"If She Knew (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1)" by Blake Pierce
Hide Away (A Rachel Marin Thriller Book 1) by Jason Pinter
Rachel Marin rang too smart, strong, and annoying to be likable as the protagonist. I couldn't bring myself to believe she'd put herself in the many dangerous situations she had when swearing her children were her priority. The revelation of her violent criminal activity before her family's move to a new town with new identities dampened my sympathy for her. Insane knowledge of crimes without prior experience working in law enforcement in any capacity stretched me to the breaking point. The police not halting her interference until I nearly pulled my hair out didn't sit well. Also, the discrepancies of details proved troubling. Not the worst book I've ever read, but it felt more like the birthing of a vigilante superhero series than a thriller/detective series.
"Time's Pendulum Swings Again" by Joy M. Lilley
This story COULD have been a docu-drama following two people of different races and backgrounds that fell in love, the difficulties they faced - some of them self-imposed - and how they overcame these hurdles to be together at last: an okay read. However, overwhelming grammatical and punctuation errors, dreadful formatting, and use of the first and third-person narrative and the past and present tense simultaneously seriously hampered my reading enjoyment. With editing and proofreading, I may have rated it three stars.
"A Sparrow Falls" by Vicki Olsen
A story that took place in the 1950s on a farm that broke my heart. Sarah's introduction to the evils of the world fell at the hands of her older brother, and then her father. I wasn't sure how much more I could read about this poor girl's misery, and I couldn't believe the family had shunned the brother, but the father then committed even more horrible acts. The reader was led to suspect that Sarah's mother knew what her father had done and simply accepted it. It completely outraged me on her behalf, but at points, I felt annoyed with Sarah even after all she'd suffered - she wasn't an entirely sympathetic character. The author weaved more abuse tempered by small flashes of reprieves where Sarah found bits of happiness, until the conclusion where Sarah's life moved in a new direction.
A large portion of this story had to do with faith, and during the telling, Sarah couldn't handle things that happened, certain losses, and she turned away from God because of her anger. As she navigated her pain over the years, her gradual change of perspective inspired me.
There were plenty of characters to dislike in this story; the brother, the father, the boys from town, the nasty girls. There were some to pity, Sarah's mother- although I couldn't decide if I wanted to pity her or hate her, Sarah's brother, Kenny, and poor Charlie Weeks. My favorite character was wise Cotton, the farmhand. Most were well-painted depictions, so I felt I knew the people, and the descriptions put me in the middle of the story. It felt like it could have been based on a true story. I would probably read the next book to determine if she takes control of her power and improves her life.
"See You Soon" by NC Marshall
There were things I liked about "See You Soon." The Prologue set up the reader to believe things would turn out a certain way for the main character, but when the scene played out in the context of the story, it threw a spin on it, and I didn't know what was happening. I enjoyed the disappearance of a long-lost friend who cried out for help and how that setup played out. I liked how the villain's identity remained withheld until the end. However, I was not fond of the antagonist's thoughts scattered through the book, seemingly like journal entries, and one stint from their viewpoint came up while Emma read her missing friend's diary. That confused. Ali's diary was on a hidden thumb drive taped to the back of a furniture drawer as though it held something essential; I felt that was strange. It revealed a small piece of Ali's life, but nothing that advanced the plot. Multiple viewpoints expressed near the end of the story felt like a lazy way to dump all the information required to solve the mystery. If we had seen these people doing the things we were "told" they did, gradually throughout the story, it would have built the suspense and added enjoyment and understanding to the tale. The author had me convinced one person was guilty through most of the book (although the circumstances that caused the main character to believe it was him weren't strong enough in my opinion) and surprised me that it wasn't the case, but the big reveal of the mastermind fell flat because I hadn't remembered who the actual character was. They weren't fleshed out enough to seem significant. The reasons behind their actions also didn't ring true because the reader wasn't allowed to know them or get inside their mind. Although I liked many aspects of it and think it had the potential to be a great story, I'm not sure I'd go as far as recommending it.
"In Her Shadow" by Mark Edwards
Mark Edwards has become one of my new favorites. I find myself looking for another of his books to add to my TBR as soon as I finish one. "In Her Shadow" didn't disappoint. Jessica's sister's death - long-ago ruled an accident- suddenly crept back into the forefront of her mind because her young daughter claimed her dead auntie spoke to her. Was it the girl's imagination? Had Isabel actually returned to tell them something about her death- it wasn't an accident? Strange happenings around the house convinced Jessica's mother, Mo they were susceptible to the paranormal, and Isabel's death must have been murder. After all, they'd been haunted before when Jessica and Isabel were children. Mo stubbornly thought Isabel's husband, Darpak must have killed her because Darpak and Isabel kept secrets in their marriage. It turned out that a lot of people kept secrets, some bigger than Olivia's secret relationship with Isabel's ghost.
This story boasted extremely well-written characters, especially Olivia, Jessica's four-year-old daughter with a knack for predicting the future and handling the return of her aunt that she'd never met.
A line of suspects paraded within Jessica's suspicions, but the author never committed to Isabel's death being a murder. I had to ride the tidal wave until he revealed all the secrets in the perfect timing to figure out what had happened to Isabel, and if she'd truly come back to her loved ones. I strongly recommend this book!
"The Bone Jar" by S W Kane
THE BONE JAR jumps right into a disturbing death- an elderly woman found dead in an abandoned asylum. As far as they can gather, the lady is near a saint. She volunteers in a care home after a long nursing career. A real who-done-it, why would anybody want to hurt this woman? Why did she go to the old asylum? Or did someone kill her and dump her body there? Near the body, a cell phone leads to another dead person. Did he have anything to do with her death? Or was he a witness? The web is intricate in this story, and the characters are complex. A fascinating setting, the asylum holds so many secrets. The players aren't always who you think they are. There are many twists in store, and the ending proved to be a nail-biter. The person least likely to be a hero pulls it together. I enjoyed this book!
"Girls of Glass" by Brianna Labuskes
This book had my interest as it began, but it started jumping back and forth and around in time so much that it confused. The characters weren't very likeable or relatable. They all seemed to have the same voice. The descriptions were long and overshadowed the content. For example, when Alice met Charlotte in a diner, I wanted to know why. I didn't want to read long, detailed paragraphs describing the waitress, the cook, the guy at the counter... None of these things mattered at all to the story. The book could have been much shorter. For so many words, too many things were left to your guess. The truth veiled by a sheer curtain that was never removed to give you a clear understanding. The ending plot twist could have been ingenious, but instead rang convoluted, disappointing, and left me liking the detective even less.
"Never Look Back" by Mary Burton
Melina had a tough childhood, no doubt, but should she be grateful to the woman who dumped her on the side of the road? After all, she could have been tied into those circumstances with the drifter criminal forever, but instead she landed in a loving home with doting parents. It all lends credibility to her career in law enforcement following in her adopted father's footsteps.
While helping her friend who runs a mission locate missing prostitutes she stumbles upon a serial killer and narrowly escapes his clutches. This introduces Jerrod, an FBI agent who has hunted this killer for many years.
When another little girl who resembles Melina gets left in a car wreck, it pries open Melina's past and reveals some genetic truths that are horrifying. It also leads to a second serial killer.
I liked this book. The only problem was that the story about the first serial killer was dropped for so long while they moved on to the second one that I found it jolting returning to the first killer.
Overall, it was a satisfying thriller with multiple storylines and connections between the key characters. The romantic angle was a bit muted, but I was glad the two found comfort in each other when they had so much darkness in their lives. I prefer the suspense and thriller over the romance genre, so it didn't make much of a difference to me. I found myself exclaiming out loud a few times near the end. Definitely worth a read.
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