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She Lies in Wait

A group of teenagers enter the woods for a camping trip, one of them doesn’t come back out.  Thirty years later the body of Aurora Jackson is found in a crevasse under a tree. Will detectives be able to unravel the events of that night and determine which person in the close knit group of friends has been lying all this time? She Lies in Wait was a quick, entertaining read that kept me guessing until the end of the book.  It is well written, suspenseful, and the characters and events are realistic. The events unfold both in the present time from the viewpoint of the detectives as well as in flashbacks from the night of the crime in Aurora’s viewpoint. I enjoyed the back and forth.  If you like mysteries you’ll probably enjoy this book. I noticed that this is listed as DCI Jonah Sheens #1 so it seems there will be a series of books involving his character. I will be sure to keep an eye out for those, if they’re anything like She Lies in Wait I’m sure they’ll be worth the read. Th
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The Haunted Horror of Haverfordwest

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     It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I spent my day in a turkey induced food hangover reading Haunted Horror of Haverfordwest by G.L. Davies.  The book claims to be an interview describing the experience of two people who used to reside in a haunted house. The author also claims to have lived in said house and it was his experience (having been previously published) that drew the couple to him in hopes of getting their story told. Both accounts are included in this book. If you decide to read it I recommend reading the author’s first because it gets referenced a lot in the interview with the couple.       I thought the framing of this book as a true story and the interview format was interesting. While I can’t say that I believe it, it certainly made the tone of the interview sections of the book more urgent and menacing. They kept my attention and I felt the building of suspense was good.       There were a couple of things that I didn’t like.  Some of the introductions t
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The Alehouse at the End of the World

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This week I finished reading The Alehouse at the End of the World by Stevan Allred.  I was provided a copy of the book for review purposes but, as always, this in no way influenced my reading and all opinions in this review are my own.  I thought this was an interesting take on the Shakespearean comedy. Readers who are unfamiliar with the difference between a Shakespearean comedy and a modern comedy should know that this book is not going to be funny in the way you’re looking for. Shakespearean comedies pertain more to struggling lovers, love triangles, deception, and reunification. They are light hearted but not necessarily funny.  This book has all of the above in spades and I found it highly entertaining. I also enjoyed the way the author portrayed the afterlife. I’m not going to discuss details so as not to spoil anything but I haven’t seen life after death quite like this before. I’m always interested in new takes on old tropes, there are so many books and movies out t
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Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein

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     Can I just say that fall is my favorite season?  There's just something about falling temperatures, the crisp smell in the air, and the Halloween decorations that's just my right up my alley.  I've always been a fan of suspense, and horror so whenever this time of year rolls around I'm always looking for something nice and creepy to read.  Creatures:  The Legacy of Frankenstein really fit the bill.  I was provided a copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing it but, as always, this has no bearing on my opinions.     Fans of Shelley's original monster, like me, will be interested to see him reappear in different ways within each of the five short stories included in this collection.  My two favorites involved a reanimation cruise and a mystery involving a grave robber.  Each story tells a tale about reanimation and being an outsider in an increasingly more modern setting so you get to follow the monster through time.  Even though Frankenstein is a tale th
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Lies: An Exciting Vacation Read!

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       My husband and I went out of town over Labor Day weekend for an out of state wedding and I decided to bring Lies By T. M. Logan along with me because it seemed like it'd be an easy car read.  I was not dissappointed!  Let me start by saying that Lies was provided to me for reviewing purposes by Macmillan Publishers.  As you all know by now this does not affect my review in any way, all opinions I'm providing are my own.  I am grateful for the opportunity to review books but I don't let that influence my reading in any way.       In Lies main character Joe Lynch's seemingly happy life is thrown upside down when he sees his wife's car entering a hotel parking garage and decides to stop and say hi.  He discovers her having an argument with a friend's husband.  What follows is a riveting account of the next week of his life that includes a missing person, deception, and Joe's attempts to save his family and the life they've built.  It was a pret
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Sadie

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     This week I read Sadie by Courtney Summers.  I was given this book by Wednesday Books for the purposes of reviewing it.  The fact that I was provided this book for free by the publisher has no bearing on my honest review.  My opinions are my own and I will always tell you exactly what I think of a book without bias.      Sadie has always been the one to care for her thirteen year old sister Mattie so when Mattie is murdered Sadie embarks on a journey to track down her killer.  When Sadie goes missing a concerned family friend contacts a Podcast in hopes that they can find her and figure out what happened to Sadie and Mattie.  The story is told from both Sadie's point of view and through transcripts of the Podcast.      I brought this book on vacation with me and I couldn't put it down.  It's an easy read and it keeps your attention throughout.  I thought the pacing was nice, it didn't feel like there were any parts that dragged on and there was enough suspens
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The Boy at the Door

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       I just finished reading The Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl.  This book was provided to me for review by Penguin Random House but the fact that I received this book for free has not influenced my review in any way.       The Boy at the Door is Alex Dahl's first novel, and for a first novel I think it is very good.  I was drawn in from the beginning by the mysterious little boy and wanted to keep reading so I could find out where he came from and how he was related to Cecilia.  I do think that their connection is fairly easy to guess but the way the author gets us there is suspenseful and full of twists and turns.  Some of the things that happen in the book seem far fetched at first but the author connects all the dots by the end.      I liked how the characters in the novel are not always what they seem at the onset.  Anni is not just a scruffy heroin addict, Cecilia isn't entirely (though she is mostly) a conniving, selfish bitch, Moffa is not who you expect they'
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