Friday, June 24, 2016

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty


Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret tells the story of Cecelia, who has it all--she has three beautiful girls, a doting husband, a successful Tupperware business, is involved with the PTA, and a pillar of the community. Imagine her surprise when she stumbles across a letter from her husband, with one caveat. The letter can only be opened upon his death. Immediately Cecelia imagines that it must contain a deep dark secret.

Rachel has been mourning her daughter since she was senselessly murdered thirty-five years ago. Janie, Rachel's daughter, was a teenager when she was strangled in a local park and left with rosary beads left in her hands. Since Janie's death, Rachel has worked tirelessly to find the killer. When a new video surfaces from shortly before Janie's murder, Rachel thinks she finally found the man responsible.

Tess is a wife, a mother of one, and an advertising executive. Life is going according to plan until her husband and recently slimmed down cousin announce that they've fallen in love. Shocked and bewildered, Tess packs up her son and decides to temporarily move back to her hometown, where she runs into her ex-boyfriend, soon rekindling their relationship.

Cecelia, Rachel, and Tess barely know one another, but their paths will soon collide when they all feel the repercussions of the letter left by Cecelia's husband. 

Friday, June 17, 2016

Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves


Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves is the sixth in the series of British crime novels with Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope. Her protégé, Detective Joe Ashford discovers that a woman has been stabbed on a crowded Metro train just days before Christmas. The victim, Margaret Krukowski is an elderly woman that Vera learns has many secrets. A few days later a prostitute that Margaret was trying to help is also found murdered. The clues lead to the residents of Harbour Street who are trying to keep their own secrets safe. Through this is the sixth in a series, it stands alone with its vivid characters and suspenseful conclusion. The Netflix series, Vera, is based on the compelling and flawed characters from these books. What a moody and atmospheric story that keeps its readers guessing until the end.

Friday, June 10, 2016

The Vacationers by Emma Straub


It first resembles some sort of reality television show: 7 people living in a house on a beautiful 
island off the coast of Spain for two weeks. But it turns out that we're really being invited along on a family vacation of sorts. Seven very different people come together for a chance to relax, swim, and eat glorious food and we soon realize that each has their own hopes, fears, and issues.

Jim: father of the Post family is "a cool 60" years old and finds himself faced with the void of retirement forced upon him once it came to light that he had an affair with a 23-year-old intern (sorry, editorial assistant) at work.

Franny: matriarch, freelance food writer and woman coming to terms with herself due to the shock of her husband's infidelity this trip also marks their 35th wedding anniversary.

Sylvia: their 18-year-old daughter who has just graduated high school and is hoping to lose her virginity before learning for Brown in the fall.

Bobby: the Post's oldest child. Struggling Miami real estate agent and ambivalent gym rat.

Carmen: Bobby's long-time athletic trainer girlfriend who Franny and Jim have always felt was "too old" for their son.

Charles: Franny's best friend for almost 40 years and artist.

Lawrence: Charles' husband and accountant for movie productions. Wants more than anything to adopt a baby and become a father with Charles.

Throw all of these people and their separate and shared histories together and you've got...an interesting two weeks ahead. Break-ups, blowups, possible adoptions--all bubbling under the surface of this seemingly ideal vacation. Straub's characters are fully formed and the reader gobbles up page after page trying to see what will happen next. Will Bobby dump Carmen? Will Franny just divorce Jim already? This seemingly light-hearted beach novel packs a realistic punch for readers. Be sure to check out a copy of The Vacationers today.


Friday, June 3, 2016

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian


Richard Chapman has always done what he's supposed to. He has a college degree, a great job in banking and finance, the perfect house in a suburb just outside of New York City, and has an adoring wife and daughter. This time doing what he's supposed to includes hosting his younger, often quite immature, brother's bachelor party. He expects the typical shenanigans of drinking and female exotic dancers at the party, but things go horribly wrong when the two exotic dancers, Alexandra and Sonja, turn out to be prostitutes. As if that's not bad enough, Alexandra and Sonja, in a desperate attempt to set themselves free, wind up killing their Russian bodyguards before they disappear.

Alexandra is a young nineteen year old Russian girl, who only dreamed of being a ballerina. After her mother's death, Alexandra is abducted and forced into sexual exploitation. Making her way to New York with two other girls in the same position as her, Alexandra is willing to do almost anything to break the shackles of prostitution. But is she capable of murder?

The Guest Room tells the story of Richard and Alexandra in tandem. Bohjalian has done a great job of shedding the light on the sexual objectification of women and human trafficking. Gripping your attention after a short time, this is bound to be a page turner.