Read-A-Thon

Book Review: Chemical Cowboys by Lisa Sweetingham

- Ambrosia Leave a comment
For nearly a decade, Ecstasy kingpin Oded Tuito was the mastermind behind a drug ring that used strippers and Hassidic teenagers to mule millions of pills from Holland to the party triangle–Los Angeles, New York, and Miami.

Chemical Cowboys is a thrilling journey through the groundbreaking undercover investigations that led to the toppling of a billion-dollar Ecstasy trafficking network–starting in 1995 when New York DEA Agent Robert Gagne infiltrated club land to uncover a thriving drug scene supported by two cultures: pill-popping club kids and Israeli dealers.

Gagne’s obsessive mission to take down Tuito’s network met unexpected challenges and personal discoveries that almost crippled his own family. Weaved into the narrative are the stories of Tuito’s underlings who struggled with addiction as they ran from the law, and the compelling experiences of a veteran Israeli police officer who aided Gagne while chasing after his own target–a violent Mob boss who saw the riches to be made in Ecstasy and began to import his own pills and turf warfare to the U.S.

Chemical Cowboys offers a taut, behind-the-scenes glimpse into an international criminal enterprise as daring as it is deadly.

I used to be huge into the true crime genre, and I had read them all. But than I lost interest. I am not sure why, but for the most part I just decided they all kind of started to sound the same. No offense to any of those authors, but they did. So it is a rare book that can pull me back into my thoughts about true crime being decent. In the last year only one book has done it. Until now. Chemical Cowboys is a stunning masterpiece of a Crime Novel.

Lisa Sweetingham weaves such a wicked web about this king pin, with characters that you will remember. Some of them you will love and some of them you will love to hate. I really can not think of to many words that would do this book justice. Other than it is grippingly good.

You will get into the underbelly of the beast, and follow the scum as they go. It’s graphic and descriptive and you can picture yourself there in the action. So if you’re a lover of action, and Crime this is a book for you. Even if your not I recommend you pick it up and take a look at this book. I am so glad I was given the chance to read Chemical Cowboys. It was a refreshing breath of new air into a genre I have missed.


Second Update for Read-A-Thon

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

I am failing miserably at this read-a-thon *laughs* But I am having fun. I did manage to finnish one book so far, and that was The Naked Earl. It was a fanatsic book. But between my book meeting, and being distracted with other things to do and the need of a nap, I only read for about 4 hours today, and I was dissapointed it took that long to finnish the book. But 4 hours is 4 hours, and I will not be super depressed and simply say I am trying.And I am having fun so that is most important!

First update on the reading

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Well things have not gone as planned, no sooner than I started reading did ye old annoying hubby come home from work. I love him but hes a pain sometimes *laughs* so I had to go and do some errands with him.

So, so far i have read from,

7pm-7:30pm
and than from
11pm-12:30am

I am almost 100 pages into my book which is a slow pace, but I have also been working and doing other things. I am not overly happy with my progress, But this is my first ever read a thon so I should take myself lightly and just see what happens. Especially since I have not been feeling well anyways. I am going to contiune a little more reading after a snack, and see if i can make it at least half way through this book before I get some sleep and head off to my book meeting tommrow.

48 Hour Book Challenge

- Ambrosia Leave a comment


I am excited this will be my first read-a-thon type Challenge.I missed the 24 hour one. But I plan on taking part in that the next time is comes around. Til than I have this challenge. And here are the rules. Sign up and take part of you want to. It should be fun.

June 5–7, 2009, with the check-in day on Monday, June 8th.

Here are the basic guidelines:

The weekend is June 5–7, 2009. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fifth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday… or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row. Edited to add: But during that 48-hour period you may still have gaps of time in which you can’t read, and that’s fine. In the middle of the three different challenge weekends I’ve had to go to work, attend a ballet recital, and drive for a Girl Scout event. You can certainly work around the other events in your weekend.

The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. Two graphic novels can be included in the reading. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.

It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.

On your blog, state when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. This makes it easier to track the participants. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 8th.

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