Think about the best episode of NYPD Blue you ever saw on the telly- this book is just that good. It’s also a bit Breaking Bad with a touch of The Shield. But enough comparisons – just read it. It’s superbly written and feels so real and immediate you will find yourself gasping and swearing loudly and […]
Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda
Not the best thriller ever. It becomes fairly clear early on that the narrator is a narcissistic psychopath, and from there it’s a very short mental stroll to guess he has murder in mind when he takes his wife away for a kid free weekend at their lake house. Spending time in his company is […]
Wilde Lake by Laura Lippmann
Consider this: a gracious and wise lawyer raising a generally beloved son and tomboy daughter after the death of their mother. A cantankerous housekeeper who is presumably African-American rules the home. The daughter can read before she goes to school and gets in trouble from her teachers for showing off about it. The boy befriends […]
White Bodies by Jane Robbins
Spending time with the protagonist in this novel – Callie- is a fairly uncomfortable experience. As a child Callie used to eat her sister’s teeth and hair. As an adult she eats her lipsticks. It goes without saying that Callie is rather unhealthily obsessed with her sister and when her sister meets Felix, Callie becomes convinced […]
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Wow, what a beauty. It’s 1974 and a thirteen year old Leni’s family are moving to Alaska. It’s the latest in a string of unsuccessful schemes to hold the struggling family together since Leni’s dad, Ernt, came home deeply damaged from Vietnam. The wildness and beauty of Alaska initially appear to heal Ernt but come winter, he spirals downwards into paranoia […]
To Know My Crime by Fiona Capp
A beautifully written novel about many different kinds of loss – money, mobility, independence, self respect- and the cost of living with the mistakes we make. Not quite a thriller, but with sufficient intrigue in the plot to keep you steadily reading. Set largely on the Mornington Peninsula with descriptions so lush and evocative it […]
The Stepmother by Claire Seeber
A woman, deeply damaged by the neglect she suffered in her poverty stricken childhood, marries a wealthy man she’s only known for six months, and tried to fit right in with the big house and the surly teenage twins. What could possibly go wrong?? A potentially interesting little thriller spoiled by one too many endings.
The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty
Yes the author is Lianne Moriarty’s sister and you may think this will plug a gaping hole in your life between Liane’s last book and her next one but unfortunately, you will be disappointed. The Fifth Letter is workaday chick lit with a tight plot but very little depth. The chopping back and forth in time quickly […]