Monday, August 31, 2020

Hush Little Baby

 Fiction by Suzanne Redfearn

https://www.amazon.com

Jillian Kane has a perfect home with two beautiful children and an attentive, loving husband. Except her husband is more obsessive than loving, and more controlling than attentive. And Jillian wants to leave him, but is afraid he'll kill her if she does....

This was an exciting thriller, although I did suffer a bit from "Oh-No-I-Can't-Look-Syndrome"** in the middle when I could tell her exit plan wasn't going well, and it was going the be horribly sabotaged. The ending was good though.

I also read recently by this author: In an Instant

**Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome

(See also The Last Thing She Ever Did by Gregg Olsen)

That's when you know a main character is making a major error in judgement that's going to have huge and terrible consequences.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

A Murder is Announced

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story opens with the people in a small English village reading a curious newspaper advertisement: A murder is announced and will take place this evening at 6:30 pm. Of course everyone in the village shows up at the place named in the ad to see what will happen. And everyone expects it to be some kind of joke.

They are all surprised when an actual murder takes place, although of course the reader will not be! The surprise in this story is who is the murderer and why. But only Miss Marple can tell us that!



I also read recently by this author: Sparkling Cyanide.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Girl Last Seen

 Fiction by Nina Laurin

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's been ten years since thirteen-year-old Laney was found on the side of the road, cold and alone, after having been abducted and kept prisoner for three years. She has sort-of gotten her life back on track, working two jobs and trying to forget her ordeal. 

But one day she sees the missing poster of a ten-year-old girl who looks just like herself at ten years old, the year she'd gone missing. Could her kidnapper be responsible?

This was an okay thriller, but it dragged a little too much to work as an audiobook.





Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Life or Death

 Fiction by Michael Robatham

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A man named Audie Palmer has been in prison for ten years after pleading guilty to a bank robbery that left seven million dollars unaccounted for. Where did the money go? All the other robbers are dead, and Audie isn't talking. Then Audie escapes from prison, the day before he was scheduled to be released. Why would he do that? Moss, his best friend on the inside, has no idea. 

Neither does FBI Special Agent Desiree Furness, who is initially tasked with finding the escaped prisoner. But just as she starts unraveling the mystery, the case is yanked away from her and given to another agent, one Desiree knows isn't to be trusted. And she begins to realize things aren't all as they seemed with the crime Audie Palmer supposedly committed....

This was a great thriller!

I also read by this author: The Suspect


Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Fourth of July Creek

 Fiction by Smith Henderson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A social worker called Pete Snow is living and working in rural Montana around 1979. Pete wants to help his indigent clients straighten out their lives and care for their kids, but he can't even keep his own life on track. And his adolescent daughter is out of control...

This book was well written with great characters, but what a downer! And the ending made me want to throw the book across the room.

So, I don't really recommend it, but I did want to finish reading it...



Saturday, August 15, 2020

Unsheltered

 Fiction by Barbara Kingsolver

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an interesting book about two families living in the same house, but separated by almost 150 years. The juxtaposition of their problems, oddly similar, made for a very good character story.

I also read recently by this author: Flight Behavior




Sunday, August 9, 2020

Redhead by the Side of the Road

 Fiction by Anne Tyler


This was a good character story about a man who loves his routine a little too much. I thought it was very good but too short.




Friday, August 7, 2020

The Royal We

 Fiction by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun story about a fictionalized version of the Prince of England romancing an American girl. It was a pretty good story, although I thought it dragged some in the middle.


Monday, August 3, 2020

Wayward and The Last Town

Fiction by Blake Crouch


These book complete the "Wayward Pines" trilogy, which begun with the novel Pines. They continue the story of the dystopian town of Wayward Pines.

It's hard to explain what happens in theses two books without giving away the major twist on the first book, so I'll just say: If you liked the first book, you'll like the rest of the story. Very exciting!!


Saturday, August 1, 2020

Escape From Virtual Island

 An Audible Original /Fiction by John Lutz

https://www.audible.com

This scripted audio performance looked like it would be quirky and fun, so I bought it to listen to on a road trip with my husband. Unfortunately, it was quite terrible.

The good news is: Audible.com will exchange audiobooks you hate for books you want. So YAY!

To sum up, the thumbs-down below is for this particular book. But audible.com gets two thumbs way up from me!


I also read recently from Audible Originals: Ghostsitter: A Crazy Inheritance