Child's Play by Merry Jones - A dark, demental thriller

As psycho-thrillers go, this is a dark and twisted tale.  The title should give you a clue about its subject.  The narrator is unreliable, being a middle-aged lady with constant mind “check-outs”.  She (the narrator) is part of a group of four girlfriends, who inevitably reminds me of a slightly younger cast of Steel Magnolias.

The cast alone provides a lot of noise and humor to the story.  The narrator is a grade school teacher, so the rest of her world revolves around kids, both present and previous.  The conflict is provided by historical relationships that she has had, as well as her current realtor and an ex-convict student who is now an adult.

The story is quite well-written.  Because of the chatter of the girlfriends (both the narrator’s and another key character’s posse), it sometimes feels like a Lifetime-meets-CW network show.  However, the twist and climax is so demental, that it kept me reading up to the end, despite the constant chatter.  This is a creepy and insane read that is surprisingly entertaining.

I received a review copy of this book from Oceanview Publishing via NetGalley.

At Rope's End by Edward Kay - Welcome new Profiler Dr. James Verraday!

The story jumps right into the action.  There isn’t any dull moment.  Due to the brevity of the story, the fact that Dr. Verraday agreed to be a profiler and help out the police after one after-school conversation with them, still remains baffling to me.  It is so unusual, and even more so, his commitment.  That part at least felt fictional.  But it was easy to discount this oddity, since I was hooked to the story from the first page.

The narrative is told in third person, but the text is heavy with conversations between the characters.  It was easy to connect and relate with Verraday, MacLean, the detective that Verraday worked with, and even the rest of the characters (for example, the victim’s ex, Verraday’s sister, victims, students, and detectives).  The easy flowing dialogues are the strongest element of this story, and is what drove me to read through it as fast as I did.

Some of the profiling and events felt formulaic, but again, because of the connection I felt with Verraday, it was easy to overlook the clichéd segments.  This is one of those books where in retrospect, I find myself thinking, “I knew it” with reference to the plot twist.  Did I, really?  Objectively, I don't think so.  Bottom line is, this was a good read and good entertainment.  And the length is just perfect for about 2 hours of reading.

I received a review copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.

Yarnmouth Abduction - An exciting action and adventure story for boys!

What a great story! I went through a lot of highs as I read this book. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the true joys of reading a good book when I was in grade and middle school – back when books did not have to resort to shock baits, inappropriate content or superfluous modern-day angst.

Honestly, the title and cover design made me think it was just another generic YA story. I am glad in this case, my first impressions were unreliable. Mr. Van Minton’s writing was engaging and the storyline just kept me going on and on, flipping the pages to find out where it would lead me next.

Evan is a good main character for this story aimed at middle-graders. He is everything a 12-yo boy should be – curious, adventurous, stubborn, cautious about dreams, nervous about Nira (his developing crush and sidekick), brave when needed, determined and definitely imaginative. I am so relieved that in this story, there is no need for him to be immersed in video games. It’s a good demonstration that outdoor living, sailing in the open seas, exploring sewers, fighting school bullies and arctic pirates (yes), working hard during detention, and even handling false accusations is all part of life, and can make life exciting. This is how I remember my boyhood. This is how I believe all boys should live.

I am so looking forward to more adventure stories from this author. I want more of his imagination. I will definitely add in my kids’ reviews of this book as comments to this one, once they get the chance to read it themselves. I wish this were part of their reading list, instead of some geeky-love-story-through-texting light fare.

I received a review copy of this book from the author.