"Love Letters to a Serial Killer" by Tasha Coryell

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell was way better than I thought it would be!  A woman writes to a serial killer who is in prison and facing a trial soon.  She figures he will be found guilty and either get life in prison or be put to death.  What does she have to lose?  Is she right or dead wrong?  

This is the author's first book which is well done!  It kept me turning pages.  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"I Will Find You" by Harlan Coben

In I Will Find You by Harlan Coben, David is wrongfully sent to prison for killing his son.  His wife left and so why not stay in prison.  A long while later, a friend of his tells him that she has proof his son is alive. However, what can David do about it?  He is in a prison that cannot be broken out of, or can it?  This was pretty good.  It moved kind of slowly with no real twists or turns, but I still think it is worth reading.  (Gerard's review, 4 stars)  

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"We Must Not Think of Ourselves" by Lauren Grodstein

We Must Not Think of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein is historical fiction.  When Hitler took over, he locked a number of Jews in what became known as the Warsaw Ghetto.  Adam is offered the chance to join people who are writing about this so that people will know what is happening.  This was a hard book to read because of the terrible things these people went through.  I liked the interviews the best.  It's an amazing story!  (Gerard's review, 5 stars)

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"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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"Cilka's Journey" by Heather Morris

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris is based on the true story of Cilka Klein.  What a story it is!  She was only 16 when she was taken to a concentration camp.  After that she was sent to a Siberian prison camp--the charge was sleeping with the enemy.  She will have to be strong to endure this.  

Good stuff!  Cilka was so brave and determined to stay alive in the face of death every day.  Be sure to read the additional information and the afterword as well.  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)  

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"Her Darkest Nightmare" by Brenda Novak

In Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak, Evellyn survived what no 16-yr.-old girl should have to go through.  Now, she is a psychiatrist trying to figure out what goes on in men who do bad things to women.  She works at a maximum security prison. When women turn up dead, things soon take a turn for the worse.  

This book had a good storyline and Evelyn was a good lead character; however, there were too many parts that dragged along with no action.  That being said, I was glad I read it.  (Gerard's review, 4 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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"The Loop" by Ben Oliver Takes Place in a Prison

Most of The Loop by Ben Oliver takes place in a prison.  Luka is locked up with the same routine every day.  One day things change and Luka has a chance for freedom.  But is the outside world safe?  I thought this book was pretty good.  Luka is a good character but it needed more action and was pretty predictable.  There were not many twists in this story at all.  I did give it 4 stars because it kept my interest.  (Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 4:  I lie down and tell myself not to cry, that it won't do any good, that it won't change anything, but I can't stop the tears from forming in my eyes.

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Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult deals with the issue of what to do when the "right" thing is illegal.   Charles is married to an alcoholic and has a 4-yr.-old girl.  Not only that, but he discovers his wife is cheating on him with Victor and they get divorced.  Charles "rescues" his little girl by taking her from Arizona to live with him in New Hampshire under new names (Andrew and Delia) instead of returning her home after his day with her.  Delia grows up happy but doesn't remember much of her mother.  Ironically, she grows up and helps detectives and police search and rescue missing people with her dog, Greta.  Thirty years later, he is arrested for kidnapping.  Will he be found guilty and spend 20 years in prison?  What will Delia think of him for lying to her practically her whole life?  He told her that her mother died in a car accident.   Will she marry her long-time friend, Eric, a recovering alcoholic and lawyer, or choose her other long-time friend Fritz, a journalist.

This book was pretty good because it had a surprise ending and I liked the tension between liking Andrew even though he did technically kidnap his daughter.  I felt a little bad for the mother and Delia.  There were some parts that I did not care about, but they didn't last long.  I did not like the way the book jumped around between the past and present, but the story line was good and I did like Delia and her father, Andrew, the main characters.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 75:  On the one hand, I was his child, and he must have been doing what he felt he needed to do.  On the other hand, I'm a mother now, and he committed my worst nightmare.

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"Blood Sisters" by Jane Corry

Blood Sisters by Jane Corry is a slow moving psychological thriller about Alison and Kitty, two step sisters. Vanessa though, being an only child, is envious of Alison and talks Kitty into making a pact to be blood sisters. One little act causes big trouble for all of them all and secrets are abundant. The day of the accident, Vanessa, Kitty's best friend, dies and Kitty suffers brain damage and is unable to speak. Alison feels enormous guilt and begins cutting herself.

This book shows how people are not all good or all bad and is about loyalty, friendship, relationships, special needs, prison, revenge, betrayal and lots of lies. I liked it but found it hard to really connect with the characters. They were so conniving!
(Karen's review 4 stars)

Teaser from page 10: She didn’t have a speech impediment, the doctor had explained to Friday Mum, as if Kitty wasn’t there. Her brain just wouldn’t translate her thoughts into words.


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"Crazy House" by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet is teen fiction with a slight similarity in theme to The Hunger Games. Twin sisters, Cassie and Becca, live in an agriculture cell alone. Their mom was sent away for an attitude adjustment and their father is in a hospital because his suicide attempt failed. His girls have not yet granted the hospital permission to end his life in spite of the fact the doctors say he won’t recover. One day, Becca just disappears and Cassie’s truck is missing! Other teens have gone missing too and never returned. Cassie goes to find her on her sister’s moped which is now the only transportation she has. Cassie finds her at The Crazy House when she gets “taken” too!

This book got my interest from page one and never let go. I almost finished it in one day! It is about how these sisters overcome obstacles and work together to escape from The Crazy House. There is quite a bit of action with some mystery and romance too. I liked both sisters and look forward to continuing on with the sequel, The Fall of Crazy House. There is a lot of swearing in this book that I did not like.
 (Karen’s review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 15: “No, she didn’t!” I shrieked, wanting to hurl my coffee cup right out the window. It would have hit my truck if my truck had been there. Which it wasn’t!


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"The Sun Does Shine--How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row" by Anthony Ray Hinton

This book tells the true story of Ray Hinton, who found himself on death row for a crime he did not commit!  Most of this book is very depressing.  He even had evidence that he did not do it, but it was ignored.  No one paid any attention to that.  The last part of this book is uplifting!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Karen's review:
The Sun Does Shine—How I found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton is the sad true, but inspirational story of his life. He was wrongfully convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. This book shows his journey of appeals and his imprisonment. It made me more appreciative of my freedom and certainly made me more aware of the injustices that happen in our nation. It is an emotional read, making me feel both sadness and anger. I even cried at one point when he received news that his mother had died. He lost 30 years of his life because of prejudice and he’s not the only one! This is horrible! 

The afterward was especially sobering.  It listed the names of all those who are sitting on death row as of March 2017 by state so the reader can pray for them!  It said that "Statistically, one out of every ten sentenced to death is innocent. This was a shocking statistic to me and one that should put an end to the death penalty." 

This was hard to read because it is a true story of injustice but I’m glad I read it. It speaks to the issue of capital punishment and I think it’s good that people be made aware of how inhumane life on death row is. It was sort of funny how Ray kept his sanity and sense of humor while locked up wrongly all those years by using his imagination. I recommend adults and teens read this book.  (5 stars)


Teaser from first page of the forward:

He resisted mightily the notion that he was arrested, charged, and wrongly convicted because of his race, but he ultimately couldn’t accept any other explanation. He was a poor man in a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent.

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"Child of the State" by Catherine Lea

Image from Amazon

Child of the State by Catherine Lea got my attention right from the start!  It is fast-paced about a young mother getting out of prison early through a new state program initiated by Elizabeth McClaine, a socialite.  Stacy is the first prisoner to get chosen for this program; however, she runs as soon as she gets a chance, wanting to make sure her son is okay.  She was threatened in prison because she believes her friend was murdered by someone connected to a drug operation in the prison.  Elizabeth believes in Stacy and wants to help her, believing she must have had a good reason to run.

I liked this book, it was interesting, exciting, suspenseful and moved along well.  The only part I really didn't understand completely was the drug operation with the prison.  I liked the ending.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)   

Teaser from prologue page 1:  Amy knew she should have gone to Stacy the second she'd opened the box.  All night she'd lain there in her cot, listening to every sound, frightened they'd come after her, and wondering who else knew.

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"Rescuing Finley" by Dan Walsh is Enjoyable & Heartwarming (UPDATED)

In Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh, Amy and her girlfriends decide to do a little 5-finger discount.  Amy gets caught and refuses to rat out her friends.  She is in major trouble!  Chris is helping to fight the war.  He steps on a landmine and his fighting days are over.  He comes back home, but is in a bad way emotionally!  Finley's owner is killed in the war.  Finley, a dog, gets turned into the Humane Society and is depressed.  The lives of these three come together to create a good read.

Teaser from page 37 (Loc. 436 on Kindle):  As they approached, the dog started jumping toward them, but Kim didn't see an ounce of aggression in him.  He was just a loving goofball, probably starved for attention.

I thought this book was written very well.  I enjoyed all the characters very much and even though it has a predictable ending, it did not take away the enjoyment of the book for me.
(Gerard's review 9/16/17, 5 stars)

Karen's review:
Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh is an enjoyable read about Amy, a prisoner in the program for training dogs to be service dogs for vets, Finley, the dog she trains and Chris, the vet who Finley is being trained to help.  I really loved this book because it got my interest right away and kept it throughout.  Yes, it is predictable; however, it still was interesting and a fun read. (5 stars)

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"She Rides Shotgun" by Jordan Harper

In She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper, Polly knows something it wrong when she finds her dad waiting for her outside of her school one day.  One, he never does that, and two, he is supposed to be in prison.  Even though Polly is 11 years old, she had her Teddy bear with her as usual and goes off with her dad for better or worse!

Teaser from page 54:   Polly put the bear down.  She picked up the phone.

Polly is a great character and when she was in the story, it was really good!  This book starts off strong and ends well; however, having so many characters made the middle of the book not so good.  That being said, on the strength of Polly and the story line, I still give it 4 stars!
(Gerard's review)

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"Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

In Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Kaz Brekker is offered a chance to make money that even for him would be beyond his wildest dreams. To claim the money, he must free a man from a prison that is impossible to escape from. He needs to find a crew of people to help him. The problem is they do not really trust each other. Will the promise of money keep them together? Will they pull it off?

I enjoyed this book a lot! There is lots of action and you did not know what was coming next.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Vicious" by V. E. Schwab - We had a Love/Hate Feeling About This One! (UPDATED)

Vicious by V. E. Schwab centers on Victor and Eli.  When their research moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong!  The first part of the book concentrates on Victor and the second part on Eli.  This book goes back and forth in time, leading up to a fantastic ending.

This is some book!  I enjoyed it right from page 1 and thought the characters were very interesting.  Here is a teaser I chose from it:

He hardly felt the cold through his coat.  He was too busy trying to picture what Eli's face would look like when he received their message.  [from p. 26]

Gerard's review, 8/21/15, 5++ stars)


Here is the spoiler-free review we saw on YouTube that convinced Karen to read the book too:


Karen's review (8/28/15):
I started Vicious by V. E. Schwab expecting it to be great based on this video and my husband's recommendation; however, I only read a little over half and gave up on it.  I didn't care for it at all.  I didn't like either of the main characters and thought the whole premise was ridiculous.  It is like a contemporary fantasy or science fiction, not sure which.  In my opinion, it's like the old Twilight Zone TV show!  The writing really annoyed me a lot too because it kept jumping all over the place.  It's in the present, then 10 years ago, last night, 3 nights ago, back to the present, 10 years ago through the whole book.  It only gets 1 star from me.  

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"Finders Keepers" by Stephen King is a GREAT READ!

Finders Keepers by Stephen King is listed as one of PEOPLE Magazine's best books of the summer and they are right! 

Morris Bellamy loves the main character in his favorite author's books.  The author has not come out with a new book in years, and Morris is upset and decides to take matters in his own hands.  Morris kills his favorite author, steals some of his money and the notebooks that contain some unpublished work and hides the money and notebooks before he gets jailed and sentenced to life.  When he is paroled 35 years later, he cannot find either the money or the notebooks.  Who took them?  What did they do with them?   Does Morris come after whoever took them?

This is a great read, I LOVED IT from the start and it got better as it went along.  Vintage King! This is the sequel to Mr. Mercedes which I also liked.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Life or Death" by Michael Robotham if FANTASTIC!

Life or Death by Michael Robotham is about Audie, a man to be released from prison soon, but the day before that happens he breaks out!  Why?  Thus begins a fantastic book!  Audie was in prison for a robbery--the $7 million stolen is still not accounted for but everyone knows Audi must have it somewhere.  The search for the money and Audie is on!

I LOVED this book because there is plenty of action that made this a page turner with a great ending too!  It got my interest from the start.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars++)

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"Cold Fear" by Rick Mofina - Girl Lost in the Woods Hoping to Survive

Cold Fear by Rick Mofina, a former crime reporter, is about Doug and Emily from San Francisco who take their family on a camping trip to a National Park located in Montana and Canada.  The majority of the book is about them being interrogated by the FBI when their 10-yr. old daughter, Paige and her Beagle dog turn up missing.  They went looking for her mother in the woods when her father was angrily chopping wood, cut his hand and didn’t want to talk to her.  Her dog went off the path after a chipmunk and she followed, but he didn’t come back so she just kept looking for him, going farther and farther off the path and getting lost in bear country.  Search and Rescue teams, forest rangers, and police all go looking for her.  Reporters come on the scene and the FBI shows up to investigate the parents who were the last ones to see her.  What they dig up is a lot of information that makes it look very bad for the parents.

This was an interesting read for me because of how it was written.  Usually, things happen and the reader is kept in the dark, wondering along with law enforcement officials what really happened.  However, in this book, the reader gets to know right from the start what really happened—that the parents are telling the truth.  Consequently, the reader is sympathetic towards the parents and the FBI agents look like bad guys harassing them during their crisis.  The author switched from the search and rescue, the FBI investigation, the reporters trying to get the story, the convict scheduled to be executed for murder of a little girl in the same park 22 years ago, and Paige’s frightening time in the woods. 

I enjoyed reading this book but didn’t think it was very believable.  The author certainly gives a comprehensive picture of the news event of the lost girl, but by including so many people, it was difficult at times to keep track of everyone.   

(Karen's review, 4 stars)

I made a COLD FEAR Booktube video about this one.

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