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 …
As someone with a lifelong commitment to exercise and fitness, it was hard for me to adapt to my new reality when I was diagnosed with a serious disease a few years back. Uncurable is a hard word to accept, but fortunately my “affliction” is treatable, so after having treatment, I was kind of a …
As I noted last year when I read and reviewed Janet Evanovich’s Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight, I have been reading and enjoying Stephanie Plum’s adventures as a bond enforcement agent (bounty hunter?) for twenty-five+ years (gasp!), ever since One For The Money. And everytime a new one comes out, it makes me happy to know …
Oh, how I wanted to love The Last Chairlift by John Irving. I’m one of those readers who was totally knocked out by The World According to Garp decades ago, and have been hoping for an echo of that greatness. Having been disappointed several times, I retained my optimism when I received a copy of …
If you are a mystery lover like I am, it’s sort of sacrilege to trash talk John Grisham…and I admit I still eagerly grab any new Grisham book available. But for me at least, lately there hasn’t been that certainty that “this is gonna be GOOD” that is always there with my most reliable authors …
In 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2021 I read and reviewed Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, Spark of Light, The Book of Two Ways, and Wish You Were Here…and each one earned five stars (with two or three getting my “You HAVE to read this book”). I also noted in every review that “when a friend …
I was familiar with the early 1980s deaths in Chicago that resulted from people consuming tainted Tylenol capsules…but I truly don’t remember the (copycat?) tainted Excedrin capsules in the Seattle area in the mid 1980s. In 2002, prolific author (of both fiction and nonfiction) Gregg Olsen published Bitter Almonds : The True Story of Mothers, …
Years ago, I read and loved Defending Jacob, and I was thrilled to receive a copy of William Landay’s new book, All That Is Mine I Carry With Me. I’m a big fan of legal thrillers/courtroom dramas, and this promised to MAYBE be the Landay book I had waited so long for… In 1975, ten-year-old …
For some reason, I haven’t been a fan of Sally Hepworth…but The Soulmate sounded intriguing, and was described as a “one night stand” – you know, one of those books you have to stay up reading until you finish it! With thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley (for providing a copy in exchange for …