Eerie

 Fiction by Jordan Crouch and Blake Crouch 

https://m.barnesandnoble.com

After losing their parents at a young age and relying on each other throughout childhood, siblings Alex and Claire should be close as adults. However, Alex is working as a police officer in Seattle and hasn't seen his sister for years, after his intervention had failed to get her off drugs. Then a random lead in a missing-persons case helps him find Claire again, and Alex vows to help her now, no matter what the cost.

The book starts out really well with this setup, and then it takes a turn down Weird Street. WAY down weird street...

I liked the story, but the ending did not work for me. Still, it was a suspenseful thriller.

I also read by (one of) these authors: Desert Places

The Outside Boy

 Fiction by Jeanine Cummins

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story is set in 1959 Ireland and is about the Pavee, a race I'd never heard of. They are sort of Irish gypsies, although they are not related to the European Roma people, ones typically called "gypsy."

Anyways, the Pavee family in the story are travelers who live in wagons, and the main character is a 12-year-old boy called Christopher. I really enjoyed the story and the characters; this was a good book, although not as good as Ms. Cummin's more recent novel American Dirt. It's still well worth reading.

I also read recently by this author: The Crooked Branch

Desert Places

 Fiction by Blake Crouch

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This book is labeled "a thriller" on the cover above; however, the library copy I read said "a novel of terror" on it. That would be a more accurate description.

This is one of Blake Crouch's earlier works, and while I've really enjoyed several of his later books, this one I did not like. It was well-enough written, but the subject matter was unpleasant. If you like dark-terror stories, however, maybe you'd like this one.

I did not really like it.

I also read recently by this author: Wayward /The Last Town

Mrs. McGinty's Dead

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, a charwoman who takes in lodgers is murdered, apparently by the dodgy young man who rented a room from her. In fact, the man is convicted by a jury of his disapproving peers and sentenced to hang. But Superintendent Spence doesn't think he did it, and he enlists the help of Hercule Poirot to prove it, hoping to find out the truth before the guy gets the noose.

I don't think it would be a spoiler to say: Hercule Poirot comes through on this. 

I have read this book more than once, and I still wasn't sure who the real killer was. Amazing!

I also read recently by this author: Taken at the Flood

Don't Let Go

 Fiction by Harlan Coben

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story there is a girl called Daisy who is running a kind-of-scam entrapping men into driving drunk while her policeman friend waits outside the bar to catch them in a DUI situation. But then it turns out that Daisy herself has been trapped. The story just gets more exciting from there!

I pretty much love everything Harlan Coben writes, and this book was great. I did not expect the ending.

I also read recently by this author: The Boy From the Woods

Get a Life Chloe Brown

 Fiction by Talia Hibbert

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fairly decent straight romance, although it had an awful lot of, um, S-E-youknowwhat. There were good characters and some plot development, but I did have to skim a bit. I get tired of a straight romance plot quickly, unfortunately.

Still, I'll give it a mostly thumbs-up. If you like romances, this is a good-enough one.

The Girl Without a Name

 Fiction by Sandra Block

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is actually a sequel to  Little Black Lies, (see link below) which is not mentioned anywhere on the cover. So read that one first, or you'll be annoyed.

In this story, Zoe Goldman, psychiatry intern, encounters another mysterious patient. A girl of perhaps thirteen comes into the ward with no identification and an apparent inability to speak. The plot was good with some surprises.

I also read recently by this author: Little Black Lies

Playing Nice

 Fiction by JP Delaney

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Pete and Maddie have no idea that their two-year-old son Theo is not their biological son until a stranger arrives one morning to tell them. Myles Lambert and his solicitor appear and inform them that he and his wife Lucy have the couple's actual son, and that the boys were switched at birth.

This is a sensational beginning, and the story gets even more compelling. Pete and Maddie try to resolve everything amicably with the Lamberts and work out an agreement where bot set of parents have access to the boys, but it turns out that Myles isn't necessarily interested in "Playing Nice"...

This was an exciting story!

I also read by this author: The Girl Before

Phreaks

 An Audible Original /Fiction by Matthew Derby

https://www.audible.com

This was a fun story about a girl in 1970 who is obsessed with the telephone. I really enjoyed it.

By the way, it pains me slightly to categorize a book set in 1970 as "historical fiction." However, it is an accurate description.

SIDE NOTE: Hey, Audible Original designers and promoters? This cover is a masterpiece! Number one: You had me at Christian Slater. I still haven't gotten over 1988's Heathers or 1990's Pump Up The Volume. He lives in my heart. Number two: This picture of the old-timey phone is great. I'm all, "You kids today don't know what it's like to have to use a rotary dial and only go as far as the phone cord will reach!" This thing is just so perfectly aimed at my demographic, I HAD to love it!

I also read recently from Audible Originals: Escape From Virtual Island

The Wicked King/ The Queen of Nothing

 Fiction by Holly Black

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/https://www.barnesandnoble.com

These are sequels to The Cruel Prince, a novel set in the Faerie Kingdom. They wrap up the story begun in the first book very well.

I highly recommend this trilogy to fans of fantasy stories!

The Home for Unwanted Girls

 Fiction by Joanna Goodman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, sixteen-year-old Maggie finds herself pregnant and shuffled away from her home to live with distant relatives for a year to hide her shame. It's 1950 in Quebec, and keeping the baby seems out of the question. Maggie doesn't even tell her boyfriend Gabriel, who is unsuitable for her in any case, according to her parents. Baby Elodie is sent to the orphanage, the eponymous Home for Unwanted Girls. 

This was a good story which explored a lot of cultural/historical facts I was quite unaware of. I'm not from Canada and was not familiar with the French vs. English politics of Quebec, or the "Duplessis Orphans" who were abused and neglected by the government of Quebec and (allegedly) the Catholic Church during the mid-twentieth century. (Look it up in wikipedia.) So there was a lot of history here for me to learn.

Still, the point of a story is, well, the story. And this was a good story about a girl who gives up her baby and hopes to find it again.

The Evening and the Morning

 Fiction by Ken Follett

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, which was the beginning of a trilogy itself. That means that barnesandnoble.com lists it as book number four in the "Kingsbridge series." However, in this case each story could really be read on its own, because they are linked only by place and each separated by at least a century of time.

This book begins in 997 AD. (For context, The Pillars of the Earth takes place in the mid to late 1100's.) The characters are very good, as I'd expect from Mr. Follett, and the writing really transports you back into the time period.

It's a good book.

I also read recently by this author:  On Wings of Eagles

Transcendent/Outlier/ Catalyst/ Dissident

Four Book Series; Fiction by Lisa Beeson.

https://www.amazon.com

Kira Riley begins the first book of this series on the run at twelve years old, fleeing from she's-not-sure-what, and knowing that her family believes she's dead. The books follow her for the next year and a half or so as she matures and learns to fight the evil that forced her from her home.

These book started out really good; I enjoyed the characters and the plot twists. There were some editing problems and grammar errors in my Kindle edition and some draggy parts, but I was pretty sold on the story. At the end of book four I was excited to see the conclusion; however, the author left some major loose ends hanging. I don't know if she planned to write more and was interrupted or what, but this was sold as a four book series and there aren't any other books out there. Just leaving us hanging? What the WHAT?!?!

I'll give this a thumbs-up for keeping me engaged for so long, but I sure wish I knew what happened next...

Ten Little Girls

 Fiction by Willow Rose.

https://www.amazon.com

This book is apparently number NINE in a series. And do you see any indication of that on the cover? The way publishers do not label these things is extremely frustrating to me. 

To be fair, this story can probably stand alone; I didn't get the sense that I was missing huge chunks of information while reading it. But I digress.

At an elementary school in Florida, ten little girls get on the wrong bus and are kidnapped. (One child is the daughter of Rebekka Franck, who is the main character of the book series I mentioned; but that is the only real link to the series I think.) Why were the girls taken, and will they come home alive? These are the questions that keep you reading.

I wasn't wholly sold on the ending; the explanation for the kidnapping seemed far-fetched, But still, it was a good-enough thriller.

I also read by this author: What Hurts the Most.