"The Unwilling" by John Hart is One We Both Liked!

The Unwilling is a great story about the French family.  The father, a detective, an over protective mother whose favorite son was killed in the Vietnam war; Jason, the second oldest who was dishonorably discharged from the marines, an ex-con who just got released; and the youngest, Gibby, who is a senior in high school.  When Jason and Gibby spend a day together against the mother's wishes, the girl Jason was with gets murdered and Jason is the primary suspect.  Gibby sets out to find the real killer and trouble ensues.  

This was a fast-paced page turner for me!  I was drawn into it right away and liked both brothers.  I thought the family dynamic was quite interesting and the story line was thrilling.  The only thing I did not like about this book was the couple loose ends that did not fully get resolved.  Still, I loved the journey and had a very hard time putting it down.  (Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review 12/7/23:

This book is about three brothers born to a detective.  The first brother goes to Vietnam and gets killed.  The second brother, Jason, goes to Vietnam and is a killing machine.  He comes home and has an incident that puts the cops on his trail.  The younger brother, who has been protected by his overprotective mother, sets out to help his brother clear his name.  LOVED ALL THE ACTION!  Who knew who is good and who is bad?  GREAT ENDING!  (Gerard's review, 5 stars)

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"Mad Honey" by Jodi Picoult

In Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Olivia did not know her husband had a dark side.  She goes back to her hometown but then her son is charged with first degree murder of his girlfriend.  Is he abusive like his dad?  Can Olivia do anything to saver her son?  This is good.  The characters are brought out really well.  It is a bit long, but the storyline more than makes up for that!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Stay Awake" by Megan Goldin

In Stay Awake by Megan Goldin, Liv wakes up in the back of a cab with no memory of where she is or how she got there.  Every time Liv falls asleep and wakes up, her head is a blank.  Someone wants to make sure she does not remember committing a crime.  This is a very good thriller.  The last 20 or so pages are just fantastic!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Nine Liars" by Maureen Johnson--A YA Contemporary Thriller

In Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson, nine friends are on a sightseeing trip to London.  They decide to play a night time game of hide and seek at an England country home.  The next morning, two of the nine are found dead, killed by an axe.  The other seven say they know nothing about it.  See if you can figure out who killed the two people.  I thought this was really good because of the characters and storyline.  It kept me turning pages.  (Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

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"The Perfect Marriage" by Jeneva Rose

In The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose, Sarah and Adam have been married for ten years.  Being a No. 1 lawyer for a high price law firm leaves little time for Sarah to spend with Adam; however, when Adam gets into big trouble, he has to turn to Sarah for help.  Should she or will she defend him on a murder charge of killing his mistress? 

I thought this book was really good.  Sarah and Adam were fantastic characters.  If you think you know how this plays out, I am betting that you don't!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Wrong Place Wrong Time" by Gillian McAllister Is a Page Turner!

In Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Jen sees her son, Todd, kill a man.  He is going to get caught.  All his plans and all of Jen's plans for her son are about to go to waste.  When the sun comes up the next day, Jen gets a chance to stop this from happening.  

I thought this book was very good!  I enjoyed seeing how it all played out before and after.  Jen was a great character and would do anything to help her son.  It has a wonderful ending too.  I found it hard to put down.  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"What Happened to the Bennets" by Lisa Scottoline

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline is the story of a family whose daughter is fatally shot when two thugs hijack their car.  The family is put into the FBI's witness protection program because Milo, the thug is after the father, who is a court reporter.  The family grieves and two FBI agents live in a house next to where they are staying.  Their friends and co-workers all wonder what happened to them and rumors begin to fly.  The father, Jason, makes a shocking discovery and chooses to go get justice for his daughter on his own.  

I liked this book a lot because it centered on a normal family who had their lives uprooted.  A lot went on in this book which is filled with action and suspense.  It even had a family dog in it which I thought was a nice touch.   (Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"Killers of a Certain Age" by Deanna Raybourn

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn is about how four retired women assassins scheme, plot and fight for their survival against the very organization that hired and trained them to be killers.  This book moved slow for me, but had me interested right from the start.  It had a bit of humor but not enough to say it was humorous.  It is narrated from the point of view of Billie, one of the old women assassins.  The characters seemed shallow.  I felt they could have been developed more.  I'm glad I stuck with it though because the last few chapters were very good!  (Karen's review, 3 stars)

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"My Wife is Missing" by D. J. Palmer is a MUST Read!

My Wife Is Missing by D. J. Palmer is about a secret past and the effect it has on Michael's marriage to Natalie.  This is an intriguing story that kept my interest throughout.  While on vacation in New York, when Michael gets back from picking up a pizza, he finds his wife and his two kids gone including their luggage.  The only thing left behind was his son's teddy bear!  He is frantic trying to find her and a detective offers his help.  

I liked Michael and felt sorry for him most of the time.  Natalie suffered from insomnia and suspected Michael was cheating on her.  This book had a wild chase, interesting characters, and a surprise ending!  It's quite a good mystery!  (Karen's review, 4 stars)

Gerard's review 6/7/22:

In My Wife is Missing by D. J. Palmer, a family vacation in New York City sounds good, but for Michael and Natalie, not so much!  Soon after they get to New York, while Michael is out getting pizza he comes back to find his wife and two kids gone!  Did someone take them?  or did they go sightseeing?

This book is so good!!!  You need to think while reading it.  Natalie is a great character and one of the best endings to a book ever.  This is a must read!  (5++ stars)

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"For Your Own Good" by Samantha Downing is Really Good (if you like Creepy, Twisted Characters)!

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing is about deaths of two headmasters, three teachers, and a parent of a student at a private high school.  Mr. Crutcher, the teacher of the year, teaches English but is a creep as well as the main character!  This is not a very happy book, but rather quite sinister.  I must say, I flew through it because the story line was so compelling.  The reader knows from the start that Mr. Crutcher is behind the murders but I had to keep reading to find out if he gets found out.  This was quite the story with the twist of much of it being written from the murder's view.  (Karen's review, 4 stars)

In For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing, Teddy Crutcher is a good teacher.  In fact, he got the teacher of the Year award!  He tries to get the most out of all of his students.  Now if only the rest of the faculty will stay out of his way he can get on with doing his job.  If they do not, he has ways to handle that too.  I thought this book was really good.  I flew through it!  The writing and story line are very good!  I also loved all the characters and the great ending.  I loved it!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"The Last House on the Street" by Diane Chamberlain

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is about Ellie, a teenager during the 60s when civil rights was a very hot topic and the KKK was very active.  Ellie joins SCOPE against her parents' will which is an organization the canvasses Blacks to encourage them to register to vote.  In 2010, Ellie returns home from moving to California to take care of her sick brother and mother.  She meets Kayla, Ellie's ex-boyfriend's daughter and old memories come back.  The truth of what really happened to a Black guy named Win that Ellie fell in love with while working with SCOPE comes out.

This is a heartbreaking story about racial tension in the 60s.  It starts out pretty slow and goes back in forth in time alternately focusing on Ellie and Kayla.  It certainly has some surprising turn of events and shows a very dark part of U.S. history.  I was deeply engrossed in this book, but liked others by this author better.  This is a sad read, but interesting nonetheless.  (Karen's review, 4 stars) 

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"The Collective" by Alison Gaylin

The Collective by Alison Gaylin centers on a woman named Camille whose daughter was killed.  The boy who killed her got away scot free!  Camille finds it hard to go on until she goes online and finds a group of women going through the same thing.  She joins their club and feels better.  She is asked to do some things which she does, but when people start dying, she wants out.  Is it too late for that?  

This book is very good!  The story line builds up as it goes along and the second part of the book is non-stop action which I loved!  You won't see the ending coming at all.  I highly recommend this one.  I LOVED IT!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review, 12/25/21:

The Collective by Alison Gaylin is about vigilante justice.  A group of women band together to seek "justice" for murderers of their children.  Camille believes her daughter was raped and killed by a wealthy boy who went on with his life.  This soon turns into a thriller that drew me in.  I kept reading to find out who the administrator of the collective was and if they would get caught.  I kept pulling for Camille to get out of it and do the right thing.  It was pretty creepy but couldn't quit on it.  (Karen's review, 5 stars)  

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"The Good Sister" by Sally Hepworth

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth centers on Rose and Fern, twin sisters that are very different from each other.  Rose has Diabetes, mood swings and is very manipulative while Fern has sensory issues but a good heart.  They see the world very differently.  Rose wants a baby but her marriage is on the rocks.  Fern works in a library and comes up with a plan to make Rose happy.

I enjoyed this book because of Fern.  She is an interesting character and very likeable, unlike her twin, Rose.  I didn't like Rose much from the start.  I also enjoyed Rocco aka Wally, Fern's boyfriend.  Both Fern and Rocco seemed to be on the spectrum for Autism and were great together!  I recommend this to anyone who enjoys stories about families or people with Autism.    (Karen's review, 5 stars)

 Gerard's review 4/20/21:

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth centers on Rose and Fern, sisters who both look after each other.  Rose wants to have a baby in the worst way, but it does not look like it is going to happen.  Fern, being the good sister, decides to come up with a plan to make Rose happy.  What is that plan?  Will it work?  You will have to read the book to find out!  

Fern was a great character and drives this book in my opinion.  The book moved along well with a surprise ending.  I enjoyed The Mother-in-Law more, but this book is good too!  (4.5 stars) 

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"Do No Harm" by Christina McDonald

In Do No Harm by Christina McDonald, Emma's son is very sick.  The treatment he needs to get better will cost lots of money which Emma and her husband, Nate, have little of.  Emma will do whatever it takes to get the money, even returning to her past life.  This is a good story that moved along well and kept me guessing what would come next.  I liked Emma and the ending surprised me!  (Gerard's review, 5+ stars)  

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"HUSH" by James Patterson and Candace Fox

HUSH by James Patterson has lots of twists, the first being that two crimes are being solved by three suspended officers.  Harriet Blue aka Harry is even serving time in prison but the commissioner got her out early to help him solve a personal case.  The deal is that if she cannot find his daughter and grandchild who are missing, she'll be going right back to prison.   The other case is her proving her friend from prison is innocent in the murder of the prison doctor whom she liked as well. 

I got into this book right away and didn't have a clue in either case.  This book has colorful characters and quite a bit of action.  (Karen's review 1/1/2021, 4 stars)

Gerard's review:  

HUSH by James Patterson and Candice Fox deals with Harriet Blue who is in prison.  Joe Woods, who put her in prison now needs her help.  I thought this was pretty good.  Had good action and I enjoyed all the various characters.  I also liked the ending!  (4.5 stars)  

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"If You Tell" by Gregg Olsen

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen is a true story!   This book centers on Shelly, the mom, and her daughters:  Nikki, Sami and Tori.  Even as I read this, I found it hard to believe, especially that it went on for so long!  The story has good flow to it and I never knew what Shelly was going to do next!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 13:  Years later, Lara took a deep breath, recalling, "She used to chop up bits of glass and put them in the bottom of [the kids'] boots and shoes," she said.  "What kind of person does something like that?"

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"Deck the Hounds" by David Rosenfelt

In Deck the Hounds by David Rosenfelt, Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who can pick and choose which case he wants to take.   Andy befriends a homeless man and when he finds out this man is being accused of murder, Andy decides to defend him.  This book is okay but to be honest, I could never really get into any of the characters.  The story line was okay so I did finish it.  There were cute dogs on the cover which I liked; unfortunately, they had very little to do with the story.  The cover is very deceiving which I did not appreciate!
(Gerard's review, 3.5 stars)

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"The Chestnut Man" by Soren Sveistrup - A Mystery

The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup is about a psychopath that is on the loose and must be stopped!  When he strikes, he leaves a Chestnut man at the scene as his calling card.  You will have to read the book to understand what that is.  When the detectives check for fingerprints, they find that the belong to a girl thought to be dead long ago.  Say what?

I read the large print version (over 700 pages) and was engaged for the most part.  There were a lot of detectives which was a bit confusing.  The writing was good though and I really never knew what was coming next!  I was surprised by the ending.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 14: 
She's known it for a while, yet somehow not--and only now, as the voice whispers it to her, does she understand that it's true.  She wants to scream as loudly as she can, but her gust are already halfway up her throat, and when she feels the bludgeon stroke her cheek she flings herself headlong with all her strength and staggers deeper into the gloom.  

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"The Institute" by Stephen King (Husband and Wife Both Liked This One!)

The Institute by Stephen King got my attention and kept it throughout the book.  There are no boring parts in this!  I normally do not like Stephen King books; however, this one involving kids peaked my curiosity.  It is horror because of the emotional and physical pain the children endure.  It is about a bunch of kids who were kidnapped for experimentation on developing their special telekinesis and telepathy abilities for the good of the world.  I liked the group dynamics among the kids and how they became friends and worked together to escape the Institute.  It is not all horrific.  There are some funny lines and lots of adventure.  The ending didn't really make sense to me, but I liked the book anyway.  (Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review 10/24/19:
The Institute by Stephen King is about children who are really smart and have a special ability to do something are taken and put into a large building.  They are held there and are experimented on and they better behave, or else!  Who is doing this and why?  What about the families of these children?

This is very good!  It flows well and is action packed to be sure!  The ending was amazing!  Good stuff!  (5++ stars) 

Teaser from page 63:  Something began to flutter in his chest, and he took several deep breaths to try and quiet it.  He went to the door and grasped the knob, sure he would find himself locked in.

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"The String" by Caleb Breakey

The String by Caleb Breakey is about a very creepy, mean guy who calls himself  "The Conductor" who creates a string of people he controls to do bad things through manipulation and threats.  I almost gave up right at the start when he abused a dog, but kept reading and he didn't do it anymore after that.  People do not have any choice if they are chosen to be on his "string" although Haas, one of the Trenton University cops is determined to break the string.  Can he do it?

I was eager to see how this dark thriller would end but did not like the ending.  It has quite a bit of action, suspense and mystery.  It is written so the reader does not find out who the conductor is until almost the very end!  In some ways this reminded me of The Chain.  I thought The String was even creepier, a bit too much for my taste.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Gerard's review:
The String is about a man who gets people to do things they would not normally do because he has something on them that makes them have to do it or their loved one will have something bad happen to them.  He calls himself "the Conductor."  I could never really get into this book.  I never had the moment that would get me caught up in it!  The premise was good enough, but I  do not think the writer brought out as much as he could have and I did not like the ending.  (3 stars)

Teaser from page 23:  "You catch on fast, you officer, SWAT team, professional, you.  One moment you're ready to unwind and let all that stress melt away.  Then the next you're making a deal with the devil, yes?  That is the power of the will." 

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