Ugh, January is downright dreary and February promises to be dreary and freezing. It’s a good time to curl up with a good book, hot chocolate or mocha, and a fire. Well, I don’t have the fire, but the CE makes a super mocha and I have a nice preliminary list of books.
Update on the little Pom we adopted (skip if your eyes glaze over at the mention of a rescue dog):No big progress. Her winter coat has apparently settled in and she approaches the CE now—even going so far as to jump against his side of the bed in the morning to get him up. Now at four months with us though, still prefers her crate to human companionship. What in the world happens to a little dog kept as a breeder?!
February is shaping up to be a good reading month with several great books I’m excited to get to—SOON—I hope! (I’ll mention those below.) For January we barely managed ten books. Links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.
I loved both All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr as well as The Frozen River but was crushed by the climax of the former, so the nod has to go to The Frozen River.
My Reading Challenges page… I’ve discovered I’ll work on the challenge but am really terrible at reporting the results–not only with the host (and I apologize for that) but for updating the page as well. For 2024, I’ll begin by sharing the logo and the link. Unfortunately, I have not been able thus far to find the link to the 2024 Historical Fiction Challenge. If you know the link, would you share, please?
In an effort to change up the blog a bit, I’ve enlarged fonts and added a new page I call Netflix vs Book listing the posts made comparing either the movie or series with the original book. Check it out to see what you missed!
Also, just a quick Sneak Peak into what’s coming up in my February TBR:
Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn. I was quite taken by the story of the river witch–I’ll bet you would be too.
Being Henry by Henry Winkler. A memoir and didn’t we all love the Fonz? But this guy, as so many of the actors do, will surprise you.
Welcome to the New Year to my new subscribers! I appreciate all my followers and always appreciate your likes and comments.
The opportunity of a lifetime lands in Peter Cullen’s lap and nothing is going to stop him taking full advantage, not even the misgivings of his wife. Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret has been flying high, but the real goal, the secret desire of Peter’s heart, America, is finally, incredibly, looking like a reality.
The troupe are not at all prepared for what awaits them in prohibition era Atlantic City and they are dazzled by the bright lights. Keeping discipline and ensuring everyone remains focused drives Peter to the edge of his patience, but he soon realises that this is the least of his problems, as the gloss and sheen of the New Jersey shore reveals a dark side, and somehow his cabaret has fallen foul of it.
My Review:
When last we left Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret, the troupe was experiencing the dark side of the troubles between the Irish and the English during the twenties. Political tensions created drama for Peter’s brother and Nick acknowledged his aristocratic status with an extended visit to Brockleton.
Book four introduces the cautious decision to sail to America where they have an eye-opening introduction to prohibition era Atlantic City, New Jersey. Maud Flynn owns the theatre where the cabaret will play as well as the troupe’s residential accommodations. She has made extensive arrangements for them and laid down rules and expectations. It appears to be a clean, tight ship surrounded by sights and sounds, as well as slang and colloquialisms.
As “Oscar Wilde’s line in his short story ‘The Canterville Ghost’: ‘We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language.”
There were interpersonal struggles as well between those who found romance from within their group, but were not exactly free to act on their passions. May and Peter have a daughter now, Aisling, who has become somewhat of a darling of the troupe. Many of the members have discovered her intelligence and aptitude for learning either their particular skill or language. There may have been no booze, but the living was rowdy.
“The old Irish adage that ‘twas often a fella got his nose broken by his mouth’ was particularly true here.”
Despite the wildly successful splash they’ve made with their acts, their interpersonal relationships begin to force hard decisions. Tension escalates as each has to take a hard look at status quo. Additionally, there is an ever-darkening atmosphere as people and activities at arm’s length hide behind those bright lights and change the course of plans. Issues with Peter’s brother Eamonn become seriously tragic.
I can imagine that Atlantic City during prohibition was probably a wide-open port city during prohibition, entertaining everything from bootlegging, speak-easies, and the Boardwalk to summer resorts. There were bound to be gangsters as well.
The widely diverse characters are a strong hook in this series as well as the descriptive location in this installment. Any threads previously hanging were handled quickly in an Epilogue—almost too quickly—but settled the characters and issues.
I received a review copy of this book from the author who in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
The Author:JEAN GRAINGER – USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS.
WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE
Hello and thanks for taking time out to check out my page. If you’re wondering what you’re getting with my books then think of the late great Maeve Binchy but sometimes with a historical twist. I was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971 and I come from a large family of storytellers, so much so that we had to have ‘The Talking Spoon’, only the person holding the spoon could talk!
I have worked as a history lecturer at University, a teacher of English, History and Drama in secondary school, a playwright, and a tour guide of my beloved Ireland. I am married to the lovely Diarmuid and we have four children. We live in a 200 year old stone cottage in Mid-Cork with my family and the world’s smallest dogs, called Scrappy and Scoobi..
My experiences leading groups, mainly from the United States, led me to write my first novel, ‘The Tour’. My observances of the often funny, sometimes sad but always interesting events on tours fascinated me. People really did confide the most extraordinary things, the safety of strangers I suppose. It’s a fictional story set on a tour bus but many of the characters are based on people I met over the years.
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Many of the people who have reviewed my books have said that you get to know the characters and really become attached to them, that’s wonderful for me to hear because that’s how I feel about them too. I grew up on Maeve Binchy and Deirdre Purcell and I aspired to being like them. If you buy one of my books I’m very grateful and I really hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you don’t, please take the time to post a review. Writing is a source of constant contentment to me and I am so fortunate to have the time and the inclination to do it, but to read a review written by a reader really does make my day.
Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.
Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.
Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
My Review:
I love it when an audiobook hooks immediately. So hard to put that earbud down! This novel tells the story of Martha Ballard, an early eighteenth-century midwife, who (unusually) not only reads and writes (and thinks for herself!), but has also been educated in medical conditions as well as local herbal tinctures.
Now in her fifties, she has successfully delivered hundreds of babies, not losing one baby or mother by malpractice. So as her reputation precedes her, it is not entirely unusual for her to be called to the scene of a suspicious death to render a forensic opinion of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River. Most jump to what might be the obvious cause of death, but Martha notices a number of issues that would point otherwise.
Her opinion was immediately countered by a young male doctor new to the village with little experience and less competence. His narcissistic ego is disagreeable and creates a strong antagonist sure to be reviled.
I was really taken with Martha. She is intelligent, thoughtful, kind, as well as strong-willed and independent. She has, from the beginning, kept a diary detailing her practice, including births, deaths, and callouts, and the diary becomes a historical record of the woman and her accomplishments.
“Like all mothers, I have long since mastered the art of nursing joy at one breast and grief at the other.”
She befriended and treated many women assaulted or bullied at the hands of husbands or others who at the time thought of women as little more than chattel. She recently treated a rape victim who decided to prosecute the men involved causing a huge uproar in the village and surrounds and, again, in opposition to the new doctor. I often wondered how she managed to protect herself facing her own husband’s lack of protection with his absences.
So many laws then weighed heavily against the female populace, rules and regulations that kept her impotent to even testify unless her husband was present.
The book evokes an atmosphere that chillingly cloaks the people and the village in suspicion and mistrust. It’s winter, everyone seeking protection from the elements, closed in, lack of communication except for gossip and hearsay. The simplest tasks are taken to monumental proportions to accomplish. Martha sacrifices over and over her own security, warmth, and protection in her calls from patients. At this point in her life, she and her long-standing husband have only one child left in the home. I wondered more than once how she survived, admiring her courage especially at that time in history given her oppositional stance in the rape trial.
The author shared her discovery of the woman, her diaries, and beautifully blended fact with fiction. Most of her diary entries were simple and didn’t elaborate, but remarkable in the decades covered bestowing knowledge to those who came after.
It was well-plotted and fast-paced with an amazing MC. Obviously, lots of research! But I wondered if it pushed disbelief regarding the latitude given her. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Book Details:
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Women’s Fiction Publisher: Random House Audio ASIN: B0BXK3SRBL Listening Length: 15 hrs 5 mins Narrator: Ariel Lawhon, Jane Oppenheimer Publication Date: December 5, 2023 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Link:The Frozen River [Amazon] Barnes & Noble Kobo
Rosepoint Publishing:Four point Five Stars
The Author:Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. She is the author of THE WIFE THE MAID AND THE MISTRESS, FLIGHT OF DREAMS, I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HELENE. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Good Morning America, Library Reads, Indie Next, One Book One County, Amazon Spotlight, Costco, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. She splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.
I was thrilled to learn that the book I was reading was also going to be a Netflix miniseries, so of course I had to stick around and view the screen adaptation of that powerful book. It’s always fun to compare the scenes with the visuals conjured from reading the narrative, putting the buildings, the location, and in this instance, the sea to reality.
The Netflix MiniSeries
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
My Thoughts
Sometimes when Netflix gets ahold of a popular, ground-breaking book, they manage to make hash of it. Not so this time.
While the novel is not based on a true story, it could so easily echo stories untold from WWII. Netflix managed to create such realistic scenes it was not uncommon to cringe or cry depending on the setting. The actors include newcomer Aria Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann as well as Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. Apart from Ruffalo’s accent (now almost a running joke), all turned in remarkable performances.
Directed and executive produced by Canadian filmmaker Shawn Levy, it is described by Netflix as “an epic story of hope, love, and connection.” The story plays out in four parts inducing a binge watch.
Overall Impression
The scenes are explosive and brilliant, at times played against a peaceful sunrise or streetscape. War scenes or not, it’s a visual feast, often heart-pounding. Netflix smooths out the timelines a bit and creates a slightly more hopeful and palatable ending.
The eBook
Editors’ pick Best Literature & Fiction (Audiobook) #1 Best Seller in War Fiction Winner of the 2015 Audie Award for Fiction Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Historical Fiction 2014
Book Blurb
*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti*
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
My Thoughts
I was lost to the book almost from the first page. The child, Marie-Laure, is going blind, and her thoughtful father finds a way to teach his daughter the streets of Paris. Picturesque, vibrant, breath-taking in the historic grandeur of the location, the buildings, the artsy atmosphere. But the tension is there. The world is changing. And so too, must Paris.
Beautiful writing style, emotional, powerful prose and it is the prose in the storytelling that drives the reader as well as the storyline and characters.
“If your same blood doesn’t run in the arms and legs of the person you’re next to, you can’t trust anything.”
The novel is set for the most part in Brittany, (St. Malo) France, however, and follows the plot line of the blind girl surviving in an ever-escalating Nazi environment. She spends a tremendous amount of time in hiding.
“A dozen pigeons roosting on the cathedral spire cataract down its length and wheel out over the sea.”
Werner Pfenning, a German orphan, discovers parts from a radio and curious, intelligent, and inventive manages to create a crude radio. That fascination grows into an expertise, one that he will use as an escape from being forced into the coal mines when he turns sixteen. Instead, he will be recruited into the Hitler youth using his proficiency with radios to find those in the French resistance sending communications. It will define his life but the results of his success wear on him.
A third thread—that of a German officer Von Rumpel rabid to find a stone worth “three Eiffel Towers” and said to have magical powers is the driving force in his collection of valuables from those the Germans occupy. The girl’s father who worked at the National History Museum where it was said to be housed may be in possession of that stone and von Rumpel will stop at nothing. When they fled Paris for St Malo—did he take it with him?
“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest.”
The two and then the three are bound to collide. The author throughout has pulled no punches; it’s a war. There are shocking moments, the worse coming in the conclusion. My heart broke.
Nooo!…I’m still naively looking for the happy ever after.
The Author
Anthony Doerr has won numerous prizes for his fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Carnegie Medal. His novel, ‘All the Light We Cannot See,’ was a #1 New York Times Bestseller and his new novel, ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land,’ published in September of 2021, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Learn more at http://www.anthonydoerr.com.
Book Details
Genre: War Fiction, Military Historical Fiction Publisher: Scribner (Reprint edition May 2014) ISBN: B084TPDQRR ASIN: B00DPM7TIG Print Length: 552 pages Publication Date: May 6, 2014 Source: Local Library Title Link: All the Light We Cannot See [Amazon-US] Amazon-UK
Overall Impression
There is considerable discussion over the plot being divided between three POVs as well as the jump in timelines. It is disconcerting at first. But then the rhythm of the narrative begins a familiar pattern that actually draws the scenes together, and completes a total picture. The book is so compelling, the characters so well developed that there is considerable sympathy for the condition of the time and engagement with each child—caught in a circumstance neither can control–only attempt to survive. It’s suspenseful, hair-raising, alternately sad and triumphant in small victories. Von Rumpel provides the perfect foil, the antagonist easy to hate.
I absolutely loved the book and breezed through it as if it were a novella. I understood at some point reality would take a big bite, but it was still crushing nonetheless. Dramatic irony: The idea that we know what’s coming but are still unable to look away.
Conclusion
The book is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of prose, beautifully written. It’s a lengthy read but one you won’t want to put down. It’s easy to become invested in the two main characters, one controlled by a disease that renders her blind in a treacherous and dangerous time in France. The other is an orphan using only his wits with a radio to keep him from following in his father’s deadly steps deep into a coal mine. The sub-plot adds a suspenseful line to the well-plotted and paced book but is hampered somewhat by introducing several POVs and non-chronological timelines. It’s easy, however, to be completely absorbed by mind-blowing prose.
The Netflix miniseries cinematography is stunning, the actors do an amazing job pulling at your heart and selling their roles. The leading actress, Aria Mia Loberti is legally blind. (She turned in a masterful inaugural performance in this series and we watched mesmerized. The series might be worth watching simply for her compelling presence.)
True, Netflix puts a softer Hallmark spin on the original novel, softening some of the blows and smoothing out an often confusing timeline switch. It crafts a beautifully compelling tale of the young caught in a conflict they may not survive only briefly experiencing what possibilities life might have held for them.
The book may be a challenge given the length and you’ll get a condensed Reader’s Digest version if you choose the series. Perhaps you are a reader, like myself, who enjoys seeing/reading and comparing the two. Either way, you can’t go wrong and please let me know which you choose.
Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?
Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.
I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press sensation: a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.
We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.
But who am I?
My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.
His Review:
A mentally disturbed playwright is marooned on an island with the cast of his play. He is egocentric and his world revolves around his plays and the actors that bring them to life. He has fallen in love with the leading lady but unfortunately, she has another love interest. Why does this feel like a Greek tragedy?
The main character is an artist and a great writer in his mind. His narrative develops as the play progresses. All of the characters are involved in his play and as the work develops he becomes detached from reality. He writes the dialogue as the changes to the play develop.
Although the leading lady loves another, he is sure she will learn to love him if she just gives him the chance. The other man, however, seems to hang on and always spoils his plans. What can he do to become the leading man in her life?
I found this book to be slow at times and a little Edgar Allen Poe-ish in some of the scenes. He talks to himself and the reader as the plot develops and it does, indeed, defy the reader to keep up with the twists. 4 stars – CE Williams
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.
The Author:Alex Michaelides was born and raised in Cyprus. He has an M.A. in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and an M.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patient was his first novel, debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide. The rights have been sold in a record-breaking 51 countries, and the book has been optioned for film by Plan B. His second novel, The Maidens, was an instant New York Times bestseller and has been optioned for television by Miramax Television and Stone Village.
Tired of those old TV shows? Watched everything on Netflix? Well, the good news is that audiobooks work as well as an old radio show.
While you are too young to remember George and Gracie or the Encore Theater, audiobooks can fire your imagination and narrate some wonderful stories just like the “old” days. The best news is that I get my audiobooks free through my local library. There are a number of apps that allow you to borrow an audiobook–including Hoopla(you just need a library card)—mine used to be Overdrive (now Libby).
Ourschedule lately off the rails, I managed to get in several audiobooks ahead of reviews that include a legal thriller, humorous fiction, and family life fiction. Links on thumbnails are to Amazon (but check with your library first!)
Best Books of the Year 2023 – (The #1 TV show on Netflix) (Kindle) #1 Best Seller in Legal Thrillers (audiobook)
Defense attorney Mickey Haller is back, taking the long shot cases, where the chances of winning are one in a million. After getting a wrongfully convicted man out of prison, he is inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence. He enlists his half brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to weed through the letters, knowing most claims will be false.
Love it when Mickey Haller teams up with Harry Bosch (now retired LAPD detective) to work on his cases. These cases are complex, intelligent, and deeply involved legal battles seeking the release of a wrongly convicted man. It is a tension-filled, grinding investigation that is gripping and dramatic. The legal maneuvering is always fun—so many ways to work the law! It’s a legal thriller and half the fun is listening to Titus Welliver narrate in addition to Peter Giles and Christine Lakin.
Eloise Foley, known to her friends as Weezie, has been through the divorce from hell. Her ex-husband Tal (aka Talmadge Evans III) was awarded their house in Savannah’s historic district, the house that Weezie had spent years painstakingly restoring to its original splendor. Weezie was awarded the two-bedroom carriage house on the same property…Weezie is running her antiques business out back.
Chocked full of down home, southern sensibilities, southern drawl, food, and a smashing good primer on the purchase and sales of antiques, the sense of humor is true to tickle your funny bone and bring relief from the trauma of the daily news.
“…my father always calls the obituaries, the Irish Sports Page.”
As in many unique businesses, there can be some dirty dealings afoot. It’s good that Weezie can sniff them out and save herself from becoming a distant memory at the same time. A delightful romp in the heat and humidity without the sweat and palmettos (cockroaches).
Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.
But be careful what you wish for. . . .
A totally unique premise for me, Jack Masterson announces he’s written a new book—one copy. Lucy’s childhood idol creates a contest to be held at his home on the real Clock Island, site of so many of her treasured childhood books and master author. It would not only be a massive prize, but the chance to adopt seven-year-old Christopher with whom she has bonded and would change both her life as well as the boy. The contest, however, might be more difficult than she ever imagined.
Interesting vibe with the iconic island being so isolated. Others in the competition are cunning, sneaky, and provide scary issues. I could almost visualize Lurch lumbering through the dark halls of the castle. Different, but could be a bit slow in places and the conclusion became rather predictable.
Always something to look forward to—continuing a neat story! Next up is a historical fiction and a memoir—Henry Winkler. If you are still avoiding audiobooks, now’s the time to look into the possibilities. It’s a gargantuan library right in your own home that takes no space and gathers no dust.
A retired colleague’s suspicious death puts Lt. Eve Dallas on the case in Payback in Death, the electrifying new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.
Lt. Eve Dallas is just home from a long overdue vacation when she responds to a call of an unattended death. The victim is Martin Greenleaf, retired Internal Affairs Captain. At first glance, the scene appears to be suicide, but the closer Eve examines the body, the more suspicious she becomes.
An unlocked open window, a loving wife and family, a too-perfect suicide note—Eve’s gut says it’s a homicide. After all, Greenleaf put a lot of dirty cops away during his forty-seven years in Internal Affairs. It could very well be payback—and she will not rest until the case is closed.
My Review:
Hard to believe you can write fifty-seven of these and still have it be fresh and exciting—but seems it is. The last time I read and reviewed one of this series was Golden in Death released in February of 2020. Of course, J D Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts—the latter being her romance series—this one more serious. Back then, Roarke was a significant other that I couldn’t decide if I liked or not.
Perhaps he’s mellowed.
This unique police procedural is also set in 2061 and as in my last review, I didn’t see a whole lot of difference in the forty-plus years to contemporary police procedurals, albeit a few changes in technology.
Lieutenant Eve Dallas, protagonist, and now hubby Roarke have just returned from a vacation. No rest here at all when she is called in the middle of the night to a possible suicide of a retired IA police captain. Yeah…no. She doesn’t think so! And as an internal affairs captain, the list of those who might want him dead is as long as he served.
Eve follows her gut while also sticking to the book. Roarke seems more supportive this time, not quite so annoying, offering his opinions gleaned from years of his own experience. Eve’s partner, Delia Peabody gets more print time, initiating and taking on more responsibility. I like the support characters. They add a strong sense of department intelligence and professionalism.
What shines through is the procedures, the laws that hamper or control their actions, particularly in the investigation of other officers. Payback, being the theme of this novel, pings back and forth in the narrative, along with the sense of responsibility to victims, relationships, and reverence.
It’s well-plotted, generally fast-paced with twists and few interruptions off the main plot (romance). If you enjoy police procedurals, particularly one from a few decades hence, you’d enjoy peeking into future crimes.
I received a copy of this book from my local library which in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths Publisher: St Martin’s Press ASIN: B0BQGJ182N Print Length: 364 pages Publication Date: September 5, 2023 Source: Local library
The Author:J.D. ROBB is the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. She is the author of over 200 novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.
Welcome to Stanhope. A safe neighborhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.
Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.
Who took Avery Wooler?
Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
My Review:
Not my first rodeo with this author and at this point I can say you never know what kind of twists her mind will contrive for a plot that can get you spinning.
Here, there are two families living in the same neighborhood that confront a traumatic event. The hubby of one family is having an affair and it’s the woman he is seeing that sets him off when she decides to end it. He does, indeed, have a short fuse.
As always, you never know what goes on behind closed doors and while they look ideal, happy families are not always true. The author has a way of building the characters so it’s easy to see them as suspicious before flipping to the next scenario.
Both families have children. The young daughter of the guy who has just been rejected goes missing. Of course it’s easy to suspect him. The main characters have their problems, issues, and the child it turns out is not one who endears herself to many. She is unlikable and has had run-ins both at home and at school, is under watch for behavioral problems. I felt the most sympathy for the older brother of the nine-year-old.
As the tension builds and the couples each bear the brunt of the investigation, relationships begin to falter. The child’s father steadfastly denies any wrongdoing and appears as baffled as the next as to what could have happened to his daughter. The mother is ready to believe the worst.
As the storyline hurtles to the conclusion, there is yet another twist only considered briefly. Yes, while I’m right in a small way, the writer manages to take it several creepy levels further into psychotic and the ending turns shocking.
Having admitted to reading one of her other books, The Couple Next Door, you’d have thought I might have been prepared.
I wasn’t. Like her mother kept wailing, “She’s just a nine-year-old child.”
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Book Details:
Genre: Psychological Thrillers, Women’s Fiction, Suspense Publisher: Penguin Audio ASIN: B0BL9TM983 Listening Length: 9 hrs 28 mins Narrator: January LaVoy Publication Date: July 25, 2023 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Link:Everyone Here is Lying [Amazon-US] Amazon-UK Barnes & Noble Kobo
Rosepoint Publishing:Four stars
Courtesy Goodreads Author Profile
The Author:Shari Lapena worked as a lawyer and as an English teacher before writing fiction. Her debut thriller, The Couple Next Door was a global bestseller.
in Historical Fiction 
Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (Kindle)
Award nominee (Kindle)
Rosepoint Publishing 