Stephen's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:59:06 -0700 60 Stephen's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Stephen 0 currently-reading 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Outsiders 192566704 214 S.E. Hinton 014240733X Stephen 4 4.22 1967 The Outsiders
author: S.E. Hinton
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1967
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
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]]> The Lord of the Rings 33 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.]]> 1216 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618640150 Stephen 0 4.52 1955 The Lord of the Rings
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> Conclave 29397486
Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election.

They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.

Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.]]> 288 Robert Harris Stephen 4 4.01 2016 Conclave
author: Robert Harris
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> The Stranger Inside 58892736 “Brilliant.� �The New York Times Book Review

When former journalist Rain Winter was twelve years old, she narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. The abductor was eventually found and sent to prison, but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice--and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, spending her days as a stay-at-home mom. But when another criminal who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case, forced to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes even good people are drawn to do evil things.]]> 432 Lisa Unger 0778333191 Stephen 0 currently-reading 3.66 2019 The Stranger Inside
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 1984 61439040
Alternate cover edition can be found here.]]> 368 George Orwell 0452284236 Stephen 5 4.21 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1949
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
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]]> Animal Farm 170448 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 141 George Orwell 0451526341 Stephen 5 4.07 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1945
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
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]]> Cloud Cuckoo Land 56783258 When everything is lost, it’s our stories that survive.

How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds.

Constantinople, 1453:
An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.

Idaho, 2020:
An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?

Unknown, Sometime in the Future:
With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.

Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.]]> 626 Anthony Doerr 1982168439 Stephen 0 to-read 4.24 2021 Cloud Cuckoo Land
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> Last Girl Ghosted 60023133 Secrets, obsession and vengeance converge in this riveting thriller about an online dating match turned deadly cat-and-mouse game, from the New York Times bestselling author of Confessions on the 7:45

She met him through a dating app. An intriguing picture on a screen, a date at a downtown bar. What she thought might be just a quick hookup quickly became much more. She fell for him—hard. It happens sometimes, a powerful connection with a perfect stranger takes you by surprise. Could it be love?

But then, just as things were getting real, he stood her up. Then he disappeared—profiles deleted, phone disconnected. She was ghosted.

Maybe it was her fault. She shared too much, too fast. But isn't that always what women think—that they're the ones to blame? Soon she learns there were others. Girls who thought they were in love. Girls who later went missing. She had been looking for a connection, but now she's looking for answers. Chasing a digital trail into his dark past—and hers—she finds herself on a dangerous hunt. And she's not sure whether she's the predator—or the prey.]]> 432 Lisa Unger 0778333264 Stephen 4 3.53 2021 Last Girl Ghosted
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
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]]> The Only One Left 62685463 Hung her sister with a rope

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

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

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

“It wasn’t me,� Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.]]> 398 Riley Sager 0593183231 Stephen 5 4.22 2023 The Only One Left
author: Riley Sager
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/13
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]]> Confessions on the 7:45 61199290 From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies.

Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and soon confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

Then the nanny disappears.

As Selena is pulled into the mystery of what happened, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, she begins to wonder, who was Martha really ? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover�

Don't miss The New Couple in 5B , Lisa Unger's newest psychological thriller about a couple that inherits an apartment with a truly chilling past.]]> 448 Lisa Unger 0778333892 Stephen 5 3.81 2019 Confessions on the 7:45
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
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]]> The Only One Left 62703226 At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

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

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

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

“It wasn’t me,� Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.]]> 383 Riley Sager 0593183223 Stephen 5 4.12 2023 The Only One Left
author: Riley Sager
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> The New Couple in 5B 128007059 A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this binge-worthy thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.]]> 384 Lisa Unger 0778333345 Stephen 4 3.55 2024 The New Couple in 5B
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six 60023131 to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller.

What could be more restful than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It'll be three couples on this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R.

But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.

A deadly storm is brewing.ĚýThe rental host seems just a little too present.ĚýThe personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history.ĚýAnd the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep.

How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?]]> 396 Lisa Unger 077833323X Stephen 4 3.38 2022 Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
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]]> Gone for Good 43930
Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother—and himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come.]]> 432 Harlan Coben 0440236738 Stephen 4 4.08 2002 Gone for Good
author: Harlan Coben
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Kill for Me (Romantic Suspense, #9; Philadelphia/Atlanta, #3)]]> 3401640 New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose delivers another pulse-pounding suspense novel that ties into SCREAM FOR ME.


Five teenage girls have been murdered. One survived, and only she can reveal the secrets of a disturbing ring of people who kidnap and sell teenage girls on the black market. But those responsible for the crimes will do whatever it takes to maintain her silence.

Susannah Vartanian and Luke Papadopoulos have both sworn to stop the murderers for their own reasons. Susannah, the sister of the hero in SCREAM FOR ME, suffers from a mysterious past that is connected to the sinister black market. Luke is an investigative agent and a computer expert who refuses to let another child predator get away.

Susannah and Luke are instantly attracted to each other, but their troubled pasts prevent them from immediately acting upon their feelings. The case will lead them to the shady realm of Internet chat rooms, where anyone can mask their identity. As Susannah and Luke draw closer to the criminals, they discover a chain of deception so intricate they don't know who to trust. Susannah and Luke find comfort in one another's arms, but the killers are ruthless and determined, and will take extreme measures to insure their anonymity and keep their business intact.]]> 417 Karen Rose 0446510300 Stephen 3 4.25 2009 Kill for Me (Romantic Suspense, #9; Philadelphia/Atlanta, #3)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Cheater (Romantic Suspense, #29; San Diego, #2)]]> 209088377 A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care.ĚýBut when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kitâ€� McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.]]> 448 Karen Rose 0593548876 Stephen 4 3.95 2024 Cheater (Romantic Suspense, #29; San Diego, #2)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
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]]> Tell No One 43933
Everyone tells him it's time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible- that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.

Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn't. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging headlong into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope.

But already Beck is being hunted down. He's headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret- and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.]]> 370 Harlan Coben 0440236703 Stephen 4 4.06 2001 Tell No One
author: Harlan Coben
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/04
date added: 2024/10/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sequel (The Book Series, #2)]]> 203578763 The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. Something has gone wrong, and someone out there knows far too much about her late brother, her late husband, and possibly about Anna herself. What does this person want, and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far and worked too hard to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story—and she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.]]> 304 Jean Hanff Korelitz 1250875471 Stephen 0 to-read 3.60 2024 The Sequel (The Book Series, #2)
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> Anxious People 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Stephen 4 4.17 2019 Anxious People
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/09/26
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]]> A Man Called Ove 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Stephen 5 4.35 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
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]]> The Winners (Beartown, #3) 60318890
As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.

So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?]]> 671 Fredrik Backman Stephen 5 4.45 2022 The Winners (Beartown, #3)
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
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]]> Us Against You (Beartown, #2) 36373463
Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.
]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1501160796 Stephen 5 4.34 2017 Us Against You (Beartown, #2)
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries, #1)]]> 195790849 Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.

All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series―is that too much to ask?

Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life―the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can't get out of her life―Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.

Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker―and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly―theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books.]]> 342 Catherine Mack 1250325854 Stephen 4 3.47 2024 Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries, #1)
author: Catherine Mack
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> The Teacher 195967140 A mind-bending, psychological thriller from Freida McFadden, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Housemaid!

Lesson #1: trust no one

Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except�

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.

Addie can't be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that's what everyone says.

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.

From the New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a story of twisting secrets and long-awaited revenge.]]> 379 Freida McFadden 1728296218 Stephen 4 3.82 2024 The Teacher
author: Freida McFadden
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/08/27
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]]> Beartown (Beartown, #1) 33413128
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.]]> 432 Fredrik Backman Stephen 5 4.27 2016 Beartown (Beartown, #1)
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves:
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]]> The Stars Turned Inside Out 176443161
Deep beneath the ground outside of Geneva, where CERN’s Large Hadron Collider smashes subatomic particles at breathtaking speeds, a startling discovery is made when the tunnel is down for maintenance: the body of Howard Anderby, a brilliant and recently arrived young physicist, who appears to have been irradiated by the collider. But security shows no evidence of him entering the tunnel, and for all of the lab’s funding, its video surveillance is sorely lacking.

Eager to keep the death under wraps until more is known, CERN brings in private investigator Sabine Leroux, who has her own ties to the lab’s administration—and more than a passing interest in particle physics. Meanwhile, Howard’s colleague and budding love interest Eve, shattered by his death, determines to reconcile what she knew of Howard with his gruesome fate, wondering if she could have done something to stop it.

As Sabine digs into petty academic rivalries and personal secrets, an escalating international physics arms race heightens tensions and fuels speculation of a mole at the lab—throwing into question loyalties and revealing what sort of knowledge may be worth killing for.]]> 320 Nova Jacobs 1668018543 Stephen 0 to-read 3.42 2024 The Stars Turned Inside Out
author: Nova Jacobs
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Equation of Isaac Severy]]> 35297219
Just days after mathematician and family patriarch Isaac Severy dies of an apparent suicide, his adopted granddaughter Hazel, owner of a struggling Seattle bookstore, receives a letter from him by mail. In it, Isaac alludes to a secretive organization that is after his final bombshell equation, and he charges Hazel with safely delivering it to a trusted colleague. But first, she must find where the equation is hidden.

While in Los Angeles for Isaac’s funeral, Hazel realizes she’s not the only one searching for his life’s work, and that the equation’s implications have potentially disastrous consequences for the extended Severy family, a group of dysfunctional geniuses unmoored by the sudden death of their patriarch.

As agents of an enigmatic company shadow Isaac’s favorite son—a theoretical physicist—and a long-lost cousin mysteriously reappears in Los Angeles, the equation slips further from Hazel’s grasp. She must unravel a series of maddening clues hidden by Isaac inside one of her favorite novels, drawing her ever closer to his mathematical treasure. But when her efforts fall short, she is forced to enlist the help of those with questionable motives.]]> 337 Nova Jacobs 1501175122 Stephen 0 to-read 3.53 2018 The Last Equation of Isaac Severy
author: Nova Jacobs
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Burning (Kate Burkholder, #16)]]> 195790608 Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates a gruesome murder that reveals a little-known chapter of early Amish history in this new installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.

Newlywed Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is awakened by an urgent midnight call summoning her to a suspicious fire in the woods. When she arrives at the scene, she discovers a charred body. According to the coroner, the deceased, an Amish man named Milan Swanz, was chained to a stake and burned alive. It is an appalling and eerily symbolic crime against an upstanding husband and father.

Kate knows all too well that the Amish prefer to handle their problems without interference from the outside world, and no one will speak about the murdered man. From what she’s able to piece together, Swanz led a deeply troubled life and had recently been excommunicated. But if that’s the case, why are the Amish so reluctant to talk about him? Are they protecting the memory of one of their own? Or are they afraid of something they dare not share?

When her own brother is implicated in the case, Kate finds herself not only at odds with the Amish, the world of which she was once a part, but also the English community and her counterparts in law enforcement. The investigation takes a violent turn when Kate’s life is threatened by a mysterious stranger.

To uncover the truth about the death of Milan Swanz, Kate must dive deep into the Anabaptist culture, peering into all the dark corners of its history, only to uncover a secret legacy that shatters everything she thought she knew about the Amish themselves―and her own roots.]]> 320 Linda Castillo 1250781116 Stephen 4 4.13 2024 The Burning (Kate Burkholder, #16)
author: Linda Castillo
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond the Envelope: Mr. Star's Story]]> 57354891
From The Circle:

“Ma'am do you need some help?�

“Son? Terry?� The voice was raspy from disuse.

“No ma'am I'm not your son. I'm not Terry, I'm, uh, one of his friends.� Doug recalled how the woman had mistaken Eric for Terry, too.

“My son's coming to pick me up soon.�

She might be crazy but she was semi-coherent. “Terry can't come right now ma’am�

Her eyes filled with tears.



What ever happened to Terry Rawlings?]]> 31 Stephen J. Galgon 1638487316 Stephen 0 currently-reading 4.64 2021 Beyond the Envelope: Mr. Star's Story
author: Stephen J. Galgon
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Legends of the Circle 57354800
THE CIRCLE, a shadow organization of cold-blooded killers, has thrived for almost a century—long before Doug Goodwin ever set foot into the VIP parlor of Tasker’s Bar.

The Circle maintains its clandestine status through compulsory bylaws carrying harsh penalties, exacting their own brand of justice on any member that dares question their methods.

Throughout the Circle’s illustrious history, only a select few have ever violated those sacred rules.

Those members became . . . LEGENDS of the CIRCLE]]> 407 Stephen J. Galgon 1638487391 Stephen 0 currently-reading 4.58 2021 Legends of the Circle
author: Stephen J. Galgon
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2021/12/29
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:
Legends of the Circle was a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did!
]]> The Circle 52422945
MEMBERS of THE CIRCLE don’t have to imagine such a life. They live it. The liberation of being both hunter and hunted. The salvation that comes with such freedom. A chance to feel truly alive. A chance to savor each precious moment. Because in THE CIRCLE any moment could be your last.

DOUGLAS GOODWIN isn’t rich. He isn’t powerful. What could the sacred society of THE CIRCLE possibly want with him—just a regular guy with a regular job leading a regular life? What would drive them to coerce a young man who has always valued integrity over hedonism into their midst? And why would Doug agree to submersion in a world of secrecy and murder? It’s unthinkable.

THE HARSH REALITY? Doug has been inducted into an institution where friends become enemies overnight, loyalty is a nothing more than a punchline, and conscience is a burden. Where he will be hunted and expected to hunt other members to their death. With no escape from THE CIRCLE’s ubiquitous influence and domination.

HOW FAR WILL DOUG GO? How much will he sacrifice to preserve his way of life? Will he be swayed by the money, the women, the power? Or will THE CIRCLE consume him, as it has hundreds of others before him, and leave nothing but another nameless corpse in its wake?]]> 426 Stephen J. Galgon 0578538768 Stephen 0 currently-reading 4.36 2019 The Circle
author: Stephen J. Galgon
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:
Thrilling, if i do say so myself. You won't be able to put it down!
]]> <![CDATA[Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (Finlay Donovan, #4)]]> 150072956
Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco's already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay's night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?]]> 320 Elle Cosimano 1250846005 Stephen 4 3.88 2024 Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (Finlay Donovan, #4)
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing, and Searching for Home]]> 123380027
Set on the Jersey Shore in the free-range 1980s, Camerota is thirteen when she becomes spellbound by a local punk rock band named Shrapnel and instantly becomes a diehard fan. Combat Love chronicles Camerota’s harrowing close calls and wild misadventures at clubs like the iconic CBGB, against the backdrop of sex, drugs, and punk rock. When Camerota finds herself on her own at sixteen, she relies on the good will of strangers, friends, and song lyrics for life guidance.

Camerota retraces her misteps and longings down a winding, gritty path toward her big dream of becoming a TV reporter and finding lasting love. Compelling, heart-wrenching, funny, and pulse-pounding, Combat Love is an anthem of hope and resilience for anyone who’s ever searched for that elusive place called home.]]> 356 Alisyn Camerota 1644283719 Stephen 0 paused 4.24 Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing, and Searching for Home
author: Alisyn Camerota
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/07
shelves: paused
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank (Finlay Donovan, #3.5)]]> 194490015 A hilarious short story diving into Finlay Donovan's partner-in-crime Vero's past.

Anyone can spot a window of opportunity, but not everyone can manage to fall straight through one.

Veronica Ruiz is on the run for the first time in her life—though certainly not the last. After being falsely accused of stealing money from her college sorority, she packs up and heads to her cousin Ramón's apartment, planning to change her name and rebuild start over away from backstabbing girls and university drama (and far, far away from her arrest warrant in Maryland).

At the local bank on the first morning of her new life, it occurs to Vero that she'd be a better bank teller than most of the current employees: she may not have much money, but what little she does have, she knows how to manage. Unfortunately, the only available position is a cleaning job and so, desperate for a fresh start, she takes the bank manager’s offer.

But nothing in Vero's world has ever been simple, so of course shortly after she begins work, she overhears a conversation between her new boss and a security guard: someone who works there has been stealing. Seeing a window of opportunity, Vero sets out to find the identity of the thief, present the evidence, and then push for the perfect job. All of which would be easier if her irresistibly infuriating childhood crush Javi wasn’t living in the same damn town.

Offering the insight that listeners have been craving into fan-favorite Vero's past and a closer look at the moment Finlay and Vero first meet, Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank is a can't-miss addition to the Finlay Donovan series.]]> 107 Elle Cosimano 1250343313 Stephen 4 3.51 2023 Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank (Finlay Donovan, #3.5)
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/07
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review:

]]> Middle of the Night 199026522 In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.]]> 367 Riley Sager 0593472373 Stephen 4 3.66 2024 Middle of the Night
author: Riley Sager
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves:
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]]> The Edge (The 6:20 Man, #2) 123024036 The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets—can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?
Ěý
When CIA operative Jenny Sikwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.
Ěý
Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.
Ěý
Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Potter, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust... and who wants him dead.]]> 417 David Baldacci 1538719924 Stephen 4 4.37 2023 The Edge (The 6:20 Man, #2)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/15
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves:
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]]> Alone 49202861
With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.

As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?]]> 404 Megan E. Freeman 1534467564 Stephen 4 4.13 2021 Alone
author: Megan E. Freeman
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 6:20 Man (The 6:20 Man, #1)]]> 59586621
Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building—presumably a suicide, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the Army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

This treacherous role will take Travis from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power…where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bullseye.]]> 593 David Baldacci 1538719878 Stephen 4 4.17 2022 The 6:20 Man (The 6:20 Man, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #1)]]> 204276 The Barnes & Noble Review
From the bestselling author of Last Man Standing and Absolute Power comes another high-tension thriller guaranteed to get your heart hammering.

Sean King is a former Secret Service agent who, eight years ago, botched the job of protecting a presidential candidate. When he meets Michelle Maxwell, an attractive agent whose political charge has just been kidnapped, the two disgraced operatives uncover an ominous connection between the incidents. They team up, and -- as bodies begin to pile up -- they find themselves racing against the clock to prevent an assassin from striking again along the campaign trail.

A masterful craftsman, Baldacci manipulates his story line with great effectiveness, creating a sense of danger and foreboding and imbuing even secondary characters with enough depth and dimension to rescue them from stereotypes. Conspiracies and mysteries abound in this taut mystery that weaves together action-packed scenarios and solid emotional impact. If Absolute Power elevated Baldacci to the highest ranks of suspense fiction, the compulsively readable Split Second will solidify his position at the top. Tom Piccirilli]]> 512 David Baldacci 0446614459 Stephen 0 to-read 4.00 1979 Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Camel Club (The Camel Club, #1)]]> 15158
Existing at the fringes of Washington D.C., the Club consists of four eccentric members. Led by a mysterious man known as "Oliver Stone," there's also Library of Congress reference expert Caleb Shaw, computer genius Milton Farb, and laborer Reuben Rhodes. They study conspiracy theories, current events, and the machinations of government in an attempt to discover the "truth" behind the country's actions.

Their efforts bear little fruit --- until the group witnesses a shocking murder, and becomes embroiled in an astounding, far-reaching conspiracy. Now the Club must join forces with a fifth person, a Secret Service agent, to confront one of the most chilling spectacles ever to take place on American soil --- an event that may trigger the ultimate war between two different worlds. All that stands in the way of this apocalypse is five unexpected heroes.

Librarian's note: there are five novels and a short story in the author's Camel Club series. They are: #1. The Camel Club (2005), #2. The Collectors (2006), #3. Stone Cold (2007), #4. Divine Justice (2008), and #5. Hell's Corner (2010). The short story is #6. Bullseye (2014), a Will Robie / The Camel Club Short Story.]]> 480 David Baldacci Stephen 0 to-read 4.05 2005 The Camel Club (The Camel Club, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Zero Day (John Puller, #1) 11007587
As the body count rises he teams up with local homicide detective Samantha Cole. As the web of deceit is revealed, it quickly becomes apparent that there’s much more to this case than they had first thought. It is an investigation where nothing is as it seems, and nothing can be taken at face value.]]> 434 David Baldacci 0446573019 Stephen 0 to-read 4.01 2011 Zero Day (John Puller, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[City in Ruins (Danny Ryan, #3)]]> 196968157
Danny Ryan is rich. Beyond his wildest dreams rich.

The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman � a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.

Life is good. But then Danny reaches too far.

When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.

Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything � not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.

To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was � and never wanted to be again.]]> 400 Don Winslow 006307947X Stephen 5 4.29 2024 City in Ruins (Danny Ryan, #3)
author: Don Winslow
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/23
date added: 2024/05/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cheater (Romantic Suspense #29; San Diego, #2)]]> 181350350 A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care.ĚýBut when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kitâ€� McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.]]> 451 Karen Rose 0593548892 Stephen 4 4.04 2024 Cheater (Romantic Suspense #29; San Diego, #2)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2024/05/22
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[No One Left to Tell (Romantic Suspense, #13; Baltimore, #2)]]> 11264393
Five years ago, State’s Attorney Grayson Smith put a murderer behind bars. But when Paige Holden shares the flash drive with him, its contents cast doubts on the conviction—and lead him and Paige into a world of blackmail, dark secrets, and a decades-long string of murders. An investigation they’ll survive only by trusting each other—and the truth.]]> 544 Karen Rose 0755373952 Stephen 4 4.21 2012 No One Left to Tell (Romantic Suspense, #13; Baltimore, #2)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Clinic 123430981 From the critically acclaimed author of Black Widows comes a thriller set in a remote rehab clinic on the Pacific Northwest coast, in which the death of a woman inside prompts her sister to enter the clinic as a patient in order to find the truth. Perfect for fans of Stacy Willingham and Tarryn Fisher!

Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a far different path than her sister Haley, a famous actress. But suddenly reports surface of Haley dying at the remote rehab facility where she had been forced to go to get her addictions under control.

There are whispers of suicide, but Meg can't believe it. She decides that the best way to find out what happened to her sister is to check in herself � to investigate what really happened from the inside.

Battling her own addictions and figuring out the truth will be much more difficult than she imagined, far away from friends, family � and anyone who could help her.]]> 448 Cate Quinn 1728293987 Stephen 4 3.50 2024 The Clinic
author: Cate Quinn
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
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]]> Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) 32307358 This an alternate cover for B01LY7FD0D

Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a major announcement--the unveiling of a discovery that "will change the face of science forever." The evening's host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon's first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough . . . one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch's precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch's secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain's Royal Palace itself . . . and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch's shocking discovery . . . and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us. Origin is stunningly inventive--Dan Brown's most brilliant and entertaining novel to date]]> 482 Dan Brown Stephen 4 3.87 2017 Origin (Robert Langdon, #5)
author: Dan Brown
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> A Twisted Love Story 52379875 From the bestselling author of My Lovely Wife comes a reckless, delicious thriller about a young couple that gives a whole new meaning to the dangers of modern dating.

Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They've never felt anything like it. It's the kind of romance people write stories about.

But what kind of story?

Because when it's good, it's great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears.

When it's bad, it's really bad. Vengeful fights. Damaged property. Arrest warrants.

But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconnections needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy--and she's a detective.

There's something Wes and Ivy never talk about--in good times or bad. The night of their worst breakup, when one of them took things too far, and someone ended up dead.

If they can stick together, they can survive anything--even the tightening net of a police investigation.

Because one more breakup might just be their last…]]> 390 Samantha Downing 0593101006 Stephen 5 3.19 2023 A Twisted Love Story
author: Samantha Downing
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
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]]> The Measure 58884736
"A story of love and hope as interweaving characters display: how all moments, big and small, can measure a life. If you want joy, love, romance, and hope—read with us." —Jenna Bush Hager
A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster that asks: would you choose to find out the length of your life?

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, drink a cup of coffee, and head out.

But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. The contents of this mysterious box tells you the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is an ambitious, invigorating story about family, friendship, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.]]> 353 Nikki Erlick 0063204207 Stephen 5 3.96 2022 The Measure
author: Nikki Erlick
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/17
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> The Paris Apartment 58468990 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide�

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

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

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

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.]]> 360 Lucy Foley 0063003058 Stephen 5 3.63 2022 The Paris Apartment
author: Lucy Foley
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
review:

]]> On a Quiet Street 202074552 Every family has its secrets. Some are more deadly than others�

I live on a quiet tree-lined street with my perfect husband Cain. But when 18-year-old Charlotte knocks on the front door, what she says has me questioning just how well I really know my husband.

â€I was adopted as a baby and I’m looking for my biological parents. I was told they live here.â€�

My heart races as I fear Cain has been keeping a huge secret from me. Does he have a child he never told me about? And has he been lying all these years?

I can’t trust anything Cain says. Desperate for answers, I agree to meet Charlotte in secret. But it’s Charlotte who is full of about our lives, our relationship. It’s only when she lets slip the name of the road I used to live on, that I realise how much she knows about me, too�

Cold fear floods through my body. My husband may not have told the truth, but his lies are nothing compared to mine. If Charlotte knows my darkest secret, my whole life could fall apart. How far will I have to go to keep the truth hidden?

If you loved The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and Gone Girl you will be absolutely gripped by this heart-stopping psychological thriller. ]]> 310 Carla Kovach 1837904944 Stephen 4 3.60 2024 On a Quiet Street
author: Carla Kovach
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[You Belong to Me (Romantic Suspense, #12; Baltimore, #1)]]> 8697191 YEARS AGO A YOUNG WOMAN WAS BEATEN AND RAPED WHILE ONLOOKERS DID NOTHING. NOW THOSE WITNESSES ARE BECOMING VICTIMS THEMSELVES...

Baltimore homicide detective J.D. Fitzpatrick has seen a lot of horrific violence both as a cop and during his deployment in Afghanistan, but nothing like the trail of tortured bodies turning up throughout the city. He's up against a brutal killer with a very personal vendetta, and J.D. is beginning to suspect that his medical examiner may be shielding some crucial evidence linked to the case.

Medical examiner Dr. Lucy Trask is intrigued by J.D.'s compassion, but she isn't about to mix work with pleasure. Not while there's a ruthless killer on the loose. And definitely not while she's keeping a dark secret that could connect her to these vicious killings - and put her next on the killer's hit list...]]> 480 Karen Rose 0755373901 Stephen 4 4.16 2011 You Belong to Me (Romantic Suspense, #12; Baltimore, #1)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/07
date added: 2024/02/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)]]> 60395678
Things are changing for Decker. He’s in crisis following the suicide of a close friend and receipt of a letter concerning a personal issue which could change his life forever. Together with the prospect of working with a new partner, Frederica White, Amos knows that this case will take all of his special skills to solve.

As darkness falls, evil comes to light . . .

Judge Julia Cummins seemingly had no enemies, and there was no forced entry to her property. Close friends and neighbours in the community apparently heard nothing, and Cummins� distraught ex-husband, Barry, and teenage son, Tyler, both have strong alibis. Decker must first find the answer to why the judge felt the need for a bodyguard, and the meaning behind the strange calling card left by the killer.

Someone has decided it’s payback time.]]> 448 David Baldacci 1538719797 Stephen 4 4.44 2022 Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/02
date added: 2024/02/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Walk the Wire (Amos Decker, #6)]]> 52838845 Amos Decker -- the FBI consultant with a perfect memory -- returns to solve a gruesome murder in a booming North Dakota oil town in the newest thriller in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling Memory Man series.

When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of a second gold rush has attracted an onslaught of newcomers all hoping for a windfall, and the community is growing faster than houses can be built. The sudden boom has also brought a slew of problems with it, including drugs, property crimes, prostitution -- and now murder.

Decker and Jamison are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open -- which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case. As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene's life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day -- a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.

London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer's death. . . before the boom town explodes.]]> 432 David Baldacci Stephen 4 4.17 2020 Walk the Wire (Amos Decker, #6)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/10
date added: 2024/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cheater (Romantic Suspense, #29; San Diego, #2)]]> 181344999 A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care.ĚýBut when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kitâ€� McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.]]> 455 Karen Rose 0593548884 Stephen 0 to-read 4.37 2024 Cheater (Romantic Suspense, #29; San Diego, #2)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quarter to Midnight (Romantic Suspense, #26; New Orleans, #1)]]> 59575977 There are good cops. And there are bad cops. The question is...who wins?

After completing her tours with the Marines in Iraq, Molly Sutton knew she could take down any bad guy she met. But when her law enforcement agency in North Carolina turned against her, she joined up with her former CO Burke Broussard, who left New Orleans PD to set up a private investigative service for people who couldn't find justice elsewhere.

Gabe Hebert saw the toll that working for the NOPD took on his dad and decided instead to make a name for himself as one of the best young chefs in the French Quarter. But when his father's death is ruled a suicide after a deliberately botched investigation by his former captain, Gabe knows his dad stumbled onto a truth that someone wants silenced.

Gabe goes to his father's best friend, Burke, for help. Burke assigns the toughest member of his team, Molly, to the case. Molly can't believe she's being asked to work with the smoking hot chef whose chocolate cake is not the only thing that makes her mouth water. Sparks fly as they follow the leads Gabe's dad left them, unraveling a web of crimes, corruption, and murder that runs all the way to the top.]]> 594 Karen Rose 0593336291 Stephen 5 4.05 2022 Quarter to Midnight (Romantic Suspense, #26; New Orleans, #1)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/02
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Buried Too Deep (Romantic Suspense, #30; New Orleans, #3)]]> 202241027 From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose comes another explosive novel in the New Orleans series, where some secrets are worth dying for—or killing to keep.

Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.

Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Private Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his Army service while still utilizing his military skills. But when a violent break-in occurs at the office, the accusatory eyes of the NOPD glance to Phin, and he resolves to track down the intruder and clear his name.

Phin’s only lead and witness is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers. Her father’s body has been discovered under a recently demolished building, murdered twenty-three years ago. So, who has been sending her the handwritten letters—written and signed by him—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her.

As Cora’s bodyguard, Phin is surprised by his fondness for the woman’s fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.]]> 525 Karen Rose 059363859X Stephen 0 to-read 4.46 2024 Buried Too Deep (Romantic Suspense, #30; New Orleans, #3)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Redemption (Amos Decker, #5) 41064227
Amos Decker and his FBI partner Alex Jamison are visiting his hometown of Burlington, Ohio, when he's approached by an unfamiliar man. But he instantly recognizes the man's name: Meryl Hawkins. He's the first person Decker ever arrested for murder back when he was a young detective. Though a dozen years in prison have left Hawkins unrecognizably aged and terminally ill, one thing hasn't changed: He maintains he never committed the murders. Could it be possible that Decker made a mistake all those years ago? As he starts digging into the old case, Decker finds a startling connection to a new crime that he may be able to prevent, if only he can put the pieces together quickly enough...]]> 417 David Baldacci 1538761416 Stephen 4 4.09 2019 Redemption (Amos Decker, #5)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/13
date added: 2023/12/13
shelves:
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]]> The Fallen (Amos Decker, #4) 36004075 David Baldacci returns with the next blockbuster thriller in his #1 New York Times bestselling Memory Man series featuring detective Amos Decker--the man who can forget nothing.

Amos Decker and his journalist friend Alex Jamison are visiting the home of Alex's sister in Barronville, a small town in western Pennsylvania that has been hit hard economically. When Decker is out on the rear deck of the house talking with Alex's niece, a precocious eight-year-old, he notices flickering lights and then a spark of flame in the window of the house across the way. When he goes to investigate he finds two dead bodies inside and it's not clear how either man died. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There's something going on in Barronville that might be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country.

Faced with a stonewalling local police force, and roadblocks put up by unseen forces, Decker and Jamison must pull out all the stops to solve the case. And even Decker's infallible memory may not be enough to save them.]]> 432 David Baldacci 1538761378 Stephen 4 4.30 2018 The Fallen (Amos Decker, #4)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/05
date added: 2023/12/05
shelves:
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]]> The Fix (Amos Decker, #3) 31562247
Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter--a family man with a successful consulting business--and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack.

Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren't cleared for it.

But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government--or worse, an international terrorist group--and an attack may be imminent.]]> 434 David Baldacci Stephen 3 4.21 2017 The Fix (Amos Decker, #3)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/30
date added: 2023/11/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2)]]> 26245853
Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars's case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life: Both men were talented football players with promising careers cut short by tragedy. Both men's families were brutally murdered. And in both cases, another suspect came forward, years after the killing, to confess to the crime. A suspect who may or may not have been telling the truth.

The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars--guilty or not--a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger--and more sinister--than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance. Decker will need all of his extraordinary brainpower to stop an innocent man from being executed.]]> 644 David Baldacci 1455566020 Stephen 3 4.14 2016 The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/24
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Memory Man (Amos Decker, #1) 23153154
When Amos Decker returned home to find the bodies of his wife and only daughter, he didn't think he could carry on living.

Overwhelmed with grief, Decker saw his life fall apart, losing his job as a detective, his house, and his self-respect. But when his former partner visits to tell him that someone has confessed to the murder of his family, he knows he must seek justice for them.

Then tragedy strikes at the local school: teenagers are gunned down and the killer is at large. Following the serious brain injury Amos suffered as a professional footballer, he gained a remarkable gift - and the police believe that this unusual skill will assist in the hunt for the killer.

Amos Decker must endure the memories he would rather forget, and when new evidence links the murders, he is left with only one option...]]> 416 David Baldacci 1455559822 Stephen 5 4.04 2015 Memory Man (Amos Decker, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves:
review:

]]> End Game (Will Robie, #5) 34368113
But now, Blue Man is missing.

Last seen in rural Colorado, Blue Man had taken a rare vacation to go fly fishing in his hometown when he disappeared off the grid. With no communications since, the team can't help but fear the worst.

Sent to investigate, Robie and Reel arrive in the small town of Grand to discover that it has its own share of problems. A stagnant local economy and a woefully understaffed police force have made this small community a magnet for crime, drugs, and a growing number of militant fringe groups.

But lying in wait in Grand is an even more insidious and sweeping threat, one that may shake the very foundations of America. And when Robie and Reel find themselves up against an adversary with superior firepower and a home-court advantage, they'll be lucky if they make it out alive, with or without Blue Man...]]> 408 David Baldacci 1455586609 Stephen 4 4.02 2017 End Game (Will Robie, #5)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/12
date added: 2023/11/12
shelves:
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]]> The Guilty (Will Robie, #4) 40606240 But now, his skills have left him. Sent overseas on a critical assignment, he fails, unable to pull the trigger. Absent his talents, Robie is a man without a mission, and without a purpose.
To recover what he has lost, Robie must confront what he has tried to forget for over twenty years: his own past.
THE GUILTY
Will Robie escaped his small Gulf Coast hometown of Cantrell, Mississippi, after high school, severing all personal ties, and never looked back. Not once. Not until the unimaginable occurs. His father, Dan Robie, has been arrested and charged with murder.
Father and son haven't spoken or seen each other since the day Robie left town. In that time, Dan Robie--a local attorney and pillar of the community--has been elected town judge. Despite this, most of Cantrell is aligned against Dan. His guilt is assumed.
To make matters worse, Dan has refused to do anything to defend himself. When Robie tries to help, his father responds only with anger and defiance. Could Dan really be guilty?
With the equally formidable Jessica Reel at his side, Robie ignores his father's wishes and begins his own desperate investigation into the case. But Robie is now a stranger to his hometown, an outsider, a man who has forsaken his past and his family. His attempts to save his father are met with distrust and skepticism . . . and violence.
Unlike the missions Robie undertook in the service of his country, where his target was clearly defined, digging into his father's case only reveals more questions. Robie is drawn into the hidden underside of Cantrell, where he must face the unexpected and possibly deadly consequences of the long-ago choices made by father and son. And this time, there may be no escape for either of them.]]> 433 David Baldacci 1455586412 Stephen 4 4.30 2015 The Guilty (Will Robie, #4)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/08
date added: 2023/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Target (Will Robie, #3) 18353714 Together, Robie and Reel's talents as assassins are unmatched. But there are some in power who don't trust the pair. They doubt their willingness to follow orders. And they will do anything to see that the two assassins succeed, but that they do not survive.

As they prepare for their mission, Reel faces a personal crisis that could well lead old enemies right to her doorstep, resurrecting the ghosts of her earlier life and bringing stark danger to all those close to her. And all the while, Robie and Reel are stalked by a new adversary: an unknown and unlikely assassin, a woman who has trained her entire life to kill, and who has her own list of targets--a list that includes Will Robie and Jessica Reel.

]]> 420 David Baldacci 1455521205 Stephen 4 4.05 2014 The Target (Will Robie, #3)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/02
date added: 2023/11/02
shelves:
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]]> Bullseye (Will Robie, #2.5) 18709246
Robie is closing in on his next target when he finds himself in the middle of a bank heist--and is taken hostage. Alongside Oliver Stone of all people! Is this just a simple bank job? Or are the robbers after something even more valuable, and dangerous, than the cash in the vault?

Librarian's note #1: the story is only available as an eBook or an audio book.

Librarian's note #2: there are five novels and a short story in the author's Camel Club series. They are: #1. The Camel Club (2005), #2. The Collectors (2006), #3. Stone Cold (2007), #4. Divine Justice (2008), and #5. Hell's Corner (2010). The short story is #6. Bullseye (2014) - an Original Will Robie / The Camel Club Short Story.]]> 60 David Baldacci 1455557285 Stephen 3 3.97 2014 Bullseye (Will Robie, #2.5)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/30
date added: 2023/10/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Hit (Will Robie, #2) 15791154 A highly skilled assassin, Robie is the man the U.S. government calls on to eliminate the worst of the worst-enemies of the state, monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims.

No one else can match Robie's talents as a hitman...no one, except Jessica Reel. A fellow assassin, equally professional and dangerous, Reel is every bit as lethal as Robie. And now, she's gone rogue, turning her gun sights on other members of their agency.

To stop one of their own, the government looks again to Will Robie. His mission: bring in Reel, dead or alive. Only a killer can catch another killer, they tell him.

But as Robie pursues Reel, he quickly finds that there is more to her betrayal than meets the eye. Her attacks on the agency conceal a larger threat, a threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world.

]]> 392 David Baldacci 1455521213 Stephen 4 4.07 2013 The Hit (Will Robie, #2)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/30
date added: 2023/10/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Back (One of Us Is Lying, #3)]]> 57932307 The global phenomenon returns with the third book in the One of Us Is Lying series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus. When someone from the Bayview Four’s past resurfaces, history begins to repeat itself—and the consequences are deadly.

The third time’s a charm.

It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.

Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game� is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any.

Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.

The thing is, Simon was right about secrets—they all come out eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.]]> 368 Karen M. McManus 0593485033 Stephen 4 3.96 2023 One of Us Is Back (One of Us Is Lying, #3)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/25
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The Innocent (Will Robie, #1) 12849385 It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway -- her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.

Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life... and perhaps his own.

]]> 422 David Baldacci 0446572993 Stephen 5 4.13 2012 The Innocent (Will Robie, #1)
author: David Baldacci
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/20
date added: 2023/10/20
shelves:
review:
Great story, matched by the excellent production of the audiobook. thoroughly enjoyed it!
]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying, #2)]]> 44654627 Come on, Bayview, you know you've missed this.

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.

Until now.

This time it's not an app, though—it's a game.

Truth or Dare.

Phoebe's the first target. If you choose not to play, it's a truth. And hers is dark.

Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.

But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it's that they can't count on the police for help. Or protection.

Simon's gone, but someone's determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there's a whole new set of rules.

The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller everyone is talking about, One of Us Is Lying! There's a new mystery to solve at Bayview High, and there's a whole new set of rules.]]> 377 Karen M. McManus 0525707964 Stephen 4 3.90 2020 One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying, #2)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/18
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)]]> 58679358 On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.]]> 416 Karen M. McManus 0593565371 Stephen 4 3.87 2017 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/16
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves:
review:

]]> What Have We Done 60784578
A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Three disparate lives.
One deadly secret.

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, having forged a bond through the abuse and neglect they endured as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down―after the disappearance of several kids―the three were split up.

Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live accomplished―if troubled―lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them.

To survive, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their shared past―a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

It’s a reunion none of them asked for . . . or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.

What Have We Done is both an edge-of-your-seat thriller and a gut-wrenching coming-of-age story.]]> 358 Alex Finlay 1250863724 Stephen 4 3.50 2023 What Have We Done
author: Alex Finlay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/12
date added: 2023/10/12
shelves:
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]]> The Night Shift 57693427
Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive.

Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words... “Goodnight, pretty girl.�

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.]]> 312 Alex Finlay 1250268885 Stephen 5 3.87 2022 The Night Shift
author: Alex Finlay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/09
date added: 2023/10/09
shelves:
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]]> Nothing More to Tell 51559209
The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder—but instead, thanks to Tripp, they're now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp’s friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie.

Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and when Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she uncovers secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot.

Four years ago someone got away with murder. More terrifying is that they might be closer than anyone thinks.]]> 358 Karen M. McManus 0593175905 Stephen 4 3.89 2022 Nothing More to Tell
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/05
date added: 2023/10/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hush (Detective Harriet Blue #4)]]> 52594461 Top cop, devoted sister, and now Inmate 3329: even prison bars won't stop Harriet Blue from seeking justice for the murder of her brother.


Prison is a dangerous place for a former cop -- as Harriet Blue is learning on a daily basis.


So, following a fight for her life and a prison-wide lockdown, the last person she wants to see is Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Woods. The man who put her inside.


But Woods is not there to gloat. His daughter Tonya and her two-year-old child have gone missing.


He's ready to offer Harriet a deal: find his family to buy her freedom . . .
]]> 384 James Patterson 1538751135 Stephen 5 3.90 2019 Hush (Detective Harriet Blue #4)
author: James Patterson
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/03
date added: 2023/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Liar Liar (Detective Harriet Blue, #3)]]> 36478638 Detective Harriet Blue is clear about two things. Regan Banks deserves to die. And she’ll be the one to pull the trigger.

But Regan � the vicious serial killer responsible for destroying her brother’s life � has gone to ground.

Suddenly, her phone rings. It’s him. Regan.

â€Catch me if you can,â€� he tells her.

Harriet needs to find this killing machine fast, even if the cost is her own life. So she follows him down the Australian south coast with only one thing on her mind.

Revenge is coming � and its name is Harriet Blue �]]> 368 James Patterson 1780898770 Stephen 5 3.80 2018 Liar Liar (Detective Harriet Blue, #3)
author: James Patterson
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves:
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]]> Fish in a Tree 22402972
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions.ĚýShe is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there’s a lot more to her—and to everyone—than a label, and that great minds don’t always think alike.]]> 288 Lynda Mullaly Hunt 0399162593 Stephen 5 4.24 2015 Fish in a Tree
author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/20
date added: 2023/09/20
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Fifty Fifty (Detective Harriet Blue, #2)]]> 33143062 Sam Blue stands accused of the brutal murders of three young students, their bodies dumped near the Georges River. Only one person believes he is innocent: his sister, Detective Harriet Blue. And she’s determined to prove it.

Except she’s now been banished to the outback town of Last Chance Valley (population 75), where a diary found on the roadside outlines a shocking plan � the massacre of the entire town. And the first death, shortly after Harry’s arrival, suggests the clock is already ticking.

Meanwhile, back in Sydney, a young woman holds the key to crack Sam’s case wide open.

If only she could escape the madman holding her hostage . . .

]]> 377 James Patterson Stephen 5 3.83 2017 Fifty Fifty (Detective Harriet Blue, #2)
author: James Patterson
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/19
date added: 2023/09/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Never Never (Detective Harriet Blue, #1)]]> 27993244 Shocked and in denial, Harry is transferred to Perth to avoid the media exposure this case will attract. Harry is sent into the outback � the never never � to investigate the disappearance of mine worker Danny Carter. The mining town is a seedy place, full of money and immoral ways to spend it. As Harry delves deeper into the murky lives of these miners, she finds that Danny isn’t the first to go missing.

]]> 342 James Patterson Stephen 5 3.57 2016 Never Never (Detective Harriet Blue, #1)
author: James Patterson
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/14
date added: 2023/09/14
shelves:
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]]> Fire with Fire 61885120 A pair of desperate parents. A man on the run. A rookie cop.
Four people with everything on the line.
What will be left in the ashes of the next 24 hours?

Following their daughter's mysterious disappearance, Ryan and Elsie Delaney have taken the LAPD forensic lab hostage, and have given law enforcement an ultimatum: Find their daughter, Tilly, or they will destroy all the evidence they can find to other cold cases.

Detective Charlie Hoskins has been undercover in a deadly motorcycle gang for five years. With his cover blown, he has no choice but to find Tilly himself, or lose everything he's worked for as the lab burns.

Lynette Lamb was a police officer—until yesterday, when she was fired before her first beat. Figuring out what happened to Tilly is her one and only chance at rejoining the career she's prepared her whole life for.

Hoskins and Lamb will have to team up to solve this cold case, and will have to move fast—before the situation explodes.]]> 314 Candice Fox 125087596X Stephen 5 Loved this!! 4.14 2023 Fire with Fire
author: Candice Fox
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/12
date added: 2023/09/12
shelves:
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Loved this!!
]]> In a Dark, Dark Wood 27834600
Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself.

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.]]> 352 Ruth Ware 1501112333 Stephen 4 3.76 2015 In a Dark, Dark Wood
author: Ruth Ware
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/10
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves:
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]]> The Coworker 123423832 Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.

Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.

So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell—beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running—is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything�

It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider—she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim?

But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.

The Coworker is a tense, unputdownable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden that explores the dark ways the past can echo through the present―with deadly consequences.]]> 362 Freida McFadden 172829620X Stephen 4 3.68 2023 The Coworker
author: Freida McFadden
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/07
date added: 2023/09/07
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]]> Ward D 123193218 spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.

Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out.

And as the hours tick by, Amy grows increasingly convinced something terrible is happening within these tightly secured walls. When patients and staff start to vanish without a trace, it becomes clear that everyone on the unit is in grave danger.

Amy’s worst nightmare was spending the night on Ward D.

And now she might never escape.
]]> 348 Freida McFadden Stephen 5 3.98 2023 Ward D
author: Freida McFadden
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/04
date added: 2023/09/04
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]]> All the Sinners Bleed 61884832 A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Powerful and unforgettable, All the Sinners Bleed confirms S. A. Cosby as “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction� (The Washington Post).]]> 338 S.A. Cosby 1250831911 Stephen 5 4.19 2023 All the Sinners Bleed
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/27
date added: 2023/08/27
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]]> Never Lie 62080187
But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate� with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.]]> 286 Freida McFadden Stephen 4 4.09 2022 Never Lie
author: Freida McFadden
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/25
date added: 2023/08/25
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]]> City on Fire 24189224 New York Times
Ěý
New York City, 1976. Meet Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city’s great fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who, for better or worse, love them; Charlie and Samantha, two suburban teenagers seduced by downtown’s punk scene; an obsessive magazine reporter and his idealistic neighbor—and the detective trying to figure out what any of them have to do with a shooting in Central Park on New Year’s Eve.
Ěý
The mystery, as it reverberates through families, friendships, and the corridors of power, will open up even the loneliest-seeming corners of the crowded city. And when the blackout of July 13, 1977, plunges this world into darkness, each of these lives will be changed forever.
Ěý
City on Fire is an unforgettable novel about love and betrayal and forgiveness, about art and truth and rock ’n� roll: about what people need from each other in order to live . . . and about what makes the living worth doing in the first place.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 911 Garth Risk Hallberg 0385353774 Stephen 0 to-read 3.39 1997 City on Fire
author: Garth Risk Hallberg
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Beneath Dark Waters (Romantic Suspense, #28; New Orleans, #2)]]> 65649876 Deadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

There's no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction.

Public prosecutor J.P. "Kaj" Cardozo has only lived in New Orleans for six months, and he's already working on a high-profile celebrity sexual assault case that's made headlines all over the country. But when his son becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt as a threat to Kaj, he is desperate to keep him safe and turns to a private investigative firm famous for their protection services.

A veteran Marine, Val Sorensen is glad to have found a new career with Broussard Investigations. Her latest assignment as the bodyguard to ten-year-old Elijah Cardozo reminds her why--Val is a kick ass guardian with a tender heart. Through her duties, Val grows fond of the boy--and his handsome father.

But when the high-stakes investigation reveals an explosive network of crime through a revived drug gang, lingering deep-seated corruption in the NOPD, and a group of murderers-for-hire targeting Kaj, Elijah, and his star client, they're all left scrambling for safety...]]> 592 Karen Rose 0593336348 Stephen 0 to-read 4.60 2023 Beneath Dark Waters (Romantic Suspense, #28; New Orleans, #2)
author: Karen Rose
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30)]]> 101144259 _______________
Stephanie Plum, Trenton’s hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered a freelance assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day.

With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, Stephanie is taking care of Bob, Morelli’s giant orange dog who will devour anything, from Stephanie’s stray donuts to the upholstery in her car. Morelli’s absence also means the inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie’s life when things inevitably go sideways. And he seems determined to stay there.

To complicate matters, her best friend Lula is convinced she is being stalked by a mythological demon hell-bent on relieving her of her wardrobe. An overnight stakeout with Stephanie’s mother and Grandma Mazur reveals three generations of women with nerves of steel and driving skills worthy of NASCAR champions.

As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It’s a good thing Stephanie isn’t afraid of getting a little dirty, too.]]> 336 Janet Evanovich 1668003090 Stephen 0 to-read 4.01 2023 Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Therapist 54860390 A gripping psychological suspense and a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive�

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…]]> 298 B.A. Paris 1250274125 Stephen 5 3.72 2021 The Therapist
author: B.A. Paris
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/09
date added: 2023/08/09
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]]> Take Your Breath Away 59783955 Andy drinks to numb pain, hits rock bottom. His friends save one abandon him, he nearly loses his business, and the town turns away. Andy moves, changes his surname, now loves Jayne, helps care for her teen brother Tyler.
A Brie look-alike appears at their old address. screaming, “Where’s my house?� Then poof! Gone. Who is she? Why appear now? A tangle of adultery, lies, theft,]]> 368 Linwood Barclay 000833210X Stephen 5 3.84 2022 Take Your Breath Away
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/03
date added: 2023/08/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Parting Shot (Promise Falls, #4)]]> 33516729
When a young girl from Promise Falls is killed by a drunk driver, the community wants answers.

It doesn't matter that the accused is a kid himself: all they see is that he took a life and got an easy sentence. As pack mentality kicks in and social media outrage builds, vicious threats are made against the boy and his family.

When Cal Weaver is called in to investigate, he finds himself caught up in a cold-blooded revenge plot. Someone in the town is threatening to put right some wrongs...

And in Cal's experience, it's only ever a matter of time before threats turn into action.]]> 464 Linwood Barclay 0385687168 Stephen 5 4.07 2017 Parting Shot (Promise Falls, #4)
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/29
date added: 2023/07/29
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]]> <![CDATA[The Twenty-Three (Promise Falls, #3)]]> 29429982 451 Linwood Barclay 0451472721 Stephen 0 to-read 3.97 2016 The Twenty-Three (Promise Falls, #3)
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Broken Promise (Promise Falls, #1)]]> 23398840
After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent.

Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel� left on her porch.

When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg.

Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past…in blood.]]> 484 Linwood Barclay 0451472675 Stephen 0 to-read 3.91 2015 Broken Promise (Promise Falls, #1)
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Far From True (Promise Falls, #2)]]> 25810392 449 Linwood Barclay 0451472705 Stephen 0 to-read 3.85 2016 Far From True (Promise Falls, #2)
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Simple Murder (Kate Burkholder, #4.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5)]]> 53138115
While on vacation with her partner John Tomasetti in LONG LOST, Kate discovers that the old house where they're staying is haunted by a girl who disappeared decades before...

An abandoned baby is discovered on the Amish bishop's front porch in A HIDDEN SECRET, and Kate is called in to investigate.

SEEDS OF DECEPTION unearths the secrets of Kate Burkholder's own Amish past―and lays the groundwork for her future career in law enforcement.

In the midst of a power outage in Painters Mill, a teenage girl is attacked at an Amish party in ONLY THE LUCKY.

IN DARK COMPANY is the story of an injured woman with amnesia who seeks Kate's help in trying to remember her attacker’s identity...and her own.

In IN PLAIN SIGHT, Kate investigates what she believes is a straightforward hit-and-run accident―but soon uncovers a story of teenage passion that may have led to attempted murder.]]> 416 Linda Castillo 1250783615 Stephen 4 3.90 2021 A Simple Murder (Kate Burkholder, #4.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5)
author: Linda Castillo
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/26
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[An Evil Heart (Kate Burkholder, #15)]]> 61884979 Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart, the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.

On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road. Aden Karn was just twenty years old, well liked, and from an upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a young man whose life was just beginning?

The more Kate gets to know his devastated family and the people—both English and Amish—who loved him, the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn was funny and hardworking and looking forward to marrying his sweet fiancé, Emily. All the while, Kate’s own wedding day to Tomasetti draws near...

But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumors are a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach.

The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places.]]> 320 Linda Castillo 1250781086 Stephen 5 4.07 2023 An Evil Heart (Kate Burkholder, #15)
author: Linda Castillo
name: Stephen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/25
date added: 2023/07/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Marion Lane, #1)]]> 49374508 The letter was short. A name, a time, a place.

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges readers into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard.

Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant for Miss Brickett’s named Michelle White receives a letter warning her that a heinous act is about to occur. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can’t see—her death the only sign she wasn’t alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett’s, making everyone a suspect.

Almost unwillingly, Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and mentor is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett’s and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie—style locked-room mystery with an exciting new heroine detective at the helm.]]> 336 T.A. Willberg 0778389332 Stephen 4 3.34 2020 Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Marion Lane, #1)
author: T.A. Willberg
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/17
date added: 2023/07/17
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]]> Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six 63325819 to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller.

What could be more restful than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It'll be three couples on this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R.

But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.

A deadly storm is brewing.ĚýThe rental host seems just a little too present.ĚýThe personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history.ĚýAnd the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep.

How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?]]> 400 Lisa Unger 0778334228 Stephen 0 to-read 3.52 2022 Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
author: Lisa Unger
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1) 36588482
When Aisling Conroy's boyfriend Jack is found in the freezing black waters of the river Corrib, the police tell her it was suicide. A surgical resident, she throws herself into study and work, trying to forget - until Jack's sister Maude shows up. Maude suspects foul play, and she is determined to prove it.

DI Cormac Reilly is the detective assigned with the re-investigation of an 'accidental' overdose twenty years ago - of Jack and Maude's drug- and alcohol-addled mother. Cormac is under increasing pressure to charge Maude for murder when his colleague Danny uncovers a piece of evidence that will change everything...

This unsettling crime debut draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't. Perfect for fans of Tana French and Jane Casey.]]> 380 Dervla McTiernan 0143133128 Stephen 4 3.90 2018 The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1)
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/12
date added: 2023/07/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Among the Hidden (Shadow Children, #1)]]> 227651
Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.

Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside.

Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows - does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?]]> 153 Margaret Peterson Haddix 1416924981 Stephen 4 3.99 1998 Among the Hidden (Shadow Children, #1)
author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
name: Stephen
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/12
date added: 2023/07/12
shelves:
review:

]]>