Review: Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis

Goodreads Blurb

What could cause a man, when all the stars of fortune are shining upon him, to suddenly snap and destroy everything he has built? This is the question that haunts Sergeant Ryan DeMarco after the wife and children of beloved college professor and bestselling author Thomas Huston are found slaughtered in their home. Huston himself has disappeared and so is immediately cast as the prime suspect.

DeMarco knows—or thinks he knows—that Huston couldn’t have been capable of murdering his family. But if Huston is innocent, why is he on the run? And does the half-finished manuscript he left behind contain clues to the mystery of his family’s killer?

A masterful new thriller by acclaimed author Randall Silvis, Two Days Gone is a taut, suspenseful story that will break your heart as much as it will haunt your dreams.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow, I am speechless. Randall is truly a gifted writer who writes stories that make you struggle with your belief in good people. His writing makes you see, feel, and place yourself in the story. This is the first book I have read from Randall, and I just found another favorite author to read. This story really tore my heart apart. His writing really grasps the reader from the very beginning, making you feel sadness, hope, strength, weakness, and death in the worst ways. Life is precious but can disappear at the blink of an eye. Each word I read leads me to more mystery, secrets, and revelations. I loved both Ryan and Huston as strong-willed characters who are in search of answers and freedom. I truly was captivated by how this story unraveled and set the reader and characters free of the torment. This thriller mixed with poetry and mystery will keep you wanting more. I highly recommend this book.

Goodreads Author Biography

Randall Silvis is the internationally acclaimed author of over a dozen novels, one story
collection, and one book of narrative nonfiction. Also a prize-winning playwright, a
produced screenwriter, and a prolific essayist, he has been published and produced in
virtually every field and genre of creative writing. His numerous essays, articles, poems and short stories have appeared in the Discovery Channel magazines, The Writer, Prism International, Short Story International, Manoa, and numerous other online and print magazines. His work has been translated into 10 languages.

Silvis’s many literary awards include two writing fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award, six fellowships for his fiction, drama, and screenwriting from the Pennsylvania Council On the Arts, and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree awarded for “distinguished literary achievement

I met Lisa Gardner at Paramus Barnes & Noble

I had a great evening meeting suspense author Lisa Gardner. She talked about how her career as an author began and a little glimpse of her research for her new book, Kiss Her Goodbye. Check out her new book.

Goodreads Blurb

A young mother haunted by war, determined to make a fresh start. But sometimes, the sins of the past aren’t so easy to escape.

Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. Sabera’s closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three‑year old daughter. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search through the broiling streets of Tucson. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.

Frankie quickly realizes there’s much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. The father Isaad is a brilliant mathematician, Sabera a gifted linguist, and their little girl Zahra—she has an uncanny ability to remember anything she sees. Which given everything that has happened during the girl’s short life, may be a terrible curse. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra’s life, Frankie realizes she must quickly crack the code of this family’s horrific past.

Someone is coming for the Ahmadis. And violence is clearly an option. When everything is on the line, how far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Frankie is about to find out.

Review: Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Goodreads Blurb

Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.

A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Gilmore Girls , but with murder.

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always depend on each other.

My Review: Rated 3 out of 5 stars

A murder mystery that will bring a family together to sleuth their way to finding the murderer. The trio of grandmother, mother, and daughter will work on their relationship while helping to clear Jack of any suspicion. Lana Rubicon, who is the grandmother in the story, is a strong woman you don’t want to mess with. She will push all the buttons to find the truth. Beth and Jack have developed a close bond as mother and daughter, living a life free from secrets. Sometimes, secrets need to be kept to help solve this murder.

After Jack and a group of tourists find a dead body, the Rubicon family will work together to find the killer. This story features strong female characters who develop a close bond through their shared experiences. For years, Lana and Beth have grown apart. Lana’s cancer diagnosis and the surrounding murder mystery brought them closer together, rebuilding their relationship. The story was slow, yet it left you wondering about multiple characters and trying to determine who the real killer was.

Author Biography

I write crime stories about strong women. My first novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, is a New York Times bestselling mystery about a grandma, single mom, and teenage girl who come together to solve the murder of a naturalist who washes up in the Monterey Bay.

Writing has always been my joy. In college, I was an electrical engineering student by day and a slam poet by night. After a brief stint at NASA, I started designing interactive exhibits and eventually became a museum director. I wrote two books of nonfiction about creating participatory, relevant cultural institutions. Nonprofits were my “real” job; writing was on the side.

Then, my mom got sick. I quit my job to help care for her, and I found myself turning to fiction as a way to escape and find some pleasure during a hard time. My mom and I both always loved mysteries, and I decided to try to write one myself, with a detective/hero based on my mother. Now, my mom is doing better, and I’m gratefully spending my days reading, writing, and caring for my family.

Currently Reading: Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Goodreads Blurb

Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.

A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Gilmore Girls , but with murder.

Author Biography

My review will be posted soon.

Review: Secrets in the Sand by Candice Poarch

Goodreads Blurb

Two-time divorcee Kristin Mayer moved to Wet Sands, North Carolina, to be near her sister. Her fixer-upper comes as a bargain due to an eight year old murder that stifles sales. But Kristin packs heats and she’s fine with a bygone crime. Chase Holloman is intent on protecting his grown daughter who as a child was accused of murdering their neighbor. Now, another murder has pulled her back into police crosshairs. Meeting Kristin rocks Chase’s world. Yet as Kristin plows through her home renovation, she finds mysteries deepening with every uncovered wall. Long-suppressed secrets come to life, forcing Chase and Kristin to reassess their live as bodies pile up. Can they clear Chase’s daughter and remove the obstacles between them and real love?

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow, this book was amazing. It had me going all the way through. I kept on thinking that the murderer was the old ladies son since she was acting weird and he kept to himself. It’s very sad how someone so ignorant and selfless could ruin so many lives. Family, too , was just a manipulation of affection and had no feelings for no one. Blaming a poor young girl of murder is horrendous. He took her mom and her friend away from her, and she took the blame for something she wasn’t capable of doing. Loved that Kristin was not scared of anyone and that she was able to protect herself and others. She was a better detective. Conan was living life with rage that his mother was murdered and put the blame on Megan. His father was a drunk who didn’t really care about his children, especially after his wife was gone. Chase was so overprotective of his daughter that he forgot that Conan needed him since he was like a father to him. I liked how Candice started the book with Conan coming from school and that his dad was a drunk who was careless. Then, it automatically zoomed into action with Conan trying to harm Megan. It really took me off guard. I thought he was a smart young man with a future, and he was heading the same way as his father. Loved that there was romance between Chase and Kristin, but it also had mystery and action. I highly recommend this book.

Author Biography

Even as a child, Candice Poarch was a dreamer and created scenes in her mind. She quickly fell in love with writing stories centered around families and romance. The quest for love is universal, she says. Being familiar with rural Virginia, she portrays a sense of community and mutual support in her novels, many of which are set in small-town America.

Candice grew up in Stony Creek, Virginia, south of Richmond, but now resides in northern Virginia. She has been married for thirty years and is the mother of three children. A former computer-systems manager, she has now made writing her full-time career.

Stephen King is Back!

Paramus Barnes and Noble has this awesome display of Stephen King’s books and the newly released book Never Flinch. The bookmarks are so fun.

Goodreads Blurb

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.

Currently Reading: The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

Goodreads Blurb

Dan Garvie’s life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child—narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer. He has dedicated his life since to becoming a criminal profiler, eager to seek justice for innocent victims. So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan revisits his small island community, determined to uncover the truth about his death. Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmares has returned after all these years?

With his signature shock and suspense, Alex North brings us The Man Made of Smoke. In turn emotional, introspective, and utterly terrifying, this is a story of fathers and sons, shadows and secrets, and the fight we all face to escape the trauma of the past.

Author Biography

Alex North was born in Leeds, England, where he now lives with his wife and son. The Whisper Man was inspired by North’s own little boy, who mentioned one day that he was playing with “the boy in the floor.” Alex North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name.

Review: Free of Malice by Liz Lazarus

Goodreads Blurb

Laura Holland awakes in the middle of the night to see a stranger standing in her bedroom doorway. She manages to defend herself from the would-be rapist, though he threatens to return as he retreats. Traumatized with recurring nightmares, Laura seeks therapy and is exposed to a unique treatment called EMDR. She also seeks self-protection— buying a gun against the wishes of her husband. When Laura learns she could have gone to prison had she shot her fleeing assailant, she decides to write a hypothetical legal case using the details of that night. She enlists the help of criminal defense lawyer, Thomas Bennett, who proves to be well versed in the justice system but has an uncanny resemblance to her attacker. As the two work together to develop the story, Laura’s discomfort escalates particularly when Thomas seems to know more about that night than he should. Reality and fiction soon merge as her real life drama begins to mirror the fiction she’s trying to create.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Bravo!!! This was such a captivating book. I was at the edge of my seat reading it. I kept on being suspicious of the three men who spent time with Laura and never saw what was coming head-on. I loved that the story revolved around the process of the court system. I took a course in college similar to the way this book was written. I not only was suspicious of the other characters, but part of me also thought she imagined the whole scenario. This is Liz’s first book, and readers would never be able to tell. This book had so much emotion, mystery, and thrill, which kept me focused. I highly recommend this psychological legal thriller.

Author Biography

LIZ LAZARUS is an engineer by education, a consultant & business owner from experience and an author given her passion to tell stories.

Her first novel is loosely based on a personal experience and a series of ‘what if’ questions. FREE OF MALICE traces the after effects of a foiled attack; a woman healing, and grappling with the legal system to acknowledge her right to self-defense.

PLEA FOR JUSTICE depicts the journey of a paralegal striving to reveal the truth about her estranged friend’s incarceration, and leading her on a parallel path of self-discovery.

SHADES OF SILENCE showcases the resilience of a woman faced with devastating loss, the unexpected friendship forged from tragedy and the recurring societal themes that confront every generation.

Some of Liz’s favorites: red wine, dark chocolate, spin class (to compensate for items 1 & 2), great music, a cozy bath robe, cats and Saturday mornings!

Review: Everything You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia

Goodreads Blurb

No one knows who she really is…

Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good girlfriend. But Hattie wants something more, something bigger, and ultimately something that turns out to be exceedingly dangerous. When she’s found brutally stabbed to death, the tragedy rips right through the fabric of her small-town community.

It soon comes to light that Hattie was engaged in a highly compromising and potentially explosive secret online relationship. The question is: Did anyone else know? And to what lengths might they have gone to end it? Hattie’s boyfriend seems distraught over her death, but had he fallen so deeply in love with her that she had become an obsession? Or did Hattie’s impulsive, daredevil nature simply put her in the wrong place at the wrong time, leading her to a violent death at the hands of a stranger?

Full of twists and turns, Everything You Want Me to Be reconstructs a year in the life of a dangerously mesmerizing young woman, during which a small town’s darkest secrets come to the forefront…and she inches closer and closer to death.

Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception. Does love lead to self-discovery—or destruction?

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I am shocked after finishing this book. Hattie and Peter had a forbidden love that ended terribly. In my mind, I kept on figuring out who the suspects were. In the end, I didn’t expect what truly happened. I loved that the author broke the story into three perspectives. Made the story strike you like lightning while being chased by a roller coaster. I couldn’t stop feeding into the story. Each page brought me closer to the lust, anger, frustration, hopes, dreams, mystery, murder and freedom. It was a very tough story to read because of the characters’ relationship and the terrible murder. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this amazing story. Bravo Mindy, thanks for the thrill.

Author Biography

My name is Mindy Mejia and I’m a writer. I write because, ever since I was six years old, my favorite game has been pretend. My life doesn’t have symmetry, theme, symbolism, or meditated beauty and I gravitate toward these things like a houseplant to the sun. I love the perfect words; I love how ‘fierce’ and ‘confounded’ and ‘swagger’ look on the page and how my chest expands when I read them. I write because I believe in the reality of my fantasies, the truth in my fabrications. I’ve always had stories sneaking around my head, thrillers like LEAVE NO TRACE and EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE, and sometimes I inhabit those stories more than my own life. (Best not to mention that last part to my husband, kids, or boss.)

Review: Little Deaths by Emma Flint

Goodreads Blurb

Inspired by a true story, Little Deaths, like celebrated novels by Sarah Waters and Megan Abbott, is compelling literary crime fiction that explores the capacity for good and evil in us all.
It’s the summer of 1965, and the streets of Queens, New York shimmer in a heatwave. One July morning, Ruth Malone, a cocktail waitress, wakes to find a bedroom window wide open and her two young children missing. After a desperate search, the police make a horrifying discovery.
Separated from her husband, Ruth has been raising her children alone. Noting her perfectly made-up face and provocative clothing, the empty liquor bottles and love letters that litter her apartment, detectives leap to convenient conclusions fueled by neighborhood gossip and speculation. Covering the story as his first big assignment, tabloid reporter Pete Wonicke at first can’t help but do the same. But the longer he spends watching Ruth, the more he learns about the dark ways of cops and reporters, and the underbelly of the city he now calls home. As he fixates on Ruth, Pete soon begins to doubt everything he thought he knew.
Ruth Malone is enthralling, challenging, and secretive—is she really capable of murder? Haunting, intoxicating, and heart-poundingly suspenseful, Little Death is a gripping novel about love, morality, and obsession, exploring the capacity for good and evil within us all.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A novel that will break everyone’s heart. Imagine checking up one morning thinking your two children are sleeping to only find that they are both missing. My heart broke in two finding out what happened to each child. Any parent would be freaking out and devastated that their children won’t be with them anymore. It was a tragic story that will challenge and confuse you of what exactly happened that July day. I was very disappointed with the outcome of this book. The person you least expect guilty was guilty as charge. This is a thriller with mystery. Your whole perspective in love and life will forever be changed.

Author Biography

Emma Flint grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England. She studied English and History at the University of St Andrews and is a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing Program in London. Since childhood, Flint has read reports of real-life crimes, and over the years has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of murder cases and notorious historical figures, as well as a fascination with unconventional women – past, present, and fictional. Flint lives and works in London.