Good Reads & Views

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
Fiction

What it’s about: Naomi and her two best friends are infamous for putting away a serial killer when they were kids, after an encounter in the woods. Only the girls were there that day, and the small community sees them as heroes, but they’re also liars. After learning the killer who attacked her has died in prison 22 years later, Naomi goes back to their small town of Chester, and she begins to question what she really saw that day in the woods.

Why you might like it: Marshall’s writing is powerfully descriptive in this novel, bringing even more darkness and magic to the woods. This dark thriller offers a look into a community full of secrets and webs of lies that cause many twists and reveals that leave readers feeling stranded in the woods just like Naomi.

Reviewers say: “Unexpected plot twists, deep psychological perspicacity, and an endlessly interesting dance between past and present...evokes the dread and intensity of Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects” (NYT Book Review).

Visit Carly’s My Librarian Page

River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan
Fiction

What it’s about: Eva Santos Moon is a flourishing Chicana artist who has suddenly hit creative stagnation. Even with her practice in the ancient spiritual ways of brujeria she finds herself struggling with a disconnect to her magickal roots, her art, and sudden blackouts. Her husband, her rock and father that holds the family together, is shockingly taken into custody as a potential murder suspect of their family friend. Eva finds herself not knowing who to trust, the police, herself, or her husband. As she fights to keep her family safe, she turns to her magick to protect them while confronting her dark past.

What critics are saying:  “In River Woman, River Demon, Givhan writes: ‘For us folks of color, conjuring isn’t entertainment; it’s the brass key pointing us to freedom.’ And with this novel Givhan wholly embodies this thesis, manifesting a richly textured exploration of personal pain, trauma, and loss, while capturing that slippery dreamlike beyond that people of color feel in our bones. River Woman, River Demon is a major working, a novel both visceral and revelatory” (Cadwell Turnbull, award-winning author of No Gods, No Monsters).

You might also like: The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Cordova.

Visit Carly’s My Librarian Page

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Fiction  

The Plot: Liv Reese wakes up in the backseat of a cab with no recollection of how she got there, her last memory being 2 years ago. A stranger is now living in what was once her apartment and she finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. Trying to piece together the lost memories and the notes she leaves herself written on her hands and arms, Liv must figure out who she can and cannot trust and how to clear her name.  

Tell me more: This novel keeps the reader constantly guessing and creates a sense of paranoia and suspense. As the plot opens, Liz is in a New York City she thinks she remembers and soon realizes that not only does she not recall the last two years, but her short term memory erases itself when she falls asleep. Is she a murderer, is she in danger, or both?  

Reviewers say: “Shocking twists and resourceful, well-drawn female characters keep the pages turning as the clever mystery unfolds. Goldin reliably entertains” (Publishers Weekly). “This thriller may cause readers to lose sleep so they can find out who is the true killer!” (LibraryReads).  

Visit Carly’s My Librarian Page

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline
Fiction

What it’s about: To say that there are surprises in this novel would be an understatement. Just when you think you may have figured out what is happening, Scottoline throws in an unfathomable plot twist. The Bennett family are the victims of a carjacking gone wrong. And then, as it happens, it is far from simple and possibly not even a carjacking. Within the first few words you are pulled in and feel as if you are a part of the family and their lives. It is so well written that tears will flow, as if you are there experiencing it with them. You will not want to put the book down until you finish reading it. 

Why you might like it: It’s suspenseful, thrilling, heart-wrenching, action-packed, and full of plot twists.

You might also like: Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline.

Visit Misty’s My Librarian Page

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Fiction

What’s it about: “Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely. Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better”(Amazon).

Reviewers say: "Masterfully escalates the suspense...keep[s] the reader guessing until the end. A great follow-up" (Booklist - starred review).

About the Author: “GREER HENDRICKS is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Wife Between Us, An Anonymous Girl. Prior to becoming a novelist, she spent over two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. SARAH PEKKANEN is the internationally and USA Today bestselling author of several novels, including The Wife Between Us, The Perfect Neighbors and The Best of Us. A former investigative journalist and feature writer, her work has been published in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many others.” (Amazon)

Visit Roseanne’s My Librarian Page

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Fiction

What’s it about: “Looking to earn some easy cash, Jessica Farris agrees to be a test subject in a
psychological study about ethics and morality. But as the study moves from the exam room to
the real world, the line between what is real and what is one of Dr. Shields’s experiments blurs”
(Amazon).

Reviewers say: "Masterfully escalates the suspense" (Booklist - starred review)

You might also like: The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney or The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth
Ware.

Visit Roseanne’s My Librarian Page

Billy Summers by Stephen King
Fiction

What it's about: In this (non-horror) noir thriller, Veteran Billy Summers is an assassin-for-hire who will only take jobs where he kills really bad guys. Now he wants to retire, right after completing one last job. As is usually the case, things don’t go quite as planned and he ends up going after the people who stiffed him on his last job. They should have known better…

Reviewers say: "This is another outstanding outing from a writer who consistently delivers more than his readers expect" (Publishers Weekly); “Murder most foul and mayhem most entertaining. Another worthy page-turner from a protean master” (Kirkus Reviews).

Want a taste? " He has no problem with bad people paying to have other bad people killed. He basically sees himself as a garbageman with a gun.” “God doesn’t have a plan, He throws pickup sticks."

Visit Astrid’s My Librarian Page

Joe Victim: A Thriller by Paul Cleave
Fiction

What it’s about: Joe Middleton, serial killer, whom we previously met in The Cleaner, is now in jail, awaiting trial. Because of him, politicians running in the upcoming elections are looking to bring back the death penalty in time for his sentencing. And Joe still thinks he can just pretend to not remember committing all his murders and the jury will find him innocent by reason of insanity. References from the previous book are woven into the narrative so this can be read as a standalone.

Other characters of note: Melissa, Joe’s “girlfriend” who has reasons for wanting Joe out of jail; Carl Schroeder, fired ex-cop; Rafael, father of one of Joe’s victims; “The Sally” who was instrumental in Joe being caught; and Joe’s mum, oblivious to his plight and focused on her upcoming nuptials. 

Some observations: This is NOT for the faint of heart. Best enjoyed on audio because the narrator does such a fantastic job. You’ll never eat another sandwich before checking what’s inside… And, as the previous book, very dark humor.

Visit Astrid’s My Librarian Page

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
Fiction

What it's about:  Sophie Honeywell inherits the house of her ex-boyfriend’s Aunt Connie, located on the fictional Scribbly Gum Island. The island is famous for an unsolved mystery, the disappearance of Alice and Jack Munro, known as the Munro baby mystery. Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret.

Reviewers say: “A stunner…[Moriarty’s] prose turns from funny through poignant to frightening in an artful snap” (Publishers Weekly).

You might also like: Starting Now by Debbie Macomber or Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr

Visit Roseanne’s My Librarian Page

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
Fiction

Read this if you like:  Vengeful teenage girls, genre blending, and long-buried secrets.

What happens? This combination thriller, western, and literary coming-of-age story begins at the end, thirty years after Walk, a small-town chief of police, turned in his childhood best friend Vincent for causing the death of a child. Time hasn’t healed Walk’s pain, or that of Star Radley, the child’s dazzling but troubled older sister, now the single mother of two—Duchess and Robin. Duchess, a fierce13-year-old who introduces herself as “the outlaw Duchess Day Radley,” considers herself the protector of both her little brother and her mother, whose addictions and penchant for tough men have often gotten her into trouble. Soon after Vincent returns home from prison, there is another murder and Walk and Duchess each set out to unmask the killer and avenge the death. A dark and moving page-turner.

Want more like this? Try True Grit by Charles Portis, for another suspenseful western about a feisty teen girl pairing up with a lawman to exact revenge. Duchess’s unusual cadence of speech is reminiscent of that of Mattie, the True Grit heroine. The Round House by Louise Erdrich is also about a young teen seeking justice for a crime against their mother and is equally heartbreaking.

Visit Laura’s My Librarian Page