2.27.2025 - Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Lisa Unger.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Extreme adventurer Maverick Dillon is hosting the ultimate game of hide-and-seek.  Set on a remote island, the game quickly turns into a game of survival instead of a social media stunt.  As a storm threatens, and everyone has their secrets,  Adele is a single mother of two teenagers, desperate to win the prize money to offer them the stability they need.  But has she made a mistake coming to this island that may cost her everything?

I always look forward to Lisa Unger's books, and this was a perfect escape book.  Plus, I always enjoy an atmospheric,  locked room mystery, and this one ticked off those boxes in spades.  There's some warnings here about social media and influencers, and how blurry the lines are between gaming and the real world.  A bit implausible at times, I still was thoroughly invested to figure out everyone's secrets and just how things would end up.  Tense and full of thrills!

2.27.2025 - Back After This

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me the latest rom com by Linda Holmes.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Cecily Foster loves to make podcasts, but is worried about the company she works for and the boss who always disappoints her.  When he offers her the chance to host her own show, she's thrilled until she learns that it is about her dating life and she will be coached by an influencer, Eliza Cassidy.  The premise is that Eliza will find Cecily 20 dates, all to be recorded for the podcast.  To add to the mix, Cecily meets Will on the street while he's rescuing a dog, and they seem to have a spark, but Eliza warns her off.  

While rom-com is not usually my favorite genre, there are a few must read authors for me, and Linda Holmes is one.  She writes about characters you will care about, with sharp dialogue, and realistic settings.  Plus in this one, you'll learn a lot about the behind-the-scenes world of podcasts and audio, as well as social media.  And there's Buddy the Great Dane!  It's a good story of finding love without losing yourself.

2.26.2025 - The Strange Case of Jane O

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by Karen Thompson Walker.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

A year after her child is born, Jane suffers from a series of strange episodes and seeks out a psychiatrist.  Then she goes missing, only to be found unconcious in what appears to be an episode of dissociative fugue.  She has no memory of what happened when she awakes.  As the psychiatrist delves deeper, he begins questioning everything.

Go into this one as blind as possible, so that you can explore all the magic slowly unfurling on these pages.  It's beautifully written and drew me in right away, as the pieces of the puzzle slowly fit into place.  That's what it felt like - just something slowly clicking in your mind, rather than a big in your face twist.  It's that perfect mesh of reality and speculative mystery revolving around our memory, identity and love.  A must read!

2.25.2025 - The Housemate

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Datura for gifting me a digital ARC of this mystery by Sarah Bailey.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!

Three housemates.  One dead, one missing and one accused of murder.  Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, it's a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade.  Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property. Oli is once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper Ng.  What really happened to the housemates that night?  

This was an intriguing mystery, with the murder taking place years ago but suddenly thrust back into the present time.  I loved Cooper’s character, and he was a good contrast to Oli’s more traditional journalistic style.  Oli was an interesting character as well – she’s engaged to a wealthy man from her past whose wife was killed, leaving him to raise their twin daughters.  But is he hiding something from Oli?  

2.24.2025 - Scout Camp

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing/Citadel for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest true crime story by James Renner, this time, one that is deeply personal.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

In the summer of 1995, James Renner was a youth counselor at the largest Boy Scout camp in Ohio.  One night there, sexual violence ended with one counselor dead and another hospitalized.  What exactly happened at that camp?  

This book hit home for me, because my boys were also part of the Great Trails Council and just a couple years behind Renner's experiences with the Boy Scouts, although mine quit the organization before getting involved with the summer camps.  In fact, my grandkids (boy and girl) are now part of the Scouts organization.  I would have been appalled to know that these secret societies were happening at camp, encouraged by adults who should have had no dealings with young men.  This book is brutally honest as Renner explores how his violent upbringing and his camp experiences left scars on his soul, leaving him to battle his demons to this day.  I've been a fan of Renner's books, but appreciated his honesty and openness in sharing his personal experiences.

2.24.2025 - Something in the Walls

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this creepy tale by Daisy Pearce, wonderfully narrated by Ana Clements.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!

 

Mina is a newly-certified child psychology with little experience and unable to find her path.  She meets journalist Sam Hunter at a grief support group, and he approaches her with a proposition.  Alice is a 13-year-old who supposedly is being haunted by a witch in the remote village of Banathel.   Alice feels this is an opportunity to gain experience and improve Alice’s life.  But Alice’s behavior becomes more disturbing, and the townspeople feel that she is evil and they aren’t shy about expressing it.  

 

This was such a creepy, atmospheric story and I thought the writing was hauntingly beautiful.  The narration of the book just added an additional layer.  Mina is dealing with past trauma and has some ulterior motives in connecting with Alice, as does Sam.  This is a dark and twisty tale that will have you guessing just where the evil lies.

2.23.2025 - The First Girl

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Claire McGowan.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Karen Walker's first love went on to become known as The Bagman, a serial killer currently locked away for life.  Ever since, Karen has had to deal with the weight of not knowing what he was capable of and defending him.  But now, ten years later, as her book of her account of the crimes is about to be published, another young woman is abducted in similar circumstances.  It can't be The Bagman, can it?  She must return to her hometown to see if there's any chance of saving the girl.

As always with Claire McGowan's book, this was a tense thriller.  I liked the way it was written - the reader got excerpts from her book filling in the past history, plus the dialogue was such that Karen was talking to The Bagman, again giving clues to their relationship and her thoughts.  It was also a good police procedural as the hunt was on for the missing girl with even an amateur sleuth team getting in the action.  Loved the ending too!