"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 Lying Game" by Ruth Ware - Husband Loved It, Wife Didn't

My husband and I had completely different opinions about The Lying Game  by Ruth Ware.  He loved it, liked all the four girls and the pacing.  For me, I liked the dog best and Isa's husband, Owen.  I didn't care for any of the girls much nor the story line in general.  Throughout the book it was all about what really happened in the past with Kate's father, an art teacher at a girl's boarding school.  I did not like how the book went from present to past and and felt it was slow moving.  I was very glad when I finally finished it. 
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

In The Lying Game by Ruth Ware, Kate texts her three boarding school friends from the past saying "I need you."  It has been 17 years, but Fatima, Isa and Thea know they must come--first, because of their friendship and second, because of the incident that will forever bond them together!  I thought this book was fantastic!  I loved all the four girls in it.  The pacing of this book was perfect and the writing was very good!  Ruth Ware's books are always good!  Put this on your TBR list and you will be glad you did!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 81:  But that's a lie, and worse, it's a lie to Fatima.  That was the most important rule of the Lying Game.  Lie to everyone else--yes.  But to each other--never.

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"Sadie" by Courtney Summers

Sadie by Courtney Summers is teen fiction.  A radio personality gets a call to help find a missing girl--Sadie Hunter.  At first, he blows it off, but when he finds out Sadie is on the hunt for the man that killed her sister, he decides to go look for her!  This book is told by Sadie and West McCray, the radio personality.  It is pretty good and held my interest because of the really good parts by Sadie.  I think the ending could have been told better than it was though.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 19:  It makes me sick to think about her throwing her life in the garbage like that because that's what it amounts to.  Every little bit that made her, everything, was all in the trash and when I found it, I just started to cry because she'd . . . it wasn't worth anything to her anymore.    

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"On Desperate Ground" by Hampton Sides

On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides tells the true story of the Korean war!  It concentrates on the battle of the Chosin Reservoir--a classic battle!  Marines had to deal with over 300,000 Chinese and bitter cold.  They were surrounded and still they fought on!  What a great book!  These men had so much courage!  The writing is so good I felt like I was right there with them!  If you enjoy these kinds of books, then do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars) 

Teaser from page 242 (large print version):  The next star shell revealed a horrific panorama:  The snow was smeared with blood.  Twisted corpses and shorn body parts had been flung in all directions. 

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"Educated" by Tara Westover (Hubby and I disagree on this one!)

Educated by Tara Westover is her memoir of leaving her Mormon family in Idaho to pursue a formal education.  This is a long journey.  Tara is from a large family whose father owned a scrap yard and who kept her working for him as long as he could.  It is an amazing story of how she was accepted at BYU and went on to Cambridge and Harvard without having graduated high school!  In fact, even her "home schooling" was not at all regular.

I found this book very hard to read.  The father and brother made me very angry and it was difficult to fathom how dysfunctional this family was.  In some ways it reminded me of The Glass Castle and A Child Called It.  The domestic violence and abuse is heart wrenching.  I did enjoy Part 2 better when she got away from her family and into college.  I was never engrossed in this book and for the most part had to plow through.  I would have liked to know what kind of actual job the author wound up with after all that education.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Gerard's review:

Educated by Tara Westover is a true story and what a story it is!  Tara first stepped foot in a classroom at the age of 17, but now she received a BA degree from Bringham Young University and a scholarship to Cambridge in England where she was awarded a PHD in history!  WOW!  She tells her story so well.  She wanted more of a life than her family could give her, and overcame long odds to do it.  She went through a lot both in and out of the classroom!

I highly recommend this memoir, don't miss it!  Put it on your TBR list right now!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 39:  There was never any more talk of a hospital.  The moment for such a decision had passed, and to return to it would be to return to all the fury and fear of the accident itself. 

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