LITTLE ONE.....A SURVIVOR RECALLS HER FATHER'S BIZARRE, CRUEL CULT.......(*****)

 Little One by Olivia Muenter (2026)

     (My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group for an advanced read of "Little One" in exchange for an honest review..)

     Can't say enough about how this book grabbed hold of me and kept me intrigued and enthralled right to the crushing revelations of its last few chapters. What can I say other than it's everything you want in an up-all-night page turner........characters and storyline that hook a reader from the beginning and radiate a constant feeling of 'I can't wait to stop what I'm doing right now so I can get back this book."

     At its core, 'Little One' concentrates on a toxic, dangerous cult and its charismatic, seemingly a wise fatherly founder and leader........who in reality is a monstrous individual who leaves shattered lives and death in his wake.

     Among those victims (and survivors) is Catherine West ,who's built a new life for herself as an adult, after a childhood and adolescence on a communal 'back-to-nature-live-off-the-land' farm established by her father in steamy central Florida.. Her memories of the farm run the gamut from dreamy Garden-of-Eden romps through ripened fields to the sometime capricious cruel and, dictatorial methods of her father,, whose teachings and ideals Catherine tried to faithfully follow. During that time, she'd forged a loving, sisterly bond with Linna. another child of one the farm members. And Linna's sharp intelligence always saw right through the false fatherly benevolence of Catherine's magnetic father, but neither she nor Catherine could imagine the full extent of his evil.

     In the here and how, Catherine's past and identity has been discovered by Reese, a journalist who's seeking to tell the full story of her past, her father and his farm. And that would mean uncovering whatever became of him and those who fell into his grasp......including Linna. whom Catherine has not laid eyes on since they were seventeen and whom she achingly pines for still.

     As 'Little One' shifts back and forth between Catherine's past and present, the book slowly but relentlessly pieces together the twisted tale of life on that Florida agrarian 'paradise and the parts that Catherine, Linna and others played in it. It's story filled with ever growing dread, heartbreak, tragedy and finally some horrific surprises. But author Olivia Muenter finds a way to finish with a particular endearing moment that's bound to leave you pondering and no doubt touch off endless book club discussions.

     I didn't know what to expect with this book which is why I'm happy to describe it as one of those 'can't put it down' reads that everybody searches for. With this one, mission accomplished.

      5 stars (*****).

WOLF HOUR......NORDIC NOIR TRAVELS TO MINNEAPOLIS....AND IT'S JUST AS CHILLING.....(****)

 Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo (2026)

     (Let me first thank NetGalley and Borzoi Books/Alfred A. Knopf for an advance copy of "Wolf Hour" in exchange for an honest review.....)

     Jo Nesbo, one of the prime practitioners of Nordic Noir, heads over to our shores in Minneapolis and finds just as much murder, human strife, dark secrets, broken souls and a staggering twist to top it all off.

     In 2016, detective Bob Oz is on the trail of serial sniper whose movements, methods and choices of victims remain a confounding puzzle. Bob in the great tradition of urban detectives everywhere, suffers from a broken marriage, alc0holism, severe fits of rage and haunting memories of an almost indescribable past tragedy. But still he doggedly hunts down the suspected sniper known to be the brutal elusive Tomas Gomez, whose bloodthirsty mania as the Cartel enforcer/assassin called Lobo was legendary.

     Bob's path to Lobo isn't made any easier by his crumbling personal life and his ability to aggravate his fellow detectives and superiors. Yet he still manages to strike up some back-and-forth byplay with a woman bartender and forges an odd sort of friendship with a lonely taxidermist who actually encountered the suspect as a potential customer.

     Author' Nesbo's pacing and plotting become somewhat choppy here, as the story throws in a 2022 timeline involving a visiting Norwegian crime writer seeking to assemble the pieces of the Lobo murders together.........for his own reasons. But rest assured, everything does come together with a triple whammer of a twist, a thrilling finish and a satisfying, emotionally touching wrap-up. . This book takes the time to plunge a reader into a deep dive through the heartache and pain of its characters.

     I'd highly recommend 'Wolf Hour' even to those who don't normally include police procedurals in their favored choices. This one's special and kept me in its grip to the last page.

     4 stars (****).

IMPOSTER.....A VICIOUS KILLER IN A LITTLE IRISH TOWN.....(****)

 Imposter by L.J. Ross (2026)

     (I extend my thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks for the ARC of "Imposter" in exchange for an honest review.)

     Though I've admitted I'm not a constant reader of procedural whodunits, this one grabbed my attention right away. Mainly because, I'm always all in for psychological profiling mysteries and 'Imposter' introduces a worthy new sleuth in Dr.. Alexander Gregory.. He's a forensic psychologist who also volunteers his skills as a profiler when called upon. And the new case he's involved himself with is a doozy.......a heinous, bizarre murder that's rocked and shocked the community of a little village nestled on the Irish countryside.

     Dr. Gregory arrives in the town of Ballyfinny greeted by Mayor Maggie Byrne, who's also the mother of the area's law enforcement officers of the Garda, her sons Niall and Connor. And Maggie's boys, especially Niall seem wary of Gregory when he theorizes the perverse killer is no outsider, but most likely someone who lives in the town, possibly a friend and neighbor known to everyone.........and adept at hiding their psychotic, homicidal impulses.

     As Gregory works his way through the case, he finds a sparse amount of clues but a host of local suspects who have no concrete alibi for the timeframe of the murder......and that includes Niall and Connor. Byrne. What's even worse, the killer whom everybody says hello to ever day may already be targeting their next victim.

     I loved the tight knit little population of Ballyfinny and the mounting sense of unease sometimes accomplished by a brief creepy chapter from the unidentified killer's point of view. I tried to make my own best guess out of those those prime suspects, but then author L.J. Ross served up a proper stunner of a final reveal.

     A terrific start for a new mystery series and at times even leavened with some welcome moments of gentle, understated humor.. Here's one reader who may not consume a whole lot procedurals but will definitely be on the lookout for Dr. Gregory's next case.

     4 stars(****).

CROSS AND SAMPSON.....PATTERSON'S DYNAMIC DUO BACK IN THE THICK OF IT......(*****)

Cross and Sampson by James Patterson and Brian Sitts (due on Feb. 9th, 2026) 

           Sandy Quill extends great thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company/Hachette Book group for the opportunity of giving me an advanced read of this one.....

 
     Welcome back, dear old friends of the Alex Cross world. I can always depend on Alex and and his lifelong friend detective John Sampson to deliver another breathless thrill ride, another book that draws me into it so fully, that it takes me less than a day to finish. And in the midst of all the suspense, twists and dangerous threats, there'll be plenty of warm hearted emotional moments with the beloved Cross matriarch Nana Mama. looking over Alex and the entire family with plenty of food, love and common sense.

     This new book sends Alex and John on separate perilous investigations. For Alex it couldn't be any more deeply personal - the hunt for his college student son Damon, who has disappeared from the campus. At the same time, John has joined a Federal task force to track down a serial terrorist bomber who's left innocent victims dead and severely injured with explosives set off all around the D.C. area.

     And once again author James Patterson and co-author Brian Sitts keep a reader glued to their book with those famously swift, brief chapters that leave you with that, "Oh, I can't stop now, I've got to do the next chapter..." feeling. As usual, that feeling remains until you realize you've finished the book faster than anything else you've read this year.

     What's more to say? Other than that this one should go on every thriller reader's Not-To-Be Missed list for this year......though I doubt I even need to say that to anyone else who's already into the Cross books. (Anyone who isn't yet.....take heed.)

     5 stars (*****)

FAMILY DRAMA.......THE TURBULENT PAST AND PRESENT LIVES OF A SUPERSTAR AND HER FAMILY.....(*****)

 Family Drama by Rebecca Fallon (release date 02/03/26)

     Here's one to look out for at your favorite bookstore..... of which we can give you an honest review thanks to an advance copy provided to SQ by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster

     I stand in awe of any book than can so fully immerse you in its ambitious, sweeping storyline and fascinating characters, that you lose yourself in the escalating drama and heartbreak of it..........especially when its shifting timelines move you between past, present and succeeding generations.

     For me, "Family Drama" checked all the boxes for that kind of reading experience.

     It's a family saga that begins with the romantic union of two people who make the most unlikely of couples - struggling young Boston actress Susan and college professor Alcott. Susan has bigger dreams than re-enactments of the Salem witch trials, and hits that impossible stroke of luck every actor dreams of - a starring role in TV's most popular, most watched soap opera. Hollywood glamor and stardom beckon her while Alcott only wants to remain in Boston to pursue his academic publishing career and the tenure that goes with it.

     And herein lies the lifelong strife in Susan and Alcott's relationship as through the years they attempt a bicoastal .marriage. Susan's growing superstardom and celebrity lead to endless cross country plane flights as she takes on the mounting pressures of trying to achieve a have-it-all life with Alcott. A life that includes family, career.....and then motherhood. The birth of their twins Sebastian and Viola eventually forces Susan into a pivotal decision about her dual lives.......until a cruel twist of fate takes her choice away from her.

     With Susan dying young while her children were still toddlers, Sebastian and Viola have grown up trying to piece together memories of their legendary mother.. It's a quest Alcott chose not to encourage, leaving him deeply estranged from Sebastian. But Susan, as a college student in London, has taken her own path to build a memory of her mother. She's met and fallen for, of all people Susan's co-star (and rumored lover) Orson, who's aged into a worldwide famous A-List movie star..

     The book truly lives up to its title as a family drama that far eclipses any turns of plot to be found in Susan's TV famous TV show. And author Rebecca Fallon spins her decades long tale with prose that incisively goes right to the heart of her characters. While I'm by no means a regular reader of literary fiction, this book completely captivated me from start to finish........and I recommend it to everyone.

     5 stars (*****).

CROSS YOUR HEART AND HOPE HE DIES.......AN UNSTOPPABLE AMATEUR SLEUTH HUNTS A MANUSCRIPT AND A MURDERER (****).

Cross Your Heart and Hope He Dies by Jenny Elder Moke (2026) 

     Had a great laugh-out-loud time with this sharp witted romcom mystery, top loaded with rich, obnoxious characters whom you feel like you've hated forever.

     At first I included the book's unlikely sleuth, publishing exec Juliette Winters as one of the obnoxious ones. A take-no-prisoners, suffer-no-fools force to be reckoned with she's a fierce, type-A achiever whose abrasive personality was forged, for better or worse, by a toxic upbringing at the hands of her psychoanalyst parents. And now her best laid plans to save the financially failing publisher she works for have literally disappeared. She'd pinned her hopes on an explosive, tell-all manuscript just finished by a ruthless CEO shark......until he dropped dead of a heart attack while someone made off his would-be bestseller..

     Here's where the real fun begins, when it appears the CEO's heart failure may have been engineered on purpose. Juliette, well equipped with a rapier sense of humor and looks to die for, barrels her way through a host of suspects who orbited around the CEO., all of them with valid motives. In the process of collecting clues, she also collects an ally in Dr. Charlie Hawkins, whom commitment-averse Juliette had previously rejected as a dull 'Dr. Dud'. But as the plot thickens, so do romantic sparks fly hot and high between the love-'em-and-leave-'em, normally hard-hearted Juliette and the sweet, kind and undeniably hunky Charlie.

     A thoroughly delightful, funny read, with a climax between Juliette and the guilty party that manages to become both harrowing and hilarious all at the same time.....not to mention the romance that slowly, surely (and cutely) makes its way to up to incendiary status. 4 stars for sure.   (****)

THE STORM.....THE ANSWERS, MY FRIENDS, ARE BLOWIN' IN THE WIND......(****)

 The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (2026)

     Get ready for more than just one Dark Stormy Night to kick off an equally dark stormy
plot.........prepare yourself for decades of hurricanes that perpetually blow ill winds into the little Gulf Coast town of St. Medard's Bay, Alabama. One of the worst of the storms leaves plenty of violent tragedy in its wake.......at least one of the victims, Landon Fitzroy, young scion of a powerful political dynasty, didn't die from storm related injuries. But Lo Bailey, the beautiful, lower-class local girl accused of his murder was never convicted of the crime, though evidence pointed to her as a jealous, spurned girlfriend.

     Years later, Geneva Corliss struggles to make ends meet as the owner-manager of the Rosalie Inn, renowned for weathering all the previous catastrophic storms that came barreling into St. Medard's. As she tries to keep the inn solvent enough to cover the care for her Alzheimer's afflicted mother, Geneva's summer guests include writer August Fletcher. He's working on a book about Lo Bailey's scandalous affair and subsequent murder trial..... and guess who's coming with him to provide authenticity to the project as well as clear her name - Lo Bailey herself, still a dynamic provocative force to be reckoned with. Emotions still run deep in the town when it comes to Lo, including those of Geneva's loyal assistant Edie, who doesn't appear as if she's......well, particularly high on Lo. And August, fueled with dreams of crafting a bestseller, seems bound and determined to probe every detail of what really happened to young Fitzroy on that eventful, storm tossed night.

     Need I describe more? Wouldn't dream of it. Because of course there's a host of long held, well kept secrets and plot twists that commence rolling in like the tide. Also rolling in, to nobody's surprise given the the town's location - the next whopper of a Category 5 Hurricane, relentlessly on a course to smash right into St. Medard's Bay and the Rosalie. And it's entirely possible that once again, someone might not make it through the storm.......but through no fault of the storm.

     'The Storm' does take its own sweet time to get past its initial set-up and all the required exposition and past histories, but once it gets going (and the winds start blowing), it efficiently moves toward its great big whammer of a finale along with a bittersweet satisfying little conclusion. But I'm pretty sure some readers will think twice before booking a stay at a beachside Gulf Coast inn during Hurricane season.....at least not without life-jackets

     4 stars (****).