Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

source: purchased
title: Sharp Objects
author: Gillian Flynn
genre: mystery thriller/ psychological thriller
pages: 396
published: 2006
first line: My sweater was new, stinging red and ugly.
rated: 5 out of 5 stars

blurb:
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

my thoughts:
I finally read Gillian Flynn. This book had exactly what I look for in a crime thriller; mystery, suspense and grittiness with a few shocking scenes thrown in for good measure.

I don’t even really know where to begin because I enjoyed this book so much and I wanted to make sure I got my thoughts on it posted before I forget the good parts.

This was a multilayered novel about a woman with psychological issues who is facing past demons and revisiting her estranged family while trying to solve a murder mystery.  This was a tough, gritty read and it was executed perfectly by the author. I read half mesmerized and half in shock most of the time.

As the book starts off Camille Preaker is a reporter with a troubled past who begrudgingly goes back to her hometown in Missouri to get interviews from the locals about two missing girls, one of whom’s body has already been found. Camille lives in Chicago now and does not keep in touch with her family back home.

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Along Came a Spider by James Patterson

source: purchased
title: Along Came A Spider
author: James Patterson (Twitter)
pages: 449
genre: crime thriller/detective fiction
published: December 1, 1993
first line: The Charles Lindbergh farmhouse glowed with bright, orangish lights.
rated: 5 out of 5 stars!

blurb:
Discover the classic thriller that launched the #1 detective series of the past twenty-five years, now one of PBS’s “100 Great American Reads”

Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology. He works and lives in the ghettos of D. C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. He’s a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. But he also has two adorable kids of his own, and they are his own special vulnerabilities.

Jezzie Flanagan is the first woman ever to hold the highly sensitive job as supervisor of the Secret Service in Washington. Blond, mysterious, seductive, she’s got an outer shell that’s as tough as it is beautiful. She rides her black BMW motorcycle at speeds of no less than 100 mph. What is she running from? What is her secret?

Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair-at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the “crime of the century,” is playing at the top of his game. Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?

Gary Soneji is every parent’s worst nightmare. He has become Alex Cross’s nightmare. And now, reader, he’s about to become yours.

my thoughts:

Hellooooooo everyone. I am still here. I have to begin this post by saying that I miss you guys and I miss blog-land but I am still on major vacation/summertime mode. I am going to try to catch up online this weekend and hopefully by next weekend I will have an updates and mailbox post.

Anyway, onto my thoughts on Along Came A Spider by James Patterson a.k.a. my favorite book of 2018 so far. This book was fantastic and once I was finished reading I had a serious book hangover.

The New York Daily News says:
“James Patterson is to suspense what Danielle Steel is to romance”.

The Siren (The Original Sinners) by Tiffany Reisz and thoughts on the rest of this series

source: purchased
title: The Siren (The Original Sinners)
author: Tiffany Reisz
published: Harlequin MIRA; Original edition (July 31, 2012)
pages: 425
first line: There was no such thing as London fog-never had been.
rated: 5 out of 5 stars

blurb:
Notorious Nora Sutherlin is famous for her delicious works of erotica, each one more popular with readers than the last. But her latest manuscript is different—more serious, more personal—and she’s sure it’ll be her breakout book…if it ever sees the light of day.

Zachary Easton holds Nora’s fate in his well-manicured hands. The demanding British editor agrees to handle the book on one condition: he wants complete control. Nora must rewrite the entire novel to his exacting standards—in six weeks—or it’s no deal.

Nora’s grueling writing sessions with Zach are draining…and shockingly arousing. And a dangerous former lover has her wondering which is more torturous—staying away from him…or returning to his bed?

Nora thought she knew everything about being pushed to your limits. But in a world where passion is pain, nothing is ever that simple.

 

I suppose doom and destiny are just two sides of the same coin.
p. 156 The Siren by Tiffany Reisz

My thoughts:
I have debated on how to post about my love of the Tiffany Reisz books because I’ve read four of the eight books in this series so far but series books can be difficult to review. I figured I would start with my review of the The Siren which is the first book in the series, then I’ll add a few thoughts on the other three books I’ve read. I will try my best not to rave on and on, but I cannot make any promises.

These books are sexy, edgy, well written and push all boundaries.

I devoured The Siren (The Original Sinners) one weekend, leaving my housework undone as I eagerly turned the pages, needing to know what came next, yet wishing the book would not end. Tiffany Reisz’s style of storytelling is fantastic and clever. How does she do that? I just do not know.

The Siren kicks the series off with a story about an erotic fiction writer and the men in her life, a dose of BDSM is added for good measure. As far as the BDSM aspect of this series, it is apparent the author knows what she is writing about. It is never sugar coated or romanticized, there are uncomfortable aspects of it, it’s not light and sweet. Reisz lays it all out on the table and explains it to the reader.

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey

source: free review copy via AmazonVine
title: Letters to the Lost
author: Iona Grey
pages: 376
published: 2015
first line: The house is at its most beautiful in the mornings.
rated: 5 out of 5

Blurb:
1943, in the ruins of Blitzed London…Stella Thorne and Dan Rosinski meet by chance and fall in love by accident. Theirs is a reluctant, unstoppable affair in which all the odds are stacked against them: she is newly married, and he is an American bomber pilot whose chance of survival is just one in five…He promised to love her forever. Seventy years later Dan makes one final attempt to find the girl he has never forgotten, and sends a letter to the house where they shared a brief yet perfect happiness. But Stella has gone, and the letter is opened by Jess, a young girl hiding from problems of her own. And as Jess reads Dan’s words, she is captivated by the story of a love affair that burned so bright and dimmed too soon. Can she help Dan find Stella before it is too late? Now forever is finally running out.

My Thoughts:
Letters to the Lost was a well written romance that had me engrossed from page one. Author Iona Grey weaves this engaging storyline and takes the reader from past to present effortlessly.

The plot goes from 1940’s to 2011 where an unfortunate Jess breaks into an old abandoned house and finds an urgent letter addressed to Mrs. Thorne. She swears to try to find this Mrs. Thorne and deliver her letter, which is from an old love whose dying wish is to see her again. Swoon, I know. Jess has nowhere to live so she stays in the house for some time.

Will works as a probate researcher and has been assigned to find any last will and testament of a Miss Price.
His and Jess’s paths cross and as the story flows the plot alternates between these two and between Stella and Dan.