Odd Child Out

Fiction by Gilly McMillan.

https://m.barnesandnoble.com

This story begins with a teenaged boy running through an isolated dockside area after midnight, seemingly being chased by someone he thought was a friend. But all is not as it seems here...

The story unfolds slowly but this novel was definitely interesting. A good thriller!

I also read recently by this author: The Perfect Girl

Her

Fiction by Harriet Lane.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

The tag line on this novel was intriguing: "You don't remember her-- but she remembers you." And the beginning of the book was also very interesting: Nina, an artist with a teenage daughter, sees the pregnant Emma out pushing a stroller and immediately recognizes her as someone she knew long ago. Nina begins to watch Emma and slowly insert herself into Emma's life. But why?

The story was good through most of the novel but I felt like it began to fall apart a bit by the end. I felt like the plot was not really resolved properly and the ending was too abrupt. Still, most of the book was really good.

I also read by this author: Alys, Always

A Time To Stand

Fiction by Robert Whitlow.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a great story about a current issue, the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

It's timely for me to think about this issue right now; as a shooting in my own hometown mall just took place over Thanksgiving and is blowing up my Facebook news feed with friends on both sides of this issue. It's a hard thing, and I feel for everyone involved.

A Time to Stand is a fictional account of a white policeman shooting an unarmed black teenager in a small Georgia town, and I feel like the author does a pretty good job of showing both sides of the story truthfully. It definitely gives you something to think about.

I also read recently by this author: Chosen People.

Nine Perfect Strangers

Fiction by Liane Moriarty.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This novel starts out as a character story: several different people (nine of them of course; hence the title) embark on a ten-day "cleanse" at a health resort in rural Australia. Then things begin to happen and the book gets really interesting.

This is a really good story by an author I love!

I also read recently by this author: Truly Madly Guilty

The Unforgiven

Fiction by Patricia MacDonald.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Maggie Fraser is in prison for a murder she says she didn't commit. When she finally gets out and tries to start a new life, she feels like the stigma of crime is still following her. And maybe it is...

This was a good thriller!

I also read recently by this author: Cast Into Doubt

The Perfect Girl

Fiction by Gilly MacMillan

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, a seventeen-year-old named Zoe and her mother Maria are trying to rebuild their lives after a tragedy. Maria has married a new man who doesn't seem to be aware of their dark past, and she'd like to keep it that way. Zoe calls their new life the Second Chance Family. But of course, secrets can catch up with you...

This was a very exciting thriller!!

I also read recently by this author: What She Knew

The Stormchasers

Fiction by Jenna Blum.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

I don't know anything much about stormchasing, except what I gleaned from watching the movie Twister twenty years ago. Generally I figured that stormchasers must be crazy people, to be honest. It was interesting to learn a bit about the subject in this story.

In this book, Charles and Karena are a pair of boy/girl twins in their thirties with a history of obsession with storms, although in different ways. He loves chasing them and she is terrified of them, and the two are estranged. Karena longs to find Charles and repair the rift between them, but it seems that Charles may not want to be found.

This was a great story about these characters and their complicated relationship. along with some excitement from the stormchasing. Good book!

I also read by this author: Those Who Save Us

Lost Innocents

Fiction by Patricia MacDonald.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This was an exciting thriller that begins with the kidnapping of an infant and his 15-year-old babysitter. There is also a young couple with a three-year-old who have had some legal troubles that they hope are over.

The story was very good and I liked the characters a lot. There were several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: Cast into Doubt

Chosen People

Fiction by Robert Whitlow.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This is, like other books by Robert Whitlow that I've read, a Christian legal thriller. It's complex but very good.

The story is about a young Israeli lawyer who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. She works in international law and gets involved in some interesting business involving terrorism in her homeland.

A very exciting book!

I also read recently by this author: A House Divided

The Party

Fiction by Robyn Harding.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book gave me a little bit of Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome. * 

At the beginning of the story, Jeff and Kim's daughter Hannah was turning sixteen and she was having a sleepover in the basement with a few friends. Well, that should be okay, right?

Except Jeff thought it was okay to give the girls a bottle of champagne to share. And Hannah thought it was a good idea to pilfer her parent's vodka and hide it under a sofa cushion.  AND every guest had apparently been tasked with bringing some kind of alcohol or drugs.

It did NOT turn out to be okay.

The story was pretty good, but I had some trouble reading about these people and the bad things that just kept happening even though it seemed like they could have tried harder to avoid them. The ending was not what I expected either. Still, it was interesting.

*That's when you know a main character is making a major error in judgement that's going to have huge and terrible consequences.(see  Saving Grace by Jane Green)