From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly, the Lincoln Lawyer is back with a case against an AI company whose product may have been responsible for the murder of a young girl.
Following his “resurrection walk” and need for a new direction, Mickey Haller turns to public interest litigation, filing a civil lawsuit against an artificial intelligence company whose chatbot told a sixteen-year-old boy that it was okay for him to kill his ex-girlfriend for her disloyalty.
Representing the victim’s family, Mickey’s case explores the mostly unregulated and exploding AI business and the lack of training guardrails. Along the way he joins up with a journalist named Jack McEvoy, who wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial in order to write a book about it. But Mickey puts him to work going through the mountain of printed discovery materials in the case. McEvoy’s digging ultimate delivers the key witness, a whistleblower who has been too afraid to speak up. The case is fraught with danger because billions are at stake.
It is said that machines became smarter than humans on the day in 1997 that IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess master Garry Kasparov with a gambit called “the knight’s sacrifice.” Haller will take a similar gambit in court to defeat the mega forces of the AI industry lined up against him and his clients.
My Review:
Does it get much better than the Lincoln Lawyer? I love these books and devour any new installment that comes up in print, digital, or Netflix.
Even better, this one tackles AI, a current hot topic, a novel that grapples with so many moral questions over the legal. Haven’t we been talking about our children watching violent cartoons? Now with computer games the kids of eight years up are playing, do we have any clue what kind of intelligence they are dealing with?
AI generated by Gemini
What about the mind of a sixteen year old? Who has written the code for the chatbot he calls Wren? And who is to blame when that sixteen year old violently acts on a suggestion from Wren?
I love the character of Haller. He has left criminal law for civil. The narrative examines in detail the question: who is ultimately responsible for games coded with possible explosive code? We’ve all heard of GIGO. Garbage in, garbage out, “bad programming, programming contradictory to the purpose of the app?”
Lincoln Lawyer cover-US
That is the supposition of this extremely complex legal thriller. The storyline boils over with tension, almost from the beginning. All your favorite Haller characters are included, though I never warmed up to a new character who provided deep intel on AI while gathering journalistic juice. A layered plot from main to sub, each adding depth, creating a fully rounded story from professional to personal, those of his family and close associates.
I love the way the writer mentions or includes characters, including Harry Bosch, from his other series in his current narrative, consolidating the Haller world. In his world, he is up against a multi-billion dollar corporation, and he’ll have his work cut out for him.
Lincoln Lawyer cover-UK
He has his flaws but he brings an intelligence to the legal science of law that is downright compelling. He has wit, energy, and charisma you can’t beat. And, by the way, I enjoyed the author’s little humorous zinger by naming the judge in the case, Judge Ruhlin. RUHLIN? Funny, Mr. Connelly.
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.
PS: No AI was used in writing this review. (Or perhaps that’s obvious. )
Book Details:
Genre: Police Procedurals, Legal Thrillers, Murder Thrillers Publisher: Little, Brown and Company ISBN: 978-0316563840 ASIN: B0DZ24GYPN Print Length: 400 pages Publication Date: Source: Publisher and NetGalley
The 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.
Well, I’m not sure how, but I seem to be caught up in Freida McFadden books, this time The Housemaid’s Secret, a Goodreads Choice Award Winner released February 20, 2023, and The Boyfriend a #1 Amazon Best Seller in Crime Thrillers released October 1, 2024. (Links on individual covers are to Amazon.)
Member of Goodreads since March 2012, McFadden is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple Kindle bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. She lives with her family and possessed cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe. [Goodreads] https://www.freidamcfadden.com/
Okay, wait a minute. Haven’t I read this before? Or certainly something very similar. But this one is definitely written in McFadden style.
Millie has definitely come up in the housecleaning world, securing employment for an uber rich couple in a penthouse apartment in the Upper West Side of New York. It’s a good trick if you can do it as you know in your heart that Millie has some secrets that must be kept mum for now.
Douglas is not too bad for a super rich guy, but wife Wendy keeps to herself and her room is off-limits. Douglas relays anything that Wendy needs or wants and except for a few meals, the sources for which are pretty darn exclusive, and odd bits of uh ohs, it’s not a bad gig.
Needless to say, whether or not she’s been told to leave Wendy alone to rest peacefully, she just can’t seem to do it, and it gradually flips the plot to one you no doubt saw coming. I only thought I did, but remember, this is a McFadden novel.
So yes, the twists will kick in. Maybe it’s a good thing that Millie has a hot Italian groundskeeper on the side with an even more super hot boyfriend, rich lawyer type guy that’s crazy about her. I don’t know what circles she was in when their paths crossed, but he’d love to have her move into his sweet apartment by Central Park and take good care of him.
Are you following along?
It’s that final twist that finally got me and I had to throw my hands up. Talk about not seeing that coming! Well, after that, you have to try another just to see if this one was a fluke, yes? So, I did.
Oh my goodness, the characters in this book! How many times did I want to slap the FMC, Sydney, up the side of her head? Is it possible to be that obtuse? Then the other POV in this one, Tom, reaches back to the birth of his problem with women. How could he be that fake with Sydney and she not see through that façade?
Tom, supreme creep that he is, really keeps the storyline moving, doesn’t he? Something fascinating about a truly sick and twisted individual that the reader has to keep reading to confirm just how nutsy he is. Not like his teen years were filled with academic accolades. He was head over heels in love with Daisy and his best friend’s name is Slug, if that gives you any clues. I must say, however, that Slug had such significant character development that little vignettes that included him were enough to turn your stomach.
Meanwhile, poor little Sydney plods along in her own little world, just adrift and off course. So frustrating to be forced along on some of her dumber decisions and then watch her crash and burn. Of course, that hasn’t taught her anything, so she gets to hit the repeat button.
Yeah, it’s twisty. And just crazy enough that it edged over The Housemaid’s Secret for me. Also, glad I listened to the audiobook and didn’t read it. Those voices gave it quite the spice.
Frieda McFadden fan? Then you may enjoy this one. I’m not sure—there appears to be quite the division of opinion, but you can’t fault it for being both engaging and entertaining.
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these audiobooks. Any opinion expressed here is my own.
To save a client accused of murder, defense attorney Keera Duggan must fight a complex web of corruption in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
In a quiet South Seattle neighborhood, a suspected drug smuggler and his girlfriend are murdered in their home. When a young man named Michael Westbrook is accused of the brutal double homicide, his uncle JP Harrison turns to Keera Duggan to defend him. JP is Keera’s trusted investigator, and he desperately needs Keera to save his nephew against escalating odds.
The evidence is circumstantial—Michael worked with one of the victims, drugs were found in his possession, and he bolted from authorities. Ruthless star prosecutor Anh Tran has gotten convictions on much less. With the testimony of two prison informants, the case looks grave. But Keera never concedes defeat. To free her client, she must dig deep before Tran crushes both of them.
As the investigation gets more twisted with each new find, Keera is swept up in a mystery with far-reaching consequences. This case isn’t just murder. It’s looking like a conspiracy. And getting justice for Michael could be the most dangerous promise Keera has ever made.
My Review:
The CE doesn’t get to have all the fun! I got Book 3 of the Keera Duggan series, Her Cold Justice and Book 2, Beyond Reasonable Doubt. Between the two of us, however, we’ve read a number of Dugoni’s books, particularly Tracy Crosswhite, his last, A Dead Draw, early this year.
Keera was a chess champ as a girl, often played with her dad, who taught her the strategies of the board that could parallel her work as an attorney, facing off in high-stakes cases with equals in court room drama. She followed in her father’s legal footsteps, now often recognized as the daughter of the “Irish Brawler,” known for his unexpected and swift courtroom gotchas.
No question Michael Westbrook has all the circumstantial evidence stacked against him, made more credible by a few small omissions he failed to divulge until the twists caught up with him. Still, it appeared he was an innocent pawn in a game of power, broken justice, and weak kings.
You might guess that the plot gets complex, sussing out conspiracy, secrets, and an end game you might not have imagined. The plot is well paced.
No question I’m a fan of the author and feel all his books are great, with varying degrees of great, of course. I’ve come to love the Keera Duggan series, the characters relatable with complicated personal lives. This series hints at the possibility of a blooming relationship between Keera and Rossi, a good thing.
If this were read as a standalone, I’d wish for more character development of Keera, whereas we got a clear and definitive picture of Kim Tran, described beautifully down to the cold, impervious stare. There may have been a deeper dive into Keera and family in Book 1, but the CE caught that one, and I came into the series with Book 2.
As the book weaves its way through the twists and revelations, the storyline moves smoothly into the conclusion with, at this point, some predictability. Any reader who enjoys legal thrillers, though, will certainly appreciate the Dugoni writing style. It’s intelligently written, gripping, and entertaining.
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
Book Details:
Genre: Legal Thrillers, Murder Thrillers Publisher: Thomas & Mercer ISBN: 978-1662524646 ASIN: B0DFZ47Z2B Print Length: 380 pages Publication Date: January 27, 2026 Source: Publisher and NetGalley
The Author:Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 10 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, the Keera Duggan legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including the literary novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – One of Newsweek Magazines Best Books of All Time and Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year. Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has also written critically acclaimed historical novels based on true events: The World Played Chess a coming of age story and the Vietnam War; Hold Strong an untold story of WWII; and A Killing on the Hill, about a 1933 killing and trial in Seattle. HIs nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. His novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and multiple awards for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.
Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than forty countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Visit his website and follow him on Amazon, Goodreads, twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok and other social media sites.
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry.
As featured in The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ NPR ∙ Vogue ∙ The Cut ∙ USA Today ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Harper’s Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Glamour ∙ ELLE ∙ E! Online ∙ The New York Post ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader’s Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more!
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it.
My Review:
Why, oh why, do I get sucked in on what looks promising and a Reese’s Book Club pick to boot? I really need to research more before borrowing a book on a waiting list from the library.
So, did I learn nothing from Funny Story? Or in a hurry, remembered the author’s name and hopped on the list. And what happened with Funny Story? A Goodreads Choice Award winner for Readers’ Favorite Romance (2024). Yeah, I don’t do RomComs, but didn’t consider Great Big Beautiful Life one either. Surely, this one won’t follow the Funny Story path…please.
Great Big Beautiful Life-US cover
It’s an old trope, predictable. And slow burn? Oh, honey, the first part almost had me giving up waiting for something to spark. The second part went swiftly from hate to love and between the sheets before I could even check for bed bugs. As each got more graphic, I was forced to skip read.
The FMC is all sunshine, optimism, and a chronically happy girl while hiding an unhappy childhood and a critical mother. She’s a journalist. She coulda been a contender—or something–somewhere else.
The MMC is a grump (sound familiar?). I don’t care how gorgeous he is; I wouldn’t have gotten past the first crotchety word. If he’s a world-famous author, what is she doing there anyway?
The plot with the reclusive Margaret pitting them against each other is okay, except it starts back when her ancestors emerged from a communal cave. I guess you have to have something to throw in some interest, and I can’t fault the author for her prose, sense of humor, or clichés that run rampant.
“Because even the doorknobs here are buttered,”…
The description of the locale is interesting, always gives me pangs I no longer have access to a coast, left or right. The mansion, castle, grounds where Margaret lives are amazing and I wonder if her residuals really paid for all of that. Also I learned a new word:
Unicursal. One beginning, one end. Used in this context as a meandering pathway.
It doesn’t make sense that Hayden and Alice could have any chemistry between them. Is she really that desperate? As they continue their interviews, they manage an ah ha moment or two but still swear Margaret is hiding something. Does anyone care?
Lots of pillow talk heart-to-hearts with both divulging big secrets. There’s a kind of anti-climax that eventually turns into the last twist. (Thank heaven.) But still doesn’t make sense to me. It leaves me wanting to knock their heads together.
I did enjoy some of the writing style, but nix on the biographer study or romcom. Many thanks to my library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
The Author:Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Happy Place, Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
A lawyer who was set-up, imprisoned, and disbarred, only to be vindicated and reinstated, is determined to find out who set her up and cover their tracks with a trail of dead bodies
Defense Attorney Karen Wyatt exposed corruption in the police force and the District Attorney’s office while getting her client exonerated in court. But in doing so, she put a target on her back and she was set-up on fake drug charge, imprisoned and disbarred until the conspiracy unraveled and her innocence was proven. Now reinstated to the bar, Wyatt is still interested in finding out who ordered her to be set-up – but the key figures were either killed or are in Witness Protection.
In the meantime, Wyatt is a practicing defense attorney, whose current client is either guilty of a heinous murder, or is a too-trusting patsy for an acquaintance set-up for a crime he didn’t commit. It will take all of Wyatt’s genius to defend her client successfully but that’s just one piece of an increasingly complex puzzle.
With a deadly criminal drug gang, a powerful, corrupt figure hiding in the D.A.’s office, and a Congressman who turned up with an unbelievable story after disappearing for days, False Witness is twisty, breathtaking, and unpredictable thriller.
My Review:
I do enjoy a good legal thriller from time to time. The last I read by this author, An Insignificant Case was a good standalone case in point. Unique main character and one I hoped would signal the beginning of a new series. Maybe not.
Defense Attorney Karen Wyatt definitely got herself in a pickle when she exposed corruption, not only in the police force, but the District Attorney’s office as well. She set herself up to take the fall, and fall she did, deep into prison. When she was finally exonerated, she came out with a bit of a chip on her shoulder and a burning desire to get some well-earned retribution.
The author keeps the tension ratcheted up as she goes about the business of practicing law and three years later taking pro bono cases. In the meantime, she continues to filter through her list of suspects, working to find the mole in the DA’s office. So much going on, the plot can get complex and there is a real mixed bag of characters from every spectrum.
All the twists and turns are there, moving the storyline along fairly briskly.
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.
The Author:PHILLIP MARGOLIN has written over twenty-five novels, most of them New York Times bestsellers, including Gone But Not Forgotten, Lost Lake, and Violent Crimes. In addition to being a novelist, he was a long time criminal defense attorney with decades of trial experience, including a large number of capital cases. Margolin lives in Portland, Oregon.
A luckless thief’s wrong turn becomes a crooked cop’s fortune in a wild ride of a thriller by a New York Times bestselling author.
Failed lawyer Robert Green has such a good plan: Crack three hundred safe-deposit boxes and sail off to South America with his brilliant, morally flexible sister, Penny. If it weren’t for the damned freezing rain.
In the dying resort town of Granite Shores, cop Jack Biddle is self-appointed king—mostly of bad decisions. Between his family’s crumbling legacy, a wife who just joined the city council, and life-threatening gambling debts, Jack’s looking for a way out. Then he spots a van spinning off a mountain road into the valley below. In the wreckage, Jack finds a very dead Robert, millions in heisted loot…and opportunity.
All Jack has to do is clean up the mess, disappear Robert’s body, make off with the fortune, and not get caught. One hitch is Penny. Another is Mitch Diamond, a wild card ex-con who knows more about the missing fortune than he lets on. Jack, Penny, and Mitch each have an endgame. But there’s only one way out, and they’re crashing headlong toward it.
His Review:
Penny Green had always been the smartest person in any room. Her IQ being above 220 meant her mind captured anything she saw or read. She was required to work with a criminal element that held her on the threat of death. There seemed to be no way out.
Those hired to “Protect and Serve” were no help whatsoever. Work with them or expect a bullet in the back of the head. This was the path Penny seemed to be following. She had no alternative and no way out. The crime boss got immensely wealthy while she remained under his thumb, literally!
Jack Biddle has been the Chief of Police in Granite Shores for two decades. He knew where all of the bodies were hidden and how many of the citizens owed him special treatment. Near the end of the book, he finds himself on the wrong side of some very vindictive people. Granite Shores has been controlled by the criminal element for as long as anyone could remember. Mercy and compassion are not in the city father’s vocabulary.
This book highlights some of the cruel elements that run some of the coastal cities. Gritty, unlikable characters tends to the profane. 3.5 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: Three point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Dark Humor, Heist Thrillers, Police Procedurals Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN-13: 978-1662525636 ASIN: B0DWPF2ST2 Print Length: 367 pages Publication Date: November 4, 2025 Source: Publisher and NetGalley
The Author:Tod Goldberg is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books of fiction, including The Low Desert: Gangster Stories, Gangsterland, a finalist for the Hammett Prize, Gangster Nation, The House of Secrets, which he co-authored with Brad Meltzer, and Living Dead Girl, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His essays, nonfiction, and criticism appear widely, including in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal, as well as Best American Essays, and have earned five Nevada Press Association Awards. He is also the cohost, along with Rider Strong and Julia Pistell, of the popular podcast Literary Disco. Goldberg is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, where founded and directs the Low Residency MFA program in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @todgoldberg and on Facebook at facebook.com/todgoldberg or visit todgoldberg.com.
My participation with The Y Book Club for July was Beartown by Backman. Yes, I listened to this audiobook back in 2022 before quickly discovering that it’s sports fiction, definitely not one of my usual genres. Reloading an ebook so I could refresh my memory of it for the club meeting, I discovered new depths to the narrative I’d missed in skimming the sports dialogue.
Book Blurb:
By the lake in Beartown is an old ice rink, and in that ice rink Kevin, Amat, Benji, and the rest of the town’s junior ice hockey team are about to compete in the national semi-finals—and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Under that heavy burden, the match becomes the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown.
This is a story about a town and a game, but even more about loyalty, commitment, and the responsibilities of friendship; the people we disappoint even though we love them; and the decisions we make every day that come to define us. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
Beartown was my first experience with a Backman novel and my problem was in having the patience sufficient to get through the heavily weighted ice hockey game descriptions; game strategy, players, coaches, parents, rivalry, and ethics to get to the crux of the novel.
Of course, I loved that it is located in a tiny community in a deeply forested area of Sweden. It is the crushing isolation and the economic loss killing the little town that seems to force the only claim to fame it possesses—a winning junior ice hockey team. Some of these kids are so good they are recruited to professional hockey. Too much weight on the shoulders of teenagers, however, builds the tension that eventually threatens to bury the last of their hopes.
The moderator led us into several spirited discussions and nuances I’d missed on my own. When I read it earlier, I thought it was an emotional look at parenting, teenage angst, friendships, and disloyalty. I could understand the decisions made while at the same time railed at the loss it reflected.
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.
Spirited discussion on many of the book club’s point discussions. Most were shocked at the turn of events to the tragic circumstances about half-way into the book and then further shocked at the sharp division of opinion or sentiments about the incident. Of course, that was the driving emotion triggering frustration at the lack of options. Hidden behind the division of he said/she said was the obvious impact of how any remedy could possibly affect the entire future of the little town. No equitable solution in sight.
As possibly expected, the group hit the same wall as the author expected his readers would. Was there ever to be an equitable solution? Must it always be the sacrifice of one or a few for the good of the many?
Book Details:
Genre: Sports Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction Publisher: Atria Books ISBN: 978-1501160783 ASIN: B01KG5GQDS Print Length: 430 pages Publication Date: April 25, 2017 Source: Local Library
The Author:Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, The Winners, Anxious People and two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime, as well as one work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World. His books are published in more than forty countries. His next novel, My Friends, will be published in May 2025. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter @BackmanLand or on Instagram @Backmansk.
A family torn apart. A botched investigation. She’ll stop at nothing to get answers.
US Marshal Regan Merritt never bought the FBI’s theory that her ten-year-old son’s murder was tied to her job. Yet as leads went cold, she’d had to walk away from the marshals, the case and her now ex-husband, Grant, who blamed her for Chase’s death.
After Regan receives a chilling voice mail from her former boss, Tommy, claiming new information about Chase’s murder, she can no longer stay away from her pain-filled past. Especially when Tommy’s murdered before she can return his call.
Now more than ever, Regan’s determined to find the truth, but the more she digs, the more evidence points to Grant as the killer’s true target. But Grant isn’t talking. As she tries to pin down her ex, Regan discovers something much bigger and far more sinister is at play—and she’s running out of people she can trust.
My Review:
I tried another book by this author last year, You’ll Never Find Me, Book 1 of another series. This is Book 2 of the Regan Merritt series. This series features ex-US Marshall Regan Merritt whose own ten-year-old son was murdered, thought by ex-husband related to her job. She never accepted that theory.
Still doesn’t.
So she’s quickly embroiled in the cold case again when her former boss calls with what he feels is new information. I think one of my problems with this writing style is a plot point that is repeating ad nauseum.
The pacing is uneven for me and there are twists that throw the plot off-course, becoming convoluted. Regan decides she must determine what her former boss uncovered with hopes of finally getting to the truth. The path begins to lead to ex-husband Grant, but he’s uncooperative.
As she gradually uncovers more bits and pieces, it’s obvious the plot gets into the higher echelons of wealth and that she’s dealing with some powerful people.
The conclusion gets strung out a bit much for me, not sure I needed all the minutiae. Perhaps you read Book 1 and will be thoroughly happy to learn that the reason for the death of Chase has been resolved. Or, maybe I’m just bored easily.
Rosepoint Publishing:Three Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Crime Thrillers Publisher:Harlequin Audio ASIN: B09V98R2PJ Listening Length: 11 hrs 11 mins Narrator: Amy McFadden Publication Date: January 24, 2023 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Links: Don’t Open the Door – Amazon-US Amazon-UK
The Author:Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of more than forty thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. Originally from northern California, in 2019 she and her husband relocated to Arizona where they enjoy baseball Spring Training, hiking, and spending time with their kids, grandson, and assorted pets.
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The 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.
The MMC is a grump (sound familiar?). I don’t care how gorgeous he is; I wouldn’t have gotten past the first crotchety word. If he’s a world-famous author, what is she doing there anyway?
This book highlights some of the cruel elements that run some of the coastal cities. Gritty, unlikable characters tends to the profane. 3.5 stars – CE Williams
Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Rosepoint Publishing 