The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“’Everyone is an unreliable narrator.’”
“Once you lie about your past, you wall yourself off from the present.”
“’You can’t erase the past by not thinking about it’”
The Ghostwriter is about Olivia who is a ghostwriter, and her father who is prolific horror author. Her father, Vincent, has a history and she has been hiding this fact. She has fallen on hard times recently and has just been offered a job. Vincent is the only remaining sibling in a horrific murder that happened in his home. His brother and sister were killed but no one was held responsible. Vincent wants Olivia to ghost write a book for him but can she trust him? The secrets are numerous and are slow to be revealed. Will Olivia be able to uncover the truth about what happened so long ago? Will she be able to forgive her father?
Julie Clark creates a very engaging story and creates tension that lasts. I needed to know what happened. It was slow but painful in a good way. I was yearning for an explanation. I like how she threw in prospectives from other characters occasionally. This is the second or third book I have read recently that has mentioned Topanga, CA which is weird. It was on page 2 too, so right away. The description of Olivia’s house is amazing. I would love to have a very similar house in a very similar location. What she said that got her in hot water was totally the truth. Her rant was awesome and it sucks she was punished because she spoke out. Then she was told to not get too emotional and to calm down. What a load of BS. I could feel the anger physically in my body. There were some moments of levity like with a hamster. I think she is a good writer because some of the phrasing like “I recognize the way he moves, like a memory of a song” and the way she talks about light & dark. It is almost poetic. There is a gay character too which is always welcome. Yay for the best friend. I had such conflicting feelings towards Vincent. He could be a big asshole but then I could almost understand him. I am leaning towards not liking him though. He is extremely unreliable and I don’t love that storytelling technique. When will people learn that lying will only get you in trouble. I do not feel sorry for Olivia and the consequences of her actions. One of the lines struck me. It would have affected me much more in the past but in the present, I don’t necessarily agree with that feeling. “Of being the friend everyone tries to include out of pity.” There is a kind of voiceover at the end. I could picture it as if it was happening in a movie. It was well conceived and written. I didn’t come across any words that jumped out at me. This is exactly the type of book to read if you enjoy books that talk about writing in it and a slow unraveling mystery.
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Tag: murder
Getting High And How To Face Off
Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“I’ve got way too many red flags to ever want to date me.”
“Religion is just another way that humans desperately try to control the chaos of reality…society is failing us all.”
“’Not every experience needs to be captured. It’s important to remember that your first love was the sound itself, not a secondhand recording.’”
“My friends’ behavior is not my responsibility.”
Breathe In, Bleed Out is about a woman who is still reeling from the death of her fiancé. This tragedy happened in the wilderness when they were on a hike but no one knows the true story. Hannah is barely getting through life. She is meeting with a psychiatrist that is prescribing mediation. She messes up at work and is forced to take some time off. Her best friend, Tess, that Hannah has been blowing off shows up for her birthday and then invites her on this retreat. Hannah eventually caves and decides to go but what they encounter is beyond what anyone would think. They are unsure of Guru Pax and what he is promoting. No one knows what to make of his assistant Kimi. This group of friends are in for a murderous weekend. Who will survive? Will Hannah heal? Who is doing this?
Right off the bat I love the cover! It reminds me of old comics or horror films. And I love the title too. Every time I read the title I just sang “Breathe In, Bleed Out” to the tune of Machinehead by Bush. It is a great title! Brian McAuley wrote a damn good book. You can see some influences from other movies clearly but it felt like it was done in an authentic way and not just a carbon copy. The dedication which went “For those who found release and those still seeking it” spoke to me. I liked how it could mean many different things but also was hopeful. Everyone is on their own journey, including with their mental health. The first sentence “Dragging a body through six inches of snow is even harder than I expected” grabs you and makes you want to keep reading. It was well written. The characters were well defined and I actually cared about some of them. Miles was a DJ and did EDM shows which I connected with because I love EDM and I am thinking of starting to learn to create some tracks of my own. Some of them though were typical assholes that you wanted to see get their comeuppance. This thought attributed to one of the characters made me pause and reflect, maybe I think this too but I never really thought about it before. It was around how “graveyards were a sentimental waste of precious natural space that should be filled with life instead.” Imagine what we could do with that space. Hmm. The author did write some wonderfully evocative lines including, “I was just about ready to crawl into an empty grave myself, pull the dirt over me and call it a life.” I have definitely had similar thoughts before but I never heard it articulated so well. The book had some funny moments too. One that involved being thirsty and another with a big snake. Towards the beginning there were some descriptions of the environment, and I thought that someone was going to die in that way. I was right! Well almost, because there was a twist I didn’t see coming and it was awesome! Other death scenes were gruesome and pretty cool. I was squirming. One thing I didn’t like about this book, and it is not unique to this book, is the reliance on drugs or alcohol to give the character flaws or to create unreliability. To me, it is a little lazy but I guess it does reflect reality for some. It is not the fault of this book but another storytelling technique that is used involves dreams and hallucinations, but the audience doesn’t know it at the time. I dislike these immensely and there was a part like this in the book. I am not sure about the ending. I don’t know if I like who the killer turned out to be. I am still wrestling with that, but it wasn’t an immediate OMG WTF in a bad way. I haven’t decided yet. I didn’t write down any words that stood out to me. This is exactly the type of book to read if you are a fan of horror.
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How To Steal A Quarter Of A Billion Dollars And Impossibly Intriguing Investigations
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Trouble is much like love: when the time is ready, it will find you.”
“’You choose your family these days.’”
“’Life is sprung on us.’”
The Impossible Fortune is a continuation of The Thursday Murder Club. It is the 5th book in the series written by Richard Osman. This time the gang is just coming off the highs of a wedding and the lows of a death. Joyce’s daughter just got married and the best man at the wedding approaches Elizabeth for help. He subsequently disappears and his business partner could hold some answers. There is something they have that is worth a lot…like a lot a lot but is it worth killing over? The gang rushes to find out the answers before someone else gets hurt. Will they solve it in time? The family of another member is in trouble as well. Will the gang be able to save everyone? Will relationships remain intact?
Richard Osman sure can write an engaging story. Chapter 1 starts with Joanna writing. There is mention of the Backstreet Boys and opinions on Americans right away which made me smile. Maybe I forgot or it was never mentioned but Ron has a daughter? There were so many moments of humor and situations I related to. One is where this young man is listening to something on his phone without a listening device, so it is blaring for everyone to hear. How many times have you encountered this at an airport or just out in public? Does it make you a little ticked off? Wish you could do something about it? Besides this minor, annoying character, another bigger character I didn’t like very much was Joanna. She seemed mean and unnecessarily antagonistic. Some words of wisdom were sprinkled throughout and it was nice to see when reading a captivating novel. “Too many people thinking too much was the key problem with the modern world…think about some things you have some actual power over, but everybody spending all day thinking about things they couldn’t influence, where did that lead?” and “’If you’re scared of something you should find out all about it.’” The word I came across that I hadn’t heard of was a type of fish, turbot. Another was clement. I always heard of inclement weather but didn’t put any thought into the opposite until I saw this word in this book. I was like…interesting…you learn something new every day. I smiled at this. I read this book in less than a day as I didn’t want to put it down. Richard has really fleshed out these characters and they are still going strong through the fifth book. I cannot wait to read more! This is exactly the type of book if you want to continue the series and love a good mystery.
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Creepy Men With Deadly Secrets And Greek Tragedy Rituals
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Reading about life was no preparation for living it”
“My argument with so much of psychoanalysis is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness. When in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people’s suffering.”
“The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day.”
“What if, like the Lady of Shalott, she stopped looking at life through a mirror – and turned, and stared at it directly?”
The Maidens is about a murder that occurs at Cambridge. A former student, Mariana, has a niece, Zoe, who currently attends the university. One night she receives a phone call from Zoe who seems upset as she thinks her roommate might be the murder victim. Mariana goes to the college for support and ends up being a bigger part of the investigation than she intends. Mariana is a group therapist who looks at things with that lens. She has a patient that causes issues and could be dangerous. There is a professor, Edward Fosca, who seems like a good candidate for the main suspect. There is a group of women called The Maidens that he teaches and the victim was part of that group. Then another victim is found from that same group. What is going on at this university? Who is the murderer? Will Mariana be able to figure it out before she becomes the next victim?
Alex Michaelides creates a mood of suspense while integrating fun connections with ancient culture. I loved the setting of an old university like Cambridge. It creates this sense of history and lore that permeates the novel. I felt transported to a different time even though the story takes place in the modern age. Mariana is a tough character to like. She seems like a pushover and some of her conclusions didn’t really at up like when she associated intelligence with trauma or that police onsite talking to the dean meant the victim could only be this one particular person. Also, why would she choose to run down an alley? I didn’t understand Mariana. Zoe was also unlikeable as she constantly came across as not liking her aunt and treating her badly. Edward is conceited and a little creepy. There are a lot of creepy men in this book…”men are not to be trusted.” The first person to be assumed a suspect (one of the few not creepy men) and the subsequent interview is where the book really grabbed my interest. Up until that point I was coasting along a lazy river but then this point of the book is where the rapids began. I was carried along at a nice clip, interested in finding out how it wrapped up. There was a scene where Gauloises cigarettes were mentioned which evoked a vivid memory of me smoking those in Paris. It brought a smile to my face. On the flip side, there was a description of watching your mother cry and I related fiercely with it. “It’s horrible watching your mother cry. You feel so impotent, so powerless.” I know it is pedantic of me but Alex used the term serial killer when only two murders happened whereas the definition includes 3 or more victims. He also missed an opportunity to really bring in the gay male fans. He described a guy on stage that was shirtless with the torso dripping in sweat but didn’t go any further in descriptive detail. He could have described the abs or muscles or something but nope. I love when I make connections between books. In this one, there was two points I wanted to call out. One is when the Goldberg Variations were brought up and I read The Gold-Bug Variations in college. I listened to Bach as well. The other was by the author himself in a self-referential moment. He brought in a character from another book, a book I actually read as well. It was cool and clever with a little wink implied. Some of the words I ran across that I liked were menis, Byronic, stygian, and anagnorisis. Alex did have me guessing on who the killer could be and I never guessed how it would wrap up. Though I didn’t like how it ended, it was a surprise. It was a little too weird and out there for me. This is exactly the type of book I would pick up because it referenced ancient cultures, murder, rituals, and mythology.
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Perfect Murder And Breeding Purposes
“Like the small fires we sometimes need in our lives to remind us that we are alive.”
“It’s the only reason the human race isn’t extinct, because people with no purpose breed.”
The Perfect Marriage is about a husband who is accused of killing his mistress and the wife who takes up his defense. Sarah, the wife, is a defense attorney and she is the best around. Adam, the husband, is an author that is struggling. He frequents the vacation house they bought to help with his writing but for a while now he has been involved in an affair. One day the cops show up at his door and aggressively arrest him for the murder of Kelly Summers. Matthew, the gay best friend, and Anne, the assistant/friend, are both side characters that get involved in some capacity. We follow along with the characters trying to determine what happened. There are secrets revealed and the past coming back to mess with the present. Did Adam commit murder? Will the truth come out? How will their lives be changed?
Jeneva Rose wrote a very engaging story. It was a quick read that grabbed your interest and kept it throughout the book. It was not a thought-provoking, deep book but it was entertaining which sometimes is all you need at the time. There were a couple funny moments with Matthew where he talks about breeding and kids. There were also some great descriptions about a town and the dichotomy of the looks and how modernization resembled a virus infecting the town. While reading this book, I actually yelled out loud and talked to myself especially in response to some of the characters. Eleanor was infuriating and should have been slapped multiple times. Adam is so stupid and did so many dumb things that you could not help shaking your head. Scott Summers is a character as well and it made me think of X-Men. There was also a character named after me! Very few parts had some explicit sexual descriptions but it was few and far between. I liked how the ending and result was just so casually referenced. I was just reading and it was so subtle that I was like wait what? That happened? There were no fun or interesting words that stood out to me. The language was pretty simple and straightforward. The author did put in some things that were not too believable and made me think hmm. Could that really happen? This is exactly the type of book that I would read to dissuade me from marrying.
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Potentially Good And Running Rich Or Poor
“Without the reliable narcotic drip of an education to remind me how special I was…my self-worth became unstable and indeterminate.”
“You have so much potential.”
Killer Potential is about a tutor and a woman she goes on the run with. Evie tutors students for the SAT and her clients are rich. They are the wealthy with huge mansions and money to spare. One day she enters the house of a student and discovers that the parents are dead and it looks like murder. As she was just about to head out, she hears the whimpering pleas asking for help. She discovers a woman tied up in a closet and frees her. As they were about to leave, they were spotted and now they are on the run. They are suspects. They are fugitives trying to evade capture. Evie is now famous but will she find the real killer in time?
I liked the opening chapter of this book and the discussion of grammar. I love grammar and English. It was delightful to start off this way, with the discussion of passive and active voice which set the stage for the bigger story. Are we active or passive in our own lives? Do we do things or do we have things done to us? One thing I like throughout the book were the descriptions and imagery the author, Hannah Deitch, can conjure up. Her sentences like “Bootstrapping stories have kept capitalists’ dicks hard since the Gilded Age. But the thing about potential is that it’s purely speculative” or “the dark sinews of my body like an eel” really help to paint a picture. You can vividly picture it. I found it unique and fun. Her word choice is great…”gilded firmament of your life.” I also love learning so a couple things that she mentioned that I learned were about the Dimples of Venus and the words susurrus & sibilant which are fun to say. Authors gain points with me by doing this. In chapter 36, Hannah describes the differences between being poor and being wealthy in such an interesting way. I have never thought of it that way before but I could totally see it. It makes a lot of sense and thought she was clever with this paragraph. As I have stated there were many examples of the writing that I liked but now it is time for the negatives. The story started off with potential but I slowly lost interest in what was happening. I started to not care what happened with them or with the investigation. It was kind of boring and uneventful. There were no surprises for me and I didn’t like the development of the protagonist. I really didn’t like any character actually. I think the focus was more on big picture, existential topics of society and rich vs poor. I needed something to happen or it was just kind of like reading a philosophy book. As a debut novel though, it is not bad. This is exactly the type of book you read for a book club to discuss what they went through, how you can relate, and if things are justified or not.
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Murder Most Fowl And Hot Man Love
Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Not everything needs to be planned…Not everything needs a why or how.”
Cut & Run is about 2 guys who were thrown together as partners to help find a serial killer. The police and FBI up until this point have failed to apprehend the suspect. Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are two agents with conflicting personalities and they start off at each other’s throats. One is rough and tumble, the other is clean cut and meticulous. They were put on this case because the last two agents that were assigned were murdered. It follows these two FBI agents while they try to track down this killer before more people are killed all while navigating trying to work together. How will they survive each other let alone survive the killer?
This was a very good and sexy read. There were plenty of funny and snippy comments. It was fun to read the back and forth between the two main characters. I chuckled and smirked and laughed out loud. Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux are the authors. They did a good job writing as they created such tension between Ty and Zane. It was very hot. It was written in a way that helped us to see it from both sides. It added a good dynamic and layers to the story. Besides the connection between the main characters there was the actual investigation. I thought that part of the story was done well too. It was interesting and kept me on my toes. The whole MO of the killer was cool and unique. It was suspenseful. There were a couple things that bothered me though. One was there was a lot of growling that came from both characters. A character saying something in a growling manner or with a growl was pretty common throughout. I wish it was phrased differently to change it up. Also, there was a little too much toxic masculinity especially from Ty. It might have added to his gruff manner but it also rubbed me the wrong way at moments. I am not sure how I came across this book or how it ended up in my TBR pile but I am glad it did. This was such an enjoyable and alluring book. I would recommend that people pick it up.
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Locked Room Murder And Past Crimes That Haunt You
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
“We spend our youth building sandcastles of ambition, then watch as life blows sands of doubt over our carefully crafted turrets of wishes and dreams.”
Daisy Darker is about a very dysfunctional family and the secrets they have kept hidden. It takes place in a seaside house that becomes an island at high tide. This is a locked room mystery in the vein of And Then There Were None. It is told from the point of view of Daisy who is the youngest child of the main family. The story has flashbacks to when the girls were young. There is a storm outside with rain and wind lashing at the house which helps create an atmosphere. It follows the night of the matriarchs 80th birthday where she is found dead then one by one things devolve. Who is a suspect and will it be solved before the tide goes out?
This was the first novel I have read by Alice Feeney and I started out liking how each character was introduced. It seemed like they were walking onto a stage as they were brought in one by one. I did like when the author talked about books and how important they were to several characters. I do love books and reading. Writing was also a key component and I liked how it was interwoven through the family and plot. I had high hopes as I love locked-room mysteries and stories that take place in one location like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and several books by Agatha Christie. This particular story was fine albeit a little contrived. Alice Feeney had some home runs with the writing but then also some strikeouts. Not sure why I resorted to baseball metaphors just now but there were several quotes and ways that Alice phrased things that I did truly love like “Some people drink to drown their sorrows; others drink so they can swim in them.” There were some great life lessons and ways of thinking of things. However, there were times where I think the author went overboard. There were too many platitudes and cliches though and some were forced in which made it sound pretentious for its own sake. I also found only 1 semi-likeable character in the entire book. The family was despicable and had very few redeeming qualities. For most of the book, I was wanting to find out what happened but when I did, I was fully disappointed. There is a twist but it does not pay out. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I had to reflect on the whole story to think about what I missed and things just didn’t add up. I know that it is fiction but this to was just too out there. I felt blindsided and not in a good way. I don’t want to ruin anything but I will say that I don’t like the type of story that it turned out to be. “Doesn’t everyone wonder who they might have been if they weren’t who they were?”
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Secrets Of The Past And Feasting On Crow
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Midnight Feast is about revenge, folklore, and secrets. It is situated at this expensive, retreat-style manor located on the coast of England, built for the perfect getaway. The story involves a woman who created and is running The Manor along with her husband who is the designer. There is also a single woman spending the weekend in a hut on the edge of the woods, a dishwasher with hopes to be promoted to a bartender, and plenty of locals who aren’t happy with the development intruding on ancient land. The story centers on opening weekend which is on the solstice but also jumps back in time. It jumps ahead, as well, to the day after the main event. The setting is idyllic…or is it?
When I first started reading, I was hit with the distinct feeling that I was reading another Nine Perfect Strangers. The story turns out to deviate just enough to separate it but the setting, ambiance, and host are similar. There was also an inkling of something else similar that I couldn’t quite pin down. I tend to like shorter chapters but I think Lucy Foley took it to the extreme here. Some chapters were only a paragraph long. I felt there was not enough time to orient yourself or get into what was going on. This was also in conjunction with multiple viewpoints and timelines. It felt too all over the place for me. I also could not get a sense of whether the author wanted the folklore to heavily influence our view of the genre or not. Is it a thriller or mystery or fantasy? The history and the stories of the area added a little feeling of being unsettled but I wish the author would have done it in a more organic and honest way. The writing wasn’t the best and what is with the reliance on ending so many chapters with a question? Is that the only way to build suspense? I was not a fan of the wrap up either. It felt incohesive and unfinished. However, I did like the way Lucy Foley tied elements from the past with the present and there were a couple times I was completely thrown. Most secrets and twists were done well. The host was painted in an almost unbelievable way with the extent of the delusion and self-importance, but it gave me a solid hatred for her regardless. Narcissism at its finest. Another aspect I loved was the creepiness of the childhood song that was introduced. I knew I had heard of it before but I was not positive, so I had to google it. Once I heard it, I could vividly imagine it playing in the book and it worked beautifully. I wish there was a play button on the actual page, so it played when I read that part! The story was inventive but hard to buy at points. In general, it was an ok read.
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Murder By River And Wading Through Molasses
The Current by Tim Johnston
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Current is about a “closed” investigation and a current one. They both involve at least 1 woman dying in a river under suspicious circumstances. There are cops, lovers, and family dynamics interspersed amongst the slow march towards a resolution. It starts off with a college road trip back to Minnesota with Caroline and Audrey, who I would say is the main character. This trip felt relatable as I have made many college road trips before. A strong supporting character is Gordon, a father, who is just getting by day by day. A majority of the story takes place in Minnesota, which is where I am from, or Iowa. It was cool to have that relation to a major location and I could connect when the sights and smells of the state were described. There are several tangents that are explored but the investigation takes a backseat to the description of the characters’ lives.
I would not say that this is a heart-pounding thriller or even a regular thriller. It is not a murder mystery or cop procedural. I am not sure how I would classify this book. Tim Johnston is the author and one thing I think he is good at is painting a vivid and unique picture of what is going on. On the road trip, he describes moving “out of cotton country into wheat and then into corn”, which one can trace on a map in their mind. Or describing someone as smelling of “the outdoors, but an outdoors that was much later in the day and colder”. He had some beautiful language and could be quite eloquent but there were many things that annoyed me about this book. One set of grievances was the way it was written. There were plenty of run-on sentences and missing punctuation, mostly when relaying conversations. It could be a technique that he utilized but it didn’t work for me. There was a high percentage of chapters that took me several paragraphs to understand what was happening, who was being talked about, or even when it was taking place. The author used generic pronouns and set no signposts to help guide the reader. He seemed to be obfuscating on purpose. There are many words that I would use to describe his writing style including murky, convoluted, and elusive, to name a few. Another grievance was the lack of urgency or excitement at any point. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was boring, but I was thinking, just get on with it a lot of the time. In general, it was a lot of work to read this book. You had to read every single sentence closely and this just wasn’t something I was expecting or looking for at this time. I was disappointed. To use another analogy, it was like wading through molasses. The first spike of intrigue was over halfway through and then 4o pages from the end I felt a smidgen of tension but even then, it was like wading through warmed up molasses. It also is not wrapped up in a clearly defined bow. Read Reykjavik: A Crime Story or even reread Stieg Larsson instead.
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