Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Grover Press, #partner, for the finished copy of Slenderman in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: Grover Press Published: August 16, 2022   Summary: The first full account of the Slenderman stabbing, a true crime narrative of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet The Slenderman stabbing of May 31, 2014, in the…

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The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you SimonBooksBuddies / Simon and Schuster, #partner, for the finished copy of The Many Lives of Mama Love in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: Simon & Schuster / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: February 27, 2024 / August 1, 2023   Summary: New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller…

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Lethal Vengeance by Robert Bryndza #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced copy of Lethal Vengeance in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Raven Street Publishing / Raven Street Publishing Published: February 8, 2024   Summary: The man lay on his front, his arms and legs bound and pulled up with a rope connecting the two. His head was arched back, so he faced the curtains, and…

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What Is Mine by Lyn Liao Butler #bookreview

Thank you @GetRedPrBooks/Thomas & Mercer #partner,  for the advanced copy of What Is Mine in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: February 6, 2024   Summary: The search for a missing boy entwines the lives of two desperate women. One seeks redemption for her sister; the other will do anything for the love of her life. Hope Chen and her husband are raising her nine-year-old nephew,…

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Lie by the Pool by Susan Walter #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: September 12, 2023   Summary: A desperate woman. An irresistible invitation. An escalating nightmare of secrets, lies, and murder. Bree’s new home is luxurious and private, with a fancy Beverly Hills address. What a shame it’s not hers. Widowed, penniless, living in her car, and out of options, she’s climbed the fence…

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When I’m Dead by Hannah Morrissey #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner for the advanced copy of When I’m Dead in exchange for my honest review.  Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio Published: October 31, 2023   Summary: One girl murdered. Another one missing. And a medical examiner desperate to uncover the truth in the latest Black Harbor mystery by acclaimed author Hannah Morrissey. On a bone-chilling October night,…

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American Girl by Wendy Walker #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Blackstone Publishing, #partner for the advanced copy of American Girl in exchange for my honest review. I got the audiobook as part of my Audible Subscription. Publisher: Blackstone Publishing / Audible Originals Published: October 17, 2023 / December 16, 2021   Summary: A pulse-pounding novel about a small-town business owner found dead and the teenage girl caught in the crosshairs, American Girl is the latest thriller from international best-selling author…

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Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you GetRedPR and the author, #partner, for the advanced copy of Don’t Forget To Write in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: September 1, 2023   Summary: In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good. When Marilyn Kleinman is…

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The Golden Gate by Amy Chua #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Golden Gate in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio Published: September 19, 2023   Summary: Amy Chua’s debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at…

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Salthouse Place by Jamie Lee Sogn #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you to Kathleen Carther Communications, Lake Union Publishing, #partner, for an advanced copy of Salthouse Place in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: September 1, 2023   Summary: From debut author Jamie Sogn comes a twisty thriller about the allure of the past and the danger of the truth as a young woman dives headlong into a cult…

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The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark / Audible Studios Published: June 21, 2022   Summary: From author Julie Clark comes a twisted con-woman thriller about two women out for revenge―or is it justice? Two women. Many aliases. Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases…

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Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Flatiron Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Night Will Find You in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: June 20, 2023   Summary: A scientist with a special gift riles a wasp’s nest of conspiracy theories while investigating a cold case in this riveting novel from the acclaimed and bestselling author of Black-Eyed…

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Between Two Strangers by Kate White #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: HarperAudio Published: May 16, 2023   Summary: A woman receives a bewildering inheritance that may have something to do with her past in this twisty and addictive psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author Entertainment Weekly calls “impossible to outwit.” Struggling artist Skyler Moore is flabbergasted when she receives a suspicious phone call from a lawyer she’s never met regarding a “private matter.”…

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: The Dial Press / Random House Audio Published: March 14, 2023   Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward comes a poignant and engrossing family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole? William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love…

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Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark #bookreview #audiobook #reread

I purchased this audiobook for my own collection.     Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Published: February 12, 2019   Summary: The number-one New York Times best-selling author and Queen of Suspense launched her career with this classic thriller following a woman whose past holds a terrible secret. Nancy Harmon long ago fled the heartbreak of her first marriage, the macabre deaths of her two little children, and the shocking charges against…

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Memoir Madness 2023: 4 mini-reviews #memoirs #bookreviews #audiobooks

This month I participated in MEMOIR MADNESS 2023  – a challenge over on Instagram where we focused on reading memoirs throughout the month of March. It’s a little play on March Madness and I have loved participating in this. I love reading memoirs – it’s one of my favorite forms of nonfiction that I try to read throughout the year. So far, I’ve read 3 this month, but you are…

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Weyward by Emilia Hart #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy  of Weyward in exchange for my honest review.  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: March 7, 2023   Summary: I am a Weyward, and wild inside. 2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and…

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Lessons in Chemisty by Bonnie Garmus #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: Doubleday Books / Random House Audio Published: April 5, 2022   Summary: A delight for readers of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this blockbuster debut set in 1960s California features the singular voice of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist whose career takes a detour when she becomes the star of a beloved TV cooking show. Chemist Elizabeth Zott…

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I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Penguin Random House Audio, for the ALC and Viking Books, #partner for the finished copy  of I Have Some Questions for You in exchange for my honest review.  Publisher: Viking Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: February 21, 2023   Summary: The riveting new novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers A successful film professor and podcaster,…

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Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Viking Books, #partner for the finished copy of Someone Else’s Shoes in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: February 7, 2023   Summary: A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances, this is the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and The…

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Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Penguin Random House Audio, #partner for the ALC  of Age of Vice in exchange for my honest review. I purchased a print copy for my own collection. Publisher: Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: January 3, 2023   Summary: This is the age of vice, where money, pleasure, and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can also kill. New Delhi, 3 a.m.…

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Stay Awake by Megan Goldin #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy of Stay Awake in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: August 9, 2022   Summary: A murder she doesn’t remember committing. A killer she doesn’t remember meeting. Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that proves memory can be deadly. Liv Reese wakes up in the back…

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Atomic Habits by James Clear #bookreview #audiobook #nonfiction

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: Avery / Penguin Audio Published: October 16, 2018   Summary: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving – every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny…

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Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Soho Crime / Recorded Books Published: April 7, 2020   Summary: In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Nazis, Hitler spent a total of three hours in the City of Light-abruptly leaving, never to return. To this day, no one knows why. The New York Times best-selling author of the Aimee Leduc investigations…

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All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan, #partner for the ALC  of All the Dangerous Things in exchange for my honest review. I purchased a print copy for my own collection. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 10, 2023   Summary: Following up her instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham delivers a totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past in All the Dangerous Things.…

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Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: November 1, 2022   Summary: In an extraordinary story that only he could tell, Matthew Perry takes readers onto the soundstage of the most successful sitcom of all time while opening up about his private struggles with addiction. Candid, self-aware, and told with his trademark humor, Perry vividly details his lifelong battle…

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Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit & Obsession Edited by Sarah Weinman #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Ecco / Harper Audio Published: July 28, 2020   Summary: A brilliant anthology of modern true-crime writing that illustrates the appeal of this powerful and popular genre, edited and curated by Sarah Weinman, the award-winning author of The Real Lolita. The appeal of true-crime stories has never been higher. With podcasts like My Favorite Murder and In the Dark, bestsellers like I’ll Be…

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Shutter by Ramona Emerson #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Recorded Books for the ALC and Soho Crime #partner, for the advanced copy of Shutter in exchange for my honest review.  Publisher: SoHo Crime / Recorded Books Published: August 2, 2022   Summary: This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer…

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The Winter Orphans by Kristin Beck #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: September 13, 2022   Summary: A poignant and ultimately triumphant novel based on the incredible true story of children who braved the formidable danger of guarded, wintry mountain passes in France to escape the Nazis, from the acclaimed author of Courage, My Love. In a remote corner of France, Jewish refugee Ella Rosenthal…

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Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you @GetRedPrBooks & Berkley Books, #partner, for the finished copy of  Blackmail and Bibingka in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: October 4, 2022   Summary: When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can’t be far behind in this new mystery by…

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You Will Never Know by S.A. Prentiss #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Scarlet / Blackstone Publishing Published: October 13, 2020 / November 10, 2020   Summary: In a small, suburban town, the murder of a local high school student rocks one woman’s family to its core – and threatens to expose her deepest, darkest secrets in the process. After a lifetime of hardship, Jessica Thornton finally…

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Stolen Remains by Christine Trent #bookreview #series #backlistbook

Thank you Kensington Books, #partner for the advanced of Stolen Remains in exchange for my honest review. I got the audiobook from Scribd. Publisher: Kensington Books / Tantor Audio Published: April 29, 2014 / November 30, 2021   Summary: After establishing her reputation as one of London’s most highly regarded undertakers, Violet Harper decided to take her practice to the wilds of the American West. But when her mother falls…

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The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Anchor Books / Random House Audio Published: February 1, 2022   Summary: A mystery about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of the most prestigious classical music competition in the world. Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming…

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Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you @GetRedPrBooks & Lake Union Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of  Where the Sky Begins in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Audible Studios Published: August 2, 2022   Summary: A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times best-selling author of The…

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The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Thank you Libro.fm, #partner for the ALC of The Woman in the Library in exchange for my honest review. I purchased this book for my own collection. Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press / Dreamscape Media Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: In every person’s story, there is something to hide… The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream.…

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Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkly Books / Penguin Audio Published: April 12, 2022   Summary: Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench. Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend…

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Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Thank you Lake Union Publishing #partner, for the finished copy of Iris in the Dark in exchange for my honest review. The audio copy is via my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: A single mother faces her worst fear—the past—in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light. Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen.…

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Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine #bookreview #bookclub

Thank you Libro.fm, #partner for the ALC of Woman of Light in exchange for my honest review. I purchased this book for my own collection.  Publisher: One World / Random House Audio Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: A dazzling epic of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West, from the author of the National Book Award Finalist Sabrina & Corina…

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The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Dutton, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Magnolia Palace in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook via my subscription with libro.fm. Publisher: Dutton / Penguin Audio Published: January 25, 2022   Summary: Fiona Davis, New York Times best-selling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.…

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Book Event: Long Island Reads & Book Review: The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

Yesterday, I attended my first of what I hope will be many Long Island Reads events. Long Island Reads is an island-wide initiative that began in 2002 to bring readers together from both Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Each spring readers across both counties read the same book, participate in book discussions and enjoy events related to the book in the libraries. Now that in-person events are happening again, this year…

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Review: The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen (audio)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: March 8, 2022 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via St. Martin’s Press / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us. 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…

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Review: Wahala by Nikki May (audio)

Publisher: Custom House / Harper Audio Published: January 11, 2022 Source: Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: An incisive and exhilarating debut novel of female friendship following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group—the most unforgettable girls since Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. Ronke wants happily ever after and 2.2. kids. She’s dating Kayode and…

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Audiobook Roundup

I’m a huge audiobook fan…I always have one on the go. And today I’m featuring three that all involve a protagonist who faces something completely unexpected while traveling. Thanks @Booksforwardpr for putting these on my radar!     THE LIGHTHOUSE by Christopher Parker, narrated by Braden Wright Pub Date: October 21, 2021, Audio Publisher – Christopher Parker   Summary: Enchanting, mysterious, and deeply romantic, The Lighthouse follows a young woman’s breathtaking journey…

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Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: June 1, 2021 Source: ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of 24 hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives will change forever. Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas:…

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Review: True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (audio)

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark / Recorded Books Published: December 7, 2021 Source: ARC Paperback via Sourcebooks / ALC via Librofm   Summary: What happens to all the girls who go missing? The thrilling story of a university student’s sudden disappearance, the woman who became obsessed with her case, and the crime writer who uncovered the chilling truth about what happened… In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester…

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Review: The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe (reread)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: December 27, 2016 Source: Library   Summary: Acclaimed Swedish author Camilla Grebe makes her solo American debut with a psychological thriller as cunning in its twists as it is captivating in its storytelling – for fans of the celebrated crime fiction of Camilla Läckberg, Jo Nesbø, Ruth Ware, and Fiona Barton. Winter’s chill has descended on Stockholm as police arrive at the scene of a…

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Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (audio)

Publisher: Viking Books / Penguin Audio Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Print – Personal copy via BOTM / Audio – Personal copy via Libro.fm   Summary: The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of…

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Review: The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent (audio)

Publisher: Brilliance Audio Published: April 9, 2019 Source: Personal copy   Summary: Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air. Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows…

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Review: One Little Mistake by Lucinda Berry (audio)

Publisher: Audible Originals Published: September 9, 2021 Source: Personal copy   Summary: From the best-selling author of The Secrets of Us and The Best of Friends comes a novella of deceit, desperation, and how one little mistake can unravel a life. When overwhelmed stay-at-home mom Alexis finds herself at odds with her husband after she’s charged with a DUI, she is given one chance to get her family back: complete AA and admit her…

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Review: No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson (audio)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: September 28, 2021 Source: ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: From New York Times best-selling author Erik Larson comes his first venture into fiction, an otherworldly tale of intrigue and the impossible that marshals his trademark approach to nonfiction to create something new: a ghost story thoroughly grounded in history. Pioneering psychologist William James leads an expedition to a remote isle in search of answers after…

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