The Night We Lost Him - Laura Dave

The Night We Lost Him - Laura Dave

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 7.5/10

Nora and her estranged brother Sam have one thing in common; they believe that their father’s death wasn’t an accident, they believe something nefarious was at play. And there is no shortage of suspects; a competitor whose attempt at a takeover failed spectacularly, one of his three ex-wives or his business partners who are most definitely keeping secrets. The question is whether they are their own, or his.

Read More

Sociopath:A Memoir - Patric Gagne - Top Book Pick!

Sociopath:A Memoir - Patric Gagne - Top Book Pick!

Memoir

Rating: 9/10

The author is a sociopath. She has offered her story because she feels it’s essential to illustrate the truth no one wants to admit, that darkness is where you least expect it. Despite the discovery at a young age that she made people uncomfortable, she isn't the serial killer some thought she would be. She is not any kind of killer. She is a wife, a mother, a friend and a therapist. Brutally self aware and honest. My thoughts on this read...wow. Just wow.

Read More

Evocation - S.T. Gibson

Evocation - S.T. Gibson

Fantasy

Rating: 8.5/10

The devil knows his name. As a teenager, David was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his occultist father. Years later, as he approaches his thirtieth birthday, the Devil comes to collect on an ancestral debt. Desperate times call for desperate measures, forcing him to reach out to his ex-boyfriend and his wife for help. It's been awhile since I found occultist delights like Tarot cards in a read, it was a blast!

Read More

Hurricane Blonde - Halley Sutton - Top Book Pick!

Hurricane Blonde - Halley Sutton - Top Book Pick!

Noir Fiction

Rating: 9/10

Salma, a promising child actor, now spends her days as a guide for the Stars Six Feet Under tour, leading leering fans through star studded streets to the places where actresses of the past met their untimely, and often macabre, ends. A dark and gripping noir that is both a scathing indictment of the cult of celebrity and a brutal unpacking of long kept secrets. So much more than a tragedy about a woman who met a grisly end, it’s also a profound exploration of grief and love.

Read More

Cascade Failure - L.M. Sagas - Top Book Pick!

Cascade Failure - L.M. Sagas - Top Book Pick!

Sci-Fi

Rating: 8.5/10

Reader, strap in and hold on! Remember the cult favourite television series Firefly? From the first page to the last, you will be rooting for this messy and lovable found family. A space adventure with a motley crew of ragtag misfits and outcasts that is absolute genius. Full of snarky banter, wickedly wacky fun, and moments that will hit you right in your soft places, read this. You can thank me later.

Read More

We Love The Nightlife - Rachel Koller Croft

We Love The Nightlife - Rachel Koller Croft

Horror

Rating: 7.5/10

A vampire story set in the Disco era? I am so here for it. Judge me all you want, I loved Disco. Joyful and effervescent songs…what’s not to love! Amber should have known the party wouldn’t last when Nicola, her maker, casually suggested killing her husband. She made her promise not to harm him. Spoiler alert, vampires lie. I include a suggested Disco Playlist, go ahead and use it, I won't tell.

Read More

Things Don't Break On Their Own - Sarah Easter Collins

Things Don't Break On Their Own - Sarah Easter Collins

Fiction/Thriller

Rating: 8/10

When Willa arrives to a dinner party thrown by her first love, she has no reason to think it will anything other than an ordinary evening. She could never have predicted that this innocuous gathering would be the thing that would turn her world on its axis. Decidedly it turns out to be anything but ordinary…

Read More

I Need You To Read This - Jessa Maxwell

I Need You To Read This - Jessa Maxwell

Mystery

Rating: 7/10

Since arriving in New York to escape a past only alluded to in the early stages of this novel, Alex has lived a quiet life. When she stumbles across the advertisement to replace the famous, presumed murdered, advice columnist Dear Constance, Alex takes the plunge. Then our story really begins! I loved the way the author incorporated Dear Constance letters, some likely written by Alex herself. Maybe.

Read More

Escape Velocity - Victor Manibo

Escape Velocity - Victor Manibo

Sci-Fi/Mystery

Rating: 8/10

Think Knives Out meets Die Hard, set on a luxury space resort. Admit it, you are intrigued. With a cast of flawed and fascinating characters and plot awash with scores to settle, secrets will not stay buried, and deception will not be outrun. Whatever veneer these characters are holding on to will be eradicated in short order. Gotta love the uber rich...

Read More

You Must Remember This - Kat Rosenfeld

You Must Remember This - Kat Rosenfeld

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

As a fractured family gathers at the Mansion at the center of someone(s) inheritance, there are plenty of secrets and lies hovering around. Their matriarch's fractured mind caused her to set out on an iced over lake not solid enough to hold her, plunging her to her death. Feels just a smidge convenient no? As the saying goes, you can't pick your family...

Read More

Boys In The Valley - Philip Fracassi

Boys In The Valley - Philip Fracassi

Horror

Rating: 8.5/10

This author deftly and unflinchingly has the reader confront the worst of their childhood fears, whether they want to or not. He masterfully pens deep-seated menace on every page. Imagine The Exorcist meets It vibes and if that’s not your jam, move along. I don’t know what is says about horror fans that we love a demonically possessed child cast in our fiction...but here we are.

Read More

No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister

No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister

Fiction

Rating: 7.5/10

One book. Nine readers. Ten changed lives. Alice has writing a stunning debut novel. This book follows the impact of her words on nine individuals. All on different paths in life, each of whom will be forever changed by her book. A beautifully written and inventive book that reminds readers from all walks of life that nothing is as powerful as a story.

Read More

Road To Heaven - Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson

Road To Heaven - Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson

Noir Crime

Rating: 7.5/10

After burning out at the Police Academy, Patrick is forced to put his skills to the questionable role of private eye. Before the sun sets on his first day of investigation, he will have alienated a pastor, insulted the father, flirted with the stepmother, chased a homeless man and been hit by a car. And that’s all before he discovers the body.

Read More

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros - Top Book Pick!

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros - Top Book Pick!

Fantasy

Rating: 9/10

If you would have told me that I would LOVE a fantasy story with dragons in it, I would have questioned your sanity. I’m the person who had to bow out of Game Of Thrones the minute the dragon eggs showed up. And yet, here we are. I kept company with an unlikely heroine who would rather be reading, a love interest with secrets and a six-pack, and a snarky dragon with a soft spot for both of them. What a delight!

Read More

Think Twice - Harlan Coben

Think Twice - Harlan Coben

Thriller

Rating: 7.5/10

Three years ago, Myron gave the eulogy at the funeral of his client, Greg. So, when Greg’s DNA shows up all over the scene of a double murder, he is rather taken aback. And thus begins the cat and mouse chase of the dead/not dead guy and the serial killer who not only dispatches his victims but finds someone to frame for his/her dastardly deeds. The band of misfits from Coben’s classic series is back and up to their same old shenanigans!

Read More

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8/10

Ernest, struggling to write his second book, wonders how he got an invite to a prestigious writer’s festival aboard a luxury train. By this point he is fairly certain that his first book, a memoir of his murderous family, was a lucky fluke. When the bodies start dropping, he finally feels that creative spark. Whew! Ernest gets down to business with a delightful combination of zeal and obliviousness, you can’t help but love the guy!

Read More