⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars) Cash Blackbear never goes looking for trouble, but trouble always finds her. When the Ojibwe college student and farmhand stumbles across a murdered farmer and a frightened young girl in rural Minnesota, she’s pulled into a case as tangled as the furrows she plows. What unfolds is more than a mystery—it’s a stark look at the foster care system, the weight of racism, and what it means to fight for survival when the odds are stacked against you. Marcie R. Rendon’s Broken Fields is one of those mysteries you inhale in a weekend. On the surface, it’s a deliciously complicated whodunit set in 1970s Minnesota farm country. […]
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When Twisty Turns to Icky
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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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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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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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A Bold, Beautiful Shift for Baldacci
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strangers in Time is a refreshing change of pace for David Baldacci—and an absolute triumph. Best known for his pulse-pounding thrillers, Baldacci trades high-tech espionage for wartime Europe, and the result is a deeply human, emotionally rich novel that’s hard to put down. Set during World War II, this story isn’t just about battles and strategy. It’s about people—flawed, brave, complicated people—thrown into impossible circumstances. Baldacci’s gift for plotting is still here, but this time he leans hard into character. The relationships feel real, the dialogue is sharp, and the stakes are personal in all the right ways. He doesn’t just recreate the era—he brings it to life with […]
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