Mine by J.L. Butler

3.5/5

Let me start by saying that I love silhouettes on the cover like this one. I don't know what it is but I seem to be drawn to them.

"In this riveting tale of psychological suspense, a divorce lawyer risks her career, her sanity, and her life when she falls into an illicit, all-consuming affair with her client-who becomes the primary suspect in his estranged wife's sudden disappearance."

This was a good book. I thought the affair was a little over-the-top. She had a lot at risk and she barely knew this guy, Martin Joy, but she's smart. When she put a plan into motion, all the pieces start falling into place but it almost cost her her life.

I rounded my rating down and not up because I thought it was redundant at times.

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

Florence Sally Horner, 1948

I'd never heard this name before yet, it's a true crime story.  Once I hit the end and read some of the author notes, I was floored.  I immediately googled and found that this really happened.  How sad.

Sally just wanted to belong so when she saw the girls at school prick their fingers to become "blood sisters" she wanted to be a part of that as well.  She finally got up the nerve to ask but the girls were cruel and expecting an initiation before she could be one of them.  They told her she had to steal something from Woolworth's and when she did, she was caught by a man, Frank LaSalle, who sat at the counter and said he was from the FBI.  She was petrified and willing to do what he instructed so she could make up for what she did.  For months and months, he promised to take her to see the judge.  He told her lie after lie making promise after promise until over the months / years Sally got a little wiser and started questioning him.  What she found was appalling.

As a mom, this is so scary to see how "easy" this was for Frank to pull off.

Sally was also the inspiration behind the disturbing book, Lolita.

What a stunning cover as well.  Definite recommend from me!

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

I have wanted to read a Jennifer Hillier book for a long time now, specifically the Creep series and I just haven't.  I'm going to be bumping them up my forever growing TBR list.

"This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . ."

Told in 5 disturbing parts at the perfect pace.

The parts the author doesn't want you to know about are hidden from us in such a way that you don't see it coming.  I enjoyed the story even though it was highly disturbing at times and I don't know what's preventing me from giving a full 5 stars.  I will sleep on this one for a day or two and see if I don't need to adjust my rating in that time.

With that said, it's a definite recommend.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I'm convinced that Ernest Cline is a genius (as is Wade Watts).

The book was brilliant, yet wordy. I was getting tired of all the descriptions and being as I listened to this on audio, I couldn't exactly skim over those parts as I probably would have if I read the book.

I've wanted to read this for a long time and then my son read it and I figured I should now step up and read it so we could talk about it. Reading it after him, yikes. It's labeled YA, he's 11.5 and I figured that he was reading so the good outweigh the bad but some of the scenes made me cringe as I listened to it knowing that he read the same.

There's not much to say about the book that hasn't already been said. I couldn't always wrap my brain around this massive virtual reality (especially at the beginning, it got a little easier as I went) game. I'm not a gamer but man if I wasn't relating to stuff I hear my kids say when playing Fortnite. LOL

All of the 80's references were wonderful.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me a copy of this book to read on my Kindle!!  I loved it!  Every word.

This book gets ALL the stars from me.

I love Jane.  A known, self diagnosed, sociopath with the need for revenge.   She's brave, daring, cunning and smart.  Jane doesn't live in the states but she's come back when a position opens up as a data entry clerk in Steven's office.

She has plans for Steven.

This may be my favorite book this year.  I'm really hoping for a sequel.  Anyone out there that reads my reviews, I highly recommend this one.

A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo

4.5/5 - This book was written really well which is why I rounded my rating up and not down.  The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is because I was able to read between the lines and figure out "who done it" by a certain point.

This book is not easy to read.  It's starts with a suicide,  someone is burned alive, there's rape and  murder; it's tough and Kate Burkholder has her work cut out for her.  The Amish like to keep their secrets and coupled with her own past, it's not an easy case by any means for her.  As she very slowly puts 2 & 2 together, her own life is put in jeopardy.

If you haven't already started this series, I highly recommend it.  It's one I look forward to every year and I'm never disappointed.

In The Vines by Shannon Kirk

What a stunning cover.

After seeing this book all over Instagram, I found that I was able to request a copy from Netgalley and was approved. I was excited to start this as soon as I got it so thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy.

Dark dark dark, just the way I like them. It wasn't an easy read for me though. It was all over the place and some of it was quite unbelievable to me BUT the rest of the book was whacked, also, just the way I like them so it's a little difficult for me to review. I will say, at times, it was gory so be aware of this.

The book is told in alternating narratives and time frames (past and present) with Mary Olivia Pentecost (MOP for short) as one of our narrators and Aunty Liv Vandonbeer as the other one. It's a story of one of the wealthiest and closest New England families and what's happened over the past 2 years. I'll give you a hint. Lies were told. Crimes were committed. There was love and death.

Sidenote: I love that Aunty has a "Glory hole" in her kitchen while mine is just a "junk drawer".

A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

I liked it but that's about it.  I wasn't wowed like I have been in the past by Linwood Barclay.

One night when Paul Davis sees his colleague, Kenneth Hoffman, driving a little erratic, he pulls over when he pulls over to make sure that everything is okay but what he sees is more disturbing than he could ever imagine.  Ultimately he ends up struggling with PTSD but it isn't until his wife, Charlotte, brings home a typewriter for him to use to write about what happened that night that he really starts questioning his own sanity.