Book Review: "Too Old for This" by Samantha Downing

The rumors you may have heard are true: Samantha Downing has written another fantastic book. Thanks so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy!

“Some people probably think my method is crazy. I think it’s crazy there aren’t more people more like me.”

Lottie lives a quiet life in her small town. It’s mostly bingo at the church on Thursdays (her friends always judge what she brings for potluck and what she wears) and then Sunday services. Her adult son Archie is getting married again, and his much-younger bride wants Lottie’s approval.

Her peace and quiet is shattered with the arrival of Plum Dixon on her doorstep. You see, Plum, who is an investigative journalist, is researching for a docuseries about unsolved crimes. And she thinks Lottie would be a great subject, because years ago, in another town, under another name, Lottie was the prime suspect in a number of murders, but then she disappeared.

Of course, the last thing Lottie wants is for her past to be stirred up. So she has no choice than to, umm, redirect Plum. But for 75-year-old Lottie, disposing of evidence is a lot harder than when she was younger. And then someone comes along looking for Plum…

I’ve been a fan of Downing’s thrillers since her very first. But Lottie is a fantastically memorable character, and this book is deliciously twisty. It’s fun and a little gruesome.

Book Review: "The Writer" by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

I’ve been on a real James Patterson kick lately and I’ve not been disappointed by anything of his I’ve read! His newest book, a collaboration with JD Barker, wowed me completely.

Declan Shaw, an NYPD detective, is summoned to an exclusive apartment building one night. A woman says she found her husband dead, their apartment broken into. She is in shock, covered in blood, but apparently unharmed.

The woman is Denise Morrow, a bestselling true crime writer. She’s explored some notorious cases, uncovering details and secrets long kept hidden. And she’s nearly done with her latest book, in which she accuses Declan of planting evidence in another case.

It looks like Denise might be guilty of murdering her husband and making it look like a home invasion. But she and her lawyer poke holes in the evidence the police have collected.

Every time the police think they have an ironclad case, something else arises. What really happened that night? And is Declan a corrupt cop who planted evidence, or is he being framed?

The twists came fast and furious in this book, and I could not put it down. I loved the way this unfolded and I wasn’t sure which characters to root for. This was a great collaboration!

Book Review: "The Life and Death of Rose Doucette" by Harry Hunsicker

Dylan is an ex-cop turned private investigator in Dallas. He is surprised when his ex-wife Rose, a homicide detective, asks to meet him, since it’s been three years since they’ve seen one another.

Rose tells Dylan about a murder case she’s handling, but the powers-that-be want her to call it a suicide. She doesn’t believe the victim killed himself, and apparently Rose has been taken off the case. After a short disagreement, Rose leaves, but when Dylan sees a car starting to follow her, he gives chase. The next thing he knows, Rose has been shot, he gets hit in the head, and the assailant gets away.

Dylan is the leading suspect in Rose’s death. But the last thing he remembers is Rose asking him to keep looking into the murder case, so even though he’s warned not to investigate, he is determined to keep his promise to her.

Teaming up with Rose’s current husband, Tito, they begin looking into who might have killed Rose and why. The men learn that there were many things in Rose’s life she kept a secret from both of them. And the more they dig into these secrets, the more danger they put themselves—and others—in.⁣⁣⁣

Trying to find answers only leads them to more questions, and puts them in the middle of a dangerous web of corruption, violence, and blackmail. As Tito and Dylan both deal with their grief over Rose’s death, they need everything to fall into place before it’s too late.⁣⁣⁣

I thought this was an excellent read. I really enjoyed these characters and the emotions that transpired among them, and the plot definitely kept me guessing. I’d love it if this was the start of a series!

Book Review: "Village in the Dark" by Iris Yamashita

I’ve never been to Alaska but it’s high on my travel bucket list. Luckily, lots of books are set there, so I can visit by reading.

A year ago, Cara’s husband and young son disappeared while on a hike, as the family vacationed. Their remains were found, but Cara’s grief and anger have remained, and led to her suspension from the Anchorage Police Department.

When she finds a picture of her family on the cellphone of a dead gang member, she starts to wonder what really happened to her husband and son. And while every lead she follows winds up in a dead end, she’s determined to find the truth.

As she tries to investigate what happened to the other people whose photos appeared on the gang member’s phone, she steps into a very complicated web of deception and danger. Connecting with a young Native woman, they wind up traveling to a remote village called Unity, created to protect women and children from their abusers. It is there that Cara learns the truth.

As she puts herself and others at risk in order to find answers, she must also resolve her feelings for JB, a police detective she met while on assignment. He’d do anything for Cara, but will his sacrifices lead to happily ever after or grief and danger?

This is the second book in a series which in part takes place in Point Mettier, Alaska, an isolated town that can only be accessed by an underground tunnel, and where all the residents live in one large condo building. The first book, City Under One Roof, is really good, too, but you don’t have to have read that first.

I love the way Iris Yamashita writes. These books are so atmospheric I can feel the cold and see the images she creates. The fact that these books read like a movie is no surprise, considering Yamashita is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. I hope there’s a third book!!

Book Review: "Sleeping Giants" by Rene Denfeld

Whenever I read a book by Rene Denfeld, I know that it will be both emotional and thought-provoking. Denfeld’s books often look at the most vulnerable or marginalized in society, and I’ve been a huge fan since her incredible debut, The Enchanted.

Amanda was adopted as a baby, but she had no idea that she had an older brother Dennis, who died years ago. In need of connection to her past, she travels to the remote Oregon town where he drowned when he was nine.

Seeing the memorial the community put up after he was lost to the ocean prompts Amanda to find out what happened to him. She meets Larry, a retired, widowed police officer, who wants to help Amanda find answers.

They find out that Dennis was living in a home for disturbed boys from the time he was four. While the home had at one point been well-regarded, the boys were subjected to a controversial and dangerous form of treatment, and several boys disappeared. The home is now in ruins, and those still around to remember things are fairly reluctant to share any details. And someone will stop at nothing to make sure secrets stay secret.

“They say inchoate memory, formed before language, is the worst of all, because it flies like bats in your bones: you cannot heal from what you cannot voice.”

The book shifts between past and present, following Dennis’ time in the home and Amanda and Larry’s search for information. This book made me cry—definitely check trigger warnings because it packs a powerful punch. But out of the sadness comes hope.

Book Review: "The Best Lies" by David Ellis

I don’t know what it is about 2024, but some of my favorite thrillers have been all about lies: First Lie Wins, Listen for the Lie, and now, The Best Lies.

This book had my heart racing from the very first page. David Ellis’ last book, Look Closer, totally blew me away and was one of my favorite reads of 2022. While this was different in some ways, here, too, there were lots of twists and turns and I didn’t have any idea how it would all get resolved. But when I was finished with the book, I wanted to read it all again to see if I missed anything!

So much of what worked about this book for me was not knowing what to expect, so I’m going to be fairly vague about the plot. When the book starts, Leo, a criminal defense attorney from the Chicago area, is about to be arrested for murder. But as we see from the way the plot shifts back and forth through time, what brought Leo to this moment is much more than meets the eye initially.

The book is narrated from several characters’ perspectives, and it deals with a lot of themes. It also raises the question of whom you can trust, and if certain crimes can be overlooked if the motive behind them was pure.

David Ellis is a phenomenal storyteller. If anyone has read his backlist, please tell me which book to pick up next!

Many thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the advance copy! The book will publish 7/23.

Book Review: "First Lie Wins" by Ashley Elston

Wow, this was so good! Many of you know I'm not that big on thrillers, but I absolutely devoured this!

Evie Porter recently moved to a small Louisiana town and she has a handsome, devoted boyfriend, Ryan. She recently met (and was interrogated by) a number of his closest female friends, who want to know everything about her and her intentions toward their friend. How did they meet? Where is she from? What does she do for a living? Where is she currently living? The questions go on and on.

While Evie's interaction with Ryan's friends is somewhat unnerving, part of her understands their vigilance. But the fact is, Evie Porter doesn't really exist. This is an identity given to her by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith. After she gets her identity and a location, she learns everything there is to know about "her" background and the town she is sent to. Then she gets her mark—in this case, it's Ryan—and then she awaits information on the job.

She doesn't know the true identity of Mr. Smith, and rarely knows who his clients are. And as she waits to find out what her assignment is, her feelings for Ryan are quickly intensifying and becoming real, and she starts to envision a different kind of life, and that's a problem. But given that her last job didn't wrap up the way it was supposed to, she's under significant scrutiny this time.

The one salvation she's always had is her real identity. It's always been a beacon for her, a fallback plan. So imagine her surprise when someone claiming to be that individual—her—comes to town and knows her background backwards and forwards. Is this a warning to Evie, or is it a more direct threat? She relishes a challenge, but it's going to take everything in her arsenal to find a way forward.

I loved this book. What's even more amazing to me is that this is Ashley Elston's adult debut—she's previously only written YA novels. (One of which, 10 Blind Dates, was absolutely adorable.) But the plotting, the twists, the tension in this book all were spot-on. Can't wait to see what she does next!

Book Review: "My Darkest Prayer" by S.A. Cosby

Sometimes doing a favor can cause more trouble than you bargained for.

It’s good to see S.A. Cosby starting to get a bit more recognition for his books. The truth is, however, he should be a household name. He’s just that good.

Nathan is a former Marine and deputy sheriff who works at his cousin’s funeral home. His life has been touched by tragedy but he’s known as a solid guy, one with a short fuse, but one who can get things done for people when all other channels fail.

When Reverend Esau Watkins is found dead, local law enforcement rules it a suicide. But a few of his parishioners don’t agree, and they offer to pay Nathan to look into things. He figures he’ll either find it was a suicide, or find enough evidence to convince the state police to investigate.

Nathan expects resistance from the local police, but he doesn’t realize he’s about to step into a gigantic web of corruption and lies that is more far-reaching than he could imagine. It’ll take everything he has—and then some—if he’s to survive.

I just love the way Cosby writes. His characters are flawed and complex, but you can’t help but root for them. This is a little slower-paced than his other books but it’s excellent.

Book Review: "Dead Wind" by Tessa Wegert

Tessa Wegert's upcoming book, Dead Wind, is a multi-layered thriller, full of suspense and emotion. It's just so good!!

In the third book in her series featuring Senior Investigator Shana Merchant, Wegert hits a home run with this story of vulnerability and familial legacy. This series truly gets better and better and I enjoyed my return to upstate New York’s Thousand Islands.

When a body is discovered propped up against a wind turbine on Wolfe Island, the identification of the victim throws the local community into turmoil. Shana and her partner Tim need to figure out who was responsible for the murder, which is no easy feat given that the case involves local politics, environmental issues, and secrets lost through the years.

But as they try to catch this killer, both Shana and Tim need to figure out if it’s someone local or if it’s another strike by serial killer Blake Bram, who has been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Shana for a while now. And when her aunt hires a private investigator to find what happened to her long-lost cousin, Shana wonders whether the house of cards of secrets she’s been building around her is going to fall down, endangering those she cares about.

This series is really fantastic. Wegert is a terrific writer, imbuing her thrillers with real emotional complexity as well as such evocative imagery that you can feel the fog and the chill around you. These books are a little slow-burn at the start but that helps to build atmosphere and mood.

Even if you’re not into mystery/thriller series, I’d encourage you to pick these books up, and start with Death in the Family, the first book. Hopefully you’ll become a fan, too!

Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Tessa Wegert, and Severn House for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Dead Wind publishes 4/5/22.

Book Review: "Olga Dies Dreaming" by Xochitl Gonzalez

Xochitl Gonzalez's debut novel is a powerful, well-written saga of family, heritage, politics, sexuality, secrets, and lies.

In 2017, Olga Acevedo is a sought-after wedding planner for NYC‘s elite, while her older brother Prieto is an affable U.S. congressman representing their Brooklyn neighborhood. But while their lives seem charmed from the outside, in private, things aren’t as perfect. Olga can make magic happen for couples but can’t find her own happiness, and Prieto is haunted by secrets and decisions that he has made.

Their father was a drug addict who died of AIDS, while their mother abandoned the family when the children were young to pursue a radical political agenda in her native Puerto Rico. She barely keeps in touch with them except to have letters delivered to them, letters in which she berates Prieto for his political choices and tries to convince Olga she is wasting her intelligence by not focusing on the cause.

When Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico, their mother resurfaces in a number of ways, trying to convince both of them to do her bidding. They don’t support her methods—nor do they want to get entangled in her mess—but they see the American government’s mistreatment of and horrible neglect toward Puerto Rico and its residents, and they feel compelled to act. But what sacrifices will they have to make in exchange?

Olga Dies Dreaming was one of my Book of the Month picks in December. There was much to love about Gonzalez’s novel, and I found both Olga and Prieto to be fascinating characters. But while I found the book spot-on in its indictment of America’s cruelty toward Puerto Rico, I lost interest in the book when it focused on their mother and her machinations.

If you’re a fan of character-driven books, this is worth a read. There’s definitely a great story and strong characters at its heart.

Book Review: "The Association" by Sharon Ann Ziegler

This one will make you think twice the next time you pay your homeowners’ association dues!!

A young lawyer, disillusioned with her profession, decides to try a fresh start when she and her husband move to Georgia. Her first clients are an elderly couple who moved into a lakeside community on the promise of an idyllic retirement in a beautiful home, surrounded by beautiful landscaping and high-end amenities.

The truth is, of the three neighborhoods in this community called Covington Commons, only one, Eagle’s Nest, has been maintained well and offers its residents access to top-notch services and benefits. The other two, including the one where her clients live, have fallen into disarray and disrepair, residents have to pay exorbitant fees to access the amenities, and their property values have declined drastically since no one will want to move into such a dilapidated community. It's tragic because in many cases, these individuals have invested their retirement savings into these homes.

The more digging she does, the more she finds that all is not right at Covington Commons, and it’s all at the hands of the Association, the group in charge of the community, which treats the neighborhood like their own personal slush fund and resort. The Association’s misdeeds have gone unchecked forever—and there are a lot of scandals that go far beyond the usual complaints. Can one young, female lawyer take on a system that has been awash in corruption and cronyism (on the legal and judicial levels, too) and get justice?

She doesn’t realize what she’s stumbled into, but she won’t stop, even as she puts herself further and further into danger.

I love a good underdog story. The Association is well-paced and suspenseful, and Sharon Ann Ziegler’s storytelling leaves you feeling like you can’t put the book down until you’re done. I devoured the book in just a few hours.

Thanks to Sharon Ann Ziegler for providing me with a complimentary (and beautiful) copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Book Review: "The Night Fire" by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard return in another fantastic installment of Michael Connelly’s new series pairing two police detectives—one mostly retired, one fully immersed in her job—dogged in their pursuit of finding the truth.

When Bosch’s mentor from his early LAPD days dies, his widow gives Bosch the crime book from an unsolved murder 20 years earlier. Why did he have it all these years? Was he trying to solve the case, or was he trying to hide something? Why is a key piece of evidence blacked out in the murder book—was that from the original detectives or something Harry's mentor did?

Bosch teams up with Ballard to try and figure out what really happened—was it really just a drug deal gone wrong? Meanwhile, Ballard wants to stay on a case she was the first to respond to—a young, homeless man burned to death in his tent on the street—but it turns out there was more to this man than anyone realizes. But to get involved means tangling with her former supervisor, with whom she has a bad history.

As the two both work the cold case and Ballard tries to keep her hand in the fire investigation, Bosch also works on a third case, to try and find a murderer in an effort to ensure he didn’t help set one free. The bond between the two of them deepens, they have to confront their own issues, and realize the truth is not as clear as they thought.

Connelly is truly one of the best crime writers out there. I’ve always loved Bosch, and Ballard is a fantastic, complicated character, so their pairing is dynamic. There’s a lot going on here, so at times it got a little confusing, but Connelly’s writing brings you back into the story.

You can read this as a stand-alone or as part of the series. But if you like crime novels, you should check out his earlier Bosch novels. (There are so many of them!) You'll see what an amazing storyteller he is.

Book Review: "Girls Like Us" by Cristina Alger

What a pleasure it is to read a thriller that doesn't have an unreliable narrator, one which keeps you guessing about every single plot point because you don't know what is true and what is a figment of their imagination!

FBI agent Nell Flynn returns to her childhood home in Long Island's Suffolk County for the first time in 10 years when her father, Martin, a homicide detective, is killed in a motorcycle accident.

Nell and her father were never close, particularly after her mother was brutally murdered when Nell was seven. Even though she followed in Martin's footsteps and became a cop, their relationship was always a bit strained and never really went beyond the exchange of polite information and conversation.

"Dad had an unshakable, almost evangelical sense of right and wrong. But there were contradictions. He loathed drugs but felt comfortable pickling his liver in scotch....The criminals he most despised were abusers of women and children, but I once saw him strike my mother so hard across the face that a red outline of his hand was imprinted on her skin. Dad had his own code. I learned early not to second-guess it. At least, not out loud."

Returning home to Suffolk County awakens a lot of memories for Nell, and she's anxious simply to scatter Martin's ashes, get his house ready to sell, and never return again. But her father's partner, whom she knew from high school, asks for her help investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was found mutilated in a park. It seems this murder is connected to another murder uncovered about a month earlier, which means there very well could be a serial killer on the loose in Suffolk County.

It turns out that Martin was investigating the first murder when he died. While the police seem to have a suspect who looks good for both murders, or at least was involved somehow, they couldn't seem to make the charges stick the first time, but they hope to nail him this time. Nell, however, sees that there are definitive doubts about this man's guilt, yet the police don't seem interested in pursuing any other avenues in terms of a suspect.

The more Nell starts to dig into the lives of the two young women, the more she realizes that there is definitely a second suspect—her father. There are too many coincidences and too many connections. But could her father have been capable of murder? And if he murdered these two women, was he guilty of murdering her mother all those years ago? That question fills Nell with rage and sadness, especially because her seven-year-old self was her father's alibi.

As Nell conducts her own secret investigation, she discovers the murders were part of a much larger operation, involving allegations of police brutality, blackmail, corruption, and prostitution, involving people far beyond Suffolk County. It's easy for the police to write off the two young women as victims because they were undocumented and occasionally worked as escorts, but Nell is determined that their deaths not be in vain—but she doesn't realize what a hornet's nest she's stirred up.

Girls Like Us drew me in from the very first pages and didn't let go until the last. I read the book in one sitting, and stayed up late last night (or this morning, technically) to finish it. There certainly were a few twists I didn't see coming, one which confused me in the way it was initially presented and one which disappointed me a bit, but Cristina Alger didn't let up with the book's pacing until the very end.

Nell is a fantastic character and I wouldn't mind seeing her featured in another book. I've been a big fan of Alger's writing since her first book, and I love the way each book she has written is somewhat different. I had been waiting to read Girls Like Us for a while, and I'm so glad it was as good as I hoped it would be.

Book Review: "Wolfhunter River" by Rachel Caine

Imagine what it must be like to discover the man you married was a horrible serial killer, and that he was torturing and killing women right underneath your nose. For Gwen Proctor, that nightmare was her reality. But after fearing him for years and trying to keep her kids out of danger, she has finally been able to pull their lives together into some semblance of normalcy.

But peace of mind and security don't last long. Her ex-husband Melvin had acolytes all across the country, people willing to do his bidding and inflict emotional torture on Gwen and her kids. People make threats against them on a daily basis, some of them bordering on true danger. And even worse, the families of Melvin's victims continue to believe that Gwen was a part of his crimes and are determined to make her pay, even developing a documentary which they hope will finally expose what they believe to be her guilt—no matter who gets hurt in the crossfire.

One day Gwen gets a call from Marlene, a woman in a remote Tennessee town called Wolfhunter. Marlene is among those strangers who call on Gwen, asking for advice or assistance in overcoming challenges like she did. Marlene is afraid of someone, but isn't willing to divulge the reasons for her fears. Marlene asks Gwen to come to Wolfhunter but she fears it's some sort of trap. Yet when the next call from Wolfhunter comes in it's not from Marlene, it's from her teenage daughter, Vee. Marlene is dead and the primary suspect is Vee herself, even though Gwen knows it's not her daughter Marlene was afraid of.

Gwen makes the decision to help Vee out, so she heads to Wolfhunter, along with her boyfriend Sam and her children. While she knows she may be stepping into something dangerous, she has no idea of the viper's nest they'll encounter, and the ripple effects that will be felt by Marlene's murder, Vee's alleged guilt, and the simple fact of Gwen's presence in Wolfhunter. Small, rundown towns are the perfect breeding ground for evil, and as the danger intensifies, so do the crises in her own life.

Wolfhunter River is Rachel Caine's third book in her Stillhouse Lake series (after Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek). Gwen Proctor is an amazing character—flawed, brave, vulnerable, fierce, and utterly protective of her children. I found the first two books in this series absolutely spectacular, tautly plotted and full of action and suspense, and they provided a disturbing view into the heart of evil and how it can spread.

I found that this book took a little longer to build up steam, and once it did, there was so much going on and so many things were tangled together that the plot even got a little muddled. It felt like in trying to build on the intensity of the first two books, Caine thought she had to triple the suspense. Fortunately, there is still a lot of character development, and we learn more about Sam's life before he and Gwen met.

This book might be more of a standalone than the first two books were, but I'd still recommend you start reading the series from the beginning. Caine sure does love to keep you guessing about how the plot will unfold! I'm not sure if she intends to keep writing about Gwen, but I hope she does, because she's definitely one of my favorite female characters of late.

If you're a fan of creepy, well-written, suspenseful thrillers, I'd encourage you to pick up this series, starting with Stillhouse Lake. You may find yourself wondering just how you'd react if faced with the same situations Gwen was, and whether you'd be a total badass like she is.

NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

This book will be published April 23, 2019.

Book Review: "The Killer Collective" by Barry Eisler

"The killing business has its own gravitational pull, and if you get too close, or stay too long, you'll never break free."

Man oh man, Barry Eisler knows how to write thrillers! His books featuring "retired" hitman John Rain, and his newer books featuring troubled sex crimes detective Livia Lone are fantastic, but this one really hits a home run. Way to get my heart pounding!

Livia is leading the Seattle Police Department's involvement with the FBI in a joint investigation of a child pornography ring when she and a consultant discover that there are some pretty influential people caught in this horrible, tangled web. But as Livia searches to identify the culprits, the investigation is quickly shut down.

Of course, Livia is not one to be easily dissuaded—until she finds herself the target of an attempt on her life. If it weren't for her police-sharpened instincts and her martial arts skills, she probably would have been killed, but instead, you should see the other guys. Still, it doesn't take an investigative genius to know that she has stirred up a hornet's nest, and it's one that is going to get infinitely more dangerous if she doesn't drop the matter. And the likelihood of Livia walking away from children being put in the worst kind of danger is nil.

Ironically, the hit on Livia, along with two other people, was originally offered to John Rain, who refused, both on principle (he never kills women) and because he didn't like the attitude of the person trying to hire him. This refusal proves to be a bit dangerous for him and two former colleagues who connected him with the potential customer. Suddenly Rain's retirement looks to be a thing of the past, as he tries to figure out what is behind all of the violence.

When Livia calls on former Marine sniper (and Rain's best friend) Dox for help out of her predicament, he turns to Rain. It doesn't take long before they've essentially created a squad of highly trained killers to try and go after the mastermind of the whole circle of violence. In addition to Rain, Dox, and Livia, there's Rain’s estranged lover (and Mossad agent) Delilah, lethal black ops soldier Daniel Larison, and their former commander, Colonel Scot “Hort” Horton. No one should want to cross this group—but they know all too well someone will, soon enough.

The race to kill before being killed, and capture the person behind the hit on Livia and the squelching of the child pornography investigation takes the group across the world, before everything explodes in Paris. Lives are at stake, but so are some complex emotions—love, anger, fear, loyalty, betrayal, and revenge.

The Killer Collective meshes together Rain, Livia, and characters from Eisler's previous books so well. While there are references to previous books, even I didn't read some of them, and yet I didn't find that a problem at all. Not only is there some fantastic action, double-crosses, and impressive weaponry, but Eisler doesn't just give you stock characters—these are complex characters with layers of emotional baggage and, in some cases, long-standing friendships and relationships. This makes the book so much richer.

The book takes a little time to build up momentum as it sets everything up, but once it does...boom! There was just so much to like about this book, the same way I've felt about every one of Eisler's books I've read through the years. For me, having Rain, Dox, and Delilah together felt like dropping in on old friends, and adding Livia to the mix added to the book's complexity and emotion.

Essentially, Eisler has created a more literary version of The Expendables—that movie series that brought together Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, and other action heroes.

Amazon First Reads and Thomas & Mercer provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "The Silliest Stories Out of Bustleburg" by Jimmy Misfit

Many cities get a deservedly bad rap, but none are quite like Bustleburg, a city in rapid decline. Major chemical companies, processing plants, refineries, and waste treatment localities are poisoning the city, creating a so-called "Death Garden." The Yuckamud River has caught fire countless times, and the city's skyline has been voted ugliest skyline every year for the last 20.

But it's not just the environmental conditions in Bustleburg that make it "America's Worst City." The city implemented a caste system similar to India, "so they changed it to where four quadrants were laborers and one quadrant simply got to be top dogs no matter what." (No one who doesn't belong in Burnsvale is allowed to go there.) Libraries and trees are forbidden (well, trees are allowed as long as they stay put in the Municipal Tree Sanctuary), and caffeine, chocolate, and most music is sort of illegal. (Plus, it's very hard for a restaurant to get an oven since they're a fire hazard, but restaurants are doing wonders these days with microwaves, and cold fusion bistros are all the rage.)

Jimmy Misfit's unique, zany collection of stories about this dying metropolis are full of people who find themselves in crazy situations when they run up against Bustleburg's rules and notorious citizens. From the eager employee of the Bustleburg Environmental Lobby who finds his tour to attract new employees hijacked by the local crime family to the young girl who learns about preferential treatment when she has to capitulate to the town's corrupt mayor, from the man excited about his job at I Can't Believe It's Tofu only to be paired up with a new employee with ulterior motives to the striking firemen, Misfit's stories are full of humor, creativity, and turns of phrase sure to make you guffaw.

While these stories certainly are caricatures, Misfit imbues them with heart, as well. Not all of his characters are buffoons or villains—some are simply trying to make their way against the tide, which just happens to be the entire city of Bustleburg. This is definitely one of those books that can provide a total change of pace, the perfect antidote to too much melodrama, murder, or domestic angst. Misfit definitely gets points for creativity here, as he essentially built a whole town full of characters, foibles, and situations!!

Give this one a try when you're looking for a good chuckle.

NetGalley and JMS Books LLC provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "The Escape Artist" by Brad Meltzer

It's amazing to think that it's been nearly 22 years since Brad Meltzer burst on the scene with his first book, The Tenth Justice. I remember him being quite the wunderkind at the time, and I even went to a book signing at one of those long-defunct bookstore chains, either B. Dalton or Waldenbooks. (Remember those?)

Every single one of his novels since then has made the bestseller list, but somewhere along the way I couldn't keep up with him, so it has been a while since I read one of his books. But his upcoming novel, The Escape Artist, is already getting quite a bit of buzz, so I figured I'd see what the fuss is about. This is a great thriller, full of twists and turns and sensational action, but it also has some great character development and packs an emotional punch.

Jim "Zig" Zigarowski is a mortician. Some call him a genius, because he can repair significant damage to a body, making it possible for families to view their loved one and not have any idea just how badly the body really looked. He spends his days in perhaps the most important funeral home in the country, at Dover Air Force Base, where he is responsible for handling the bodies of American soldiers who died in the line of duty, as well as those injured in catastrophes such as 9/11.

After a military plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness with some important VIPs on board, Zig knows Dover will be getting the bodies. And while the victims include the head of the Library of Congress, it's one particular victim that catches Zig's attention—Sergeant First Class Nola Brown. Nola knew Zig's daughter when they were younger, and saved her from a potentially life-threatening injury one night, but she disappeared shortly thereafter. Zig is determined to do right by Nola—and then he finds out it isn't her body in the coffin shipped to Dover.

So if Nola is alive, what happened to her? And why is everyone ready to believe she is dead? Zig can't stop from digging into the truth, especially when he finds a clue that Nola might have known what was happening that fateful day in Alaska. But the more he investigates, the more he finds himself entangled in a web of conspiracy, crime, violence, and potential scandal, which can be traced back to some of the highest positions in the U.S. government. And the more he digs, the more danger he puts himself in, as well as those around him, because those looking for Nola are always one step ahead.

But Zig also finds that Nola brings trouble wherever she goes. She's not interested in being found, nor is she interested in Zig's help. She doesn't care about the connection they shared—she simply wants to follow the trail that led to the plane crash, wants to understand who was responsible, and what they were into. She's utterly unprepared, however, for just who is involved.

"The deepest wounds—the ones that pierce you to your core—they heal, but they never disappear."

The Escape Artist is a top-notch thriller, but it's also a book about loss, pain, recovery, regret, and the physical and emotional scars we bear. Zig and Nola are fascinating characters, both tremendously stubborn yet vulnerable at the same time, although Nola seems a bit of a sociopath as well. The book shifts between the present and Nola's childhood, to illustrate the events which shaped her attitude and the armor she has built around herself.

There are a lot of characters with nicknames (The Curtain, Houdini, Horatio) to keep straight at times, and I'm still not 100 percent sure that I fully understood the operation that Nola and Zig uncovered. I also felt that the villain went on a bit too long in his dramatic "here's why I did what I did speech," a la the villains in superhero movies. But those were minor irritations, because I just felt the story was fascinating, and Meltzer delivered some fantastic action scenes and crazy twists and turns.

I imagine you'll see this one a lot over the next few months, so be sure to pick it up when it is released in March!

NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Artemis" by Andy Weir

Although it has been a few years since Andy Weir published The Martian, he hasn't been missing from the literary world, thanks to his sharing a number of free super-short stories with the reading public. (Annie's Day remains my favorite of the bunch.) Even so, I was anxious for him to come out with a new novel.

Artemis is the first city on the moon. While wealthy tourists get to experience the city's luxuries, for the ordinary citizens living there, it's almost like any other city—the struggles between the haves and have-nots, corruption, violence, crime, the usual. (Almost like any other city except for the gravity, and the fact that everything is encased in bubble-type structures to keep the extreme radiation and space dust out.)

Jazz Bashara is a low-level porter on Artemis. She longs for a better life but doesn't have the motivation to do anything more than what she does, even though she has the brains and the talent for much more. Instead, she ekes out a living as a criminal, smuggling in contraband from Earth for anyone willing to pay her. She doesn't care that it's wrong; in fact, she's more than a little proud to be gaming the system.

One day, one of Jazz's wealthy regular customers offers her a part in a scheme that seems almost too good to be true, but her part of the spoils would be enough to give her the type of life she has always dreamed of. Of course, what seems too good to be true usually is, and it isn't long before Jazz realizes she's in the middle of something much bigger than a get-rich-quick scheme—there's corruption, and people are willing to go to any lengths to protect what they believe is theirs. Jazz is going to need more than just her street smarts if she's going to survive this.

Jazz is a pretty fascinating character. She's pretty tough, smart, wily, and not embarrassed about her sexuality or her general laziness. She knows she could achieve more, but for the most part, she isn't motivated to do so through legal channels. I love the fact that Weir created a multi-cultural cast of characters without batting an eye—Jazz is a Saudi Arabian Muslim (albeit non-practicing), and there are characters from different races, religions, cultures, and sexual orientations that don't adhere to stereotypes.

Until I read Artemis, I somehow forgot how science-heavy The Martian was. But while all that science seemed to work in The Martian it seemed to weigh this book down a bit. (And no, it wasn't the gravity.) Weir has created quite a world, and certainly the descriptions helped paint the scene, but I felt at times the lengthy scientific diatribes pulled the plot off course.

The other thing that frustrated me about the book is the fact that Jazz speaks and thinks like a teenage boy. Even though you're rooting for her, after a while her lack of maturity started to grate on me.

Those criticisms notwithstanding, Weir knows how to tell a story. Even though I thought the caper (and that's the best word to describe the scheme Jazz finds herself in) was a little silly, I couldn't stop reading Artemis. It's a fun and interesting book, and you have to wonder how close to reality Weir's vision of life on the moon will come, if it ever becomes a reality.

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "The Force" by Don Winslow

I have been a fan of Don Winslow's for more than 20 years, starting when I found his series featuring Neal Carey, one of the more unlikely private investigators I had seen back then. (This was a time when there wasn't such a glut of books featuring unlikely PIs.) Through the years I've read pretty much everything he has written, and I kept hoping there would be a book that would finally catapult him to the level of fame his talent so deserves.

Simply put, his latest book, The Force, is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it appears to be the book which might finally make Winslow a household name. While the story of corruption in the ranks of the NYPD may be a familiar one, in Winslow's hands, it is raw and gripping, one of those books you can't stop reading, and it feels incredibly current. It is definitely one which will make one hell of a movie. (And it already has been optioned, so it will be one to watch!)

The Manhattan North Special Task Force, otherwise known as "Da Force" (as if said with a New York accent), is the NYPD's most elite unit. Created to crack down on the influx of violence, gangs, guns, and drugs infiltrating the city, particularly in the Harlem area, the detectives who serve on Da Force are among the toughest, smartest, most bad-ass cops the city has to offer. At the helm of this unit is Detective Sergeant Denny Malone, who relishes his power and all he can accomplish with it. And boy, does he love his job.

"All Da Force detectives are kings, but Malone—with no disrespect intended to our Lord and Savior—is the King of Kings. Manhattan North is the Kingdom of Malone. Like with any king, his subjects love him and fear him, revere him and loathe him, praise him and revile him. He has his loyalists and rivals, his sycophants and critics, his jesters and advisers, but he has no real friends. Except his partners."

Malone and his partners have given every inch of themselves to the city. They've put themselves at serious risk of injury and death (and have the scars to show for it), and have witnessed the utter horrors that people inflict on one another, whether due to the influence of drugs and alcohol, for revenge or retribution, if they perceive someone is threatening their business interests, or simply out of boredom or cruelty. It's a job that wears you down, but Malone and his partners and his fellow officers love it anyway.

"The cops feel for the vics and hate the perps, but they can't feel too much or they can't do their jobs and they can't hate too much or they'll become the perps. So they develop a shell, a "we hate everybody" attitude force field around themselves that everyone can feel from ten feet away. You gotta have it, Malone knows, or this job kills you, physically or psychologically. Or both."

The thing is, police work is a lot about "what have you done for me lately," so no matter what heroic deeds Da Force does, there's always pressure from higher up to keep crime stats down, keep guns and drugs away, keep people from being murdered. Ultimately, to succeed, you can't be 100 percent idealistic, nor can you be 100 percent innocent. And through their years in the NYPD, Malone and his partners haven't done everything by the book. There may have been times when evidence or weapons were planted, when money changed hands to make things go away, where lawful procedures were skirted or avoided. If the end result is what is desired, what's the problem?

When Da Force makes the biggest heroin bust in the city, they're hailed as hero cops. Yet Malone and his partners actually steal some of the drugs and some of the money before turning everything else in. They're entitled. But this sends them down their slipperiest slope yet, and when Malone catches the eye of the feds for a fairly routine (but still illegal) thing, he finds himself caught in a trap, and has to decide whether to save himself or betray his fellow officers, something he vowed he'd never do.

The Force is magnificently told—it's a big novel with a big vision and a fairly large cast of characters, yet the cops at its center fully grab your attention. Malone is far from perfect and he'll admit that to anyone. He knows that somewhere along the line he and his comrades stepped out of line, but once you get used to the privilege and the perks and the money and the prestige, can you go back and admit your mistakes? This is a man so in love with the job and what they can achieve, he can't think of doing anything else in the world.

Elements of the plot are definitely familiar, but woven together with Winslow's amazing storytelling, it is completely riveting, and I read nearly the entire book on a cross-country flight. Perhaps because of all the references to Serpico I kept seeing a young Al Pacino as Malone, but the characters and the images are so vivid, I watched the book play out in my head as I was reading it. I cannot wait to see this adapted into a movie, because in addition to the violence and bravado and corruption there are moments of true tenderness and emotion and vulnerability.

As you might expect, there is a lot of violence in this book, and in a book which takes place in a culture greatly affected by racism, there is strong language and racial and cultural epithets used throughout. None of it felt gratuitous to me, but I know some may find that triggering or troublesome.

Ever since I learned Winslow would be writing this book, I couldn't wait to read it. Now that I have, I am so excited about the response it has received from critics and readers across the country. He is definitely a writer worth reading, and whether you start with this book or one of his others, you're sure to find an excellent, exceptionally written story.

Book Review: "Unquiet Ghosts" by Glenn Meade

Political intrigue and corruption. Stolen antiquities. The aftereffects of war. Family secrets. Glenn Meade's Unquiet Ghosts hits all of those buttons, and then some. This is a thriller in which very little is what it seems.

Kathy Kelly's life was turned upside down when her husband Jack, a veteran of the Iraq war, was killed in a plane crash, along with the couple's two young children, Amy and Sean. Not a day has gone by when she hasn't felt the pain of losing all of them, and although she has tried valiantly to rebuild her life, she can never seem to get the pieces to fit back together the way they used to when her family was alive.

While their deaths were an absolute shock, they are something she has come to accept every day for the last eight years. Needless to say, she is utterly unprepared for a freak discovery, when a plane crash in the middle of a storm leads authorities to locate the wreckage of Jack's plane, deep in the middle of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nowhere near where the plane should have been. And while they've been able to find the pilot's remains, there's no sign of Jack's or the children's.

Could they be alive, after all this time? And if so, why have they been hiding from Kathy and making her believe her life had ended with theirs?

The investigation into what happened that night eight years ago uncovers more questions than there are answers, especially based on some mysterious discoveries, and Kathy's growing understanding that there were things her husband, as well as her soldier father and brother, who fought alongside Jack, kept hidden. And the secrets keep on popping up, as Kathy begins to see that other events that marked her life, such as her mother's death years before, may be connected.

Kathy wants the truth. But the truth might kill her, and if it doesn't, it certainly will endanger her and her loved ones, not to mention cause her to question everything and everyone she has held dear. Because there are people who wanted Jack dead, and they'll do anything to make sure this time he gets that way.

Meade throws lots of twists and turns and mystery into this book. There are a lot of parallel plot threads which eventually come together, and they really make you wonder whether there is some truth to some of the fiction that he has created. You may figure out what happened and who was responsible before everyone else does, but this is far from a boring ride—there is some great suspense and some strong action scenes. Meade definitely knows how to tell a story.

Even with all of the above, the book's pacing didn't move as quickly as I wanted it to, and a few times my attention flagged. But overall, this is a good thriller, and I could totally see it being adapted into a movie sometime soon.

NetGalley and Howard Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!