What Are We Reading And Reviewing in May 2020?

Something tells me this could end in a "cat-tastrophy'!

Step over the cat and tell us what you plan to read in May.

📌 - ★
Carol Decides What To Read In May
📌Armed & Dangerous - Abigail Roux - 5★
📌Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban - 3★
📌Crash & Burn - Abigail Roux -5★
📌Blown Away Sharon Sala - 4.5★ - (Pick a Winner Make A Friend)
📌Divine Justice - David Baldacci - 5★ - (Group Read)
📌A Dark & Twisted Tide - Sharon Bolton - 4★ (Group Read)
📌The Encampment - Stephen Davenport - 3.5 ★ (Early Reviewers)
📌Rules for Being a Girl - Candace Bushnell - 5★
📌Dire - Jeff Carson - 4★
📌Silence on Cold River - Casey Dunn - 3★
📌Devoted - Dean Koontz - 5★
📌Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson - 5★
📌Such a Perfect Wife - Kate White - 4★
📌The Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner - 5★
📌Masked Prey - John Sandford - 5★
📌All The Lovely Bad Ones - Mary Downing Hahn -4.5★
📌Beginnings and Ends - Suzanne Brockmann - 3★ (Novella)
📌Blood Trail - C.J. Box - 3★
📌Aunt Bessie Assumes - Diana Xarissa - 3.5★
📌Uninvited - James Gabriel Berman - 3★
📌Lost Voices - Sarah Porter - 4★
📌Xoe - Sara Roethle - 3★
📌The Neighbor - Dean Koontz - 3.5★ (Short story)
📌Burntown - Jennifer McMahon - 3★
📌Touch & Geaux - Abigail Roux - 4★
📌1922 - Stephen King - 4★
📌The Returned - Seth Patrick - 3.5★
📌Perfect Nightmare - John Saul - 3★
📌Fire: Losing Christina - Caroline Cooney - 3.5★
📌The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb - 4★

Lynda and Oliver's Cinco de Mayo Reading List

🗼 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl - 4 Stars - 5/4/20
🗼 A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree - Janet Dailey - 1.5 Stars - 5/1/20
🗼 Darling Rose Gold - Stephanie Wrobel - 4 Stars - 5/11/20
🗼 Death of a Red Heroine - Qui Xiaolong- 4 Stars - 5/9/20
🗼 Divine Justice - David Baldacci - 5 Stars - 5/12/20
🗼 Dollface - Renee Rosen - 3.5 Stars - 5/5/20
🗼 Emerald Affair - Janet McLeod Trotter - 4 Stars - 5/29/20
🗼 Fairest - Marissa Meyers - 3.5 Stars -
🗼 Gladiator - Anna Hackett - 3 Stars - 5/15/20
🗼 I'm Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Foe - 3.5 Stars
🗼 Into the Night - Suzanne Brockmann- 4 Stars - 5/19/20
🗼 Kindred - Octavia Butler - 4 Stars
🗼 Last Bathing Beauty - Amy Sue Nathan - 3.5 Stars - 5/18/20
🗼 Mary Poppins - P. L. Travers - 4 Stars - 5/6/20
🗼 Mary Poppins Comes Back - P. L. Travers - 3.5 Stars - 5/7/20
🗼 Mary Poppins in the Park - P. L. Travers - 3.5 Stars - 5/15/20
🗼 Mary Poppins Opens the Door - P. L. Travers - 3.5 Stars - 5/17/20
🗼 Masked Prey - John Sandford - 3.5 Stars - 5/13/20
🗼 Out of Control - Suzanne Brockmann - 4 Stars - 5/6/20
🗼 Pink Hotel - Carol Ryrie Brink - 5 Stars
🗼 Rock Star's Daughter - Caitlyn Duffy - 2.5 Stars - 5/8/20
🗼 To Find a Viking Treasure - Gina Conkle - 3 Stars - 5/31/20
🗼 Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen - 3.5 Stars - 5/2/20
🗼Rock Chick - Kristin Ashley - 3 Stars - 5/3/20
🗼 Vodka Doesn't Freeze - Leah Giarratano
🗼 Xoe - Sara Roethle - 3 Stars - 5/12/20
🗼 You Will Pay - Lisa Jackson - 3 Stars - 5/5/20

Armed & Dangerous
Cut & Run series Book #5
5 ★

After his unpredictable partner bails, Special Agent Zane Garrett takes his frustration out on everything in his path until he is ordered to Chicago to back up an undercover operative. When he gets there, though, he finds himself face to face with his wayward partner, Special Agent Ty Grady. They have to deal with the uncertainty lingering between them while they work to retrieve their intended mark, a retired hit man and CIA wet-works operative named Julian Cross. Ty, once a Marine and now an FBI hotshot, has a penchant for being unpredictable, a trait Zane can vouch for. Zane is a man who once lived for his job but has come to realize his heartbreaking past doesn’t have to overshadow his future. They're partners, friends, lovers, and the go-to team for unusual cases. With Cross and his innocuous boyfriend, Cameron Jacobs, in tow, Ty and Zane must navigate the obstacles of a cross-country trek, including TSA pat-downs, blizzards, their uncooperative prisoners, CIA kill teams, a desperate lack of sleep and caffeine, and each other. Ty and Zane are determined to get Julian Cross to DC in one piece, but it’s starting to look like it may be easier said than done.

The bad thing about having to read this series out of order is that the next book takes up right where the last one left off. Since I’ve read out of order for ages this really doesn’t both me much but it will drive some readers right over the cliff. With that warning having been issued…the two agents are back and their handlers have assigned them a task that may get them all killed and worse yet the man that Ty Grady has known since he was born…may have signed the orders that will carry that out. We meet a couple of new characters in this one that will carry over into future books and both are very likable plus they own two huge orange Maine Coon cats ...Smith & Wesson”. Cat ownership makes them seem a bit more humane and one of them less likely to be a killer. As I’ve said before, the series is not for everyone. This episode is a journey which pits the FBI against the CIA...Now why don’t I find that hard to believe is a big dose of reality???

Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
5★

It's the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders. Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History. But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move.

Who says they don't write them like the used to? If they are saying that then they haven't read this gem of a literary offering. Malcolm Kershaw writes a blog post just after he is hired at Old Devils Bookstore. Now that he owns the store with mostly silent partner Brian Murray, a semi-famous mystery writer, and that post has come back to haunt him. It's a list he has kept of the most perfect murders that he has come across..but they have all occurred in books. An FBI agent though thinks it's beyond odd that 3 murders that he's investigating could have come right from the pages of 3 of those books and right off the Kershaw's list. This was one book that I wished could have gone on forever.

There were 4 options for Group Reads in May, the three from our list :

1. The Bishop’s Pawn by Steve Berry, #13 in the Cotton Malone Series
2. A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton, #4 in the Lacey Flint Series
3. The Skeleton Room by Kate Ellis, #7 in the Wesley Peterson Series

And the next book in The Camel Club Series, Divine Justice

Unfortunately with the library situation I can only get hold of the Sharon Bolton book and the David Baldacci Book.

Can I therefore suggest we read these next

A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton, #4 in the Lacey Flint Series, Start Friday 8th May

Divine Justice by David Baldacci starting Monday 18th May.

>6 Andrew-theQM: Can we switch them around and read Divine Justice on May 8 and A Dark and Twisted Tide on May 18. I ca get Baldacci book now for 3 weeks from Overdrive but I'm on hold for the Sharon Bolton book. it says I'm next but don't know how long it will be. i might not even have it for the 18th. If it can't be done...don't worry about it. I'll join in when I can. Do what the majority can do.

Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban
Cut & Run series Book #1
3★

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case. Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliche: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer. Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.

My good friend owns this series and since he obviously has other friends that like the series...he has had to go searching for the copies that he's loaned out and haven't been returned so that I can get my "Zane & Ty fix". As a result I have read books 4, 5 & 6 before #1. I'm so glad that I read out of order because they were all 5 star books...this one got a 3 because my two guys were SOOO out of character...or at least the character they displayed in the other books... after they came to terms with the fact that they don't really hate one another. I have come to the conclusion that this series runs on these two characters...not the story line. The cases are usually unusual and it's fun to see how they solve them...but Ty and Zane are the cement that holds this series together. On to book #9 that my friend has rounded up for me.

Crash & Burn - Abigail Roux
Crash & Burn series Book #9 (the last of the series)
5★

It's been five years since Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett first worked together to solve the Tri-State murders, and time has been both harsh and kind. Engaged now, they face the challenge of planning a deeply uncertain future together. Zane is at the pinnacle of his career with one last mystery to solve, while Ty is at sea in a world where he's no longer the tip of a spear. There's just one more hurdle in the way of their happy ever after: a traitor from their inner circle who threatens to burn their world to the ground. Squeezed between the Vega cartel, an unknown mole, and too many alphabet agencies to count, Ty and Zane must gather all their strength and resources to beat the longest odds they've ever faced. To make it out alive, they'll need help from every friend they've got. Even the friends who might betray their trust.

This book is the end of this series after 8 years of writing between the two authors... and it's been quiet a ride. I'm going to miss Ty and Zane...but I guess nothing goes on forever. I'm really at a loss as to exactly what I could say without spoiling the expectation of other readers. So I'll just say to Ty and Zane how much I have enjoyed meeting the two of you and I'm glad that you both have obtained a great deal of happiness and the sorrows may have broken your hearts but never your spirits. The good thing for me is that I can visit you again whenever I want as my good friend Conner... who introduced me to you to begin with... has given me the entire series...all 9 books... to keep for my very own!!! So, Ty and Zane...we will be meeting again..and of course there are two books that I have now but not yet read, # 5 & 8 of the series...so I'll see you later guys.

Blown Away - Sharon Sala
Storm Front Series Book #1
4.5★

Writer Cari North thought she knew all there was to know about plot twists--until she stumbled across her ex-fiance, Lance Morgan, digging a shallow grave in the Louisiana woods. After one horrifying moment of shared recognition, Cari knew her life hinged upon whether she could outrun Lance and the hurricane-spawned tornado that was barreling down on their heels. Just when she thinks she's lost Lance and heads for home, the storm throws in yet another twist that will change her fate--forever.

This is an exhilarating... romantic...and suspenseful thriller with a beleaguered heroine and a somehat misguided hero type who vows to keep her safe. The odd thing about his "devotion" is that he has no really direct reason to risk his life to do this. The story is loaded with action throughout and Sharon Sala fans will find plenty to enjoy with this thriller. I wish that Lance the hero had proved to be more the trustworthy type and less of the buffoon. He just didn't come across as what he turned out to actually be. Good read and worth 4.5 star rating.

Dire - Jeff Carson
David Wolf series Book #8
4★

When a man careens off the road into the frigid waters of the Chautauqua River, Chief Detective David Wolf risks his own life to bring the man to shore. News of Wolf’s bravery travels fast through the burgeoning ski town of Rocky Points, Colorado, and before long he’s pulled into the political grinder, where candidates are eager to exploit Wolf’s character for their own gain. Injured as well in the process, it seems his heroic deed was some cruel twist of fate, that is, until he meets Lauren Coulter, a new girl in town and a nurse at the local hospital. Lauren is smart, beautiful, and just Wolf’s type. The connection between them is there. But just as they get started, so does the killing. And as bodies start emerging, so do the secrets from Lauren’s troubled past. Has fate steered Wolf to the wrong woman? Or is someone more devious behind the wheel? Lives will depend on how fast Wolf can come up with the answer, and this time, living with failure will prove to be something much worse than death.

99.9% of the books I read are mystery/suspense/thrillers. After all of these books you would think the stories would start to be the same or begin all run together...or would be hard to find one that's just different enough to keep me guessing. Jeff Carson was able to do this in spades with this story. There were some twists in the story...most of which I guessed and they kept the book fast paced. A really good series for fans of fast paced adventures.

Touch & Geaux Abigail Roux
Cut & Run series Book #6
4★

After having their faces plastered across the news during a high-profile case, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have become more useful to the Bureau posing for photo ops than working undercover. Just as Zane is beginning to consider retirement a viable option, Ty receives a distress call from a friend, leading them to a city rife with echoes from the past. New Orleans wears its history on its streets, and it’s the one place Ty’s face could get him killed. Surrounded by trouble as soon as they land, Ty and Zane are swiftly confronted with a past from which Ty can’t hide — one with a surprising connection to Zane’s. As threats close in from all directions, both men must come to terms with the lives they’ve led and the lies they’ve told. They soon discover that not all their secrets are out yet, and nothing lasts forever.

This one seemed shorter that than the others and while the action was intense...I didn't just like the horrible argument that went on between Zane and Ty. I'm glad that I read out of order and I know that all will be well in the end.

Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark
3 1/2*

A freak lightening bolt zaps a a transformer in Ohio and causes a cascade outage on the electrical grid which causes a blackout in New York City, just as Regan And Jack Reilly return to their loft apartment. Regan thinks she hears a noise as the lights go out. She heads up to the rooftop terrace to investigate. The would be thief slams the door locking Reilly out of the apartment. Regan's friend, Kit, calls for help, as she is left alone at a comedy club where she had gone with a business acquaintance. The woman went out of the club for s cigarette tight as the lights blinked out. Kit, on crutches, needed a way to get back to her hotel, so she calls Regan. Meanwhile Jack is called back to police headquarters to help deal with the blackout. An art gallery is broken into, a younger blonde man is in danger from a a crazy vengeful woman, and Regan has to untangle the mess while dealing with her breakin. The story takes place in one night, and is fast paced.

1922 - Stephen King
4★

Wilfred James owns eighty acres of farmland in Nebraska that have been in his family for generations. His wife, Arlette, owns an adjoining one hundred acres. She wants to sell her land but if she does, Wilfred will be forced to sell as well. James will do anything to hold onto his farm, and he'll get his son to go along. Betrayal, murder, madness, rats, 1922 is a breathtaking exploration into the dark side of human nature.

I ask you, who knows and writes about the dark side of human nature better than Stephen King? This particular story was originally published in an anthology collection entitled Full Dark no Stars in 2010... and this 128 page novella embellishes on one of the stories in that book. It's a really good story and the characters are...as our British friends say..."spot on". The story itself and the plot are fascinating because of the very strong and powerful subject at the core of it. Many of Stephen King's novels are character driven by the father figure coming across as deficient and devious. 1922 is no exception although I believe this "father figure" may have had a few bolts loose to begin with. Stephen King enthusiasts will more than likely like it.

Rules For Being A Girl - Candace Bushnell
5★

A girl fights to expose sexism at her school after a run-in with a predatory teacher. It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl. . . . Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright―and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her. But when “Bex” takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she’s shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault? When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. She’s forced to face Bex in class every day. Except now, he has an ax to grind.

It's been described as "a light read for a heavy topic"...but I believe it contains an ongoing topic and is a necessary read for every parent with a daughter, and every teacher that is currently involved with girls of any age from kindergarten to high school. It's happening more and more...and it's being pushed into a dark corner that some that we have entrusted with our children, hope will never raise it's ugly head into the light. It starts with an often times innocent awareness of a cute/handsome older member of the opposite sex or just someone that pays them a little extra attention... and it escalates before the younger person becomes aware of just what is happening. After all they are NOT ADULTS and overall inexperienced. They are excited and made to feel the extra attention is "normal" or that they are 'special". They haven't lived long enough to sort the difference between trusted friend and sexual predator. This is the story of Marin and Chloe who think Bex... their teacher... is cute, but are a little obsessed with his sex life. Bex offers Marin a ride home from school and then it begins...he kisses her without her consent, Marin wonders what she did to give him the wrong signals. Be aware that she never questions that it could be his fault and not hers. When neither her best friend Chloe...nor the school board believes her...Marin starts fighting back against the unwritten rules for girls. The book shines a light on the pressures of being a girl and the double standards that readers will immediately recognize and appreciate and hopefully learn from. This book could easily be discussed...and probably should be discussed by all grades 7-12...but because of the language and subject matter, younger students would more than likely not be able to handle it...but I assure you every parent and every teacher and school administrator will be enlightened by it. An inventive teacher could certainly find a way to broach the subject.

Are we all able to start the Group Read of Divine Justice by David Baldacci today?

>16 Andrew-theQM: I don't have a problem with starting it today.

Burntown - Jennifer McMahon
3★

On the surface, Ashford, Vermont, seems like a quaint New England college town, but to those who live among the shadowy remains of its abandoned mills and factories and beneath its towering steel bridges, it's known as Burntown. Eva Sandeski, who goes by the name Necco on the street, has been a part of Burntown's underworld for years, ever since the night her father, Miles, drowned in a flood that left her and her mother, Lily, homeless. Now, on the run from a man called Snake Eyes, Necco must rely on other Burntown outsiders to survive. As the lives of these misfits intersect, and as the killer from the Sandeski family's past draws ever closer

In the beginning the story promises shades of the supernatural…and the promise of intrigue and innovation. The characters are captivating. We meet a girl that is a good student but has dark secrets and fears about her emerging sexuality…a lonely, grossly overweight woman with a head full of fantasies…a homeless young woman with secret “powers” and a mysterious past…all are designed to pull you into the world of Burntown. Somewhere toward the middle it begins to fall apart. I found myself questioning major parts of the plot and it lacked the supernatural elements that it displayed in the beginning. I love this author’s work but while this is a worthwhile read it just didn’t have that can’t wait to see what happens next” element for me. It’s not a terrible book but not on the same page as The Winter People and The Night Sister.

Aunt Bessie Assumes - Diana Xarissa
Isle of Mann Mystery Book #1
3.5

Aunt Bessie assumes that she'll have the beach all to herself on a cold, wet, and windy March morning just after sunrise, then she stumbles (almost literally) over a dead body.Elizabeth (Bessie) Cubbon, aged somewhere between free bus pass (60) and telegram from the Queen (100), has lived her entire adult life in a small cottage on Laxey beach. For most of those years, she's been in the habit of taking a brisk morning walk along the beach. Dead men have never been part of the scenery before.Aunt Bessie assumes that the dead man died of natural causes, then the police find the knife in his chest.Try as she might, Bessie just can't find anything to like about the young widow that she provides tea and sympathy to in the immediate aftermath of finding the body. There isn't much to like about the rest of the victim's family either.Aunt Bessie assumes that the police will have the case wrapped up in no time at all, then she finds a second body. Can Bessie and her friends find the killer before she ends up as the next victim?

Aunt Bessie is more like a friend than a fictional character. It's fun to get to know her and her friends and to learn something about the Isle of Man which I knew nothing much about previously. I do have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from the book at first, since cozy mysteries are not really my “cuppa tea”… but I found that I really enjoyed it and almost wished I could share a “cuppa tea” with Aunt Bessie. It was a change from the dark, gory, and disturbing mystery books, or the ghostly paranormal books that feed this ghost story junkie’s “habit” that I usually read ….and it met a challenge category…so win, win.

The Neighbor = Dean Koontz
3.5★

The year is 1967. Malcolm Pomerantz is twelve, geeky and socially awkward, while his seriously bright sister, Amalia, is spirited and beautiful. Each is the other’s best friend, united by a boundless interest in the world beyond their dysfunctional parents’ unhappy home. But even the troubled Pomerantz household will seem to be a haven compared to the house next door, after an enigmatic and very secretive new neighbor takes up residence in the darkest hours of the night.

I don't usually read shot stories but this one caught my attention for three reasons. 1. It was a ghost story...2. It was written by one of my all time favorite authors, Dean Koontz...and 3. It was one I knew I had never read, or even heard of. So...off to an afternoon with "Uncle Dean". It didn't make an afternoon ...it barely made it to an hour but it was a fascinating well told little ghost story. It had hidden elements that were slowly brought out that made it all the more interesting. It didn't try to gloss over the happenings that caused the haunting with disbelieves and denials. It just told the story and left it to the reader to believe it or not. As for Malcolm and his sister Amalia...no one had to convince them that the horror that dwelled yet next door was anything other than what it was. Excelled story...but way too short. I guess that's what makes it a "short story???:)

Such A Perfect Wife - Kate White
Bailey Weggins series Book #8
4★

On a sunny morning in late September, Shannon Blaine sets off for a jog along the rural roads near her home in Lake George, New York. It’s her usual a.m. routine, her “me time” after dropping the kids off at school…except on this day she never returns. Is her husband lying when he says he has no clue where she is? Could Shannon have split on her own, overwhelmed by the pressures of her life? Or is she the victim of a sexual predator who had been prowling the area and snatched her before she knew what was happening. True crime writer Bailey Weggins, on assignment for the website Crime Beat, heads north from New York City to report on the mysterious disappearance. An anonymous tip soon leads Bailey to a grisly, bone-chilling discovery. Every town has its secrets, Bailey reminds herself, and nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. She keeps digging for answers until—when it’s almost too late—she unearths the terrifying truth.

The plot of this book is one of the best laid out that I have seen in a long time. Once news is out that Shannon has just vanished into thin air...Bailey Weggin... a Crime Beat reporter comes to town to write about her disappearance. Bailey digs for clues and discovers that Shannon may be too good to be true...or she could just be "such a perfect wife". It appears that she has led an ideal life. She had a handsome and successful husband...two adorable children... a condo in Florida...and enough idle time for a daily jog. Soon some red flags begin to sprout up in this perfect garden. She had recently started attending church at the local Catholic church after years of lapse...her best friend said that she seemed kind of "off” when they spoke early on the day of her disappearance...and various amounts were unaccounted for being missing in the joint back account. Soon a gruesome discovery was made...and it was not alone. There's not a lot of real depth to the story...but it's fun. Bailey is like a grown-up Nancy Drew...for grown-ups.

All The Lovely Bad Ones Mary Downing Hahn
4.5 ★

Travis and his sister Corey can’t resist a good trick...so when they learn that their grandmother’s Vermont inn has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little “haunting” of their own. Scaring the guests proves to be a great deal of fun...but before long the inn is filled with tourists and ghost hunters and the supernatural is closer than they think...and the ghost they pretend to be aren’t the only ghosts at Fox Hill Inn. What they believed were games has awakened something dangerous...something evil......something that should have stayed asleep. Restless...not at all friendly spirits soon invade every part of the inn. A dark and terrifying presence stalks the halls and the old oak grove on the inn’s grounds. To lay the ghosts to rest, Travis and Corey must first discover the dark history of Fox Hill and the horrors visited on its inhabitants years earlier. I was annoyed more than entertained by the antics of Corey and Travis but in spite of that the ghosts were good and the story was well worth the time spent reading it.

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz
3.5 ★

Former wild child Izzy Spellman has finally agreed to take over the family PI business, and the transition won't be a smooth one.

This was the fourth book in the Spellman series that I’ve read. It continues to be amusing with quirky but likeable characters. Izzy spends more time investigating various family members than she does paying clients, but it’s because there are mysterious things going on. The story goes in quite a few different directions with all the investigations she’s involved in. But it was fun to see how it would all turn out.

Xoe – Sara Roethle
Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series Book #1
3★

Xoe Meyers had a normal life. So she was stuck going to high school, and she only had a few friends to call her own. She liked her normal life. Things were about to change though, because there's a new guy in her small town, and he is anything but normal. Before Xoe can say, "Werewolf," her best friend's life is in peril, and Xoe's world is turned upside-down. Then, of course, there's Jason. Xoe doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him, and given that he's a vampire, she'd have to be able to catch him first.

"Twilight" fans will eat it up…we older folk… probably not so much, even if you are a closet fan of vampires & werewolves and your best friend is a shape shifter. It wasn’t a bad read...rather interesting in places.. and didn’t take huge chinks out of my reading schedule, but it was extremely predictable. If you are older than 12 you will probably be able to tell how the whole thing is going to end by page 50 or so. But hey…I needed a book with a word starting with an “X” in the title and this one whispered to me and said “choose me… you know there’s not that many of us”.

Divine Justice – David Baldacci
The Camel Club Series Book #4
5★

Known by his alias, "Oliver Stone," John Carr is the most wanted man in America. With two pulls of the trigger, the men who destroyed Stone's life and kept him in the shadows were finally silenced. But his freedom comes at a steep price: The assassinations he carried out prompt the highest levels of the U.S. government to unleash a massive manhunt. Yet behind the scenes, master spy Macklin Hayes is playing a very personal game of cat and mouse. He, more than anyone else, wants John Carr dead. With their friend and unofficial leader in hiding, the members of the Camel Club risk everything to save him.

Oliver Stone takes on the small, isolated mountain town of Divine, Virginia…which turns out to be not quiet so "divine". It’s not where he had set out to go but you read the series, you know our Oliver...he couldn’t help stepping into an unfair fight that started when a young man…Danny Riker… accused three tough guys of cheating at cards. Stone settled the argument by bashing some heads and in the process, angering the conductor...so he puts Stone...Danny... and the limping and battered hoodlums, off at the next stop. Danny, being grateful, takes Stone back to his little home town of Divine…which turns out to be deep into more than just the mountains. I believe this is the best of the series. The characters are so believable…the plot is incredibly convincing and some bad guys from the last three books get their "just rewards. The ending is almost a tear jerker as Oliver does something that is so in character for him...but so unexpected.

>25 Carol420:, Why won't my book titles automatically turn blue anymore? And, how to I add book covers in my reviews? Thanks.

>26 Raspberrymocha: Pardon me for butting in, Raspberrymocha, are you using the square brackets either side of your book title?

>26 Raspberrymocha: Sergei is right ...you have to be sure that you have the title in the brackets and that they are facing opposite directions at each end. If the Touchstone feature is down on the LT site they won't turn blue until it comes back up. I haven't had any problem with it today but sometimes it gets overwhelmed.

Book Covers: You may have to practice this awhile but it will soon come second hand.

1. Find The book that you want to copy the cover for. Just type in the title and the cover on LT. or use the covers that appear on your home page shelf.

2.Click on the cover you want and you should get a box with several choices. Click on "copy image address".

3. Go to where you want to place it and type at the end. DON"T put any spaces between any of these like I have.

I use the book covers on my shelf. They are just the right size for reviews but if you have use one that seems too large you can size them to some extent. To make them smaller...at the end of the line of address make one space and type width=100> 100 is about the smallest you can go and 300 is the largest. Work with it. It will soon be second hand. You put other pictures in the same way. Some pictures you can't control the size but most you can.

This is the 100 size and what is on your book shelf.

The Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner
FBI Profiler series Book #4
5★

Each time he struck, he took two victims. Day after day, he waited for the first body to be discovered--a body containing all the clues the investigators needed to find the second victim, who waited...prey to a slow but certain death. The clock ticked--salvation was possible. The police were never in time. Years have passed; but for this killer, time has stood still. As a heat wave of epic proportions descends, the game begins again. Two girls have disappeared...and the clock is ticking. Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy knows the killer’s deadline can be met. But she’ll have to break some rules to beat an exactingly vicious criminal at a game he’s had time to perfect. For the Killing Hour has arrived....

We meet Pierce Quincy whose specialty is profiling...and Rainie Connor, who are partners in a private investigating firm that the police have called in to help. The police are beginning to believe that there may be an inside implication. Not only that but this killer leaves clues on the body that points to the next victim. It's an interesting plot and a fantastic story but it did become bogged down with too many characters causing the reader to sometimes have to go back to see how that person fit into the storyline. I was slightly disappointed with the killers motive but that didn't distract from an otherwise well written and compelling adventure.

Masked Prey - John Sandford
Lucas Davenport (Prey Series) Book #30
5★

The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups. It's obviously alarming--is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn't much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can't be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI's constraints: Lucas Davenport.

I have been a long time fan of John Sandford and of his unpredictable character of Lucas Davenport from the time that he was a cop that wrote a computer program that made him a rich cop. Now he is a U.S. Federal Marshall still hunting down the bad guys. It was a very intricate plot-line that was...in some ways unfortunately...totally believable. It spoke volumes about the culture we live in today. Some have said it was political... and yes...it may or may not have been an expression of Mr. Sandford's political views...but it told the story exactly the way the world is today. I don't have to agree or disagree with John Sandford's opinions...if that is what they were...to have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Lucas Davenport stop another very bad man.

Silence on Cold River - Casey Dunn
4★

On a run through the woods outside her north Georgia hometown, defense attorney Ama Chaplin encounters a mysterious hiker and recognizes him, too late, as a sociopath she successfully defended when he was a teenager. In the intervening seventeen years, Ama changed her name and moved to Atlanta, anxious to put her past behind her. Michael Walton, her young client, grew into a ruthless and inventive murderer. And now that he’s caught her, he can put a twisted, years-in-the-making plot into motion.

The story is a good idea but it's told in 5 alternating perspectives which is really 3 too many...and that makes it a hard to fit the pieces together. It does have some things going in it's favor but also some in the negative. On the positive side...it’s fast-paced...it has decent twists and consistent tension...the characters all have big personalities and equally big flaws. The entire book can best be described as just "mindless" fun and we can all use a bit of that. On the negative side...many of the characters are just "out of character"..For example:... The killer was warped by his mother and he now feels "misunderstood"..and get this... he thinks that his “art” (AKA torture) will someday make him famous and prove his mom was wrong about how worthless he is. Then we have a drug addicted police officer who thinks no one notices that he's high. Then we have the defense attorney that is all guilt ridden because she has allowed guilty people to go free and just knows that she has locked innocent ones up. Lets have a drum roll for the stupidest one of all ..she confronts the killer all on her own hoping to get him to confess. It was beyond entertaining to actually watch these TSTL people fumble around. This would make a a fantastic television crime/comedy series.

>30 Carol420: I was so interested in hearing your comments on this book because so many have come out against the perceived political slant and I was wondering how bad it really was and what did I miss. I enjoyed your balanced commentary because I believe we don't always have to agree with an author's view to enjoy his work. I had that conversation ever so briefly with Ben Coes once. My view is: can I enjoy the story. Unless it's offensive agreeing with it is immaterial. I am a big fan of Sandford and I did not experience a letdown in this one

>32 ColinMichaelFelix: The only thing that I could see was that Sandford had Davenport going after the gun enthusiast groups which I'm sure angered the reviewers that fully support the NRA. Sandford never said anything really bad about the killer that was running all over shooting children.. but the way Lucas went after them I can see where some would say it was a political statement. I'm not much for politics. There are just as many rights and wrongs on both sides of the fence. I don't agree with everything that either party says or does. Sometimes they look like a play ground of 10 year old kids. Sandford is a really good writer and I have followed him for years and intend to continue to read whatever he writes. Have you read the book? I know you said you had it.

Blood Trail - C.J. Box
Joe Pickett series Book #8
3★

Game wardens have found a man dead at a mountain camp—strung up, gutted, and flayed as if he were the elk he'd been hunting. Is the murder the work of a deranged anti-hunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is the man to track the murderer and stop him, before someone declares open season on humans.

It's elk season in the Rockies...but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. The Governor is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. That alone would drive some hunters crazy... but then it would have been the Governor that was found strung up and not some other person:) The way that C.J. Box writes about the mountains in the west is a beautiful piece of work an very well done...you can tell that he loves the wilderness...but his character of Joe Pickett must be the busiest Game Warden in the country. This is the 8th book in the series and I've read 3 before this one, and have found the murders are a bit repetitive. The narrative alternates between the searchers and the killer...whose identity will keep readers guessing up to the very end. What I do like about the series and Mr. Box, is that he takes care and the time to present both sides of the controversial issue of hunting. Well done on that Mr. Box.

Cursed by Carol Higgins Clark
3 *

Regan Reilly, PI, is trying to get her things organized in a storage facility during a snowstorm. Her new husband is in Florida on police business. As luck would have it, a friend in LA called requesting help tracking a former boyfriend who borrowed $100,000. It was money which Abigail's grandma had given her for a down payment on a home. So, Regan jumped on a jet and headed west to sunshine. As Abigail's bad luck would have it, Abigail becomes a person of interest in a murder of a wealthy old man, which she used to know. Regan has her hands full with stalkers, lost movie scripts, the police, and finding the missing boyfriend. It was a quick short read.

Uninvited James Gaberial
3★

It's a first novel about a young man accused of killing the entire family of a woman he's been obsessed with for most of his life. Once the police had decided that Kirk Carver didn't really commit suicide after shooting his wife and children...they pick up Tony McMahon without asking more than a cursory question or two since they're entirely convinced...from a massively indiscreet letter he wrote about Patricia Carver...that he's the killer. Now enters the lawyers...a literal swarm of them. Tony...the suspected killer is now convicted by society as well as the police... is friendless... broke...and very naive...choosing as his defender Ralph Barolo, a flamboyant and streetwise lawyer who regards pleading before a jury as a wily game of sexual seduction. As the disturbing pathology of Tony's obsession is subtly revealed, the suspense builds regarding his guilt or innocence. The story was as much a study in abnormal psychology as a telling look at social discrimination in the criminal justice system. The main problem I had with the book was the writing style of the author. It was difficult to read as it read mostly like a legal textbook. This was what could have been a fascinating story but instead was left begging for it's life for a professional ghost writer.

>30 Carol420: - I recently finished the audio of Masked Prey and it was one of the first times I didn't give a 5 Star review. I thought it was political in that it made all the gun enthusiasts, except the police, white supremacists. There are plenty of those groups so that wasn't so much my issue but I feel like that's been done so often that it's no longer an interesting story to me, personally. I have no opinions for or against gun ownership or the rules and regulations surrounding them. I just thought the story was uninteresting. I loved Bob and Ray in prior books but they seemed caricatures this time around.

I love Lucas and remain a fan, especially of how he continues to grow in the Marshall service.

We are due to start our next Group Read today, A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton, Book 3 in the Lacey Flint Series.

I will post the full schedule later on but if we read the Prologue and Chapters 1 - 15 today.

Lost Voices - Sarah Porter
Lost Voices Trilogy Book #1
4★

Fourteen-year-old Luce reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

Anyone that thinks of mermaids as gentle sweet creatures will have an awakening experience after reading this book. Dark is an adjective that doesn't even begin to touch on describing it. "Foreboding" and "deliciously creepy" comes very close for we horror fans. The whole idea is that Mermaids are young women who are being given a second chance after being hurt and tortured by human beings. Every girl mermaid Luce meets has her own horror story of how she got there...and they are indeed horrible. The things that I thought really mattered to help in understanding this story wasn't explained in this book...but may be explained in the later books... was exactly what are the "Mermaid Rules"...Who make these rules...how are they enforced...and who enforces them. The reader may not want to really learn the answers. This story is an intriguing and unusual play on the mermaid myth and it will leave you wanting to be much nicer to everyone you come in contact with.

Devoted - Dean Koontz
5★

Woody Bookman hasn’t spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. Not when his mother, Megan, tells him she loves him. For Megan, keeping her boy safe and happy is what matters. But Woody believes a monstrous evil was behind his father’s death and now threatens him and his mother. And he’s not alone in his thoughts. An ally unknown to him is listening. A uniquely gifted dog with a heart as golden as his breed, Kipp is devoted beyond reason to people. When he hears the boy who communicates like he does, without speaking, Kipp knows he needs to find him before it’s too late. Woody’s fearful suspicions are taking shape. A man driven by a malicious evil has set a depraved plan into motion. And he’s coming after Woody and his mother. The reasons are primal. His powers are growing. And he’s not alone. Only a force greater than evil can stop what’s coming next.

Devoted is a twisted, crazy roller coaster of a book. Dean Koontz covers all the bases though. It is at times genuinely frightening and disturbing...and at other times you feel like you have fallen into a PG rated family movie. I love animals and I am careful about reading books that animals are ultimately mistreated...I also love Dean Koontz's writing and I know how devoted, (no pun intended), he is to his Golden Retrievers, so felt I was pretty safe that the dog would be fine... but I have to say this one took me by surprise. I believe if I say it was something totally "other" I wouldn't be far off the mark. Parts of the book were genuinely gripping...some parts were absolutely terrifying...and others were heart warming... but the jump between all these emotions came off as jarring. Overall...if you are a Dean Koontz fan or if you are an animal lover...especially big beautiful, intelligent dogs...you will be able to relate to this story and not be too overly bothered by any of the genre mixes.

Strangers by Mary Anna Evans
3.5 ★
While arranging a historic preservation project at a St. Augustine bed-and-breakfast, Faye Longchamp and her husband Joe Wolf Mantooth investigate the murder of an employee's abusive boyfriend.

There were several storylines in this book. One was about an assistant to the bed-and-breakfast owners who went missing and her abusive boyfriend was found dead. Another was a murder of a young actress that occurred at the bed-and-breakfast in the 1920s. The last was about a priest in the 1500s that left a diary of the events and difficulties of his day. It was all interesting until the last part of the book where something happened that seemed implausible. That was disappointing but later some interesting things happened to compensate. Overall, a good, solid story.

>40 Carol420: - My sister loved this book but I haven't read it yet.

>42 Olivermagnus: I haven't seen a bad review for it yet. The only thing that one reviewer gave it a 4 star rating for was he said that Koontz down-played the kids autism and didn't portray it correctly. I don't know that much about it so it didn't really bother me. The dog was wonderful. I'm going to adopt Kipp:)

The Returned - Seth Patrick
3.5★

What Happens When The Ones You Lost Come Back From The Dead? In a small Alpine village, people start to appear, trying to return to their homes after a terrible accident none of them can recall. What they do not yet know is that they have been dead for several years—and no one is expecting them back. But they are not the only ones to have seemingly returned from the dead. Their arrival coincides with a series of horrific murders, which bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past.

"He stared out across the lake and thought about what lay underneath. He thought about what he'd been told officially when he took the job and about what he'd heard in the months since-rumors, inconsistent, conflicting. He thought about what he believed. Shivering, he started to descend." This is what first drew me to this book. An entire book build on the idea that the dead have returned but didn't realize that they were dead or even that they had been gone was fascinating to the 'ghost story junkie". The problem came when nothing really happened except that more and more people kept returning. You knew what should be happening...you knew what was bound to soon happen...but it took way too long for it to all come together....and HAPPEN...and then it was rather anti-climactic. I guess I have to say that I liked it and I didn't like it. You would have thought that the story could have been told and told well in less than 93 chapters.

Perfect Nightmare – John Saul
3★

If you open your house to strangers, who knows who might come in. And what they might be after. Or whom. Now, ponder the unthinkable and surrender to your darkest dread, as sinister storyteller extraordinaire John Saul weaves a heart-stopping tale of lurking terror and twisted intent. Every parent’s nightmare becomes reality for Kara Marshall when her daughter, Lindsay, vanishes from her bedroom during the night. The police suspect that the girl is just another moody teenage runaway, angry over leaving behind her school and friends because her family is moving. But Lindsay’s recent eerie claim – that someone invaded her room when the house was opened to prospective buyers – drives Kara to fear the worst: a nameless, faceless stalker has walked the halls of her home in search of more than a place to live.

It's been a long time since I read a John Saul book...but i believe I have now read everything he has ever published. His books are supernatural in content but has enough of a non-ghostly story to satisfy almost everyone. I don't want to even imagine what it would be like to have a child go missing but John Saul did an excellent job of portraying a mother who does not give up regardless of what everyone is telling her. This creepy stalker story becomes a shrewd whodunit that will appeal to mystery fans, suspense fans and supernatural /horror fans alike.

A Dark & Twisted Tide - Sharon Bolton (S.J.)
Lacey Flint series Book #4
4★

Lacey Flint has been living in a houseboat on the River Thames, and she's becoming a part of London's weird and wonderful riverboat community. Against her friends' better judgment, she's taken up swimming in the Thames, and she feels closer than ever to Detective Mark Joesbury, despite his involvement in a complicated undercover case. For the first time in her life, as she recovers from the trauma of the last few months, Lacey begins to feel almost happy. Then, at dawn one hot summer morning while swimming down the river, Lacey finds the body of a shrouded young woman in the water. She assumes it was chance…after all, she's recently joined the marine policing unit, and she knows how many dead bodies are pulled out of the river every year, most the result of tragic accidents. But further investigation leads her policing team to suspect the woman's body was deliberately left for Lacey to find. Lacey's no longer a homicide detective, but as she begins to notice someone keeping a strangely close eye on her, she's inexorably drawn into the investigation.

The character of Lacey Flint is brave and impulsive…loyal and secretive. She is running from her past and avoiding her future. While I enjoy the character it is my hope that when, and if, Lacey does return…Ms. Bolton chooses to begin a new, more confident characterization for her protagonist. Lacey often comes off as directionless and careless in her actions and decisions. She almost seems to have a death wish. While I know that this is part of who she is….it doesn't feel as if she is growing any from book to book. I hope to read about Lacey for many years to come but, if she isn't allowed to grow the series will become stale. There is so much more that these characters can contribute and many more stories to be told. I hope that Ms. Bolton will allow Lacey, Joesbury, Dana, Helen and the others to "live" to tell more suspenseful tales.

>40 Carol420: I’ve just got hold of my copy from the library.

>47 Andrew-theQM: Enjoy Kipp:)

Fire: Losing Christina - Caroline Cooney
Fog, Snow & Fire trilogy- Book #3
3.5★

In just eighteen days the semester will be over, freeing Christina and her friends from the terrible Schooner Inne and the Shevvingtons, their creepy hosts during the school year. They’ll leave the mainland for the safety of Burning Fog Isle for the summer—and since the Shevvingtons may be moving out of town next year, the island kids could be free of them forever. But then Christina begins sleepwalking, and doing odd things like leaving lit candles around the house, carrying around pockets full of matches, and doodling flames into her textbooks—or so claim the Shevvingtons. Can Christina survive their insane tricks until the school year ends? Or will they use all eighteen days to make Christina’s life a living—and fiery—hell?

This Gothic horror trilogy is not just about evil. Christina experiences all kinds of emotions that most people can relate to...the fear when she has to move away from her family and friends...being nervous about making new friends...wanting a boyfriend... facing teachers and assignments. She is just a normal thirteen-year-old who unfortunately has to face something that most people of any age do not.
This is the last book in the trilogy and it ends with more hope than the first two. Christina has grown and learned much more about evil. The story revolves around her getting involved in a terrifying psychological mind game with the two malicious Shevvingtons....who are supposed to protect her. The trilogy is really Young Adult material but it's an easy, quick read with some really different characters.

The Encampment – Stephen Davenport
Miss Oliver’s School for Girls series Book #3
3.5★

There are only two rules at Miss Oliver’s School for Girls that lead to automatic expulsion: stealing, and permitting a male who is not a family member into a dormitory. The head of school’s daughter has broken both. Trouble approaches on a warm September day when Sylvia Perrine Bickham, the head of school’s daughter, gives money to a homeless man on the street. Through some prying, she and her friends learn he is a veteran of the Iraq War and probably suffering from post-traumatic stress, so they sneak food and clothing to his lean-to at odd hours of the day and agree to tell no one…not the teachers, and especially not Sylvia’s mother, Rachel. But talk of things gone missing from the school is getting louder, and Rachel knows something is up. More importantly, winter is coming and Sylvia worries the man will freeze if he stays outside. Have they done all they can for him? Have they done enough? What is enough?

This was book #3 of the series...and though I have no real problem reading out of order...I do believe that this is one series that begs to be read in order. It was difficult for me to understand why the girls, Sylvia and her friend did some of the things that they did...which I'm sure was developed in the first two books. At times I thought that Sylvia had a good heart when she gave the homeless vet money and other supplies…but then when she turned around and spied on him…stole to give him what she did...I began to have second thoughts. I actually liked the character of the homeless veteran the most of any of them. He was “real” in that he knew he had problems and was trying to the best of his limited abilities to work through them. I hate to give criticism of an authors writing since I have never written or published a book…but I read about 300 a year that other people write and publish so I can say what appeals to me and makes me want to read more. For me…there was just too much “unnecessary” text…I guess you could say it was “too wordy”…if that makes any sense. It was a good storyline, good plot, good enough for the 3.5 rating…but for me it was difficult.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WestMargin Press in exchange for an honest opinion. The views expressed by this reviewer are entirely my own.

Glass Houses by Louise Penny
4 ★

When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied. Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back.

This was another well-written and interesting story in the Gamache series. The characters are well-developed as usual, and the robed and hooded figure was mysterious and creepy. Gamache was also involved in a complicated operation with potentially serious consequences involving a drug cartel. Although interesting, it also seemed somewhat implausible and later a bit reckless. But the Gamache character is so honorable and just that it still comes across as the important and right thing to do. Overall, I enjoyed this story.