March Read: What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

 

I've read a few Shari Lapena novels and they always keep me dangling until the last few pages.   This novel, her latest (on sale July 30), kept me completely engaged and unable to put it down. 

The small town of Fairhill, Vermont is a place where you leave your house unlocked and there's never any crime. Until one early morning when a farmer, driving his tractor into one of his fields, discovers a horrible scene: a naked young woman-dead, lying in the field. 

That dead young woman is Diana Brewer, a senior at the local high school. Her single mother works the night shift as a nurse in the next town over, and Diana spends nights alone at their home. Word quickly spreads, and the first suspect is Diana's boyfriend, Cameron. What were they doing together the night before, and why does Cameron lie? Diana's best friends Riley and Evan are devastated Diana's dead--and murdered. The town quickly become filled with a whole lot of people who have secrets to keep; secrets which point at many of them as potential suspects. Will they lie to protect themselves, or fess up and help uncover Diana's killer?

Shari Lapena usually writes thrillers that involve couples, and this was a bit different from her usual in that it centers around a murdered high school student. As police investigate, there's plenty of people who have things to hide that may tie directly to Diana's death, or may have contributed to her murder. It was hard to tell who would be revealed, and the reveal at the end is a bit of a twist that you may or may not see coming. Another twist is that Diana's spirit is "hanging around", and she's confused as to what happened. She has big gaps in her memory, and is slowly understanding she's dead and that someone killed her. Her flashbacks also give a bit of a red herring aspect to the plot because what she remembers may not necessarily be accurate. Plus, she's dead! 

Definitely one theme in this thriller is the endless harassment and sexualization young girls have to endure, even in a small town. Being called a liar, or not being believed at all, are things Diana has to endure. People always going out of their way to protect themselves instead of standing up for truth. 

If you're a Shari Lapena fan, this won't disappoint. If you're new to her novels, and you like thrillers--Heather Gudenkauf fans I'm talking to you--grab this novel for you summer read when it arrives in stores and libraries July 30th. 

A HUGE thank you to Pamela Dorman Books/Viking for a chance to read this thriller a few months before publication. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thriller that keeps you on your toes guessing who the guilty party is--and also, the effect of murder on a small town and how it completely changes the lives of those left behind. 

Available July 30th in the U.S. in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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March Read: What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

Sanctuary by V. V. James

 Shocking, I know--I finished two books in one weekend. Now I can't wait to dig into the other books I've got lined up for the rest of October. This novel continues the magical theme I have going for October. It's definitely getting darker out earlier, and now when I get up early to hit the gym, it's still dark when I leave the gym--and I do miss that sunrise on the drive home. 

I first saw this novel pop up on Goodreads. I looked at what people had to say, and while I was interested, I wasn't running out to grab it. I was perusing the new release tables at B&N and saw it there, and decided I had to read it. I'm so glad I paid attention--usually when a book keeps popping up around me, I take it as a sign that I should read it. I wasn't disappointed in this magical suspense novel. 

Dan Whitman is attending a high school party at a rented home when he falls to his death and a fire erupts, burning down the house and causing all the kids to flee in terror. Dan is Mr. Popularity at high school and had just secured a football scholarship for college. He was on his way to fame and fortune. 

Dan's death stirs up a whole lot of bad stuff in the town of Sanctuary, Connecticut. Witchcraft is legal in the U.S., but there are strict laws on those who practice it. Sarah Fenn is the town witch, and her daughter Harper was Dan's ex-girlfriend. Sarah and Dan's mother Abigail, along with Julia and Bridget have been friends  for years. The three women also are Sarah's coven. Rules dictate that only the person who has been certified as a witch may use their powers, so the other three women do not have any magical talents. But Sarah uses their energy to create spells that help folks around town. Her family has lived in Sanctuary for generations. However, with Dan's death, a whole lot of bad energy starts to take ahold of Sanctuary. 

That bad energy starts with Abigail. She's destroyed with grief over the death of her only son. Dan's friend brings forth allegations that Harper caused Dan's death through witchcraft, and claims to have it all recorded on his phone. Along with that, there is an edited sex tape going around of Harper and Dan. Detective Maggie Knight has been called in to investigate Dan's death, and she quickly realizes she's stepped into a brewing, tension-filled town. 

This is more than just a novel about witches and magic. At the heart of the story is a mystery--how did Dan die, and who was responsible for it? Was it just an accident, or deliberate? And as Maggie digs, she slowly uncovers a whole lot of secretive history amongst Sarah and her friends-and their children, too. It's also a tale of hysteria, and people swallowing utter bullshit and becoming absolute sheep and turning into a murderous mob. And it's a tale of friendships that are always on the tipping point. 

The tension in the novel slowly increases, as the days go by and Abigail moves from grief to rage and a thirst for revenge. Sarah, always doing good for all, is just not quick enough to realize the danger she is in as Abigail slowly turns the town and the media against Sarah and Harper. Maggie is in a race to uncover just what happened at the party-who does she believe, and what does the evidence tell her? Maggie's viewpoint is the best, actually. She is you the reader, trying to figure it all out with the evidence and clues she has at her disposal. You may think you have an idea, but I bet you won't quite figure it all out until it's revealed at the end. 

The story is told from multiple viewpoints: Sarah, Maggie, Abigail, and Harper. It keeps you guessing the whole way through, and there are surprises aplenty. The back cover of the novel says it is a mix of Big Little Lies and Practical Magic, and I'd say that's fairly accurate. This would make a really, really good TV movie. I think it would also make a really good book group discussion. So much to talk about. 

Rating: 5/6 for a slowly building tension-filled thriller that mixes modern witchcraft, law, death, family, friends, and age-old prejudices into a hard to put down tale. So good! 

Available in trade paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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Sanctuary by V. V. James

Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn

I haven't read a YA novel for a very long time. Quite honestly, I'm afraid if I start diving into YA, I'll go down a rabbit hole and never come out again! Same goes for children's fiction, too. Sometimes thinking about everything I want to read overwhelms me and I panic and hyperventilate. I kid you not. 

Sometimes, however, the book universe magic happens, and I'm given the opportunity to read a novel that ends up being so utterly charming and lovable it actually changes the course of my reading plans for the rest of the year. In a bizarre, whirly-gig 2020, what's another shift in my universe? So yes, I'll be incorporating YA into the remainder of my 2020 reading choices. 

Dating Makes Perfect had me from the first few pages. I can't say that about a lot of books. Most of the time I have to read about 50 or so pages before I get invested in a story-but Winnie and her family are so engaging I was sucked in immediately. Winnie's older twin sisters are off in their first year of college-and dating a lot. It's a bit of a backfire on Winnie's parents, who forbid their daughters from dating in high school. They wanted to spare their daughters some heartache and also respect their Thai culture. Now Mom wants her daughters to get married and have grandbabies STAT but they've announced since they couldn't date in high school, they're going to spend YEARS dating. Oops. So Mom and Dad have decided Winnie can practice date in high school, so she's ahead of the game when she goes to college.

This is great, only they've picked the young man Winnie has to practice date: Mat. Ugh. Mat and Winnie had been friends all their lives, until about four years before, when suddenly, they went from friends to enemies. And there's a new cute boy who just moved to town that Winnie has her eye on...this could spoil things. 

Mat and Winnie have such great chemistry and they sizzle on the pages. Of course their past friendship break up is based on lack of communication and hurt feelings. Mat's willing to go along with the fake dating so he can take a trip after graduation--a trip that rests on his cooperation. Dates are pretty simple: driving Winnie home from school, meeting her at a local festival, accompanying Winnie clothes shopping. However, as they spend more time together, it's apparent both have deep feelings for each other. Can they untangle those feelings and repair their broken friendship? How can Winnie reconcile her feelings for Mat with her desire to obey her parents and be a good Thai girl? 

I absolutely loved the incorporation of Thai culture into the story. I appreciated reading about a first generation Thai-American and the difficulty in navigating honored traditions and modern life. Winnie grows by leaps and bounds in this novel, from a young woman who is afraid to go against her parent's wishes, to a young woman who owns her voice and shows her family and Mat just what she wants. Heck yes, I even got a little sniffly a few times. 

This novel will be published in August in the U.S. I've already talked to a few co-workers about how much I loved it, and I will certainly be recommending it to friends and family. 

A big thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy. 

Rating: 5/6 for a completely delightful novel full of characters you will fall in love with very quickly. The weaving of Thai culture with modern American life was so good! I will definitely read more of Pintip Dunn. The chemistry between Winnie and Mat was palpable, and their romance was realistic and full of humor, tears, and great conversations. 

Available in August in paperback, audio, and ebook. 

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Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn

Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen

I've had this novel on my radar for quite some time, and I had a chance to read an advanced digital copy (but for a limited time). I noticed I had just a few days left before my time was up, so I sped through it this weekend. To be honest, it wasn't hard to do--I got hooked and couldn't put it down. 

Eliza has been the moderator of the Hudson Valley Ladies' Bulletin Board for over fifteen years. It's basically an online digital discussion group where women can post questions and others chime in with answers or suggestions. It's Eliza's one lifeline, since she's home alone after her twins have gone to college. Eliza also suffers from agoraphobia, and hasn't left the house in months. She had one bout in high school that lasted a few months, then one day it disappeared and she returned to her normal routine. Now, years later, she's suffering from it again, and can't tell her loving husband Luke. Instead, she has an elaborate system set up so he never suspects she doesn't leave the house. 

One day, Eliza manages to get to the grocery store. Sweating, shaking, and close to being physically ill, she's in the donut aisle when she overhears two younger women talking about an online discussion group--a newer one that is more titillating than The Hudson Valley Ladies' Bulletin Board. In fact, the ladies scoff at Eliza's board. She gets home and checks out the other board, and sees it's more popular and current than her board. 

Eliza decides the only way to bring people back to her bulletin board is by starting a rumor. A rumor that has lasting effects on the community she lives in, and the women who follow her board. 

Along the way, Eliza meets Olivia and Allison, two new moms who are new to the area and trying to make connections. There's also Amanda, Eliza's childhood friend, who has returned from Los Angeles with her two girls after her husband has been accused of sexual misdeeds as a famous producer in Hollywood. Oh, so many issues! And yet you never get confused about what's going on, and each woman's story is equally readable. I couldn't even begin to pick which one I enjoyed the most. The plot is at times funny, charming, sad, hopeful, and troubling. It's a quick read, and the last 50 pages just flew by. 

I did begin Jane Rosen's previous novel: Nine Women, One Dress a few months ago, but I lost focus and returned it to the library. I think it was at the beginning of the Covid-19 mess, when I stared at the TV for hours and couldn't read anything. So I am probably going to return to that novel and gulp it down. Maybe now is the right time!

This is a great read if you're going on a short trip and need something engaging but not 500 pages. Something you can finish in a weekend. There's lots of wine drinking, so you may want to have a bottle on standby. 

Rating: 4/6 for a novel that brings together women over a rumor that blows up a community, and leads to a lot of life-changing decisions. A cast of characters you'll enjoy, plenty of drama, but a lot of lighter moments, too. 

Available in hardcover, audio, and ebook on June 23, 2020 in the United States. Thanks to Edelweiss for an advanced e-copy. 

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Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen

The Dry by Jane Harper

Wow. Just wow. This was a really great read--I zoomed through it in a few days when I realized I had to return it to a friend at our book club tonight. I finished it a mere 30 minutes before we were meeting, and I couldn't wait to talk about it to my friends. Seriously--this was the book I stayed up late to read, woke up early to get more pages in; read during my lunch hour at work. 

A quick plot recap: Aaron Falk, a federal agent in Australia, returns to his hometown of Kiewarra for the funeral of his childhood friend  Luke, his wife Karen, and their little boy Billy. Everyone believes it was a murder-suicide caused by the unrelenting 2 year drought, money problems, and the slow madness of the heat. Why would Luke kill his family so savagely, then turn the gun on himself?  The only survivor: Charlotte, Luke's baby girl. 

Aaron means to leave quickly, since he and his father were run out of town 20 years before after Aaron's friend Ellie was found drowned in a nearby creek, rocks weighing her body down. All eyes turned to Aaron, who was innocent of any wrongdoing, but Ellie's abusive, drunken father made sure someone was to blame. But Luke's father tells Aaron "I know you lied."  Whaaaat???!! Well geez, now Aaron has to stay and figure out just what that means. 

Aaron is joined by local police office Raco in doing some off-duty investigating of the Hadler family's murders, and little by little, they find things that just don't add up. Meanwhile, Aaron's lingering in Kiewarra is stirring up some anger, old feelings, and a lot of trouble. Can he stay long enough to find out what happened to Luke and his family that horrible afternoon?

Well. Jane Harper can write a hell of a story. The dust, grit, heat, parched throats; clothes sticking to skin--she's got that nailed down. It's guaranteed to give you a short fuse just reading about it. The atmosphere of simmering rage in Kiewarra is evident everywhere, and all it takes is one small flame to send it out of control. The repeated small mentions of the fire hazard signs pointing to high danger; the crunch of dirt; the continual desire for a glass of water or a cold beer; it's all part of a background that settles you deep into the story, and makes you feel acutely aware of the edge there is to the cast of characters. I kept thinking, "Tread lightly Aaron!" I felt like he was going to get jumped at any time.  I won't tell you what people do to try to drive him out of town, but geez, these people can really take it up a notch. 

There's so much more to this thriller, but I'm mentally wiped out from the tale. Trust me. Pick it up and read it. I immediately checked out the second in the series, Force of Nature. I need to take a day or two or five to get over The Dry before I start on it. Jane Harper is working on her third novel-yay!

I won't tell you anymore. Discover the brilliance of The Dry for yourself. 

Rating:  6/6 for an excellent thriller that didn't let me down. Such good writing, and a story that pulled me along until I was left reeling at the end. An excellent book club choice, with a reader's guide at the end to help facilitate discussion. Yes, it deserves a solid 6/6!

Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio book. 

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The Dry by Jane Harper