Mary

by Nat Cassidy

I do not know how to write the review for this 15+ hour audiobook. And seriously, I am never a person without something to say. My fear is if I give away details it will ruin the journey for you, and I want you to experience this as I did – completely cold. 

I request books based on title, cover pic and genre. So, romance is out. Feely feels is out. Memoirs, nope, not interested. On the Netgalley site it’s listed as general fiction, but Goodreads lists supernatural, horror, mystery with a nod to Midsommar, which was all I needed to hear.

From the moment Susan Bennett begins her skillful narration as main character Mary, I was hooked. Mary is a character different than most, and similar (minus a few things) to me – she’s older, she’s enduring perimenopause and not afraid to talk about it, she’s got less years left than behind and a ton of baggage being carried solely on her back. I loved Mary. And her Aunt Nadine was given some of the best lines I’ve read in a book. In fact, this book was filled with things I wanted to write down to share – author Nat Cassidy is a master of dialogue. Not spoiling things but when you read this pay attention to the quote about belly rubs and dogs versus cats. I happened to listen to this on a dark weekend in my country’s history and this quote resonated through every fiber of my being.

So, I won’t tell you more about the plot but I will tell you that I found myself researching the author. I’ve never heard of this man yet he was writing exactly for me. In his prologue he mentions Stephen King, Carrie, being a reader and writer as a kid – that was me too. I LOVE books with depth and Cassidy writes with depth. A 15+ hour audiobook as his first time up at bat???? Wow. Having grown up as a reader of King, Saul, Koontz, Jackson and having escaped deep into stories my whole life, I hope I live long enough to see where Cassidy’s extraordinary ability to tell a story goes. 

That’s it. Great book. Took me longer to process my feelings than it did to listen to the audio book and that is a credit to an author who understands how to tell a story.

The Hidden One

Linda Castillo

I enjoyed The Hidden One by Linda Castillo, but my one regret is requesting this one unaware it was BOOK 14 in a series! That alone is a big recommendation to a new reader – any series which continues to be written with that many books means a strong fan base with a talented writer. Since I’m not familiar with the character development in the earlier 13 novels, I can’t say for sure if you must read them all, but as a newbie, I liked this novel.

Centered around the Amish community, this mystery involves a strong female lead, Kate Burkholder, returning to her roots to help her first love from high school now arrested for murder. Knowing nothing about the Amish, I found all of this very interesting and am planning to do the series right and start at book 1.

Narrator Kathleen McInerney is one of my favorites, and, as usual, does an excellent job drawing in the reader with her comforting voice. An audio book depends so much on the quality of the narration, and McInerney is someone with great vocal depths. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen in advance of the July 12, 2022 release date.

The House Sitter

by Ellery Kane

The House Sitter, Ellery Kane’s standalone psychological thriller is full of twists and turns and I literally could not keep up with the surprises throughout the novel. The premise involves aging, forgetful, lonely Iris, a wealthy 70 year old who invites into her home a pair of strangers to act as caretaker and handyman. Given her forgetfulness, this seems like a wise idea but, of course, this book is exactly why we don’t invite strangers into our homes.

Kane writes an interesting book which starts at one place, and immediately jumps to police, blood and a missing Iris. The pair of caretakers then spend much of the novel being mysterious and trying to not look guilty as police work to unravel the crime. Several times I was shocked at the twists and I won’t say more, but I listened to this one in a day because I wanted to know the ending.

As an audio book, I was not in love with every character voiced by the narrator, Kristin James. The women were good, but the men felt like an effort and often sounded raspy.

Overall, a good book for a day and a nice beach day read for the summer.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to listen in advance of the June 14, 2022 release.

Make Me Disappear

by Jessica Payne

I checked the author bio on several sites because when I saw “debut novel” for Jessica Payne, I was shocked. Make Me Disappear does not read like a first book. This well crafted, kept-me-hanging-on-my-seat, psychological thriller is a home run for this new author. I will gladly add Payne to my list of authors to automatically read.

I was lucky enough to be selected by the publisher to listen to the soon to be released audio book version, and this is an easy to write review because the book is fantastic. It is full of smart, beautiful, accomplished characters, including nurse Noelle and her controlling boyfriend, Daniel, a doctor. There is money, grand homes, a future and, of course, conflict and suspense.

To escape what she fears will be a dangerous future for herself, Noelle arranges for her escape via a planned kidnapping. You know that goes wrong, right?

I’m a reader who gets lost in the story and often, only at the end, can guess the outcome. Payne wrote a book where I’d guess the outcome….and I was wrong….and I guessed again….and I was wrong. But she did it in a way that made sense and made me appreciate how much better her ending was from any of mine.

As for the audio book, I appreciated the use of two narrators to represent Noelle and Daniel’s perspectives. A male and female narrator are not always needed for an audio book, but since this one really did flip solidly from one character’s view to the other, I was more immersed in the experience hearing either a man or woman as speaker.

Thank you Bookouture, Netgalley and Jessica Payne for allowing me to listen in advance of the May 16, 2022 release.

The Girl from the Sea

by Shalini Boland

I am a big fan of author Shalini Boland and have read most of her books, but somehow I missed The Girl from the Sea when it was originally published in book form in 2016. Big thanks to Bookouture for releasing this audio book version, narrated by Katie Villa. When possible, audio book is my preferred medium, so receiving this one as an arc was a lottery win.

The story is a solid Boland psychological thriller and rings all the bells and whistles for me. Briefly, Mia James washes ashore on a beach narrowly avoiding death by drowning. She has no memory of who she is, or the people around her, and is uncomfortable when introduced to a stranger claiming to be her boyfriend. Oh, and she is obscenely wealthy living in a gorgeous home.

This is my genre. I love a good domestic thriller and can recommend not only this book, but any Boland book. Additionally, narrator Katie Villa does an excellent job in her choice of voices and this is one of the few books I did not feel the need to increase the playback rate. The story is read in the appropriate pacing and style.

Thank you to Bookouture and Negalley for the opportunity to listen to this one in advance of its May 13, 2022 release.

The Homewreckers

by Mary Kay Adams

Mary Kay Andrews is a well established author of 26 books and knows her stuff. As an MKA fan, I was psyched to get the newest book, The Homewreckers, on audio as an arc.

As most of her books are, this one will be on everyone’s beach read list. Unlike many of her previous works, however, The Homewreckers is a mixture of genres including mystery, romance, and chick lit combined with the addictive home improvement shows available 24/7 on cable and streaming. The main character, Hattie, a very young widow with skills and a dream, unwillingly ends up as part of a new home improvement tv show which is the bulk of the story, but then throw in a murder mystery to keep things interesting.

As an audio book fan, I enjoyed the narrator Kathleen McInerney and appreciated her ability to voice southern characters without an overwhelming accent.

The only tiny flaw in this book (and many may not consider this a flaw) – the audio book was 14 hours long. Not a normal length for something I’d classify as beach read or romance. I think it could have been just a tad shorter and still have been as good.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Netgalley and Mary Kay Adams for allowing me to listen to this one in advance of it’s May 3rd release.

Book #7 – Eden Close

by Anita Shreve

I have always been a reader.  I love books and there is never a point in my life where I am not beginning, in the middle or oh so close to finishing a book.  What I have come to realize these past few weeks is that I have read a lot of books, but most of them lacked depth.  They were the formulaic bad guy/good guy, nothing-of-meaning books.  Since that was my modus operandi in the past, New Year’s Resolution Sue is going for something different.  I am reading quality.  Dare I say even close to “literature” rather than bubble gum books?

“Eden Close” is another one of those books which caused me to pause while reading and realize there was more behind the words.  The kind of book which makes you reflect on your own past, your own bonds with people, roads less traveled.  I am loving spending time between the covers of books which make me think.

This one is set in a small town in upstate New York, but you can make it even smaller and say it takes place in two lonely farmhouses and the interaction of two families and circumstances.  Andrew, Andy as a boy, and neighbor Eden were childhood friends who knew there was much more between them than they showed.  The murder of Eden’s father, and her attack and rape, ended the childhood friendship and this story begins with Andrew’s arrival home for his mom’s funeral.  After 17 years, what remains to be resolved?

Shreve is an excellent author and the writing in this book is deep.  As a mom with the last kid leaving home in August, and a husband 11 years older, this particular passage as Andrew enters his childhood bedroom caused me a tear or two:

“On the desk now is her sewing machine, and instead of the old pens and half-used notebooks he used to keep in the right-hand drawer, he found there last night an array of bobbins, fabric scraps and needles.  There were other rooms she could have chosen to sew in – the sun room downstairs, where the light was good, or the guest bedroom.  Perhaps, though, she wanted an excuse to be in this room, to savor some vestige of her son’s presence…..He tries to imagine what it must have been like for her to have a family and have it fall away; his own leaving and never really coming back except as a visitor; his father abandoning her five years ago with a heart attack.”

Sigh.  Unlike my former genre of medical and legal thrillers, it is easy to imagine me as Andrew’s mother.  The losses she felt, the loneliness of a once vibrant farmhouse filled with everyone for whom she cared.  All gone as she spent her final years alone.  And now Andrew has returned, and her death allows him the opportunity to examine his own current existence and make choices to continue on without meaning, or reach out to the one love he knew as a teenager.

I loved “Eden Close” and plan to find more Anita Shreve books in which to spend some time.

5/5 Stars

Book #1 – The Night Swimmer

by Matt Bondurant

I recently watched the movie Lawless and was intrigued by the story, and the fact it was written by the grandson of one of the bootlegging main characters.  I decided to check out his work but didn’t want to read The Wettest County in the World which inspired Lawless.  Luckily his third novel was recently published and seemed interesting.

This is my first review, and I imagine the only rule to be no spoilers.  So, what prophetic words can I share without giving away the specific things which caused my opinion?  Not much.  I started this book and was immediately consumed by the idea (American couple winning an Irish pub), the main character and her voice (she has a genetic “abnormality” which allows her to tolerate cold and make open water swims) and the concept of starting anew in a place so different from the known.

Bondurant is a master of prose.  Despite not loving poetry, I found myself really pausing to soak up the descriptive language.  He creates characters who are compelling, and although not a swimmer or traveler to foreign destinations, I was mesmerized by both.  Every time main character Elly enters the water the reader can’t help but feel as though they are swimming beside her.

Unfortunately, about halfway through the book, I realized Bondurant was losing me.  What had begun as an exciting opportunity for a loving married couple, quickly turned into two people pushing each other away.  The times they were together in a scene was uncomfortable.  How quickly what we imagine to be what we want the most ends up destroying what we already enjoyed.

Despite reading every word in the book, and having a college degree, the last few chapters were hard to understand.  When the book ended I was lost.  Not wanting to appear ignorant in this first review, I perused the world wide web seeking enlightenment about the ending.  Turns out Sparknotes.com hasn’t covered this book yet.  I felt vindicated in my confusion when I discovered site after site with people also seeking an explanation of the ending.

Numerous reviews on Amazon.com were pretty divided into two camps.  Those of us who had no clue what happened and felt the author just wanted to end the book; and the second camp who criticized those of us who were confused and suggested we need to be spoon fed the facts as in a Sherlock Holmes novel.  Hmmmm.  Perhaps one day I will take this one of the shelf and re-read to see if I “get” it the second time.  Perhaps not.