Today I’m dishing about Tarryn Fisher’s latest suspenseful thriller Good Half Gone, a story about a young woman whose twin was abducted and trafficked when they were teens. Needless to say this is heavy stuff and disturbing, but the story is told mostly in the present, roughly ten years later, with flashbacks of memory as opposed to in real time once Piper is taken. Still, good to know in advance if you find reading about these topics disturbing.
Here’s the scoop: (and can I say I love this cover??)
GOOD HALF GONE Author: Tarryn Fisher ISBN: 9781525804885
Tarryn Fisher is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of nine novels. Born a sun hater, she currently makes her home in Seattle, Washington, with her children, husband, and psychotic husky. She loves connecting with her readers on Instagram. (note from Beth: I had a husky for many years that I adored and would love to see a picture of Ms. Fisher’s!)
Book Summary:
Iris Walsh saw her twin sister Piper get kidnapped—so why does no one believe her?
Iris narrowly escaped her pretty, popular twin sister’s fate as a teen—kidnapped and trafficked and long gone before the cops agreed to investigate. Months later, Piper’s newborn son Callum was dropped on their estranged mother’s doorstep in the dead of night, with a note in Piper’s handwriting signed simply, Twin.
As an adult, Iris wants one thing—proof. Because she knows exactly who took Piper all those years ago, and she has a pretty good idea of who Callum’s father is. She just has to get close enough to prove it. And if the police won’t help, she’ll just have to do it her own way–by interning at the isolated Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane, where her target is kept under lock and key. Iris soon realizes that something sinister is bubbling beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…
There’s a lot going on in this book and the ending made me think “Netflix limited series, please!”. It definitely kept my interest!
Thank you for my review copy and for having me as part of the tour!
I’m excited today to be part of the blog tour for Vera Kurian’s new thriller A Step Past Darkness.
This was a fast and exciting read, following 6 friends who witness something terrible and come back together twenty years later when one of them dies from a supposed accident. I could see this book being for adults or YA or new age readers. What I really could see would be it as a Netflix or Hulu limited series.
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!
Here’s the scoop:
A Step Past Darkness : A Novel
Vera Kurian
On Sale Date: February 20, 2024
9780778310761
Hardcover
$30.00 USD
Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
448 pages
ABOUT THE BOOK:
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER meets Stephen King in this character-driven thriller about a study group of six teenagers who witness something tragic in an abandoned mine, which comes back to haunt them 20 years later.
SIX CLASSMATES.
ONE TERRIFYING NIGHT.
A MURDER TWENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING…
There’s more to Wesley Falls than meets the eye, but for six high school students, it’s home.
Kelly, the new girl and rule-follower.
Maddy, the beauty and the church favorite.
Padma, the brains and all-A student.
Casey, the jock and football star.
James, the burnout and just trying to make it to graduation.
And Jia, the psychic, who can see the future.
When these six are assigned to work on a summer group project, their lives are forever changed. At an end of the year party in the abandoned mine, they witness a preventable tragedy, but no one will take them seriously. As things escalate, they realize the church, the police, and the town’s founders are all conspiring to cover up what happened. When James is targeted as the scapegoat, to avoid suspicion, they vow their silence and to never contact each other again. Their plan works – almost.
Twenty years later, Maddy is found murdered is Wesley Falls, and the remaining five are forced to confront their past and work together to finally put right what happened all those years ago. If they can survive…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist based in Washington DC. Her debut novel, NEVER SAW ME COMING (Park Row Books, 2021 was an Edgar Award nominee and was named one of the New York Times’ Best Thrillers of 2021. Her short fiction has been published in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Day One, and The Pinch. She has a PhD in Social Psychology, where she studied intergroup relations, ideology, and quantitative methods. She blogs irregularly about writing, horror movies and pop culture/terrible TV.
I enjoy Susan Meissner’s writing, so I was thrilled to get this book via Net Galley. I absolutely LOVED this story (will be in my top ten of 2023 I’m sure). It’s been a long time since a book has moved me to tears but the ending of this novel did. I loved the character of Rosie and I connected with her as she was growing up in Sonoma. (If you know me, you know I grew up in nearby Napa). Her story is so tragic and yet I don’t think it’s all that rare or improbable.
Here’s the overview:
Description
A Best Historical Fiction of Spring Pick by Amazon, PopSugar, AARP, and BookBub!
A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart, by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.
California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her.
Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.
Rosie ends up being brought to what is now called the Sonoma Developmental Center, but what was then a State Hospital for those with mental illness. And the whole storyline about eugenics and forced sterilization is true and so disconcerting. I was oddly reminded of a movie I watched once on a flight to Europe about the Magdalene Laundries and from which I don’t think I have yet recovered. The absolute lack of respect for Rosie’s intellect, her wishes, her baby, and her body was quite unsettling. Additionally, Rosie has synesthesia, where she “hears in color”. This trait causes others to be suspicious of her.
Rosie’s story is so terrible and yet I know that it was the story of more than one unwed teen mother years ago. Meanwhile, the novel has the parallel story of Helen who lives and works as a nanny in Europe during the rise of Hitler and WWII. Of course, eugenics was a part of the Nazi regime and we are reminded of the horrific atrocities many innocent people suffered at their hands. One of my favorite interactions in the book (which I can’t cite directly as it’s on my kindle and too hard to locate) was when Helen is arguing with a Nazi officer and when he says “You wonder how I am able to play God?” and she responds, “No. God would not harm these children. He would love them.” This story is haunting but it shows the importance of not being a bystander and just letting things happen. Rosie’s life could have been much less tragic if someone had stepped in to do the right thing; and Helen dedicated her life to helping others who needed help, thus making a difference.
So two thumbs up from me on this one!
And here’s a picture of the real place that the protagonist was sent to:
And speaking of places like this, here’s a picture of the Napa State Hospital a town away where I grew up. It doesn’t look like this anymore but I was reading that many of the patients there were there because they were homeless or struggled with alcoholism. Imagine being driven up to this place.
And here’s a short video from You Tube explaining synesthesia:
I’ve read other mysteries by Mary Keliikoa so I was excited to see that there was a new Misty Pines book out by her.
This was a twisty thriller that kept me guessing right until the end. I will say that I felt like I was figuring out things faster than the protagonists, but then I ended up being wrong! While reading this, I was thinking that it would make a good movie.
Thanks for my copy and for making me part of the tour!
Hidden Pieces by Mary Keliikoa
Sheriff Jax Turner is staring down the barrel of his broken past. On the brink of ending it all, he feels like a failure following his daughter’s tragic passing and his subsequent divorce. But when a schoolgirl vanishes and her backpack is found in a sex offender’s backseat, the weary lawman drags himself into action and vows to nail one last sociopath.Shocked to discover the teen’s aunt had lost her life in an abduction years prior, the devastating outcome that he’s taken personally, Jax believes the killer has returned with a vengeance. But as the desperate cop frantically hunts down a mysterious relative in search of a suspect, the girl’s time keeps ticking away…Can the jaded sheriff take down the culprit in time to bring the young girl home alive?
Book Details:Genre: Police Procedural + Mystery & Psychological Suspense Published by:Level Best Books Publication Date: October 2022 Number of Pages: 282 ISBN: 9781685121563 (ISBN10: 168512156X) Series: Misty Pines Mystery, #1
Mary Keliikoa is the author of Hidden Pieces and the upcoming Deadly Tides in the Misty Pines mystery series, the PI Kelly Pruett mystery series which includes the Shamus, Lefty, Agatha and Anthony nominated Derailed for best debut, and the upcoming Don’t Ask, Don’t Follow out Summer of 2024. Her short stories have appeared in Woman’s World and in the anthology Peace, Love and Crime.A Pacific NW native, she admits to being that person who gets excited when called for jury duty. When not in Washington, you can find Mary with toes in the sand on a Hawaiian beach. But even under the palm trees and blazing sun, she’s plotting her next murder—novel that is.
I’m happy to take part in the blog tour for The Night It Ended by Katie Garner. This was a suspenseful read, with an unreliable narrator (not my favorite POV). It was good and it kept me guessing. I always like stories that take place in boarding schools, too!
Recommended if you enjoy mysteries that keep you on the edge of your seat. I felt oddly uncomfortable while reading- almost like someone was watching me (seriously!).
Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!
“Disarmingly sensory, with plot twists that are sure to give readers whiplash, Garner has done a phenomenal job of giving us just enough information to think we know where the story is going, only to pull the rug out from under us—over and over again. A nail-bitingly spectacular debut!” —Amanda Jayatissa, author of You’re Invited
Finding the truth seems impossible when her own dark past has her seeing lies everywhere she looks…
From the outside, criminal psychiatrist Dr. Madeline Pine’s life appears picture-perfect–she has a beautiful family, a successful mental health practice and a growing reputation as an expert in female violence. But when she’s called to help investigate a mysterious death at a boarding school for troubled girls, Madeline hesitates. She’s been through tragic cases before, and the one she was entangled in last year nearly destroyed her…
Yet she can’t turn away when she hears about Charley Ridley. After the girl was found shoeless and in pajamas at the bottom of an icy ravine on campus, the police ruled it a tragic accident. But the private investigator hired by her mother has his doubts. And if it were Madeline’s daughter who died, she’d want to know why.
Arriving at the secluded campus in upstate New York, Madeline’s met by an unhelpful skeleton staff and the four other students still on campus during winter break. Each seems to hold a piece of the puzzle. And everyone has secrets–Madeline included. But who would kill to protect them?
Intertwining the narrative with the transcript of an anonymous interview, this stunning suspense debut from Katie Garner will take you on a twisting path where nothing–and no one–is what it seems.
Author Bio:
Katie Garner was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She has a degree in Art History from Ramapo College and is certified to teach high school Art. She hoards paperbacks, coffee mugs, and dog toys and can be seen holding at least one of those things most of the time.
Katie lives in a New Jersey river town with her husband, baby boy, and shih-poo where she writes books about women and their dark, secret selves. The Night It Ended is her debut novel.
Reviews
“The ending was pretty shocking and definitely not what I was expecting” —Novel Gossip
“Standing ovation for the brilliant Katie Garner! Captivating, ingenious, and absolutely audacious, this tour de force in structure and storytelling kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. Yes, The Night It Ended is a dark gothic murder investigation at a mysterious school for troubled girls—but don’t judge, don’t assume, don’t try to figure it out—just let Garner’s masterful sleight of hand carry you away through the gasp-worthy twists and turns. Do not miss this!” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest
“A gorgeously atmospheric dark academic thriller set at a snowy boarding school so vividly rendered you can practically feel the frost freezing your blood. Garner centers female rage in the most delicious and page-turning of ways, plunging readers into a world where women’s machinations, conspiracies, anger, and even violence rule all. The Night It Ended is a twisty, frantically-paced story you’ll be desperate to devour all the way to the ice-cold ending.” —Ashley Winstead, author of The Last Housewife
“Set at an exclusive school for trouble teenaged girls, The Night It Ended by Katie Garner is dark, twisted, and utterly compelling. Impossible to put down, you won’t know who or what to believe and the creepy location will have you looking over your shoulder more than once. One heck of a debut with an ending that left me speechless.” —Hannah Mary McKinnon, internationally bestselling author of Never Coming Home
“Disarmingly sensory, with plot twists that are sure to give readers whiplash, Garner has done a phenomenal job of giving us just enough information to think we know where the story is going, only to pull the rug out from under us—over and over again. A nail-bitingly spectacular debut!” —Amanda Jayatissa, author of You’re Invited
“Wow. I loved this. Compulsively readable. I flew through it. Brilliant use of the unreliable narrator. I enjoyed the police interviews interwoven with the present-day mystery. It kept me on my toes. And that last plot twist…amazing. I did not see it coming.” –Amber Garza, author of When I Was You
“Katie Garner’s debut novel is a chilly, twisty ride—think dark academia meets Gillian Flynn. The Night It Ended is both a brooding Gothic mystery set at a boarding school for wayward girls and a jittery domestic thriller and just when you think you’ve got a handle on the story, Garner pulls the rug out from under you. I couldn’t put it down.”—Halley Sutton, author of The Lady Upstairs
Today I’m shining the spotlight on a book aimed at Catholic (or Christian) readers, sent to me by the very amiable D.J. Dixon. While this book is about an 8th grade boy, older readers will enjoy his antics, too.
Here’s the overview:
Jack knew what was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier to face. As the new school year started at St. Mary’s, his eighth-grade class was assigned to complete twenty hours of community service by the end of the semester. Bungling his way from one adventure to the next, Jack hilariously tells the tales of his deeds gone heroically right and horrifically wrong. Along the way, he learns unexpected lessons about his faith and its meaning in his life. Most importantly, he’ll realize that the person he becomes is determined by the choices he makes. And boy, does he make some bad ones…
As provocative as it is hysterical, Saint Jerk is a powerful response to a broken culture, a story that both entertains and arms young Christians with confidence in the truth of their faith in the face of a secular society. It’s an invitation to readers of all ages to consider the most important questions that have ever been posed by mankind, to recognize that the answers have already been provided, and to reflect on the consequences of that truth in their lives.
About the author:
D.J. Dixon is a Catholic husband and dad based in his native Midwest. Inspired by a desire to help young Christians stay rooted in their faith, his debut book brilliantly offers a clear and logic-based foundation for their beliefs in the context of a hilarious and engaging story.
His talent for writing a tale told by an eighth grader stems from his own sense of humor having not – to his wife’s misfortune – significantly matured since he himself was 13. He expects his readers will agree. He enjoys the outdoors, football, and the full spectrum of smoked meats. Contact him at djdixon1010@gmail.com.
An Oprah’s Book Club Selection An Instant New York Times Bestseller An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller A #1 Washington Post Bestseller
“Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
“May be the best novel of 2022. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love.” (Ron Charles, Washington Post)
From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for listeners of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.
Wow! I have always loved Barbara Kingsolver (Poisonwood Bible being one of my fave books ever) and I think I’ve read just about everything she’s written. This novel, though, is pretty amazing. It’s a modern day David Copperfield, and it’s like you mixed David Copperfield with Hillbilly Elegy. It’s raw and stark, yet amazingly uplifting, too. You can’t help but love Damon the narrator (“Demon”) and you’ll root for him to the end. I felt the narrator did an incredibly job in capturing the accents and the nuances of this novel, too.
Ring the bells, everyone, because LISA JEWELL HAS WRITTEN A NEW BOOK AND IT’S AWESOME!
Lisa Jewell is an amazingly talented suspense writer, often focusing on families and usually taking place in England. I love her books, her plotting, her pacing, her characters.
This book is no exception!
Here’s the overview:
Description
“I absolutely loved Invisible Girl—Lisa Jewell has a way of combining furiously twisty, utterly gripping plots with wonderfully rich characterization—she has such compassion for her characters, and we feel we know them utterly… A triumph!” —Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone returns with an intricate thriller about a young woman’s disappearance and a group of strangers whose lives intersect in its wake.
Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his thirties and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct—accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure.
Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.
Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.
With evocative, vivid, and unputdownable prose and plenty of disturbing twists and turns, Jewell’s latest thriller is another “haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author).
I read this book straight through the day I got it from Net Galley (months ago) and I loved it!
Highly Recommended!! Thank you for my ARC kindle copy.
I love a good read about friends in the summer, and this heart-warming story about two friends learning to discover all that life has to offer was just the thing I needed! Ellen and Unity have been best friends forever, but Ellen has sacrificed her personal life in order to be a wonderful single mom and Unity is still mourning the loss of her young husband in the military. They both are ready for a new lease on life and challenge each other to do things out of their comfort zone (hence the “friendship list”). This was a fun read, at times laugh-out-loud funny, and both these characters reminded me of myself when I was single at 35. One note – there is sex in this book. Just letting you know!!
Thank you for my review e-copy and for making me part of the tour!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Already a worldwide success in mass market and trade paperback formats, Susan Mallery’s newest hardcover is an emotional, witty, and heartfelt story about two best friends who are determined to help one another shake things up and live life to the fullest…only to discover that possibilities are everywhere–especially in the most unexpected of places.
Ellen and Unity have been best friends basically since birth, but they couldn’t be more different. Unity married her childhood sweetheart just after high school and became an Army wife, moving from base to base…until her husband’s shocking death in the line of duty leaves her a widow. Grief-stricken, it’s time for Unity to come back home to Ellen—the only person she can trust to help her rebuild her life. But Ellen has troubles of her own. Boys never seemed to notice Ellen…until one got her pregnant in high school and disappeared. Her son is now 17 and she’s wondering what to do with herself now that he’s heading off to college and he’s literally her entire world.
But now that Ellen and Unity are reunited, they’re done with their stale lives. It’s time to shake things up and start living again, knowing that they’ll always have one another to lean on. So they create a list of challenges they have to accomplish–everything from getting a tattoo to skydiving to staying out all night. And whoever completes the most challenges is the winner. But with new adventures and love just around the corner, there’s no such thing as losing…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two Ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.
I’m so happy to take part in the blog tour for this suspenseful YA novel: The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale. This was one I could not put down. You know I love a good YA suspenseful mystery!
Here’s the overview:
Title: The Summer I Drowned
Author: Taylor Hale
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Release Date: May 26, 2020
Genre: Teens & YA
ISBN: 9781989365182
Price: $10.99 (USD)
Description:
Five years after almost drowning, Olivia Cathart returns home to Caldwell Beach determined to face her fears and take some risks—not just by swimming, but by opening her heart. Hoping to rekindle her friendships, she’s excited about a carefree summer with her best friends Keely and Miles. But life in the sleepy town has changed, and no one and nothing is as it seems.
When a series of startling crimes threaten Olivia’s fragile state, she is plunged into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Her only solace from the chaos is West, Miles’s disowned and ruggedly handsome brother, but even he can’t answer the question on everyone’s minds—is Olivia really in danger or is it simply all in her head?
Author Bio:
Taylor Hale was born in Southwestern Ontario, and started writing on Wattpad in 2015. When she isn’t writing, she can be found bartending at a live music venue, and thinking up her next idea. The Summer I Drowned is her first novel.
Fun, fun, fun! I always like a book with a strong, female, teen protagonist. If I could have changed anything, I would have had less focus on the romance piece and more on the action. I also had a chuckle in that every character seemed to have a unique “smell” that I really haven’t found in real life, something like “He smelled like balsam and cinnamon”. “She smelled like vanilla and lavender”. “He smelled like ocean breeze and hickory”. Things like that. In real life I’m more inclined to say, “Mmmm – what’s that smell??”
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour! I would recommend this book for older YA readers due to sexual content and “heavy” content or potential triggers (e.g. drowning, relationship abuse, animal abuse, parental neglect, teen drinking, drinking and driving, sexual assault, etc.).
Beth's Book-Nook Blog 