It was the best book I ever had.

Ms. Brown relishes a... let's say an invigorating love scene.

How does she do it? How does Karin Slaughter keep writing books that gut you AND make you snort-laugh while surprising you, infuriating you, and making you love her crazy-flawed characters? I have no idea but am grateful for her twisted, brilliant mind. After That Night was intense and distressing (as her Sara Linton books always are), but it was impossible to walk away for long. An old question was resolved in a monstrous way, with relationships gifting the saving grace that allows characters to carry on rather than succumbing to their pain. You know, kinda like real life. These books are graphic, violent, and yes (ugh), triggering. But she handles these issues with the skill of one who has experienced real-life horrors and has found that the only way to cope is to be brutally honest. *** Note: There are 2 (or 3, depending on the list) connected series in Slaughter’s bibliography, starting with 2001’s Blindsighted and ending (so far) with 2024’s This Is Why We Lied. They really must be read in order. The characters change considerably through the years. Their relationships change. And all those histories and changes are key to the storyline. She doesn’t spend excessive pages catching you up on their backstories like some series authors do. Missing Blindsighted would definitely have mattered when reading this book! (You can find the shorter stories on Libby if not on the library shelves.) ***

It's been a while since I read a book in one day, but the "missing" character quickly grew on me, and the weaving of the mystery kept me rapt to the last page. Although violent crime and its spreading repercussions were central here, this story had a degree of painful personal growth and was well worth a day of reading. Initially, the dialogue seemed choppy, but then it became clear that it was a character's awkward cadence, not the author's. As soon as I finished Missing, I put Stevens' next book on hold! Warning: violent sexual assault makes this one a miss for some readers.

The last book I read by Fielding was notable because of the lack of any likable characters. Not sure how it’s possible, but this one had that same problem. It’s pretty bad when you really don’t care what happens to the people in the story. A saying came into my head near the end: Play stupid games; win stupid prizes. The main characters made repeated Idiotic choices, so it was hard to be empathetic. Essentially the theme was that saying. Sure, there was a horrible murderer. There was a cruel, cheating husband. A drunken mother. An emotionally abusive father. And another mother who constantly said “darling.” (Does anyone IRL use that word regularly? Ugh, hopefully not.) I’m just relieved the book is over. If it hadn’t been the audio version, I’d never have finished it. No more Fielding for me.

Ah, so good! It’s great to read a book when you would like to hang out with the characters in real life. Mickey Haller, Maggie McFierce, Lorna, Cisco… I’d definitely go to the bar with them after work, just to soak up their interactions with each other. The previous Lincoln Lawyer books were entertaining, but the ending of this one was so unexpected, #5 will be on my list more quickly than usual. Bet Bosch will appear in this next one (The Gods of Guilt, awesome title!), so it should be especially intense. But this is another series that needs to be read in order, if you’re interested in legal suspense from the defense side.

I loved this book! When Mutt, Poo-Poo, Stripes, and Karen all have ideas and how they say Penelope has a weird voice and how Penelope was talking to Crystal. Penelope’s BFF about Johnny. Also Mutt, Poo-Poo Karen, and Stripes forgot to pick an It for Hide- And- Go-Seek. Hahaha ?? His books are always so good and funny!!!!!!!!!!!

Picked up this audiobook because it was listed as a thriller. Although there were some tense moments, this is more in the suspense category with romance playing a big role. Yeah, there's danger — mostly of the honest-guy-vs.-the-uber-rich-guy variety. We all know how those usually turn out IRL, but thankfully we get a bit of reprieve in fiction. There are some strong similarities to Baldacci's King & Maxwell books (and I don't think it was just because I recently read one of those): loner guy who lives in a fabulous hideaway home that he built in the mountains gets rudely thrown into a case with an all-business-but-sexy gal and hijinks ensue. Their careers are different from Baldacci's characters, and the case is different (at least from the 2 K&M's I've read so far), but boy did I flash back multiple times. Still, this was a good tale with minor tension — perfect if holding your breath during intense/violent scenes isn't your thing — and an unusual backstory about how we make moral decisions. On the other hand, Ms. Brown relishes a... let's say an invigorating love scene. Multiple times. With gusto and lots of details. So if THAT'S not your thing, pass this one by. Overkill was interesting enough for me to keep Sandra Brown on my future reads list, even if I'll avoid the stuff that has "romance" in the description.

Connelly is an amazingly consistent novelist. LA’s Detective Bosch first came to me in the Amazon series, and although that was years ago, and I’ve read numerous books featuring Harry Bosch since, the character still carries Titus Welliver’s face, voice, and manner as I read. Harry is damaged, flawed, and often contrary, but his morality is his driving force. This story finds him twisted and turned as he investigates a decades-old murder that hits painfully close to home. His confusion leads to personal losses that will surely haunt him going forward, but as a Vietnam Veteran, that will be nothing new.

LOVED IT