The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

Miss the noir feel of a Mickey Spillane or Sam Spade mystery?  Then don’t pass this one by!  Cormoran Strike is down on his luck, but things seem to be turning around.  He finally has an efficient secretary (even though she’s technically only a temp), double his paying clients (even though that means only two) and, well, everything else actually isn’t really that great.  But his new case, looking into the circumstances surrounding the suicide of a famous model for her brother, who thinks she was actually pushed, is taking all his time, energy and focus. 

This is definitely one of the best mysteries I have read in a long time.  I couldn’t put it down!  Red herrings, leads that (seem) to dead end, and just enough clues so you can figure the mystery out if you’re as cool as Strike.  (I, sadly, am not that cool; he needed to tie it all together for me.) 

Yes, this is the book that J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame wrote under a pseudonym.  She tried to keep her identity under wraps, but we all know how that went.  I have to say I would have never guessed that the same writer wrote Harry and Cormoran.  A great start to a private detective series!

Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong by Joyce Carol Oates

Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong by Joyce Carol Oates

This is my first Joyce Carol Oates and I knew to expect the unexpected.  And with a subtitle like this one I knew it would be dark.  I just wasn’t prepared for how dark!  These are delightfully creepy tales of; you guessed it, love gone wrong.  There really are no other words that work as well. 

Each tale describes another sort of twisted love.  The fourth wife of a famous, rich and powerful man meets the first wife and wonders what she has gotten herself into, and if she can get out of it safely.  An average looking girl meets a wonderfully attractive boy and first love blossoms, but things get twisted as he turns into a stalker.  One young man’s parents try to enact tough love and the love he returns is violent.  And the creepiest one of all, a young woman attempting to be intimate with her partner finally confesses to the abuse she suffered as a child and they devise a plan on how she might overcome her problems.

Let me repeat, these are dark.  Each story is read by a different reader so you become immediately immersed in each new tale.  The longest is only two discs (about two hours) long and the rest are one to one and a half discs each.  I would suggest that those searching for something different and that like being unnerved look here.

History Decoded: The Ten Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer with Keith Ferrell

History Decoded: The Ten GreatestConspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer with Keith Ferrell

Did John Wilkes Booth really die in that barn?  Who was D.B. Cooper?  Where is the confederate gold?  These are only some of the conspiracies Meltzer rates as the world’s top ten and attempts to “decode” – find out the truth behind the mystery.  Some are to be expected: is there any gold in Fort Knox?  What’s in Area 51?  Who killed JFK?  And some are really strange: who created the Georgia Guidestones?  If you, like me, didn’t know what they were look them up quick.  It is fascinating stuff just ripe for a few conspiracy theories.

I couldn’t understand why this audiobook sounded odd at first and then I realized that facts were being repeated as if after a commercial break.  That’s when I looked at the package more closely and realized that this is a tie-in with a History Channel program.  Still a really fun, quick listen that would appeal to almost everyone – there has to be at least one conspiracy the author picks that would be a favorite for any listener.

Parasite by Mira Grant

Parasite by Mira Grant

SymboGen has found the answer to all human ills!  Genetically modified tapeworms!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Swallow a pill with a baby tapeworm in it, modified to suit your needs, and voila!  No more need to take insulin daily for diabetes or worrying about forgetting to take any medications.  Your tapeworm will take care of it for you.  But what types of DNA are in the tapeworms?  What is the cause of the sleepwalking sickness that is popping up around the world? 

At the center of all this is Sally, now wanting to be known as Sal, who woke up six years ago after being declared brain dead.  Her implant (read: tapeworm) is credited with saving her life.  SymboGen is still really keen on studying her and her father, a colonel for USAMRIID, knows she may know more about the implants then she’s saying.  Sal just wants to have a nice quiet life with her boyfriend.  It seems like peace and happiness are not to be at the moment.

This is obviously part one of a series.  I assume it will be a trilogy because the author’s last great series (starting with Feed) was a trilogy.  I liked the action and the weirdness of the idea, but the “shocker” at the end really wasn’t that shocking.  I did like it enough to keep an eye out for the next book.

Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

Frances Osgood is trying to support her two daughters with her poetry in mid-19^th Century New York while her husband, a semi-famous portraitist, is off who-knows-where with some pretty young rich thing.  While at a literary soiree she is formally introduced to Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.  Sparks fly for both Frances and Mr. Poe but there are two major problems: Mr. Osgood and Mrs. Poe.  It would be scandalous for Frances to pursue a relationship with Mr. Poe even though her husband is absent and Mrs. Poe is extremely ill; maybe even more so for the later reason.  Can these two find any happiness? 

It was nice to see Poe in a not-so-dreary light.  He is a character, but when you read about his home life (his wife is a very interesting person) you understand him more.  You can see what Poe sees in Frances and her in him.  You also learn about the double standards of the time – what is good for the gander is most certainly not good for the goose!

This is a nice choice for those looking for historical fiction from a modern thinking woman’s point of view as well as those interested in New York in times gone by.  The book opens with The Raven which is great to reacquaint yourself with before starting this book.

Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Avery flees her Texas hometown, and the events of six years ago, by enrolling at a small West Virginia college.  She wants an opportunity to start over where everyone doesn’t know that she is the girl at that Halloween party.  Where people don’t look at her like she is dirt or send threatening emails constantly.  Where she can get away from her mother who is more concerned with her country club membership then her daughter’s well being.  She is very much hoping West Virginia will be the answer.   Then, on the way to her first class, she runs into Cam.  Literally runs into him and now he seems to be everywhere she is.  She just wants him to go away, she thinks.  Is Avery ready to try having a relationship for the first time in her life?

This book is considered to fit into the new “New Adult” category.  The protagonist is in that stage between senior year of high school and her first job.  She is dealing with her feelings and extreme emotional issues.  She is falling in love for the first time.

I didn’t think I would enjoy reading about a nineteen year old going away to college and falling in love for the first time.  Yes, that is mainly what the book is about, but it is so, so much more.  Avery is damaged and has been damaged by those that should have supported her.  Her trauma (and it was not what I thought, and worse then I imagined on many levels) is a very large part of her life and moving on is extremely difficult and the author brings us with her every step of the way.  Avery is awakening in all senses of the term and there are some very steamy, sensual scenes in the book.  If there is one flaw it is that Cameron is too darn perfect, but the reader wants Avery to have something good in her life, finally, that his perfection is easily overlooked. 

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

An alternate America is torn apart by the “other” living among us: humans infected with Lobos, a prion infection that makes them transform into werewolf like creatures, creatures with base instincts and strength to match.  The infected have been given a homeland, the Republic, and the American army maintains order there.  But the Resistance thinks it’s time that those with Lobos declare their independence and ordinary people are the victims of their brand of terror.

This is a loosely veiled depiction of the past ten years of American history, complete with multiple hijacked planes, and how ostracizing the “different” or allowing the few to dictate the fate of the many, could have disastrous consequences for all.  It was interesting to see how the author altered history and played with current events.

I listened to this very long audiobook.  The author reads it and he has a distinctive low gravelly voice which is soothing and disturbing at the same time.  It really worked for the story.  I don’t think I would have enjoyed reading it, but it was a good listen.

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

Faith Holland fled the small New York winery where she grew up for California when she found out her groom was gay.  Yep.  The man she had dated for YEARS finally tells her right before they are to say “I do.”  Apparently, Levi, the Best Man, home on leave from Afghanistan, had a feeling that his best friend was gay and pushed Jeremy to tell Faith before they made a huge mistake.  Faith would have been okay with that mistake.  She wouldn’t have been humiliated and she could have gone on oblivious married to the man she loved, even though it did feel like something was always missing in her relationship. 

It’s been a few years and Faith is finally coming home.  Whether or not she’s coming home to stay remains to be seen.  She dreads meeting Jeremy again and is still rather mad at Levi, even though she knows deep down she should thank the man.  But seeing Levi almost every day, since he’s Chief of Police of their small town and lives in the apartment across the hall, is causing feelings inside her she isn’t sure what to do about.  Could her former Best Man be the best man for her?

If you like your romances with a lot of awkward moments and bantering dialogue you’ll love Higgins.  Faith’s family is wonderful, but exhausting.  How they all survive family gatherings is beyond me.  The romance itself is more fun than steamy and it is an extremely quick read.

Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips

Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips

Asta Eicher is widowed with three children and in danger of losing her home in Park Ridge, Illinois.  Knowing that the relationship she had with her husband was not an ideal, or even happy one, she is hoping for better luck the second time around.  She believes she found the perfect husband; he’s kind, loving and has the means to support her and her children.  She found him through a dating agency in the newspaper and they have been corresponding for months.  Finally the day comes for them to meet and she leaves with him in his car for his home and marriage.  A couple of weeks later he returns to Illinois for the children, without their mother, to bring them to live with them.  Asta Eicher and her children are never seen alive again.

The story is based on true events.  There are photographs interspersed throughout the book of the Eicher family as well as the small town of Quiet Dell, West Virginia to remind the reader that these crimes were really committed.  The warnings about online dating and meeting in public places are so commonplace today, but back then, in the 1930s, the idea of serial killers and sexual predators was unthinkable. 

The story moves quickly and is told in a very literary style, yet it is more disturbing than most thrillers because you know it actually happened.  As with most real events it almost seems too weird to be true like having the trial take place in an opera house on stage because it was the largest venue around.  There are some very unconventional characters for the time, a gay reporter and an independent, sexually active single female among others.  At first I didn’t think they fit well in the time period, since they were definitely not the norm of the time, but it really worked.  America is changing and you get that sense throughout the book, especially with the loss of the sense of innocence around this small town in West Virginia shocked by multiple murders in their midst.

Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Dorothy Jarrow is wedded to her profession and the prim and proper stereotype it implies.  As you may have guessed from the title, D.J. is a librarian.  She takes a job in rural Verdant, Kansas as the new director and is ready to put her heart and soul into running her library.  Unfortunately the staff members are not all thrilled about her arrival.  Still, she’s determined to make this work out and make Verdant her home.  Then she meets the Library Board President’s son.  Why oh why does the guy she had a fling with years ago at spring break have to make her new hometown his hometown?  It seems he doesn’t remember her and she’s going to try very hard to keep it that way.

This is a romance novel so I don’t have to tell you that all’s well that ends well.  I was impressed with the multiple interwoven plot lines and the lightheartedness and seriousness that occur in the novel.  The few times I thought the author messed up (no one offers a person a job after looking at a two year old resume posted online without scheduling an interview – especially for a library director!) there was a very good reason for what happened.  The characters are wonderfully quirky and Verdant, even being the hotbed of gossip that it is, grows on the reader as it grows on D.J.  If you want a fun contemporary romance with southern small town charm this is an author to keep an eye on.

Consequences by Philippe Djian

Consequences by Philippe Djian

In the first few pages of the novel Marc, a college professor, wakes up next to the cold dead body of one of his much younger female students.  He knows that sleeping with his students is wrong, and he could be fired if there was definitive proof, so he does the only thing he feels he can – throws the body into natural pit off a trail near his home.  What are the consequences of his actions?

Honestly, that’s what I thought the book would be about: what happens now that he made the decision to hide the body?  Yes, there are a number of things that happen which would not have had he reported her death to the police, but in my opinion the ripple effect is next to nothing.  I was expecting consequences spiraling out of control.  Instead we get into the mind and life of Marc and it’s a dark, uncomfortable, creepy place I didn’t want to spend much time in, nevermind 195 pages. 

Thankfully the novel was short, but only fans of psychological fiction who don’t mind being disturbed while reading a book with next to no justice or resolution will enjoy this one.

The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion

Don approaches life as a series of problems needing to be solved.  He tries to find order in chaos and ways to make his life ever more efficient.  He eats the same meal each day of the week at the same time.  He has his schedule mapped out to the minute.  He doesn’t understand why others find his actions so strange.  He doesn’t really get what others are feeling.  One day Don, a genetics professor in Australia, decides to really put his mind behind solving the Wife Problem.  That’s when he creates the scientifically sound survey to weed out potential wife choices.  Since his best friend, and practically only friend, claims he’s being too picky with his analyses Don hands over the finished surveys for review.  A few days later his friend sends Rosie to Don.  After a short period of time Don comes to the conclusion that his friend has made a major error, Rosie is NOT wife material.  But Don is having fun because Rosie has a project of her own – the Father Project.  Rosie wants Don to help her find her biological dad.

Fans of the Big Bang Theory won’t want to miss this one.  This is Sheldon Cooper meeting his match in a smart, witty, fun and free-spirited woman who turns his life upside down.  And maybe that isn’t such a bad thing…

Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker

Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker

Romances featuring members of the military and those featuring bad boys are big right now.  Julie Ann Walker puts them both together in her popular series.  The Black Knights are a covert government agency comprised of former members of the military using a custom motorcycle garage as their cover.  A member of the group, Rock, has been burned.  Richard “Rock” Babineaux is the best interrogator in the business and it looks like his side job may have been highly illegal.  The Knights don’t want to assume the worst, but things for Rock are looking bad.  Vanessa, the communications expert of the group, refuses to believe that the big Cajun is a rogue agent.  She is determined to find him and clear his good name.  And she does find her man, and that’s when the sparks fly.

This is the fourth entry in the Black Knights Inc. and while you don’t need to read them in order, you get an inkling of what you missed in the previous novels.  If you really enjoy one character you can always see which book they “star” in and read that one! 

Readers get inside the minds of both main characters and the inner dialogue and actual dialogue tends to be sarcastic and funny.  The series is steamy, but there is a lot of attention and care given to a twisty and engaging plot.  Fans of romantic suspense will find something to like here.