LIES

Author:  T. M. Logan

Genre:  Thriller

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2.75/5

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Leighton Pugh

Yearly Count:  25

From NetGalley:

Six days ago, Joe Lynch was a happily married man, a devoted father, and a respected teacher living in a well-to-do London suburb. But that was before he spotted his wife’s car entering a hotel parking garage. Before he saw her in a heated argument with her best friend’s husband. Before Joe confronted the other man in an altercation where he left him for dead, bleeding and unconscious.

Now, Joe’s life is unraveling. His wife has lied to him. Her deception has put their entire family in jeopardy. The man she met at the hotel has vanished. And as the police investigate his disappearance, suspicion falls on Joe.

Unable to trust the woman he loves, Joe finds himself at the mercy of her revelations and deceits, unsure of who or what to believe. All he knows is that her actions have brought someone dangerous into their lives—someone obsessed with her and determined to tear Joe’s world apart.

What if your whole life was based on LIES?

Lies was believable until it wasn't.  :(  I had high hopes for this one, and they kept falling as the book progressed.  By the time the ending arrived, I was a bit disappointed.  There were just too many events that didn't ring true.  

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

IF I RUN

Author:  Terri Blackstock

Genre:  Christian Thriller, If I Run #1

Published:  2016

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Nan Gurley

Yearly Count:  12


From NetGalley:

Casey didn't kill her friend Brent. She discovered his body, but she'd never try to hurt him. He's the only person she's ever trusted enough to tell the truth about what happened to her father . . . and there's no doubt in her mind that Brent was killed trying to help her prove it. She has to run before they get to her too.

Dylan Roberts was hired to find Casey and bring her back so that justice can be served. As a former Criminal Investigator for the Army, he can't imagine that tracking down one girl will be that difficult.

But the more elusive Casey turns out to be, the more Dylan digs into her past to try to determine what she might be thinking. What he finds there doesn't fit the profile of a killer at all. She's unlike any other fugitive he's ever seen.

The police refuse to discuss any other possibilities. There's something more going on here. Something more to this fugitive who has captured his attention. Now he just has to figure out what it is . . . and Casey just has to stay one step ahead of everyone who's after her.

How many ways can you roll your eyes?  The narrator had no character voice change, it was very unrealistic and dare I say a bit saccharine (could have been the narrator).  And, you are left with an open ending.  This, of course, is because it's #1 of 3.  Yikes!  I will not be reading anymore in this trilogy, because it simply wasn't for me.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Zondervan and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

BRING ME BACK

Author:  B. A. Paris

Genre:  Mystery, Standalone

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
McCarron & Hely

Yearly Count:  9

From NetGalley:

She went missing. He moved on. A whole world of secrets remained—until now.

Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone—never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story.

Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there’s something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him...even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her.

Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla—hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla’s past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen’s house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive—and on Finn’s trail—what does she want? And how much does she know?

Oh goodness. I was interested, even though it was a slow process and had too many possibilities. The ending was ridiculous.  

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

UPGRADE SOUL

Author:  Ezra Claytan Daniels

Genre:  Sci-Fi Graphic Novel, Standalone

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2/5 (eh)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  43

From NetGalley:

For their 45th anniversary, Hank and Molly Nonnar decide to undergo an experimental rejuvenation procedure, but their hopes for youth are dashed when the couple is faced with the results: severely disfigured yet intellectually and physically superior duplicates of themselves. Can the original Hank and Molly coexist in the same world as their clones? In Upgrade Soul, McDuffie Award-winning creator Ezra Claytan Daniels asks probing questions about what shapes our identity-Is it the capability of our minds or the physicality of our bodies? Is a newer, better version of yourself still you? This page-turning graphic novel follows the lives of Hank and Molly as they discover the harsh truth that only one version of themselves is fated to survive.

This one started out interesting, but then it just got to be too much for me.  I didn't care for the characters' look, and it sorta turned me off reading it.  I stopped for a bit.  When I went back to finish it, the eBook had disappeared (expired on NetGalley).  I did check it out from the library to finish it, but wasn't happy about the whole experience.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Lion Forge and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

WHAT MY SISTER KNEW

Author:  Nina Laurin

Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Standalone

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format:  Audiobook

Yearly Count:  28

From Goodreads:

"...currently wanted by the police. If you know anything about the suspect's whereabouts, please call..." I look up at the TV screen, and my twin brother's face is splashed across it, life-size. It's a shock that makes my breath catch. This is my brother as an adult, my brother who I last saw fifteen years ago after the fire that killed our parents, covered in soot, clutching a lighter in his hand, his knuckles stark white against the dirt and ash. Everyone always said he'd grow up to be a heartbreaker. But his face has gone gaunt instead. The stubble on his cheeks and chin is patchy, and his eyes look dull and dark. My first thought is that it's not him. Not my beautiful brother, the golden boy who everyone loved. Yet, deep down, I've always known this would eventually happen. What did you do this time, Eli? What the hell did you do?

The storyline and characters were never believable to me.

Thoughts of Joy

SHEETS

Author:  Brenna Thummler

Genre:  Graphic Novel, Standalone

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2.25/5 (not enjoyable +)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  26

From NetGalley:

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.

Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.

When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glatt’s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain.

Sheets illustrates the determination of a young girl to fight, even when all parts of her world seem to be conspiring against her. It proves that second chances are possible whether life feels over or life is over. But above all, it is a story of the forgiveness and unlikely friendship that can only transpire inside a haunted laundromat.

This was not for me.  I didn't realize that it was Sci-Fi/Fantasy, so it wasn't an enjoyable read.  The illustrations were very good, but the entire storyline was baffling.  With apparently a big message hidden inside, I hope that others find it comforting or can derive something positive from it.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Lion Forge and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

GOLDILOCKS AND THE INFINITE BEARS

Author:  John McNamee

Genre:  Graphic Comic, Standalone

Published:  2018

Personal Rating:  2.75/5 (eh +)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  25

From NetGalley:

Pie Comics began as a college comic strip way back is the mid '00s, when flip phones roamed the earth. But it wasn't until a shoulder injury forced John to simplify his drawing style and improvise the comics instead of actually sitting down and writing them that Pie Comics became the beloved strip it is today! This collection showcases some of the funniest and most trenchant of Onion writer John McNamee's online comic strips.

I didn't know about this author's comic strip, so I went in blind.  The comics are based on fairy tales, books/movies and some general life.  Like most comics, some are better than others.  Ultimately, I smiled here and there, some were not familiar to me, and others I didn't really care for.  The drawings are minimal, but they get the point across.  I would read more by him, but I wasn't super impressed either. 

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Lion Forge and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

BEHAVE

Author:  Andromeda Romano-Lax

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2016

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
Elisabeth Rogers

Yearly Count:  11

From NetGalley:

With Behave, Andromeda Romano-Lax offers a provocative fictional biography of Rosalie Rayner Watson, a woman whose work influenced generations of Americans, and whose legacy has been lost in the shadow of her husband's. In turns moving and horrifying, Behave is a richly nuanced and disturbing novel about science, progress, love, marriage, motherhood, and what all those things cost a passionate, promising young woman.

This first 4/5 of the book was not good.  It was very dry and just dragged on and on.  I can't comment much on the actual content, because I don't know for sure what was fictionalized or not.  The only interesting part was the last couple CDs.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Soho Press and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

THE NIGHT STRANGERS

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

Genre:  Fiction (ghost story), Standalone

Published:  2011

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
Fraser and Gramhall

Yearly Count:  9

From NetGalley:

In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.

The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain after double engine failure. Unlike the Miracle on the Hudson, however, most of the passengers aboard Flight 1611 die on impact or drown. The body count? Thirty-nine - a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door. Meanwhile, Emily finds herself wondering about the women in this sparsely populated White Mountain village - self-proclaimed herbalists - and their interest in her fifth-grade daughters. Are the women mad? Or is it her husband, in the wake of the tragedy, whose grip on sanity has become desperately tenuous?

Blah.  I did not enjoy this.  First of all, I didn't know that it was a "ghost story" (not scary).  I am not a fan of that genre.  The other element of the story that I didn't like (at all!) was that a main character was written in 2nd person.  You do this and you do that.  UGH!  That made it so disjointed and uncomfortable for me and simply just messed up.  It sounded so awkward.

On the other hand, I have enjoyed Bohjalian's writing.  I just didn't care for this story or choice of person he wrote it in.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Crown Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

A DEEPER DARKNESS

Author:  J. T. Ellison

Genre:  Mystery, Samantha Owens Series #1

Published:  2012

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Joyce Bean

Yearly Count:  39

Samantha Owens is a medical examiner who has lost much in her life, but has tried to carry on.  Her ex-boyfriend's mother calls her to perform a second autopsy on him.  Sam gets more involved than intended.

I was definitely interested in the beginning, but as time went on the storyline became a bit too much.  It had characteristics of a soap opera, but without some of the romantic twists.  They were included, but just not as much as a soap opera.  The list of characters involved were tied by this or that, and they were okay, but not strong enough to encourage me to pick up the next in the series.

Thoughts of Joy

   

PARK BENCH

Author:  Christophe Chaboute

Genre:  Graphic Novel, Standalone

Published:  2017

Personal Rating:  2.75/5 (eh +)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  34

From NetGalley:

From its creation, to its witness to the fresh ardor of lovers, the drudgery of businessmen, the various hopes of the many who enter its orbit, the park bench weathers all seasons. Strangers meet at it for the first time. Paramours carve their initials into it. Old friends sit and chat upon it for hours. Others ignore the bench, or (attempt to) sleep on it at night, or simply anchor themselves on it and absorb the ebb and flow of the area and its people.

I have mixed emotions about this graphic novel. The lack of color was interesting, yet it turned out to be very boring and drab; however, it was apropos for its purpose.  The scenarios depicted with a variety of people was fine, but incredibly repetitious -- again, apropos for its purpose.  The stories that developed were okay, nothing exciting or intriguing.  I just kept turning the pages.  Now, the actual drawings themselves were very good, especially using only black and white.  They felt like the black was etched off to create a white scene.  I liked that a lot.  Ultimately, mixed emotions remain.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

THE PASSENGER

Author:  Lisa Lutz

Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Standalone

Published:  2016

Personal Rating:  2.75/5 (eh )

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Madeleine Maby

Yearly Count:  33

From NetGalley:

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

Well, I didn't have much luck with Lutz's other books, but I really wanted to give this one a try.  I still am not a fan of her style, BUT I actually finished this book!  And, I didn't strongly dislike it!  :)  There was definitely an element of wanting to know what was going to happen instilled in me, and that was a good thing.  Can't say I'm interested in picking up another, but this one wasn't so bad.  😝

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

COP TOWN

Author:  Karin Slaughter

Genre:  Police Procedural, Standalone

Published:  2014

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Kathleen Early

Yearly Count:  30

From NetGalley:

Atlanta, 1974: As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city’s police department, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last. She’s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way—wearing a badge and carrying a gun. But for a beautiful young woman, life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD, where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies. It’s also the worst day possible to start given that a beloved cop has been gunned down, his brothers in blue are out for blood, and the city is on the edge of war.

Kate isn’t the only woman on the force who’s feeling the heat. Maggie Lawson followed her uncle and brother into the ranks to prove her worth in their cynical eyes. When she and Kate, her new partner, are pushed out of the citywide search for a cop killer, their fury, pain, and pride finally reach the boiling point. With a killer poised to strike again, they will pursue their own line of investigation, risking everything as they venture into the city’s darkest heart.

Hmmm.  This one is terribly difficult for me to rate.  I thought the manhunt was done well, but everything surrounding it was incredibly tough to hear.  There was every kind of discrimination and "ism" you can imagine.  Reality of the times (70s Georgia, and maybe even now), but nonetheless, it was tough to hear over and over and over.  Not a pleasant listen for me, but solving the crime kept me from making it a DNF.  (yikes)

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

  

THE LAST ONE

Author:  Alexandra Oliva

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2016

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
Chamberlain & Zanzarella

Yearly Count:  28

From NetGalley:

She wanted an adventure. She never imagined it would go this far.

It begins with a reality TV show.

Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of endurance. While they are out there, something terrible happens—but how widespread is the destruction, and has it occurred naturally or is it man-made? Cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. When one of them—a young woman the show's producers call Zoo—stumbles across the devastation, she can imagine only that it is part of the game.

Alone and disoriented, Zoo is heavy with doubt regarding the life—and husband—she left behind, but she refuses to quit. Staggering countless miles across unfamiliar territory, Zoo must summon all of her survival skills—and learn new ones as she goes.

But as her emotional and physical reserves dwindle, she grasps that the real world might have been altered in terrifying ways—and her ability to parse the charade will either be her triumph or her undoing.

Sophisticated and provocative, The Last One is a novel that forces us to confront the role that media plays in our perception of what is real: how readily we cast our judgments, how easily we are manipulated.

Dour.  That's the first word that comes to mind to describe this book.  I did not enjoy it for a couple of reasons.  One - it was dour.  Two - I think I prefer to watch reality TV shows over listening to all the monotonous descriptions of every little expression or movement of the contestants.  Just blah.

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

BEFORE THE FALL

Author:  Noah Hawley

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2016

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Robert Petkoff

Yearly Count:  25

From NetGalley:

On a foggy summer night, eleven people--ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter--depart Martha's Vineyard headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the passengers disappear into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs--the painter--and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of a wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.

With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the tragedy and the backstories of the passengers and crew members--including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot--the mystery surrounding the crash heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy: Was it merely dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations--all while the reader draws closer and closer to uncovering the truth.

Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.

This started out good, but ended up getting bogged down with too many characters that I didn't care about in the least.  And, the completed storyline felt underwhelming.  

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

THE TEARS OF DARK WATER

Author:  Corban Addison

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2015

Personal Rating:  2.25/5 (not enjoyable +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Korey Jackson

Yearly Count:  21

From NetGalley:

Daniel and Vanessa Parker are an American success story. He is a Washington, DC, power broker, and she is a physician with a thriving practice. But behind the gilded façade, their marriage is a shambles, and their teenage son, Quentin, is self-destructing. In desperation, Daniel dusts off a long-delayed dream of theirs—a sailing trip around the world. Little does he know, the voyage he hopes will save them may destroy them instead.

Half a world away, on the lawless coast of Somalia, Ismail Adan Ibrahim is living a life of crime in violation of everything he was raised to believe—except this: the love and loyalty driving him to hijack ships for ransom and to plot the rescue of his sister, Yasmin, from the man who murdered their father. There is nothing he will not do to save her, even if it means taking innocent life.

Paul Derrick is the FBI's top hostage negotiator. His twin sister, Megan, is a celebrated defense attorney. They have reached the summit of their careers by savvy, grit, and a secret determination to escape the memory of the day their family died. When Paul is dispatched to handle a hostage crisis at sea, he has no idea how far it will take Megan and him into the past—or the chance it will give them to redeem the future.

Across continents and oceans, through storms and civil wars, their paths converge in a single, explosive moment. It is a moment that will test them, and break them, but that will also leave behind an unexpected glimmer of hope—that out of the ashes of tragedy and misfortune the seeds of justice and reconciliation can grow.

 This book moved at a snail's pace.  The first half is the introduction of characters and being hijacked on the ocean. The second half is figuring out why it happened.  For me, much of it was just boring.  (second attempt)

Thoughts of Joy

My thanks go to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

ALWAYS WATCHING

Author:  Chevy Stevens

Genre:  Thriller?, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  2.75/5 (eh +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Joyce Bean

Yearly Count:  20


A psychiatrist realizes that she has much more in common with a patient than she ever imagined.

It was not believable, but I still listened to it.  And it definitely wasn't a thriller.

Thoughts of Joy

THE ROANOKE GIRLS

Author:  Amy Engel

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2017

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Brittany Pressley

Yearly Count:  17

Lane Roanoke returns to her grandparents home after the death of her mother.

Incredibly predictable.  Boring.  Incredibly predictable.  (Oops!  Did I say that already?)

The narrator's forced, gravelly voice was the first sign I was in trouble.  It simply was not my type of book.

Thoughts of Joy

WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?

Author:  Zoe Heller

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2004

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Nadia May

Yearly Count:  15

An art teacher in a UK school has an affair with a 15-year-old student.

Other than liking the title, I'm not sure how this arrived in my iTunes stash of audiobooks.  It came in handy when I needed a short book, though.  Overall, it was rather boring.  I didn't want to give up on it, but it was difficult to keep my interest.

Thoughts of Joy

SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE

Author:  Sophie Kinsella

Genre:  Chick Lit, Becky Brandon Series #8 

Published:  2015

Personal Rating:  2.5/5 (eh)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Clare Corbett

Yearly Count:  11

Becky gathers up friends and family to assist her in the search of her father.

Someone I know has just started the series and loving it, so I was inspired to audioread the latest.  I didn't dislike it or anything, it just wasn't very good.  It only got a couple of smirks.  Oh well.

Thoughts of Joy