KILLING ME SOFTLY.....ONE BAD NIGHT AND THIS COUPLE'S GOT BIG TROUBLES.....(*****)....

 Killing Me Softly by Sandie Jones (2026)

     Oh, what a tangled web this married young couple (and dedicated unreliable narrators) lead.....

     Did I mention unreliable? If my house was flooded and floating down the street I still wouldn't believe these two if they told me it was raining..

     We see them first as perfectly beautiful, golden rising stars. Michael's a superb new Master Chef, working for and being mentored by an even more famous Chef-Restauranteur. Freya, a tireless humanitarian for worthy causes, manages non-profit charities.. Well on their way to fulfilling lives and careers, one horrible night sends them spiraling into chaos.......gripping them with guilt, anxiety, growing suspicion of each other and the dread of criminal prosecution. These two suddenly find themselves awash in a sea of troubles, with no life preservers in sight.

     For thriller fans, here's where the real nasty fun kicks off. Michael and Freya's alternating narratives lead them to deconstruct their marriage, both asking themselves the same question......"Who really IS this person I thought I fell head over heels for?" And throughout the length of the book, strewn with more upsetting baffling incidents and encounters, readers will want to ponder this confounding riddle right along with them.

     I'll freely admit, I didn't know what to make of Michael and Freya until the twists and reveals  start piling up in the final chapters like a chain reaction multiple vehicle highway accident. Though the plotting's overly cluttered and stretches believability, anyone who savors a malicious Sundae with a poison cherry on top, will want to dig right in to this one.

      4 stars (****).

THE SURVIVOR.....A SUBWAY PASSENGER AND HIS TORMENTOR......BOTH GONE OFF THE RAILS.....(****)....

 The Survivor by Andrew Reid (2026)

     Hold to those overhead straps or wrap your arms tight around those support poles.........get ready for the most hazardous-to-your-health New York subway ride since 'The Taking of Pelham One, Two Three'. Next stop......either 181st st or death, whichever comes first.

     You'd think the day couldn't get any worse for young Ben Cross, freshly fired on the first day of his brand new job and escorted out by security. But once on the NYC subway, he's in for the ride of his life......for as long as it lasts.. Which judging from the attitude of the anonymous messages that start popping up on his phone, Ben's life expectancy can be counted off in minutes. Somebody's got it in for him real, real bad....and they know who he really is.

     This threatening somebody not only knows Ben's darkest secrets, , they're given to forcing Ben to isolate certain passengers on the train who've been targeted to die horribly when they get off at their stops.....and then they immediately do. The die horribly part.

     The rather bizarre spectacular murders bring in Homeland Security, the FBI and recently disgraced and demoted New York Detective Kelly Hendricks. Being the first one on the scene, Detective Hendricks ends up boarding the train and tasked with unraveling the many mysteries of Ben Cross and his unknown tormentor. And she'd better figure it out fast, since the mastermind may have packed the train with explosives and has demanded the train go barreling toward the deepest station in the subway system.....but to what purpose?

     The clock's ticking, the train's racing and the bits and pieces of the Ben Cross puzzle begin to assemble into a backstory of gut wrenching tragedy and horror beyond belief, ...with more surprises yet ahead.

     If you can't tell from my description that 'The Survivor' is one terrific thrill ride (and a whammer of a beach read), the four star rating should sum it up nicely.. All aboard for this one.

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     4 stars (****)

MOST LIKELY TO MURDER......WHO'LL SURVIVE THE YEARBOOK KILLER BEFORE GRADUATION?

 Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride (2026)

      As derivative and obvious as it is, I couldn't resist having myself a cheerful time with this one, a breezy one day read that flies by. Yes, it's that reliable surefire crowd pleaser......a disparate group of teens who band together to find the serial killer who's methodically polishing them off, one by one.

     This killer's something of a cruel joker with a twisted sense of humor.........altering a page in the high school yearbook to pre-assign a particular group of students their own special, horrible fates, with, the manner of each death printed underneath their photo.. But why them? And why did the killer start off the murder spree with offing one of their faculty counselors?

      Front and center in this group are high school outcasts Rick and Martina, both from financially struggling families and fierce BFFs forever. Their quick-witted byplay is a constant delight to read all throughout the book While the cool and witty Martina has her eye on a girl she's fallen for, she keeps encouraging the shy Rick to finally speak to pretty, studious Nika, the equally shy girl on whom he's been nursing a powerful crush. (And it's pretty obvious that for Nika, the feeling's mutual

      But our unfriendly neighborhood killer has begun to make good on those nasty yearbook predictions. The ever growing sweet and adorable Rick-Nika romance can only proceed slowly while the body count rises. And the teens team up to desperately figure out the who and the why of the murders before their numbers diminish any further.

      Loads of snarky sarcastic (but deeply affectionate) back-and-forth between Rick and Martina and as I've already pointed out, the slow burn crushes of Rick and Nika are enormous fun to watch come to fruition.. The pacing zips along but leaves little time to grieve for those unfortunates who don't make it to the end of the book. (In that regard, similar to slasher movies.)

      The only thing author Lish McBride doesn't quite land - the killer reveal. It feels like it came out of nowhere and the motives sound far fetched and contrived at the last minute. This is one book where you'll end up far more entertained by 90 per cent of the story rather than the last 10 percent spent on its conclusion.. But for me, it didn't stop 'Most Likely...' from being a lively, captivating read overall.

      4 stars (****).

ROBBIE MCNEIL'S HIT LIST......KILLERS, KARAOKE....AND LE'T'S PUT ON A SHOW! (***1/2)

 Robbie McNeil's Hit List by Brianna Heath (2026)

     It's never easy when you're stuck with competing, divided opinions about a book......delighted with all the stuff in it you like and frustrated and perplexed by all the things that most definitely left you cold.

     So it was with this book, which swings back and forth between charming, witty and twisty enough in its plot.....but carries with it a cruel amoral undertone even as it tirelessly generates and begs for sympathy for its characters..

     Which is why, for the first time, I find myself having to round a 3 star review upward to 3..5. because I do not feel comfortable giving 'Robbie' a full 4 stars.

     First off, if we're to believe novelists and screenwriters of thrillers, the number of killers-for-hire running around far exceeds that of healthcare , food service and government employees. No wonder I can't find a doctor and have to wait so long for my fries.......they've all switched to more profitable careers of bumping off people.

       And that brings us to Robbie McNeil and Dee Machado, a queerplatonic couple who own and operate a popular lesbian Karaoke bar.......as well as accept lucrative contracts to eliminate people whom other people have decided should push up daisies. Dee's an quick, efficient sniper on his assignments while Robbie painstakingly stalks her potential victims so as to arrange meticulous 'accidental' deaths.

     Robbie's latest dead-man-walking, an elusive, mysterious young fellow, manages to simply disappear on her. And this puts Robbie in the unforgiving crosshairs of the equally mysterious (and extra creepy) guy who hired her for the kill. This alarming development comes just as Robbie and Dee are trying to mount their amateur Broadway-style musical in a huge historic theater graciously rented to them by a wealthy politician-powerbroker. And wouldn't you know it.......the tangled, twisted backstory of Robbie's missing hit-target crosses paths with all the crisis-a-day, show-bizzy chaos of putting on a musical.

     Robbie and Dee are presented to us as a loving, sharp-witted ride-or=die duo, so I guess we're supposed to root for them and not give too much thought to their resume strewn with dead bodies. (You see my problem here.). Also, the pacing of the book goes slack and inert for long stretches, with the narrative coasting on its charm and attempts at dark gallows humor.. But I did enjoy the grand finale, which to me played almost like a spoof of a cornball, feel-good 1930's musical. Well, yeah.....it was fun and made me feel good.

     A mixed bag, indeed......so I'm sticking with the 3 & 1/2 stars. (***1/2).

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.....HAUNTINGS, HORROR AND NEWLYWEDS WHO AREN'T WHAT THEY SEEM.....(*****)

You Did Nothing Wrong by C.G. Drews (2026) 

     The title of this book could just as easily be applied to author C.G. Drews. When it comes to fashioning a horrific, creepy storyline, dripping with hauntings, psychosis, twisted long held secrets and ever mounting dread.......mission accomplished. This author does all of it right and then some.

     Elodie, a young Australian woman and single mom, has gone through a whirlwind romance with fair-haired, even-tempered and head-over-heels in love American, Bren. He's even all in with co-parenting Elodie's 6 year old autistic son Jude, whom Elodie has struggled to prevent giving Bren a full view of his raging tantrums, mood swings and learning disabilities. .

     Bren's whisked his newly pregnant bride, and his stepson back to the States, where he's been busy renovating a falling-apart mansion that's a textbook illustration of "Nasty Crumbling House That Anyone In Their Right Mind Would Run Screaming Away From In Stark Terror"

     And it doesn't take long at all for the house to start living up to its disturbing, ominous appearance. Jude hears the house talking to him. Doors slam mysteriously. The walls ooze some sort of fluid. And to Elodie's growing terror, Jude's increasing hysterical behavior, begins to crack the veneer of both her and Bren's personalities that they present to each other........as if maybe there's something even more corrupted and broken going on here than the house itself.

     Readers who cherish and treasure a plunge into pure grisly horror will get a full helping here. For me the bonus was author Drews bringing the flawed lead characters to life, especially Elodi ,as she's being held over a slow fire from every possible source around her.

     A genuine thrills 'n chills express train.. 5 star recommendation. (*****).

STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS.....A REPORTER TURNED ODDBALL PRIVATE EYE....UP TO HIS EARS IN DANGER AND DIAPERS....(*****).

 Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips (publishes 3/17/26)

      Be on the lookout for this mystery gem, for which SQ received an advance copy, courtesy of NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Publishing.

     If this is the start of a series, I'm all in for more danger, cozy childcare and dry wit with Charlie Shaw - former San Francisco wild card news reporter turned relentless, fearless but fairly reckless Private Eye.

     The brazen Charlie, with his distaste for authority and ability to stumble into peril at any given moment gets a lot more than he bargained for while surveilling a cheating wife. This seemingly simple adultery case puts him in the path of a feisty but heartbroken 16 year old girl searching for her drunken petty criminal father........and also in the path of hoodlum brothers and their hulking scary hit-goon. And all this doesn't sit well with his  loving wife, who's not crazy about Charlie sometimes taking their adorable baby daughter with him on stakeouts.

     I loved how this story is told almost entirely in rapid fire, pithy, right-to-the-point dialogue exchanges and also with plenty of humanity, heart and a whole lot of sly humor. (In many ways, it sounded inspired by the priceless back-and-forth repartee of the Robert B. Parker 'Spenser' mysteries.) And by the way, the mysteries Charlie has to unravel are top-notch as well, filled with twists among a variety of characters, some vulnerable, some nasty and some of them downright hazardous to Charlie and his family's health.

     A terrific run read from start to finish and I can't wait for Charlie's further adventures.

      5 stars (*****).

200 MONAS.....A MED TO MAKE THE EARTH MOVE FOR YOU......ALL BY YOURSELF....(*****)

 200 Monas by Jan Saenz (2026)

     What a wild, laugh-out-loud blast to read. Explosively funny, well armed with wit sharp enough to draw blood and two memorable lead characters thrown into enough raunchy adventures to fill a dozen extra-spicy romcoms.

     Bio Chemistry major Arvy Keening's only a few finals away from graduation and on to a Big Pharma internship and a future to bright, she's gotta wear shades...........except her grieving process for her recently passed unconventional mom has left her attached to the urn with mom's ashes like a security blanket.

     Major troubles befall Arvy upon her discovery of a stash of pills left over from mom's part time   dabbling as a drug dealer. Worse than that......the arrival of two seriously creepy professional drug dealers right out of 'The Addams Family'" and 'Pulp Fiction' and from whom her mom got the 200 pills. Not Molly, as Arvy first thought, but 'Mona' with each pill promising a mind blowing, earth-moving orgasm. And Arvy's been given 2 days to sell 10,000 dollars worth of them or the dealers will return to kill her in all manner of slow, unspeakable ways.

     In desperation, Arvy's compelled to join forces with Wolf, the campus's resident, smokin' hot drug dealer to peddle the Monas and from that point on, the book's a mad, mad mapcap series of riotous misadventures and crazy confrontations........not to mention dangerously stratospheric orgasms at the worst possible times and worst possible places.

     I had the best time reading this one and amid all the chaos, author Jan Saenz casts a knowing, satiric eye on romance, sex, grief, female empowerment, the obsession with virginity and the scourge of Big Pharma. I'd recommend it right away, because there's no telling if the inevitable movie made from this loony romp will be anywhere near as entertaining and outrageous.. Read the book first.

      5 aroused stars (*****).