Category: Book review

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book club Book review crime psychological thriller

Read and Review (R&R) – “The Locked Door” by Freida McFadden

My book club’s August pick was “The Locked Door,” by Freida McFadden. I read this book over a weekend span. Wow! The author’s writing and use of suspense had my heart pounding as I flipped the pages. Every time I put it down, I would walk back past the book and think “Just one more chapter.” I couldn’t put it down. If you are looking for a psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat and thinking twice about going down into your own, normally safe basement, this may be the one for you.

Below is an excerpt taken from the back of the book –

Some doors are locked for a reason…

“When eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement. Decades later, her father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet existence. When Nora discovers that one of her young female patients was murdered– in the same horrific manner that her father used– she believes somebody wants her to take the fall for this crime. The police can’t pin anything on her– as long as they don’t look in her basement….”

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Book review Italy reading Romance Uncategorized YA

Read and Review (R&R) – “All Roads Lead to Rome,” by Sabrina Fedel

Romance sparks in the sweet, YA book, “All Roads Lead to Rome,” by Sabrina Fedel.

It is an endearing love story, a modern “Roman Holiday” – gender swapped and reimagined which made for a fun, entertaining read.

Astoria (Story) Herriot’s life is changed when in a gelato shop she gets talked into a fake dating scheme with a handsome Scottish celebrity, Luca Kinnaird. In exchange for pretending to be his girlfriend to escape the paparazzi’s constant pressure on his true girlfriend, a pop star, Jasmine, Luca Kinnaird promises to help fund a scholarship in Story’s dad’s memory (something Story can only dream about at this point in her life). While fake dating to keep the paparazzi cameras off Luca and Jasmine, Story is absorbed into a lifestyle most of us can only imagine and dream about – the lifestyle of the ultra-rich and famous. But, the lines of fake dating get blurry when Story begins to fall for Luca and it is pretty clear he is falling for her too.

The chemistry between Story and Luca is evident throughout and you can’t help but wish for them to be girlfriend and boyfriend for real.

But, are their worlds too different to be together?

This book tugged at my heart and I found myself wondering and truly hoping that the characters in this story show up again in the author’s next novel.

I felt the author did a great job of writing in social issues such as addiction, fame, paparazzi and the impact that social media plays on our lives (in this book on a grand scale).

With landmarks, history, and the Italian landscape shining throughout, it’s a great beach read which will have you daydreaming and possibly planning a trip to Rome.

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Book review crime debut novel mystery psychological thriller reading suspense

Read and Review (R&R) – First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

“First Lie Wins” is a twist-filled, cat and mouse psychological thriller.

It is the first adult novel by Ashley Elston and is told in first person.

Although the main character, Evie is a con-artist, you can’t help but cheer her on.

Evie is given an identity, location and target for each new assignment by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith. She must learn everything she can about her target and then assume the identity and infiltrate into the target’s life. It is when she moves in with her boyfriend, Ryan, that Evie’s normally cool, calculated plans fall apart.

If you do not like a timeline that moves around and flashbacks, this book might not be for you.

I read that actress-producer, Octavia Spencer has secure the rights to adapt this book into a series for Hulu.

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book club Book review crime mystery psychological thriller reading thriller Uncategorized

Read and Review (R&R) – Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger

In Lisa Unger’s psychological thriller, “Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six,” three couples who are related through marriage and longtime friendship are intent on leaving the pressures of life behind. They travel to a luxury cabin in the woods with breathtaking views, a hot tub and a personal chef who shares with them the history of the property.

What could possibly go wrong?

As the drinks flow and the twists start, the dream getaway turns into a nightmare when they become cut off from the world because of spotty internet, and a torrential rainstorm that threatens to flood the road out and down trees. And then, you guessed it, the power goes out and the backup generator fails.

An underlying theme of genetics and DNA flow through this story along with the fact that everyone has a secret and these characters’ secrets run blood deep.

Lisa Unger does a great job of weaving tension throughout.

This story was told from different points of view and although I enjoyed it very much, without giving too much away, I would have liked to see the perpetrator have a greater role in the actual storyline much earlier on.

All that said, I would still give it four stars and will read another Lisa Unger book.

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book club Book review crime mystery reading

Read and Review (R&R) – “A Book Club’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem

“A Book Club’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem,” a Suzie Tuft Mystery – Book 1, is set in the scenic woods of Pennsylvania and centers around Suzie Tuft, a technical writer, who while taking a walk with her dog very near her rural home discovers a dead body. To make matters worse, the deceased turns out to be an estate attorney sent to notify her that her ex‑boyfriend with whom the relationship did not end on a good note, has died, and left her a large inheritance. Suzie is sure the inheritance comes with strings attached. The only bright spot in Suzie’s day is a handsome police officer sent to the scene who shows a noticeable interest in her and stirs feelings in Suzie that she hasn’t felt in a long time.

Shocked over finding the body and confused as to why her ex would leave her anything, Suzie is determined to get justice for the man who died trying to notify her. When characters from her past with her ex and others start showing up at her door threatening her and demanding she sign over the inheritance to them, she enlists her best friend, Jess, and other friends from their book club to help her.

There are twists, an interesting cast of characters, and red herrings which make this book a fun, cozy read. Bethany Barker did a great job of setting the scene, bringing to life her characters, and creating a storyline with loads of potential for future stories. I am looking forward to reading more Suzie Tuft mysteries.

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book club Book review historical fiction reading

Read and Review (R&R) – “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger

April’s book club read was “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger. This is the second book our group has read by this author. The first was “Ordinary Grace.” Once again, the author transports us back in time to a world and time period filled with hardship but also enduring hope. The theme throughout “This Tender Land” is one of “We are not alone.”

Four orphans on a journey down the Gilead River in Minnesota during the Great Depression desperately in search of their true home, love and safety.

It is summer 1932 and Odie O’Bannon is a young orphan boy living with his older brother Albert at the Lincoln Indian Training School where they are the only white children among hundreds of Native American children. Odie refuses to give into a system filled with corruption and abuse of the children. When he gets into unimaginable trouble from which he and his brother must flee the school they take along with them a native American boy named Moses and a young orphan girl named Emmy.

This Tender Land is a story of the human spirit, friendship, adventure, history, hope, and forgiveness.

William Kent Krueger writes an engaging plot with characters that jump from the page into your heart.

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Book review historical fiction novel

Read and Review (R&R) – “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano

This month’s book club read was Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano.

It was a 2023 Oprah’s Book Club pick.

This is the first novel I have read by this author and it was told from the point of view of the main characters over the course of three decades.

A novel not only about the family you are born into, but the family you gain over the years through schooling, work, and interests. A deep and heartbreaking portrayal of a family of sisters, the Padavano sisters (four in all) and a man, William, who marries into the family. William brings with him a tragic past that he is still living. It’s a story of sadness and loss, promise, hope, and the love, complexity, and quirks of family-both good and bad.

I have mixed emotions about this book mainly because of its depressive nature, and I will be very interested to attend my book club next week to get the others thoughts on this novel. I read this 383-page story over the course of a week returning each night to find out what would happen next to this once close-knit group of sisters. I thought the author did a great job of putting you in the time period and moment. Some of the characters’ actions and inflexibility irritated me, but I give credit to the author for invoking these emotions. Hello Beautiful exposes the not so pretty truths of life and family.

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Book review crime fiction suspense thriller

Read and Review (R&R) – “Out of Nowhere” by Sandra Brown

This month my book club read was Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown. This book is classified as suspense thriller, but it is also a romance.

Trigger warning-the subject matter is a mass shooting.

I appreciated the Author’s Note at the beginning telling her reasons for writing a story about such a sad, but so prevalent in our world subject line. To summarize-Sandra Brown says it isn’t a story about death. It’s a story about survival. In a society where another mass shooting has become a familiar refrain, it is far too easy to tune it out. We as a society must never become inured. She writes that she supposes what motivated her was to honor the casualties and she ranks the survivors among them.

Also of note, there are some graphic love scenes.

Although reviews are mixed on this book (mostly referencing Ms. Brown’s older work and the subject material), I felt this story was a well-written, tense page-turner with a very emotional storyline. While I didn’t take the subject matter lightly, the author did her best to write the story with compassion.

The mass shooting happens at a Texas county fair and centers around children’s book writer, Ellie Portman, and Calder Hudson, an arrogant corporate consultant. It is a relationship which probably would never have happened aside from the tragedy that brought them together and will forever connect them.

At first, the police think that the shooter is among the dead, killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. When it is determined that the perpetrator is still at large, the witnesses/survivors are in great danger.

Ellie and Calder share a common, all-consuming goal – justice. But is the unimaginable tragedy too heartbreaking and difficult to sustain their attraction for each other?

I did not know who the killer or their motive was until the author’s reveal.

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Book review crime fiction mystery reading suspense thriller

Read and Review (R&R) “Don’t Believe It” by Charlie Donlea

This month’s book club read was Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea. If you haven’t read anything by him, I would recommend adding one of his books to your TBR list.

This suspense novel centers around a woman, Grace Seabold, who has been imprisoned for ten years in St. Lucia for the murder of her boyfriend, Julian Crist.

Sidney Ryan is an up-and-coming film producer who in the past produced two documentaries shedding light on a person in jail who was believed to be wrongfully convicted. This puts her in the radar of every convict in the country who believes they are innocent. Grace Seabold is one of those convicts. She writes to Sidney asking for her help to dig into her story and show the world she is innocent. Sidney travels to St. Lucia, meets with Grace and heads back home to make a pitch to the suits at Events, the station for which she is working as a producer. Given the green light, Sidney starts investigating the murder and the cast of characters that will make up the documentary The Girl of Sugar Beach. With each episode, more and more people become hooked on the one episode a week documentary which has Sidney finding things out along with the viewers. As Sidney becomes increasingly entwined in the case and begins to uncover inconsistencies, she and her audience of twenty million viewers are starting to believe that Grace Seabold is innocent. But is she?

Although about three-quarters of the way through the book, I was pretty sure who might be behind the murder, I wasn’t 100% sure. With an ending I didn’t see coming, Charlie Donlea had me turning pages and reading this book in a week’s time. I will have to say I had hoped for a different ending, but it was cleverly done. This is the second book I have read by this author. The first was titled, Twenty Years Later. Charlie Donlea is a master storyteller. His books are full of plot twists, and I will definitely pick up another novel by this author.

Categories
Book review crime debut novel fiction suspense

Read and Review (R&R) – “In The Dark I See You” by Mallika Narayanan

Some of the reviews I post on my blog are of books written by Pittsburgh authors who I’ve met through The Mary Roberts Rinehart Chapter of Sisters in Crime. When I can, I like to highlight local authors and reviews are so important whether you are a new author or established.

To that end, I hope you read this review and pick up In The Dark I See You. It is the debut psychological suspense novel written by Mallika Narayanan, one of the members of our local chapter and an award-winning writer of flash and short fiction.

I really enjoyed this book.

The suspense slowly builds as the characters backstories and current days are revealed through a weaving of multiple timelines and two points of view. I thought from both a writer and reader perspective that she did a great job of this. I myself have never tackled dual points of view and am always impressed when I read someone who has.

The author is skilled at character development and her characters were flawed and relatable. Making one of the character’s blind added depth.

The end twist was unpredictable and a WOW moment which I didn’t see coming until the actual reveal.

I felt the complex storyline, plot twist, and ending make any reader want to pick up another book by this author.

The below is the blurb on the back cover –

When a young woman, Sarah Connelly, is found murdered in her home in New York’s elite Sleepy Point suburb, it triggers questions about the neighbor who discovered the body, Audrey Hughes. This kind of attention is the last thing Audrey wants. Moving to Sleepy Point was supposed to provide her with a new, quiet start after a trauma left her with incurable blindness. But the other reason she settled next door to Sarah was to spy on her. Police scrutiny moves Audrey like a pawn on a chessboard from witness to suspect, after it’s revealed that she had a volatile argument with Sarah hours before her death. The deeper the police delve into the case, the murkier the truth becomes. As the book twists and turns through alternating points of view and timelines, a compelling and complex scheme emerges that threatens all involved . . . and the ticking clock of investigation collides with the explosive secrets Audrey and Sarah have been keeping.