MY LATEST READ (April 2015)

I wish I liked THE POCKET WIFE more than I did... I was looking for a stylish thriller with lots of intrigue and not too many side plots. I got what I deserved. It's stylish, not too compelling and brimming with frenetic, unlikeable characters. I'm halfway through and look forward to a predictable ending... Take THE POCKET WIFE on vacation....or on any trip...one way.

THE POCKET WIFE by Susan Crawford (Psychological Thriller)
Dana Catrell is shocked when her neighbor, Celia, is brutally murdered. To Dana’s horror, she was the last person to see Celia alive. Suffering from mania, the result of her bipolar disorder, she has troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of Celia’s death.

Her husband’s odd behavior and the probing of Detective Jack Moss create further complications as she searches for answers. The closer she comes to piecing together the shards of her broken memory, the more Dana falls apart. Is there a murderer lurking inside her...or is there one out there in the shadows of reality, waiting to strike again?

Here's a new one by mystery writer Harlan Coben....

THE STRANGER by Harlan Coben (Thriller) The Stranger appears out of nowhere. His identity is unknown, and his motives are unclear. But his information is undeniable. He whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world. 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. Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, he confronts her, and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all.

Books can be purchased directly from this blog. Click on the Amazon Search Box in the Sidebar.

H IS FOR HAWK (MARCH 2014)

This is not a book I would ordinarily read. Who would have thought H IS FOR HAWK by Helen Macdonald would be described as breathtakingly gorgeous and unforgettable...unique and life changing and so much more.

 After reading the review below, beautifully written by Barbara A.....How can one resist?

H IS FOR HAWK

By Helen Macdonald

But not just. H is for Helen and heartache; for hares and hunting and hedges and hazel; for hurt and humanity; for history; for homosexuality, in this case repressed and sadistic; for Hitler and his twisted imagery; for healing; and ultimately, for happiness. 

Yes, all of that, and for the most unlikely, magical, poetic hash of memoir; literary history; psychological analysis of the writer and failed falconer T.H. White; and of a study of the heraldry of falconry. 

Beyond brilliant. Beyond anything I have ever read.

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME (MARCH 2015)

Author Joy Fielding never fails to deliver. Not the most literate of authors, her books are fun, undemanding, fast paced edge of your seat reads. This new psychological thriller is reminiscent of Rear Window and critics called it a "spiraling tale of paranoia and suspense." What more could you want?!!

Someone is Watching by Joy Fielding

This engrossing standalone from bestseller Fielding makes you care about Bailey Carpenter, a Miami-based investigator who’s raped while on surveillance. Previously, the biggest problems in Bailey’s life had been her mother’s death, her affair with a married colleague, and her five half-siblings’ attempt to overturn their father’s will, which left millions to Bailey and her often-stoned brother, Heath.

 Now Claire, a nurse as well as the half-sister Bailey barely knows, becomes her guardian angel as she starts on her slow path to recovery. Not sleeping and afraid to leave her high-rise apartment, Bailey suspects every man of evil intent, and she has a number of encounters, both frightening and embarrassing, in her quest to re-establish some control over her life. 

The characters pulsate with life, and there are a few shocks in store—for Bailey and the reader—before the denouement. And the presence of Jade, Claire’s outspoken teen daughter, blows everyone else off the page.

DEBUTING IN MAY.....

Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates 

 – Andrew Rush, a critically and commercially successful mystery novelist has a dark secret: under a pseudonym he pens lurid, violent potboilers. He risks everything if his secret comes out in this exceptional tale of suspense.

 

THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL (MARCH 2015)

 

I am currently reading THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL by Nadia Hashimi.

This is a story of two women in two very different Afghanistans: one on the brink of modernizations several generations ago, and the other on the brink of collapse under the pressure of the war between the Taliban and the Western forces. 

These two women, Rahima and her great-great-grandmother Shekiba face similar problems being women in a society that does not have any role for women besides bearing sons and doing housework.

The writing often doesn't flow, however, the more I read, the more I became invested in the characters and the story.

Through Rahima, THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL deals with questions that most of us living in Western countries would not really think consciously about in this decade (the right to education for girls, the freedom for girls to exist without being seen as indecent, women’s biggest achievement being more than the birth of sons, etc). 

I found it heart-breaking to read about Rahima and think of child-brides like her existing today, but I found it even more frustrating to see how little has changed in the role of women between the generations of these characters.

I recommend this book in spite of some minor flaws. It's an eye-opener.

IN LIKE A LION (MARCH 2015)

It may not feel like Spring in some parts of the world, but books are sprouting up everywhere...even though snow may still be on the ground! 

Below find a few new releases by authors you may know. You can order these books directly from this blog by clicking on the Amazon Search Box in the Sidebar.

 

ALL THE OLD KNIVES
By Olen Steinhauer

MYSTERY

The scene looks peaceful, even dreamy: an attractive couple dining together in beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. But this isn't a romantic evening for the two ex-lovers who are sharing a table at the Rendez-vous restaurant. CIA agent Henry has come from Vienna to find out whether Celia played a traitorous role in a deadly 2006 hijacking. The stakes are high and the tension unrelenting in Steinhauer's top-notch standalone spy novel, perfect for fans of "Homeland.

THE BURIED GIANT By Kazuo Ishiguro The long-awaited new novel from the acclaimed Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go) is a dramatic and intriguing departure from his previous work. Set in England's savage past, this Arthurian epic follows an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, on a quest to find their missing son. In a world of knights and dragons, ogres and pixies, Ishiguro confronts profound questions about memory and revenge. AND RELEASING MARCH 31 AT THE WATER'S EDGE by Sara Gruen In her stunning new novel, Gruen returns to the kind of storytelling she excelled at in Water for Elephants: a historical timeframe in an unusual setting with a moving love story. Think Scottish Downtown Abbey....