I admit I wasn’t very familiar with Alyssa Mastromonaco prior to 2017. After Obama left office, I began to hear her on one of my two favorite podcasts, Pod Save America, from time to time. I loved hearing her stories about her time working for Barack Obama and her commentary about the current state of …
Back in 2009, Brad Parks introduced his Carter Ross series…and somehow I totally missed them all. Then, in 2017, his standalone thriller Say Nothing came out. Somehow I stumbled on it and it was TERRIFIC. So I was happy to have the chance to write an honest review of his latest standalone novel, Closer Than …
For some reason, I’d stopped reading Lisa Scottoline. As I recall, the last one I read seemed formulaic and just didn’t grab me. But, when I read about After Anna, a standalone “domestic thriller,” I was looking forward to digging into the copy I received from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in return for my …
My book club selected Amy Bloom’s White Houses, and I was looking forward to reading it. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley, I received a copy in exchange for my honest review. I generally enjoy historical fiction, I am not bothered by “faction,” and I truly enjoy a good roman a clef. So why did …
With One Shot, by Dorothy Marcic, is a well-written look at injustice in a small Wisconsin town. The crime seems straightforward: a man is murdered and his wife confesses. So, what is the book about? The victim, LaVerne Stordock, was a former police detective who disrupted his whole life to marry Suzanne. Their relationship was …
I’ve been an Anna Quindlen fan for quite awhile – Black and Blue is among my favorites. I was really looking forward to her latest, Alternate Side…and, as usual, it was well-written with excellent dialogue, setting, and characterization. The problem for me was that I not only didn’t care for the setting, I really didn’t care …
I remember the bare outlines of the Tawana Brawley case, when a young African-American girl was reportedly raped and beaten…this was around the time when there were well-publicized racist incidents in places like Howard Beach…and in my memory, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are always on the scene, outraged and speaking publicly at every opportunity. …
Not sure I have read any Brad Melzer books before, but the marketing, which includes a comparison to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and high praise from Harlan Coben (one of my favorites) made me want to read The Escape Artist (Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NeGalley, whp provided a copy in exchange …
Seriously, #28 in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Prey series? Wow – I am pretty sure I have read them all. Some of them knocked me out, while others were more in the better-than-average-and-sufficiently-entertaining vein. Twisted Prey, which I received from Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, falls into the second category. …
Amy Kauffman, a journalist at the Los Angeles Times, has been a “member of Bachelor Nation” for many years and, for awhile, she was able to attend studio events, screenings, etc. – until the show’s producers decided she was “too negative” in her commentary. I confess, I’ve watched more episodes than I would probably admit, …
Over the years, I have read and enjoyed Kathryn Casey’s Texas-centric true crime books, including Deadly Secrets, She Wanted It All, and Shattered. TC is my “guilty pleasure” genre, and I have read a TON of books, ranging from the truly terrible to the incredibly interesting. And I was happy to receive a copy of …
In spring of 2016 I read and reviewed Clare Mackintosh’s debut novel I Let You Go, and loved it. Then, somehow, last year I completely missed her second novel I See You. But this spring along comes her latest psychological thriller, Let Me Lie, and because I loved the first book, I jumped at the …
Perhaps I should wait to write this, because I just finished reading it fifteen minutes ago and my head is still spinning. I scanned the reviews and found tons of 5-stars, and then several one-stars. I loved it, so I thought WTF? And then realized a few of those 1-stars were admittedly written by …
I haven’t read all of John Hart’s books, but the ones I have read have been terrific, so I was especially eager to read his latest, The Hush (thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley). This story happens to be a follow-up to The Last Child (2010 Edgar Award for Best Novel), which featured Johnny …
Promos call it “I Know What You Did Last Summer meets the French countryside.” For me, it was more like…maybe The Big Chill meets Ghost Story? (showing my age here). In any case, it sounded intriguing and potentially a good story, so I was pleased to have the opportunity to read Lexie Elliott’s The French …
Just about a year ago, I read and reviewed Almost Missed You, the debut novel by Jessica Strawser (whose day job is Editorial Director for Writer’s Digest magazine, so expectations were high) . I liked it. A LOT. Five stars, although noting it was more a beach read than “literature.” I hadn’t quite decided whether Jessica …
Last year, I read and reviewed UNSUB by Meg Gardiner, and had a few challenges (ended up not being 100% positive about it). But I generally like Gardiner’s books, so I was pleased to receive a copy of Into the Black Nowhere, the second book in her new series featuring Caitlin Hendrix (thanks to PENGUIN …
OK, guilty pleasure time! For fans of my guilty reading pleasure, True Crime. Not to be confused with “literature” but DEFINITELY entertaining!!! This story revolves around some truly disgusting people, whose level of hypocrisy is unmatched. Sabrina Limon is a young wife and mother living in Helendale (a town in the high desert of Southern …
It has been too long since I read/reviewed an Elizabeth George Novel (since August, 2015, in fact, for the release of A Banquet of Consequences). Some things don’t change: as I said then, “I LOVE Elizabeth George, and have been reading the Inspector Lynley novels (or, as I prefer to call them, the Lynley-Havers novels) …
I REALLY wanted to like this book. I had read and enjoyed his prior books Numbered Account and Rules of Deception, and when I read the blurb that referred to this as a “stylish breathtaking ride” in “the grand tradition of The Day of the Jackal and The Bourne Identity,” I was ready! And I am very grateful to …