Old Bones (Nora Kelly #1), by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to the Grand Central Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 20th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child bring  the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party to new life in a thrilling blend of archaeology, history, murder, and suspense.

Nora Kelly, a young curator with the Santa Fe Institute of Archeology is approached by historian Clive Benton with a once-in-a-lifetime proposal: to lead a team in search of the so-called “Lost Camp” of the tragic Donner Party. This was a group of pioneers who earned a terrible place in American history when they became snowbound in the California mountains in 1847, their fate unknown, until the first skeletonized survivors stumbled out of the wilderness, raving about starvation, murder, and cannibalism. 

Benton tells Kelly he has stumbled upon an amazing find: the long-sought diary of one of the victims, which has an enigmatic description of the Lost Camp. Nora agrees to lead an expedition to locate and excavate it—-to reveal its long-buried secrets.

Once in the mountains, however, they learn that discovering the camp is only the first step in a mounting journey of fear. For as they uncover old bones, they expose the real truth of what happened, one that is far more shocking and bizarre than mere cannibalism. And when those ancient horrors lead to present day violence on a grand scale, rookie FBI agent, Corrie Swanson is assigned the case…only to find that her first investigation might very well be her last.

The bad news for fans of Aloysius Pendergast, is that he doesn’t make an appearance in Old Bones until the epilogue. The good news is that while I personally deeply missed him, Preston & Child have taken one of my favorite secondary characters in the Pendergast series, and given her wings.

Nora was actually the main character in Thunderhead (1999). As the Pendergast series took off, she became a strong supporting character, featuring predominantly in the Diogenes trilogy. If after waiting for a year for a new book by the authors, I couldn’t have this feature my Pendergast, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to take the reins. 

Joining Nora is another Pendergast supporting character, Corrie Swanson, who having been mentored by Pendergast, is now making her solo debut as an FBI agent. Both Nora and Corrie are strong-willed women, so to say they initially bump heads is putting it mildly. Nora is much more established and comfortable in her career, whereas Corrie is eager to prove herself and as a result, doesn’t always play well with others. I liked the way their relationship developed and by the end of the book they turned into quite a formidable team. I’m hoping Corrie makes more appearances in future books because they make quite a dynamic pairing.

The storyline itself is fascinating and vintage Preston and Child. Taking the historical tragedy of the Donner Party, and blending it with a modern-day sinister conspiracy was sheer genius. While it was obvious after only a few chapters in, that the shadowy organization behind grave robbings and killings were interested in a particular member of the doomed pioneers, I was in the dark until the last part of the book as to the question of why. Likewise, I was completely surprised regarding the unmasking of the villains who Nora and Corrie come into personal contact with. Once the big reveal came though, I had one of those “Aha!” moments because everything came together and made sense.

The only reason why I’m not giving this 5 stars is because as enjoyable as the characters and the blending of history with a contemporary conspiracy thriller were, there was a certain multi-layered complexity that are always a big part of the Pendergast books, that was missing here. Also, I’m usually literally chewing my nails while devouring a Pendergast tale but here, while I definitely had an avid interest in what was going on, I wasn’t quite so desperate about it. That said, Old Bones is a fun and entertaining introduction to this new series, and I’m looking forward to more (hopefully after a new Pendergast novel comes out though!) For those of you who haven’t read the Pendergast series, but are getting tired of my ravings about it, this is an excellent place to begin your introduction into the wonderfully weird, creepy, mysterious, always intriguing and exciting world of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child! 

 

 

 

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The Third Mrs. Durst, by Ann Aguirre ~ 1.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 8th, 2019

325 Pages

Synopsis: Some people just need killing.

Marlena Altizer Durst lives in her husband’s shadow. He controls her every move—what she wears, the food she eats and the friends she’s allowed to make. If she disobeys, there are…consequences. And he has all the power, so nobody would believe her. 

Her Cinderella story has been well-documented and it seems like she leads a fairy-tale life. But nobody ever wonders if Cinderella was happy after she married the prince. Marlena has traded freedom and safety for luxurious imprisonment, and most days, that seems like a bad bargain. Death may be the only exit she’s allowed. Just like his first wife. And his second.

Unless she flips the script.

And gets away with murder…

Some people just need killing. And maybe I’m one of them. My husband certainly thinks so. My husband certainly thinks so, but then, he feels  that way about most women. I may not survive his style of love. His first wife didn’t. Neither did his second. The flames are everywhere now. It’s getting hard to breathe. We’ll see who dies today.

And with that chilling hook, I was instantly sucked into what I thought was going to be an exciting domestic thriller. It was a great kick-off,  but unfortunately the rest of the story didn’t quite live up to it.

This is more a plot-driven rather than character-driven story, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, despite her sympathetic backstory, I ultimately found Marlena to be almost as despicable as her cookie-cutter, villainous husband and the supporting cast wasn’t believable at all. The sex scenes came off as forced and passionless, and left me cringing more than once. It actually reminded me a little of Fifty Shades of Grey, and for many of you who’ve been following me for awhile, you know how much I love that book. *Insert eye-roll*. 

With that, the best I can say about The Third Mrs. Durst, is that it’s a quick read. Otherwise, in my humble opinion, there are far better books in this genre out there such as: The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and Behind Closed Doors, by B.A. Paris. As always though, for readers intrigued by the premise, I recommend you check out other reviews. There’s quite a few positive ones on Goodreads and NetGalley, so maybe I was just in a cranky mood when I read this.

 

David Mogo, God Hunter, by Suyi Davies Okungbowa~ 2.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Diversity, Nigeria, Urban Fantasy

Thanks to NetGalley and Abaddon for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 9th, 2019

360 Pages

Synopsis: Nigerian God-Punk – a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.

Since the Orisha War that rained thousands of deities down on the streets of Lagos, David Mogo, demigod, scours Eko’s dank underbelly for a living wage as a freelance Godhunter. Despite pulling his biggest feat yet by capturing a high god for an Eko wizard, David knows his job’s bad luck. He’s proved right when the wizard conjures a legion of Taboos—feral-godling-child-hybrids—to seize Lagos for himself. To fix his mistake and keep Lagos standing, David teams up with his foster wizard, the high god’s twin sister, and a speech-impaired Muslim teenage girl to defeat the wizard.

David Mogo, Godhunter, attracted my attention because it looked reminiscent of authors I love like Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, and having it set in Nigeria just clinched it for me. Unfortunately, this wound up being the epitome of a “meh” book, for several reasons. 

First, this isn’t one cohesive novel. It’s actually three novellas with major time jumps between them. If I had known this going in, it may not have bothered me as much, but as it was, I found this made the pacing strange and awkward, and the world-building and character development incomplete. In addition to this glaring structural problem, there were some fairly large info dumps which further slowed down the pace and disrupted the execution of the storyline. 

Despite these issues, there were flashes of brilliance that have me thinking Okungbowa has the potential to be a talented addition to the field of urban fantasy authors. He uses “code-switching” throughout the story which I loved. When David Mogo was speaking with other wizards he spoke English, but when to his adopted father he used the indigenous vernacular. While this took a little getting used to at first, it really added to the book’s multicultural setting. I also loved the gods themselves and how the reader is shown the way they impacted Lagos. And finally the diversity portrayed definitely lived up to what the synopsis promised.

Although David Mogo, Godhunter didn’t live up to my expectations, it had enough elements that I enjoyed that I will definitely try another book by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. If you’re intrigued by the sounds of this, I encourage you to check out other reviews on sites such as Goodreads. 

The Nanny, by Gilly Macmillan ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 19th, 2019

400 Pages

Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explore the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind. 

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much that you’d rather hear the lie.

Given these last two books I’ve read, I seem to be on a nanny kick lately. But, let me assure you The Nanny is as different as can be from The Turn of the Key. It’s a slow burn of a story and I’d call it more psychological suspense than thriller, but that doesn’t make it any less of a page turner. Gilly Macmillan’s writing is very detailed and visual, and throughout the story I felt as though I was there at Lake Hall and the village. The chapters moved seamlessly between two time periods and multiple POVs, which isn’t always easy to pull off without taking away from the storyline, but the author effortlessly accomplishes this.

As for the characters, for the most part, they’re not particularly likable and some are downright evil, but they’re well-developed which makes them intriguing. The entire time I was reading I didn’t know who to trust, which further added to the mystery and suspense. 

While the dramatic ending was a bit rushed and I was left with a few questions, overall I feel The Nanny definitely lives up to its pre-publication hype. Gilly Macmillan has taken the familiar theme of a dysfunctional family being torn apart by secrets and lies, and given it an original and entertaining spin. This is the first book I’ve read by her but it certainly won’t be my last.

 

 

The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 5th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all the modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unraveling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke up the household with booming music, or turned off the lights at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around except for the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But she’s not guilty—at least of murder. Which means someone else is.

Turn of the Key is bestselling author Ruth Ware’s imaginative modern day adaptation of the Henry James classic Turn of the Screw, and trust me. It’s just as creepy, disturbing, and suspenseful. As Rowan relates her tale through a series of letters to her lawyer, it’s a slow burn until about halfway into the book and then the pace really picks up. This isn’t a criticism though, because as Rowan is an unreliable narrator I was constantly guessing as to what really happened and happily, the supporting characters are just as mysterious and intriguing as Rowan. There were many twists and turns that I never saw coming, which kept me mesmerized and turning the pages. The only reason I’m not giving this a full 5 stars is because I thought the ending was too rushed and left some loose ends. Otherwise, I highly recommend this contemporary gothic suspense to both fans of Ruth Ware and readers who haven’t tried her yet. And, I just have to say that I’m going to be truly disappointed if this isn’t adapted into a movie!

 

 

American Magic, by Zach Fehst ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Thriller, Urban Fantasy

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: August 20th, 2019

320 Pages

Synopsis: In this fast-paced, international thriller, chaos erupts after a shadowy figure with ties to an elite society posts incantations on the dark web that allow people to perform real magic.

When an enigmatic message uploaded to the dark web turns out to contain an ancient secret, giving regular people the power to do impossible things, like levitate cars, or make themselves invisible, American government officials panic. They know the demo videos on YouTube and instructions for incantations could turn from fantastical amusement to dangerous weapon at the drop of the hat, and they scramble to keep the information out of the wrong hands.

They tap Ben Zolstra, and ex-CIA field operative, whose history with the Agency is conflicted at best, to lead the team that’s racing to contain the dangerous knowledge—and track down the mysterious figure behind the leak who threatens that even more  dangerous spells will be released one by one until the world as we know it will no longer exist. 

This sweeping, globe-spanning thriller explores the dark consequences of a question mankind has been asking for centuries: What if magic were real?

As soon as I read the synopsis for American Magic, I knew I had to try to get my hands on an eARC, so I was thrilled when Atria granted my wish via NetGalley, but as you can guess from my rating, this wasn’t a perfect read for me. This is mainly because of the stereotypical, flat characters, although there was a female president, so yay. What kept me reading though was the interesting plot and fast pace. American Magic is a quick read that I believe fans of Jim Butcher and Simon Green will like. Although this debut didn’t quite meet my admittedly high expectations, I think Zach Fehst has the potential to become an exciting new voice in urban fantasy, and I’m interested in seeing what he comes out with next.

 

 

Slash, by Hunter Shea ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: October 10th, 2019

288 Pages

Synopsis: Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that might reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith.

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskill Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.

For the last couple of years I’ve come to rely on Hunter Shea for good, old-fashioned, fun, gory, horror and with Slash I was not disappointed. Shea put his expected unique twist on the familiar slasher trope and turned it into a one-sitting page-turner. Despite the book being under 300 pages, the characters are pretty well-developed, as is the plot. And there’s a fantastic twist regarding The Wraith in the last third of the book which I didn’t see coming at all. As with all his books, Slash doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending, but with this being my third book by him, I wasn’t expecting one.

If you’re a horror fan and haven’t tried Hunter Shea, I highly recommend him. His books don’t require any deep thinking, they’re just pure entertainment. As for Slash, its publishing date of October 10th makes it a perfect Halloween read.

The Swallows, by Lisa Lutz ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Boarding Schools, Satire, Sexual Harassment, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 13th, 2019

368 Pages

Synopsis: A new teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war—with deadly consequences—in a provocative novel from the bestselling author of The Passenger and The Spellman Files series.

What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want?

It starts with this simple writing prompt from Alex Witt, Stonebridge Academy’s new creative writing teacher. When the students’ answers raise disturbing questions of their own, Ms. Witt knows there’s more going on at the school than the faculty want to see. She soon learns about The Ten—the students at the top of the school’s social hierarchy—as well as their connection to something called The Darkroom.

Ms. Witt can’t remain a passive observer. She finds the few girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance that quickly becomes a movement. But just as it gains momentum, she also attracts the attention of an unknown enemy who knows a little too much about her—including what brought her to Stonebridge in the first place.

Meanwhile, Gemma, a defiant senior, has been plotting her attack for years, waiting for the right moment. Shy loner Norman hates his role in the Darkroom but can’t find the courage to fight back until he makes an unlikely alliance. And then there’s Finn Ford, an English teacher with a shady reputation who keeps one eye on his literary ambitions and one on Ms. Witt. 

As the school’s secrets begin to trickle out, a boys-versus-girls skirmish turns into an all-out war, with deeply personal—and potentially fatal—consequences for everyone involved.  Lisa Lutz’s blistering, timely tale shows us what can happen when silence wins out over decency for too long—and why the scariest threat of all might be the idea that sooner or later, girls will be girls. 

I’ve enjoyed all of Lisa Lutz’s books, so when I was approved for The Swallows , I was over the moon. I easily breezed through it in two sittings and while it’s not my favorite book by her I still liked it for the most part. 

While the whole “boys against girls” trope has been done many times, especially in the #MeToo” era, Lutz puts her own unique and darkly comedic spin on it. In a perverse way it’s nice seeing girls using dirty tactics. 

I do think the storyline needs some tightening up though. There are some extraneous characters and scenes which bogged down the story here and there, and they could have easily been done away with. However, these didn’t slow things down too much and the last few chapters in particular are quite exciting and the haunting ending will stay with you for a long time.

Overall, The Swallows is a successful satirical look at how frequently women and girls are sexually objectified by men, both intentionally and unintentionally. While some have classified this as a YA novel because of its boarding school setting, it’s really not (although I don’t see any reason why older teens couldn’t read this). It’s a character-driven story told from the perspectives of four participants that I think will have wide appeal, and I can easily see it being adapted into a movie.

 

 

 

 

The Escape Room, by Megan Goldin ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Corporate Greed, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 30, 2019

352 Pages

Synopsis: Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they’ll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sarah Hall? Once a young shining star—now “gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game.

They’re fighting for their lives.

The Escape Room doesn’t score high on the believability scale, but it’s so much fun that most readers won’t care. I know so-called Escape Rooms where groups of people have to work together in order to get out have become very popular, but I find just thinking about them to be claustrophobic. Imagine then an escape room turning out to be a locked elevator. Cue anxiety! Then add in co-workers who already aren’t the nicest people. Put them in a situation like this and it makes Survivor look like a relaxing vacation retreat. 

The story is told in multiple povs, but rather then slowing the plot down, it made it that much more interesting. Trapped in the stifling elevator on the 70th floor over the course of several days, you get to know these four pretty well as they attempt to escape and to find out who is behind their imprisonment and why. The characters except for Sarah, are pretty vile, but they’re the type that you love to hate. The ending is satisfying and wraps everything up which I appreciated.

To sum things up, The Escape Room won’t win any prestigious literary awards, but it’s a thoroughly entertaining page-turner that is perfect for this time of year, and it’s one I highly recommend!

The Chain, by Adrian McKinty ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

I’d like to thank Mulholland Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 9, 2019

368 Pages

Synopsis: 

Victim.

Survivor.

Abductor.

Criminal.

You will become each one.

Your phone rings. A stranger has kidnapped your child. To free them you must abduct someone else’s child. Your child will be released when your victim’s parents kidnap another child. If any of these things don’t happen your child will be killed. You are now part of the chain.

I started reading this about 7:00 p.m. yesterday and finished it about 2 1/2 hours later. I almost had an accident because I didn’t want to stop reading to take a pee break! Ahem. That’s probably a bit TMI. Anyway, it’s a little over two months until the publication date for The Chain and it’s already receiving a multitude of accolades from A list authors like Stephen King, Tana French, Don Winslow, Dennis Lehane, Alafair Burke, and Meg Gardiner. And for the most part the hype is well-deserved. I’m going to get my criticism out of the way first. Just by reading the synopsis you can probably guess that this isn’t the most believable of stories. The events that happen and the way characters react just wouldn’t happen in real life. But this is one of those books that you just have to let go of any expectation of plausibility and enjoy the ride. Speaking of the characters, they’re a little two-dimensional, in part because this is a plot driven story and I was unable to connect with any of them, but ultimately this wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment. 

The plot is a non-stop roller coaster ride filled with nail-biting anxiety. The action begins on the very first page and never once lets up. The Chain is coming out July 9th which is great timing because it really is the quintessential beach/vacation read. I highly recommend this to fans of twisty thrillers. I’m now waiting to see if this is optioned by Hollywood.