The Book of Lost Names

 Fiction by Kristin Harmel

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Eva is an old woman in Florida when she sees an article about a Berlin librarian looking to reunite books stolen by the Nazis during World War Two with their rightful owners. She recognizes the book in the picture as one she herself had once held in Paris. Eva is determined to get to Berlin and see this book. But her family in America knows nothing about her past during the war...

This was a good story with some surprises.

I also read recently by this author: The Winemaker's Wife

The Boy in the Photo

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Megan's ex-husband stole her son Daniel away from her when the boy was six years old. For many years after that, Megan searched and searched for him, her life on hold. But now she has a new husband and a new baby girl. Then she gets the call that Daniel has been found! 

Megan is overjoyed, but the brooding twelve-year old who comes home with her from the police station is nothing like the sweet boy she remembers. Can she rebuild their relationship?

This was an exciting  (although a little anxiety-producing) story with a surprise at the end.

I also read by this author: The Family Across the Street

Acceptance: A Memoir

 Nonfiction by Emi Nietfeld

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a really interesting memoir about a girl with seriously messed-up parents who saw an Ivy League education as her way out. 

About the title: Emi's goal is college acceptance while every psychiatrist and social worker tell her that she must accept her limitations. 

I for one am very glad she didn't listen to the nay-sayers and instead made education her goal. Still, she doesn't sugarcoat the struggles she still faces and the fallout from her past. 

A Deadly Influence

 Fiction by Mike Omer

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

When Eden Fletcher's young son is kidnapped, she calls Lt. Abby Mullen for help. Abby is a police detective and trained hostage negotiator, and she and Eden have a shared history that neither one wants to talk about. But it may turn out that their shared history is exactly what will help solve the case and bring the little boy home safely...

This was an exciting thriller with great characters. I will look for the next book in this series.

I also read recently by this author: A Killer's Mind

Some Choose Darkness

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Charlie Donlea

https://www.amazon.com

Rory Moore is a forensic reconstructionist; she can solve cold case murders that have baffled police detectives. She's also an antique doll restorer and a nominal partner in her father's law firm, but mostly she's a person who doesn't really like people.

Angela Miller was another such person; she suffered from acute social anxiety and could barely tolerate the presence of others, but she too had a talent for seeing patterns and was trying to solve the mystery of a serial killer in Chicago. 

This book follows both Angela in 1979 and Rory in 2019 as separate stories that the reader knows will somehow intersect. It was a good mystery with some surprises.

I also read by this author: Those Empty Eyes

The Art of Seeing

 Fiction by Cammie McGovern

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Jemma Phillips has always defined herself in relation to her older sister Rozzie. Jemma seems to be in her sister's shadow, especially after Rozzie becomes a famous movie actress. But then Rozzie goes blind and needs Jemma's help.

This was a really good character story about the bonds between sisters. I liked it a lot.

I also read by this author: Neighborhood Watch

Those Empty Eyes

 Fiction by Charlie Donlea. 

https://www.amazon.com

At the beginning of this story, an intruder breaks into a home in the middle of the night and shoots a sleeping couple in their bed. Then the pair's young son is awakened and startles the killer, who shoots him as well. The house is left with only one survivor, teenaged Alexandra Quinlan, sitting in terrified shock with a shotgun in her lap as the cops swarm the place.

The authorities assume that Alexandra herself is the killer and arrest her immediately. As the poor traumatized girl is loaded into the back of a police car, news cameras are already rolling and her image is soon broadcasted everywhere. "Look at those empty eyes," a reporter says, and Alexandra's fate is sealed. Although she is eventually cleared of the crime, and indeed wins a defamation suit against the state prosecutor, the public will now never believe in Alexandra's innocence. Perhaps worse, the person who really killed her family is still at large.

This is just the beginning of an exciting story that I received from Amazon Prime's "First Reads" on Kindle. I recommend it!