Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Crown

Format: ARC

Source: Bookstore

Challenge: A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

Purchase: Indie Bound (due out June 2012)

I can not tell you how many emotions I went through while reading this book. Talk about psychological thriller. Holy cats! This book was right up my alley. I've had this author on my radar for years now, ever since I picked up a used copy of her first book, Sharp Objects.

Still haven't read that one, of course. I snagged this ARC at work while on break and thought I'd give it a go. It is quite marvelously put together. How intricate of a plot she has created. I find myself getting a very quick opinion of a character from early on in most stories. This one, however, I thought I knew them, but they changed so many times, I did not know what was real and what was not.

Check out this synopsis from Goodreads:

"'What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?'"

Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...

In the beginning, you get the feeling that they are a happy couple or atleast trying to make a good go of it. But then as the back and forth in time chapters roll out, you get a much different picture of both of them. I honestly did not care for either one of them and thought they were just extremely dysfunctional people who can not communicate with each other at all.

Then Amy "disappears" and this whole other side to the story comes up and you are falling fast down a hill full of lies, manipulation and just plain ol' immaturity and self absorption. Like I said previously, I did not really like these characters but they had a train wreck of a story that I could not stop reading. Each chapter will surprise you and the ending will leave you with a resounding, "WTF?"

All in all, impressive read from Gillian Flynn. I will have to get to her first thriller sooner than later.

Rating: Recommend

This is not a wam, bam simple cut and dry case. No. It is a full on psychological thriller you might see on a 20/20 episode. You never know who the good OR the bad guys are. You can't stop reading though and wanting to know how the heck it's going to end. Kudos to Gillian Flynn for creating this dare I say, "edge of your seat" thriller.

Check out her website too. She has a pretty impressive resume!

Author Website:

Gillian Flynn

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Guest Review: Helpless by Daniel Palmer

Format: Review Copy

Source: Author

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Purchase: Indie Bound

Michelle's Two Cents:

Last year I had my good friend, Cheryl, review on my site a few times. Much like with Sean (my husband), I enjoy sharing my opportunities with those that I care about, especially if they are huge book nerds like me. Cheryl is indeed that.

She reviewed Daniel Palmer's first novel last year and was thrilled to be able to read and review his follow up. Thank you Cheryl for taking the time to do this. She also had the wonderful opportunity to see Daniel at a book signing event in Atlanta along with his father, author Michael Palmer.

Cheryl's review:

Last year I reviewed Delirious by Daniel Palmer (http://www.redheadedbookchild.com/2011/01/delirious-by-daniel-palmer-guest-review.html) and I was excited to get the opportunity to review his new book, Helpless.

From the author's website:

Nine years after he left Shilo, New Hampshire, former Navy Seal Tom Hawkins has returned to raise his teenage daughter, Jill, following the murder of his ex-wife, Kelly. Despite Tom’s efforts to stay close to Jill by coaching her high school soccer team, Kelly’s bitterness fractured their relationship. But life in Shilo is gradually shaping up into something approaching normal. Normal doesn’t last long. Shilo’s police sergeant makes it clear that Tom is his chief suspect in Kelly’s death. Then an anonymous blog post alleges that Coach Hawkins is sleeping with one of his players. Internet rumors escalate, and incriminating evidence surfaces on Tom’s own computer and cell phone. To prove his innocence, Tom must unravel a tangle of lies about his past. For deep amid the secrets he’s been keeping—from a troubled tour of duty to the reason for his ex-wife’s death—is the truth that someone will gladly kill to protect.

My review:

The book opens with Tom Hawkins on the field coaching the high school girls soccer team, where he sees the police approaching him and he thinks, “They know what I did. They’re coming for me. The secret is out.” I’m a sucker for a story that starts with a secret. And I have to keep reading until I know what that secret is. And all the characters in Helpless are hiding something. As the book develops, you discover the secrets bit by bit. But one of the great things about this book is that as you discover the secrets, you still do not know how they all intersect until the very end.

Palmer’s theme of utilizing technology as a basis for his thriller works very well. While I’ve always been a fan of the Mission Impossible/James Bond type of technology and gadgets that are unbelievably (and unrealistically) fantastic, I like that Palmer instead uses everyday technology that we’re all familiar with, therefore easy to understand and relate to. That simplicity is what makes the story so scary. Seemingly innocent and private interactions can quickly spiral out of control, causing irreparable damage to people’s lives. Bad people with too much knowledge can manipulate technology in ways to benefit them. And you always think it won’t happen to you.

As with Delirious, I read this book in only a few days. Everytime I thought I was close to figuring it out, something happened to keep me guessing. Like Michelle, I want and expect twists and turns in my thrillers and this one delivered. Up until the very end, there were unexpected events that I did not see coming.

In Helpless, I see a tremendous amount of growth in Palmer’s writing since his first book last year. The story is more detailed and more suspenseful. The characters are likeable and relatable. As part of this thriller, Palmer explores the depths and bonds of multiple relationships – parent-child, adult friendship, teen friendship, colleague, adult-teenager, with a little romance thrown in. Palmer’s only written two novels but he has me hooked. I read a lot of suspense and mysteries and, but only have a few authors where I anxiously await the next book. Palmer is definitely one of those authors for me.

Author Website:

Daniel Palmer

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton (review #142)

Title: U is for Undertow

Author: Sue Grafton

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Putnam

Series: Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries

Format: Unabridged Audio

This is my very first audio book that I listened to in its entirety. How cool is that? Because of the slump I've been in that last few months, I've been trying all sorts of new things to see if they stick or get me out of this slump. I've read a graphic novel, am currently reading a great young adult book and now completed my first audio book.

I can't say that I am 100% behind audio books. I will have to see how it goes for my next pick. Sue Grafton has been one of my favorite mystery authors for years now. I knew she had her lastest mystery out, V is for Vengeance and I was one book behind. She is one I try to read religiously when a new one comes out.

I thought it would be faster?...perhaps to listen to it rather than read it? Well, that really wasn't the case but I was able to read another book at the same time and listen to this just in my car. It took me about two weeks to finish listening to it. I don't drive great distances anymore so I listened to it while driving to the bank, the store, to work, picking up the kiddo from school, etc. I had a few longer drives while visiting my parents but that's about it. My kiddo wasn't into it at all and kept asking for "his music" every time we got in the car. I politely refused him every time. I know. Bad Mama. I said it was Mama's time, bucko! :)

Anyway, I loved it! The narrator sounded like I thought Kinsey would; tough yet compassionate. The case she was working on was complicated and intricate, coming together nicely in the end. Grafton is a huge talent when it comes to laying out a mystery. You don't know who did it until the end. I love that.

I am also a huge fan of Kinsey. I relate to her in a lot of ways. The books are set in the eighties so it's before cell phones, before the internet, before computers were used regularly, etc. Kinsey uses the library a lot and that rocks my socks! It reminds me of growing up when things seemed to be simpler in a way. She uses her note cards to display her ideas on a case. Her best friend is her 90+ year old landlord, Henry. She eats peanut butter and pickle sandwiches (YUM!). I just loved everything about the experience of this book. Listening to it is different than reading it. It was so alive and fun to hear what was going to happen next.

Rating: 6/6

For my first audio book that I completed, it was the perfect choice! For a great mystery, Grafton hit it out of the park again. I really enjoyed it all. Looking forward to her next alphabet mystery. I have the audio version on hold at my library as well. I am hoping I have the same great listening experience with that one as well.

I can't say I can include this in my A-Z Mystery Author Challenge because I have already read a "G" author but I can include it in trying new things out when it comes to the mystery genre!

Author Website:

Sue Grafton

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Fragile by Lisa Unger (review #138)

Title: Fragile

Author: Lisa Unger

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Crown

Format: Library Loan

* Read for my 2011 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

I discovered Lisa Unger many years ago during my bookselling days. I received an ARC of Beautiful Lies, one of her first books. I could not put it down! I found her to be a fresh, exciting, sharp, thrilling new voice in the thriller genre. It had the perfect blend of psychological thriller and mystery that I like.

One of her latest novels, Fragile, was shelved in the Fiction section at my last bookstore instead of Mystery, like her others. Perhaps this was a marketing tactic to change up her audience or perhaps the publisher felt it was more of a novel than a thriller. I found it be similar to her others. It had the psychological thriller piece matched with the whodunnit of two missing girl cases.

Here is a brief description from Goodreads:

Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another’s kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows’s insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients’ lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie’s intuitive gift proves useful to the case—and also dangerous.

Eerie parallels soon emerge between Charlene’s disappearance and the abduction of another local girl that shook the community years ago when Maggie was a teenager. The investigation has her husband, Jones, the lead detective on the case, acting strangely. Rick, already a brooding teenager, becomes even more withdrawn. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father.

“I know how a moment can spiral out of control,” Jones says to a shocked Maggie as he searches Rick’s room for incriminating evidence. “How the consequences of one careless action can cost you everything.”

As she tries to reassure him that Rick embodies his father in all of the important ways, Maggie realizes this might be exactly what Jones fears most. Determined to uncover the truth, Maggie pursues her own leads into Charlene’s disappearance and exposes a long-buried town secret—one that could destroy everything she holds dear. This thrilling novel about one community’s intricate yet fragile bonds will leave readers asking, How well do I know the people I love? and How far would I go to protect them?

I really enjoyed the small town everyone- knows -everyone drama. It added to the tension of the book. All the characters seemed relatively believable to me, having come from a small town myself. The only flaw was that there was a bit too many story lines going on for me. Unger did a pretty good job weaving them together in the end. I still felt that some of the threads were too detailed and she could have wrapped it up a little bit better with some of the characters.

I was surprised with how it all turned out, which is a plus for me. I don't like figuring it all out before it ends. The ending gives you the sense that there is more story to be told, which is where the Darkness, my old Friend comes in. I wasn't aware there was a follow up until I investigated the author's website. Jones Cooper, the lead detective in Fragile, continues his story in Darkness...

Perhaps I will get to that next year in my challenge. :)

Rating: 5/6

Though I liked Beautiful Lies better than Fragile, I still think Lisa Unger is an author to read. I think she handles the twists of a psychological thriller quite well. Her characters get in your head and you want to figure them out. You want to uncover all of the secrets and get to the nitty gritty of the crime. If you are fans of Lisa Scottoline or Tana French, you may like Lisa Unger's books. I would say she may be a good middle ground between the two.

Author Website:

Lisa Unger

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens (review #133)

Title: Never Knowing

Author: Chevy Stevens

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: St .Martin's Press

Format: ARC from work

This review will be a bit brief since I read this over a month ago and am not remembering the fine details of what I felt about it. I am a bit behind on my reviews.

I read Chevy Stevens' first novel, Still Missing, and it still haunts me. I was a bit behind on new books apparently because I discovered this new book by her from a fellow blogger. Usually if I really like a book by someone, I try to keep an eye out for the next. Too busy, I guess!

This book I was able to digest a bit better. Still Missing was just plain creepy and I couldn't get it out of my head, which is good in some ways but also not good if you want to go to sleep at night. This one definitely still had that heavy feel to it and the circumstances that surround the main character are horribly tragic and full of terrible suspense in each and every chapter but it had a better build to it and it ended much better.

Here is the description from the Amazon:

At thirty-four Sara Gallagher is finally happy. Her antique furniture restoration business is taking off and she’s engaged to a wonderful man. But there’s one big question that still haunts her — who are her birth parents? Sara is finally ready to find out.

Some questions are better left unanswered.

Sara’s birth mother rejects her—again. Then she discovers her biological father is an infamous killer who’s been hunting women every summer for over thirty years. Sara tries to come to terms with her horrifying parentage — and her fears that she’s inherited more than his looks — with her therapist, Nadine, who we first met in Still Missing. But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out your father is a killer is him finding out about you.

What if murder is in your blood?

Never knowing is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman’s quest to understand where she comes from. That is, if she can survive…

Stevens' seems to be settling into the niche of psychological thrillers, putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations. I seem to like that kind of crap and pray to God that nothing like that would ever happen to me! Sara's character was a bit manic and annoying but then, heck, look what is happening to her. I certainly didn't imagine me doing anything better or more calm!

Rating: 5/6

It's really filled with lots of twists and unimagined events. I really had a hard time putting it down. Overall, I recommend it to anyone wanting a suspenseful, thrilling read. If you are a fan of Harlan Coben and Laura Lippman, you would be a fan of Chevy Stevens. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

Author Website:

Chevy Stevens

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Lot's Return to Sodom by Sandra Brannan (review #126)

Title: Lot's Return to Sodom

Author: Sandra Brannan

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Greenleaf Press

Format: Review Copy

Description from Publisher website:

The Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is no place for buttoned-down citizens—unless, of course, they’re trying to hide a murder or two.

In this second book in the eponymous series, Liv Bergen is back with a vengeance—a righteous one. The gutsy, sharp-witted amateur sleuth pulls out all the stops as she solves the murder of her brother Jens’s fiancée, Michelle, and clears his name. As it turns out, more than one person in Liv’s sleepy hometown wanted Michelle dead. A trail of clues leads Liv through the Black Hills, where she encounters half a mil- lion hardcore bikers and sideline gawkers—many clad in nothing but black leather thongs and bikinis—who have turned the place into a sodomitical playground saturated in booze.

Further complicating matters, Liv is an eyewitness to a second homicide, which calls down upon her the uninvited attentions of the men- acing leader of a biker gang called Lucifer’s Lot. The cat-and-mouse game that ensues puts Liv in the path of her admirer Streeter Pierce, who’s gone undercover with a fellow FBI agent to find both Michelle’s murderer and a perp the agency calls the Crooked Man. Liv taps every ounce of brains and brawn she has to avoid becoming the killer’s next victim, which wins her the further respect of Streeter.

By the end of Lot’s Return to Sodom, Streeter has shown his admiration for Liv by giving her Beulah, an FBI bloodhound who is certain to help them track down the still-at-large Crooked Man in book three.

I had received this book a few months ago but saved reading it until I flew out to NYC for BEA. Sandra Brannan was going to be there and I wanted to have it fresh in my mind for when I could talk to her about it. I read a little over half on the way there and finished it on the way home.

It is a stellar second installment in the Liv Bergen mystery series. Set in Rapid City around the time of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, you once again get wholly absorbed in the atmosphere so richly described by Brannan. Like In the Belly of Jonah, the setting for these books is its own character and one that Brannan knows and creates quite well.

Rapid City being her own hometown you really get a strong feel for it all.

I always knew that Sturgis was a bad ass time, having some how fallen under the spell of stories told to me by bar fly members of my family or what I've seen in action movies. Not that I am a biker chick at all but I have to confess that I did go on a date with a man in my twenties, far from desirable, because he had a motorcycle and promised me a ride. :)

Anyway, in this book, the glorified life of the motorcycle crowd is far, far from desirable or cool or even one I care to even think about anymore. Brannan, with her knack for research, got down in the dirty ditches of these men and women and the political, power hungry, abusive and just down right mean way in which most seem to live.

Throw in two murders, and the clash between the scared local enforcement and the scrumptious FBI agent, Streeter Pierce and you got yourself a sharp, sassy, scary thriller.

You also get a greater glimpse into Liv's family ( God Bless Em' ,they are just like mine!) due to her brother being a suspect in one of the murders.

I felt like I wanted to pull up a chair during a Sunday dinner and

eat their yummy comfort food and say my prayers.

Review: 6/6

Overall, in the world of mystery book series where it's hard to keep the pace and the characters strong, Brannan masters her sophmoric release. The world is gritty and some parts are not for the faint of heart. I even had to give my two cents to Sandra about some parts that crossed the line for me a little. But I have a line I draw when it comes to harm against children. You don't need to say much for me to get sick and want to kick some ass.

Aside from that, she writes an intense world that is a reality; the life of motorcycle gangs.

I was intrigued and the pace did not let up. There are more twists and turns in this one and what I liked, is that you don't get the whole story really until the end. I also liked that I couldn't figure it out. Surprising me as a reader is a very good thing.

And Liv and Streeter...well, that's a story I look forward to reading more about....

Remember the book is out and can be purchased at this site, to get you started!

Indie Bound

Author Website:

Sandra Brannan

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Save me by Lisa Scottoline (review #124)

Save Me by Lisa Scottoline

Genre: Fiction, Mystery

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Format: Library Loan

* Read for 2011 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

Surprisingly I have never read a book by Lisa Scottoline before. I was curious about this one because SO many patrons at my library were placing holds on it. I kept receiving it in my delivery several times a week and I thought, what the heck, let's try it out. I had to wait a bit but finally got it in on Monday. I read it in 2 days.

The book starts off with a bang. It jumps right in to Rose as a lunchroom mom, keeping an eye on her daughter, Melly. Melly is being bullied because of her large birth mark on her face and her mother wants to see if she can help in any way, hence the volunteer job.

After witnessing Melly's classmate Amanda make fun of her, Rose steps in and tells her to say she was sorry. At this point, the lunchroom is clearing and a teacher approaches Rose to see what was going on. Rose explains that she is trying to make a point that the school doesn't tolerate bullying. The teacher makes it clear that it's not her job to discipline and that they should make their way out of the cafeteria.

At this point the teacher leaves and not more than a few minutes later, an explosion goes off sending Rose into a panic. Melly had run off after the incident and Rose was left with Amanda and two other students that she was now responsible for to get to safety.

But she is torn. Where did Melly go? Did she make it outside or did she go and hide in the bathroom like she is known to do?

Faced with the dilemma to either save her own child or the others, she escorts the three girls half way to the exit door, pointing the rest of the way.

Melly survives and so do the other girls but Amanda is some how critically injured and in a coma. The entire community blames Rose for neglecting to bring the girls out of the building, berating her for choosing her own child over the others.

What follows is a pretty intense, fast paced ride. Rose is tortured in the press and in the community, being called a horrible mother. Wanting to not only clear her name but also find some peace for her daughter, Rose sets out to find out the truth behind the explosion at the school. After some minor digging, she discovers some dirty business going on.

I was enjoying the book up until the almost instant "Rose becomes Super Investigator" part kicked in. Sure, you feel the adrenaline of finding the truth but it all seemed too easy for her to find the truth. And though in the end Rose does good and brings the bad guys out in the light, I still didn't really feel too much towards her. In my opinion, I didn't think her character was written with much depth. She was beautiful former model with a handsome lawyer husband. She managed to get all the answers with, what seemed, like very little effort.

Review: 4/6

Overall, it was a quick, fast-paced read. It read more like a mystery than a contemporary women's fiction novel that it seems it's being marketed for. Her writing was dramatic and absorbing to read. It just fell a little short towards the end and it didn't go where I thought it would. I do wish to read Lisa Scottoline again. I would like to start with some of her older mysteries, rather than some eof her newer novels and see how those turn out.

I would recommend this for fans of mysteries and Jodi Picoult like dramas.

Book Club Pick?

Well, it does get into the drama of parenting, navigating the world of school politics, bullying, etc. I think that would spark some conversation. Also, just the question "What would you do if you were in this situation?" would be intriguing to answer.

Author Website:

Lisa Scottoline

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

The Amateurs by Marcus Sakey (review #114)

The Amateurs by Marcus Sakey

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Dutton

Format: Review Copy

* Read for my 2011 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

I LOVED this book! It was exactly what I needed. I am really trying to focus on my mood these days when it comes to reading and also trying to meet my challenges at the same time. It may sound tricky but it's working out. I seem to have a little variety with my challenges and a good mix of books on my shelf and to review to pick from.

This book wasn't a planned review. I inquired with the publisher about his newest book and they offered to send me this one instead because the new one was not ready yet. I had read his novel Good People a few years back and really enjoyed it.

Sakey's books have one of my favorite types of set ups in mysteries. He puts ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Harlan Coben and later Dean Koontz are good authors for that as well.

You can easily identify with the characters; who they are, what drives them, the mistakes them make, etc. And when things go horribly wrong, you sort of see it coming but you can't stop reading!

The Amateurs is all that and a bag of chips. Alex, Ian, Mitch and Jenn are four friends who call themselves the Thursday Night Drinking Club. Every Thursday they come together to drink a local bar where Alex is bartender. They are all seemingly happy, somewhat together individuals with little care in the world and are up for almost anything.

Alex is trying to make enough money to pay his child support for his daughter, Cassie. Jenn is a travel agent who longs for adventure. Mitch works in a hotel and is secretly in love with Jenn. Ian is fun and dangerous and secretly hiding a controlled drug habit.

Alex is called to do a side job for his boss, Johnny Love and doesn't know how to say no. Feeling trapped and desperately wanting more money for his kid, he agrees but he also gets the idea for a side job of his own. Turns out Johnny has a safe full of cash and Alex just happens to know the combination.

Somehow able to convince his friends to set up a fake robbery, they go for it. Good people making quick decisions based out of desperation and a need for adventure. Makes sense. Of course it will all go to hell.

And to hell it goes, indeed. Not only did they steal from Johnny, Johnny owed a guy named Victor a different kind of payment. Now the web has gotten bigger and it's not just his weasel boss that he screwed. Alex and his friends also screwed some big time bad guys.

Review: 5/6

Without giving too much away, let's just say, this one was fast paced and full of action. It was hard to put down. Sure it was a tad bit predictable at times. Will it make an awesome movie? You bet! The four friends were indeed Amateurs and they freely admit it. What they did might not be above or beyond anything that anyone of us would do? Who knows? This was a well crafted, fun suspenseful read. I'm going to continue to keep an eye out for Marcus Sakey!

Book Club Pick:

Another fun read for me, that's it!

Author Website:

Marcus Sakey

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

*Thank you to Dana Kaye Publicity for sharing a copy with me to read.

It's the Year of the Mystery (GIVEAWAY!)

The Year of Mysterious Giveaways

I have been thinking a lot about my love for the Mystery/Thriller genre. I love the drama, the suspense, the creation of a new series, serial killers, psychotic ivy league wannabe murderers, gothic haunted house stories, salty sexy cop/detectives, conspiracies, whodunnits, cozies, crazies and women with secrets and the men that love and kill for them. and vice versa.You name it in the mystery genre, I'm probably going to go for it.

This is why I've decided to name this the Year of the Mystery...for me. With the start of my very first challenge, the A-Z Mystery Author Challenge, it's the perfect setting for me to dive into all things mystery.

In addition to reading more mystery and having more guest reviewers reviewing mystery, I have decided to also do a monthly giveaway. I am hoping to give away some new or newish mystery titles or one of my favorites from the year off my own shelf. So far I have the next few months supplied with new mystery books to give away!

I realize I am starting mid-month so don't be surprised when you see another giveaway starting March 1.

My first mysterious giveaway is Bury your Dead by Louise Penny.

From Goodreads: It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to celebrate but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the seemingly peaceful Literary and Historical Society--where an obsessive historian's search for the missing remains of the founder of Quebec ends bizarrely in murder. Injured himself and in need of rest, Gamache cannot walk away from a crime that threatens to ignite long-smoldering tensions between the English and the French.

Meanwhile, he receives letter after letter from the village of Three Pines, where beloved Bistro owner Olivier was recently convicted of murder. "It doesn't make sense," Olivier's partner writes every day. "He didn't do it, you know." Despite the overwhelming case against Olivier, Gamache sends his deputy back to Three Pines to make sure that nothing was overlooked.

Through it all, in his painstaking quest for justice, Gamache must relive the terrible events that killed one of his men before he can begin to bury his dead

* Thank you to Ann Marie @ Get Red PR for supplying the book for this contest.

Contest rules are simple.

* Follow my blog.

* Leave your email.

* Live in the United States.

* Answer, "Do you have a favorite mystery author/book?"

Winner will be picked February 28.

Stay tuned on March 1 for my next giveaway, Thieves of Darkness by Richard Doetsch.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Now You See Her by Joy Fielding (review #111)

Now You See Her by Joy Fielding

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Atria (Simon and Schuster)

Release Date: February 22

* Read for my A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

Even though it is the dead of winter and I could scream if I see one more piece of snow fall, I am still able to muster some excitement for this time of year because it means there is a new Joy Fielding mystery to read! I have been a fan of hers for almost a decade now. My love began with one of her first novels, See Jane Run, which I still think is one of the best mysteries I have ever read. I can thank my pal Cheryl for that. She recommended it to me and I could not put it down. Even my husband read it and loved it!

Though there have been a few here and there that I haven't enjoyed as much, I can safely say she knows how to write a twisted, fast paced mystery thriller and is one of the best in her genre.

I was thrilled when I was able to read this a little early. Thrilled would equal me squealing when the UPS man arrived. I'm sure he thinks I'm a sad little gal whom he seems to only see in pajamas. (don't worry folks, they deliver early. I'm not in my pjs all day!) But anyway, I hunkered down with this one right away, flinging all else to the side.

Now You See Her tells the story of Marcy Taggart, a newly divorced fifty year old woman, on a vacation in Ireland. What was supposed to be her 25th anniversary getaway has turned into a lonely expensive therapy session. She finds herself wandering from tour group to tour group trying to make the most of it, until one afternoon she spots a young woman who looks just like her daughter Devon. Problem is, Devon is dead; supposedly drowned in a canoe accident two years prior. No body was found. Life went on and so did her husband.

Marcy is convinced her daughter is still alive. No one believed her in the past and no one is certainly going to believe her now. With only the slightest of glimpses, Marcy throws herself full on into her own investigation of this woman. Her blinders are on and her only focus is to find her daughter, at any expense, including running up bills on her ex husband's credit card, traveling to remote areas of Dublin and Cork, trusting in strangers, sleeping with strange men and lying to her sister.

I completely sympathized with Marcy the whole way, even when she acted like a moron, with little regard for her own safety or her family back home. You lose a child with no closure, how could you not always have hope? Devon was a troubled child, suffering from bi-polar disorder. Marcy always struggled to be a good mom but during her mad search in Ireland, she brings to the surface just how tough she really was on her daughter. Maybe she could have done better. Maybe this is her chance to give back.

Joy Fielding is always good for the twists and turns towards the end. As I was reading along, I was shaking my head at some of "help" Marcy received along the way and how easy it seemed to be going at times. But, leave it to Joy, she surprised me in the end. Her stories don't always leave you with happy endings, but you do manage to feel the mission accomplished.

Rating: 6/6

I highly recommend this one for fans of Fielding or just fans of mystery/thrillers in general. I don't like to figure it all out before it ends and with Fielding's novels, I rarely do. Not only do you go on the roller coaster ride of Marcy's search, you get to do it Ireland. Fielding obviously did a fair amount of research with the location because I certainly felt like I was there.

Book Club Pick?

This is just a fun, solid, suspenseful mystery/thriller, good for a weekend on the couch. For me, that's all I seem to be doing because it's so damn cold out there.

Author Website:

Joy Fielding

* Click on title above to pre-order.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Review #102: Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

This was another book that has been hanging out on my pile for about a year now. I recently received a copy of The Hanging Tree, the second book by this author. It prompted me to sit myself down and get going on this series that I knew I would love.

And I did!

Starvation Lake is a mystery/thriller through and through. It is also the name of the town in which it all takes place. A small town in Michigan, it is a place that Gus Carpenter wishes he didn't have to come back to. He finds himself back in his home town as the editor of the local newspaper, The Pilot. A big story is about to break the town's thin surface and expose many of long time residents. One snowy winter night, pieces of a snowmobile wash up on the lake shore. It is the same snowmobile that belonged to Starvation's legendary hockey coach, Jack Blackburn, who disappeared and had been presumed dead.

Gus Carpenter is a local boy with a love for hockey and a fondness for his old coach. Having played goalie in the River Rats, Blackburn's team, he looked to him as a father figure. Blackburn brought him and his friends, Soupy and Teddy, a bit of small town fame. The finding of his snowmobile on a lake five miles away from the one he supposedly drowned in brings up a lot of questions for Gus, as a reporter and as an old friend.

It's hard to believe that this was Gruley's first novel. He weaves an intricate character sketch and a complicated yet compulsively readable mystery/whodunnit. I was impressed. His style reminded me of Dennis Lehane, another mystery author I love.

It is obvious that Gruley knows about life in a town like Starvation, having grown up in a similar blue collar suburb near Detroit. Like Lehane, the town becomes a character itself and you definitely feel a part of the atmosphere and landscape; the bitter chill of Northern Michigan, the whispers of gossip at the local diner, the bureaucracy within the police department and the local government.

The twists and turns surprised me. I didn't see where it was going and was not entirely happy with the ending but it did resolve what needed resolving. The people I wanted to pay, did in some way. It did leave me lingering a bit but really I wanted to read more of Gus. I grew to like him and like any book, I imagine my own visual of characters regardless of how the author describes. Don't ask me why but generally if an author describes a main character as blonde and rugged, I get an image of someone whoever might pop in my mind at the time. Gerard Butler? Okay!

So for this one, I pictured Gus as Jake Gyllenhaal. ???

Mid thirties, loves his mom, athletic, serious, intense, independent, charming and still a little bit in love with the gal who got away. I saw Jake. Who knows?

It worked for me.

My only issue with this book aside from the ending was the major focus on hockey. It was a bit involved at times describing the game, the strategy, etc. Even though I grew up in and still live in the very cold state of Minnesota, I have never been a hockey fan. But I understood as a reader that the sport of hockey and the love of it was a huge part of the town's identity and Gus and his friends.

Rating: 5 stars/ 6 stars

I really enjoyed it overall. I was impressed with the sharp writing and intricate story line. It kept me guessing and intrigued. The ending I wasn't in love with but I was still wanting more of Gus. I look forward to picking up The Hanging Tree next. I do not know how many books are planned for this series with this character but I believe Bryan Gruley is an author to watch out for. Check out the website for the town below. It's pretty cool!

Starvation Lake

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child