⭐⭐⭐✨ Ann Napolitano’s Within Arm’s Reach is a tender, multigenerational portrait of an Irish-American family in New Jersey, told through the alternating perspectives of three generations of women. Catharine McLaughlin, the strong-willed maternal grandmother, carries the family’s history and grief; her daughter, Grace, juggles a shaky marriage and the demands of motherhood; and Grace’s daughters, Lila and Meghan, navigate adolescence, first loves, and the slow pull toward independence. Napolitano’s prose is intimate and perceptive, revealing the small moments and unspoken tensions that shape family life. The shifting viewpoints show how the same events can be interpreted in vastly different ways, depending on where you stand. It’s a quiet novel, more […]
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Grief, Glitches, and a Message from the Beyond
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I Think I Was Murdered blends grief, tech, and suspense into a twisty, emotionally charged mystery. After her husband Brian dies, Katrina finds herself relying on a cutting-edge AI chatbot that mimics his personality and speech patterns. Built using Brian’s digital footprint—emails, texts, videos—it becomes her lifeline. She chats with “him” daily, unable to let go. But when the bot suddenly types the chilling sentence “I think I was murdered,” Katrina’s world is turned upside down. The concept is both eerie and fascinating. The bot isn’t just a gimmick—it’s Katrina’s crutch, a digital ghost she confides in, argues with, and leans on to cope with overwhelming loss. Her emotional dependency adds depth […]
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A Lukewarm Return for Mitch McDeere
⭐⭐⭐ The Exchange picks up fifteen years after The Firm, but don’t expect the same crackling suspense. Mitch McDeere is back, now a globe-trotting lawyer knee-deep in international legal drama—but the story spends more time in airports than in courtrooms. The constant hopping from city to city slows the pace and muddies the plot. It opens in Memphis, a nice nod to the original, but quickly abandons that thread and never really looks back. Instead, we’re tossed into a convoluted rescue mission that feels more like a spy novel than a legal thriller. The characters are flat, the villains generic, and the lawyers? Let’s just say if you disliked them before, this […]
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Apocalyptic Chaos Meets Personal Redemption in This Gripping Faith-Fueled Thriller
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ve been watching and waiting for Christ’s second coming, so this was a timely read. Vanished by Dr. David Jeremiah is a high-stakes, end-times thriller that hits on both a global and personal level. John “Haggs” Haggerty leads a military unit tasked with stopping pandemics before they spread—but as disasters pile up, it’s clear the world is heading toward something far more cataclysmic. Plagues, earthquakes, wars… the signs are everywhere. But Haggs’s real battle is closer to home. He’s grieving the collapse of his marriage and struggling to stay connected to his adult daughter. The emotional weight he carries makes his fight for redemption feel real and relatable. Jeremiah blends action […]
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Charming Villain, Frustrating Victims
⭐⭐⭐ Lisa Jewell’s Don’t Let Him In is the literary version of yelling “Girl, no!” at your book every five minutes. Nick Radcliffe is polished, persuasive, and apparently made of Teflon—because every red flag bounces right off him while the women around him melt like butter on a July sidewalk. We’ve got Nina, a grieving widow who lets this charmer right through the front door (and basically into her life without a second thought). Her daughter Ash sniffs trouble and plays Nancy Drew, but even she takes her sweet time. Then there’s Martha, who’s basically living in a “My Husband Has a Secret Life” docuseries. Add in a few more […]
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Fast, Flashy, and Forgettable
⭐⭐⭐ I thought I would love this book. Brad Meltzer knows how to spin a good government thriller, but The Lightning Rod didn’t maintain my interest the way I expected it to. The premise—an ex-military man murdered after dropping off his car—starts strong, but the story quickly gets bogged down in convoluted twists and uneven pacing. Nola Brown, a standout character in the first book, is back, but this time she feels underused. Her sharp edge and emotional complexity take a backseat to a busy plot that never quite finds its rhythm. The short chapters move things along, but I often found myself tuning out. The pacing is fast, with […]
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A Gripping Cat-and-Mouse Thriller
Terri Blackstock’s If I Run kicks off like a shot and doesn’t let up. When Casey Cox finds her best friend murdered—and her own DNA at the scene—she bolts. Not because she’s guilty, but because she knows the police won’t believe her. With a traumatic past and deep distrust of law enforcement, Casey is on the run with only her instincts. Enter Dylan Roberts, a war vet with PTSD, hired to bring her in. At first, he believes she’s guilty. But as he digs deeper, the story doesn’t add up—and neither does Casey. Told in alternating points of view, the book builds tension and empathy as the stakes climb. Both characters are […]
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Timely Tension and Tactical Thrills
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Andrews and Wilson’s second entry in Clancy’s Jack Ryan series (following Act of Defiance) is a top-notch geopolitical thriller centered on rising tensions between China and the United States. When China’s new hardline president sets plans in motion for an invasion of Taiwan, U.S. President Jack Ryan must navigate diplomacy, military strategy, and international fallout—all while working to extract a high-ranking Chinese defector. Though technically a military thriller, this book focuses more on strategy and global maneuvering than nonstop action. There’s some danger and suspense, but it’s the behind-the-scenes planning and diplomatic brinkmanship that drive the story. I appreciated how current the storyline felt—it could’ve been lifted from today’s […]
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A Dark and Twisty Honeymoon Gone Wrong
4.5 stars Talk about dysfunctional families! Everyone in Karin Slaughter’s This Is Why We Lied has secrets, but only one of them is a killer. From the first scream at McAlpine Lodge, the tension never lets up. This locked-room mystery—the 12th book in the Will Trent series—had me hooked from the start. Will Trent and Sara Linton just wanted a quiet honeymoon. Instead, they stumble upon a murder and a web of lies so tangled it’s hard to know who to trust. Mercy McAlpine, the lodge manager, dies whispering her last words to Will, and every family member and guest quickly becomes a suspect. Mercy’s abusive ex, her ice-cold parents, […]
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When the Music Turns into Mayhem: The Dark Maestro Hits a Sour Note
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars) I was really looking forward to The Dark Maestro. Brendan Slocumb’s first two books were fresh and original, blending music and mystery in a way that worked beautifully. But this one? It veers way off-key. The plot centers on Curtis Wilson, a classical music prodigy whose career gets derailed when his dad—who happens to be a drug dealer—ticks off a ruthless cartel. The family goes into witness protection, but when law enforcement fails to deliver, Curtis and crew decide to take down the cartel themselves. Sure, why not? The premise was already shaky, but then came the comic book storyline. It was supposed to be metaphorical or […]
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