I’ve read all of Simone St. James’ books and have either really liked or loved all of them. Her latest offering, The Book of Cold Cases, falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. Shea Collins’ recent divorce has left her both at loose ends and strangely unchanged. At loose ends because she now has…
Claudia Castro is rich, young and famous – but her life is a mess made worse by the evils of another person. Her parents are divorcing, her appearance on the reality show Rich Kids of the Hamptons has proven to be an ugly and humiliating mistake, and people tend to think of her in negative…
Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go is one of the books I recommended most frequently. Clever, surprising, and moving, it satisfies on so many levels. Unfortunately, it set the standard for every Mackintosh novel I’ve read since, and the author has never achieved the same magical alchemy of suspense/story/characters and gotcha! twist of her début….
Last fall, trapped at home and dreaming of flying far away—anywhere!—I picked up Hostage. I thoroughly enjoyed Mackintosh’s previous books, especially her first two, and was hopeful this too would be diverting. Two days later, having alienated everyone I encountered—I did not want to be disturbed about anything that wasn’t definitively urgent—I put down this…
The Night Swim is a story about rape – the violence of the event, the trauma of the aftermath, the horror of the trial and the gauntlet women are forced to go through to achieve justice. While the details are not graphic, the brutality of what happens within the story is distressing enough that those who…
Suspension of disbelief can be a tricky thing. Most of the time when I find a book that has unbelievable factors, I don’t enjoy it. Every once in a while though, the outstanding pacing, riveting plot and intriguing characters capture my interest enough that I can ignore a few foibles. Such is the case with…
Karin Slaughter is once again at the top of her game with The Silent Wife, the tenth installment in her Will Trent series. Spending time with these characters is a highlight of my reading life, and this latest release is one of the best in this long-running series. Before I go into the specifics of…
Chris Bohjalian explores the delicate nature of human survival in his latest novel The Red Lotus. A tale of antibiotic resistant contagions, epidemics and the horrors of biological weapons, this book will have you cheering exterminators as the greatest heroes of our time. They work in the same building but it takes a shooting for…
A secluded mountain lodge. The perfect getaway. So remote no one will ever find you. The promise of a luxury vacation at a secluded wilderness spa has brought together eight lucky guests. But nothing is what they were led to believe. As a fierce storm barrels down and all contact with the outside is cut…
Where She Went is the sixth novel by Kelly Simmons. The story of a missing co-ed and a desperate mother’s search for answers, it’s a chilling reminder of just how dangerous the world can be for the young and naive. When her only daughter Emma moved across town to go to college, Maggie O’Farrell found…