The Fiction Writer

The Fiction Writer by Jullian Cantor 304 pages

 

Sometimes you just shouldn’t mess with the original. Olivia Fitzgerald’s first novel was a massive success. Her second, a retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” (titled “Becky”) was not. It flopped. Big time. “Last night I dreamt I went to Malibu again” just doesn’t have the same sinister overtones as the original sentence, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

 

When I read author Cantor’s first line, I almost put it down. Then I remembered that this story is about a contemporary re-telling, and a re-telling itself, of du Maurier’s classic novel. With that in mind, I plunged ahead.

 

Olivia’s having a bad year. “Becky” was a disaster, her boyfriend of nine years dumped her, and she has no clue what her next book will be about, if anything. Even her agent doesn’t want to talk with her. But he does call with a lucrative ghost-writing offer.

 

“Henry ‘Ash’ Asherwood, a reclusive mega billionaire, twice named People’s Sexiest Man Alive,” wants to hire her, for $50,000, to ghost-write a book for him. He simply adored “Becky.
It seems, according to Ash, that there is a connection between du Maurier and his grandmother and a salacious claim. He insists that Daphne stole his grandmother’s manuscript and published it, the manuscript that became known as “Rebecca.”

 

At first, Olivia doesn’t want the gig, but her curiosity gets the best of her, and she hops on a plane for California. When she arrives in the land of the rich, famous, and beautiful, she is treated like royalty, but Ash never seems to want to get to work on the book. First, he claims the story and proof are in his grandmother’s journals, which he has sent out to be translated from their original French.

 

That is the first lie that Ash tells her about the journals. Again, Olivia’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she starts researching Ash’s grandmother and wives. She cannot find a trace of them anywhere online.

 

Sometimes it is hard to keep up with what is happening, and the people in Ash’s life. The housekeeper was also a bridesmaid from his marriage to Angelica; the discovery of Rose, the third Mrs. Ashwood; the fire at Malibu Lake, eerily reminiscent of the fire at Manderley. And much more.

 

Taut, tense, and creepy, “The Fiction Writer” is a perfect read for a stormy afternoon. The Fiction Writer gets 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Broadway Butterfly

Broadway Butterfly by Sara Divello 432 pages

 

And here’s yet another book that I picked up because of its cover. It is set in Manhattan from 1923-29 and is based on a true cold case that still lingers in the NYC police’s files. Author Divello does not solve the crime, but she brings its sordidness to the page.

 

Divello wastes no time in getting to the murder; it’s the first thing we learn in this juicy tale. Twenty-three-year-old Dot King enjoys life. Although it was never clear if she was a Broadway star, it was clear that she did enjoy the attention of several, shall we say, gentlemen (in the voice of the book.). She also made the papers so often that she became known throughout the city as “The Broadway Butterfly.” One morning when her housekeeper reported for duty, she found Dot dead on her bed with an exceptionally large bottle of chloroform next to her rapidly stiffening body.

 

The cops were called in and the list of possible suspects is rather large but is quickly whittled down to four:  A “volatile a politically connected Philadelphia socialite, Atlantic City bootlegger, Dot’s dicey gigolo lover, a sultry Broadway dancer, and a cagey sugar daddy guarding secrets of his own.” Sometimes it was hard to keep them all straight.

 

In an interesting use of character and structure, Divello uses a girl reporter, Julia Harpman of the Daily News, to cover the case and help keep the reader on what’s happening with the investigation. Julia is the lone woman in an otherwise male-dominated industry, but she is ambitious, strong, and follows the trail…and her suspicions…in the search for justice for Dot King.

 

As I mentioned sometimes it was hard to keep the cast of suspects and Dot’s friends straight, but it makes an interesting read. Also, Divello takes readers behind the scenes of the murder investigation and the world of news reporting that keeps readers glued to the story.

Broadway Butterfly gets 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Complete Disaster

Carolina Moonset

Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman 272 pages 

Divorced dad, Joey Green, returns home to the small town of Beaufort, South Carolina, to help his mother look after his father for a while. Marshall Green is suffering from Lewy Body dementia*. His short-term memory has almost disappeared, but his long-term memory is strong. 

Marshall is not violent, except when it comes to the Hammond family. He has unexpected outbursts when the name is mentioned. Marshall has some old unresolved issues that come out when he talks with his old friend, Trip Patterson, who died decades ago, who appears in a hallucination. 

As Marshall’s long-term memories rise, so does the memory of his first love, Delphi, who was murdered because back then, in South Carolina, mixed-race couples were not tolerated. But even those memories are not exactly correct as readers discover. There is another murder and a probable murder after Delphi’s that sets the town on edge. 

In current time, Roy’s brother is murdered, down the street from the Green home. At first, the police are interested in Marshall as he cannot account for his whereabouts that evening.  

Joey, interested in clearing his father, wants to learn what happened to Trip, Delphi and Roy. At the same time, Joey’s mother, Carol, and the next-door neighbors are trying to set Joey up with their also-divorced daughter, Leela. Sparks flair, Joey and Leela turn investigators together. 

This book got off to a slow start for me, but I am glad I hung in there. It turned out to be a true page-turner. Once the new murder happens, the plotline sets off on a can't-put-down thrill ride full of secrets, scandals, lies, memories, romance and racism. “Carolina Moonset” received 4 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

*Lewy Body Dementia is “a progressive dementia that results from protein deposits in nerve cells of brain. It affects movement, thinking skills, mood, memory, and behavior” with frequent bouts of hallucinations. 

 

A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray

A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray by Dominique Barberis  (Translated from the French by John Cullen) 144 pages

This novella packs a lot into it. It’s brief, moody, spare, completely French and has a other-worldly atmosphere to it.

 Two sisters, Jane and Claire Marie don’t see each other often, even though they live relatively close to each other. Jane lives in the heart of Paris, while Claire Marie lives in the suburban community of Ville-d”Avray. Jane lives with her partner and Claire Marie has a husband and a teenage daughter.

It’s early autumn, and the sisters are enjoying a few glasses of wine in the garden. After the initial and normal conversation exchanges, Claire Marie begins to talk about a man she had known fifteen years prior. It’s a whimsical, whispery, misty description of a man named Marc Hermann. I’m was never sure if the two had an actual affair or danced around one.

Claire Marie would sneak out of the house to meet him, but the meetings took place more around train stations and parks than in hotel rooms or quaint B&Bs. I got the feeling that Marc was more of a stalker, and that Claire Marie was having wispy fantasies about him. The scenes in which Claire Marie tried to see him at his place of business is disturbing, making the reader feel as if there was something else going on altogether.

The pace of the novella ebb and flowed, as a good story does. However, it didn’t reel me in completely. I found myself more mystified than satisfied at the conclusion. Therefore,  A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray received 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I wanted to give it 2 stars, but the beautiful writing and scenery had me bump it up a star.

 

The Wrong Family

The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher   336 pages

I will never look at the opening of my home’s crawl space the same way ever again. Not after this book!

At sixty-seven, Juno’s life is not what she thought it would be.  Now a disgraced therapist, she is homeless and has a record, plus she has a debilitating disease that will probably kill her. However, she feels she’s a good judge of character.

Across the park from where Juno lives, is the large home of the Crouch family: Winnie, Nigel and thirteen-year-old Sam.  They seem to have it all. They are even adding onto a house that is much too big for a family of three.

One day, when the construction guys are having lunch in the park, Juno slips in and looks around. She could be very, very comfy there. She takes a few things. How could anyone with this much miss so little?  And she’s right. No one notices.

As the construction goes on, Juno decides to make the Crouch’s home hers.  Awfully creepy!  The family notices little things that are odd, but never even dream of what is really happening. Juno pokes around in their papers and drawers, until she discovers their secret.  A BIG secret that must be brought to the light.

Two reason that the odd little things distract from their taking full notice is that 1) Winne and Nigel’s marriage is falling apart and 2) Winnie’s brother, Dakota, is losing his battle with alcohol and drugs.

The ending of this tautly written thriller blew me away. I can’t wait until somebody else reads it and we can talk about it!

The Wrong Family receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

Imperfect Women

Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall   334 pages   I read a galley - due out June 2020

How can I resist a story that begins with a quote from Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood? Considering I've read that book 10+ times, I figured that was a good sign for this book.

Even close friends have secrets. That's what Eleanor and Mary are learning since the death of their best friend, Nancy. From the outside, Nancy's life looked like it was prefect. However, the investigation into her death is revealing some dark secrets and it's clear now that maybe Mary and Eleanor didn't know Nancy as well as they thought. And maybe they don't know each other, or themselves, very well either.

This is an immersive, gripping psychological suspense story but it's also an exploration into friendship, guilt, and the decisions that friends can make that alter their relationships forever. At the heart of the story, of course, is the mystery of who killed Nancy. With alternating viewpoints, the author uses sharp insights (and sometimes, biting humor) to explore the complex friendship between these three women. The steady pace, combined with interesting (and not always likeable, but compelling) characters, makes for a fantastic read.

For LibraryReads: Even close friends have secrets. That's what Eleanor and Mary are learning since the death of their best friend, Nancy. From the outside, Nancy's life looked like it was prefect. However, the investigation into her death is revealing some dark secrets and it's clear now that maybe Mary and Eleanor didn't know Nancy as well as they thought. And maybe they don't know each other, or themselves, very well either.

Good for readers who like Liane Moriarty and Fiona Barton. Also for readers who enjoy The Robber Bride and/or Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.

All the Flowers in Paris

 

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio     291 pages

In 2009, when Caroline awakes in a Paris hospital, she has no idea where, or who, she is. Luckily the police and emergency personnel were able to identify her by her ID. She knows where she lives and her name and that’s about it. When she’s well enough, she is taken home. The doctors say that her memory may or may not come back. Her life stories may come back in pieces, or may come back bits at a time, if it comes back at all. She has dreams of a man and a little girl named Alma, but nothing else in her life seems familiar.

The novel then switches to 1943. Celine helps her father run a local flower shop. The Nazis are entering Paris, making it extremely difficult for her to feel safe and to keep her father and daughter safe. She wishes her love, Luc, would come hope from the battlefields, but that isn’t bound to happen anytime soon. And the fact that there is some Jewish ancestry in her family, Celine and her family are in danger of being exposed to the Nazis.

Caroline tries to reconstruct her life. She eats most of her meals at a nearby restaurant, where the staff know her, but she doesn’t recognize a single face.

The woman who now comes in is a much, much different person than the restaurant staff usually incur. There is something much more mellow about her. The chef/owner takes an interest in Caroline. They both feel an attraction to each other, but Caroline is reluctant to enter into a romantic relationship, knowing that there is so much she doesn’t know about herself.

Then Caroline finds a stack of letters from a woman named Celine who onced lived in her apartment. As she tries to learn the deep secrets her home is hiding, she becomes more and more aware of her strange dream and the way people treat her. The twist on what would seem a run-of-the-mill plot has me flipping back through the novel, and saying under my breath, “No. No. No.” I didn’t see it coming until it happened.Well done, Sarah Jio, well done.

I loved this novel.  “All the Flowers in Paris” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Spies of Shilling Lane

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan   368 pages

When I sat down to start this novel, I expected a fast-paced ride with menancing undertones. What I got instread was a rather comical cozy-mystery vibe. Not that that’s bad, it was out of left field for me.

Mrs. Braithwaite is having a rough year. Her husband has divorced her, creating quite the scandal. Couple that with her demotion as head of the local Women’s Volunteer Service in Ashcombe Village, England, well, she’s feeling kinda low and sorry for herself.

She doesn’t have a close relationship with her daughter, Betty, who left for London as soon as WWII broke out.  Although she has sent five letters, Mrs. B. has not received a single reply. So Mrs. B. decides to go visit.  During the Blitz.

When she finally arrives, Betty isn’t home and Mr. Norris, who owns the home where Betty rents a room, hasn’t seen her in quite a while. He has no idea when she could be coming back or even if she has survived the nightly Nazi air raids. Author Ryan does a great job in taking readers to the tunnels during the air raids and how Londoners coped. When Mrs. B. and Mr. N. spend one night in a church’s catacombs, it’s quite creepy

Eventually, Mrs. B., accompanied by Mr. Norris, locates Betty, tied to a chair in the basement of a garage. Then it becomes good-guys versus bad-guys. The story that follows is rather humorous, but stereotypical.  Like sluggin the bad-guys with her purse, taking turns with Betty getting captured by the bad-guys, and ultimately saving the day.

 “The Spies of Shilling Lane” was okay, and that is why it receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Good House

The Good House by Ann Leary    292 pages --- audiobook 10 hours

Hildy Good is one of the most successful businesswomen in the area. She's been the most successful real estate broker in her town for years. And, she knows houses better than anyone else. However, she's reached a dangerous time in her life: she's middle-aged, divorced, and she's prone to having a little too much wine a little too often.  When her two grown children stage an intervention, Hildy goes through a stay at Hazelden. However, Hildy finds that while she didn't miss alcohol too much, she's slipping into the habit again. After all, she's been involved in some of the bigger recent real estate deals in her town, including selling a huge house to Rebecca and her husband.

While this story starts out as somewhat light and amusing, it starts to feel like there are shadows at the edge as the story progresses. Hildy knows a lot about most of the people in town, and it starts to become clear that she's supporting not only some of their self-deceptions, but some self-deceptions of her own. Soon, her own secrets are intertwined with the secrets of her others and as her drinking starts to increase, you can feel that something awful is going to happen.  Soon.

I really enjoyed this audiobook read by Mary Beth Hurt. She's a wonderful actress and the book just came alive. Hildy is a very realistic character --- which means that sometimes, I enjoyed her, and sometimes I plain out didn't like her at all. However, I did like this audiobook and would look for another read by this actress.

The Truth According To Us

The Truth According To Us by Annie Barrows                 Audio Book: 18 hours, 52 minutes     Paperback Book: 529 pages                      

This book will hold your interest from beginning to end.    Very well written and developed characters.    You will come away feeling that you were actually a witness to all the events described here.    The town of Macedonia, West Virginia held a very southern sympathetic view during the War Between the States, however, the State of Virginia had divided into two sections because folks in the western part of the state wanted to stay in the Union, all that is except the town of Macedonia.   So, going with the majority,  the state of Virginia was divided into two states forming Virginia (seceded) and West Virginia (did not secede) it was entered into the Union as a Federalist region though the pocket that was Macedonia remained loyal to the South for the most part.    This story involves many of the families in the town who are proud of their southern heritage and held many artifacts of their confederate ancestors.    The story involves the town’s past history as they celebrate the town’s sesquicentennial and a young woman who is awarded the task of writing a book on the town’s history through the writer’s project of Roosevelt’s WPA New Deal program.  The girl in question is a poor little rich girl who doesn’t want to marry her family’s choice of husband for her so she and her father (a senator) have a falling out and he takes away her expenses so she has to fend for herself.    Her uncle happens to work with the WPA and gets her on relief so she can get the job that is open (that requires no skills – she’s never worked before).    She balks at first not wanting to go live amongst hillbillies and can’t imagine how she will achieve the research and writing of a book for them.    The story takes place in 1938 and the family she ends up staying with, the Romeyns, are so endearing, even the black sheep scoundrel has reasons for his behavior.   He does play dirty at times though and uses people.    Their back stories and dark secrets are smoldering underneath the facades almost everyone puts on.    Everyone except Jottie, the fixer in the Romeyn family – she is genuinely a good fun-loving person, o.k. she does know how to use the term “oh honey,” in that sickly sweet way some southern ladies declare that can express  sentiments of sincerity, insincerity, sarcasm and aspersion interchangeably.   I learned all about the “oh honey” and “well bless your heart” phraseology when I married into a family with roots in Virginia.  Yikes!   Those steel magnolias weren’t kidding!   They can praise you and strip your feelings to the core with either of those phrases depending on their tone and inflection.   Amazing.    Praise or belittling and you never know which way the knife will fall.   The townsfolk in this book use it with fierce accuracy and dole it out like icing on a cake.   This was such an enjoyable read I hated to come to the end, I liked it that much.   The children are like the little rascals and “Scout” from to Kill A Mockingbird always up to something.   Five stars for this one.

As the Poppies Bloomed

As the Poppies Bloomed by Maral Boyadjian   282 pages

Anyone who is familiar with my musings on the books I have read knows that I often pick up a book based on its title and/or its dust jacket.  As the Poppies Bloomed is one such book. Based on the title, and to some degree the cover art, I thought I was going to be reading a book that took place in Germany or France during World War I.  The story takes place on the eve of the Great War but takes place in the Ottoman Empire. I was somewhat familiar with the Armenian Genocide from what I’ve learned by following author Chris Bohjalian’s career and reading his wonderful novels.

It’s 1913, somewhere in the Ottoman Empire that I couldn’t place. The landscape reminded me of the Middle East. It’s the story of a village, in particular one young girl, Anno.

Readers will learn about the Armenia customs, especially in regard to male-female relationships and marriage. I found it quite interesting and not unlike other cultures’ beliefs at the near-beginning of the 20^th century.

I had a hard time getting into the story, mainly because I was unfamiliar with how to pronounce the characters’ names and locations but also because many names began with the same letter and I couldn’t keep them straight. I kept having to flip back and make sure I know who each character was in relation to Anno.

Another flaw was not the inevitable ending. The story could only end one way to have an authentic feel, but the Epilogue takes place in 1976. It made me shake my head in disbelief.

Still there were times I was totally captivated by Anno and her village’s story. I even gasped a few times at the surprises that author Boyadjian provided that kept me reading. It took me almost two weeks to read this novel and that, plus the issues listed above forces me to give As the Poppies Bloomed gets 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm, 216 pages

Sunny isn’t having the best summer.  Instead of their regular family vacation, she has been sent to visit her grandfather in Florida.  He lives in a retirement home with no kids around.  Sunny is bored and lonely and worried about her family.  Her older brother, Dale, is in big trouble, and she thinks it’s partially her fault.  Sunny is afraid that this could be the worst summer ever, unless something can turn it around.  This was a great slice-of-life graphic novel for kids.  It’s set in 1976, but even if the setting is dated, the story isn’t.  I would recommend this to fans of Raina Telgemeier.

Gone on Sunday

Gone On Sunday by Tower Lowe   294  pages

Everyone has some kind of secret. When you live in a small town, secrets are even harder to keep. Secrets, a cold murder case and a new murder are the essences behind Tower Lowe’s first book in the Cotton Lee Penn Historical Mystery series.

Set in Virginia in the years 1932 and 1972, Lowe provides readers with a taste of Southern Gothic—both from the Old South and the New South. It is sad that those tastes hadn’t changed in those forty years.

The book opens with lawyer Max Mayfield hiring the novel’s protagonist, Cotton Lee Penn, to help him investigate the beating death of Little Mary in 1972. The case is quite disturbing in that it bears many, many similarities to the unsolved 1932 beating death of Bead Baker (I found it both odd an interesting that each time Bead is mentioned, it’s always with her full name: Bead Baker.). Even more fascinating is that Little Mary is Bead Baker’s granddaughter.

Many in the town wonder why Max turned to Cotton Lee. After all, she is a cripple thanks to polio and walks with a limp. But as far as Max is concerned, Cotton Lee is the “smartest white person Sussex County.” (That was uttered in 1972!)

The novel jumps back and forth between 1932 and 1972, as Cotton Lee is certain that the two murders are connected. The hard part about this novel is that the possible suspects all have ties to Bead Baker’s murder. Keeping the character straight was often difficult at times. It would have been nice to have a character list in the front or back. Still, that doesn’t hinder the fast pace of the novel, or this reader’s inability to put it down.

But, quickly, here are the suspects: Did Sharp Dorn, the local, philandering and abusing minister kill Bead Baker for putting ideas in his wife Verdie’s head? Did Dorn’s son, Ron, kill Little Mary? Or was it the hired help Zed Omen in 1932 and his grandson, Doug, in 1972? I’m not sure how Lowe kept them all straight.

Another thing that bothered me, is the way that flashbacks are told in italics. It’s jarring and as I first began to read, it took me out to of the story. However, once I got into the book’s rhythm, well, it was fascinating.  

When Cotton Lee discovers some of the town’s (current and past) secrets, readers are led to the shocking conclusion.

Although I have the two problem areas, Gone on Sunday, receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I highly recommend it.

Before We Were Yours

Before We Were Yours  by Lisa Wingate 352 pages

Warning: Don’t start this novel unless you have plenty of time to read because you won’t be able to stop reading.

Wingate has taken a footnote from history and turned into a page-turner. The reality of the story is Georgia Tann and her Tennessee Children’s Home Society. On the outside, the home appears to be just like any of the other orphanages that are common in 1930s America. But Tann had a  dirty secret. She stole children from rural, poverty-stricken areas, then sold them to wealthy clients, charging absorbent fees and treating the children as if they were a piece of garbage.

Based on this solid fact and careful research, Wingate creates a Mississippi River family whose home is a shantyboat named the Arcadia in 1936. The Great Depression is raging across America, so life on the river isn’t so bad…at least they always have something to eat.

The five children and their parents, Briny and Queenie, lead a wanderer’s existence, traveling up and down the river. The kids get schooling here and there, but they seem to always be on the move to where the fishing is better and the weather is warmer. When Queenie goes into labor and a river midwife can’t help her deliver, Briny is forced to leave the boat and take his wife to a Memphis hospital. Twelve-year-old Rill is left to care for the boat and her four siblings.

The parents have been gone a couple of days when strangers passing as the law come to collect the children, telling them they only be staying at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society until their parents can come and collect them. The abuse they endure at the hands of Tann and her minions are criminal.

Then flash forward to contemporary time. Avery Stafford and her father, Senator Stafford, have returned to South Carolina for the Senator’s health issues.  Avery is being groomed to take his place in the Senate, following in her father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. But it’s a chance meeting with an elderly woman during a nursing home photo opp, that changes her life forever.

The encounter compels Avery to dig through her family’s history to try to determine what the elderly woman and her dementia-addled grandmother have in common.

Waving between past and present, this is the story of how one family’s past has shaped its present. A highly compulsive read, the characters are complex and well-drawn. Before We Were Yours receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

Still Life With Tornado

Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King, 295 pages

Sarah is having an existential crisis.  She hasn’t been to school for several days.  Something happened at school but she doesn’t want to explain to anyone.  She feels like nothing is original and nothing ever happens.  Sarah is a brilliant artist but lately she can’t create anything.  During her crisis several different versions of herself appear, including her 10 year old self, her 23 year old self, and her 40 year old self.  She feels like she’s going crazy and she can’t talk to her parents or any of her so-called friends.  Her brother left home several years before and she’s thinking about calling him but isn’t sure how that will work out either. King is a pretty amazing writer.  I’ve really liked almost everything she’s written and this is no exception.  This is a great book for teens who are trying to make sense of their lives, especially those who may feel like their lives are out of control.

It Takes One

It Takes One by Kate Kessler.  416 pages.

This is the first book in a new thriller series about a criminal psychologist, Audrey Harte, who uses her own dark past to help catch dangerous killers.   In this book, she is returning home to the small town where she grew up, after seven years away.  Not everyone is happy to see her; when she and her best friend Maggie were thirteen, they killed Maggie's abusive father.  Audrey has left her past behind, but when she is confronted by a drunk Maggie on her first night back, it's not a good start. And things don't get better when Maggie turns up dead.  With some people looking to blame Audrey, she has to find the killer, putting herself in the path of danger.

Audrey is a flawed character, which makes her interesting (and easy to relate to).  She's got an alcoholic father, unresolved issues with her ex-boyfriend, and unresolved issues with her home town. She's also got a quick temper.  She's mostly nice, but she doesn't let anyone push her around.  She knows her past is dark, but she owns up to it, which I liked.   The book is pretty dark, and the pace is even, which makes it a compelling thriller.   The way it's written, it's hard to know if you can trust any of the characters (other than Audrey), and there are some twists and turns.   I felt it was a good pageturner, and am interested to see where the author takes Audrey in the next book.

There Will Be Lies

There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake, 454 pages

Shelby's mom has always been overprotective, not letting her go anywhere on her own, homeschooling her, and never letting her talk to boys or men.  When Shelby is hit by a car, breaking her leg, her mom starts acting strange, even for her.  Shelby finds out that she isn't insured and her mom pays cash for the hospital bill.  When they release Shelby, she and her mom get in a car that her mom has rented and leave town.  Shelby's mom says that her dad isn't dead, as Shelby thought, but is alive and dangerous and may be after them.  However, Shelby doesn't think her mom is telling the truth and soon, Shelby finds herself in another world called The Dreaming, where Coyote tells her that there will be two lies and a truth and that she must kill the Crone and save the Child or the world will end.  This was a really good realistic fantasy novel that I would definitely recommend to teens who read.

Confessions: The Paris Mysteries

Confessions:  TheParis Mysteries by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro, 293 pages

Tandy and her brothers are living in Paris in the Grandmother Hilda’s house.  She has left them a great deal of money, providing they don’t embarrass the family name.  Tandy even managed to reconnect briefly with James, whom she loves.  However, their grandmother’s house holds secrets about their dead sister, Katherine, and there are people who don’t want Tandy to find out those secrets.  They will stop at nothing to prevent her finding out the information she’s looking for, not even murder.  This is a typical Patterson story, kind of predictable but fast paced and pretty fun.  Teen fans of the series will like this new addition.

Precious One

Precious One by Marisa de los Santos
359 Pages

 When Taisy Cleary's estranged father has a heart attack, she is summoned to his house to get to know his second family, especially his daughter Willow while writing his memoir.  Taisy is reluctant to go since she never has come to grips about her father's abandonment of her, her mother and brother and his actions which ruined the relationship between her and her boyfriend Ben. 

An enjoyable book with dual narratives of Taisy and Willlow.