"No Second Chance" to be the "Mockingjay"

I have continued and finished reading No Second Chance by Harlan Coben. Since my last blog post, I have read the last half of No Second Chance and the beginning of another book so I'm only going to review the most important parts of the novels.

After a hectic investigation in Kasselton Marc finally gets information that his daughter is in Missouri. Him and Lenny immediately fly out to Missouri and find his daughter living with Abe and Lorraine Tansmore. They discuss what should happen with Tara. The next morning Seidman continues to think and begins to talk to Lenny again about the day he was shot. Lenny said what he think happened and Marc then realizes that the only other person besides himself that knew the combination to the gun locker was Lenny. He then questions Lenny, who breaks under the pressure and tells him the real story.

The morning of the shooting Lenny went over to Seidman’s house, saw Marc on the floor, and he thought he was dead. He went inside to see more, when he found Marc’s wife Monica with a gun, angry and emotionally distressed. Monica had killed Marc. He ran upstairs and she shot at him; he then ran to the gun locker and took the missing gun. He walked down the stairs and shot her when he was startled. Lenny thought the whole thing would make him look guilty of everything that had happened, so he took off Monica’s close because of gunpowder residue, washed her hands, broke the window to make it look like a break in, and since Marc hadn’t made a will he took Tara to the Tansmores. He later set up fake ransoms and paid off Stacey, Marc’s sister; who had walked in on the crime scene and black mailed him. Marc and his mother move out to Missouri and after his daughter slowly gets used to him Marc finally has his daughter back and a second chance at a relationship with Rachel. This book plays with your mind and makes you think. Its not just another CSI book, you actually get to know Marc and develop empathy for him and his position.

The next book I’ve started reading is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This is the third book in the Hunger Game Trilogy. I have already read both the Hunger Games and Catching Fire over the summer and they are now probably my two favorite books. At the end of the book Catching Fire Katniss is rescued from the Quarter Quell Hunger Games, from rebels both inside and outside of the games. Katniss is considered to be the spark of revolution on Panem, from her act of defiance against the Capital displayed during her first Hunger Game. The Mockingjay is a genetically modified bird that has come to be the symbol of resistance for the rebels. After Katniss was rescued she spent a month in recovery and psychiatric therapy, her partner, Petre was not rescued and was captured by the Capital. During Katniss’s recovery things become clearer; she realizes that she is in the lost District 13. District 13 was supposedly destroyed half a century earlier, but is now the center of the rebellion. The entire district is underground due to the imminent threat of bombings and attacks from the Capital. When she is finally deemed healthy and sane Katniss is able to walk around and see what’s happening in the war. Katniss is pressured to be the rebels’ “Mockingjay” and to fight with them and higher morale. She agrees to be the Mockingjay after a long list of demands are met and then she is sent to training and to be equipped…

Economic Development (1870-1920)

     

JD Rockefeller

           The time from 1870 through 1920 was known as the Gilded Age. During this time there was great industrial and economic progress in America, but there were horrible things "under the surface", that outweighed the good. Many of the immigrants who came to America during this time were poor, adding to the growing lower class. These people often had to work horrible jobs with working conditions that were often dangerous and unhealthy, and with wages that were barely enough to live on. On the other hand, the upper and some of the middle class lived relatively nicely and could afford luxuries and buy other products that kept the economy strong. Though the economy and businesses were doing very well, it seems like the rich got richer, while the poor got poorer. 

Andrew Carnegie

          The first step towards the industrial growth and economic development during this time in America was the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Also some inventions like the light bulb and the use of electricity led to the creation of new industries and products. Another reason that the economy was doing so well during this time was because large deposits of natural resources and raw materials, like iron, oil, coal and gold, were found. With such abundance of resources old industries grew and new industries were created. Some of the people who took advantage of the time were JD Rockefeller who made his money from oil, Andrew Carnegie from Steel, and Henry Ford from the automobile. All of these industries impacted America and the economy.

Henry Ford

          I think that the Gilded Age was one of the most important periods to the growth of the national economy. Although there was a large percentage of Americans who were poor, some found way to rise out of the lower class. There was progress in industry and there were many innovations that have evolved further and benefit us today. The resources discovered guaranteed that industries could continue to run and the country could be self-sufficient and did not have to rely on other countries.

 Work Cited  

"Economic Growth: Inventions, Development, and Tycoons." Economics at About.com. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/econ_grow.htm>.

 "American Economic Growth in the 20th Century." Economics at About.com. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/economic_20th.htm>.

"American Economic Growth: Movement South and Westward." Economics at About.com. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/economic_grow.htm>.

"Government Involvement in the American Economy." Economics at About.com. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/government_inv.htm>.

"JD Rockerfeller." Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.la-articles.org.uk/JDrockefeller.jpg>.

 "Andrew Carnegie." Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://american-business.org/2373-andrew-carnegie.html>.

 "Henry Ford." Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.arinanikitina.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/henry-ford.jpg>.

No Second Chance

For my first choice read book this year I am reading No Second Chance by Harlan Coben. I really enjoy the books and genre that Harlan Coben writes. I don't like boring stories with lots of filler, but Coben is able to write exciting and suspenseful novels that you can't put down. The first sentence of the the book is the hook, it starts with the statement, "When the first bullet hit my chest". The beginning of the novel opens with the main character Dr. Marc Seidman being shot in his home. All he can think about is his baby daughter Tara as he bleeds out. When he wakes up he is in the hospital, his memory is fuzzy, and he is dying to find out what has happened. A man who Seidman doesn't know tells him he was shot twice, one bullet grazed his head and the other entered his chest and nicked his heart and is given no more details. The man introduces himself as Detective Reagan and asks him more questions. Marc is irretated and demands to know what happened to his family. The dectective tells him that his wife Monica is dead, his infant daughter has been kidnapped, and she's been missing for twelve days.


While in the hospital Marc has a few visiter including his mother and his best friend Lenny and his wife. Dective Reagan comes back and asks Seidman when was the last time he saw his sister, Stacey. He tells Reagan six months ago when his daughter was born, because she used drugs and he wouldn't let her see Tara until she was clean. Reagan explains to him that they found her prints at his house and she had never been there because Marc had only bought the house four months ago, which makes her a suspect. After he gets out of the hospital he goes to the Portman estate to go to Monica's grave and to visit with Edgar, Monica's father, because he wanted to see him. Edgar shows him a ransom letter that says, "We know the Portmans' are rich, we want two million dollars, for the baby. If you notify the police we disappear". Edgar gives Marc a duffle bag filled with two million dollars and told him to get her back.


After that Marc goes back home, to where his wife was murdered, with the bag. He doesn't know if he should tell the police and talks with Lenny. Marc ends up telling Detective Reagan and undercover police trail Marc to the drop at Garden State Plaza. After being parked for a few hours, Marc gets a call from the kidnappers telling him to drive to a place where they can tell if the cops are with him. He drives and gets to the new spot and gives the money to a shadey guy with a van. The guy sees the detectives coming around and says now we'll disappear. The guy disappears with the money and Marc doesn't have his daughter. Marc becomes very sad now knowing that his daughter is still missing. When Marc gets home Detective Reagan asks him if he can think of anywhere that his sister might be hiding. Marc remebers his late grandfather's cabin in the middle of the woods where him and Stacey would go during the summer, and that she loved to be there. They rush to cabin and find Stacey dead of an overdose on the ground. They also find a play pen and the outfit Tara was wearing the day she was kidnapped.

Reading History

Thinking as far back as I can, my first experience with a book is Corduroy by Don Freeman. Even though I like some books, I feel that my first experiences with reading were not very good. It began with the starter books that have about five words on a page and a lot of pictures. I think the reason I didn't have good experiences is because it seemed like I was being forced to read those books when I was little. I liked Courduroy, but the first book I remember liking is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. My parents would always read this book to my brother and I right before Christmas, when we were little. But since Courduroy and The Polar Express are picture books the first real book I liked is Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. I liked this book because it had a good story and I was able to choose to read it  myself instead of being told to read it.


My reading journey has been quite hectic. At first I didn't really like reading, because it took so long, but as I found better books and read more, it began to go by faster. Again when I was little I didn't really like to read but then I started the Magic Tree House Series and then began  to like reading more. After that I started to read some of The Great Illustrated Classic books and also really liked those too. But as soon as it started I began hate reading again when I got into 2nd and 3rd grade when we were given book reports. When I was little some school books were toture to read while a good book was enjoyable. It's strange, at times I hate reading, but other times it's great. I'd rather read a book I chose thats alright than an assigned book that I hate. As a reader I am comfortable, I just hope to be able to read faster and stop procrastinating.


I began to like reading again in 7th and 8th grade, because of books like Harry Potter and To Kill a Mockingbird. But when I started highschool I lost interest in reading, because for awhile I couldn't really find any books that could keep my attention or interest. But recently over the summer, I read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Though the books were intended to be for summer reading, after getting into The Hunger Games it was more for enjoyment. These were really well written books and have gotten me interested in reading again. I am hoping to read the third and final book in the series Mockingjay, but have yet found the time too. Like I said before I am comfortable reader, I always try to read faster, and stop procrastinating and my goals as a reader are to read more and to be able to analyze things better.