JDCMustReadBooks
An online marketing consultant, an avid reader of 400 + books a year. Professional reader, reviewer, and blogger. Enjoy ARCs and new releases.
Top 20 Must Read Books Coming Nov 2017
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Tags: Fiction, mystery, suspense, thriller, Will Robie, action, crime
End Game
Will Robie Series
By: David Baldacci
ISBN: 1455586609
Publisher: Grand Central
Publication Date: 11/14/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: Currently Reading
Lethal government assassin Will Robie returns in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Will Robie returns home from a mission overseas to discover that his boss--codenamed Blue Man--has vanished. His last known location was in remote Colorado, and there have been no other sightings or communications since. But there is violence brewing in this small town, and Robie and his sometime-partner Jessica Reel will be lucky if they make it out alive, with or without Blue Man... Read More
Tags: Jack Reacher, crime fiction, war & military, adventure, action, suspense, mystery
The Midnight Line
Jack Reacher #22
By: Lee Child
ISBN: 0399593489
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: 11/7/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (Pre-Ordered)
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child returns with a gripping new powerhouse thriller featuring Jack Reacher, “one of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes” (The Washington Post).
Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?
So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.
The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher. Read More
Tags: Jane Hawk, Psychological thriller, suspense, mystery, action, adventure, fiction
The Whispering Room
A Jane Hawk Novel #2
By: Dean Koontz
ISBN: 9780345546807
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Jane Hawk—fiction’s most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine—continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner.
“No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this.”
These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun—just before she takes her own life, and many others’, in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.
In the wake of her husband’s inexplicable suicide—and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals—Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America’s future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue—and become the nation’s most wanted fugitive—in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough.
Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them. Read More
Tags: Humor, Women's Fiction, mystery, suspense, Women Sleuths, Stephanie Plum
Hardcore Twenty Four
Stephanie Plum #24
By: Janet Evanovich
ISBN: 0399179194
Publisher: Putnam
Publication Date: 11/14/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars
Janet Evanovich’s #1 New York Times bestselling sensation Stephanie Plum returns in her latest captivating thriller where mutilated corpses litter the streets of New Jersey.
Trouble comes in bunches for Stephanie Plum. First, professional grave robber and semi-professional loon, Simon Diggery, won’t let her take him in until she agrees to care for his boa constrictor, Ethel. Stephanie’s main qualification for babysitting an extremely large snake is that she owns a stun gun--whether that’s for use on the wandering serpent or the petrified neighbors remains to be seen.
Events take a dark turn when headless bodies start appearing across town. At first, it’s just corpses from a funeral home and the morgue that have had the heads removed. But when a homeless man is murdered and dumped behind a church Stephanie knows that she’s the only one with a prayer of catching this killer.
If all that’s not enough, Diesel’s back in town. The 6-foot-tall, blonde-haired hunk is a man who accepts no limits--that includes locked doors, closed windows and underwear. Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli isn’t pleased at this unexpected arrival nor is Ranger, the high-powered security consultant who has his own plans for Stephanie.
As usual Jersey’s favorite bounty hunter is stuck in the middle with more questions than answers. What’s the deal with Grandma Mazur’s latest online paramour? Who is behind the startling epidemic of mutilated corpses? And is the enigmatic Diesel’s sudden appearance a coincidence or the cause of recent deadly events? Read More
Tags: Crime fiction, thriller, suspense, mystery, cop procedural, Florida
Killing Pace
ISBN: 9781250120557
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
“Engrossing...It’s a tribute to criminal lawyer Schofield’s persuasive powers that his characters, procedural elements, and atmosphere are convincing enough to keep those pages turning without logic getting in the way.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Time of Departure
In Killing Pace, Douglas Schofield, author of Time of Departure and Storm Rising, delivers a heart-pounding tale set in Everglades City, Florida and Sicily, Italy with three important questions: Where am I?... How did I get here?... and most importantly… Who am I?
It’s been two months since Lisa Green crawled barefoot and bleeding out of a terrible car accident. Her boyfriend Roland has been nursing her back to health under close watch. Lisa has amnesia. They both know that, but only Lisa knows that she hasn’t lost her ability to reason. And reason tells her that she is not Roland’s girlfriend. She is his prisoner. Gradually, Lisa remembers training and skills that she didn’t know she had and is able to make her escape. When a sheriff’s deputy finds her, she tells him she wants to report a missing person: herself.
What follows is a high-octane international chase, which involves US Border Control, the Sicilian mafia, and a shadowy organization specializing in trafficking infants taken from Syrian refugees and made available for adoption to wealthy American couples. Lisa, whose real name is Laura Pace, must figure out who she can trust and how to stay alive. Read More
Tags: Southern, coming-of-age, literary, women's fiction, family life, Kentucky
The Sisters of Glass Ferry
ISBN: 1496709551
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 11/29/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
"An emotionally resonant tale of secrets, regret, and absolution that held me spellbound. You simply have to read it.” —Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants
Spanning several decades and written in an authentic voice both lyrical and wise, The Sisters of Glass Ferry is a haunting novel about small-town Southern secrets, loss and atonement, and the unbreakable bond between siblings.
Glass Ferry, Kentucky, is bourbon country. Whiskey has been a way of life for generations, enabling families to provide and survive even in the darkest times. Flannery Butler’s daddy, Beauregard “Honey Bee” Butler, was known for making some of the best whiskey in the state, aged in barrels he’d take by boat up and down the Kentucky River until the rocking waters turned the spirits smooth and golden. Flannery is the only person Honey Bee ever entrusted with his recipes before he passed on, swearing her to secrecy as he did so.
But Flannery is harboring other secrets too, about her twin sister Patsy, older by eight minutes and pretty in a way Flannery knows she’ll never be. Then comes the prom night when Patsy—wearing a yellow chiffon dress and the family pearls—disappears along with her date. Every succeeding year on the twins’ birthday, Flannery’s mother bakes a strawberry cake, convinced that this is the day Patsy will finally come home. But it will be two tumultuous decades until the muddy river yields a clue about what happened that night, compelling Flannery to confront the truth about her sleepy town, her family’s past, and the choices she and those closest to her have made in the name of love and retribution . . . Read More
Tags: Domestic, Family Life, Suspense, Women's Fiction
Little Broken Things
By: Nichole Baart
ISBN: 1501133608
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
An engrossing and suspenseful novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Amy Hatvany about an affluent suburban family whose carefully constructed facade starts to come apart with the unexpected arrival of an endangered young girl.
I have something for you. When Quinn Basset receives that cryptic text message from her older sister Nora, she doesn’t think much of it. They haven’t seen each other in nearly a year and thanks to Nora’s fierce aloofness, their relationship consists mostly of infrequent phone calls and an occasional email or text. But when a haunted Nora shows up on Quinn’s doorstep just hours later, a chain reaction is set into motion that will change both of their lives forever.
Nora’s “something” is more shocking than Quinn could have ever imagined: a little girl, cowering, wide-eyed, and tight-lipped. Nora hands her over to Quinn with instructions to keep her safe, and not to utter a word about the child to anyone, especially not their buttoned-up mother who seems determined to pretend everything is perfect. But before Quinn can ask even one of the million questions swirling around her head, Nora disappears, and Quinn finds herself the unlikely caretaker of a girl introduced simply as Lucy.
While Quinn struggles to honor her sister’s desperate request and care for the lost, scared Lucy, she fears that Nora may have gotten involved in something way over her head—something that will threaten them all. But Quinn’s worries are nothing compared to the firestorm that Nora is facing. It’s a matter of life and death, of family and freedom, and ultimately, about the lengths a sister will go to protect the ones she loves. Read More '
Tags: Domestic, Contemporary, Women's Fiction
Left to Chance
By: Amy Sue Nathan
ISBN: 9781250091116
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
No one knows why Teddi Lerner left her hometown, but everyone knows why she’s back.
Twelve-year-old Shayna— talented, persistent, and adorable—persuaded "Aunt Tee" to return to Chance, Ohio, to photograph her father’s wedding. Even though it's been six years since Shay's mother, Celia, died, Teddi can hardly bear the thought of her best friend's husband marrying someone else. But Teddi’s bond with Shay is stronger than the hurt.
Teddi knows it’s time to face the consequences of her hasty retreat from family, friends, and, her old flame, but when she looks through her viewfinder, nothing in her small town looks the same. That’s when she truly sees the hurt she's caused and—maybe—how to fix it.
After the man she once loved accuses Teddi of forgetting Celia, Teddi finally admits why she ran away, and the guilt she’s carried with her. As Teddi relinquishes the distance that kept her safe, she’ll discover surprising truths about the people she left behind, and herself. And she'll finally see what she overlooked all along. Read More
A Bella Flora Christmas
Ten Beach Road Novella
By: Wendy Wax
ASIN: B0719NWD4S
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 11/7/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
The ladies of Ten Beach Road are home for the holidays in this brand-new novella.
Although their lives have changed since their first desperate renovation of Bella Flora, friends Madeline, Avery, and Nicole have always been there for each other. Now they're returning to Bella Flora for Christmas—where Maddie’s daughter Kyra isn’t feeling particularly celebratory.
Kyra was hoping for a peaceful holiday at Bella Flora—a last gathering before a wealthy, mystery tenant moves into the home she’s been forced to rent out. Instead, she must make a life altering decision by New Year’s -- a decision that becomes even more difficult when unexpected guests arrive at Ten Beach Road on Christmas Eve. Now Kyra, Maddie, Avery and Nikki will need to pull together to secure Bella Flora’s future, as well as their own. Read More
Tags: Domestic life, family life, literary, women's fiction
The Story of Arthur Truluv
By: Elizabeth Berg
ISBN: 1400069904
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
An emotionally powerful novel about three people who each lose the one they love most, only to find second chances where they least expect them.
“Fans of Meg Wolitzer, Emma Straub, or [Elizabeth] Berg’s previous novels will appreciate the richly complex characters and clear prose. Redemptive without being maudlin, this story of two misfits lucky to have found one another will tug at readers’ heartstrings.”—Booklist
For the past six months, Arthur Moses’s days have looked the same: He tends to his rose garden and to Gordon, his cat, then rides the bus to the cemetery to visit his beloved late wife for lunch. Sometimes in the evening he’ll take a walk and stop to chat with his nosy neighbor, Lucille. It’s a quiet routine not entirely without its joys. The last thing Arthur would imagine is for one unlikely encounter to utterly transform his life.
Eighteen-year-old Maddy Harris is an introspective girl who often comes to the cemetery to escape the other kids at school and a life of loss. She’s seen Arthur sitting there alone, and one afternoon she joins him—a gesture that begins a surprising friendship between two lonely souls. Moved by Arthur’s kindness and devotion, Maddy gives him the nickname “Truluv.” As Arthur’s neighbor Lucille moves into their orbit, the unlikely trio bands together, helping one another, through heartache and hardships, to rediscover their own potential to start anew.
Wonderfully written and full of profound observations about life, The Story of Arthur Truluv is a beautiful and moving novel of compassion in the face of loss, of the small acts that turn friends into family, and of the possibilities to achieve happiness at any age. Read More
Tags: Psychologically thriller, suspense, mystery, women's fiction, domestic suspense
Poison
ISBN: 9781250085290
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 11/21/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Cass and Ryan Connor have achieved family nirvana. With three kids between them, a cat and a yard, a home they built and feathered, they seem to have the Modern Family dream. Their family, including Cass' two children from previous relationships, has recently moved to Seattle—a new start for their new lives. Cass and Ryan have stable, successful careers, and they are happy. But trouble begins almost imperceptibly.
First with small omissions and white lies that happen daily in any marital bedroom. They seem insignificant, but they are quickly followed by a series of denials and feints that mushroom and then cyclone in menace.
With life-or-death stakes and irreversible consequences, Poison is a chilling and irresistible reminder that the closest bond designed to protect and provide for each other and for children can change in a minute. Read More
Tags: Contemporary, historical fiction, mystery, women's fiction, Southern
Tangled Mercy
By: Joy Jordan-Lake
ASIN: B01M7XPCYE
Publisher: Lake Union
Publication Date: 11/1/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 5 Stars
Told in alternating tales at once haunting and redemptive, A Tangled Mercy is a quintessentially American epic rooted in heartbreaking true events examining the harrowing depths of human brutality and betrayal, and our enduring hope for freedom and forgiveness.
After the sudden death of her troubled mother, struggling Harvard grad student Kate Drayton walks out on her lecture—and her entire New England life. Haunted by unanswered questions and her own uncertain future, she flees to Charleston, South Carolina, the place where her parents met, convinced it holds the key to understanding her fractured family and saving her career in academia. Kate is determined to unearth groundbreaking information on a failed 1822 slave revolt—the subject of her mother’s own research.
Nearly two centuries earlier, Tom Russell, a gifted blacksmith and slave, grappled with a terrible choice: arm the uprising spearheaded by members of the fiercely independent African Methodist Episcopal Church or keep his own neck out of the noose and protect the woman he loves.
Kate’s attempts to discover what drove her mother’s dangerous obsession with Charleston’s tumultuous history are derailed by a horrific massacre in the very same landmark church. In the unimaginable aftermath, Kate discovers a family she never knew existed as the city unites with a powerful message of hope and forgiveness for the world.
Tags: Crime Fiction, Murder, Suspense, Historical
The Unclaimed Victim
By: D.M. Pulley
ISBN: 1542046432
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: 11/14/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
In 1938, at the height of the Great Depression, a madman hunts his victims through the hobo jungles of Cleveland, terrorizing the city.
Ethel Harding, a prostitute struggling to survive both the cold streets and the Torso Killer, takes refuge with a devout missionary sect—only to find that its righteous facade conceals the darkest of secrets.
Sixty years later, the police find the butchered body of Alfred Wiley in the woods. But before his daughter, Kris, can even identify the remains, things he never told her begin to surface one by one—a mysterious private eye who’d been tracking him, an eerie website devoted to the unsolved “Torso” murders, missing archives, stolen books, and an abandoned Bible factory harboring vagrants. The more she learns about her father’s obsession with the Torso Killer, the more Alfred’s death appears to be related, pulling Kris further into Cleveland’s hellish past.
Living decades apart, Ethel and Kris must unravel the truth behind the city’s most notorious serial killer…or die trying. Read More
Tags:Teens, death & dying, social & family issues, domestic, mystery, romantic, suspense
Fragments of the Lost
By: Megan Miranda
ISBN: 0399556729
Publisher: Crown
Publication Date:11/14/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR
From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and The Perfect Stranger comes a suspenseful psychological mystery about one girl's search to uncover the truth behind her ex-boyfriend's death. Perfect for fans of We Were Liars and 13 Reasons Why.
Jessa Whitworth knew she didn't belong in her ex-boyfriend Caleb's room. But she couldn't deny that she was everywhere--in his photos, his neatly folded T-shirts, even the butterfly necklace in his jeans pocket . . . the one she gave him for safekeeping on that day.
His mother asked her to pack up his things--even though she blames Jessa for his accident. How could she say no? And maybe, just maybe, it will help her work through the guilt she feels about their final moments together.
But as Jessa begins to box up the pieces of Caleb's life, they trigger memories that make Jessa realize their past relationship may not be exactly as she remembered. And she starts to question whether she really knew Caleb at all.
Each fragment of his life reveals a new clue that propels Jessa to search for the truth about Caleb's accident. What really happened on the storm-swept bridge? Read More
Tags: Psychological thriller, suspense, mystery, cop procedural, crime thriller
Disturbed
By: Jennifer Jaynes
ISBN: 1542046386
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: 11/7/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
A captivating psychological thriller from #1 USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Jaynes.
On Halloween night five years ago, Chelsea Dutton’s college roommates were viciously stabbed to death, and Chelsea was critically injured. She was found hiding in her apartment’s bathtub, barely clinging to life.
With only fragments of shattered memory, she’s been trying her best to move past the nightmares ever since. Now in Boston, she lives a somewhat reclusive life, working from home as a medical transcriptionist and bingeing on mindless television shows.
She can’t shake the fear that her attacker is out there, waiting to finish what he started, and Elizabeth, a nurse she met after the murders, is the only person she can trust.
When someone from her past reemerges, Chelsea starts receiving disturbing messages and worries that her every move is being watched. As the messages mount and her memories begin to return, she’s led to a very terrifying and lonely place. But she needn’t be afraid. She won’t be alone there for long.
Tags: Psychological thriller, crime, mystery, suspense
Mother
By: S.E. Lynes
ISBN: 9781786812209
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 11/22/2017
Format: e-book
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Christopher would never hurt anyone. Not intentionally. Even after everything that’s happened I still believe that…
Christopher Harris is a lonely boy. A boy who has never fitted in to his family. Who has always felt something was missing from his life.
Until one day, when he discovers a suitcase in his family’s attic. And a secret about his mother that changes everything...
Mother will hold you breathless until the very last page and leave you reeling. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, The Sister and Apple Tree Yard. Read More
Tags: Author, memoir, travel, arts, photography, non-fiction, historical, coastal, Souther, South Atlantic, small town
A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia
By: Sherryl Woods
ISBN: 0778360989
Publisher: MIRA
Pub Date: 11/14/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars
Part memoir, part oral history, #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods gives us a rare and intimate look at Colonial Beach, Virginia.
Rich in narrative history and local color, A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia is an homage to the town of Sherryl Woods’s summers, a place that stole her heart long ago and provided the basis for the many fictional small towns in her bestselling novels.
True to Woods’s signature style of focusing on characters who are at the center of their communities, here she has woven together the stories of the very real people who helped shape this seaside Virginia town. She takes us back to the days of her own family gatherings, artfully capturing the unique essence of Colonial Beach and making us yearn for small-town life.
Woods’s own memories frame the true stories she features—from the unique history of Colonial Beach itself to some firsthand accounts of the Oyster Wars that once consumed the community, to the stories of neighborhood merchants who made it a point to know just about every customer by name. From farmers to restauranteurs and hoteliers, from pastors to librarians and military folk, Woods’s research and interviews give life to the personalities of a very special place. Read More
Tags: Religion & Spirituality, Worship & Devotion, Inspirational, Christian Books & Bibles, self-help, Christian living, devotional, humor, entertainment, memoir, biography, movies, Southern
Higher Is Waiting
By: Tyler Perry
ISBN: 9780812989342
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 11/14/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Biographies & Memoirs, Christian
An intimate book of inspiration by one of the great cultural icons of our time.
Higher Is Waiting is a spiritual guidebook, a collection of teachings culled from the experiences of a lifetime, meant to inspire readers to climb higher in their own lives and pull themselves up to a better, more fulfilling place. In this intimate book, Tyler Perry writes of how his faith has sustained him in hard times, centered him in good times, and enriched his life.
Beginning with his earliest memories of growing up a shy boy in New Orleans, Perry recalls the moments of grace and beauty in a childhood marked by brutality, deprivation, and fear. With tenderness he sketches portraits of the people who sustained him and taught him indelible lessons about integrity, trust in God, and the power of forgiveness: his aunt Mae, who cared for her grandfather, who was born a slave, and sewed quilts that told a story of generations; Mr. Butler, a blind man of remarkable dignity and elegance, who sold penny candies on a street corner; and his beloved mother, Maxine, who endured abuse, financial hardship, and the daily injustices of growing up in the Jim Crow South yet whose fierce love for her son burned bright and never dimmed. Perry writes of how he nurtured his dreams and discovered solace in nature, and of his resolute determination to reach ever higher.
Perry vividly and movingly describes his growing awareness of God’s presence in his life, how he learned to tune in to His voice, to persevere through hard times, and to choose faith over fear. Here he is: the devoted son, the loving father, the steadfast friend, the naturalist, the philanthropist, the creative spirit—a man whose life lessons and insights into scripture are a gift offered with generosity, humility, and love. Read More
Tags: Christian Books & Bibles, Literature & Fiction, Romance, Western & Frontier, Baxter family, Religious & Inspirational, Romance, Family Life, Domestic
In This Moment
By: Karen Kingsbury
ISBN: 9781451687620
Publisher: Howard Books
Publication Date: 11/7/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a brand-new Baxter Family novel about a beloved high school principal who starts a Bible Study to improve the lives of his struggling students, only to become the national focus of a controversial lawsuit.
Hamilton High Principal Wendell Quinn is tired of the violence, drug abuse, teen pregnancies, and low expectations at his Indianapolis school. A single father of four, Quinn is a Christian and a family man. He wants to see change in his community, so he starts a voluntary after-school Bible Study and prayer program. He knows he is risking his job by leading the program, but the high turnout at every meeting encourages him.
A year later, violence and gang activity are down, test scores are up, and drug use and teen pregnancy have plummeted. The program is clearly working—until one parent calls the press. Now Quinn faces a lawsuit that could ruin everything.
With a storm of national attention and criticism, Quinn is at a crossroads—he must choose whether to cave in and shut down the program or stand up for himself and his students. The battle comes with a high cost, and Quinn wants just one attorney on his side for this fight: Luke Baxter. In This Moment is an inspiring, relevant story about the nuances of religious freedom and how a group of determined people just might restore the meaning of faith in today’s culture. Read More
Tags: Holidays, Christmas, Christian, Religious, Inspirational
The Noel Diary
The Noel Collection
ISBN: 1501172034
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date:11/7/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
In this new holiday-themed novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mistletoe Promise and The Walk, a man receives the best Christmas present he could ask for: the chance to re-write the past.
Jason Chercher is not doing well in love or life. Just two weeks after his wife leaves him he receives a phone call that his estranged mother has passed away, days before Christmas—leaving her home and all her belongings to him. Frankly, he would like to see everything just burned. But curiosity about his past and anxiety about his future fuels him to make the drive from Salt Lake City to her home in Medford, Oregon. Maybe cleaning out her house will be slightly less depressing than spending the holidays, alone, watching re-runs of Christmas classics.
While going through her things he comes upon her diary and the record of his childhood. He learns that his mother suffered from severe depression and during that difficult time he was taken care of by a young, unwed mother who was living with his family. The only clue he has to the woman’s identity is her name: Noel, which is an eerily fitting discovery on Christmas Eve. As Jason reads the diary he begins to uncover the source of his pain in relationships and understand that what he believed to be the truth of his past was actually a lie. That’s when he begins a journey to find Noel, wondering if she might hold the truth he needs to bring him peace and love. Read More
Get ready for the holiday season with a collection of must-read books for
every reader.
From fiction: crime, suspense, southern gothic, mystery, psychological, cop procedural,
action, domestic suspense to:
Holiday humor, Christmas, nostalgia, historic, women's fiction, and inspirational. Non-fiction: Christian, inspirational, travel, memoirs, and biographies.
Start shopping early and pre-order now!
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The Silent Corner
Jane Hawk #1
By: Dean Koontz
ISBN: 978-0345545992
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 6/20/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars
Dean Koontz returns following Ashley Bell, landing on myTop Books of 2015 with his latest, THE SILENT CORNER.
Koontz, a master at building suspense, and an incredible story-teller, this time around with action and a well-developed heroine to match. And as always, his signature lyrical prose.
The author introduces readers to the impressive, Jane Hawk: the first in the new series THE SILENT CORNER —A tough, intelligent, courageous kick-ass heroine with all the skills of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, David Baldacci's Will Robie and then some, as she encounters ruthless, dangerous, and evil predators on her journey for justice.
A fast action, suspense, high octane gripping page-turner!
“Those who are truly off the grid and cannot be tracked by any technology, yet are able to move about freely and use the Internet, are said to be in the silent corner.”
A grieving widow, Jane Hawk. An unstoppable clever FBI agent. A marine husband (Nick). They were married six years. Four months earlier she lost him. Another widow, Gwyn (husband Gordon).
Jane is passionate about clearing Nick’s name, about proving that he had not committed suicide. She had unknowingly set out on a path from which there would be no retreat. Driven by the love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has gone into hiding.
Murder-Suicides. A conspiracy. 8400 suicides. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, police, journalists . . . Unusual suicides. No history of depression, emotional problems or financial crisis. They do not fit the profile.
Vertigo. Intense dreams. A bitter taste.
Staying off the grid, going rogue, Jane is smart. She hides her five-year-old son with friends and moves across California. Staying in motels, in disguise and using different names. She is determined to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.
Before Nick’s death, there was a piece about scientists who were developing brain implants using light-sensitive proteins and fiber-optics. Their thoughts translated into luminous pulses by light-sensitive proteins and processed by software and rendered into speech by a computer.
Then she had marveled by all the miracles, technology, and changes. Was it mind control?
How were people make to do it?
Now she was trapped in a world of violence and horror. She recalled an earlier time with Nick.
His words. “You rock me.”
Jane takes a leave of absence and hits the road. Interviewing those left behind. Spouses of murder’ suicide cases. Those she sought to expose would not allow her to walk away and live. They had brought something new and terrible into the world. She did not understand. What would two more be people be to them? A mother and son?
She knew little. At the same time, she knew too much. She suspected more, and there would be no one to who she could risk turning for help until she knew it all.
Jane finds herself risking her life, as she makes shocking discoveries and comes up against dangerous conspiracies. (and we have more to come).
Koontz definitely kicks up the action ten-fold in THE SILENT CORNER!. It is no wonder Paramount Television and Anonymous Content have optioned the FBI drama.
The highly-skilled Jane Hawk rocks! She will be adored and respected by women and men readers, alike.
Rumors have it Koontz plans to write at least five more books featuring Jane Hawk, and the next in the series, The Whispering Room coming Nov 21, 2017. Jane Hawk—fiction’s most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine—continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner. Can't wait.
A reminder why we keep coming back for more Koontz.Better than ever! Fans will be anxiously awaiting the next installment in this enthralling suspense action thriller.
This may be my favorite since The City (which is totally different). Top Books of 2014.
A special thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. I also purchased the audiobook narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers, for an entertaining listening experience.
JDCMustReadBooks
Coming in Paperback
Oct 31, 2017
Jane Hawk #2
Coming Nov 21, 2017
Jane Hawk—fiction’s most relentless, resourceful, stunning new heroine—continues her battle against a murderous conspiracy in the riveting sequel to The Silent Corner.
“No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this.”
These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun—just before she takes her own life, and many others’, in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.
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The Trust
By: Ronald H. Balson
ISBN: 1250127440
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication Date: 9/19/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars
International bestselling author, Ronald H. Balson returns with his powerful Liam and Catherine series, following (2016)Carolina’s Twins (#3), (2015) Saving Sophie (#2), and Once We Were Brothers (#1) with THE TRUST — (#4) A riveting murder mystery mixed with history, and dark family secrets, set in Northern Ireland.
Liam Taggart a private investigator receives the news his uncle has died and gets called away to attend the funeral. His childhood home in Northern Ireland. He has not returned since a family disagreement years ago.
His life was comfortable now. A routine. His new baby, a happy marriage with Catherine, and a solid investigation practice. However, the one call from his cousin may change things entirely.
Uncle Fergus. He had feared this day would come and he knew he had to make amends before it did. Now it was too late. They had unfinished sentences. Words left unsaid. They had shared so much to end this way. Now he was gone.
Their last words, sixteen years earlier. They were never supposed to be the last words. His estranged Irish family. Janie wants him to come and he would rather not.
He had not left under the best of circumstances. He had a falling out with his uncle and returned to America. He was living a lie and got caught. He should not have accepted a posting in Northern Ireland that was bound to end in a betrayal. At the time he was young and he thought it was the right thing to do.
He was the uncover spy who was going to help bring an end to the war. What he did not realize was that he had chosen to alienate himself from the family he loved.
The job directed him to use his family to spy on the Catholic community. He had done some good. He returned to American in 1999. When his uncle learned he really was and what he had done behind their back. A fraud. He had betrayed his family.
He was with the CIA when he pretended to be working for a whiskey exporter. His family took him in and he conned them. It ended badly. He does not want to attend the funeral and face everyone. He had thought his decision courageous and for the right reasons.
He decides to return to made amends. He goes alone since Catherine has the baby to look after. A white envelope. His aunt Deirdre found in the mailbox the day Fergus was killed. A photograph.
“May you never forget what is worth remembering, nor ever remember what is best forgotten.”
They go through his belongings and in his box was a sealed envelope with Liam’s name with a handwritten letter. It mentions in the letter if the cause of his death is suspicious or the result of a homicide, then the person responsible must be identified and brought to justice before his estate is distributed.
He will be in charged with handling his estate. Executor. His legacy will be in Liam’s hands. “You’re the only one I can trust. My warning to you: be careful and do not trust anyone?" With love, Uncle Fergus
His uncle was proud of him. How he wished they had been close so he could have reached out to him earlier. What was so dangerous that Fergus’s words, “threatens everything I value?”
Death threats? The inheritance will be postponed until the killer is prosecuted. After everything is paid, the remainder of Mr. Taggart’s estate is left to a testamentary trust. The trustee named is Liam Taggart.
The trust remains sealed to all but the trustee, pending the occurrence of a certain condition set forth in the instrument.
Some family members are not happy about this turn of events. Until the son’s killer is caught and prosecuted, no one gets anything. It sits in trust until decided how to be maintained and final distribution.
Did his Uncle know he was going to be murdered? Why didn’t he identify his murderer in the trust?
Motive? The Taggart connection to the IRA and Fergus must have made a lot of enemies back in the day. An old vendetta? Money was also a strong motivator.
Who coveted Fergus’s property so strongly that they would kill him for it. The beneficiaries? His two sons, Conor and Riley, seemed well off, but you never know. Robert and Eamon would never have killed their brother for money. Would they? Janie was also a beneficiary. It couldn't be Deirdre. What about Bridget?
Now, will other family members be in danger? Then the threats. “Payback time Taggarts.”
Old doors are opened and secrets are revealed.
From the stunning front cover, the first page, to the last. Riveting dark hidden family secrets. A blending of history, suspense, and gripping mystery murder thriller.
As always Balsom’s books are well-researched, with well-developed characters and infused with intriguing historical events. I enjoyed catching up with Liam and Catherine and learning more about The Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fueled by historical events. Unionists and the British government referred to the long-running political violence as a law and order problem of ‘terrorism’.
For fans of intelligent, compelling and intriguing historical suspense thrillers.
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. I also purchased the audiobook narrated by Fred Berman for an engaging performance.
JDCMustReadBooks
1
 - Ronald H. Balson)
The Rules of Magic
By: Alice Hoffman
ISBN: 9781501137471
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars
Alice Hoffman returns following the popular (1995) occult Practical Magic and the Owens family (movie starring Nichole Kidman and Sandra Bullock) with a little history. Rewind to the 1960s and enjoy THE RULES OF MAGIC. A nostalgic coming-of-age love letter. Learning to embrace one’s true self.
Rich in history, NYC, witches, curses, magic, and humor. Catch up with Franny and Jet. and meet little brother Vincent and cousin, April.
“There is no remedy for love but to love more.” — Henry David Thoreau
Susanna Owens had fled Massachusetts, escaped to Paris and married and settled in New York City. She did not want her children to know of their heritage. However, it was clear from the start they were not ordinary children. She had to set down some hard rules. However, this was not an easy task.
Frances, (Franny) the eldest with pale skin and blood-red hair had the ability to commune with birds. Sulky and suspicious.
Bridget (Jet), a reader with jet black hair, shy and beautiful. Kind-hearted, sensitive, fashionable and similar to her mother.
Vincent was the youngest brother, a gifted musician and charismatic, charming, slim, handsome, and often misbehaved.
Their dad was a psychiatrist and the sisters were outsiders at school. They wanted to escape their mother’s rules to be themselves. Every year a box of lavender-scented black soap arrives from Massachusetts. Soon they discovered their mom was keeping secrets. Was she a Russian spy?
Their mom was chic and only wanted them to have a normal life. However, when they see a letter from bohemian Aunt Isabelle, the get the idea of spending the summer with her in Massachusetts. They could escape for the summer. No rules!
Once they arrive, they soon learn they can do anything. They are quirky as well as their aunt Isabelle (with all her potions), allowing them to do whatever they please. They could not imagine why they hadn’t spent every summer on Magnolia Street. She could care less about bad behavior, diet, sleeping habits, or rules.
The curse.
However, they soon missed the culture of New York. Isabelle had them that anything whole could be broken and anything broken could be put back together. The curse could be broken.
The sisters ignore their mother’s warnings, and on to Greenwich Village, setting up an apothecary, while their brother, breaks hearts along the way.
They made a vow never to fall in love. Isabelle gave them the advice to not hide from who they are. If they do they will be unhappy.
Their family had always been blamed for everything. However, as the children slowly begin to understand their family secrets and try to escape the family curse, they may learn something.
A captivating blend of magical realism and nostalgia— return to the magical world of the Owens. From witches, spells, curses, and potions. Family, friendship, humor, and the power of love with plenty of magic and love sprinkled on top. A perfect Halloween read. Growing up in the 60’s enjoyed revisiting the past.
A special thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.
JDCMustReadBooks
1
My Time With God
Renewed in His Presence Daily
By: Joyce Meyer
ISBN: 9781455560141
Publisher: FaithWords / Center Street
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars
Christian author, Joyce Meyer returns following Wake Up to the Word: 365 Devotions to Inspire You Each Day "Best Devotional" Top Books of 2016 with her latest: MY TIME WITH GOD Renewed in His Presence Daily — A 365 Day personal devotional filled with a collection of encouragements, quotes, confessions, and prayers.
Powerful, inspiring and uplifting, a great way to start your day!
God’s word is extremely powerful and it contains the power to renew our minds and change us into the image of Christ. He wants to have a close and intimate relationship with us. He has plans for all of us.
We all hope each day contains nothing but good and exciting things and goes according to our well-laid plans. However, this is not always the case.
Trusting God at all times, even before we have a challenge. We all are guilty of not setting aside the time to be with God and study His Word. To simply rest in His presence and listen. To be aware of Him. Trust Him.
When we trust God, we shut the door on fear and release peace and joy in our lives. Trust relieves stress and that helps our health and our relationships.
In this day and age of unrest and uncertainty in our country— and in our personal lives, we are often overwhelmed and filled with stress and anxiety. In addition, we crowd our schedules –our minds and our daily lives.
Whether you are hurting spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, or financially, He cares and wants to help. His will is for us to be in a growing intimate relationship with Him. We often do not take our cares to Him. Let Him into our lives and hearts, and give Him time.
I love Joyce Meyer’s devotionals! In addition to the advanced reading digital copy, I also purchased the hardcover. A beautiful book. I look forward to her devotional books in October (highly recommend 2016 copy as well).
I enjoy her beautiful and inspiring words and having a hardcover sitting on the bedside table is a daily reminder. Each day the reading ties in with the season and coincides with the specific time of the year. Easy to read and well organized for devotional; morning or evening, or both. A perfect gift for Christmas or other occasions and a great way to start the new year.
Each day offers a different topic. A scripture verse, and a note from the author. A devotional and a short prayer. Anyone can stop and spend a few short minutes to read, pray, and reflect. A way to kick-start your day. If we are too busy to seek God, then we are too busy.
You do not have to start in January. I started from today’s date and you working my way through. I especially enjoyed the one about Living Large. He is a God of abundance. He wants us to live large, free and have a full life. The author encourages us not to be afraid to ask God for big things. Don’t settle for less than the best life that you can have. “Don’t let your own small thinking keep you trapped in a little life.”
Another favorite, Waiting on God. I am a very impatient person. “Waiting on God is mostly an attitude of the heart.” We have to wait on God to reveal Himself to us and show us His favor. We need to pray and refuse to take action without assurance that God is leading. Often this means waiting for God’s help and being patient. Wisdom to make good choices.
Ultimately, spending time with God regularly is the foundation of living the victorious life that Jesus died to give us. How do we use our time? Make each day count. Time is a gift.
Over the course of three years, Joyce Meyer recorded in her journal the personal devotions and inspirations that guided her busy life. From meditations and words to renew your minds for a closer walk with Him. The courage to be honest. Pray your way through the day.
“Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us . . . Psalm 62:8.
"Bad things can become good things when we put God in charge of all things!"
God created us and we are special to Him. He has a plan for our lives and loves us unconditionally. We all need a daily appointment with God. Discover a way of life that will try satisfy your soul.
Highly Recommend!
A special thank you to Faith Words/Center Street and NetGalley for an early reading copy.
JDCMustReadBooks
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Top 20 Must Read Books Coming October 2017
Suspense, Mystery, Crime, Cop Procedurals, Legal, Psychological Thrillers
Two Kinds of Truth
Harry Bosch #22
By: Michael Connelly
ISBN: 0316225908
Publisher: Little Brown & Co.
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (Pre-Ordered)
Harry Bosch searches for the truth in the new thriller from #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch is back as a volunteer working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department and is called out to a local drug store where a young pharmacist has been murdered. Bosch and the town's 3-person detective squad sift through the clues, which lead into the dangerous, big business world of pill mills and prescription drug abuse.
Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch's LAPD days comes back to haunt him when a long-imprisoned killer claims Harry framed him, and seems to have new evidence to prove it. Bosch left the LAPD on bad terms, so his former colleagues aren't keen to protect his reputation. He must fend for himself in clearing his name and keeping a clever killer in prison.
The two unrelated cases wind around each other like strands of barbed wire. Along the way Bosch discovers that there are two kinds of truth: the kind that sets you free and the kind that leaves you buried in darkness. Read More
The Rooster Bar
By: John Grisham
ISBN: 0385541171
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 10/24/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (Pre-ordered)
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham’s newest legal thriller takes you inside a law firm that’s on shaky ground.
Mark, Todd, and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam.
But maybe there's a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process. But to do so, they would first have to quit school. And leaving law school a few short months before graduation would be completely crazy, right? Well, yes and no . . .
Pull up a stool, grab a cold one, and get ready to spend some time at The Rooster Bar. Read More
Southern Fiction, Small Town & Rural, Literary, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Detective
The Stolen Marriage
ISBN: 9781250087270
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars +++ (ARC)
Top Books of 2017
From perennial bestseller Diane Chamberlain, a compelling new novel.
In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina, a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II.
Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows no interest in making love. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.
The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain, especially after one of the town’s prominent citizens dies in a terrible accident and Tess is blamed. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not? Feeling alone and adrift, Tess turns to the one person who seems to understand her, a local medium who gives her hope but seems to know more than he’s letting on.
When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husband’s mysterious behavior and save her own life? Read More
The Last Ballad
By: Wiley Cash
ISBN: 0062313118
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
The New York Times bestselling author of the celebrated A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy returns with this eagerly awaited new novel, set in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina in 1929 and inspired by actual events. The chronicle of an ordinary woman’s struggle for dignity and her rights in a textile mill, The Last Ballad is a moving tale of courage in the face of oppression and injustice, with the emotional power of Ron Rash’s Serena, Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day, and the unforgettable films Norma Rae and Silkwood.
Twelve times a week, twenty-eight-year-old Ella May Wiggins makes the two-mile trek to and from her job on the night shift at American Mill No. 2 in Bessemer City, North Carolina. The insular community considers the mill’s owners—the newly arrived Goldberg brothers—white but not American and expects them to pay Ella May and other workers less because they toil alongside African Americans like Violet, Ella May’s best friend. While the dirty, hazardous job at the mill earns Ella May a paltry nine dollars for seventy-two hours of work each week, it’s the only opportunity she has. Her no-good husband, John, has run off again, and she must keep her four young children alive with whatever work she can find.
When the union leaflets begin circulating, Ella May has a taste of hope, a yearning for the better life the organizers promise. But the mill owners, backed by other nefarious forces, claim the union is nothing but a front for the Bolshevik menace sweeping across Europe. To maintain their control, the owners will use every means in their power, including bloodshed, to prevent workers from banding together. On the night of the county’s biggest rally, Ella May, weighing the costs of her choice, makes up her mind to join the movement—a decision that will have lasting consequences for her children, her friends, her town—indeed all that she loves.
Seventy-five years later, Ella May’s daughter Lilly, now an elderly woman, tells her nephew about his grandmother and the events that transformed their family. Illuminating the most painful corners of their history, she reveals, for the first time, the tragedy that befell Ella May after that fateful union meeting in 1929.
Intertwining myriad voices, Wiley Cash brings to life the heartbreak and bravery of the now forgotten struggle of the labor movement in early twentieth-century America—and pays tribute to the thousands of heroic women and men who risked their lives to win basic rights for all workers. Lyrical, heartbreaking, and haunting, this eloquent novel confirms Wiley Cash’s place among our nation’s finest writers. Read More
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Police Procedurals
The Deep Dark Descending
By: Allen Eskens
ISBN: 1633883558
Publisher: Seventh Street
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback (Audio)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife's death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause.
But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he's so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for.
On a frozen lake near the US-Canadian border, he wrestles with a decision that could change his life forever, as his hatred threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent a career bringing to justice. Read More
Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Odd Child Out
By: Gilly MacMillan
ISBN: 0062697838
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
How well do you know the people you love…?
Best friends Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad have always been inseparable. But when Noah is found floating unconscious in Bristol’s Feeder Canal, Abdi can’t–or won’t–tell anyone what happened.
Just back from a mandatory leave following his last case, Detective Jim Clemo is now assigned to look into this unfortunate accident. But tragedy strikes and what looked like the simple case of a prank gone wrong soon ignites into a public battle. Noah is British. Abdi is a Somali refugee. And social tensions have been rising rapidly in Bristol. Against this background of fear and fury two families fight for their sons and for the truth. Neither of them know how far they will have to go, what demons they will have to face, what pain they will have to suffer.
Because the truth hurts. Read More
Magical Realism, Fantasy, Witches, Coming of Age, Occult, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
The Rules of Magic
By: Alice Hoffman
ISBN: 9781501137471
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
From beloved author Alice Hoffman comes the spellbinding prequel to her bestseller, Practical Magic.
Find your magic.
For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.
Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.
From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.
The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is a story about the power of love reminding us that the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself. Read More
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Manhattan Beach
By: Jennifer Egan
ISBN: 9781476716732
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: Currently Reading
The long-awaited novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, Manhattan Beach opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to the house of a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children, and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider for her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a night club, she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have been murdered.
Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organized crime, the merchant marine and the clash of classes in New York, Egan’s first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a magnificent novel by one of the greatest writers of our time.
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Contemporary, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Suspense
If You Knew My Sister
By: Michelle Adams
ISBN: 9781250126702
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
In the vein of Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood comes a novel of psychological suspense form debut author Michelle Adams, where a woman returns to her family's home to learn the truth and escape her sister's influence.
If you knew my sister, you’d run too…
First there was the Robert Kneel incident.
Then what happened to Margot Wolfe.
And now she’s found me again.
Dr. Irini Harringford was given away by her parents just before her fourth birthday. Although she has spent her whole life trying to convince herself she doesn't need them, deep down Irini longs to understand why she was abandoned, while her parents kept her older sister, Elle.
So when Elle gets in touch with news that their mother has died, Irini reluctantly agrees to return to the family home. But she is ill at ease. She and Elle are not close. Irini knows only too well what Elle is capable of. Inexplicably drawn to her enigmatic sister, yet terrified of the sway she holds, Irini tries to protect herself even as she is sucked back into her family's toxic web of secrets...and soon realizes that the past is more complicated than she imagined, and that her very future rests upon discovering the truth about why she was really given away. Read More
Psychological Suspense, Domestic Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Book within a book
The Ghost Writer
ISBN: 1940941946
Publisher: DCA
Publication Date: 10/2/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: Currently Reading
From New York Times Bestseller Alessandra Torre…
I have three months to write the last book of my life. Three months to confess the details of that day, and how it changed everything for me.
My name is Helena Ross. I’ve written fifteen romance novels, ten of which have become international bestsellers. But this one isn't a romance, no Happily Ever After in place. This novel holds only the truth, which I have run away from for four years. The truth, which I have hidden from the police, from my loved ones, from the world.
This final book?
It's my confession. Read More
Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Suspense
Without Merit
By: Colleen Hoover
ISBN: 1501179764
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Audio
Narrator: Candace Thaxton
Simon & Schuster Audio
My Rating: 4 Stars
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends With Us and November 9 comes a moving and haunting novel of family, love, and the power of the truth.
“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.”
The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.
Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.
Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth. Read More
Psychological, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Noir, Serial Killer
The Mistake
By: K. L. Slater
ASIN: B073RWKQ5J
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/4/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
You think you know the truth about the people you love.
But one discovery can change everything…
Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead.
Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy’s death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother?
Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him… and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down.
Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger…
The Mistake is a completely gripping thriller that will keep you up all night, from the top ten bestselling author of Blink, Liar and Safe with Me. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. Read More
Serial Killer, Crime Thriller, Noir, Suspense, Mystery
Murder Game
Series: Ruby Preston #3
ASIN: B074H5X8DC
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
To catch a killer, you must first think like one…
A killer is playing a twisted game of life or death with his victims. After he captures them, a countdown begins. He marks the time by sending clues to the whereabouts of the women he has taken in three disturbing images: alive, tortured, dead.
In a race against the clock, East London Detective Ruby Preston must play the killer’s terrifying murder game and decipher the clues before more women die.
But this isn’t the first time the police have seen such a sickening crime. The notorious Lonely Hearts Killer, Mason Gatley, was put behind bars ten years ago for murdering six women in exactly the same chilling way. Desperate for more information, Ruby asks her gangster boyfriend, Nathan Crosby, to set up a dangerous meeting to allow her to see into the twisted mind of a murderer.
But the closer Ruby grows to the dark and charming Mason Gatley, the more worried her team becomes. Is he really helping her catch the killer? Or is he lining her up to be his next victim? Read More
Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Mystery
Silent Lies
By: Kathryn Croft
ASIN: B074YGZTPB
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/25/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Your husband didn’t kill himself.’
Five years rebuilding your life.
Five words will destroy it again.
Mia Hamilton lived the perfect life with her husband, university teacher Zach, and their two-year-old daughter, Freya. But everything changed when Zach committed suicide on the same night one of his students, Josie Carpenter, vanished.
Five years later, and Josie is still missing but Mia has finally found some happiness with new boyfriend Will.
Until one day when stranger Alison walks into her life and tells Mia that her husband didn’t kill himself.
Desperate to find out what really happened to Zach, Mia is forced to put her trust in Alison. But she soon discovers that Alison has her own agenda behind exposing the details of Zach’s death. Can Mia really believe anything Alison says?
Mia must decide how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth – even if she risks losing everything she loves. Read More
Crime, Suspense, Kidnapping
Little Secrets
By: Anna Snoekstra
ISBN: 9780778331094
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: 10/17/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
What happens when ambition trumps the truth?
A town reeling in the wake of tragedy.
An arsonist is on the loose in Colmstock, Australia, most recently burning down the town's courthouse and killing a young boy who was trapped inside.
An aspiring journalist desperate for a story.
The clock is ticking for Rose Blakey. With nothing but rejections from newspapers piling up, her job pulling beers for cops at the local tavern isn't nearly enough to cover rent. Rose needs a story—a big one.
Little dolls full of secrets.
In the weeks after the courthouse fire, precise porcelain replicas of Colmstock's daughters begin turning up on doorsteps, terrifying parents and testing the limits of the town's already fractured police force.
Rose may have finally found her story. But as her articles gain traction and the boundaries of her investigation blur, Colmstock is seized by a seething paranoia. Soon, no one is safe from suspicion. And when Rose's attention turns to the mysterious stranger living in the rooms behind the tavern, neighbor turns on neighbor and the darkest side of self-preservation is revealed. Read More
Women's Fiction, Contemporary, TV/Movie, Romance
Lilac Lane
A Chesapeake Shores Novel #12
By: Sherryl Woods
ISBN: 9780778331339
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: 10/17/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
No one writes about friends, family and home better than Sherryl Woods. Told with warmth and humor, Lilac Lane is a brand-new story in her beloved Chesapeake Shores series, one readers all over the world have waited two years to read!
At the heart of Lilac Lane is Keira Malone, who raised her three children alone after her first marriage broke apart, and who, after years of guarding her heart, finally finds love again. But that love is short-lived when her fiancé suffers a fatal heart attack. Grieving and unsure of what’s next, Keira agrees to move from Dublin to Chesapeake Shores, Maryland, to spend time with her daughter, Moira, and her new granddaughter, Kate, as well as to help her son-in-law, Luke, with his Irish pub, O’Briens.
Not wanting to live underfoot, she rents a charming cottage on Lilac Lane, replete with views of the ocean and her neighbor’s thriving garden—not to mention views of the neighbor himself. The neighbor is none other than Bryan Laramie, the brusque and moody chef at the pub, with whom Keira is constantly butting heads. But things get real when Bryan’s long-lost daughter, whom he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, shows up out of the blue. As Bryan and Keira each delve into their pasts, reopening wounds, the rest of the town is gearing up for the Fall Festival Irish Stew cook-off, and making no bones about whose side they’re on. It’s Kitchen Wars meets This is Your Life—a recipe for disaster…or a new take on love?
You won’t want to miss this epic return to Chesapeake Shores, a place we’re betting you’ll want to stay forever. Read More
Non-fiction, Christian, Religion, Spirituality, Inspirational, Devotional
My Time With God
Renewed in His Presence Daily
By: Joyce Meyer
ISBN: 9781455560141
Publisher: FaithWords / Center Street
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 stars (ARC)
Over the course of three years, Joyce Meyer recorded in her journal the personal devotions and inspirations that guided her busy life.
Those writings comprise MY TIME WITH GOD, the 365-day devotional that shares powerful insight into Joyce's spiritual reflections and journey.
Each daily entry guides readers through a narrative of meditations, an uplifting declaration, and relevant scripture to encourage greater intimacy with God. Including spiritual revelations experienced by one of the world's leading Bible teachers, this book will renew readers' minds, offering assurance of God's complete love and desire for closeness with them. Read More
Holiday, Christmas, Contemporary, Romance, HIstorical Fiction, Literary
The Deal of a Lifetime
By: Fredrik Backman
ISBN: 150119349X
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (pre-ordered)
A Holiday Novella
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and Beartown delivers an insightful and poignant holiday novella about a man who sacrificed his family in the single-minded pursuit of success and the courageous little girl fighting for her life who crosses his path.
It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life but he won’t say whose—not yet.
One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.
As the man tells his son about this plucky little girl, he slowly reveals more about himself: while he may be a successful businessman, idolized by the media and his peers, he knows he failed as a parent. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of fatherhood, he took the easy way out and left his wife and little boy twenty years ago to pursue professional success. Now he is left wondering if it’s too late to forge a relationship with his son, who seems to be his opposite in every way—prizing happiness over money, surrounded by loving friends in a cozy town where he feels right at home.
Face to face with the idea that something is missing, the man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so, he seeks him out and tells him this story…
Written with Fredrik Backman’s signature humor, compassion, and “knack for weaving tales that are believable and fanciful” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our only legacy is how we share that gift with those we love. Read More
Christmas in London
By: Anita Hughes
ISBN: 9781250145796
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Set during London's most festive time of year and filled with delicious food Anita Hughes' Christmas in London is about love and friendship, and the season's most important lesson: learning how to ask for and give forgiveness.
It’s a week before Christmas and Louisa Graham is working twelve hour shifts at a bakery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When a young cooking show assistant comes in from the rain and begs to buy all the cinnamon rolls on her tray, she doesn’t know what to do. Louisa is just the baker, and they aren't hers to sell. But the show burned the rolls they were supposed to film that day; so she agrees.
The next morning, Louisa finds out that her cinnamon rolls were a hit, but the star of the show was allergic, and the whole crew is supposed to leave for London that afternoon. They want Louisa to step in for their annual Christmas Eve Dinner TV special at Claridge's. It’s a great opportunity, and Digby Bunting, Louisa’s famous baking idol, will be there. Even if he does seem more interested in her than her food.
And then there’s Kate, the show's beautiful producer. On their first day in London she runs into the skinny boy she jilted at St. Andrew's in Scotland ten years ago. Now he’s a handsome, brilliant mathematician, and newly divorced. Their familiar spark is still there, but so is the scar of how they left things. Kate and Louisa are busy preparing for the show, but old and new flames are complicating their work. Read More
Last Christmas in Paris
By: Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
ISBN: 0062562681
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: Currently Reading
New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…Read More
What an exciting month for books! Get ready for fall cozy weather and the upcoming holiday season. Something for everyone!
More October News!
Speaking of Holiday Books, be sure and check out the enchanting
CARDINAL CABIN Blog Tour Host Oct 18. (On sale now)
Cardinal Cabin is an enchanting tale about finding love where you least expect it. So come on inside. A cozy fire crackles, lights twinkle on the evergreen tree, snowflakes tap at the windowpanes, and little redbirds bring cheer this time of year. Read More
Movie News! Coming in Theatres Oct 6
Highly anticipated:
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US
Based on novel by my favorite author, Charles Martin
Stranded on a mountain after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must work together to endure the extreme elements of the remote, snow-covered terrain. Realizing that help is not on the way, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing each other to survive and discovering their inner strength.
One of favorite crime thriller authors (2nd Edition) Available Now
Check out my blog at:
2
If You Knew My Sister
By: Michelle Adams
ISBN: 9781250126702
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars
As dark and sinister as The Sinner, by Petra Hammesfahr (TV-mini-series-which I loved) and Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. Multi-layered, Complex, Spine-tingling, and Twisty, with an explosive conclusion you do not see coming.
Narrated by Dr. Irini Harringford, (an anaesthetist at Queen’s College Hospital); the unwanted little girl now a woman living in London —haunted by the scars, unknowns, and mysteries of her past. The missing gaps.
Daughter of Maurice and Cassandra and sister, Elle in Scotland. Only for three years. Then she was sent away. She was the good daughter (age three). Why did they keep the bad daughter Elle (age seven) and send her away?
The years of studying to become a doctor to wear a mask so people would not see the real her. Maybe she does not recall. A life where she had parents. A past with somebody other than Elle.
“Sometimes I think I can remember my mother’s face: like mine, only older, redder, wrinkles like a spider’s web weaving around her lips. Other times I’m not so sure. But I’m sure that she didn’t offer any last-minute advice to be a good girl, no quick kiss on the cheek to tide me over. I would have remembered that, wouldn’t I? She slammed the car door, stepped back, and my aunt and uncle drove me away from her like it was the most normal thing in the world. And even then, I knew something was over. I have been given away, cast out, dumped.”
Elle is her sister. Her only sister from a previous life from which she has kept a few memories. Some are blurry, some are hauntingly real. She is the last remaining connection to a past she has tried desperately to forget. Elle is her destiny.
She is utterly inescapable. She is back to ruin things. Torment her, and create havoc in every part of her life. She even killed their family dog, Toto, plus so much more . . . (way more than Irini knows)
Irini is living with a man Antonio whom she will not marry. She had no role models. She really would like a family, but it feels too dangerous. She only needs someone to care for her for the last twenty-nine years.
When Irini was only three-years-old her parents sent her away. They kept one daughter, Ella, and sent her away. She has never discovered why.
Presently, her sister Ella has found her once again. After six years of absence, she has managed to worm her way back into her life. Ella is a dark monster. One she runs from. One she is indebted to.
A message, that their mum (Cassandra) has died. Of course, a mother is nothing more to her than an idea. A dream. A childish hope. However, she is curious. Ella needs her. Once again after six years, of keeping her distance, she weakens her. She makes her feel guilty. She owes her. Ella constantly reminds her.
She agrees to return home. Possibly she will use this as an opportunity to find answers to her past. Maybe she will find the truth from her father. The why? Why did she have to leave her home and family to go and live with a woman who did not want her?
The missing part of this puzzle. Why did her aunt continue to move them each time Elle found them. How can she pass up the chance to know why they gave her away and kept Elle?
Elle is everything superficially, Irini is not. Irini has a limp due to her dysplastic hip. She is a cripple. She has deep scars. She is chubby. Elle is beautiful, thin, fit, enigmatic captivating, and has confidence.
Elle is the one person who never tired of finding her. This knowledge was for Irini, an addiction. The fact no matter how far she runs, Elle will find her. The only thing worse than her absence was her presence. A risky game of cat and mouse.
But it is too late to ask for answers because all that remains is her mom's grave, the secrets of the past buried with her and out of reach. The little butterfly returning to the nest. The grand Victorian house with all its wealth. One she was not a part of. One giant black hole waiting to suck her in.
With all their wealth, she had to settle for hand-me-downs. Discarded things for a discarded child.
The return was not as she expected. She does not belong here. Ella is still manipulative and evil. She was the one they kept. Even after they sent her away, Ella would seek her out and deliver her from the bullies. The late-night trips she would leave Aunt Jemina’s house to meet her sister. She was hoping her father would explain.
Now, she still has no answers. Irini wants to leave. She feels trapped. Ella drugs her in order to get her to stay. Two broken girls. Mental illness. Dysfunctional families. However, there is much more to the story than Irini can imagine. What is everyone covering up?
Before she can speak to her father. He suddenly dies but not before he redoes his will. Leaving everything to the daughter he gave up.
Is Elle setting her up for a fall? Now the police are questioning her about the death of her father. How is Antonio mixed up in all of this? What do the strange numbers mean on the will? Then she meets a friend of Elle. Matt. Everyone knows Elle is a sociopath. Reckless. Manipulative. A killer.
Are we our parents? "We are what they make us either by their presence or through their absence."
Were they really trying to protect her by sending her away? A cover-up? What do suicides in the 1990s at Fair Fields along the Scottish Border have to do with her sister?
Is Elle a scared girl running from her past. Is she a murderer? Who will stop her? Killed to save her sister and to save herself. Will Irini keep her secrets?
I was glued to the pages of this page-turner! Love stories of hidden secrets of families. Elle will give you the spine-tingling chills! (Was dying to find out the mystery. It is a big one and one you do not anticipate.) Unpredictable.
I am shocked there has not been more "hype" surrounding IF YOU KNEW MY SISTER (prime for the big screen). As I was reading, was strongly reminded of The Sinner, in many ways with the toxic relationship and deep scars of two sisters. The forgotten past. The missing links. The dysfunction, violence, abandonment, and the tug and pull between the two sisters. The dark secrets, drugs, manipulation, evil, and the love/hate relationship. Was one sacrificed for the other?
Family. The butterfly effect. (many relations to butterflies). Hidden meanings. . . Madame Butterfly.
The ending left unanswered questions, so wondering if we may get a sequel, or meant to leave us pondering. Would love to learn more about these haunting characters and secrets of Fair Fields and Elle's POV. An ideal choice for books clubs and further discussions.
Well-written, dark, disturbing, twisty, and unsettling. Looking forward to reading more from the talented author. Fans of Lisa Unger, Ruth Ware, Jennifer Jaynes, and Jennifer Hillier will enjoy Adams' debut IF YOU KNEW MY SISTER.
A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early reading copy. I also purchased the audiobook narrated by Emily Pennant-Rea for an engaging listening experience.
JDCMustReadBooks
1
The Stolen Marriage
ISBN: 9781250087270
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars +++
Top Books of 2017
International Bestselling author and one of my all-time favorites, master storyteller, Diane Chamberlain returns following Pretending to Dance, landing on my Top books of 2015 with her latest multi-layered compelling drama: THE STOLEN MARRIAGE — Profound and moving, a complex novel of deeply buried secrets. Well-researched, a perfect blending of fact and fiction.
Rich in history, mystery, suspense, intrigue and the finest of southern fiction. Emotionally driven, infused with richly layered characters—with highly-charged and compelling “true to life topics” of the era.
Movie-worthy: From racial tensions to the stresses and emotions of World War II — tragedy, loss, love, trust, betrayal, compassion, forgiveness, and the toll of secrets from a rural small Southern town.
A poignant and engrossing tale.
From dark secrets, infidelity, sex outside of marriage, same-sex, abortion, prejudice, interracial marriages and relations, war rationing, family obligations, gripping moral dilemmas, religion, polio epidemic, and a little magical sprinkle of the supernatural.
Set in 1943, Theresa “Tess” DeMello, a 23-year-old nurse-in-training resides in Little Italy, Baltimore, Maryland. A happy Italian Catholic family, they have lived next door to the Russos forever. They are celebrating her twenty-third birthday and the completion of Vincent’s hospital residency at John Hopkins.
She has been in love with Vincent Russo since she was a child. They have planned their lives and even their children. In a few months, Tess would be graduating from nursing school and taking her licensing exam and finally be able to call herself a registered nurse. A career she had longed for since she was ten years old. They even fantasized that someday Vincent would have his own pediatric practice and she would be his nurse.
The two families are planning their upcoming wedding. They had been dating for seven years. She is still a virgin and since Vincent had grown up expecting to be a priest, he had never pressured her. They would wait until their wedding night.
Her best friend Gina, on the other hand, was a different story. She did not think it was a sin, and really— she did not find too much of anything a sin.
Tess was worried that he would be called off to war but he did have a minor heart problem. However, she was not prepared for a change in their well-laid plans. Vincent was called to Chicago. There was an infantile paralysis epidemic there and they needed doctors to volunteer. A subject true to his heart due to members of his family with polio.
This is just one of the reasons Tess loved him so. He was devoted and selfless. He had hoped to be away for only a few weeks. However, the few weeks turned into longer. He was so busy, he seldom had time to write or phone in a shared boardinghouse with eight men. She worried he would fall in love with Chicago and forget about her —their plans and their life. She fears what is there is someone else? She is feeling insecure. Self-doubt sets in.
As time moved on Vincent was still away and her friend Gina was feeling a little down since her man was away fighting for his country. Gina begs her to accompany her to Washington, DC. A weekend getaway. They deserved it. Only an hour train ride from Baltimore and they could stay at her aunt’s house near Capitol Hill. She runs a tourist home. Tess does not want to go, but Gina finally persuades her.
However, when they arrive, their aunt had to leave unexpectedly and leaves them a note and key. There are also two businessmen who will be staying overnight in the house. They meet the men and they take them out for dinner and martinis.
The two men seemed nice enough, Robert Talbot and Henry Kraft. Henry was from the South, and appeared to be well dressed, in his late twenties and rather quiet. Gina was flirting with Robert and left her to talk with Henry.
Henry’s family owns a fine furniture factory (Kraft Furniture) in Hickory, NC and now they are producing material for the war effort. She did notice Henry had only seven fingers. Their maid Adora saved his life. He looked sad.
Back at the house, with too much to drink, things get out of hand. Intoxicated. They had sex. Tess was horrified. How could she have done such a thing when she loves Vincent? She is determined never to see or speak to him again. Was it rape? One night changes the course of her life.
Upon return, she is guilt-ridden and goes to the priest for confession. A mortal sin to have sexual relations outside of marriage and betraying her fiancé he says. She must tell Vincent. However, he needs to remain eight more weeks but assures he will be back months before the wedding.
Then her worst fears. She is pregnant. What was she going to do? A smart girl with a brilliant career and future will dishonor her entire family. Could she pass the baby off as Vincent’s? She could not marry him. She must leave. She cannot face him. She does not trust in their love. Gina says she must have an abortion. None of these options are looking good. Gina knows someone who will take care of it.
Scared and alone, she arrives and cannot go through with it. She must move away. A place where she would not be the object of scorn or shame or worry about bumping into Vincent or his family. She decides she will travel to Hickory, NC and tell Henry. She would do whatever she could to protect her baby.
However, things go differently than she planned. She was not quite expecting Henry to propose. She did not love him or know anything about him nor his family. She was stunned. Could this be a sign from God? She decides to marry him. She has no clue what she is getting into. A loveless marriage with a stranger? This is not the life she planned.
Henry was a take charge man with money, power, and prestige. Plus, a sophisticated family. She knew she was not part of his life. She could not forget her nursing and immediately wanted to look into the requirements for licensing in NC. He does not think she needs a career.
He wants to build them a house; however, while the house is being built, they have to move in with his overbearing mother and sister Lucy. His sister was about the same age as Tess and she thought this could be her new best friend. Wrong, on all accounts.
Tess soon learns there is no lovemaking (which is a good thing), and Henry goes back to his busy life, leaving her stuck with mother and sister. Also, Violet Dare, Hank’s fiancée most of her life. Everyone knew they would marry. They came from the right families. No one can understand why he married this girl no one had met and from Baltimore.
Something secretive is going on with Henry (Hank). Lucy tells Tess there are things she does not know about Henry. (it is definitely not what you expect).
Now everyone blames her. Plus, her mom and others cannot comprehend why she would give up her life for some man in NC? Her mother and father (in heaven) will disown her. How could she do this to Mimi, Pop, and Vincent? A man who left to do volunteer work and she cheated on him.
She decides to write Vincent a letter. She cannot be honest and she cannot tell him about the baby or her marriage. She tells him not to find her and find someone worthy. A letter full of lies and omissions. Heartbroken, she is the talk of the town. Alienated from everyone. Then her mother passes away. She blames herself once again.
Violet is the district attorney’s daughter. She will not be Henry’s wife. Tess feels her only friend is the maid, Hattie. Bryon Dare (her dad) is prosecuting Henry’s friend Gaston. His friend who married a Loretta (black), and wants to return to NC to reside.
Tess knows she must take the RN exam and it would be held only a few hours away in Winston-Salem via train. She has to figure out a way to get there. Of course, the mother-in-law and Henry think all this is nonsense since she will be too busy with the women’s organizations, now that she is Henry’s wife. Of course, being in the South, this is Baptist Bible belt territory and she is Catholic.
What else would she have to give up?
With heartfelt letters from Tess to Gina back home she talks about the town, her husband, a nanny, and child on the way. She knows she is fortunate to have his support but she misses her life and Vincent. So many things she wishes she could undo.
However, if you have read any of Diane Chamberlain’s books, you know there is a complex story coming. Paths will intersect, lives will be tested, love and hope will be restored.
Fun part: Hattie tells her about Reverend Sam (love him). He talks to the spirits. She is sad and wants clarity. However, he lives in Ridgeview (colored town), and how will she get there? She needs to make peace with her mom, Maria. A book. She loves visiting him and feels freer.
She soon suspects she is being followed. Henry does not come home sometimes. Zeke the colored janitor is always at the factory. A cop following her. What was she missing? A mystery. Then she stumbles upon an armoire filled two-thirds with bills. Banded and in stacks. More than two thousand dollars.
Another tragedy. Another loss. She was trapped and miserable. How foolish she had been about Vincent going away for a few months to Chicago for work, and then allowing Gina to talk her into the stupid Washington trip and sleeping with Henry. Then the baby. She must find a way out of this trap.
Then polio strikes. Infantile paralysis. Ruth (Henry’s mom) says it only happens to poor people, which was not true since she points out FDR was not poor. Maybe she could help out since she is a nurse.
Enter more problems. Between Gina and Lucy, these two get Tess in all sorts of trouble. A car accident on the wrong side of town. Lucy is gone. Everyone blames her. She needs her mom and Lucy’s forgiveness. War and polio. People dying. She could not sit still. She could do some good.
“We need to remember that polio knows no socioeconomic or racial lines. It affects all our community and it will take all of us to fight it.”
With the weight on her shoulders, Tess must dig her way out of the muck and get her life back. Disliked by a town, her own household, and her secretive money-hiding husband, and unable to do the work she loved, and still longed for a man she could not have. A husband and mother in law telling her what she could and couldn’t do.
Is she being played for a fool? Will she find a way to get the power back?
She needs her spiritual guide named Walter. She must help at the polio hospital. She has to save herself and get her life back. In the process she may even save others, seeking redemption. Someone’s tragedy could be someone else’s salvation.
What will happen when she meets face to face with Vincent? Has she lost her chance at real happiness?
Could tragedy bring out the best of people and possibly the judgemental friends may turn out to be more generous and compassionate than she thought possible? Could she win back her dignity with the town and those she loves? She arrived broken and hopefully. Will Tess possess the strength to help make it whole?
The author grabs you from the intriguing and suspenseful prologue to the satisfying conclusion. Loved the Epilogue and the author’s notes about Hickory and the actual polio hospital which was staffed in fifty-four hours!
A gripping, powerful and compelling page-turner!
No one can tell a story like Diane Chamberlain. The author has never been afraid to tackle the hot highly-charged topics and a pro at family drama and riveting suspense. She is at the top of her game. Of course, everything she writes is solid gold (have read all her books and anxiously await the next).
Loved Tess’ character and her enduring power. What a journey; from self-doubt and fear — with one crisis after another, to a stronger woman through her adversity. An ideal choice for book clubs and further discussions. Reading Guide
Highly Recommend! THE STOLEN MARRIAGE is a Top Books for 2017 and read in one sitting. Suspenseful as well as informative, insightful and compelling.
For fans of Jodi Picoult, Heather Gudenkauf, Karen White, Lisa Wingate, and Amy Hatvany,
Once again, her meticulous researched topics and well-developed characters remind me strongly of one of my other favorites: Necessary Lies and the novella The First Lie. If you enjoyed THE STOLEN MARRIAGE, you will devour these two. PS Another oldie but goodie favorite: The Bay at Midnight.
The Stolen Marriage and Necessary Lies are my top favorites out of all her books. Possibly being an NC native, I enjoy revising my roots and its rich Southern history. I always learn a new bit of history after reading one of her books.
If you have not already, please visit Diane’s website and her blog. You will appreciate the story even more and further enhance your overall reading experience when you read her personal account.
Thank you, for having the courage and determination to express. An inspiration to many. Rape, Race and Writing Historical Fiction
She includes more extensive research on her website and books about polio in 1944 in this town. Another article.
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early reading copy. Also pre-ordered the audiobook narrated by Susan Bennett. Look forward to listening.
Adore both covers. The rain and the train (strong) since Tess was traveling on a train so many times. Each time required courage in order to attain her final goal.
JDCMustReadBooks
On a personal note:
Was delighted to see the author chose the southern setting of Hickory, NC and could not wait to read. Exceeded all expectations.
A native of Statesville, only 20 minutes east of Hickory, spent a great deal of time there growing up. In addition, have the Lenior Rhyne College connection for many years, as well as was in the fine furniture interior design business in NC —spending a great deal of time at the Furniture Mart in Hickory as well as High Point. Also, always enjoy the Winston-Salem references where my sons now reside.
The rich history of Hickory, NC has shaped it into the up and rising city that has earned it the title of an All-American city three times. . . As outlined in the book, "Historically, Hickory is most known for its huge polio epidemic, also known as the Miracle of Hickory. Following World War II, polio epidemics severely hit the US’ population. Hickory had the largest polio outbreak in all of NC.
My mom’s twin died of polio in the mid-1930s and my best friend from school had polio. She was disfigured and was made fun of by many.
I enjoy how the author takes multiple historic topics and weaves a compelling story which is both heartwarming and tragic. My mom was a huge Diane Chamberlain fan and she would have loved this story.
About the Author
Diane Chamberlain is the New York Times, USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of 25 novels published in more than twenty languages. Some of her most popular books include Necessary Lies, The Silent Sister, The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, and The Keeper of the Light Trilogy. Diane likes to write complex stories about relationships between men and women, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and friends. Although the thematic focus of her books often revolves around family, love, compassion and forgiveness, her stories usually feature a combination of drama, mystery, secrets and intrigue. Diane's background in psychology has given her a keen interest in understanding the way people tick, as well as the background necessary to create her realistic characters.
Diane was born and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey and spent her summers at the Jersey Shore. She also lived for many years in San Diego and northern Virginia before making North Carolina her home.
Diane received her bachelor's and master's degrees in clinical social work from San Diego State University. Prior to her writing career, Diane worked in hospitals in San Diego and Washington, D.C. before opening a private psychotherapy practice in Alexandria Virginia specializing in adolescents. All the while Diane was writing on the side. Her first book, Private Relations was published in 1989 and it earned the RITA award for Best Single Title Contemporary Novel.
Diane lives with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her sheltie, Cole. She has three stepdaughters, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren. She's currently at work on her next novel.
Please visit Diane's website at www.dianechamberlain.com for more information on her newest novel, The Stolen Marriage, and a complete list of her books.
2
The Mistake
By: K. L. Slater
ASIN: B073RWKQ5J
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/4/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars
K. L. Slater returns following (2017) Liar, and Blink plus her debut (2016) Safe with Me with her fourth hit in a row THE MISTAKE — a twisty psychological thriller with a satisfying conclusion.
Fans of Kaira Rouda’s Best Day Ever, will enjoy The Mistake. (especially the ending). Gareth and Paul have a lot in common. Payback is a bitch.
Rose is a librarian who lives alone with a cat. Anxiety filled, with an eating disorder (when under stress), she pretty much stays to herself and never goes out at night. Books help her back to some sense of normal.
She used to read crime novels, but she has not touched a book like that in sixteen years. She had a therapist. She had experienced true terror. She now builds her life around food, drink, books, and TV.
"Reading about deceitful personalities, the hidden underbelly of society and unreliable characters who appear to be one thing but are soon found out to be something else entirely . . . all that stuff now fills me with a curdling discomfort that can last for days."
A trauma, from an event which occurred some sixteen years earlier. Her safe and ordinary life disappeared in the space of a heartbeat.
Guilt-ridden, she was with her younger eight-year-old brother, Billy. She should have been watching him closer the day they were flying his kite. However, something grabbed him in the woods and after missing for two days they found him dead. Strangled.
Her parents are now deceased, and she still lives next door to an elderly man, Ronnie. He was a nice man who everyone loves and helped search for her brother years ago. She tries to help him out with picking up food from the market and checking on him. She has a key for emergencies.
Ronnie has some sort of virus and has fallen. She finds in the bathroom and the medical team has arrived and as he is leaving, he tells her not to look in the attic.
Later, Rose decides she will do something to help the kind man which everyone loves in the small village. She decides to clean his house for him so it will be nice when he gets well and returns home.
However, she recalls his warning of the attic. She thinks possibly he is embarrassed because it is messy, so she decided to clean the upstairs as well.
Then she stumbles upon a blanket. The blanket was her brothers. The one he had the day of his death that no one has ever found. Rose is now beside herself. How could Ronnie, this nice man have her brother’s blanket? She desperately needs answers.
Has she been living next to her brother's killer all along?
We revisit the events leading up to Billy’s disappearance and death. Rose had a best friend Cassie. They did everything together. One day walking home with her art, this good-looking guy stops her. Gareth. Cassie encourages her.
Gareth was in his twenties and seemed worldly. He was responsible for the regeneration of the village with new plans. He seemed interested in her. Soon she becomes engrossed with this new guy. However, he soon turns into a controlling narcissist, but not before he charms Rose and pulls her in with manipulation.
Cassie warns her to stay away after she sees how controlling he is. Gareth says Cassie is jealous. He makes her choose. Soon he manipulates his way into their family with her dad, offering him a volunteer job and promises of a paid job.
However, he dislikes her little brother Billy and does not want her to have any friends. He tells her he loves her. Yet he tells her what to wear, how to act, and wants to control everything in her life.
Cassie later is raped and now is estranged from Rose. Rose tried to see her but her protective brother Jeb turned her away. Not until the abuse begins does she realize how deep she is in. She must break things off with this monster. However, it is not so simple. He will not let her go.
She has lost everyone she is close to. It is her fault for allowing this monster into their lives.
Moving back and forth from past to present in alternating chapters, readers are dying to know about what really happened to Billy. Gareth was in prison. However, was he the real killer? He was a bad person but is Ronnie the real killer? On her father’s deathbed, Rose promised her dad she would never see Gareth again. However, will she have to face down her worst nightmare in order to help Billy?
She is receiving threatening notes. Someone is watching her every move.
She has to find the courage and find out once and for all who killed him. In the process, she could be trying to help a monster go free. She is only safe with him behind a jail cell. She has to be smart to stay one step ahead of Gareth. She gets in touch with the detective, Mike North who was on the case.
What about Ronnie, her neighbor? She must solve this mystery to put this nightmare behind her once and for all. Was it Gareth, Ronnie, or someone else? The motive for harming an innocent child?
However, she has to keep Gareth in prison. He is evil, abusive, a psychopath, liar, and a rapist. A killer?
An unputdownable thriller, and as always Kim keeps you glued to the pages. If you have read her other books, you know she is the queen of killer twists. The Mistake is another one which keeps you on the edge-of-your-seat. A Sleeping with the Enemy with a twist.
I especially enjoyed seeing Rose stand up to Gareth, after the abusive relationship and everything he put her through. This one will leave you smiling.
A cautionary tale of coercive, manipulative, abusive, and controlling relationships and the lost-lasting effect such a negative experience can have on a person. The author also addresses help for anyone who thinks they may find themselves in this type of relationship full of criticisms.
A special thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.
JDCMustReadBooks
Click on covers to read my reviews
1
Liar
By: K.L. Slater
ASIN: B06XZWWH6L
Publisher: Bookouture
Pub Date: 6/16/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
K. L. Slater returns following (2017) Blink and her sensational debut (2016) Safe with Me with her latest hit, LIAR — a thriller with a sinister killer twist you do not see coming!
Who is the unreliable narrator?
As always, Slater keeps you in suspense until the explosive ending, which will blow you away.
Judi is a wife, mother, and doting grandmother.
Her son, David died when he was a teen (readers are kept in the dark about what actually happened to him until later in the book). She is overprotective of her family. Often to the extremes. Obsessive and controlling of her other son Ben and his sons.
Since her devoted son Ben’s wife, Louise died, she makes sure he is taken care of along with his two sons. She cleans his home, cleaned, meals are stocked and even does his laundry. She has a key. Ben adores her. Everyone looks up to Judi and she makes sure she is the "queen" of the castle.
Currently, she is going through menopause, so her emotions are all over the board. The annoying hot flashes, mood swings, and all the other annoying side effects. You know, if you have been there: Unbalanced and crazy. Plus possibly she is still grieving thinking of the son she lost.
Ben meets a mysterious new woman. Amber. However, Amber planned this chance meeting. She has an ulterior motive. As a reader, we are not quite sure. Amber has secrets. She is manipulative and quickly wraps Ben around her finger.
Amber does not like Judi. Judi does not like Amber.
This news of Ben's new girlfriend does not set too well with Judi. Immediately, the claws come out along with jealousy, revenge, and insecurities.
Each of the women starts plotting against the other. Ben takes a back seat.
Judi cannot have another woman taking over with her grandsons nor her son. On one hand as a reader, you feel for Judi and you despise Amber. However, you never fully know which one to trust until later in the book.
Judi feels like she is losing control. Some other woman is taking over her role. Amber is gaining her son’s affection and even Judi’s husband likes her and tells her to lighten up.
However, things get more serious and they plan to marry. Judi does not like Amber and has to stop this relationship before it goes any further. Ben is shutting her out. Amber is winning. Now, Judi is not the center of attention. Desperation.
Which woman will outsmart the other? Which one is more evil and devious? Murder? What secrets do they both hide? How far will each of them go to protect their family?
What happens next will blow you away!
Slater definitely knows how to spin a tale, crank up the intensity and suspense, create some evil ass characters, get your heart beating, and give an added twisty kick. She just keeps getting better.
Each and every novel provides unique surprises and twists. Your emotions will definitely switch while reading like a tennis match. All I kept thinking about: the lyrics and song, “Judy in Disguise.”
Now, I am protective of my sons and yes, we mothers of sons do not like daughter-in-laws taking over; however, Judi is over the top. Man, she has two sides.
When you finish you will have to decide which woman is more evil and sinister.
I had the pleasure of reading LIAR a while back before it was published; however, typically wait until closer to pub date to write and post my review. During the time (May-Aug) happened to be dealing with my elderly dad's illness out of state, his death, and then as executor, settling his estate.
After reading her latest, The Mistake (highly recommend), wanted to link to my review for Liar and noticed I had not reviewed or posted. I quickly purchased the audiobook narrated by Lucy Price-Lewis to refresh myself. Highly recommend the book and the audio version. Lucy is always entertaining and a perfect match for K.L. Slater’s books!
A complex, haunting, chilling, and addictive mind-blowing psychological suspense thriller!
Definitely packs a wicked punch and then some. Clever and unpredictable.
A special thank you to Bookouture for an advanced reading copy.Bookouture has created a winning lineup of talent in the psychological thriller genre!
JDCMustReadBooks
The Mistake Coming Oct 4, 2017
About the Author
Kim is the bestselling author of psychological crime thrillers 'Safe With Me,' 'Blink,' 'Liar' and the soon to be released 'The Mistake.'
For many years, Kim sent her work out to literary agents and collected quite a stack of rejection slips. At the age of 40 she went back to Nottingham Trent University and now has an MA in Creative Writing.
Before graduating in 2012, she received five offers of representation from London literary agents and a book deal which was, as Kim says, ‘a fairytale … at the end of a very long road!’
Kim is a full-time writer and lives in Nottingham, England with her husband, Mac.
She also writes award-winning Young Adult fiction for Macmillan Children's Books, writing as Kim Slater.
Author website: www.KLSlaterAuthor.com
Twitter: @KimLSlater
Facebook: KL Slater Author
1
Odd Child Out
By: Gilly MacMillan
ISBN: 0062697838
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars
Gilly Macmillan returns following What She Knew and The Perfect Girl with her latest, ODD CHILD OUT —her third highly-charged compelling psychological (literary fiction) suspense.
Set in Bristol, meet two teen boys from different backgrounds: Noah Sadler— a native-born British boy, and Abdi Mahad —refugee from Somalia.
An opening scene. One boy jumps near a canal at the edge of the water . . . He lands, gets up and begins running. One pleading with the other.
A suicide attempt? What happened? Did someone fall? Foul play involved?
Two friends. As thick as thieves. They made friends of the first day and became inseparable at the college. One boy winds up in the hospital. An accident?
Detective Jim Clemo (we met in Book #1) returns and is assigned to the case with colleague DC Justin Woodley.
Things become complicated. Social tensions arise of fear and fury. Both parents want to learn the truth.
Noah is dying. Cancer. Terminally ill.
He has a bucket list. Thirteen items. His #1 item. “Don’t tell anybody else I’m dying. Not even Abdi.”
They need Abdi to speak.
A photo exhibit. Images from war and disaster zones. A racially motivated attack?
Neither boy can provide a version of what happened. Noah is in a coma and Adbi remains mute. Emma, a reporter stirs up emotions.
Both Noah’s and Abdi’s families are forced to confront emotions and secrets.
Covering the course of 5 days of the investigation and the day after, the author covers media frenzy and social tensions, as well as emotions of diverse families, in this highly-charged third book.
A story of family, love, loss, illness, and friendship. A realistic and timely storyline, with similar critical issues we are faced with today in our own society.
A special thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Harper Collins for an early reading copy.
JDCMustReadBooks
1
The Surrogate
By: Louise Jensen
ASIN: B073HDRSWV
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 9/27/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
Louise Jensen is on a roll! Three hits in a row—quite the accomplishment. Her passion shines through. The author’s previous two books reached #1 in the UK and abroad (if you have not heard).
The thriller queen returns following The Gift on my Top Books of 2016 and The Sister (2016) with her latest THE SURROGATE — her best yet!
NOTE to readers: PS. I continue to say, "I am going to keep my reviews short." That way I can write many more reviews. Right? However, when I get started they seem to go on and on. If you do not feel like reading them; my feelings will not be hurt. Just take my advice, and buy the book. Judge for yourself. I think you will find, there is much to be discussed. The good ones always are. If you spend time reading a book, why not spend just as much time writing a review?
Talk about "unreliable" narrator (s) ! These guys are pros. The author keeps you guessing until the final explosive conclusion with one last jab . . . and turns the knife a little more. A killer twist.
If you think this is the same ordinary surrogate story? The surrogate tries to keep the baby. Wife disappointed. Husband runs off with the surrogate. . . . "No, think again." Much more complex and multi-layered.
The reader does not know which character they can trust. The characters do not trust one another.
Complex with a Capital “C”. Each character has a secret past and as the novel progresses, skeletons come out of the closet— one by one .... Unraveling. You gasp and say, "WTH?"
This book is high anxiety and happened to be reading it in the middle of a hurricane, which only accelerated the intensity. The author creates clever twists (her master signature style) and keeps you on your toes.
Guilt, loyalty, revenge, love, trust, betrayal, and hate.
An array of emotions. Who is the real guilty party, or is it a combination of people? One wrong action and turn— causes a domino effect. Do you really know your friends and your spouse?
“So many lives ruined. What was one more?”
“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh. If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” — William Shakespeare
As the book opens there is a reporter. There are two bodies. A double murder?
Meet Kat and Nick. From then to now.
Overall they seem like a nice ordinary couple. Charity work. They have been married for eight years. Stroke Support. A charity Nick set up with his best friend Richard after Richard's grandmother had a stroke.
Kate had been a temp and this is how they met. They are set financially. She still works for them, while Richard is busy with his law firm and Nick has a property development company.
Kate wants a baby. Let me correct myself. She is "obsessed" with having a baby. She wants to be a mother. She is getting desperate and running out of patience.
Nick, her husband says he wants one too, but you get a strong feeling, not with the same level of enthusiasm and burning desire, as his wife. Maybe just wants his wife to be happy. She, after all, cannot have children. He can.
Their many attempts have been unsuccessful. From doctors, tests, to adoption agencies. Each time they get close, something falls through at the last minute.
Enter Lisa.
Lisa comes back into Kate’s life after a long absence. A childhood friend. They were BFFs. What happened to separate the two? Is she a friend harboring a grudge, perhaps?
Can Kate trust her? Was this encounter planned or a by chance meeting? Fate? The two were great friends growing up but had a major falling out. We do not know in the earlier part of the book. A mystery. We know there was a car accident that rocked their small town and Kate ran away, leaving Lisa to deal with questions.
One thing Kat knows for sure. It is approaching the 10th anniversary of Jake, her ex-boyfriend’s death. Has fate brought the once best friends back together? Good or bad?
Mistakes were made.
“We learn that Kate is a keeper of secrets. A guardian of the truth.” . . . You mustn’t tell Kate.”
Lisa seems to have been the third wheel in their teen relationship. Very jealous of the relationship Kate had with Jake. Is there more to this story? You better believe it.
Lisa never wanted to be a mother. Kate is dying to be a mother. Lisa said she has been a surrogate previously, and it went well, leaving a seed planted in Kate’s mind. Is she genuine, or not?
Later an adoption falls through once again and Kate wonders, what if? Could this really work? Is surrogacy the answer? In the past, she never thought about this option, but Lisa? The person she has known her entire life. This could be a miracle.
You know when you are desperate, you are not thinking clearly and weighing all the options. Desire clouds our thinking.
However, from here on out, nothing is simple. What a roller coaster wild crazy ride. The psychological elements are slow burning to sizzling!
Each reader will have theories about the murders. They will change throughout the book. Lisa is hiding her past. Kate is hiding her past. Now, Nick is definitely hiding his past.(Nick’s is a doozy).
You do not expect this haunting tragedy. This poor guy cannot catch a break. However, in the present, he seems to have it together (to Kate, anyway). Kind of removed. Something is going on with him and he says work issues.
Kate is heartbroken about a past love. There was a car accident. She came from a very strict family, especially her dad. She lost her shot at motherhood, and love in one fatal night. Does she want revenge? She has never told Nick about her secrets. He has not shared his.
You are dying to know, what happened!
As a reader, you are also unsure about Lisa. Kate suspects something is not quite right with Lisa. She agrees to be a surrogate, but at times she appears to be hiding something. Kate is suspicious. She could ruin her life.
Throw Richard in the mix. He is an attorney and best friend of Nick’s from childhood. Kate gets the feeling Richard does not like her. He always handles their adoption affairs. Can we trust him? Is he sabotaging their chances?
Kate soon realizes maybe her husband is not so keen on the idea of their upcoming baby. He seems withdrawn and she suspects he may be having an affair. Has she pushed him away with her overwhelming obsession?
Lisa is acting strangely. Is Kate paranoid because she cannot control her own life? She is at the mercy of Lisa. The picture-perfect life she had planned seems to be falling apart.
Who is lying?
“Our version of the truth is pliable, we mold our reality to mask our lies, and sometimes it sounds so plausible we even convince ourselves.”
As the intense suspense builds all three characters’ lives finally intersect. Except wait a minute. It is not over until the fat lady sings. Just when you think it will end a certain way, BAM . . . an evil twist.
The Butterfly Effect: The butterfly effect is a concept that states "small causes can have larger effects".
If you have seen the movie The Butterfly: (2004) American psychological thriller supernatural fiction film starring, Ashton Kutcher.
“The title refers to the butterfly effect, a popular hypothetical example of chaos theory which illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time.”
When you finish reading you will be speculating how different things could have been, if . . . These two are different in many ways but reminds me strongly of-Harlan Coben’s, mini-series, The Five (which I binge-watched this weekend on Netflix on my Kindle). Loved! Top-Notch. One mistake. Again, the butterfly effect. The Sinner is another example (loved this book and mini-series).
People carry guilt their entire lives over certain things. However, we learn down the road there may have been other things, and persons and circumstances at play, which changed the course.
Mind-boggling. However, this person may go through their entire life and never know how each small thing contributed to the tragedy, as well. This is where mysteries and missing persons go, unsolved and very intriguing.
You've got to love books like this. I know I do. Heart-pounding. Enthralling! There are so many what-ifs. This is a prime example, as in the movie referenced and this book. Things we do in our teens, or as children. Small things lead to large unforeseen consequences. We live with them our entire lives. They will haunt, consume, and change the course of more than one life.
You want to reach out to our children, (my grandchildren). Be mindful of the small things. They can turn into large things. One wrong move can lead to disaster.
A cautionary tale. This husband and wife both are troubled and damaged souls. However, they both keep their hidden secrets from one another. Could someone be a hero in the end? Redemption?
Louise, you sure do know how to write a twisty complex tale with juicy dark secrets. When looking at the three main characters, not sure which one I am more shocked about. There are a few close ties here for vote for "most damaged." I mean, seriously.
Plus, we could hold an entire psychological discussion dissecting Kate’s dad and mom.
No matter what surrogate stories you have read in the past, I can pretty much say, you will find NONE, like this one. It takes you by surprise. Grabs you.
Who is the real monster? Read, and discover.
Shocking. Spine-tingling. A top psychological thriller.There is so much good stuff here. Ideal for book clubs and further discussions.
Jensen is quickly becoming my top UK author. This book needs to be compared, rightly so to The Girl on the Train and then some. Top books of the year list. 5 Stars +++
Other things about the author (in addition to her fabulous storytelling), which provides her books an added edge. I love learning the inspiration behind the book. She is very good about doing this at the end of her books, as well as wonderful thought-provoking book club questions.
THE SURROGATE is definitely movie-worthy, or a mini-series. Congrats, another hit under your belt. Don’t stop now.
Readers, If you loved Coben’s The Five, you will certainly enjoy The Surrogate. Ideal for fans of B.A. Paris, Wendy Walker, and Mary Kubica.
A special thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an early reading copy. (great cover, as well)
JDCMustReadBooks
About the Author
Louise Jensen is a No. 1 bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her debut novel 'The Sister,' was published in July 2016 and reached No. 1 in the UK where it stayed for over 5 weeks, and it also hit No. 1 on the Canadian Amazon chart, No.1 in Apple's iBooks and is listed as a USA Today Bestseller. It was the 6th biggest selling book on Amazon in 2016.
'The Sister’ is a book about a grieving girl who thought there was nothing as frightening as being alone – she was wrong.
'The Gift' Louise's second book, was published in December and within a week of release gave Louise her second No. 1 in 2016 both in the UK, where it stayed for over a 5 weeks, was No. 1 in Canada and is also a USA Today Bestseller.
'The Gift' is a book about a perfect daughter and how a secret is eating her family alive...
To date Louise has sold over 700,00 books and her novels have been sold for translation in fifteen territories. Louise was nominated for the Goodreads Debut Author of 2016 Award.
Louise also writes flash fiction, and features and articles for both magazines and online publications. Louise specialises in writing about mindfulness, chronic pain and mental health. Read More
1
The Blackbird Season
By: Kate Moretti
ISBN: 9781501118456
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: 9/26/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Haunting, complex, twisty, mysterious, and suspenseful — Moretti style.
The whodunit suspense will keep you glued to the pages. The excellent writing, well-developed characters, and crafty plot will keep you entertained and absorbed.
“The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying." —from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, Wallace Stevens
Nate Winters and his wife Alecia are well respected in the small quiet town of Mount Oanoke, Pennsylvania. A dying mill town, the people living in this small community have their struggles. Baseball is one highlight of their town.
Nate is a math teacher and baseball coach, well loved by all. A hero to many. Alecia, a former career woman, is now a stay at home mom with their 5-year-old autistic son, Gabe.
Things are quite tense in their relationship, marriage, and household. Of course, with Gabe, her plate is full. Alecia is consumed with his care and often resentful of her husband who spends time at school and on the ballfield helping others.
She is miserable, bitter, angry, and sad. She has little time left over for her husband with a special needs child. Her only friend is Bridget.
Told from alternating points of view: Alicia, Nate, Lucia, and Bridget.
Bridget is a creative writing teacher at the school and a co-worker of Nate. She believes in him. She lost her husband to cancer the previous year. They had all been good friends. Of course, as teachers of high school students, a difficult task; there is always drama—they are self-absorbed glued to their phones, or bullying someone.
Lucia is a senior at the high school. She is an eccentric teen, loner and everyone thinks is weird. A witch? A difficult childhood. She is in a writing class led by Bridget. Bridget feels uncomfortable with Lucia. She has no friends. She writes of death and dying.
“Lucia tackled pain and death clinically, a biology lab dissection. She sees birds. She says they come to her and she knows bad things will happen.” Entries in her journal.
She is exotic with unsettling beauty. Crazy white hair, black-rimmed eyes, and red lips. She has a brother, Lenny, and dropout and a father Jimmy who had skipped town. Is she evil? She has obsessions with blackbirds, ravens, and crows. She reaches out to Nate for help.
How could this pillar of the community— father, husband, teacher, leader, and friend —Nate, find himself in trouble? He would be fired. Everyone would call him a murderer. They would accuse him of an affair. OR a student who came on to Nate and he rejected her —set out for revenge?
A thousand starlings fell from the sky. Not fluttering to the earth, but plummeting. Hard and fast in the middle of the third inning of the opening day at Mt. Oaknoke High field.
Then the pandemonium. A cloud of blackbirds, thousands of them. The entire thing lasted less than three minutes. 911 was called, and everyone wondered where they came from. Why did they fall? What did it mean?
After the falling which everyone thinks is a bad omen, everything bad begins happening. Nate is accused of having an affair. A motel. A reporter. He is fired. Did Nate have a flair for girls in need or was he innocent? A girl goes missing. Fingers are pointed.
A marriage and a town are torn apart. However, is Nate to blame or someone else? Is he being set up and if so whom? Is Lucia a victim or menace? An intriguing character.
A slow-burning gripping tale, both haunting, spellbinding, and disturbing.
A cautionary suburban crime story sprinkled with supernatural elements. The unsettling atmosphere gives a strong sense of fearful apprehension or darkness lurking. Foreboding, suspicion, and unease —a feeling that something bad will happen; a dark cloud.
What lies beneath those dark clouds?
Moretti delves deep into the lives of these flawed characters. Loss and danger—an ongoing theme. From the loss of a spouse, marriage, love, job, trust, and a town. From teens to adults. Bullying. Everyone has an opinion. With an array of emotions. Jealousy and obsession.
Marriage, parenting, infidelity. Expectations. The wide variation in challenges, strains, and strengths of a special needs child with autism; the complex developmental disability, and the caregivers. The strains it can bring to a marriage.
Guilt or Innocence. Good or Evil. Black and white magic. From malicious acts to loyalty and friendship. Self-discovery or destruction. Denial or obsession. A compelling complex book of contrasts, relationships, and expectations with shades of gray.
The symbolic meaning of blackbirds is eternally linked to the "dark vs light" phases of the moon similar to the character’s lives. Blackbirds and birds of black or dark colors are special among their airy clan as they are symbolic of mystery, magic, secrets, and the unknown.
The blackbird teaches you how to acknowledge your power and use it to its fullest. While the crow or blackbird can play the trickster, they are usually benevolent and bring news of good passage and protection.
The condition of the town with its ups and downs and tragedy, as well as the claustrophobic, toxic, bleak, and creepy outlook— also parallels to the character’s lives. Would make for an ideal selection for book clubs and further discussions.
Fans of Jodi Picoult, Heather Gudenkauf, Paula Treick Deboard, T. Greenwood, and Lisa Scottoline’s One Perfect Life(also set in Pennsylvania), will enjoy this emotional thriller.
THE BLACKBIRD SEASON also gave me the chills (psychologically) as so, when watching The Birds, (a 1963 American horror-thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock) as a child—this one did give me nightmares for weeks.
Would love to learn more about the author’s inspiration for this unique book. Hats off to the author for courageously tackling this storyline with so many moving parts. Hint: (an interview Q&A is in order).
A very special thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. 4.5 Stars
Have also pre-ordered the Audiobook narrated by Cassandra Campbell (My favorite narrator), Gibson Frazier, Joy Osmanski, Rebekah Ross. Look forward to listening!
JDCMustReadBooks
About the Author
Kate Moretti is the New York Times Bestselling author of Thought I Knew You, While You Were Gone, and Binds That Tie. Her newest novel, The Vanishing Year will be available fall 2016. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two kids. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.
She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.
Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway. Read More
Don't Let Go
By: Harlan Coben
ISBN: 978-0525955115
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: 9/26/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars
Vigilante justice . . .
Note: — Have no clue how this author cranks out so many books and TV shows I suspect he may have a few clones. They definitely possess his fine talent for signature twists and suspense (oh and did I mention “emotional” as well).
DON’T LET GO, most definitely will "not let you go" until this mystery is solved. Missing persons have always been intriguing. What led them to go missing? The circumstances. Where have they been? Dead or alive?
Coben excels with dramas surrounding this topic. His crime thrillers are more than just murders. Rich in character. Not just action. Motives, thoughts, fears, desperation. From the victims to the family members. They are desperate for answers. For any clues to provide answers.
Meet New Jersey detective Napoleon "Nap" Dumas. Is there more to this character than meets the eye.? An unreliable narrator? Dark and mysterious with a dual role.
He is haunted by events of the past some fifteen years earlier. He is still mourning his twin brother, Leo, and Leo's girlfriend, Diana (cheerleader). They were found dead on the town's railroad tracks one night during their senior year. Accidental or suicide?
Soon after, Nap's own girlfriend, Maura Wells, disappeared. Was this a coincidence? Why did she choose this night to disappear? Were the events connected? It was nearing the last few weeks of high school in the suburban Westbridge when the events occurred. Booze, sex, drugs?
Now Nap’s past connects with the present when Maura’s fingerprints are discovered in a car driven by a murdered Pennsylvania cop. Rex Canton was shot.
To further complicate matters. Leo, Diana, Maura, and Rex were all members of Westbrook High’s Conspiracy Club (a secret society for goofballs and like-minded nerds).
Then, Hank, another member of the club is murdered. Leo, Diana, Rex, Hank and where is Beth?
Nap is obsessed with connecting the dots. He soon learns Beth Lashley (the last of the surviving members of the former club), is missing.
An old abandoned military base in town the club members were investigating. The Conspiracy Club (all geek geniuses) wanted to find out what happened after it closed.
Someone is killing off the old Conspiracy Club members. They have been killed before their thirty-fifth birthday.
After meeting with Augie, (Diane’s father) a police captain and mentor, he soon suspects none of these incidents were accidental. The denial. He lost a beautiful vibrant seventeen-year-old daughter. She had been his life.
What secrets could the Conspiracy Club have discovered?What did they see? Who is out to get the club members? What did (do) they know?
Rumors were: a secret lab, experiments, Nazi scientist, mind control, LSD, UFOs, nuclear weapons? A government conspiracy, a teen prank gone wrong, or something more sadistic? The big question . . . Why would they wait fifteen years to kill the remainder?
Wow, this was once again a gripping page-turner. Coben is a master at churning up the past. The past does not stay buried. Regretable actions. If only we could get a do-over.
I enjoy how Coben always gives readers an inside view of the inspiration behind his novels. (legend -a Nike missile control center with nuclear capabilities near a school)
In addition to his award-winning books (if this is not enough), Netflix subscribers can now stream Coben’s first TV drama, "The Five." A 10-part series starring a group of friends who made a tragic mistake in 1995. A five-year-old Jesse gets in the way. Twenty years later at a crime scene and his DNA shows up. The dark secrets are unraveled. Read More
Subscribed: currently binge-watching while multi-tasking: INTRIGUING! Something else to keep us in suspense and to look forward to: "Safe" his next project due next year.
A very special thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.
JDCMustReadBooks
3
Top 22 Must Read Books Coming October 2017
Suspense, Mystery, Crime, Cop Procedurals, Legal, Psychological Thrillers
Two Kinds of Truth
Harry Bosch #22
By: Michael Connelly
ISBN: 0316225908
Publisher: Little Brown & Co.
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
Harry Bosch searches for the truth in the new thriller from #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch is back as a volunteer working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department and is called out to a local drug store where a young pharmacist has been murdered. Bosch and the town's 3-person detective squad sift through the clues, which lead into the dangerous, big business world of pill mills and prescription drug abuse.
Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch's LAPD days comes back to haunt him when a long-imprisoned killer claims Harry framed him, and seems to have new evidence to prove it. Bosch left the LAPD on bad terms, so his former colleagues aren't keen to protect his reputation. He must fend for himself in clearing his name and keeping a clever killer in prison.
The two unrelated cases wind around each other like strands of barbed wire. Along the way Bosch discovers that there are two kinds of truth: the kind that sets you free and the kind that leaves you buried in darkness. Read More
The Rooster Bar
By: John Grisham
ISBN: 0385541171
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 10/24/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (Pre-ordered)
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham’s newest legal thriller takes you inside a law firm that’s on shaky ground.
Mark, Todd, and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam.
But maybe there's a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process. But to do so, they would first have to quit school. And leaving law school a few short months before graduation would be completely crazy, right? Well, yes and no . . .
Pull up a stool, grab a cold one, and get ready to spend some time at The Rooster Bar. Read More
Parting Shot
Promise Falls #4
By: Linwood Barclay
ISBN: 1409163938
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars
From New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Linwood Barclay comes a new, standalone blockbuster thriller that spins off from the events of the explosive Promise Falls trilogy.
If you made a mistake that took someone's life, you'd remember it . . . wouldn't you?
After a tragedy rocks the community of Promise Falls, Cal Weaver is asked to investigate the threats being made to the accused's family. He's heard all about it on the news: the young man who drank too much, stole a Porsche and killed a girl, and who claimed afterwards not to remember a single thing. The whole town is outraged that he got off lightly, but for reasons Cal can't explain, he accepts the job. Then Cal finds himself caught up in a vicious revenge plot, chasing someone set on delivering retribution. In Cal's experience, it's only ever a matter of time before threats turn into action. . . .
A gripping thriller packed with scandal, from the master of the twist you never saw coming. Read More
Southern Fiction, Small Town & Rural, Literary, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Detective
The Stolen Marriage
ISBN: 9781250087270
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars +++ (ARC)
Top Books of 2017
From perennial bestseller Diane Chamberlain, a compelling new novel.
In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina, a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II.
Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows no interest in making love. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.
The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain, especially after one of the town’s prominent citizens dies in a terrible accident and Tess is blamed. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not? Feeling alone and adrift, Tess turns to the one person who seems to understand her, a local medium who gives her hope but seems to know more than he’s letting on.
When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husband’s mysterious behavior and save her own life? Read More
The Last Ballad
By: Wiley Cash
ISBN: 0062313118
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
The New York Times bestselling author of the celebrated A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy returns with this eagerly awaited new novel, set in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina in 1929 and inspired by actual events. The chronicle of an ordinary woman’s struggle for dignity and her rights in a textile mill, The Last Ballad is a moving tale of courage in the face of oppression and injustice, with the emotional power of Ron Rash’s Serena, Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day, and the unforgettable films Norma Rae and Silkwood.
Twelve times a week, twenty-eight-year-old Ella May Wiggins makes the two-mile trek to and from her job on the night shift at American Mill No. 2 in Bessemer City, North Carolina. The insular community considers the mill’s owners—the newly arrived Goldberg brothers—white but not American and expects them to pay Ella May and other workers less because they toil alongside African Americans like Violet, Ella May’s best friend. While the dirty, hazardous job at the mill earns Ella May a paltry nine dollars for seventy-two hours of work each week, it’s the only opportunity she has. Her no-good husband, John, has run off again, and she must keep her four young children alive with whatever work she can find.
When the union leaflets begin circulating, Ella May has a taste of hope, a yearning for the better life the organizers promise. But the mill owners, backed by other nefarious forces, claim the union is nothing but a front for the Bolshevik menace sweeping across Europe. To maintain their control, the owners will use every means in their power, including bloodshed, to prevent workers from banding together. On the night of the county’s biggest rally, Ella May, weighing the costs of her choice, makes up her mind to join the movement—a decision that will have lasting consequences for her children, her friends, her town—indeed all that she loves.
Seventy-five years later, Ella May’s daughter Lilly, now an elderly woman, tells her nephew about his grandmother and the events that transformed their family. Illuminating the most painful corners of their history, she reveals, for the first time, the tragedy that befell Ella May after that fateful union meeting in 1929.
Intertwining myriad voices, Wiley Cash brings to life the heartbreak and bravery of the now forgotten struggle of the labor movement in early twentieth-century America—and pays tribute to the thousands of heroic women and men who risked their lives to win basic rights for all workers. Lyrical, heartbreaking, and haunting, this eloquent novel confirms Wiley Cash’s place among our nation’s finest writers. Read More
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Police Procedurals
The Deep Dark Descending
By: Allen Eskens
ISBN: 1633883558
Publisher: Seventh Street
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback (Audio)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife's death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause.
But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he's so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for.
On a frozen lake near the US-Canadian border, he wrestles with a decision that could change his life forever, as his hatred threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent a career bringing to justice. Read More
Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Odd Child Out
By: Gilly MacMillan
ISBN: 0062697838
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
How well do you know the people you love…?
Best friends Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad have always been inseparable. But when Noah is found floating unconscious in Bristol’s Feeder Canal, Abdi can’t–or won’t–tell anyone what happened.
Just back from a mandatory leave following his last case, Detective Jim Clemo is now assigned to look into this unfortunate accident. But tragedy strikes and what looked like the simple case of a prank gone wrong soon ignites into a public battle. Noah is British. Abdi is a Somali refugee. And social tensions have been rising rapidly in Bristol. Against this background of fear and fury two families fight for their sons and for the truth. Neither of them know how far they will have to go, what demons they will have to face, what pain they will have to suffer.
Because the truth hurts. Read More
Magical Realism, Fantasy, Witches, Coming of Age, Occult, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
The Rules of Magic
By: Alice Hoffman
ISBN: 9781501137471
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (ARC)
From beloved author Alice Hoffman comes the spellbinding prequel to her bestseller, Practical Magic.
Find your magic.
For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.
Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.
From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.
The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is a story about the power of love reminding us that the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself. Read More
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Manhattan Beach
By: Jennifer Egan
ISBN: 9781476716732
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 3 Stars
The long-awaited novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, Manhattan Beach opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to the house of a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children, and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider for her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a night club, she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have been murdered.
Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organized crime, the merchant marine and the clash of classes in New York, Egan’s first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a magnificent novel by one of the greatest writers of our time.
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Contemporary, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Suspense
If You Knew My Sister
By: Michelle Adams
ISBN: 9781250126702
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
In the vein of Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood comes a novel of psychological suspense form debut author Michelle Adams, where a woman returns to her family's home to learn the truth and escape her sister's influence.
If you knew my sister, you’d run too…
First there was the Robert Kneel incident.
Then what happened to Margot Wolfe.
And now she’s found me again.
Dr. Irini Harringford was given away by her parents just before her fourth birthday. Although she has spent her whole life trying to convince herself she doesn't need them, deep down Irini longs to understand why she was abandoned, while her parents kept her older sister, Elle.
So when Elle gets in touch with news that their mother has died, Irini reluctantly agrees to return to the family home. But she is ill at ease. She and Elle are not close. Irini knows only too well what Elle is capable of. Inexplicably drawn to her enigmatic sister, yet terrified of the sway she holds, Irini tries to protect herself even as she is sucked back into her family's toxic web of secrets...and soon realizes that the past is more complicated than she imagined, and that her very future rests upon discovering the truth about why she was really given away. Read More
Psychological Suspense, Domestic Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Book within a book
The Ghost Writer
ISBN: 1940941946
Publisher: DCA
Publication Date: 10/2/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
From New York Times Bestseller Alessandra Torre…
I have three months to write the last book of my life. Three months to confess the details of that day, and how it changed everything for me.
My name is Helena Ross. I’ve written fifteen romance novels, ten of which have become international bestsellers. But this one isn't a romance, no Happily Ever After in place. This novel holds only the truth, which I have run away from for four years. The truth, which I have hidden from the police, from my loved ones, from the world.
This final book?
It's my confession. Read More
Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Suspense
Without Merit
By: Colleen Hoover
ISBN: 1501179764
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Audio
Narrator: Candace Thaxton
Simon & Schuster Audio
My Rating: 4 Stars
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends With Us and November 9 comes a moving and haunting novel of family, love, and the power of the truth.
“Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.”
The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.
Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.
Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth. Read More
Psychological, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Noir, Serial Killer
The Mistake
By: K. L. Slater
ASIN: B073RWKQ5J
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/4/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
You think you know the truth about the people you love.
But one discovery can change everything…
Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead.
Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy’s death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother?
Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him… and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down.
Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger…
The Mistake is a completely gripping thriller that will keep you up all night, from the top ten bestselling author of Blink, Liar and Safe with Me. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. Read More
Serial Killer, Crime Thriller, Noir, Suspense, Mystery
Murder Game
Series: Ruby Preston #3
ASIN: B074H5X8DC
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
To catch a killer, you must first think like one…
A killer is playing a twisted game of life or death with his victims. After he captures them, a countdown begins. He marks the time by sending clues to the whereabouts of the women he has taken in three disturbing images: alive, tortured, dead.
In a race against the clock, East London Detective Ruby Preston must play the killer’s terrifying murder game and decipher the clues before more women die.
But this isn’t the first time the police have seen such a sickening crime. The notorious Lonely Hearts Killer, Mason Gatley, was put behind bars ten years ago for murdering six women in exactly the same chilling way. Desperate for more information, Ruby asks her gangster boyfriend, Nathan Crosby, to set up a dangerous meeting to allow her to see into the twisted mind of a murderer.
But the closer Ruby grows to the dark and charming Mason Gatley, the more worried her team becomes. Is he really helping her catch the killer? Or is he lining her up to be his next victim? Read More
Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Mystery
Silent Lies
By: Kathryn Croft
ASIN: B074YGZTPB
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10/25/2017
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Your husband didn’t kill himself.’
Five years rebuilding your life.
Five words will destroy it again.
Mia Hamilton lived the perfect life with her husband, university teacher Zach, and their two-year-old daughter, Freya. But everything changed when Zach committed suicide on the same night one of his students, Josie Carpenter, vanished.
Five years later, and Josie is still missing but Mia has finally found some happiness with new boyfriend Will.
Until one day when stranger Alison walks into her life and tells Mia that her husband didn’t kill himself.
Desperate to find out what really happened to Zach, Mia is forced to put her trust in Alison. But she soon discovers that Alison has her own agenda behind exposing the details of Zach’s death. Can Mia really believe anything Alison says?
Mia must decide how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth – even if she risks losing everything she loves. Read More
Crime, Suspense, Kidnapping, Mystery
Little Secrets
By: Anna Snoekstra
ISBN: 9780778331094
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: 10/17/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (ARC)
What happens when ambition trumps the truth?
A town reeling in the wake of tragedy.
An arsonist is on the loose in Colmstock, Australia, most recently burning down the town's courthouse and killing a young boy who was trapped inside.
An aspiring journalist desperate for a story.
The clock is ticking for Rose Blakey. With nothing but rejections from newspapers piling up, her job pulling beers for cops at the local tavern isn't nearly enough to cover rent. Rose needs a story—a big one.
Little dolls full of secrets.
In the weeks after the courthouse fire, precise porcelain replicas of Colmstock's daughters begin turning up on doorsteps, terrifying parents and testing the limits of the town's already fractured police force.
Rose may have finally found her story. But as her articles gain traction and the boundaries of her investigation blur, Colmstock is seized by a seething paranoia. Soon, no one is safe from suspicion. And when Rose's attention turns to the mysterious stranger living in the rooms behind the tavern, neighbor turns on neighbor and the darkest side of self-preservation is revealed. Read More
Women's Fiction, Contemporary, TV/Movie, Romance
Lilac Lane
A Chesapeake Shores Novel #12
By: Sherryl Woods
ISBN: 9780778331339
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: 10/17/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
No one writes about friends, family and home better than Sherryl Woods. Told with warmth and humor, Lilac Lane is a brand-new story in her beloved Chesapeake Shores series, one readers all over the world have waited two years to read!
At the heart of Lilac Lane is Keira Malone, who raised her three children alone after her first marriage broke apart, and who, after years of guarding her heart, finally finds love again. But that love is short-lived when her fiancé suffers a fatal heart attack. Grieving and unsure of what’s next, Keira agrees to move from Dublin to Chesapeake Shores, Maryland, to spend time with her daughter, Moira, and her new granddaughter, Kate, as well as to help her son-in-law, Luke, with his Irish pub, O’Briens.
Not wanting to live underfoot, she rents a charming cottage on Lilac Lane, replete with views of the ocean and her neighbor’s thriving garden—not to mention views of the neighbor himself. The neighbor is none other than Bryan Laramie, the brusque and moody chef at the pub, with whom Keira is constantly butting heads. But things get real when Bryan’s long-lost daughter, whom he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, shows up out of the blue. As Bryan and Keira each delve into their pasts, reopening wounds, the rest of the town is gearing up for the Fall Festival Irish Stew cook-off, and making no bones about whose side they’re on. It’s Kitchen Wars meets This is Your Life—a recipe for disaster…or a new take on love?
You won’t want to miss this epic return to Chesapeake Shores, a place we’re betting you’ll want to stay forever. Read More
Non-fiction, Christian, Religion, Spirituality, Inspirational, Devotional
My Time With God
Renewed in His Presence Daily
By: Joyce Meyer
ISBN: 9781455560141
Publisher: FaithWords / Center Street
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 stars (ARC)
Over the course of three years, Joyce Meyer recorded in her journal the personal devotions and inspirations that guided her busy life.
Those writings comprise MY TIME WITH GOD, the 365-day devotional that shares powerful insight into Joyce's spiritual reflections and journey.
Each daily entry guides readers through a narrative of meditations, an uplifting declaration, and relevant scripture to encourage greater intimacy with God. Including spiritual revelations experienced by one of the world's leading Bible teachers, this book will renew readers' minds, offering assurance of God's complete love and desire for closeness with them. Read More
Non-Fiction, Spirituality, Religion, Politics, Christian, Nationalism, Church & State
Choosing Donald Trump
God, Anger, Hope, and Why Christian Conservatives Supported Him
ISBN: 9780801007330
Publisher: Baker Books
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
Religion & Spirituality
The 2016 election of Donald J. Trump exposed a deep divide in American politics and culture, one that pollsters and pundits didn't seem to realize was there. But Trump did, and he used it to his advantage in ways that surprised nearly everyone, even those who voted for him. Perhaps the biggest question on many people's minds is how, exactly, did a crass, unrepentant reality TV star and cutthroat business tycoon secure the majority of the religious conservative vote?
Now the New York Times bestselling author of The Faith of George W. Bush and The Faith of Barack Obama turns his pen toward the Trump phenomenon. Through meticulous research and personal interviews, Stephen Mansfield uncovers who Trump's spiritual influences have been and explains why Christian conservatives were attracted to this unlikely candidate. The book ends with a reflection on the vital role of prophetic distance, both historically and now. Read More
Holiday, Christmas, Contemporary, Romance, HIstorical Fiction, Literary
The Deal of a Lifetime
By: Fredrik Backman
ISBN: 150119349X
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: 10/31/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars (pre-ordered)
A Holiday Novella
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and Beartown delivers an insightful and poignant holiday novella about a man who sacrificed his family in the single-minded pursuit of success and the courageous little girl fighting for her life who crosses his path.
It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life but he won’t say whose—not yet.
One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.
As the man tells his son about this plucky little girl, he slowly reveals more about himself: while he may be a successful businessman, idolized by the media and his peers, he knows he failed as a parent. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of fatherhood, he took the easy way out and left his wife and little boy twenty years ago to pursue professional success. Now he is left wondering if it’s too late to forge a relationship with his son, who seems to be his opposite in every way—prizing happiness over money, surrounded by loving friends in a cozy town where he feels right at home.
Face to face with the idea that something is missing, the man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so, he seeks him out and tells him this story…
Written with Fredrik Backman’s signature humor, compassion, and “knack for weaving tales that are believable and fanciful” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our only legacy is how we share that gift with those we love. Read More
Christmas in London
By: Anita Hughes
ISBN: 9781250145796
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
Set during London's most festive time of year and filled with delicious food Anita Hughes' Christmas in London is about love and friendship, and the season's most important lesson: learning how to ask for and give forgiveness.
It’s a week before Christmas and Louisa Graham is working twelve hour shifts at a bakery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When a young cooking show assistant comes in from the rain and begs to buy all the cinnamon rolls on her tray, she doesn’t know what to do. Louisa is just the baker, and they aren't hers to sell. But the show burned the rolls they were supposed to film that day; so she agrees.
The next morning, Louisa finds out that her cinnamon rolls were a hit, but the star of the show was allergic, and the whole crew is supposed to leave for London that afternoon. They want Louisa to step in for their annual Christmas Eve Dinner TV special at Claridge's. It’s a great opportunity, and Digby Bunting, Louisa’s famous baking idol, will be there. Even if he does seem more interested in her than her food.
And then there’s Kate, the show's beautiful producer. On their first day in London she runs into the skinny boy she jilted at St. Andrew's in Scotland ten years ago. Now he’s a handsome, brilliant mathematician, and newly divorced. Their familiar spark is still there, but so is the scar of how they left things. Kate and Louisa are busy preparing for the show, but old and new flames are complicating their work. Read More
Last Christmas in Paris
By: Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
ISBN: 0062562681
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 10/3/2017
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars
New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…Read More
What an exciting month for books! Get ready for fall cozy weather and the upcoming holiday season. Something for everyone!
More October News!
Speaking of Holiday Books, be sure and check out the enchanting
CARDINAL CABIN Blog Tour Host Oct 18. (On sale now)
Cardinal Cabin is an enchanting tale about finding love where you least expect it. So come on inside. A cozy fire crackles, lights twinkle on the evergreen tree, snowflakes tap at the windowpanes, and little redbirds bring cheer this time of year. Read More
Movie News! Coming in Theatres Oct 6
Highly anticipated:
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US
Based on novel by my favorite author, Charles Martin
Stranded on a mountain after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must work together to endure the extreme elements of the remote, snow-covered terrain. Realizing that help is not on the way, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing each other to survive and discovering their inner strength.
One of favorite crime thriller authors (2nd Edition) Available Now
Check out my blog at:
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Lies She Told
By: Cate Holahan
ISBN: 9781683312956
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: 9/12/2017
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars
LIES SHE TOLD by Cate Holahan is a dark and twisty mind-bending thriller with more than one unreliable narrator.
On almost every page, this imaginative psychological thriller forces the reader to reconsider what is real. A book within a book when the lines of fact and fiction are blurred.
“The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted.” — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Notebook H
Manhattan author Liza, (of romantic suspense) is under extreme pressure with her upcoming novel.
Trevor, a forty-two-year-old (editor) is telling a thirty-five-year-old woman in the middle of her target audience demographic, what her peers want in the sack. He thinks he knows trends.
Alternating between Liza’s POV in the real world, and Beth (the protagonist) in Liza’s novel. Needless to say, both these ladies lives are complex.
"Blurring fact and fantasy is my trade. I am a con artist. A prevaricator. I make up stories." So why does he think this one is real?
David Jacobson, husband of twelve years. Nick Landau, David’s law partner is missing. Nick never liked Liza.
Liza and David have been unable to conceive. Both the anxiety of this plus her writing deadlines push her to get lost in her characters. Their marriage is strained.
. . . She does not invent her characters. She steals them from her surroundings. To be a writer is to be a life thief. Every day she robs herself blind.
"It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place." —Henry Louis Mencken, A Little Book in C Major
As the pressure of the deadlines mounts, Liza becomes immersed in her heroine. Unfaithful? Murder?
Is she writing about her own life?
Beth has a new baby and her husband, Jake is a prosecutor. He is cheating, while she is home taking care of the baby. The sexy officer, Colleen. The psychiatrist, Tyler, and an old friend.
Will both stories lead to murder? The lines are blurred.
Who is telling the truth? Who is not? Two stories intertwined.
The author cleverly draws readers into a world where truth blends with delusion, plus more. . .
Dark, twisty, and sinister grip-lit. The author keeps the reader on its toes while switching from fact and fiction while questioning every move.
Chilling, unique, intriguing, and disturbing, LIES SHE TOLD, will keep readers turning the pages. With all the books about LIES these days, this one definitely takes a distinctive spin.
A special thank you to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for an early reading digital copy.
I also purchased the audiobook narrated by Amy McFadden and Lisa Larsen, for a captivating performance.
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