Bogormen

Title: Nightwork
Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook ~16hrs
Date read: April 2025

Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother’s head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally succumbed to cancer, he left Chicago—but kept up his nightwork, developing into a master thief with a code of honor and an expertise in not attracting attention - or getting attached.

Until he meets Miranda Emerson, and the powerful bond between them upends all his rules. But along the way, Booth has made some dangerous associations, including the ruthless Carter LaPorte, who sees Booth as a tool he controls for his own profit. Knowing LaPorte will leverage any personal connection, Booth abandons Miranda for her own safety—cruelly, with no explanation—and disappears.

But the bond between Miranda and Booth is too strong, pulling them inexorably back together. Now Booth must face LaPorte, to truly free himself and Miranda once and for all.


Stereotypical Nora Roberts. You know what you're gonna get going into it, but it's always an enjoyable ride. This isn't the best of her works - mostly because the initial conflict with Miranda annoyed me (trying to stay as spoiler-free as possible), but I do get why it was necessary, and their way of making up again was a LOT more satisfying than I had expected it to be.

Also, I kinda love that the fact that she writes such formulaeric books meant that I knew the final confrontation would go well, and there wouldn't suddenly be yet another wrench thrown into the machine in the 11th hour. I get so impatient with that stuff, and would much rather have a long lead-in to the confrontation, and then have everything work out as planned.

Title: The House Sitter
Author: Mira V. Shah
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 276
Date read: December 2024

TWO WEEKS AGO
I woke up in a hotel room next to a dead man, with no memory of the night before.
Panicked, I cleared up any trace that I was there and fled.

ONE WEEK AGO
I was offered the perfect the chance to housesit a gorgeous villa in a remote corner of Italy.
Desperate to get away, I jumped at the chance.

NOW
The owners have unexpectedly shown up at the house. The only problem?
They're the family of the man I woke up next to, two weeks ago.

ONE OF THEM KNOWS MY SECRET.
AND THEY'VE COME TO FIND ME.


I almost gave up on this within the first 30 pages, because I couldn't get used to the writing style, but promised myself to give it until page 50 ... and on page 47 I had not only gotten used to it, but the book took a turn that made me drop any ideas of giving up on it!

The book is split up into three acts, and the first one is definitely just to set the scene - the book gets a lot more interesting in the second two, with the last one almost reminding me of "Murder on the Orient Express" or "Knives Out" in the way it goes through all the suspects, all the possibilities, and all the new secrets that are revealed on almost every page. By that time it had definitely turned into a page turner, and I had to know what happened next.

In the end, it mostly delivered. Most of the ends were tired up, and most of my questions were answered (with one glaring omission, where I'm wondering if I just accidentally skip past it), and the motive kinda made sense.

So a good book, but not a great one.

... but seriously - can anybody tell me who actually invited Aahnaya to house sit, and why she looked so much like Marina???

Title: Mind Games
Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~15hrs
Date read: August 2024

As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie’s handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.

Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.

The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career, find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her, and though Grammie calls it a gift, it feels more like a curse―because the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability. Thea can hear his twisted thoughts and witness his evil acts from miles away. He knows it, and hungers for vengeance. A long, silent battle will be waged between them―and eventually bring them face to face, and head to head…


Impossible to put down and left me utterly book-hungover once I finished it.

This is one of Nora Roberts' best books. I loved the characters, I loved the relationships, I loved the setting, and the foreshadowing didn't bother me too much, as it happened so early in the book.

I loved seeing Thea grow up and come into her powers - loved her relationship with her grandmother, her brother and her friends. I adored Bunk and Bray - he reminded me a lot of Boots from Suzanne Collins' "Gregor the Overlander" in his excitements over any and all animals.

The conflict between Ty and Thea was understandable but annoying because it would have been so easily fixed with communication. Fortunately it wasn't allowed to linger, and was resolved quicker than I had feared. And I really appreciated the way Ray was handled -- perhaps not the final outcome (which didn't altogether make sense to me), but the fact that he wasn't as all-powerful as Nora Roberts' villains sometimes appear to be.

Absolutely loved it!

Title: The Silent Patient
Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 339
Date read: July 2024

Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago. When she shot her husband in the head five times.

Since then she hasn't spoken a single word.

It's time to find out why.


I'm having a really hard time deciding what I thought of this, and it is basically impossible to review it properly without spoiling parts of it. I found it captivating, and the writing style drew me in right away. It seemed awfully disjointed at times, but not in a way that felt jarring, I was just puzzled how it would all fit together.

( Spoiler )

Basically - if you enjoy an unreliable narrator, this might be a book for you. If not - give it a miss.

Title: The Last Murder at the End of the World
Author: Stuart Turton
Genre: Dystopian, Suspense
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 330
Date read: May 2024

Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don't even know it.

And the clock is ticking.


I really liked it, but it didn't blow me away the way "The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" did.

It was a fascinating concept though, and I got more and more intrigued as the chapters went by and I felt like I had more questions than answers. Every time I thought I had figured out what was going on, some new twist occurred and I was left trying to puzzle it all out again.

At the end of the day, I think the mystery was more interesting than its solution, but it was a feasible solution and not too far fetched, so the book ended up really working for me, and I'm amazed that an author can write two books as different in style and yet both complete page-turners!

I'll have to pick up his third book now, and see if that can live up to the others.

Title: Løbende tjener (Roland Triel #1)
Author: Dennis Jürgensen
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 487
Date read: December, 2023

Frans Jessen har skabt en milliardforretning med sine designersmykker.
Efter en omfattende sag om ophavsretten findes den ene af de involverede parter myrdet på makaber vis, og jagten begynder på en skånselsløs morder.

I spidsen for efterforskningen står den erfarne Roland Triel fra Politigården i København.

Triel lider under en personlig tragedie.
For få år siden blev hans kone brutalt myrdet i deres hjem og hans 13-årige datter mishandlet.
Sagen er aldrig blevet opklaret, og Triel er besat af tanken om at finde den skyldige.

Midt i arbejdet med den aktuelle drabssag giver Triels kones morder uventet livstegn fra sig.

Efterforskningslederen hvirvles nu ind i et mørkt psykologisk spil med den forbryder, han vil gøre alt for at fange.


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.

This is a suspense novel much in the same style as Chris Carter's Robert Hunter series - although fortunately not quite 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.

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.

Title: You'll Be the Death of Me
Author: Karen M. McManus
Genre: YA, Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 326
Date read: May 2023

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?

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.

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.


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 highly 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.

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.

Title: Hide and Seek
Author: Andrea Mara
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~8hrs
Date read: January, 2023

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.

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.

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...


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.

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.

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.

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.

Fortunately I was satisfied with the ending, so at the end of the day, I'm glad to have read it.

Title: Mand uden ansigt (Man Without a Face)
Author: Dennis Jürgensen
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 336
Date read: January, 2023

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.

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.


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.

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!)

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.

Title: The Hawthorne Legacy (Inheritance Games #2)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: YA, Suspense
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 380
Date read: October, 2022

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.

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.


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

Definitely want to read the last book as well, once it arrives at the library.