When a decomposing body is discovered alongside a white bullet casing, the police begin to receive complex riddles from the killer, taunting them with opportunities to stop future planned murders. One down, eight to go. With the unrelenting game of cat and mouse afoot, a sense of desperation pervades the book, ensuring an outstanding read. One not for the faint of heart.
Read MoreTeenager Jack becomes a suspect when she discovers a body floating in the river she spends all her free time on. Her grandmother, whose living with her and her mom while she battles cancer, resolves to ferret out the real killer. And absolutely nothing, and no one, will dissuade her. Do not mistake granny for anybody’s push over, she is a force to be reckoned with.
Read MoreNoir fiction offers an alternate reality, one rife with vice, temptation, corruption, and deep-seated desperation. At its best, noir is a roadmap to the subversive. It is where the clarity of moral division disintegrates, where the black and white blur into gray. Where flawed characters are revered, and the truth wielded with blunt force. These novels are not for the faint of heart or those looking for a happy ending. Or even a satisfying one. If you like your prose gritty, your verbs punchy, your settings darkly lit, your plots twisty and unpredictable, and your protagonists utterly, irrevocably doomed…here we go.
Read MoreCal is a detective working with the police on certain, shall we say, sensitive cases. Think of him as a fixer. When he’s called in to investigate a homicide, at first, he thinks it’s a mistake. That it’s just a run of the mill murder and not one that involves a Titan. Society’s richest, most powerful, medically enhanced and genetically altered elites. The world the author plops us into is shadowy and visceral, the plotting impeccable and the characters gleefully immoral. In other words, fun!
Read MoreI have wonderful memories of watching television mysteries with my mom. Sunday nights were must-see TV, hobnobbing with Jessica Fletcher as she ambled into yet another murder in her quaint hometown. Thursdays were all about Columbo, our eyes were riveted to the boob tube in stupefied fascination as the seemingly bumbling detective laid it all out. The chagrin of the dastardly culprits as they were unmasked by either of these genius sleuths was priceless. Is it any surprise that love translated to books? Enjoy a read that celebrate sleuths of all kinds!
Read MoreSeptember 7th, 2023 will mark the 5th Anniversary of Cracking The Spine.
Over these years I have shared an abundance of content with my readers. Profiling 1,500+ books through innovative and in-depth features as well as reviews of the books I have read during this time. To honor this moment of celebration, I will share my five-fav reads in the last five years under each of my five-fav genres.
I hope you have found as much joy in my bookish wanderings as I have in sharing them! More to come…
Read MoreFor as long as most of us have been alive, we have looked up at the stars and dreamed of the remarkable. Visions of sprawling and distant worlds, parallel universes, artificial intelligence, unearthly creatures, and concepts we would be hard pressed to put a name to have tumbled through our minds. Recent offerings in the genre are limitless, bringing to the page the fantastical as well as the futuristic. Fans are ravenous and the last few years have offered up an unprecedented level of satiation for that hunger.
Read MoreAt the very least, books are meant to ignite our imagination. That spark, when given full reign is arguably the most transformative and revelatory capacity we as humans have access to. And no genre wields this influence more fully than Fantasy. Authors in this category regard a sheet of paper empty of words as a blank canvas on which to paint unfathomable universes. So reader, allow me to lead you into the language of dreams.
Read MoreContent Warning: the books gathered here are full of foodie delights, reading these books may cause hunger pangs that can lead to loud, possibly embarrassing growling to emerge from your stomach, as well as likely salivation that results in drooling. Proceed with no caution whatsoever…
Read MoreThere's one fantasy that doesn't get old even as we do: running away with the circus. Escaping to a place where you can inhale the mouthwatering scent of cotton candy and fresh popcorn, behold dazzling lights that turn night into day, be held captive by impossible feats of magic, and surrender yourself to a place of vast spectacle. Bring a spark of extraordinary into your everyday life with these incredible books that will sweep you away to the dark and glamourous world of carnivals and circuses, where nothing is as it seems. A setting ripe for literature as any I can imagine.
Read MoreI’m a planner in every way you could imagine, a particular quirk that benefits my reading life. And now you dear reader, will reap the rewards with my new monthly post that will feature three of the most interesting books coming out in the next month as well as a few extra just for fun. Happy Reading!
Read MoreThis author crafts stories that are as heartwarming as they are heartbreaking, expertly guiding us through the complexities that emerge within families. Her latest packs an emotional punch, delivering a page turning family drama that explores the consequences of loyalty, deception, jealousy, scandal, and fraught family dynamics. And the big secret that the scandal in the title is referring too, its a doozy!
Read MoreAnna O - Matthew Blake
Yellowface - R.F. Kuang
The Busy Body - Kemper Donovan
My Murder - Katie Williams
Kill For Me Kill For You - Steve Cavanagh
Last Murder At The End Of The World - Stuart Turton
The Fury - Alex Michaelides
End Of The Story - A.J. Finn
A Talent For Murder - Peter Swanson
The Split - Kit Frick
Assassins Anonymous - Rob Hart
First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston
One Of The Good Guys - Araminta Hall
Not By Blood - Chris Narozy
He Started It - Samantha Downing
Blood Sugar - Sascha Rothchild
No One Will Miss Her - Kat Rosenfield
Woman In The Window - A.J. Finn
For More Reads Like This, Check Out…
Curse Of Pietro Houdini - Derek B. Miller
The Lost Van Gogh - Jonathan Santlofer
The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte
Fake - Erica Katz
The Art Forger - B.A. Shapiro
Chasing Cezanne - Peter Mayle
The Last Mona Lisa - Jonathan Santlofer
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova
The Violin Conspiracy - Brendan Slocumb
Loot - Aaron Elkins
Girl With The Botticelli Eyes - Herbert Lieberman
The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears
The Gauguin Connection - Estelle Ryan
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
The Cabinets Of Barnaby Mayne - Elsa Hart
The Art Thief - Michael Finkel
Con/Artist: Life & Crimes Of The World’s Greatest Art Forger - Tony Tetro
Hot Art: Chasing Thieves & Detectives In The World Of Stolen Art - Josh Knelman
For More Reads, Check Out…
The Women - Kristin Hannah
Warm Hands Of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
Table For Two - Amor Towles
James - Percival Everett
The Widow Spy - Megan Campisi
Homecoming - Kate Morton
The Last Russian Doll - Kristen Loesch
The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell
The Starlet Letter - Julie Mathison
The Spectacular - Fiona Davis
The Sin Eater - Megan Campisi
The Puzzle Master - Danielle Trussoni
Essex Dogs - Dan Jones
Hotel Of Secrets - Diana Biller
Strangers In The Night - Heather Webb
A Gentleman In Moscow - Amor Towles
The House With The Golden Door - Elodie Harper
L.A. Confidential - James Ellroy
For More Historical Fiction…
Juniper is a fledging writer, ravenous with ambition. When her bestselling author friend Athena chokes to death one night when they are hanging at her fancy schmancy apartment, Juniper steals her just-finished masterpiece. A masterpiece she hasn’t whispered a thing about to anyone. Did I mention she is also an unabashed liar. Flat out, bald faced, deluded and narcissistic, she even manages to fool herself. Seriously, she cannot help herself. A brilliant read!
Read MoreAidan is charming, objectively handsome, and always willing to lend a hand. But behind the meticulously fabricated veneer, he’s also a kidnapper and serial killer. While we all have reason to shy away from the “serial killer” novels, which have seen a resurgence of popularity in the last year, this one delves a little deeper than most. What is, at a glance, a twisted premise, is in fact a novel that raises unexpected moral considerations.
Read MoreJanuary is head of security at the Paradox Hotel, a luxury locale where trillionaires stay when travelling to and from different time periods. With a big summit planned to determine the new owner of the hotel, she struggles to keep herself in the here and now while juggling a maelstrom of complications that arise. The hotel is losing bits and pieces of past events, almost as if history is dissolving. And she herself is unstuck, a little like Alice In Wonderland. And then there’s the body in a room that doesn’t exist. What’s a girl to do? Well, this girl’s not telling!
Read MoreWhen a manuscript written by a man who calls himself Hunter arrives in the mail, Nyala never expected to be lured into the story of a man intent on bringing down an elite society of operatives and killers that have controlled the worlds treasures and artifacts for hundreds of years. The fact that he has addressed her by name, that he is unwavering in his assurance that she has a part to play, that’s just another mystery she sets out to unravel.
Read MoreIf you go into this book by actor Andrew McCarthy thinking you are going to leave with some juicy celebrity gossip, you will be dissatisfied. What you will get is an intimate, funny, and deeply poignant memoir that invites you along on a trek of discovery for a father and son as they navigate a new way to connect as adults. Within moments of setting out on day 1 of this ambitious, arduous, and potentially profound walk, Sam informs his dad that he is about to get so sick of him. 34 days to go.
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