Sophie's Heart

I found the novel Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick to be a credible modern fiction book. It is written about a young Chzec who moves to America to make a living, painfully departing from her grandmother, who has been her only parent for many years. She arrives unsure of herself, but determined to make the best of the situation. She begins work at a restaurant, and although her English has some flaws, she is a hard-worker. When at church, she meets a woman who hooks her up to become a housekeeper for a family. The family is that of the woman's brother, who recently lost their mother in a car accident, devastating the father. He depends on his teenage daughter to most of the household chores, because he works for long hours. The death in the family left a workaholic father, a too much depended on 16-year-old daughter, an angry mid-teen son, and a young girl striving for attention. When Sophie becomes their housekeeper, she recognizes these problems, as well as the fact that the family does not have good meals or clean rooms. She takes it upon herself to first clean the house, and then begins on the people themselves. She makes an immediate impact on Tori, the attention-starved youngest, who latches on to her. They become quick friends, and Rita, the oldest, although a bit slower to warm to Sophie, soon finds herself liking the woman as well. The son Craig is a challenge, however. His mother's death and his father's absence has left him feeling bitter. He seems grumpy all the time, but Sophie is patient, and she gently helps him through life by doing even little things, like taking him with her to talk to his classmates in an effort to keep him more social. But despite his gratitude, Sophie still notices something is wrong. Craig finally reveals his secret to her on a car ride home: he feels it was his fault his mother died because he prayed she would die that day after she made him wear pants he hated to school. After this conversation with Sophie, she advises him on how to handle it and assures him it was not his fault. Craig is now a normal, loving person again. The last person to deal with in the family is...the father. Sophie helps him overcome his addiction to work, and they soon become friends...and perhaps something more, but you'll have to read to find out. I enjoyed this book, although I do find some of Lori Wick's books to be predictable and sometimes unrealistic. It was a good read.

Skin

Just a couple of days I ago, I finished reading the book Skin, by Ted Dekker. I now have it ranked among my favorite books. I found it to be suspenseful and exciting, and although it had a plot that was sometimes hard to follow and might leave a reader behind if they were not paying attention, it was enjoyable. The story begins with one of the main characters, Wendy, struggling to arrive at a town before three raging tornadoes hit her. She is traveling to answer a call from her mother. Her mother is part of a cult that Wendy escaped from at the age of 18. The leader was cruel, and claimed her for his own. She received a beating each time she made contact with any person outside of the tribe. She is still mentally scarred, and afraid of touching men after the leader broke her fingers for touching another boy. As she drives through the tormenting storm, she sees a car with bullet holes. Worried, she get out to investigate. She finds not the shot person, but a woman with a snake bite and her anxious brother. She brings them to town in hope of finding a doctor, but apparently everyone has gone into hiding from the storm. She stops a cop and get him to take them with him to the doctor's home. The cop, Colt, is in pursuit of a gruesome killer named Red. The doctor is not home, but the manage to break the woman, Nicole's, fever. Once the storm ends, strange things happen. The town mysteriously vanishes, replaced by sand. A man named Jerry Pinkus shows up as well, with a finger severed by Red. All five of them are forced to remain in the house, threatened by Red, who seems like a maniac determined to kill the ugliest of the group. Outwardly, that would be Colt, but inside...who knows? Tensions begin to run high as Nicole plays with Colt's heart and Wendy herself likes him, because she is not afraid of him. Also, Colt is the only man in the group with a loaded gun and the knowledge to use it. They play with the idea of killing the ugliest, because Red says that is the only way they will live. However, time runs out, and Red kidnaps Nicole and permanently brands her beautiful face. Although Colt says he still will love her, something inside Nicole has changed as well, or maybe, as wise Wendy sees it, it has always been that way...In the end, the ugliest is killed, and another, and Red does not stop there. Everything pieces into place as Jerry and Wendy discover they are in a virtual reality game along with the others, and Red is the son of the director, but he turned against them. Who died? Did Wendy overcome her fears? Did Colt love her back, or did he still love Nicole? Do they all make it out, or does death in the game mean death in real life? Read, and you will find out!

I, Robot

I recently finished reading the science-fiction book I, Robot. I enjoyed the interesting view it was written in, as if being written like an article by a person who interviewed the main character, Dr. Susan Calvin. The book began in the past, reviewing how some robots functioned and lived, and then the meat of the story was in the section where Dr. Calvin and her colleagues were working on how to solve a problem with robots, since they were the heads of that department. The problem was this: There are three laws robots are designed to follow, and the First Law is the "No robot shall ever harm a human being". Robots have been made with these laws for years, until Dr. Calvin realizes a mistake. The robot she works with, Herbie, can read minds. When Dr. Calvin confides in him that she secretly loves one of the men she works with, Milton Ashe, he reads her mind and tells her Ashe loves her back, even though she is not attractive, but because she is smart he likes her. Dr. Calvin believes him, but the next time she has a meeting with Ashe, he tells her he is going to get married to another woman. Devastated and furious, Dr. Calvin confronts the cowering Herbie. He tells her this is all just a dream, because that is what she wants it to be. However, despite being on the verge of hysteria, Dr. Calvin realizes the truth- Herbie cannot tell her the truth she does not want to hear. This is because of the First Law. No robot shall ever harm a human being. In the creation of these laws, it was not ever considered that a mind reading robot might not be able to tell his master the truth, because he would be hurting her feelings. The First Law never specified whether a robot could not harm humans physically or internally. For the remainder of the book, bitter Dr. Calvin and her colleagues work to try to change this, and attempt to stop a rogue robot from messing with other robots. It is very different from other books I have read, and I enjoyed its difference.