#LongTimeGone – Rosepoint Publishing

Apparently, the upper Midwest will follow the pattern of cold, winter-like weather with summer temps and warm weather and no chance to acclimate. Not sure the plants like that either, not knowing whether to slow or grow. The cool weather crops are loving it, of course. The flower bed is actually looking pretty good with weeds as high as flowers, and the fairy garden yielded enough tender sprouts that the rabbits and deer came out and mowed everything down. Both animals are cute—from afar—until you realize they are munching on freshly transplanted annuals. The ferns gave it up a long time ago.

Skip the next paragraph if you are following Punkin the Pom odyssey becoming a real dog. Apparently, she is beginning to sense there are things out there she might have been missing out on—walks being one of them. She’s doing pretty well with the CE. Not so sure about me walking her and tries more often than not to dart away from me, hitting the end of the line on her harness. Otherwise, still few treats, no toys, and no offers of companionship.

First, the CE and our daughter headed to California for a family reunion. I took the opportunity to do some heavy cleaning and projects easier done while the house was quiet (note all the audiobooks!) Then, the household turned upside down with the unexpected return of a family member and his puppy, a mini-Aussie/Jack Russell mix, who has way too much energy, appetite, and interest in all things food, treats, toys, and walks. She can’t get enough of any of those things…and Punkin is noticing.

May was a struggle, though we did read and review seventeen books, again leaning heavily on audiobooks and this time filling in where the CE missed a deadline or two.

As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano (audiobook)
Down to the Wire by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
Dark Dive by Andrew Mayne (audiobook)
Dying of the Light by Joe Regenbogen
After Dusk by Lynda McDaniel
The Missing Piece by John Lescroart (CE review)
Triptych by Karin Slaughter (audiobook)
Murder Road by Simone St James (audiobook)
Desert Heat by J A Jance (audiobook)
Your Forgotten Sons by Anne Montgomery (CE and me)
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Two of a Kind by Gail Meath
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman (audiobook)
City of Secrets by P J Tracy (CE review)
Can’t We Be Friends by Denny S Bryce and Eliza Knight (audiobook)
Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE and I both read Your Forgotten Sons and loved it, touched us deeply, and will remain in memory.

Book of the Month for May—Your Forgotten Sons

My Reading Challenges page still is behind. I know it. Once again a vow to get to it when the chaos settles down. Right now, the Goodreads Challenge is four books behind schedule at 58 of 150.

Welcome to my new subscribers and I hope to get back to a schedule of visiting all of my followers soon!

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

In this engrossing, masterfully twisting new thriller from the #1 internationally bestselling author, a forensics trainee learns through a DNA test that she mysteriously disappeared as a baby thirty years ago—and her life is still in danger …

When Dr. Sloan Hastings submits her DNA to an online genealogy site for a research assignment, her goal is to better understand the treasure-trove of genetic information contained on ancestry websites. Brilliant and driven, Sloan is embarking on a fellowship in forensic pathology, training under the renowned Dr. Livia Cutty.

Sloan has one reservation about involving herself in the experiment: she’s adopted. Grateful for a loving home, she’s never considered tracking down her biological parents. The results of her search are shocking. Sloan’s DNA profile suggests her true identity is that of Charlotte Margolis, aka “Baby Charlotte,” who captured the nation’s attention when she mysteriously disappeared, along with her parents, in July 1995. Despite an exhaustive search, the family was never seen again, and no suspects were named in the case.

Sloan’s discovery leads her to the small town of Cedar Creek, Nevada, the site of her disappearance. It also leads her to Sheriff Eric Stamos. The Margolis family’s influence and power permeate every corner of Harrison County, and Eric is convinced that in learning the truth about her past, Sloan can also help discover what happened to Eric’s father, who died under suspicious circumstances soon after he started investigating her disappearance.

Slowly, over the course of a stifling summer, Sloan begins getting to know her relatives. Though initially welcoming, the Margolis family is also mysterious and tight-lipped. Not everyone seems happy about Sloan’s return, or the questions she’s asking. And the more she and Eric learn, the more apparent it becomes that the answers they both seek are buried in a graveyard of Margolis family secrets that some will do anything to keep hidden—no matter who else has to die …

My Review:

Don’t you just love it when the blurb saves you the time of reading the book? I listened to it anyway and for the most part found it very engaging.

It’s fun when a big topic of interest is used to create a unique book plot and the author takes this one and really runs with it. At the beginning, I found Sloan Hastings to be intelligent, independent, a pathologist who secured a fellowship under a forensic pathologist, an avenue Sloan was keen to explore. Her assignment is a DNA study and she is required to submit her own to create her dissertation.

Oops! She’s always known she was adopted, but isn’t sure how her adoptive parents will receive that news. But no prob. They’re cool with it.

There is a shocker, of course. She is “Baby Charlotte” (Margolis) who disappeared with her birth parents almost thirty years ago. Now for the fun part.

The Margolis family are very well to do and pretty much have the little town of Cedar Creek, Nevada wrapped up. They appear to receive her with open arms, thrilled at the discovery she is not only alive but back to discover her birth family. It’s her chance to dig into the mystery of her birth parents and get some history.

And here’s where it changes for me from her being a brilliant pathologist to a naïve, under-educated woman who requires detailed explanations that had me rolling my eyes and slapping my forehead.

Can she learn what happened to her parents and discover secrets buried for thirty years? The switch in timeline provides insight into Sloan’s birth parents, but you’ll have to start swallowing some disbelief. Twisty plot, interesting and engaging characters, and fast pace keep you flipping pages (sometimes looking for credulity). And I must admit, though I had my suspicions (eeny, meany), I picked the wrong one.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Women Sleuth Mysteries, Psychological Thrillers, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0CQZ3GZ48
Listening Length: 9 hrs 19 mins
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Long Time Gone [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Charlie Donlea is the USA Today and #1 International bestselling author of propulsive, female-driven thrillers including The Girl Who Was Taken, Don’t Believe It, Twenty Years Later, and Those Empty Eyes. His eighth thriller, LONG TIME GONE, explores the science of forensic genealogy.

A late bloomer, he was twenty years old when he read his first novel–THE FIRM by John Grisham–and knew he would someday write thrillers. Published in forty countries and translated into nearly twenty languages, his books have sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone and have been optioned for film and television.

Praised for his “soaring pace, teasing plot twists” (BookPage) and talent for writing an ending that “makes your jaw drop” (The New York Times Book Review), Donlea has been called a “bold new writer…on his way to becoming a major figure in the world of suspense” (Publishers Weekly).

He was born and raised in Chicago, where he continues to live with his wife and two children. Learn more at his interactive website at CharlieDonlea dot com.

happy thursday!