William Morrow Paperbacks – The Book Diva's Reads

2018 Book 286: DAY OF THE DEAD by Nicci French

Day of the Dead by Nicci French
ISBN: 9780062846082 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780062676702 (trade paperback)
ISBN: 9780062676719 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780062858382 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B072JT5Y8J (Kindle edition)
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: July 24, 2018

LOUISE PENNY says the Frieda Klein novels are “fabulous.”

JOSEPH FINDER says they’re “in the rich vein of Kate Atkinson.”

And TAMI HOAG calls them “truly unique.”

Now the final book in this extraordinary series is here. And it’s an ending you’ll never forget.

A decade ago, psychologist Frieda Klein was sucked into the orbit of Dean Reeve — a killer able to impersonate almost anyone, a man who can disappear without a trace, a psychopath obsessed with Frieda herself.

In the years since, Frieda has worked with — and sometimes against — the London police in solving their most baffling cases. But now she’s in hiding, driven to isolation by Reeve. When a series of murders announces his return, Frieda must emerge from the shadows to confront her nemesis. And it’s a showdown she might not survive.

This gripping cat-and-mouse thriller pits one of the most fascinating characters in contemporary fiction against an enemy like none other. Smart, sophisticated, and spellbinding, it’s a novel to leave you breathless.

No one knows that Frieda Klein has disappeared until a college student, Lola Haynes, decides to “deconstruct” Frieda’s professional life for a dissertation. This student’s search for the “truth” about Frieda and her past will rain down chaos and destruction on Lola’s life and cause her to seek help from the only person that can protect her, Frieda. Before Lola’s quest, Frieda Klein was nowhere to be found in the city of London. Her family and close friends knew that she’d gone into seclusion for no other reason to protect their lives. Now, Frieda must not only protect her friends and family but protect Lola as well from the murderous rampaging of the psychopath Dean Reeve.

Day of the Dead begins with what appears to be a horrific car crash into a restaurant. The police are able to determine only much later that the car crash was a murder masquerading as an accident. Then another murder occurs, then another, and another, all with one purpose in mind to grab the attention of Frieda Klein. Sadly the police don’t really believe that’s the intention of these murders until it’s almost too late. It isn’t until Lola’s life is touched by one of these murders that the police finally begin to believe there might be some truth to Frieda’s theory about Dean Reeve being the murderer behind all of these killings. He’s been unstoppable for ten years and it’s doubtful if he’ll be stopped without fulfilling his end game, killing Frieda Klein.

I have read every book in the Frieda Klein series and each book seemed to get better and better. Day of the Dead may be the final book in this series and it is a bit different from the previous book, but it still packed a powerful punch while tying up loose ends. It was nice to see the familiar cast of characters return, such as Josef and his son Alexei, Frieda’s sister-in-law Olivia, as well as her niece Chloe, Frieda’s previous protege Jack, her previous mentor Reuben, journalist Liz Barron, police friend Malcolm Karlsson, and more. This story centers around Frieda and Lola and everything else seems to revolve around them, so to speak. The police investigations are a big part of the story but even that takes a back seat to Frieda, Lola, and Dean’s stories. Yes, there are people that die and no, I’m not telling you who they are! Day of the Dead provides taut suspense and story twists that kept this reader on edge and turning pages until the very end. Although this may be the end of the Frieda Klein series, I’m looking forward to rereading the entire series again (yes, it is just that good). If you haven’t read this series yet and you’re into psychological suspense thrillers, you don’t know what you’re missing. Seriously, start with Blue Monday and read all the way through to Day of the Dead, you can thank me later. If you’ve already read the previous books in this series then go out and grab yourself a copy of Day of the Dead to read ASAP! This series remains one of my highly recommended series for the psychological-suspense or thriller reader.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publisher via Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About Nicci French

Nicci French is the pseudonym of English wife-and-husband team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Their acclaimed novels of psychological suspense have sold more than 8 million copies around the world.

Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

This review and blog tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours

Buy the Book

Available from BookDepository | Alibris

2018 Book 235: THE LAST BALLAD by Wiley Cash

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
ISBN: 9780062313126 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062313133 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780062682024 (audiobook)
ASIN: B01N9PTM35 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: June 5, 2018 (paperback)

“Wiley Cash reveals the dignity and humanity of people asking for a fair shot in an unfair world.”Christina Baker Kline, author of A Piece of the World and Orphan Train

The New York Times bestselling author of the celebrated A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy returns with this eagerly awaited new novel, set in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina in 1929 and inspired by actual events. The chronicle of an ordinary woman’s struggle for dignity and her rights in a textile mill, The Last Ballad is a moving tale of courage in the face of oppression and injustice, with the emotional power of Ron Rash’s Serena, Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day, and the unforgettable films Norma Rae and Silkwood.

Twelve times a week, twenty-eight-year-old Ella May Wiggins makes the two-mile trek to and from her job on the night shift at American Mill No. 2 in Bessemer City, North Carolina. The insular community considers the mill’s owners—the newly arrived Goldberg brothers—white but not American and expects them to pay Ella May and other workers less because they toil alongside African Americans like Violet, Ella May’s best friend. While the dirty, hazardous job at the mill earns Ella May a paltry nine dollars for seventy-two hours of work each week, it’s the only opportunity she has. Her no-good husband, John, has run off again, and she must keep her four young children alive with whatever work she can find.

When the union leaflets begin circulating, Ella May has a taste of hope, a yearning for the better life the organizers promise. But the mill owners, backed by other nefarious forces, claim the union is nothing but a front for the Bolshevik menace sweeping across Europe. To maintain their control, the owners will use every means in their power, including bloodshed, to prevent workers from banding together. On the night of the county’s biggest rally, Ella May, weighing the costs of her choice, makes up her mind to join the movement—a decision that will have lasting consequences for her children, her friends, her town—indeed all that she loves.

Seventy-five years later, Ella May’s daughter Lilly, now an elderly woman, tells her nephew about his grandmother and the events that transformed their family. Illuminating the most painful corners of their history, she reveals, for the first time, the tragedy that befell Ella May after that fateful union meeting in 1929.

Intertwining myriad voices, Wiley Cash brings to life the heartbreak and bravery of the now forgotten struggle of the labor movement in early twentieth-century America—and pays tribute to the thousands of heroic women and men who risked their lives to win basic rights for all workers. Lyrical, heartbreaking, and haunting, this eloquent novel confirms Wiley Cash’s place among our nation’s finest writers.

Ella May Wiggins has had a hard life. She’s only 28 years old and has given birth to five children, buried one, and is pregnant with her sixth. Her husband walked out after the death of their child. To say that she’s struggling is a major understatement. She and all those that live and work in the mills are struggling to make it. She works six days a week, 12-hour shifts, and gets paid a measly $9.00/week. Her children often go hungry and cold simply because she can’t afford to buy food or provide them with decent housing. Ella doesn’t complain because she knows it could be worse, but she hopes it might get better as well. Then she’s called into her bosses office and warned because she’s missed three days in five months time and if she misses one more she may be out of a job. It’s this threat of unemployment that sends Ella May to find out more about the people wanting to unionize the workers at the mills. What Ella May doesn’t know is that her chance visit to the new textile workers union organization is going to change not only her life but the lives of her children and plenty of those around her for years to come.

The Last Ballad is told in a variety of voices, namely that of Ella May Wiggins, Ella’s daughter Lilly, and a host of others. What makes this story all the more sensational and heartrending is that it is based on a real person. The reader gets to know Ella May firsthand and understand her internal struggle to do right by her family and join the union in the late 1920s. We also meet her daughter in the mid-2000s and find out what happened to Ella May’s children after all these years. As with any story about unionization, there is a lot of tears and bloodshed. Mr. Wiley doesn’t present us with a happy or a sad story but simply a fictionalized story of one woman’s real and deadly struggles with the textile workers union in the late 1920s in North Carolina. I enjoyed this story but struggled with it at times simply because of the use of the “n-word” by Whites in the early 1900s to refer to Black Americans and the deadly force used by those trying to stop the unionization. In a lot of ways, this struggle to unionize reminded me of stories of unionization struggles in the coalfields in Appalachia around the same time period, especially those here in West Virginia. This is a story for fighting for what’s right against insurmountable odds. It’s a story about friendship seeing beyond the color lines of the times. It’s also a story about family. For those of you that enjoy historical fiction, I encourage you to grab a copy of The Last Ballad to read. For those of you that enjoy reading about twentieth-century American History, then I encourage you to grab a copy of The Last Ballad to read. Actually, I encourage everyone to grab a copy of The Last Ballad to read, but you might not want it in your suitcase as a beach read, unless you don’t have a problem with heavy reads while at the beach.

Disclaimer: I received a free print review copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About Wiley Cash

Wiley Cash is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home. A native of North Carolina, he has held residency positions at Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University. He and his wife live in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Find out more about Wiley at his website, and connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

This review and blog tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours.

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2017 Book 390: THE MISSING by C. L. Taylor

The Missing by C. L. Taylor
ISBN: 9780062673534 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062673541 (ebook)
ASIN: B01MS3CW8P (Kindle edition)
Publication date: November 7, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them. Or do you…?

When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire Wilkinson, blames herself. She’s not the only one. There isn’t a single member of Billy’s family that doesn’t feel guilty. But the Wilkinsons are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn’t until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.

Claire is sure of two things—that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.

A mother’s instinct is never wrong. Or is it…?

Claire and Mark Wilkinson have been coping with the disappearance of their fifteen-year-old son Billy to the best of their abilities, but their ability to cope is reaching an end. Their nineteen-year-old son Jake is drinking too much. His live-in girlfriend, Kira, seems to be on edge and doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Mark is on the outs with his stepbrother. Jake and Kira’s relationship seems to swing from one extreme to another. And the six-month disappearance televised appeal ended in a fiasco. Claire knows that there has to be more to Billy’s disappearance than the police are telling them but she can’t quite figure out. Then she wakes up far from home in a hotel and can’t remember how she got there. Disoriented and confused, her husband and son track her down and bring her home. Then it happens again. After seeking medical treatment, Claire is seen by a psychotherapist. Her fugue states are tentatively diagnosed as disassociative amnesia and appear to be caused by stress. Everyone within the Wilkinson household seems to be falling apart, Claire finds out that Mark lied about why he was unable to become a police officer years ago, he may or may not have cheated on her six months ago, Jake’s computer is found with graphic pictures of child pornography, someone seems to have defaced a family photo album, and Kira is becoming more and more distant. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, a convicted pedophile has confessed to abducting and murdering Billy. Claire doesn’t know what or who to believe, but she knows she has to find the truth even if the police cannot.

Although I found The Missing to be a slow read at times, it is one that I enjoyed. It took me awhile to get into the story and for the story to pick up the pace, but when it did it took off. Ms. Taylor (no relation) has crafted a story that kept this reader on edge and never quite sure where the story was heading. One minute I thought I knew that this person was the killer, if Billy was dead, and the next I just knew that it was another person, again presuming Billy was dead. Truthfully, I didn’t really figure it out until I was about three-quarters of the way through the story and I still wasn’t sure until the author confirmed my guess. (No, I won’t tell you who-did-it or if Billy is actually dead or just missing…read the book!) The Missing is an intriguing psychological suspense read and the first I’ve read by Ms. Taylor (something tells me it won’t be my last read by this author). I enjoyed the characters, the action, and the settings. If you enjoy multi-layered stories that will keep you guessing until the bitter end or are a fan of psychological suspense thrillers, then I strongly encourage you to grab a copy of The Missing by C.L. Taylor to read. Might I suggest you hold off and make this your next holiday weekend read, you may not want to put it down once you get started.

Disclaimer: I received a free print review copy of this book from the author/publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Meet the author:

C. L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her books have sold more than a million copies and have been translated into twenty-one languages. She lives in Bristol, England, with her partner and son.

Find out more about C. L. at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This review and tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours

Buy the Book

Available from BookDepository | Alibris

2017 Book 283: THE GIRL WITH KALEIDOSCOPE EYES by David Handler

The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes (Stewart Hoag #9) by David Handler
ISBN: 9780062412843 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780062412867 (ebook)
ASIN: B01MXNXA75 (Kindle edition)
Publication date: August 15, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Fans of Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiaasen, get ready. If you haven’t yet discovered wisecracking sleuth Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag and his faithful basset hound Lulu, you’re in for a sharp, hilarious treat…

Once upon a time, Hoagy had it all: a hugely successful debut novel, a gorgeous celebrity wife, the glamorous world of New York City at his feet. These days, he scrapes by as a celebrity ghostwriter. A celebrity ghostwriter who finds himself investigating murders more often than he’d like.

And once upon a time, Richard Aintree was the most famous writer in America — high school students across the country read his one and only novel, a modern classic on par with The Catcher in the Rye. But after his wife’s death, Richard went into mourning… and then into hiding. No one has heard from him in twenty years.

Until now. Richard Aintree — or someone pretending to be Richard Aintree — has at last reached out to his two estranged daughters. Monette is a Martha Stewart-style lifestyle queen whose empire is crumbling; and once upon a time, Reggie was the love of Hoagy’s life. Both sisters have received mysterious typewritten letters from their father.

Hoagy is already on the case, having been hired to ghostwrite a tell-all book about the troubled Aintree family. But no sooner does he set up shop in the pool house of Monette’s Los Angeles mansion than murder strikes. With Lulu at his side — or more often cowering in his shadow — it’s up to Hoagy to unravel the mystery, catch the killer, and pour himself that perfect single-malt Scotch… before it’s too late.

Stewart Stafford Hoag was once a literary darling. He’d written “the” debut novel, was in love with a beloved by a darling of Broadway, and was considered the toast of literary New York. Sadly, that was over ten years ago and now Stewart is divorced, no longer the toast of New York or anywhere else for that matter, and considered a has-been writer who makes his living ghost-writing celebrity memoirs until he is offered the chance of a lifetime. His literary agent offers him the chance to write the memoir of the highly reclusive Richard Aintree, father of his former lover, Regina Aintree, or The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes in David Handler’s latest addition to the Stewart Hoag series.

Let’s take a step back in time to the early 1990s. It’s pre-internet, the beginning of the cell phone era, and personal computers are just becoming a thing along with fax machines. It’s also a time of big hair and daytime talk television is coming into its own. Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag is a man just trying to bide his time with his four-legged companion, the beloved Lulu while eschewing many of these newfangled machines. He relies on his trusty 1950s typewriter to do his writing and is quite pleased with that. He hasn’t had a serious relationship since his divorce and no longer owns a car since he lost it in the divorce settlement. He now has an opportunity to reconnect with one of the most important people from his past, Regina Aintree, write her father’s memoir, and make some money at the same time. If only things worked out as simply as all of that. Regina’s older sister, Monette, is in the midst of a highly-publicized LA separation and divorce. Regina and Monette haven’t spoken to one another in over twenty years. Monette’s husband is an actor on a hit television show and has reportedly gotten one of his teen co-stars pregnant. Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any stranger, there’s the sleazy literary agent working alongside Hoagy’s agent on this book deal, Monette’s equally sleazy agent, Monette’s soon-to-be ex-husband’s expectant baby-mama drama, and more…murder. Is it possible Hoagy can find out what really happened before the Aintree family is truly destroyed legally and publicly?

The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes by David Handler is the first book in the Stewart Hoag series that I’ve read and I honestly don’t know why this series hasn’t crossed my path before. I found this to be a very fast-paced and highly entertaining read, although I do take great exception with the author’s comments about Whitney Houston not being able to sing. I rather liked the throw-back to the 1990s, as well as Hoagy and Lulu. Mr. Handler has crafted some interesting characters and the interplay between siblings Regina and Monette, as well as Danielle and Joey (Monette’s children) definitely added to the story in my opinion. I also enjoyed the drama with the housekeeper Maritza, not to mention the sleazebag agents Boyd and Elliot. If you enjoy reading mysteries and are looking for a well-crafted and fast read, then you may want to grab a copy of The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes to read. If you’ve read the previous titles in the Stewart Hoag series by David Handler, I probably don’t have to tell you to go out and grab yourself a copy of this book to read. The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes provides family drama, relationship drama, mayhem, murder, and mystery…what more can any reader want from a good book?! I’m glad I got the opportunity to read this book and I’ll be adding the previous titles in this series to my already massive TBR list.

Disclaimer: I received a free print advance reader copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes via TLC Book Tours. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About David Handler

David Handler has written nine novels about dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart Hoag, including the Edgar and American Mystery Award-winning, The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as eleven novels in the bestselling Berger & Mitry series. He lives in a 230-year-old carriage house in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Find out more about David at his website, and connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

This review and tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours

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2017 Book 235: DARK SATURDAY by Nicci French

Dark Saturday (Frieda Klein #6) by Nicci French
ISBN: 9780062676665 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062676672 (ebook)
ASIN: B01LZD3A1P (Kindle edition)
Publication date: July 11, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

A decade ago, 18-year-old Hannah Docherty was arrested for the shocking murder of her family. It was an open-and-shut case, and Hannah has been incarcerated in a secure psychiatric hospital ever since.

When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to meet Hannah and give her assessment, she reluctantly agrees. But what she finds horrifies her. Hannah has become a tragic figure, old before her time. And Frieda is haunted by the idea that Hannah might be as much of a victim as her family — that she might, in fact, be innocent.

As Hannah’s case takes hold of her, Frieda begins to realize that she’s up against someone who will go to any lengths to keep the truth from surfacing — even kill again.

Frieda Klein is a practicing psychotherapist in London with a penchant for trouble. This time the trouble seems to be linked to a thirteen-year-old crime that horrified London at the time, the brutal murder of a family and the apparent slam-dunk arrest and conviction of then eighteen-year-old Hannah Docherty for the murder of her mother, stepfather, and younger brother. The only problem is that the more Frieda reviews the case and after visiting Hannah at a hospital for the criminally insane, does she begin to suspect that Hannah just might not be guilty of the crime. But who committed the murder all those years ago and just how far will they go to ensure no one knows the truth is the question raised in the sixth installment in the Frieda Klein series, Dark Saturday by Nicci French.

It becomes readily apparent that Frieda Klein has consulted with the Metro Police Department in London quite often and that she doesn’t have a good reputation with some of the officers there. Some feel that she has been the cause of the death of several people in the past if not by circumstance than by her own hands. Others feel that she is just a bit too wild in her “investigative assistance” to the department and has done more harm than good. Frieda has friends and frenemies within the MPD, and it is the friends of those friends that have called upon her to review Hannah Docherty’s case. What initially appears to be an open-and-shut case, quickly becomes anything but open-and-shut to Frieda once she sees Hannah, reviews the conditions she’s lived in over the past thirteen years, and sees the obvious shock and trauma the teen was under at the time of her family’s murder. The more Frieda delves into this case, the more enemies she seems to make with one exception, a conspiracy theorist blogger that apparently snatched garbage from the Docherty’s shortly after the murder. When the blogger’s home goes up in flames it becomes clear to Frieda that there is much more going on than just garbage that has been sitting for 13 years. Now she’s got several friends assisting her on the case, including her handyman and the police officer in charge of the investigation all those years ago. Just when it seems like there’s no way she can unearth the truth, she discovers something shocking? Surely this will cause the police to reopen their case? Can Frieda get justice for Hannah Docherty after all these years or will the real murderer do whatever it takes to keep the truth hidden?

I didn’t realize that Dark Saturday was the sixth book in the Frieda Klein series until I was a few pages into the book (and no, it in no way took away from my enjoyment of the story). There were some references to past history that I didn’t get as a result, but I was able to follow along without any difficulties. Most of you know that I generally read a book in one sitting. Sadly, a series of severe migraine headaches interrupted my reading of Dark Saturday so it took me a day and a half to read this book. Even while I was lying in bed awaiting my migraine pain medication to kick in, I couldn’t wait to get back to this story (yes, it was just that good or at least I thought it was). Dark Saturday was the first Nicci French book that I’ve read, but let me tell you that I’ll be going back and reading them all very shortly starting with the previous Frieda Klein books. How can I describe Frieda Klein? Think of amateur television detective and fictional author Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote fame mixed with a bit of the HBO psychoanalyst Paul Weston from In Treatment and throw in a bit of the repetitive questioning and quirkiness of television’s Columbo and you start to get a feel for Frieda Klein or at least how I imagine her. Frieda is feisty, fierce, and formidable (no, she’s not Wonder Woman, but she is pretty mighty). She’s highly protective of her friends and family, and once she has something in her mind, she runs with it. Frieda has had a lot of ups and downs over the years and there are many people that feel as if she’s asked for the trouble she’s had but through it all, she perseveres. Let me tell you something, if I’m ever in trouble and there’s someone I need in my corner, I want someone like Frieda at bat for me! Okay back to the story, there are obvious bad guys in this story, because hey multiple murders. On top of that is the injustice that Hannah has suffered at the hands of the inmates/patients while the hospital has turned a blind eye for the past 13 years. This is a woman that has been forced in solitary confinement for months on end when she fights back, has been repeatedly beaten, suffered numerous concussions, lost teeth, etc. without any recourse to those around her until Frieda arrived on the scene. It’s truly sad to think that the mental health situation for the criminally insane in the United Kingdom is just as bad as it is in the United States (a sad commentary on our worldwide concern for the mentally ill). Nicci French has crafted a psychological suspense thriller that kept this reader on edge page after page until the bitter end only to leave me hanging (yes, there’s a cliffhanger ending and no I won’t tell you what it is…read the book!). For those of you that enjoy reading quality suspense thrillers and have read the previous Frieda Klein books, grab yourself a copy of Dark Saturday to read ASAP. For those of you that enjoy reading quality suspense thrillers and haven’t read any of the previous Frieda Klein books, go ahead and grab a copy of Dark Saturday to read anyway, you can thank me later. While I wait for the next book in the Frieda Klein series, I’ll be reading the previous books in this series and rereading Dark Saturday. I’m always excited to find a new-to-me author or series, so finding Nicci French (better late than never) and the Frieda Klein series was a much-welcomed introduction.

Disclaimer: I received a free print copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Read an excerpt from Dark Saturday by Nicci French here.

About Nicci French

Nicci French is the pseudonym of English wife-and-husband team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Their acclaimed novels of psychological suspense have sold more than 8 million copies around the world.

Connect with the authors on their Facebook page.

Praise:

LOUISE PENNY says Nicci French’s books are “fabulous.”

JOSEPH FINDER says they’re “in the rich vein of Kate Atkinson.”

And TAMI HOAG calls them “truly unique.”

Enter the world of NICCI FRENCH with Dark Saturday, an electrifying, sophisticated psychological thriller about past crimes and present dangers, featuring an unforgettable protagonist…

Utterly compelling and enthralling, Dark Saturday speeds readers down a twisting trail of secrets, suspense, and murder.

This review and tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours

Buy the Book

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2017 Book 210: NEWS OF THE WORLD by Paulette Jiles

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
ISBN: 9780062409218 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062409225 (ebook)
ASIN: B01122BZNK (Kindle edition)
Publication date: June 20, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Finalist for the National Book Award–Fiction

In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.

In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

In the late 1800s, Captain Jefferson Kidd makes a small living riding from town to town reading the news from around the world. Captain Kidd is well known to others that travel from town to town and is for this reason that he is asked to escort a German orphan that was abducted by the Kiowa tribe back to her family in San Antonio in the historical fiction News of the World by Paulette Jiles.

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is in his early seventies. He has fought in wars, worked as a printer, and considered himself a devoted husband and father. His wife has died and both daughters are currently residing in Georgia. The eldest is married with a son and the youngest is a widow living with her sister. A lifelong devotee to the printed word and possessing a great speaking voice, after the Civil War and the loss of his printing business Captain Kidd turns to the only thing he can think of…work as a traveling newsreader. His travels take him from town to town and he gathers national and international newspapers as well as stories from the newswires to keep his audience informed of the happenings around the country and the world. Captain Kidd is offered a large sum of money to escort a young girl to her family in Texas. To say that Captain Kidd is somewhat reluctant to escort Johanna to her family is somewhat of an understatement, but he needs the money and reluctantly accepts the job. Along their 400 mile trek, Captain Kidd and Johanna learn a lot from each other and bond as they battle the elements, bad guys, crazy bad guys, and more. Upon their arrival in San Antonio, Captain Kidd will need to make the toughest decision of his life: does he leave Johanna with her only remaining family no matter how unworthy they may be or does he go back on his word and keep her with him?

I initially read News of the World in 2016 when the hardcover was published and jumped at the opportunity to reread it for the paperback release (yes, it is just that good). I’ve got to say that I enjoyed reading News of the World just as much the second time around and found it was still a fast-paced and engrossing read. I was once again entertained while reading about Captain Kidd’s early life and his military careers. Johanna initially comes across as uncivilized and stoic primarily from her time spent with a different culture (namely Native American culture), but we quickly learn that although she is stoic she is far from uncivilized despite initial perceptions. She is a smart and highly inventive girl and the perfect companion to Captain Kidd. I enjoyed the characters (good and bad), the major and minor storylines, the action, and the settings. Ms. Jiles has created an immensely readable story where everything works quite well together to the point where it is hard to imagine anything being omitted. This was the first book I read by Ms. Jiles, but I’ve since then read a few others (and yes, I’ve appreciated them as well). As I said in in my initial review, if you like realistic historical fiction or just want to read something with a gripping, powerful, and moving storyline, then I highly recommend you grab a copy of News of the World. As far as I’m concerned, News of the World is must read fiction at its best! (Just in case you didn’t know, News of the World is being made into a movie starring Tom Hanks as Captain Kidd. I strongly encourage you to read the book before seeing the movie.)

Disclaimer: I received a free print copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes via TLC Book Tours. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Meet the author:

Photo by Jill Gann

Paulette Jiles is a novelist, poet, and memoirist. She is the author of Cousins, a memoir, and the novels Enemy Women, Stormy Weather, The Color of Lightning, Lighthouse Island, and News of the World. She lives on a ranch near San Antonio, TX.

Find out more about Paulette at website.

This review and tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours.

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2017 Book 117: RED LEAVES by Paullina Simons

Red Leaves by Paullina Simons
ISBN: 9780062444318 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062444325 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780062660855 (audiobook)
ASIN: B0061RROQ4 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 11, 2017

In the tradition of Ira Levin’s A Kiss Before Dying and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History comes a suspenseful thriller from the international bestselling author of The Bronze Horseman—an utterly captivating story about four Ivy League students whose bizarre friendship leads to a twisted maze of secrets, lies, betrayal, and murder.

As the star player of Dartmouth College’s women’s basketball team, Kristina Kim is beautiful, intelligent, and fearless. But though she’s just 21, Kristina has already had her share of heartache, loss, and dark secrets that haunt her. She’s best friends with Conni, Albert, and Jim, but the only one who seems to really know her is Albert. With long dark hair, tattoos, and a rebellious streak, Albert doesn’t fit in with the rest of the clean-cut Ivy Leaguers. Like Kristina, he has his share of secrets—secrets that are beginning to unravel this intimate circle of friends.

One wintry Thanksgiving weekend tragedy strikes…

When Detective Spencer O’Malley goes to investigate something suspicious at the foot of a steep hill on Dartmouth’s campus, he doesn’t expect that the frozen, naked body found in deep snow would belong to Kristina Kim—the remarkable young woman he met recently who entranced him. Now Spencer will never know if the chemistry he had with her was real. All he can do is find her killer.

Spencer is pulled into the strange, complex web of the surviving friends. Many important questions about Kristina’s murder cannot be answered, such as: why did none of them report her missing for nine days before her body was discovered? The more Spencer digs, the more clear it becomes that each of the three has a motive for killing Kristina. And as Spencer, seeking justice for a dead girl, is led down a labyrinth of deceit, every new revelation proves more shocking than the last….and more dangerous.

“Simons handles her characters and setting with a certain skill, creating mystery from the ordinary, protected lives of these Ivy League kids, slowly peeling away their deceptions to reveal denial, cowardice, and chilling indifference…an engrossing story.”—Publishers Weekly.

Kristina Kim seems to have it all, great looks, amazing athletic talent, good grades, and wonderful friends. Kristina is considered beautiful, inside and out, by most people, but she has her fair share of flaws and quirks. She is a truly talented basketball player and has been an Ivy league favorite for several years. She studies hard and does reasonably well with her classes and gets good grades. True, she has some good friends and friendly acquaintances but there are facets of her life that they know nothing about, just as she doesn’t know everything about their lives. Over the course of just a few days, Kristina goes from being a vibrant young lady to a corpse hidden in the snow, all but forgotten by her so-called friends. What deep dark secrets could Kristina have had that led to her death? Why weren’t her friends concerned about her absence? What secrets are these so-called friends hiding from one another and the police?

First, I’ve got to say that this isn’t the first time I’ve read Red Leaves by Paullina Simons. I had the pleasure of reading this story many years ago and consider myself fortunate to get the chance to reread it. On the surface, this seems to be a story about the death of a young college student. But if you dig under the surface, you’ll find that this is a story about so much more. Kristina has a love-hate/passive-aggressive relationship with her so-called friends: her former boyfriend Jim Shaw, her former roommate Conni Tobias, and Conni’s boyfriend and Jim’s former roommate Albert Maplethorpe. Conni and Jim had initially dated one another, before breaking up and becoming involved with Albert and Kristina. The friendship between these four appears to have been heartfelt and wholesome but was anything but that. It is for this reason that Detective Spencer O’Malley comes to realize that their reaction to the death, later revealed to be a murder, seems beyond suspicious. Just as the police had to dig under the snow to reveal Kristina’s body, Detective O’Malley digs into the relationships between Kristina’s friends to try and find the truth. I could tell you more, but if you enjoy stories about deeply flawed relationships then I’ll simply say read Red Leaves. Ms. Simons has crafted a story with characters that are impossible to like, a death that is tragic, the superficialities of friendship, dysfunctional family relationships, and a mystery that drives one person close to madness (no, I won’t tell you who). I enjoyed reading Red Leaves the first time around and enjoyed it just as much the second time. If you’re looking for something a little dark, twisted, and mysterious, then Red Leaves is the perfect book for you. Go, read, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I received a free print review copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours for review purposes. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Read an excerpt from Red Leaves here.

Photo by Renaissance Studio

About Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons is an internationally bestselling author whose novels include Bellagrand and The Bronze Horseman was born in Leningrad in 1963. As a child she immigrated to Queens, New York, and attended colleges in Long Island. Then she moved to England and attended Essex University, before returning to America. She lives in New York with her husband and children.

Find out more about Paullina at her website, follow her on Twitter, and connect with her on Facebook.

This review and tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours.

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2017 Book #35: THE DRESSMAKER’S DOWRY by Meredith Jaeger

The Dressmaker’s Dowry by Meredith Jaeger

ISBN: 9780062469830 (paperback)

ISBN: 9780062469847 (ebook)

ASIN: B01G1GD9WM (Kindle edition)

Publication date: February 7, 2017

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

For readers of Lucinda Riley, Sarah Jio, or Susan Meissner, this gripping historical debut novel tells the story of two women: one, an immigrant seamstress who disappears from San Francisco’s gritty streets in 1876, and the other, a young woman in present day who must delve into the secrets of her husband’s wealthy family only to discover that she and the missing dressmaker might be connected in unexpected ways.

An exquisite ring, passed down through generations, connects two women who learn that love is a choice, and forgiveness is the key to freedom…

San Francisco: 1876

Immigrant dressmakers Hannelore Schaeffer and Margaret O’Brien struggle to provide food for their siblings, while mending delicate clothing for the city’s most affluent ladies. When wealthy Lucas Havensworth enters the shop, Hanna’s future is altered forever. With Margaret’s encouragement and the power of a borrowed green dress, Hanna dares to see herself as worthy of him. Then Margaret disappears, and Hanna turns to Lucas. Braving the gritty streets of the Barbary Coast and daring to enter the mansions of Nob Hill, Hanna stumbles upon Margaret’s fate, forcing her to make a devastating decision…one that will echo through the generations.

San Francisco: Present Day

In her elegant Marina apartment overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Sarah Havensworth struggles to complete the novel she quit her job for. Afraid to tell her husband of her writer’s block, Sarah is also hiding a darker secret—one that has haunted her for 14 years. Then a news headline from 1876 sparks inspiration: Missing Dressmakers Believed to be Murdered. Compelled to discover what happened to Hannelore and Margaret, Sarah returns to her roots as a journalist. Will her beautiful heirloom engagement ring uncover a connection to Hanna Schaeffer?

Sarah Schmidt Havensworth is struggling to complete her MFA degree. The novel she’s working on is not coming together and Sarah doesn’t want to tell her husband or her academic advisor. Then Sarah has a spark that quickly becomes an inner fire when she reads about two immigrant women from the late 19th century. Sarah finds herself pulled to find out the truth behind this missing and presumed dead women from over a hundred years in the past. Little does Sarah know that this story has ties to her husband’s family past and there are some secrets that are best kept in the dark.

The Dressmaker’s Dowry is told in alternating voices of Sarah Havensworth and Hannelore “Hanna” Schaeffer. Hanna is a hardworking seamstress struggling to provide for her younger siblings and avoid the physical abuse heaped on them all by their alcoholic father. When Hanna’s father becomes abusive to the point of serious injury Hanna does the only thing she knows to do and that’s run. She takes her younger siblings and leaves, but she refuses to leave town until she knows the fate of her missing friend and co-worker Margaret. The only person she knows that might help her is Lucas Havensworth, the only wealthy customer that ever treated her as a fellow human being worthy of kindness instead of as a lowly servant deserving scorn and ridicule. Not only does Lucas help Hanna with her search for her friend, but he takes Hanna and her siblings to his family’s home and offers refuge. Will they be able to find the truth about Margaret before she becomes a victim of the rampant crime in town? Sarah’s journey is to seek the truth about these two missing women, be there for her friends, and be supportive of her husband’s growing business. The more Sarah learns about Hanna, the more she realizes that Hanna may have close ties to her husband’s family. She also must quietly contend with threats against continuing to seek the truth about what happened to Hanna and Margeret. Will she be able to reveal the truth about Hanna and Margaret without having her secrets revealed? Will that secret be the death knell for her marriage?

I found The Dressmaker’s Dowry to be a fast-paced and engaging read. I enjoy reading stories that combine contemporary and historical storylines and Ms. Jaeger has done an admirable job with Hanna and Sarah’s stories. The author provides the reader with glimpses into the past, especially the lives of immigrants in an inhospitable environment. That storyline is nicely melded with the contemporary storyline that includes social entrepreneurship on the part of Sarah’s husband Hunter Havensworth, who has a clothing company that offers free clothing to the homeless for every clothing item sold. Both storylines focus on the haves and the have-nots in society and how many of the “haves” talk a good game about raising funds and awareness for the “have-nots” but don’t want to get their hands dirty by actually dealing with these people. Yes, there’s a lot more going on in the story than just missing women and social entrepreneurship, there’s child abuse, poverty, family secrets and the lengths people will go to just to protect those secrets, and romance. If you enjoy reading historical fiction or stories with a realistic bent, then you’ll definitely want to add The Dressmaker’s Dowry to your TBR list. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Jaeger in the future.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes via Edelweiss. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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2017 Book 33: THIS IS NOT OVER by Holly Brown

This Is Not Over by Holly Brown
ISBN: 9780062456830 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062456847 (ebook)
ASIN: B01A5CEKB2 (Kindle edition)
Publication date: January 17, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

You’ll have your deposit within seven business days, just like it says on Getaway.com. I’ve put through a refund to your credit card for the full amount, minus $200 to replace the stained sheets…
Miranda

When 30-year-old Dawn reads Miranda’s email, she sees red. People have always told Dawn she’s beautiful, and she just hopes they don’t see beneath—to how she grew up, to what she’s always tried to outrun. She revels in her getaways with her perfect (maybe too perfect) husband, the occasional long weekend in luxurious homes, temporarily inhabiting other people’s privileged lives. Miranda’s email strikes a nerve, with its lying intimation that Dawn is so dirty you need to throw out her sheets.

Beware of your “host”

I wouldn’t have left a review at all, if I didn’t feel it was my civic duty to warn others…

57-year-old Miranda thought she’d seen it all, but she can’t believe her eyes when she reads Dawn’s review. She’s a doctor’s wife but she needs that rental money, desperately. People might think her life is privileged, but they don’t know what’s really going on. They don’t know about her son. She won’t take this threat to her livelihood—to her very life—lying down.

Two very different women with this in common: Each harbors her own secret, her own reason why she can’t just let this go. Neither can yield, not before they’ve dredged up all that’s hidden, even if it has the power to shatter all they’ve built.

This is not over.

This is so not over.

It all starts with an email message about a refund and goes downhill from there. Dawn and Rob Thiebold enjoy spending weekends away from their Oakland apartment and routinely use VRBO homes. Dawn is in charge of finding the homes they stay in and she takes her research into these homes quite seriously. The beach rental should have made for a perfect weekend getaway, but it is anything but perfect and then she receives an email stating they left a mysterious “stain” on the sheets and wouldn’t be receiving a full refund. Dawn tries hard to channel Rob’s more laidback attitude and let this go, but she refuses to accept Miranda’s version of accounts and fights back the only way she can. Dawn’s text message and email responses to Miranda quickly turns into an internet campaign to right a wrong. If dealing with Miranda isn’t enough, Rob wants to start a family, and Dawn’s father dies and she finds out her parents were never legally married. Everything seems to be crashing down around her and she finds refuge with an unlikely ally.

Miranda isn’t sure how a simple text message could have evolved into a campaign to besmirch her character as a VRBO host. She tries her best to remain civil with Dawn and work out a reasonable arrangement. She even offers to refund Dawn if she’ll only take down the somewhat negative review posted on the VRBO host website. Miranda is also dealing with an aging parent suffering from dementia, a distant husband that never seems to agree with her opinion about anything, and a drug-addicted son that seeks to keep her off balance while constantly seeking financial assistance. The only thing Miranda can focus on is maintaining a little bit of sanity in her increasingly insane existence, her status as a good VRBO host. When that is taken away from by Dawn’s reporting the short-stay vacation rentals to the authorities, Miranda decides to take a stand. She stands up to her mother and is kicked out her mother’s assisted living facility. She stands up to her husband and he takes off for a medical conference. But what can she do to stand up to a renter that lives hours away?

I found This Is Not Over to be a rather fast-paced read. It is a psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. It is easy to see how a seemingly innocent text message or email could be taken out of context when it isn’t possible to hear the sender’s voice or see their nonverbal cues. The reader sees and hears what they want to see and hear. Dawn sees one thing and mounts what might be seen as cyberstalking and cyberbullying behavior. Miranda is all too focused on her reputation to see that she’s living a lie. She wants to be perceived as the perfect host when her marriage and family life are crumbling down around her. Both Dawn and Miranda make assumptions about one another and their actions are based on those preconceived notions. This Is Not Over is not a she said/she said story, it is about misconceptions and an unwillingness to see the other side of the equation. This story contains lots of family angst and drama, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, hopelessness, despair, and an inability to see circumstances clearly while enraged. I could tell you where the psychological thriller component comes into play, but then you wouldn’t need to read the story. The story was slow moving at first, but then it picked up and kept my attention to the very last page (I had to know what happened next). If you enjoy reading psychological thrillers filled with family drama, then you’ll definitely want to read This Is Not Over.

Disclaimer: I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About Holly Brown

Photo by Yanina Gotsulsky

Holly Brown lives with her husband and toddler daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she’s a practicing marriage and family therapist. She is the author of the novel Don’t Try to Find Me, and her blog, “Bonding Time,” is featured on the mental health website PsychCentral.com.

Connect with Holly on Facebook.

This tour brought to you by TLC Book Tours:

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2016 Book 341: DEVIL SENT THE RAIN by Lisa Turner

Devil Sent the Rain (Billy Able #2) by Lisa Turner
ISBN: 9780062136213 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780062136220 (eBook)
ISBN: 9780062665775 (audiobook)
ASIN: B018E0SXHY (Kindle edition)
Publication date: September 27, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

The heart can be an assassin. Detective Billy Able knows that from experience.

Fresh from solving Memphis’ most sensational murder case, Homicide Detective Billy Able and his ambitious new partner Frankie Malone are called to a bizarre crime scene on the outskirts of town. A high society attorney has been murdered while dressed in a wedding gown. Billy is shocked to discover he has a very personal connection to the victim. When the attorney’s death exposes illegal practices at her family’s prestigious law firm, the scandal is enough to rock the southern city’s social world.

In a tale of the remnants of Old South aristocracy and entitlement, twisted by greed and vengeance, Billy must confront the secrets of his own past to have any chance at solving the murder of the girl he once knew. But as he seeks the truth, he’s drawn closer to an embittered killer bent on revenge—and eliminating the threat Billy poses.

Memphis police detective Billy Able is back after a nine-month-long hiatus. His previous case was high profile amongst the wealthy and elite Southern gentry. Now he’s facing another high-profile case, the murder of young female attorney from a monied Southern family in Devil Sent the Rain by Lisa Turner.

After his last case, Billy Able took time off from the Memphis Police Department and followed his lover to Atlanta. When that relationship began to fizzle out, he returned to Memphis and work. Now he must deal with a high-profile case that involves someone from his past, a childhood friend and former girlfriend. Caroline Lee was murdered under very strange and mysterious circumstances. After breaking her engagement to Dr. Raj Sharma, a renowned neurosurgeon, she apparently was on her way to get married…but no one knows who the groom was going to be. Billy must wade through Caroline’s past in his attempt to uncover the murder but his investigation dislodges a missing person’s case, family members with plenty of secrets to hide, a jealous ex-fiance and more. Can he discover the murderer before it’s too late?

Devil Sent the Rain is the second book in the Billy Able series by Lisa Turner, following The Gone Dead Train. This Southern gothic mystery provides more than just murder, there’s a missing person’s case (Caroline’s cousin) that may or may not be linked to Caroline’s murder, a con-artist, embezzlement, alcoholism, drug addiction, and of course the politics of dealing with a family that wants to keep their secrets hidden. I enjoyed the partnership between Billy Able and Frankie Malone and only wish that their investigative partnership had a more prominent role in the story. If you enjoy reading mysteries then I recommend you add Devil Sent the Rain to your TBR list. This was the first book I’ve read by Ms. Turner and I plan on spending part of my weekend reading The Gone Dead Train. I look forward to reading more in the Billy Able series in the future.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher via Edelweiss. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

lisa-turner-ap-photo-by-phillip-parker
Photo by Phillip Parker

About Lisa Turner

Born in Memphis, Lisa Turner travels between her ancestral home in the Deep South and her writing getaway on the wildly beautiful coast of Nova Scotia.

Find out more about Lisa at her website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.