The Chase

Title: The Chase
Author: Candice Fox
Published: March 8th 2022 by Forge
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

First Sentence: From where she sat at the back of the bus, the driver’s death was a confusing spectacle to Emily Jackson.

Blurb: “Are you listening, Warden?” “What do you want?” “I want you to let them out.” “Which inmates are we talking about?” “All of them.”

With that, the largest manhunt in United States history is on. In response to a hostage situation, more than 600 inmates from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility, including everyone on Death Row, are released into the Nevada Desert. Criminals considered the worst of the worst, monsters with dark, violent pasts, are getting farther away by the second.

John Kradle, convicted of murdering his wife and son, is one of the escapees. Now, desperate to discover what really happened that night, Kradle must avoid capture and work quickly to prove his innocence as law enforcement closes in on the fugitives.

Death Row Supervisor, and now fugitive-hunter, Celine Osbourne has focused all of her energy on catching Kradle and bringing him back to Death Row. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading...

My Opinion: This book never sparked for me, this is not to say that there weren’t a few surprising moments where I didn’t see what was coming, but for the most part, I was frustrated with the characters who had been introduced and emphasized, and then 20’ish pages later were murdered and forgotten. I didn’t see their point and how they moved the story forward. Then other characters are introduced, seldom commented on, then showed up at the end of the book with a final ta-da so the author could run through her checklist and tie a neat bow around anyone she had forgotten.

Her previous book, co-written with James Patterson, the 2 Sisters Detective Agency, which I did enjoy, led me to this book. Unfortunately, I’m not sure, as a lone writer, Candice Fox is a match for me.

Follow the Money

Title: Follow the Money
Author: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards
Published: September 21st 2015 by Bastei Entertainment
Format: Audio, Kindle,113 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Cherringham #20

First Sentence: Claire Goodman looked over at her husband, Terry -- and wished she could give him a quick nudge under the table.

Blurb: Claire and Terry Goodman seem to have everything. Successful business. Son at Oxford. New mansion right on the River Thames. And seemingly - plenty of money to spend. But when Jack and Sarah are asked to investigate an odd robbery at their home, secrets start to emerge. And as the truth is revealed, for someone it will be too much to bear, and murder may be the only way out.

My Opinion: I liked the pace of this short story and how, for me, it was not obvious from the beginning. Without a doubt, Jack and Sarah have proven they are not only a good team but also the best of friends. I did find that I was confusing characters, but by the end, I completely understood where the writing team was going and for once, I did not get there first.

As I always say, this is the perfect series for when you don’t want to jump into a book but want a short lite mystery to carry you over until you are ready for something more.

The Golden Couple

Title: The Golden Couple
Author: Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
Published: March 8th 2022 by St. Martin's Press
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

First Sentence: I never know what to expect when I open my door to new clients. The preliminary phone call only reveals so much. In this case, it came from a woman who introduced herself as Marissa Bishop.

Blurb: Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and a lack of intimacy. She wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son and because she loves her husband. Enter Avery Chambers.

Avery is a therapist who lost her professional license. Still, it doesn’t stop her from counseling those in crisis, though they have to adhere to her unorthodox methods. And the Bishops are desperate.

When they glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: Another first author for me, and to be honest, I was putting this writing team off since overly-hyped books tend to be a letdown. I intended to read a couple of pages, say I tried, and move on to something else -- this has been my previous experiences with “you gotta read this” books.

I was amazed; The Golden Couple grabbed me from the beginning. As Avery noted, nothing about the Bishops or the people around them is straightforward. There are many names and relationships to keep straight, but the genius of this book is that they each have their distinct voice and place. Though there are many times where you wonder who is the puppet master, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, adeptly handle the characters until you wonder how you didn’t see it coming.

Wedding Bell Blues

Title: Wedding Bell Blues
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: March 1st 2022 by Lyrical Press
Format: Kindle, 246 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Tourist Trap Mystery #13

First Sentence: Spring in South Cove, California, is beautiful. The days are warm, the nights cool enough for a firepit in your backyard or a bonfire on the beach.

Blurb: In the California coastal town of South Cove, Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More, becomes more engaged in sleuthing than wedding preparations when there’s a murder in a dress shop.

Jill couldn’t love police chief Greg King more—so why does that engagement ring still feel funny on her finger? At least she’ll have a chance to show it off this Saturday at their engagement party. Just in time for the event, a new dress shop has opened in town, Exquisite Gowns for You, specializing in designer wedding gowns and other custom-fit dresses.

But Jill’s excitement turns to shock when she comes by to pick up her dress for the party and discovers a dead body in the shop. New owner Harper Sanchez is behaving strangely and becoming more mysterious than anyone expected. Despite Greg’s warnings to leave the case to him, Jill can’t help looking into the murder. Somebody in South Cove is dressed to kill—and if Jill’s not careful, she may not live to wear her wedding gown. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: This book bothered me. Parts were left dangling, there is too much repetition, and overall, there was a feeling of haven’t we read this, somewhere, before. I have continued with the Tourist Trap series since its inception because it reminds me of Cambria, California. I’m not sure how the author came up with the small town of South Cove, but for me, it is reminiscent of a stop I had made along the highway and a place I enjoy thinking about.

Lynn Cahoon is following the same formula throughout this series, and I hope for the sake of her readers, she starts to stir things up a bit. Something out of left field where her steadfast followers can say, I didn’t see that coming.

At the end of Wedding Bell Blues, there is an excerpt for a new book, The Tuesday Night Survivors’ Club. From the little bit that was shared, it sounds like it has protentional. We will just have to wait and see.

Never

Title: Never
Author: Ken Follett
Published: November 9th 2021 by Viking
Format: Hardcover, 816 pages
Genre: Political Thriller

First Sentence: Seen from a plane, the car would have looked like a slow beetle creeping across an endless beach, the sun glinting off its polished black armour.

Blurb: In the Sahara Desert, two elite intelligence agents are on the trail of a powerful group of drug-smuggling terrorists, risking their lives--and, when they fall desperately in love, their careers--at every turn. Nearby, a beautiful young widow fights against human traffickers while traveling illegally to Europe with the help of a mysterious man who may not be who he says he is.

In China, a senior government official with vast ambitions for himself and his country battles against the older Communist hawks in the government, who may be pushing China--and its close military ally, North Korea--to a place of no return.

And in the United States, Pauline Green, the country's first woman president, navigates terrorist attacks, illegal arms trading, and the smear campaigns of her blustering political opponent with careful and deft diplomacy. She will do everything in her power to avoid starting an unnecessary war. But when one act of aggression leads to another, the most powerful countries in the world are caught in a complex web of alliances they can't escape. And once all the sinister pieces are in place, can anyone--even those with the best of intentions and most elite skills--stop the inevitable?

Never is an extraordinary thriller, full of heroines and villains, false prophets and elite warriors, jaded politicians and opportunistic revolutionaries. It brims with cautionary wisdom for our times, and a delivers a visceral, heart-pounding read that transports readers to the brink of the unimaginable. (Goodreads)

My Opinion: My very first Follett and I absolutely loved it. I literally picked it up to get a feel and I couldn’t look away.

The one mistake I made was reading this book at the same time the fighting in Ukraine is going on and though the book helped me to understand options and escalations, there was no break between real world and fictitious (or is it) possibilities.

I love a book which sends me on Google searches and down rabbit holes. They expand my awareness and hopefully will make me a bit more knowledgeable on subjects which have previously been beyond my reach.

Will I continue with Follett, there is that possibility, but first I need to destress with some brain candy before I take another leap.

An Impossible Impostor

Title: An Impossible Impostor
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Published: February 15th 2022 by Berkley Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 325 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Veronica Speedwell #7

First Sentence: I do not care for infants, and even if I did, I should not care for this one.

Blurb: London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.

But now a man matching Jonathan's description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family's most valuable possessions--a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It's a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo's only hope.

Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.

My Opinion: Is it wrong to say – at least it was better than the last? The previous book, An Unexpected Peril, had me wondering if Deanna Raybourn had used a ghostwriter since it had no flow and the banter was off. I am glad to say that The Impossible Impostor stepped up the game, not completely, but getting back on track. There is more humor and bantering between Veronica and Stoker, but since their relationship has taken a turn, they aren’t as snippy and blunt with each other. I miss their wordplay.

The storyline flows well, and the characters follow their prescribed course. There is a surprise for the readers, not alluded to in previous books, which throws Veronica and Stoker off their usual game. From the beginning, you know who the good guys are and where the bad guys fit. You know Veronica will frustrate, and Stoker will acquiesce. You know they have a do-gooder’s heart, and if capable, they will right all wrongs.

That is why I come back to these books. When they are on their game, they fit each other. They work around each other’s imperfections and find a way, hopefully with wit and teasing to right a wrong and to help the exploited gain their footing.

Diablo Mesa

Title: Diablo Mesa
Author: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Published: February 15th 2022 by Grand Central Publishing
Format: Kindle,Hardcover, 400 pages
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Nora Kelly #3

First Sentence: Dr. Marcelle Weingrau, president of the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute, slowly unfolded her hands on the glossy expanse of desk in front of her.

Blurb: Lucas Tappan, a wealthy and eccentric billionaire and founder of Icarus Space Systems, approaches the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute with an outlandish proposal—to finance a careful, scientific excavation of the Roswell Incident site, where a UFO is alleged to have crashed in 1947. A skeptical Nora Kelly, to her great annoyance, is tasked with the job.

Nora's excavation immediately uncovers two murder victims buried at the site, faces and hands obliterated with acid to erase their identities. Special Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned to the case. As Nora’s excavation proceeds, uncovering things both bizarre and seemingly inexplicable, Corrie’s homicide investigation throws open a Pandora's box of espionage and violence, uncovering bloody traces of a powerful force that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets—and that threatens to engulf them all in an unimaginable fate.

My Opinion: When it comes to the writing team of Preston Child, I need to read with a dictionary in one hand and easy access to Google in the other. This team constantly teaches me something new and tends to send me down fascinating rabbit holes.

Archaeologist Nora Kelly, FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, which I must admit mixing-up a time or two, and tech billionaire Lucas Tappan—an amalgamation of two well-known space cowboys—take their audience on a thought-provoking history lesson and the interworking’s of government agencies and dollars.

Once I picked up this book, I had a hard time putting it down unless I was searching Google. The flow and energy stay consistent, and the writing team keeps their readers on their toes. Will the subject matter make some readers roll their eyes? Possibly, but isn’t that what fiction, conspiracy theories, and wandering outside of our comfort zones is all about?

For those that are sensitive – the dog does not die.

Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

Title: Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
Author: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
Published: September 21st 2021 by Harper
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Historical/Biography

First Sentence: When I was six, my father took me to Grand Central Terminal in New York to see the imposing bronze statue of my great-great-great-grandfather “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Blurb: When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the nineteenth century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires—one in shipping and another in railroads—that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore,” subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers—the seventy-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’s grandson and namesake had built—the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.

Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.

Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures.(GoodReads)

My Opinion: Through lying, deception, and skullduggery, Vanderbilt is a story of people wanting want they could not have — money, love, safety, security, and attention, which there was never enough.

From reading other reviews, it appears as if many were looking for Gloria’s story, but this is, mostly, the story of the original Vanderbilt’s; the story Anderson wanted to learn for himself and to tell his son(s). There are the glamorous parts, which may have taken place at the Breakers or Marble House, or the varied other locations of the wealthy, but there are also the gritty parts of building an empire only to have it squandered.

The middle parts, does anyone care about a yachting race, can be long and drawn out, but they tell a story of generational dishonesty which runs rampant through the dynasty. Vanderbilt is yet another historical look at the Vanderbilt's—what they built and what they lost.