'FALLOW'....A CORPORATE BABYMAKER'S LIFE GONE AWRY.....PROVOCATIVE AND SUPERB.....UNTIL A WRONG LEFT TURN......

  Fallow by Sarah Anderson (2026)

     Through two thirds of this book, I felt fully prepared to give it 4.5 stars. It boasts a provocative premise bound to stir up plenty of spirited book club discussions. it's engagingly written with dry deadpan humor that doesn't shy away from taking an acidic eye at its lead character and her rather incredible decade long journey. .And yet there's also a sense of genuine empathy and heart in its depiction of what she considers her triumphs and reversals of fortune.

     But then a sudden twist of the plot sends the book spiraling into an altogether different story and literally all new territory. And last third of the book was nowhere near as immediate and compelling as what came before it. To make matters worse, its resolution seemed abrupt and unsatisfying enough to make me wonder if reading it was worth the effort.

     We follow the fortunes of 20-something slacker Natalie, who dearly loves her creature comforts but lacks the drive and ambition to work hard enough to ever pay for them. But her dreams of a work-free comfortable life come true courtesy of a groundbreaking program offered by 'The Company'. Seeking to free their top women execs from profit-draining maternity leave, they recruit Natalie to serve as a corporate surrogate mother. This involves seven IVF pregnancies spread out over 10 years, with huge cash payouts for Natalie on each baby signed sealed and delivered.......not to mention full medical, dental and obstetric care. Natalie, lured by the money, benefits and company perks, dutifully complies as a corporate babymaker..........until her own emotional attachments (or detachments) and a startling turn of events send her birthing career into a wild tailspin.

     And here's where 'Fallow' transforms itself into another kind of book with bizarre circumstances and a whole new set of characters to deal with. The book continues to raise its political, social and hot button gender oriented issues, but it somehow reads like the story's lost its power, its edge and much of the cutting, understated wit that made it such a pleasure to read in the first place. .

     I don't regret getting into it, because at least 60 percent of "Fallow" fires on all cylinders but that problematic 3rd act knocked it down to 3 stars for me. (***).

      (But I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall for the book club meetings on this one.....)

'I AM THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED'....A WHOLE MESS 'O MONSTERS IN ONE KOOKY, OOKY, SPOOKY TOWN.....

  I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas (2026)

     Can't get enough ghosts, monsters and assorted Things That Go Thunk! in the night? Can't get enough stories of luckless teens who went into the eerie woods and never came out again? Can't get enough dark, dark whatevers who lived under your bed when you were a child?

     Your search is over and your nightmares have all come true. Because author Emily Zinnikas has populated her book with a veritable rush hour traffic jam of supernatural entities........so many that you'd need a 4-way Stop Sign to keep them from crashing into each other.

     Even better news......the story behind this creepy paranormal zoo is a grabber, too. Prolific, gifted and reclusive artist Willa hides away from her adolescent notoriety as the lone survivor of that horrific teens-in-the-woods massacre in her small town of Rapture. (Ironically named, since you can bet that nobody's headed for heaven in this disturbing burg....)

     Even though that entire town reviles her as the true killer who escaped justice, Willa feels compelled to return to Rapture. She's gone back to mourn and to attend the funeral of her high school art teacher, always a beloved mentor and friend to her.. Back living in her old home, Willa's still a loathed pariah in town and she's also besieged and threatened by an unseen stalker, whose identity she thinks she well knows....... and whom she plans to turn the tables on.

     But there's more than just bad memories and simmering hatreds coming to a boil in Rapture. There's Willa's so-called imaginary under-the-bed friend who might make a comeback......not to mention the horrifying unknowable things in the basement and whatever's lurking in those woods that needs to be fed on a regular basis.. And this spooky showdown promises more scary craziness than an up-all-night horror movie festival.....

     My only quibble here comes from the book's last third, which drags out the story's Grand Finale through what feels like chapter after endless chapter. It runs the risk of becoming such an exhaustive marathon to endure that it borders on the ridiculous.. But then again, with all the monsters and who-knows-what coming out to play, there's plenty of undeniable tension, twists, suspense and the stuff of many future bad dreams.

     You can snuggle up with this one, keep just the reading light on and have yourself one chilling private Halloween party.....or do that any dark stormy night of the year.......happy hauntings.....

     4 stars (****).

'DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS'.....AT THIS SCHOOL, THEY EITHER GRADUATE YOU.....OR TERMINATE YOU....

 Deadly Little Lessons by Danielle Valentine (2026)

     I would think by now that we all know what lies in store for a wayward, delinquent teen girl when she enters a top-of-the-line, handsomely appointed Prep school featuring the highest of academic standards and a lush campus that looks like a slightly scaled down Ivy League university.

     Those ominous three soundtrack notes should pound in our ears.....Dum Dum DUMMMMM!!! Or to put it mildly....This. Does. Not. Bode. Well.

     Lia MIchaels, skilled lock-picker, computer hacker, and veteran of many foster homes and juvie lockups, is as stunned as anyone when she's accepted, along with her beloved foster sis Scarlett to Luminary Prep. An all new experiment in secondary education, Luminary has thrown away standard classroom procedures and now accentuates actual hands-on practical experiences and events for every subject taught. Their students are forced to either learn by doing.......or done in. Possibly so permanent, they'll miss prom.

     It doesn't take long for Lia and her incoming class to gape in alarm at what this means for their high school careers. At Luminary, you either graduate.......or you evaporate. In the course of their courses, the student body (or bodies) start severely shrinking. Sometimes their 'lessons' leave them maimed, or presumably dead......or erased altogether from the school role call. This place makes The Hunger Games look like Sesame Street. And only one lucky, plucky student gets to move on to college......the last one left alive in time for the graduation ceremony. (We can only assume they'd also have to serve as their one and only Valedictorian. And certainly cuts down on the number of parents in attendance..)

     Amid all these catastrophic classroom disasters, the school's instructors merely repeat a pre-written blather that always ends with..."work the curriculum"........which really doesn't sit well with the students still breathing when the the end-of-class bell rings.

     But toughened streetwise Lia isn't one to go down without a fight and she and a small band of remaining survivors try to uncover the secrets and motives of Luminary as they prepare to execute a daring escape from the place....... before the school starts executing......well, them.

     Similar to dystopian YA, "Deadly Little Lessons" once again proves that no depths exist that adults won't sink to in their efforts to control, dominate and abuse teenagers, thinking they know what's best for them. And to swallow the premise here, you'll really need to park all sense of reality and disbelief deep in the closet somewhere.

     Having said that, though, "Deadly Little Lessons" does in fact make for a fun, fast and enormously entertaining entry in that ever popular genre of 'Shady-Prep-School-Is-Even-Shadier-Than-We-Thought'...with even a little bit 'o budding romance thrown in.

      At least the poor kids didn't have to put up with witches, vampires or slobbering zombies... .....although those ' work the curriculum' jerks really need a stern talking to.....or a stake through their hearts. 

     4 stars (****).

 

'LAWS OF SOLOMON'.....A KILLER REGAINING HIS HUMANITY......WHILE DRAGGED BACK INTO CARNAGE....

 Laws of Solomon by Eriq La Salle (2026)

     A triple whammy, this one. An incredibly fast read.....a gut punching, blood soaked action thriller......and most importantly, a penetrating, impassioned examination of redemption, soul crushing loss and a life lived steeped in the brutality that human beings upon one another.

     All of this packed into one swiftly paced book that flies by while it pumps up your adrenalin and breaks your heart at the same time.

     Solomon's early life in mad dictator Idi Amin's Uganda has been forever altered by atrocities beyond all rational description. His family wiped out before his eyes, he's forced into servitude as a merciless child soldier, Soloman, as an adolescent and adult, forges himself into one of the most fearsome (and feared) professional slaughterers on earth. But his life as a mercenary for hire and enforcer for gangsters has left his soul barren, with only little traces of humanity left.

     His attempt to retreat into a monastic solitary life as a gardener on a vast estate comes to an abrupt end. Again, a twist of cruel fate puts him in the path of barbarous evil. Solomon finds himself the defender and protector of an angelic child pursued by a vicious drug lord capable of bottomless carnage...........and whose intent to capture the boy proves relentless and strewn with the bodies of innocent victims in his way.

     Solomon's skills as a bringer of death and vengeance are pushed to the very limit of what he can endure. And the gentle good heart of the boy, Gaby, has started to chip away at his battle hardened nature. We're given illuminating painful looks into Solomon's past filled with the tragedies he lives with daily. By the time I'd reached the last page, I realized the book kept me in its grip for the entire day. from start to finish. And that I knew I couldn't give this book any less than 5 stars. (*****).

      I think I've made my point here........drop everything and read it.

'THE MYSTIC AND THE MISSING GIRL'....A CHARMING, OCCULT-ISH COZY....AND JUST PLAIN FUN TO READ....

 The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (2026) 

     This book's inescapable charm and lead character won me over from the start. When you add on that picturesque small town cozy flavor, the mystical powers of Tarot cards, a 20 year old unsolved mystery, and two totally unalike men for our main girl to spar with (and maybe a little more).......well, that's an unbeatable recipe for a fun read. And that's exactly what author Vikki VanSickle delivers.

     Drew Benson's inherited two things from her late Aunt Hannah, who was disgraced and reviled for using her psychic powers to help discover the mystery of what became of a beloved, missing teen girl. Drew possesses her aunt's unique gifts of Tarot readings and receiving visions from the feel and touch of inanimate objects. And also from her aunt, she's inherited Hannah's metaphysical store of otherworldly products.

     But like Hannah herself, who was accused of misguiding and confusing the missing girl investigation, the store's been shunned and avoided by the town, often a prime target for vandals. So Drew finds herself now burdened with a failing business, a disapproving mother and a town that unfairly links her to Hannah's notoriety. If that isn't enough she's been badgered by old high school nemesis Nick. now a reporter hoping to write a story to uncover that missing girl's ultimate fate. . While she reluctantly teams up with NIck, using her powers to elicit confounding clues, Drew's also trading quips with and fending off advances from the dashing town lothario Foster Banks.

     The mystery finally revealed isn't that much a of a knock-your-socks-off surprise, but by that time, I was completely captivated by Drew, Nick, the store, the town, the array of suspects, the friends and frenemies surrounding Drew, her paranormal visions and Tarot cards......and even the impish kitten who's takes up residence in the store whether anyone likes it or not. Delightful stuff, all the way and full of heart and humor too in the the wrap-up chapters that bring Drew and the whole cast together.

     And best news in that regard is a finish that implies a potential series in the making. I say bring 'em on. I can't wait.

     4 stars (****).

'WE ALREADY DUG THE GRAVE'....THE MURDEROUS SECRETS OF SISTERS.....EVERY WITCH WAY BUT LOOSE....

  We Already Dug the Grave by Emma C. Wells (2026)

     Creepy time down South......

     And kicks off with an opening sentence that snags you like a fish on the hook and reels you in to keep reading until the last secret (and last corpse) are laid bare.

     I wouldn't go so far as to use 'Practical Magic' as any kind of real comparison here. Only in superficial similarities. This tale of witchy sisterhood is far more steeped in the evil and villainy of human beings rather than the otherworldly......with blood streaming out of murder victims and a cast of characters with countless skeletons in their closets......not to mention other random locations as well.

     Milly's fled her little Tennessee hometown to eke out a day by day existence waitressing in a run down Gulf Coast tourist trap.. Her much beloved, beautiful and brilliant younger sister Frances now lives an uppercrust, pampered life as the wife of a wealthy family's scion. But there's tragedy and death in their adolescent backstories. filled with murders and disappearances......tragedies that left their mother in prison and the girls in the custody of their decidedly eccentric aunts.

     But now it's Frances who's in flight from her abusive husband and his powerful, well-connected family. Milly, fiercely protective of her all too vulnerable little sister, must call upon her inherited gift of divining the future in tea leaves. And she she and Frances will also need to enlist aunts Ruth and Hattle-May., Because these two aging women have their own 'Arsenic and Old Lace' method of dealing with rotten-to-the-core men who'd make the world a better place by leaving it.

      A climactic showdown finale looms closer.........and when it erupts, there's a load of shattering twists from both past and present that will alter the lives of everyone involved.......those still breathing, that is.

     Author Emma C. Welles dials up the melodrama to the 'overheated' setting and I'll freely admit the book comes awfully close to the borderline of silly and absurd in its plotting and outrageous surprises. But what can I say other than I found myself immersed in the non stop swirl of bodies, secrets and supernatural peeks into a future that doesn't seem to bode well for anyone. And I simply couldn't put it down. A nice read for those dark, chilly nights......

      4 stars (****).

'BEFORE YOU WERE ANNE'....GENERATIONS OF MYSTERY, MURDER AND DEEPLY EMOTIONAL DRAMA.....FROM TOKYO TO SEATTLE....

  Before You Were Anne by Emiko Jean  (2026)

     My reaction to this book felt like the same reaction I had to "The Return of Ellie Black, the first of author Emiko Jean's 'Chelsey Calhoun' mysteries. I could practically post the same review all over again.......because my take on this book is identical. (which you check out in my post on 'Ellie' from 5/7/24....)

     In other words......blown away. Completely awestruck. With "wow" as the first operative description I can think of, just as in the first of this series....

     Once again, Asian-American Detective Calhoun probes a murder and kidnapping that reveals the heartrending backstories of victims and the overwhelming evil that entraps them. And this time it's a case that spans decades, generations and the misfortunes of young Japanese women who sought a path to America. But it's a path strewn with deceptions, betrayals, tragedy and ultimately violence. A journey requiring monumental courage and determination to survive......which some do not.

     Among those who didn't - Seattle single mom Rika Takahashi, found stabbed to death and her teenage daughter Naomi missing. Chelsey Calhoun's investigation into Rika's life and death uncovers secrets and crimes that stretch across Pacific ocean......from the bright lights and sleazy nightclubs of Tokyo to the seemingly peaceful suburbs of Seattle. Chelsey, herself an adoptee, recalls her own childhood memories as she races to locate and rescue Naomi, who may have stumbled into the worst parts of her mother's tortuous past.

     It's rare that I come across a book that works so brilliantly to combine its mysteries with the insightful view of its characters that you'd expect in literary fiction. By the time "Before You Were Anne" reaches the finale,, there's satisfaction in the closing of the case, with answers revealed, but with the lingering sadness of the emotional trauma and heartbreak left behind.....that's what stays with you.

      And for me, that's what pushes this one all the way to 5 stars. (*****).

'UNTAMED COAST'.....ALASKAN ADVENTURES AND MYSTERIES.....SPANNING DECADES AND GENERATIONS......

  Untamed Coast by Kevin C. Morris (2026)

     What an ambitiously grand debut for an author this is. A book that functions on multiple levels......and does them all well, drawing you into three seemingly unrelated stories and timelines that all take place along the stunning rugged coast of Alaska. There's heartfelt drama, mystery, suspense and the high adventures of navigating those treacherous waters surrounding some of the world's most striking natural wonders.

     In 2017, lonely widower Marconi Franco takes his boat wandering through that rough, frequently storm-tossed coastline........ breathtaking voyages he'd hope to take with the late wife he still pines for. A mayday call, a plea for help from a lost desperate woman sends Marconi on an obsessive but fruitless search for her. In 1938, Joe Baxter works his job of receiving and sending out radio messages at a remote coastal outpost. But he's also busy, along with two conspiring partners, skimming and stashing away the gold from a corporate mine. In 1982, Anya Baron struggles to help her husband operate their fishing boat. Not an easy task as she suffers through the agonies of her drunken husband's frequent beatings.

     Author Kevin C. Morris completely enthralled and fascinated me with all three of these storylines, their characters, and the unpredictable reversals-of-fortune they encounter and endure. And as the book moves toward its final chapters, there's a cascade of twists and reveals as these timelines begin to connect into one multi-generational saga. Also, for armchair travelers, you can practically sit back and lose yourself amid the crashing surf, rocky shores and spectacular wildlife of Alaska.......but you might want to put on a life-jacket first.

     An impressive, immersive start for a new storyteller and I for one can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next. One of the all around best reads of this Fall season.

     5 Stars (*****).

'BAD INTENTIONS'......BACK TO HOME SWEET HOME AGAIN.......WITH ALL THE BURIED MURDER VICTIMS.....

  Bad Intentions by Iliana Xander (2026)

     Once a book starts tantalizing me with vague descriptions of past crimes coming back to bedevil its current day characters, I can't help but go all in with it, totally hooked.

     Our lead, Josie Boots has fallen victim to that singular malady that afflicts heroines of either romcoms or insulated small town thrillers......a embarrassing, humiliating misstep that's left her hated, scorned, a pariah, an outcast, and fair game for cruel memes and posts.

     So what else is there to do but return to her small town home. It's where her ailing grandmother lives under a cloud of suspicion over the town's most scandalous past crimes.....brutal crimes of arson and murder that also hang over Josie's late mother. Not exactly the best place to piece your life back together. Especially when some anonymous caller in town claims to hold the answers to all the dark secrets of Josie's family.

     But her attempt to meet with this individual appears to come to an abrupt, violent end. Or does it? And here's where author Iliana Xander stirs up the pot (and the plot) putting an ever growing pile of clues, reveals and finally some real threats in Josie's path.

     By the time 'Bad Intentions' throws a full spotlight on every last murder in Burnville (oh yes, you can bet there's more than one) you'll have to shift into that 'stop-whatever-I'm-doing-to-finish-this-book' zone.'.....a sure sign of one irresistible mystery read.. High recommendation here.

     4 stars (****).

'CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD 4: LIGHTS! CAMERA! FRENDO!....AN UNFORTUNATE FILM CREW GETS FATALLY UN-FRENDO'D.....

 

 Clown in a Cornfield: Lights! Camera! Frendo!  by Adam Cesare (2026)

     When I opened the first pages of this book, it's a wonder that a tidal wave of blood didn't come gushing out of it, much like the hotel elevators in the "The Shining" ..

     And I wouldn't want it any other way. Once again, author Adam Cesare plunges us headlong into a slasher thrill ride guaranteed to stun you with surprises and make you gasp (or lose your lunch) at the fully graphic descriptions of spectacular deaths awaiting those unfortunate enough to encounter Frendo the clown.

     Book 4 goes cleverly ultra-meta, with a film crew arriving in Kettle Springs to recreate the original Clown in a Cornfield massacre for the big screen ...(hmm, this sounds familiar.....didn't that actually happen or did I just dream I went to see a real Clown in a Cornfield movie last year?).

     For horror movie buffs, the book pokes a whole of lot of knowing satiric fun at the film crew, headed by its much celebrated action movie director, a true legend-in-his-own-mind 'genius'. And of course there's a harried Assistant Director, and a cast comprised of preening, self absorbed actors, a fashion model and the inevitable social media pseudo celebrity. But the one cast member worth rooting for and empathizing with is that young star-in-the-making Sabrina, who's been awarded the prime role of Ultimate Final Girl Quinn Maybrook, the legendary Frendo slayer.

     Now what could possibly go wrong as this bunch prepares to film the gruesome Kettle Springs massacre? Art imitating life? Life imitating art? Let the blood rush freely and the limbs and heads go flying through the corn stalks...

     There's no end of inside references to horror movie lore and filmmaking in general. I especially loved that somewhere, in the midst of all the indescribable carnage, the book throws in the most priceless, hilarious take-down of method acting that I've ever read so far. And those demanding and expecting a heaping pile of wooo-hooo!! kill scenes.....you'll not come away disappointed.

     Better than a giant bag of candy corn or fun-size Kit Kats, 'Lights! Camera! Frendo' is the tastiest (and bloodiest) of Halloween treats. But I doubt faithful readers of this series will want to contain themselves to wait for the spooky season to read it.

     4 stars (****). 

'BRIMSTONE HOLLOW'.....MURDER IN APPALACHIA......FOR GOSH SNAKES!

  Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan (2026)

     Nothing's better to cozy up with than a swiftly paced mystery steeped in the atmosphere of its location.....taking you to a place that seems so familiar and yet somehow strange and threatening at the same time.

     And that would perfectly describe the rural Americana settings of Appalachia where Private Investigator Annie Gore operates. Her latest case takes her to a small town that was mystified and enthralled by a snake handling preacher.......until he was found dead, bitten and poisoned by the very reptiles that curled around his arms during his thundering sermons.

     The preacher's daughter, raised by a mother who fled the marriage to her father, now hires Annie to look into why her father's funeral and burial came and went with such speed in that supposedly sleepy little town. Annie Gore, toughened by an unsettled childhood and her years as an Air Force investigator, won't leave that town until all of its darkest secrets are laid bare. Because it's clear that preacher Ezra King's death by snakebite was no accident and the increasing pile up of murders that follow more than bear that out.

     Author Archer Sullivan knows her territory like only an Appalachian can and the town, with its bizarre church, supernatural rumors and notorious deep sulfur pit are vividly depicted. A dangerous place to poke your nose into private lives, but Annie Gore won't leave town until there's closure for her client and an end to the mysteries swirling around the high body count. .

The book's incredible, tragic reveals finally come at you one after the other. 'Brimstone Hollow' may not sound like an ideal vacation spot but it makes for a solidly page-turning whodunit.

       4 stars (****).

'A KILLER PLOT'......MURDER, SHE FOUND.......AGAIN AND AGAIN......

 A Killer Plot by E.C. Nevin (2026) 

     Welcome back, Jane Hepburn, great to see you back in sleuthing action. Jane, the tall, ungainly mystery novelist who's led a poignant life as a lonely, friendless outcast since childhood, once again encounters murder most foul in the publishing world. It's nice to report that since her last adventure, Jane's exhibits at least a smidge more self respect and less endless self depreciation. And she now has two genuine best buds who constitute her Scooby squad when hunting down killers.....young writer Natasha Martez and publisher intern Daniel Thurston.

     At a book party celebrating Natasha's fast selling debut mystery, Jane, all too typical for her, stumbles upon the body of a young, vivacious assistant editor.........and the poor girl won't be the first murder victim. Her boss comes next.......and guess who stumbles on that fresh corpse too?

     Author E.C. Nevin again creates a daunting array of suspects and motives for Jane, Natasha and Daniel to untangle. And along the way, there's no end of behind the scenes looks at the publishing universe of authors, editors and agents . Jane herself, even as she doggedly hunts down clues, looks for inspiration to break through her writer's block.

     My only quibble here is the same one I had with the previous book in the series, 'A Novel Murder'. Author E.C. Nevin displays a genuine talent for witty byplay, but rations it out in teaspoon portions. I only wish these books would graduate to 2-cup measuring spoons for the humor. But I was also truly taken and moved with amount of Jane's introspection into the ironic tragedies that surround the surprising final reveals.

      Everything's here you'd want in a great whodunit, including a detective unlike any other. Here's hoping for even more friends and self confidence for Jane in her next excursion........(but I'd advise anyone who attends these publishing parties with her to watch their backs from now on....)

     4 stars (****).

'BRIDGET & GABE ARE NOT OKAY.....YE OLDE YA LOVE TROUBLES....WITH THE KNIGHTS OF ANGST AND QUIPS.....

  Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher (2026)

     Once again, author Lex Croucher cleverly confirms what we always suspected......that the mythical, mystical world of Arthurian England and Camelot was actually populated by YA characters steeped in simmering hormones, romantic angst and the ability to fire off snappy, snarky remarks at any given moment.

     Well, after the fun of 'Gwen and Art Are Not In Love", our favorite Camelot cosplay gang is back. But, sorry to say, not with quite as much of those laugh-out-loud moments we all enjoyed in the first book. The aftermath of battle has left two major queer romances on rocky paths strewn with hurt feelings, miscommunications, PTSD, and severe identity crisis. King Gabriel, given to panic attacks and almost zero self confidence, painfully pines for knight Sir Arthur. HIs sister Princess Gwendoline deals with similar anxiety over her love gone awry for the fierce girl warrior Bridget, who's afraid she's lost her courageous jousting bravado.

     There's only one way for these crazy kids to resolve their issues....... summon the Knights, create the Round Table and hit the road in search of the Questing Beast, the Green Knight, the Lady in the Lake and the Holy Grail. Not to mention rev up some favorable P..R. for Gabriel's progressive, groundbreaking new dictates for the kingdom, like legalizing same sex relationships and getting kids off the farm and into schools.

     The book does have some real sly witty fun with the various quests, some of which come to resemble the Monty Python misadventures. But the focus here remains on the two young queer couples struggling to rekindle those burning fires between them that never really went out.....only tamped down by cruel circumstance and their own misunderstandings of each other. And with their long questing exploits almost at an end,, the stakes are suddenly raised higher than all four of them ever anticipated.

     The adroit bending and warping of Arthurian legends remains captivating and you most definitely won't want to stop reading until you're satisfied that Bridget and Gwen and Art and Gabe are way more than okay.

     4 stars (****).

'THE WOMEN IN WHITE'......IN THE 1960'S, FOUR WOMEN WITH PARANORMAL GIFTS ENDURE DISTURBING EXPERIMENTS.....

 The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (2026)

     This extraordinary thriller, bouncing between present day and 1964, left me saddened and angered on behalf of the four lead characters. As young women in '64, Betty, Helen, Kathleen and Ivy participated in ESP experiments conducted by a distinguished and intensely driven University professor of parapsychology. Over 60 years later, Betty, widowed, wheelchair bound and living a lonely hermetic existence, still wonders what became of the women with whom she formed such a deep sisterhood bond of shared experiences.......

     Betty enlists Riley, the new young caregiver she's just hired, to help her discover what became of her long ago friends. This leads to the flashback stories of each of these four ESP volunteers........and the terrible unforeseen toll the experiments took on their lives. Betty and Riley's investigations also seem to provoke some unknown person with just as much interest in the experiments now as there was in the past.

     Author Sarah Pekkanen, draws upon actual histories of parapsychology testing while she deftly evokes what the 1960's were like for young intelligent women like Betty and her friends. They cope with the Professor treating them either like children or lab rats and the various societal expectations put upon them to behave as dutiful wives and mothers. Your heart breaks for them as the experiments become more tortuous and their personal lives start to crumble.

     Surprises, danger and a twist reveal await Riley and Betty before their questing for answers comes to an end.. But even in the midst of closure, you can still sense the melancholic memories of women whose remarkable powers united them as they were patronized and mistreated.

     Fascinating, compelling read, all the way through. 4 stars (****).

'THE HARDEST ONES TO FOOL'....A TRIPLE DECEPTION LEADS TO MURDER.....AND EVEN MORE WILD DECEPTIONS.....

  The Hardest Ones to Fool by Christina Li (2026)

     I was stunned by lead character Amelia Wu when I first started this book. Is this over achieving high school senior out of her mind? Under three different names and identities, she got three different boys from three different schools to fall in love with her? And while she's carrying on these triple romances with three sons of wealthy families, she runs the risk of encountering somebody who either knows her as Amelia or the other two fake personas she's performing.........which, we all know is bound to happen.....maybe more than once.

     These monumental deceptions, co-conspired by Amelia and her best friend Ingrid, also involve Amelia scamming the boys' families out of thousands of dollars which leads us to ask that burning question. If there some deeper motive involved here than just a lower middle class girl fleecing the rich, powerful and entitled one-percenters?

     Indeed there is, and Ingrid's mysterious "accidental" death after an all night party sets Amelia to investigating a host of suspects including her three so-called boyfriends. This throws her into an unlikely alliance with Jackie, her equally overachieving senior class frenemy and rival for Valedictorian. Together, they're a formidable duo.......and maybe something more that neither of them counted on.

     Author Christina LI keeps this incredible plot at a constant boil with more and more layers of duplicity and fraud to peel off as the story barrels on to its apparent conclusion. And I do mean apparent ,before the book finally detonates its massive Third Act reveal with a stinger on top.........guaranteed to leave you staggered by its sheer audacity. .

     Great twisty fun to had here. All dedicated fans of YA mysteries shouldn't let his one escape their 'read right away' list.

     4 stars (****).

'THE HUNTED' A THRILLER TO KEEP YOUR BLOOD RACING......AND THE BLOOD SPILLING......

 The Hunted by Steven Max Russo (2026)

     Still trying to catch my breath after this one......

     And now I've got to try to catch up on all the other books I stopped reading (not to mention numerous household chores) that I put on hold once this book had me in its vise-like grip.

     Yes, it's that kind of thriller you look for when you're in the mood for an adrenalin pumping, page-turning, up-all-night read. One that hits the ground running (and shooting) and never stops till there's countless rounds fired and a sizable body count.

     It takes no time at all to get caught up in the ultra dangerous world of Ophelia Harris, a former CIA analyst and now a field operative for the Grendel Security Group......essentially a private company of mercenaries for hire, conducting clandestine black ops, 'this-never-happened' missions for whatever government agency pays them.

     Ophelia's latest assignment for her boss Gerhard Mueller goes horribly wrong, with every Grendel operative dead except her.......and leaving her in possession of huge amounts of cash raised to fund insurgents in Middle East wars. Enraged and judging her a renegade traitor, Mueller sends out one hit team after another to terminate Ophelia when she returns to the U.S.........and there may be something else fueling his fury besides an operation gone south.

     But Mueller clearly underestimates Ophelia's formidable skills and determination to survive. And he didn't count on on her running into former Army Ranger Austin Medford, who remembers seeing Ophelia in action during his Afghanistan deployment. Once he aids her during yet another hit team assault, Austin realizes he's now joined her in Mueller's crosshairs. The hunt for the both of them is on.......until the hunted decide to turn the tables

     Virtually non-stop tension, suspense and explosive action follow, with Ophelia, Austin and their adversaries unleashing all manner of state-of-the-art weaponry upon each other. And through it all, Ophelia emerges an an all too human and vulnerable heroine, who does her best to avoid the carnage around her, even if her foes don't.

     Armchair adventurers who haven't yet discovered this book should be putting it right to the very top of their 'must read' lists. And prepare to stop everything else you're doing once you've started it.

     5 stars (*****).

'PAINT ME LIKE YOUR DEAD GIRLS'.....A PSYCHO PAINTER LEFT HIS MODELS ART-BROKEN......AND BLOODLESS.....

 Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls by Cynthia Murphy (2026)

     I don't know art but I know what I like......and I like nothing more than an art-inspired YA mystery bloodily decorated with nightmare-inducing paintings and gruesome exsanguination murders. And it just so happens that this book fills that aching need to watch a determined Nancy Drew-ish teen manage to link turn-of-the-century serial killings to a current and all too active psychopath copycat.

     Fliss Keller, to the amazement of her Art Historian father, comes across a long sought after disturbing portrait of an agonized man presumably just before his unknowable, terrible death. The painting to the excitement of the art world, completes a set that includes four equally notorious, haunted faces. They're the faces of four young women who look as if death itself has also come for them.......paintings already on display in the art gallery Fliss's dad oversees.

     Secret papers Fliss discovers in the back of the painting might imply it's the work of a serial killer artist and the accompanying four portraits are those of his victims, modeling for him before they died at his hands. While she's co-housesitting with her best friend Izzy, Fliss's dogged research traces the killer and his prey back to the early 1900's........but someone else has been busy too. Someone who, inspired by the five paintings has taken to murdering women in the same manner as the original demented artist.

     The art world premise intrigued me from the start and author Cynthia Murphy keeps the pacing swift and the pages flying by. And as obvious as it played out, I still thrilled to that banger of a horror movie grand finale, with Fliss facing off, as you knew she eventually would, with the scares of a surprise cuckoo perp who's nuttier than a warehouse full of peanut M & Ms. Great, breathless and very cinematic stuff.

     Creepy good fun, with even a touch of romance thrown in. With an art gallery where you might rather dive out the window than exit through the gift shop.

      4 stars (****).

'THE HALF LIFE'.....IN 7O'S SUNNY ITALY, A NAVY WIFE COPES WITH ADULTEROUS ROMANCE.....AND RADIOACTIVITY.....

 The Half Life by Rachel Beanland (2026)

     This is one of those richly imagined books that sweeps you into a different (but still very contemporary) time and place.......with vividly drawn characters and some real history as a backdrop for the lead heroine's life altering journey. I don't often immerse myself in lengthy literary fiction but this one really had me in its grip.

     We're back in the early to mid 1970's, where 23 year old South Carolina girl Eileen marries naval officer Paul Archer, who's in the long training programs to eventually attain his own nuclear submarine command. Paul's assignments take him and his bride to the picturesque Mediterranean island of Maddalena, where the U.S. Navy has established a submarine station for monitoring the safety and maintenance of the subs' nuclear reactors.

     It's an idyllic and but turbulent setting that Eileen finds herself hurled into........a foreign country, whose customs and language she tries to absorb as she navigates her way through the duties and etiquette expected of navy wives. The Italian islanders fear and distrust the navy's ability to keep radiation from the subs out of their ocean environment and the rise of the country's agitating anti-American Communist party only fans the flames.

     Eileen's independent spirit and sharp intelligence can't help but emerge, often putting her at odds with Paul and the whole U.S. Navy culture, where she's supposed to only play the role of supportive wife. But her embrace of new found Maddalena friends includes a growing romantic relationship with a young Italian investigative journalist (who's got the navy in his crosshairs). And amidst all these complications, the erupting anti-Navy protests combined with catastrophic nuclear sub mishaps put Eileen's life and marriage at a pivotal crossroads.

     Author Rachel Beanland brings all of this to page-turning life- the stunning Mediterranean islands, the push and pull of actual events (such as the fall of both Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war, the chaos of 70's Italian politics, and the alarming science of the dangers ushered in by the Atomic age. And then throw in that passionate adulterous affair to all that and you've got yourself one doozy of a read.

     My highest recommendation goes to this one. And I for one can't wait for some streaming service to turn this into an all night binge-worthy mini-series.

      5 stars (*****).

     

'HOT GIRL MURDER CLUB'.....IN LA LA LAND, THESE GIRLS TURN '#ME TOO' INTO '#YOU DIE'.....

 Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead (2026) 

     In no way could I reasonably defend this book's tumultuous collision of multiple tropes, its crazy character development and its loony turns of plot. Nor would I even try.

     But I had soooo much guilty pleasure fun reading it, I simply cannot deny it its four stars. Hot Girls forever....long may they reign and bring moguls the pain......
  
     It's an overheated combination of pop culture toxic waste, pop music and some bloody girl-boss revenge on the Patriarchy of sybaritic Hollywood......and then all of that put into into a blender with hot button divisive politics, domestic terrorism and the sadism of entitled entertainment industry power players..

     Or in simpler terms, it's a Party in the USA.

     All of the above swirls around pop sensation Scout Sage and her coterie of empowered drop dead gorgeous women. Do these stunners really comprise some kind of hit-babe squad dedicated to arranging suspicious deaths of the most notorious entertainment industry abusers of women?

     L.A. detective Gray Holloway comes to think so, investigating Sage and company and at the same time moonlighting as a 'bottle girl at a shady club, serving up drinks to big tipping VIPs. (and no, I swear I'm not making up that last part.) Gray and Sage share more in common than hunter and quarry - years ago, they both lost beloved sisters at the hands of......well that's another two stories slowly revealed in flashbacks.

     I could go on and on about all the other subplots tossed into the stew here including the ominous rise of a filthy rich bigwig turned populist political candidate, an investigative reporter digging into the mysteries of the Sage posse, and a progressive activist who's trying to hitch a ride on Sage's fan base.....but I'm exhausted just writing this paragraph. Think of this book as a three ring circus of Tik-Tok melodrama and Instagram insanity. And not everyone's coming out of it alive.

     One of those books you can have yourself a ball reading, without believing a minute of of it, Strife-styles of the Rich and Infamous. We hate 'em, we love 'em......especially when they're piled up a mile high in a book like this one.

     4 stars (****).