Think Twice - Harlan Coben

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Think Twice - Harlan Coben

Thriller

Rating: 7.5/10

Three years ago, Myron gave the eulogy at the funeral of his client, Greg. So, when Greg’s DNA shows up all over the scene of a double murder, he is rather taken aback. And thus begins the cat and mouse chase of the dead/not dead guy and the serial killer who not only dispatches his victims but finds someone to frame for his/her dastardly deeds. The band of misfits from Coben’s classic series is back and up to their same old shenanigans!

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Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

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Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8/10

Ernest, struggling to write his second book, wonders how he got an invite to a prestigious writer’s festival aboard a luxury train. By this point he is fairly certain that his first book, a memoir of his murderous family, was a lucky fluke. When the bodies start dropping, he finally feels that creative spark. Whew! Ernest gets down to business with a delightful combination of zeal and obliviousness, you can’t help but love the guy!

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The Return Of Ellie Black - Emiko Jean

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The Return Of Ellie Black - Emiko Jean

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 7/10

Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call that Ellie Black, who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced. But something’s not right with her. What is she hiding? She won’t say where she has been or who she was with, and Chelsey needs to get to the bottom of it before another girl is taken. The author is generous with the breadcrumbs she leaves the reader along the way, keeping us turning those pages.

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French Windows - Antione Laurain - Top Book Pick!

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French Windows - Antione Laurain - Top Book Pick!

Fiction

Rating: 9/10

Five floors. One Murder. Let the therapy begin…Nathalia, a photographer, has been seeing a therapist. Having accidently witnessed a murder from her apartment, she finds she has lost all inspiration. Doctor Faber suggests a creative exercise. Write about the neighbours she spends hours idly observing in the building across the street. You will find yourself wondering if there is any truth at all to their stories, or if she is making it all up. Masterful!

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Fly Girl - Ann Hood

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Fly Girl - Ann Hood

Memoir

Rating: 8/10

When Ann Hood’s father told her she was smart enough to write her own ticket, she had no idea how literally that would manifest. She has written a memoir about her time as a Flight Attendant during the glamourous heyday of air travel. When every passenger was treated as if they had a first-class ticket and before everyone felt as if they were being conveyed on a greyhound bus. If you choose to pick up this book you will be schooled about the reality of life as a Flight Attendant. And you won’t mind a bit!

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Carnivale Of Curiosities - Aimee Gibbs - Top Book Pick!

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Carnivale Of Curiosities - Aimee Gibbs - Top Book Pick!

Fantasy

Rating: 9/10

“It took three hours to kill Charlotte Bainbridge. An egregious amount of time for exsanguination.” With an opening line like that, this reader let my mind take me to all the weird and wonderful places this book could lead. Cast with wondrous and eccentric characters, this book pulls you deep into a world where many people die. What’s left to ponder is how long they stay that way. An absolute gem of a book!

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Unfortunate Side Effects Of Heartbreak & Magic - Breanne Randall

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Unfortunate Side Effects Of Heartbreak & Magic - Breanne Randall

Fiction

Rating: 8/10

Sadie thought it was going to be just another day, but when she hit bad omen number four, she knew she was in trouble. Seven bad omens in a row meant a nightmare was around the corner. She should have locked herself away for the rest of the day. Picture a literary mashup of elements from Practical Magic & Gilmore Girls, and that is what you are in for with this utterly charming read!

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Secret Lives Of Booksellers & Librarians - James Patterson & Matt Eversman

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Secret Lives Of Booksellers & Librarians - James Patterson & Matt Eversman

Books On Books

Rating: 7.5/10

After reading this cover to cover I declare the following: I am a natural born bookseller. The fact that I am no longer employed to do so makes no difference. There’s still time, so I am putting it out into the universe. Truth be told, when I am in my local Book City, its rare I don’t put a book in some poor unsuspecting strangers hands!

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Frozen River - Ariel Lawhon - Top Book Pick!

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Frozen River - Ariel Lawhon - Top Book Pick!

Historical Fiction

Rating: 8.5/10

When Martha is called to examine a dead man who has been entombed in ice, she has no idea that her life is going to become much more troublesome. Because of her position as a Midwife, she is privy to what goes’ on behind closed doors and the secrets people keep in ways most women of the time were not. This historical fiction pick was a change of pace for me and I loved it. Martha is my kinda girl!

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Friday Afternoon Club - Griffin Dunne

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Friday Afternoon Club - Griffin Dunne

Memoir

Rating: 8/10

In his prologue Dunne recalls a conversation he had with his father, himself a writer. “A writer will always be selling someone out, their story becoming collateral damage in the telling of the authors tale.” I’m not sure why he included that, as he does no such thing in his own memoir. He opens the door to a life enriched by fame and privilege as well as tragedy and darkness. Beautifully done.

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Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows - John Koenig

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Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows - John Koenig

Language & Reference

Rating: 8.5/10

Do you ever struggle to find that word that perfectly fits what you are feeling only to find yourself unable to express it? Well, whatever half-baked, unfinished, yet to be articulated feeling you have tumbling around in your brain, this book will find a way to name it. Every nook and cranny of this is a joy to read! Of course, it’s all made up. But aren’t all the best tales we tell ourselves.

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Anna O - Matthew Blake

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Anna O - Matthew Blake

Thriller

Rating: 8/10

Anna is a bright writer with a future full of infinite possibility. Then one night she stabs two people to death in her sleep and never wakes up. Ben is a forensic psychologist with an expertise in sleep related homicides, who years after the murder is tasked with waking Sleeping Beauty to get to the truth. Ironic that a book where sleep plays a pivotal role made sleep a tad difficult!

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Nightwatching - Tracy Sierra - Top Book Pick!

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Nightwatching - Tracy Sierra - Top Book Pick!

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

An ingenious and suffocating thriller that plunges you into the story with the first sentence and is bound to keep you up past your bedtime in the race to get to the last one. There was someone in the house. We open with a woman standing immobilized by fear, in the shadows that exist between her, the intruder who has invaded her home, and her children. She told them that monsters didn’t exist. She lied.

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You'd Look Better As A Ghost - Joanna Wallace

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You'd Look Better As A Ghost - Joanna Wallace

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

If you can’t stomach a thoroughly unlikable narrator with a dark psyche, move along fair reader. Claire is a part time serial killer intent on keeping her “hobby” secret, despite the efforts of a blackmailer with hideous taste in fashion who is smarter than she looks. But here’s the thing, is it wise to tangle with a serial killer? Despite them seemingly not fully committed to full time devotion to their craft. Probably not.

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101 Books To Read Before You're Murdered - Sadie Hartmann - Top Book Pick!

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101 Books To Read Before You're Murdered - Sadie Hartmann - Top Book Pick!

Books On Books

Rating: 8.5/10

This delightful compendium of books and other fun facts on horror fiction is a must! But know this, a steady diet of horror can ruin you for other genres. You will be reading another style of book and find yourself wondering, when does the blood start flowing, when do the monsters come out to play with us. You have been warned.

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If Something Happens To Me - Alex Finlay

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If Something Happens To Me - Alex Finlay

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

Ryan has been reliving the same night in excruciating detail for more than five years. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the car. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream. Waking up with no trace of Ali to be found and only a vague description of the attacker. Is it any wonder he ends up the prime suspect?

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Home Is Where The Bodies Are - Jeneva Rose

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Home Is Where The Bodies Are - Jeneva Rose

Thriller

Rating: 8/10

After their mother dies, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. While going through decades of their parent’s belongings, they stumble upon a collection of home videos (note that cover!) that reveal a dark family secret. A light, fun and engaging read that might have you rushing to the attic of your childhood home to unearth your own family’s long buried secrets!

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The Serpent & The Wings Of Night - Carissa Broadbent

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The Serpent & The Wings Of Night - Carissa Broadbent

Fantasy

Rating: 8/10

Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn Vampire King, and he has chosen her to participate in a once in a century tribute. Vampires from across the kingdoms compete, the most powerful warriors from all three houses, engage in a savage tournament of five trails that will finish with only one winner left standing at the end of this deadly pursuit. The author triumphantly escape all the tropes of this style of fantasy, a wonder beyond the book itself!

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Baby X - Kira Peikoff

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Baby X - Kira Peikoff

Futuristic Thriller

Rating: 8/10

In a future where advanced technology can create a sperm or egg from any person’s cell’s, the rich and famous face the alarming potential of having their DNA stolen and sold to the highest bidder. Famous rock star Thorne hires Ember to become his Bio security guard, cleaning up all biological evidence from any place he has been. When they are confronted by Quinn, a heavily pregnant woman claiming he is her baby daddy, they are stunned. This can’t be happening. A speculative fiction that is utterly plausible!

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How To Solve Your Own Murder - Kristen Perrin

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How To Solve Your Own Murder - Kristen Perrin

Mystery

Rating: 7.5/10

Frances has spent her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder, only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country home. Leaving behind cryptic clues and meticulous instructions for her potential heirs; if they want to inherit her fortune they must solve the mystery of her murder. And reader, what rabid and greedy heirs they might be! A fun romp perfect for summer reading.

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