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 (*****).

'TURN OFF THE LIGHT'......A CURSED HAUNTED HOUSE....IN THE 17TH AND 21ST CENTURIES......(****).

Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters (2026)

     Quite a clever, intricately constructed haunted house novel........where things that go bump in the night cut right through the fabric of space and time itself......across the gulf of over 400 years to go "boo!" in the same cursed, bedeviled house.

     On the Eastern Shore of 17th century Virginia, Edith, a young wife of hardworking famer David Harris, generates, through no fault of her own, fears and suspicions of witchcraft. . She's a dedicated skilled herbalist, using plants and such to fashion healing, natural remedies for whatever might ail her neighbors. But her benevolent talents foster vicious gossip that her powers are supernatural and surely the work of the devil. Speaking of the devil, Edith's lately been tormented by all sorts of paranormal phenomena throughout her house......as if there's something in the house with her.....watching her.....maybe even manhandling her.

     Centuries later in the very same house, single mom Claire has returned to her childhood home with her four year old daughter Julia. She's come to help her sister Tilly and brother in law Peter with the care of her and Tilly's father. Their dad's in the final stages of dementia with only a matter of a few days left until he passes. And it seems that every spooky, scary, unexplainable incident that terrified Edith all those centuries ago has come back to haunt Claire.....but why?

     As these two parallel timelines exist in the book in alternating chapters, the growing suspense and horror start to multiply in both centuries leading up to a truly staggering twist.......and puts both Edith and Claire directly in the path of evil......and death.

     The 17th century sequences are so rich in atmosphere and steeped in heartbreak, I think readers will find themselves gravitating to them more than the modern day scenes. To be honest, Edith's a much more sympathetic and finely conceived character than Claire, with the odds way more stacked against her., given the general ignorance of the era.

     But once the twists, jump scares and some startling violent surprises slam into you, the book then keeps you equally riveted to what's going on in both the 17th and 21st centuries.

     Best read on a dark, stormy night, with all the lights turned off except the one trained on the book......that one light you WON'T want to turn off until you've finished the last page.

      4 stars (****).

THE FALL OF IRIS HENLEY....A CHEERLEADER BESIEGED, FALSELY ACCUSED AND IN DANGER.....(****)

 The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham (2026)

     Everything you could possibly want in a speedy, twisty one-sitting YA thriller comes together here like a revved-up race car. Of course you'd expect it to move fast in our current social media world where rumors, lies and vicious slander fly like heat seeking missiles that hit their targets only seconds after they launched.

     The current target is high school cheerleader Iris Henley. This poor girl is about to endure an avalanche of false accusations designed to leave her despised, emotionally demolished and under fresh suspicion of murder.. Not just any random killing but the murders of her boyfriend Rocky and her best friend Lynette......found slain along side Rocky in what was at first thought of as a homicide/suicide pact between the two of them;

     In a matter of seconds, an anonymous post on her high school's subreddit thread sends Iris's life careening out of control. The post viciously implies she killed the victims in a jealous rage and Iris's troubles (and potential danger) only multiply from there. Because someone's clearly out to get her......maybe a person (or persons) who have a lot more than just character assassination on their mind.

     All manner of outrageous twists and turns pile up in Iris's path and readers will find themselves racing through the pages to reach the final surprises.. Is any of it remotely believable? I'm tempted to say probably not, but who cares when the book's as much fun and quick to inhale as this one? Like a Friday night treat, this one goes down like your favorite pizza and an ice cold drink......and a great palate cleanser if you've just finished reading something heavy, dense and dark.

      4 stars (****).

IN HER DEFENSE.....A YOUNG ARTIST ENSNARED INTO A CALAMITOUS COURTOOM TRIAL.

 In Her Defense by Philippa Malicka (2026)

     I'll say this much for 'In Her Defense' the storyline and characterizations were compelling enough to thoroughly hook me and keep me reading to the end. But by the time I'd finished, I couldn't help wondering if it was worth the effort.

     There's not a likable, relatable, sympathetic character anywhere in sight here, although I get the sense we're encouraged to feel for the the principal lead, Augusta 'Gus' Bird, a struggling young artist trying to eke out a living and a hopefully fulfilling career as a creative ceramicist. She's attached herself, as a dog walker/assistant, to beloved, famous and wealthy TV personality Anna Finbow. Anna's currently engaged in an explosive and bitter legal battle with controversial therapist Jean Guest. The enraged, heartbroken superstar has accused Jean of a cult-like brainwashing of her art student daughter Mary, alienating Mary from her own family.

     As the book lumbers along into past events, we see that Gus, while studying her craft in Rome, shared separate emotionally turbulent, relationships with Jean and Mary (whom Gus became infatuated with). Jean offers the needy Gus counseling at little or no cost while using her to ensnare Mary as yet another Nepo Baby client to enhance Jean's fame, patient list and bank account. 

.
     The tedious Rome sequences seem to drag on forever but the book comes alive whenever it returns to unfold the riveting civil libel case between Jean and Anna, with the distraught Gus caught between the opposing forces and trying to  rekindle her estranged friendship with a now incommunicado Mary. And smack in the middle of all this mess sits Jean Guest whose seemingly caring, heartfelt nature masks a predatory spider who caught everyone in her web, one way or the other.

     The book frustrated me as a reader, offering the promise of a satisfying conclusion without actually delivering one. All the issues raised here are indeed attention grabbling.......the tortured frayed bonds between children and their dysfunctional families, and the gaping chasm between those with little money and those with too much of it....(Gus's pursuit of the carefree Mary and her entry into the jet-setting world of Mary and Anna Finbow gave off faint echoes of 'The Talented Mr Ripley').

     Much more of a straight drama than anything else, so I wouldn't recommend this as any kind of a psychological thriller. but simply one very serious story. that came out as merely okay for me.

      3 stars (***). 

WHEN I KILL YOU.....HER PAST AND PRESENT......EQUALLY FILLED WITH DREAD, DANGER AND DEATHS....(****)

 When I Kill You by B.A. Paris (2026)

     The dual timeline plot construction comes close to borderline annoying, the lead heroine is pretty much a whiny mess and the killer's repetitive musing about their stalking and stabbing might prompt a reader to yell out, "Oh, shut up already will ya?"

     But I must say, leave it to B.A. Paris to overcome all those clumsy stumbles and still deliver a twisty, fun read, packed with mysterious deaths and no shortage of suspects and startling moments.

     Elle Nugent had to fashion a whole new life and identity for herself after her amateur pursuit of a man she believed to be a murderer ended with incredible tragedy - with herself facing jail time and branded as a public pariah. Now living as Nell Masters, she has a new French-American boyfriend, Alex, a host of close new friends and a wonderful inherited house in London.

     But Elle's two lives, unfolding in alternating past and present chapters, are both filled with anxiety, danger and a constant sense of oncoming dread. In the past, her relentless stalking and harassment of the man she's sure she saw abducting a murdered girl goes horribly off the rails. In the present, she's convinced she's now the one being followed and worried that her tortured past and terrible mistakes have come back to do more than just haunt her and aggravate her guilt.

     As expected in a B. A. Paris thriller, I couldn't stop turning the pages and of course stayed up a little later than I wanted, just to find out what happens next. And that just sounded like a 4 star recommendation, so I don't think I need blather on any further. Fine read from an author who never disappoints.

     4 stars (****) and a thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the advance read in exchange for an honest review. 

MURDER WILL OUT.....WHO KILLED WHO ON THE SPOOKY MAINE ISLAND.....THE STILL BREATHING OR THE DEAD?.....(***)

 Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove (2026)

     This one's jam packed with stuff I usually love. Remote little islands off the New England coast. Spooky mansions. Family secrets stretching back decades. And.......ghosts.

     'Murder Will Out' is filled to the brim with all of that but the real task at hand for an author is to find a way to smoothly blend them all together. And that where I'm afraid this book didn't quite get it done for me.

     I was taken with the idea that Little North Island and its notorious Cameron House are populated with more ghosts than the passenger list of the 'Titanic'. And that keeping track of the Cameron family genealogy is like sifting through the March Madness basketball brackets.

     But our lead character suddenly thrust into all of this murderous paranormal mish-mash, Willow Stone isn't particularly relatable or likable, nor are much of the supporting cast either. (Though I did get a real kick out of the nasty, crotchety, crumbling old geezer who's one of the still living possible heirs hoping to inherit the creepy house with more ghosts than dust bunnies. Willow's late Godmother was a devoted companion to the late owner of the mansion......and yes, there seems to be a bunch of people who've gone 'late' one way or another.. And they all had something to do with that house. Hmmm.....

     Every so often there are bursts of genuine humor in this book and it desperately could've used a whole lot more of them. And the setting for the melodramatic, cinematic Grand Finale is telegraphed way way ahead of time. (But for all I know, that might be intentional on the author's part, promising us a Hitchcockian fight-to-the-the-finish if we'll just hang around long enough for it.)

     Well I did hang round long enough and found 'Murder Will Out', with all its flaws, a mildly entertaining read. Not the worst choice for a rainy night or a suitable kinder, gentler pick for Halloween.

     3 stars (***). (And I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advance read in exchange for an honest review.)

MURDER BIMBO.....A VILE POLITICIAN MEET HIS MOST UNLIKELY ASSASSIN......(***)

 Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novack (2026)

     Who could possibly resist that title and the whole premise? A sex worker recruited to assassinate a rising right-wing politician? Visions of a wild, crazy reading thrill ride danced in my head.......promising a tasty mashup of feminist rage and power colliding with all our turbulent current events.

     Not quite what I ever expected though......

     What we got in reality came across as 90 percent verbose, at times impenetrable literary fiction. All of it's narrated by the unidentified Murder Bimbo herself who over the course of the book's three acts, proves herself to be the world's most dedicated Unreliable Narrator. In a few sparse, occasional sections, the book crawls out of our Murder Bimbo's' morass of yakety-yak to entertain us with scenes of her recruitment and preparation by a small collection of men who may or may not be government agents, neo-Nazis or both. One thing remains certain - that the death of the loathsome politico (only referred to as Meat Neck) with his dangerous views, rampant misogyny and history of sexual assault, would make the world a better, safer place without him in it. . Especially in light of Ms. Bimbo's previous, ugly encounter with him.

     To be fair to author Rebecca Novack, there are more than a few passages when her prose truly takes flight, Our conflicted narrator, Murder Bimbo, sometimes takes us right into the very essence of her multi-faceted personality and how she sees the world at large (and vice versa) And we can hardly blame her for her tenuous grasp of the truth, existing amid the divisive, combative world she's trying to survive in. There's some undeniably brilliant, quotable writing that erupts on these pages from time to time, which explains why I felt I couldn't rate the book anything above or below 3 stars.

     An adventurous, iconoclastic read, that's for sure. But demanding patience to experience and appreciate. And nobody should let that title and description seduce them into thinking they're in for some kind of suspenseful, thrill-a-minute whoop-dee-doo. Not that kind of a book

     3 stars (***)..