All Books Considered

Scrap by Calla Henkel Blurb from Goodreads : A true-crime obsessed young artist is drawn into the lives of an obscenely wealthy family in this fantastically entertaining thriller from Calla Henkel, author of Other People’s Clothes Recently dumped and stuck with a mortgage, artist Esther Ray wants to burn the world, but instead, she reluctantly accepts a scrapbooking job from the deliriously wealthy Naomi Duncan. The scrapbooks, a secret birthday gift for Naomi’s husband, Bryce, trace the Duncan’s 25-year marriage. The Esther must include every piece of paper she’s been sent, must sign an NDA, and must only contact Naomi using the burner phone provided. Otherwise she’ll spoil the surprise. As Esther binges true-crime podcasts and works through the near-200 boxes of Duncan detritus, she finds herself infatuated with the gilded family—until, mid-project, Naomi dies suspiciously. When Esther becomes convinced the husband k...

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll Blurb from Goodreads : From Jessica Knoll—author of Luckiest Girl Alive, the instant New York Times bestseller and the bestselling debut novel of 2015—comes a blisteringly paced thriller starring competitive sisters whose dark secrets and lies result in murder when they sign onto a reality TV show. When five hyper-successful women agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers , the producers never expect the season will end in murder… Brett’s the fan favorite. Tattooed and only twenty-seven, the meteoric success of her spin studio—and her recent engagement to her girlfriend—has made her the object of jealousy and vitriol from her castmates. Kelly, Brett’s older sister and business partner, is the most recent recruit, dismissed as a hanger-on by veteran cast. The golden child growing up, she defers to Brett now—a role which requires her to protect t...

So if you read my Monday Musts from a few weeks ago, you saw me post about the following segment on NPR regarding unreliable narrators, comparing books written by women and the 'girl' in the title phenomenon of recent thrillers/mysteries.  This segment was also inspired by this really interesting article by Megan Abbott .  I've been thinking about this a lot since I heard this segment so listen to it and read Megan's article then we can discuss: Unreliable Narrators: YAY or NAY? There is nothing I dislike more than a book becoming super popular and then every book that may be even tangentially similar being compared to that book.  First, it was Twilight , and when that was an international phenomenon, there was a drove of YA fantasy love triangles written and released, all of which were touted as the next Twilight .  And then it was Fifty Shades of Gray , and I'm sure we all remember all sorts of erotica being published once that book took off, an...

She's Not There by P.J. Parrish Blurb from Goodreads : They say it’s better to battle the devil you know. But what if you don’t recognize him before it’s too late? She knows her name is Amelia, but after waking up in a hospital battered and bruised with just the clothes on her back, it’s all she knows. Unable to piece together her shattered memory, she’s haunted by a vision: menacing faces and voices implying her nightmare is far from over. Relying only on her wits and her will to live, Amelia becomes a fugitive from a mysterious man, and a life she can’t even remember. But the past she’s fleeing has no intention of letting her go.   My Review:   She's Not There  was an intriguing mystery/crime thriller although the end of the book left me a bit disappointed.  The first half of the book was seriously good and I read it so fast but as the mystery was revealed, my interest waned.  I am finding this a ...

Swerve  by Vicki Pettersson Blurb from Goodreads : It’s high summer in the Mojave Desert, and Kristine Rush and her fiancé, Daniel, are en route from Las Vegas to Lake Arrowhead, California, for the July Fourth holiday weekend. But when Daniel is abducted from a desolate rest stop, Kristine is forced to choose: return home unharmed, but never to see her fiancé again, or plunge forward into the searing desert to find him…where a killer lies in wait.  My Review: Despite being from a fairly unpopulated state, it's amazing how often places in it are used as settings in books I read.  And yet, usually something in the description of a place I know so well is off, sometimes ruining an entire book for me.  I try to move past the inaccuracy and often fail.  That being said, the vast majority of Swerve weaves through and over places I know well, intimately even, and every description I read immediately took me ba...