"Let Me Lie" by Clare Mackintosh -- Don't Miss This!

In Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh, Anna does not think that the police reports of her parents' suicide is right!  The more people tell her to drop it, the more resolve she has to find out what really happened.  I thought this book was awesome!  It has great pacing and great character development, plus lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing.  Part 1 was so good but part 2 was even better!  Part 3 adds the finishing touch!  Do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Here's Karen's review:
Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh is one crazy read! Anna, a young single mother, discovers that her parents’ suicides were not suicides after all! What really happened? Were they killed or was there an accident? When the truth comes out, it is a shock to say the least! Not only that, but Anna wonders if she can even trust her live-in boyfriend, Mark. Murray, a retired detective is the one who finally solves the mystery.

The main lesson in this story is not to marry just because a baby is involved. This book is sad and addresses several issues such as alcoholism, deceit, marrying without love, domestic violence, mental illness and grief. The main plot is mind boggling and captivating. This book has a few surprises and both mystery and suspense that mounts as it progresses. It’s a good read that will keep you guessing and draws you in. (Karen’s review, 4 stars)



Karen's Teaser from page 17: I have to stop Anna going to the police. I have to stop her finding out the truth about what happened, before she gets hurt.

Gerard's Teaser from page 15:  I recoil as if I've been punched.  Is this some kind of sick joke?

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!

"a spark of light" by Jodi Picoult

In a spark of light by Jodi Picoult, Hugh McElroy is a police hostage negotiator.  When he gets a call to go to the Center to talk to a gunman who is holding multiple hostages.  He soon finds out that his daughter, Wren, is one of the hostages.  The Center is a health service clinic.  This book tells the story backwards in time which is different for sure, but not that bad.

I enjoyed how the author told the story of all the characters in the book.  The background material brought it home to me!  This is not my favorite book of hers, but it's good enough to get 5 stars!
(Gerard's review)

Teaser from page 6:  The others held their breath with her.  They had, in the past few hours, become a single organism.

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!

"DRY" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman is teen fiction about a drought, or Tap-Out in southern California and the story of how teens Kelton, Jacqui, Alyssa and her younger brother Garrett evacuated on their own in search of a place with water. They pick up another teen, Henry, on the way who decided he couldn’t stay where he was. The group dynamics was both interesting and fascinating. Kelton and Alyssa were neighbors. Kelton’s dad was one who was a firm believer in being prepared to protect his family. Kelton was a bit weird and had a crush on Alyssa. Jacqui was a tough chick who helped save Kelton’s life and he offered to help her by giving her some antibiotics for her cut. Henry was an opportunist.  Alyssa and Garret even have a pet dog which I liked.

This book shows how quickly people can lose their humanity when they get desperate. This is a modern-day horror book. I enjoyed this book because of the adventure the teens went through to just survive and also the interaction and vying for leadership among them. I liked how the story is told from the different perspectives of the main five characters. It was easy to follow because the name of the person telling each part was at the beginning of the section. This made me realize how valuable water is and how much we take it for granted.
 (Karen’s review, 5 stars)

Here's my husband's thoughts, very different from mine:
Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman is about a group of teens who are dealing with a tap out, which means there is no water to be had!  This book fell flat for me.  There were some exciting parts that made me think, "Okay, here we go," but no!  The story line was okay.  I had no trouble with that, but I only enjoyed a few of the characters and others I found annoying.  I give this book 3.5 because I just really never got into it at all.

Teaser from page 12: As I look around the stacks of drinks, I find a single case of water that someone abandoned there maybe yesterday, when it wasn’t such a precious commodity. I reach for it, only to find it pulled away at the last second by a thin woman with a beak of a nose.

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!

"Guess Who" by Chris McGeorge

Guess Who (One room.  Five Suspects. Three hours to find a killer.) by Chris McGeorge is this author's first book which is pretty good.  Morgan Sheppard, an 11-yr.-old, solved the murder of a teacher when everyone thought it was suicide.  But now he has a new case to solve!  Five strangers and Morgan are locked in a room and he has three hours to figure out who killed the corpse that is also in the room.  One of the five did it, but who? 

I enjoyed trying to figure out who the killer was along with Morgan, but would have liked more action.  The best part of the book for me was Morgan's interaction with the other people in the room.  Some parts fell flat, but for a first-time author, not too bad at all!
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 16:  What?  He didn't have to time to think about the words because there came a terrible sound.  The dull tone of a dead phone line.

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!

"Pieces of Her" by Karin Slaughter

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter is a dark thriller that focuses on a mother and daughter who are in danger. The mother has had a very adventurous life but never shared about it with her daughter. The daughter is sort of in limbo, trying to find her purpose and also trying to figure out who her mother really is. The mother is a complex person who loves her daughter very much, but makes her leave and go out on her own when her mother’s past seems to be coming back to haunt her.

As with most conspiracies, this book has a complex story line and lots of characters to keep straight. It is slow moving and drags in places, but if you can stick with it, everything falls into place in the Epilogue. All my questions got answered. I can’t really say much about the details of the story line without giving spoilers, but I can say I’m glad a read to the end and finished it. The writing did not appeal to me though because it alternated throughout the book between the past (1986) and the present (2018). The chunks it time were quite long and it was a bit challenging to remember where the events left off before the time switched. How Nick was so charismatic and able to manipulate people was sort of interesting. I thought the daughter was pretty stupid so didn’t care for her.
(Karen’s review, 3 stars)

Teaser from page 61: “They’re going to take you down harder than him, Laura. You did that kid a favor. This is all going to be about what you did, not what he did.”

SPOILER ALERT--STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS YET:

I was confused because some characters have the same name and I didn’t realize they were different people until much later in the book when it came out the mother was in the witness protection program and had changed her name. I liked the surprise twist that Andrea’s “stalker” was a U.S. Marshall.


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!