The Black Kids

Author: Christina Hammonds Reed

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.

Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.

As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.

With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?

Ashley is a likable and complex character. She’s carrying the weight of her parents’ expectations, wrestling with the meaning of friendship and figuring out her own identity. 

This is a beautifully written story of family, friendship, love and identity. 

Don’t Look for Me

Author: Wendy Walker

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Narrator: Therese Plummer

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hi there! I’m back after a week and a half of being sick. I caught a nasty head/chest cold that really walloped me. I had most of the same symptoms as covid except for the breathing difficulties. But before I could even get an appointment to see my doc, I had to get a covid test. Happy it was negative and I just had regular old germs.  But being sick really knocked me off my game. I had no energy to write reviews or take pics. I couldn’t even focus enough to read. Although I could listen to audiobooks. Weird, right? 

I’m on the mend and feeling better. I finished the audio of Don’t Look for Me and I really enjoyed it. It was a twisty thriller about a woman who suddenly disappears. Did she walk away from from an unimaginable family tragedy or was it something more sinister? 

Therese Plummer does an excellent job with the audio narration. Her voice for the character of Alice, a little girl, is super creepy! A very satisfying thriller! 

They Wish They Were Us

Author: Jessica Goodman

Publisher: Razorbill

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️

At an elite private high school, The Players are a not-so-secret cabal of students who seem to have everything handed to them. Jill and her friends in The Players are ready for their senior year. They are the most popular, smartest and have the most fun. They’re ready to take the reins of The Players and have an epic senior year. But the death of Jill’s best friend three years earlier is still impacting the group. Jill gets a text about the boy who had confessed to the murder. He’s recanting his confession and claiming he’s innocent. Will Jill help him prove it? 

This was an okay and quick young adult thriller. There’s some twists and a few red herrings. Not all the characters are spoiled rich kids, but most of the characters are cliches with very little character development. I found myself skimming some pages because it didn’t always my attention. But I’m sure there are many teen readers who will find lots to like about this mystery and enjoy it. 

October Reading Wrap Up

October was a fun reading month. I finally finished listening to James Clavell’s Shogun. It’s just over 53 hours of listening time. Whew! That’s a long book! A little too long if you ask me. I only read it because it’s on Amazon’s list of 100 mysteries and thrillers to read in a lifetime. After reading it, I wouldn’t put it in the mystery or thriller category. I wouldn’t have put it on the list but Amazon didn’t ask my opinion. 😀 

Harlan Coben’s Tell No One is also on Amazon’s list. The book was good but I don’t think it’s stellar. Another book on the list that I don’t think deserves to be there. 

Everybody’s favorite vigilante drifter Jack Reacher is back in The Sentinel. Series creator Lee Child is handing the writing duties over to his brother Andrew Child. I enjoyed The Sentinel and look forward to see what direction Andrew will take the series. 

My two five star books for the month were The Alice Network and The Sundown Motel. The Alice Network is an engrossing espionage story that bounces back and forth between World War I and just after World War II. 

The Sundown Motel was the perfect book to read during the spooky season. A young woman investigates the disappearance of her aunt 30 years ago. Her aunt went missing while working the night shift at a creepy motel. A great mystery with just a touch of horror. 

In Five Years

Author: Rebecca Serle

Publisher: Altria Books

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dannie is a woman with a plan. She has her whole life mapped out. She’ll get her dream job, when she and her boyfriend will get engaged, when they will get married, where they will live. On the night Mark pops the question, Dannie falls asleep and wakes up five years in the future. She’s in a strange apartment with a strange man. It is a very real and visceral experience. She falls back to sleep and she’s back in her apartment with Mark. But she’s shaken by her strange dream or premonition. She doesn’t want to deviate from her comfortable life. The next four and a half years go as planned except Dannie and Mark never set a date for their wedding. They are busy with their careers. Life gets in the way. Dannie’s best friend Bella introduces her to the new man in her life. He is the man from Dannie’s dream. What is going on? 

This is a beautiful story about friendship, love and relationships. It made me cry. I blame an Instagram friend for that. She posted a review of this book a few days ago. I thought it sounded good. I went to the library the next day and this was the first book I saw in the new book section. Karma! I had to grab it and I’m glad I did. 

What was the last book that made you cry? 

Tell No One

Author: Harlan Coben 

Publisher: Dell

Year: 2017

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Complex isn’t the right word for this book. I think convoluted is more accurate. Sure, there’s lots of twists and turns but they are so outlandish they are can’t be taken seriously. 

Dr. Stephen Beck’s wife was murdered eight years ago and he’s still grieving. They were soulmates, together since the tender age of 13. He can’t get over her. Then he gets a cryptic email from an anonymous sender and his life is turned upside down. 

A few years ago Amazon came out with a list of 100 mysteries and thrillers to read in a lifetime. (I’ll put a link to the list in the comments.) Well, I saw the list as a personal challenge and started my way through it. I had already read many books on the list, so now I reading the books that are new to me. The list is interesting with classic older books and modern books. 

Tell No One is on the list and that’s why I read it. And now I’m wondering why it’s on the their list. It’s good, but not great. It’s entertaining but the characters and the story isn’t going to stick with me. I’m sure many other readers liked it more than I did. But I just don’t see it as a “must read” thriller.

Here’s Amazon’s list: 

 https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=nodl_?ie=UTF8&node=8994558011

What book would you designate as a must read mystery or thriller?

And Now She’s Gone

Author: Rachel Howzell Hall

Publisher: Forge Books

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a well plotted mystery with lots of twists and turns. But with Grayson Sykes, Author Rachel Howzell Hall has created a very real and endearing character and that is a triumph. 

We’re used to preternaturally smart or observant detectives in crime fiction. Think Sherlock or Poirot. They can look at some clues and put the pieces of the puzzle all together. But Gray Sykes solves her first case through dogged determination. She is such a very real character. Her pen runs out of ink while interviewing her client. She forgets to record a witness statement. She gets chocolate icing on her clothes. She doesn’t think to wear an outfit that helps her blend in on surveillance. She’s a rookie P.I. on her first case making rookie mistakes. And yet she persists. She’s determined to find Isabel Lincoln and a dog named Kenny G. 

Gray’s backstory also makes her an interesting character. She spent years in the foster care system until she was adopted by loving parents. She escapes an abusive marriage but is still haunted and hunted by her abuser. All that makes Gray a very complex, strong, smart, and very real character. 

The mystery itself has enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. It’s well plotted and keeps moving along with only a few slow spots. I’m a sucker for mysteries set in L.A. and I’m a fan of the author’s Detective Lou Norton series. (Check out that series if you haven’t yet.) So I was really looking forward to this book and I was not disappointed. I hope we see more of Gray Sykes in the future!