Suspense

The Sentence is Death

Filed Under: Books Read

The Sentence is Death

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Published by HarperCollins Publishers on June 4, 2019
Series: Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate #2
Format: audiobook
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

New York Times-bestselling author Anthony Horowitz and eccentric detective Daniel Hawthorne team up again in a new mystery, the sequel to the brilliantly inventive The Word Is Murder, to delve deep into the killing of a high-profile divorce lawyer and the death, only a day earlier, of his one-time friend.

Half Moon Bay

Filed Under: Books Read

Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante
Published by Scribner on July 10th 2018
Pages: 288
Format: arc_ebook
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

A smart, haunting tale of psychological suspense from the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind.

Jane loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed in a senseless accident. Jane is devastated, but sometime later, she makes one tiny stab at a new life: she moves from San Francisco to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay. She is inconsolable, and yet, as the months go by, she is able to cobble together some version of a job, of friends, of the possibility of peace.

And then, children begin to disappear. And soon, Jane sees her own pain reflected in all the parents in the town. She wonders if she will be able to live through the aching loss, the fear all around her. But as the disappearances continue, she begins to see that what her neighbors are wondering is if it is Jane herself who has unleashed the horror of loss.

Half Moon Bay is a chilling story about a mother haunted by her past. As Stewart O’Nan said about Turn of Mind—this novel “blindfolds the reader and spins her around.”

A haunting tale of a woman driven a little crazy by the loss of her teenage daughter in a senseless accident. Jane O’Malley has lost her daughter and husband, in an attempt to restart her life she moves from Berkeley to Half Moon Bay and takes a job at a local nursery that specializes in native plants. When not working she walks the desolate beaches and rides her motorcycle into the city. Jane keeps herself at arm’s length from the local inhabitants, that is until Edward, an environmental activist, and Alma, an adjunct physics professor, arrive in town.

Before Edward and Alma’s arrival, a little girl is abducted and murdered. Jane because of her past is considered a suspect. Tensions around town mount, as other young girls are abducted and killed Jane is drawn in by first Edward then Alma, she becomes enthralled with the couple. Edward and Alma are not all that they seem, and Jane will discover that too late.

The book is not a psychological thriller instead it is a study of how people can misuse another.

Idaho

Filed Under: Books Read

Idaho

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Published by Random House on January 3rd 2017
Pages: 320
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

O.Henry Prize-winner Emily Ruskovich tells the story of a woman piecing together the mystery of what happened to a family. Idaho is a debut novel about love, forgiveness, and memory—the violence of memory, and the equal violence of its loss.
Ann and Wade have carved out a living for themselves from a rugged landscape, but they are bound together by more than love. In a story told from multiple perspectives—Ann, Wade, Wade’s first wife Jenny, now in prison for murder—and in exquisite, razor-sharp prose, we gradually learn of the shocking act that originally brought Ann and Wade together, and which reverberates through the lives of every character in Idaho.

When you read a book about murder especially a horrific murder you expect a resolution, an explanation, something to ease the pain. In Idaho Emily Ruskovich gives you none of that.

Ann knows when she married Wade that he has early on-set dementia and that his first wife murdered one of their children. The beauty of the story is not about the murder, but how Ann goes about bringing closure to an act that was so brutal. We don’t often get a glimpse of the aftermath of a tragedy, it goes against our sensibilities not to know what happened but the author is more concerned with how life continues after such a tragedy. The book spans a thirty year period, moving from present to past, back and forth from character to character each giving us just a bit of insight always moving forward never back.

Idaho is beautifully written book but, challenging as it does not move in the direction you expect, it will move you from comfort zone.