Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

Synopsis:

Low-rent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum reaches depths of personal experience that other women detectives never quite do. In Hot Six, for example, a sequence of new and hideous cars bite the dust; she finds herself lumbered with a policeman's multiply incontinent dog; and she has several bad skin days. All this when she is trying to prove her distinctly more competent colleague and occasional boyfriend Ranger innocent of a mob hit; avoid the heavies trailing her in the hope of finding him; and cope with a wife-abusing bail defaulter with nasty habits, such as setting Stephanie on fire.

It’s been awhile since I picked up this series, and I forgot exactly how much I love it. It was super easy to jump right back in to all of the crazy shenanigans.

I’m pretty sure we’re made to think Stephanie is a pretty slim character, but with the way she eats, I don’t see how she could be! If she is, I’m certainly jealous. I would love to have her diet and still be in shape.

There are parts of these books that drive me nuts. I know it’s supposed to add to the comedy, but sometimes the characters are so incompetent I feel like screaming. I get past it quickly, but it does make my eye twitch.

Also – can we just talk about how amazing Grandma Mazur is? She is such a gem of a character no matter what book you are reading. She’s hilarious and really gives these books a lot of life.

Now, for the storyline of Hot Six – it was pretty interesting. It seemed pretty normal for Stephanie and her “everything-goes-wrong” lifestyle. But, what is normal for her is absolutely NOT for us normal folks. So, it was a fun ride as usual even if she was running into danger around every corner.

I had a fun time reading Hot Six and it was one of those books that just flies by.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quote: “Probably the pink stucco was very Mediterranean. And probably in the summer, when the awnings were unrolled and the porch furniture was uncovered, and the sun and the heat washed over the Jersey shore, the pink house felt like itself. In March it looked like it was waiting for the Prozac to kick in. Pale and cold and stolid.”

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Synopsis:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

First things first, I love being in nature. It’s still winter here in the Midwest. Even though we are starting to get hints of spring, it’s not in full bloom. Being able to escape into the forest and the marsh through this book was so awesome. Delia Owens’s descriptions really bring the scene to life. I’ve read a few opinions on the book saying that it was too descriptive, but it was perfect for me.

All of the characters had really interesting developments. I felt like every character had their stories wrapped up in a fitting fashion. One of them, we never really find out what happens – but, again, it’s fitting. Kya is the main character, and I don’t think you could even ask for more character development. It seems like we got just enough of her life story for it to be complete and wrapped up. That is SO satisfying to me because you don’t always get that.

I just absolutely loved this book. A mixture of a coming of age story as well as a murder mystery and a love note to nature. It’s just beautifully written. The story is told so well. I didn’t want it to end. I would recommend it to anyone who loves nature.

This book has one of the greatest last chapters I’ve ever read in a novel. It ties things up without blatantly just laying out answers to your questions. It’s so beautifully written and wraps up years of Kya’s life swiftly but respectfully.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Sometimes she heard night-sounds she didn’t know or jumped from lightning too close, but whenever she stumbled, it was the land that caught her. Until at last, at some unclaimed moment, the heart-pain seeped away like water into sand. Still there, but deep. Kya laid her head upon the breathing, wet earth, and the marsh became her mother.”

“Crows can’t keep secrets any better than mud; once they see something curious in the forest they have to tell everybody.”

“Autumn was coming; the evergreens might not have noticed, but the sycamores did. They flashed thousands of golden leaves across slate-gray skies.”

“Evil was not in play, just life pulsing on, even at the expense of some of the players. Biology sees right and wrong as the same color in different light.”

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Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

Synopsis:

Award-winning investigative reporter Robert Kolker delivers a humanizing account of the true-life search for a serial killer still at large on Long Island and presents the first detailed look at the shadow world of online escorts, where making a living is easier than ever, and the dangers remain all too real. A triumph of reporting, a riveting narrative, and "a lashing critique of how society and the police let five young women down" (Dwight Garner, The New York Times), Lost Girls is a portrait of unsolved murders in an idyllic part of America, of the underside of the Internet, and of the secrets we keep without admitting to ourselves that we keep them.

There is something about the writing style that bothered me. I kept trying to put my finger on it, but the best I can come up with is that it’s not very fluid. The short sentences make the reading very choppy. 

Jumping into true crime with I'll Be Gone in the Dark and The Stranger Beside Me may have been a bad idea. Those are very personal works, but this one is so distant. You don’t hear about Robert at all. Maybe that’s why the writing style wasn’t as intriguing to me too. I felt like I was reading a fifth party account of everything. Just a retelling - which all books are. . . They just don’t all FEEL that way. 

The writing in the second half of the book was better than the first, but there was something that just kept taking me out of it. It was easy to put it down after each chapter. At times, it even had me looking to see how many more pages were in the chapter. You never want that while reading. 

I was upset that I didn’t get sucked into the book. The case is really interesting and I was invested in the story, just not this telling of it. I stuck it out because I wanted to read it to completion, but it felt like a bit of a chore at times. 

Lost Girls does start important conversations about how sex workers are treated. From every day citizens to law enforcement. As he points out, it’s been a part of every culture since the beginning of time, so why does society still treat sex work as such a taboo subject and why does that profession lead to so much judgement? Sex workers need protections just like anyone else. I wish that was a commonly shared belief. 

2/5 Stars

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Target: Alex Cross by James Patterson

Synopsis:

TARGET: HEAD OF STATE

A leader has fallen, and the procession route from Capitol Hill to the White House is lined with hundreds of thousands of mourners. None feel the loss of a President more keenly than Alex Cross, who has devoted his life to the public good. 

TARGET: UNITED STATES CABINET

A sniper’s bullet strikes a target in the heart of DC. Alex Cross’s wife, Bree Stone, newly elevated chief of DC detectives, faces an ultimatum: solve the case, or lose the position for which she’s worked her entire career. The Secret Service and the FBI deploy as well in the race to find the shooter. Alex is tasked by the new President to take a personal role with the FBI, leading an investigation unprecedented in scale and scope. 

TARGET: ALEX CROSS 

Alex has a horrible premonition: is the sniper’s strike only the beginning of a larger attack on the nation? It isn’t long before his fears explode into life, and the nation plunges into a full-blown Constitutional crisis. His ingenuity, his training, and his capacity for battle are tested beyond limits in the most far-reaching and urgently consequential case of his life. As the rule of law is shattered by chaos, and Alex fights to isolate a suspect, Alex’s loyalty may be the biggest danger of all.

First of all, is this book sponsored by Uber? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Uber mentioned that many times in. . . any sort of media ever. That was a strange detail that stuck out to me. 

Second of all, I can’t see this being all that realistic. That took me out of the book from time to time. It was very over the top. I will give it credit for being very action packed though. 

I thought I would like seeing Alex practicing more in his private practice, but I don’t think I do if we are going to have random therapy cases that only exist to add weird angles to his investigations. 

Well, that ending was certainly unexpected. I wrote the previous paragraph before I had finished the book. I guess this time, his client has a bigger role - but only if they follow up with the story in the next book. This one was certainly left on a cliffhanger. 

There was an upsetting lack of John Sampson. 

I have a lot of minor thought about this one. Nothing that really flows together. Overall, it was a solid Alex Cross book. None of them are entirely realistic, so it follows that trend. 

3/5 Stars

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Fifty Fifty by James Patterson

Synopsis:

It’s not easy being a good detective – when your brother’s a serial killer.

Sam Blue stands accused of the brutal murders of three young students, their bodies dumped near the Georges River. Only one person believes he is innocent: his sister, Detective Harriet Blue. And she’s determined to prove it.

Except she’s now been banished to the outback town of Last Chance Valley (population 75), where a diary found on the roadside outlines a shocking plan – the massacre of the entire town. And the first death, shortly after Harry’s arrival, suggests the clock is already ticking.

Meanwhile, back in Sydney, a young woman holds the key to crack Sam’s case wide open.

If only she could escape the madman holding her hostage . . .

I took a break from fiction for a few weeks to dive into True Crime books. The total heaviness of them made me come back to fiction for a quick break before I dive back in. I don’t know why I even tried. Once I got to the end of this one, I started stress eating and my heart rate was rising with each chapter.

And then I got hit with a completely emotional ending that I was not prepared for and I almost cried.

So, thank you for that. I thought I was escaping harsh emotions for a bit, but I was plunged right back in. At least they were fake characters this time. But, now that we are more than one book into the series, you start becoming attached anyways.

So, this is the second book in the Harriet Blue series. We see her get shipped off to the Australian desert to try to solve another case. What seems like just a homicide turns into so much more and she is forced to choose between saving herself or saving a whole village that she has come to protect.

Meanwhile, the search is on back home for who is framing her brother of serial murder. Strides are made in the case, but will it ultimately be solved? Almost. It leads into there being at least one more book in the series, but I can only imagine how emotional it will be.

I’ve had some issues with some of James Patterson’s recent releases. The writing doesn’t seem to be up to snuff, and they just haven’t stuck with me like they used to. This budding series seems to be bringing fresh life to his resume. I can only assume that’s through the help of his co-writer Candice Fox.

4/5 stars

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'P' is for Peril by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one–a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret–and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes. . . .

Man, I don’t know what it is about this book in particular but it took me what felt like forever to get through it. I couldn’t find myself caring at all about the missing doctor or his family.

It felt more like reading about Kinsey running in circles than actually doing anything, and it was missing a lot of her wit that we are used to. It was there, it just wasn’t as strong. So, that, along with a case that I didn’t care about made it a struggle.

It started to get intriguing once we learn the twist about her new office landlords. That storyline seemed to carry it until the end as the other one was winding down.

It was an interesting book that I probably would have gotten bored with if it wasn’t a Kinsey Millhone book. It wasn’t written differently than the other, I just couldn’t make myself care about the other characters.

3/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “This sandwich, I confess, was the highlight of my weekend, which is what life boils down to when you’re celibate.”

“I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep, except for the drooling, which I don’t ordinarily do when awake.”

“Who were these two? Maybe we were on the verge of a burglar’s jamboree, all three of us stealing files for differing but nefarious purposes.”

“Death, by its nature, reshapes the connection between family members and friends. Survivors tend to gather, using food and drink as a balm to counteract the loss. There is usually laughter. I’m not quite sure why, but I suspect it’s an integral part of the healing process, the mourner’s talisman.”

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