I know I’ve said this before on the blog, but I really think books need trigger warnings, and selfishly, I’m thinking of a trigger warning that’s a little out of the norm. I usually avoid this as much as possible, but I need to include a *spoiler alert* in this review, because I can’t help…
This isn’t the first thriller I’ve read about being trapped on a mountain resort during an avalanche, but even knowing the storyline was one I had read before, I still jumped at the chance to read The Retreat by Elisabeth de Mariaffi because a) I loved her last book, and b) the setting for this…
A Beginner’s Guide to Murder by Rosalind Stopps seems like a cozy mystery at first glance; a bunch of little old ladies plotting a murder together to save a friend. This appeals to the Murder She Wrote lover in me because I relish the idea of getting older but not losing my ‘spunk’. But as…
I got about halfway through The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward and debated closing the book for good – I just wasn’t sure I could handle it anymore. The writing itself was not the problem, it was what the characters were doing to each other, or at least, what we are led…
With so much anger, division, and suspicion flying around these days, a book about cults seems extremely timely. How do people become so entrenched in their individual views, that they begin to isolate themselves from their loved ones? When someone struggles to maintain a sense of normalcy, to fulfill their daily obligations to their job…
Well this is the perfect book to read on vacation, especially a summertime vacation! It takes place on a remote estate on the wild coast of California, complete with crashing waves, beautiful ocean scenery and a wild landscape easy to get lost in. I flew through this book and brought it everywhere with me while…
Last year I read Daniel Kalla’s book The Last High for my (now dormant) online book club, and although medical thrillers aren’t usually a strong interest of mine, I found I really enjoyed its story about the opioid crisis. Kalla is back with another timely novel: Lost Immunity. Set in post-covid Seattle and all about…
This book begins with a suicide; an aging man, obsessed with his mistress, tracks her down in a restaurant having dinner with another married man, and shoots himself in the face. We learn this in the first paragraph of the book, told bluntly by the first-person narrator and protagonist, Joan. Animal by Lisa Taddeo is…
The publishers that I typically review books from know that I lean towards particular genres; thrillers, mysteries, some literary fiction. I read pretty widely in general, but when it comes to books I consider ‘fun’ to read, I’ll go darker. It should come as no surprise then, that I just finished reading The Girls Are…
At the risk of sounding cliché, Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon is a sizzling sexy read. It captures a snippet of time in the life of two men in a long-term relationship together as their various secrets are coming back to haunt them. I’m just terrible at withholding information from people, (especially my husband) so…
Whenever I come across a successful author trying their hand at a brand new genre, I’m a bit skeptical. Why bother trying something completely new when you’ve figured out the successful formula to your writing; just give us what we want! But of course I’m no artist, and we should always encourage others to try…
In case you’re wondering why I’ve been reading so many thrillers about the perils of parenting lately, my latest segment for radio is all about this topic, so don’t worry, I’m not experiencing any mid-life parenting crises! Nothing more than usual anyway. It does beg the question though, why are there so many books that…
