mysterious disappearance

    Two Nights In Lisbon by Chris Pavone

    I have loved Chris Pavone ever since I read The Expats, and was beyond happy to receive a copy of his latest, Two Nights in Lisbon, from FS&G and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. And I cannot WAIT for this one to be published so I talk to someone about it and can …

    A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

    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 (specifically in and around Laguna Beach) and graduated high school in 1965. So I know …

    Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens

    I’m kind of a big fan of thrillers, female-in-distress genre in particular. So I was super happy to receive a copy of Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens, author of Still Missing, Never Let You Go, and other equally entertaining books. It tells the story of women killed along the highway in British Columbia, and features …

    Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

    Because I really enjoyed previous selections  of the “Read With Jenna” book club, including White Ivy and The Four Winds,I was inclined to read Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, the group’s selection for May 2021. It has received many rave reviews and has one of those plotlines that encompasses two strong female characters in two very …

    The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

    I had not read anything by Louise Candlish, but the premise of The Other Passenger was intriguing: an unreliable narrator is suddenly trying to prove his innocence. There really weren’t likable people anywhere in this book, to my view, but they were interesting. Jamie is the primary character, and we learn that he and his …

    The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

    Laura Dave has written several novels, but TBH I’d never heard of her before I got an advance copy of her latest, The Last Thing He Told Me, from Simon & Schuster and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. The premise sounded like it had the potential to be either ho-hum or terrific: husband …

    A Reasonable Doubt by Philip Margolin

    In Philip Margolin’s latest legal thriller, Robin Lockwood, a former MMA fighter and Yale Law graduate (who appeared in Margolin’s recent books The Third Victim and The perfect alibi) joined a hotshot law firm shortly before attorney Regina Barrister (a recurring character in Margolin books) started deteriorating mentally due to Alzheimer’s. One of Regina’s former …

    The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

    What incredible timing…the news today is full of the coronavirus (COVID-19) which allegedly originated with animals and came from Asia and everywhere I look, people are wearing masks, more or less freaking out, and are generally TENSE as we see the initial outbreak begin to expand, revealing how completely unprepared we are in this country …

    Chances Are by Richard Russo

    Chances Are, by Richard Russo, is one of those great summer reads for Boomers: set on an island, with reminiscences galore, back to the late 60s-early 70s, with references to Vietnam, college adventures and relationships, and then the counterpoint of the kind of wistfulness that people in their mid-sixties get when they look back at …

    The Night Before by Wendy Walker

    The Night Before is one of many recent psychological thrillers, with the whole woman-in-danger thing, but on steroids. The publisher’s blurb was vague, and that is probably a good thing, as it made the surprises more effective. As the story opens, a woman named Laura is getting ready for a blind date, and she isn’t …

    Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks

    Her One Mistake is a quick read, and will likely have readers guessing until near the end – oh, OK maybe halfway through. I am notoriously bad at figuring things out, so I am not judge here, but I did enjoy this and thank Gallery Books and NetGalley for a copy in return for this …

    The Witch Elm by Tana French

     Publication date: October 9, 2018 I have LOVED Tana French’s series of books featuring various characters from the Dublin Murder Squad, so when Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley provided me with the opportunity to read The Witch Elm  in return for my honest review, I was ecstatic. It is a standalone novel, unrelated to the …

    The Lies We Told by Camilla Way

      I truly enjoyed Camilla Way’s book Watching Edie, so I decided that I should just carve out a DAY to wallow in her latest, The Lies We Told, which I received from Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for writing this honest review. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers, YOU HAVE …

    A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni

    I first “met” Seattle Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite in Robert Dugoni’s My Sister’s Grave and loved her, so I then eagerly read Her Final Breath. Following along in short order (he definitely can crank out books at a fast clip) were In the Clearing, The Trapped Girl, and Close to Home (all of which I …

    Alter Ego by Brian Freeman

    When I started reading Alter Ego, Brian Freeman’s latest, I kept thinking “wait, I KNOW this Jonathan Stride, a cop from Duluth, I recognize his house…” But then I thought maybe I was getting him mixed up with a character in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers series – or maybe it was in one of …

    Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

        I love “unputdownable psychological thrillers,” and because I was a huge fan of B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors (2016), I was happy to receive a copy of her latest book, Bring Me Back, from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review. Similar to Behind Closed Doors, this story revolves …

    After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

    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 …

    The Escape Artist by Brad Melzer

      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 …

    Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

    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 …

    The French Girl by Lexie Elliott

    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 …