All the Missing Girls

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Age: Adult
Category: Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: My library app recommended All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda. Miranda isn’t an author I had heard of but I thought I’ll give it a shot and I am so glad that I did! It was a captivating read that I couldn’t put down and I text my best friend while I was only halfway through to add it to her to be read pile!

Ten years ago, Nicolette Farrell left her hometown of Cooley Ridge after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without a trace. Now that her father has been diagnosed with Dementia and they need to sell the house to pay for his carer fees, Nicolette is back in Cooley Ridge to help her brother, Daniel. However, it’s not long before another woman is missing and it re-opens Corinne’s case as well as brings back old memories for all those involved. The investigation into Corinne’s disappearance focused on Nicolette, her brother Daniel, her then boyfriend Tyler and Corinne’s boyfriend, Jackson. Annaleise Carter, Nicolette’s neighbour, was the alibi for the group on the night of Corinne’s disappearance. Nicolette was the only one that left Cooley Ridge behind her while the rest of them made lives for themselves in their home town. Now Annaleise is missing...

Do you want to know what makes All the Missing Girls stand out? It’s told backwards.

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The Night Stalker (Robert Hunter #3)

The Night Stalker by Chris Carter

Age: Adult
Category: Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Unlike the previous two books, The Night Stalker starts with us already at the autopsy of a victim. To the naked eye she is perfectly healthy and bears no visible signs of foul play except for one thing - thick stitches sealing closed her intimate area. During his examination of the area, Medical Examiner Doctor Jonathon Winston notices that something is hidden beyond the stitches and starts the procedure to remove it. What started out as a simple explosion results in an explosive finish as the item inside of the victim detonates - killing the doctor and his intern. Due to the severity of the case, Detective Robert Hunter is called away from a case he is already working and it’s made his main priority because now this killer has also claimed one of their own. It only takes a couple of days before another body arrives in just the same healthy state apart from the thick stitches. It’s not a bomb but it’s just as grotesque and Hunter realises that this serial killer is more of a monster than he could ever being to imagine...

Robert Hunter is back in this third instalment and I hate to be vague but... wow. It’s Carter’s winning style of grisly crime scenes that sells this series of novels to me in the first place but the thought process of this one must have been intense. I don’t want to spoil it too much but from each item placed inside the female victim to the very reason as to why the killer does it was flawlessly written and it was believable. Even more shocking, the killer’s backstory as to why he clicked and went on this psychopathic rage actually has you feeling slightly sorry for him - if he wasn’t a homicidal maniac.

The biggest highlight of this third novel is that finally Carter has finally found his footing with the main characters and they finally start to shine individually while also being able to add in additional minor characters that helps balance out the storyline. Personally, Hunter and Garcia are my new favourite fighting duo and I enjoy reading every instalment as well as re-reading them.
So buckle up and enjoy the ride as Carter takes us back out on the roads of Los Angeles as we chase another twisted mind into the darkness...

The Executioner [Robert Hunter #2]

The Executioner by Chris Carter

Age: Adult
Category: Crime & Mystery
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: When the remains of a decapitated priest are found on the altar steps of a church in Los Angeles with the head replaced by that of a canine there’s only one duo they’re going to call - the team that managed to catch the horrifying Crucifix Killer. When the forensic team find a bloody number three written on the priest’s chest. Due to the religious elements and the different components of the crime scene, Hunter believes that Garcia and he are on the tail of a ritualistic killer. However, the bodies start to mount up and Hunter has to reevaluate his original hypothesis as this killer isn’t sticking to the same MO. No, he seems to be killing the victims in the way that they fear the most. Their deaths are literally their worst nightmares. But how could the killer possibly know such personal information about each of his victims that for as far as he can see have no possible link?

After such an amazing debut in “The Crucifix Killer”, I was more than happy to take the leap of faith with Carter into the second novel following Garcia and Hunter’s investigation. Just as the first one, the crimes committed are shockingly grisly that keep you up late at night hooked to every last word written on the pages in front of you. My favourite part of Carter’s writing is that even though he does use a crime novelists favourite trick of a the red herring, they’re not just carelessly thrown in like some novels. They’re all cleverly thought out and leave you thinking that this whole thing could be over (slightly before you want it too!) but then when the twists are revealed at the end... gobsmacked is literally the only word I can use to describe the feeling I got when I learnt who the killer was in this novel.

So settle down, get yourself a nice hot cup of tea and follow Hunter and Garcia as they chase down a killer who literally scares his victims to death...

The Crucifix Killer (Robert Hunter #1)

The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery, crime
Rating: 5 stars

Helen Thinks: As part of the Robbery Homicide team, Detective Robert Hunter is called by his rookie partner, Carlos Garcia, to a horrifying crime scene in the middle of nowhere. Hunter is used to nasty, it’s the job description, but the sight of the poor woman skinned alive on a bed in front of a mirror is even enough to turn his stomach. However, nothing is as mortifying as the signature carved on to the back of the victim’s neck... a double ended crucifix. The signature used by a serial killer that Hunter had already caught, a serial killer that had confessed to all the crimes and had been executed; a serial killer that Hunter had never really believed was guilty. The Crucifix Killer is back.

It’s not a big secret that I absolutely love the grittiness that is the world of crime but eventually the novels tend to all become a blur. The same procedural formula is used time and time again - which is not a bad thing as crime fiction is the biggest selling genre in the world. However, Chris Carter has shook things up with his debut novel “The Crucific Killer”. The first scene is a flash forward where we see Garcia - the rookie partner - is caught in one of the killer’s traps and Hunter only has so long to save not only Garcia’s life but his own too. It draws you in perfectly. From the first chapter, I was on the edge of my seat and determined to finish the book just so I could know who the killer was!

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Heartsick (Gretchen Lowell #1)

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Age: Adult
Category: Crime
Rating: 5 stars

Helen Thinks: For ten years, the Beauty Killer haunted both America and Detective Archie Sheridan, racking up a body count that no one could ever believe. In a turn of unseen events, the Beauty Killer turned out not only to be a woman but a beautiful one that Sheridan had become close to as she had infiltrated the case and he was to became her last victim. What no one was expecting was for her to torture and abuse Sheridan for ten days before releasing him and handing herself in. The question on everyone’s lips was why? Heartsick is set two years after these events where Archie Sheridan is back leading a task force as another serial killer stalks the streets of Portland. Archie finds himself shadowed by young journalist, Susan Ward, who is doing a piece on the Detective that faced the Beauty Killer and lived to tell the tale but also finds himself dealing with his demons as he realises that only one person can help him understand the killer stalking his city...

Crime books are one of the biggest selling genres in the world and just when you think they’re about to become cliché, Chelsea Cain creates the Gretchen Lowell series that is introduced here in Heartsick. Never during my years of reading crime books have I ever felt myself being charmed by the serial killer and yet that’s exactly what Cain achieves with Gretchen. Stockholm Syndrome is a mysterious and intriguing phenomenon for most people and I believe that Cain creates it perfectly by illustrating the surreal relationship between Detective Sheridan and Gretchen as well as how he struggles to form bonds with the people already in his life and new relationships he makes.

Cain has created a page-turner in Heartsick with an original plot, characters that are perfectly flawed making them three dimensional, and it’s the introduction to a series that I know will have you hooked with every installment. Heartsick is a captivating novel that I have found myself reading over and over again, enjoying it just as much as if it was the first time.

The Mara Dyer Trilogy

The Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin

Age: Young Adult
Category: Romance, fantasy, mystery & crime
Rating: 5 stars

Brittany Thinks: I have read a lot of Young Adult series over the years and The Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin is absolutely one of the best. In fact, it may crack the top ten for one of the best series I've ever read in my life in any genre. As a lifelong reader and an English major, I've been well trained for years to figure out any story long before the big reveal, but these books kept me guessing until the final page. The plot was unique, refreshing, and kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't read fast enough.

It's difficult to give too much information about the plot of these books without spoiling them, but suffice it to say that you've never read anything like this before, even though what I can give away seems like it fits the mold of common YA tropes of late. When our story begins, Mara Dyer is a 17 year old girl beginning her first day at a new school a few months after experiencing a terrible tragedy. She is the sole survivor of an accident that killed her three best friends and she can't remember a moment of what happened - not that anyone believes her. Soon she finds that it's harder to escape her past than one might guess as her life unravels even more. In her "new" life she makes new friends - and meets a new guy - who might just be able to help her uncover the truth of what happened to her.

The characterization is phenomenal in these books. Though Mara is absolutely likable and interesting, I'd call her more of an antihero than a heroine. Her chemistry with Noah Shaw is off of the charts and he is probably one of my favorite male leads of the past few years. Rounded out with a supporting cast of funny, interesting, well-developed characters, the people in this story make the story.

Be prepared for a rollercoaster with this trilogy that will keep you lost and enthralled from the very first page. It's creepy, romantic, confusing, thrilling, and one of the best YA series around. Just make sure you have your hands on all three books before opening The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, because you will never want them to end!

The Surgeon (Rizzoli and Isles #1)

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

Age: Adult
Category: Crime; mystery
Rating: 5 stars

Helen Thinks: There’s a killer stalking the lone women of Boston and the ‘skills’ that the medical examiner identifies at the autopsies leads the detective’s to one fact - the killer is a doctor but instead of saving lives, he’s taking them. Detective Thomas Moore and Detective Jane Rizzoli are working the case where they find a link to Dr.Catherine Cordell, who shot and killed her rapist two years previous. Cordell is now being targeted by this new killer which causes Rizzoli to ask questions. Is Cordell lying? What is she missing out when she tells them what happened on that fateful night two years ago? However, as Rizzoli pushes at Cordell to find out more, Moore becomes attracted to the damaged doctor causing a rift between the two partners. Can they find this new killer before any more girls are killed or before he finally claims his greatest prize, Dr.Cordell?

This is the first novel in the Rizzoli and Isles series which inspires the TNT crime drama starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. Despite being a Rizzoli and Isles book, Doctor Maura Isles is not present in this first novel and makes her debut appearance in book two; The Apprentice. However, this doesn’t take away from the writing. In my opinion, it makes it greater as the first novel focuses on Rizzoli. It shows her trials as the only female in the department, how she acts around her fellow detective’s as well as how she copes with her family life - a family where she’ll never be as good as her two brother’s.

The highlight of this novel is that we get an insight into the killer’s thoughts such as the opening chapter being from his point of view. From the very first sentence; when the killer tells you that he knows the detective’s will find his victim’s body; Gerritsen has her audience hooked until the very last page.

As previously mentioned, it is the inspiration behind the Rizzoli and Isles television programme on TNT but the books are darker, grittier and on a whole different level. So if you’re a fan of the show then check out the first book behind it but even if you’ve never seen it then this is a crime novel for you! As soon as you open it, I hope you have nothing planned as you won’t be able to put this one down...

The Rosary Girls

The Rosary Girls by Richard Montanari

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: “The Rosary Girls” by Richard Montanari sees a new partnership is formed in rookie detective, Jessica Balzano, and veteran detective, Kevin Byrne, due to his previous partner being laid up in hospital post heart attack. Instead of being slowly eased into her new role as a homicide detective, Balzano's first body is that of a catholic schoolgirl whose hands have been bolted together in a gesture of prayer and she's clutching onto a set of rosary beads. Byrne is unsure if Balzano, the daughter of a famous philadelphia cop, will approve of his approach but together they must work together to catch the serial killer preying on Philadelphia's catholic schoolgirls...

This particular crime formula of a veteran detective that lives on the edge while breaking rules and making enemies along the way being partnered with a fresh faced rookie detective is a cliché that has been done a hundredfold. However, Montanari's shows us how it should be written in “The Rosary Girls” due to giving it a new lease of life and really bringing his characters to life with background stories including journalists out for blood, their family lives and just their every day interactions with each other. Byrne hints towards having a 'psychic' ability where he can sense what happened at a crime scene if he gets a good look at it. If handled incorrectly, this could have caused the book to crash due to readers not seeing it as completely realistic but Montanari handles it like a professional and I found myself curious as to what Byrne could see also.

When it comes to religious murders, sometimes you can be treading into risky territories but Montanari did his research and managed to write a perfect case as well as completely surprise the reader at the end when the killer and motive was revealed. The research in to police procedure was flawless and his writing makes you feel like a third detective on this new crime solving team.

With a gritty, fast-paced and intricate storylines, “The Rosary Girls” was a novel that had me hooked from the first word to the very last and I can't wait to join Byrne and Balzano on their next case.

Every Breath

Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Age: Young Adult
Category: Mystery & crime; contemporary; romance
Rating: 4 stars

“I admit to being a moron at lots of things. Being a moron in one or two areas serves to highlight my extraordinary brilliance in everything else.” -James Mycroft (beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure)

Melissa Thinks: I was not emotionally ready for this book. Like most people, I was absolutely fascinated by BBC’s Sherlock when the first season aired. Not only that, but I also grew up with at least one parent who loved Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series. It’s safe to say I love Sherlock Holmes. When I saw that Every Breath was a modern day retelling (of sorts) about teenage Rachel Watts (Watson) and James Mycroft (Sherlock’s brother was Mycroft Holmes, for those of you who don’t know), I just knew I had to read it.

The writing was more than I ever hoped it would be. It portrays teenagers in a realistic way, by not underestimating or sugar coating them. The prose was poetically beautiful in places in which it seemed appropriate, was precise enough so that I was almost never confused about what was happening, and also held a (distinctly Australian) unique and humorous voice.

Rachel, the main character, was my absolute favorite. When she moves from the country to the city (four months-ish from the start of the book), she doesn’t want to get too attached, knowing that the city life just isn’t for her and one day she’ll end up leaving. Rachel is such an open character—she’s loyal and takes care of her family and Mycroft, though she doesn’t have to. Like most kids her age, she doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life and genuinely struggles to find her place. She’s also incredibly intelligent and even though Mycroft is technically the shining star genius character, nothing would get done if it weren’t for Rachel. She isn’t a sidekick, nor is she a passive poorly written lady character; she’s equal to her male counterpart.

Then there’s the second main character, Mycroft. Oh boy, Mycroft. He is a deeply flawed character. He is erratic, selfish, struggles with mental health issues, and can sometimes be downright stupid. What I loved about him was his passion and eccentricity. Similarly to Rachel, he has a strong sense of loyalty as well as a need to seek justice for those who cannot do so themselves. And even though I am a grown adult woman, and he’s seventeen, I found him to be just adorable. He has curly hair, he’s British, he’s funny, and you can tell he is so devoted to Rachel. What a cutie.

The Flavours of Love

The Flavours of Love by Dorothy Koomson

Age: Adult
Category: Crime; romance
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Eighteen months ago, Saffron Mackleroy's husband was stabbed by a killer that is still walking free leaving behind her and their two children. However, just as life starts to get back under control, events happen the causes the control to evaporate. Aunt Betty moves in due to being kicked out of her residential home after getting caught being intimate with a fellow resident on the manager's desk, her fourteen year old daughter has a revelation that will have Saffron second guessing everything she ever thought and as if all that wasn't enough, her husband's killer has started writing to her every day with content that terrifies Saffron.

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Fables Vol.1: Legends in Exile (Fables, #1)

Fables Vol.1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham, James Jean, Lan Medina, Craig Hamilton, Steve Leialoha

Age: Adult
Category: Fantasy, Mystery & Crime, Graphic Novel
Rating: 4 stars

Melissa Thinks: For those of you who don’t know, the Fables graphic novel series has spawned a video game by the name of The Wolf Among Us. It is through this quirky video game that I discovered and fell in love with the Fables universe. Hundreds of years ago, the fairy tale characters we know and love were exiled from their homes, forced to find refuge in a place void of magic: New York. In present day NYC, the fable creatures live in a community known as Fabletown, where they’re faced with monetary, political, and magical issues that threaten to tear apart their carefully crafted community.

The first issue of the series begins abruptly with the news that Snow White’s sister, Rose Red, has been murdered. It is up to Snow and the reformed big bad wolf (of Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood fame), now sheriff of Fabletown, Bigby to find out exactly what happened and why.

The most important aspect of theses graphic novels, of course, is the characters. Most of them, if not all, will be recognizable to you, but they’re different than you’ll remember, deeper and darker. This works to their advantage and it brings the reader closer to the characters and the story. Of course, the artwork is another of its shining qualities of this series because where would a graphic novel be without the illustration. It has a 90’s Sunday paper comics feel to it. The dialogue is hardly ever contrived as it can be in many comics, which seem to rely on plot and art instead of characterization and content. It’s dark, gritty, and funny as hell.

I would recommend this series to anyone who is skeptical about comics or graphic novels or who is new to this genre. The recognizable characters, background information, and themes will make the transition from novels to comics easier.

My Daylight Monsters

My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton

Age: Young Adult
Category: Crime; fantasy
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton is a short novella that introduces the protagonist from Dalton's upcoming novel Mary Hades. The novella sees Mary's parents putting her into a psychiatric ward voluntarily for a week due to the 'visions' that she has been having lately. While in the psych ward, Mary makes friends with some of the other patients there and learns that they are betting on how many die across the corridor in the palliative care unit because recently it's been high. At first, Mary shrugs it off like the others because it's palliative care but then starts to realise that something else is going off over there. Something a lot more sinister...

The characters are believable, with great dimension and their own individual little quirks that allow them to stand out and Dalton has written their psychiatric illnesses flawlessly without any exaggeration. The dialogue was quick, witty and actually did sound like a bunch of teenagers sitting around a dining room table having banter.

My Daylight Monsters is a young adult novel that highlights the importance of friendship no matter where you find them, mental illnesses as well as corruption and abuse of power. It's a quick, fast paced novel that filled up a couple of free hours at work and I will most definitely be checking out the follow on novel.

Judas Kiss

Judas Kiss by J.T. Ellison

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Here we are with the third trip to Nashville with DI Taylor Jackson in Judas Kiss. Just back from her trip in Italy with handsome FBI boyfriend, Baldwin, Taylor is called to a crime scene. As if it's not bad enough that the victim is seven months pregnant, the scene is accentuated with the tiny red footprints where her daughter has been running roaming around the house waiting for her Mother's body to be found. Before long, the whole thing is a media frenzy and things don't go any smoother when videos of Jackson in compromising positions with her ex-partner come to light on the internet just as Baldwin is called away to deal with a case for the FBI.

Once again, Ellison shows the reader just how manic a detective's life can be with more than one case load as well as juggling their own personal lives with their careers. Taylor's detective's are the ones that find the 'sordid' videos online and respect her enough to immediately stop watching as well as let her know. Ellison writes the bond between the detective's superbly and makes the reader believe that these people are not a family by blood but still family all the same. One of my highlights of this novel is that Ellison introduces new characters to this series flawlessly such as the internal affairs officer that is now 'gunning' for Jackson.

The highlight of book three is that we finally get to see Baldwin work solo as an FBI agent and not as a consultant with Taylor and the Nashville police force. I appreciate that local police force do sometimes get a lot of input from the FBI but I was starting to bore of Baldwin constantly being called in just as a backdrop and a great access point for sources on Taylor’s cases.

Ellison delivers fast paced cases, a combination of characters that have you feeling their pain as well as laughing along and also an explosive cliff hanger that has me reaching for the next book as soon as the last word has been read.

14: Taylor Jackson 2

14: Taylor Jackson 2 by J.T. Ellison

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Taylor Jackson is back in 14 by JT Ellison and in this novel we see her getting prepared to marry her FBI boyfriend, John Baldwin, but that's being clouded by the return of a serial killer known as Snow White to Nashville. In the 1980's, Snow White hunted down women with pale skin and long dark hair where he would slash their throats and smear their lips with the same shade of red lipstick. He claimed ten victims before sending the police a letter saying that his work was done. Now four more bodies have been found and Jackson is unsure whether this is the work of a copycat or has Snow White came out of retirement?

Ellison creates a perfect balance in this novel between Jackson's personal and professional life that allows the reader to feel more for her protagonist. We can see how much she loves Baldwin and wants to marry him but she also has a love for her work, her team and her job that makes her want to put all her focus on catching Snow White before she gets married. Thankfully, Baldwin understands this and also focuses on catching Snow White so they can get married without a hitch – or so you would think. Just as we’re about to get Jackson to the aisle, her limo is hijacked and she is kidnapped causing her to realise that this case lies a little more closer to home than she originally thought.

One of the great aspects of 14 is that Ellison gives the reader a glimpse at who Snow White is by showing us who he is in league with. Due to the audience knowing the characters already, this is a perfect hit of the wow factor that allows the reader to be on the edge of the seat as well as wanting to tell Jackson what’s coming.

Just like her first novel, Ellison writes a great plot that has the reader sucked in from the very first chapter but keeps us hooked with the twists and turns in the plot that she introduces as the plot unravels. 14 is a fast paced novel that had me hunting out book three in the Jackson series before I had even reached the final chapter...

All the Pretty Girls

All the Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: All the Pretty Girls is the first book in the Taylor Jackson series written by J.T. Ellison. It follows Jackson as she investigates two cases; The Souther Strangler and the Rainman. The Southern Strangler is a serial killer that abducts brunettes in one state and disposes of their body along with a hand from a previous victim in another state making the case federal. The Rainman is a serial rapist that only attacks when it rains and has made the previous lead investigator to his case his latest victim hence Jackson's involvement in the case. You would think what with the two individual cases that it would be easy for Ellison to make minute errors that cause the cases to intermingle and become hard to follow. This, however, is not the case. Ellison makes the cases airtight so that there is no confusion or intermingling. You know which case is taking up Jackson's time at the part you are reading and can follow on from what has happened previously without the fear of information overload.

I am a huge fan of crime novels but an even bigger fan when the protagonist is a female detective with a tough as nails persona and does Ellison deliver this with Taylor Jackson. She's the lieutenant of the homicide division, she has a close rapport and is respected by the detective's that work under her command, she has close friendships that she maintains and has a hot FBI boyfriend to boot! Despite all these positive characteristic traits, Ellison still manages to make Jackson a believable three dimensional character through the flaws and vulnerabilities shared throughout the novel. I personally cannot wait to see how Jackson progresses as a character throughout the series.

With two addictive cases that deliver twists at every turn, All the Pretty Girls can definitely be defined as an addictive page turner that leaves you speechless when the conclusion is shared with you – a conclusion I did not work out myself which I normally find myself doing!

A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: A Time to Kill follows young lawyer, Jake Brigance, trying the case of his career. The novel starts with two white men raping ten year old, Tonya Hailey, who is a black girl. The book is set in Mississipi where racism is still high and everyone knows that there is a high chance that the two men won't be tried for their crimes so Tonya's father, Carl Lee, takes it his own hands and shoots the two boys dead in the courthouse because he knows he'll never get justice for his little girl going through the correct channels. This then leads to Carl Lee being arrested for murder. A Time to Kill follows Brigance trying to prove that Carl Lee was insane due to his grief at the time of the killings and therefore is not guilty but also sees his life going to hell as the Ku Klux Klan come back to Clanton to terrorise those helping a 'negro' get free after his crime towards the whites.

A Time to Kill is Grisham's debut novel that was released back in 1989 and only got a small five thousand book deal from the twenty ninth publisher he sent it too. It wasn't until he released several more books that A Time to Kill got the audience that it truly deserves. I first studied this novel in English Literature classes in my G.C.S.E. years as we contrasted it to To Kill a Mockingbird and that put this and the movie adaptation (which has an all star cast if you ever want to sit and watch it) on my list of all time favourite.

I am not usually a fan of novels that follow the order side towards 'Law and Order' but when it came to A Time to Kill I could not put the novel down. Each character had their own individual traits that Grisham caught perfectly. We saw Brigance's downwards spiral as the case consumed him with each chapter, including his sudden reliance on alcohol, happen flawlessly without any sudden leaps in changes. Grisham makes you feel for each character as they go through their journeys but more importantly it evokes a discussion between those who have read it or haven't. Is Carl Lee guilty or not guilty?

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Age: Adult
Category: Mystery & Crime
Rating: 5 stars

Marta Thinks: Agatha Christie, most commonly called ‘The Queen of Crime’, has an extremely vast and prestigious repertoire of novels, such as ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ (whose unexpected plot twist earned her reputation) and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, which was later produced as a movie casting stars such as Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall. Her novels vary - some have no detective (such as this one), some include Tommy and Tuppence, many others have Miss. Marple (my personal favorite), an elderly spinster who uses her small town anecdotes to solve mysteries and of course, Hercule Poirot, Belgian detective with a remarkable mustache and stunning insight into human psychology.

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We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Age: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars

“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.”

Juliet Thinks: Simply put, We Were Liars will leave you reeling. Once you reach the last page and close the book, you will be breathless for a moment. It is that kind of book. I had been anticipating this book for quite some time--all the big authors in YA (John Green, Sarah Dessen, etc) had been raving about their ARCs. Released in May 2014, it did not disappoint at all.

The book opens with a map of a private island and a family tree of the Sinclairs. The island is Beechwood Island, the one in which Cadence Sinclair sojourns every summer with the other Sinclairs. Though they are seemingly flawless, their values are questionable. Cadence, as the eldest grandchild, has an immense amount of pressure resting upon her shoulders. Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are her fellow ‘Liars’. They are inseparable. Cadence also struggles with amnesia and migraines, having suffered from a horrific accident. The storyline revolves upon her desperate attempts to piece together what she cannot remember.

As you read, you will sense that something is off. It doesn’t strike you as peppy. It carries a sense of underlying tragedy. Something is deeply wrong. If you’ve read any of Lockhart’s previous books, you will note that this deviates from her usual. Her books typically center on spunky female protagonists in a high school setting. Speckled with dark twists on fairy tales, We Were Liars’ chapters build spectacularly to the aura of unease surrounding Cadence. Lockhart’s prose is jarring. Class and race issues are also significant underlying themes.

If none of this praise has drawn you to reading the book yet, perhaps it’d be interesting to know that its film rights were sold within two weeks of its release. We Were Liars will haunt you long after you read it in the best possible way.