Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Count My Lies

 Fiction by Sophie Stava


Sloan Caraway is a liar, and she admits it. Well, she admits it to herself at least. At the very beginning of this book she tells a nice-looking single dad at the the park that she is a nurse named Caitlin. But Sloan is wearing scrubs because she is a nail technician, not a nurse. And it turns out the dad is not exactly single...

Soon "Caitlin" is ingratiating herself with the dad AND his wife, and angling to get herself hired as a nanny. But is she going to be able to keep track of all the lies she had told when she's there long-term? And what if her fake nursing skills are really needed?

This was a really exciting thriller that kept me guessing!

Monday, January 26, 2026

Tell No Lies

Fiction by Gregg Hurwitz


 Daniel Brasher is a counselor working with ex-cons when he finds a threatening letter in his interdepartmental mailbox that reads, "Admit what you did or you will bleed for it." Fortunately, it's not addressed to him; unfortunately, it's a couple of weeks old and the person to whom it was addressed has already been murdered.

Then Daniel discovers three other similar letters meant for different people. Can he prevent more bloodshed? And what did these potential victims do, if anything, that they are being punished for? And especially, what does this whole thing have to do with Daniel himself?

All these questions are answered by the end of the story. This was an exciting story with several surprises, although some of the twists were a bit over the top.


I also read by this author: Don't Look Back

Friday, January 23, 2026

The Time Has Come

 Fiction by Will Leitch


This story follows seven different people in Athens, Georgia, until they finally converge in one place: at Lindbergh's Drugstore just before closing time. The drugstore is a family-owned business and a beloved Athens institution, and Theo Lindbergh has just begun running it after the unexpected death of his father. But it turns out that maybe his father wasn't beloved by everyone in Athens...

I really liked the characters in this novel and how everything came together at the end. However, I did not like the disconnected choppiness of the book's structure. Just when I was interested in a character, the author would switch to another one. Seven different people is actually a lot to keep track of. 

Maybe a list  would have helped. Tina is a teacher; Dorothy is a judge's widow; Karson is a community activist; Daphne is a nurse; David works at a live-music venue; Jason is a construction contractor, and Jace is his son. There! If you decide to read this book, keep my list handy.

I also read by this author: How Lucky

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Statistically Speaking

 Fiction by Debbie Johnson

This was a fun little story about a British woman who gave up a baby as a teenager and still longs to find the child eighteen years later. 

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Destructive Reasoning

 Fiction by Scott Meyer


This is the second book in the "Authorities" series (see below), and it is as funny and interesting as the first. In this story, Detective Rutherford and the other members of the Authorities travel from their native Seattle to Los Angeles, trying to catch a killer who is targeting actors.


I also read recently by this author: The Authorities

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Kill For Me, Kill For You

 Fiction by Steve Cavanagh


At the beginning of this story, Amanda has only one goal: to kill Wallace Crone, the man who got away with murdering her daughter. But she gets caught stalking him and is slapped with a restraining order and court-ordered counseling. Then in a support group she meets another bereaved mother named Wendy, a woman who is equally obsessed with the man responsible for her daughter's death. Then Amanda gets an idea that they can help each other. Like the Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train, they decide to swap murders. But can they really go through with is?

This was a very exciting thriller with several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: The Plea

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Rewind

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard


Social media influencer Natalie O'Connor suspects that her husband Mike is hiding something from her after she finds a charge on his credit card for Shanamore Cottages, a seaside resort in western Ireland. He claims to have never heard of the place, but Natalie is unconvinced and sets out to go there herself on the spur of the moment. 

Meanwhile, Mike has no idea where Natalie has gone and eventually files a missing persons report. That report gets the attention of a small-time internet reporter named Audrey, who runs with the story. Will Audrey find Natalie alive? Or is it already too late?

This was an exciting mystery thriller with several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: The Nothing Man