The Passengers by John Marrs

Hello everyone.

Are you a driver or a passenger? Often people have a preference, they would rather drive or not. My husband loves to drive, I hate it.  One of the reasons I don't like driving is that I have a terrible sense of direction. I get so confused what direction is correct, I get turned backwards so easily. I once got lost in our old neighborhood while out walking. WALKING! Seems difficult when the streets were not tricky and laid out on a simple grid, but I did. Hubby jokes that I could head to the grocery store, a mile from our house, and end up two states away. I confess, it is a problem. Another thing I don't like about driving is the possibility of being out of control. Now, I can hear you saying, "But April, you'd have more control if you were driving rather than just riding along." True, but I distract myself with two things, one...scenery, two.... backseat driving.  You are all running to kiss your significant other right now, grateful that they aren't me!

Several years ago, while I was driving home on the interstate during a rainstorm that made me question if the end of the earth had begun, two cars, at different times along my trip, hydroplaned in front of me. They spun around several times, crossing five lanes of traffic, each coming to rest on the guard rail on the opposite side from where they started. By some miracle, all other cars were able to either slow down enough to avoid these out-of-control vehicles or slalom around them. Ever since then, when it rains and hubby is driving, I annoy him with my begging him to slow down. I don't care, he didn't see those cars auditioning for the Ice Capades sans ice.

I just finished reading The Passengers by John Marrs. This story is set in England in the future where they are using driverless cars. Sounds good to me! The passenger is now able to do whatever they want while they ride to their destination; email, watch a movie, read a book (an obvious choice). Several people get into cars one day and the door locks and won't open, their destination is changed to a place several hours away, and a voice comes over their operating system telling them they are going to die. There is no way out of the car, and they have no ability to regain control. In addition, the passengers' complete terror is now being broadcast everywhere, all over the internet, television, etc. These fantastic characters all pull at the reader's heart as they are made to tell their story to the world, who votes on the one person who will be allowed to live. However, the mastermind of this experience knows that they are each flawed with secrets that he is about to make public.

This book takes off from the beginning and flies ...well drives... to the end. The characters are so well developed, especially when you consider that this is a breakneck speed thriller. The plot is unique and thought provoking, the pacing, perfection. This is a classic example of everything a thriller should be, what baby thrillers aspire to when they grow up.  Do not miss it.

If you go buy this book, don't start reading it in one of those coffee shops often in bookstores. Don't start it until you've safely driven home. You'll see why!

Monkey Temple by Peter Gelfan

Hello everyone.

Fall seems to be rushing towards us. It's my favorite season. My birthday is in the fall. Sadly, I don't enjoy my birthday. For years it seems like something terrible has happened on my special day, there has been physical issues, hurricanes, and to top it off a few years ago we had to put our dog down on that day. None of those occurrences are happy memories. My mom died when she was very young, this fall I turn the same age as she was when she passed away. I'm freaking out. Really freaking out, to the point of having nightmares. I have been forced to consider my own mortality.

It's not just the whole death issue on my mind lately, but it is aging in general. For you in your twenties, enjoy it. As you get older, you remain the same, well hopefully wiser and more emotionally mature, but you still feel like you. The problem is that your body starts to betray you. Suddenly when you sit for a while you are stiff when you get up. Why? Then one day there is knee pain, the pulled back just from sneezing, or that odd ache in your shoulder. It is like living in an alien that will not do what your brain instructs it to do. Very odd.

I recently read Monkey Temple by Peter Gelfan. This is the story of two older men, dear friends, who are on a quest to find a house. As the buddies head south from NYC they discover they are on more than one journey, learning more about each other and themselves along the way. The men end up in a house in a slightly inland area of coastal NC, where they are joined by people from their past and present. Not only did the story ring true with me as these people are confronting their own aging, but like the story I moved from NY (upstate) to coastal NC. In fact, the setting of this wonderful story is very close to me, making it extra special.

In a way this book made me sad, not because of the story but depressed that I will never write like this author.  Everything from school that I forgot, long ago, about sentence structure, Peter Gelfan remembered and improved on. Some people say if you actually notice the writing then it or the plot is no good. I completely disagree, this writing stood out because it is excellent. The story is wonderful and this book reads like a classic. I am jealous of this author's talent.

I read lots during the year, to avoid being crushed by books I give many of them to my family. Monkey Temple is not leaving. I have two all time favorite books, Tom Sawyer and Dandelion Wine, Monkey Temple is going on the shelf right next to them.

**While engrossed in this book, I read several small passages to my husband. Although it has now been approximately a week since I finished this story, he is still asking me about the main characters Jules and Rals,  he remembers them by name. Now THAT is high praise for a book!

TH1RT3EN (Thriteen) by Steve Cavanagh

Hello everyone.

Are you one of those people that watches all the latest shows deemed cool? Do you binge watch Netflix, Prime or Hulu? Obviously, my husband missed the cool train. He is a huge Perry Mason fan. So many tv channels are now showing retro shows. If Dick Van Dyke, Twilight Zone or Perry Mason is on, good luck on getting his attention. You could send a marching band through our living room and he wouldn't notice. Funny that he likes Perry Mason so much but prefers to read books about spies instead of mysteries. Just for the record, Columbo is way better than Perry Mason...I mean there is the raincoat and the basset hound named "dog", nothing can compete with that!  If you haven't seen any of these tv shows from the past you are really missing out.

I just finished the new book Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh, actually spelled TH1RT3EN on the cover. This is an interesting story of a serial killer. We know who the killer is from the beginning, Joshua Kane. A young starlet and her bodyguard are murdered.  Mr. Kane, the real killer, appears in a courtroom not as the person on trial but as a member of the jury! Diabolical huh? The murdered woman's husband, also a major movie star, is the man on trial, fighting for his freedom and the truth. For the defense is attorney Eddie Flynn, the lawyer in charge of making sense of the rock-solid case against his innocent client.

This book moves quickly from high point to high point. There is absolutely no bric-a-brac here. No time is wasted on thinking in the shower or ordering a pizza. If the author writes it, you better pay attention because it is critical to the story and often either action packed or quite shocking. This book is a mystery in that the reader is wondering if the serial killer will be discovered and still a thriller with its breakneck pacing. In addition, there is a large amount of courtroom drama here, if that is not your favorite rest assured it is completely engaging and never EVER dry. This is by far the best legal thriller I've ever read. Filled with flawed characters that the author seems to spend little time developing yet the reader ends up knowing them well. Filled with action, yet lots of behind-the-scenes investigation. Thirteen or TH1RT3EN, is unputdownable from the first sentence to the last.

Wait until I tell hubby, this book puts Perry Mason to shame.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Hello everyone.

I don't know how my parents managed. How could they take care of a three year old child and have newborn triplets? If you knew my sisters you'd know that it is an even bigger feat than you think!  I'm not saying they were, and continue to be, a pain but....  Anyway, I remember my parents each sitting at one end of the sofa, with me sitting on the floor watching tv. They were each giving a child a bottle and the third was sitting, leaning against me, with my arms wrapped around her so she couldn't fall over. I am still not sure how my mother coped when my dad was at work, three cribs lined up in one bedroom with screaming, I mean delightful, babies wanting attention. Since both sets of grandparents were local, I suspect my grandmothers were the key. Otherwise, a nanny would have been a huge help.

I just read The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. This is the story of a young nanny who works for a family in a remote "smart house" in the Scottish Highlands. The homeowners and parents of four children have to go out of town immediately after the nanny, Rowan, is hired, leaving her to figure out the electronic gizmos and the often unruly children. As the house begins to have a mind of its own, with unexplainable things happening, the reader becomes entranced in the story.  Add into the mix a dark history for the isolated house along with the legend of ghosts, and the story is off and running in true Ruth Ware form.

This book is full of mood and description without being wordy. It puts you firmly into this bizarre home, feeling everything from the terror of things going bump in the night, to the cold of the Scottish evenings.  As usual the author stays on topic, with a strong plot drawing the reader in deeper and deeper into the story until it is impossible not to read to the unforgettable end.  As I said with The Death of Mrs. Westaway (June 2, 2018), I've read all of Ruth Ware's books and each one is better than the last, leaving me to wonder what she will do next.

Be forewarned, if you read this, you may well chuck your electronic assistant (Alexa) into the trash.

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

Hello everyone.

Are you in one of those communities where you know all your neighbors or just a few, perhaps none? Right now we know some, not all. In our old Victorian we knew absolutely everyone. We ended up being quite close, as we were all going through the restoration process. One of our neighbors across the street was a FBI agent. My father-in-law would come over pretty much every Saturday to help us work on the project of the moment.  He didn't call but since we were always working on the house it was a pretty safe bet that we would be tackling some issue first thing on the weekend. One time we were at the store when hubby's dad arrived. He started walking between houses admiring his recent handiwork on a diamond shaped window. Our FBI neighbor was not sure who my father-in-law was and immediately came over to question him. It may seem bothersome or intrusive to you, but it was great for us, especially since my husband often traveled for business. You never really know what you are going to get in the neighbor department until you move in.

I just finished Shari Lapena's new book, Someone We know. This story begins with a mother who walks the line between protecting her teenage child and the morality of knowing he has broken into the neighbor's homes for the purpose of snooping around their computers, and for the challenge. The boy's parents decide not to go to the police but the mother's feelings of guilt for her son's behavior grow.  To calm her conscious, one night she sneaks out and pushes an anonymous letter of apology under the door of the affected houses. The problems really start when we discover that one of the houses explored belongs to a man who has had some startling news; his wife was found dead. The teenage boys prints are all over the house of the murdered woman. Guilt is cast on several neighbors as the book progresses leaving the reader guessing, certain the killer is one person then the next, in this classic, suspenseful "who done it".

The writing a good, as always, typical of Shari Lapena's past books. This one might be a bit faster read than her last, definitely a page turner as the tension grows. No rocket science here, just another solid story from this author. So far, I've read everything Lapena has written and she hasn't disappointed me yet.

Think I'll go next door and borrow a cup of sugar, just to make sure they aren't up to no good.