Rebecca

 Rebecca

Author: Daphne du Maurier

Narrator: Anna Massey

Publishers: Hachette Audio

Year: 2013

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” 

One of the most famous opening lines in literature and I finally got around to reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I was familiar with the bare bones of the story. An impressionable young woman falls quickly in love and marries wealthy older widower Maxim de Winter. He brings her to Manderley, his grand imposing ancestral family estate. Once there, she realizes the hold Max’s dead wife Rebecca still has on the estate and on him. There’s also creepy Mrs. Danvers, the head housekeeper, who is intent on sabotaging the new marriage. 

It’s a classic. It won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century. It’s slow burning and creepy. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Anna Massey. Her performance is powerful and exquisite. She strikes all the right notes from self conscious girl trying to fit in to confused newlywed trying to understand her moody husband to unafraid woman finally standing up for herself. Massey has great material to work with. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you’re a big fan of domestic or gothic suspense, this is a must read. Today’s domestic thrillers stand on du Maurier’s and Rebecca’s shoulders. 

This is on Amazon’s list of 100 mysteries and thrillers to read in a lifetime and I certainly see why. 

December Wrap Up

 December Reading Wrap Up

Happy last day of 2020! 

I think we’re all happy to see this year come to an end. I gad a good reading month. My favorites were Addie LaRue and Nothing to See Here. 

I’m trying to make a list of my top ten books for the year. It might have to be a top 17 list insofar ten. 😀

Prodigal Son

 Prodigal Son

Author: Gregg Hurwitz 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Year: 2021

The Nowhere Man is usually game for helping anyone in a desperate situation. But not this time. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Evan Smoak is back in this high octane thriller that continues the Orphan X series. Evan has been out of the super secret government assassin Orphan Program for awhile now. He’s spent most of his time since then as the Nowhere Man helping desperate people get out of bad situations. But now the Nowhere Man is in retirement which was forced upon him by the President of the United States. It’s not easy for Evan to be a regular guy, but he’s trying- until he answers a phone call from his birth mother asking for help. Evan doesn’t want to get involved with the woman who gave him up as an infant. She asks him to help a down on his luck man who witnessed a murder and who is now a target. 

Evan agrees to help and this leads him to long buried family secrets and the discovery of terrifying new military drone technology. Can Evan help this man while trying to cope with finally meeting his mother? 

This is one of my favorite action series. Evan could be one dimensional, but Hurwitz has made him a complex man trying to find and maintain humanity and empathy in the midst of death and destruction. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Gregg Hurwitz,  and St, Martin’s Press for the free eARC. Prodigal Son publishes January 26th. It’s the sixth in the series, but can be easily read as a standalone. 

#orphanx #nowhereman #evansmoak #gregghurwitz #stmartinspress #netgalley #thrillerbooks #actionbooks #doyouneedmyhelp #series #kindle #advancedreaderscopy #dogthedog #drones #dronetechnology

They Never Learn

 They Never Learn

Author: Layne Fargo

Publisher: Gallery Press

Year: 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who doesn’t love a good antihero? 

Scarlett Clark is a killer English professor- literally. Each year, she finds the worst man on her university’s campus and murders him. She is judge and jury for men who abuse and rape. She makes their deaths look like suicides or accidents. But all her meticulous planning goes awry with her latest target. It’s personal and messy. And Scarlett’s secret extracurricular activities might be exposed. 

Carly Schiller is a freshman at the university. She’s finally free of her emotionally abusive and controlling father and she’s trying to navigate college life. Carly and her roommate Allison form an intense relationship. When Allison is assaulted at a party, all Carly wants is revenge for her friend. 

Told from two different points of view, this thriller has lots of twists and turns as Scarlett fights to advance her career and keep her crimes from being discovered. Carly goes from socially awkward mousy girl to a young woman burning for justice. An intense thriller of justice, friendship, love, and revenge. 

Where the Forest Meets the Stars

 Where the Forest Meets the Stars

Author: Glendy Vanderah 

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing 

Year: 2019

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy last Monday of 2020! 

This book was my book club’s December read and we met via zoom last night to discuss it. We all agreed it was a good book and an easy read. We all loved the main character Ursa, a charming and whip smart little girl, who claimed to be an alien. Ursa turns up out of the woods by Jo’s cottage one day. Jo is a doctoral student doing field research on birds. Ursa says she is an alien sent to Earth from her planet in the Pinwheel Galaxy to study Earth and humans and must witness five miracles before returning to her home planet. Naturally there is a handsome and lonely next door neighbor who gets involved in the mystery of Ursa too. 

My book club all agreed that the ending wrapped up too quickly and neatly.

But all in all, it’s an enjoyable read. 

Little Cruelties

 Little Cruelties

Author: Liz Nugent

Publisher: Gallery Scout Press

Year: 2020

Happy winter solstice! 

I read this for this month’s #buddyreadstodiefor on Instagram and can’t wait to chat with the group about it soon. 

This is the story of three brothers growing up in Dublin. From the opening page of the book, the reader knows one brother is dead but not who it is. Each section of the book is told from each brother’s POV. It was interesting to get the brothers individual recollection of events from their childhood and see how it affected them in adulthood. 

This a dysfunctional family! I think just about every character in this book is unlikable. William is the oldest brother. He can’t stand his younger siblings, is the apple of his mother’s eye, driven to succeed, and is a sexist and a misogynist. Brian the middle brother is jealous of Will, has a terrible temper, and is tight with a buck. Luke, the youngest, somehow manages to have a successful but short lived career as a pop singer, has drug and alcohol addictions, and mental health issues. Each brother does things that wreck havoc on each other’s lives. 

This is not so much a thriller as it is a family drama. Author Liz Nugent deftly weaves the story together and keeps you interested and invested in this awful  family. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes 

Author: Elissa R. Sloan

Publisher: William Morrow Books

Year: 2020

We got a little snowstorm last night. Our total is about 18” of snow. It looks pretty, but I’m over it already. 😀

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cassidy Holmes has been compared with Daisy Jones and the Six. Both are about musical groups. Both are told from multiple points of view. But for me, the Cassidy Holmes book pales in comparison. The band members in the Daisy Jones book were interesting and engaging. The characters is this book were pretty flat and not really likable. 

The author did a good job showing the very unglamorous side of life in the spotlight and all the pressure and demands made on rising pop stars. 

This book just wasn’t for me. Readers who enjoy shows such as The Voice and American Idol or are really interested in the music industry will enjoy this one.