tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248BogormenSo many books, so little time.goodreads2023-12-26T16:21:39Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:460028Løbende tjener - Dennis Jürgensen2023-12-26T16:21:39Z2023-12-26T16:21:39Zpublic0<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406537731i/22826095.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /><b>Title:</b> Løbende tjener (Roland Triel #1)<br /><b>Author:</b> Dennis Jürgensen<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 487<br /><b>Date read:</b> December, 2023<br /><br />Frans Jessen har skabt en milliardforretning med sine designersmykker.<br />Efter en omfattende sag om ophavsretten findes den ene af de involverede parter myrdet på makaber vis, og jagten begynder på en skånselsløs morder.<br /><br />I spidsen for efterforskningen står den erfarne Roland Triel fra Politigården i København.<br /><br />Triel lider under en personlig tragedie.<br />For få år siden blev hans kone brutalt myrdet i deres hjem og hans 13-årige datter mishandlet.<br />Sagen er aldrig blevet opklaret, og Triel er besat af tanken om at finde den skyldige.<br /><br />Midt i arbejdet med den aktuelle drabssag giver Triels kones morder uventet livstegn fra sig.<br /><br />Efterforskningslederen hvirvles nu ind i et mørkt psykologisk spil med den forbryder, han vil gøre alt for at fange.<br /><br /><br />Dennis Jürgensen's talent cannot be denied. He writes ridiculously readable books, and this was no exception. It took me all of 5 pages to be hooked, and if I hadn't had Christmas plans I'd probably have finished it in a day.<br /><br />This is a suspense novel much in the same style as Chris Carter's Robert Hunter series - although fortunately not <i>quite</i> as graphic in its violence. I'd guessed some of the twists ahead of time, but definitely not all of them... and there was also something I'd thought was a twist, but which may just be setting up something for one of the later books in the series. I was slightly disappointed by the ending - it seemed too easy, somehow.<br /><br />Though the first in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone novel too. The main plot is nicely contained, although there is an overreaching arch that's left open.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=460028" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:453916The Forgotten Room - Lincoln Child2023-05-23T08:02:18Z2023-05-23T08:02:18Zpublic0<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450646049l/28253860._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /><b>Title:</b> The Forgotten Room<br /><b>Author:</b> Lincoln Child<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 290<br /><b>Date read:</b> May 2023<br /><br />Professor Jeremy Logan (the quirky and charismatic “enigmalogist” who specializes in solving problems of the strange or seemingly supernatural variety) receives an urgent summons from the director of Lux, one of the oldest and most respected think tanks in America. An unexplainable tragedy has taken place in the sprawling compound located on the coastline of Newport, Rhode Island. One of Lux’s most distinguished doctors, overcome by erratic behavior, violently attacked his assistant before meeting with a gruesome self-inflicted end. Deeply shaken by the incident and the bizarre evidence left behind from the doctor’s final project—as well as recent troubling behavior among several of the think tank’s other scientists—Lux fears there is something more sinister occurring within its walls and looks to Jeremy Logan to investigate.<br /><br />Logan quickly makes a surprising discovery. In a long-dormant wing of the estate, he uncovers an ingeniously hidden secret room, unknown and untouched for decades. The room is essentially a time capsule, filled with eerie machinery and obscure references to a top-secret experiment known as “Project S.” As Logan attempts to unravel its meaning, he begins to discern what transpired in that room—and why the frightening project was suddenly abandoned and sealed off many years before. As his work draws him ever deeper into harm’s way, Logan soon unleashes a series of catastrophic events upon the rest of Lux . . . and himself.<br /><br /><br />Fairly boilerplate suspense novel, but enjoyable enough. It's listed as the fourth book in a series, but absolutely works as a stand-alone novel as well. I never even noticed it wasn't a stand-alone novel until I came to goodreads to register it, and saw how it was listed.<br /><br />It'll probably turn out to be one of those books that you read and then forget all about, as there's nothing that really stands out about it, but I enjoyed it while I was reading it, and found the plot engaging and the suspense believable, so a good read - even if possibly not one I'm likely to read again.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=453916" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:453488You'll Be the Death of Me - Karen M. McManus2023-05-15T06:59:54Z2023-05-15T06:59:54Zpublic0<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629729168i/56871483.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /><b>Title:</b> You'll Be the Death of Me<br /><b>Author:</b> Karen M. McManus<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA, Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 326<br /><b>Date read:</b> May 2023<br /><br />Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Back in middle school they were best friends. So, when Cal pulls into campus late for class, and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They'll ditch school and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Why did they stop hanging out, anyway?<br /><br />As soon as they pull out of the parking lot Cal knows why. Ivy's already freaking out about missing class, and heartthrob Mateo is asleep in the backseat, too cool to even pretend like he wants to be there. The truth is they have nothing in common anymore.<br /><br />At least they don't until they run into the fourth student ditching school that day. Brian "Boney" Mahoney is supposed to be accepting his newly won office of class president. Which is why Ivy follows him into an empty building, only to walk into the middle of a murder scene. Cal, Ivy, and Mateo all know the person lying on the ground of that building, and now they need to come clean. They're all hiding something. And maybe their chance reconnection wasn't by chance after all.<br /><br /><br />Most of the plot of this book took place over the course of a day, which I thought was an interesting change from the other books I've read by Karen M. McManus. I did find it <i>highly</i> unrealistic in places, but it stayed reasonably true to its own universe, so it didn't bother me as much as it would have otherwise.<br /><br />I liked how the relationships between Ivy, Mateo and Cal evolved and changed through the day, and appreciated how realistic they felt. Sometimes people do rotten things - sometimes those things can be forgiven.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=453488" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:451801The Stranger - Harlan Coben2023-03-06T11:41:51Z2023-03-06T11:41:51Zpublic0<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1463652647i/30233097.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /><b>Title:</b> The Stranger<br /><b>Author:</b> Harlan Coben<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 333<br /><b>Date read:</b> March, 2023<br /><br />The Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot, or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown. His motives are unclear. His information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world.<br /><br />Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons, and all the trappings of the American Dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life.<br /><br />Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her, and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all. Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne’s deception, and realizes that if he doesn’t make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he’s stumbled into will not only ruin lives—it will end them.<br /><br /><br />Harlan Coben is starting to become a new favourite author. His books aren't high literature by any means, but they are so very readable, and I've yet to read one I didn't enjoy. The translation wasn't <i>quite</i> as tight in this one as usual, but still good enough, that I managed to forget about it after awhile, and finished the book in a day.<br /><br />While the book shifts POV a few times, we mostly stay with Adam, and the shifts work well to give the reader a bit of background, while still leaving Adam in the dark. It is a suspenseful and captivating read. I'm not entirely sure how likely the ending is, but it worked within the book's universe, so didn't seem jarring in any way.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=451801" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:450508Hide and Seek - Andrea Mara2023-01-30T12:06:40Z2023-01-30T12:06:40Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61296955-hide-and-seek"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1668462934i/61296955.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Hide and Seek<br /><b>Author:</b> Andrea Mara<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3/5<br /><b># pages:</b> Audiobook ~8hrs<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2023<br /><br />The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn't been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn't happened - but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again.<br /><br />Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It seems perfect in every way, until she learns that this was once Lily Murphy's home. From that moment onwards, a sense of dread seems to follow her from room to room.<br /><br />As Joanna unravels the secrets at the heart of this close-knit community, her own dark past begins to resurface. Because she thinks she knows what really happened to Lily - and if the truth gets out, it might be her undoing...<br /><br /><br />As a whole, I liked it. It was captivating and engaging, with twists and turns along the way that I hadn't guessed ahead of time, but which seemed believable.<br /><br />But unfortunately there were also some things I didn't like. The chapters were far shorter than they needed to be, and could sometimes have been replaced by a paragraph break. The fact that I noticed this even when reading this as an audiobook is proof that it really was excessive, as - generally speaking - chapter breaks are less noticeable there than in other types of books.<br /><br />Secondly, while I am a fan of the unreliable narrator, I am very much not a fan of the "keeping a secret from the audience" narrator. Those situations where you KNOW that the narrator knows something that will influence the entire plot, yet they keep it from the reader because of reasons. They frustrate me no end, and seem like lazy writing more than anything else.<br /><br />The first point I could probably have ignored, but the second did subtract a couple of stars, as while I was curious about what had happened, and interested in seeing where the book took me - the road to getting there was slightly annoying at times. <br /><br />Fortunately I was satisfied with the ending, so at the end of the day, I'm glad to have read it.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=450508" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:448987I Know What You've Done - Dorothy Koomson2023-01-06T10:14:17Z2023-01-06T10:14:17Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57941382-i-know-what-you-ve-done"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1621248318l/57941382.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> I Know What You've Done<br /><b>Author:</b> Dorothy Koomson<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 376 <br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2023<br /><br />Do you have any idea what the people you know are capable of?<br /><br />Bestselling author of All My Lies Are True, Dorothy Koomson, asks how well you can really know your neighbors. Fans of Lisa Jewell and Louise Candlish will rip through the pages of this addictive new thriller.<br /><br />What if all your neighbors' secrets landed in a diary on your doorstep?<br /> <br />What if the woman who gave it to you was murdered by one of the people in the diary?<br /><br />What if the police asked if you knew anything? <br /><br />Would you hand over the book of secrets? <br /><br />Or ... would you try to find out what everyone had done?<br /><br /><br />Utterly impossible to put down. Every page just added more questions to the mix, and as the chapters were very short, I would constantly read "just one more chapter", to see if perhaps SOME of the questions were answered. This book takes unreliable narrator to the max, and while that does sometimes annoy me, here it really worked to keep me guessing.<br /><br />I have no clue how it'll work as a reread though, as part of its charm is definitely that you have NO clue what's going on until the very end. There were several reveals along the way, and I'd guessed all of one of them (and guessed two others very wrong).<br /><br />Not high literature - but extremely readable. 4 stars for unputdownableness, 3 stars for the plot itself, so I've split the difference.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=448987" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:448288Mand uden ansigt - Dennis Jürgensen2023-01-04T10:21:19Z2023-01-04T10:21:19Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56956398-mand-uden-ansigt"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1644308350l/56956398._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Mand uden ansigt (Man Without a Face)<br /><b>Author:</b> Dennis Jürgensen<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 336<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2023<br /><br />Lasse Espersen is out on the tidal flats with one of his students when the fog suddenly comes rolling in, thick and relentless. They become separated, and although Lasse calls, he cannot locate the boy. It is as if the voice is coming from all directions. As the water begins to rise, panic rises. And then Lasse hears the boy screaming. He has found a body. A face stares up from the sandy bottom. And they are not alone in the fog.<br /><br />This is the school teacher's explanation. A mysterious, faceless figure emerged from the white void and knocked him unconscious, and now the boy is gone. However, the police are not inclined to believe that explanation, because it is not the first time a child has disappeared from the small patch of Melum on the West coast of Jutland . The year before, a 6-year-old girl disappeared, and since the local police was unable to find either the girl or the perpetrator, experts are now being brought in from outside. The body was located in the border country, which makes it a matter for both Danish and German police. Detective Lykke Teit from Copenhagen is put on the task together with colleague Rudi Lehmann from Polizei Flensburg. A decision the local head of investigation is not thrilled about - until two more abused bodies turn up.<br /><br /><br />Dennis Jürgensen is one of those rare authors who can span genres with ease. This was my first foray into his crime novels, but it was every bit as readable as I've come to expect from him. The book was easily and quickly read, and I finished it in just a day.<br /><br />In style it reminded me a lot of Sara Blædel's "Louise Rick" series. I really appreciate that the focus is on solving the crime, and not on the depravity or gore of the crime itself (I'm looking at you here, Chris Carter!)<br /><br />Though the first in a series, the plot is nicely contained, but I'm looking forward to seeing Lykke and Rudi again in the sequel.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=448288" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:447974Billy Summers - Stephen King2023-01-01T12:17:19Z2023-01-01T12:17:50Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61088186-billy-summers"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1652479972l/61088186._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Billy Summers<br /><b>Author:</b> Stephen King<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 433<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2023<br /><br />Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?<br /><br />How about everything...<br /><br /><br />First book of 2023, and fortunately a good one. It was a bit slow to start, but once it did, I had a hard time putting it down, and found myself reading a page here and there whenever I could. <br /><br />The atmosphere in the first half reminded me a lot of "11/22/63", but once Billy left Midwood, the similarities stopped, and the book became all its own. I wasn't a huge fan of the "flashbacks" at first, but they ended up being shorter than I had feared, and served a purpose, so in the end it worked for me. <br /><br />As usual with Stephen King, there were some twists and turns along the way that I hadn't seen coming, and although I'm not <i>quite</i> sure what I think about the ending, I can understand why he made that decision. <br /><br />The dates at the end of the book puzzled me for quite awhile, as they seemed to have no relevance to the story at all - until I remembered that he often ends a book with the start- and end dates of writing. And it certainly did explain the otherwise completely baffling references to "the virus that would come soon". ...only, now I kinda want to read a book by him actually set <i>during</i> the pandemic, as I'd be interested in seeing his take on that. But perhaps he fears it would be too similar to "The Stand".<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=447974" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:446036The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes2022-10-31T08:37:30Z2023-10-17T07:35:05Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50531218-the-hawthorne-legacy"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610493390l/50531218._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Hawthorne Legacy (Inheritance Games #2)<br /><b>Author:</b> Jennifer Lynn Barnes<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA, Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 380<br /><b>Date read:</b> October, 2022<br /><br />The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions - including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.<br /><br />Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she's not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture - by any means necessary.<br /><br /><br />After I finished the first book in a day, I immediately got the second one out of the library too. Fortunately it lived up to my expectations. Sure, not quite as good as the first one, but the middle book in a trilogy almost never is, so I came prepared. I loved that the focus was still on clues and riddles, even if the solutions did come with a lot of twists and turns. Happy to see Avery and the Hawthorne boys strike up more of a friendship, and I loved seeing more of Max :-D<br /><br />Definitely want to read the last book as well, once it arrives at the library.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=446036" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:445305Two Can Keep a Secret - Karen McManus2022-10-24T12:17:52Z2022-10-24T12:17:52Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40099425-two-can-keep-a-secret"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540568274l/40099425._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Two Can Keep a Secret<br /><b>Author:</b> Karen McManus<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 327<br /><b>Date read:</b> October, 2022<br /><br />Ellery's never been to Echo Ridge, but she's heard all about it. It's where her aunt went missing at age sixteen, never to return. Where a Homecoming Queen's murder five years ago made national news. And where Ellery now has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, after her failed-actress mother lands in rehab. No one knows what happened to either girl, and Ellery's family is still haunted by their loss.<br />Malcolm grew up in the shadow of the Homecoming Queen's death. His older brother was the prime suspect and left Echo Ridge in disgrace. His mother's remarriage vaulted her and Malcolm into Echo Ridge's upper crust, but their new status grows shaky when mysterious threats around town hint that a killer plans to strike again. No one has forgotten Malcolm's brother-and nobody trusts him when he suddenly returns to town.<br /><br />Ellery and Malcolm both know it's hard to let go when you don't have closure. Then another girl disappears, and Ellery and Malcolm were the last people to see her alive. As they race to unravel what happened, they realize every secret has layers in Echo Ridge. The truth might be closer to home than either of them want to believe.<br /><br />And somebody would kill to keep it hidden.<br /><br /><br />Not quite as good as the "One of Us is Lying" books, but very close! Same style and it totally lived up to my expectations of being unputdownable (and thus a good book for a readathon). I felt, perhaps, it was somewhat less believable than the other books, which is why I didn't find it quite as good, but it's hard to make YA suspense believable at the best of times, so I'm willing to give it a bit more leeway.<br /><br />But that final line!!! *gasp* Worth an extra star by itself.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=445305" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:444243The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes2022-10-24T08:45:15Z2022-10-24T08:45:15Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53063341-the-inheritance-games"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593805436l/53063341.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Inheritance Games<br /><b>Author:</b> Jennifer Lynn Barnes<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA, Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 372<br /><b>Date read:</b> October, 2022<br /><br />Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why.<br /><br />Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes, and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money.<br /><br />Now there's only one rule: winner takes all.<br /><br />Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing. But just how far will they go to keep their fortune?<br /><br /><br />So good!! Definite "We Were Liars" / "Knives Out" vibes with riddles and cryptic clues added into the mix. I loved every minute of it and could not put it down. There were a few ends that were left a tad too open for me to give it 5 stars, but it came very close, and I'm going to have to hunt down the next in the series. <br /><br />I got it out of the library, but could definitely see myself adding this to my physical library at some point.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=444243" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:442818A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson2022-09-26T09:25:08Z2022-09-26T09:25:08Zpublic0<a href=""><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545494980l/40916679._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> A Good Girl's Guide to Murder<br /><b>Author:</b> Holly Jackson<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 433<br /><b>Date read:</b> September, 2022<br /><br />The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.<br /><br />But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?<br /><br /><br />I liked it a lot, and found it really difficult to put down, but...<br /><br />Oh my GOODNESS Pippa did not think things through! She's crazy lucky things didn't go far worse than they did. I kinda understand her not going to the police earlier, but not mentioning anything to her parents? To Ravi? It's at times like that I really feel that I'm far older than the target audience :-P<br /><br />That aside, I did really enjoy it. It had much the same atmosphere as "One of Us is Lying", and even if I did perhaps think things came to Pippa a bit too easily, I enjoyed following her thought processes and seeing all the clues come together the same time as she did. I also really enjoyed the writing style - the mix between transcripts / journal entries and 3rd person narrative.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=442818" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:439753One of Us is Next - Karen M. McManus2022-07-06T08:01:52Z2022-07-06T08:01:52Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46200759-one-of-us-is-next"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562771296l/46200759._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> One of Us is Next (One of Us is Lying #2)<br /><b>Author:</b> Karen M. McManus<br /><b>Genre:</b> YA, suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 374<br /><b>Date read:</b> July, 2022<br /><br />It is a year after the action of One of Us Is Lying, and someone has started playing a game of Truth or Dare.<br /><br />But this is no ordinary Truth or Dare. This game is lethal. Choosing the truth may reveal your darkest secrets, accepting the dare could be dangerous, even deadly.<br /><br />The teenagers of Bayview must work together once again to find the culprit, before it's too late . . .<br /><br /><br />Started this on my way to work yesterday and finished it before I went to bed. It was absolutely unputdownable and every bit as much of a page turner as the first book in the series. Most of the characters rang true, and I loved reading about the different relationships ebb and flow, change and grow. (And almost cried when Maeve... but that's a spoiler, so I'll leave it there).<br /><br />But any full review will have to include a spoiler-tag, because <span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://goodreads.dreamwidth.org/439753.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br />Will definitely keep an eye out for the next book in the series!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=439753" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:439059Legacy - Nora Roberts2022-06-30T09:56:49Z2022-06-30T09:56:49Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55628141-legacy"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617983068l/55628141._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Legacy<br /><b>Author:</b> Nora Roberts<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> Audiobook ~15hrs<br /><b>Date read:</b> June, 2022<br /><br />Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her—before her mother, Lina, stepped in.<br /><br />Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents’ house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend—and developing the stirrings of a crush on her friend’s ten-year-old brother. Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness brand and turning it into a billion-dollar business. There was no point in dwelling on the past.<br /><br />A decade later, Adrian has created her own line of yoga and workout videos, following in Lina’s footsteps but intent on maintaining creative control. And she’s just as cool-headed and ambitious as her mother. They aren’t close, but they’re cordial—as long as neither crosses the other.<br /><br />But while Lina dismisses the death threats that Adrian starts getting as a routine part of her daughter’s growing celebrity, Adrian can’t help but find the vicious rhymes unsettling. Year after year, they keep arriving—the postmarks changing, but the menacing tone the same. They continue after she returns to Maryland and becomes reacquainted with Raylan, her childhood crush, all grown up and as gorgeously green-eyed as ever. Sometimes it even seems like the terrifying messages are indeed routine, like nothing will come of them. Until the murders start, and the escalation begins…<br /><br /><br />Nora Roberts writes ridiculously readable books. They're very formulaic, but I know that going into them, so it doesn't really bother me, and they pretty much always turn out to be proper pageturners (or whatever the audible equivalent would be).<br /><br />This was no exception and I breezed through it, enjoying every minute. It's not her best work, but definitely not her worst either, and I liked all the characters. I loved reading about Adrian's life in Traveler's Creek and that Nora Roberts subscribes to the theory that generally speaking - people are nice! (with a few blatant exceptions, obviously). It makes for a very comfortable read.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=439059" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:438890The Ex-Husband - Karen Hamilton2022-06-30T09:56:23Z2022-06-30T09:56:23Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57578397-the-ex-husband"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631198797l/57578397.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Ex-Husband<br /><b>Author:</b> Karen Hamilton<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 352<br /><b>Date read:</b> June, 2022<br /><br />Charlotte has an unsavory past, but she’s on the straight and narrow these days. She was so young then—she married the wrong man, falling for Sam’s sweet-talking charm and charisma, and got caught up in his con artist games.<br /><br />If only she’d left him before things went too far.<br /><br />Now Sam is missing. But before he disappeared, he left urgent, cryptic messages about someone threatening him—someone who has been threatening Charlotte, too.<br />So Charlotte takes a job as a personal assistant for an engagement party aboard a private luxury cruise ship, the Cleobella, to get far away from anyone who means her harm.<br /><br />But as the Cleobella sails through its glittering destinations, increasingly sinister events haunt the guests, and the turquoise waves and sun-drenched beaches give way to something darker. Someone knows what Charlotte did. Is it the blushing bride? The seemingly placid mother-in-law? Or the mysterious heiress?<br /><br />Someone knows, and someone wants revenge—before the ship reaches its final port.<br /><br /><br />Basically I'll read anything that takes place on a cruise ship ;-) Fortunately, that wasn't all it had going for it, and I did end up really enjoying it, and read the second half in just one day! The beginning is told in two timelines (past and present) which seldom works for me, as I by far preferred the "present" to the "past", so I was glad when the "past" caught up with the beginning of the book, and the rest could just be told in real-time.<br /><br />It's definitely NOT realistic, but I knew that going into the story, so didn't have any problems suspending my disbelief for it, and I did love reading about life onboard the yacht. The ending came a bit too easy for me, but worked with the characters, so it didn't bother me too much.<br /><br />All in all I understand the fairly average rating - it's a fairly average book. An enjoyable read, but nothing out of the ordinary.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=438890" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:433321The Nothing Man - Catherine Ryan Howard2022-01-31T15:00:53Z2022-01-31T15:00:53Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53653285-the-nothing-man"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590827688l/53653285._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Nothing Man<br /><b>Author:</b> Catherine Ryan Howard<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 270<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2022<br /><br />I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man.<br />Now I am the woman who is going to catch him...<br /><br />You've just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago.<br /><br />Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle is reading it too, and with each turn of the page his rage grows. Because Jim was - is - the Nothing Man.<br /><br />The more Jim reads, the more he realizes how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won't give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first...<br /><br /><br />Really interesting concept. It's rare to read a "true crime" book from both the victim's and the unsub's POV. I found it a fascinating way to give the audience both sides of the story.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the "book within the book" wasn't all that well written (and really? Thanking the author in the acknowledgements of the fictional book? That made me roll my eyes <i>super</i> hard), and especially in the beginning there was far too much exposition. I get <u>why</u>, but it did mean that I found "Jim's" sections a lot more interesting than "Eve's". Fortunately that changed as we went along, and I ended up not being able to put the book down. I didn't find the ending <i>entirely</i> believable, but it worked alright within its own universe.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=433321" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:432090Den tavse enke - Sara Blædel2022-01-17T08:29:12Z2022-01-17T08:29:12Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54697938-den-tavse-enke"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595836959l/54697938.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Den tavse enke (Louise Rick #11) (The Silent Widow)<br /><b>Author:</b> Sara Blædel<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 352<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2022<br /><br />After a long leave of absence, Louise Rick is back at work as leader of the newly created travel unit. The police of Funen has called for assistance after a female inn keeper was killed, and Louise gets to meet her team for the first time.<br /><br />The crime scene didn't leave the local police with many clues, but when Louise starts a thorough search of the inn, they find something that in no way fits in with the case at hand. Much against her wishes, Louise has to contact Eik Nordstrøm again. The two of them haven't seen each other since their relationship broke apart, but she needs his skills.<br /><br /><br />I can't quite explain why, but the atmosphere somehow seemed off. I still enjoyed reading about Louise Rick, but her interactions with... well, pretty much everybody else actually, seemed stilted and forced - as if Sara has gotten tired of writing about them.<br /><br />She's still a really good writer though, so once I got properly into the book, I had a hard time putting it down.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=432090" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:431837The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton2022-01-06T09:38:37Z2022-01-06T09:38:37Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43242080-the-seven-deaths-of-evelyn-hardcastle"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602421315l/43242080.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (A.k.a. The 7 1/2 deaths...)<br /><b>Author:</b> Stuart Turton<br /><b>Genre:</b> Historical fiction, suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 505<br /><b>Date read:</b> January, 2022<br /><br />At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed - again.<br /><br />She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn's killer. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath...<br /><br /><br />Absolutely brilliant concept - and fortunately really good execution as well.<br /><br />A bit slow to start. The book is told in first person (for obvious reasons) and in present tense - both of which make sense and are definitely necessary for the book to work, but it does mean that when the main character is clueless... so are we as the readers! - so it took a bit of time for the book to set the stage and get properly into the action. But once that happened? I did NOT want to put it down again and would have finished much faster if it hadn't been for those pesky things called "work" and "sleep".<br /><br />A time-traveling detective is not something I thought I needed in my books, but it absolutely works. Imagine "Murder on the Orient Express", but instead of Poirot interrogating all the suspects about the night of the murder, he experiences it over and over again from different viewpoints. In fact, the atmosphere was SO Agatha Christie'esque that I felt very vindicated when the author admitted to her being his inspiration in his afterword X-D <br /><br />(But give this a shot even if you aren't a fan of Agatha Christie. I'm not, and it totally worked for me!)<br /><br />There are a lot of characters to keep straight (which is harder than usual, thanks to all the jumping around!) so I very much appreciated the list of characters in the front of the book, and returned often to both it and the map of the house.<br /><br />This is definitely not a book you want spoiled, and while the back blurb is kinda necessary for the beginning to make sense, the less you know ahead of time, the better. THAT SAID... I'm really looking forward to reading it again - knowing all I know now and trying to put all the clues together faster. I can't remember when I last flipped this much back and forth while reading a book, trying to keep all the separate threads sorted.<br /><br />Really, really well written. Highly recommended.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=431837" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:429947Pigen under træet - Sara Blædel2021-11-29T10:03:57Z2021-11-29T10:03:57Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53170739-pigen-under-tr-et"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571314874l/53170739._SX318_SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Pigen under træet (Louise Rick #10)<br /><b>Author:</b> Sara Blædel<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 320<br /><b>Date read:</b> November 2021<br /><br />On Bornholm, the mummified body of a schoolgirl is found. Susan disappeared without a trace during a school trip in 1995. The body has been hidden in a rock crevice in Ekkodalen under a swarming cover of insects.<br /><br />Camilla Lind is back at Morgenavisen and insists on unraveling what really happened when Susan disappeared. When Camilla seeks out Susan's old classmate, Pia, to find out more, she finds a family overwhelmed by grief because Pia committed suicide that same morning.<br /><br />Louise Rick is on leave from her job and has been called home prematurely from her travels after her brother tried to commit suicide. He is devastated because his wife, Trine, has left him and their two young children again. Louise tries to help her brother find Trine, whom nobody has heard from since she left home.<br /><br />In her search among Trine's things, Louise finds an old class picture, and it dawns on her that Trine was in the same class as Susan and Pia and was with them on the school trip when Susan disappeared…<br /><br /><br />A quick read, like all the other Louise Rick books, but not my favourite. It seemed too... contrived, I guess? for want of better word. I'd guessed part of the twist at a very early stage (which didn't bother me - that's what happens when you read so many books in the same series so closely together ;-) ), but the rest of the twist just didn't seem believable. <br /><br />I still enjoyed reading it though, and I liked that Louise didn't go off and play vigilante, just because she was on leave, but still worked together with the local police department.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=429947" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:426563Are You Watching? - Vincent Ralph2021-08-24T13:37:29Z2021-08-24T13:37:29Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55297908-are-you-watching"""><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599813328l/55297908._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Are You Watching?<br /><b>Author:</b> Vincent Ralph<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense, YA<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 371<br /><b>Date read:</b> August, 2021<br /><br />Ten years ago, Jess's mother was murdered by the Magpie Man. She was the first of his victims but not the last.<br />Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she's using it to catch the killer once and for all.<br /><br />The whole world is watching her every move.<br /><br />And so is the Magpie Man.<br /><br /><br />A bit slow to start, but once I got properly into it, I couldn't put it down. Definitely a page-turner, and thanks to the very short chapters (which annoys me sometimes, but it worked okay here), it was really easy to just keep reading.<br /><br />The plot was not at all believable, but it stayed true to its own universe, so I can accept it as just being AU. There were some twists and turns I had NOT seen ahead of time - and also some twists and turns I was certain would come, but never did. It kept me guessing to the very end, which - even if it did come a bit quickly all of a sudden - made sure to tie everything up nicely.<br /><br />Kinda on the more graphic / scary side for a YA, but not too bad.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=426563" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:424670Hostage - Clare Mackintosh2021-07-26T12:22:48Z2021-07-26T12:22:48Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56628286-hostage"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612384147l/56628286.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Hostage<br /><b>Author:</b> Clare Mackintosh<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 400<br /><b>Date read:</b> July 2021<br /><br />You can save hundreds of lives. Or the one that matters most.<br /><br />Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina's assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.<br /><br />It's twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours.<br /><br /><br />Captivating and very difficult to put down. Definitely a literal pageturner as I had to figure out how it all fit together. However, I did have a few issues with it. First of all, both Mina and Adam were way too secretive towards the reader. There was absolutely NO reason for it to take as long as it did before their secrets were revealed, and it seemed a bit like Claire Mackintosh was being coy just for the sake of it. <br /><br />Secondly, the hostage situation seemed unrealistic and far fetched. Far too much hinged on pretty random events, and it didn't sound like they had a plan B in place at all. <br /><br />That said, I loved the ending! I had feared it would be a repeat of the epilogue in "The Book of You" (which soured the entire book for me), but instead it showed us exactly just <i>how</i> smart Sophia is.... unrealistically so, to be sure - but satisfying, so I'll take it :-D<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=424670" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:424099Hidden Riches - Nora Roberts2021-07-01T13:14:25Z2021-07-01T13:14:25Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24835004-hidden-riches"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1424150729l/24835004.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Hidden Riches<br /><b>Author:</b> Nora Roberts<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3.5/5<br /><b># pages:</b> Audiobook ~14hrs<br /><b>Date read:</b> June, 2021<br /><br />Creative and spontaneous, antiques dealer Dora Conroy has an infectious enthusiasm for life. She also has an eye for quality, and her gorgeous shop in Philadelphia is overflowing with fascinating finds. But when - on impulse - she buys a few curiosities at auction, she gets a lot more than she bargained for. Because Dora doesn't realise she has brought home a priceless cache of treasure: a collection that one ruthless criminal is determined to make his own - whatever the cost . . .<br /><br />Caught up in a deadly chase, Dora turns in desperation to her new neighbour, ex-cop Jed Skimmerhorn. Jed, struggling with a personal tragedy, has no wish to jump back into the line of fire. But there is something irresistible about Dora . . . As Jed and Dora fight their growing attraction, they must work out what they value the most, before it's too late.<br /><br /><br />One of Nora Roberts' older books, and as such not nearly as good as her newer ones. It was entertaining enough, but very dated (and not just because of the lack of cell phones). I liked Dora and Jeb well enough, but Jeb's overbearing attitude grated on my nerves occasionally.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=424099" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:423777Chipped - Fred Alvrez2021-06-25T09:11:24Z2021-06-25T09:11:24Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55737760-chipped"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603129728l/55737760._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Chipped<br /><b>Author:</b> Fred Alvrez<br /><b>Genre:</b> Suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 3/5<br /><b># pages:</b> 151 pages<br /><b>Date read:</b> June, 2021<br /><br />What would you do for $100,000?<br /><br />You’d do anything for your family, right? And if a family member was desperate for money to save their child, you’d give your left arm to help. Most people would. But would you give your left hand and allow an experimental computer chip to be inserted?<br /><br />Paul Mitchell goes on a mission to save his niece, but does terrible things under the influence of someone else.<br /><br />They say they’re only monitoring him, and he's pretty sure that’s all they are doing. But after a few weeks, he wonders...what are they really making him do? Why are there times when he simply doesn't remember:<br /><br />How did I get here?<br />What did I do?<br />Who did I kill?<br /><br /><br />Every bit as readable as I've come to expect from Fred Alvrez' books. Also every bit as improbable, but I have also come to expect that, and it stays true to its own universe, so I can totally forgive it for playing fast-and-loose with reality. The suspense was well written, and I really loved how Paul was obviously trying to better himself - put a horrible incident behind him and tried to learn from it, instead of letting it bring him down.<br /><br />The end was a tad sudden, but in line with the rest of the story.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=423777" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:421757The Hitman's Guide to Tying the Knot Without Getting Shot - Alice Winters2021-05-17T07:20:26Z2021-05-17T07:20:26Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55283317-the-hitman-s-guide-to-tying-the-knot-without-getting-shot"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599668605l/55283317._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> The Hitman's Guide to Tying the Knot Without Getting Shot (The Hitman's Guide #3)<br /><b>Author:</b> Alice Winters<br /><b>Genre:</b> LGBTQ+, suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> Audiobook ~9.5hrs<br /><b>Date read:</b> May, 2021<br /><br />Leland<br />Is a nice little wedding with Blow-up Randy and Jackson My Love too much to ask for? Clearly, because someone’s trying to kill one of us… again. Generally, this would be my thing and I would jump right in singing my murder song, but they want Jackson dead and I will do anything (and I mean anything) to keep him alive—including and not limited to: ten Dobermans, bulletproof glass, and dragging Cassel in with the promise of more Jerebear. These people have no idea what they’ve done targeting the man I love because I’m coming after them. But when it feels like everything might be lost, I start to understand that I have a family now who will stand by my side and do everything they can to make sure we end this on our terms.<br /><br />Jackson<br />When someone attacks me, it’s clear they want something from me. The issue is that I have no idea who they are or what they’re after. And if I don’t figure it out soon, I’m afraid Leland is going to smother me with his overprotectiveness (or put me in a bubble at the top of a tower). The issue is that time is ticking and with the price tag on my head, there’s no telling who is coming for me or when. Together, Leland and I have to decipher who is telling the truth in this game of life or death because I have plans to marry the man of my dreams and no one is going to stop me—especially with Leland by my side.<br /><br /><br />Just as amusing and charming as I have come to expect from this series. I love how all the characters (Henry and Castle included) so obviously care for each other, even if they will occasionally go to great lengths to hide it. The wedding was adorable, just as I thought it would be :-D<br /><br />This marks the end of this series (at least as far as I can tell) - I'll have to check out some of Alice Winters' other books.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=421757" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-22:380248:420875Survival Instincts - Adriana Anders2021-05-03T09:39:25Z2021-05-03T09:39:25Zpublic0<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44170848-whiteout"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551744131l/44170848._SY475_.jpg" width="100px" border="0" alt="" /></a><b>Title:</b> Whiteout<br /><b>Author:</b> Adriana Anders<br /><b>Genre:</b> Chick-lit, suspense<br /><b>Rating:</b> 4/5<br /><b># pages:</b> Audiobook ~11hrs<br /><b>Date read:</b> April 2021<br /><br />Angel Smith is finally ready to leave Antarctica for a second chance at life. But on what was meant to be her last day, the remote research station she's been calling home is attacked. Hunted and scared, she and irritatingly gorgeous glaciologist Ford Cooper barely make it out with their lives...only to realize that in a place this remote, there's nowhere left to run.<br /><br />Isolated with no power, no way to contact the outside world, and a madman at their heels, Angel and Ford must fight to survive in the most inhospitable—and beautiful—place on earth. But what starts as a partnership born of necessity quickly turns into an urgent connection that burns bright and hot. They both know there is little chance of making it out alive, and yet they are determined to survive against the odds—and possibly, the world.<br /><br /><br />Not very realistic, but a good yarn, so I enjoyed it all the same. I loved reading about survival on Antarctica and just wish more time had been spent on describing life on the research station. I liked seeing the growing friendship between Angel and Ford, and though the romance did come a bit out of the blue, I can totally see how being thrown together in such intense circumstances could do that.<br /><br />But it does require a serious suspension of disbelief, so give it a miss if you're not into that kind of thing.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=goodreads&ditemid=420875" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments