The story of the death of Rebecca Zahau is so freaking bizarre! I first heard about it on a podcast and it was so off the wall, I was so curious…so I sought out other podcasts, resulting in total confusion. So I was happy when I read that Caitlin Rother, well-known author of true crime …
Wow, where to begin? Like many people, I was caught by the title of the debut novel by Cherie Jones: How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House. (The title comes from a parable told to a little girl by her grandmother.) I had heard great things about this book, and it is definitely well written, …
Thomas Threadgill is another of those thriller authors I’d never heard of until recently, but I was happy to receive a copy of Network of Deceit, the second in his series featuring San Antonio PD Detective Amara Alvarez. Threagill’s name is apparently found often on lists of authors “Christian fiction,” which would have honestly given …
I admit it: I have been a big fan of Chris Bohjalian, ever since I read Midwives several years ago. I have given positive reviews to The Guest Room, The Sleepwalker, The Flight Attendant, and The Red Lotus. I consider Mr. Bohjalian one of the most reliable authors I read regularly, and I always look …
A couple of years ago, I read and enjoyed If She Wakes by Michael Koryta, after also enjoying his earlier books How It Happened and Those Who Wish Me Dead. Once again, I very much appreciated the chance to read his latest offering, Never Far Away (thanks to Little, Brown & Company and NetGalley in …
I was a big fan of the early Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, and I read and enjoyed most of the books in the series, although there were some that felt formulaic and tired…but I’m not sure ANY series has a 100% rating. In general, I’ve NOT been a fan of the novels cranked …
I read a lot of books…possibly even more book reviews. Over the last decade or so, it has seemed like a new David Baldacci book appears every month or so…and I pretty much have avoided all of them. Not sure why, but I needed something to read as I watched the world going crazy, and …
I’ve been a regular reader of Linwood Barclay’s books for several years, generally awarding 4 or 5 stars, so I was pleased to get a copy of Find You First from William Morrow and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. And I tried. More than once. I kept thinking maybe being home for more …
In Case You Get Hit By a Bus is described as a “step-by-step program for getting your life in order, so you’re prepared for the unexpected.” Written by the people responsible for Everplans, a company that specializes in “digital life planning,” it includes three general areas. The first is “urgent,” and is excellent at itemizing …
Presented as “an obsessive, addictive love story for fans of Lisa Jewell,” Too Good To Be True by Carola Lovering sounded like perfect escape-the-pandemic-shutdown reading. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley I received a copy in exchange for my honest review. TBH, I read it a month or so ago and today, when I …
I had read John Hart’s Redemption Road awhile back, and although I remember I liked it, I couldn’t tell you more about it…but when I read the description of Hart’s new book, The Unwilling, I thought it would be a good one to read along with my husband and discuss in our mini book club …
It all sounded so promising: in Courtney Evan Tate’s new novel The Last To See Her, a woman disappears, there’s a cheating spouse, etc. And while this book really did hold my interest, I REALLY hated the ending, plus none of the characters felt real or really made me care what happened to them. Buti, …
I’m a fan of legal thrillers, particularly those with a bit of a social/political focus, a few surprises, realistic characters…Scott Turow, SOME Grisham, Connelly…and William Landay’s Defending Jacob is still one of my all-time faves (what happened to him, anyway?). So when I read about Take It Back by Kia Abdullah, I was eagerly anticipating …
I have been a fan of Phillip Margolin for a long time…and while I haven’t read every one of the books in either the Amanda Jaffe or the Dana Cutler series, I had read and enjoyed the first three Robin Lockwood books — so was happy to receive a copy of A Matter of Life …
Straight off, I’ll just admit my guilty pleasure is true crime. I’ve read a lot of less-than-wonderful true crime over the years, and some extremely good stuff (Columbine, Bad Blood, Catch & Kill, and I’ll Be Gone In The Dark come instantly to mind). I had read about Becky Cooper’s We Keep The Dead Close, …
Early in 2020, I reviewed A Cold Trail, #7 in Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series. As I noted them, I first “met” Seattle Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite in My Sister’s Grave and I loved her, so I then eagerly read Her Final Breath. Following along in short order (he definitely can crank out books at …
I have deliberately avoidied reading about White Ivy after seeing a glowing review and deciding I REALLY wanted to read it. Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review. It’s not easy to put this one into a single genre. It’s a coming-of-age story, a family …
This is a book that nearly everyone I know needs…or at least that was the case in the months leading up to our recent election. Written by psychologist Tania Israel, Beyond Your Bubble is designed to teach skills to facilitate constructive dialogue, particularly with those whose views differ from your own. Skills include effective listening, …
Thomas Perry has been writing for years, but keeps being discovered by new fans. Although his latest, Eddie’s Boy, is fine as a standalone, it is part of the “Butcher’s Boy” series, and The Informant, the most recent in that series, is referenced throughout, so it might be best to at least read that one …
Over the past three years, I have read and enjoyed Lisa Jewell’s books I Found You (2017), Watching You (2018), and The Family Upstairs (2019), so I was happy to receive a copy of this year’s Invisible Girl from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. In a slow spot in my …