12.6.2024 - Your Dark Secrets

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest release by Elle Marr.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Addison is a public relations executive, charged with keeping celebrities in the right light and out of trouble.  When her biggest client is murdered before an award show, Addison's fate at the company turns sour.  Plus, the police begin investigating her.  Enter an old boyfriend, Connor, a disgraced private investigator whose image was tarnished by Addison, but is trying to recover.  They must now work together to figure out the mysterious death as well as keep themselves out of trouble.

This was a fun, cat-and-mouse type mystery, where you weren't exactly sure who you could trust and where allegiances truly were.  There's some reignited sparks between the two main characters, and I found myself rooting for them.  They are flawed but likable characters and it's a fun ride following them around the world as they find themselves trying to stay one step ahead of the law as they are forced to work together to figure out the truth behind some mysterious deaths.

12.5.2024 - Home is Where the Lies Live

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for gifting me an audio ARC of the latest thriller by Kerry Wilkinson, perfectly narrated by the cast of Matthew Spencer, Rebecca Lee, Julia Barrie. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!

It’s time for a neighborhood street party in Huntington Grove.  Let’s meet the neighbors - Freddie and Heidi just moved into Huntington Grove, but Freddie seems to be keeping secrets.  Willow’s husband is disappearing in the night, and her relationship with her teenage daughter is fraught. Dylan’s wife was murdered and now he’s the single dad to their young daughter.  Allison’s husband is away in Hong Kong, but there seems to be yelling coming from their house.  Everyone has secrets.

 

I love a good neighborhood/domestic drama as the basis for a thriller, because really, who knows what goes on behind our neighbors’ doors – or our own?  This book starts out with a literal bang and a call to the authorities from the party.  Then we go back to start exploring all those secrets.  This was fast-paced with great characters and a plot that will keep you guessing. Wilkinson nailed the gossip that goes on in neighborhoods, schools, small towns, and all that just added fuel to the many fires.  The narrators were great and added to the fun!

 

12.4.2024 - Deadbeat

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wild ride by Adam Hamdy.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Peyton Collard was a good man once, but his life changed after a horrific car accident.  Now he's divorced, drunk, and severely damaged,  Peyton is offered a life-changing sum of money to kill an evil man.  But as he goes on a vigilante journey that leaves a trail of bodies across California, Peyton wonders about the identity of his anonymous patron.  Soon, his questions become an obsession, and he embarks on a tense and potentially deadly investigation to discover the truth about the murders he’s committed.

This is like an action movie where you have to suspend some disbelief, but you are totally in for the ride, wherever it takes you.  This book is written in the first person, which made it even better.  You feel like Peyton is talking to you, asking you to understand him, and to put yourself in his shoes.  And you do think about where that line is on what you would do if you were desperate.  Peyton was trying so hard to be a good dad to his daughter, Skye, and he just kept making bad decisions.  And drinking and running his mouth, which of course, go hand in hand.  It's gritty, raw, with that dark humor that I love.  It has short chapters and I kept telling myself just one more because I didn't want to put it down.  Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

12.3.2024 - The Survivors

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Carole Mitchell.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Two cars collide on a winding cliff edge on the Irish coast.  In one car is Finn with her baby daughter; in the other, Kathryn with her own daughter.  Finn, whose mother just died, was on the way to meet her aunt, Maura, who lives in a remote cottage at the top of the cliff, appropriately named Misery Hill.  Both women struggle with the aftermath of the accident, and only Maura knows the whole truth.

Go into this one as blind as possible to fully enjoy the twists and turns.  We hear from all three women's points of view, including from Maura in the past.  There are secrets galore and plenty of family dysfunction to go around.   Both Finn and Maura are unreliable narrators because they were injured in the accident and aren't sure themselves of the truth.  The setting was so atmospheric and added to the mystery of this book.  I've been a huge fan of Mitchell's police procedurals; this book is different but I loved it as well.  

12.3.2024 - Bellevue

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam Sons for gifting me an audio ARC of the latest medical thriller by a long-time favorite, Robin Cook.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars!

Mitt Fuller is a first-year resident at the iconic Bellevue Hospital, following in the footsteps of four other celebrated Dr Fuller’s.  Mitt is not quite prepared for his first days though, as one patient after another dies after being in his care.  Mitt has always had a secret sensitivity to the nonphysical, but he’s seeing things in the hospital that he’s not sure if they are hallucinations, sleep deprivation, or something else.  As things get worse, Mitt finds himself exploring for answers in the abandoned Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital.

 

Robin Cook’s books always teach you something as well as being intriguing thrillers.  This one was a bit more slow-paced, but that also helped the reader to become indoctrinated into the demanding physical and mental tasks of new residents.  You felt his sleep deprivation and how it affected him.  This book showcased the horrors of medical care in the past, and you will shudder many times to think of the poor patients.  This one is full of supernatural events, but I loved how the ending brought it all together.  

12.2.2024 - The Answer is No

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for gifting me a digital ARC of this novella by the amazing Fredrik Backman.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Lucas has found the secret to happiness - no people.  He's happy just the way he is.  But then people start appearing in his life.

Fredrik Backman is the hero for all introverts, and this book will resound soundly with all of them.  There is no one who writes with the same relatability, wit, heart and with the best characters to both teach and entertain us.  I loved every short page of this book - a must read!!

12.1.2024 - The Memory Library

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon, Harper Audio/Harper 360 for gifting me an audio ARC of this wonderful debut book by Kate Storey, beautifully narrated by the team of Jilly Bond and Imogen Wilde.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

For decades, Sally has been building a library.  Each year, on her daughter, Ella's, birthday, she adds a new book to her shelves with a handwritten note.  But Ella knows nothing about the library.  After a heated exchange with her mother 22 years ago, she fled to Australia and never looked back.  Now married and with a daughter of her own, Ella is forced to come back to London to care for her mother.  

I absolutely loved this novel - it's relatable, hopeful, full of community support and second chances.  Parenting is not always easy, and this highlights how miscommunication can cause irreparable harm.  Sally was a beacon of right choices though, never pushing her daughter but instead protecting her and her choices and keeping doors open.  Ella was so focused on her work in Australia that she lost sight of the important people in her life until she was forced onto a different path and perspective.  I loved her lines, "If I was queen of the world..."  Plus, if you love books and books about books, this one will be right up your alley.  The audiobook narration was perfect and I enjoyed both voices of these main characters (as well as the others).