2.28.2016 - She's Not There

I'm a huge fan of Joy Fielding and have read all of her books. This one did not disappoint.

The story's main character is Caroline, wife and mother of 2 young girls. Her husband takes her to Mexico for an anniversary celebration and the youngest daughter disappears. The story follows all the resulting anguish between Caroline and her husband, as well as the effect on the oldest daughter, Michelle. Fifteen years later, a girl shows up saying she believes she is Caroline's missing daughter.

The story flips between present time and the past, giving good background information at different points in everyone's stories as well as keeping the suspense high - what happened 15 years ago in Mexico and who is this girl who shows up?

A great read!

2.26.2016 - All is Not Forgotten

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, St Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read this book - I loved it!

I apparently am on a roll with books about memory - just finished The Forgetting Time and then read All is Not Forgotten!

This was such a uniquely-written thriller - not sure I've ever read anything written in such a similar fashion.  The basic premise of the story is that a teenage girl is brutally raped at a party (warning - definitely descriptions of rape if that's a trigger for anyone).  She is given a new drug at the hospital that promises to erase the memory of that night - and it does.  However, the rape also affected her parents in very different ways.  Enter a psychologist who believes that memories need to be remembered and dealt with in order to move on.

The way the story is written is what pulls you in.  The story is told by an at-first undisclosed narrator.  He tells the story but also interjects lots of background and what feels like unimportant information and characters as he's doing so.  Then each of the main characters tells their story in different paragraphs as it is being narrated.  Hard to describe but suffice it to say that it pulls you in and makes you go in so many different directions.

I really liked this book and highly recommend it!

2.24.2016 - The Forgetting Time

A great read...and a wonderful debut novel. This one pulled at my heartstrings and I kept stealing time away to read it.

This is the story of Noah...a four-year-old boy who's struggling with nightmares and fears about water and drowning. And his single mom who is desperate to make her little boy well.

Enter Jerry, a researcher into reincarnation who has a brain disease that is causing him to lose the ability to speak and formulate his thoughts into words. Jerry is desperately trying to finish a book with one last American case before he totally loses his ability to write.

This book really pulls you in and doesn't let you go. You feel all the pangs that a mother would feel when losing a child, in whatever form that takes.

I can't wait to read more in the future from this author!

2.21.2016 - Glory Over Everything

First...I am very grateful to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and the author for the amazing opportunity to read this Advance Reader's Copy. It was amazing!!

I loved The Kitchen House - but I think I loved this one more. And while I definitely recommend reading The Kitchen House, the author gave enough background information for those of us who read the book awhile ago and forgot the details or haven't read it. It could definitely be a stand-alone novel on its own merit.

This is the story of Jamie Pyke - he has escaped and is living as a white man in Philadelphia. He meets many wonderful people who help him become a well-known and well-to-do man of standing in the Philadelphia society scene. However, when the son of a black man who helped him at his lowest is stolen into slavery, he risks everything to go back to where he was raised to try and save him.

I don't want to give away one glorious detail in this book - carve some time out to read this as soon as possible! I just hope that the author continues the story in another book so that we can all find out what happens after The End!

2.18.2016 - When Breath Becomes Air

The entire story is very sad - young neurosurgeon/scientist struck down in the prime of his life with Stage IV lung cancer, leaving a wife and infant daughter.

It certainly is a book that makes you think - about life, death and everything in between but especially about dying. How we choose to use the time left, especially when we know that the end is much too soon. The writing was sometimes a bit too poetic but didn't take away from the book.

The book is written in distinct sections - the beginning is the background story of how Paul became the kind of doctor he was, the path that led him there. Although his uncle, father and brother were all doctors, he started majoring in English. But his quest for knowledge about how the mind/body/spirit works led him to neurology. The only part that really bothered me was the part where he described the use of cadavers in his studies. As someone whose dad donated his body to science, I was a little bothered by the attitudes presented. Interesting that he also said there's a reason why doctors don't donate their bodies. I did love the attitude he had toward his patients - I wish there were more doctors like him.

The second part of the book deals with his fight against cancer. Definitely a brave man. Then the epilogue is written by his wife.

2.16.2016 - Just Fall

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is another finely crafted crime/psychological thriller. This one is divided into many short chapters alternating between Then and Now until the final chapter, Next.

Ellie just said her marital vows and married the man of her dreams, Rob, when she finds out that her husband is not who she thought he was. Is he a killer? What lengths will she go to to protect her new husband and the life with him she so desperately wants?

Spooled out in the Then chapters, we get small glimpses of the backstories of both Ellie and Rob. They are told in many different time periods too which can at times be a little confusing. The Now chapters take place in St Lucia in the Caribbean where Ellie is forced to confront all the horrors of her husband's past. And the Next - well, I never saw that ending coming!

Definitely a darker thriller but another one I couldn't put down.

After all these psychological thrillers keeping me up at night lately though, I think I'm ready for a change of pace!

My next book is the newly-published When Breath Becomes Air.

2.14.2016 - All the Missing Girls

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this AMAZING book!

Okay, anyone who reads my reviews knows that I'm obsessed with the psychological thriller genre. But this book adds a twist to that genre - most of the story is told backwards!

Nic escaped her small town life in North Carolina for her new life in Philadelphia with a new man and rarely stopped to think about her life before. Until she had to go home again because her dad was in a nursing home and her help was needed.

When Nic was 18, her best friend Corrine basically disappeared after a night at the local fair. As in most small towns, rumors served as truth. As she returns to the house where she grew up, another girl goes missing.

The story begins in the present time, then goes backwards. It starts with the day before, then the day before that, and on until it circles back to the present time. While you might think this would be hard to keep up with the plot, it's done so incredibly well that you have no trouble getting sucked into each day's events.

This is one not to be missed - I couldn't put it down!

2.11.2016 - The Girl You Lost

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful book!

I have not previously read any of this author's work, but after this book I'm definitely going back and reading them!

Simone and Matt's 6-month-old daughter, Helena, was taken while at the park with Matt's mom. Fast forward 18 years and a girl approaches Simone saying that she is her daughter and goes by the name of Grace. Simone, a journalist, begins investigating some of the stories that Grace told her and then Grace goes missing too.

I don't want to say any more for fear that anything will spoil this fun ride. If you like psychological thrillers, this one will keep you reading long into the night. I carried it with me and read every second I could to see what was going to happen.

Don't miss it!

2.9.2016 - The Tsar of Love and Techno

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was a beautifully written book by the author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, which was so wonderful. This is a series of interconnected short stories starting in 1937 and continuing through the present time. It's sometimes hard to read the atrocities of war and what people are forced to do in times of extreme stress and pressure.

As beautifully written and touching as it was, this was another one of those books that left me thinking that I would have enjoyed it more or gotten more out of it if only I was a tad smarter. I sometimes had to go back and reread sections of previous chapters to remember the connection spoken of later on.

But it's definitely worth the read - stresses yet again how closely we are all related in this world and the ripples that extend out from each of us.

2.3.2016 - The Passenger

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm kind of disappointed with the less-than-glowing reviews some have given this book. I thought it was a thrilling ride!

The book begins with Tanya's husband falling down the stairs and dying. When Tanya finds him, she immediately takes off running and changes her identity. We don't understand the reason why she feels compelled to run - the first of many questions.

Tanya continues running, changing identities along the way. She meets a bartender named Blue who helps shelter her and who is running from her own secrets. Interspersed in the book are mysterious emails to/from Ryan and Jo. We don't know anything about these people or their relation to anyone else.

While it's hard to relate to Tanya's life, she is totally relatable and even likeable. You find yourself rooting for her even when she does questionable things - and she certainly does!

It's hard to say much more without revealing any of the secrets. Suffice it to say that I couldn't put this one down and the ending was amazing.

Carve some time out for this one because it's hard to put down!