"Her Last Breath" by Linda Castillo (Updated)

Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo is gripping from the start, beginning with an Amish buggy hit-and- run accident that is fatal for the father and two of his three small children. Kate Burkholder, Chief of police, discovers that the hit-and-run “accident” was not an accident after all, but intentional! The widow was her best childhood friend. This is such a sad story with a surprise ending.

This book had my attention right from the start and held it all the way through. Kate Burkholder really needs to work on her hand-to-hand combat though! Anyhow, this is a good mystery and also had a bit of romance as well as some suspense. It had three storylines: the main murder mystery, Kate’s past catching up to her and the romance between Kate and Tomasetti with action near the end with a surprise twist.
(Karen's review 1/13/18, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 4:  Around him, the buggy exploded into a hundred pieces.  Paul thought he heard a child's cry and then the ground rushed up and slammed into him.

Gerard's review 1/23/18:
Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo starts off with a hit and run buggy accident in Amish country.  However, when the police investigate, there is more to it than it looks.  There is good stuff here.  I never knew how this was going to turn out!  The pace of the book is quick and the characters true to life.  (5 stars)


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"Thunderhead" by Neal Shusterman

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman is the followup to Scythe.  I found this book very different from Scythe.  Rowan and Citra are in this book too, but there are a lot of new characters that have big roles.  Thunderhead has a ton of surprises which I enjoyed.  I never knew what was coming next!  The parts that Rowan and Citra were in were the parts I enjoyed most though.  I liked the first book in this series better, but this one is okay.

Teaser from page 29:  "But allowing the . . . the condemned . . . to choose their own method?  It's positively barbaric!" Scythe Truman shouted.
(Gerard's review, 3.5 stars)

Karen's Review:
Thunderhead is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe series. I was really looking forward to this book because I loved the first one, but was somewhat disappointed in it because of the slow pace. I expected to understand the Thunderhead better, but unfortunately, I am just as confused about it as I was in the first book. This book follows the separate lives of Rowan and Citra (Scythe Anastasia). This book also has a big surprise that I did not like at all! This book has lots of action near the end, including a very interesting concave and ends on a cliff hanger, of course.

This book gets better as it goes along but I really did not like the ending or the big surprise. I still like Scythe Anastasia and Rowan in this book and kept hoping that somehow Scythe Faraday would be able to fix everything but that didn’t happen. Scythe Curie is very cool in this book too, I liked Greyson Tolliver as well, and think that somehow, maybe he’ll become a scythe in the next book. His relationship with the Thunderhead was confusing to me, but hopefully it will all clear up in the next book. The Thunderhead seems to be kind of an artificial god with some limits. I am ready to see what happens in the next book of this series!
(4 stars)

SPOILERS (stop here if you have not yet read this book):
Did not like that Goddard was rescued by Rand and given a new body attached to his head—made no sense!

Don’t think either Rand nor Goddard were smart enough to know how to mess up things that brought down Endura. Thought it was interesting though how Rand told Rowan to leave the island ASAP because if Goddard lost, things would even be worse! She must have been in on the whole plan.

Really hated that Scythe Curie did not get to be the High Blade.

How is anyone going to find Rowan and Anastasia to bring them back to life? Even if the vault is discovered, how would anyone get it opened?

I also hate that Goddard is going to go back and get to be the High Blade now that Scythe Curie is dead.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden is a "Must Read"

In The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, Vasya is the youngest child of a large family in Russia.  Her mom died soon after she was born.  She loves the forest and she loves the animals.  But the forest contains spirits that are evil!  Vasya will have to use the special gifts that she inherited from her mother to keep her family safe at all costs!

Teaser from page 15:  "I have only a little of her gift," Marina went on, ignoring her old nurse.  Dunya knew her lady well enough to hear the regret.  "But my daughter will have more."



This book is based on a Russian folklore.  I LOVED this book!  I was engaged from page 1!  Vasya is a great character and I was always anxious to get back into this book.  The good news is I have book 2 in this series and the 3rd one comes out this year!  I highly recommend this one as a "must read."
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review:
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is a whimsical story incorporating Russian folklore. Vasilisa is a girl who does not want to be told what to do and has a special gift to see the demons others do now. There are several different types of demons, who live in the forest, in the river and some in households. Vasilisa lives in the wilderness with her father, stepmother, brother and half-sister after her mother died and her older sister and brother married. When Father Konstantine arrives, he scares people with his preaching except for Vasilisa. Will she be able to keep her family safe?

This book has a lot of Russian names that were confusing to me at the beginning, but that petered out as the book progressed. The plot in this story is like a fairy tale so doesn’t make much sense; however, there were parts I liked very much. I liked the house demon, the stable demon, the horses talking to Vasilisa, and the time at the invisible cabin with Morozko. The demon creatures in this book are not all evil and the house demon reminded me a bit of Dobby, the house elf in the Harry Potter series. This is an entertaining read. (3 stars)

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"A Stranger in the House" by Shari Lapena (UPDATED)

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena is a murder mystery thriller about Tom and Karen who have been married two years when Karen goes missing one night. Tom gets home from work to find her gone and dinner halfway prepared. He has no idea where she is and calls her friends before contacting the police. A police shows up at his door telling him there was an accident and his wife is in the hospital. From that point, the story takes off with amnesia, a murder and criminal investigation, a nosy neighbor, jealousy, betrayal and manipulation!

Teaser from page 6:  My wife went out and I don't know where she is.  She left without her phone and her purse.  She forgot to lock the door.  It's completely unlike her.

This is a page turner that I zoomed through! This is a good who dunnit story with a surprise ending and cops that aren’t made out to be stupid. I liked the investigation part of this book because it seemed to ring true to life. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery. I look forward to reading more by this author.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review:
In Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena, Tom comes home from work.  He expects his wife to be home, but she is not there.  It turns out she left while preparing dinner and got into a car accident--wrapping her car around a pole.  Now she cannot remember a thing about that night.  The police do some digging and soon a simple accident is anything but. 

Good pacing in this book will have you turning pages.  All the characters were true to life I thought.  (5 stars)

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"The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black (Updated)

In The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, Jude was only 7 when she saw her parents killed and was taken to the High Court of Faerie  .  Ten years later, Jude wants to belong, but being a mortal, she is looked down on.  Jude has seen a lot of killing, but know she wants power.  However, the risk is great, can she do it?

Teaser from page 6:  "You were stolen from me," he told her.  "I have come to take you to your true home, in Elfhame beneath the hill."

I thought this book was very good.  It kept me engaged throughout.  I really enjoyed watching Jude grow up through the book.  I was going to give it a 5 star rating, but the ending pushed it to 5++ stars!  I look forward to book 2.  (Gerard's review)

Karen's review 1/30/18:
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. There is a lot of bullying of Jude, a mortal who was stolen along with her twin and older Faerie sister from our world by her mother’s former husband, a general in Faerie land. Jude really wants to fit in to Faerie land and desires to be a knight, but General Madoc, the guy who killed her parents and brought her to live with him, puts the kibosh on that. Jude becomes a killer and a spy for Dain, one of Cardan’s brothers. Carden and his friends are the ones bullying Jude, but Jude gets revenge. There is a lot of political betrayal and intrigue in this first book.

My teaser from page 83:  "It's shocking," he says, as though he's giving me some great compliment.  "I know humans can lie, but to watch you do it is incredible.  Do it again."

I have mixed feelings about Jude. I liked her in the beginning, but by the end, I really don’t like her much. She has become manipulative, mean and bloodthirsty like the general who she hated for killing her parents. I must admit, it is an interesting novel. The ending was not exactly like I expected, but came close. I probably will continue with this series. (3 stars)

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