Review: Freak by Jennifer Hillier

Freak by Jennifer Hillier
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 7, 2012

Freak starts about a year after the events in Creep.  Jerry Isaac, former cop/current private investigator,  is still recovering both physically mentally from his encounter with violent killer Abby Maddox.  With rehab for her sex addiction behind her, Professor Sheila Tao is putting the pieces of her personal and professional life back together.  With Ethan Wolfe dead and gone, the only loose end is his girlfriend, Abby Maddox.  At contention is whether she was his accomplice or the mastermind of the heinous crimes which occurred a year earlier.

Shortly after Abby is charged with murder of Diana St. Clair, someone starts killing women who resemble her and carving "FREE ABBY MADDOX" and a counter into their bodies.  Jerry is contacted by his former partner Detective Mike Torrance and asked to visit Abby in prison.  Surprisingly(or not depending on how you look at it) Abby claims to have knowledge of who might be the killer and offers to provide information about the killer in exchange for a transfer to a minimum security prison.  Catching the Free Abby killer is a little too easy and Jerry gets suspicious that they haven't even seen the beginning of what Abby really has planned.  Using her entire repertoire of tricks, Abby manipulates everyone from the prison guards to her lawyer to Jerry and Sheila to accomplish her goals of escaping prison and getting revenge on Sheila for Ethan's death.  Once Abby escapes custody, it's only a matter of time before she finds Sheila and avenges Ethan's death.  When Sheila and Marianne, Jerry's estranged wife, go missing, Jerry and Torrance are racing to find both women before Abby kills them.  In Abby's clutches, Sheila vacillates between begging for the mercy of death and trying to survive Abby's attack.  When a secret accomplice shows up, Sheila starts to give up hope.
In Freak, we get more information about Abby Maddox and continues to try to convince that she was Ethan's victim as well. This just serves to highlight her ultra manipulative nature.  The secret accomplice at the end was kind of paint by numbers.  While it was supposed to be a shock, it was heavily shadowed in the beginning and kind of inevitable.  All in all Freak is a great suspenseful read just like the previous book, Creep.


**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**
This should have posted 89.

Review: Cook Like A Rock Star by Anne Burrell

Cook Like a Rock Star by Anne Burrell
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Published: October 4, 2011








 You may know her from Worst Cooks in America, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Iron Chef, The Next Iron Chef, and Chef Wanted.  Now Anne Burrell has added another feather to her cap with her first cookbook.  I loved her show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.  I learned many tips that I fantasize  about using someday, so I was super excited to get a chance to review her cookbook.

Cook Like A Rock Star is basically Secrets of a Restaurant Chef - cooking tips and tried and true shortcuts - with recipes.  The first sections is basically a step by step to following recipes, her basic ingredients, and the tools need to create the foods. The book is then divided into recipes for hor d'oeuvres, starters, main courses, pasts dishes, side dishes, and desserts.  Each sections begins with a anecdote from Anne and segues into the recipes.  There are plenty of helpful hints throughout the books such as how to properly poach your food and how to bread food properly.  The best thing about the book is that even though she spells everything out you don't feel condescended too.

Cook Like A Rock Star is a great cookbook.  I actually tried a couple of the recipes.  The ingredients were easily found at a regular supermarket - no special trips to Whole Foods or some specialty shops.  All the cooking terminology is defined and explained and many handy tips are included.  Whether you're a novice cook or a lazy cook like me, Anne gives all the tools needed to make you feel comfortable making these recipes.  I can't wait to try  the Calamari noodles.

** This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. **