After the Flood - Kassandra Montag

“I had waited so long to prove myself wrong. To prove that I have room in me for everything I’ve lost and will lose, that the room in my heart will grow with loss and not contract. And I hadn’t just found it to be true; I’d made it true. I am not the shards of a broken glass, but the water let loose from it. The uncontainable thing that will not shatter and stay broken.” Kassandra Montag has written a 1st person, novel that takes place years after both the 100 year flood and the 6 year flood that followed it in its wake. While the state of the planet and the lack of land is important to the story, the main character does not discuss what caused it in detail, only guessing and relating what she’d heard over time; she doesn’t ponder the why, only the fact that it is. It is not the story of a world nearly underwater; it is a story of a women who has lost her entire family except for the child that she gave birth to after the flood had caused her to take to the water in a boat. It is the story of a mother that doesn’t give up searching for the child that her husband abducted from her months before the newest baby’s arrival. It is a story of introspection, what a mother would be willing to sacrifice if there was even a small chance to save her child, even if it meant putting her other child at risk. Other characters lend their stories, their losses, their struggles as they all look for a way to survive, to figure out how to live in this new world. Man’s inhumanity to man plays its role in this new world, highlighting to what degree people can excuse their own darkness when it comes to survival. The trading posts, the barter commerce, the groups that are taking over the seas and the colonies by force are all discussed and acknowledged by the main character, much as a mother would discuss the world today or her neighborhood: these are the realities she must face or avoid in order to keep her children safe. “I had feared losing them, but there were moments that desire lurked tight at the edge of that fear. Set loose form them, I could give up, I told myself. I could stop away into the water, no longer fighting, no longer pretending to be strong.” Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Third Daughter - Talia Carner

This historical fiction is based on a near century long practice of a legalized union of pimps in Buenos Aires luring and kidnapping hundreds of thousands of struggling and starving girls and women from Eastern Europe under the false pretenses of marriage or employment in hopes of saving their families back home only to sell them into prostitution. This was a difficult story to read, a young girl, in desperate circumstances finds herself betrothed to man and whisked away from her family that very night to begin her journey to what they have all been led to believe will be a life of privilege and wealth. Batya, only 14, quickly learns that she and her family have been lied to and her only goal is to find a way to save her family. The reader is given a look into brothel life in Buenos Aires and the levels of corruption and contempt. This is a fast paced read and a sure-fire recommendation for any reader who loves historical fiction. Thank you to the publisher and to Edelweiss for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Pretty Guilty Woomen - Gina Lamanna

When Whitney DeBleu and her soon-to-be-husband invite friends and family to attend their week-long wedding festivities, they never anticipate what could go wrong. After checking in to the resort where the wedding will take place, 3 of the bride’s college roommates meet and become friends with a couple of the groom’s distant relations. When a man is murdered at the rehearsal dinner,4 of the women confess to killing him. This novel moves back and forth through the POV of the main characters, revealing parts of their past and their time at the spa. Each chapter ends with a few interrogation questions aimed at getting to the bottom of the story. This is more a story of how convoluted relationships can be and what people are willing to do in order to do the “right” thing. The format: many woman, a murdered man, and the tangled relationships that get the reader from point A to point B is vaguely reminiscent of a blockbuster novel. This would make a good beach read. Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Crown of Coral and Pearl - Mara Rutherford

This is an interesting story. Twins live in an impoverished settlement, kept poor and farming pearls for the wealthy to pay a century-old debt. The most beautiful girl is chosen each time the kingdom’s price is old enough to marry. For many this is considered an honor, especially Zadie and Nor’s mother, who groomed the girls since birth to always protect their beauty. That dream ends for Nor when an accident leaves her with a scar on her face.

Although the village elders choose Zadie to marry the prince, Nor must go in her place, disguising her scar as best she can. 

The story had a little bit of everything, action, intrigue, myths and legends and bit romance. It also did an interesting job of showing how different cultures are taught to understand legends and how the powers that be dictate the belief systems in communities. And how the environments can play a role in people’s abilities – natural and mystical.

If not for certain sections involving romance and violence, this book would be best suited for the middle grades. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the eArc in exchange for my honest review. 

The Nanny - Gilly MacMillan

When she is a little girl, Jo's nanny, Hannah disappears into the night. Jo has never had a close relationship with her mother and leaves the family estate tat Lake Hall to head to America where she falls in love, marries and has a child. Shortly after her father's death, Jo loses her husband to suddenly and has no choice but to return to Lake Hall with her daughter Ruby as they try to find a way forward. While showing Ruby around the property, they discover a skull in the lake. It is assumed that it must be the missing nanny... until it becomes clear that it is not. This reminded me of an English mystery on the moors style tale. Family secrets, hidden histories and tangled motivations play out, for the most part, within the walls of the family estate.

A Nearly Normal Family - M.T. Edvardsson

I knew it and I knew I knew and then.... well, that was a twist I hadn't seen coming.

I didn't love this story but it was good.  It was told from three different perspectives.  Father, Mother, and Stella, who is accused of murder.  

It is an interesting telling of family and perception or what lengths we go to and what excuses we are ready to give.

Things You Save in a Fire - Katherine Center

Let me start by saying that I chose this book based solely on the title. I will do this when I find a title to be evocative or provocative and I will read it without even reading the publisher’s synopsis.   And that may have been a great thing because had I read “Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...”  I likely wouldn’t have chosen the book and that would have been a huge mistake on my part.

After her long-estranged mother asks her for help, an incident at an award ceremony and a near-firing, 26 year old Austin firefighter, Cassie Hanwell,  must leave her firehouse, her job and her life in order to relocate in a Boston suburb to take care of her ailing estranged, mother.    This means not only having to put aside her feelings of rejection and resentment towards her mother but also starting her life and career again, in a new firehouse, with a new group of firefighters that don’t want women on the force.

Cassie is a tough, competent paramedic and firefighter who also happens to be a women.  She works in a male dominated profession, she lets her expertise speak for itself, she is a problem solver and never a whiner.  But she is more than that, she is an abandoned child, a cynic, a loner, and a person that wants to be loved but is afraid to be vulnerable.

She learns that her mother misrepresented her health concerns and that though she may have won over the majority of her new co-workers, there is at least one that wants her gone.

And then there is a fire that tears through Cassie’s new life.

I began this book thinking about the things one would save in a fire, mementos, loved ones, important papers, etc.  but as the story went on, I realized that the things Cassie saves in that fire were much more intangible and important. 

The author does a great job giving the majority of the characters personalities, most particularly, “the rookie”.  I have to admit that his character made me smile on more than one occasion.   Although there were a few times when Cassie needed to get things off her chest or come clean that I found a little hard to swallow in their neat packages, I feel that overall this is a great book.

Thank you to the Publisher and to Edelweiss for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Arrangement - Robyn Harding

Nat, an art student in Manhattan is struggling to pay her bills, and is feeling the pressure as she falls further behind paying her roommates her share.  During a study session with a classmate at her beautiful Chelsea apartment, her friend tells her about becoming a Sugar Baby.   Desperation wins out and Nat signs up as a “pay per meet” where she will only meet men for dinner or drinks with “no strings attached”.  What could go wrong?

Nat feels an instant connection with her first date, Gabe. He’s older, successful and seems to really enjoy Nat’s company.  And then the roller coaster leaves the station…  Gabe tells Nat that he is divorced, which is, of course, a lie.  When his wife tells him that is daughter is struggling with self-harm, Gabe knows he needs to give his daughter all the attention and guidance he can but Nat just can’t let that happen.

When Gabe turns up dead and his volatile relationship with Nat is exposed, it seems obvious that she was the one to kill him.  She has no alibi and her ever escalation alcohol abuse doesn’t leave h er with much credibility. 

There were a few minor drawbacks.  I did not find a single character in this novel to be likeable, which may well have been the point. 

The novel really gained momentum after the break-up and murder.  This would make a great beach read, a little murder, a little “dating”, a little intrigue. 

3.5 Rounded to 4 stars.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publish for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thirteen - Steve Cavanagh

Thirteen is the 4^th book in Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series.  While this book can stand alone, I feel that the reading may be more engaged with the main character if they knew more of his back story.

Bobby Solomon, one of the hottest actors of the time is on trial for the murder of his also famous wife and their chief of security. In this case, the killer is not the defendant but a serial killer so intent on getting away with his crime that he works his way onto the jury.   

Bobby’s hot shot legal team finds Eddie Flynn, a local defense attorney who is not afraid to go after the police department but as the trial gets under way and more information comes to light, Eddie turns out to be Bobby’s only hope.  Eddie employs everything from legal maneuvering to sleight of hand to keep Bobby from going to jail for the rest of his life but it might not be enough as the serial killer works from the inside to gut the jury.

This was a an interesting mix of police procedural and psychological thriller.   

I found the pacing of the first third of the book to be a little slow and disjointed. There were a few course changes so fantastically improbably that I found them to be unbelievable.  The story telling really picks up as the trial begins and there are enough twist and turns and red herrings to keep the reading guessing and surprised.

The entire novel is written without a setting in the sense that nothing was described, not the wood grain of the bench, the leather interior of the car, the leaves on the trees. Just as in books where the setting is so important as to become its own character, the lack of setting in this book was just as glaringly noticeable and made everything read in grey-scale.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange to my honest opinion.

Never Have I Ever - Joshilyn Jackson

Part time scuba instructor, wife of a professor, mother to a new born, and step mom to a teen-ager, Amy is living your standard suburban life, down to the wives\mothers book club.

The fodder for the neighborhood gossip, the latest tenant of the AirBnb property down the block shows up to the book club and inserts herself right in the middle of all the goings on, challenging the women to play an adapted game of Never Have I Ever.

Unreliable Narrator, meets twist after turn after lie … holy rollercoaster.

Every time I thought I saw where the story was heading, there was a plot twist, revelation or flash back that changed everything.   Neither of the main characters were particularly likeable, but I think that was intended.

The author’s descriptions in the scuba diving scenes were mesmerizing, her phrasing had both the heavy and light feeling of being suspended in the warm arms of the sea. 

This would be an amazing book club read.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Another Life - Robert Haller

Another Life is told through the lives of 4 different people in a tiny Upstate New York Community.
• Laura, a 15 year old girl trying to navigate life as a teenager, with all the emotions and confusion that comes with it. 
• April, a 40 year old divorce’, VBS and math teacher, and Laura’s mother, who has become stuck in a very comfortable and very lonely rut.
• Paul, a 20 something local celebrity home after heart-break in NYC, who id hiding out in his childhood bedroom and the bottom of a bottle
• Ben, a young boy also trying to figure out his place in the world; unfortunately for Ben, that place is even more confusion with the addition of his Foster brother, DeShawn.

Another Life looks at small town life and the interconnected- and disconnectedness of the people that live there. 

There were many, many issues that were brought up in this novel, all great points of discussion but ultimately these issues were just used as props and most weren’t dealt with in any depth. And wow, lots of church, pastor, vacation bible school stuff. I mean LOTS!

There were several other side characters whose stories were left without any type of resolution, DeShawn and Bethany and Paul and even Ben’s stories just petered out as the plot brought April and Laura back to each other and out of the small town. 

I feel that there were too many characters, not enough backstory and too many plot arcs that petered out. 

Thank you to Edelweiss for the e-Arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mrs. Everything - Jennifer Weiner

“Mrs. Everything” by Jennifer Weiner follows the lives of 2 sisters from the 1950's onward. The author has said that this is her take on “Little Women”, which seems true enough as it highlights in some instances how far women have come and at what cost, while also showing how little has changed for women by and large. The book touches on what it is to be a woman in all the roles that women find themselves, including those they find themselves thrust into and those that the fall into by circumstance or choice. The characters are chronicaled as they struggle, with some limited success to figure out who they are as people independent of those roles. This would make an excellent book club read as it covered so many topics that would make for good discussion: Racism, sexism, sexual orientation, rape, drugs, motherhood, the freelove era, the #metoo movement, and more. While there were a lot of plusses for the book, I found the material to be a little bit too much. There were too many issues and at times the pacing seemed a little bit too slow. A good read, but not a great read for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cold Storage - David Koepp

Cold Storage was a fast, fun read.

A semi-intelligent fungus comes back to earth in some space debris and the military finds a quiet corner storage facility to warehouse it.  Times  change, circumstances change and the high alert safety precautions become a thing of the past as the unit is sealed up and, for the most part, forgotten about.   Insert global warming and human error and you have all the elements you need to a light, at times humorous, sci-fi/horror novel.

This is a fast paced, quick read. 

The Liar’s House is #4 in a series but stands on it’s own as a police procedural with several twists and turns.

DI Harte is a lonely women, widow (of her own making), estranged from her daughter, rebounding from a brief relationship with her superior.

After a party, a woman is found dead.  A cross town, another woman receives a birthday card for a friend that went missing years ago, a card that contains a message made from magazine clippings and containing a fingernail from the woman murdered the night before.

Throughout the investigation, the details of DI Harte’s past comes close to being revealed and her connections to the suspects might just end her career. 

This is a slower paced book with lots of red herrings and purposeful false-starts, really ramping up in the last 10% of the book. Unfortunately, I did not find the main character likeable and for a police women, I found her to be painted in the light of the woman who was ruled by her emotions and what others might think of her.   

I feel that the main character needed to be a stronger women in a more positive role.  The emotional reactions from her and the other characters felt a little predictable and empty.

It’s possible that if I had followed the series, I may have enjoyed it more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC In exchange for my honest review.

The Grace Year - Kim Liggett

“A heady blend of Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid's Tale” is not far from the mark. Sprinkle in a little Salem Witch Trial and you may have the perfect recipe for this novel by Kim Liggett.

In a world where women are not allowed to congregate together, dream or hum, a world where public punishment for women can be as “mild” as flogging or as serious as hanging, a world where the sins of one sister may mean the banishment of the others, the girls must spend their 16^th year, the Grace Year, burning off their magic.

Girls entering their 16^th year are betrothed or not before being led to an encampment, far from the county, where their only job is to “urn through their magic” and survive the elements, the violent natives and each other for a year.

This is a gripping tale, so thought provoking and angry-making. An incredibly fast read the leaves the reader wanting more.

It is impossible to say more without releasing spoilers into the world.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

Man, Blake Crouch does "careful what you wish for, you jut might get it" really, really well.

The Hive - Barry Lyga, Morgan Baden

Cassie, whose father, now deceased, was a world famous hacker and whose mother is a bit of a techno-phobe  find herself landing squarely in the clutches of The Hive, a social media driven, government sanctioned vigilantee committee after making a very unfunny joke to fit in with the cool\mean girls at her new school.

In an attempt to deal with and end cyber bullying, the government has enlisted the help of the top social media platforms to help create BLINQ.  Using this social media platform, instances of bullying can be dealt with immediately with up and down (condemn) voting that can result in punishment by The Hive,  a flash mob to mete out justice.  Offend the wrong person and you could well be flogged in the public square.

Cassie makes the mistake of offending the family of the current president and finds herself reaching BEYOND  the highest level of condemnation. 

On the run and in fear for her life, she finds a band of resistance hackers that help her figure out how it all went so very wrong.

Make an unpopular comment, offend the wrong person and all of your personal information will be shared to the internet.  Full of modern hashtagging, nogs to social media  and the dangers of taking things viral; the book is very fast paced.

Government conspiracy, the dark side of social media, and mob mentality all play a role in the futuresque cautionary tale.


Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in return for my honest review.

When We Believed in Mermaids - Barbara O'Neal

“My sister has been dead for nearly fifteen years when I see her on the TV news.”

With that fantastic opening line, we drop in to the story of 2 sisters, one presumed dead and one barely living.
Two little girls, Josie and Kit, are raised by parents so enthralled with each other that they neglect their children, leaving them largely unattended in a little cove by their home.  During a storm, a broken and unwanted teenage boy appears as their door, offering the girls a bit of security and stability but he has his own issues of neglect and abuse.

Josie dies in a terrorist attack, or at least seems to, until 15 years later, when Kit and her mother see her on the news.  But Josie isn’t Josie anymore.  Kit goes half a world away to track down her sister and get some answers.  

The description of the events of these two lives, abuse, neglect, death, catastrophe and ultimately rebuilding of a sort, is like being battered by wave after wave, with periods of calm just long enough to catch your breath.  
The ocean is a central theme in the telling of this story but also in how it’s told, the ebb and flow of past and present, the switching narrative of sister to sister.

O’Neal does a beautiful job with language, immersing the reader into the ocean, the atmosphere and even the food.  

I could have done with less of the sizzling romance although I realize that it was important to show Kit letting her guard down and being open to reevaluate her life.  I feel that this particular bit of story line as the story of Sapphire House detracted from the main plot, turning it from a 4 star to a 3 star for me.

Wilder Girls - Rory power

Wilder Girls is set on in an all girl’s school on an island in Maine.  Already cut off from the mainland, they are further isolated as the Navy and the CDC remove their ability to communicate with the outside world.
The unknown illness, or “the Tox” as they call it comes in waves, killing most of the teachers and several of the girls.  Those that survive are forever changed in strange and obvious way, some growing claws, extra spines, a 2nd heartbeat, blindness and more.

And then they noticed that it began to do the same to the wildlife.

The story is focused on the relationship of three best friends that have survived.  When one is taken to the infirmary during one of her spells, the girls discover that things are not what they appear to be.  The remaining duo decide to find out more and get their friend back, no matter the cost. 

The cover artwork was amazingly done and attracted my attention on several occasions before I read the synopsis.  

My only regret is that there was not enough back story.  The reader is thrown into the story during a changing of the guard with little information.  I feel that had the history of the Tox been explained, the book would have been a little more cohesive.  

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Again, that cover art would have had me reading the book regardless of what it was about.  

Six Goodbyes We Never Said - Candace Ganger

Six Goodbyes We Never Said is the story of teens trying to navigate life after loss while figuring out what family and home mean in their new realities.  This is no YA love story, it is a story of broken people trying to help each other hold it together and heal. 

The author does a great job showing how a song can come to represent everything, how magical thinking can feel like the only “Safe” way to think and the rocky road we travel in our relationships.   
The characters are embraced for their unique, individual quirkiness (auras and horoscopes and Rick Flair- oh my).

This was a slow starter and characters appeared with no back story or very small fragments of back story that made it difficult to connect with them at times.

The chapter openings and closings were very interesting and sad: purposefully missed calls from a father far away, emails never sent, an internal monologue made external by way of “reporting”.

I wanted to like Naima but, as she wished, she was prickly and hard to like.  The shining star of this story is Dew, sweet and broken and trying to make everyone else well and complete while avoiding his own trauma.  

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 rounded to 4

The Perfect Wife - JP Delaney

Tech billionaire Tim Scott's wife is dead, or missing, or...

Abbie Cullen-Scott has disappeared and nobody is quite sure if she has committed suicide or been murdered or run away.  Her husband uses his tech company and brings her back to life in the form of a cobot (a companion robot).  Has he created a replacement for the wife he loved so much?  Is he just using her as a proto-type to launch his next AI money maker or is this something else entirely?

I found the plot to be very well paced, even with 2 distinct time lines. One timeline told from the point of view of Abbie, the cobot, who at first learns as chunks of memory data are uploaded or retrieved and later her learning becomes more organic and autonomous.  The second timeline is told from the point of view of an unknown insider that's been with  the tech company from its earliest days.   The intersect of those timelines resulted in and ending that was – WOW.  Not what I was expecting.  

This is a very interesting story that has the reader thinking about what it is to be human, while stretching the boundaries of the possible with self-aware AI.   The peeks into the world of life as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum and the pathways of learning and understanding and teaching  are also very thought provoking.

There is enough detail given throughout that I was convinced that I could see what had happened, only to toss that theory aside and come up with a new one over and over.  The end was so full of twist after turn after false start and doubling back that the pages just could not turn fast enough.  

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy thrillers, mystery and a little light sci-fi.  Overall a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Third Mrs. Durst - Ann Aguirre

"Some people just need killing." 

Marlena, a young girl from a nowhere town flees the shotgun shack, drug addicted mother and passel of half siblings to strike out on her own.  

She hears of a way to be “discovered” by a talent agent and makes sure that she is in the right place at the right time.  She is quickly signed on to modeling jobs and catches the eye of a very wealthy man who paves her way into a long term job in Berlin.    

Soon, here benefactor takes a much more involved role in her life and her schooling, proposes marriage and launches her on the path to become his “perfect” wife.

Her husband, Michael Durst is a charlatan who creates a pedigree for Marlena so that he can rub his nouveau riche elbows with the old money barons and beat them at their own game.  He is fake with everything to lose.
It soon becomes clear that Marlena has her own reasons for going along with his schemes but quickly comes to realize that she is in over her head.

The book was very fast paced and edgy.  I did not find any of the characters to be particularly likeable and  would have liked to have seen some more developed characters. Although it was necessary to keep the motivations in the shadow, I think it would have been more satisfying to know a little more of the backstory. 

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Recursion - Blake Crouch

One of the first things I heard about Recursion is that it has already been optioned as a series.  I will admit that I was skeptical….  Until a couple of chapters in.

Helena is a young scientist with a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s and a passion to help save her mother’s memories. She doesn’t have the time or the funding to make her breakthrough a reality until a men shows up with an offer too good to refuse.

Barry, a New York cop, shows up at the scene of a potential suicide.  The woman appears to be suffering from “False Memory Syndrome”, a new medical phenomenon.  What the woman says before she jumps to her death piques Barry’s interest…and down the rabbit hole he goes.

What would you do for a chance to go back, to do over, to fix things before they ever became broken.  What happens when what you do for love brings you to dark places?

The book is an interesting take on the ability live a “do-over”. The wrinkle is that changing your own reality leaves shadows of old memories and changing your reality changes reality for everyone. 
Timeline on timeline and twist upon twist made the book read like a GIANT sci-fi action movie.  There I some beautiful writing here, some great ethical questions and some far above my head science. 

This is a mind-bender of a suspenseful sci-fi.  This is no beach read; your brain will be in overdrive.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Second Wife - Sheryl Browne

After escaping an abusive marriage, the last thing Nicole expects is to meet the man of her dreams, enjoying a whirlwind romance and a 2nd marriage.  But all is not sunshine and roses; Richard’s got baggage of his own: previous wife committed suicide and his daughter, Olivia, seems more than happy to drive a wedge between the newlyweds.

Nicole’s closest and only remaining friend, Rebecca, is in France and gets bits and pieces of the story from Nicole via texts and emails and letters.  Rebecca is beyond shocked when she learns that Nicole has committed suicide.
Rebecca comes to England to attend Nicole’s funeral, wanting to understand how her friend could have become so despondent.  Before she realizes it, she finds that she is also falling for Richard, but even romance can’t keep her from digging a little deeper into the circumstances surrounding her best friend’s death.

This novel is a psychological thriller full of twists and turns and even when you think you’ve figured it all out, there’s still a little more.

Thanks to Netgalley the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Printed letter Bookshop - Katherine Reay

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay is the story of three women drawn together after the death of the owner of the bookshop.  Each woman is trying to find her place in the work with the bookshop at their center. 

Madeline’s aunt and name sake dies and leaves her The Printed Letter Bookshop right as her planned future seems to dissolve around her.  Janet, the divorcee, is left to figure out how to move on from the wreckage she created in her life and marriage.  Claire is feeling middle-aged and irrelevant.  They each manage to find their way with the support of their deceased friend and each other.

It was a sweet, light read.  The author also gave the patrons of the bookstore their unique identities and recommendations.

I do wish that the characters had developed a little more. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Gilded Wolves - Roshani Chokshi

1889 Paris on the cusp of the World Fair, a band of misfits work together to steal an artifact.  What starts out as a heist that will bring power to some of the main characters and freedom to the others, quickly turns into a combination of heist, whodunit, mystery with layers upon layers of intrigue and deception.

Our central character, Severin, was denied his inheritance years ago and has made it his mission to “acquire” objects related to The Order, the overarching political system that keeps order amongst the remaining houses that protect a secret from the dawn of time. 

When he receives an ultimatum from Hypnos, heir to House Nyx, Severin finds himself needing to use his team of talented outcasts to help him out of a bind.  If he is successful with retrieving the item Hypnos wants, Hypnos promises to help him regain his seat in The Order.

The band of misfits each have their own special talent and affinity that come together to make the perfect heist team.  The characters' back stories give us an insight into their motivations and personality quirks in a beautifully seamless way.  

This story of an inheritance denied, a band of misfits, a theft, secret societies, magical realism with a steam punk flare ends with us asking the questions how much would you be willing to give up to have everything you think you want.  

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Any Second - Kevin Emerson

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.
Maya is a teen suffering with some mental health issues following the divorce of her parent.  While waiting for her dad to get a new license photo, she sees a boy come in wearing a wolf mask, Eli.  

Eli, who was kidnapped at 11 and emerges 5 years later in a mall, wearing a wolf mask, with a bomb strapped to him.   

The coincidence of timing push the two main characters together in that moment and again nearly a year later, as Maya has to move to a new school district after her parents’ divorce is final and Eli moves to the same school district in order to keep his identity a secret.

The character’s inner struggles each had a voice in the book, often interrupting their thoughts.  I found this to be an interesting addition that at times was a little over used.

I found the plot to be predictable and the characters to be a little under-developed.  I found myself waiting for something real to happen.  

The ending felt a little contrived and unrealistic and left several  unanswered questions. 

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Coordinates of Loss

The Coordinates of Loss is beautifully written; Amanda Prowse has an amazing way with words. 

While living in Paradise and enjoying a boating trip, a couple wakes up to discover that their fearless beautiful 7 year old boy is missing from the boat. Gone.

While trying to find their way out of their grief, Rachel and James find it easier to be apart.  James returns to work and Rachel returns to her childhood home in England.  Through it all, their Bermudian housekeeper Cee-Cee writes letters to Rachel, talking about her own loss and how she found her way out of the darkness.

I enjoyed the writing style very much.  It was a tear-jerker in many places.  It is a story of navigating loss and grief and the places that it takes you and somehow hopefully finding your way back home. I selected the book based solely on its title and brief description and I’m so glad I did.

I understand that each person grieves in their own way but found Rachel a difficult character to like. and that had an effect on how much I liked the book. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Post - Kevin A. Munoz

In post-pandemic Georgia, a man and a pregnant teen-ager arrive at a secure community.  The man intends to move on, leaving the girl behind.  When they are both killed inside the walls of the city, the Chief of Police, Sam Edison intends to find out why and by whom. When the mayor’s step-daughter is abducted and their sister city is attacked and over-run, Sam has no choice but to take the investigation outside the safety of the gates.

This novel contains everything one would expect to see in dystopic, post-pandemic tales.  There are creatures that are no longer human that are a constant source of worry and attack, small communities trying to rebuild, trade alliances, and politics.

The author unwraps the main character, slowly, allowing the reader to see only glimpses, until and if, he is ready to reveal more.  No spoilers, but I found that to be very well done.

This was an interesting story with twists and turns all the way to the end; a quick and enjoyable read. The author left the ending open enough that it could be turned into a series.

Tell Nobody - Patricia Gibney

A young girl staggers into a police station, covered in blood, mumbling, “I think I killed him.”  When two young boys come across the body of an infant floating where they are fishing, it seems obvious who’s to blame, until another body turns up, and another. 

It’s obvious from the start that Detective Parker has her share of drama and disfunction: a recent house fire has left her and her children living with her mom, a failed romance, a conflict with a supervisor, and a person who wants to unearth her past.

We follow Lottie through the procedures of the investigation as she tries to figure out who would want these children dead while trying to keep herself sane and her family safe.  The author also allows little peeks into the mind of the killer throughout the novel through an on-going internal monologue.

With plenty of twists and turns, some of them quite dark, it was a very quick read.  There were a lot of characters to keep track of and an interconnectedness to them all that I didn’t particularly enjoy, however.

This is the 5th book in the Lottie Parker series.   I have not read any of the other books in the series but feel that this one is able to stand on its own.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Holy Ghost - John Sandford

3.5 Stars.   Holy Ghost is #11 in the Virgil Flowers series but can easily stand alone.

A tiny Minnesota town is breathing it’s last breath when suddenly, a “miraculous” thing happens, an apparition of the Virgin Mary appears.  Tourists and pilgrims flock to the tiny town, people that left come back home and business is booming. Until a series of shootings threatens to end it all.

Virgil Flowers, BCA investigator is called in. While he is investigating, the shootings continue and Virgil discovers a murder that went undetected for weeks.  Virgil tries to figure out the motive so that he can stop these shootings.

In the style of this series, we follow Virgil and the other colorful characters through the investigation and are treated to glimpses of small town life.  The interplay between the characters is funny and head-shakingly authentic at times.

While definitely not a whodunit, this series is a blend of howdunnit and cozy mystery set in Minnesota.  It is a good series for light hearted mystery lovers.

The Dreamers

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. –Edgar Allan Poe

A mysterious sleeping sickness strikes a small college town, spreading like wild fire until the town is shut down in an attempt to stop it from spreading.

Like Station Eleven, there are many characters that we follow throughout the telling of the tale, getting to know some better than others.  Following the many different story lines makes this a fast read that leaves the reader frantically trying to figure out if the story line they are following is real or part of the dream sickness.
Karen Thompson Walker has a way with words, saying some of the most touching and though provoking things in incredibly short sentences.  “I’m sorry.  It may as well be I love you.”
This novel touches on the philosophical, medical, and psychological issues associated with the sleeping sickness as well as the ethical question: whose life is worth saving, whose life would you save.

While less dystopian novel and more thought provoking medical sci-fi, it was a good read. 

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Murder Book

Laura Riley is stabbed while sitting at the desk in the Cold Case Unit; now her partner, with the help of a retired officer must find out whodunit.

Overall this was a good police procedural, closely following the hows and whys of an investigations, the mix ups and the misdirects. When the team decides to make a move, the action takes off at a breakneck pace turning the last 25% of the book into a real page-turner.  The ending definitely opened the gate for the next book In the series.

There is some good interplay between the main characters but the supporting characters seem a little flat and the bad guy(s) remain largely unknown until the last 10-20% of the story.   Although this book can stand on its own, the reader would probably benefit from reading the first book in the series first so that the characters are more fleshed out and relevant.

There appear to be several editing errors in the copy that I was given by NetGalley, including a mix up in the time line (Thanksgiving past and Thanksgiving almost upon us), repetitive references to a former presidents assassination and several spelling errors, which were a distraction from the plot.  With another round of editing, this could easily be a 4star novel.

The Wolf and the Rain

After Global warming has divided the continent, the South, though drought-stricken, is completely controlled by an administration that values uniformity and all for one ideology; and the North is a rainy, mud-filled free-for-all of complete, unregulated chaos.

We are introduced to Sam, a Southern soldier pretending to be a Northerner, although we are never told why or how she comes to be here.  Through flash-backs we are able to see part of her early life in the South all the up until her training to defend the Southern territory.  We come to her some time after she has installed herself into life in the North.  After taking a liking to Ava, she learns that Ava’s daughter has gone missing.  Her desire to find the truth about the girl’s disappearance takes us into the darkest places that the North has to offer, his seething underbelly and it’s slimy corruption.

Sam learns that although the she is miles away from her former life in the South, it has a long reach and the answer to the problem she is trying to solve in the North may lie in her past.  

There was just enough missing from the flashback period to keep the reader wanting to have those gaps filled in.  Who is Sam really?  How did she come to be here? There was enough left open at the end to make for a good foundation on which to build a series.

Populace

In a new society, science has changed the landscape as well as the minds of the people.  The USA as we know it no longer exists, just a large corporately controlled mega city, surrounded by the wilds.  Leviathan runs what’s left of the USA, providing everything its population could require, including “better” living through chemistry.

Tom doesn’t know that anything exists beyond the city, to him the city IS the entire world. Until he is recruited by Leviathan to go out into the wilds and capture the larges enemy of the state. Tom is left to learn several versions of the truth about the world, the country and his own existence.

The novel contained some really great elements, some futuristic components and some nods to the possible slippery slope of modern society.  It didn’t quite gel for me, however.  Perhaps purposefully, none of the characters were particularly likable and the bridge to the back story never quite solidified.

In true dystopian fashion, it does leave the reader with some interesting what-if’s.