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Reviews

by Nora Roberts - Fiction, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Thriller

The Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. But as 12-year-old Thea’s parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb. Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother, Lucy, both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened. The kids will be staying with Grammie, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career and find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her --- and the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability.

by Catherine Ryan Hyde - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Ru Evans taught herself euclidean geometry at age seven, has an eidetic memory, and is about to enter college at 13 years old. Boarding at a house near campus 150 miles from home, Ru meets 17-year-old Gabriel, an outsider himself who, like Ru, has trouble making friends --- until they form a fast sibling-like bond. Finding a relatable someone in the world to talk to is a first for both of them. But when Ru’s mother dies and the threat of living with her miserable aunt looms, Ru hatches an escape. It’s an impulsive road trip that takes Ru and Gabriel from California to Canada, where Ru can fulfill her ultimate dream: to see Atlantic puffins in the glorious wild. Mile by mile, Ru discovers the joy of friendship, found family, dark night skies and the aurora borealis, and she basks in going from being a smart person to just a person.

by Kate White - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

As Kiki Reed heads out to a party at a friend’s house in the Connecticut countryside, she’s more than a little nervous. Her ex-fiancé, Jamie, will be attending, and she hasn’t seen him since she broke his heart a few months earlier. But when they come face to face, their exchange is brief and pleasant, which is a huge relief. Then, as the party is winding down, a noise pierces the night. The last few guests run outside to find Jamie inside his car, dead from a gunshot wound. Shocked and grieving, Kiki learns that the police believe Jamie took his own life, but she knows he was moving on from the breakup and just doesn’t believe it. Determined to find the truth, she searches for any evidence that will get the police to take her seriously. But as she peels away the layers, she uncovers something far more sinister than she’d imagined --- and it may be her life on the line next.

by Kelley Armstrong - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. But inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray and is developing true friends --- and feelings --- in this century. So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

by Mary Kay Andrews - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation at St. Cecelia. But she could work there. One fateful summer she did, and she married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help --- including the daughter of her estranged best friend --- Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

by John Brownlow - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Agent Seventeen, the most infamous hit man in the world, has quit. But whoever wants to become Assassin Eighteen must track him down and kill him first. So when a bullet hits the glass inches from his face, he knows who fired it. Doesn't he? It turns out that the sniper isn't the hardened killer he was expecting. It's Mireille, a mysterious silent child abandoned in the woods with instructions to pull the trigger. Reuniting with his spiky lover, Kat, Seventeen has to protect Mireille and discover who sent her to kill him and why. But the road he must travel is littered with bodies. And the answer, when it comes, will blow apart everything Seventeen thought he knew.

by Sally Hepworth - Domestic Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life. But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

by Lian Dolan - Fiction, Women's Fiction

After 23 years of building careers and raising kids together, Jason and Nicole Elswick are ready for a break from their daily lives. Jason has spent years planning his dream sabbatical --- ditching work for a nine-month-long motorcycle trip through South America. But that’s Jason’s dream, not Nicole’s. After years working retail and parenting in Portland, Nicole craves the sun of the Southwest and the artistic community in Santa Fe, where she wants to learn jewelry design. A chance encounter at a dinner party presents a surprising --- and intriguing --- way out of their dilemma. Over a little too much wine, Jason and Nicole’s married neighbors sing the praises of the 500 Mile Rule: their policy of enjoying themselves however they wish --- and with whomever they wish --- when they’re temporarily far apart.

by John Shen Yen Nee and S. J. Rozan - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his quiet life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he’d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders --- or are they next in line as victims?

by Sarah Beth Durst - Fiction, Magical Realism, Women's Fiction

After her mother dies, Hannah doesn’t know how to exist without her. In fact, Hannah isn’t even certain that she does exist. No one seems to see or hear her, and she finds herself utterly alone. Grief-stricken and confused, Hannah sets out to find new purpose in life --- and answers about who (and what) she really is. Hannah’s only remaining family is her older sister, Leah. Yet even Leah doesn’t seem to notice her. And while Hannah can see and hear her sister, she also sees beautiful and terrible things that don’t --- or shouldn’t --- exist. She learns there’s much more to this world than meets the eye and struggles to make sense of it all. When Hannah sees Leah taking the same dangerous path that consumed their own mother --- where lies supplant reality --- she’s desperate to get through to her.