2020 Top Picks-The Nice List!

Okay…I really just have more that belong on the naughty list…it’s been that kind of year!

For my top picks I am sticking to pure escapist fiction! If you are looking for something with a bit more depth be sure to check out the Wish List features!

A pinch wicked, a smidge of mischief, a dash of sass and a bounty of entertainment!!

SOUTHERN BOOKCLUBS GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES - Grady Hendrix

A clever blend of the disaffected housewife trope with a terrifying vampire tale.

Touted as a mash-up of Fried Green Tomatoes and Dracula, this book exudes Southern charm even as it dishes out thrills and chills enough to satisfy the appetite of any horror aficionado. But that is not all, there is some rousing social commentary about women’s battle against the patriarchy.

A group of women start a book club, focusing on true crime, to try and battle the constraints of lives where they come last.  A stranger suddenly appears in town and things start to change in some very troublesome ways.  Although these furtively feisty woman start to suspect something foul, the stranger manages to insinuate himself into their lives by stroking the pathetically flaccid egos of their husbands.

As you might imagine…nothing good can come of that.

THE WIVES - Tarryn Fisher

Given that the word wives or one of its derivatives has appeared on more book titles then memory can hold over the last few years, it’s understandable if your eyes sweep right over yet another.  

But this is not one to be missed.  Both intricate and unpredictable, this story kept the twists coming right through to the last page.

Imagine that your husband has two other wives and you’ve never met them. A woman finds herself unable to resist the urge to find out more about the other wives in her plural marriage.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that!  So many astonishing twists and turns here and I don’t want to give away any one of them!

DARLING ROSE GOLD - Stephanie Wrobel

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold believed she was seriously ill. She was in a wheelchair with constant visits to doctors.  Fundraisers were held and a diagnosis never determined.  Turns out Mommy was doing some bad bad things.  Sound familiar?

With a plot this blatantly ripped from the headlines, there is a high level of peril that the book ends up being nothing more than a cheesy squandering of your reading time.  And for the first twenty pages I was cringing, believing this was the case.  And then between one page and the next, I was captivated by where the author might be going with this canny reimagining/reinvention.

As mother and daughter reunite post prison stint for mommy not so dearest, you will ask yourself with every chapter, who exactly is torturing who here? The twists gave me shivers!

WHISPER MAN - Alex North

For someone like myself, when you read a blurb on the back of a book that claims this is a great read for fans of Stephen King, you take it with a grain of salt.  But every once in a while, it’s not that far off the mark.  This book is one of those occasions!

An intensely spooky and deeply moving story of a father and son adrift after the loss of their wife/mother. An unnerving series of events and coincidences has them crossing paths with a serial kidnapping and murder case.  And while there is no question that is the backdrop for this story, the details are a shadowy presence compared to the characters and relationships.

I really loved all the players here, each unique and incredibly well drawn.  And be prepared to be ambushed by the twists and turns as the author portions out the truths.  Although you may see them coming, you might not be prepared for what happens when they get there!

That’s all I’m going to tell you; this is way too good to spoil!