May Reads

June 4, 20252 Comments

Another month where I’ve largely neglected my space here. Sigh. I don’t know if it’s going to get any better with Gage home for the summer, but we’ll see.

I read 12 books, with 4 thrillers being my most loved category. This is mainly because I’m caught in a Mickey Haller bubble as I read books 2-4 of the series. It’s June 3rd and I’ve finished the 5th already, lol. I also read 2 fiction, 2 non-fiction, 2 YA, 1 historical romance, 1 picture book.

5 Stars

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh. Buddhism/Spirituality, 128 pages, 1987

“Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion”. “The first time I recited the Lotus Sutra, when I came to these words, I was silenced. I knew that these words are enough to guide my whole life.”

“Understanding and love aren’t two separate things…to develop understanding you have to practice looking at all living beings with the eyes of compassion. When you understand you love.”

“I myself feel Ike I cannot get along with this society very well. There are so many things that make me want to withdraw, to go back to myself… but I am aware that if I leave society, I will not be able to change it. That is our only hope for peace.”

“We will respect the right of others to be different and to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, help others to renounce fanaticism and narrowness through compassionate dialogue.”

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. Mystery/Thriller. 422 pages, 2008

This is the second book in the Mickey Haller series. It picks up about a year after the first and it’s the basis of season 1 of the Netflix series. I loved it and thought it was way better than the first.

At the end of the first book, defense attorney Mickey is shot. He has multiple surgeries and ends up addicted to pain killers. After rehab he’s just thinking of going back to work when he inherits a practice and all of his clients from a murdered colleague. And one of them is a a doozy. To my surprise, Harry Bosch is in this one quite a bit. I wasn’t expecting that since he wasn’t in the series at all. And that twist at the end was fun!

The Reversal by Michael Connelly. Thriller/Mystery, 389 pages, 2010

This is book 3 and it’s a good one. Mickey becomes a special prosecutor and makes sure he works with his ex-wife and Bosch. The case was good and had one of those shocking scenes that we all read thrillers for. Twisty turns and a legit evil bad guy keep Mickey and Company on their toes.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly. Thriller/Mystery, 421 pages, 2011

This is book 4 in the Mickey Haller series and is the basis for season 2 of the Netflix series. There were quite a few significant changes to the plot, but they weren’t necessarily bad. Mickey and company are spending their time and efforts on forclosure defense, seeing how long they can keep clients in theirs homes before the banks force them out. One of these clients gets jailed for murder and all of the sudden Mickey is back on a big case. The twist at the end was a good one, even if I knew it was coming because of the show.

My review of Somewhere Beyond the Sea is here.

4 stars

The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver. Thriller, 430 pages, 2013

Book 11 in the Lincoln Rhyme series.

Lincoln Rhyme was a brilliant criminologist for the NYPD until he was injured in the line of duty and now is a consultant on major cases. Amelia, an NYPD detective and the the love of Lincoln’s life, is asked to look at the body of a woman who has been tattooed with poison ink. The pair and their friends are on the case and in danger. A solid addition to the series.

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas. Historical Romance, 360 pages, 2007

The first book in the Hathaways series.

Amelia and her siblings just became wealthy beyond their imaginations, but keeping their brother from gambling it away will be a challenge. Enter Cam, a well respected ‘gypsy’ and Amelia begins to feel a support and caring she’s never had. I love this series and was happy to reread this one for a book club discussion. Kleypas is an automatic read when I come across her books.

3 1/2 Stars

Maya Angelou: The Poetry of Living by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Non-fiction, 132 pages, 1999

Maya Angelou was a force and her strength and raw honesty was a beacon for so many around the world. Watching her perform Still I Rise is still one of my favorite poetry experiences.

This gift book is a lovely tribute to the author/speaker. It has some words by her, but it’s really the words of those close to her that make this book special. That and the gorgeous photographs. If you’re a Maya fan this one’s for you.

“She knows what we were born to discover. Every moment is important to her, and she brings to each her love and laughter, and passion for beauty, for life. She creates a world of caring around her and sees that it is good; each smile, each touch, each kindness offered, mirroring the grace of God. That’s our beloved Maya.” Susan Taylor

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. YA, 277 pages, 2007

Where do we go after we die? In this YA novel we all go to the island of Elsewhere. When 15 year old Liz ends up there living with the grandmother she never met she is resentful, but eventually she accepts her fate.

What’s so special about Elsewhere? You age backwards from the day you arrive. When you reach newborn status you are sent back to the land of the living to enter a new body. So essentially, you get two lives. I love the concept of the book and as a YA book it works. It left too many unanswered questions for me to love it. But the pet dogs that made it to Elsewhere did steal my heart.

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon. YA, 304 pages, 2021

I’ve read and loved two other Nicola Yoon young adult books. They are heavy on romance with lots of real life issues to ground them. Surprisingly, this one had a touch of magical realism and I wasn’t mad about it 😁 Evie has grown up reading romance and her visit to a Little Free Library was the catalyst for her finding a superpower and love. I lover her openness to try something bold and new, but her acceptance of her new ‘gift’ baffled me and she treated two of her best buds horribly. The takeaway of the book is a strong one and the ending was unexpected so that made up for some of my issues.

3 Stars

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki. Fiction, 240 pages, 2020

Who wouldn’t want to go to a cafe run by talking cats giving real deal life advice? This Japanese bestseller is a quick fun read following the intersecting lives of four people who really need a cat god’s perspective.

I think it would be a fun book club book since it breaks down the stages of life and the astrology of our births. Fun things to talk about among friends. I didn’t love it, but again, I’m not one to complain about spending time at cat cafe.

Mischief in Tuscany by Nancy Shroyer Howard, art, 48 pages, 2008

Such a creative and fun kids book! It takes the fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Effects of Good Governance in the City and Countryside, and makes a story. Using the original fresco the pig becomes the main character as we travel through the artwork. His exuberance was infectious.

I thought it was fun and it’s a perfect way to get kids to look at art differently and maybe inspire their own creativity.

Drowning by TJ Newman

January 27, 20254 Comments

Drowning by TJ Newman. Thriller, 3/5 stars. 304 pages, 2023

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

from Goodreads

I’m not a good flier. I’m a mess and I don’t recommend getting in a plane with me. I’m planning a trip in March that I’ll have to get on a plane for and I’m already low key stressed about it 😆. But I read TJ Newman’s first book, Falling, about a hijacked airplane and I liked it so I thought I’d give this a try.

In Drowning a plane has crashed into the ocean after leaving Hawaii. As the surviving crew and passengers scramble to evacuate, some decide to stay in the plane and wait to be rescued.

I listened to this one, which is good I guess because I never would have made it through reading a physical copy. The beginning was intense and I liked it, but it lost momentum and I just wasn’t that invested. It’s got good ratings, but it just wasn’t for me.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

January 3, 20253 Comments

First Lie Wins. Finished 1-3-25, 4/5 stars, thriller, 340 pages, 2024

“There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is deliberate. The lie that sets the stage for everything that comes after it. And once the lie is told, it’s what most people believe to be true. The first lie has to be the strongest. The most important. The one that has to be told.” Chapter 5

Evie makes her living lying and she’s good at it. She makes her way through the world conning people into believing she is someone that she’s not. Her name isn’t even Evie. She left her real name behind long ago. Until. Until the day that someone shows up while she’s deep into a con using the name she was born with.

This was a twisty one. I liked ‘Evie’ and the confident way she handled herself. She had been working on her shady skills since high school and I was a little jealous at how well she could read people!

As much as I liked ‘Evie’ the plot became overly complicated by the end and it stretched how far I was willing to suspend disbelief. But, it was fun, fast, and had a satisfying ending, so I’d still say it’s a win for thriller lovers.

It was a Reece’s Book Club Pick last year and I received it in my Book Club Christmas exchange.

2024 Mysteries/Thrillers

December 24, 20243 Comments

I read 18 mystery/thrillers this year.

I caught up with some of my favorite series. Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series is one of the best and the latest was excellent, yet again. I also love John Sandford’s Prey series and caught up by reading #30, 33&34. I read two more in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad, so good.

I also went and heard one of my faves Harlan Coben talk and sign his latest book for me. They are always quick and twisty and this one had Myron and gang!

Three new to me authors, also write some of my favorites this year. Amy Tintera has been on many favorites lists this year with Listen for the Lie. If you like podcasts, check this one out. Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders is a miniseries. I haven’t watched it, but the book was good. And Karen McManus’s One of Us is Lying was a very fun YA closed room kind of murder mystery.

The rest were good too. I always love a good thriller! Any other thriller lovers? Any great series that I should jump into?

A Favorite Series – Prey Series by John Sandford

June 22, 2024June 22, 20244 Comments

The first of the Lucas Davenport series, Rules, of Prey, was published in 1989 and the most recent, Toxic Prey, this year. If you like police procedurals and thrillers, this is the series for you. I’ve read them all and there’s not a dud in the bunch. The last one felt especially timely and scary since it seems like it could actually happen.

He started as a Minneapolis detective, then worked special cases for politicians, and now he’s a US marshal. I love that he’s a tough guy, but he always has me rethinking moral decisions. He talks politics in relation to his job, but takes no side, a rarity. We’ve watched him meet his wife, adopt a child from a case, and have kids of his own. His friend Virgil Flowers and daughter Letty each have their own series, but I don’t read them. They both show up in this one so I don’t have to.

You can jump in anywhere in the series, but this is one that’s fun to read from the beginning.

I didn’t start reviewing them on here until book #24, but here are a few things I’ve said about the series…

Lucas, a detective, handles only those cases that the politicos need to have disappear. His role is more of a mentor as he works with the police all over Minnesota, but he still manages to get his hands dirty. He is great at what he does and possesses an authority that others look to in a time of crisis.

In this 25th book of the series, there is a shift of sorts that signals changes are afoot and it’s been this progression of Lucas that has made this a standout, must read series for me. As he turns 50 and the winds of local politics change direction it’s clear that Lucas has some decisions to make. This case involves his adopted daughter, Letty, and I love that she has had larger roles in the last few books.

More of my other Top 100 series picks here.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

June 11, 20245 Comments

The Sun Down Motel. 4.5/5 stars, thriller, 327 pages, 2020

The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

There is a creepy, sinister, and forgotten feeling you get when reading about Fell, NY and The Sun Down Hotel. There are ghosts, killers, and missing and murdered girls. The book is a whole vibe.

One storyline is about Viv in 1982 and the second is about her niece Carly in 2017. Lots of parallels and mystery that will keep you reading. There are even a few boys!

I didn’t love this one at first, but it didn’t take me long to be hooked. I listened to the audio and Brittany Pressley and Kirsten Potter took turns narrating.

I loved Broken Girls last year and loved this one too, so I guess I have another author to read!

“The person who could be truly alone, in the company of no one but oneself and one’s own thoughts—that person was stronger than anyone else.”

“I put my book down, finding a Post-it note to use as a bookmark, because folding the corner of a page—even in a thirty-year-old book—is sacrilege.”

Favorite Author – Harlan Coben

June 6, 20249 Comments

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Harlan four times, once in Houston and three times when he’s come to Cleveland. He is ALWAYS a hoot. He is charming, smart, and quick with the humor. You will never regret seeing him in person. I’ve read all of his books and have liked them all, some more than others. I first read Tell No One, a great place to start if you’ve never read him, and then read his first book and haven’t looking back.

Even if you’ve never read his books, you’ve probably seen at least one of his book adaptations on Netflix or Amazon Prime. They are always well done.

His thrillers are always full of twists and turns, humor, and fantastic dialogue. If you love thrillers, the kind that you can’t put down until you’re finished, this is the guy for you.

Myron Bolitar series (Harlan calls them the Myron and Win books)

Myron is a smart ass, but one with a certain humanity and goodness and I am always rooting for him and his even bigger smart ass friend, Win, to save the day. And they usually do, but they do not come away unscathed. Myron is the heart and Win is the muscle and both are whip smart and loyal to each other. This series has a fantastic cast of characters and I love that time does go by and they are showing their age, but still kicking ass. I love all of these books.

Win got his own first person book.

And Myron’s nephew Mickey has his own trilogy. This was made into a fantastic series on Amazon Prime.

Wilde series

So far this only has two books, but I loved them both.

Standalones

Here are my other Top 100 authors.

Think Twice by Harlan Coben

June 5, 20246 Comments

Think Twice. 4.25/5 stars, Thriller, 368 pages, 2024

Don’t even start a Harlan Coben book unless you have time to read the whole thing. He’s been a favorite of mine since I read Tell No One (read it), but it’s his Myron and Win books that are my favorite. This is the 12th book featuring them both (13 if you include Win) and they’re both getting a little older, but still just as sarcastically fabulous as they e always been.

Myron was a star on the Duke basketball team and played one game for the Boston Celtics before a cheap shot took him off the court forever. So, he went to law school and opened his own sports representation business. The cast of characters in these books are so chock full of warmth and humor that you will fall in love with them. Personally, I’d read the books in order so that you don’t miss a minute, but you can read this as a standalone.

These are all thrillers full of twists and turns you don’t see coming. He’s the master. This one has a serial killer and some old scores being settled. And Myron’s parents are in Florida living their best lives with the help of edibles.

I adore Myron and Win and loved this one.

A Favorite Series – Jack Reacher by Lee Child (& Andrew Child)

January 20, 20248 Comments

Jack Reacher is an iconic character. Even if you’ve never read a book in the series (28 books and counting) you may have heard of the two Tom Cruise movies where he played the antihero and divided a rabid fanbase. For me, Tom Cruise is no Reacher. Jason and I just finished season 2 of the Amazon series, Reacher, where Alan Richson deftly plays the larger than life killing machine with his own moral code. The series is good.

Jack Reacher is an ex-military cop who is roaming the United States, seeing the country he barely knows after a lifetime (36 years) spent on military bases around the world. From one of my reviews, “Jack Reacher is a man’s man, but one that women are drawn to because of his sheer masculinity and unavailability. He is who he is, take him or leave him and that confidence and physical presence makes him a force to be reckoned with.”

Why should you be reading the Jack Reacher series? Because he’s alpha male dreamy. He isn’t held back by rules but is ruled by what is good and just and he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty in the pursuit of justice. He’s a tall, commanding man who, if you count the number of women he’s charmed out of their clothes, knows his way around a woman’s body.

Read if you like – Drifters with a hero complex, larger than life characters who say as little as possible, justice being served no matter how many get hurt, and don’t mind lots of violence.

#11 Bad Luck and Trouble

#22 The Midnight Line

#27 No Plan B

#28 The Secret

#29 In Too Deep

Any other Reacher fans out there?

Rough Country, by John Sandford

October 21, 2009October 21, 20092 Comments

Finished 10-21-09, rating 3.5/5, mystery, pub. 2009

Book #3 in the Virgil Flowers series.

Walking out to the dock, Johnson said, “The old bag kinda climbed my tree.”

“One rule when you’re dealing with people close to a murder victim,” Virgil said. “Try not to laugh.”

Chapter 2

Virgil Flowers works with Lucas Davenport (the Prey series) in the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, investigating high profile crimes. When Lucas sends him to solve a crime at a women’s retreat in northern Minnesota, single and always available Virgil, is happily surrounded by women. But most of them aren’t looking twice at Virgil, they are too busy eyeing each other.

A successful businesswoman is shot while canoeing and her love life leads him to an all-girl band with a talented singer going places. The singer, Wendy, has an active love life and a crazy brother and dad, leading Virgil to link another murder to the one of the businesswoman.

Virgil is a laid back, good looking man who exudes charm and cool and he is also the most successful closer in the Bureau. The contrast between his humor and sexuality to his quoting Bible verses when the situation fits makes for an interesting character. I like Virgil and would love to hang out at a bar listening to music with him (and my husband, of course)

This is another solid mystery by Sandford, but I did have an issue with the heavy handed way he dealt with gay women in this one. I know people use derogatory language for many different groups and it usually doesn’t bother me if it defines the character, but in this case a few too many characters had issues. And some of the storylines involving gay women seemed stereotypical.

And for some reason there were numerous breaks in book, the kind that usually tell you the action has ended and you’re going somewhere else. Except after the break you were back at the same place, with the same people, and still in the middle of conversation. This didn’t really take enjoyment away from the story, but it did make me wonder what the point was.

This was a library book.

Stacy's Books

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Tag: thriller