"the night Olivia fell" by Christina McDonald

the night olivia fell by Christina McDonald is about a mom's worst nightmare--A call in the middle of the night saying her pregnant daughter was found lying under a bridge--brain dead!  Was she pushed or did she jump on her own?  Who is the father?

I thought this book was really good!  It is told by Olivia, the daughter and Abi, the mom, who wants to find out what happened, and why.  Try to get your own answers.  I am guessing you will be wrong like I was!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)  

Karen's review:
the night olivia fell by Christina McDonald is about a teen girl, Olivia, who met an early death before her mother even knew she was pregnant. This novel is told from alternating perspectives of the mother, Abi, and the daughter, Olivia The mother hid a secret from Olivia for years and when Olivia discovered what it was, she was on a personal secret mission. Although the police said her death was accidental, the mother went on a personal mission of her own to find out details and exactly what happened. Olivia was declared brain dead but was kept on life support in the hopes of saving her baby. Was it an accident or did someone push her off that bridge? Will the baby survive? Who is the father?

I thought the story was pretty good but I did not really care much for Olivia because of the way she treated her mother and her boyfriend, Tyler. This was written in a way that I found sort of annoying, the book jumping back and forth from the present to the past. I was a bit surprised at the ending of who her death actually happened. I liked the mother, Abi, and give her credit for pursuing the truth about her daughter’s death. (4 stars)


Teaser from page 46:  I remember looking at Olivia in the fading evening light and feeling like I didn't know her anymore.  I knew then that something had been shaken loose, something I had no power to put back together. . . .

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"Joey--How a blind rescue horse helped others learn to see" by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley

Joey by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley is a true story which makes this so much better!  Kim believes in three things:  God, kids, horses.  She has a vision of putting hurting special needs kids with horses on a designated area, but that will take a lot of land and a lot of money!  Those are two things Kim is in short supply of so Kim puts her trust in God to provide. One horse she gets is Joey, a blind horse who was mistreated.  Can she take on a special needs horse too?

I thought this book was outstanding!  It is told very well and the women in this book are remarkable!  I fell in love with Joey!  Do not miss this one!   I'd recommend this for a book club.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 217:  Cindy's hand covered her mouth and tears streamed down her cheeks.  Sarah didn't notice her, not yet.  She was transfixed, basking in this sacred moment in which the little girl with no voice spoke up for the horse with no eyes.

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"The House Next Door" by James Patterson & Susan DiLallo is a Collection of 3 Thrillers!

The House Next Door by James Patterson and Susan DiLallo is the first story in this 3-story thriller collection. Laura and Ned have three kids and the house next door is a wreck. One day they get a new neighbor—Vince and his boy Vinney. When Vince calls her early one morning to ask a favor, she agrees and picks up Vinney from school to drive him to soccer. Laura and Ned argue a lot and Vince makes Laura feel excited. He is nice looking and charming. She begins to think about having an affair with him as her life seems to be falling apart.

This is a quick read and fairly predictable. I did not care for Laura and pretty much had Vince figured out from the start. Things moved along quickly and the most exciting part was right near the end of the story. (Karen’s review,3 stars)

Teaser from page 36: “No. Listen. You don’t think it’s strange—a new family in town, keeps to themselves, meets no one. Didn’t even move in with any furniture, for God’s sake.”

The second one in this collection is The Killer’s Wife by James Patterson and Max DiLallo. Michael Pierson, a high school vice principal is married to Ellen, an elementary school nurse who collects butterflies. Six high school girls from the high school Michael Pierson works at have gone missing over the past 22 months and are presumed dead with the most recent only three weeks ago. Detective McGrath has a gut feeling that Michael is responsible and finally he is arrested when caught red-handed abducting another girl. Pierson refuses to talk to anyone—no lawyer, no cop, not even his wife! McGrath decides to get close to Ellen in the hopes of getting more evidence against him. She claims she had no idea.I liked this one because of the crazy ending and Ellen was an interesting character. (Karen’s review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 178: “You and your husband have been married for six years. But tell me: How well do you really know him? Do you think he’d ever be capable of—” “Absolutely not!” Ellen exclaims, springing to her feet.

We. Are. Not. Alone. by James Patterson and Tim Arnold, the third story in this collection, is a science fiction suspense story that I enjoyed even more than the first two. A disgraced Air Force scientist, Robert Barnett, spent years exploring the possibility of communicating with life on other planets and it finally pays off when he gets a message from outer space! This was a thought-provoking read with a twist that was really great! (Karen’s review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 291: They know their wife and mother is about to embark on yet another very important, highly classified, and quite possibly dangerous mission to outer space. What they don’t know is, they will probably never see her again.


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"Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder is a children’s fantasy book about nine kids who live on an island. Once a year, a boat comes with a new young child and the oldest on the island leaves in the boat so there are always only nine on the island. The island is safe, the children happy. Things change though when it is Jinny’s time to leave. Loo arrives but instead of Jinny leaving since she is the oldest, she decides to stay. Then things change!

I liked reading this okay, but didn’t like the ending because left me with lots of questions. It is a fable about growing up, but much didn’t make sense to me.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Teaser from page 2:  Deen had lifted the bell and rung it to summon the others.  Deen had been alone, briefly, with the knowledge that it was time again for a Changing.

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"The Family Lawyer" by James Patterson

This book has contains three stories. The first is The Family Lawyer by James Patterson with Robert Rotstein. Defense lawyer, Matt Hovanes, finds himself and his partner defending Haley, his own high school daughter for bullying another student who committed suicide. This is really good about cyberbullying and parents going to great lengths to protect their child! (5 stars)

Teaser from page 17: The lawyer in me suspects she’s hiding something. The father in me wants nothing more than to believe in her innocence.

The second story is Night Sniper by James Patterson with Christopher Charles. Practically right off the bat the reader finds out who the night sniper is and the story is all about the cops trying to catch him. He kills from a distance, shoots at the heart and kills in the early morning hours. I thought this one was okay, but liked the first story much more. (4 stars)

Teaser from page 184: He spends the ride out to Queens studying the photo behind tonight’s mission. He holds the image frozen in his mind like a slide on a stalled viewfinder.

The third story is The Good Sister by James Patterson with Rachel Howzell Hall. This one is a murder mystery about two sisters. Melissa’s alcoholic, druggie, cheating husband is shot dead in her living room and the cops naturally suspect her. When she can’t revive him, she calls her sister, Dani, to come over to help her clean up some before calling the police. I did not care much for this one because I did not like any of the characters except for the little boy. (3 stars)

Teaser from page 333: Melissa shoved her hand into Kirk’s right pocket. This time, she pulled out his cell phone. “He was texting her,” she said, “even while he was fighting with me, he was texting her.”


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