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.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

Hello everyone.  I hope you're enjoying the beginning of summer.

Before I had the luxury of becoming a housewife, and the queen of the vacuum and chicken roasting, I actually had a job.  Don't laugh, now that's not nice. Yes, someone would hire me.  I worked in banking, specifically in the credit card industry.  You know how you finally pay off your credit card and the next statement you still are charged interest?  I can tell you why AND do the extensive math to show you how it is calculated.  Want to set up a new account? No problem.  Fraud on your card, I'm your girl.  Are you a merchant in need of a great discount rate and need your accounts set up, I gotcha there too.  It was quite an education. 

One time the entire area was being bombarded by fake applications.  I was very lucky and got to go to a seminar and have lunch with a Secret Service agent.  Yes, they do more than protect people.  A gang of con men had hit the area and the Secret Service had lots of information on what was going on, including how to spot fake applications.  Surprisingly, the apps all had things in common. First, you are paying me to be out of the office, and you're feeding me, and I get to meet someone kind of interesting.  If only all days could be like that. Well, okay, maybe not, it was fraud, and I do get to stay home now.

I recently read The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark.  I was excited to read this as I read The Last Flight by Ms. Clark.  At that time, I had read 842.3 thrillers in a row, all set in a neighborhood.  The last flight is set in an airport.  Relief! While I never got around to reviewing it, I really liked the book.  I was hoping this new book would deliver the same, great thriller and something different.  I am happy to say that it does.

This is the story of Meg, who is a con artist that disappears and reinvents herself when the game is over.  Then she is on to the next victim.  Kat is a journalist who has a connection to Meg.  She is working to expose the truth about the cons and show Meg for what she truly is.  There is a problem, the closer Kat gets to Meg, the less she understands her.  Leaving her with more questions not only about Meg but herself.

This book is a quick read.  While it's not a heart racing thriller, you will find well defined characters that you will hold your attention long after the book is over.  Very interesting.  I can't imagine what Julie Clark will come up with next, but no doubt I'll be begging her to take my money.

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is going well.

I just got off the phone with my sister, one of the triplets.  She would like to remain nameless, so I'll call her....Broomhilda.  Broomhilda is upset because she is making one of my grandmother's recipes for chicken that called for a small cheese cracker, like Cheese Nips.  Apparently, the company has reduced the size of the box and what used to cover several chicken breasts with ease now has left her short.  She has her mouth set for some of my grandma's cooking but feels persecuted by the ever-shrinking grocery sizes.  Staying on the grocery palooza topic, Broomhilda still has her Christmas cookie dough still in her freezer as she ran out of time to bake during the holidays.  It seems that getting your hands on Hershey Kisses in June isn't as easy as you might think.  Hey, what are you giving me the stink eye for?  I'm 600 miles away, and I did, after all, give her the lovely name of Broomhilda.  Please don't write to me saying your name or your favorite aunt's name is Broomhilda.  I mean no disrespect.  My parents apparently were experiencing a hippie moment naming me after a month.

I recently read Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier.  I've never read anything by this author before, despite people raving about her for years.  This is the story of a woman, Paris, married to an older man.  Her celebrity husband used to be a famous comedian, who appeared on a very successful television show.  When he is found dead and the police believe that she killed him, the story really jumps into high gear.  We discover that Paris isn't really who she says she is, then wonder how that will affect her case.

Ruby, a murderer, who has been in prison for twenty-five years is about to be unexpectedly released.  Ruby knows all about Paris and is threatening to tell all her secrets.  Now Paris must confront an evil past and figure out how to live in the present.

This book was so entertaining.  The writing is smooth, concise, and stays on topic.  I can't believe I waited this long to read something by Jennifer Hillier.  I am a fool and have been missing out.  I grabbed this book, while in the middle of another, thinking I would read just the first paragraph or two to get an idea of the writing style.  A day later, I can't put Things We Do in the Dark down until I've finished every last word.  Like the old Maxell House commercial, it was good til the last drop. Now, I'm hunting down the back list for this author as I must read them all.

Just for the record, by the time you've read this, my sister likely won't be talking to me. In addition, she'll be frantically creating her own blog and thinking of a substitute name for me.  I prefer something classic, with a sparkly dress and a wand with a star on the end, Broomhilda you can call me Glenda the good.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

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

Can you read a map or do you depend only on GPS?  Heck, I remember when maps where huge, fold out, and free.  When was the last time you heard about anything useful being free?  A long time!  A few years ago, we bought our first car with GPS.  Shortly after getting it, we were going from Raleigh, North Carolina to Cape May, New Jersey.  We decided to let the GPS get us there.  It was a bit of an adventure.  Our first place to stop and get gas was surrounded by big huge buzzards.  Too bad I didn't look as beautiful as Tippi Hendren because I sure felt like her, there were dozens and dozens of the birds on top of each surface...waiting and watching for someone to keel over. They would surely devour that person in under thirty seconds. Then we were in northern Virginia, naturally it took us right through Washington.  Heck, it was a weekend so the roads weren't too crowded and we got a side show getting to see the Washington Monument under repair.  Oh yes, it was all urban-ly scenic until the football game got out and the roads became mass panic.  Next to cut over to the coast, GPS has us go through Philadelphia. I don't mean skirt Philly, I mean I could practically land a big old juicy kiss on the liberty bell as we drove (ever so slowly) by. New Jersey never looked so good. 

I recently read The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.  This is the story of Nell, who loves maps.  She works in cartography in the New York Public Library and loves it.  Her father works there too.  All becomes unpleasant when Nell has a fight with her father about a cheap old fold out map.  He has her fired, causing a huge rift between them.  After resettling in a new life, Nell is suddenly called back to the library, where her father has been found dead.  Imagine Nell's surprise when she finds hidden in his belongings that old gas station map that had caused their estrangement.  Things get even more odd when she finds that there are very few of these gas station maps left in existence and someone is hunting down every last copy.

This book draws you in right from the beginning.  You'll find the book calling you back to read more every time you try and put it down. This mystery draws heavily from fantasy, so if you need everything to be realistic then this isn't the book for you.  If you want an interesting escape, this book will map out a journey to some unusual places (see what I did there?).  While I don't read fantasy in general, this really was an enjoyable story.

My negative sense of direction has me wondering what happens to GPS in bad weather or in a deeply wooded area?  It goes out?  I'll end up in another country!  Maybe paper back ups would be advisable for me.

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews

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

Well, I can't say anything sarcastic about my husband.  A huge arrangement of flowers just arrived.  This weekend is our anniversary.  We had the sweetest wedding.  It was in upstate New York, in a tiny white church from the 1800's.  Then our reception was in a hotel near my dad's office.   Besides ballrooms, the hotel has a pretty restaurant on the banks of a river. Every year we would all go there for lunch at the holidays.  Of course, the restaurant would be packed with his coworkers and my dad would be so proud as my mom and us four girls were shown to our table.  He kept pointing to us, talking to people as we went by...he actually claimed us as his daughters. Pretty good for a guy that really wanted a son.  Anyway, our reception was at that hotel.  We had a sit-down dinner, open bar, live jazz band, the works. Best of all we had our loved ones, so many of which are now gone.  Sadly, this weekend also is the anniversary of my mother's death.  It's always an odd time, both happy and terribly sad. As always, when there is something sad or housework I want to procrastinate on, I read.  I've been reading lots!

I recently read The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews.  I've read and reviewed books by this author before, The Santa Suit just a few months ago.  Usually, I get her holiday books.  I'm always stressed, they look smaller, like a quick read, and they always have very festive holiday covers.  While I'm not normally one of those people that buys books based on covers, I do allow myself to be a bit sucked in at Christmas.  It's actually become a tradition.  While the holiday books are always wonderful, I wasn't sure about a 400+ page novel.

The Homewreckers was charming.  The story is about Hattie, who restores houses in Savannah.  She is convinced to star in a tv show, sharing her contractor abilities with the world.  The project is plagued by disaster after disaster, but when questions arise about a beloved teacher's disappearance years ago and how it might be tied to her new restoration, things get really troubling. This book has something for everyone, a romance, old houses, and a mystery. 

A word about the writing, it is very nice.  I have a pet peeve when someone describes xyz happening.  Then someone walks up, and they tell every detail of xyz again.  The two chapters later someone asks when happened and xyz gets explained in detail for a third time.  Mary Kay Andrews does NOT do that.  When an opportunity exists for an author to describe a series of events multiple times and they don't, I feel like they really respect their readers time which I appreciate.

This book, while not tense like my adored thrillers, is a very pleasant read. It would be great on a vacation or as a gift for someone buying a new house or moving to Savannah, or for any day of the week with a "d" in it.  With a tag line of "Love, murder, and faulty wiring," how could it not be fun? 

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Hello everyone.  I hope your week is going well.

I'm not sure if it's done in Europe but in the US some of us put things on our refrigerators.  Some sleek kitchens would rather turn out Spaghetti Os laced with corn dogs, rather than junk up their perfectly coiffed room.  Then there are those of us with families or just stuff to remember.  In our house, tacked to the fridge with magnets you'll find drawings, take-out menus, coupons, notes and my all-time favorite declarations from my husband.  If my hubby admits I was right about something, I grab the closest piece of paper (usually the back of some envelope) and write "April was right about XXXX and I was wrong." then I draw a line for his signature.  Oh yes, laugh as you want, but I get him to sign and date that baby.  Then up on the fridge it goes, for anyone who comes to our house to admire in all it's "I was right he was wrong" glory.  Before you all jump in, yes, I know, most people put their children's drawings on their fridge.  We don't have kids; husbands can be close at times. 

I recently read Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. This is a new author for me, so I was super curious.  This thriller is about a young woman, Mallory, who takes a job as a live-in babysitter for Teddy.  She is given a private little guest cottage to stay in, beautifully outfitted.  Mallory is happy, her life is stable, enjoyable and she loves little five-year-old Teddy.  Teddy loves to draw pictures and often gives them to his beloved new pal, Mallory.  She, of course, is honored and is happy to be so included until the drawings change.  Suddenly the art becomes more advanced than a five-year-old could create and they are increasingly dark in feel and content.  When Mallory tells a few people in town, she is surprised to hear that there is a local legend of an unsolved murder that took place in the very cabin she is staying in. This becomes even more alarming as Teddy draws a dead woman being dragged through the woods to be buried. 

This thriller does double duty as a ghost story, revealing itself slowly, allowing the creep factor and tension to grow.  The story was a quick read.  I received it Tuesday and had it completed by Friday.  I feel like I hardly spent any time reading it, yet hubby said I constantly had my nose shoved in the book.  It felt effortless, fast and to the point.  No meandering here.  In addition, this is silly but that paper that the book is printed on is thick.  It also has lots of Teddy's drawings.  I think that paper had to be thick to support the ink of the drawings, to prevent warping.  In any case, you read thirty pages and you can see a hunk of the book has passed by, making you feel like you've made real progress.  Now I'm sad it's over and have a bit of book hangover.  I will definitely put Jason Rekulak on my "buy" list for the future.

Next time hubby laughs at my fridge declarations, I'll tell him it could be worse, at least they aren't murderous drawings.

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

Hello everyone.  I hope your day has been great.

I have to tell you about my grandfather on my mother's side.  My grandmother was wonderful, but she deserves her own telling, so I'll do that later.  My grandfather was a boisterous yet humble person.  He was tall and thin and had pretty blue eyes, the only in our family.  As a child he moved from a town with about ten houses in PA to the bustling area of upstate NY.  I'm laughing because where I grew up was a small town but compared to PA, I'm sure it was very metropolitan.  It was certainly important industry wise, which is why many came there.  My grandparents owned a small grocery store when he was pulled into World War II.  He was put in the Navy on an LST, that's one of those boats that the back opens to deliver tanks, etc.  He was a cook.  Not by trade, they trained him.  When he went home it was a big deal to have served.  In fact, my grandfather became mayor.  Instead of telling you more I'll just say he was a really good person that everyone liked, and he liked everyone.  He even liked my husband when hubby complained about the potholes and asked him to use his influence to get them fixed.

I recently read The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon. I've also read The Drowning Kind and The Invited by the same author and enjoyed them greatly. In this story we are treated to a look at 1978, a family living in Vermont, a grandmother and two of her grandchildren Eric and Violet.  They live near a grand house affectionately called The Inn.  This is a place that takes care of people with mental health issues.  It is very exclusive and very successful.  The grandmother, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is the genius that runs the facility.  One day the doctor brings home a young mute girl to join their small family.  She thinks the interaction with her grandchildren will help bring young Iris out of her shell and aid in her healing.  Soon Iris becomes a vibrant part of the family that the grandchildren now consider their sister.  

The story also features 2019 where young women are disappearing.  A famous celebrity "monster hunter" is on the trail, since each missing woman reports seeing a monster before vanishing.  Soon she suspects the worst, that her sister is somehow wrapped up in these tragedies.  Yet, all is not as simple as it appears.  Secrets that have been long hidden are painfully recovered.

This book was a quick read.  The two timelines played off each other perfectly, driving the story forward.  If you are a fan of McMahon, you will recognize her "to the point" yet involved, storytelling. As always, the book leaves the reader satisfied at least until the next title is released.  Highly enjoyable.

I guess I'll still lay claim to my grandfather, even though he was a big old troublemaker, disregard that he said the same thing about me!