ARC Review: A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

A Madness of Sunshine
Author: Nalini Singh
Publication: Berkley (December 3, 2019)

Description: New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh welcomes you to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer.…

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement to not look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

My Thoughts: Anahera, betrayed by her husband and life in London, returns home to the beautiful West Coast of New Zealand that she ran from as a teen. She's temporarily abandoned her career as a pianist and wants to reconnect with her roots and old friends.

Will has also found at least a temporary refuge in Golden Cove too. He was a decorated police officer until things happened that almost destroyed him. He finds himself the sole police officer for the town and gradually getting to know the locals.

When a beautiful young woman with a bright future goes missing, everyone is a suspect. While the town rallies to search the the tangled bush and dangerous sea, Will tries to unearth long buried secrets. The disappearance reminds many of a time some years ago when three young female hikers disappeared from the area. Their cases have never been solved and were declared accidents at the time. Will starts to think that there is a serial killer in town - someone who has been under the radar for years.

I enjoyed the beautiful but dangerous setting for the story. I liked getting to know Ana and her childhood friends who all happen to be back in town. I liked the slow growing relationship between Will and Ana - two people who had both been hurt and who weren't looking for a new relationship.

The plot was well-developed as were the many intriguing characters. I liked that Ana and many of the characters were Maori. I have enjoyed the author's writing in other genres and was glad to find that she was also excellent at writing romantic thrillers.

Favorite Quote:

She was aware of Will coming up behind her, a large solid presence, and suddenly her body, which had been in deep freeze for seven months, decided to wake up. It liked the smell of this cop, liked the look of him, liked those moody eyes and the way he was hunting so hard for a girl many in his position would've forgotten.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

She returned home tow hundred and seventeen days after burying her husband while his pregnant mistress sobbed so hard that she made herself sick. Anahera had stood stone-faced, staring down at the gleaming mahogany coffin she'd chosen because that was what Edward would've wanted. Quiet elegance and money that didn't make itself obvious, that had been Edward's way. Appearances above everything.

Friday 56:

"I've done my reading, too." Harsher words now. "So I know that cops and forensics people can't always distinguish between a fall and someone pushing you off so that you fall and break bones, crack your skull."

This week I am spotlighting A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh. I believe that this is the first thriller the author has written. Here is the description from Amazon:

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh welcomes you to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer.…

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement to not look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

ARC Review: Thin Ice by Paige Shelton

Thin Ice
Author: Paige Shelton
Publication: Minotaur Books (December 3, 2019)

Description: First in a new series set in Alaska from beloved author Paige Shelton, Thin Ice will chill your bones.

Beth Rivers is on the run – she’s doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic’s obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she's got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout.

Beth’s new home in Alaska is sparsely populated with people who all seem to be running or hiding from something, and though she accidentally booked a room at a halfway house, she feels safer than she’s felt since Levi took her. That is, until she’s told about a local death that’s a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?

As Beth navigates her way through the wilds of her new home, her memories of her time in the van are coming back, replaying the terror and the fear―and threatening to keep her from healing, from reclaiming her old life again. Can she get back to normal, will she ever truly feel safe, and can she help solve the local mystery, if only so she doesn’t have to think about her own?

My Thoughts: Beth Rivers has run to a small town in Alaska after escaping from the stalker who kidnapped her. Her escape caused an injury which required brain surgery and has left her with amnesia, killer headaches, and flashbacks which bring back all the terror of her kidnapping. The kidnapper wasn't found and she fears that he will find her again. She finds herself resident in a halfway house for non-violent offenders sent in from Juneau. She also finds that there was a suspicious death just before she arrived.

It is a town where everyone has secrets and many are fleeing from their pasts. Beth's secret is the she is a best-selling author of thrillers who got her start working for her grandfather who was Chief of Police in the small town where she grew up. Her father disappeared when she was seven and her mother had been obsessively looking for him until Beth's kidnapping which added finding her kidnapper to her obsession. She was left to her grandfather to raise while her mother searched for her missing father.

Beth begins to get to know the various residents of the town as she tries to find out if the suspicious death was suicide or murder. The town is filled with interesting characters from the pot-smoking librarian to park ranger with secrets to the police chief who reminds her of her grandfather. I liked the descriptions of Alaska and the wildlife that was all around. I liked that Beth was resilient and struggling to get over a very traumatic experience.

The one thing that I didn't like about the story was it ending which left Beth's story unresolved even though the crime Beth learns about on her arrival is solved. The ending which leads to her next case makes a real "cliffhanger" ending.

Favorite Quote:

It was an anxiety-riddled ride to the Petition. I felt exposed. I felt stupidly out of shape, ridiculous as I maneuvered around the dirt road's divots and fallen foliage. No one was watching me, but it felt like the world was. I didn't know what parts of "all the wildlife" lurked behind branches, but no animals showed themselves. If they were watching, they were probably too amused to attack.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

YA ARC Review: Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Dangerous Alliance
Author: Jennieke Cohen
Publication: HarperTeen (December 3, 2019)

Description: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Jane Austen in this witty, winking historical romance with a dash of mystery!

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

My Thoughts: Lady Victoria Aston has what looks like an ideal life. She has a happily wed older sister and doting parents. However, things are not quite as they seem. When she is rescued from an attack by a childhood friend she hasn't seen since they were young, it appears that trouble is coming her way. And then her older sister arrives home on the run from her abusive husband. The only way to prevent her husband - Lord Dain - from eventually owning her family's estate is for Vicky to marry.

She and her family travel to London to take part in the social events which could lead to her finding a suitable husband. Her father is championing Mr. Carmichael who is untitled but a wealthy man who has had business dealings with him. She likes him but isn't in love and isn't sure that he can be trusted.

Meanwhile, the childhood friend Tom has become Lord Halworth after inheriting the estate of the abusive father who threw him out as a teenager and who has left the estate deeply in debt. Tom has been working in an uncle's posh hotel in Switzerland and wants to begin such a hotel in London if he can find backers. Shame because of his father's behavior has kept him from telling Vicky about his past which has broken their friendship.

But Tom and Vicky keep running into each other in London, often when he is saving her from some sort of accident, and the two are becoming friends again. But Mr. Carmichael is definitely opposed to Tom and feels he's taking advantage of Vicky's former friendship.

While Vicky is a devoted fan of Miss Jane Austen and wishes to live her life like Miss Austen's characters, it seems that her life is becoming a lot more like the more melodramatic and sensational novel of Mrs. Radcliffe.

The story was entertaining and well written. The characters were interesting people and the romance builds nicely. I liked the mystery aspects of the story.

Favorite Quote:

She would always love Miss Austen's stories, but after all that had transpired, Vicky no longer believed life could be summed up by one author's perspective of the world. For why else would so many books exist if not to impart different truths about life and all its complexities?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay

Just Watch Me
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publication: Dutton (December 3, 2019)

Description: A masterful thief plots an impossible crime—stealing the Iranian Crown Jewels.

From the author of the wildly successful Dexter series comes a new, mesmerizing bad guy we can root for: Riley Wolfe. He’s a master thief, expert at disguise, and not averse to violence when it’s needed. It’s no accident, though, that Riley targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent and is willing to kill them when they’re in his way: he despises the degenerate and immoral rich and loves stealing their undeserved and unearned valuables.

In this series launch, Riley aims for an extraordinary target in a heist that will make history. Riley will try to steal the Crown Jewels of Iran. Yes, these jewels are worth billions, but the true attraction for grabbing them comes down to one simple fact: it can’t be done. Stealing these jewels is absolutely impossible. The collection is guarded by space-age electronics and two teams of heavily armed mercenaries. No one could even think of getting past the airtight security and hope to get away alive, let alone with even a single diamond from the Imperial Collection.

No one but Riley Wolfe. He’s always liked a challenge.

But this challenge may be more than even he can handle. Aside from the impenetrable security, Riley is also pursued by a brilliant and relentless cop who is barely a step behind him.

With the aid of his sometime ally, a beautiful woman who is a master art forger, Riley Wolfe goes for the prize that will either make him a legend—or, more likely, leave him dead.

My Thoughts: This was an entertaining heist story which introduces a new thief to the world of fiction. Riley Wolfe is a master thief, and master of disguises, and a man who has always liked a challenge. The story begins with him stealing a twelve ton statue from right in front of a group of people and killing the billionaire who donated it to the city.

That sets the tone for the story that follows. Riley needs a challenge and he isn't unwilling to kill people - especially if they are rich - if they happen to get in his way. When he learns that the Crown Jewels of Iran are going to be on display at a museum in New York City, he decides that stealing the most famous piece of that collection is a challenge worthy of his talents. They are going to be protected by state of the art security and two different and very competent teams of mercenaries.

After he tests many possible access points to get him to the jewels without success, he needs to come up with an alternate plan that only a many as brilliant as he is could possibly devise. He calls on a sometime colleague who is a brilliant forger of art and who is someone he wants to have a relationship with. Monique is intrigued at the challenge also and begins by forging two different pieces of art for him. But that is just the beginning of her role in Riley's greatest heist - so far.

It was intriguing to watch all the personas Riley donned and all the schemes he devised in his ultimate goal of gaining access to, and stealing, the most valuable of the Crown Jewels of Iran. It was also intriguing to watch FBI Agent Frank Delgado try to find out the background story for Riley Wolfe in his almost obsessive quest to bring him to justice.

I enjoyed this story despite the collateral damage Riley left in his wake. I felt really sorry for Katrina who fell in love with and married one of Riley's personas and was a victim of his schemes. I liked that Katrina's story was enough for Monique to keep her distance from Riley although Riley thinks he'll be able to change her mind. We'll see...

Favorite Quote:

Early on in working with Riley, she had discovered they had something important in common: Neither of them was truly driven by money. Oh, it was lovely stuff, and wonderful to have too much of it, and neither one of them was an ascetic of any kind But it was not what motivated either one of them. For both of them, it was the challenge, the feeling of stepping all the way out there on the thinnest branch of the tree and plucking the ripest apple, the one nobody else could get. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from .Edelweiss You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 25, 2019)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading...

I don't know where the time went this week. All of a sudden it's Saturday.

I did pick up my new-to-me bread machine and got the ingredients to make my first loaves of bread. With Thanksgiving coming, I decided to make a stuffing bread recipe from 500 Low Sodium Recipes. It turned out well and I have cubed and dried enough for our stuffing to go with the turkey breast which we are actually going to have tomorrow. I was going to try a recipe that makes the turkey breast in the crockpot but the breast won't fit in mine. I guess I'll be roasting it in the oven.

I spent most of the week enjoying Spinning Silver which encouraged careful reading because of the wonderful language and characters. I've set on optimistic goal of three books for next week. My reading pace has really slowed down this last part of the year. I have 100 books that I received in 2019 that are still unread. I keep chipping away at the pile but am not making very much progress.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Mine) - A very enjoyable fantasy with a fairy tale feel told from multiple viewpoints. My review will be posted on Dec. 10.
• Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (Mine) - The second Lord Peter Wimsey mystery was as entertaining as the first. I like the setting and characters. My review will be posted Dec. 11.

Currently

• A Study in Sable by Mercedes Lackey - I am enjoying this fantasy which combines magic and Sherlock Holmes. 

Next Week

• Whiskey Sour by J. A. Konrath (mine since 2015)
• Harbor for the Nightingale by Kathleen Baldwin (mine from 2019)
• Cruel Fate by Kelley Armstrong (Mine from 2019)

Reviews Posted

• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
• A Cowboy Like You by Donna Grant 

• Under Currents by Nora Roberts
• Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Nothing new this week.

What was your week like?

Book Review: Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Trust Me
Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan
Publication: Forge Books (August 28, 2018)

Description: An accused killer insists she's innocent of a heinous murder.

A grieving journalist surfaces from the wreckage of her shattered life.

Their unlikely alliance leads to a dangerous cat and mouse game that will leave you breathless.

Who can you trust when you can't trust yourself?

Trust Me is the chilling standalone novel of psychological suspense and manipulation that award-winning author and renowned investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan was born to write.

My Thoughts: Former journalist Mercer Hennessy is locked in her grief for the loss of her husband and two-year-old daughter in a car accident when her former editor comes to her with an offer: follow the current hot trial of a young mother accused of murdering her child and write a book about it.  While it hits so many of Mercer's triggers, she takes the job and finds herself immersed in the trial of Ashlyn Bryant who is accused of murdering her daughter Tasha and dumping her a body in a garbage bag into Boston Harbor.

Mercer is certain that Ashlyn is guilty and becomes more certain as she pores over all the evidence that had been collected and as she watches the trial. Mercer's writing liberally mixes in the information she has gathered and is biased by her belief in Ashlyn's guilt.

When Ashlyn is acquitted because the jury had "reasonable doubt," Mercer is first certain that the book project is dead. But then her editor Katharine brings Ashlyn to her to salvage the book and write something that will restore her reputation.

Even though Mercer is still convinced of Ashlyn's guilt, she agrees to host and interview Ashlyn and finds herself getting sucked into Ashlyn's world where reality shifts with each thing she says. She almost convinces Mercer that there is some mysterious "they" who are out to get her and who murdered her daughter.

The story was intense and almost claustrophobic. I was deeply involved in Mercer's story as she tries to untangle Ashlyn's.

Favorite Quote:

I understand why Ashlyn might have avoided Tasha's memorial. Why sit there, surrounded by sad people, all of whom are crying and mourning your loss? They'll all go home, and be happy they're not you. You'll go home and have no choice but to be you.

I know this from experience.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Using one forefinger I write on the bathroom mirror, drawing through the steamy condensation left by the shower. This morning's number is 442.

Four hundred forty-two days since the car accident that destroyed my family.

Friday 56:

A blue-and-gray police car - Boston, not Linsdale - careens by us, blowing through the red light, siren wailing and blue lights ablaze. Our heads swivel as we follow the cruiser's progress. It's turned the corner, and is speeding away down Ardella Street. Toward my house? A silly reaction, since it's not like no one else lives around here, and my neighborhood is hardly off the beaten path. I'd be more worried if it were a firetruck. 

This week I am spotlighting a recent addition to my TBR Pile - Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Here is the description from Amazon:

An accused killer insists she's innocent of a heinous murder.
A grieving journalist surfaces from the wreckage of her shattered life.
Their unlikely alliance leads to a dangerous cat and mouse game that will leave you breathless.
Who can you trust when you can't trust yourself?

Trust Me is the chilling standalone novel of psychological suspense and manipulation that award-winning author and renowned investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan was born to write.

ARC Review: A Cowboy Like You by Donna Grant

A Cowboy Like You
Author: Donna Grant
Series: Heart of Texas (Book 4)
Publication: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 26, 2019)

Description: In the Heart of Texas, a heartthrob cowboy may get his second chance at love…

Danny Oldman, the handsome Lone Star sheriff, is still single. He tells himself, and anyone who asks, that he is married to his job―and what matters most is keeping the people of his beloved Texas hometown safe. The truth? Danny still hasn’t gotten over his high school crush. She moved away after graduation and took Danny’s heart with her.

Skylar Long never thought she would have to flee Houston and return home―where it all began for her. But that’s what happened after the man of her dreams turned out to be an actual nightmare. Now, Skylar is desperate to escape her obsessive boyfriend. Nothing shocks her more than seeing Danny again and realizing that their long-ago attraction is more powerful than ever. But can she and Danny find a way to fight against Skylar’s wealthy, powerful ex who is dead set on tearing them apart?

My Thoughts: I have many conflicting opinions about this story. I did finish reading it and was never tempted to DNF it, but I found a lot of problems.

First of all, this reads like a report on domestic violence turned into a novel. There are quite a few "infodumps" giving all sorts of information about domestic violence. Second, the characters all seemed like stereotypes to me. The heroine was damaged but feisty. The hero was everyone's friend but lonely on the inside. He was also apparently Superman. See his action after escaping torture by the villain's henchman for proof of this.

The pair are surrounded by ultra competent people including four young men who were childhood best friends who joined the Special Forces of four different branches of the Armed Forces and served honorably before coming home to rural Texas which allowed the author to give a shout out to most branches of the military, excluding only the Coast Guard.

The villain and his enabling family were also stereotypes who successfully covered up multiple incidents of domestic violence before he was finally arrested by our hero in the process of trying to recapture the heroine. Then the family steps in and tries to use their wealth and political influence to cover over this latest criminal activity.

Fans who like a heavy dose of information in their romances will enjoy this one.

Favorite Quote:

"The affidavit will detail each incident of abuse, where he hit you, and why you didn't report it. I need you to email me every photo you took. Those will be printed out and used as evidence."

Skylar immediately got her phone and began emailing said pictures so she didn't forget. When she finished, she set her phone aside and met Leslie's brown gaze. "Have you taken many cases like this?"

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Under Currents by Nora Roberts

Under Currents
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: St. Martin's Press (July 9, 2019)

Description: For both Zane and Darby, their small town roots hold a terrible secret. Now, decades later, they've come together to build a new life. But will the past set them free or pull them under?

Zane Bigelow grew up in a beautiful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Strangers and even Zane’s own aunt across the lake see his parents as a successful surgeon and his stylish wife, making appearances at their children’s ballet recitals and baseball games. Only Zane and his sister know the truth, until one brutal night finally reveals cracks in the facade, and Zane escapes for college without a thought of looking back...

Years later, Zane returns to his hometown determined to reconnect with the place and people that mean so much to him, despite the painful memories. As he resumes life in the colorful town, he meets a gifted landscape artist named Darby, who is on the run from ghosts of her own.

Together they will have to teach each other what it means to face the past, and stand up for the ones they love.

My Thoughts: This is one Nora Roberts book that I was hesitant to read. I don't like stories about child abuse. I should have known that Nora Roberts could take a difficult subject and write a compelling story of love and survival.

Zane Bigelow and his sister Britta lived what looked like a perfect life. Their father was a successful surgeon; their mother on all the right committees. They lived in a beautiful house in a posh part of town. But their house hid many secrets. Their father had been beating his wife and son for years. Zane began keeping a diary of this abuse when he was a young teenager and his father's abuse broke his nose and caused a concussion that his father explained away as a bike accident or a ski accident depending on who he was telling the story too.

Zane wants very badly to get out but knows that his father has all the power, a pristine outer appearance, and powerful friends. He also has a complicit wife who likes the abuse she receives at her husband's hands and doesn't care about her children at all.

When Zane comes home from a school dance to see his father hitting his mother, he intervenes. His father pushes him down the stairs and breaks his arm and sprains his ankle. But worse of all he blames Zane for hitting him, hitting his wife, and hitting his little sister. He demands that Zane be arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center where he spends a horrible night until he is rescued by the actions of his little sister, his aunt, and a police detective who believes that it was his father who was to blame.

With his father and mother arrested, tried, and imprisoned, Zane and Britta have a chance at a new, better life with their aunt and loving grandparents.

Then the story jumps to the present day where Zane is a lawyer who is returning home and his father is finally getting ready to be paroled after eighteen years in prison. His mother had waited loyally for him after her own release from prison.

Then a new person comes to town. Darby McCray has her own history with violence. She managed to escape from her abusive husband who was convicted and imprisoned. She and her mother ran a successful landscaping business until her mother died in a hit-and-run accident. Darby sold up and needed to choose a new place to restart her life. She chooses the same town where Zane and his family live to begin her new business.

But both Zane and Darby are still of strong interest to their abusers and danger follows both of them home. I liked that both Darby and Zane were survivors who hadn't lost the ability to fall in love and trust. I also liked that neither of them was looking for a new relationship when they met.

As is common in Nora Roberts' books, there are a bunch of supporting characters who form a web of friendships and who are there for our hero and heroine. I loved Darby's personality. She's optimistic and seems to have a real gift for making friends. I liked Zane's resilience. I liked that the information about child abuse and domestic abuse were woven into the story but didn't dominate.

Fans of Nora Roberts won't want to miss this story with its memorable characters and suspense.

Favorite Quote:

He tipped down his sunglasses. "You're going to fit a tree in that car?"

"No, I'm buying a truck on the way there."

And just kept studying her over the tops. "You're buying a truck on your way to pick up a tree."

"I ordered it over the phone this morning."

"You ordered -- I have to stop repeating what you say just because what you say is weird."

"It's not weird. They had what I want, they're starting the paperwork. I go in, boom, boom, drive off and get the tree, and so on. Anyway, are you still my lawyer?"

"I...could be."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: The Seven Per Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer

The Seven Per Cent Solution
Author: Nicholas Meyer
Series: The Journals of John H. Watson, M.D.
Publication: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 1993)

Description: This "rediscovered" Sherlock Holmes adventure recounts the unique collaboration of Holmes and Sigmund Freud in the solution of a mystery on which the lives of millions may depend.

First discovered and then painstakingly edited and annotated by Nicholas Meyer, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution related the astounding and previously unknown collaboration of Sigmund Freud with Sherlock Holmes, as recorded by Holmes's friend and chronicler, Dr. John H. Watson. In addition to its breathtaking account of their collaboration on a case of diabolic conspiracy in which the lives of millions hang in the balance, it reveals such matters as the real identity of the heinous professor Moriarty, the dark secret shared by Sherlock and his brother Mycroft Holmes, and the detective's true whereabouts during the Great Hiatus, when the world believed him to be dead.

My Thoughts: This book makes a good addition to the wealth of stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective. This is supposed to be based on a manuscript discovered in a cluttered attic. It was transcribed by a secretary-typist the Dr. Watson encountered while he was in a nursing home. He is telling this tale at the age of eighty-seven and only then because the principals had passed away.

The story begins with a cocaine-addicted Holmes who is certain that mild-mannered Mathematics tutor Professor Moriarty is in fact a kingpin of crime. He has been following Moriarty in an attempt to prove his assertion. Moriarty comes to Watson to see if there is a way to get Sherlock out of his life. Watson has been concerned with his friend's dependence on cocaine and is determined to find a way to help him.

An article in a medical journal points the way to a doctor in Vienna named Sigmund Freud but getting Holmes to Vienna becomes only the first of many problems. After plotting with his wife, Watson decides that they need to bring in someone who has a chance to outwit Holmes. Watson recruits Mycroft Holmes who has also been concerned for his brother.

Their plotting works and Holmes comes under Freud's care where a combination of hypnosis and what sounds like a cold turkey withdrawal manages to clear the drugs from Holmes' body. The cure has also seemed to remove Holmes' curiosity which was not what Watson wanted.

It wasn't until Freud is called in to evaluate a new patient and takes Watson and Holmes along that the true Holmes reappears. As Holmes tries to solve the problem of the young woman found after an attempted suicide and who is both starved and mute, his investigative powers are resurrected.

The poor young woman is the focus of a plot that could bring war if Holmes, Watson, and Freud can't find a way to stop it. An exciting train chase, including a duel on the top of a moving railroad car, adds a lot of excitement to the story.

This was an engaging and entertaining addition to the Sherlock Holmes legend.

Favorite Quote: 

"You saw," interrupted Holmes, "but you did not observe. The distinction is an important one and sometimes makes a critical difference."

I bought this one Jan. 29, 2018. You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 18, 2019)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading...

This was a quiet week with lots of gloomy weather. I don't think we saw the sun for more than a few moments until Friday. I did finish all my 2019 review books and have a couple of weeks now to read from my own TBR mountain until it is time to start the 2020 books.

My only moment of brief excitement came when I joined the YMCA in order to get some exercise. I attended my first exercise class on Thursday. My next one is Tuesday but I should go up there and get some instruction on using some of the intimidating machines someday soon. I am still walking as my brother does his cardio rehab on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but need to do more on the other days of the week.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• Thin Ice by Paige Shelton (Review - Dec. 3) - First in a new mystery series set in Alaska which leaves one of the major plot threads hanging waiting for the second book in the series. My review will be posted on Nov. 28.
• A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh (Review - Dec. 3) - Excellent thriller set in rural New Zealand and filled with interesting characters. I especially enjoyed the setting. My review will be posted on Nov. 30.
• Dragged Through Hedgerows by Forthright (Mine) - This novella tells a story set in her Amaranthine world and was entertaining. My review will be posted on Dec. 4.

• Wicked Hour by Chloe Neill (Review - Dec. 3) - Second in the Heirs of Chicagoland series and a very entertaining urban fantasy story. My review will be posted on Dec. 5.
• Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard (Review - Dec. 3) - This one was a slow read for me. I ended up skimming the last quarter. There were too many plot threads, too much needless description, and too many repeated flashbacks to past problems. My review will be posted on Dec. 1
• Wolf's Bane by Kelley Armstrong (Mine) - This is the first of a duology and ends with a major cliffhanger of an ending. I did enjoy the story and the revisit to the Otherworld universe created by Armstrong. My review will be posted on Dec. 7.

Currently

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Mine - 2019 purchase)

Next Week

• Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (Mine - 2019 purchase)
• A Study in Sable by Mercedes Lackey (Mine - 2019 purchase)

• Whiskey Sour by J. A. Konrath (Mine since Aug. 13, 2015)
• Harbor for the Nightingale by Kathleen Baldwin (Mine - 2019 purchase)

Reviews Posted

• This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber
• The Princess Plan by Julia London
• Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer

• Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber
• Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• Death at High Tide by Hannah Dennison (August 18)
• Shadows of the Dead by Spencer Kope (August 25)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo's Calling
Author: Robert Galbraith
Series: Cormoran Strike (Book 1)
Publication: Mulholland Books; First Edition edition (April 30, 2013)

Description: A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

My Thoughts: This book introduces detective Cormoran Strike. When the story begins, he has just broken up with his long-time girlfriend and is living in his office. He has only one client and is deeply in debt. He is also dealing with the loss of his lower leg in Afghanistan and the loss of his military career. He's hiding from creditors and wondering about his future.

When John Bristow walks in the door and wants to hire him to investigate the death of his sister supermodel Lula Landry, Strike wants to refuse. After all, the police believe it was a suicide. But a connection to a brother of Bristow's who died as a child and who was a schoolmate of Strike's makes him take the case.

The more he investigates, the more he gets involved in the drug-fueled world that Lula inhabited and those who want a part of it. The story was filled with twists and turns. I especially liked Strike's perseverance as he tries to untangle all the twisted threads that led to Lula's death. I liked Robin who comes in as a temporary secretary and finds that she really likes working for a detective.

This was an engaging and entertaining story and I look forward to reading more in the series. It is long but didn't read long. I was intrigued by the characters and the situations and the pages flew by.

Favorite Quote:

The dead could only speak through the mouths of those left behind, and through the signs they left scattered behind them. 

I bought this one on July 17, 2013. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

Penny for Your Secrets
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: A Verity Kent Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Kensington (October 29, 2019)

Description: England, 1919. In Anna Lee Huber’s latest mystery, former Secret Service agent Verity Kent is finding that life after wartime offers its own share of danger . . .

The Great War may be over, but for many, there are still obstacles on the home front. Reconciling with her estranged husband makes Verity sympathetic to her friend Ada’s marital difficulties. Bourgeois-bred Ada, recently married to the Marquess of Rockham, is overwhelmed trying to navigate the ways of the aristocracy. And when Lord Rockham is discovered shot through the heart with a bullet from Ada’s revolver, Verity fears her friend has made a fatal blunder.

While striving to prove Ada’s innocence, Verity is called upon for another favor. The sister of a former Secret Service colleague has been killed in what authorities believe was a home invasion gone wrong. The victim’s war work—censoring letters sent by soldiers from the front—exposed her to sensitive, disturbing material. Verity begins to suspect these two unlikely cases may be linked. But as the connections deepen, the consequences—not just for Verity, but for Britain—grow more menacing than she could have imagined.

My Thoughts: The third Verity Kent mystery has Verity and her husband Sydney trying to find out who killed Lord Rockham who is the husband of one of Verity's friends from her wartime service. The evidence points to her friend Ada but Verity doesn't want to believe that she killed her husband. But Ada isn't the same woman as she was during the war. She and her husband were fighting and she was flaunting a new titled lover. Sydney wonders what Verity ever saw in her that made her a friend.

While she is investigating Lord Rockham's death, another friend comes to ask her to look into the suspicious death of her half-sister. Gradually, Verity and Sydney come to believe that the two events are related and come as a result of something mysterious that happened during the war.

The story is filled with action as Sydney and Verity travel to France and the Isle of Wight to track down some of their clues. They become convinced that there is still a mastermind behind the murders and that the mastermind might not be finished cleaning up some loose ends.

I enjoyed the setting of this story. I liked Verity who isn't willing to go back to the restricted life of an upper class matron after proving herself as a spy during the war. I like that she is fighting to rebuild her relationship with her husband Sydney who, if he fought in a more modern war, would likely have been diagnosed with PTSD. I could feel Verity's concern for her husband and frustration that she didn't know how to help him deal with the trauma of his service.

Favorite Quote:

Especially when he proceeded to kiss me like I was the air and he was drowning. He pushed the sketchbook to the floor as his mouth inched over my skin and he peeled every layer from between us. Everything but the pain he would not give up, and my disquiet that he never would.

I got this one for review from Amazon Vine. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

"Verity, darling." Ada grasped my hands and pulled me into her poppy-scented embrace, kissing the air next to my cheek. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Friday 56:

I'd seen that look before. Had heard those words, too. It's what was said when suicide was suspected, whether it could be proven or not.

This week I am spotlighting Penny for your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber. I got this book for review from Amazon Vine. Here is the description from Amazon:

England, 1919. In Anna Lee Huber’s latest mystery, former Secret Service agent Verity Kent is finding that life after wartime offers its own share of danger . . .

The Great War may be over, but for many, there are still obstacles on the home front. Reconciling with her estranged husband makes Verity sympathetic to her friend Ada’s marital difficulties. Bourgeois-bred Ada, recently married to the Marquess of Rockham, is overwhelmed trying to navigate the ways of the aristocracy. And when Lord Rockham is discovered shot through the heart with a bullet from Ada’s revolver, Verity fears her friend has made a fatal blunder.

While striving to prove Ada’s innocence, Verity is called upon for another favor. The sister of a former Secret Service colleague has been killed in what authorities believe was a home invasion gone wrong. The victim’s war work—censoring letters sent by soldiers from the front—exposed her to sensitive, disturbing material. Verity begins to suspect these two unlikely cases may be linked. But as the connections deepen, the consequences—not just for Verity, but for Britain—grow more menacing than she could have imagined.

Book Review: Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

Treacherous Is the Night
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: A Verity Kent Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Kensington (September 25, 2018)

Description: In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it will take an all too earthbound intrigue to draw in the discerning heroine of Anna Lee Huber’s latest mystery 

It’s not that Verity Kent doesn’t sympathize with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she’s discovered Sidney is very much alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Still, at a friend’s behest, Verity attends a séance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney—and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service. Refusing to believe her former fellow spy is dead, Verity is determined to uncover the source of the spiritualist’s top secret revelation.

Then the medium is murdered—and Verity’s investigation is suddenly thwarted. Even Secret Service agents she once trusted turn their backs on her. Undaunted, Verity heads to war-torn Belgium, with Sidney by her side. But as they draw ever closer to the danger, Verity wonders if she’s about to learn the true meaning of till death do us part . . .

My Thoughts: The second Verity Kent mystery begins with Verity being convinced to attend a seance with one of her best friends. Verity understands why so many people are interested in trying to contact lost loved ones in the aftermath of World War I but doesn't believe in them herself. She finds she has enough to do trying to reconnect with the husband she had believed dead in battle upon his reappearance in her life.

When the medium has a message for Verity from a colleague she worked with in Belgium, Verity is concerned that the medium seems to have information that should be classified. She has been let go from her work as a spy in the Secret Service but she still feels it necessary to bring this to her former superior's attention where it is dismissed. She decides to investigate on her own which puts her in conflict with her husband who wants to go to their country home to try to work on their marriage.

Her secrets and his are making it hard for the two of them to rebuild their relationship. Sydney does travel with her to Belgium where Verity needs to confront some of her secret past in the form of a man she worked with and had a brief affair with while she believed her husband was dead. Also, she encounters another man who helped her solve her first case and who could have been a potential suitor if it had not been for Sydney's reappearance.

This was a well-plotted mystery set in the chaotic aftermath of World War I. I enjoyed following the clues along with Verity as she uncovers and foils a mad plot. I liked the way she and Sydney are trying to save a marriage despite how different the two are since they married five years earlier.

Favorite Quote:

Was it any wonder we scrambled to find respite and pleasure wherever we could? That we'd chosen to drown ourselves in gin and dance a frenzied tarantella to blot out the pain of the present. Just for a moment to forget our black, yawning future.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

YA ARC Review: Catfishing on Catnet by Naomi Kritzer

Catfishing on Catnet
Author: Naomi Kritzer
Publication: Tor Teen (November 19, 2019)

Description: How much does the internet know about YOU?  A thought-provoking near future YA thriller that could not be more timely as it explores issues of online privacy, artificial intelligence, and the power and perils of social networks.

Because her mom is always on the move, Steph hasn’t lived anyplace longer than six months. Her only constant is an online community called CatNet―a social media site where users upload cat pictures―a place she knows she is welcome. What Steph doesn’t know is that the admin of the site, CheshireCat, is a sentient A.I.

When a threat from Steph’s past catches up to her and ChesireCat’s existence is discovered by outsiders, it’s up to Steph and her friends, both online and IRL, to save her.

Catfishing on CatNet is a surprising, heartfelt near-future YA thriller by award-winning author Naomi Kritzer, whose short story “Cat Pictures Please” won the Hugo Award and Locus Award and was a finalist for the Nebula.

My Thoughts: This is a near future science fiction thriller about a girl on the run and a computer network that is her one constant. Steph has been on the run with her mother since she was a small child. Her mother has told her that her father is a psychopath who tried to burn down their house, had her mother kidnapped, and tortured her. He is also very computer savvy and can track them down if they give the slightest hint of their presence online.

Steph has one online home - CatNet - and a bunch of good friends in her clowder. All are working through online personas and very few share much personal information. One of the people in her clowder is CheshireCat who, unknown to everyone, is an AI who runs the whole site and who is self-aware. Parts of the story are told from the AI's point of view.

At first, Steph doesn't like her new school so she tries to find a way to cause trouble knowing that it will make her mom move them again. But she becomes friends with a girl named Rachel and decides that she doesn't want to be jerked away from another school and another town. However, using her clowder's help to change the answers the robot teaching their sex education class gives the town national attention and her mother suffers a ruptured appendix which leaves Steph vulnerable to being found by her father.

Luckily, she has the help of meat friends including Rachel and online friends from her clowder and CheshireCat to help her bring her father to justice and find a place of safety.

This was an excellent and fast-paced thriller. I liked Steph who loves her mother but who is frustrated by her secrets and by her disrupting Steph's life over and over again. I liked the close friendships that she develops online. I liked the AI who didn't want to be evil but who just wanted to help her friends.

Favorite Quote:

There's power in disclosure. People feel better when other people know them, the real them. That sort of disclosure is key to real friendships. To real connections. People make real friend on CatNet, but they have to let people in, to see who they are. They have to take risk and accept vulnerability.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.