⭐️⭐️⭐️ Every once in a while, I’m in the mood for a dark psychological thriller, so I gave Freida McFadden’s The Teacher a try. On the surface, it’s got the right ingredients—short chapters, plenty of twists, and a storyline about a teacher whose life unravels after a scandal. It’s undeniably readable; McFadden knows how to hook you. But here’s the rub: the subject matter left me cold. A predator targeting high schoolers? Sick. Layer on too much cheating and way too many graphic sex scenes, and what could have been a tense, smart thriller turned into something that felt more exploitative than entertaining. This was my first McFadden book, and while I […]
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New Cop, New Island, Same Connelly Magic
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Michael Connelly is back with Nightshade, the first book to feature Detective Stilwell. Once a homicide cop in Los Angeles, Stilwell gets shoved aside by department politics and reassigned to Catalina Island, stuck handling property crimes. Sounds easy—until a woman’s body turns up at the bottom of the harbor, identified only by a streak of purple in her hair. Then a routine poaching call explodes into violence, dragging Stilwell into the dangerous orbit of a powerful island figure and an old rival determined to bring him down. The setting is terrific: Catalina’s picture-perfect charm hides plenty of shadows, and Connelly makes the most of it. Stilwell isn’t polished or […]
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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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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 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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Secrets, Surprises, and a Story Within a Story: A Refreshing Turn for Rimmer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Midnight Estate is a fresh departure for Kelly Rimmer, and I was here for it. Known for emotional historical fiction, Rimmer shifts gears with a dual-timeline mystery full of family secrets, buried truths, and a book that just might know too much. When Fiona inherits her family’s crumbling estate, she also discovers an unfinished manuscript that echoes her own life. The story-within-a-story device is a fun twist and adds another layer of intrigue. I appreciated how the timelines played off one another, slowly revealing hidden connections and long-held grudges. While some call it “gothic,” I didn’t really get that vibe. Yes, there’s an old house and some dark […]
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Lost Books, Found Ambition: A Look at The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
⭐️⭐️ I’ll admit it—if a book involves a library, I’m probably going to read it. So Eva Jurczyk’s The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections had me from the title alone. It’s set in a dusty, prestigious university library where a rare manuscript disappears, and a quiet, second-in-command librarian named Liesl suddenly finds herself in charge. The mystery is a good one. The missing books aren’t just generic plot devices—they’re authentic historical works, and Jurczyk (a librarian at the University of Toronto herself) clearly knows the world she’s writing about. That behind-the-scenes look at special collections was easily my favorite part. Where it fell short for me was tone and cohesion. […]
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Royals, Rascals, and a Rattled New Mom: We Three Queens Is a Cozy Escape Worth the Read
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rhys Bowen’s We Three Queens is a delightful entry in the Royal Spyness series, blending royal intrigue, murder, and new-mom chaos. Lady Georgiana Rannoch has barely figured out how to burp her baby when she’s asked to hide someone far more troublesome—Wallis Simpson. Yes, that Wallis. As Georgie tries to keep the soon-to-be Duchess of Windsor out of sight, a film crew shows up to shoot a period drama about Henry VIII. Cue the chaos: egos, costumes, and a murder on set. Between diaper duty and damage control, Georgie has her hands full. I alternated between the eBook and audiobook, and the audio version was extraordinary. The narrator nailed […]
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