"The NoWhere Child" by Christian White - (a Child Abducted)

The Nowhere Child by Christian White is about a child abduction that is never solved until the brother finally tracks down his missing sister who is all grown up and lives in Australia!  Stuart was 9, his younger sister, Sammy only two when she disappeared.  Kim Leamy grew up in Australia with her mother who died of cancer, her step-dad, Dean and her younger sister, Amy.   Kim is a photographer professor but one day finds out her life is a big lie and she's really Sammy Went who went missing from her home in Kentucky!  Kim decides to go to Manson, Kentucky, her supposed hometown, to see if she can find answers.  She can't believe her mom was a kidnapper!

This was pretty good mystery, but it kept jumping from past to present just about every chapter which I found annoying.  I liked Kim and felt bad for her.  The cult stuff in this book creeped me out. 
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Teaser from page 13:  Were Jack and Molly Went still waiting for answers?  Did every phone call or knock at the door fill them with hope or dread or some bitter mixture of both?  Did they see Sammy's face in every woman they passed on the street, or had they found a way to move on?

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"The Girl Who Lived" by Christopher Greyson

The Girl Who Lived by Christopher Greyson deals with faith, the only survivor of a mass killing that included family members.  The police have closed the case but Faith knows the real killer is still out there.  Does anyone believe her and can she find proof? 

Faith was a real good character.  I enjoyed how the story line did not go back and forth between present and past.  It has some down parts, but the ending more than made up for them.  See if you can figure it all out!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars) 

Teaser from page 28:  Now she felt like she'd walked out of a dark cave only to step right off a cliff.  She didn't know which she feared more:  the darkness behind her or the fall ahead.
 
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"Run Away" by Harlan Coben

Run Away by Harlan Coben is about Simon Greene in search of his missing, drug addict daughter, Paige. One day he sees her singing in the park and almost catches her, but her boyfriend shows up and while Simon scuffles with him, Paige gets away. This story is full of murder, family secrets, hit men, drug dealers, and a cult. It is pretty complicated how these things are woven together to make for quite a mystery! This is a wild story that made me want to keep reading with an interesting ending.
(Karen’s review 5/15/19, 4 stars)

Gerard's review:
This novel is about a father, Simon, who is looking for his daughter, Paige, who ran away and got into drugs.  He wants to put her in rehab.  He gets involved in the drug culture with some not so nice people as he looks for Paige.  This book had some good parts, but not enough of them to me.  The story line jumped around too so did not really keep my interest.  (3 stars)  

Teaser from page 27: Sam said, “The video’s gotten over a million hits.” His son seemed both startled and impressed. “I can’t believe you punched out Aaron.”


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"The Silent Patient" by Alex Michaelides

Wow! The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is a shocking thriller about evil nature. At 33, Alicia Berenson killed her husband and became the silent patient who would not speak. She was put into a mental facility where none of the doctors could get her to talk, until Dr. Faber. Alicia is a painter and her husband a photographer. The story slowly unfolds and we don’t find out why Alicia killed her husband until the end. This kept my interest all the way through and I was pretty shocked by the ending. (Karen’s review, 4 stars)

Gerard's review 2/26/19:
In The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Alicia is a famous painter married to a successful husband.  Why then did she tie her husband to a chair and shoot him five times?  She never says another word!  Can she talk after that or is she just keeping quiet?  She is put in a mental hospital and is the "silent patient."  Theo is a criminal psychotherapist and wants to try to reach her and get the full story.  Can he do it?

Believe the hype around this one!  It is a NEW YORK TIMES best seller and movie rights already are in the works!  This is an adult novel.  The pacing of the book might seem slow, but it strings you along until the ending, then Bam!  Do not pass this one up, must read.  (5+ stars)

Teaser from page 35:  Her face was expressionless, blank.  A medicated mask.  I wondered what lay beneath.

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In Doubt by John W. Mefford

Image from Goodreads

In Doubt (an Ivy Nash Thriller, Book 3) by John W. Mefford is a thriller about Ivy Nash, a former Child Protective Services worker who now runs her own business of helping children in crisis. She is hired by a very wealthy businessman, Dillon, to watch his little four-year-old daughter. His wife is in a drug rehab institution. Dillon was shot at his fundraiser, then is accused of raping a minor. Ivy isn’t quite sure if he’s the loving dad she sees when Ivy is with him or if he’s a sexual predator. Then, her friend who she works with is charged with manslaughter for killing her step father that raped her! Her friend denies killing the creep but Ivy has some doubt.

This one seemed like just too much crime going on for my taste. The characters were not very well developed and the only one I really cared about was the little 4-yr.-old girl and Ivy. Ivy was portrayed as “super woman” who did her own investigating while still providing care for the little girl. I did not care much for this one, just too many similar story lines going on at once. I thought it was pretty unbelievable how Ivy and her friend fought off their strong, male, experienced abusers.
(Karen’s review 2 stars)

Teaser from page 174 (Loc. 2445-54): I shut the door and swallowed, a sob building in my throat. Then I headed downstairs to figure out if my friend and partner had committed murder.


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"Save Me From Dangerous Men" by S. A. Lelchuk

Save Me From Dangerous Men by S. A. Lelchuck is about Nikki Griffin, a bookstore owner as well as a private investigator.  Nikki is nobody you want to fool with!  In this case, she is hired to follow a woman.  When the woman turns up dead, Nikki will not rest until she finds out who killed her and why.  Nikki is a great character to say the least.  I loved her bad-ass style!  For the most part, this book was good but it had a few down parts.  It looks like this is going to be a series.  I give this book a solid 4 stars.  (Gerard's review)

Teaser from page 13:  The world coming in sharp and clear, every movement, every sound.  I chose my words carefully.  "You ready for another taste?  Or do you need a minute?"

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"One of Us is Lying" by Karen M. McManus

In One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, five high school kids are in detention in a classroom.  One of them does not make it out alive!  It was no accident.  Who did it?  I almost gave up on this one, but I'm glad I did not!  Once the story picked up, it was kind of hard to put down!  The other four characters were really brought out very well.  It has some good twists and turns also.  If you love a good who done it mystery, this book is for you.  This is well worth reading!
(Gerard's review, 4.5 stars) 

Teaser from page 15:  He runs a shaking hand through his think white hair as one of the paramedics stabs Simon with a syringe and the other two lift him onto the stretcher.  "God help that boy," he whispers.

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"The Last Straw" by Ed Duncan is Full of Violence

The Last Straw by Ed Duncan is adult fiction with several story lines and several main characters.  First is the story line of why a Chicago crime boss is ordering a hit on a teenage girl who witnessed a car jacking in which the driver was killed.  The other is about the relationship between Paul (a well-respected lawyer and friend of the witness's family) and a hit man named Rico.  There is a lot of killing and action from the get-go in this dark adult fiction book.  It has racketeers, hit men, a prostitute, an inter-racial affair, murder and suicide.  

I got this book in exchange for a review and that's really the only reason I finished it.  There are a lot of characters in this, to which most I could not relate.  Rico was a hit man with a conscience which to me made him the most interesting character; however, this book is mostly about action and killing.  I felt the characters could have been developed more.  This book was just too dark for my taste with the only wholesome thing about it being the teenage eyewitness who was willing to testify.       
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

Teaser from page 13:  Jerry was the closest thing he had to a friend.  Yet when he found out about his death, he had felt nothing akin to grief.  Indeed, what he felt was almost nothing at all, except that he might be next.

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"The Cabin at the End of the World" by Paul Tremblay

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay is one of the dumbest books I ever read! I should have known I wouldn’t like it when I saw Stephen King praising it. I just kept reading because I thought it must get better, but it never did. Two gay guys and their adopted Chinese daughter are at a cabin in New Hampshire on vacation when four strangers come to see them. Practically the entire book takes place inside the cabin. The only action in this book is killing people. The writing was annoying to me as well, very wordy. I was glad when it finally ended! It’s a stupid scenario and depressing. Maybe Stephen King fans would like it, but I really hated it. I give it zero stars if I can. It’s really the worst book I ever read and finished and feel like it was a big waste of my time. I should have quit on it from the start when I thought about it. I would not recommend this one to anybody.
(Karen's review)

Teaser from page 25: “We are not here to hurt you. We need your help to save the world.”


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"Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a non-fiction book about the Osage Indian  murders during the 1920s.  The Osage Indians were among the richest people when oil was discovered on their land!  All of a sudden, they were being killed off and they wanted answers soon!

This book was interesting for sure.  It details how the authorities went looking for answers.  The pacing and telling of this story were very well done!  You can tell a ton of research went into this book.  It is worth reading!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 15:  Then he screamed, ""Oh Papa!"  By the time his father reached him, the boy had crawled onto a rock.  He gestured toward the mossy edge of the creek and said, "A dead person."

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"Little Shoes" by Pamela Everett (Historical non-fiction)

Little Shoes by Pamela Everett is a true crime story.  Pamela's dad lost two sisters.  He does not talk about this so Pamela decides to look into what became of her dad's sisters.  This book is hard to read because of what it describes, but it is gripping too which makes it hard to put down!  The pacing of this book is well done.  The writing really made me feel like I was right there.  I always enjoy reading about true events that I am not up to speed on, but I can't say I enjoyed this.  However, it is very good and am glad I read it!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review:
Little Shoes by Pamela Everett is the true story about how the author researched into her families past to find out what happened back in 1937 to her two aunts that she just learned she had. This is about their murder and the question of whether the guy charged was really the guy who did it. This is a very sad and disturbing book!

The author wrote this to memorialize the three girls who were murdered, two of which her family never spoke of much. I really didn’t enjoy this one because not only was the murder of the three little girls horrible, but then it seemed to me that justice was not even served. I felt the guy who was convicted was really innocent! This book points out pitfalls in our criminal justice system when it comes to wrongful convictions. I found the research extremely interesting about eyewitnesses. The emotions I felt while reading this were sadness and anger. Much of the book moved very slowly for me, but things picked up once the trial got underway. Overall, this book is very unsettling.
(3 stars)

Karen's Teaser from page pg 79: And I thought about the leading cause of wrongful convictions—a problem with police investigations that’s still with us today.
Eyewitness misidentifications have led to 75 percent of the wrongful convictions overturned by DNA evidence in our country, and many of those mistakes happen early in the process when police are desperately seeking a suspect, just as they were in Inglewood in those frantic days after June 26.

Gerard's Teaser from pg. 16:  She politely fended off reporters' continued questions about whether the girls would have gone with Eddie the Sailor.  She held a hand to her mouth, choking back tears, and told them, "I'm afraid to let myself think what might have happened to them."

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"Lying in Wait" by Liz Nugent is a Wild Read!

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent is told by multiple people.  The two main people who tell it are Lydia and Laurence.  They are a mom and son.  Lydia made Laurence share a secret that is the central part of this book. 

I thought this book was wild!  In a good way!  Secrets come out that will have your head spinning.  There are some dull spots, but for the most part the pacing of this book is really good.  The last part of this book will have you turning pages and the ending is one that I did not see coming at all!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 47:  "I was a fool to go along with your crazy plan.  I did it because I loved you."

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"Motion to Kill--a Lou Mason Thriller by Joel Goldman

Motion to Kill—a Lou Mason Thriller by Joel Goldman is a legal thriller with lots of murder, several cases, and lots of characters. Lou Mason discovers the dead body of his partner in a lake at the firm’s partner retreat. When he learns it was murder, Lou tries to investigate to figure out who the killer is and why. Is it client-related? Is it someone in the firm? Is the death of another partner related? Is there more than one killer? There are lots of things going on in this book!

Teaser from page 1: A dead partner is bad for business, even if he dies in his sleep. But when he washes ashore on one side of a lake and his boat is found abandoned on the other side, it’s worse.

This book is pretty complex and I found it a bit hard to follow at the beginning but as the investigation moved along, I got more drawn into it. Some parts were very good with lots of suspense, while others were mostly conversations. I felt sorry for Lou that he didn’t get out of the firm sooner and felt bad for the sheriff too. I liked the ending.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)


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"Paper Roses" (Texas Dreams Book 1 series) by Amanda Cabot

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot takes place in the 1800s in Texas.  Sarah is a mail-order bride with a younger sister to care for who is angry at her father for shooting her mother and then himself.  She leaves Philadelphia and the loneliness to start a new life in Texas but finds something very different than what she expected.

I enjoyed this story because of the mystery included to make it more than just another Christian fiction romance that is predictable.  Although the romance part was predictable from the start, I did not figure out who the murderer was until it was revealed at the end.  The theme of the book is that God can bring good out of bad situations.  I liked the characters and I always looked forward to getting back to reading it to see what would happen next. 

This is the first book I've read by this author but plan on reading more by starting with completing this trilogy.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"Two Good Dogs" by Susan Wilson--We Both Liked This One (UPDATED)

Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson is all about second chances and is a heartwarming story involving two Pit Bulls who used to be used as fighting dogs but got rescued. Skye and her daughter Cody are trying to start a new life after Skye’s husband got killed in a drive-by shooting. Skye decides to go after her dream of running a hotel but her daughter does not share that dream and resents having to leave all her friends and move to a little town. Cody has a secret that she cannot tell anyone because it is a matter of life and death. Adam is a widower who visits Skye’s hotel with his dog, Chance, a therapy dog. Chance leads Cody to Mingo, a street kid who overdosed, and his pit bull, Dawg Chance and Dawg become friend;, Cody and Mingo become friends. Cody’s strange behavior is all related to the big secret she feels forced to keep.

I loved this book and it went by quick. I was sorry to see it end because I really liked Mingo and would have liked to see how Cody would continue to mature and grow. I also would have liked to know if Adam and Skye would actually marry, but the book ended before any of that happened. I still enjoyed this book very much and liked all the main characters. I thought Skye, the single mom, was also an interesting character who I felt sorry for throughout the book because of all the trouble her daughter got into.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 5/25/17:
In Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson, single mom Skye runs a hotel with the help of her daughter Cody but when Cody falls in with the wrong crowd, she needs help.  Adam and his dog check into the hotel and Skye befriends him.  When Cody befriends a street kid named Mingo and his Pitbull, can these four form a bond?

I thought this book was pretty good.  The story line kept me interested and I really enjoyed both dogs in it!  (4 stars)

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"The Red Hunter" by Lisa Unger (Updated, We Both Liked This One)

Manny Boy (R.I.P. 5/14/17)

The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger is a mystery with complex characters and surprises about seeking justice/revenge. At the center of this novel is an old “haunted” farmhouse that was Zoey’s childhood home where her parents were murdered years ago and one Claudia has inherited and is renovating. Some cops justify stealing $1 million from a drug dealer and after the agreed upon cuts, Zoey’s dad hides it. The story line with Claudia centers on her marriage, her teenage daughter Raven and the renovation while Zoey’s story centers on her hunting down and killing the men who murdered her parents and tortured her as a kid.

This novel is fast-paced and kept my attention, peaked my interest and challenged me to think about the difference between justice and revenge. I liked both Claudia and Zoey. The ending was great but also a bit shocking. The only thing I didn’t really like was that abrupt switching between story lines without any transition. I really liked this one though in spite of that and highly recommend it if you like crime novels that weave in normal lives. 
(Karen's review, 5/18/17, 5 stars)

Gerard read this first:
In The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger, Claudia wants a new start.  She is trying to deal with a horrible assault on her that she will live with forever.  She is going to fix up an old house that was in her family for her and her daughter.  Zoey Drake had a terrible ordeal too and wants revenge in the worst way!  What these two women have in common is that house and the secrets that still exist in it, none of which Claudia has any idea about.

This is good stuff!  The first part of the book sets it up and the last part of the book shows how it all plays out.  Lisa Unger is always good!  This is another good read by her and I look forward to her next one.  (Gerard's review, 5/8/17, 5 stars)

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"A Simple Favor" by Darcey Bell

In A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell, Emily and Stephanie are friends.  They have young boys that are close friends too.  One day Emily asks Steph to look after her son because she is going away for a few days. But when a few days turns into weeks, Steph begins to questions what she really knew about Emily, and what about Emily's husband and son?  How do they react?

This was written by a pre-school teacher.  Are you kidding me?  This is a very adult novel to be sure.  The first 100 pages set the scene and when you get to page 100, this book really takes off!  There are many twists and turns.  If you think you know what you know, trust me You Do Not!  LOVED IT!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"The Fixer" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a YA contemporary fiction mystery about Tess Kendrick, a 16-yr-old who is taken by her older sister, Ivy, the "fixer."  Ivy left the ranch years before and works closely with the President of the United States in D.C. to fix problems.  Tess resents Ivy for not taking her along when their parents died so lives with her grandfather whose Alzheimer's gets worse,  When Ivy visits, she moves the grandfather to a care facility in Boston and has Tess live with her.  Ivy tries to protect Tess from getting involved in her job but Tess becomes involved in spite of Ivy's efforts.  Tess is shocked as secrets come to light and bravely seeks the truth.

This was very good with a combination of politics, murder and family relationships.  I enjoyed the plot and the characters and especially the surprise twist near the end.  I finished this in two days and looked forward to getting back to it.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Kind Worth Killing" by Peter Swanson

In The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson, Ted and Lily meet at an airport bar.  They get to talking and drinking and all of a sudden, they feel a connection.  They decide to hatch a plan.  If it goes as planned, their lives will be forever changed.  I enjoyed this book.  The plot is good and the characters are cold-blooded to say the least.  I loved the ending!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

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"The Undoing of Saint Silvanus" by Beth Moore

The Undoing of Saint Silvanus by Beth Moore is her first fiction novel. It takes place in New Orleans and centers on a group of people who live in an old refurbished church. When Jillian gets a mysterious phone call from a woman who works for her grandmother telling her that her father is dead, she hops on a plane and finds her grandmother living at Saint Silvanus. Jillian’s mother does not get along with her mother-in-law and was not happy about Jillian going to see her. Some family secrets are revealed, Jillian finds herself in great danger when she gets involved with the wrong person but makes some good friends with the bunch at Saint Silvanus. Jillian is not a religious person but Adella, the woman who called her, is and managed to help Jillian and her grandmother mend their relationship. This novel is about how God can pick up the pieces of broken lives and put them together.

I thought this Christian fiction novel would have more humor but most of it was pretty dark. It moved along very slowly and some things didn’t make sense to me, like why all the flashbacks to when the church was actually a church. Nor did I understand if the father had money for Jillian to inherit, why he lived on the streets like a bum. I liked Adella the best because although she was the Christian in the book, she was presented in a good light and provided at least some humor with her wit and direct ways. I didn’t much care for Jillian, the main character, but liked her better as the book progressed. It certainly is quite a story and one I will probably remember because of the original plot.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

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