Dear Debbie

Dear Debbie

by Freida McFadden

Blurb:

Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction.

Or at least, she did.

These days, Debbie’s life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie’s done being the bigger person. She’s done being reasonable and practical. It’s time to take her own advice.

And now it’s time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.

My Reaction:

This was my first time reading anything by this author, after seeing it recommended as a page-turner.  I ended up listening to the audiobook version, but it certainly was easy enough to listen to at a steady clip.  Did I like it, though?  Eh... It's okay—if you don't mind a revenge fantasy that hinges on some pretty incredible coincidences (and lots of them).  

Most of the characters aren't very likeable, either, which so many people always feel a need to say isn't really a problem for them.  I don't know if it's a problem for me, honestly.  I guess there may be books/movies/etc. I enjoy despite an unlikeable cast, but on the whole, no, I don't want to actively dislike most of the characters I spend a significant amount of time around.  I don't want them to be perfect, unrealistic little angels, either (so boring), but I'd rather not hate them.  

Anyway... It was something to listen to.  I'd consider another quick listen from this author, but probably wouldn't actively seek her out or commit to reading the text version, if they're all like this. 

Run on Red

Run on Red

by Noelle Ihli

Blurb:

A rural country road. No cell signal for miles. A terrifying game of cat-and-mouse.

By the time Laura and Olivia notice the headlights tailing them through the hills, it’s too late. What seems, at first, like a case of road rage quickly unfolds into a heart-pounding chase—and a battle for survival.

Who are the men in the truck? What do they want? And can Laura and Olivia outrun—and outsmart—them long enough to call for help, even if it means taking their chances in the hills on foot?

My Reaction:

I saw this recommended by a "booktuber" as part of a list of fast-paced novels guaranteed (well, maybe not quite that) to get you out of a reading slump.  Now, admittedly I'm not a big reader as an adult.  I enjoy reading in bite-sized chunks, but rarely do I ever just sit and read and read and read. I was more that kind of a reader as a teenager, but as an adult, I have too many other interests I'd rather pursue, most of the time.  So I can't honestly say I am (or was) in a reading slump.  I just apparently don't care for reading books as much as I once did—but I do like a fast-paced novel sometimes.  I'm probably not going to gulp it down in one reading (that's never been my reading style, anyway), but if it's a real page-turner, I'm more likely to finish it within a month or so instead of getting side-tracked for weeks at a time.  

Anyway, this was promised as a page-turner, and to start with, I thought it really was one.  I enjoyed the first however-much a lot, but at some point it lost momentum and became repetitive.  Characters did some stupid (unbelievably stupid) things, and then the end felt rushed.  Eh, it was okay.  I wasn't surprised by any of the twists (if they were meant to be twists), but I wasn't expecting twistiness from this book—just action and adrenaline.

Some of the reviews I've skimmed have been full of annoyance with the inaccuracies of the cell phone technology as described. The book is set back in the dim and distant day of the flip phone, and apparently the author got confused and had these flip phones do things that flip phones didn't do.  I barely used my phone back in those days. I had a very simple model for emergencies only, so what do I know about such things?! It flew right over my head, but evidently this was a big deal for some readers.  I was more frustrated by some stupid (and in my opinion out of character) choices characters made... and the repetitiveness of some of the inner monologue.  

Still, I didn't hate the book, and if her other novels are better, I wouldn't mind trying one of those.  (If I remember, which is doubtful.)  This is probably a 2.5 for me, rounded up to 3. 

The Quiet Tenant

The Quiet Tenant

by Clémence Michallon

Blurb:

Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate New York town where he lives. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he’s been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him. He’s a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there’s a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed, fearing for her life.

When Aidan’s wife dies, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter Cecilia are forced to move. Aidan has no choice but to bring Rachel along, introducing her to Cecilia as a “family friend” who needs a place to stay. Aidan is betting on Rachel, after five years of captivity, being too brainwashed and fearful to attempt to escape. But Rachel is a fighter and survivor, and recognizes Cecilia might just be the lifeline she has waited for all these years. As Rachel tests the boundaries of her new living situation, she begins to form a tenuous connection with Cecilia. And when Emily, a local restaurant owner, develops a crush on the handsome widower, she finds herself drawn into Rachel and Cecilia’s orbit, coming dangerously close to discovering Aidan’s secret.

Told through the perspectives of Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily, The Quiet Tenant explores the psychological impact of Aidan’s crimes on the women in his life—and the bonds between those women that give them the strength to fight back. Both a searing thriller and an astute study of trauma, survival, and the dynamics of power, The Quiet Tenant is an electrifying debut thriller by a major talent.

My Reaction:

(DNF at over 50%.  I listened to the audiobook version.)

This was a disappointment.  I feel that I gave it a fair shot.  The first time, I struggled and stopped at probably around 25% through.  Months passed.  I read and listened to other books... And then I saw it, had nothing else to listen to, and decided I'd give it one more chance.  I picked back up where I'd left off, but unfortunately, all the problems I'd had with it the first time only intensified with the next quarter of the book.  

How did this annoy me?

First, it somehow manages to be terribly boring.  Very repetitive.

Second, I can't stand the way the narrator for Rachel voices Aidan (to the point I wanted to inflict physical pain on him for that alone, leaving aside all his crimes and abusiveness).  

Third, the whole story just made me angry.  If I feel worse every time I read or listen to a book, the story had better be fascinating to make up for the daily dose of negativity.  This wasn't all that fascinating, I'm afraid. 

Fourth, some of the characters' choices and behaviors just don't ring true to me.  Based on reviews I skimmed, you never get even an attempt at an explanation for why some characters are the way they are, either. 

Once a certain something happened (spoiler below), I just lost all interest.  I still gave it a bit longer, but when I realized I was only halfway through, I decided to spare myself the suffering and move on to something else.  Life's too short to push through books you dislike reading. No-one's handing out awards for finishing annoying books, these days.  I read a synopsis and a few reviews, and it doesn't feel like I've missed much by stopping where I did. 

**SPOILERS**

What was the "certain something" that made me stop caring?  I am beyond frustrated when characters who are held captive (or in some other dire position) don't at least try to escape when the opportunity presents itself.  Yes, I read this character's reasoning and I understand why she might not have acted—and maybe we're even supposed to think that she made the right call—but the fact remains that I loathe that trope.  

Don't ask me to care what happens to a character who won't even try to save herself/himself.  It's demoralizing to read, and I just don't need that in my life.  Then she ruined a second opportunity to run and was nearly killed as a result of her own stupidity.  (Argh!!)  

It felt clear that this book wasn't going to be a satisfying read for me, so why slog through another 150 pages (however many hours that would've been of listening) of torture?  Better to call it a DNF and be done!

I Know Who You Are

I Know Who You Are

by Alice Feeney

Blurb:

Meet Aimee Sinclair: the actress everyone thinks they know but can’t remember where from.

Except one person.

Someone who knows Aimee very well—and what she’s done. . .

When Aimee comes home and discovers her husband is missing, she doesn’t seem to know what to do or how to act. The police think she’s hiding something and they’re right, she is—but perhaps not what they thought. Aimee has a secret she’s never shared, and yet, she suspects that someone knows. As she struggles to keep her career and sanity intact, her past comes back to haunt her in ways more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

My Reaction:

(I listened to the audiobook version.)

This one has some... issues... but at least it held my interest.  I guessed the twist just before it came, but in a half-disbelieving kind of way, because I couldn't see how it could be that.  And yet it was... 

There are some truly disgusting and enraging things in this book, and the plot feels very unlikely—but eh!  It distracted me from real life for a while, and that's the main thing I'm looking for in a thriller.  

Deception Point

Deception Point

by Dan Brown

Blurb:

When a new NASA satellite spots evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory… a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election.

With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Milne Ice Shelf to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable—evidence of scientific trickery—a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can contact the President, she and Michael are attacked by a deadly task force…a private team of assassins controlled by a mysterious powerbroker who will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope, to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all…

My Reaction:
Read with Donald for the 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back podcast/book club.  

It's silly and formulaic, crammed with inaccurate information, much longer than it needs to be, and set at an often agonizingly slow pace, but I still found it more enjoyable to read than some of the other things we've read along with 372 Pages.  

(We've also read Digital Fortress, by the same author—and along with the same podcast—and were amused by some parallels between the two.)

Zero Days

Zero Days

by Ruth Ware

Blurb:

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.

Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer.

My Reaction (with SPOILERS):

I am under no illusions about most of the modern thrillers I read. They are what they are, no more and no less—but some certainly are better than others, and this one had some problems.  

The biggest issue for me was repetitiveness.  The book opens up with a fairly active scene that's about as interesting as anything that happens later the story, but unfortunately, it soon gets bogged down with Jack's grief over her husband, despair over her present and future prospects, and discomfort after an injury.  

Is it realistic that a woman in her situation, newly bereaved and mired in such a shocking set of circumstances, would find her mind going in circles, treading the same ground over and over again?  Yes, absolutely!  Is it in any way enjoyable to read a book where the heroine's mind is going in circles, treading the same ground repeatedly?  Emphatically NO.  It's boring, at best.  I got so very sick and tired of listening to the narrator (audiobook) go on and on about Gabe and how he's now dead. It's just too much.  (My sympathy eventually dies along with him, I'm afraid.) 

After Jack's injury, we're treated to frequent updates on its status, and that, too, becomes just too much.  

Then there's the fact that Jack is missing obvious things that someone in her profession (or anyone of reasonable intelligence and familiarity with the modern world) should probably catch.  (Though to be honest, this bothered me much less than the never-ending grief monologue. I can accept that she's off her game, given the circumstances. Just... Maybe lay off the "I'm damn good at my job" stuff for a while when you're making stupid mistakes left, right, and center.)

This is more of an audiobook-specific complaint, but the male voices were... not good, in my opinion.  Listening to the two male characters with Cockney accents irritated me greatly.  (Gabe's constant refrain of, "Babe, you GOT this!" haunts me still.)  And as for the villain.  Oh my gosh.  He sounds like a cartoon villain. So incredibly annoying.  (And was he supposed to sound rather "posh"?  Because I thought he at least bordered on that, which felt odd and out of place for the character.)  Actually, come to think of it, Jack's own voice is frustrating to listen to, at times.  Whenever she tries to blend in or wheedle someone, she slides into this extremely tiresome whining voice that would make any right-thinking person take an instant dislike to her and be less likely to want to assist her!

I think that's enough nit-picking.  Those are the things that stuck with me most.  It's too bad, but this wasn't one of the author's best books.  

The Only One Left

The Only One Left

by Riley Sager

(Really Long) Blurb:

At seventeen, Lenora Hope

Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife

Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said

But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

My Reaction:

I was really into this in the early chapters.  It was checking all the boxes for a fun, old-fashioned murder-mystery thriller.  I loved the setting.  Early 80s?  Yes, take me back to the nostalgia-rich aesthetic and music of my childhood!  A once grand but now decaying mansion perched dramatically on the edge of a cliff? Sounds amazing.  A small cast of characters in (relative) isolation and a mystery to untangle?  That's the good stuff!  

After finding Children of the Sun such a long, repetitive, frustrating slog of a read, this felt like it cracked along at a good pace.  I actually looked forward to reading more!  (What a novelty!)   Yes, I had some quibbles here and there (and there was an recurring element involving serious illness that was crucial to the plot yet still not a topic I want to read about), but overall, it was fun.  

The story started to drag after a while, and I could sense that I wasn't going to love the ending.  And then the ending came, and I was proven right.  That ending.  Phew.  I've read books by this author before, but my memory being what it is, thrillers all tend to blur together, so I don't know if all his books are like this, but, man, based on this book alone, the guy must love himself a twist.  I mean, I like a good twist, myself, and I understand the pressure on authors today to provide something unexpected, but I think this author may be unhealthily addicted to twists—so much so that the end of this book felt like one twist too many.  

See, here's the thing:  The actions of the characters kind of need to make sense.  Well, they need to make sense for me to truly enjoy the book, that is.  And this one... Eh, there are some things that just don't add up.  A lot of that you can just shrug and choose to let go.  (Don't think so hard!  This is supposed to be fun! It's a mystery novel, not a history textbook!) But sometimes authors simply push too far, ask us to turn off our brains a little too much, and thereby spoil the book. So while I did enjoy reading the earlier parts of this book, I have to knock off some stars for the sheer nope-don't-believe-it-ness of the story.  

I'd recommend it to people who don't care too much about maintaining some semblance of realism in their reading.  I don't regret reading this, but it did go too far with the twists, in my opinion, and unfortunately that made it a less satisfying read.  

Want to know about the too-far twist?  Don't mind spoilers?  Ok, don't say I didn't warn you...

SPOILERS 

WILL

FOLLOW:

Ok.  Well, there are other reviews that list all the many, many quibbles I had with the book, so I guess I needn't go into too much detail here.  Some of the twists didn't make total sense to me—If I recall correctly, Jessie just (temporarily) abandoned her recently discovered grandmother in a house that was about to literally fall into the sea, where her friend had recently been murdered?—but whatever.  I'll let it go.  

The one that was just a bridge too far was the final reveal that Virginia has been faking her paralysis for decades.  (I think I got that right.  It was decades, correct?)  At some point she realizes that she can move and speak, but rather than letting anyone know, she keeps it a secret (from even her best friend who sacrificed everything to stay at her side), rehabilitates herself without any assistance, and pretends to be unable to move anything but her left hand. (No-one notices that her withered limbs are gaining muscle, so just put that thought right out of your pretty little head.) Yes, that means she has to sit perfectly still all day, every day and stay captive indoors when she just wants to go outside.  Yes, that means she has to eat food that sounds absolutely revolting—soft, mushy stuff with pills crushed into it.  (Have you ever tried to take even a simple pain reliever crushed into a spoonful of jam?  It's disgusting.  I can only hope that Virginia's meds were magically flavorless, but I doubt it!) And yes, pretending to be nearly completely paralyzed means she must wear adult diapers, with everything that goes along with that.  She's apparently fine with it!  Personally, I think that part of the book is insulting to people who actually are paralyzed or otherwise unable to care for themselves.  I can't honestly imagine anyone would choose to endure all that if they had a better option. 

Anyway.  I think that's just nuts.  Unless Virginia herself were nuts... But she's not!  She's sharp as a tack.  So no, I don't think it's believable that she'd continue to choose to live that way for years and decades.  Oh, something else just occurred to me!  When Kit's father comes to kill Virginia—and when the house begins to collapse—she still keeps up the act!  Now that is commitment.  She'd rather be murdered or killed in a landslide than let anyone know she can move.  Amazing.  

Children of the Sun

Children of the Sun

by Beth Lewis

Blurb:

Summer 1982. Deep in the Adirondack Mountains, over three hundred people live off-grid in a secret community. Atlas is a refuge for broken souls who long for a different life. Founded by the enigmatic Sol, the group now prepares for their final ceremony: the opening of the Golden Door. They believe they will cross to another world, to a new life where their past decisions never ended in tragedy.

James Morrow is a rookie New York City reporter intent on making his name with an exposé of the crazy cult in the woods. He secures an invitation to the camp on the condition he tell the world of its wonders, but James is a sceptic. He's sure there must be more to the mysterious leader and his endgame than his followers have signed up for.

James soon finds there is a darker side to the cult beyond the prayers and yellow robes. A group of children are treated like gods, there are iron strips embedded in the earth, and nobody talks about what's behind the gates of Sol's private sanctuary. As James learns the stories of the members and how they came to be there, he begins to understand the desperate nature of their beliefs - a desperation he knows all too well.

As the final ceremony draws near, James must ask himself: what will it cost them to reach this other life? And is that a price he's willing to pay?

My Reaction:

I've had varying responses to some of this author's previous works.  I enjoyed The Wolf Road, but found Bitter Sun so unpleasant that I didn't finish it (though did later do so much skimming of the end just to see how it ended that I probably might as well have done so).  This one falls right in the middle.  It's much better than Bitter Sun, but I couldn't say I enjoyed the reading experience.  

The idea at the center of the book is interesting, but I found the story too drawn out.  Maybe part of the issue is that there are three narrators; switching point of view can be an effective literary device, but it has to be used with care, because all too often it seems to bog things down. Just when you get into one thread of the story, perspective shifts, and you lose momentum (or at least I do)—and many times there's one perspective that's more interesting to read, and you find yourself resenting the shift back to the "boring" narrator. 

Another problem (for me) was the back-and-forth and round-and-round of the narrators' internal monologues as they try to figure things out.  Do they think the other character is bad or good—insane or a genius?  Some of that may be just part of maintaining the mystery until the end, but at a certain point I stop caring and just want it to end.  Characters who talk or think in endless circles are so frustrating to read!  Ultimately, it could have been improved by a more ruthless editor.  

Little Nit-Picks (with SPOILERS):

• Do we ever find out what happened to the child in the Florida camp?  I guess it was an early experiment that went wrong?  I don't recall if it was ever explained at all. 
• I feel that grouping the three points of view under days of the week when it turns out that one is happening more than a decade later is a bit sneaky and misleading.  If the book hadn't been broken up by day of week, fair enough, but I specifically questioned the various timelines early in the book, and that grouping under days of the week (along with references to the approaching eclipse) felt like a contract between author and reader that, yes, all three were happening concurrently.  At least now I don't have to point out all the things in Eve's story that wouldn't have made sense in the 80s but maybe work for the late 90s...
• I also don't understand the urgency in Eve's search for the Adirondack camp.  If she just wanted to find the camp, there was no rush, but she seemed to think she had a limited amount of time in which to find Sol and take revenge on him.  However, didn't she remember enough to know that Sol had gone through the door (part of her reason for wanting revenge)?  So why did she think he would be back on this particular day?  Maybe I missed something...
• This is a little, petty thing, but it's funny to me when authors use a mix of American and British English.  The incongruity takes me out of the story.  Also, I had a dry little chuckle that in the fantasy alternate universe briefly revealed at the end of the book, the main differences we're let in on are that the colors of certain road signs are different (ooh, ahh), diner coffee is better, corndogs are worse, and "there is even a burgeoning national health service".  OMG, the alternative-reality USA has seen the error of its ways and made their very own copy of the glorious NHS?!  Yippee!  (It really is an obsession for some people, isn't it?)
• I don't get the choice to make Root speak that way.  It's unnecessary and just makes the book harder to read.  I suspect it was mainly used to add another element of confusion and uncertainty to the story.  Presumably Root speaks oddly because the sunbeams have limited interaction with the other people in the community, but they're surrounded by other people and hear them talking all the time.  Also, the other sunbeams don't seem to speak in such a stunted fashion, so it still doesn't make sense. Maybe Root subconsciously affects this speech pattern to reflect a feeling of separation from the others.  Who knows?!
• Some plot elements are nonsensical.  For example, James has the opportunity to leave.  He fears for his life, so has every motivation to get the heck out of there.  He has a map/directions, which he used to find the camp only a week before, and he's all prepared to drive back out the way he came.  However, he discovers that his keys are gone, and he doesn't know how to hot-wire a car, so he would need to walk out instead.  He acts as though this is impossible because the directions are just sooooo confusing that he couldn't possibly follow them on foot.  Oh, and he's not wearing boots.  So.  You get it.  It's impossible, right?  Yeah, the route he took must've been wide enough to fit his car through, and he could've followed those same directions in the car, but it's out of the question that he should be able to attempt it on foot.  Are you nuts?!  Anyway, you see my frustration here, right?  It's dumb. Sure, ideally you'd want some water and boots, but if you're literally running for your life, you take a breath and get moving.  If the author didn't want the guy to get out, she needed to give us a better reason than that. Even just "I couldn't leave those kids to die without trying one more time" would've been better. 
• You can't have it both ways.  This cult-that-isn't-a-cult is supposed to feel mostly warm and fuzzy by the end of the book, but they still engaged in some awful behavior.  Branding people for disobedience?!  Feeding innocent children metal to turn them into human batteries? 
• So... Was Sol the father of all the sunbeams?  Just Root?  None of them at all?  Why did they all know who their mothers were (different women in the group) but no comment on their fathers? Maybe I missed something that made this point completely clear.
• One of the things in this book that elicits the most "ARGH" reaction from me is the fact that everyone in the cult/group goes to the same alternative dimension/reality.  Sol's premise, as I understand it, is that every decision we make creates a new fork in the road.  He chose to work late one day, which resulted in a car accident that claimed the lives of his wife and daughter.  He believes that there exists an offshoot of reality (another world) where he didn't work late, and so his family has survived and lives on.  The same thing is supposed to be true for everyone in the group: There's a reality where they made "the other choice", and everything worked out for the best. But... First of all, do you realize how many choices we make every day?  How many offshoot worlds there would have to be, if each decision created a fork in multiple directions to account for every possible option we could have chosen?  Do I eat a sandwich for lunch or have pizza?  Do I wear the red shirt or the blue?  Do I look to the right or the left? Each of these creates another world—and multiply that by every person alive.  And then each version of us in each reality faces a whole lifetime of further decisions and forks in the road.  There would be infinite dimensions or realities!  Or does The Universe somehow pick and choose which decisions are life-altering and only splits for those?  UGH.  And yet all the people in the group travel to the same alternate reality, so it seems like there's only this world and the other one... No, I'm sorry, but it's pure nonsense, even if I try to follow along with the theory for the sake of the story. 

The Last One at the Wedding

The Last One at the Wedding

Jason Rekulak

Blurb:

Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.

He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.

My Reaction:

I enjoyed Hidden Pictures much more than this, which seems to be a common opinion.  I had a hard time with just about every character in this book, and some of it was just...weird.  I mean, elements of the story were obviously meant to be weird, but there were also things that I suspect were intended to be endearing or relatable that didn't quite work for me.  There were also plot elements that made no sense, unless the characters involved are particularly stupid.  

Eh, it was something to read, and it's been long enough since I finished it that I don't have much to say, specifically.  

Lock Every Door

Lock Every Door

by Riley Sager

Blurb:

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

My Reaction:

(I listened to the audiobook version.)

I mean... It's very silly, but if you can deal with that, it's a passable bit of escapist fiction for fans of fairly mindless thrillers.  Just don't think too hard (listening to the audiobook while you're doing other things at the same time is great for that) and don't expect too much.  

This novel isn't remotely believable, but given that the other two books I've listened to by this author had supernatural elements, that wasn't something I was counting on, anyway.  I came to be entertained, and I guess it this did the trick.  

The moral of the story is a bit obnoxious, absolutely absent of nuance, and the bad guys are hilariously over-the-top evil villains, but oh well.  It kept my mind occupied while I did housework, so I'm satisfied.  

This next bit is a SPOILER, so continue at your own risk!  

I did find it funny that in the first book of this author's that I listened to, the story felt like a straightforward crime thriller, then took a sudden (unexpected, at least by me) paranormal twist—whereas this one was practically the complete opposite:  It felt like we were headed in the old, familiar direction of "swanky NYC apartment building occupied by a coven", only to have the rug pulled out from under us near the end, replaced with a more realistic... well, let's say a "non-paranormal" explanation.  

SPOILERS over.

There are some plot holes, many things either don't make sense or are disappointingly predictable, and the main character isn't the most memorable—but I already know I'll listen to more of this author's books, because they're "interesting enough".  This is a silly thriller, not a mind-expanding masterpiece, but for what it is, it works.  

Sometimes I Lie

Sometimes I Lie

by Alice Feeney

Blurb:

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:

1. I’m in a coma.

2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.

3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks, is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

My Reaction:
I'd completely forgotten I hadn't reviewed this one, yet, so I'm coming to it a while after finishing it...

I listened to the audiobook version, though I don't remember much about the narrator, which is probably a good sign.  If I still remembered something about it, it would likely be because I'd found it irritating (like the childlike French accent used for one of the characters in the audiobook I listened to before this one).

I think the book was interesting, though infuriating at times.  I don't think I saw the main twist coming... But I do remember that a few things at the end don't seem to add up to me, straining my ability to suspend disbelief.  And the very ending is just a bridge too far.  What is that even supposed to mean?  

It was fine, for a mindless thriller.  Just don't expect a masterpiece.  (That's true for most of them, to be honest.)

The Paris Apartment

The Paris Apartment

by Lucy Foley

Blurb:

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone's a neighbor. Everyone's a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

My Reaction:

(I listened to the audiobook version of this novel.)

This took a while to really get going.  I think the constant shift among different points of view, and at least a few of them with accents that blurred together at first, didn't help.  It took me a while to recognize the names and voices/accents.  Then the story was just kind of treading water for chapter after chapter.  

Once it finally got going, it wasn't bad, but some of the bigger "twists" were predictable—possibly unavoidable when you've read or listened to this many examples of the genre.  

Also, I know you're not supposed to expect/require likeable characters, but it's not always easy to care what happens to characters you don't like. There are a couple of okay-ish people in this mix, but none of them are particularly easy to love. I just felt very "meh" about this collection of characters, and I got very tired of listening to Mimi's baby voice and intonations.  (Sorry, but after a while she drove me nuts.)  

Still, it was something to listen to!

Bitter Sun

Bitter Sun

by Beth Lewis

Blurb:

"Stand by Me" meets "True Detective" in this stunningly written tale of the darkness at the heart of a small mid-Western town and the four kids who uncover it. In the heatwave summer of 1971, four kids find a body by a lake and set out to solve a murder, but they dig too deep and ask too many questions. Larson is a town reeling in the wake of the Vietnam draft, where the unrelenting heat ruins the harvest, and the people teeter on the edge of ruin. As tension and paranoia run rife, rumors become fact, violence becomes reflex. The unrest allows the dark elements of the close-knit farming community to rise and take control, and John, Jenny, Gloria, and Rudy are about to discover that sometimes secrets are best left uncovered.

My Reaction:

DNF one-third of the way through the book.  

This book—or as much of it as I read, since I abandoned it after reading the first third—was such a disappointment!  I enjoyed The Wolf Road, the author's first published novel, and had high hopes for this one.  When I finally had a chance to read it, I jumped right in, but almost immediately it just wasn't working for me.  I think I gave it a fair chance, but instead of improving it was starting to seriously annoy me.  It's time to set this one aside and move on to something else.  I'm still interested in trying another of this author's books, in the hopes that they're more like her first work and less like... this.

So, what didn't I love about this? 

• Set in the United States, yet too often the characters use British words and turns of phrase that simply don't feel authentic to me.  I could overlook this in a more compelling read, but on top of everything else, it was grating.  
• I could have done without some of the tangents (commentary on the Vietnam War, for instance).  Maybe they're supposed to set the scene and paint a picture of the time, but I didn't like them, and in a slow-paced book, the last thing we needed was more blah-blah-blah that didn't advance the plot. 
• I couldn't believe half the things that happened (and that was just in the first third of the book).  Bizarre things, and way too many of them.  No, I don't think this is a fair portrayal of small-town America in the 1970s (or ever), and that annoys me (as someone from small-town America). 
• Gosh, these characters!  There's hardly a decent person in the book. Even the kids were utterly blah.  Everyone feels like such a cardboard cut-out cliche.  There's no joy in reading about these characters.  
• I need a plot that actually moves at something above a snail's pace.
• There are a LOT of "bad guy" characters in this book, and according to their descriptions, they're all absolutely disgusting.  (Quite a few of the baddies seem to be fat, too, by some strange "coincidence"...)

I skimmed some reviews to try to at least see what happens in the end, but I'm still not sure what (if anything) is the solution to the mystery.  What little I did gather about the conclusion is even darker than I was expecting, so I don't think I missed much.  Maybe I'll skip to the end and see if I can learn more, but I doubt it's worth the effort.  The impression I get is that it's not a particularly satisfying conclusion, even for those who like the book.  

I'm just glad to put this in the rearview mirror and try to find something that doesn't make me angry every time I read it!

Rock Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors

by Alice Feeney

Blurb:

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts—paper, cotton, pottery, tin—and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

My Reaction:

(I listened to the audiobook version of this one.)

I didn't see that coming. Not sure if it was because I was listening with divided attention while doing other things (piecing a quilt, mainly), or if it was just that deftly handled, but the twist caught me off guard.  I'm not sure it makes complete sense under closer scrutiny, but as a casual listener, I found it entertaining to have the rug pulled out from under me.  

I'm only getting around to writing this a fair bit of time after finishing the audiobook, so I'm probably forgetting things... I vaguely remember burning out on the story and giving it a break for a while, reverting to podcasts for entertainment.  I think I found the characters tiring and frustrating, perhaps, and the pacing a little slow.  

The author again displays her usual tendency to insert "clever thoughts" (described by some as cheesy cliches or fortune cookie sentiments) here and there throughout her work.  It's a very distinctive style, and while a little of it is fine, after a certain point it can be wearying, if not annoying.  I most certainly rolled my eyes at the gibe at people who dare write one-star reviews.  (I imagine it was supposed to be amusing, but it came across as thin-skinned to me.)  

Ah, more of it is coming back to me, now... I remember wondering what on earth was about to happen after the book ended.  I can't get into it without revealing too much, but... Well, what's supposed to happen next?  What were two of our characters expecting to happen?  What's their plan?  It feels odd that they just left evidence behind (on display, even) for someone to inevitably find and question.  Very weird behavior from apparently sane, intelligent people.  Did they actually believe that no-one would ever go there and see it?  

Also, now that I see that this is being adapted for TV, I find myself wondering how they'll handle the element of the anniversary letters without giving too much away.  I'll be interested in seeing it when it comes out.  

I'm going for 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars (despite my irritation with the 1-star reviewer comment).  

Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark

by Riley Sager

Blurb:

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father's book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father's death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

My Reaction:

I believe this is my second time "reading" (listening to an audiobook version) anything written by this author.  The previous one, The House Across the Lake, was more to my liking, though the major plot twist comes out of the blue and feels odd and out of place.  Home Before Dark, on the other hand, had essentially the opposite twist—a comparison that will make no sense unless you've read both books...

I found it more entertaining before it became obvious that... Well, without going into spoilers, before that twist I referred to before.  

The atmosphere through much of the book reminded me of the recent(ish) miniseries adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House.  But unfortunately, part of that similarity was a pervasive feeling of sadness.  It feels less frightening than depressing.  So much wasted potential, in so many lives!  

Another problem was that I couldn't warm to the main character, or feel much of anything for her, one way or the other.  Her father, who speaks through his "book within a book", is more engaging, but there are issues with him, as well.  (For one thing, you never know—until the end—how much of what he's saying is true.)  

Ultimately, it's fine, but not something I'll revisit.  I'd happily read or listen to more by the author, though.  This type of book doesn't need to be amazing and unforgettable to be a perfectly decent read, in my opinion.  I'm just looking for something fictional to think about while I quilt, and this did the trick!

Nitpicky Specifics:

• The title doesn't make much sense.  I like it as a title, but it doesn't fit with the story.  
• I really don't understand the need for a father to discuss any aspect of his sex life with his daughter.  Gross.  Should have been left out, as it was completely unnecessary. 
• The regional accents adopted by the two narrators are strange and distracting.  Every time the male narrator voiced the teenage girl I cringed, and all the "locals" voiced by the female narrator sound like a version of Rhoda Morgenstern from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which I very much doubt was intentional.  
• The female protagonist keeps making unforced errors, putting herself into stupid situations for no apparent reason.  Not uncommon in fiction, but always annoying!

3.5 stars, but not rounding up this time. 

No Exit

No Exit

by Taylor Adams

Blurb:

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

My Reaction:

The blurb sounded like something I'd like, but it didn't work out that way.  Based on the information in the blurb, I knew there was probably going to be some medical content, but when the specifics unfolded... and it just kept coming up... that was a problem for me.  I've mentioned on here before that I really dislike books to focus what I consider to be too much on certain medical problems/diseases.  I'm reading for pleasure, and that is the exact opposite of pleasurable reading, for me.  

So, there were frequent references to a horrible disease that I don't want to think about, and then there was the fact that it felt like I was making slow progress (and constantly in the back of my mind dreading the next gotcha moment with the disease).  Oh, and I'd just read far enough (not that far, really) to see that a villain was identified.  So... What?  Was that it?  No more mystery?  That was disappointing and essentially finished off my interest in reading the book.  

There's a movie adaptation of the book available, so I decided to just watch that instead.  The adaptation was okay (though somewhat more depressing that I expected), but at least now I don't "have" to finish the book to know what happens.  Phew.  

(It was interesting to note that someone saw fit to change the nature of Darby's mother's medical problem.)

What Lies Between Us

What Lies Between Us

by John Marrs

Blurb:

They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.

Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.

But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.

Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.

My Reaction:

This started off well enough, but by the end I was disappointed and just glad to be done with the sorry thing.  

The premise is intriguing, and I was curious to see how it would all play out.  I quickly developed some theories, and sure enough, they were correct.  Ordinarily, that would leave me uncertain of whether to be proud that I'd been so perceptive or annoyed that it was too predictable (a sentiment amusingly shared by one of the characters as she ponders her own penchant for reading mystery-thrillers), however, after my "twist" predictions all came true (and yes, it was a bit annoying that they were presented as twists, when they were so obvious), there were a few more twists and turns waiting in the wings.  

So, was that a positive or a negative?  I just don't know!  On one level, yes, it was unexpected.  On another, some of it was unexpected because it was either straight out of Cuckoo Town, relying heavily on characters behaving stupidly.  After a while you find yourself mumbling to the book, "Oh, come on!"  Eye-rolling and sighing may occur.  And in the end, you just kind of shrug.  Okay, book, if you say so.  Whatever, I guess.  

Another reviewer described this book as simultaneously predictable and unrealistic, and that encapsulates my feelings completely.  I found the reading of this book morphed from an interesting experience into one of frustration.  And worse yet, one of the plot points I didn't see coming until it smacked me in the face is among my least-favorite things to read or think about.  (It's health-related, and I'll leave it at that, to avoid a direct spoiler.)  I just can't bear reading books about this topic.  Because it cropped up so late in the book, I didn't want to just drop the book entirely, so I skimmed around those parts, to the best of my abilities, but it certainly didn't improve my enjoyment of the reading experience!

Ultimately, it wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a good choice for me.  I found it very lacking in any sort of satisfying conclusion.  Maybe that was meant to be "the point", but... Blah to that!

His & Hers

His & Hers

by Alice Feeney

Blurb:  

There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.

When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.

My Reaction:

This novel kept me guessing right until the end!  I developed a theory, changed it, then changed it again.  The final reveal took me back to one of my earliest suspicions, but hey, the author did a good job of luring me away from it!  You just can't be sure what's really going on, because there are too many equally good possible solutions.  

On the downside, there are some coincidences that are honestly too big to swallow, and most of these characters are fairly repugnant in one way or another—but I can't deny that I enjoyed reading most of the book.  (It always feels weird to say you "enjoyed" a book of this sort!  It's pretty dark in spots, not to mention enraging.)

I'll be keeping this author in mind for future reads.

Random Thoughts:

• There's an odd mix of UK and US English here... My guess is that whoever was responsible for editing the book for the American edition missed a few things.  We have American "candy bars", "chips" that are clearly the American version (as opposed to "crisps"), yet there are "biscuits" that really ought to be "cookies" in US English.  There are other examples of this strange blending of terms, but those are the only ones I bothered noting.
• Based on this and Daisy Darker, this author has a weakness for deep / meaningful / clever comments.  Here's one that didn't quite land for me:  "Lives are like light bulbs; they’re not as hard to change as people think."  Only... Do people think changing light bulbs is difficult?  Maybe the ones that you can't reach without a ladder...

These last two are a bit spoilery (I guess), so here's your spoiler warning, if you're worried about it...

• "Jack accused me of a few bad things when we were married, and a few more when we weren’t, but never murder. It makes me wonder whether he always had a negative view of me, even when we were together."  Sorry, but that just made me burst out laughing!  He'd never accused her of murder?  Well, I should hope not!  
• I'm not buying that the teenage craft-queen character would have known how to prepare fur.  I mean, you have to do something to the skin, right?  Tan them?  You don't just skin an animal, dry out the pelt, and use it as a fur, do you?  (Well, maybe it works for the short-term.  I could be wrong here.)  That whole part of the story felt really odd to me.  I can't picture that character being all excited about skinning dead pets... 

Don't Let Her Stay

Don't Let Her Stay

by Nicola Sanders

Blurb:

Joanne knows how lucky she is. Richard is a wonderful husband, Evie is the most gorgeous baby girl, they live in a beautiful house… Life couldn’t be better.

Until Richard’s twenty-year-old daughter Chloe turns up. Chloe hasn’t spoken to her father since the day he married Joanne two years ago. But Chloe wants to make peace. She’ll even move in for a few weeks to help Joanne with the new baby.

It sounds perfect, but when things happen that make Joanne feel like she’s losing her mind, she begins to wonder: Is Chloe really here to help? Or has Joanne made a terrible mistake by letting her move in?

And is it too late to ask her to leave?

My Reaction:

Oh. My. Gosh.  Look, I know people have different tastes, but I cannot fathom why this book has such a high collective rating!  It's simply inexplicable, except for the fact that it is/was included in Kindle Unlimited, which I suspect often bumps a book's ratings by virtue of the sheer number of people reading it.

This took much longer to read than it should have because I kept having to put it down in annoyance.  I knew I should've made it a DNF, but at that point, I wanted to see just how irritating it could be (and yes, what would happen).  I really should have just stopped.  It wasn't worth the frustration.  

These are some of the most infuriating, stupidest, worst-written characters I've ever come across.  As another reviewer put it, the only characters you can remotely care about are the dog and the baby (and even the baby kind of annoys me, if I'm honest).  

If you enjoy spite-reading, give this a try.  If you get a sick thrill out of reading about characters that you actively dislike—characters so excruciatingly idiotic and weak that you want to reach into the book and slap some sense into them—you're in for a real treat with this one.  Otherwise, save yourself the annoyance!

(I don't think this would be something 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back would ever go for, but there's certainly plenty to talk about, assuming you don't mind a ton of "OMG, this is so stupid"...)

On a Quiet Street

On a Quiet Street

by Seraphina Nova Glass

Blurb:

The perfect neighborhood can be the perfect place to hide…

Who wouldn’t want to live in Brighton Hills? This exclusive community on the Oregon coast is the perfect mix of luxury and natural beauty. Stunning houses nestle beneath mighty Douglas firs, and lush backyards roll down to the lakefront. It’s the kind of place where neighbors look out for one another. Sometimes a little too closely…

My Reaction:

Well, I like the cover, and the title is okay... Based on the blurb, I was expecting something a little gossipy and maybe slightly trashy—something inspired by the old Desperate Housewives TV dramedy, which could be okay, since I'm just borrowing it through Amazon.  Desperate Housewives may well be the intended vibe, but it just didn't work for me.  

I found the plot ridiculous.  The irritating characters' behavior is nonsensical and frustrating, to the degree that I lost all patience with them, so I stopped reading at 28%.  

After skimming some of the unfavorable reviews (and completely ignoring the many who apparently loved it), it doesn't sound like I'm missing out on much.  DNF, and relieved to move on to something fresher!