en-US Sat, 05 Apr 2025 11:32:47 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 224004049 “So clever and fresh with a wild and incredibly satisfying twist at the end.�� —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.]]> 336 Mark Edwards 1668204770 Linda 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Mark Edwards
name: Linda
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36319320 2019 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Silver Winner
Powell's Books Best Fiction of 2018

Marvin Deitz has some serious problems. His mob-connected landlord is strong-arming him out of his storefront. His therapist has concerns about his stability. He’s compelled to volunteer at the local Children’s Hospital even though it breaks his heart every week.

Oh, and he’s also the guilt-ridden reincarnation of Geoffroy Thérage, the French executioner who lit Joan of Arc’s pyre in 1431. He’s just seen a woman on a Los Angeles talk show claiming to be Joan, and absolution seems closer than it’s ever been... but how will he find her?

When Marvin heads to Los Angeles to locate the woman who may or may not be Joan, he’s picked up hitchhiking by Mike Vale, a self-destructive alcoholic painter traveling to his ex-wife’s funeral. As they move through a California landscape populated with “smokes�� (ghostly apparitions that’ve inexplicably begun appearing throughout the southwestern US), each seeks absolution in his own way.]]> 309 Keith Rosson Linda 0 currently-reading 4.29 2018
author: Keith Rosson
name: Linda
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 211003724
At a passing glance, County Road 951 is an entirely unremarkable stretch of blacktop, a two-lane scar across the Cascade foothills of Central Oregon.

But the road is known by another name, coined by those who’ve had to clean up after all those scenic detours went horribly wrong: The Devil’s Driveway.

When Livia and her long-time friends take the Driveway as a shortcut to a much-needed weekend getaway, what begins as a morning joyride quickly becomes anything but. Soon, they’re driving for their lives, pursued by a horror beyond anything they ever imagined.

The Devil’s Driveway might be only 15 miles long, but with danger at every turn, it will take the four women to the very limits of their friendships and their sanity.

And there’s no telling what else lies in wait just beyond the bend.]]> 368 K.C. Jones 1250792711 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.52 2025
author: K.C. Jones
name: Linda
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 61884783 Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.

Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future... a family.

Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides.

Others turn up dead.

Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives �� and perhaps their eternal souls �� are at risk.

The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.]]> 335 Philip Fracassi 1250879035 Linda 0 currently-reading 4.11 2023
author: Philip Fracassi
name: Linda
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 23583781 By the award-winning author of Elfland, A Taste of Blood Wine, The Amber Citadel, Dracula the Undead, and many more highly acclaimed fantasy novels. (The Kindle text also contains a preview of A Taste of Blood Wine).
“Superb fusion of dazzling alternative history and smouldering romance.�� -Justina Robson, author of Natural History.]]> 497 Freda Warrington Linda 0 to-read 3.89 2003
author: Freda Warrington
name: Linda
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212375021 Three women. Three smouldering secrets. Who will make it out alive?

It’s 5 November, and a woman awakens to a nightmare. Bound and gagged, she lies trapped in the heart of a towering bonfire. As the smoke thickens, panic sets in �� she’s moments away from being engulfed in flames. How did it come to this?

Rewind eleven months: Margot, a faded TV star, and her long-suffering friend Anna watch as glamorous Liv and her flawless family move into their street. The three women soon fabricate the perfect pretence of friendship, but each harbours her own deadly secret �� and newcomer Liv senses something is terribly wrong beneath the polished exteriors.

As cracks widen in the veneer of perfection and lies escalate out of control, tension ignites. Bonfire Night is approaching and someone is set to burn…But who will it be?]]> 399 John Marrs 166250649X Linda 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: John Marrs
name: Linda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204787816 A merciless wilderness. A harrowing attack. A desperate escape.

When a tragic accident sidelines Miley's dreams of Olympic gold, she takes a summer job at a mountain guest lodge.

The Frank Church Wilderness is remote, but it’s the perfect place to train and recover. Local lore about a staffer who died years ago doesn’t scare her. But it should.

Miley’s plans take a terrifying detour when she’s abducted during a morning run. Held captive in a desolate off-grid cabin, she’ll have to use her athletic prowess, cunning mind, and courage to survive. But as the nightmare at the cabin escalates, Miley is forced to form an unlikely alliance and attempt a risky escape.

Can she outwit her captors and survive the wilderness before it’s too late?

Inspired by true events, Gray After Dark is a pulse-pounding psychological thriller with a finale that will leave you breathless.]]> 370 Noelle W. Ihli Linda 0 to-read 4.23 2024
author: Noelle W. Ihli
name: Linda
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213713209 “So clever and fresh with a wild and incredibly satisfying twist at the end.�� —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.]]> 0 Mark Edwards 1405971495 Linda 0 to-read 4.40 2025
author: Mark Edwards
name: Linda
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220160814 Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

Restauranteur Paddy Swann was the life of the party until the day a man pushed him in the path of an oncoming train, leaving his twenty-something daughter Ash and wife Nina devastated. Shortly after Paddy’s funeral, the two women receive a surprise in the mail: a note and package from Nick Ratcliffe, an old friend of Paddy’s, and a nondescript lighter that once belonged to him decades ago. This unexpected gift draws Nick and Nina closer together—much to Ash’s dismay.

Martha is a small-town florist with dreams of expansion. She lives with her second husband Al, her baby, and two sons from her prior marriage. But they never seem to have any money, and with his constant traveling for work, she feels like a single parent—especially when an emergency makes her realize something needs to change.

But Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, leading these three women on a shocking collision course, wishing they had heeded a warning: Don’t let him in.]]> 368 Lisa Jewell 1668033879 Linda 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Linda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203579244 370 C.J. Leede 1250857929 Linda 0 currently-reading 4.07 2024
author: C.J. Leede
name: Linda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 40961608 In a tour de force of historical reportage, Timothy Egan’s National Book Award–winning story rescues an iconic chapter of American history from the shadows. �� The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Timothy Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, he does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, “the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect�� (New York Times). In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, The Worst Hard Time is “arguably the best nonfiction book yet�� (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful reminder about the dangers of trifling with nature.]]> 352 Timothy Egan 0547347774 Linda 0 to-read 4.09 2005
author: Timothy Egan
name: Linda
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 209455840
Twenty-four-year-old Michael “Mitt�� Fuller starts his surgical residency with great anticipation at the nearly 300-year-old, iconic BELLEVUE HOSPITAL, following in the footsteps of four previous, celebrated Fuller generations. The pressure is on for this newly minted doctor, and to his advantage he’s always had a secret sixth sense, a sensitivity to the nonphysical which gradually plays a progressive role, especially as one patient after another assigned to his care begin to die from mysterious causes. At first he thinks it is just the ‘luck of the draw��, but as the numbers mount, he’s forced to think otherwise. As he struggles to find out why these people are dying while simultaneously having to deal with the unreasonable demands of being first-year resident, things rapidly spiral out of control.

Between fatigue, stress, and nerves, it’s no wonder that these first few days and nights of his surgical residency are tough ones. What is surprising, though, are the visions that begin to plague Mitt �� visions of a little girl in a blood-stained dress, hearing bloodcurdling screams in the distance, and worse. As bodies mount and Mitt’s stress level rises, he finds himself drawn into the secrets of the abandoned Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital building, which to his astonishment still exists, defying demolition a few doors north of the modern Bellevue Hospital high-rise. Forcing an unauthorized entry into this storied but scary structure, Mitt discovers he’s more closely tied to the sins of the past than he ever thought possible.]]> 341 Robin Cook 0593718836 Linda 4 With "Bellevue" he's had to do some research, expand his characters (still need work) and create a real story. Bravo. It's good. Not great literature, but fast paced and interesting. It held my attention, but I love old psychiatric hospital stories so I was invested. Total redemption is reserved for his next book.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.]]> 3.23 2024
author: Robin Cook
name: Linda
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
There is semi-redemption for Dr Cook with this book. I had stopped reading him for years after I was an original fan... You know...back in the "Coma" days. But then he started writing the same book over and over through the years so I was done with him. Periodically I'd read a book of his, but nope-- same plot, characters and outcome.
With "Bellevue" he's had to do some research, expand his characters (still need work) and create a real story. Bravo. It's good. Not great literature, but fast paced and interesting. It held my attention, but I love old psychiatric hospital stories so I was invested. Total redemption is reserved for his next book.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.
]]> 227805186 His art will take your breath away.

In the shadows of 1950s New York, a brilliant mind teeters on the edge of madness. Edgar Maguire's sculptures are taking the art world by storm, but behind each masterpiece lies a horrifying secret.

When Fiona, the object of Edgar's lifelong obsession, reenters his life, it ignites a passion that blurs the lines between creation and destruction. As his art evolves into something terrifyingly beautiful, a trail of bodies begins to surface across the city.

Detective George Snyder is closing in, but can he unravel the connection between the murders and Edgar's rising star before it's too late?]]> 349 J.D. Barker Linda 0 to-read 3.75
author: J.D. Barker
name: Linda
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 101145257
Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent break-up and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.

But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.

Are these the ravings of a madman? Or is there something supernatural at play? And what does this have to do with Morgan’s disappearance?

Another atmospheric mystery from Luke Dumas, The Paleontologist is a ghost story unlike any other that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.]]> 356 Luke Dumas 1668018268 Linda 0 to-read 3.49 2023
author: Luke Dumas
name: Linda
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 255511 246 Ann Patchett 0060540761 Linda 0 to-read 3.45 1994
author: Ann Patchett
name: Linda
average rating: 3.45
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212368698 When I Was You

Nothing ever happens in small towns��

When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it—for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best friend, Mackenzie, she finally feels safe again in the snowy Minnesota town she calls home. But when an anonymous note appears on her windshield bearing the same threats her attacker made, Shelby realizes that her nightmare has only just begun.

As new evidence surfaces, and a group of well-meaning senior citizens accidentally makes the case go viral online, the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. And with suspicious accidents targeting those closest to her happening all over town, Shelby can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. Fighting to stay one step ahead of disaster, she finds herself asking the question on everyone’s lips: Who attacked her that night?

But Shelby isn’t the only one with questions. Mackenzie’s husband, Leo, vanished without a trace on that terrible night, and over a year later, no one knows why. Until a deep dive into his finances reveals a history of debts, mismanaged funds, and hidden accounts—one of which is still active. Their suspicion that Leo is still alive only complicates things further, though, and when another person connected to Shelby goes missing, she’s caught in a race against time before her attacker becomes a killer.]]> 297 Seraphina Nova Glass Linda 0 to-read 3.69 2025
author: Seraphina Nova Glass
name: Linda
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214537772 In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she’s willing to risk for the life of a stranger, from the New York Times bestselling author of such acclaimed historical fiction as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls.

��������Virginia, 1864—Libby Steadman’s husband has been away for so long that she can barely conjure his voice in her dreams. While she longs for him in the night, fearing him dead in a Union prison camp, her days are spent running a gristmill with her teenage niece, a hired hand, and his wife, all the grain they can produce requisitioned by the Confederate Army. It’s an uneasy life in the Shenandoah Valley, the territory frequently changing hands, control swinging back and forth like a pendulum between North and South, and Libby awakens every morning expecting to see her land a battlefield.��
��������And then she finds a gravely injured Union officer left for dead in a neighbor’s house, the bones of his hand and leg shattered. Captain Jonathan Weybridge of the Vermont Brigade is her enemy �� but he’s also a human being, and Libby must make a terrible Does she leave him to die alone? Or does she risk treason and try to nurse him back to health? And if she succeeds, does she try to secretly bring him across Union lines, where she might negotiate a trade for news of her own husband?��
��������A vivid and sweeping story of two people navigating the boundaries of love and humanity in a landscape of brutal violence, The Jackal’s Mistress is a heart-stopping new novel, based on a largely unknown piece of American history, from one of our greatest storytellers.]]> 336 Chris Bohjalian 0385547641 Linda 0 currently-reading 4.14 2025
author: Chris Bohjalian
name: Linda
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 18144074 Empire of the Summer Moon comes a thrilling account of how Civil War general Thomas “Stonewall�� Jackson became a great and tragic American hero.

Stonewall Jackson has long been a figure of legend and romance. As much as any person in the Confederate pantheon, even Robert E. Lee, he embodies the romantic Southern notion of the virtuous lost cause. Jackson is also considered, without argument, one of our country’s greatest military figures. His brilliance at the art of war tied Abraham Lincoln and the Union high command in knots and threatened the ultimate success of the Union armies. Jackson’s strategic innovations shattered the conventional wisdom of how war was waged; he was so far ahead of his time that his techniques would be studied generations into the future.

In April 1862 Jackson was merely another Confederate general in an army fighting what seemed to be a losing cause. By June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western world. He had, moreover, given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked—hope—and struck fear into the hearts of the Union.

Rebel Yell is written with the swiftly vivid narrative that is Gwynne’s hallmark and is rich with battle lore, biographical detail, and intense conflict between historical figures. Gwynne delves deep into Jackson’s private life, including the loss of his young beloved first wife and his regimented personal habits. It traces Jackson’s brilliant twenty-four-month career in the Civil War, the period that encompasses his rise from obscurity to fame and legend; his stunning effect on the course of the war itself; and his tragic death, which caused both North and South to grieve the loss of a remarkable American hero.]]> 672 S.C. Gwynne 1451673280 Linda 0 to-read 4.23 2014
author: S.C. Gwynne
name: Linda
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203956661 Eleanore of Avignon is the story of a woman who is unwilling to bend to the limitations her society places upon her when she becomes the unlikely apprentice to the pope’s physician at the most challenging and dangerous moment in medieval European history.

Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a midwife and budding herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she knows all too well from her late mother’s fate, she must be careful to stay within her station. So, she quietly accepts her role tending to the pregnant women in her home city of Avignon; spending time with her father and beloved twin sister, Margot; and escaping to the surrounding woods to forage for herbs when she can. At the very least, she is determined to preserve the little freedom she does have by staying unwed—unlike Margot, who is about to marry a man with painful connections to their mother’s death.

Then, in a chance encounter, Elea meets Guy de Chauliac, “Guigo,�� the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement, who, against all odds, agrees to take her on as his apprentice. Under his tutelage, a whole new world opens to Elea—a world of status, wealth, and fascinating medical cases—but just as she starts to settle into her new position, the much-feared plague hits Europe, making Elea and Guigo's work more urgent than ever. And as if that weren’t enough, the disgraced Queen Joanna of Naples arrives in Avignon to stand trial for her husband’s murder—and she is pregnant and in need of a midwife, a role only Elea can fill.

As the Black Death spreads like wildfire, leaving half the city dead in its wake—and as the queen's childbirth approaches—Elea finds herself battling what seems to be an unwinnable war. All the while, the people of Avignon are becoming more and more desperate for a scapegoat, and a group of religious heretics launch a witch hunt, one that could cost her everything.]]> 320 Elizabeth DeLozier 0593475038 Linda 0 to-read 4.28 2024
author: Elizabeth DeLozier
name: Linda
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 176443690
Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.]]> 196 Carys Davies 1668030667 Linda 0 to-read 3.85
author: Carys Davies
name: Linda
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215748809 An atmospheric, haunting novel about a family of bootleggers, their troubled history,��and the land that binds them.

The Sawbrooks have lived on prime real estate on the lakes of Michigan since before there was prime real estate. A family of smugglers and bootleggers, every man, woman, and child in each generation has been taught to navigate the nooks and crannies��of the rivers and highways that flow in and out of Canada. The hidden routes are the family's legacy.

But today, the Sawbrooks are deeply fractured, and the money that's sustained the family is running out. Edward, the Sawbrook patriarch, is dying from cancer, and his wife,��Rhoda,��is bitterly��disappointed in her three adult children. The eldest daughter, Lucy, is now a park ranger, working to federally protect the land against her mother’s will; the middle son, Buckner, hasn’t been the same since he came back from the army��suffering from alcoholism; and the youngest daughter, Jewell, is wasting her potential as a card player and��bartender.

When Jewell is asked to commit a crime for a major insurance payout, she agrees, eager for the cash, but too late,��she realizes that that the boat she torched wasn't empty...

Together,��the Sawbrooks will have to contend with the old, familial ways and the new, shifting world, and face��each other—and their pain-filled past—to smuggle one more thing through and out of their land to��safety.]]> 288 Travis Mulhauser 1538767988 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.70
author: Travis Mulhauser
name: Linda
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 211178725 The woman never goes by the same name.
She never stays in the same place too long.
She never ages. She never dies.
But those around her do.

When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.

Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared.

Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.

And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice.

But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?]]> 352 Susan Barker 0593718291 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.77 2025
author: Susan Barker
name: Linda
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 220161593 In this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware’s multi-million copy mega-hit The Women in Cabin 10, Lo Blacklock returns to attend the opening of a luxury hotel, only to find herself in a white-knuckled race across Europe.

When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.

The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.

What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?]]> 400 Ruth Ware 1668025620 Linda 0 to-read 3.81 2025
author: Ruth Ware
name: Linda
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210365385 Historical fiction, true crime, and dark academia intertwine in a harrowing tale of murder, greed, and the grisly origins of modern medicine.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. Naïve but determined James Willoughby has abandoned his posh, sheltered life at Oxford to pursue a lifelong dream of studying surgery in Edinburgh. A shining beacon of medical discovery in the age of New Enlightenment, the city’s university offers everything James desires—except the chance to work on a human cadaver.

For that he needs to join one of the private schools in Surgeon’s Square, at a cost he cannot afford. In desperation he strikes a deal with Aneurin “Nye�� MacKinnon, a dashing young dissectionist with an artist’s eye for anatomy and a reckless passion for knowledge. Nye promises to help James gain the surgical experience he craves—but it doesn’t take long for James to realize he’s made a devil’s bargain... Nye is a body snatcher—and James has unwittingly become his accomplice.]]> 336 A. Rae Dunlap 1496750349 Linda 4 3.88 2024
author: A. Rae Dunlap
name: Linda
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Linda 4 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: Linda
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 213395480 From the acclaimed author of Mrs. March comes the riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family—Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.]]> 208 Virginia Feito 1631498630 Linda 5 5 stars]]> 3.63 2025
author: Virginia Feito
name: Linda
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
I've been waiting for this book and I am not disappointed. Winifred is so much crazier than Mrs March. And I'm there for it. What a read!
5 stars
]]> 211004350
Then she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day, and he has a proposition for her: Thirteen-year-old Alice Webber claims a witch is haunting her. Living with her family in the remote village of Banathel, Alice finds her symptoms are getting increasingly disturbing. Taking this job will give Mina some experience and much-needed money; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better—Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice’s behavior becomes inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of…dealing with it. And they don’t expect outsiders to understand.]]> 304 Daisy Pearce 1250334381 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.40 2025
author: Daisy Pearce
name: Linda
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 54860229 The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?

Eagerly awaited and eight years in the making, The Mirror & the Light completes Cromwell’s journey from self-made man to one of the most feared, influential figures of his time. Portrayed by Mantel with pathos and terrific energy, Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a husband and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.]]> 759 Hilary Mantel 1250182492 Linda 0 to-read 4.38 2020
author: Hilary Mantel
name: Linda
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 140212704 Grief leaves a stain.

Sibilla Fenoglio wants nothing more than to live with her husband in this run-down, derelict watermill. Uninhabited since the Renaissance after a mysterious disaster befell the previous owners, the mill requires extensive repairs. But there is something frightening about the mill. Repairs are violently undone, half-seen figures begin stalking Sibilla through the grounds, and haunting echoes of the previous owners�� lives infiltrate the present. As the disturbances grow more vicious and her husband more secretive, she realizes that she and her child are in danger.

For readers who enjoy The Rose Master by Valentina Cano, The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas, The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb, The House in the Orchard by Elizabeth Brooks, and The Winter Guest by W. C. Ryan.]]> 349 Valentina Cano Repetto 0744309506 Linda 0 to-read 4.24
author: Valentina Cano Repetto
name: Linda
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220652200 New York Times bestselling, acclaimed horror author Paul Tremblay delivers an unforgettable middle grade debut in this bone-chilling tale of an unsettling, unbreakable friendship.

When Casey Wilson’s parents tell him that his friend is coming for a sleepover, he has no idea who that might be. Ever since the Zoom Incident, everyone treats him like a pariah, and his tics are worse than ever.

When Morel appears, he’s not like any friend Casey has ever met. His skin is like clay, and he doesn’t speak. But Casey’s parents are charmed by the strange kid, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to besides his sister, Ally, who is away at college. As his normally loving parents grow distant from Casey, they gush and fawn over Morel. Casey knows something is wrong—but with no end in sight to the sleepover, he’s exhausted. And in the dark, out of the corner of his eye, Morel doesn’t look like a kid at all. . . .]]> 256 Paul Tremblay 0063396351 Linda 0 to-read 4.21 2025
author: Paul Tremblay
name: Linda
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216970864
This place is shrouded in folklore—old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who was not quite a child.

Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.

Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.

Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds—and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.

As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew—and risk what she holds most dear.]]> 384 C.J. Cooke 0593550226 Linda 0 to-read 4.36 2022
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Linda
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58905810 From New York Times best-selling author Erik Larson comes his first venture into fiction, an otherworldly tale of intrigue and the impossible that marshals his trademark approach to nonfiction to create something new: a ghost story thoroughly grounded in history.

Pioneering psychologist William James leads an expedition to a remote isle in search of answers after a family inexplicably vanishes. Was the cause rooted in the physical world...or were there forces more paranormal and sinister at work? Available only on audio, because as Larson says, ghost stories are best told aloud.

A group of researchers sets sail for the Isle of Dorn in the North Atlantic in 1905 to explore the cause of several mysterious disappearances, most notably a family of four who vanished without a trace after a week-long holiday on the island. Led by Professor James, a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research, they begin to explore the island’s sole cottage and surrounding landscape in search of a logical explanation.

The idyllic setting belies an undercurrent of danger and treachery, with raging storms and unnerving discoveries adding to the sense of menace. As increasingly unexplainable events unfold, the now-stranded investigators are unsure whether they can trust their own eyes, their instincts, one another - or even themselves.

Erik Larson has written a terrifying tale of suspense, underpinned with actual people and events. Created specifically to entertain audio listeners, this eerie blend of the ghostly and the real will keep listeners captivated till the blood-chilling end.

Featuring Erik Larson reading his Notes for a Narrator.]]> 8 Erik Larson Linda 3 My suggestion is read Isaac's Storm, Devil in the White City or Dead Wake (all historical nonfiction he's written) and pass on this book. 3 stars because he's one of my favorite authors and this book isn't horrible just ordinary.]]> 3.45 2021
author: Erik Larson
name: Linda
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/03
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
I've read most of Mr Larsen's beautifully researched nonfiction books and loved every single one. This first attempt at fiction set in Victorian England is a tired formula attempt at a gothic historical thriller.
My suggestion is read Isaac's Storm, Devil in the White City or Dead Wake (all historical nonfiction he's written) and pass on this book. 3 stars because he's one of my favorite authors and this book isn't horrible just ordinary.
]]> 61432218 Two children get on the train. Only one gets off...

No one saw it happen.
You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind.

Everyone is lying.
By the time you get to the next stop, you've convinced yourself that everything will be fine. But you soon start to panic, because there aren't two children waiting for you on the platform. There's only one.

Someone is to blame.
Has your other daughter got lost? Been taken by a passing stranger? Or perhaps the culprit is closer to home than you think? No one is telling the truth, and the longer the search continues, the harder she will be to find...]]> 384 Andrea Mara 178763650X Linda 0 to-read 3.87 2023
author: Andrea Mara
name: Linda
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213243949 A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life,��Three Days in June��is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers

]]> 165 Anne Tyler 0593803485 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.63 2025
author: Anne Tyler
name: Linda
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 217506549 368 Julie Clark 1464221286 Linda 0 to-read 4.25 2025
author: Julie Clark
name: Linda
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220239062 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout comes a simmering, atmospheric novel of friendship and betrayal, following a women-led pyramid scheme in suburban Detroit.

“Abbott is a superstar of the suspense genre.�� —NPR

All I want is to be innocent again. But that’s not how it works. Especially not after the Wheel.

When Harper moves in with her sister Pam, she’s surprised to find Pam doing so well financially after her messy divorce. After all, Pam’s ex-husband wiped their bank accounts, even stole from their kids. But Pam managed to find her way back. Thanks to the Wheel��

Twice a month, the women of the Wheel meet. New members bring cash to the party that is pooled together and then gifted to one lucky member. It’s all about giving back. Lifting each other up. As women should. As they must.

But when Harper is invited, with the promise of an end to her financial burdens, the sisters inadvertently unleash a darkness lurking within the group. If they’re not careful, it might just get them killed.

Megan Abbott turns her keen eye toward women and money in El Dorado Drive, a riveting story about greed, power, and vulnerability, and how desperation draws out our most destructive impulses.]]> 368 Megan Abbott 0593084969 Linda 0 to-read 3.82 2025
author: Megan Abbott
name: Linda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40735214 BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.
2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.
3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.

After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted...]]> 320 Steve Cavanagh 1409170691 Linda 0 to-read 3.91 2019
author: Steve Cavanagh
name: Linda
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214537790 From��Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling��author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. A gripping Dust Bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drought, but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a "Prairie Witch," whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples�� memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.

Russell's novel is above all a reckoning with a nation’s forgetting—enacting the settler amnesia and willful omissions passed down from generation to generation, and unearthing not only horrors but shimmering possibilities. The Antidote echoes with urgent warnings for our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been—and what still could be.]]> 432 Karen Russell 059380225X Linda 0 to-read 4.03 2025
author: Karen Russell
name: Linda
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213243921 A remote Scottish island hides shocking secrets in this page-turning debut mystery laced with dark folklore.

An island lost in time. A cryptic, pagan past. Some secrets should stay buried.

Eilean Eadar is a barren, windswept rock inhabited by a few hundred humans and sheep. Until now, the island was best known for the unsolved mystery of the three lighthouse keepers who vanished back in 1919. But when a young man is found dead at the base of the same lighthouse, two detective inspectors are sent from Glasgow to investigate.

Georgina ‘George�� Lennox is finally back from leave after a devastating accident and happy to be on the case with her partner, Richie Stewart. That is, until she meets the hostile islanders who seem determined to thwart their investigation, and their enigmatic, omnipresent priest who inserts himself into every interview. Then there’s Richie, who just wants to close the case and head home to his family. He doesn’t see that there is something off about the island and its tiny community. He hasn’t heard the wolves howling or seen the dark figures at their window at night. He’s too busy watching George as if waiting for her to break.

With the dark secrets of Eilean Eadar swirling around them, George and Richie must decide who to trust and what to believe as they spin closer to the terrible truth. Laced with Scottish legend, yet sharp and modern in voice, The Wolf Tree announces a spellbinding new voice in crime and mystery fiction.]]> 336 Laura McCluskey 0593852540 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.78 2025
author: Laura McCluskey
name: Linda
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 227846502
Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.

But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.

However, as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they soon find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself. Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.

Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to retribution . . . or redemption.]]> Jack Jordan 1398531596 Linda 0 to-read 3.89 2024
author: Jack Jordan
name: Linda
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214363953
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.

Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.

She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.

As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors, and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship.

With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono—and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.

Cher: The Memoir reveals the daughter, the sister, the wife, the lover, the mother, and the superstar.

It is a life too immense for only one book.]]> 432 Cher 0008355371 Linda 0 4.24 2024
author: Cher
name: Linda
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 205064706 A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.

Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.

Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?]]> 365 C.J. Cooke 059381696X Linda 0 3.74 2024
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Linda
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 203708995 400 Griffin Dunne 0593652827 Linda 0 4.01 2024
author: Griffin Dunne
name: Linda
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 201872341 STAY ON THE MOVE. STAY OUT OF SIGHT.

In LA Times Book Prizewinner Stuart Neville’s daring foray into horror fiction, a mother takes desperate measures to protect her daughter in a sinister, blood-chilling highway pursuit across the Southwest.

On a snowy December night, single mother Rebecca Carter drives her van into a snowbank to avoid hitting an elk on a desolate mountain highway. She is at the end of her rope, out of money and food. Still, she refuses help from a man in a pickup truck—Rebecca’s adolescent daughter, Moonflower, is on the run from a grisly secret, and the last thing they can afford is to be remembered by anyone they meet.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Marc Donner of the FBI has spent the better part of two years hunting down a gruesome serial killer who drains victims of blood before severing their spinal cords, leaving a trail of bodies throughout the country. As Agent Donner’s investigation brings him closer and closer to where Rebecca and Moonflower are hiding out, in the foothills of Colorado, the life that Rebecca has fought so hard to hold together for her daughter becomes increasingly imperiled. ��

In this deadly, high-stakes game of cat and mouse by the Los Angeles Times Book Prize–winning author of The Ghosts of Belfast, nobody is safe and nothing is certain—not even the line between predator and prey.]]> 384 Stuart Neville 1641295422 Linda 0 to-read 3.73 2024
author: Stuart Neville
name: Linda
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57203848
With Mary defiantly silent, Elspeth turns to the islanders. But no one will speak of what happened to William. Just as no one can explain the hypnotic lullabies sung in empty corridors. Nor the strange dolls that appear in abandoned rooms.

Nor the faint whistling that comes in the night...

As winter draws in and passage to the mainland becomes impossible, Elspeth finds herself trapped.

But is this house haunted by the ghosts of the past?

OR THE SECRETS OF THE LIVING..?

Chilling, twisty and emotionally gripping, The Whistling is an atmospheric page-turner with shades of the classics, yet a unique character of its own. Perfect for fans of Susan Hill and Laura Purcell.]]> 378 Rebecca Netley 0241533996 Linda 0 to-read 3.65 2021
author: Rebecca Netley
name: Linda
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 26025580
“The Grownup,�� originally appeared as “What Do You Do?�� in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology.]]> 64 Gillian Flynn 0804188971 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.55 2014
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Linda
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.58 2025
author: Freida McFadden
name: Linda
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 58977601 A New York Times Book Review Summer Read and��Edgar Award nominee!��Don’t miss this unputdownable psychological thriller! Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware!

When you really start to look beyond the airy open floor plans and marble counters, Brighton Hills is filled with secrets. Some big, some little, some deadly. And one by one, they’re about to be revealed�� “A writer to watch.�� ��Publishers Weekly

The perfect neighborhood can be the perfect place to hide��

Who wouldn’t want to live in Brighton Hills? This exclusive community on the Oregon coast is the perfect mix of luxury and natural beauty. Stunning houses nestle beneath mighty Douglas firs, and lush backyards roll down to the lakefront. It’s the kind of place where neighbors look out for one another. Sometimes a little too closely��

Cora thinks her husband, Finn, is cheating—she just needs to catch him in the act. That’s where Paige comes in. Paige lost her son to a hit-and-run last year, and she’s drowning in the kind of grief that makes people do reckless things like spying on the locals, searching for proof that her son’s death was no accident…and agreeing to Cora’s plan to reveal what kind of man Finn really is. All the while, their reclusive new neighbor, Georgia, is acting more strangely every day. But what could such a lovely young mother possibly be hiding?

Don't miss Seraphina's upcoming novel, The Vanishing Hour. You won't be able to put it down!��

Other thrillers from Seraphina to keep you up all
The Vanishing Hour Such a Good Wife Someone’s Listening

]]> 302 Seraphina Nova Glass 0369717058 Linda 0 to-read 4.13 2022
author: Seraphina Nova Glass
name: Linda
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204640265 From Vulture's "master of horror" Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening�� is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn��-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from "one of horror's modern masters" holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.]]> 384 Clay McLeod Chapman Linda 0 currently-reading 3.40 2025
author: Clay McLeod Chapman
name: Linda
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 212294435 A murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls in this mesmerizing gothic novel from acclaimed author Camilla Bruce.

Clara Woods is a killer—and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own��a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flowerbed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace—or so she always thought.

Then the girls arrive.

Lily and Violet are her nieces,��recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents' will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative—who just so happens to be Clara.��Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls' assets—not just to bolster her dwindling fortune, but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.

There's only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara's ghosts…and��call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims��and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability—and know far more than they should…]]> 368 Camilla Bruce 059372495X Linda 0 currently-reading 3.51 2025
author: Camilla Bruce
name: Linda
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/05
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]]> 15794247 256 Cathryn J. Prince 023034156X Linda 0 to-read 3.72 2013
author: Cathryn J. Prince
name: Linda
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25614492
Sepetys (writer of 'Between Shades of Gray') crafts four fictionalized but historically accurate voices to convey the real-life tragedy. Joana, a Lithuanian with nursing experience; Florian, a Prussian soldier fleeing the Nazis with stolen treasure; and Emilia, a Polish girl close to the end of her pregnancy, converge on their escape journeys as Russian troops advance; each will eventually meet Albert, a Nazi peon with delusions of grandeur, assigned to the Gustloff decks.]]> 391 Ruta Sepetys Linda 0 to-read 4.35 2016
author: Ruta Sepetys
name: Linda
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/25
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]]> 207611566 There’s power in a book��

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master�� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Linda 0 currently-reading 4.02 2025
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Linda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 217387739 From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, comes one of the year’s most anticipated thrillers.

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner.

At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.]]> 320 Alex Finlay 1250360722 Linda 0 to-read 3.66 2025
author: Alex Finlay
name: Linda
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 218671849 “Terrific.”—��Stephen King on��Whistle

New York Times��bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Evil has a one track mind...

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie’s year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…]]> 464 Linwood Barclay 0063436035 Linda 0 to-read 4.08 2025
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Linda
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 219833252 Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby returns with King of Ashes, a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama.

When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father’s car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister, Neveah, exhausted from holding the family—and the family business—together. Neveah and their father, who run the Carruthers Crematorium in the run-down central Virginia town of Jefferson Run, see death up close every day. But mortality draws even closer when it becomes clear that the crash that landed their father in a coma was no accident and Dante’s recklessness has placed them all in real danger.

Roman, a financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, has some money to help buy his brother out of trouble. But in his work with wannabe tough guys, he’s forgotten that there are real gangsters out there. As his bargaining chips go up in smoke, Roman realizes that he has only one thing left to offer to save his himself, and his own particular set of skills.

Roman begins his work for the criminals while Neveah tries to uncover the long-ago mystery of what happened to their mother, who disappeared when they were teenagers. But Roman is far less of a pushover than the gangsters realize. He is willing to do anything to save his family. Anything.

Because everything burns.]]> 352 S.A. Cosby 1250832063 Linda 0 to-read 4.37 2025
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Linda
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 18144103
The 1950s had rock'n'roll and the 60s had the Beats. In the 70s and 80s, it was punk rock and modern art. But for the 1990s, it was all about the fashion—and Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen were the trio of rebel geniuses who made it great.

Veteran style and pop culture journalist Maureen Callahan takes you back to the 90s, to the moment when supermodel glamazons gave way to heroin chic, the alternative became the mainstream, and fashion became the cradle for the most exciting artistic and cultural innovations of the age. Packed with dishy stories of some of the most celebrated personalities of the day, Champagne Supernovas gives you the inside scoop from designers like Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi; scenesters like Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Sassy magazine's Jane Pratt; plus a bevy of supermodels, stylists, editors, photographers, confidantes, club kids, and scenesters. They'll discuss why Kate Moss and Johnny Depp broke up, how Marc Jacobs came through the crucible of the AIDS crisis, and what really drove Alexander McQueen to suicide.

Steeped in the creative brew of art, decadence, and genius that defined the era, Champagne Supernovas gives you front-row tickets to a gloriously debauched soap opera about the losers and freaks who became It Girls and Boys, and changed the world in spite of themselves.]]> 263 Maureen Callahan 1451640536 Linda 0 to-read 3.69 2014
author: Maureen Callahan
name: Linda
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> 6553843 308 Don Carpenter 1590173244 Linda 0 to-read 4.13 1966
author: Don Carpenter
name: Linda
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1966
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/22
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]]> 457228 Butcher’s Crossing, his fiercely intelligent, beautifully written western, Williams dismantles the myths of modern America.

It is the 1870s, and Will Andrews, fired up by Emerson to seek “an original relation to nature,�� drops out of Harvard and heads west. He washes up in Butcher’s Crossing, a small Kansas town on the outskirts of nowhere. Butcher’s Crossing is full of restless men looking for ways to make money and ways to waste it. Before long Andrews strikes up a friendship with one of them, a man who regales Andrews with tales of immense herds of buffalo, ready for the taking, hidden away in a beautiful valley deep in the Colorado Rockies. He convinces Andrews to join in an expedition to track the animals down. The journey out is grueling, but at the end is a place of paradisal richness. Once there, however, the three men abandon themselves to an orgy of slaughter, so caught up in killing buffalo that they lose all sense of time. Winter soon overtakes them: they are snowed in. Next spring, half-insane with cabin fever, cold, and hunger, they stagger back to Butcher’s Crossing to find a world as irremediably changed as they have been.]]> 274 John Williams 1590171985 Linda 0 to-read 4.18 1960
author: John Williams
name: Linda
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/22
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]]> 216455838 THE HIGHER YOU FLY��

In the dazzling lights of Thailand, socialite Lila Wilde is ready for the best night of her life. When her fame-hungry DJ boyfriend proposes in an exclusive nightclub, Lila impulsively invites a mix of celebrities and strangers to continue the celebrations back at her luxurious villa �� only a short flight away over the lush Thai jungle.

THE HARDER YOU FALL.

The mood on Lila's private jet is electric, pulsing with music, champagne, and the promise of an unforgettable afterparty. But as the plane cuts through the night sky, excitement turns to tension. And when the lights suddenly go out, a sinister new game begins. Trapped at 30,000 feet, secrets unravel, trust shatters, and the party turns truly deadly.

Fasten your seatbelt �� this is a ride you won’t forget.

The Private Jet is a totally addictive psychological thriller with twists and turns you just won’t see coming. Fans of The Castaways, The Hunting Party and The White Lotus will be totally gripped from the very first page until the final, breath-taking conclusion.

–�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē�ē���

Readers LOVE Sarah ‘Wow! This just got under my skin from the start and I couldn't put it down! I flew through it in a day and loved every second��⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Suspense, twists, deceit�� I had my heart in my mouth the whole time�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��IT WAS SO GOOD�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Utterly unputdownable�� You’re going to love every single twisty page!!�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��INTENSE�� My heart was pounding�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

‘I started this book today and finished it in one sitting. I literally could not put it down�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

‘Definitely a five-star read. I couldn't put this one down. It never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat�� Such a great ending too!!�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Wow! I read this way too quickly, I really didn't want it to end�� Amazing�� Loved it!�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

‘You'll be on the edge of your seat, racing to finish this book�� I read this book one afternoon. I simply could not put it down. I cannot wait until a friend reads this book because I want to discuss it�� Get a copy now!!�� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]> 347 Sarah Goodwin 0008732809 Linda 0 to-read 4.15 2025
author: Sarah Goodwin
name: Linda
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> 220352835 Torna, encara més sagaç i provocadora, «la Patricia Highsmith espanyola».

«La nova dama del thriller» (La Razón) que va conmocionar a la premsa, els llibreters i els lectors amb La senyora March, guanyadora dels premis Best Novel Valencia Negra i Un año de libros ECI al millor debut, i un dels millors llibres de l'any segons El País, El Cultural, La Vanguardia, Elle i Telva.

El senyor i la senyora Pounds han contractat la Winifred Notty per ser la perfecta institutriu farà classes als seus fills (francès i costura a la Drusilla, i àlgebra i història al petit Andrew), i els explicarà contes abans d'anar a dormir. Però Ensor House i els seus habitants oculten més perversions i secrets que la pertorbada senyoreta Notty, capaç de convertir un tè amb convidats elegants i infants a la sala d'estar en una macabra vetllada. Què ha passat a la seva vida perquè, un matí fred de Nadal, totes les peces del passat i el present encaixin en un final oposat al d'un conte de fades, que ens farà estremir com un regal sanguinolent?

Amb el seu enginy sardònic i la seva predilecció per tot el que sigui macabre, Feito torna a Victorian Psycho amb ganes de venjança.]]> 192 Virginia Feito 8418226900 Linda 0 to-read 3.12 2025
author: Virginia Feito
name: Linda
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> 150260819 A small town in coastal Maine is shaken to its core by a serial killer in this crime novel from Peter Nichols, bestselling author of The Rocks

In scenic Granite Harbor, life has continued on―quiet and serene―for decades. That is until a local teenager is found brutally murdered in the Settlement, the town’s historic archaeological site. Alex Brangwen, adjusting to life as a single father with a failed career as a novelist, is the town’s sole detective. This is his first murder case and, as both a parent and detective, Alex knows the people of Granite Harbor are looking to him to catch the killer and temper the fear that has descended over the town.

Isabel, a single mother attempting to support her family while healing from her own demons, finds herself in the middle of the case when she begins working at the Settlement. Her son, Ethan, and Alex’s daughter, Sophie, were best friends with the victim. When a second body is found, both parents are terrified that their child may be next. As Alex and Isabel race to find the killer in their midst, the town’s secrets―past and present―begin bubbling to the surface, threatening to unravel the tight-knit community.

At once a page-turning thriller and a captivating portrait of the social fabric of a small town, Granite Harbor evokes the atmosphere of HBO’s Mare of Easttown with a villain reminiscent of Thomas Harris’s Silence of the Lambs.]]> 320 Peter Nichols Linda 0 to-read 3.57 2024
author: Peter Nichols
name: Linda
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> 31147267
Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood, to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest, which begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts, takes him to a forgotten island, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

This captivating retelling of a classic fairy tale imaginatively explores parental obsession, spousal love, and the secrets that make strangers out of the people we love the most. It’s a thrilling and emotionally devastating journey through the gruesome legacies that threaten to devour us and the homely, messy magic that saves us, if we’re lucky.]]> 431 Victor LaValle 0812995945 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.75 2017
author: Victor LaValle
name: Linda
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/17
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]]> 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible �� a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X Linda 0 currently-reading 3.65 2025
author: Alice Feeney
name: Linda
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/17
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]]> 220323987 For a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die.

In the sleepy coastal town of New Castle, New Hampshire, seventeen-year-old Billy Hasler's life is about to take a terrifying turn. When his best friend David Spivey inherits a mysterious house on a nearby island, it seems like the perfect place to spend their final summer before heading off to college. No parents. No police. No responsibilities.

As they dig into the island's dark past, they awaken an ancient evil that has influenced generations. What begins as an innocent summer adventure quickly descends into a nightmare.

"Something I Keep Upstairs" is a haunting exploration of friendship, sacrifice, and the darkness lurking just beyond our understanding. It will keep you on edge until the final, chilling page.]]> 492 J.D. Barker Linda 0 to-read 4.09
author: J.D. Barker
name: Linda
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/17
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]]> 212388835 Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire have cemented her status as an icon of classic Hollywood.

From 1940 to 1960, Leigh was married to Sir Laurence Olivier, and together they were considered the royal couple of British theatre. Indeed, their romance and acting partnerships captured the imagination of the public around the world.

Behind the scenes, however, Leigh's personal life was marred by manic depression which remained undiagnosed until 1953. Largely misunderstood and subjected to barbaric mistreatment at the hands of her doctors, she would also suffer the heartbreak of Olivier's infidelity. Contributing to her image as a tragic heroine, she would die at the age of 53.

Unlike previous biographies, Where Madness Lies begins in 1953, when Leigh suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalised. The tragic story unfolds as she tries to rebuild her life, salvage her career and save her marriage.

Featuring a wealth of unpublished material, including private correspondence, bestselling author Lyndsy Spence reveals how Leigh fell victim to the draconian medical practices of the day and suffered due to her circumstances. It's a timely look at just how far we've come since the early days of mental health treatment.]]> 324 Lyndsy Spence 1803994320 Linda 0 to-read 3.03
author: Lyndsy Spence
name: Linda
average rating: 3.03
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/15
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]]> 211025454 From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.

Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.

New York City, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.�� Though Annie soon realizes she’ll have her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and exacting standards.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art, wants little to do with the upcoming gala. She’s consumed with her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.

That is, until the night of the gala. When one of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing . . . and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening.

As Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they’re to have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.]]> 352 Fiona Davis 0593474279 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.93 2025
author: Fiona Davis
name: Linda
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/15
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]]> 199797783 This edition contains a bonus chapter.

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?]]> 400 Lisa Jewell 1982179015 Linda 0 to-read 4.08 2023
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Linda
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/12
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]]> 218372405 A dark Southern tale of desperate souls who've wound up on the road of poor choices, a messianic child with untold powers, and those out hunting her for their own reward, all drawn together by Michael Farris Smith's trademark mournful, spirit-gnawing prose.

An old woman, riddled with dementia, walks off into the woods in the middle of the night. A light in the wood draws her to a campfire with two strange, dangerous men, one young and one old, who are there plotting a crime of as-yet-indeterminate purpose. The two men have a job to do. They are hunting something precious but have only been told: you’ll know it when you see it. When they arrive at the place, an abandoned church cellar in the burned-out countryside, they find an answer they never could have predicted. Now, the job feels dubious, one that’ll surely bring them to ruin. Yet if they’re to go against orders, no step can be undone, and nothing can be taken back.

In spare, Beckett-like prose, Lay Your Armor Down reduces the epic to its most elemental. It charts the course of several broken people, all outrunning danger’s dark fingers, and all brought together for one last chance at redemption.]]> 272 Michael Farris Smith 031657337X Linda 0 to-read 4.67
author: Michael Farris Smith
name: Linda
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/12
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]]> 212806636 A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this epic saga of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam.

Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished and abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.

Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she’d never before needed.

Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.]]> 368 Allegra Goodman 0593730089 Linda 0 to-read 4.01 2025
author: Allegra Goodman
name: Linda
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/12
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]]> 195790870 From Chuck Tingle, author of the USA Today bestselling Camp Damascus, comes a new heart-pounding story about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead.

Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale��"for the algorithm"―Misha discovers that it's not that simple.

As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's right―before it's too late.]]> 295 Chuck Tingle 1250874653 Linda 0 currently-reading 4.14 2024
author: Chuck Tingle
name: Linda
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.��

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]> 512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.99 2024
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Linda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 61157639
Now, true crime author Amanda Bailey is looking to revive her career by writing a book on the case. The Alperton baby has turned eighteen; finding them will be the scoop of the year. But rival author Oliver Menzies is just as smart, better connected, and also on the baby’s trail.

As Amanda and Oliver are forced to collaborate, they realize that the truth about the Angels is much darker and stranger than they’d ever imagined, and in pursuit of the story they risk becoming part of it.]]> 416 Janice Hallett 1800810407 Linda 0 currently-reading 3.91 2023
author: Janice Hallett
name: Linda
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.��

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Linda 0 to-read 4.44 2025
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Linda
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220161029 In this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware’s multi-million copy mega-hit The Women in Cabin 10, Lo Blacklock returns to attend the opening of a luxury hotel, only to find herself in a white-knuckled race across Europe.

When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.

The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.

What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?]]> 400 Ruth Ware 1668032325 Linda 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Ruth Ware
name: Linda
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219319489 480 Wally Lamb 1668006391 Linda 0 to-read 4.42 2025
author: Wally Lamb
name: Linda
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195790637 Succession meets Megan Abbott in this seductive Gothic suspense novel about the dramatic downfall of one of America’s most affluent families.

The old-money Wieland family has it all—wealth, status, power. They’re also famously cursed. Clara and her brother Teddy grew up on a small island in Maine in the shadow of their parents�� tragic deaths, haunted by rumors and paparazzi. Fourteen years later they’ve mostly put their turbulent past to rest. Teddy has married Clara’s best friend, Jess, and the three of them have moved back home to take over the sprawling, remote family mansion known as Vantage Point. Then Teddy decides to run for the Senate—an unnerving prospect made much worse when intimate videos of Clara are leaked online. The most frightening part is that she doesn't remember filming any of them. Are the videos real? Or are they deepfakes? Is someone trying to take down the Wielands once and for all?

Everyone thinks Clara is losing her grip on reality, but she knows the videos are only the beginning. Years ago the curse destroyed her parents. Now it’s coming for her. Brimming with palpable tension, Vantage Point reveals a twisted web of family secrets and political ambition that raises questions about the blurred lines between public and private personas and the nature of truth in the digital age.]]> 400 Sara Sligar 0374282293 Linda 0 to-read 3.56 2025
author: Sara Sligar
name: Linda
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213847223
So writes Sebastian Trapp, reclusive mystery novelist, to his longtime correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. With mere months to live, Trapp invites Nicky to his spectacular San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story . . . living alongside his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in an irresistible case of real-life “detective fever.��

“You and I might even solve an old mystery or two.��

Twenty years earlier—on New Year’s Eve 1999—Sebastian’s first wife and teenaged son vanished from different locations, never to be seen again. Did the perfect crime writer commit the perfect crime? And why has he emerged from seclusion, two decades later, to allow a stranger to dig into his past?

“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.��

As Nicky attempts to weave together the strands of Sebastian’s life, she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth . . . while Madeleine begins to question what her beloved father might actually know about that long-ago night. And when a corpse appears in the family’s koi pond, both women are shocked to find that the past isn’t gone—it’s just waiting.]]> 416 A.J. Finn 0062678469 Linda 0 to-read 3.06 2024
author: A.J. Finn
name: Linda
average rating: 3.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61190770
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences.

Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.]]> 367 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 0593317335 Linda 0 to-read 4.13 2023
author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
name: Linda
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 126918202 Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.

It isn’t easy when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)]]> 296 Jennifer Marie Thorne Linda 0 currently-reading 3.85 2024
author: Jennifer Marie Thorne
name: Linda
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 199798785
On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like 9/11 or JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—yet the details of what took place that day, and why, have largely been forgotten. Until now.

Based on extensive archival records and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed. It’s a tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and ultimately kept from the public.

Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space.]]> 576 Adam Higginbotham 198217661X Linda 0 to-read 4.53 2024
author: Adam Higginbotham
name: Linda
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 33237408 England, 1586.

A TREASONOUS CONSPIRACY
Giordano Bruno returns to England to bring shocking new intelligence to Sir Francis Walsingham. A band of Catholic Englishmen are plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth and spring Mary Queen of Scots from prison to take the English throne in her place.

A DEADLY TRAP
Bruno is surprised to find that Walsingham is aware of the plot, led by the young, wealthy noble Anthony Babington, and is allowing it to progress. His hope is that Mary will put her support in writing and condemn herself to a traitor's death.

A QUEEN IN MORTAL DANGER
Bruno is tasked with going undercover to join the conspirators. Can he stop them before he is exposed? Either way a queen will die; Bruno must make sure it is the right one.]]> 496 S.J. Parris Linda 0 to-read 4.38 2020
author: S.J. Parris
name: Linda
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 568236 Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the century, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived.]]> 714 Barbara W. Tuchman 0345349571 Linda 0 to-read 4.04 1978
author: Barbara W. Tuchman
name: Linda
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62292411 From the author of the Reese’s Book Club Pick and the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes a new heart-stopping thriller in which a missing-person case unravels deeper, darker secrets that lead a detective to an impossible moral choice.

22-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day…and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again.

Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get.

Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn’t a gun, or a knife: it’s a secret. Her worst one. And her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder.

If you find her, you will lose everything. What would you do?

This clever and endlessly surprising thriller is laced with a smart look at family and motherhood, and cements Gillian McAllister as a major talent in the world of suspense and a master of creating ethical dilemmas that show just how murky the distinction between right and wrong can be.]]> 377 Gillian McAllister 0063252392 Linda 3 2.5 stars]]> 3.59 2023
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Linda
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
I wanted to like this book (my freshman outing with this author), but the characters were awful with little to no redemptive qualities. And they were collectively uninteresting and unlikable. The plot was circuitous, meadering and at times so tedious it was putting me to sleep. I'm pretty sure it was a mystery, but there was so much superfluous information it deadened any suspense and what could have been a decent plot turned into a slog. Not for me.
2.5 stars
]]> 199797559 The national bestselling author of #HorrorBookTok sensation The Troop returns with a heart-pounding novel of terror about a young woman searching for her missing friend and uncovering a shocking truth.

On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead.

Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about one another…but Charity carries a secret that even she is unaware of. A secret engraved into her DNA helix. For Charity is also known Subject Six, the crown jewel of Project Athena—a clandestine and unorthodox gene manipulation experiment, the brainchild of tech titan Rudyard Crate. And when Charity’s gene sequencing actualizes during a traumatic event at a high school party, it sets in motion a chain of events that will end in tragedy, bloodshed, and death.

And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story—the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly dreadful breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend—a person she never truly knew at all…]]> 384 Nick Cutter 1668020971 Linda 3 3 stars]]> 3.57 2024
author: Nick Cutter
name: Linda
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
An okay book from Nick Cutter. (And I've read almost all of his books. Plus some of Craig Davidsons's.) Margaret's best friend (Charity) has been missing for a month. Everyone has moved on, but Margaret knows Charity is alive and in trouble. The book gets weird and creepy, but not particularly original or interesting.
3 stars
]]> 41555927 State Road 177 runs along the Suwannee River, between Fargo, Georgia, and the Okefenokee Swamp. Drive that route from east to west, and you’ll cross six bridges. Take it from west to east, and you might find seven.

But you’d better hope not.

Titus and Melanie Bell leave their hotel in Fargo for a second honeymoon canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp. But shortly before they reach their destination, they draw up to a halt at the edge of a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car . . .

When, much later, a tow-truck arrives, the driver finds Titus lying in the middle of the road, but Melanie is nowhere to be found.]]> 336 Cherie Priest 076537823X Linda 3 3.39 2019
author: Cherie Priest
name: Linda
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 Linda 5 Historical fiction at it's best.
Based on a six month period in the life of the real Martha Ballard, a midwife in the late 1700s in New England. This book has it all. Wonderful rich characters, a truly wicked villain, lovely writing and a well researched plot and moving story. Terrific book.
5 stars.]]> 4.38 2023
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Linda
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
Perfection.
Historical fiction at it's best.
Based on a six month period in the life of the real Martha Ballard, a midwife in the late 1700s in New England. This book has it all. Wonderful rich characters, a truly wicked villain, lovely writing and a well researched plot and moving story. Terrific book.
5 stars.
]]> 204253885 This is your baptism of fire ...

Firefighter Max Power makes a chilling discovery in the dark recesses of the sewers below the streets of Old Castle during routine maintenance. He tries to forget the unsettling encounter, but Max finds it hard to shake off the haunting image of the individual he would come to know as Ash Man.

Not long after setting eyes on the strange vagrant in the myriad of passageways, Max's life changes forever when he is called to a blazing house fire...his house.

Stoking the flames of revenge, Max descends once more into the depths of the underground, drawn into a cryptic alliance with the diabolical Ash Man.

And we all burn in this trial by fire. ]]> 333 Jonathan Dunne Linda 0 to-read 3.94 2024
author: Jonathan Dunne
name: Linda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219603177 One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family.��Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto��a luxury��train from Philadelphia to Chicago,��an overnight��journey of fourteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them—even though it means putting her own life at risk.]]> 400 Riley Sager 0593472403 Linda 0 to-read 3.65 2025
author: Riley Sager
name: Linda
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203695802
What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.]]> Amy Tintera Linda 0 to-read 4.02 2024
author: Amy Tintera
name: Linda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210454076 Power, privilege, and blood—this is the definitive and thrilling true story of Alex Murdaugh’s violent downfall, from a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who has become an authority on the case.
��
Alex Murdaugh was a benevolent dictator—the president of the South Carolina trial lawyers�� association, a political boss, a part-time prosecutor, and a partner in his family’s law firm. He was always ready with a favor, a drink, and an invitation to Moselle, his family’s 1,700-acre hunting estate. The Murdaugh name ignited respect—and fear—for a hundred miles.

When he murdered his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at Moselle on a dark summer night, the fragile façade of Alex’s world could no longer hold. His forefathers had covered up a midnight suicide at a remote railroad crossing, a bootlegging ring run from a courthouse, and the attempted murder of a pregnant lover. Alex, too, almost walked away from his unspeakable crimes with his reputation intact, but his downfall was secured by a twist of fate, some stray mistakes, and a fateful decision by an old friend who’d finally seen enough.

Why would a man who had everything kill his wife and grown son? To unwind the roots of Alex’s ruin, award-winning journalist Valerie Bauerlein reported not just from the courthouse every day but also along the backroads and through the tidal marshes of South Carolina’s Lowcountry. When the jurors made their pilgrimage to the crime scene, trying to envision Maggie and Paul’s last moments, she walked right behind them, sensing the ghosts that haunt the Murdaughs�� now-shattered legacy.

Through masterful research and cinematic writing, The Devil at His Elbow is a transporting journey through Alex’s life, the night of the murders, and the investigation that culminated in a trial that held tens of millions spellbound. With her stunning insights and fearless instinct for the truth, Bauerlein uncovers layers of the Murdaugh murder case that have not been told.]]> 480 Valerie Bauerlein 059350058X Linda 5 5 stars]]> 4.46 2024
author: Valerie Bauerlein
name: Linda
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:
I sat and watched every day of the double murder trial. I listened to podcasts and followed the news stories. I read the articles and watched the TV programs. I wasn't sure what more this book could offer me. (This is the OJ Simpson story of our time.) I took a chance, read this book and wasn't disappointed. Ms Bauerlein is an excellent reporter; a detailed and spellbinding storyteller. Her research into the family generational history and the ultimate resulting tragedy is the stuff of Southern gothic fiction- except it's all true; and it's all so incredibly sad.
5 stars
]]> 128890128 From the New York Times bestseller and author of Netflix’s The Silence comes a terrifying horror novel set in a melting Arctic landscape. Something deadly has lain dormant for thousands of years, but now the permafrost is giving up its secrets��

Estranged friends Dean and Bethan meet after five years apart when they are drawn to a network of caves on a remote Arctic island. Bethan and her friends are environmental activists, determined to protect the land. But Dean’s group's exploitation of rare earth minerals deep in the caves unleashes an horrific contagion that has rested frozen and undisturbed for many millennia. Fleeing the terrors emerging from the caves, Dean and Bethan and their rival teams undertake a perilous journey on foot across an unpredictable and volatile landscape. The ex-friends must learn to work together again if they’re to survive... and more importantly, stop the horror from spreading to the wider world.

A propulsive horror thriller––fast-moving, frightening, and shockingly relevant—this adventure will grip you until the final terrifying page.]]> 304 Tim Lebbon Linda 3 3.37 2024
author: Tim Lebbon
name: Linda
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
I feel like I've read this book at least 10 times before.
]]> 176443476
For a sixteen-year-old, a summer internship working for a private investigator seems like a dream come true—particularly since the PI is investigating the most shocking crime to hit Bloomington, Indiana, in decades. A local woman has vanished, and the last time anyone saw her, she was in the backseat of a police car driven by a man impersonating an officer.

Marshall Miller’s internship puts him at the center of the action, a position he relishes until a terrifying moment that turns public praise for his sharp observations and uncanny memory into accusations of lying and imperiling the case. His detective mentor withdraws, friends and family worry and whisper, and Marshall alone understands that the darkness visiting his town this summer goes far beyond a single crime. Now his task is to explain it—and himself.

Lost Man's Lane is a coming-of-age tale of terror.]]> 516 Scott Carson 1982191457 Linda 3 4.15 2024
author: Scott Carson
name: Linda
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
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]]> 17417278 368 Simone St. James 1101614935 Linda 4 I never know where she's going with her plots.
Uncle Toby (a ghost hunter) falls off a cliff and dies. Did he fall or was he killed? His niece, Jillian is designated to close out Toby's affairs and when she arrives at the seaside village where Toby lived strange things begin happening. It's a pretty straight forward storyline but nothing is as it seems. To me this is not her most memorable novel, but it has nice pacing and enough going on to keep me reading to find out "what next?".
4 stars]]> 3.71 2013
author: Simone St. James
name: Linda
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
One of my favorite authors. I'm never disappointed because Ms St James always tells a fresh and different story populated with wonderful characters.
I never know where she's going with her plots.
Uncle Toby (a ghost hunter) falls off a cliff and dies. Did he fall or was he killed? His niece, Jillian is designated to close out Toby's affairs and when she arrives at the seaside village where Toby lived strange things begin happening. It's a pretty straight forward storyline but nothing is as it seems. To me this is not her most memorable novel, but it has nice pacing and enough going on to keep me reading to find out "what next?".
4 stars
]]> 136276889
Welcome to paradise. We hope you survive your stay...

There are three rules to follow during a vacation at the famous Koh Sang Resort

1 �� Leave the past behind.

When Cass sets foot on the coast of Thailand's world-famous party island, she's searching for an escape. With dark secrets following her every move, Koh Sang becomes the perfect place to hide.

2 - Always be careful of who you trust.

Now, years later, Cass is a local dive instructor alongside the Permanents, a group of expats who have claimed the island as their own. The Permanents don't linger on who they were before the island. Simply because, like Cass, they all have something to outrun.

3 �� If someone discovers who you really are, run.

But suddenly, a dive student is found dead and paradise comes crashing down. Because this isn't the first mysterious death on the island, and it won't be the last. Someone knows who Cass is and they're ready to make sure justice is finally served.]]> 384 Sara Ochs 1728279550 Linda 0 3.51 2023
author: Sara Ochs
name: Linda
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 209034827 From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of 1,800 starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly recreated, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.]]> 555 Robert Dugoni 1662516304 Linda 0 to-read 4.62 2025
author: Robert Dugoni
name: Linda
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 126919284
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.]]> 294 Rachel Hawkins 1250280036 Linda 4 Both books are good. Plots are mildly similar, but Fox's Earth did it first. And better.
4 stars]]> 3.80 2024
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Linda
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
Years ago Anne Rivers Siddens wrote a Southern Gothic book "Fox's Earth" about a wealthy, wicked matriarch named Ruth. As I read this book that book kept intruding. Both matriarchs were named Ruth.
Both books are good. Plots are mildly similar, but Fox's Earth did it first. And better.
4 stars
]]> 139069 The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age.

In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization.

In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton's fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

First edition: here.]]> 282 Alfred Lansing Linda 5 5 stars]]> 4.42 1959
author: Alfred Lansing
name: Linda
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
This is a true story that reads like adventure fiction. Shackleton. What an arrogant, know-it-all piece of work he was. But wow, did I revise that opinion as I read this book. He survived (along with all his crew of 27 men) facing the most horrendous, unbelievable Arctic conditions imaginable. In 1914 Shackleton and his crew set out to cross Antarctica. But they became trapped in ice and their ship Endurance was crushed and sank. They were left on foot with only small supportive boats to attempt to find safety and rescue. This is the story of the two years it took for that rescue to occur; and actually Shackleton rescued his crew by hiking to safety and civilization. My opinion of Shackleton changed because of his unflagging confidence, his bravery, determination and optimism. He refused to accept defeat against all odds and he inspired his crew to do the same. What a book!
5 stars
]]> 204642470 In the follow-up to the National Book Award–longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer—and the ghosts he leaves behind.

A dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective who sees the ghosts of his Native victims.

In Gallup, New Mexico, where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Native people whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help.

Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi on the Navajo reservation, Rita's grandma is getting older. Maybe it's time for her to leave policework behind entirely—if only the ghosts will let her.]]> 288 Ramona Emerson 1641294760 Linda 4 3.82 2024
author: Ramona Emerson
name: Linda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 206117670 Man's best friend is about to become his worst nightmare...

US army captain, Ed Crowley has a tragic reason for not liking dogs.

He’s about to have 115 million more.

A mutated rabies virus is sweeping through the world’s dog population, and no one is safe. With over 90 million domestic and tens of millions more wild and feral dogs in the United States, Rabies 2.0 is about to unleash hell. The infected animals aren’t just rabid, they have mutated into ugly, insatiable, and very large killing machines and Captain Crowley is about to lead a team into an overrun town to rescue a group of civilians trapped in a school.

To him it’s just another day at the office, after all, as with any other enemy he’d faced, bullets win the argument, and these ones couldn’t shoot back. What he doesn’t know is that he’s about to face a foe more cunning and ruthless than any on two legs that he’d ever faced.

Don’t miss the Rabid States Series by Scott Medbury, author of the haunting post-apocalyptic series AMERICA FALLS.]]> 678 Scott Medbury Linda 4 4 stars]]> 4.36
author: Scott Medbury
name: Linda
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
A dandy four book series about a mutant rabies epidemic. Good escapism and fun.
4 stars
]]>