The Camino

 

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Thank you Simon and Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook!

This is not the fast paced thriller the cover promises, and that's exactly why I liked it.

A widow retraces her husband’s final walk on the Camino and discovers the man she married never existed.

The Camino by Anya Niewierra is billed as a literary thriller, and it is and it isn’t. It reads more like a domestic drama braided with historical fiction, with a character study at its heart. So a fair warning from your librarian: if you go in expecting a page turner with a twist every chapter, you might be disappointed. But if you love to settle into a layered story and let it unfold at its own pace, your patience will be rewarded.

Lotte Bonnet is a Dutch chocolatier whose husband Emil, a refugee from Bosnia, died by suicide while walking the Camino de Santiago through central France. One year later, Lotte follows his exact route, stop for stop, hoping to understand what happened. Along the way she learns that Emil had been living a lie for their entire marriage. And she starts to realize someone does not want her to finish the walk.

The second timeline comes through a letter written to Lotte, describing life in Bosnia before the war and the hardships and horrors once it began. I’m old enough to remember watching the Bosnian War unfold on the news, and it’s clear Niewierra did serious research here. This is a time and place that doesn’t get much shelf space in historical fiction, and it deserves it.

I liked Lotte. I found the story unique and intriguing. There's a subplot I thought pulled focus from the main story, but overall it's an engrossing read. A quick note that this book was a phenomenon in the Netherlands, selling over 800,000 copies and winning multiple awards, and it's finally available in English for the first time.

On audio, Carlotta Brentan and Vas Eli are excellent. Their performances perfectly match Niewierra’s lyrical prose, and having two narrators for the two timelines really elevated the listening experience.

This is a good choice for historical fiction lovers who want a setting and events off the beaten path, and literary thriller readers who like to get lost in a story that takes its time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now.

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of Heather. It's a literary thriller by Caitlin Muller.

About the Author

Anya Niewierra is the number one bestselling author of the Netherlands, dubbed by the press as the new queen of Dutch literature. She has written six books, all of them immense bestsellers. Her breakthrough book The Camino has sold well over 800,000 copies in the Netherlands, won both the NS Reader’s Award and the Hebban Crime Award, and was the bestselling and most borrowed book of the year in the Netherlands in 2024, spending over 170 weeks on the bestseller list. It’s currently being made into an international television series and has been published in multiple languages. Follow Anya on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

IG Live | a conversation with author Andre Hardy

 

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Andre Hardy played running back in the NFL and then wrote a gritty crime fiction debut. If you missed our live chat, check out this replay.

Tear the City Down came out this yesterday and it's the kind of book I'd recommend to any reader who tells me they want something gritty and don't want to be babied. Coltrane Davis is a fixer who wants out. His daughter's tennis career is finally the thing worth going straight for. Then a Chargers star running back vanished the night before a big game, and  Coltrane’s boss pulls him back in for one more job. That job takes him somewhere very dark. (Be aware there are several trigger warnings.)

We talked about how a guy goes from the football field to writing noir, why jazz runs through every page, what Andre saw behind the scenes in football that made it into the book, and the many side his of hometown city San Diego. 

If you're a fan of S.A. Cosby or Walter Mosley, this one is for you.

Watch the replay, then grab the book at Bookshop.org. This is for the readers who like their crime fiction fast, brutal, and with a heart.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted book.

if you missed it, be sure to check out my review of Tear the City Down.

August Reading Wrap Up

 

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I read 13 books in August. Want to know what they were and what my two favorites for the month were? Check out my reading wrap up that's posted over on my Instagram.

Check out my list of favorite books of the year so far at Bookshop.org. Every purchase from there helps out an indie bookstore.

Before You Were Anne

 

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook. 

Some books tell you who a person was. This one shows you who she had to become.

Anne Walker is found murdered in her Seattle home and her sixteen-year-old daughter Naomi is gone. Detective Chelsey Calhoun and her partner Ryan Montoya catch the case, and what starts as a straightforward investigation cracks wide open when the detectives learn Anne was born Rika Takahashi on a remote farm in Japan. Her path to that suburban house runs through Tokyo's underworld, an isolated town in Idaho, and decades of carefully built lies. 

Chelsey has to find Naomi before she becomes the next victim, and the closer she gets to Rika's real life, the more dangerous the truth turns out to be. Rika’s not the only one with secrets. 

This is slow-burning, atmospheric, character-driven suspense told in three voices across timelines. Author Emiko Jean expertly weaves them together. The flashbacks are what make it. Rika's whole life unfolds in them, and by the end you understand exactly who she was and what she survived. Jean writes about motherhood, identity, trauma, and the damage that silence and secrets do to a family. Her prose is more lyrical than sharp, but it still takes the story to dark places. Meanwhile Chelsey is wrestling with her own family secrets and her own sense of identity, and that parallel gives the whole book real emotion. 

On audio, narrators Mizuo Peck, Meiko Gavin, and Mirai turn in outstanding performances. Their three distinct voices all carry real tension and heartbreak. If you want a layered, emotional mystery that stays with you long after the last page, this is your book. It's the second Chelsey Calhoun book but works completely as a standalone. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you liked this review you might be interested in my review of The Return of Ellie Black. It's the first book in the Chelsey Calhoun series.

About the Author

Emiko Jean is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult and adult fiction, including Love Me Tomorrow and Love Me Always. Her work has been published around the world and translated into over thirty languages. Follow Emiko on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

 

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I've very late to the Dungeon Crawler Carl party, but I'm thrilled I finally arrived. 

This is the first literary RPG (LitRPG) book I've read. LitRPG is a book that combines video game elements with a sci-fi or fantasy story. Elements such as character stats, inventory, skills, and weapons are common. 

DCC has been all over bookstagram. The plot is corporate aliens have turned the Earth into a giant reality show where the contestants must navigate a deadly maze. 

This book is a total romp and audiobook is a blast! The story itself is goofy action-filled fun, but it's the dynamic duo of Carl and Princess Donut that really make it shine. And yes, Princess Donut is a talking cat who I would protect with my life. 

If you've been curious about this book, go with the audiobook. Narrator Jeff Hays delivers a tour de force performance of all the characters. He is phenomenal. No two characters ever sound the same. His performance of Carl gives the character notes of empathy and intelligence that provide real emotion amid the all the chaos. Donut's voice has all the haughtiness you'd expect from a prize-winning show cat. 

The action is nonstop and the humor woven throughout the story made me laugh out loud at times. But between the chuckles and the gore, author Matt Dinniman slyly examines corporate exploitation, suffering as entertainment, humanity, defiance and resilience, and friendship. 

I'm not a gamer, but I loved everything about this book. This one's earned ALL THE STARS. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You can grab a copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore whiel you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review you might be interested in my review of Them by W.H. Chizmar.

About the Author

Matt Dinniman is a writer, artist, and bass player from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Follow Matt on Instagram and visit his website for more news and information about his books.

Tear the City Down

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted ARC.

Andre Hardy was fourth-round NFL draft pick. Now he’s writing gritty crime fiction.

Coltrane Davis has made millions as a fixer for Saul Sollman, a crooked kingmaker who moves San Diego’s elite around like chess pieces. Coltrane wants out. He’s got a teenage daughter with real tennis talent and a woman he’s ready to build a life with. Then the Chargers’ star running back is compromised, and Saul pulls him in for one more job. Easy money. There’s no such thing.

That job cracks San Diego open. Coltrane follows it into the city’s underworld and finds a girl being trafficked, and from that moment the book stops being about football entirely. He’s already haunted by his daughter’s best friend, another trafficking victim he couldn’t save. Saving this one becomes the only thing that matters to him.

Coltrane is a man of contradictions and he knows it. He knows something in him is broken and he’s trying to fix it with meditation and Buddhism, both of which his girlfriend Mona brought into his life. He’s also finding out that walking away from Saul is nowhere near as simple as deciding to.

The action is relentless and Coltrane will fight his way out of anything. But Hardy gives you more than suspense. Racism, poverty, and class inequality run through every page of this. It’s noir that has something on its mind.

This is a great choice for fans of S.A. Cosby looking for edgy noir. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out Sept. 1. 

🚨I’m chatting with Andre about Tear the City Down on IG Live Wednesday, September 2 at 3:00 PM EST. Come hang out with us.

Grab a copy of Tear the City Down at Bookshop.org and help am indie bookstore while you're at it.

if you enjoyed this review, you might like my review of Brimstone Hollow. 

About the Author

Andre Hardy has written across multiple genres, including creative nonfiction, essays and short stories, screenwriting, and long-form narrative. Andre’s essays, interviews, and critical analysis have been published in L.A. Tribe Magazine, Lunch Ticket, Antioch University’s cutting-edge literary and visual arts journal, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. His short story, “Negro in a Hot Tub,” is featured in Made in L.A.: An Anthology of Stories Rooted in the City of Angels, written by Los Angeles-based writers. Andre was the fourth pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1984 National Football League draft. He is a member of the NFL Retired Players Association and the NFL Legends Community, and he earned his MFA through the NFL Players Trust tuition reimbursement program. Follow Andre on Instagram or  visit his website for more news and information about his work.

We Already Dug the Grave

 

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Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.

Apparently murder is a family bonding activity in this book.

Milly used to be able to read the future in tea leaves, until one deadly night made the gift go silent. Now she’s estranged from her sister Francis, who married into the most powerful family in Alabama and hasn’t spoken to Milly in years. Not since what happened in that meadow when they were teens. But Francis shows at Milly’s door needing help, and Milly can’t say no, especially once the tea leaves start talking again. 

This is a Southern gothic thriller with strong Sharp Objects meets Practical Magic vibes. I liked the past and present timelines showing how Milly's and Francis’s childhood with their two no nonsense aunts shaped everything they became. The pace is steady and then revs up as the twists keep coming. Aunt Ruth and Aunt Hattie May stole every scene they were in. 

This one is a perfect choice if you love family drama with a pinch of the supernatural. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 We Already Dug the Grave is out September 8. 

You can preorder a copy from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of the supernatural thriller Molka.

About the Author

Emma C. Wells is the USA Today bestselling author of This Girl's A Killer. Follow Emma on Instagram or visit her website for more news an information about her books.