THE SIMP: A NOVEL WITHOUT A HERO..........A STRIVING ACTOR FROM INDIA, SWIMMING WITH HOLLYWOOD SHARKS.....(****)

The Simp: A Novel Without A Hero by Roshan Sethi (2026) 

     Disturbing, cringe inducing, vicious and unforgiving in its satire.......and ultimately, a sad depressing commentary on its lead character and the shark infested waters of the toxic ocean he chose to swim in.

     But once I started "The Simp", I couldn't turn away from it. Readable to the max, the book felt like I'd spent time rubbernecking a horrendous one car traffic accident happening in slow motion.

     Flawed as he is, I felt compelled to follow the calamitous journey of struggling actor from India Raj Ladlani. Raj is but one of multitudes of aspiring (and perspiring) actors trying to break into L.A.'s film and TV industry......where actors have a better chance of hitting the PowerBall Lottery than snagging even a small role. Raj tries to persevere, knowing that if ever given the opportunity, he's capable of gifted work. And he's encouraged by Anthony, his beloved mentor and acting coach.

     With the goal of a flourishing acting career more likely out of his reach than ever, Raj takes on a different kind of performative work...... ..getting hired as an administrative assistant to a married Hollywood power couple, an impossible job that's a combination of secretary and indentured slave. Raj plays the role of a groveling, simpering, always solicitous toady so well that he actually annoys and confounds his employers. Film director Jim and his wife Anna,, both working on scripts, treat Raj with a mixture of entitled contempt alternating with surprising moments of friendship and dependency.

     But through all his time spent with Jim and Anna, Raj struggles to contain the simmering anger boiling within him and the urge to break away from the 'Simp' role he's playing in real life all to0 well. And when he finally does.......the chain reaction of events becomes nothing like anyone would expect.

     Author Roshan Sethi creates a truly one-of-a-kind character in Raj, whose efforts to become the hero of his own story keep you in a state of constant wincing on his behalf. The book's cleverly set in the early post-COVID years, with film industry's oncoming embrace of diversity and representation. The knowing, witty evisceration of Hollywood power players and the pampered bubble they live is brutal......(and given their behavior and the general quality of their creative output, well deserved..)

     Fascinating from beginning to end and not kidding about its declaration as 'a novel without a hero'. But I still couldn't stop reading to the very last bittersweet moment.

      4 stars (****).

PRETTY DEAD THINGS.....CONTESTANT BEAUTIES AND MOMS.....DEEP IN THE DARK HEART OF TEXAS.....(****).

 Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (2026)

     Nothing promises more nasty fun than a Heartland beauty pageant packed with past murderous secrets, overbearing pageant moms, teen contestant rivalries, an unsolved missing girl case, an oncoming dark 'n stormy night..........and dead bodies poppin' up here and there, just to make things interesting........

     Kelsey Cox delivers all of the above in "Pretty Dead Things"", so welcome to the Lone Star Princess Pageant of Anhalt Texas, where staying alive is the key to make it to the end of the show..

     It takes a chapter or two to sort out the moms and their contestant daughters. Pageant organizer and all around ruthless force-t0-be-reckoned with Kennedy Claire thinks daughter Sara Lynn is a shoo-in for the crown, just as Mom was 25 years ago. Melanie, still wounded from Kennedy Claire's adolescent Mean Girl bullying, has high hopes for her own daughter Hannah. Recovering alcoholic Cat worries that her daughter Olivia's chances (and life) are threatened by Kennedy Claire, The cutthroat KC wasn't above dirty tricks sabotage to assure her own win and now appears willing to do the same for Sara Lynn.

     Adding to this bubbling stew comes the return to town of Ingrid, whose beloved twin sister Isabelle was the girl who went missing just before that pageant of 25 years past. Ingrid always blamed Izzy's then boyfriend Ben, who was deeply suspected but never charged.......and wouldn't you know it.....he's back in town too, just as literal storm clouds gather around pageant night. As the saying goes......none of this stuff bodes well for anybody.

     As you could imagine, everything that transpires next makes for fast addictive reading. And for those of us who positively live for final chapters that uncork all manner of outrageous twists......you'll not go away disappointed. "Pretty Dead Things" continues the time honored tradition that no good beauty pageant should go unpunished.

     4 stars (****).

THORNBIRD......THE TOWN'S NEW GIRL KEEPS HER REAL NAME A DEEP, DARK SECRET.....(****).....

 Thornbird by E. Kennedy (2026)

     You can't help but being swept up in the story of this New-Girl-In-School YA thriller. Because no new girl in school ever faced as many disturbing challenges as Ryan Shipley. The first of them being that her real name's actually Gabrielle Thorn, the daughter of infamous serial killer Gabriel Thorn. Currently awaiting execution 10 years after his crimes, Thorn murdered and buried his female victims in as yet undiscovered locations. Little Gabrielle survived the slaughter but her mother did not. Taken in and cared for by her grandmother until the aged woman's passing, Gabrielle (now Ryan) must now move back to her original home town. to live with her aunt and uncle and teen cousins Jasmine and Connor.

     Living in the the little town of Starling under a pseudonym proves a necessity for Ryan. The murders. the mystery of the victims' remains and and impending execution of her father have stirred up a bonfire of anger among to the residents and a renewed mass media/social media feeding frenzy.. There's no telling what chaos and harassment might erupt around Ryan if her identity was revealed.

     But even as she struggles to keep her deepest secret, Ryan still finds her life upended in multiple ways. Anonymous messages threaten to expose her real name. To her increasing worry, her new school's star quarterback/golden boy has quite taken to her, a boy whose late mother was Gabriel Thorn's final victim. And the FBI now presses her to search her darkest childhood memories for any clues that could lead to the bodies of the murdered women and at last closure for their grieving families.

     Holy teen angst.....and you thought YOU had it tough in high school......

Author E. Kennedy keeps this book moving at a breakneck, one-day-read pace and as the dread and suspense pile up on Ryan, all manner of stunning twists and surprises reveal themselves, some of them unspeakably horrific and heartbreaking. 'Thornbird' definitely goes on my list of 'Top YA Page-turners' for this year. and that should sum up this review as best I can.

       4 stars (****).

WHISPER CREEK.....A FARM FAMILY BESIEGED BY MOTHER NATURE AND HUMAN VILLAINY.....ALL AT ONCE....(****)

 Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan (2026)

     Out in the farmlands of Texas, torrential rain is coming down in sheets. Roads flooded out, fields turned to swampy mud......and worse than that, there's a trio of thugs on the loose, serving as minions for the malignant land-grabbing town bigwig who plans to buy out properties he covets... ....or else. So before this storm-tossed night's over, there's bodily harm coming down on the farm......

     Now that's what I call a 4 star recipe for a page turning thriller that combines warm family drama with Mother Nature and human villainy both on the rampage during one terrible stormy night. Fasten your pickup truck seat belts, it's going to be one bumpy perilous ride, courtesy of author Alison Brennan.

     Ellen McKenna, widowed after the tragic accidental death of her husband, struggles to keep her farm afloat, with all four of her children pitching in, even the youngest. But ongoing storms have already left the land flooded and it looks like the worst one yet is well on its way.. Jake, her oldest, discovers a neighbor grievously wounded by gunfire and the perpetrators, just like the storm are just getting started, with the threat of more violence yet to come.

     The increasing suspense and danger only escalate from this point on and like every great thriller should, 'Whisper Creek' had me putting off all manner of everyday things, so I could keep turning the pages. What helps put the book in that category is author Brennan bringing to life the entire McKenna family with all their hopes, dreams, quirks, flaws and good old fashioned Texan gumption. You can't help but care for this brood as you fear for them. And the book surely doesn't spare the McKennas not even a little bit, throwing one traumatic life-threatening moment after another at them.

     Superb heartfelt storytelling moving to a thrill-a-minute pace. No wonder I stopped everything I was doing to finish this book.

     4 stars (****).

CHECKING YOU OUT.......BOOKS, BOOKSTORES, LIBRARIES, KITTENS, SECRET ROMANCING....AND EVEN MORE KITTENS....(****)

 Checking You Out by Jennifer Chen (2026)

     Enormous loads of cuteness to unpack here. Two lead characters overwhelmingly cute. And both of them lovers of a wildly best selling and yes, cute fantasy novel series. Both equipped with loving, loyal and, dare I say, cute friends. If that isn't enough sheer cuteness for you, how about dozens and dozens of fluffy, mischievous, insanely adorable and.....you guessed it, cute kittens.

     One last thing to pile on top of this Mt. Everest of cuteness. Libraries! Bookstores galore! And books, books.....and oh yes, more books.

     Is there anything unpleasant lurking in this Garden of bookish, kitten-ish, Eden? Indeed, there is, with our male lead Dylan a survivor of merciless bullying during middle school through high school. So much so that he's hidden away his love of reading and now presenting himself as distinctly un-literary, and interested mainly in his prowess as a tennis player.

     Dylan's secret life makes it doubly hard for him as he's crushing hard on book-aholic LIzzie, lifelong lover of the same fantasy series that Dylan adores. but still too shy to admit to publicly. And despite his supposed interest only in tennis, Lizzie's beginning to fall just as hard for Dylan as they work together in an animal shelter, bottle feeding and caring for countless litters of captivating kittens that come flooding into the shelter..

     In no time at all, this 'You've Got Mail' storyline turns into 'You've Got Books' with Dylan and Lizzie exchanging anonymous messages tucked away in library books, with each of them, of course, not knowing that the wonderful sweet book lovers they're communicating with are.......each other..

     The simplicity of the writing here would lead me to believe this book is pitched more for tweens but I couldn't help but feel charmed by author Jennifer Chen's enthusiasm and deep empathy for her characters. (Though I really do wish she'd consulted a thesaurus for synonyms for "cute", whose overuse gets tiresome awfully fast

     The lure of books, libraries, bookstores, kittens and secret romance sucked me in right away, but I realize that some readers may feel like they're munching on a jumbo State Fair cone of YA cotton candy. But then again, what's wrong with a book that wants nothing more than to make you and all the characters in it feel good together? In this day and age,I say you can't have enough of them. So there's my 4 stars and I'm stickin' to 'em.

       4 stars (****).

SELF HELP FOR SERIAL KILLERS.......FOR THIS MARRIED COUPLE, IT'S TOUGH BALANCING WORK 'N SLAY....(****).....

 Self-Help for Serial Killers by Asia Mackay (2026)

     Wonderful news to know that Hazel and Fox, that beautiful/handsome couple of "A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage" are back in action once again.......living their best lives while depriving a whole slew of better-off-dead guys of theirs. But the murderous misadventures of this deadly duo wouldn't be nearly as much fun as they are without author Asia Mackay to throw every variety of obstacles, complications and plot twists in their way.

     And trials and tribulations aplenty keep Hazel and Fox in a constant state of anxiety and suspicion of everyone around them. They're a family now, with irrepressible toddler Bibi and baby Reggie, .........so it's tough to balance their parental responsibilities with their private crusade to rid the world of assorted rapists, abusers and all around rotten men. Fox, deep in midlife crisis and loss of mojo, turns to therapy to navigate his crumbling self-confidence and fear that he's no longer a worthy husband and co-killer for Hazel.. Hazel, meanwhile, copes with the 24/7 demands of a newborn and a new powerful enemy she's made out of the formidable mother of one of Bibi's pre-school bullies.

     That's only the least of their troubles. Our favorite kill-happy couple have also run afoul of an international criminal organization who've sent out their dreaded expert top assassin, 'The Chameleon' for one last job before his retirement........and guess which married couple sits on the top of his hit list. As if that's not enough on their plates, there's also the relentless Interpol agent sniffing about, curious as to how dead bodies seem to pop up in Hazel and Fox's wake wherever they go.

     Author Mackay never forgets to leaven all this marital mayhem with generous portions of dark humor and wit sharper than one of Hazel's favorite knives. This couple's reversal-of-fortunes never cease, along with twists both surprising and wickedly ironic. . No matter how much our lovebirds plan to combine marriage and murder as a lifestyle go off the rails, you'll still want them to succeed........and hopefully continue the chaos in another series entry.  I, for one, can't wait.....

       4 stars (****).

SOMEONE ELSE'S HUSBAND.......FROM KILIMANJARO TO PARK AVENUE.....IT'S JUST MURDER OUT THERE......(****)

 Someone Else's Husband by Kimberly McCreight (2026)

     Among the uppercrusts of New York City, no picture perfect storybook marriage ends up more tangled in webs of adultery and murder accusations than that of Gretchen and Richard Falk. It turned out Gretchen's worries about her beloved husband joining his old college buddies to climb Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro were well founded. Because joining the otherwise all male expedition was beautiful New York artist Frankie Callahan, hopefully on the verge of critical acclaim and financial success with an upcoming gallery exhibition.

     The exhausting climb to that famous summit ends in tragedy for one of Richard's friends but also fosters a possible much-more-than-friendly bond between himself and Frankie. But then two weeks later, with the adventure's survivors all back in New York, Richard's charged with with Frankie's brutal murder,..... her body's missing but detectives find her apartment (and some of Richard's clothing) soaked in blood. A traumatized, horrified Gretchen and her three grown children try to cope with the very public spectacle of a loving husband and father accused of such a heinous crime.

     Author Kimberly McCreight certainly knows how to deepen the mystery and suspicions here. The book deftly unfolds multiple timelines exploring the emotions, twists and turns of Frankie and Richard's lives during that perilous ascension of Kilimanjaro. And there's clearly more than meets the eye going on in Gretchen's life as well during that pivotal two week period before Frankie's slaying at the hands of.........well, that's for us readers to find out, isn't it. And you most definitely won't want to stop turning the pages until you do, with no end of surprises in store.

     I love a thriller that manages to combine all those NYC entitled one-percenters (and their wayward kids) with a complex mystery and a serious, honest look at the complexities of love and marriage. This book easily checks off all those boxes. By all means put this one on your latest reading list.

     4 stars (****).