Craig's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 14 Jun 2025 11:38:34 -0700 60 Craig's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Station Eleven 20170404 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 333 Emily St. John Mandel 0385353308 Craig 0 currently-reading 4.05 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Craig
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> My Friends 217163697 "The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else's belief in them."

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of a wide expanse of sea. But Louisa, soon to be eighteen years old and an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise. She is determined to find out the story behind these three enigmatic figures.

More than two decades before, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up every morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that, after a chance encounter in an alleyway, will unexpectedly be placed into Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to discover how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more anxious she becomes about what she'll find. Louisa's complicated life is proof that happy endings are sometimes possible, but they don't always take the form we expect them to.

Fredrik Backman's signature charm, humor, and attention to the poignant details of everyday life are on full display in this funny, moving novel. His most heartfelt and personal tale yet, My Friends is a stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of art and friendship.]]> 436 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 Craig 0 currently-reading 4.53 2025 My Friends
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Devils (The Devils, #1) 212276037 Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.]]> 565 Joe Abercrombie Craig 5 4.32 2025 The Devils (The Devils, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Craig
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/12
date added: 2025/06/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Never Flinch (Holly Gibney, #4)]]> 221633230 From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty� in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,� Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.]]> 439 Stephen King 1668089335 Craig 4 3.85 2025 Never Flinch (Holly Gibney, #4)
author: Stephen King
name: Craig
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/12
date added: 2025/06/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6)]]> 125887685
It is bedlam on the eighth floor.
As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary� creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.

Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better.

At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, and they will have some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial to assemble the toughest squad possible.

But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.

As Carl and Donut know all too well, just because someone is captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.

Her name is Shi Maria. She’s easily the most powerful monster in their area. If they want to survive, they must capture her. But she is no ordinary beast. She’s intelligent. She was once married to a god, a god who is now missing. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.

“Beware, beware. Beware the Eye of the Bedlam Bride”]]> 694 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 4.67 2023 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/04
date added: 2025/06/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World]]> 40698027
My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.

Then the thief came.

There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you.

Because if we aren't loyal to the things we love, what's the point?]]> 365 C.A. Fletcher 0316449458 Craig 4 4.11 2019 A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
author: C.A. Fletcher
name: Craig
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/14
date added: 2025/05/14
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]]> Julie Chan Is Dead 220195725 In this razor-sharp, diabolical debut thriller, a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.]]> 320 Liann Zhang 1668067919 Craig 3 3.51 2025 Julie Chan Is Dead
author: Liann Zhang
name: Craig
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/05
date added: 2025/05/05
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]]> Notes on a Drowning 214397233 Alex knows she risks getting fired from her law firm if she takes on another unpaid case, but when she hears Rosa's desperate voice at the other end of the phone, she knows she has to the body of Rosa's shy teenage sister, Natalia, has been dragged, lifeless, from the Thames. Alex can't help but think of her own missing little sister. She knows how a lack of answers can eat you alive.

Kat has worked hard to become Special Adviser to the Home Secretary, and is eager to finally put the dark and tragic part of her past behind her. But when she discovers a series of cover-ups, she begins to wonder whether her seemingly perfect new boss could be involved. Then she she's shocked to discover a letter that raises worrying questions about a girl found drowned in London... Natalia.

There are complex and painful reasons for Alex and Kat not to work together, but when it becomes clear that there are powerful people involved in Natalia's death, and that other girls are at risk, Alex and Kat must overcome their differences to find answers. Will they save the girls and discover the truth? Or will the high-powered players in this game stop Alex and Kat for good?]]> 298 Anna Sharpe 1398715603 Craig 3 4.10 Notes on a Drowning
author: Anna Sharpe
name: Craig
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/03
date added: 2025/05/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Human Remains (Kat and Lock, #3)]]> 214907045 From the author of In the Blink of an Eye, the Sunday Times bestseller,winner of the CWA ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and TheakstonOld Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in acutting-edge new thriller.

The truth will always come out, but at what cost?

Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they workto identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes risefor the team, so dothe tensions brewing within it.

When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDELock � the world's first AI Detective � pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results. �

When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much anAI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .]]> 384 Jo Callaghan 1398535532 Craig 5 4.51 Human Remains (Kat and Lock, #3)
author: Jo Callaghan
name: Craig
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/02
date added: 2025/05/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Butcher's Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #5)]]> 60233239 Attention. Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run, Run, Run.

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.�

The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Dungeon Crawler Carl and Princess Donut return in book five of the acclaimed litrpg series.]]> 732 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 4.69 2022 The Butcher's Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #5)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
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]]> Sick to Death 209858548 Meet Emma. Emma is sick.She can’t work because of a neurological condition, so is stuck in her family’s tiny council house.

Emma is sick of being told to ‘get over it�.

Her stepfather, her doctors, strangers � everyone has an opinion.

Emma is sick of being the other woman.

Her boyfriend Adam is he’s got a great job and an amazing home. His wife Celeste is the problem.

Emma is sick of being underestimated.

All she needed was a target. And now she has Celeste�

Emma is sick. Just not in the way you thought. ]]> 378 Chris Bridges 0008698155 Craig 4 3.87 Sick to Death
author: Chris Bridges
name: Craig
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
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]]> When the Moon Hits Your Eye 211004190
It's a whole new moooooon.

One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters -- schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians -- as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives.]]> 326 John Scalzi 0765389096 Craig 5 3.80 2025 When the Moon Hits Your Eye
author: John Scalzi
name: Craig
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> The Midnight King 216381272
Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. He is also a father, a widower, and a beloved celebrity in his small town. He is an unassuming man ­- tall, thin and quietly friendly. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer.

Nathan Cole has known the truth about his father since he was ten years old. Too terrified to go to the police, he ran away from home as soon as he was able, carrying the guilt of leaving his sister behind. But when Lucas is found dead in a dingy motel room, Nathan returns to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years. It's there he finds The Midnight King, his father's final unpublished manuscript, a fictionalised account of his hideous crimes, hidden in a box of trinkets taken from his victims. Trinkets that include a ribbon belonging to a missing eight-year-old girl who disappeared only days before his father's death.

Now, Nathan must deal with the consequences of keeping his father's secret. But it may not be as simple as finding a lost child. For The Midnight King holds Nathan's secrets as well as Lucas's, and he is not the only one searching for the truth...

Full of unexpected twists and heartrending turns, The Midnight King is a gripping thriller perfect for fans of Chris Whitaker, S.A. Cosby and Ian Rankin.]]> 349 Tariq Ashkanani 1805222295 Craig 4 3.91 The Midnight King
author: Tariq Ashkanani
name: Craig
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> Murder Mindfully 124948140 Calm your mind. Be here, now. Take a breath. And kill.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - OVER 2.5M COPIES SOLD

I didn't kill anyone until I was forty-two. That's actually a little on the late side for my current professional environment. Admittedly, I did kill almost half a dozen in the week that followed.

Bj�rn has been given an ultimatum: repair his work-life balance, or his wife Katharina will leave him - and take their daughter.

He reluctantly starts a mindfulness class and to his surprise, it's a revelation. He becomes calmer, more focused, and he's starting to understand what's really important in life. So when his client and brutal crime boss Dragan Sergowicz tries to interfere with his precious family time, Bj�rn remembers his new-found goal to find serenity - and kills him.

Now Bj�rn can deepen his practice and seek inner peace - violently.

'An absolutely hilarious crime novel on mindfulness, organised crime, meditation, and murder.' Brigitte
'A truly wonderful crime novel . . . and you can even use the mindfulness tips.' Deutschlandfunk Kultur Lesart

**Available to pre-order now!**]]> 327 Karsten Dusse 0571384056 Craig 5 3.98 2019 Murder Mindfully
author: Karsten Dusse
name: Craig
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ice Town (Tuva Moodyson Mystery, #6)]]> 203239192 ONE WAY IN. NO WAY OUT.

Deaf teenager goes missing in Esseberg. Mountain rescue are launching a search party but conditions hinder their efforts.V The tunnel is being kept open all night as an exception.

When journalist Tuva Moodyson reads this news alert she knows she must join the search. If this teenager is found, she will be able to communicate with him in a way no one else can.

Esseberg lies on the other side of a mountain there is only one way in and one way out. When the tunnel closes at night, the residents are left to fend for themselves. And as more people go missing, it becomes clear that there is a killer among them ...

ICE TOWN is the unputdownable new Tuva novel, which will delight existing fans of the series and bring many new readers to it.]]> 356 Will Dean Craig 4 4.19 2024 Ice Town (Tuva Moodyson Mystery, #6)
author: Will Dean
name: Craig
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Linking Rings (An Eli Marks Mystery #4)]]> 36546410
While Eli struggles to prove his uncle's innocence--and keep them both alive--he finds himself embroiled in a battle of his A favorite magic routine of his has been ripped off by another, hugely-popular magician.

What began as a whirlwind vacation to London with girlfriend Megan turns into a fatal and larcenous trip into the dark heart of magic within the city's oldest magic society, The Magic Circle.]]> 252 John Gaspard 1635112869 Craig 0 currently-reading 4.05 The Linking Rings (An Eli Marks Mystery #4)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6)]]> 5093 544 Stephen King 1416521496 Craig 0 currently-reading 3.98 2004 Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6)
author: Stephen King
name: Craig
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Burden of Proof (Kindle County Legal Thriller, #2)]]> 4035 640 Scott Turow 0446677124 Craig 4 4.06 1990 The Burden of Proof (Kindle County Legal Thriller, #2)
author: Scott Turow
name: Craig
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #4)]]> 57905101 New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.]]> 586 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 4.57 2021 The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #4)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
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]]> A Trial in Three Acts 214556427 'Rather splendid' - FINANCIAL TIMES
'Admirably ingenious' - THE TIMES
'A delicious mystery' - DAILY MAIL

A trial is rather like a play.
We wear our costumes. We perform to the audience.
And on a good day no-one gets murdered.

Six nights a week the cast of the smash-hit play Daughter of the Revolution performs to a sold-out audience. A thrilling story of forbidden marriage and a secret love child, the critics say it'll run for years. That is until one night the third act ends not in applause but in death, when leading lady Alexandra Dyce is beheaded live on stage.

Every cast member has a motive, but it is the dead woman's co-star - and ex-husband - Hollywood legend Leo Lusk who is charged with the crime. When defence barrister Charles Konig is brought in last minute, he knows this ought to be the case of a lifetime. But Charles would rather be on his holiday trekking up K2, and he isn't interested in celebrities, especially ones that seem to be mysteriously trying to derail their own defence. But as he and his co-counsel New York lawyer Yara Ortiz sift through the evidence, it becomes clear that clues may lie in the play itself. And that Charles's only chance of victory is to identify the real murderer...

A delightfully clever legal mystery with as many layers as an onion. Perfect for readers of Janice Hallett, Tom Hindle, Rob Rinder and Richard Osman.

'Multi-layered, clever and compelling' - JENNIE GODFREY
'My all rise for a future book of the year' - JANICE HALLETT
'An excellent courtroom drama' - HARRIET TYCE
'Brilliant. Charles Konig is a wonderful character' - IAN MOORE]]> 416 Guy Morpuss 1800818998 Craig 4 4.03 A Trial in Three Acts
author: Guy Morpuss
name: Craig
average rating: 4.03
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5)]]> 4978 960 Stephen King 141651693X Craig 5 4.19 2003 Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5)
author: Stephen King
name: Craig
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #3)]]> 57001971 Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.]]> 534 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 4.48 2021 The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #3)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Witchcraft for Wayward Girls 207611566 There’s power in a book�

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Craig 5 3.98 2025 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Craig
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2)]]> 56377548
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.]]> 364 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 4.54 2021 Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1)]]> 112292
Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.

Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend...]]> 293 Jack Campbell 0441014186 Craig 5 3.97 2006 Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1)
author: Jack Campbell
name: Craig
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:

]]> The Contest 213245170 In this cozy crime novel, a previous puzzle prodigy returns to the competing world. A thoughtful, low-stakes mystery, perfect for fans of The Queen's Gambit.

Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can't say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she'd never set foot Miscellany.

Miscellany is a place of wonder and enchantment—a Disney World for puzzle lovers, and one that quickly owns the lives of those who stay too long. Tommy is running the park's latest big game, and he's convinced someone is leaking the answers. With investment and expansion in the cards, Miscellany can’t afford a scandal. As a former puzzler who kept her distance from Miscellany for twenty years, Gillian should find it easy to investigate while avoiding Miscellany’s charms and entanglements.

But when Gillian arrives, she discovers things aren't so straightforward. Her turncoat ex-friend Martin Ellsberg holds the security reins, Tommy’s estranged wife Evelina spins PR webs around the park’s machinations, and the manipulative park founder Sebastian offers her the financial security and intellectual future she always wanted. With her mother’s circumstances growing more dire, and under pressure to sweep the accusations under the rug, Gillian finds childhood games all the more treacherous for adults.

Miscellany is offering Gillian the life she always wanted. But at what price?]]> 325 Jeff Macfee 1915523451 Craig 4 3.69 2025 The Contest
author: Jeff Macfee
name: Craig
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Crash 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 Craig 3 3.57 2025 The Crash
author: Freida McFadden
name: Craig
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Way Up is Death 205015141 When a mysterious tower appears in the skies over England, thirteen strangers are pulled from their lives to stand before it as a countdown begins. Above the doorway is one word: ASCEND.

As a grieving teacher, a reclusive artist, and a narcissistic celebrity children’s author lead the others in trying to understand why they’ve been chosen and what the tower is, it soon becomes clear the only way out of this for everyone� is up.

And so begins a race to the top, through sinking ships, haunted houses and other waking nightmares, as the group fights to hold onto its humanity, while the twisted horror of why they’re here grows ever more apparent � and death stalks their every move.]]> 360 Dan Hanks 1915202949 Craig 4 3.57 2025 The Way Up is Death
author: Dan Hanks
name: Craig
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)]]> 35068705
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.]]> 545 R.F. Kuang 0062662597 Craig 5 4.16 2018 The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Craig
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)]]> 56791389 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08BKGYQXW


The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.]]> 446 Matt Dinniman Craig 5 It’s the apocalypse and it’s going to be televised, across the universe!.
Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s pet cat, Princess Donut, find themselves competing as Crawlers in a deadly Dungeons and Dragons game of survival.
This witty, exciting, funny, thrilling, amusing, adventure will grip from the outset and not let go.
Looking forward to more adventures with Carl and Donut!]]> 4.48 2020 Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
If I could give this book more than 5 ⭐️’s I would, grabs you from the beginning and doesn’t let go !
It’s the apocalypse and it’s going to be televised, across the universe!.
Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s pet cat, Princess Donut, find themselves competing as Crawlers in a deadly Dungeons and Dragons game of survival.
This witty, exciting, funny, thrilling, amusing, adventure will grip from the outset and not let go.
Looking forward to more adventures with Carl and Donut!
]]> An Ethical Guide To Murder 212017026 How to Kill Your Family meets The Power in this entertaining and thought-provoking read, that asks:

If you had the power between life and death, what would you do?

Thea has a secret.

She can tell how long someone has left to live just by touching them.

Not only that, but she can transfer life from one person to another � something she finds out the hard way when her best friend Ruth suffers a fatal head injury on a night out.

Desperate to save her, Thea touches the arm of the man responsible when he comes to check if Ruth is all right. As Ruth comes to, the man quietly slumps to the ground, dead.

Thea realises that she has a godlike power: but despite deciding to use her ability for good, she can’t help but sometimes use it for her own benefit.

Boss annoying her at work? She can take some life from them and give it as a tip to her masseuse for a great job.

Creating an ‘Ethical Guide to Murder� helps Thea to focus her new-found skills.

But as she embarks on her mission to punish the wicked and give the deserving more time, she finds that it isn’t as simple as she first thought.

How can she really know who deserves to die, and can she figure out her own rules before Ruth’s borrowed time runs out?]]> 400 Jenny Morris 1398534420 Craig 4 3.70 2025 An Ethical Guide To Murder
author: Jenny Morris
name: Craig
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Troubled Deep (Cam Killick Norfolk Mysteries)]]> 215345124 A gripping, propulsive and atmospheric crime thriller perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Peter James and Elly Griffiths. Your new Norfolk crime obsession starts here...

Nobody ever knew what happened to the Brindleys. One summer they were there - flashy, loud and beautiful - and then they were gone. A mother, father and two children, vanished into the East Anglian night.

Some said the family never made it home from the party; their speeding car thrown off the tracks and the four of them silently buried in the marshes. Others said they had simply moved on. For thirty years, the case remained as cold as the freezing waterways of the Norfolk broads.

Until Cam Killick found the car.

An ex-marine and ex-SBS officer, Cam Killick's PTSD has made the return to civilian life a living nightmare. The only place he can find peace is underwater, where the world is muffled to white noise. As a cold case diver it is his job to scour the waterways of the country for the lost, the submerged, the drowned, laying their stories to rest alongside them.

Except when Cam throws open the doors to the Brindley car, all four bodies are missing. And Cam will soon learn that some secrets, once submerged, are better off staying that way.]]> 368 Rob Parker 1526681862 Craig 5 If you liked Ben Bracken then you’re going to love Cam Killick.]]> 4.09 The Troubled Deep (Cam Killick Norfolk Mysteries)
author: Rob Parker
name: Craig
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:
Hooked right from the start. Loved Cam from the outset, former SBS now struggling with PTSD and taking a cocktail of drugs to get him through the day, Cam is intrigued by a 40 year old missing persons case that made the news back in the 1980’s, a family of four left a party but never made it home or were seen nor heard from again. Cam believes he had tracked down the car they went missing in, but it’s at the bottom of a body of water in the Norfolk Broads, can Cam use all of his knowledge and experience to put the pieces together and solve the cold case??
If you liked Ben Bracken then you’re going to love Cam Killick.
]]> 'Salem's Lot 5413 Also contains: One For the Road, Jerusalem's Lot. For standalone novel see ISBN 9780450031069.

Stephen King's second novel, the classic vampire bestseller 'Salem's Lot, tells the story of evil in small-town America. For the first time in a major trade edition, this terrifying novel is accompanied by previously unpublished material from King's archive, two short stories, and eerie photographs that bring King's fictional darkness and evil to vivid life.

When Stephen King’s classic thriller 'Salem's Lot hit the stands in 1975, it thrilled and terrified millions of readers with tales of demonic evil in small-town America. Now, thirty years later and still scaring readers witless, 'Salem's Lot reemerges in a brilliant new edition, complete with photographs, fifty pages of deleted and alternate scenes, and two short stories related to the events of the novel.

While the original edition of 'Salem's Lot will forever be a premier horror classic, 'Salem's Lot: Illustrated Edition, with the inclusion of material from King’s archive, is destined to become a classic in its own right and a must-have for all Stephen King fans. In this edition, the hair-raising story of Jerusalem’s Lot, a small town in Maine whose inhabitants succumb to the evil allure of a new resident, is told as the author envisioned it, complete with fifty pages of alternate and deleted scenes. With a new introduction by the author, two short stories related to the events and residents of Jerusalem’s Lot, the lavishly creepy photographs of Jerry Uelsmann, and a stunning new page design, this edition brings the story to life in words and pictures as never before.

No library will be complete without this ideal collector’s item for any King aficionado, the definitive illustrated edition of the great 'Salem's Lot.]]> 594 Stephen King 0385516487 Craig 0 4.28 1975 'Salem's Lot
author: Stephen King
name: Craig
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
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]]> The List of Suspicious Things 157591205
'What on earth are you on about?' she said. 'How are we going to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, when the police haven't even managed to?'

I sighed. Her questioning my ideas was a recent and unwelcome element to our friendship. But it was a valid point. How would we catch him? We needed some sort of plan, a way of gathering clues and putting them into order.

I thought about what the policeman had said about structure, and then about Aunty Jean and her notebook, and the idea I had hardened like toffee. I knew exactly what we needed to do.

'We'll make a list,' I said. 'A list of the people and things we see that are suspicious.

And then . . . And then we'll investigate them.'

The List of Suspicious Things is a tender and moving coming of age story about family, friendship and community. Sometimes the strongest connections are found in the most unlikely of places.]]> 464 Jennie Godfrey 1529153298 Craig 5 4.17 2024 The List of Suspicious Things
author: Jennie Godfrey
name: Craig
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)]]> 5096 845 Stephen King 0340829788 Craig 4 4.26 1997 Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)
author: Stephen King
name: Craig
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Monster Movie! 204593669 In this modern, spooky novel by New York Times bestselling author Chuck Wendig, a boy must face his many fears to save his friends from a cursed videotape. Ethan Pitowski is afraid of everything. Luckily, his best friends don’t mind, and when their entire class gets invited to watch a long-buried horror movie at the most popular boy in school’s house, Ethan’s friends encourage him to join in the fun. But when the “scariest movie ever made� reveals itself to be not just a movie about a monster, but a movie thatisa monster, only a terrified Ethan escapes its clutches. Now he must find a way to stop the monster and save his friends (and also, um, get their heads back). With his signature balance of kid-friendly horror and humor, Chuck Wendig crafts a spookily heartfelt novel about anxiety, friendship, and finding your unique voice and inner strength.]]> 320 Chuck Wendig 0316572594 Craig 5 3.96 Monster Movie!
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Craig
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
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]]> Redshirts 13055592 Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues� understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.]]> 320 John Scalzi 0765316994 Craig 5 3.85 2012 Redshirts
author: John Scalzi
name: Craig
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> House of Bone and Rain 203163914 In the latest from Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME, a group of five teenage boys, living in Puerto Rico, seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered; a doomed tale of devotion and the afterlife of violence.

For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang violence. Suicide. Estamos rodeados de fantasmas was Gabe’s grandmother’s refrain. We are surrounded by ghosts. But this time is different. Bimbo's mom has been shot dead. We’re gonna kill the guys who killed her Bimbo swears. And they all agree.

Feral with grief, Bimbo has become unrecognizable, taking no prisoners in his search for names. Soon, they learn Maria was gunned down by guys working for the drug kingpin of Puerto Rico. No one has ever gone up against him and survived. As the boys strategize, a storm gathers far from the coast. Hurricanes are known to carry evil spirits in their currents and bring them ashore, spirits which impose their own order.

Blurring the boundaries between myth, mysticism, and the grim realities of our world, House of Bone and Rain is a harrowing coming of age story; a doomed tale of devotion, the afterlife of violence, and what rolls in on the tide.]]> 345 Gabino Iglesias 0316427012 Craig 4 3.83 2024 House of Bone and Rain
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: Craig
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3)]]> 32418 564 Thomas Harris Craig 5 3.82 1999 Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3)
author: Thomas Harris
name: Craig
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Miser's Dream (An Eli Marks Mystery #3)]]> 25904401
But the killer won’t wait and starts taking homicidal steps to bring Eli’s investigation to a quick and decisive end. Things get even worse when his magician rival offers his own plausible solution to the mystery. With all the oddball suspects gathered together, Eli must unveil the secrets to this movie-geek whodunit or find himself at the wrong end of the trick.]]> 252 John Gaspard 1943390134 Craig 5 4.07 2015 The Miser's Dream (An Eli Marks Mystery #3)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 20000 Leagues Under the Sea 834333 406 Jules Verne 0679602534 Craig 5 3.70 1869 20000 Leagues Under the Sea
author: Jules Verne
name: Craig
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1869
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In Too Deep (Jack Reacher, #29)]]> 204432624 The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew ChildReacher wakes up, alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a bed in a makeshift hospital room. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing he can recall is the car he had hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed. The people who staged the attack assume Reacher was the driver's accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly . . .]]> 324 Lee Child 0593725808 Craig 4 3.65 2024 In Too Deep (Jack Reacher, #29)
author: Lee Child
name: Craig
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
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]]> The Out-of-Town Lawyer 201799711 🎧Run Time = 8 hours and 42 minutes

USA Today bestselling author Robert Rotstein is back with The Out-of-Town Lawyer, a gripping legal thriller that throws a community into chaos and questions the very foundations of our morality.
This “highly original courtroom drama� (Kirkus Reviews) follows defense attorney Elvis as he returns to his closed-minded hometown to represent a woman accused of murder. But as his past catches up to him, he might have more to worry about than a tough case� Read by an Earphones Award–winning narrator, “this book will seize you and not let go� (Allen Eskens).

The Quartz County, Alabama, district attorney has charged Destiny Grace Harper with murdering her unborn twins—a crime punishable by death. However, Alabama v. Harper isn’t your ordinary homicide case. Harper’s babies suffered from a rare disorder called TTTS, a fatal condition if left untreated, but correctable with minimally invasive surgery. Harper refused the surgery on religious grounds, resulting in the death of both babies, and now Harper is on trial.

Enter Elvis Henderson, a traveling criminal defense attorney who roams the country in his campervan. He receives assignments from Hazel Curnow, a once iconic trial lawyer turned recluse. When Curnow assigns Elvis the Harper case, he balks—Quartz County is his home turf. He left Alabama under a dark cloud at age eighteen and has no intention of returning.

When Elvis arrives to meet his paralegal, Margaret Booth, they immediately realize the case is fraught with complications: a desperate client whose story keeps shifting; a local populace who vociferously defend the rights of the unborn; a charismatic minister whose family lords over the town; a ruthless DA with political ambitions; an old-school judge who relishes handing down capital convictions; and a sheriff who might just want Elvis dead.

An action-packed ride to a shocking verdict, The Out-of-Town Lawyer is a gripping legal thriller that explores family love, reconciliation, and the moral and legal issues that draw a fine line between tragedy and crime.]]> 270 Robert Rotstein Craig 5 4.14 2024 The Out-of-Town Lawyer
author: Robert Rotstein
name: Craig
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
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]]> Nobody's Hero 195790797
The reappearance of a woman thought long dead results in a safe in Langley being opened for the first time in ten years. Inside there is a letter. On it is written, 'The Acacia Avenue Protocol has been initiated.' Four names are listed underneath. Three of the people on the list are dead. The fourth name is Ben Koenig.

Koenig doesn't know why he's on the list and he doesn't know what the Acacia Avenue Protocol is. But he does know the woman who has reappeared. One of the bravest women Koenig has ever met, ten years ago he was asked by a senior intelligence officer to help her fake her own death. Koenig didn't ask why she had to die but he knows one thing for if she's resurfaced then something is very wrong.

From the windswept cities of northern England to a remote Scottish airfield, from New York to Nevada, Koenig will follow a trail of death and destruction as he uncovers the horrific protocol. Along the way he'll have run ins with a cabal of corrupt cops known as the East Coast Sweeney, a ruthless private military contractor, and a contract killer with an aversion to the colour yellow.

But Koenig will keep going. He has no choice. Because someone has initiated the Acacia Avenue Protocol and if Koenig can't stop it, the world will never be the same again . . .]]> 416 M.W. Craven 1250864593 Craig 5 4.11 2024 Nobody's Hero
author: M.W. Craven
name: Craig
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves:
review:
Mike Craven just doesn’t write bad books.. love this new series and looking forward to the next scrape Ben finds himself in.
]]> Blood Like Mine 201632567
“A gruesome, action-packed monster novel about a mother and daughter with a terrible secret, on the run from an obsessed and crumbling detective . . . Terrific.� —The New York Times Book Review

In Stuart Neville’s horror debut, a mother's undying love and a daughter's insatiable hunger carve a bloody trail across the highways of the Southwest.

On a snowy December night, single mother Rebecca Carter drives her van into a snowbank to avoid hitting an elk on a desolate mountain highway. She is at the end of her rope, out of money and food. Still, she refuses help from a man in a pickup truck—Rebecca’s adolescent daughter, Moonflower, is on the run from a grisly secret, and the last thing they can afford is to be remembered by anyone they meet.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Marc Donner of the FBI has spent the better part of two years hunting down a gruesome serial killer who drains victims of blood before severing their spinal cords, leaving a trail of bodies throughout the country. As Agent Donner’s investigation brings him closer and closer to where Rebecca and Moonflower are hiding out, in the foothills of Colorado, the life that Rebecca has fought so hard to hold together for her daughter becomes increasingly imperiled.

In this deadly, high-stakes game of cat and mouse, nobody is safe and nothing is certain—not even the line between predator and prey.]]> 375 Stuart Neville 1641295414 Craig 4 3.58 2024 Blood Like Mine
author: Stuart Neville
name: Craig
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/17
date added: 2024/10/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (Ernest Cunningham, #2)]]> 167006698
The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)

the forensic science writer

the blockbuster writer

the legal thriller writer

the literary writer

the psychological suspense writer

But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Of course, we should also know how to commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?]]> 320 Benjamin Stevenson 006327907X Craig 4 3.81 2023 Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (Ernest Cunningham, #2)
author: Benjamin Stevenson
name: Craig
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
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]]> Holmes and Moriarty 203751423 THE NEW CLEVER AND INTRIGUING CRIME MYSTERY FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, THE TURNGLASS

Can you solve the mystery before the greatest detective of all time?

Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr John Watson, have been hired by actor George Reynolds. George wants them to find out why the audience who comes to see him perform every night are the same people, only wearing disguises. Is something sinister going on and, if so, what?

Meanwhile, Holmes� archenemy, Professor James Moriarty is having problems of his own. Implicated in the murder of a gang leader, Moriarty and his second, Moran, must go on the run from the police in order to find out who is behind the set-up.

But their investigation puts them in the way of Holmes and Watson and it’s not long before all four realise that they are being targeted by the same person. With lives on the line, not just their own, they must form an uneasy alliance in order to unmask the true villain. With clues leading them to a hotel in Switzerland and a conspiracy far greater than any of them expected, who can be trusted and will any of them survive?


Praise for The Turnglass:

'Not just a book, but an experience - one in which twists and turns are both on the page and in the very act of reading itself. Two haunting narratives conspire to create a dark, menacing tale that spans half a century of secrets as they echo back and forth' Janice Hallett
'A stunning, ingenious, truly immersive mystery. The Turnglass is a thrilling delight' Chris Whitaker
'Your initial amazement at his ingenuity comes to sit alongside an appreciation of the heart and depth he brings to his stories. A risky idea, beautifully executed' Telegraph
'An intricate and thoroughly mesmerising tale of family plots and schemes across several generations' Guardian
‘Murder, mystery and secrets combine to create a dazzling achievement that will hook you in' Best

]]> 349 Gareth Rubin 1398514551 Craig 3 3.42 2024 Holmes and Moriarty
author: Gareth Rubin
name: Craig
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/01
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]]> <![CDATA[A Case of Identity - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #3)]]> 2806829
This is #3 in Doyle's first collection of Holmes' short stories, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "A Case of Identity." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere.]]> 18 Arthur Conan Doyle 0886467357 Craig 4 3.68 1891 A Case of Identity - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #3)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1891
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #2)]]> 1254877
Holmes is engaged initially by a pawnbroker. He's upset by the loss of a well-paying, part-time job. One that doesn't require many hours and, when it does require work, doesn't interfere with his busiest times at the pawn shop. To Sherlock Holmes, it may be much more than it appears. Could it be the beginning of a larger mystery? Using minute details of the small one, he works to solve the serious one. "Depend upon it," said Holmes to Watson in "A Case of Identity." "There is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace."

Librarian's note: this entry is for "The Red Headed League," the second of 12 short stories from the 1892 collection, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." It was first published in "The Strand Magazine." Collections and other stories by the author are located elsewhere on ŷ. The series includes four novels and 58 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching ŷ for: "a Sherlock Holmes Short Story."]]> 24 Arthur Conan Doyle 0890613141 Craig 4 3.99 1891 The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #2)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1891
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes (A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA Book 1)]]> 40937229 331 Arthur Conan Doyle Craig 4 4.13 1892 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes (A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA Book 1)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1892
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
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]]> <![CDATA[A Scandal in Bohemia and Other Stories]]> 13412586 dvojjazyčná vydání
anglické prózy]]> 178 Arthur Conan Doyle 014139191X Craig 0 to-read 4.05 2007 A Scandal in Bohemia and Other Stories
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Seventeen (Last Man Standing #1)]]> 61951587 You'll never know my name.

But you won't forget my number.

Behind the events you know are the killers you don’t. When diplomacy fails, we're the ones who gear up. Officially we don’t exist, but every government in the world uses our services. We’ve been saving the world, and your ass, for one hundred years.

Sixteen people have done this job before me. I am Seventeen. The most feared assassin in the world. But to be the best, you must beat the best. My next target is Sixteen, just as one day Eighteen will hunt me down. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and it gets lonely at the top. Nobody gets to stay for long. But while we're here, all that matters is that we win.

Visceral, cinematic and wildly addictive, Seventeen will keep you on the edge of your seat and live long in the memory. UntilEighteencomes along�]]> 444 John Brownlow 0369720490 Craig 5
Fast paced page turner packed with thrills spills and excitement.



Merged review:

Forget Bond and Bourne 17 is in town and he’s not taking any prisoners.

Fast paced page turner packed with thrills spills and excitement.]]> 3.98 Seventeen (Last Man Standing #1)
author: John Brownlow
name: Craig
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/02
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:
Forget Bond and Bourne 17 is in town and he’s not taking any prisoners.

Fast paced page turner packed with thrills spills and excitement.



Merged review:

Forget Bond and Bourne 17 is in town and he’s not taking any prisoners.

Fast paced page turner packed with thrills spills and excitement.
]]> <![CDATA[We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse, #1)]]> 32109569 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.

Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.

The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.]]> 383 Dennis E. Taylor Craig 5 4.29 2016 We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse, #1)
author: Dennis E. Taylor
name: Craig
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
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]]> The Bang-Bang Sisters 199793409
Blood. Bullets. Rock and roll.

Meet the Bang-Bang Sisters: Brea, Jessie, and Flo. Together, they’re a kick-ass rock band with an unbreakable bond.

But that’s only half the story. Offstage, they’re highly skilled vigilantes, traveling the country in their beaten-up tour van to exact justice on criminals who have slipped through the system. Part rock stars, part assassins, they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Drawn by a tantalizing lead, the sisters head to Reedsville, Alabama—a city crawling with destitution and corruption—where they close in on a notorious serial killer known as “the wren.� But they soon discover that they have walked straight into a trap set by Chance Kotter, a ruthless mobster with a personal vendetta.

Bruised and beaten, the sisters find themselves at the mercy of Chance and a sadistic game of survival that will pit them against each other: Forty-eight hours. One city. Three sisters. Only one of them can survive.

Full of gripping action and shocking twists that come at a breakneck pace, The Bang-Bang Sisters is a relentless, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that will leave you breathless.]]> 400 Rio Youers 0063311801 Craig 5 3.72 2024 The Bang-Bang Sisters
author: Rio Youers
name: Craig
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
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]]> Good Riddance 63211349 Plenty of retirees have hobbies; Gloria’s just happens to be murderous... An entertaining new crime thriller by the author of Bang Bang, You’re Dead.

At this stage of her life, Gloria Jones just wants peace, quiet, and as little stress as possible. But her habit of helping others in need is hard to break—even when it gets her into trouble.

So when Gloria encounters a distraught young girl and learns about a shadowy London gang of human traffickers exploiting women, she simply can’t let such injustice stand. After all, it’s not the first time she has stopped vicious criminals from hurting someone...

Then again, her health isn’t what it used to be—and this time, there’s a distinct possibility she could wind up dead...]]> 330 Evan Baldock 150408005X Craig 5 4.05 Good Riddance
author: Evan Baldock
name: Craig
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/26
date added: 2024/09/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)]]> 608474
For Mary Marston has received several large pearls - one a year for the last six years - and now a mystery letter telling her she is a wronged woman. If she would seek justice she is to meet her unknown benefactor, bringing with her two companions.

But unbeknownst to them all, others stalk London's fog-enshrouded streets: a one-legged ruffian with revenge on his mind - and his companion, who places no value on human life...]]> 129 Arthur Conan Doyle Craig 5 3.91 1890 The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1890
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)]]> 102868
But it's not long before Sherlock Holmes, with Watson in tow, is working with Scotland Yard investigating the murder of two Americans whose deaths have some mysterious connection to sinister groups gathering power in both Britain and America.

Here's where it all began. 'A Study in Scarlet.' Meet Sherlock Holmes, one of the world's leading consulting detectives - fictional of course!]]> 123 Arthur Conan Doyle 1420925539 Craig 5 4.16 1887 A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1)
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Craig
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1887
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
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]]> Worst Case Scenario 210331622 Following her explosive debut thriller Falling and its harrowing follow-up Drowning, #1 internationally bestselling author T.J. Newman is back with Worst Case Scenario.

When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota, which becomes ground zero for a catastrophic national crisis with global implications.

The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now.

In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people—power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends� are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives. It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.]]> 336 T.J. Newman 0316576794 Craig 5 4.04 2024 Worst Case Scenario
author: T.J. Newman
name: Craig
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
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Have you ever asked “what could possibly go wrong?� Well it’s all in here and more!
]]> The Cracked Mirror 197023868 THIS IS NOT THAT CRIME NOVEL

You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes.

You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a Sunday best hat.

Against all the odds, against the usual story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might just come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer.

A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly, The Cracked Mirror is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart.]]> 480 Chris Brookmyre 0349145792 Craig 4 3.92 The Cracked Mirror
author: Chris Brookmyre
name: Craig
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2024/09/03
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]]> We, the Jury 38642887
Told from the perspective of over a dozen participants in a murder trial, We, the Jury examines how public perception can mask the ghastliest nightmares. As the jurors stagger toward a verdict, they must sift through contradictory testimony from the Sullingers' children, who disagree on which parent was Satan; sort out conflicting allegations of severe physical abuse, adultery, and incest; and overcome personal animosities and biases that threaten a fair and just verdict. Ultimately, the central figures in We, the Jury must navigate the blurred boundaries between bias and objectivity, fiction and truth.]]> 304 Robert Rotstein Craig 4 3.52 2018 We, the Jury
author: Robert Rotstein
name: Craig
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Last Man Standing (The Earthburst Saga, #1)]]> 61882301
The station has been hit. Everyone around me is dead.

I have 11 hours of life support left and no way of contacting Earth.

I’m alone. I’m stranded. I’m desperate.

But I’m alive.


The more of the station I explore, the surer I get that this was no accident. Someone did this, and I don't think they're finished yet.

Making it home feels like an impossible task, but I'm not just fighting for my own life.

I have to protect my family � whatever it takes.

And as long as I’m breathing, this isn't over.

Because whoever did this almost pulled it off� but they made one big mistake:

They left the wrong man standing...]]> 456 Craig A. Falconer Craig 4 4.02 2022 Last Man Standing (The Earthburst Saga, #1)
author: Craig A. Falconer
name: Craig
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> Witness 8 (Eddie Flynn #8) 209096547 What if the witness was more twisted than the killer?

Something is wrong with Ruby Johnson.

A former resident of the ultra-elite Manhattan upper class, Ruby now works as a maid in the type of houses she used to live in. Unassuming, she sees everyone’s dirty secrets from the inside of their beautiful, renovated brownstones. But when Ruby witnesses a murder, she has wicked plans in mind that don’t involve telling the authorities the truth.

Eddie Flynn, streetwise ex con-artist-turned-defense attorney, is the only lawyer in New York City willing to take on hopeless cases. And none is more hopeless than John Jackson’s—the gun that killed his neighbor found, with Jackson’s DNA, in his own home. Flynn and his unconventional team will need to use every trick they know to keep an innocent man from being locked up. But to save his client’s life, Eddie must first protect his own, as the scariest organized criminals in the city are out for his head.]]> 417 Steve Cavanagh 1035408236 Craig 5 4.39 2024 Witness 8 (Eddie Flynn #8)
author: Steve Cavanagh
name: Craig
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/08/11
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]]> <![CDATA[My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)]]> 55711617
That’s not the only thing that’s getting carved up, though � this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who’s wearing the mask? Jade’s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but� will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?

Isn’t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?

This new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones, called “one of our most talented living writers� by Tommy Orange, explores the changing landscape of the West through his distinct voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence.

Go up the mountain to Proofrock. See if you’ve got what it takes � see if your heart, too, might be a chainsaw.]]> 405 Stephen Graham Jones 1982137630 Craig 0 to-read 3.52 2021 My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Craig
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Grimm's Fairy Tales 19351490
This compilation of fairy tales which includes the complete canon of over 200 tales has become a beloved set of classical stories the world over. Included in this collection are Hansel and Gretel, Briar Rose, The Fisherman and His Wife, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Thumb, and many more. These stories are a delight to read and will rekindle up many childhood memories as they are reread. Presented here in this edition is the faithful translation of Margaret Hunt.]]> 688 Jacob Grimm Craig 0 to-read 4.20 1812 Grimm's Fairy Tales
author: Jacob Grimm
name: Craig
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1812
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)]]> 181350367 For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate.... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.]]> 358 Kristen Perrin 0593474015 Craig 0 to-read 3.77 2024 How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)
author: Kristen Perrin
name: Craig
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> Running and Jumping 119698634
Beijing 2008. Hours after finishing fourth in his first Olympic final, British long jumper, Adam Lowe, stands at the bar of a nightclub with the man who beat him to a medal. A tense conversation between them sparks a rivalry that, for Lowe, will become all consuming.

From London 2012 to Rio 2016, Lowe experiences incredible victories and crushing defeats as he is pushed to his limits both professionally and personally.

When one competition goes beyond anything he thought possible, Lowe is left trying to answer the What if you have your greatest ever day and still don't win?]]> 0 Steven Kedie 1915433231 Craig 5 Filled with highs and lows, love and loss and everything else in between.. one of my books of the year along with one of the best books I have read for a long time outside of horror, crime and thriller.]]> 5.00 Running and Jumping
author: Steven Kedie
name: Craig
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
review:
Highly recommended!
Filled with highs and lows, love and loss and everything else in between.. one of my books of the year along with one of the best books I have read for a long time outside of horror, crime and thriller.
]]> The Puzzle Master 62121610
Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn't spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women's prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.]]> 362 Danielle Trussoni 0593595297 Craig 3 3.23 2023 The Puzzle Master
author: Danielle Trussoni
name: Craig
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves:
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]]> The Suspect 181871598 **THE GRIPPING SECOND NOVEL FROM ROB RINDER AND FOLLOW-UP TO NO. 1 BESTSELLER THE TRIAL**

When Hannah Holby, darling of UK morning TV, dies live on screen in front of millions of viewers, the nation is devastated.

More devastated still when it becomes clear that her death was not an accident.

The evidence points to one celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks. But junior barrister Adam Green is about to discover that the case is not as open-and-shut as it first seemed.

And although Hannah's angelic persona would suggest otherwise, she was not short of enemies in the glittery TV world . . .

Can Adam uncover the truth?]]> 323 Rob Rinder 1529196418 Craig 4 3.86 2024 The Suspect
author: Rob Rinder
name: Craig
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Mercy Chair (Washington Poe #6)]]> 196052609 Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . .

Washington Poe has a story to tell.

And he needs you to listen.

You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .

He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.

And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .
Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .]]> 485 M.W. Craven Craig 5 4.53 2024 The Mercy Chair (Washington Poe #6)
author: M.W. Craven
name: Craig
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
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The best one in the series yet!
]]> The Escape Room 147336813 Eight strangers arrive at a remote sea fort off the coast of England. They are here to take part in The Fortress, a mysterious reality TV show in which contestants have to solve a series of complex puzzles. But this is no game, and the consequences of failure are more deadly than anyone anticipated.

No one leaves.
The show's sinister purpose becomes clear when the first person is evicted from the competition. Instead of being sent home to their family, they are left to die inside a locked room.

The only way out is to win.
Under scrutiny from the watching public, the contestants soon turn one another. What are they willing to do for wealth and fame? How far will they go to survive? And who is behind it all? The only thing they know for certain is that if they want to escape, they need to win...

Are you ready to play?]]> 432 L.D. Smithson Craig 5 4.01 2024 The Escape Room
author: L.D. Smithson
name: Craig
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
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]]> Profile K 182358681 384 Helen Sarah Fields 0008533547 Craig 0 to-read 4.17 2024 Profile K
author: Helen Sarah Fields
name: Craig
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Chamber 199798109 And Then There Were None meets The Last Breath in this tense and suspenseful locked-room thriller that takes place inside a hyperbaric chamber from the author of the “brilliant, twisted, and oh so clever� (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author) novel The Last Thing to Burn.

Six experienced saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. Calm and professional, they know that rapid decompression would be fatal and so they work in shifts, breathing helium, and surviving in hot, close quarters.

Then one of them is found dead in his bunk.

With four days of decompression to go before the locked hatch to the chamber can be safely opened, the group must watch one another’s backs at all times. And when another diver is discovered unresponsive, everyone is on edge. What…or who…is taking them out one by one? And will any of them still be alive by the time the four days is up or will paranoia, exhaustion, suspicion, and pressure destroy them all?]]> 352 Will Dean 166802117X Craig 5
Six saturation divers all come together for a new job in the North Sea, when suddenly one of them dies and then a second, they are all trapped in a chamber together, relying on those outside the chamber for food, drink and medications but are they spiking the food? Or worse is the murderer one of the divers , one of them?

Suspense is ratcheted up a notch in this claustrophobic cracker. The ultimate Locked Room Mystery.]]> 3.45 2024 The Chamber
author: Will Dean
name: Craig
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/12
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves:
review:
Yet another excellent read from Mr Will Dean, he just knows how to write!

Six saturation divers all come together for a new job in the North Sea, when suddenly one of them dies and then a second, they are all trapped in a chamber together, relying on those outside the chamber for food, drink and medications but are they spiking the food? Or worse is the murderer one of the divers , one of them?

Suspense is ratcheted up a notch in this claustrophobic cracker. The ultimate Locked Room Mystery.
]]> All the Sinners Bleed 61884832 A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Powerful and unforgettable, All the Sinners Bleed confirms S. A. Cosby as “one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction� (The Washington Post).]]> 338 S.A. Cosby 1250831911 Craig 5 4.18 2023 All the Sinners Bleed
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Craig
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/02
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Displeasure Island (Grave Expectations, #2)]]> 199313493 In the hilarious follow-up to Grave Expectations, Claire and the gang are back, getting their timbers shivered by a mystery involving feuding ghost pirates, buried treasure, and murder...

Claire Hendricks can see ghosts, but she can't see herself having a fun vacation. Yet when her new friends/found family, Basher and Alex, insist, Claire and her dead BFF, Sophie, pack themselves off to a remote Irish island. This tempest-tossed isle is indeed full of noises: not only is the hotel where the gang is staying double booked with a posh private party, the island's crumbling old fort is being fought over by rival ghost pirates. In death, as in life, they're vying over a legendary stash of loot, supposedly hidden somewhere on the island or in the surrounding rough seas...

...which, inevitably, are whipped up into a terrific storm, stranding everyone—living and dead—on the island. Claire is already fighting off anxious And Then There Were None vibes before one of the other guests turns up murdered. With Basher distracted by a handsome Irish seaman and Sophie stretching the limits of her tether to flirt with a dead pirate with dubious intentions, it's up to Claire to solve the mystery of three-hundred-year-old buried treasure and figure out who's picking off party guests—before the whole gang meets a grim, Agatha Christie-like fate.]]> 400 Alice Bell 1838958436 Craig 4 3.80 2024 Displeasure Island (Grave Expectations, #2)
author: Alice Bell
name: Craig
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole, #1)]]> 41021631 Taking the mystery community by storm, this Elvis Cole novel was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards and won both the Anthony and Macavity for Best Novel of the Year.

When Ellen Lang's husband disappears with their son, she hires Elvis Cole to track him down. A quiet and seemingly submissive wife, Ellen can't even write a check without him. All she wants is to get him and her son back—no questions asked.

The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. He soon learns that Mort Lang is a down-on-his-luck talent agent who associates with a schlocky movie producer, and the last place he was spotted was at a party thrown by a famous and very well-connected ex-Matador. But no one has seen him since—including his B-movie girlfriend.

At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest —and no kid in sight—Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on. It's up to Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike to find the connection between sleazy Hollywood players and an ex-Matador.]]> 226 Robert Crais Craig 5 3.94 1987 The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole, #1)
author: Robert Crais
name: Craig
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2024/05/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Hunted 198493702
In London, the police storm Heathrow Airport to bring in a father for questioning about his missing daughter.

In Florida, a mother makes a connection between her son and the bomber, fearing he has been radicalized.

And in Oregon, an unknown organization’s conspiracy to bring America to its knees unfolds�

On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to stop a catastrophe that will derail the country’s future forever.

But can they find their kids before it’s too late?

For fans of The Chain and I Am Pilgrim, this ground-breaking, blockbuster thriller is unlike any other thriller you will read this year.]]> 400 Abir Mukherjee 0316260215 Craig 5 3.75 2024 Hunted
author: Abir Mukherjee
name: Craig
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering]]> 63912765
There are thousands and thousands of decent homes - very nice homes - with nobody living in them.

There are thousands and thousands of broke young people - very nice young people - with nowhere decent to live.

This is where Al comes in.

Al lives in wealthy people's second houses when the real owners are away. He's charming, convincing and easily lost in a crowd. Life is perfect.

But unfortunately for him, Al and his friends have just broken into the wrong place, on the wrong day - and found a body. And now they're in a whole heap of trouble.

Featuring crooked builders, dodgy coppers and some very dangerous spies, A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering is a gripping thriller about what it's like to be young, skilled, unemployed - and on the run.
__________

Love for The Sanctuary ...

'Imaginative and intriguing ... Andrew Hunter Murray is a young writer to watch.' Anthony Horowitz
'Absolutely brilliant. I'm thinking it needs to be made into a movie!' Zoe Ball
'Gripping, unsettling and original. Andrew Hunter Murray is a fabulous storyteller.' Tim Harford
'Rich in imagination and stylishly written ... Totally absorbing.' Paul Burke, Crime Time FM]]> 464 Andrew Hunter Murray 1529152801 Craig 5 Three words to describe this book would be
Fun
Fun
Fun!]]> 3.86 2024 A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering
author: Andrew Hunter Murray
name: Craig
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/10
date added: 2024/05/10
shelves:
review:
Had loads of fun reading this, great characters who just happen to all come together whilst “Interloping� and stumble upon a murder they must solve to prove their innocence..
Three words to describe this book would be
Fun
Fun
Fun!
]]> Seven Days 198271447 'Wow! An absolutely fantastic edge of your seat thriller. I could not turn the pages fast enough... Would be an amazing film or tv series. The ending was perfect... Highly recommended' Reader review
⭐⭐⭐⭐�

Your father is on death row. You have seven days to save him. But do you want to?
Alice knows her father is guilty of many things.
He's guilty of abandoning her.
He's guilty of being unfaithful to her mother.
But is he guilty of murder?

Now on Death Row, he has seven days to live.
Some people want him released.
Others will kill to keep him just where he is.
Alice has only one chance to save him. But should she?

Readers are loving Seven Days:

'This was wild! Really enjoyed this. Good characters, good story line and it kept me guessing' Reader review
⭐⭐⭐⭐�

'Compulsive and page turning read... lots of surprises' Reader review
⭐⭐⭐⭐�

'A dark and atmospheric thriller that explores the complexities of family, trauma, and life, with a shocking ending, fantastic novel'
⭐⭐⭐⭐�


'Twisty, tense and superbly characterised, this global race against time and across the world is a top read'
⭐⭐⭐⭐�


'Kept me hooked from start to finish!'
⭐⭐⭐⭐�


'A high-octane, high-stakes thriller about family dynamics, guilt and responsibility'
⭐⭐⭐⭐�]]> 387 Robert Rutherford 1399726412 Craig 4 3.55 Seven Days
author: Robert Rutherford
name: Craig
average rating: 3.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Dark Horizon 63063864
Only a handful of people know the truth of why Kate Hood left the military in disgrace; now a contract pilot for a private jet company, she's looking for a second chance... And to keep her secrets she must take a last-minute assignment to fly a covert cargo to a non-extradition country.

The cargo is a prisoner who may be the key to a violent international conspiracy � but he swears he is an innocent man, wrongly accused of crimes he played no part in. And as Kate races through the night, on the ground a pair of ruthless assassins are hunting her family, threatening their lives to force the pilot to divert the aircraft � but do they intend to liberate the captive, or kill him?

Trapped at the centre of an escalating crisis, Kate and her passenger must navigate the conflicting agendas of enemies and allies, on a flight into danger that neither of them may survive...]]> 352 James Swallow 1802793186 Craig 4 3.81 2023 Dark Horizon
author: James Swallow
name: Craig
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/26
date added: 2024/04/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Murder at the End of the World]]> 136276877
Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don't even know it.

And the clock is ticking.

From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.]]> 368 Stuart Turton Craig 5 3.63 2024 The Last Murder at the End of the World
author: Stuart Turton
name: Craig
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/19
date added: 2024/04/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Leave No Trace (Kat and Lock, #2)]]> 181687212
One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock � the world’s first AI Detective � and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.

But with the discovery of another man’s body � also crucified � it appears that their killer is only just getting started. With the police warning local men to be vigilant, the Future Policing Unit is thrust into a hostile media frenzy as they desperately search for connections between the victims. But time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.]]> 383 Jo Callaghan 1398511226 Craig 5 Kat and Lock are assigned their first case and they are soon thrust into the media limelight as a body is found on top of a hill on a crucifix just a couple of weeks before Christmas.]]> 4.28 2024 Leave No Trace (Kat and Lock, #2)
author: Jo Callaghan
name: Craig
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/04/05
shelves:
review:
An excellent follow up to In the Blink of an Eye!
Kat and Lock are assigned their first case and they are soon thrust into the media limelight as a body is found on top of a hill on a crucifix just a couple of weeks before Christmas.
]]> The Bad Weather Friend 135415637 Benny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them.

Benny Catspaw’s perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He’s not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn’t know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he’s never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time.

How strange—though it’s a blessing, his uncle promises. Stranger yet is what’s inside the crate. He’s a seven-foot-tall self-described “bad weather friend� named Spike whose mission is to help people who are just too good for this world. Spike will take care of it. He’ll find Benny’s enemies. He’ll deal with them. This might be satisfying if Spike wasn’t such a menacing presence with terrifying techniques of intimidation.

In the company of Spike and a fascinated young waitress-cum-PI-in-training named Harper, Benny plunges into a perilous high-speed adventure, the likes of which never would have crossed the mind of a decent guy like him.]]> 374 Dean Koontz 1662500483 Craig 3 3.89 2024 The Bad Weather Friend
author: Dean Koontz
name: Craig
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/28
date added: 2024/03/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Whalefall 62919162 🎧Run Time = 8 hours and 10 minutes

An NPR Best Book of 2023 “full of cinematic and wild suspense� that “would be great for fans of Andy Weir� (Library Journal starred review): Scuba diver Jay Gardiner is swallowed by a sperm whale � and only has one hour before his oxygen runs out� “Listeners will feel like they themselves are gasping for air� (AudioFile).

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
Named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot, Shelf Awareness, and NPR

The Martian meets 127 Hours in this “astoundingly great� (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool's errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. He knows it's a long shot, but Jay feels it's the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad's death the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid's tentacles and drawn into the whale's mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out - one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.]]> 327 Daniel Kraus 1665918160 Craig 3 3.66 2023 Whalefall
author: Daniel Kraus
name: Craig
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/09
date added: 2024/03/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Going Zero 60833953
In the name of national security, the CIA in partnership with Silicon Valley wunderkind Cy Baxter have created the ultimate surveillance program known as FUSION. Ahead of its roll out, ten Americans have been carefully selected to Beta test the groundbreaking system.

At the appointed hour, each of the ten will have two hours to “Go Zero”—to turn their cellphones off, cut ties with friends and family, and use any means possible to disappear. They will then have 30 days to evade detection and elude the highly sophisticated Capture Teams tasked to find them using the most cutting-edge technology. The goal is to see if it is possible to successfully go “off the grid� and escape detection.

The stakes are immense. If FUSION is a success, Cy Baxter will secure a coveted 10-year, $100 billion dollar government contract and access to intelligence resources he truly believes will save lives. For any participant who beats the massive surveillance, it means a $3 million cash prize.

Among the contestants is an unassuming Boston librarian named Kaitlyn Day. She’s been chosen as the gimme, the easy target expected to be found first. But Kaitlyn excels at confounding expectations. Her talents at this particular game are far more effective than all the security experts suspect, and her reasons for playing far more personal than anyone can imagine. . . .]]> 304 Anthony McCarten 006322707X Craig 5 3.83 2023 Going Zero
author: Anthony McCarten
name: Craig
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:
Loved this.. It’s a hide and seek thriller, for those hiding a £3million dollar prize if they can evade capture for a month, for those searching there is a multi billion dollar contract reward from the CIA, so that can partner up and use the technology.
]]> Anna O 134221476 ANNA O WILL WAKE UP THE WORLD

What if your nightmares weren’t really nightmares at all?

We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep?

Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty� by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.�

Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O’”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.

As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.

Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.

Joining the ranks of Gillian Flynn, A. J. Finn, and Alex Michaelides, Matthew Blake delivers the thriller of the year: a dark, twisty, and shocking mystery about a young woman who commits a double murder while sleepwalking, and then never opens her eyes again.]]> 421 Matthew Blake 0063314150 Craig 3 3.36 2024 Anna O
author: Matthew Blake
name: Craig
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/22
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Visitor (Jack Reacher #4) 19738287 Featuring Jack Reacher, hero of the new blockbuster movie starring Tom Cruise.

Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cooke have a lot in common.

Both were army high-flyers. Both were acquainted with Jack Reacher. Both were forced to resign from the service.

Now they're both dead.

Found in their own homes, naked, in a bath full of paint.

Apparent victims of an army man. A loner, a smart guy with a score to settle, a ruthless vigilante.

A man just like Jack Reacher.]]> 492 Lee Child Craig 4 4.17 2000 The Visitor (Jack Reacher #4)
author: Lee Child
name: Craig
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/22
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Fury 123206645 A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder � from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient.

This is a tale of murder.

Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time � it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse � a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.]]> 298 Alex Michaelides 125075898X Craig 4 3.34 2024 The Fury
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Craig
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/04
date added: 2024/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Opening Nightmare (A Como Lake Players Short Mystery)]]> 62350961
When an audience member is stabbed in the middle of an Opening Night performance, Leah must figure out who this clever killer is ... and make sure they don't kill the run of her show! Or murder her, as well!

A great introduction to The Como Lake Players mystery series: New Executive Director (and former actress) Leah Sexton must navigate the twisty world of community theater while dealing with crazy Board members, egomaniacal directors, self-centered actors ... and the occasional cold-blooded killer.]]> 171 John Gaspard Craig 5 4.32 An Opening Nightmare (A Como Lake Players Short Mystery)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/29
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves:
review:
Loved this, it’s a retelling of the Eli Marks, The Self Working Trick, but told from the Como Lake Players perspective, so there’s a bit of a crossover and this one sort of slightly “bigs-up� Leah Sexton’s role, just as Eli does in his version. But it is hugely enjoyable
]]> <![CDATA[The Self-Working Trick (and other stories): An Eli Marks Short Mystery Collection (The Eli Marks Mysteries Book 8)]]> 60001455 More Twisty, Tricky Tales and Mysteries to enjoy with Eli Marks

2022 Winner of Best Adult Fiction Award from the Minnesota Library Foundation.

It’s just one thing after another for magician Eli The bizarre death of a barista. Performing close-up magic at a funeral. A homicidal husband looking for ideas. An unexpected customer encounter. An impossible stabbing during a show. A Halloween murder. A life-changing magic lesson. A mystifying murder/suicide. A puzzling jewel heist and an even odder painting theft. And more!

A dozen new Eli Marks short stories (ten never-before published). Which means you now have a dozen more reasons to spend some quality time with Eli Marks.

Grab your copy and jump into Eli Marks� world today!

★★★★�

Readers and critics LOVE the Eli Marks Mystery Series.

“It’s full of magic, mystery, danger and misdirection, as a good magic trick should be. I love this cozy mystery series, a thoroughly delightful read.”�Sweet Mystery Books

"An intriguing cross between noir and cozy, with fascinating details about magic tricks and plenty of quirky characters. An easy, enjoyable read for mystery buffs seeking a bit of an escape from the usual crime fiction fare."�Library Journal
“Before I had even finished the first chapter I had fallen in love with Eli. He is intelligent, sensitive, witty and, suddenly, the main suspect in a series of murders…well written, fast paced and exciting.”�The Frugal Mennonite

“The deftly-plotted mystery is enriched by Eli’s relationships with his ex-wife, her new husband, his old-school stage magician Uncle Harry, and an interesting collection of people and places in and around St. Paul…This stylish novel is filled with interesting details, snappy dialogue, and appealing characters.”�More Than a Review

“This story is very well written and fun to read. I would definitely read another Eli Marks Mystery!� �A Simple Taste for Reading

★★★★�

Books in the Eli Marks Mystery
THE AMBITIOUS CARD (#1)
THE BULLET CATCH (#2)
THE MISER'S DREAM (#3)
THE LINKING RINGS (#4)
THE FLOATING LIGHT BULB (#5)
THE ZOMBIE BALL (#6)
THE MAGIC SQUARE (#7)
THE SELF-WORKING TRICK (#8)]]> 262 John Gaspard Craig 5 4.28 The Self-Working Trick (and other stories): An Eli Marks Short Mystery Collection (The Eli Marks Mysteries Book 8)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/26
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves:
review:
A great collection of Eli Marks short stories, looking forward to the next full novel.
]]> Voyage of the Damned 135802269
Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.

Except one: Ganymedes Piscero - class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.

When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people without a Blessing to protect him, odds of survival are slim.

But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?

Or will the empire as he knows it fall?]]> 496 Frances White 0241640075 Craig 4 4.03 2024 Voyage of the Damned
author: Frances White
name: Craig
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Customer (The Eli Marks Mysteries)]]> 51035052 The request was a first for Eli Marks: “Can you help me make my tuba disappear?�

Magician (and magic shop owner) Eli Marks is confronted with this odd demand just before he is about to close up shop for the day.

Over the next few tense minutes, he finds a solution to that question which also, fortunately, puts him the positive side of what turns out to be a life-or-death situation.

★★★★★�

Praise for the Eli Marks Mystery Series

“An intriguing cross between noir and cozy, with fascinating details about magic tricks and plenty of quirky characters. An easy, enjoyable read for mystery buffs seeking a bit of an escape from the usual crime fiction fare.”�

� Library Journal

“A finely-tuned, diabolical, sneaky, smart, stylish mix of magic and mayhem that plunges our hero Eli through a tangled web of danger and deceit that’ll keep you guessing.”�

� Steve Spill, Magician and Author of I Lie For Money

“With twists and turns, flurries of romance, and a cast of characters that seem to be the unholy spawn of The Maltese Falcon and The Third Man, The Miser’s Dream keeps the pages turning and the reader delighted from start to finish.”�

� Jeffrey Hatcher, Screenwriter, Mr. Holmes

“I loved this book. From beginning to end I was hooked. The story is fantastic and the cast leaves you wanting to know more. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.”�

� Bookschellves

“This is an instant classic, in a league with Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Arthur Conan Doyle.”�

� Rosebud Book Reviews

“Has as many tricks up its sleeve as its likeable magician-hero. As the body count rises, so does the reading pleasure.”�

� Dennis Palumbo, Author of the Daniel Rinaldi Mystery Series

“A wonderfully engaging, delightfully tricky bit of mystery. Fans of magic will delight in John Gaspard’s artful use of the world of magicians, onstage and offstage. It’s a great story and great fun!”�

� Jim Steinmeyer, Author of Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear

“A real winner of magical proportions. Filled with snappy, delightful dialogue and plenty of sleight-of-hand humor, Gaspard’s latest mystery in the Eli Marks series does not disappoint.”�

� Jessie Chandler, Author of the Shay O’Hanlon Series

“The author does a fantastic job juggling the separate plots and keeping readers� minds thoroughly engaged…and the pure entertainment of the industry will leave all readers hoping that there will be a ‘number three� very soon.”�

� Suspense Magazine

�The Ambitious Card is intelligently written and...entirely engrossing.”�

� Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

“The deftly-plotted mystery is enriched by Eli’s relationships with his ex-wife, her new husband, his ol

]]> 33 John Gaspard Craig 5 4.05 The Last Customer (The Eli Marks Mysteries)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magician In Trouble: An Eli Marks Short Mystery (The Eli Marks Mysteries)]]> 196175429 Abracadabra Meets A Gripping Tale of Magic and Mystery
In "Magician in Trouble," a harmless magician is unexpectedly thrust into an intense police standoff. Facing more than just stage fright, he must use his magic not for applause, but to diffuse a perilous crisis. This thrilling novella cleverly combines the allure of a magic show with the suspense of a hostage situation, promising a read that's as captivating as it is unpredictable.

As a standalone story, it's a perfect introduction to the world of the popular nine-book Eli Marks mystery series. Offering a glimpse into the unique blend of magic, mystery, and mayhem you can expect from the series, it's a tantalizing gateway to the enchanting and suspenseful adventures of Eli Marks.

“You will just LOVE these books!�
—VANISH Magazine

“Intelligently written and ... entirely engrossing.�
—Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
]]> 34 John Gaspard Craig 5 4.42 Magician In Trouble: An Eli Marks Short Mystery (The Eli Marks Mysteries)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Holmes, Marple and Poe 125045111 Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe run the most in-demand private investigation agency in New York City.

The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city - from a priceless art theft, high-stakes kidnapping and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power.

But it's not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods - and untraceable pasts - attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

After all, it's no surprise that there's a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Margaret and Poe?]]> 352 James Patterson 1529136490 Craig 4 4.13 2024 Holmes, Marple and Poe
author: James Patterson
name: Craig
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/13
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ambitious Card (An Eli Marks Mystery, #1)]]> 17838689
As more psychics are slain, and more King cards rise to the top, Eli can’t escape suspicion. Things get really complicated when romance blooms with a beautiful psychic, and Eli discovers she’s the next target for murder, and he’s scheduled to die with her. Now Eli must use every trick he knows to keep them both alive and reveal the true killer.]]> 288 John Gaspard 1938383486 Craig 4 3.93 2013 The Ambitious Card (An Eli Marks Mystery, #1)
author: John Gaspard
name: Craig
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/04
date added: 2024/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Killer’s Christmas List 125488436
*THIS WINTER'S MOST CHILLING KINDLE TOP 20 BESTSELLER*

*

In the picturesque village of Kibblesworth, DI Tom Stonem is dreaming of a quiet Christmas alone.

But in the shadow of the Angel of the North, a body lies waiting. The dead man is posed with a child’s Christmas list in his pocket, and the first mysterious item � 1. No angel � is crossed off.

When a second body is found � a woman, stabbed in the abdomen after her work Christmas do � Stonem is convinced there’s a grim connection between the crime scenes and the seemingly innocent list. 2. Red partee dress. Could this be a murderer’s twisted code?

As a blizzard rages in the Tyne & Wear countryside, the body count is snowballing. Can Stonem stop the killer before they get everyone on their Christmas list?

An anti-cosy Christmas crime novel for fans of The Killer in the Snow and One by One.

*

‘A brilliant premise and a very clever ending � I would dash through the snow to buy this!� SUSI HOLLIDAY, bestselling author of The Hike

‘As twisty as the tangled ball of Christmas tree lights in your attic' CALLUM McSORLEY, award-winning author of Squeaky Clean

‘Completely fooled me � I am in awe of Chris Frost's plotting skills. Loved it' JO CALLAGHAN, author of In the Blink of an Eye

‘A fiendishly clever mystery guaranteed to give you the chills this Christmas!� LESLEY KARA, bestselling author of The Rumour

‘Absolutely loved The Killer's Christmas List � Written with the precision of a scalpel yet emotionally layered� LOUISE SWANSON, author of End of Story]]> 300 Chris Frost 0008616302 Craig 5 3.97 2023 The Killer’s Christmas List
author: Chris Frost
name: Craig
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/02
date added: 2023/12/02
shelves:
review:
From Chris McDonald to Chris Frost, New name, same gripping story writing! If anything it’s just getting better. Can’t wait to see what you have in store next, and loved the name drop, thanks so much for placing me in one of your books (who knows I might return in the next one
]]> <![CDATA[Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard]]> 61413753 240 Def Leppard 1905662793 Craig 5 4.70 Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard
author: Def Leppard
name: Craig
average rating: 4.70
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/01
date added: 2023/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Def Leppard Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story]]> 522832
But nothing could have prepared them for personal tragedies and professional disasters that inflicted their lives and plunged them back to relative obscurity in the mid 1980s.

More than anything, though, Def Leppard had good instincts. And in rock & roll instinct spells survival.

ANIMAL INSTINCT is the story of that survival, from the early days in Sheffield, England to their triumphant return to the international rock arena and HYSTERIA in the charts.]]> 144 David Fricke 0946391556 Craig 0 4.53 1987 Def Leppard Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story
author: David Fricke
name: Craig
average rating: 4.53
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Defector (Apollo Murders, #2)]]> 85158499 From New York Times bestselling author, astronaut, and fighter pilot Chris Hadfield comes a riveting new thriller perfect for fans of Top Gun and The Hunt for Red October.

Israel, October 1973. As the Yom Kippur War flares into life, a state-of-the-art Soviet MiG fighter plane plummets to an unexpected landing. NASA Flight Controller and former US test pilot Kaz Zemeckis watches from the ground—unaware that its arrival will pull him into a high-stakes game of spies, lies, and secrets that hold the key to Cold War air and space supremacy.

For within that plane is a Soviet pilot pleading to defect, offering a prize beyond the workings of the Soviets' mythical "Foxbat" MiG-25, the fastest, highest-flying fighter plane in the world. But trusting him is risky, and Kaz must tread a careful line. As Kaz accompanies the defector into the United States, to the military’s most secret test site, he must hope that, with skill and cunning, the game plays out his way.

Rich with insider detail and political intrigue drawn from real events, The Defector is a propulsive thriller from a growing master of the genre, filled with the nerve-shredding rush of aerial combat as it could only be told by one of the world's best fighter pilots.]]> 368 Chris Hadfield 0316565024 Craig 4 3.94 2023 The Defector (Apollo Murders, #2)
author: Chris Hadfield
name: Craig
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/22
date added: 2023/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Black River Orchard 75352300 A small town is transformed by dark magic when a strange tree begins bearing magical apples in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples� and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

And even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow’s secrets. Because it’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.]]> 640 Chuck Wendig 0593158741 Craig 4 4.07 2023 Black River Orchard
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Craig
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2023/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> All Hallows 60784620 Stranger Things, this horror drama from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden follows neighborhood families and a mysterious, lurking evil on one Halloween day.

It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?

New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.

All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask...]]> 325 Christopher Golden 125028029X Craig 0 to-read 3.51 2023 All Hallows
author: Christopher Golden
name: Craig
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves: to-read
review:

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