Book Review: The Murder Trial

Title: The Murder Trial

Author: James Patterson and Nancy Allen

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Publication Date: November 23, 2026

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

James Patterson's latest thriller pairs two timelines—the night of the murders and the trial eleven months later—and the structure is the strongest thing going for it. Watching the two threads close in on each other kept me engaged in a way a straight, linear telling wouldn't have; it's a smart choice for a story built around what Janelle Thompson did or didn't do to her adoptive parents.

Where it lost me was the courtroom itself. The public defender's sloppiness, the way Janelle is treated by the people meant to be on her side, the judge's conduct—none of it read as plausible to me, and once I started questioning the trial's realism I couldn't fully buy into it for the rest of the book. 

It's still a fast read—Patterson's rapid-fire chapters do what they always do, and I moved through this one quickly. But the realism issues kept it from being the kind of Patterson thriller I fully sink into, and that's really what brings this down to 3 out of 5. A quick, competent read that fell a little short of what I expect from him.

A big thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

#LittleBrownCompany #NetGalley

Book Review: The Dead Sister

Title: The Dead Sister

Author: Andrew Barrett

Publisher: TBD

Publication Date: September 24, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This eighth installment in the Eddie Collins series took a little while to pull him fully into the fray — but once it did, it took off. Barrett drops us into a Major Crime Unit fraying at the seams, and that internal friction turns out to be just as gripping as the case itself. A woman found in a pool of blood looks like a straightforward, burglary gone wrong killing, until Eddie's forensic eye starts snagging on details that don't add up: old abuse, buried money, loyalties that run dangerously deep. When a second body turns up behind another door, the case cracks wide open.

What elevates this book is Kenny's retirement. It throws Eddie completely off balance — he doesn't know how to manage people or lead a team, so he retreats into the sarcasm and prickliness that have always been his armor. But Barrett doesn't let him hide there. The staffing crisis and the strain on his personal relationships become the pressure that finally forces some real growth in Eddie, and watching that unfold over the course of the book was genuinely satisfying. The family at the center of the case — a nest of siblings and a woman caught between two brothers — gave the story a nasty, morally bankrupt core; nobody in that family is remotely good, and that made the unraveling of their secrets all the more compulsive to read.

It was also a pleasure to see Regan and other familiar faces drift through, threads connecting this book to both the earlier Eddie Collins novels and the DS Regan Carter series. And the drastic reveal at the end managed to feel both sudden and, looking back, inevitable, which is exactly the kind of twist I want from this series.

"The Dead Sister" isn't the best in the series — the slow burn into Eddie's part of the story cost it a little momentum early on — but the character work with Eddie and Kenny, combined with a genuinely twisty case, made this one of the more emotionally resonant books in the series. I'm already looking forward to seeing where Eddie's growth takes him next.

A big thank you to the author for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: Scream City

Title: Scream City 

Author: Hannah Morrissey

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Publication Date: January 26, 2027

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Hannah Morrissey delivers a quirky, atmospheric thriller that trades on Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood as much as it does on its central mystery. The setup is a good one: a serial killer's granddaughter and the disgraced cop-turned-process-server whose father put that killer away, forced together when a copycat starts working through Rex's paper route. It's a premise built for tension, and Morrissey mostly delivers.

The real draw here is the pairing. Alice—rollerblading, haunted-bookstore-owning, living in the long shadow of her grandfather's infamy—and Rex, a Harley-riding ex-cop with a pet turtle and a marriage he's still not over, are odd enough together that their chemistry feels earned rather than manufactured. Morrissey isn't afraid to let the tension between them do double duty: is it romantic, or is it suspicion? "Kill him or kiss him" is basically the book's thesis for their whole dynamic, and it works.

Morrissey's prose has some genuine flourishes—I hadn't run into "palimpsest" (look it up) in a thriller before, and there's a genuinely unsettling passage where Alice imagines her grandfather's victims watching her from across the street, close enough to hear them breathe if they were still alive. The city itself functions almost like a character; the claustrophobia of Scream City comes through even in scene-setting.

The plot has plenty of twists; this is a fast read that knows exactly what kind of book it is. It's not going to redefine the genre, but as a moody, well-paced small-town-secrets thriller with a strong sense of place and a couple of leads worth rooting for, it earns its four stars.

A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

#StMartinsPress #NetGalley

Book Review: Hanging and Burning

Title: Hanging and Burning 

Author: Walter Mosley

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Walter Mosley returns with the latest Joe King Oliver novel, and once again he's raised the bar on a series I keep insisting has peaked—only to be proven wrong. This is old-school LA noir done right: a PI with his own tangled code, bent cops circling the edges, and a client whose lies burn hotter than his sins.

The case starts simple enough. His grandmother, still in LA, still fighting cancer, still the moral center pulling King into other people's messes, urges King to take on a job. The case is for Arman Babylon, a dying gangster desperate to find his long-missing granddaughter, Twyla Mann, before he passes. What looks like a straightforward missing-persons search quickly curdles into something far uglier: a cold case involving a vanished jazz singer, decades of violence against the women in Babylon's orbit, and a client who's been lying to King from the start. The trail runs from LA to New York and back, and by the time it's done, King's had to call in his old frenemy Mel—the serial killer squatting in a deconsecrated church—just to keep his footing.

What makes this one sing is how Mosley refuses to let King's moral code sit still. He's not Reacher with better tailoring; he's a man who keeps discovering that righteousness and violence live closer together than he'd like. Mosley's prose has the same cold clarity it's always had—there's a line about the lights of Los Angeles as ignorant and hopeless that stuck with me long after I put the book down, and a piece of advice King's handed early on, that a person "should be like a chandelier, hanging and burning," which ends up haunting the whole book.

Fourth in the series, and somehow still the best one yet. Five stars, no hesitation.

A big thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

#LittleBrown&Company #NetGalley

Book Review: Chain Reaction

Title: Chain Reaction

Author: Lee Child & Andrew Child

Publisher: Ballantine

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In the 31st installment of this iconic series, Lee and Andrew Child have delivered exactly what longtime fans have been craving: a return to the Reacher we know and love, fast-paced and unapologetically violent in all the right ways. From the opening pages, this felt like a course correction back to the character's roots.

The plot reunites Reacher with General Susan Turner, last seen in "Never Go Back," now firmly entrenched in the Pentagon and carrying real institutional weight. When a member of her team is brutally murdered on covert duty, Turner can't trust her own chain of command, not even her deputy, so she reaches outside the system for the one person built to solve problems and vanish. That's classic Reacher setup, and it works because the stakes cut both ways: the mission threatens to derail Turner's career just as surely as it threatens to end Reacher's life.

The trail leads to Summertown, Colorado, one of the more memorably strange settings in the series. A diner, a motel, five massive data centers, two solar farms, and a population of four. The authors know how to use isolation as a pressure cooker, and watching Reacher get sized up by the one person tracking his arrival is a great slow burn before the violence starts. The formula is familiar, Reacher and a sharp female counterpart working a mystery stacked with bad guys, but the Childs season it well here, folding in AI, cryptocurrency, and hackers who can kill a camera feed or pop a lock without breaking stride. Add the cross-country travel and you've got a crackerjack Reacher thriller that never lets up.

One line stuck with me long after I closed the book: "You did the right thing. What was he going to do to you? That's how you measure it. Like for like, but get your retaliation in first. That's what I used to tell my people. Words to live by." It's a perfect distillation of the Reacher ethos, and a reminder of why this character still resonates thirty-one books in.

I finished "Chain Reaction" with the satisfied exhaustion only a great Reacher book delivers. The Child brothers have crafted another winner that has me already looking forward to book 32. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the series, this one earns its place on the shelf.

A big thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

#Netgalley #Ballantine

Book Review: We Chase Shadows

Title: We Chase Shadows

Author: Richard Osman

Publisher: Viking Penguin

Publication Date: September 15, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amy, Rosie, and Steve are back, and this time it's their case from the jump: a body on the steps of an Italian villa, a threatening note, and a client who very much does not want the police involved. What starts as a straightforward "find the note-writer" job spirals fast, pulling in Sweden's most-wanted, a sharp-elbowed ex-wife, and a business rival with plenty to hide—and the trail doesn't stay in Italy for long, bouncing from Barcelona to Palm Springs to, of all places, Steve's local pub.

The characters are, as ever, the real draw. The trio's dynamic has settled into something warmer and funnier than book one—Steve, the retired policeman still grieving, his bodyguard daughter-in-law Amy, and the wonderfully unfiltered older writer, Rosie, with an oversized appetite for life. The office manager, a former actor's agent with a negotiator's instincts, steals more scenes than a supporting player has any right to. Osman's British humor is in fine form throughout—tongue-in-cheek even in the tensest moments, like two m
ates casually griping about speeding tickets while one's mid-murder-investigation and the other's recovering in hospital from a beating. And yes, this might be the only book I've ever read to deploy "jibber-jabbering" completely unironically.

The mystery itself earns its keep. One murder becomes several, suspects multiply, and just when I was sure I'd cracked it, Osman pulled the rug out—a few times, actually. The soundtrack of 70s British rock references running underneath it all is a nice touch, giving the book a lived-in, needle-drop feel even without an actual soundtrack. And amid all the plotting, there's a line that stopped me cold: "Life itself isn't enough to hold you captive, but love is." Osman can write a punchy mystery and still land a gut-punch of a sentence when he wants to.

You don't strictly need to have read the first book, but it'll help you clock the trio's habits and rhythms faster. Either way, this is a hugely satisfying return, and I'm already impatient for whatever's next.

#NetGalley #VikingPenguin

Book Review: Bad Intentions

Title: Bad Intentions

Author: Iliana Xander

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: August 25, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I do like a thriller that turns family secrets into a slow-burning fuse, and Bad Intentions lit mine early and kept it burning. Josie Boots is coming off a very public fall from grace when she returns to Burnville to care for her ailing grandmother, only to find that the town's oldest, ugliest secrets have been waiting for her right along with the casseroles and cold stares.

Josie herself is the book's biggest strength. I've never been "canceled," but we've all felt the burn of online hostility, and it made her an easy narrator to root for even when she was making questionable choices. Xander surrounds her with a town full of peo
ple who are, almost without exception, nasty, guarded, and sitting on secrets they'd rather die than share — and a few of them very nearly do.

The plotting is where this book really earns its keep. I guessed one of the central twists fairly early, which normally would have deflated some of the suspense, but Xander had two more twists in reserve that I never saw coming, and the way the third one brings the denouement was genuinely satisfying. 

What I appreciated most was the moral murkiness at the book's core: the idea that a community might choose its own version of justice over the law, and that this choice ripples down through generations in ways nobody quite intends. It's not a subtle theme, but it's an effective one, and it gives the mystery real emotional weight rather than just plot mechanics.

A big thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

@PoisonedPenPress @NetGalley @BadIntentions

Book Review: Heavenfield

Title: Heavenfield

Author: L.J. Ross

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: August 4, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Heavenfield is the third book in LJ Ross's DCI Ryan series, and I want to say upfront: don't start here. This one continues immediately from the previous two installments, and you need that history to understand who these characters are and why the stakes feel so personal.

The setup is a gut-punch: Ryan, already suspended and cut off from his own team, finds himself the prime suspect in a murder at the remote church of Heavenfield. What starts as a seemingly impossible crime spirals outward into something much bigger, as members of the shadowy Circle begin turning up dead one by one. Ross scatters clues and red herrings with a steady hand.

The real standout for me was the escalating confrontation between Ryan and his own boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Gregson. The eventual standoff between the two of them, with lives literally hanging on the line, is the highlight of the novel — tense, well-earned, and satisfying.

The corruption subplot running underneath it all, with Circle members seemingly embedded at every level of authority, adds a nice layer of paranoia to the proceedings. You're never quite sure who Ryan can trust, and neither is he, which keeps the pacing tight even in the quieter investigative stretches.

A big thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

@PoisonedPenPress @NetGalley

Book Review: Cold Sunset

Title: Cold Sunset

Author: William Boyd

Publisher: Grove Atlantic

Publication Date: November 3, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

William Boyd has done it again. With Cold Sunset, the third installment in his Gabriel Dax series, he delivers a spy novel that feels less like genre fiction and more like literature.

It is 1964, and Cold War Moscow is doing what Cold War Moscow does best: simmering with paranoia, secrets, and the constant threat of exposure. Gabriel Dax, that most reluctant of spies — a travel writer who somehow keeps finding himself in the killing business — is tasked with delivering another mysterious
drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated triple-agent living large as a Hero of the Soviet Union. Caldwell, convinced the KGB is closing in, wants Gabriel to do the unthinkable: smuggle him across the Russian border to Finland. With his enigmatic handler Faith Green pushing him forward, Gabriel is once again pulled into a world where loyalty is a moving target and trust is a luxury no one can afford.

Readers who came to Boyd through le Carré will feel right at home here. Cold Sunset inhabits the same shadow-drenched moral universe as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy — all Cold War fog and psychological tension, with precious little in the way of gadgets or car chases. This is character-driven espionage at its most literary, and Boyd's storytelling genius is on full display. The prose is elegant, the atmosphere immersive, and the ethical murk that surrounds Gabriel genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way.

As for Gabriel himself — three books in, he is now a three-time killer, which sits uneasily on a man who never asked for any of this. He is no James Bond. He does not sip martinis shaken not stirred; he drinks whatever he can lay hands on, and plenty of it. He shares his bed with three women in the course of this story, yet there is nothing glamorous about it. Boyd resists the seductions of the spy fantasy at every turn, keeping Gabriel grounded, flawed, and utterly human. That is precisely what makes him such compelling company.

My only caveat — and it is less a complaint than an observation — is that the ending is deliberately ambiguous, the kind of conclusion that leaves threads dangling rather than tying them off. It is both satisfying and maddening at once, clearly designed to presage, if not outright demand, a fourth and possibly final book to close things out properly. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself hooked.

A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ColdSunset #NetGalley @GroveAtlantic

Book Review: The Power of Beliefs

Title: The Power of Beliefs

Author: Shawn Achor

Publisher: Crown Currency

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Drawing on two decades of research and his work with organizations ranging from NASA to the NFL to a third of the Fortune 100, Shawn Achor makes a compelling case that our beliefs don't merely reflect reality — they bend it.

At roughly 180 pages, The Power of Beliefs is a brisk and accessible read, yet it carries real weight for positive change. The book is organized into three parts. The first lays essential groundwork, exploring how beliefs function as predictive engines for our health, success, wealth, and relationships. The second and meatiest section examines what Achor identifies as the seven core beliefs most predictive of a flourishing life:

1. My behavior matters — The foundational belief that your actions shape your outcomes, preventing a victim mentality.
2. I matter — Recognizing your inherent self-worth independent of external achievement or validation.
3. I am not alone — Understanding your deep connection to community, which builds psychological safety and combats loneliness.
4. This work is meaningful — Finding intrinsic purpose in your daily labor, which fuels long-term motivation and resilience.
5. I have things to be grateful for in the present — Choosing a baseline of abundance and appreciation rather than chasing what is missing.
6. I have something to give — Believing you possess valuable gifts, skills, or kindness to contribute, reinforcing agency.
7. There is something greater than me — Connecting to a higher purpose or collective human experience that transcends individual worries.
   

The third section addresses "the Great Drift" — the alarming rise of what he terms the Four Horsemen of the Modern World: burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. This is where the book turns practical, offering six research-tested strategies for changing beliefs at the individual and communal level:

1. The Disaster Elevator — Change what part of the brain processes the world.
2. The Memory DeLorean — Change the memory.
3. Stopping Negative Mantras — Change the language.
4. Creating a Neural Tribe — Change the sources.
5. Starting the Wave — Change the contagious actions.
6. Common Texts, Common Action — Change the texts.

Throughout, Achor balances rigorous science with vivid storytelling, drawing on his work everywhere from Wall Street to impoverished schools in Africa, from Camp Pendleton to Camp David. That blend of anecdote and research makes for a compelling read that never feels dry or academic.

If I'm being honest, the final section felt slightly less satisfying than the first two — it's where the book's brevity shows most. But even there, the strategies are actionable and worth adopting. I was particularly drawn to The Disaster Elevator and Creating a Neural Tribe, both of which I intend to put into practice in my own life.

In a world where anxiety and disconnection feel increasingly unavoidable, The Power of Beliefs offers something rare: genuine, evidence-based hope — and a clear path forward.

A big thank you to Shawn Achor for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: It's Not What You Think

Title: It's Not What You Think

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publication Date: September 22, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've read enough Clare Mackintosh to know she doesn't disappoint, and this one sits comfortably near the top of her output. She is at her best here — controlled, bold, and fully in command of her craft. It's Not What You Think is a tightly constructed, deeply satisfying thriller that pulls you forward with quiet insistence from the very first pages.

The setup pulls you in with the familiar architecture of domestic suspicion: Nadeeka is convinced her husband Jamie is having an affair. She knows the signs. She's been here before. But when she arrives home ready to confront him, Jamie can't explain himself — because Jamie is dead, and the house is now a crime scene. It's a sharp pivot, and it works beautifully. A twist arrives early — genuinely shocking — and it transforms what might have been a competent domestic thriller into something far more urgent and obsessive. From that point, Mackintosh keeps ratcheting up the tension with precision and confidence.

What gives the novel its particular resonance is its thematic backbone. At its core, this is a story steeped in the fear and fury surrounding immigration — extreme right-wing ideology, the demonization of the foreign-born, the very real danger that rhetoric becomes when it finds a body to act on. With Nadeeka as a central figure of Asian heritage, Mackintosh grounds these ideas in human consequence rather than abstraction. It's the kind of fiction that feels ripped from current headlines, whether you're reading it in England or the United States.

Adding a key human dimension to the investigation is the pair of detectives leading the case — who happen to be engaged and mere days away from their wedding. Their impending nuptials create a constant undercurrent that both complicates and crystallizes their pursuit of the truth. It's a clever structural choice that keeps the personal and the procedural in productive tension throughout.

#ItsNotWhatYouThink #NetGalley

Book Review: Easy Discipline

Title: Easy Discipline

Author: Jia Jiang

Publisher: Simon Element

Publication Date: July 14, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Having loved Jia Jiang's debut, Rejection Proof, I came to Easy Discipline with enthusiasm and excitement — and while this sophomore effort doesn't quite reach those heights, it delivers enough fresh thinking to make it well worth your time.

The book is built around the EASY acronym — Enjoyment, Artistic Mindset, Systems Approach, and Yourself — with each section opening with an overview chapter followed by two chapters introducing what Jiang calls "tools." He illustrates his principles with stories drawn from an engaging cast of historical and pop culture figures, including Kobe Bryant, Florence Nightingale, Steve Jobs, Alexander Fleming, and Jim Collins. This storytelling approach makes for easy reading and gives the framework a human dimension that pure productivity manuals often lack.

Not all of the tools land equally. The Game Changer concept in the Enjoyment section is good — the idea that reframing a dreaded task as a different kind of challenge can transform your relationship to it is both practical and psychologically sound. The Momentum Loop felt less developed to me, more concept than actionable method. The Artistic Mindset section offers a memorable reframe: the idea of pursuing a "maximally lovable product" rather than a minimum viable one is the kind of perspective shift that sticks with you. The emphasis on relationships as a core asset is one of the book's warmer and more grounded moments.

The Systems section is where Jiang arguably hits his peak. The One Action Goal is the standout tool of the entire book — a deceptively simple framework for cutting through paralysis and establishing momentum. Paired with the Inspiration Index, which links an input number (purpose) to an output number (power), it gives readers a surprisingly concrete mechanism for tracking effort and sustaining motivation. Repetition with Variation rounds out the section with a useful reminder that consistency doesn't have to mean monotony. The final section, on being yourself, is the lightest of the four — more motivational than methodological.

My one reservation is that Jiang's "tools" are often more like ideas or concepts — thoughtful ones, certainly, but not always immediately applicable without further development on the reader's part. That said, Easy Discipline is a genuinely enjoyable read with several ideas worth returning to, and the One Action Goal alone may justify the price of admission for anyone wrestling with focus and follow-through.

A big thank you to Simon Element and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#EasyDiscipline #NetGalley

Book Review: Promise Me Never

Title: Promise Me Never

Author: Liv Constantine

Publisher: Bantam/Ballantine

Publication Date: August 18, 2026

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I've read a number of Liv Constantine books, including the Mrs. Parrish trilogy, and I came to Promise Me Never hoping for more of that same compulsive storytelling. What I got, unfortunately, was something that felt like a step down — a gothic domestic thriller with an intriguing setup that takes far too long to deliver on its promise and is ultimately disappointing.

The premise is genuinely compelling. Aspiring writer Savannah meets and marries her literary idol, the celebrated horror novelist Bennett Bryson, and moves into his remote upstate home — only to find herself increasingly isolated, controlled, and haunted by the memory of his first wife, Poppy, who died under mysterious circumstances. The ingredients for sustained dread are all there: the brooding, secretive husband, the shadow of the dead first wife, the whispered warnings. 

The problem is pacing. For roughly the first half of the book, very little of consequence happens. The tension that should be quietly ratcheting up instead feels stalled, and I'll be honest — had I not been committed to writing this review, I'm not sure I would have pushed past the midpoint. When the novel finally begins to accelerate, it does so in two sharp lurches: a significant twist at around the 80% mark, and a larger one near the end. Both were difficult to swallow. Promise Me Never is a middling thriller that feels underpowered.

A big thank you to Bantam/Ballantine and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#PromiseMeNever #NetGalley

Book Review: That Night

Title: That Night

Author: Gillian McAllister

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Date: August 18, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Gillian McAllister has built a reputation for placing her characters in moral quagmires so vivid and uncomfortable that you feel them in your bones, and That Night is no exception. From the very first words — "Help me, please help me" — she drops us into a world of dire need and death, and never quite lets us breathe again.

The setup is deceptively simple: three siblings on a family vacation in Verona, one terrible accident, and a promise that will slowly unravel everything. Frannie hits a man with her car, and in a moment of panic, her brother and sister help her bury the body. What follows is an escalating study in the disintegration of family bonds — that particular horror of watching people you love make one bad decision after another, like a horror movie where you're screaming at the screen, knowing exactly where this is headed and helpless to stop it.

McAllister structures the novel across multiple perspectives, bouncing between the three siblings and the victim's wife, while alternating between "then" — those fateful days in Verona and the aftermath back in England — and "now," the proceedings of a trial whose details are deliberately withheld until the final pages. It's a smart architecture that keeps the tension taut and the doubt alive. Who knew what? Who will crack first? The central premise is perfectly distilled in one of the book's most chilling lines: "This began as a hit-and-run. And now it's — it's this — this grotesque, awful..." That sense of a first crime metastasizing into something monstrous is McAllister at her most compelling.

The novel also captures something true and unsettling about family — the way love can become a vehicle for moral compromise, the way we forgive and cover for one another "no questions asked." Nothing can remain the same after that first cover-up, and McAllister depicts the slow, spiralling erosion of trust between siblings with real psychological precision.

My one reservation is the ending. I wanted justice — the kind of resolution that feels earned after so much dread — and instead I felt a little cheated. It's a subjective reaction, and some readers may disagree, but for me it left a gap where catharsis should have been.

A big thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review: Ironwood

Title: Ironwood

Author: Michael Connelly

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Publication Date: May 19, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've been a devoted fan of Michael Connelly for years, and with Ironwood, the second installment in his Catalina series, he has delivered another masterclass in American crime fiction. Detective Sergeant Stilwell returns as our guide through the sun-drenched yet surprisingly dangerous world of Catalina Island, and from the very first pages, I was completely hooked.

Connelly's signature ability to weave multiple subplots without ever losing momentum is on full display here. A drug drop surveillance operation goes catastrophically wrong, leaving one deputy dead and another fighting for his life in the ICU. Meanwhile, a mysterious backpack recovered from lost and found opens a cold-case rabbit hole involving a woman who vanished on a hiking trail four years ago. Smaller threads — vineyard vandalism, graffiti crimes — add texture and a genuine sense of island life under quiet siege. None of it feels padded; every storyline earns its place.

What truly elevates Ironwood is Connelly's gift for character. Stilwell is a nuanced, morally grounded protagonist, and the welcome appearance of Renée Ballard — working the case from the mainland — gives the story an electric charge. Cameos from Harry Bosch and his daughter Maddie will delight longtime fans of the extended Connelly universe, feeling organic rather than forced.

The novel builds toward a moral-choice ending that is deeply satisfying and it left me hoping this isn't the last we'll see of Sgt. Stilwell on Catalina.

I cannot recommend Ironwood highly enough. Connelly remains, in my view, the finest American crime writer working today, and this book is proof of exactly why. Five stars, without hesitation.

A big thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review: Three Hitmen and a Baby

Title: Three Hitmen and a Baby

Author: Rob Hart

Publisher: Putnam

Publication Date: June 16, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I've been following the Assassins Anonymous series since the beginning, and with Three Hitmen and a Baby, Rob Hart returns to his group of reformed killers for what feels like the third and fina installment. The premise is irresistible on paper: three of the world's most dangerous people are left babysitting a toddler while Valencia rushes to LA to find her missing brother. What could go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

The idea of highly trained assassins being undone by a feverish child is fun, though it does require some suspension of disbelief. These are people who can neutralize a threat in seconds, yet apparently can't think to search online when a toddler spikes a fever? 

Hart juggles multiple storylines competently, and the commitment to non-lethal takedowns adds a fun constraint to the action sequences. That said, the tension stretches credulity at times — watching three elite killers repeatedly navigate overwhelming opposition while refusing to use lethal force starts to feel more like a running gag than a genuine thriller element. The series also leans heavily on its established world: newcomers will likely feel lost without the context of the first two books.

Ultimately, Three Hitmen and a Baby feels more like a crowd-pleasing victory lap than a bold new chapter. It's entertaining, fast-paced, and has genuine heart — but it doesn't push the premise anywhere particularly new. If you've loved the series so far, I'd say pick it up. It's an easy, thrilling read that delivers exactly what fans are expecting — no more, no less.

A big thank you to Putnam and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ThreeHitmenandaBaby #NetGalley

Book Review: Dissection of a Murder

Title: Dissection of a Murder

Author: Jo Murray

Publisher: Dutton

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Set in the northeast English county of Durham, this British legal thriller was a fascinating departure from the American legal thrillers I'm more accustomed to—think Lincoln Lawyer —and the differences in the legal system are both illuminating and integral to the plot. Here, barristers cannot simply refuse a client, even one who won't speak to them. That single detail sets up everything that follows.

The central premise is deliciously tense: Leila Reynolds is handed her first murder case—the killing of a well-respected judge—by a defendant who refuses to tell her anything. Challenging enough. But the masterstroke is that her opponent across the courtroom is her own husband, a far more experienced barrister who was once her mentor. Husband versus wife, mentor versus protégée, prosecution versus defence. It's an extraordinarily compelling dynamic, and Murray mines every ounce of tension from it.

The characters are complex and morally ambiguous in all the right ways. Nobody here is entirely clean, and that keeps you guessing throughout. The novel builds like a freight train gathering speed—what starts at a controlled pace becomes an unstoppable rush toward the finish line. 

What truly elevates this novel, though, is the ending. The twist blindsided me completely. I hadn't seen it coming at all, and when it landed it recast everything I'd read in an entirely new light. And then the resolution itself—sublime is the only word for it. I genuinely wasn't sure how Murray could wrap everything up satisfyingly, but she manages it with precision and elegance.

A big thank you to Dutton and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#DissectionofaMurder #NetGalley

Book Review: The Anniversary

Title: The Anniversary

Author: Alex Finlay

Publisher: Ballantine

Publication Date: May 12, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Anniversary delivers a bold narrative structure of twin storylines that unfolds exclusively on May 1st across multiple years, creating a unique rhythm that both propels and constrains the narrative in fascinating ways.

The dual storylines work in tandem effectively. Jules Delaney's arc traces her evolution from high school rape survivor to fashion model, all while carrying the psychological weight of her encounter with the May Day Killer. Quinn Riley's journey is equally compelling—returning from juvenile detention, he embarks on a years-long quest to find his mother's killer. The decision to check in with these characters only once per year creates natural narrative gaps that Finlay uses to show transformation rather than tell it.

The annual intersections between Jules and Quinn feel almost fated, their paths crossing with a frequency that tests the boundaries of believability. This is where the novel's structural ambition becomes its greatest vulnerability. The coincidences pile up, and while they serve the story's thematic interests in fate and connection, they occasionally strain credibility. The climax arrives with both the intensity and the predictability that comes from a carefully engineered plot—you can see the pieces moving into place even as the tension ratchets up.

What saves the book from feeling too calculated is Finlay's ability to ground the thriller mechanics in genuine emotional stakes. The trauma Jules carries, the grief that drives Quinn—these aren't just plot devices but real psychological weights that give the mystery hunt its urgency. And just when the ending seems to have arrived exactly where expected, Finlay delivers a final twist that makes you want to reread the book with fresh eyes.

The May Day Killer premise is chilling in its simplicity, and Finlay maintains menace throughout by keeping the threat active even as years pass. The ticking clock element works precisely because we know another anniversary is always approaching.

A big thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review: Hope Rises

Title: Hope Rises

Author: David Baldacci

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: April 14, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Hope Rises is a sequel that demands you've lived through Nash Falls. It launches at full speed from the exact moment the previous book ended, with zero catch-up narrative.

Walter Nash, now operating as Dillon Hope, has transformed from spreadsheet sidekick to lethal weapon with one purpose—destroying Victoria Steers and her criminal empire. Working as an FBI informant, he must infiltrate her inner circle, a task requiring every bit of the brutal training that's reshaped him. Baldacci throws readers straight into the deep end at 100mph.

What frustrated me about Nash Falls' abrupt ending becomes this book's greatest strength—there's no downtime, no reset. The relentless pacing never lets up. Yet the characterization falters. Victoria Steers steps into the spotlight but her ruthlessness wavers in ways that feel implausible. Hope's motivations blur in equally unconvincing ways. 

A new character offers this gem of wisdom: "But what you must always remember is that no matter whether a cow looks like a cow, moos like a cow, and gives milk like a cow, there is no guarantee whatsoever that it is indeed a cow." It's a line that encapsulates the book's central theme—nothing and no one is quite what they seem, including Hope himself and the woman he's sworn to destroy.

The final third delivers clarity and closure, though the resolution feels contrived. I wanted a bolder ending. Still, this is a propulsive thriller that builds on its predecessor, even if the character arcs don't fully convince.

A big thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review: The Only One Who Knows

Title: The Only One Who Knows

Author: Lisa Matlin

Publisher: Ballantine

Publication Date: Macrh 3, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Kangaroo Bay is a grimy Australian fishing town soaked in violence and secrets, where "silence is their first language" and the darkness runs deeper than the ocean. When disgraced TV reporter Minnow Greenwood returns after a public meltdown, she finds a place where locals vanish, shark attacks pile up, and domestic violence festers behind closed doors like an infected wound.

Matlin uses the Australian beach culture to brilliant effect, creating atmosphere that feels both exotic and claustrophobic. The "blood boys" and "blood men" of Kangaroo Bay aren't just colorful details—they're the rotting heart of a community built on unspoken brutality. "Nobody really spoke about the violence. It's not something you speak of. It changes you, though."

What fascinated me most was the central question: what happens when you finally snap? When you've had enough of holding it in, of being prey? Sometimes you become the shark instead. The book explores the masks we wear, the polished exteriors hiding feral rage, and asks who we really are underneath—or if we're the only ones who truly know ourselves.

The twists caught me off guard. Most characters are deeply unlikeable, including Minnow, but that's the point. These are damaged people in a damaged place, and Matlin doesn't flinch from the ugliness.

If there's a weakness, it's that the relentless darkness can feel overwhelming. But for a story about generational violence and predation—both human and animal—maybe that's exactly right.

A big thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.