean when the Kraken (not the giant squid of common lore) threatens to wreak havoc upon the world when he wakes from his thousand year slumber. The kids sort him out rather easily towards the end of the second act, leaving the last third of the book to just ramble on about nothing in particular and sort of fizzle out instead of ending on a high note. Helen Dunmore could have DONE MORE to make this is as unputdownable as the first two. It should have been structured better and had a stronger storyline. I often guessed that she was just winging it with the slightest of plots and didn't really know how it was going to end up.

Review The Secret Garden

Taman Rahasia (The Secret Garden)

by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Barokah Ruziati (translator), Ratu Lakhsmita Indira (Illustrator)

Setelah kematian orangtuanya, Mary Lennox si gadis manja dan pemarah datang dari India untuk tinggal di rumah pamannya, Mr. Archibald Craven. Dia merasa kesepian di rumah besar dan sunyi itu. Namun suatu hari dia menemukan jalan menuju taman rahasia yang sudah bertahun-tahun dikunci. Dengan bantuan Dickon, anak lelaki yang bisa "berbicara" dengan binatang, dia menghidupkan kembali taman itu dan membuatnya indah. Kegiatan mengurus taman perlahan-lahan membuat sifat Mary berubah, dan pada akhirnya bukan hanya Mary yang menjadi bahagia karena taman rahasia itu

Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2010

Saya: "Tak ada yang tersisa...org2 yang ada di sekitar Mary Lennox mati kena kolera di India"

"Mistress Mary tinggal di rumah pendeta inggris. Anakx Basil mengolok Mary galak, org2 ketawa mengejek..Mery benci mereka, dia akan pergi.."

"Mary tiba di stasiun Thwaits dan merasa aneh. Dia dijemput Mrs. Medlock n diantar naik kreta kuda melewati Padang Moor yg "misterius" itu"

Poppy: A bit of earth, She wants a little bit of earth.
She'll plant some seeds. The seeds will grow, The flowers bloom, But is their bounty What she needs?
Selalu terngiang lagu ini kalau melihat buku Secret Garden *nyetel versi Charlotte Church*

Indri: lihat kebunku, penuh dengan bunga
ada yang putih, dan ada yang merah
setiap hari kusiram semua
mawar melati semuanya indah

Mary, mary,.. si egois, si angkuh, ditaklukkan keramahan padang kerangas lewat bunga-bunga, akar, sulur-sulur pohon.
Dickon, dickon,.. kekuatan alami padang itu sendiri dengan kata-kata, sorot mata, tingkah polah yang bisa menyihir seluruh padang untuk tunduk kepadanya dengan cinta dan kasih sayang.

Collin, collin,.. dari keputusasaan menjadi kekuatan untuk melawan. Musim semi dan taman telah mencairkan kebekuan hati.
****
Percaya bahwa semua makhluk itu sama, dan energi yang membangkitkan semangat hidup itu kau hasilkan dari merawat dan membuat hidup yang lain. Setiap kau menggali, memupuk, merawat, menyiram, menyiangi gulma, tanaman itu akan memberi energi hidupmu, dengan detak jantung yang melaju, aliran darah yang merona, nafsu makan meningkat.

****
Memandang taman kecilku di depan rumah, dengan hamparan rumput, pohon jeruk, pakis, krokot merah, hijau, dan berbagai tanaman bunga-bungaan yang aku nggak ingat namanya... hmm, menyegarkan mata.

Membaca buku ini di kebun belakang dengan hamparan rumput saja dan sebatang pohon mangga berumur setahun.
Hmm.. rupanya sudah waktunya bertaman lagi (ambil cangkul dan garu kecil serta cetok).. Aku ingin kebunku seindah Secret Garden!!!

Fiary: Dalam imaji aja tuh taman udah indah, apalagi kalo udah dipindahin dan divisualisasi dalam media film, wow, mata ini bener-bener dimanjakan dengan keindahan taman yg asri.
Cerita klasik tentang persahabatan, ketegaran dan keuletan... ;

Desni: Mery mengalami perubahan ketika menemukan taman rahasia...dan itu akhirx ditularkanx pd sepupux Colin... seperti kekuatan "Sihir" yang mampu mengubah hal mustahil menjadi nyata... "Sihir" itu juga yang mampu mengubah semua yang ada di sekitarnya...mengubahnya menjadi terasa lebih indah...

Abigail: Read the year I was eleven, shortly after Burnett's A Little Princess, The Secret Garden has been one of my "comfort novels" ever since, usually making an annual reappearance sometime in the dark and dreary winter, when the idea of a garden holds particular charm. The story of two cousins - spoiled orphan Mary Lennox, sent to stay at her uncle's estate in Yorkshire, and her invalid cousin Colin - both of whom find healing and love through the "magic" of the Secret Garden, this sentimental children's novel is a moving parable of the restorative power of nature...

Stories of this type, in which children learn to "be good," abound in Victorian children's literature, but happily, The Secret Garden is not characterized by the almost obligatory sanctimony of the genre. Perhaps this is because Burnett is an author who understands child psychology, and the reader is able to identify with her characters, even when they are behaving poorly. This gives the book a modern sensibility that may account - in part - for its continued popularity.

However that may be, this is such a satisfying novel, which never seems impossible or unrealistic. I have sometimes felt a little wistful when rereading it as an adult, recalling those days when I lived in a house with gardens. But that is another issue...

Addendum: as is always the case for me, this reread - undertaken for the Children's Fiction Club (part of the Children's Books group here on goodreads) - was entirely satisfactory! I did notice some things, this time around, that eluded me before, like Mary's unfortunate comments about 'blacks' (by which she meant Indians in general, and her own servants specifically) not really being people. I think that Burnett clearly intends to show that this is not acceptable, by pointing out how rude, spoiled and unpleasant Mary is, although the narrator's own comments about the differences between the salt-of-the-earth Yorkshire characters, and the endlessly-salaaming Indian servants, still felt patronizing to me. Not enough to mar the story, but definitely of their time, and something adults might want to address, in discussing this story with children.

Alison: I seem to be the only woman I know who didn't read and cherish this book as a child. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about... It took me a while to get in step with the tone of this book. The beginning was Jane Eyre-lite...Mary is orphaned and sent from India to England to live with her uncle, a stranger to her. The story progresses...and then....Mary's talking to a robin, and he's showing her where buried keys are. At that point, the mood shifted, and I sat back to enjoy not a literary masterpiece, but a child's fantasy adventure.

I really lost myself in the beauty of the Secret Garden...it's natural beauty and the idea of its powers to cleanse our physical and spiritual sides. One review claimed that re-visiting this made the reader want to "get back into gardening"...and I felt that. It's a gardener's story--a tale for someone who enjoys the process, from planting the seeds to appreciating the beauty of the end product. I loved the vivid descriptions of all the particular plants, trees, and animals...

But if I'm being honest, this book got a bit intense for me. As Colin begins to feel the healing powers of the garden...as he begins to chant and sing his praises to the "magic"...(and on and on about "the magic"), I really began to feel the author's personal philosphies taking over. The introduction suggests that Burnett infused the comfort she found in Christian Science teachings after her son died into this story about the power of mind over body. Hmmmm.

I think what kept me from totally being sold on this novel is that I did try to read it as an adult. I was unable to enjoy the narrative literally and at face-value. I was digging in....always watchful for the deeper meaning. And Burnett's ideas were already at the surface, perhaps a little heavy-handedly at times.

Overall...a nice story, perhaps best enjoyed through the innocent, unaffected eyes of a child.

Echa: Apa yang tersembunyi dalam "Taman Rahasia" sehingga bisa membuat Mary dan Collin berubah secara drastis? Benarkah magic? Mungkin itu yang dipikirkan oleh anak-anak seusia Collin dan Mary, anak-anak yang punya dunianya sendiri. Dengan dibantu oleh Dickon, seorang anak berusia 12 tahun yang mencintai alam dan dicintai alam. Yang memberikan pandangan-pandangan lain terhadap Mary & Collin.

Musim semi, musim yang selalu di identikkan dengan kehidupan yang baru, awal mula suatu kehidupan. Tunas-tunas yang selalu tumbuh di saat musim semi serta hujan dan matahari yang besahabat. Hal ini yang tergambar dalam buku ini, secara tidak langsung menunjukan keajaiban musim semi. Mungkin ini yang ingin di gambarkan oleh Penulisnya, perubahan positif yang terjadi di setiap tokoh dalam buku ini dengan menggunakan Musim Semi sebagai benang merah-nya. Memulai suatu yang baru, menuju suatu kehidupan yang bahagia.

Dan semuanya pun berakhir bahagia, se-indah dan penuh warna layaknya musim semi.

Kelly:

Jan 08, 2011

Kelly rated it · review of another edition

Mistress Mary, your looks are quite contrary....

There is very little that I recall of this novel, as it has been years since I have last laid fingers on this popular tale. But what I do remember of it...

Mary is a bratty, sour-spirited child who is shipped back to England when her ever-delinquent parents die in cruel India. There she is kept under the wing of a likewise inconsiderate uncle, in his gothic castle, wherein she grows deathly bored inside, and her adventuring leads her to an astounding change, an obsession with a "secret garden." Further discovery leads her to another child in the house, and together, she and the nomad whose name I cannot recall at this very moment discover the enchanted garden that her dead aunt so loved. The best thing about this book is it's characters, and the way they consistantly change throughout the story.

A great novel must never be made out of static, but of transistory silk in which the entire tale is wrapped.