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The Fifth Petal: A Novel

February 17, 2017

fifth petal

  I carry no weight, no worth, no influence. I represent nothing. I do not exist…But remember this as you flee: You brought me into existence. I am not the cause, I am merely the effect.   The Fifth Petal is set in contemporary Salem, Massachusetts making it a heady concoction of witches, evil, superstition, murder, magic and tragedy. Rose Whelan, a local historian ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Crown, mystery, New England, paranormal, suspense

It’s a Mystery: Mini-Reviews

July 27, 2016

mystery

  My timing may be off for conjuring all things creepy and mysterious, but somehow these three books found their way to me in the last month and I didn’t want to delay sharing them. And honestly, if all you read in the summer are beachy, light reads you’ll get bored. Sure it’s great to be scared on a dark and stormy night, but it’s just as fun when you’re sitting in broad ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Grand Central Publishing, mini-reviews, mystery, social issues, St. Martin's Press, suspense, Touchstone

Love is Red

May 27, 2016

love is red

  I was 6 pages into Love is Red when I realized my heart was pounding. Pounding enough to notice, which is not normal. Sophie Jaff’s novel opens with a seduction scene—told from the perspective of an unnamed man who woos a woman at a bar. The action inevitably moves to the woman’s apartment, but this is not a crude encounter, Jaff’s writing is as smooth and well-paced as ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Harper, Manhattan, mystery, suspense

Black Chalk

December 16, 2015

black chalk

  There are many games to be played in college but none quite like the one designed by Jolyon and his friend Chad in Christopher Yates’s debut novel Black Chalk. The novel, just like the Game itself, begins with innocuous pieces to lure you in—Chad, the shy American determined to make the friends in England that he could not make at home; Jolyon, the funny British boy who ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, debut, friendship, mystery, Picador, suspense

The Martian: A Novel

May 29, 2015

martian

If you’re an astronaut there is only one goal in life: make it onto a space mission. There is also one greatest fear: get left behind on a space mission. For Mark Watney, this fear has just come true on the planet Mars in Andy Weir’s debut novel, The Martian. When a dust storm arises while the crew is on the surface it means the mission has to be aborted. While trying to get ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, Random House, science fiction, suspense

Luckiest Girl Alive

May 20, 2015

luckiest

Ani FaNelli opens Luckiest Girl Alive by being just that: Perfect hair, perfect body, perfect fiancé and the perfect prima donna attitude to go with it all. Except that underneath, Ani is really TifAni from the far end of Main Line Philadelphia—Main Line being where the upper echelon of Philadelphia society lives and TifAni does not. However, her mother is determined her ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, Simon & Schuster, social issues, suspense, women

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