This is the first (and most likely the last) James Patterson book I’ll ever read. It’s not that I didn’t like it, in fact I enjoyed it, it was highly entertaining and I flew through the pages. Still, I finished the book and thought, what was the point of this? The 19th Christmas by James…
Do you avoid jumping into the middle of a mystery series and insist on reading the 1st book first? I rarely get the opportunity to read a series in consecutive order, so I have no problem starting halfway through, but I do realize this sets me back in the character development. Keeping this in mind,…
I love a good tale of revenge; there’s something deliciously sweet about people getting what’s coming to them. A few weeks ago my family was on a road trip, and we were waiting in our car in line for a ferry. Beside us, another car tried to zip past the line cut-off to make it…
This is the second book about opioid addiction that I’ve read in the past few months. Although that seems a bit strange, we are learning that in the background of the Covid-19 pandemic, an even bigger problem is looming, killing more people than ever before: drug overdoses. Long Bright River by Liz Moore is both…
In 2018 an award called “The Staunch Book Prize” began, and it’s awarded to “ a novel in the thriller genre in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.” Although there was lots of criticism surrounding it, it does raise an interesting point, which is the proliferation of violence against women in…
If you read Nicole Lundrigan’s last book The Substitute, you’ll have a good idea of what you’re in for in her latest novel, Hideaway. Both books deal with traumatized children, neglectful parents, and big family secrets. These sound like heavy topics, and they are, but the unsettling atmosphere that made The Substitute such an enticing…
Are you the type of reader that’s affected by book hype? If an upcoming release is getting a lot of attention, does it make you want to read it even more? It’s ok to admit it affects you, that’s why they call it ‘buzz’, it’s so persuasive! Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey…
I’ve been on a ‘classical’ streak lately; reading The Haunting of Hill House a few weeks ago whet my appetite for the older stuff, so armed with a recommendation from FictionFan, I went to the library in search of some Arthur Conan Doyle. I picked up the tidy little volume of three of his best-known…
Mystery readers are a picky bunch, and I’m allowed to say that because I count myself as one of them. The pacing needs to be tight but not rushed, the detective needs to be believable but not unlikable, and the solution better be conclusive but not obvious. And don’t get me started on too many…
So I feel quite foolish that this is the first Karin Slaughter book I’ve ever read. She’s an America superstar thriller writer that everyone but me is familiar with, as she’s sold over 35 million books and even has a section of her website dedicated to selling t-shirts with her name on them. Where have…
Ah yes, here we are with another domestic thriller. There seems to be a rash of books about naughty-nannies lately, yet this trend keeps going strong because it’s ripe for creativity. The figure of the nanny is an easy one to exploit in fiction because it’s essentially a stranger who enters the heart of a…
What’s better than reading a book that takes place at a Christmas party in front of your very own Christmas tree? How about if that book contains a devious murder plot too? Reading a holiday book during the holidays certainly ratchets up the tension and the dark pleasure of a good winter read, which is…
