David Baldacci’s series featuring FBI agent Atlee Pine began in 2018, with Long Road to Mercy. Subsequent titles included A Minute to Midnight and Daylight, continuing the story of Atlee’s search for her twin sister Mercy. I was pleased to receive a copy of Mercy, #4 in the series, from Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley …
I’m fairly sure I hadn’t previously read anything by Joe Hart, but I was happy to get a copy of Or Else (thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review. When they were kids, Andy Drake was friends with a girl named Rachel. As time went on, Rachel got into …
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 …
Lisa Unger has another solid thriller out, with Last Girl Ghosted following Confessions on the 7:45 onto the list of woman-in-danger thrillers. I’m not the intended demographic, being totally not interested in dating apps, quickie hookups, or advice bloggers, but I was quickly taken in by the story. (TBH I did find myself getting annoyed …
Liane Moriarity is sort of a hot commodity these days, following the success of several books and subsequent TV versions of Big Little Lies (a friend called it “real estate porn”) and Nine Perfect Strangers. So I couldn’t pass up the chance to read a copy of Apples Never Fall from Henry Holt and NetGalley …
Nicci French is really two people…am I the only one who didn’t know that? Sean French has written 6 books, Nicci Gerard has written 8, and together (as Nicci French) they have written twenty-five. In any case, they have a new thriller coming out, and it’s a fun read! The main character is Tess, a …
Harleigh Collier, who goes by Leigh, is a hard-working professional woman, working her way up at a fancy high profile law firm. One Sunday evening, she is at her daughter’s school play and gets a call from one of the law firm’s senior partners, asking her to defend a wealthy client accused of multiple counts …
Cassie Woodson is a hot mess…think Cassandra Bowden in The Flight Attendant — after a drama-filled breakup that led to her humiliating firing from her job as an attorney at a top-level law firm, she has been forced to take a job as a legal temp, working long hours on a mind-numbing project reviewing documents, …
Catherine Steadman is an accomplished actress (memorably played Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey) and author. I loved 2018’s Something In The Water, but 2020’s Mr. Nobody didn’t do it for me, so I was curious about the latest from this talented woman, and was happy to receive a copy of The Disappearing Act from …
Maybe it’s pandemic fatigue. Or maybe it’s just me. My expectations may be a bit high? But when Mary Kubica is referred to repeatedly as the “queen of the domestic thriller,” and I am so ready for a grabber — you know, the kind where you just want people to leave you the bleep ALONE …
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, …
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 love Michael Robotham! In 2015, I read 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. It was the first in …
Another psychological thriller, unreliable narrator, woman in danger, etc. And, you know, there are certain clichés, motifs, tropes, call them what you will, true crime fans know these to be true, with one being that if a husband goes missing, it’s ALWAYS the wife (or vice versa). So when I started reading Goodnight Beautiful by …
It was a dark and stormy night…but wait, some background. A family has experienced an extremely traumatic incident that has deeply affected Molly Clarke, her (just barely) adult daughter Nicole, son Evan, and forgot-his-name-husband. It’s gotten so bad Nicole has told Molly she hates her, Evan refused to acknowledge Molly’s presence at his school’s football …
Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara is a combo: mystery/thriller and grief/recovery guide. The main character, Astrid, has moved home with her (helicopter) mother and is trying not to drink, being sober for over six months. And it’s a struggle: as she puts it, “If I have to come home and sit in this …
Publication Date August 4, 2020 As a fan of true crime, particularly the woman-in-danger subgenre, I was happy to receive a copy of Betsy Bonner’s The Book of Atlantis Black from Tin House Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This sad story creeped me out a bit. The author’s sister disappeared, and …
In 2018, I read and reviewed An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, noting “…I may be burned out due to reading too MANY of these plucky-heroine-in-danger stories, but I also was not impressed with the writing. It seemed geared for a relatively low reading level, strong on plot but weak (IMHO) on …
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 …
Hot topics in fiction these days: the opioid crisis in this country (horrific), police procedurals (always popular), and family dynamics (an endless source of material). Liz Moore, author of Heft (which I could not read because the premise freaked me out) and The Unseen World, has written a seriously good (and very serious) novel that …