I was a tiny bit apprehensive as I began reading Congresswoman Katie Porter’s book I Swear (subtitled Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan) because I really like and admire her, and didn’t want to be disabused of my positive view. She represents the place where I grew up, which has been referred to as being …
In 2015, I read Michael Robotham’s The Night Ferry, then in 2016 I was KNOCKED OUT by Close Your Eyes! 2017’s The Secrets She Keeps was not quite as terrific (for me) as the other two, so maybe that is how I missed 2019’s Good Girl, Bad Girl, the first in a series featuring Cyrus …
A few weeks ago, I was watching the Rachel Maddow show, and she discussed the story of the cyber surveillance tool named Pegasus. Developed originally by a company called NSO (a private group based in Israel) as a way for the good guys to monitor the bad guys, it has apparently morphed into a tool …
I kept seeing the word noir used to describe Edgar Award winner Jordan Harper’s latest, Everybody Knows. After a few hmmms, I looked it up, thinking I was unclear as to what it really meant. I got this: “a genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity.” Thanks to Mulholland …
I was intrigued by the blurb and promo material for The House In The Pines by Ana Reyes. I mean, even Reese spoj=ke highly of it…but hmmm not all her choices resonate with me. But WTH, it is the dead of winter (at least what passes for winter on the central coast of California), and …
In spring of 2016 I read and reviewed Clare Mackintosh’s debut novel I Let You Go, and loved it. Then, somehow, in 2017 I completely missed her second novel I See You. Then, in 2018, I gave another top review to her latest psychological thriller, Let Me Lie, and I jumped at the chance to …
I read and reviewed Lisa Unger’s Last Girl Ghosted, Confessions on the 7:45, Under My Skin, and Ink & Bone and they were all four star reads, so I was not terribly surprised when I received a copy of Ms. Unger’s Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six from Legend Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest …
I just discovered Michael Stagg’s Nate Shepherd series recently and I blew through all of them. I also ordered #6 in the series, Lost Proof, which will be released in the spring. They are well-written, entertaining, and I have enjoyed introducing others to this author. Just Plea was perhaps my favorite of the first five …
When I reviewed John Sandford’s book The Investigator, last year, I wrote “I’ve been a fan of John Sandford’s books for many years, and have generally enjoyed the Lucas Davenport books more than the Virgil Flowers ones…in fact, the last two Flowers books I have read, “Holy Ghost” and “Bloody Genius,” have been serious disappointments …
Earlier this year, when I reviewed T. Jefferson Parker’s book A Thousand Steps, I wrote: When I first read T. Jefferson Parker’s Laguna Heat back in 1985, I had recently moved to Santa Cruz and was ecstatic to be living in a small beach town again — because I grew up in South Orange County …
I won’t even get into how much I admire Rabia Chaudry, other than to say I listen to her podcasts, have read her book Adnan’s Story, and generally enjoy hearing her comment on family, food, and life as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants living near Baltimore. An attorney who has a razor-sharp mind, a wicked …
A few years back, I read The Unwilling by John Hart. I really enjoyed it, so when I received a copy of Where They Lie (in exchange for this honest review), I was grateful to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley. When I began reading, it felt like something that wasn’t John Hart, with good reason: …
TBH, I’d never heard of Chad Zunker before reading Family Money (which I read and reviewed earlier this year). He wrote a series featuring Sam Callahan and the David Adams legal thriller An Equal Justice, but somehow he was new to me. I really enjoyed the plotting and pace of Family Money, so I was …
Seems like it is an actual THING to make a living as an “influencer,” and while I had read a couple of stories about the risks and rewards of this way of life (!), reading about Kimberly Belle’s female protagonist, a young woman named Alex, really made it all seem real/possible. Alex and her husband …
My husband kind of rolls his eyes when I get involved in one of my true crime obsessions – I mean interests, whether it is a podcast, book, or movie/series. I have been reading true crime since In Cold Blood (1966), and while I’ve been known to appreciate a trashy, quick-read expose, I REALLY like …
Thomas Perry is becoming a favorite…and he has done it again, writing the kind of fast-paced thriller for which he is known as a master. Perry’s protagonists are complex characters who sometimes stumble into things but (no matter how they get there) they always seem to figure out how to prevail, regardless of the obstacles. …
I’ve been a big fan of Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series, and am always happy to see he has a new book coming out. Then, seeing the story features an entirely new set of characters, I think “hmmm…we’ll see.” I received a copy of Her Deadly Game , which was sent to me (in exchange …
Several years ago, I read Jane Harper’s The Dry – and I was hooked. Could not WAIT for her next book! The Dry, Force of Nature, and The Lost Man (all of which featured Federal Investigator Aaron Falk) were all five-star reads…and while I admit to being “an easy grader,” they all really were terrific. …
Promoted as an “Appalachian David Copperfield,” Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer. The boy has no assets other than his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair–although his helped immeasurably by his wit and drive to survive, whatever is thrown his …
In the mid-1990s, Dennis Lehane published A Drink Before The War, the first in a series of mystery novels featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. I was hooked. His writing includes both standalone novels as well as series – and in my opinion all can be read in any order (although as is often the …