Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel

I really liked this book. Did I find it "amazing" as the 5 stars requires, no but I know I'm a little unfair being as how the book took place in Sweden and when I first started it I couldn't even tell you if the names were male or female and I feel out of sorts when I don't know where they are talking about when they say things like "just outside Helsingborg".

Aside from that, the book is about a wife, Ylva, who doesn't come home one day, just vanishes.  She leaves a husband, Mike and daughter, Sanna grieving, trying to understand what happened to her and after so long just assume she's dead.  What they don't know is frightening.  She's being held captive by the neighborhood (who is harboring a grudge), in a sound proof room in their basement where her only link to the outside world is a video camera set up to record her own house where she can see Mike and Sanna coming and going.

The book did get my heart racing and it did keep me quite entertained (even though not funny at all).  I didn’t care for the ending, I wish this was a book that had an alternate ending that I could also read.

I will definitely recommend!! Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this!

The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders

This book was good. I'll give credit for a debut, indie novel but it was very redundant. The woman in this book, Theresa was over-the-top stubborn. And I'm no author but some of the writing felt amateurish.

This book is about a marriage between Sandro and Theresa that set up in order for Sandro's father to keep his vineyard. The only way the marriage contract could be voided was with the birth of a son but Sandro eventually ended up falling in love with Theresa. However, it was a day late and a dollar short so to speak because Theresa had been hurt so often by Sandro during their 18mos marriage that she was entirely too guarded to let him love her... and then she got pregnant but you'll have to read it to find out the rest.

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

This book was wonderful. It's nice to read a mystery that doesn't have to be gory. I only gave this 4 stars and not 5 for a couple of reasons. 1) The more I read, the more I was able to predict some things and 2) I thought Claire's research came all too easy which made it a bit unbelievable for me but really I'm just nit picking.

An out-of-the-blue snow storm hits in May and a reporter, Claire, finds out that the same thing happened in 1933. She's compelled to write a story about the 2 storms and finds an intriguing mystery to solve along the way. That with many side stories along the way made the book an enjoyable, easy read.

I will definitely recommend this one!

The one I left behind by Jennifer McMahon

The last couple of books I read by Jennifer McMahon were weird, I thought. This one actually read like a normal mystery so I was happy to leave the 'weirdness' behind.

This is a story about a serial killer, Neptune, who kidnaps women, cuts off their right hand and kills them 5 days later - all except for Vera, Reggie's mother who was kidnapped, hand cut off but no body was ever found until 25 years later when she was so sick she couldn't tell anyone who the killer was or where she's been. Now that she is back, Reggie is determined to find out who the killer is only to find herself in a life and death predicament.

The book isn't bad but I feel like the ending is so over-the-top dramatic - predictable even. I mean we've all seen it before, so much so that it was almost boring. I liked it but felt it just fell a little flat.

Breathing Water by T. Greenwood

I guess I was expecting more from this book, from T Greenwood. I looked it up on Amazon and found that it's a re-release from 2000 which explains a lot for me.

This is a story bounces back and forth between times in Effie's life. Earlier times when she is dating Max and at the mercy of his mean streak and feels the need to leave the lake when a young girl dies and later times when she returns to the lake and is learning how to live again - free from the monster, the purple bruises and the pain.

The story is one of friendship and heartache and forgiveness.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Holy cow!

Writing a review for this book without giving anything away will be tricky so this may be a shorter review.

Nick and Amy are just hours away from celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary when Nick, still at work, gets a call from his neighbor that his cat is outside.  When Nick arrives home, he finds that not only is his cat outside but that his front door is wide open and his wife is missing.

The police arrive, a report is filed, the crime scene examined and Nick is continually repeating his innocence.  However, no matter what Nick says he still becomes the prime suspect because Amy is so very clever and not just clever but patient.

The story is unimaginable and I'm now afraid of the author Gillian Flynn because for her to make up with this story is scary.

Definite recommend!

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

This book felt drawn out to me. I liked it but at the same time just felt I was being teased with information the entire book, for example, how many times did Alice ask why her and Nick were getting divorced and no one would answer her or a phone would ring etc... That was annoying me. At first, I was also confused by the letters - Elisabeth's and Frannie's, I'm still not sure why their stories had to be told that way.

This book is a story about a woman who is, basically, in the middle of a mid-life crisis when she falls off her bike in spinning class, hits her head and forgets 10yrs of her life. Her mind takes her back to a simpler time - before her marriage got hard and before she had 3 kids. She left with trying to understand who she is and how to save her marriage.

I'm not sure I'd want to see myself now through the eyes of myself 10yrs ago especially since my life was in such turmoil 10yrs ago but it would be interesting to see how life has changed me.