The Burning and The Lost Coast by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Clay Edison – Books 4 and 5

The Burning

Book Blurb:

Things get personal for Deputy Coroner Clay Edison when a murder hits close to home in this riveting, emotional thriller from the best-selling father-son team that writes “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).

A raging wildfire. A massive blackout. A wealthy man shot to death in his palatial hilltop home.

For Clay Edison, it’s all in a day’s work. As a deputy coroner, caring for the dead, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. He prides himself on an unflinching commitment to the truth. Even when it gets him into trouble.

Then, while working the murder scene, Clay is horrified to discover a link to his brother, Luke. Horrified. But not surprised. Luke is fresh out of prison and struggling to stay on the straight and narrow.

And now he’s gone AWOL.

The race is on for Clay to find him before anyone else can. Confronted with Luke’s legacy of violence, Clay is forced to reckon with his own suspicions, resentments, and loyalties. Is his brother a killer? Or could he be the victim in all of this, too?

This is Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman at their most affecting and pause-resisting – a harrowing collision of family, revenge, and murder.

My Review:

It’s a story that hits too close to home for Clay Edison, Deputy of the County Coroner’s Office. He is sent to the home of a dead man but is jolted when he spots his brother’s car in the garage. It’s not like he can point that out without severe repercussions for his brother as he is not that long out of prison. With his brother’s track record, he is torn between wanting to believe he had nothing to do with the deceased, but…

In the meantime, he needs to talk to Luke and that’s the rub. Luke is not answering his phone and his wife is not exactly coming forth with the why or how of him going missing.

I like the character of Clay and we get to learn about him in this installment, as well as peek into his fatherhood role. He continues to push the boundaries of his job description and in this installment is well over propriety. There are also some strong, well developed support characters, but I’m not a huge fan of his wife, Amy.

I actually started this series with Book 1, Crime Scene. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, how very unusual! True. I was a solid fan of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels, so I did have some experience with Jonathan and Book 1 definitely hooked me, not only with the premise of the protagonist coming from a different angle into the investigation, but also totally loved the narrator, Dennis Boutsikaris. His delivery is extremely dynamic providing realistic dialogue between characters. So yeah, as mentioned in my review of Crime Scene, I got on the wait list for Books 2, 3, 4, and 5. Well, these popped up first. (At this point, don’t you know I’m compelled to complete the entire series.)

There are some twists and I do enjoy the authors writing style. Their collaboration produces an interesting plot, if not entirely unique, lively and well paced.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0977QL7GY
Listening Length: 7 hrs 30 mins
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Burning – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Lost Coast

Book Blurb:

Cut loose from his former life at the coroner’s office, Clay Edison has set up shop as a private investigator. It’s steady, safe work. Until it isn’t.

The trouble begins when a young man, tasked with managing his grandmother’s estate, hires Clay to examine some minor financial discrepancies. What starts off as a case of simple fraud rapidly explodes into a web of deception, an elaborate con game stretching back decades and involving countless victims.

All the evidence points to a tiny town on California’s rugged, remote Lost Coast. Good luck getting there, though. And Clay’s reward for surviving the journey is a trigger-happy welcoming committee, ready to guard their secrets with lethal force.

Navigating this landscape of savage waves and savage lies brings Clay into collision with a host of other players: a grieving mother, an enigmatic teenager, a reclusive military veteran, a foul-mouthed PI pursuing her own agenda. And the price of truth will turn out to be higher—and deadlier—than Clay could have imagined.

From the minds of Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman comes a heart-stopping tale of deception and redemption—bursting with action, suspense, and unforgettable characters.

My Review:

Ugh! I hate it when the main character totally changes everything, well, almost, as somewhere between Books 4 and 5, Clay Edison goes from being a County Coroner to a PI. Wha??? I signed up because I thought he was going to do forensics stuff. Nope, now he is the guy with a license (not badges). And as if he ever did, no longer worries about rules or laws.

Eager to take on new cases, he is looking into what might be a real estate fraud for a client. There are some intriguing unanswered questions, and failing to get enough info online or research decides he must drive to Swan’s Landing. The little town is remotely located on the Lost Coast of California, barely accessible on the roughest of roads and goat trails or by boat. Few inhabitants or services are available and the simple real estate fraud case begins to split into a suspenseful sub-plot.

The Kellermans take their time building the plot amid a masterfully painted description of the desolation and wild mountains on the rugged northern coast of California. (And I might add—as wild and beautiful as it is remote.) Equally well developed are the local inhabitants, unique, each viewing Edison as an outsider.

The storyline is finely paced, allowing the reader to savor the building tension with the discovery of each new piece of information. While my heart sank just a bit in the denouement, all loose threads were creatively woven into place.

It’s the fifth in the series, not sure there’ll be a sixth, although if there is, I’ll be there to sign up. In the meantime, look for future reviews of Books 2 and 3 when I get them. Book 5 might well be read as a standalone—he switched jobs—but not personality and there is a few backstories filling in blanks. Still, you might wish to read Clay Edison the coroner as well as Edison the PI just to get a flavor of the change in depth of the storyline.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Private Investigator Mysteries, Crime Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0CN3RYNZ3
Listening Length: 8 hrs 19 mins
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Lost Coast – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Authors:

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Golem of Hollywood and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California, New Mexico, and New York.

Read more at:
http://www.jonathankellerman.com/

Jesse Kellerman

Jesse Kellerman has written dozens of plays and published seven novels, two of them cowritten with his father, Jonathan Kellerman. He has won numerous awards, including the Princess Grace Award for Playwriting (“Things Beyond Our Control”) and the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle (“The Genius”/”Les Visages”). His novel “Potboiler” was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. An essay, “Let My People Go to the Buffet,” was included in Penguin’s Best American Spiritual Writing (2011). His next book, Crime Scene, was also cowritten with Jonathan Kellerman and will be published in fall 2017. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and children.

The Narrator:

Dennis Boutsikaris

Dennis Boutsikaris was born December 21, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, to a Greek American father and Jewish mother,^[1] and grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.^[2] He took up acting while a student at Governor Livingston High School, because he felt he was too small to succeed in athletics.^[3] A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Boutsikaris toured the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company doing classical theatre. Boutsikaris was married to actress Deborah Hedwall; they divorced in 2002.

He can be heard in over 160 audiobooks and has received eight Audie Awards and two Best Voices of the Year Awards from AudioFile Magazine.^[14] He was voted Best Narrator of the Year by Amazon for The Gene.

Find him at:
http://www.dennisboutsikaris.com *

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.

History’s Pages: The Knocknashee Story – Book 3 by Jean Grainer #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

in Historical Irish Fiction

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

In the tumultuous year of 1940, an extraordinary friendship spans the Atlantic. Grace Fitzgerald, rooted in the seemingly peaceful Irish village of Knocknashee, and Richard Lewis, an intrepid war correspondent from Savannah, Georgia, share a connection that transcends simple categorization as World War II rages on.

As Europe burns and America deliberates its involvement, Grace and Richard find themselves witnessing history from vastly different vantage points. While the tight-knit community of Knocknashee anxiously monitors “the Emergency” from neutral Ireland, Richard brings the harsh realities of war to life through his reports from bomb-ravaged London.

Though each explores romantic possibilities closer to home, Grace and Richard’s bond remains unmatched—a connection that defies distance and circumstance. But as the world plunges deeper into conflict, they face crucial choices that could alter their lives forever. Can their unique relationship withstand not only separation, but also the life-changing decisions each must make in a world torn apart by war?

“History’s Pages,” the captivating third installment of the Knocknashee Story, weaves a tale of deep friendship, personal choices, and resilience against the sweeping canvas of history. Perfect for fans of “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and “The Nightingale,” this novel will transport you to a world where ordinary people navigate extraordinary challenges, and where the most profound connections often defy simple definition.

My Review:

Oh my goodness, can Ms Grainger weave a tale or what?

I am loving this series, I swear her best one yet, and this one particularly grips with graphic inclusion of the escalating war weaving in and out of the quiet Irish village of Knocknashee where Grace is headmistress.

Grace Fitzgerald and Richard Lewis missed each other on her trip to the states with Declan as I mentioned in Book 2, Yesterday’s Paper. The year is 1940 and with Hitler on the march and Europe descending into continent wide war, Richard, with his sister Sarah and boyfriend and budding war photographer Jacob Nunez, are finding success with their articles and photos sent home for their U.S. paper.

Between their experience in France and then London, Richard finally gets a hasty chance to run to Knocknashee to meet Grace. It was a fast and furious, emotionally charged meeting between the two, leaving far more emotive glances than words. Opposites in every way from his old money background and masculine physicality to her simple and poor childhood. a bandy leg legacy of the polio suffered as a young girl. Still…The attraction couldn’t be denied.

Their correspondence continues but on a cautious level. The Irish village men and women are shocked when a beloved priest is sent away to make room for the canon no one wished to see back. While Ireland maintains their neutrality, the war continues to escalate with Richard and his crew seeing first-hand how Londoners dig in to combat the conflagration inflicted nightly on their city.

The author turns on that strong sense of ironic humor as she moves her women through the awakening of male dominated jobs that become easily performed out of necessity by the absence of men during war time. The scarcity of food and supplies become a matter of money and coupons. More than goods, services are increasingly dear—including the delivery of mail—which complicates the relationship even further.

This juxtaposed against the strict moral codes dictated by the church and imposed even as the world outside a cloistered setting crumbled daily.

So much going on in these tales, the depth of “the Emergency” creating havoc and modification to daily life everywhere.

Loved the new characters introduced, including the Cockney girl, Pippa, and the sophisticated Swiss miss, Virginia. Again, the contrast between the characters astonishing yet so well developed.

The third installment hooks and doesn’t disappoint, ending too quickly and looking for the next. Her writing style is compelling, endearing, and unique, assuming a kinship with her reader. She loves her work, obviously inspired with this storyline, well researched and authentic. It shows. I hope you didn’t miss Book 1 and 2. You may wish to start at the beginning but should not miss this episode.

While I was hooked and flipping pages, my only negative would be the full repeat of a few of those letters. Still, the storyline kept me so captivated and flipping pages, it didn’t become a big issue. I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Irish Fiction, Historical British & Irish Literature, Friendship Fiction
ASIN: B0DGFZ94G5
Print Length:
Publication Date: January 28, 2025
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

The Author: Jean Grainger is a USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction, acclaimed for her authentic portrayal of Irish life and history. Born in Cork, she draws from her experience as a history lecturer, teacher, and tour guide to craft engaging narratives. Grainger’s works span multiple series and standalone novels, covering significant periods in Irish history, including World War I, the 1916 Easter Rising, World War II, and the mid-20th century. Her stories often intertwine historical events with personal journeys, exploring themes of family, friendship, and human resilience. Grainger’s writing style, characterized by its warmth and authenticity, has earned her comparisons to renowned Irish authors like Maeve Binchy. Her dedication to research and character development has resulted in a loyal readership who feel deeply connected to her stories and characters.

Icon courtesy Freepik.com

Downstate: A Novella by Jeffery Deaver #BookReview – Kindle Singles: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Special Agent Constant Marlowe Book 2

in Mystery

Book Blurb:

Special Agent Constant Marlowe pursues a lead to rural Illinois and finds a hornet’s nest of conspiracy in a pulse-pounding novella by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, where nothing is what it seems.

Special Agent Constant Marlowe is in pursuit of “Mr. X,” a key player in organized crime. Her mission is to collar him and flip him into a cooperating witness. The only problem? Marlowe doesn’t know who he is or even what he looks like. It doesn’t help that the trail has led her to a farming community in the nether land of Downstate, those stretches of Illinois where endless fields of late-season corn block the truth…and any sign of coming threat. When Marlowe stumbles on a teenage boy’s convenience store robbery, she suddenly finds herself in the crosshairs of a conspiracy that shatters the illusion of a sleepy small town.

His Review:

Rows of corn over 6 feet high as far as the eye can see. This is the location Constant Marlowe finds herself in. She wants to transport a criminal from Plains, Illinois to Chicago. The sheriff of the county does not want his prisoner to leave Plains but has other plans for him. Therefore, he rejects Constant Marlowe’s transfer request.

Tyson Barth was a local gangster that Constant Marlowe wanted to bring down. One of his warehouses gave Constant a lead to the town of Plains. Could this be the repository site for illegal drugs coming into the state and particularly into the greater Chicago area? And did it seem a larger than normal number of young ladies seemed to disappear periodically from the Plains area?

Constant arrests a young Hispanic male after he steals some gift cards and leaves a convenience store with a blatant disregard for authority. She is aware the young man is also connected with some gangsters in Northern Illinois but the local sheriff insists the arrest is his and should be attributed to his office. The obvious facts in the case do not seem to matter!

This tome has some very interesting twists and also points to unlawful activities in downstate Illinois. The plot is interesting and the book is well written. Enjoy! 4.5 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.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Kindle Singles: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
ASIN: B0DBW2V11C
Publication Date: January 14, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

The Author: Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into over twenty-five languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America, and was recently named a Grand Master of MWA, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mary Higgins Clark and Walter Mosely.

The author of over forty novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His “The Bodies Left Behind” was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller “The Broken Window” and a stand-alone, “Edge,” were also nominated for that prize. “The Garden of Beasts” won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s also been nominated for eight Edgar Awards by the MWA.

Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy.

His book “A Maiden’s Grave” was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel “The Bone Collector” was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his “The Devil’s Teardrop.” NBC television recently aired the nine-episode prime-time series, “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.”

You can find out more about Jeffery on his website http://www.jefferydeaver.com, Facebook page facebook.com/JefferyDeaver, and follow him on Twitter @JefferyDeaver.

Have a good week!

Rosepoint Reviews – December Recap – Ready to Start a New Year?

Rosepoint Reviews - December Recap

As usual, NWI can’t decide whether to stay temperate or freeze the trees. It’s been back and forth and now coming out of warmish temps will plunge back into frigid. It’s the sun I miss most.

We enjoyed a quiet Christmas and will do so again New Year’s Eve, the CE and I celebrating the new year with a four-ounce lobster tail each and watching the ball drop. Getting harder and harder for us old birds to stay awake that long though. Hope you had a safe New Year’s Eve and aren’t holding a throbbing head and looking for aspirin this morning, though I certainly remember doing so more than once back when…

I am definitely burning out, always so overwhelmed with everything going on I can’t keep up with either the reviews, social media, or you, my readers. Contemplating, and can’t decide, whether to change the format I’m currently using from WordPress (bored with it! but scared of messing everything up). And/or perhaps dropping another day of reviews since even the three per week appear to be more than I can handle. Also looking for another graphics website (free, of course) that I could play with other than Canva. I see the trend now is toward AI generated graphics. Mercy! As with WordPress, a free subscription is fairly limiting. Perhaps you use a great graphics design website that offers free software? I’d love your suggestions!

Using Goodreads to mine the opportunity for good audiobooks, our reads are also sourced at NetGalley, author and publisher requests, as well as your reviews and recommendations.

Despite the crunch of the holidays and our son moving, we managed thirteen reviews between us that included five audiobooks. These links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Reviews - December Recap

Lost Souls by Theo Baxter
The Waiting by Michael Connelly (audiobook)
Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni (CE review)
Deep Freeze by Michael C Grumley (audiobook)
Random in Death by J D Robb (CE review)
Still Me by Jojo Moyes
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (audiobook)
Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman (audiobook)
Nothing Left of Me by Alex Walters (CE review)
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy
You Never Know by Tom Selleck (audiobook)
What Is Wrong with You? By Paul Rudnick (CE review)
I’ll Have What She’s Having by Chelsea Handler

How did you do in the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2024? Of the fifteen categories, I had four make the final list and was gratified that The Women by Kristin Hannah, who I voted for in two categories, won for Historical Fiction. In the meantime, Goodreads has come out with the stats for our reading year for 2024 and I hope to have a post on it shortly.

Favorite Book of the Month

Once again, my vote goes to Kate Quinn and her co-author Janie Chang for their saga of strong women survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, based on a number of historical tales including the real-life story of a woman still holding her place in the De Young Museum.

Favorite Book for December – The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

My Reading Challenges page…My Goodreads Challenge is at 134 making my goal of 130. I’m fairly sure I also made the Audiobook, Historical Fiction, and NetGalley Challenges, but until the dust settles around here, I can’t be certain. That will come later.

Welcome to my new subscribers. I hope all my readers, including you, are having a magical and love filled holiday season with family, food, and fun. Make it memorable!

Happy New Year!

Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Book 1 of 5: Clay Edison

Book Blurb:

Natural causes or foul play? That’s the question Clay Edison must answer each time he examines a body. Figuring out motives and chasing down suspects aren’t part of his beat – not until a seemingly open-and-shut case proves to be more than meets his highly trained eye.

Eccentric, reclusive Walter Rennert lies cold at the bottom of his stairs. At first glance the scene looks straightforward: a once-respected psychology professor done in by booze and a bad heart. But his daughter, Tatiana, insists that her father has been murdered, and she persuades Clay to take a closer look at the grim facts of Rennert’s life.

What emerges is a history of scandal and violence and an experiment gone horribly wrong that ended in the brutal murder of a coed. Walter Rennert, it appears, was a broken man – and maybe a marked one. And when Clay learns that a colleague of Rennert’s died in a nearly identical manner, he begins to question everything in the official record.

All the while, his relationship with Tatiana is evolving into something forbidden. The closer they grow, the more determined he becomes to catch her father’s killer – even if he has to overstep his bounds to do it.

The twisting trail Clay follows will lead him into the darkest corners of the human soul. It’s his job to listen to the tales the dead tell. But this time he’s part of a story that makes his blood run cold.

My Review:

Always late to the party, I discovered this novel by Kellerman and thought I’d try one of his new series. But it’s not so new. I’ve read a number of his Alex Delaware novels, so I’m familiar with Jonathan. This is the first I’ve read in a collaboration with his son. I thought since it is the first in the series, I’d go for it.

I liked the debut effort with Clay Edison, MC, who is a deputy sheriff with the county coroner’s office. It’s his job to access the situation and determine which of the five causes of death left the victim deceased. In the first death of the book, he meets Tatiana, the daughter of Walter Rennert. It appears to be an accidental fall, but she is sure it is not.

Clay Edison is developed well, providing an interesting and thoughtful character in the role although it appears to me that he quickly oversteps his job description. He has to remind himself not to jump to conclusions. But the concept of coming from this direction into the mystery sets up some suspense and the tension ratchets from there. Gather the facts…(and he has the hots for Tatiana, of course, who also quickly proves an enigma).

Yes, there are other little ventures out, usually in the dead of night or crack of dawn when a body is discovered and he’s called in. Some will prove natural causes, a few won’t. The storyline settles on a wave line with interesting material and filler.

I hung in there because I really liked, from the beginning, the narration by Dennis Boutsikaris. He doesn’t just read it—he becomes the character, very dynamic—the dialogue is complete with changes in pitch, pace, tone, and pauses. These characters are actually talking to each other! He’s an accomplished actor. He’s acting the part of Clay and does it exceedingly well. Thinking I’d jump into installment 5, I went back to my library, but no. It’s on a wait list. So is episode 2, 3, and 4. Wow. This thing is good and you might want to check it out.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Fiction, Suspense, Mysteries
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B072BMCYK7
Listening Length: 9 hrs 38 mins
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publication Date: August 1, 2017
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Crime Scene – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Authors:

Jonathan Kellerman

Read more at:
http://www.jonathankellerman.com/

Jesse Kellerman

The Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris was born December 21, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, to a Greek American father and Jewish mother,^[1] and grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.^[2] He took up acting while a student at Governor Livingston High School, because he felt he was too small to succeed in athletics.^[3] A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Boutsikaris toured the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company doing classical theatre. Boutsikaris was married to actress Deborah Hedwall; they divorced in 2002.

Find him at:
http://www.dennisboutsikaris.com *

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.

#throwbackthursday

Still Me: A Novel by Jojo Moyes #BookReview

Me Before You Trilogy Book 3

Best Literature & Fiction

Winner for Readers’ Favorite Fiction 2018

Book Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me.

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.

As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?

Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she discovers who she is and who she was always meant to be—and learns to live boldly in her brave new world.

My Review:

I had to eat some crow in February when I read Someone Else’s Shoes having formed an opinion of the author when she immediately followed The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson with her own version of the same story she called The Giver of Stars. (Someone Else’s Shoes is just plain fun and if you missed it, I’d definitely recommend.)

This book, the third in the Me Before You trilogy, is an interesting final installment. I can’t comment regarding the episode I preferred as I neither read Book 1 nor Book 2 and it might have worked better if I had.

This novel finds the MC, Louisa Clark, in New York following Nathan, her line into the home of ridiculously wealthy Leonard Gopnik. She is to be Gopnik’s wife’s assistant. His much younger wife Agnes, an immigrant, is finding it very hard to settle into the role of supportive eye candy on the arm of a rich and powerful man where she is expected to accompany him to an endless schedule of society gimmies. The ladies have tuned her out and not accepted her into their hierarchy.

She does manage to find some locals who are happy to accept her at face value, which is good when she suddenly finds herself out of a job and shelter. Where I groaned just a bit was with the local society-climbing boyfriend thing balancing act with the London-based hot paramedic guy.

While some (most?) may find the conclusion satisfying, I was less than impressed. Didn’t we all see that coming? (Including being busted for something she didn’t do?) Predictable.

What I did enjoy was the description of Manhattan, her first person view of New York, her short but unhappy reunions with Sam both here and abroad. Dialogue (including self-talk) is so believable, relationships so palpable, support characters well developed, and enjoyed the writing style. I sputtered a few times with the caustic old woman, but it certainly added spicy interest to the storyline.

Not a new one, but a favorite author of many and I’m sure fans of Jojo enjoyed this one. Yes, and I’ll continue to look for another by her as well.

I received a digital copy of this book from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Mothers & Children Fiction, Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Women’s Domestic Life Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Books
ASIN: B073YTMMQS
Print Length: 400 pages
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

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

The Author: Jojo Moyes is a novelist and journalist. Her books include the bestsellers Me Before You, After You and Still Me, The Girl You Left Behind, The One Plus One and her short story collection Paris for One and Other Stories. The Giver of Stars is her most recent bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. Her novels have been translated into forty-six languages, have hit the number one spot in twelve countries and have sold over thirty-eight million copies worldwide.

Me Before You has now sold over fourteen million copies worldwide and was adapted into a major film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. Jojo lives in Essex with her family.

Happy Holidays--Have a great Sunday!

Random in Death by J D Robb #BookReview #policeprocedurals

In Death, 58 (of 60)

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

In this crime thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling J.D. Robb, a small and easily concealed weapon wreaks havoc, and the killer is just a face in the crowd.

Jenna’s parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It’s the best night of her life.
It’s the last night of her life.

Minutes later, Jake’s in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle―and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

After everyone on the scene is interviewed, lab results show a toxic mix of substances in the victim’s body―and for an extra touch of viciousness, the needle was teeming with infectious agents. Dallas searches for a pattern: Had any boys been harassing Jenna? Was she engaging in risky behavior or caught up in something shady? But there are no obvious clues why this levelheaded sixteen-year-old, passionate about her music, would be targeted.

And that worries Dallas. Because if Jenna wasn’t targeted, if she was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come.

His Review:

Frances is by far the smartest young man in his age group. At 16 he was given his own chemistry lab by his wealthy father. He has already developed some of his own chemical products and is able to synthesize and reproduce others. He is at the top of his class in everything he tries. Problem is, he is only 5’6″ and none of the girls in his exclusive schools will have anything to do with him.

He begins to develop a hate for the obviously inferior females who snidely dismiss him whenever he is around. He decides to make them pay for consistently rejecting him. He perfects the delivery system for poisons he will administer to make them pay for their rejections. Any sixteen-year-old girl will do and a function where most of his classmates will attend is his perfect venue.

He plans the situations meticulously and his escape routes are previewed. All goes well until his third victim screams when he administers the tonic and he is barely able to escape. Eve Dallas is a detective vowing to end his killing spree. This novel hooked and is fast paced. Putting it down will not be easy. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

A library loan provided me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are mine own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
ISBN-10: ‎ 1250336554
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250336552
ASIN: B0C1X8GDPV
Print Length: 362 pages
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

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

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.

Good day for a good book!

Deep Freeze: A Novel by Michael C Grumley #AudiobookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

From the bestselling author of the Breakthrough series: In his next near-future thriller, Michael C. Grumley explores humanity’s thirst for immortality—at any cost…

The accident came quickly. With no warning. In the dead of night, a precipitous plunge into a freezing river trapped everyone inside the bus. It was then that Army veteran John Reiff’s life came to an end. Extinguished in the sudden rush of frigid water.

There was no expectation of survival. None. Let alone waking up beneath blinding hospital lights. Struggling to move, or see, or even breathe. But the doctors assure him that everything is normal. That things will improve. And yet, he has a strange feeling that there’s something they’re not telling him.

As Reiff’s mind and body gradually recover, he becomes certain that the doctors are lying to him. One by one, puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place, and he soon realizes that things are not at all what they seem. Critical information is being kept from him. Secrets. Supposedly for his own good. But who is doing this? Why? And the most important question: can he keep himself alive long enough to uncover the truth?

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

My Review:

Sci-fi? Well, sorta, maybe. But cryogenics may be the next big thing. It’s long been an idea and evolving—how rapidly? Perhaps the near future?

It takes awhile for Army veteran John Reiff to wake, his eyes blinded by the strong overhead lights. It hurts to breathe and he is, taking internal inventory, unable to move. Where is he? How did he get here?

It is a great hook—the bus plunging into the freezing water below and John’s heroic efforts to save those abroad. Did he get out too or succumb to the temperature of the water closing in around him?

So, yes, the development holds the interest and begs additional information. John is enormously empathetic. A true miracle, brought back to life. But as he gradually gains control of his thoughts, memories, body, he begins to suspect this might not be a normal hospital. What are all those animals doing here?

I invest in the animals quickly, who wouldn’t? The circumstances are suspect, the atmosphere irregular. The main character is easy to like—but appears to be a pawn? As the reader becomes more suspicious and John discovers little secrets, gleans more clues, he begins to realize he is being lied to. Who to trust?

And by the way—what year is it?

We good so far?

I was, too, but somewhere near the middle or two-thirds of the book it veers into more dastardly purposes for the experimentation and that’s where it begins to lessen my interest. There is growing tension, but appears to revert to a trite but successful trope. I might have tripped over this idea before—what I haven’t is the engagement of the MC as he battles remnants of recovery, his body having sustained long-term damage only latently becoming obvious.

Certainly lots of ideas to ponder, twists and turns, interesting support characters, but it can’t be resolved in this new serial debut and must be continued. Rats. The narrator does a good job and if you enjoy technothrillers might be a great one to get in on at the beginning.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Technothrillers, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0C3NRZ3XM
Listening Length:
Narrator: Scott Brick
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Deep Freeze – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: For years, Michael Grumley dreamed of writing thrillers the way he thought they should be written; unique and complex stories with plots that ‘move’. Enter BREAKTHROUGH, AMID THE SHADOWS, and THE LAST MONUMENT: all deeply human stories with endings you will never see coming.

Michael C. Grumley lives in Northern California with his two young daughters. He’s an avid reader, runner and most of all father. He dotes on his girls every chance he gets. His website is http://www.michaelgrumley.com and his email address michael@michaelgrumley.com. He loves hearing from readers.

He is currently working on the next Monument story.

Have a merry Tuesday!