Friday, May 1, 2026

State of the Stack (May 1, 2026)


This is my monthly post which details progress made on review books. I want to thank the authors and publishers who have contributed their books. 

Read This Month 

Dates indicate the date the review was/will be posted.
  1. How to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen Perrin (April 21)
  2. Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto (April 22)
  3. Cast in Blood by Michelle Sagara (April 23)
  4. A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon (April 28)
  5. I, Spy by L. M. Kemp (April 29)
  6. Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh (April 30)
  7. Griffin Speaker by Jan M. Flynn (May 5)
  8. The Anniversary by Alex Finlay (May 6)
  9. The Cupid Dilemma by April Asher (May 7)
  10. An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong (May 12)
  11. Storm Warning by James Byrne (May 19)
  12. Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney (May 19)
  13. Ode to the Bones by Carlolyn Haines (May 20)
  14. The Final Target by Nora Roberts (May 21)
DNF
  1.  
Read Previously, Posted This Month 

Dates indicate when the review was posted.
  1. Blood Trail by Matt Query & Harrison Query (April 1)
  2. The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer (April 2)
  3. The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller (April 3)
  4. The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown (April 7)
  5. Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn (April 8)
  6. Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan (April 14)
  7. Liar's Creek by Matt Goldman (April 15)
New This Month 

Date indicates when the book will be released.
  1. Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (July 21)
  2. Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (August 4)
  3. Death on the Books by Victoria Gilbert (August 4)
  4. Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4)
  5. (Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall (August 4)
  6. A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (August 11)
  7. Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly (August 11)
  8. The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (September 8)
  9. Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima (September 8)
  10. A Field Guide to Death and Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen (September 15)
  11. Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander (September 22)
  12. The Pumpkin Vice Cafe by Ellie Alexander (September 29)
All TBR Review Books

June
July
August
September
October


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Audiook Review: Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner

Touch and Go
Author: Lisa Gardner
Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers
Series: Tessa Leoni (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton (February 5, 2013); Brilliance Audio (February 5, 2013)
Length: 14 hours and 29 minutes

Description: The secrets of a picture perfect family are exposed in this “tour de force” thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…

The more Tessa learns about the Denbe family, the less she likes their chances. What might have looked like the perfect existence—a powerful CEO, his adoring wife, their angelic child—is not what it appears. Husband, wife, daughter—magazine perfect, but each hiding dark secrets…

Tessa knows more than she’d like to about families riddled with lies. What she doesn’t know is where the Denbes are and if any of them are still breathing. She’ll have to climb over unbending feds and territorial local cops to find out, and if she’s not fast, the Denbes’ chances of survival will quickly become little more than touch and go...

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Tessa Leoni series which is a part of the D. D. Warren series. When the entire Denbe family is abducted from their Back Bay townhouse, Tessa is hired by the Denbe Construction to investigate the disappearance. She isn't alone. The Boston Police in the person of D. D. Warren are also on the case but only until evidence suggests that the family was taken into New Hampshire.

The FBI is called in to try to find the family and so is a Sheriff's Department in New Hampshire. Wyatt Foster is a cop who wants to be a carpenter or a carpenter who wants to be a cop. 

The story is told from three viewpoints. Tessa and Wyatt handle the police viewpoint. Libby Denbe is also a viewpoint character. Libby is Justin Denbe's wife of eighteen years and the mother of fifteen-year-old Ashlyn. Libby is also a betrayed wife who has developed an addiction to pain pills to cover up the pain of her cheating husband. Libby still loves Justin but doesn't think she can get over his cheating,

The family is taken from their home to the wilds of New Hampshire and a finished but never occupied prison built by Justin's company. Meanwhile, the FBI, Sheriff's Department, and Tessa are trying to figure out who took the family and what they want.

Lots of secrets are exposed as Tessa and Wyatt investigate Justin's company including more than $11 million embezzled over the past sixteen years. All of Justin's trusted employees are lying about something and it is up to Tessa and Wyatt to learn the truth.

I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints. The story was really filled with tension and plot twists. 

I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025. I got the audiobook on sale April 1, 2026. You can buy your copy here.
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