Rosepoint Reviews – May Recap – June? Wait, I’m not ready!

Rosepoint Reviews - May Recap

If I thought I could clean up both the house and the yard in two weeks, I was sadly mistaken. Granted, I took on a lot more yard projects than I’d originally intended. (I’m one of those who’d rather work outside than in.) Clean a house, it just needs it again the next day or two. Fix up a veggie, flower bed, or fairy garden and it’s something you can enjoy for…maybe the whole summer?

I got my veggie garden all set, hopefully protected from bunnies, possums, and deer. Right now it’s looking a little rough with bird netting and chicken wire around everything, but give it a month. I’ve been cleaning up and doing some redesign in the fairy garden. Really wanted a little all-weather bench down there, but haven’t seen anything affordable so I decided to “make” a bench from the downed trees.

Trying to install a water barrel for the veggie bed, but can’t find proper fittings. The projects I bestowed on the CE are languishing in their original shipping boxes. Had hoped to have at least the kitchen ceiling fan light up in time for the escalating temps set to hit us next week. So, yes, will need more time, hopefully, to get to the house and those clean-up projects.

Flower bed

And it doesn’t help that we are trying to do the Y three times a week. The classes are only 45 minutes but with travel and then lunch and clean up, it ends up a good portion of the day, not to say that the classes don’t wear us out. Now they’ve added a summer challenge which we are going to try—adding one more class–yoga.

Yeah, I know—gluttons for punishment, huh?!

We did manage eight reviews along with a couple topical posts in May, and I’m mildly surprised it was that many with everything going on. The CE provided two and I managed four audiobooks (one for my new book club at the Y). I enjoyed two new authors and will be looking for more from both Alex Kava and Archer Sullivan. With those names, what are the odds they are women authors? (Apparently pretty good as both are.)

I source our books through the library, NetGalley, and author and publisher requests. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - May Recap

 Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay (CE review)
Sincerely, Grace by Jean Grainger
Silent Creed and Reckless Creed by Alex Kava (audiobooks)
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell (bookclubs) (audiobook)
Nightshade by Michael Connelly (CE review)
The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan
One False Move by Alex Kava (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

The five-star review in May goes to Michael Connelly for Nightshade, reviewed by the CE. Hard to beat Connelly and I thoroughly enjoyed the latest in the Knocknashee series by Jean Grainger for her atmospheric and gripping Irish tales.

Favorite for May – Nightshade by Michael Connelly

 

Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges page…having caught up through April, now one month behind.  

The Goodreads landing page may be correct at 77 of a goal of 150 or 51%, but the book count widget is still off at 62—worse than before.  Right now, I’m too busy and tired to work on that too. Maybe later.

Love my new subscribers! I hope you found a book or two that appealed to you and I always appreciate your comments! Have a warm, but wonderful June!

©2025 V Williams

A little light summer reading.

Graphic courtesy Freepik

One False Move by Alex Kava #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

One False Move by Alex Kava

Book Blurb:

Internationally best-selling author Alex Kava delivers a searing thriller of one woman’s encounter with her past which could jeopardize her future

Melanie Starks has never lived life by the rules. She and her 17-year-old son, Charlie, have been running one con job or another for as long as she can remember, justifying the petty crimes as the necessary survival moves of a single mother. But Melanie is ready to give it up. Then Jared Barnett reappears in her life.

Fresh out of prison after serving five years of a life sentence for murder, Jared is released on a technicality that by no means proves his innocence. And he’s feeling more invincible than ever. He has the perfect plan for a big score and he needs Melanie’s help. But everything goes terribly wrong. Only one thing is clear: A line has been crossed. Suddenly there’s no turning back, and there is nothing left to lose.

My Review:

In my haste to grab another Creed series book, this one came up as “next” and I downloaded without realizing it was a standalone and not even part of her original Maggie O’Dell series, which I was also going to check out. Well, rats! But I went ahead and listened to the audiobook anyway and discovered it quite a bit different from the writing style and prose of the Creed books.

In this short novel, the antagonist is released from prison on a technicality after serving only five years of a life prison sentence for murder. Unfortunately, he engages his sister Melanie Startks and her teenage son, Charlie, in his hair-brained scheme to rob a Nebraska bank, whereupon Jared loses control of the situation and multiple people are killed forcing them all to flee…with a hostage.

There are multiple POVs, getting inside the head of the despicable Jared for one. The narrative is short and action packed, building suspense, tension from the beginning. These are not particularly characters in which you’ll engage, but they are well developed and ooze malevolence.

There is a good mystery here and the book proves fun and entertaining, apparently modeling after a real experience. The ending provides such a jaw-dropping knee-jerk twist that you don’t see coming, you are left with unanswered questions. Interesting.

Okay, so fans of fast-paced mysteries, tension-filled crime chronologies, and desperate characters may well enjoy this one. I did despite triggers of language and sex. But I’ll look for a Maggie O’Dell book next.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars 4 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Suspense Thrillers, Romance
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0002SQSII
Listening Length: 5 hrs 5 mins
Narrator: Maggi-Meg Reed
Publication Date: July 28, 2004
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links:  One False Move (Amazon)

 

Add to Goodreads

 

Alex Kava - authorThe Author: ALEX KAVA is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of twenty novels including the award-winning FBI Profiler Maggie O’Dell series and the critically acclaimed and now award-winning Ryder Creed K-9 Mystery series. Recently LOST CREED won the 2019 Nebraska Book Award. Her novel Stranded was awarded both a Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award. One False Move was chosen for the 2006 One Book One Nebraska and her political thriller, Whitewash, was one of January Magazine’s best thrillers of the year. Published in over thirty-four countries, Kava’s novels have made the bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Poland.

©2025 V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

The Witch’s Orchard: A Novel by Archer Sullivan #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan

Book Blurb:

A ninth generation Appalachian herself, Archer Sullivan brings the mountains of North Carolina to life in The Witch’s Orchard, a wonderfully atmospheric novel that introduces private investigator Annie Gore.

Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.

My Review:

Yes! Start with Book 1 of a new series and love it when you discover a debut author and new series that catches your attention.

The Witch's Orchard by Archer SullivanAnnie Gore PI is a former Air Force Special Investigator. She’s taken on a case that sends her back to an Appalachian holler similar to that of her childhood. It’s a cold case. A very old, cold case, but one she couldn’t resist looking into—being close to home in more ways than one.

Of course, the setting is right down the author’s alley—she knows those mountains and those people. These are mountain people, tough, resilient, and generous. Also, closed to any that’s not one of them. The soul of the people pervades the background as another character, subtle, but ever present.

‘”Too proud to whitewash, too poor to paint” comes to mind.’

Annie is a great protagonist, strong, smart, capable. She has an ingratiating nature that gives the reader a connection and an interest in who she is and why. It’s fun to work with her in her investigation as she slowly wheedles more clues, more info, more insight. She’s no bully, but she can get what she needs.

Entertaining, compelling, providing an atmosphere with an engaging main character, it’s a winner. I’m in and looking for Book 2.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars 4.5 stars

 

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Small Town & Rural Fiction, Private Investigator Mysteries
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ASIN: B0DDJ8YPX5
Print Length: 320 pages
Publication Date: August 12, 2025
Source: Publisher and Netgalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

The Author: ARCHER SULLIVAN is a ninth-generation Appalachian. She’s moved thirty-seven times and has lived everywhere from Monticello, Kentucky to Manhattan, New York and from Black Mountain, North Carolina to Beverly Hills, California. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Tough, Shotgun Honey, Reckon Review, Rock and a Hard Place, and The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024.

©2025 V Williams

#TuesdayBookBlog

Nightshade by Michael Connelly #BookReview #crimethrillers

#1 Best Seller in Crime Thrillers

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars 5 stars

Book Blurb:

Introducing Detective Stilwell: a cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina Island.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig.

Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as “Nightshade.” Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

His Review:

Nightshade by Michael Connelly
Nightshade cover – US

Santa Catalina is a world unto itself. “Twenty-six miles across the sea…” the island was a retreat for the Wrigley family and their casino. The casino was intended to be a retreat for the wealthy from southern California but a town was built and the island populated by the wealthy and their poorer caregivers.

Automobiles are not allowed on the island. Transportation is by foot or electric golf carts. This eliminates the gas and diesel fuel smoke so plentiful on the mainland. The rich can come and disappear on the island to many campgrounds and hiding spots.

Nightshade by Michael Connelly - UK cover
Nightshade cover – UK

The idyllic beauty and the island tranquility become background when a body is found bound in chains and weighted down in the bay. The body is distinctive by the purple streak in her hair. No way to deny foul play as she has obviously been killed and dumped at sea.

A sub-plot is introduced involving one of the island’s long residents. Protagonist Detective Stilwell has his hands full with both cases. He proves to be a determined and dogged investigator and will stop at nothing until he uncovers the secrets of both.

The story has many twists and turns as everyone seems innocent but someone must have tried to destroy evidence.

C E WilliamsThis author shares many interesting detective techniques and methods for solving the killing. The machinations of the suspects and their attempts at providing alibi are intriguing and entertaining. Enjoy! 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

 

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Literary Fiction, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN-13: 978-0316588492
ASIN: B0DNDZWQ9R
Print Length: 347 pages
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

Michael Connelly - authorThe Author: Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of more than forty novels and one work of nonfiction. With over eighty-nine million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty-five foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent New York Times bestsellers include The Waiting (2024), Resurrection Walk (2023), Desert Star (2022), The Dark Hours (2021), The Law Of Innocence (2020), Fair Warning (2020), and The Night Fire (2019). Michael is the executive producer of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and streaming on Amazon Prime/Amazon Freevee. He is the executive producer of The Lincoln Lawyer, streaming on Netflix, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. He is also the executive producer of the documentary films, “Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story’ and ‘Tales Of the American.’ He spends his time in California and Florida.

©2025 CE Williams – V Williams

Have a Great Sunday

 

It’s National Rescue Dog Day—and Our Rescue With Her Brief Story #dogrescues #pomrescue

National Rescue Dog Day

I gasped when the CE perked up and said, “Yes! I want to see her!”

The lady at the rescue said the only other dog she had that would meet our criteria was a Pomeranian. What?? 

I had steadfastly maintained that after the loss of Frosty, I couldn’t go through that again.

As you’ll remember, Frosty was our seventeen-year-old Bichon Frise who crossed the Rainbow Bridge in January 2023. By September, I missed all those precious little Frosty doggy sights and sounds so much, I had to fill the void.

I couldn’t have another Bichon. That would not be fair to a new one and would hurt too much. The CE was a bit reluctant, but I showed him a number of possibles—small, mature, short-haired females, mixed breed. Most of the little girls I looked at, however, were spoken for immediately upon listing. One lady in Texas told me frankly that the cute little female (JR mix) I was interested in would not work for us (as old and mature as we are) as “she has no off button.” Uh oh…she might be right.

So when we finally passed all the applications, terms, and acceptable prices (they aren’t free), was disappointed to see that the dog still available to see not only had no interest in us, but clung heavily to her foster dad. She’d bonded already–maybe what others saw as well(?).

The lady from the shelter brought out a Pom alright. She was stiff with fright, wild-eyed, and so messy the lady said if we wanted her she’d bathe her first. (Then sent us off with a shivering wet dog wrapped in a towel.)

You may know the rest if you followed a few of my updates in the monthly review recaps, beginning in October 2023, with a follow up in November.

She shut down completely after we brought her home. She was 2 ½ days stirring from her kennel. The rescue could (or would) not give us any history other than that she was 4 ½ years old, had been a breeder. It quickly became obvious she’d never lived in a home before, had any training, or clue what toys or treats were. Never been walked. The rescue did a vet check and spay. (She still freezes stiff when picked up.)

Punkin the PomOur first experience with a rescue dog, we are now beginning to realize that actually we were pretty lucky. Some of these animals are so traumatized it takes years to trust again and we have made great strides.

I recently finished several books from the Ryder Creed series by Alex Kava whose main characters are rescue dogs that have been trained as service animals. The protagonist discovered the special attribute each dog possesses and uses that ability to solve the mixed plots. It’s a fun series!

National Rescue Dog Day hopes to “bring awareness to the countless number of amazing dogs in shelters…who deserve a second chance…” Founded in 2018 by Lisa Wiehebrink who rescued Cooper from a LA shelter in 2009, she realized the need for attention. Abandoned, abused, owner moved, too much puppy or got too old. Few shelters are “no kill.” And there are so many dogs each looking for a furever home.

Punkin - close up

It’s amazing the number of ways canines can provide valuable services to their humans. Despite the challenges we faced with Punkin, she is blooming into a real dog with some major personality. It’s encouraging to watch the transition from terrified little dog to one who is patiently teaching us (although her patience sometimes wanes into frustrated little yips). Yeah, she has provided chuckles and astonished glances and watching her grow and change has been so gratifying.

And she is sweet. Such a sweet little thing.

©2025 V Williams

Punkin the pom--running

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell #AudiobookReview #bookclubs #TBT

Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Readers’ Favorite Fiction (2011)

Book Club at the Y

My first participation with the Y Book Club in our local area. I was thrilled to find an active, dynamic book club and attended on Wednesday for their May selection: Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. This book club meets once a month and is very popular. I could see why—it’s lovely—the moderator did a great job keeping us to script. It was discovered that there were several books by the same name and this was not the one recommended.

Book Blurb:

A finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Bonnie Jo Campbell is a rising star in contemporary fiction. Hailed by Booklist as a female Huckleberry Finn, Campbell’s heroine is 16-year-old Margo Crane. Complicit in her father’s death, Margo flees home for the Stark River. And as she follows the current, she learns the ways of the world from the eccentric characters she meets.

My Review:

I must say that Campbell weaves a spell-binding tale—she is quite the storyteller.

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo CampbellUnfortunately, the ladies in the club didn’t appreciate her brand of raw, rude, and sometimes crude, style of storytelling.  This sixteen-year-old was taught by her dad and granddad to hunt and dress game. In fact, she is an excellent shot. Too good. She flees following the death of her father.

What follows is her experience as a teenager left to fend for herself, any way she can. Margo may appear unacceptable to the main population, but this is the 70s and 80s (although it seemed older than that).

I thought it was similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, except this narrative is darker, shocking. Margo Crane, the main character, is a strong fan of Annie Oakley, sees herself in Oakley, and tries to model after the famed nineteenth-century sharp shooter. Having been abandoned at an early age by her mother, she goes on a quest to find her and reconnect.

You might argue that, once again, we have a coming-of-age story not with a male MC, but a female MC, experimenting, pushing boundaries, pushing sexual limits, exploring the limits of her own abilities and reveling in successes.

In any case, you may see the gradual growth of maturity but still refuse to like the character. She is all but feral and essentially retains that essence of wild through the climax. Margo is self-sufficient. She may be looking for love. But she doesn’t need it to survive.

 

Book Club Thoughts

 

On the whole, most of the attendees did not like the book, with one commenting, “that is the worse book I’ve ever read.” Others commented they couldn’t identify or engage with the main character, nor any of the support characters. One of the ladies asked how the book club ended up with that book. (Yes, same title but was written by another author.) Lively discussion and as another lady pointed out, salient points noted by other attendees actually raised, perhaps one-half star their original estimate of star rating. Final concensus was approximately 1.75-2 stars by the body.

Book Club Rating

I’m looking forward to attending more book club meetings, the next scheduled book being The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Coming of Age Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B005HH0KLK
Print Length: 349 pages
Publication Date: August 16, 2011
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

Bonnie Jo Campbell - authorThe Author: Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the national-bestselling novels The Waters and Once Upon a River. Her critically-acclaimed short fiction collections include American Salvage, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Women and Other Animals, which won the AWP prize for short fiction; and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. She is also author of the novel Q Road and a poetry chapbook. Her story “The Smallest Man in the World” was awarded a Pushcart Prize and her story “The Inventor, 1972″ was awarded the 2009 Eudora Welty Prize from Southern Review. She was a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.

©2025 V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

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