Mystery

[gemsey]

I have to read in order, it actually freaks me out when I do, it ruins it for me knowing what has happened to characters before I've read it. 

[becke_davis]

CinderSue, I'm backtracking, too, rereading the early ones and discovering the ones I had missed.  And now my daughter is getting hooked, too!

[CinderSueCB]

Thanks Becke for being our moderator.  I'm back tracking and reading Karen's first books that I haven't read yet.  I enjoyed meeting Karen Rose too.  Happy reading you all!

Message Edited by CinderSueCB on 04-06-2009 11:15 PM

[Karen-Rose]

Becke - thank you so much for inviting me this month!  It was a pleasure to be here.

[Karen-Rose]

Kim, this was a very tough subject to write as I am a mom, too.  Not sure if there are any taboo subjects.  I think it may depend more on how the subject is approached and discussed.

Keeping some subjects taboo can create dangers.  If they aren't discussed, how can we teach our kids to beware? 

I think most parents are aware of predators on the internet.  I think most think it can never happen to their kids.  I hope KILL FOR ME reminds parents to be ever vigilant.

[vivico1]

Karen,

If you do come back to look in, I just wanted to say, I do enjoy your books that I have read very much. Altho, as I said, this one wasn't my favorite "so far lol", I did enjoy it very much. I would have liked to talk more about this book and what went on in it, the story, the subplots, the idea of how these girls got taken, all those kinds of things. However, it seemed that this club was more like the Center Stage one, where people were talking about your style or all your books in general and for me,that's a shame. I was really looking forward to meeting you, and discussing one book with you and the others. The four of us who read one of your books together and then have bought more, were here to start out and looking forward to discussing Kill For Me. However, since the club went a whole other direction, it seems so did my friends and no one would discuss the ideas I came up with about the book, so, I went on too.

These are great books to talk about one at a time because they are such good romance/suspense books! There were lots of things to talk about within the book and talk about what we thought when this happened or that happened, but IT didn't happen. I do think it would make a great book club discussion book tho and as with all your books, will continue to recommend them. I would have liked to have had a better chance at one on one discussions with you in here about it.

Anyway, thank you so much for coming anyway and I am sure I speak for my friends when I say, I will be looking for more of your books to read. I hope you are not dismayed with the little discussion that did go on in here, again, I think this club done this way, probably would have been better in the Center Stage Club, where your fans could have talked to you for just one week, about any or all of your books. The club format was disappointing, but your books definitely are not!

Thanks and have a great spring!

[becke_davis]

The April featured books will be posted on Monday, March 30, so I want to stop by and thank Karen for visiting with us this month.

I got totally sucked into this trilogy, to the point that I had to go back and start reading Karen's books again from her first one.  I had read the early ones, but missed a few inbetween.  The early ones are just as good the second time around!

Karen, thanks so much for joining us!  I hope you will come back when your next book comes out! 

[KimCastillo]

I know, Becke! That's why I'm curious. LOL

[becke_davis]

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KimCastillo wrote:

Becke-I couldn't agree with you more!

Timeline the book is even better than the movie? I love the movie! Will definitely have to check out the book. Thanks!

Karen-the plot for Kill For Me is a pretty scary subject. How did you do your research? Is there anything that's taboo for you? A subject you wouldn't touch on?

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It boggles the mind to imagine what Karen might consider taboo, especially after reading this trilogy!

[KimCastillo]

Becke-I couldn't agree with you more!

Timeline the book is even better than the movie? I love the movie! Will definitely have to check out the book. Thanks!

Karen-the plot for Kill For Me is a pretty scary subject. How did you do your research? Is there anything that's taboo for you? A subject you wouldn't touch on?

[becke_davis]

I already posted this on another thread, but I want to say something here, in defense of the author.  Someone mentioned that they thought there were too many characters in this book.  I have to disagree.

For one thing, it's a trilogy, so many of the characters were introduced in earlier books.  Even though I frequently read series books out of order, or as stand-alones, I feel that it would be most satisfying to the reader if they read all three of these books consecutively, and in order.

Since I did that, I had no problem keeping track of the characters.  If someone read DIE FOR ME and SCREAM FOR ME when they first came out, it might be a good idea to flip through them before reading KILL FOR ME, so the characters (and plot!) are fresh in your mind.

I get really bored with suspense and mystery novels that are too easily solved, a problem that is almost unavoidable when there is a small cast of characters.  I liked the fact that the plot in these books was layered and complex -- not just the threads that tied the three books together, but the complexity of the character's personalities, too.

If there had been fewer people in the cast, I wouldn't have enjoyed it too much.  Part of the fun for me was trying to guess who the villains were, and the complexity of the cast made it harder to solve.  That's a plus for me, not a drawback. 

[becke_davis]

Karen - I read my first Agatha Christie at age 15 -- FUNERALS ARE FATAL.  I've been hooked ever since!  I also read Grisham, Scott Turow, Harlen Coben, Greg Iles, and Nora Roberts, too!  Suspense with a little romance (or a lot!) has always been a hit with me.

I love hearing how characters come to life during the writing process, and influence the course of the story.  I think it's part of the magic of books.

I also read Michael Crichton's TIMELINE (much better than the movie), and I can completely see how that would have influenced DIE FOR ME.  How cool, whenever I see that book now, I will think of you!

[Karen-Rose]

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becke_davis wrote:

I've always been hooked on mysteries, but I made it to my twenties before I discovered romance.  Well, before I realized I liked romance.  I had been reading a lot of Mary Stewart, Evelyn Anthony, Helen MacInnes, Dorothy Eden, Susan Howatch, Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Anya Seton, Velda Johnston, etc., and it finally hit me that the ones I liked best had good mysteries PLUS romance.  Romantic suspense is still one of my favorite genres.

Other authors I read back in those days: Charlotte Armstrong, Doris Miles Disney, Elizabeth Lemarchand, Celia Fremlin, Dell Shannon, Ed McBain, Carter Dickson/John Dickinson Carr, John Creasey, Ruth Rendell (although I think she came later), Margaret Yorke, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ellery Queen and more. 

Message Edited by becke_davis on 03-14-2009 06:05 PM

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Becke, I was more an Agatha Christie person in my teens.  I got sucked into thrillers much later with THE FIRM, but discovered romantic suspense with Nora Roberts and MONTANA SKY.

I agree - I like the suspense/romance combo best!

[Karen-Rose]

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Hank_Phillippi_Ryan wrote:

 And so often characters take over thier own lives. I'll be writing away, and suddenly someone will mention their first marriage. And I'll think--what? Where did that come from? 

http://www.hankphillippiryan.com

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Hank, that happens to me, too!  When I was writing COUNT TO TEN, my heroine is standing at her father's grave (this is backstory I wrote in preparation, but never made it to the book).  She looks up and all the sudden, totally unplanned, this woman is staring back at her - and they have the same eyes.  She's never seen the woman before, but they both have her father's eyes.  She turns out to be pretty important.  I love it when they pop up with backstory you're not expecting.

[Karen-Rose]

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Wrighty wrote:
I forgot to  mention that I like your book trailer too. I don't always see those (slow internet connection so it doesn't work at home) but this one is creepy and very intriguing. It's like an introduction to the story and the main characters. They were close to what I imagined, very good looking! It doesn't give too much information which for me could interfere a bit with the story.

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Wrighty - thank you!  I credit the video producer and my publicist with the success of the trailer.  KILL FOR ME has a weighty theme - the abduction and sale of teenaged girls.  I think the producer's use of those porcelain dolls evoked amazing emotions.

Oh, and the producer and her husband composed the music, too.  They are so talented!

[Karen-Rose]

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Wrighty wrote:

Karen,

I don't know if this was already brought up and I missed it but I was wondering about your covers. Do you have any control over them? I love your covers and think they suit the stories so well, especially this series. The close-ups of the faces are creepy but the faces are beautiful. They remind me of poses and makeup from classic, older movies.

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Wrighty - I don't have much say in the covers.  I can say if I like them or not, and if I really don't, they work so that everybody is happy.  But honestly, graphics isn't my strong suit, so I leave that to the experts!

I love the faces, too, and I think KILL FOR ME's cover is the most beautiful I've had.

[Karen-Rose]

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becke_davis wrote:
Karen - What was your inspiration for the Vartanian trilogy?  Did you know from the start which characters you were going to feature?  

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Becke - there really wasn't inspiration for a trilogy, becaues I didn't plan to write a trilogy when I started DIE FOR ME.  I don't think Daniel and Susannah were even in my initial proposal.

DIE FOR ME started with a thought and kind of spider-webbed from there.  I'd just listened to TIMELINE by Crichton on audio and thought, wouldn't it be cool to go back in time?  Then I thought, nah, I'd miss a flushing toilet and my MP3 player in about 5 minutes.

Then I thought, what if someone was obsessed with the medieval period, and killed because of it?  I started mulling medieval torture and remembered visiting the Crime and Punishment museum in Rothenburg, Germany about 10 years before.  That's where I saw the chair of nails for the first time and it stuck in my mind (no pun intended).

At the same time, my oldest daughter and her friends were playing one of the Final Fantasy video games, just to watch the cut scenes (animated scenes that link one part of the game to another) and the idea of old/new came to mind - video games vs. medieval torture and the art of cut scenes - and Simon Vartanian was born.

I was busily writing, when a new scene started - two men standing on a front porch.  One was Daniel and the other was the town sheriff, telling him his parents might be missing.  Daniel's part in the story wasn't clear to me then, and he just kind of grew.  Susannah's part really wasn't clear then and by the time I got to the end, I had a cliff-hanger.  I'd never left a book with a major untied end, and realized there had to be sequels. 

[kiakar]

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vivico1 wrote:

What is strange for me is, I love thriller/suspense movies but never was too interested in suspense/thriller novels. Probably because I read so much non fiction for so long. I got introduced to the suspense novels in here when Harlen Coben was here. I loved his stuff. I never could figure out the ending and now have 8 of his books. Then I read a James Grippando book - Got the Look and I really liked his work so need to try some more of his. I liked Patricia Cornwell's Preditor a lot, but read a couple of others of hers and they were too heavily into the ME lingo for me. I guess Tina Wainscott does Romance or Suspense. I first read her book Until the Day You Die and loved it, looked for more and found most of hers were just romance novels. I am not into strictly romance novels. I like the mixture tho, like Karen does in her books. I have to say tho, now that I am done with the book, and without giving away anything but my own oppinion lol, this was not one of my favorites of hers. I loved the premise, I loved a lot of parts but as some of us have said, in here and also a couple of people I have talked to about it outside the club, its just too many characters to keep up with. I really don't like having to back up several pages when I pick up a book to read more, to figure out who we are talking about. It was getting complicated to keep the good guys names and the bad guys names seperate, except for the top 4. But as I have said, I would get Charles and Chase mixed up and have to see what was being talked about to see who it was.

I thought about Karen talking about how she does a board of character's names and who they are and what  they do and lays it all out before she writes it , to keep them all straight. And also the other person in here, sorry, I can't look back while making this post to get your name again, who said, he would think she would have to in a book like this and that he even gave them birthdays to keep them straight in the aging process. I would imagine this is important in this kind of novel, I should have asked Harlen how he kept his straight, but as a reader, I really don't want to make my own board to keep the characters straight, if they are so numerous. I almost did tho, it was getting pretty hairy to keep up lol. But I thought, ok just take two afternoons straight and finish this without the days of breaks and then it will all blend in and you can tell who is who. It didn't help a lot with so many characters and new ones coming in all the time. It was a good book, just not one of my favorite Karen Rose books. Great idea tho, just hard to keep up with. 

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becke_davis wrote:

I've always been hooked on mysteries, but I made it to my twenties before I discovered romance.  Well, before I realized I liked romance.  I had been reading a lot of Mary Stewart, Evelyn Anthony, Helen MacInnes, Dorothy Eden, Susan Howatch, Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Anya Seton, Velda Johnston, etc., and it finally hit me that the ones I liked best had good mysteries PLUS romance.  Romantic suspense is still one of my favorite genres.

Other authors I read back in those days: Charlotte Armstrong, Doris Miles Disney, Elizabeth Lemarchand, Celia Fremlin, Dell Shannon, Ed McBain, Carter Dickson/John Dickinson Carr, John Creasey, Ruth Rendell (although I think she came later), Margaret Yorke, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ellery Queen and more. 

Message Edited by becke_davis on 03-14-2009 06:05 PM

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Vivian, I feel like you do, I did not like this one as good as the one I read first. And like you, the characters are what messed me up. Too many to keep up with was my impression. It had a wonderful story  and Karen has a awesome creative way of writing her mysteries/romance.  I still want to read the others because I love her story content in all her books. So intense that it keeps you going all the way through.  Too many characters for my poor pitiful mind.   Linda.

[vivico1]

What is strange for me is, I love thriller/suspense movies but never was too interested in suspense/thriller novels. Probably because I read so much non fiction for so long. I got introduced to the suspense novels in here when Harlen Coben was here. I loved his stuff. I never could figure out the ending and now have 8 of his books. Then I read a James Grippando book - Got the Look and I really liked his work so need to try some more of his. I liked Patricia Cornwell's Preditor a lot, but read a couple of others of hers and they were too heavily into the ME lingo for me. I guess Tina Wainscott does Romance or Suspense. I first read her book Until the Day You Die and loved it, looked for more and found most of hers were just romance novels. I am not into strictly romance novels. I like the mixture tho, like Karen does in her books. I have to say tho, now that I am done with the book, and without giving away anything but my own oppinion lol, this was not one of my favorites of hers. I loved the premise, I loved a lot of parts but as some of us have said, in here and also a couple of people I have talked to about it outside the club, its just too many characters to keep up with. I really don't like having to back up several pages when I pick up a book to read more, to figure out who we are talking about. It was getting complicated to keep the good guys names and the bad guys names seperate, except for the top 4. But as I have said, I would get Charles and Chase mixed up and have to see what was being talked about to see who it was.

I thought about Karen talking about how she does a board of character's names and who they are and what  they do and lays it all out before she writes it , to keep them all straight. And also the other person in here, sorry, I can't look back while making this post to get your name again, who said, he would think she would have to in a book like this and that he even gave them birthdays to keep them straight in the aging process. I would imagine this is important in this kind of novel, I should have asked Harlen how he kept his straight, but as a reader, I really don't want to make my own board to keep the characters straight, if they are so numerous. I almost did tho, it was getting pretty hairy to keep up lol. But I thought, ok just take two afternoons straight and finish this without the days of breaks and then it will all blend in and you can tell who is who. It didn't help a lot with so many characters and new ones coming in all the time. It was a good book, just not one of my favorite Karen Rose books. Great idea tho, just hard to keep up with. 

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becke_davis wrote:

I've always been hooked on mysteries, but I made it to my twenties before I discovered romance.  Well, before I realized I liked romance.  I had been reading a lot of Mary Stewart, Evelyn Anthony, Helen MacInnes, Dorothy Eden, Susan Howatch, Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Anya Seton, Velda Johnston, etc., and it finally hit me that the ones I liked best had good mysteries PLUS romance.  Romantic suspense is still one of my favorite genres.

Other authors I read back in those days: Charlotte Armstrong, Doris Miles Disney, Elizabeth Lemarchand, Celia Fremlin, Dell Shannon, Ed McBain, Carter Dickson/John Dickinson Carr, John Creasey, Ruth Rendell (although I think she came later), Margaret Yorke, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ellery Queen and more. 

Message Edited by becke_davis on 03-14-2009 06:05 PM

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[kiakar]

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Wrighty wrote:

Vivico, Kiakar & Cindersue,

Hi ladies! It's so good to "see" all of you here! I'm still not finished but loving the book. I've missed you all! 

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Same to you, Wrighty.  Nice! Good! Sweet!  All the good words to describe our time together. It seems they are far and few between. Life seems to get in the way.

Happy reading to us all!