Cut and Run

Fiction by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker

An Audible Original

https://www.audible.com/

This was hysterically funny. And narrated by MEG RYAN!!

It's scripted, so it's more like a radio show than a story, and it's about a pair of friends who steal kidneys from strangers in Mexico.

Yeah. It's a little dark, but I just loved it!

I also listened to recently from Audible Originals: Blood Territory

Gather the Daughters

Fiction by Jennie Melamed

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story is set in a dystopian society worthy of The Handmaid's Tale, (by which I mean, it contains  a very misogynistic group of people.) It was fascinating to read, although very dark.

Blood Territory

An Audible Original
Nonfiction by Mark Whittaker.

https://www.audible.com

In this audio documentary, an investigative journalist in Australia tries to uncover the truth about a murder. Was the wrong man convicted?

This was interesting enough, but not as exciting as I would have liked. I did love the Aussie accents.

I also listened to recently by Audible Originals:  Camp Red Moon

Exposed

Fiction by Lisa Scottoline

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, attorney Mary DiNuzio takes a discrimination case for a family friend, promising to waive her fee because she wants to help. She doesn't realize how much trouble this case will make for her and her law partner Bennie Rosato.

This book took me quite a while to get into, but it was eventually pretty good.

I also read recently by this author: Don't Go

Saving Charlotte

Nonfiction by Pia de Jong

https://www.barnesandnoble.com
A young couple receive a terrible diagnosis for their new baby daughter; she has a fatal form of leukemia and the only possible treatment (chemotherapy--not recommended for newborns) might be worse than the disease. So, they decide not to treat her. They do.... nothing.

This was an interesting memoir in a way, because of the writing style; I liked the narrator and her family, and the weird people in their neighborhood. But, the main story --the saving of Charlotte-- didn't work for me. Because they didn't do anything to save her! Literally!

Still, I'll give it a thumbs -up just for the beautiful writing.

Water from my Heart

Fiction by Charles Martin

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

In this story, the main character is a hardened drug-runner with a hidden heart of gold who needs the love of a good woman to save him. (Maybe a bit of a cliche?)

It was pretty good, but not great. 

I also read recently by this author: Unwritten

Magpie Murders

Fiction by Anthony Horowitz

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This is a mystery story about a mystery story.

As in, the book begins with a publishing editor settling down to read a new manuscript, the latest installment in a successful detective novel series. And then you get so interested in the detective story (set in 1955) that you forget you started with a manuscript, until the story suddenly jumps back into the present.

This was a very interesting mystery --times two!!

My Friend Anna

Nonfiction by Rachel DeLoache Williams.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

In this true story,  the author Rachel gets caught up in a friendship with Anna, a girl who appears to be a foreign heiress. Rachel and Anna go to spas and personal training sessions together, and have lavish meals. Anna lives in hotels and spends money like water. Anna invites Rachel on a fancy vacation to Morocco, all expenses paid. But it's all a scam, and Rachel is the one who's going to end up paying.

This was an interesting story, although a little longer than it really needed to be.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Fiction by Chris Bohjalian

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

In this story, Chernobyl-like nuclear plant accident happens in Vermont, forcing a whole town to evacuate and throwing the area into chaos.

The focus in on Emily, a teenage girl with her life upended by the accident and rendered homeless like many others. But Emily is a little different than the other "walkers," as the displaced persons are called. Because Emily's father was in charge of the plant and everyone blames his negligence for the meltdown.

This was a really absorbing story, and I liked the characters. Still, it was awfully sad.

I also read recently by this author: The Flight Attendant

The Perfect Nanny

Fiction by Leila Silmani

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This story starts out with a dead baby, a seriously wounded little girl, and a nanny with apparently self-inflicted wounds. Then it goes back in time to show us how this accused killer was once thought of as the titular Perfect Nanny.

The characters were interesting in this book and I mostly liked the story, but I did not like the ending, and I didn't feel like the author really explained how this tragedy could have happened. I'd like a better reason for a murder-suicide than just, "She was crazy, wasn't she?"

The Last Time I Lied

Fiction by Riley Sager

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Fifteen years ago, Emma was a thirteen-year-old spending her first summer at a camp for rich girls when a tragedy struck and her three cabin-mates disappeared into the woods. The girls were never found, and Emma still hasn't really gotten over it. Then she gets a chance to go back to the camp, this time as a counselor, and, hoping to find closure, she decides to take the job. And stay in the same cabin. Supervising three girls.

Gee. Do you think that's a good idea, Emma?

This was pretty good and the ending was a real surprise. But, just like with the last book I read by this author (see below), I experienced an awful lot of "Oh-No-I-Can't-Look-Syndrome."

I also read recently by this author: Lock Every Door

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

(See also Liar by K.L. Slater)

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

The Moving Finger

Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A young pilot and his sister go to a quiet English village to convalesce after he suffers an injury. They pick somewhere nice and quiet where "nothing ever happens"... but then something does happen! Anonymous letters, and MURDER!

This story is listed a Miss Marple mystery, and it is, but the old lady doesn't show up to solve it all until near the end.

I also read recently by this author: Five Little Pigs

Five Little Pigs

Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, Hercule Poirot unravels a mystery from the past. A famous artist was apparently killed by his wife, but the couple's daughter --now grown up-- wants to prove her mother's innocence.

I also read recently by this author: The Body in the Library