What Are We Reading And Reviewing in July 2020?

Could Someone tell me how I got into this...and how do I get out? In the meantime..tell us what you are planning to read for July.

It's going to take all my 9 lives to finish this book!

Carol's July Reads
📌Northern Light- Deb Davies - 4.5★ (Early Reviewer)
📌The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly- 5★ (Group Read)
📌Just Before I Died - S.K. Tremayne - 5★ (Pick A Winner...Make A Friend)
📌Holy Orders - Benjamin Black - 3★
📌Fragile Things: Short Fiction & Wonders - Neil Gaiman - 4★
📌Give A Boy A Gun - Todd Strasser - 4★
📌Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Nig - 5★
📌Grief Is The Thing With Feathers - Max Porter- 0★
📌A Shilling For Candles - Josephine Tey - 4.5★
📌Supernatural: Night Terror - John Passarella - 3★
📌The Children- Ida Jessen 3★
📌The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey - 5★
📌A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George - 5★
📌Every Missing Piece - Melanie Conklin - 5★
📌Zero At The Bone - Mary Willis Walker - 5★
📌Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon - 3★
📌Crow - A. Zavarelli - 3★
📌Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon - 3★
📌Ghosts and Legends of Michigan's West Coast - Amberrose Hammond - 5★
📌Bedlam - L.J. Ross - 5★
📌Murder Takes The High Road - Josh Lanyon - 5★
📌Girl Last Seen - Nina Laurin - 3★
📌A Crime of Passion - Scott Pratt - 5★
📌Boys of Alabama - Genevieve Hudson - 3★
📌Ghost Town - Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson - 3.5★
📌The Boy From The Woods - Harlan Coben - 4.5★
📌The Good House - Tananarive Due - 4★
📌Over Sea,Under Stone - Susan Cooper - 4★
📌Two Little Girls In Blue - Mary Higgins Clark - 3.5 ★
📌The Turn of The Key - Ruth Ware - 5★
📌Home Before Dark - Riley Sager -4.5★

Lynda and Oliver's July Reading Spectacular

Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson
Dangerous Curves - Pamela Britton
Darkest Thread - Jen Blood
Descent - Tim Johnston
Disappearing Nightly - Laura Resnick
A Distance Too Grand - Regina Scott
Fighting Man of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Force of Nature - Suzanne Brockmann
Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi
Hideaway - Nora Roberts
I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak
In the Heart of the Canyon - Elizabeth Hyde
Likely Suspects - G. K. Parks
My Life as a White Trash Zombie - Diana Rowland
Navy Wife - Debbie Macomber
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished - Sarah MacLean
The Pawn - Skye Warren
Protector - Anna Hackett
Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg
Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Winter - Marissa Meyer

Grief Is The Thing With Feathers - Max Porter
0 stars

Here he is, husband and father, scruffy romantic, a shambolic scholar--a man adrift in the wake of his wife's sudden, accidental death. And there are his two sons who like him struggle in their London apartment to face the unbearable sadness that has engulfed them. The father imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness, while the boys wander, savage and unsupervised. In this moment of violent despair they are visited by Crow--antagonist, trickster, goad, protector, therapist, and babysitter. This self-described "sentimental bird," at once wild and tender, who "finds humans dull except in grief," threatens to stay with the wounded family until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss lessens with the balm of memories, Crow's efforts are rewarded and the little unit of three begins to recover: Dad resumes his book about the poet Ted Hughes; the boys get on with it, grow up.

First off, let me extend my sincerest apologies to the author of this little book. It was his first book and I can only imagine how difficult writing, editing, publishing and then holding you breath that your first ‘baby” can stand not only the hoped for praise but also the expected criticism of the reader. That said…I don’t intend to criticize. On the contrary…I want to just UNDERSTAND. I have read since I was 3 years old and read and reread until the pages fell out…“The Fuzzy Wuzzy Puppy” . I understood it. I have read thousands of books in the years since that little treasure. Some I liked immensely…some I disliked with varying degrees of dislike…some I was just indifferent to…but the one thing they all had in common was that I understood what the author was trying to say. What they hoped the reader would take away from the book when the cover closed. Try as I might…and I actually read the 114 pages of this twice…so I did try. I just don’t understand it. I would like to…as it really bothers me that a college graduate with a degree in conservation biology and early childhood education can not for the life of me understand what this book is trying to tell me. I read the reviews and now I really feel like a total idiot… since according to Amazon 58% of my fellow readers seemed to have no problem with it. Heaven knows what the other 42% are doing. Go figure! If any of those 58% fellow readers…or the author himself, would care to enlighten me…I would be forever in your debt.

Murder Takes The High Road - Josh Lanyan
5★

Librarian Carter Matheson is determined to enjoy himself on a Scottish bus tour for fans of mystery author Dame Vanessa Rayburn. Sure, his ex, Trevor, will also be on the trip with his new boyfriend, leaving Carter to share a room with a stranger, but he can’t pass up a chance to meet his favorite author. Carter’s roommate turns out to be John Knight, a figure as mysterious as any character from Vanessa’s books. His strange affect and nighttime wanderings make Carter suspicious. When a fellow traveler’s death sparks rumors of foul play, Carter is left wondering if there’s anyone on the tour he can trust. Drawn into the intrigue, Carter searches for answers, trying to fend off his growing attraction toward John. As unexplained tragedies continue, the whole tour must face the fact that there may be a murderer in their midst—but who?

This book is all mystery from start to finish. The clues are all there…the suspects are all gathered together in the wilds of Scotland on a mystery writers book tour…all waiting to meet the author that they almost worship… Vanessa Rayburn. Not all of the assembled guests are who or what they seem to be and they don’t all want to meet Vanessa to discuss her books. This was very, very well done. It reminded me of the only Agatha Christie book that I like, And Then There Was None. I’m going to look for more Josh Lanyan books and I hope we meet John and Carter again in future books.

Boys of Alabama - Genevieve Hudson
3★

Max and his family have relocated from Germany to Alabama and Max is feeling like a fish out of water but is determined to somehow fit in with his overly religious school. Football seems to be the thing that will do it but not because he has any talent for it…but because he can run fast enough to keep from being killed on the field. Max has another gift…he touches dead animals or withered plants and they return to life. Max thinks of it as a curse. It works on animals, bugs…everything he’s ever dared to touch… but the question remains…will it work on dead people? That is a major part of the story’s suspense….and you just wait for it happen. Of course there are pitfalls to this “gift”…migraines… cravings for gobs of sugar as well as fear and guilt. Max is tempted to give it a try on people as he is troubled by his love for his dead classmate, Nils. He is also drawn to Pan, a witchy boy who wears dresses and believes in auras and incantations. Pan is the only person who knows about Max’s power…and he desperately wants Max to try it out…and eventually will demand it of Max as an onerous test of loyalty. I guess good descriptive words for this book would be brutal, potent, sad and passionate. The story is a little too heavy on the religious theme... but then the setting is the deep south and a boys school run by one of the local churches

Girl Last Seen Nina Laurin
3★

Two missing girls…thirteen years apart. Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots. I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can't bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago. If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw's whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact... I've spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look…the right circumstances… until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow. Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn't been another girl.

Maybe I’m becoming cynical in my old age…but this book didn’t live up to what the description promised. I was slightly disappointed to find that it was it was so predictable as well as disjointed. The main character was constantly idiotic…actually she was her own worst enemy. Her life consisted of drugs and self pity that left no room for the reader to feel any compassion for her at all. The author put the clues together well enough without being completely obvious about them…but the clues didn’t follow much of a pattern and some kept being repeated over and over as if this is what the author wanted the reader to focus on. It was an interesting topic…just too bad that it didn’t come together a bit better. I liked the story behind the novel so it’s worthy of 3 stars.

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
4- ★

Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams—and nightmares . . . A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night . . .In a Hugo Award–winning story, a great detective must solve a most unsettling royal murder in a strangely altered Victorian England . . .These marvelous creations and more showcase the unparalleled invention and storytelling brilliance—and the terrifyingly dark and entertaining wit—of the incomparable Neil Gaiman.

I don't think I have read anything by this author that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. If you've never read Neil Gaiman and you want to meet this talented story teller...then these short stories are a perfect way to go. You'll find these little jewels dark and magnificently creepy...but easy and quick reads. There are a few pieces that are on the weak side...but that's okay, as there is plenty to pick and choose from here.

Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
5★

“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970's small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

The mysterious circumstances of 16-year-old Lydia Lee’s tragic death have her loved ones wondering just how exactly she spent her free time. The story contains very thoughtful events...circumstances...and observations about a dysfunctional, but very believable family whose problems can apply to any family anywhere. It's is also about relationships and the social effects on an Asian father and his half-Asian children who are visually different...but wanting to blend in and be accepted in the society they live in and especially by their neighbors. The wife and mother...an American...struggles to stand out as being different, and to impose that goal on her daughter which may have lead to this tragedy. Was Lydia murdered? Did she die in an accident or by suicide? How can they find the answers and learn to live with the loss of their eldest daughter?

Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon
Code of Honor series Book #1
3★

Trish Bailey is on overload trying to deal with a demanding job, an ailing mother, and a healing heart. When a series of unsettling memory lapses leads to a tragic death--and puts Trish under police scrutiny--her world is once again thrown into turmoil. Detective Colin Flynn isn't certain what to think of the facts he uncovers during his investigation. Did Trish simply make a terrible mistake or is there more to the case than meets the eye? As he searches for answers, disturbing information begins to emerge--and if the forces at work are as evil as he suspects, the situation isn't just dangerous . . . it's deadly.

I know there are readers out there that absolutely went nuts over this story and will certainly keep Ms. Hannon in groceries by buying this book as well as the other 2 in this series…but I probably won’t be one of them. Quiet frankly the story line confused me and I had to go back often to see if I had missed something or if it just wasn’t there. I will say that the characters are fleshed out very well…Trish and Colin are likable even if their romance practically took place before the book was even opened. I’m sure that fans of “light weight mysteries" and not so "light weight romances” will love the book. It was, however, interesting enough to deserve the 3 star rating.

Bedlam - L.J. Ross
Alexander Gregory series Book #3
5★

In a world gone mad, who can you trust? Fresh from a high-profile case in the Paris fashion world, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory receives a call from the New York State Homicide Squad. The wife of a notorious criminal has been admitted to a private psychiatric hospital and can no longer testify in his upcoming trial. Without her, their case will collapse but, amidst reports that the staff are as unpredictable as their patients, who can the police trust? In desperation, they turn to an outsider and now Gregory must find the courage to step inside the fortified walls of Buchanan Hospital to uncover the truth. The question is, will he ever be the same again? Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humor in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Catskill Forest.

Dr. Alexander Gregory is a quiet, almost timid character...but that doesn't in anyway diminish him. If anything it makes him more interesting. If readers are familiar with the DCI Ryan series also by this author...you will remember meeting Dr. Gregory as a minor character in that series. This one brings him out to the forefront with dark and twisting plots that are beautifully written. I hope this series goes on for many more books.

Every Missing Piece - Melanie Conklin
5★

Maddy Gaines sees danger everywhere she looks: at the bus stop, around the roller rink, in the woods, and (especially) by the ocean. When Maddy meets a mysterious boy setting booby traps in the North Carolina woods, she suspects is Billy Holcomb--the boy who went missing in the fall. As Maddy tries to uncover the truth about Billy Holcomb, ghosts from her own past surface, her best friend starts to slip away, and Maddy's world tilts once again. Can she put the pieces of her life back together, even if some of them are lost forever?

It’s a heartfelt story about a family struggling through the big and small adjustments in their lives and Maddy’s effort to understand the changes in her life…especially the recent introduction of a step father. Maddy… a sixth grader…just wants her old life back…but as her best friend tells her “You just have to get used to it.” When she finally learns what really happened to the missing boy… Billy and his mother…she learns to accept some hard truths about the emotional effects that domestic violence can have on everyone. It’s a book designed for 5th through 7th grade students…but it is well worth adults taking some time out to visit with Maddy.

Zero At The Bone - Mary Willis Walker
5★

Katherine Driscoll is just three weeks away from disaster: foreclosure on her home and business, even the sale of her beloved dog. She has no hope of raising the $91,000 she so desperately needs--until the father she hasn't seen for thirty years writes to her, offering her enough money to solve her problems...if she will do one thing in return. But Katherine may never learn what that is. When she arrives in Austin, she is hours too late: her father has died in a bizarre accident. As she sifts through the cryptic notes he left behind, she finds herself caught up in terrible family secrets--and a deadly illicit trade. The more she learns, the more determined she becomes to prove her father's death was no accident. In doing so, Katherine will make a bitter enemy--one desperate enough to kill...and perhaps, kill again.

The heroine in this one is unusual as she is smart, funny and much older than generally portrayed in this type of book. As we meet Katherine her world is coming down around her ears. About the time when she is at her wits ends, she gets more bad news...her father, who she hasn't seen or heard from in years, has died. She next discovers something that will set her off on a journey destined to change her life. I really liked the writing style of this author and the fact that she takes a job in the Austin Zoo.....a fellow "Zoo Enthusiast:) The story has everything that came together to make it a 5 star rating. Lots of action... a great story line with enough mystery & suspense...a little romance thrown in... and a more than satisfying ending.

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
c. 1964
3 1/2 *

Lucy Waring, a young actress from London, decides to visit her wealthy sister living on the Greek island of Corfu just miles from the Albanian mainland. Her sister is married to a wealthy Italian who owns several homes and a castle compound on Corfu. The castle is rented out to a famous English actor who is recovering from a nervous condition. The actor's son is a musician. The other home is being rented by a photographer. The first night on Corfu, a local young man named Spiro, who works for the photographer, falls overboard the photographer's boat and is lost at sea. Lucy spends a lot of time on the beach in a secluded cove where she meets a friendly dolphin. But someone starts shooting at the dolphin and Lucy. Something odd is happening on Corfu, and Lucy ends up involved as an innocent bystander. Mary Stewart wrote is book in 1964, but it stands up quite well. She is more descriptive than I prefer, and the dialogue is a bit stilted by today's standards. But, the story moves a a fairly fast pace. All in all a quite satisfying read.

Ghost Town - Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson
3.5★

WELCOME TO EXETER, THE “MOST HAUNTED TOWN IN AMERICA,” thanks to a deadly flood that unleashed an army of ghosts decades ago. And when ghost trackers Amber, Drew, and Trevor attend a conference during Exeter’s spookiest week of the year, the ghouls grow restless. First, an innocent bookstore worker is mysteriously killed, setting off a string of strange deaths that point to a shadowy spirit known as the Dark Lady. With a paranormal revolution ensuing, the team must stop the twisted bloodbath.

I am the "Ghost Story Junkie" and you can't imagine how excited I was to see that the library had ordered the second book by two main hosts of TV's Ghost Hunter programs. The beginning of the book was fantastic. An entire town that has an unusual amount of haunting and spectral visitors...so many that they host an annual event called "Dead Days". Of course there are authors of paranormal materials as well as ghost documentary teams and people that just hope to meet one...ghost to person. About midway into the book it began to become too much with the introduction of something called "the Dark Lady" that took the entire story in the realm of the really...really...really unbelievable with monsters and people turning into monsters and mind control...nothing was left out. It would have been great if they had stuck with the beginning concept of trying to document...understand...and prove the existence or the non existence of life beyond the vale.

Just Before I Died - S.K.Tremayne
5★

I survived the accident. Now the real nightmare begins. .How long can they keep you in the dark? It was just a patch of ice. But it was nearly enough to kill Kath Redway, spinning her car into Burrator Reservoir in the beautiful Dartmoor National Park.She is shocked but delighted to escape with a few bruises and amnesia. But her family is not so pleased. Her handsome husband is cold, even angry. Her gifted daughter talks ever more strangely, about a 'man on the moor'. Then, as chilling fragments of memory return, Kath realizes her 'accident' was nothing of the kind. And now her life collapses into a new world of darkness, menace, and terror.

This one is just as good as her previous novels, The Ice Twins and Fire Child. There are large amounts of suspense and plenty of strange dark and brooding twists. It’s deliciously creepy...so that makes it just my “cuppa tea”. Make sure you have plenty of time before you get to the last few chapters because you will not be able to put it down.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
3.5 ★

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? These nine perfect strangers are about to find out when they go for 10 days and are promised a transformative experience.

This story was mostly about relationships, facing problems and making changes. The driven spa director, who wants to help these people transform their lives, uses a dangerous approach to do this which made for an interesting story. The characters were well-developed but at times the development went on a bit too long. Overall, an easy read with a bit of humor.

A Crime of Passion - Scott Pratt
Joe Dillard series Book #7
5★

A beautiful, young, rising star in the country music world is found dead in a Nashville hotel room. The owner of her record company is charged with murder. In the seventh installment of Scott Pratt's best-selling Joe Dillard series, Dillard is hired to travel to Tennessee's capital city to defend Paul Milius, a record company baron accused of strangling Kasey Cartwright, his label's young star. Dillard navigates Nashville's unfamiliar legal system and the world of country music in search of the truth, but he soon finds himself confronted with a web of lies so masterfully woven that he fears he may never find any answers. As the trial begins and the tension mounts, Dillard fears that not only will his client be wrongfully convicted, but that Dillard himself may not survive.

Scott Pratt and his Joe Dillard series has been a favorite of mine since forever it seems. The thing that makes this series absolutely outstanding is that it's a fiction series with a non-fiction feeling. If you enjoy suspense...legal intrigue...and just well written books with believable and likable characters...then you should give Joe Dillard a try. The books are a series but they are written so that they can easily be read as standalone.

The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
5★

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart -- he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone -- but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

It's not at all what I usually read...and I never expected to be totally taken over by this beautiful story about a hostile and brutal land and two families that shared a determination to tame it. The year was 1920 when Jack and Mabel...who had just lost their newborn baby...left the civilization of Pennsylvania to farm in Alaska. Winters were long and hard. One night they started to build a snowman that turned into a little girl..."a Snow Child". The next morning it was gone and Faina entered their lives. She was magical...she was wild...they became convinced that she was more and she was less...but they couldn't sort out just exactly what she was. The story unfolds covering a ten year span. It's captivating in it's simplicity. A beautifully told tale of hardship and magic.

Ghosts and Legends of Michigan's West Coast - Amberrose Hammond
5★

A collection of chilling tales from the most haunted places in Western Michigan. Western Michigan is home to some of the state's most picturesque places - and also some of its most chilling tales. Ghost story researcher and enthusiast Amberrose Hammond exposes the mysterious and spirit-ridden world of many beloved Michigan destinations as she skillfully weaves narratives of a world unseen by most. From the lingering spirit forever working in the Grand Theater and the band of melon-headed children prowling the Saugatuck State Park to the lights of the Lake Forest Cemetery staircase waiting to reveal one's place in the afterlife, these tales are sure to give pause to anyone daring enough to experience these hauntingly beautiful spots...after dark.

Greetings from the "ghost story junkie". This small book appealed to all my ghost story hunger like good Kentucky bourbon would appeal to an alcoholic. They were also appealing because most of the places represented here are within a couple of hours of my home. In their senior year of high school my son and two of his his friends made a trip to Klakaska to see the "shoe tree"....a story inspire perhaps by the "Walled Lake Child Killer"...a memorial to all the youngsters that he was suppose to have killed. No one even knows if he really existed or was he just a local legend that grew over the years. They were disappointed as it was just a tree full of shoes but the story worked up a good case of goose-bumps so it wasn't exactly a wasted trip:) I have seen the "Grand Theater" in Grand Haven which was an investigation effort by TV's "Ghost Hunters" Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. Many people have reported hearing footsteps that have no visible source...and no one wishes to go to the basement alone...day or night. With 4 of the 5 Great Lakes making their homes in Michigan there are numerous "haunted" lighthouses and mysterious ghostly freighters sailing to their doom over and over. It doesn't matter if you are a believer or a non-believer. If you enjoy being just slightly scared or if you go for the "whole nine yards" these recounts will do just fine for you. Oh...be sure to leave the light on.

>11 Carol420: Thanks so much for this review. I have been looking at this book and wondering if I should take the plunge. Now thanks to your glowing review I'm going in.

>21 ColinMichaelFelix: Hi...Haven't heard from you in awhile but I do see your post of what you're reading...so we know things are well in your world. I hope you like Bedlam. I remembered this character being in the DCI Ryan series so was interested in how he would do alone. I hope Ross keeps up the series.

The Oracle by Clive Cussler
c. 2019
3 1/2 *

Sam and Remi Fargo, wealthy treasure hunters and philanthropists, are in Nigeria checking on a girl's school which they sponsor. In Nigeria, the Boca Haram, a terrorist group, are known for kidnapping girls and destroying schools for girls. The Fargos also intend to visit an archeological site in Tunisia where someone has been messing with the accounts for the dig. Plus, one of the archeologists is found dead and an important mosaic was stolen. While in Nigeria, the school is attacked. Remi and some of the girls escape their kidnappers. Sam goes looking for his wife and the missing girls. Lots of action and intrigue in this latest adventure. Although, there wasn't as much archeological intrigue, as in past books. It was a solid entry into the Fargo series, but not the best.

Crow - A. Zaveralli
Boston Underworld Book #1
3★

Mack: He’s a killer. A mobster. The last man on earth I’d ever want to be with. I won’t lose my head just because he’s hot, Irish, and has a wicked accent to boot. He’s one of the only leads in my best friend’s disappearance, and I don’t trust him. So I’ve got a few rules in mind when it comes to dealing with Lachlan Crow. 1.Keep a clear head and don’t get distracted. 2.Do what’s necessary and never forget why you’re there. 3.Never, and I mean never, fall for him. Fourth and final rule? Throw out the book altogether. Because the rules don’t apply when it comes to the Irish mafia. It was only supposed to be temporary, but now Lachlan thinks he owns me. He says he’s not letting me go. And I believe him.

Lachlan: I don’t know who she is. I don’t know why she’s here. But if it’s my attention she wants, she has it. The Russians want her dead, and now it’s up to me to look out for her. This girl is trouble. A distraction I can’t afford. So why have I already decided she’s mine? I’ve claimed her and there’s no going back now.

This is the first book by this author that I've read and I'm not sure that this series is going to be something that I will want to continue. It's not a bad book or an uninteresting book by any means...it's just not my kind of book. The Romance...which I don''t care a lot about anyway...was predictable and felt overboard. I think that anyone that likes this type of story...and I know there are thousands out there... will find that there is a lot of potential there...but it is really rough around the edges. Only book #1 perhaps it will improve.

The Boy From The Woods - Harlan Coben
4.5★

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing. No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father -- with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde -- with whom she shares a tragic connection -- to use his unique skills to help find Naomi. Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.

It had the first appearance that it was going to be a story within a story...but even though it was a good story...there never was much more said or explained how the boy found in the woods came to be in the woods in the first place. That part was unbelievable....that a young boy could have survived the way Wilde did on his own and no one ever saw him or found him. Now the real story of how Wilde helped everyone that he came in contact with in the storyline. That made sense and what really what the book was about in the first place. Readers will see some similarities in the plot to real life events taking place now. I don't know if the author did this on purpose or if it just occurred of it's own accord. Whatever the reason...I had absolutely no objection to it. Another good read for Harlan Coben fans.

Holy Orders - Benjamin Black
Quirke series Book #6
3★

The latest Quirke case opens in Dublin at a moment when newspapers are censored, social conventions are strictly defined, and appalling crimes are hushed up. Why? Because in 1950s Ireland, the Catholic Church controls the lives of nearly everyone. But when Quirke's daughter, Phoebe, loses her close friend Jimmy Minor to murder, Quirke can no longer play by the church's rules. Along with Inspector Hackett, his sometime partner, Quirke learns just how far the church and its supporters will go to protect their own interests.

The story had a great beginning...a murder to solve and characters that we had come to trust and like playing their usual roles...but then it all changed. About halfway through the book Quirke's daughter wanders into the story...and not necessarily bringing anything to greatly impact what was already becoming an interesting plot line...although I do have to admit that the murder of her friend was an addition. However along with Quirke's fragile and strained relationship with the major church in Ireland...we now see Quirk's relationships with his family and his deeply flawed personality examined in glowing detail. What it boiled down to was that we were presented with 250 pages of high trauma and then the mystery gets solved in the last 30 pages. If I hadn't read the first 5 books in this series it would never have received the 3 star rating. I know how much better this author can be.

#1 - set in Denmark


The Children - Ida Jessen
3★

Recently divorced, Solvej rents an isolated farmhouse in Hvium, where her daughter lives with her father. Solvej will be able to see her little girl again - to start over. But, she is completely alone and unable to visit her daughter as often as she'd like. A neighbor, Soren, welcomes Solvej with practical gifts and help around the place. She soon meets others, but, just as Solvej begins to feel happy and settled, darkness descends, and she discovers the people around the village of Hvium are not as they seem. In a place that hides secrets and lies, Solvej must ask herself: when is it right to step in and when is right not to?

Lots of secrets in this little village and I think something must have been lost in the translation. The people were a strange bunch to begin with and I don't know why Solvej thought that her finding the diary and revealing more of their secrets was going to make much difference. It has promise of being a good story...unfortunately the copy that I had was rather muddled...But as I said...I believe it was the translation. I'll give it 3 stars for hope.

Tried to listen to At Bertram's Hotel but I hated the narrator

>28 nx74defiant: I hate it when a narrator ruins what could have been a really good book. Better luck next time.

The Good House - Tananarive Due
4★

Every summer, Angela Toussaint, visits her deceased grandmother's house with her estranged husband and teenage son Corey. The old house, which is located in a rural town in Washington… is known as the “Good House” by locals, because Angela's grandmother Marie, a secret practitioner of voodoo, grew powerful medicinal herbs that helped area residents with a variety of ailments. Angela's summer getaway quickly turns into a nightmare when her son commits suicide in the cellar. Angela spends some time in a mental hospital…but when she gets out she goes back to the house to figure out why Corey killed himself. What she uncovers is a family curse that goes back generations that will not only put her own life in jeopardy, but everyone close to her as well.

I found it to be a really good, creepy story that could have done without so much explanation…but overall I have to say that I really enjoyed the book…and I loved the house. The story has a family tragedy…a culture that may be reflected as different to some readers… relationships, both good and bad…a missing dog…an old flame…voodoo… and last but not least, a great supernatural element. There’s a lot thrown into the mix with a lot to take in. With almost 500 pages the story becomes a bit of a drag and a little difficult to keep everything straight. As I said before it would have benefited the entire story and plot line if it could have been a little shorter.

Mobbed by Carol Higgins Clark
c. 2011
3 1/2 *

Cleo Paradise, a young gifted actress spent a few weeks at Edna Frawley's Jersey Shore home, trying to relax. But, it appears that she is being stalked, so she abruptly leaves Edna's home to find a more remote place to unwind. Edna has decided to sell her home and downsize, so she is having a garage sale ehich includes items which Cleo left behind. Edna's daughter is having a fit that her childhood home is being sold. She calls Nora Reilly to please check on the sale. As luck would have it Nora's PI daughter, Reagan was free to go along with Nora to the Shore. Reagan had been hired by Cleo's family to find the missing Cleo. numerous crazy quirky characters fill the pages of this fun quick read.

A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George
Inspector Lynley series Book #1
5★
To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an axe in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry." Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale's dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley—and in their own lives as well.

I read this book as well as the entire series over a period of 30 years and loved each and every one of them. I was really great to revisit with my ‘old friends”. The supposed killer…Roberta Teys, a silent, obese adolescent…gives Lizzie Borden a run for her money here even though she did the job in less than 40 whacks. She says she did it and “I’m not sorry”. So end of mystery right? No way! We are only getting started. I have always loved the character of Inspector Lynley while finding Barbara Havers…his partner, to be a embittered and unhappy woman. To make matters worse she hates Inspector Lynley who was born of nobility and doesn’t need to work but chooses to. How anyone in charge thought putting these two together would be a good idea heaven only knows. There are so many more of these novels all featuring this unlikely duo. The twists and turns of the plot are interesting and engaging and on top of that it is a really good read. I would definitely recommend this series if you are a fan of good detective fiction. I’m going to read every single one of these novels again and when I’m done I’ll watch the series on DVD….the best of both worlds.

The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
3.5 ★

Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage. Much is at stake, including the affluent life they lead in their beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago. He is a committed cheater; she lives and breathes denial. The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can't be made, and promises that won't be kept.

This is a story about two people making bad decisions about their relationship with bad consequences to follow. The husband was unlikeable. The wife was a puzzle as she was a therapist and should’ve been able to do better than live in denial. They both had serious psychological issues that made me wonder where they were headed. There were a couple of surprises at the end and overall the story kept me interested.

Give A Boy a Gun - Todd Strasser
4★

For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks who rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Brendan and Gary: revenge.

A word of warning…the book is disturbing on so many different levels. The reader has a hard time thinking of it as fiction since the scene has been repeated so many times in so many different cities and schools with the same tragic and heartbreaking results. To tell the story of two alienated and disaffected teenagers who become obsessed with guns and bombs and ultimately vow to exact revenge on all the students…faculty members…and administrators at their school…the author employees many voices to reflect the incomplete narrative that inevitably emerges from tragedies such as these. Parts of the narrative go into “preachy” homilies about bullying and tolerance vs. intolerance, but it’s hard to object when there are no easy solutions available. An unexpected and ironic development at the end of the violence highlights the complexity of the issue, and no one escapes a part of the blame. The author rightly acknowledges that we are all culpable to some extant…as we sometimes come across as a culture that values violence over empathy.

A Shilling For Candles - Josephine Tey
Inspector Grant series Book #2
4.5★

A woman's body is found on the English seacoast, and twisted in her hair is an article screaming murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case becomes a nightmare, as too many clues and too many motives arise.

From the time that a young woman's body is pulled from the surf of a lonely beach in Kent, lives are affected. When it becomes known that the woman was the famous stage and screen actress Christine Clay, the ripple effect nearly drowns the world. I like a mystery that has a wide range of suspects making it harder to solve and this one sure has them aplenty. There’s the likable young playboy who's been staying at her cottage. He seems the "right sort" but his story isn’t very believable. Then we have the songwriter who's reputed to have been her lover lurking in the shadows. Who knows what his motives might have been. The will mentions her next-of-kin, a brother to whom she has left only "a shilling for candles." …hence the name of the novel. I wondered what that title meant. This doesn’t sound like a very happy family at all. Of course there’s her husband. Husbands’ are always a good bet for the wife's murder. He’s an aristocrat who dabbles in foreign politics and who has an iron-clad alibi...or maybe he doesn’t. Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard must sort through it all this and try to figure out if Christine Clay's sudden and violent death was really "written in the stars" I had a lot of fun with this one.

Supernatural: Night Terror - John Passeralla
3★

Alerted to strange happenings in Clayton Falls, Colorado, Bobby sends the boys to check it out. A speeding car with no driver, a homeless man pursued by a massive Gila monster, a little boy chased by uprooted trees — it all sounds like the stuff of nightmares. The boys fight to survive a series of terrifying night times, realizing that sometimes the nightmares don’t go away…even when you’re awake.

If you’ve watched the TV series, Supernatural you’ll recognize the Winchester brothers Sam and Dean even though there isn’t much of them throughout the story and that brought the rating down for me. This is the author of many of the “Buffy” novels also so I thought how much “off” the TV show can it be? The characters were well written and very much like the TV show but as I said they were almost absent in body, I love Supernatural, the TV show and own all the DVD’s but if you are a fan that prefers horror over gore you might want to venture into this one with a spoon-full of caution.

Over Sea,Under Stone - Susan Cooper
The Dark Rising series Book #1
4★

On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.

I read it for a challenge and also to revisit a story that my grandson loved and read over and over. The book reminds me of a cross between The Chronicles of Narnia with a group of children being the main ones that solve the mystery. It also made me think a little of me a little of The Goonies with them finding a map and following the clues while being pursued by all the bad guys. The idea of the book...children's quest for a grail, and an Arthurian legend was just the right combination. Those two things and the simple twist of Merry's real name was something that would certainly intrigue a child.

Two Little Girls In Blue - Mary Higgins Clark
3.5★

When Margaret and Steve Frawley come home to Connecticut from a black-tie dinner in New York, their three-year-old twins, Kathy and Kelly, are gone. The police found the babysitter unconscious, and a ransom note from the Pied Piper demands eight million dollars. Steve's global investment firm puts up the money, but when they go to retrieve the twins, only Kelly is in the car. The dead driver's suicide note says he inadvertently killed Kathy. At the memorial, Kelly tugs Margaret's arm and says: Mommy, Kathy is very scared of that lady. She wants to come home right now. At first, only Margaret believes that the twins are communicating and that Kathy is still alive. But as Kelly's warnings become increasingly specific and alarming, FBI agents set out on a desperate search.

The story was good... but some of the characters needed to be a bit more believable...especially the kidnappers. They were a rag-tag group of morons who decide to kidnap twins in an effort to gain ransom and they were bumbling idiots. The "twin talk" the girls shared was fairly interesting. I know there has been some long-term studies done on this and the results are pretty amazing. It was in whole, a good mystery...but not great nor was it the best or the worse that I have read by this author. My suggestion would be that this would more than adequately fill the gap if you just need a slow and easy break from hard core mystery & suspense.

Schedule for Group Read of The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly.

Wednesday 22nd July : Prologue and Chapter 1 - 5
Thursday 23rd July : Chapter 6 - 11
Friday 24th July : Chapter 12 - 16
Saturday 25th July : Chapter 17 - 22
Sunday 26th July : Chapter 23 - 28
Monday 27th July : Chapter 29 - 33

Northern Light - Deb Davies
4.5★

After the death of her husband, Claire is finding it hard to adjust to being a widow in northern Michigan. She and her cat quickly find themselves surrounded by visitors, including her best friend, Laurel. The empty house soon feels more like home until a raven mysteriously appears inside, resulting in a disastrous mess, and a new friend for houseguest Charles, an eccentric ornithologist. Although the company initially offers the support and distraction Claire needs, random attacks soon escalate and no one is safe. When the unlikely group comes face-to-face with someone intent on murder, will their newfound friendship be strong enough to protect them?

I really loved this book. I live in Michigan and just an hour or so from all of the places that the author inserted into the story…so it became a very special offering to me. The writing was so easy and flowed very well to tell the story of a recently widowed woman and the friends and family that soon arrived to fill her house…but something else seemed to have arrived also. They represented different times in Claire’s life so even though she knew them…they didn’t all know one another. That added a bit of suspense and mystery to the happenings taking place. It wasn’t a ghost story but it had that feel. Strange things started to happen almost from the time the people arrived starting with the raven and escalated to attacks that targeted random people. It’s difficult to say much about the storyline without giving a lot away but I will say that I read the entire book in a day and I will be watching for more by this author. I got the idea that she may be making this into a series…and that would be great.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. The views expressed by this reviewer are entirely my own.

The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry
c. 2014
4 *

President Lincoln had hidden a secret in Utah with the Mormons at the time of the Civil War. It's a secret that could cause a collapse of the United States. The secret had been passed down from president to president since the writing of The Constitution. Meanwhile the Stephanie, director of the Magellan Billet, is missing an agent. She calls Cotton Malone out of retirement to retrieve a man who knows the whereabouts of the missing agent. Cotton is thrown back into his old profession as a top American spy. His search takes him from his bookstore in Denmark to a book auction in Salsburg, Austria, to Iowa and on to Salt Lake City, Utah.

I found much of this very interesting, considering the political climate of anarchy in the US. Secrets within secrets that could crumble our government, all dating back to the Founding Fathers. The premise was intriguing. It's been a while since I've read a Cotton Malone book, and this was a great fast read.

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo
4 ★
On a late-night shift, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide--an old man found hanging from the rafters in his dilapidated barn. But evidence quickly points to murder and Kate finds herself chasing a singularly difficult and elusive trail of evidence that somehow points back to a long ago tragedy to an Amish family. When a second man is found dead--also seemingly by his own hand--Kate discovers a link in the case that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine.

This is another solid and interesting story in the Kate Burkholder series involving an Amish family. The writing keeps things suspenseful, even if the killer is a bit far-fetched. I continue to enjoy the Kate Burkholder character as she pushes herself to be a good police chief and has a few personal struggles with her boyfriend. I like this series and plan to read more.

The Turn of The Key - Ruth Ware
5★

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nanny post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder. Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman. It was everything. She’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is

The story was set up and then the reader was driven forward with suspicions, clues, misdirection’s, twists, and red herrings. I have been a fan of this author ever since I read The Death of Mrs. Westaway a few years ago. Ruth Ware can tell a ghost story…or any story for that matter in a way that gives you goose-bumps and keeps you looking over your shoulder. In this one we are presented with a plethora of unexplained and terrifying events. Everything from a crumbling ancestral mansion that’s been turned into a “smart house” complete with an assortment of blinking surveillance cameras…talking refrigerators…embedded phones and speaker systems…and misfiring lights and locks. It’s a toss-up as to whether the alleged ghosts or the rogue gadgets are ultimately responsible for shattering the heroine’s fragile nerves. The characters were all “strange”… from the other household help to the children. she was caring for. The house itself… in spite of the modern gadgets… is filled with superstitions and haunted house stories by the locals. The entire book has enough of everything that a good ghost story/murder mystery would ever want.

Wait Til Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
3 ★

Wait Till Next Year is the story of a young girl growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, when owning a single-family home on a tree-lined street meant the realization of dreams, when everyone knew everyone else on the block, and the children gathered in the streets to play from sunup to sundown. The neighborhood was equally divided among Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans, and the corner stores were the scenes of fierce and affectionate rivalries.

This was a memoir of the author’s childhood in New York. She and her father had a close relationship with their love of baseball. Not being a baseball fan, there was too much baseball for me. Her other memories of childhood, although mostly pleasant, seemed ordinary. This was well-written but it wasn’t interesting enough for me.

The Better Sister bu Alafair Burke
3.5 ★

When a prominent Manhattan lawyer is murdered, two estranged sisters--Chloe the dead man's widow, the other his ex Nicky--must set aside mistrust and old resentments. Chloe reluctantly allows her teenage stepson's biological mother--her estranged sister, Nicky--back into her life. But when the police begin to treat Ethan as a suspect in his father's death, the two sisters are forced to unite . . . and to confront the truth behind family secrets they have tried to bury in the past.

There are many conflicts between Chloe and her sister, Chloe and her stepson, Chloe and her husband and it mostly keeps things interesting. There are a couple of red herrings too so I went back and forth deciding who did it. I did not always like the characters and that makes it a bit less interesting to me. Overall, it was a decent story.

Home Before Dark - Riley Sager
4.5★

Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls? What was it like? Living in that house. Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

A ghost story collides with a family mystery. Maggie Holt was 5 years old when her mother and father took her and fled the house known as Baneberry Hall that they thought would be their dream home on the edge of a Vermont forest. Her parents always told her "never return...it's not safe...for you". Her father wrote a best seller about their experience in the house that they only occupied for 20 days...Maggie didn't believe a word of it which I thought was a bit dramatic on her part since she had almost no memory of anything that happened in the house. Of course she didn't listen and after calling her parents...especially her father... a liar Maggie returns to try to get the house in shape to put it on the market...but the house and what occupies it... has other plans for Maggie. Events begin to unfold that defy logic and begin to call into question all that Maggie believed...or didn’t believe... about her family’s ordeal years prior. Ghosts aren’t real…are they? Find out for yourself but leave your lights on...make sure your closets are as empty as you think they are...and get ready for a chilling journey into Maggie Holt forgotten world.

Note: In spite of the reference to the Amityville Horror...this book is listed as a work of fiction.

Witches and Wedding Cake by Bailey Cates
c. 2020
3 *

Katie Lightfoote, baker and hedgewitch, is getting married at the end of the week. She is marrying Declan McCarthy, a Savannah, GA firefighter. So far the plans are going well. Her spellbook club will be her bridesmaids. She and her Aunt Lucy will be making the cupcake wedding cake at the Honeybee Bakery. Mimsey will be doing the flowers, and Bianca is in charge of the wine. Katie's carriage house is almost completely redone, and her yard will be perfect for the ceremony. Except, the judge, who was going to perform the wedding, was called away on a family emergency. While Katie and Declan are dealing with this inconvenience, Declan's family begins arriving in town. When Katie goes to meet Declan's Mom and 2 of his sister's, Rori and Eliza, an unwelcome albeit exceedingly handsome guest arrives at the rental house
door. It's Tucker, Rori's ex-husband. He hand's her a cheap teapot musicbox to try to make amends. But, they argue and he leaves. Later that day, Tucker is found dead at a rather seedy motel. Rori becomes a suspect. She begs Katie to help her find the real murderer. Being a carefree bride isn't on Katie's to do list.

This was a rather cute mystery. It was nowhere as magical or action packed as the previous novels in the series. It read more like a light romance with a touch of paranormal cozy mystery thrown in for good measure. I was a bit disappointed.

The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry
c. 2014
3 * (more like 2 3/4 *)

I must say this is not my favorite Cotton Malone novel. It was obvious that the author did a lot of research before putting this story on paper. Research into Andrew Mellon, The 16th Amendment and ratification procedures, as well as research on George Mason was very evident, but all that background information slowed the book to a crawl in too many spots. The bad guy was a disinherited heir to the North Korean dictatorship and his illegitimate daughter. The story takes place in both the US featuring Magellan Billet boss, Stephanie, and it follows Cotton Malone plus 2 other agents from Venice to Croatia. Everyone is in search of documents involving a riddle with origins in 1913, a problem that could effectively put the Inited States out of business for good. Although the premise was interesting, the story just got too bogged down with history and detail.