Delirious - a review and giveaway

I love to read. I used to read all of the time, but now I see it as a luxury. I'm not sure why, I could just as easily read for 10 or 15 minutes when I climb into bed instead of doing Sudoku (which I love as well), but still, when I was younger (read before children), I would spend evenings reading - not just a few minutes each evening. Still, I enjoy reading and think that it is important for the kids to see me reading. They both enjoy books now, but I want them to see that it is something that they can enjoy even when they are older.

Recently, I was invited to read the debut novel by Daniel Palmer. As you might have guessed from my post title, the book is Delirious.(book cover image borrowed from DanielPalmerBooks.com)
The book was wonderful! I started reading it and was disciplined about reading just a few chapters each evening before bed, out of respect for the fact that I do have to get up in the morning and be to work on time. Then, the weekend came. We took a car trip to meet my cousin's family at an indoor waterpark and I found myself with some time to read, nearly uninterrupted. (Want to get your kids to talk? For me, all I have to do is open a book in front of them...suddenly, they have a hundred things to say, even if they are occupied by a movie!) When we got to the waterpark, I only had about 80 pages to go. I could barely pull myself away from the book to get out of the car. Then, I found myself sneaking a few minutes here and there just to read the book, I didn't want to put it down. I wound up staying up later than planned that night, but I just knew I had to finish the book. I had to know what was going on - was it Charlie, was someone setting him up and either way, how was it happening - I couldn't stop until I was done.

The story is about Charlie Giles, an inventor who sold his start-up company to a larger firm. Everything seems to be going well for him until one day, things start to happen and his life seems to unravel around him. Things that are happening to him and around him stop making sense to him. He starts finding notes that he left for himself, only he doesn't remember leaving them. Eventually, the notes seem to point to him being a killer. Given a family history of mental illness, he starts to wonder what is going on - is he losing his mind or is someone out to get him?

Daniel Palmer does a nice job developing the three main characters - Charlie, his schizophrenic brother Joe and their psychologist Rachel. Initially, I wasn't sure I liked Charlie, he just seemed to be one of those people. But, as I learned more about Charlie and the situation started to unfold, I couldn't help but start to like him and found myself rooting for him, convinced that it couldn't be him - only, if it wasn't him, then how could all of these things be explained. It certainly seemed like it had to be him, only it couldn't be.

I love thriller/mystery books like Delirious. I enjoy how books like this captivate me and leave me wanting more, every time I close the book. I really felt like I knew the characters and this made me want to do all I could to help them through the things that were going on. The book left me a little daunted, concerned at the reaches that technology can have in our lives - I found it a little disturbing to think that technology could do that.

Want to read more? You can start by visiting here, where he has shared the Prologue and the first three chapters. The book itself is scheduled for release on January 25th and is currently available for pre-order here.

GiveawayOne lucky A Busy Mom of Two reader can win a signed, Advanced Reader Copy of Delirious, courtesy of Daniel Palmer.

Primary Entry:
Leave a comment answering the following questions: Who is your favorite author? What is your favorite book?

Additional Entries:

• Follow @ABusyMomofTwo and @DanielPalmer on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You may complete this entry once per day. (You may use the following or write your own: Enter to win an autographed copy of @DanielPalmer debut techno-thriller #Delirious, hosted by @ABusyMomofTwo #giveaway http://bit.ly/fjgaCD)

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Giveaway will remain open until January 31st at 6 pm. One winner will be selected using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail (be sure to leave one!) and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

I received no compensation for this post. I received an autographed advanced readers' copy of Delirious from Daniel Palmer to read and review. In addition, he also provided an autographed copy of the book for me to use for a giveaway.