A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Sometimes people and things aren't what you think.  The other day I was telling hubby about a trend that is driving me bonkers.  So many cooking videos claim to be the absolute best of something, like the best banana bread, the best meatballs, the best apple pie.  First of all, it strikes me as so arrogant to think you have the absolute best.  Second, it ticks me off that it is kind of insulting to my recipes and those I have inherited.  I mean, you put your cooking up against either one of my grandma's and we are going to have a huge problem.  The best?  You have no idea what good is, let alone the best.  Then these "cooks" give these methods that are a "must", often incorrect. Some take their hands from raw chicken and put them in another ingredient, like salt.  If you are a new cook, don't do that. Salmonella will have you puking for a week. Speaking of spreading illness.  There is this whole new thing where people say not to wash your whole chicken, that the force of the water spreads Salmonella all over the kitchen.  Tip one, turn down your water.  Blasting the heck out of a poor bird is not necessary. Next, have you ever seen what happens when chickens are killed?  They are often thrown in a vat with water, bodily fluids and feces.  Yes, I know you don't want to talk about poop in a book review and I completely agree I've gone off the deep end.  I have the new Peter Swanson book, so I know you'll stay.  My point is, if you don't GENTLY wash your chicken, your dinner is roasted chicken with a side of poop. Then there is the argument about salted verses unsalted butter.  How salted butter has more water.  It does, but if half a teaspoon of water throws off your cooking or baking, you've got way bigger issues. Okay, I know...the book, April, the book.  I'll get off my soap box.  I'll just say if there is one thing I've learned as I've been getting older, is that despite what I think I know, I actually know nothing. As far as your YouTube banana bread being the best, you are deluding yourself.  Something better is always out there.  Mostly my Grandma's!!!

I recently read A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson.  I have read and reviewed several books by this author and have enjoyed them.  This story is about a young woman, Martha, who has married Alan.  Although Martha felt she didn't really know her husband when they wed, despite being a little controlling, she felt he was a good man who cared for her deeply.  After approximately a year of marriage, she discovers what looks like blood on one of his shirts.  Alan is a salesman and frequently out of town.  Now Martha's mind is racing about the man she should know better and what happens when he goes to his conferences.  Could he be a murderer or is she the owner of a vivid imagination?  Martha enlists the help of an old college friend to help her investigate the possibility that she could actually be married to a serial killer.

This book frightened me.  Peter Swanson has always been a sure thing, an auto-buy.  This time I really had trouble getting into the story.  I don't know why.  The book was interesting from the first page.  One thing is that for the most part, the story is told by a different person's perspective in each chapter.  The chapters are not labeled, leaving the reader to figure out who is narrating.  Originally, I found it annoying, it broke my reading cadence, broke the spell.  After a while I realized it was being done on purpose and is part of the story.  Don't be like me, appreciate the construction of the story right from the beginning.  While the characters change with each chapter, they are all fully developed, interesting and often surprising.  The plot moves along at a pleasant pace, often hitting the reader with shocking Hitchcockian twists.  Once, about half-way in, I gasped so loudly my husband came running to see what was wrong.  Not that I noticed him, I could not look away from the book.  Now that is a good twist, and it was only one of many.  I learned my lesson, to trust Peter Swanson.  The novel I thought might be my nemesis, turned out to be a super fun, first class thriller.  

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy.  Of course, my views are my own.  (I'll try and channel someone else next time, if you want.) 

The Angel Maker by Alex North

Hello everyone.  I hope your week has been a nice one.

Every time I think about Alex North, I think about the things publishers sometimes send along with their books.  There have been pens, bookmarks, bumper stickers, swizzle sticks, anonymous notes in the mail from the thriller's killer, candy and more.  One of the most unique things came with an early copy of The Whisper Man by Alex North.  When you opened the package, it started singing.  Not just singing, no this wasn't any joyous Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Happy Birthday...both songs have me wishful that someone is giving me a new car or dazzling emerald jewelry, of which I have received neither.  I opened the book packaging and it started to sing the creepiest song.  One I still remember and can sing word for word, years later.  The spooky little jingle can be heard on my review of the book on September 16,2019.  Ever since getting that chatty Cathy package, I'm always on the lookout for this author's next book.

I recently read The Angel Maker by Alex North.  I've read The Whisper Man and The Shadows by the same author and enjoyed both.  This time we are following several different people.  Katie Shaw is an adult woman with a husband and young daughter, plenty of responsibilities.  She is contacted by her mother when her brother, Chris, goes missing.  Chris had been the victim of terrible violence when they were teens and Katie still, privately, holds herself responsible.  Then we follow Laurence, a police detective.  He is investigating a bizarre and brutal murder of a wealthy man who seemed to know he was going to die.  You know a wild ride is coming your way when you learn that Laurence had investigated what happened years ago to poor Chris and realized both attacks may somehow be connected.

Although I have enjoyed all North's books, this is by far my favorite.  This might well be my favorite thriller of the year, although I probably say that often.  This story is complicated, like you need a string and pins to map it out on your dining room wall and despite living in North Carolina, I'd end up with my string traveling to New Jersey.  Honestly, it's not that complicated, not too many characters and not overly involved.  This story is intricate enough to keep you anxiously reading and amazed at how the author has connected everything to make a composite story.  So many times, thrillers are heart pounding or plot thick, this book accomplished both seamlessly.  I loved every second and cannot wait for Alex North's next book.

You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti

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

I was recently listening to an interview given by a major thriller author.  He was talking about doing ample research. As he discussed having to pull strings to get access to a Secret Service agent, I had to smile.  Although I am the lowly, cookie baking, dog butt trimming, compulsive list making, recipe testing, popular fiction reading, unknown to everyone, housewife....I have had lunch with a Secret Service agent.  As I've explained in the past, this occurred while I was still working, prior to my glorious wifery ways.  I had a chuckle at the expense of this huge writing talent, constantly on the NY Times Bestseller list.  I, yes, me, know an FBI agent.  Gasp!  Did you gasp?  Come on, given my constant complaints on egg and butter prices, tales of dishwasher failures, or chicken baking, this is the good stuff.  I'll try again, I have had lunch with a Secret Service agent and know an FBI agent.  Now...all together...gasp!  How shocking.  How unusual.  How impressive.  Ah forget it, people today are so jaded and impressed by nothing but money.  

I recently read You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti.  This is part of a series, but I didn't know that, and it didn't matter.  This is the story of a FBI agent Laurel Snow, who works with Fish and Wildlife Captain Huck Rivers, as they try to catch a serial killer.  Someone is hunting accomplished women, bashing their brains in, cutting off their hands, and leaving them outside in the winter in northern Washington state.  All the women are surrounded by black dahlias, symbolizing betrayal.  As Laurel and Huck work together, the reader is presented with several viable candidates for killer.  The need for speed in solving this case is urgent to prevent another woman from meeting such a horrible fate.  The pace is magnified when Laurel's own sister finds her own front yard sprinkled with black dahlias.

This book was fun and interesting.  While more mystery than thriller for me, the construction of the story kept me guessing and interested.  Not overly wordy and maintaining pacing throughout, I enjoyed this one.  Not to mention, it surprised me, all the way to the last page.  Gotta love that.  

By the way, I didn't meet an FBI agent when I did hard time for letting chicken stock boil over on the stove.  He was our neighbor at our last house, making for an interesting neighborhood watch!

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Hello everyone. I hope you're having a great day.

In the US we are celebrating July 4th.  It's a holiday that often extends around the actual date and has become a popular vacation and family visit time. When I was a kid, we would spend the morning of the 4th watching the men's finals at Wimbledon, which was always held that day.  Then we'd go to my Aunt Mary and Uncle Don's house.  My uncle was on the beach at Normandy on D-Day.  My aunt was amazingly creative. She would decide to reupholster her winged back chair. While I don't think she had any sewing experience, her chair would look like a pro did it.  When she wanted window boxes, she got out the wood and made them herself. She also had amazing doll houses. My aunt and uncle had a big picnic in a great driveway-garage set up, with a makeshift baseball field behind and later a pool.  Okay, it might "sound" weird, but it was summer holiday perfection.  The whole family came, allowing us a day of getting to play with all our cousins.  So fun. Always topped off with sparklers, something my parents would have never allowed.  It was a major part of our summer vacation and I miss it and my aunt and uncle terribly.

I recently read The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager.  This is the story of Casey, who is a popular actress.  She has lost her husband and her grief has driven her to drink.  Her drinking caused her to lose her job, starring in a Broadway show. Casey tries to escape the gossip mill by taking an extended summer vacation at a beautiful lake in Vermont. At her waterfront home, she spends most of her time on the back porch, drinking bourbon and watching people through her binoculars. Specifically, she is watching the fancy house with loads of glass, owned by supermodel Katherine and her tech savvy husband, Tom.  Casey's spying losses it's attraction when Katherine goes missing and she suspects Tom.

This book is quick moving and a true thriller.  This has that, hold your breath, something is about to happen any second feeling.  It is very successful at raising your pulse. It's really amazing the story that Sager weaves with a limited cast and setting.  I think you'll be surprised by the numerous twists.  The author is masterful at making you think you have the story figured out only to slap the back of your hand with a twist that says, "guess again."

A word of warning.  There have been quite a few reviewers either talking the book down or rating it poorly because they don't like the main character.  The issue seems to be they feel that Riley Sager doesn't represent women well, making them drunk, stupid, or gullible.  I almost passed on this book because of those discussions.  Please, PLEASE, don't be led, decide for yourself.  If you are in doubt, don't buy the book but get it from your library.  There are only two sexes, and an unreliable narrator has to be unreliable for a reason. Just do me a favor, forget reviews, judge for yourself.  As a thriller, this ticks all the boxes.

The funny thing about American independence is that now, most Americans feel a respectful link to Great Britian and great affection for the people.

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

Hello everyone.  I hope your day has been wonderful.

You'll have to excuse any misspelled words or typos; my hands are frozen.  In the land of housewifery all is not well.  Our hot water heater has a bunch of corrosion on the pipe that exits, bringing steaming hot water to the house...too hot if I'm being honest.  Fortunately, hubby noticed the pipe's decline while spraying for bugs, another wonderful house duty, luckily not mine.  Anyway, getting a plumber in this small town has been like getting a book from Dan Brown, difficult.  They are all so busy, even the guy we always use.  Although hubby swears it isn't necessary, I have been curtailing my use of hot water. Washing dishes in frigid winter water has left me feeling like I have been paddling a boat with my hands in the artic. Yes, we have a fantastic dish washer but some things I don't trust to its practically acid like soap and blasting spray (that's a compliment not a complaint).  Plumbing has nothing to do with today's book, but I just knew you would want to know every single detail about things going on in our basement. Yes, I'm being sarcastic, no I haven't lost all of my mind but I'm working on it, thanks for asking.

I recently read Nine Lives by Peter Swanson. This is the story of nine people who are strangers from all over the country.  Each of these characters receives an envelope with no return address, inside is a piece of paper with a list of nine names, nothing else.  Each recipient has the unfortunate surprise of finding themselves on the list.  Several discard it as junk mail.  Some people think it's a joke.  It becomes clear that the list is trouble once people on the list start being murdered, one by one the list is getting smaller as the FBI races to track down and protect the remaining survivors.

This book is exactly what a thriller should be, full of anticipation, dread, curiosity, and page flipping fun.  This is aided by the fact that this book is told in a unique way.  It is told by a countdown.  Yep, when the next chapter comes you know that someone else will be dead as we count down from the nine strangers. Further, the major twist is something I've never seen done before and I read a ton of thrillers.  Order take-out and ditch Netflix, this book will hold your attention all night.

An evil thought: if you have a book club reading this, it would be so creepy to send them each an anonymous single sheet of paper with all their names on it.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

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

I had the world's best dad.  He adored his family despite wanting a boy and getting four girls instead. He would come home from work to find us kids in the pool, while my mom made dinner.  Yes, we had an inground heated pool...I know it was a luxury but now I practically spend its cost on a week's groceries but I'm getting off topic.  My dad would come home from work, put on his swim trunks and come out to the pool carrying a tray of soda.  He worked, then came home and served us drinks! He was in his happy place, with his family.  He also loved vacations and history.  I think he might have broken the world record for most historical markers read while in motion and having four kids yelling about who is on their side of the car and wondering where their shoes went. I got lucky in the parent department, some kids don't.  

I recently read A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham.  This is Stacy's first book, but I highly doubt it will be her last.  In this story Chloe is a child psychologist in Baton Rouge.  She's been emotionally on the edge since she was a kid.  Her father was a serial killer, murdering young girls, Chloe was the person to discover his crimes and turned her dad into the police.  Now her dad sits still in jail and the twentieth anniversary of the first killing approaches.  When girls start going missing again, Chloe doesn't know what to think, especially as these disappearances get closer to her with one being her patient and Chloe the last to see her.

This book is thriller-ific.  It will have your head spinning round like you ate bad pea soup for dinner (Exorcist).  The author has you believing one thing, examining one person then the next.  As so often happens, I pronounced myself Queen of the thrillers telling all who would listen, my husband only, that I had determined the ending.  I might have been the teensiest bit wrong.

This quick read will have you doubting everyone and trusting no one.

Survive The Night by Riley Sager

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

Not to push you to other book reviewers, but do you ever watch reviews on YouTube?  I don't like to watch reviews, I don't want to be influenced and I definitely want to be surprised. However, I love seeing people's hauls.  Heck, it's like shopping without spending my money...what could be better (hubby would certainly agree).  Sadly, I saw a complete review from someone who had an advanced copy of the new Riley Sager book.  Not a review, a piece of hell on earth!  They jumped in telling everyone what happened in the book, that they hated it because of the ending, then gave away the big twist of the end!  Arrrrrgggh!  I've been waiting months for the next Sager thriller.  How?  Why?  I sat here in shock.  What do I do now? Read it, knowing it sucks because of how it ends.  Read it anyway, because I've read so many Riley Sager books that I know the others bouncing around in my brain would like a new playmate?  Dag gum it, I hate this decision and I don't want to waste my book money on something I'm not going to like.  God Bless Book of the Month, who had it listed as an add-on, which means you can buy it for $9.99.  Dilemma solved.  For a deep discount I would take a chance.

I recently read Survive the Night by Riley Sager.  This is the story of a girl, Charlie, a college student whose roommate was tragically murdered.  She decides to go home but needs a ride, so arranges to travel with Josh, who she meets through a campus ride board. As they head into the hills of Pennsylvania in the middle of the night, Charlie realizes all is not as it should be and Josh might not be who he says, in fact, Josh might be the killer.  

Beside already knowing the ending, I thought perhaps because of it's limited scene, the car, that this would be boring.  It isn't.  I feared this would be a slow read, watching the miles tick by with nothing to do but talk.  A book full of endless dialog.  It isn't all dialog and it isn't slow, not at all.  Okay, I'll stop being so coy.  The book was good.  It was a real Riley Sager.  Fast paced, exciting, and nerve-wracking.  The ending that had been spoiled for me, was only half true, and there were plenty more twists.  Just go into thinking this is just a book, it's fiction and you're reading for fun.  Set your expectations and criticisms aside and you'll very much enjoy this book

If you're in college, maybe think twice before carpooling home.  I hear the bus is quite lovely this time of year.

The Whisper Man by Alex North

Hello everyone.

I hope you are having a great day. I started a new book today, that is always enjoyable. On the housewife side of life, our new dishwasher is finally installed. It took an Act of Congress but it is done. Of course, all the dishes are already clean so the plumber ran a quick rinse cycle to check his connections (yes, we had to hire a plumber.....see me shaking my head in disgust). We have yet to dirty enough dishes to actually run an entire wash cycle. I really hope it works and actually cleans, I would hate to start over. I can live without fancy vacations, gems, baubles and a mega yacht but I need a great working dishwasher, air conditioning and a dvr with plenty of space. Don't give me that look, you're reading this on a computer or fancy phone. We all have a skewed vision of "need" these days (but just for the record mine are real needs).

With my love of books, I'm obviously an avid book buyer. Sometimes, advanced copies show up at my door. They make it feel like Christmas morning and I am always very grateful. One day I opened a package from Celadon Books. I jumped a foot. As I was removing the contents it started singing. I am not joking, it literally started singing this creepy song that is impossible to get out of your head. I even did my tried and true method for ridding myself of a song, humming the theme from Gilligan's Island. Good old Gilligan and the Skipper too, usually work for me, but not this time. In the book Celadon sent, there is a children's song that warns of the villain in this thriller and that is the song emanating from the package. Of course, it was like one of those cards where you can record your own greeting for your grandma but let me assure you there was nothing grandmotherly about this song!

Now you want to know what the book was, huh? Well the wild, spooky PR came with The Whisper Man by Alex North. This thriller is the story of a father, Tom, and his son, Jake, who are trying to heal after the death of Tom's wife/Jake's mother. Jake has pulled away from his dad, becoming somewhat remote, often quietly drawing by himself instead of socializing or leaning on his dad for support. Tom decides they need to move out of the house where his wife died. Jake is all for it and finds a house he likes, pushing his dad to buy it, which Tom does. As the story proceeds, we find that the house, like the people in this story, has many secrets.

The Whisper Man, was serial killer of young children. This predator was called The Whisper Man because before being kidnapped then killed, the children heard someone whispering outside their bedroom window. Fortunately this evil man was caught and has been in prison for many years. Concerns mount when a local child goes missing and the police learn that he heard whispering outside his window. Is this the work of a copycat killer?  Now, as Tom tries to reclaim and rebuild his relationship with his beloved son, Jake begins hearing whispers outside his window.

This book is a fast read. It is very easy to get into with well-defined and likable characters. Full of unseen twists and turns this story is hard to put down. Thriller lovers, this is our bread and butter....warming of the roll not necessary. Let me put it this way, I was upstairs reading, toward the end I yelled "Oh my God" so loudly my husband came running up eighteen steps thinking something was wrong. Something was wrong, read this book to find out all about it.

The song:

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.

Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea

Hello everyone.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and they brought you the wrong dish, only it was actually better than what you ordered and became a new favorite? Stuff like that happens to me all the time. Several years ago we were buying our first old house. We found several houses we loved in a specific neighborhood in Virginia. As soon as we put a contract on a house something would happen. Someone would beat our offer by thirty minutes, or take cash off credit cards to come up with an all cash offer. We were getting really upset. Finally one day while driving around, pointing out the window I said to hubby, "I don't care anymore, I like them all. I'll take any house in this neighborhood except that one. I don't like that one, I'll take any house except that." Can you guess what happened? Of course, that was the house we bought and loved. My mother never mentioned fate by name but through the process kept telling us to be calm what is meant to be will be.

That ugly duckling house that had been divided into apartments ended up being amazing. As we restored it, we found the stairs had once been much more elaborate. So while removing added walls and the floored over grand stair opening, we found a wall of handmade raised paneling, with picture hooks from 100 years ago still hanging in place. As we took down walls in the attic to add heating (oh yes, we bravely purchased a house with no central heat or a/c), we found so many things behind walls and hidden under floorboards: button-up shoes, booze bottles, servants love letters, a corset, needlework, tin types, art work, etc. We even found an intact Duncan Phyfe sofa...never heard of it...look it up I'll wait...it's amazing and was sitting in a falling down old metal shed. One of the drawings ended up being from an artist that taught art in our house, she became a National Gallery Artist. They have since contacted us asking for copies or the donation of the original. All those people that purchased the houses that we had tried to buy started searching their homes for amazing finds but came up empty. Only our house was like living in a HGTV show. It was mean to be, thanks Mom.

Recently the generous Kensington Publishing sent me several books, all of which I will read and review.  To start I picked a title and author I had never heard about, Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea. This story is about a young woman, Rory Moore, who is a bit different. She is not fond of some social settings, touching, and returning phone calls. She is also amazing at solving cold-case murders. She has the ability to put herself into the position of each player in a case and to reason out who was the killer. Because this skill is so specialized she works as a consultant for the police. Think of a combination of Lisbeth Salander and Monk, only better, warmer and endearing. You will cheer for Rory and admire her. This is no Chablis drinking ordinary woman, she prefers dark stout beer, echoing the darkness found several places in this book. As the story opens Rory gets a new case to solve but her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her to deal with both difficult topics. To make matters worse, she finds that for some reason her dad has been representing a serial killer about to be released from prison. I don't want to say anymore. This book is skillful in the way that it gives you a bit of info at a time. There are many twists and they are released throughout the story propelling you forward. Donlea is masterful at weaving the past and present together. He writes about likable characters that come together to merge into an unforgettable read.

If you love mysteries or thrillers, this could be your favorite of the year. Some Choose Darkness is so much better than getting verde when you ordered a smoked salsa. For me, Charlie Donlea has gone from Charlie Who? to one of my favorite authors. Guess Mom was right, this was meant to be.