Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Have you ever seen the ghost shows where they run tape recorders, or video cameras then review what was captured?  What about when a photo is taken with a digital camera, they get floating orbs which are supposed to be spirits?  We have a huge attic in this house, but it doesn't seem spooky.  It is finished and has a full bathroom.  The attic in the Victorian house we restored, well that was a different story.  Also very large, we did a lot of work to it.  We took down the walls and ceiling to install heating ducts behind.  The amount of mess, plaster and general debris was up to my husband's armpits, and he is about six feet tall.  How we ever managed to get it all down three flights of stairs and out of the house...well, frankly I think I blocked it out.  I have told you before that we found all kinds of things behind the wall, photos, drawings by a National Gallery Artist, button up shoes, love letters, and more.  After seeing one of those ghost shows I contemplated taking a few quick pictures up there.  We took film photos but not digital.  I didn't have the nerve to do it. What if there were a bunch of orbs and all those ghost people are right and they are dead people? Every little creak in the wind and I am going to think about all those people in the attic and are they coming to scare me...or worse.  

I recently read Someone in the Attic by Adrea Mara.  This is the story about a group of friends.  The book begins with Anya. Her husband is out of town, so she is enjoying a little pampering.  She is taking a relaxing bath and having a glass of wine.  She hears movement coming from the attic.  Could she be imagining it or maybe had a bit too much wine? Those points are answered when the attic scuttle opens and a dark figure emerges.  A few seconds later, Anya is dead.  Drowned in her bath.  Anya's friends are shocked by what happened but know nothing about the person in the attic, but of course the reader does.  Now Anya's friend Julia is hearing scratching in their family attic.  It is nothing, right?  Things become much more intense when someone starts posting videos of the inside of Julia's home.  There are no signs of entry, except for maybe...the attic.

This book is lots of fun.  The story unfolds slowly as we wrestle to figure out who is responsible and why this is happening.  The suspense is palpable as the author points to multiple people as the possible culprit. As fall approaches and wood in your house cools it contracts, sometimes making a popping sound.  This is the perfect book to read when you are wondering what that noise is in your own house.

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is going well.

Well, my laptop screen still isn't fixed. If I don't make sense or you can't understand something, maybe tilt your head or do a handstand to read...because that is how I'm having to write this.  You know, I don't understand how my laptop hinge got damaged.  I don't understand a lot of things, like why I am cold when it is 68 degrees in the house with the air conditioning on or when it is off, but when the heat is on and it is 68, I am toasty.  It makes no sense. I think I broke my internal thermostat.  I don't understand why humans can have been on this planet for so long and still not have figured out how to get along, why I can cook anything except chocolate mousse, and all of 11th grade chemistry.  Thankfully, I understood the following book.

I recently read The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North.  If he sounds familiar, I've reviewed several of his books.  In fact, I will never forget the package I received from the publisher when they sent me an early copy of The Whisper Man.  When opening the package, it immediately started singing a spooky song. Yes, singing.  I actually posted the song when I did the review.  Needless to say, I am excited when I get to read one of his books, The Man Made of Smoke was no different.  

In this book we are following Dan Garvie, he is a doctor helping people in the prison system through trauma and learning why the behaved the way they did.  Dan is driven by a childhood experience where he sees a young boy with an odd man in a rest stop restroom.  Now Dan finds out that his father has disappeared and is presumed dead, likely due to suicide.  Dan travels home to attend to his father's estate and try to discover what happened.  John, Dan's father and retired policeman, leaves clues about something he was investigating, something dangerous.  As Dan traces his father's footsteps, he discovers his father's disappearance may be related to the disturbing scene he saw when he was a child and a prolific serial killer.

This book was intriguing.  It imparts a nervous feeling in your stomach.  The reader is filled with dread for the facts that are feared coming yet can't stop reading.  That anxious feeling imparted through words on a page is amazing and storytelling at its best.  A true thriller, don't miss this one.

The Mirror by Nora Roberts

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Well, I might not be posting for a bit.  Seems I have broken my laptop hinge.  My laptop won't close or open all the way, and when I try, it pulls the frame off my screen.  In fact, I am typing this trying to see in a partially closed, stuck lid. So, I hope you really appreciate this as my neck looks like a twisted giraffe playing Twister upside down, while watching a dirty movie wondering how the heck the actors got in that position.  Now there is an image for you!  Oh well, at least it leaves more time for reading.

I recently read The Mirror by Nora Roberts.  This is the follow-up to the book Inheritance.  These are part of the Lost Bride Trilogy, the last installment, The Seven Rings, is being released in November.  In this volume we continue to follow Sonya and her best friend, Cleo. Sonya finds a mirror with strange properties. As she steps through the mirror Sonya is transported to the manor's past. She becomes a witness to the horrific deeds of the evil Hobbs. This gives the reader not only some new characters, but also insight as to why the curse on the Poole family was ever placed.

Despite Hobbs, this was a very pleasant story, with the revelations slowly unfolding. Rich in details, developing our caring for the characters, this is typical Nora Roberts. The series would make a great summer read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the always generous St. Martin's Press, for the review copy.