TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES...A FATAL ACCIDENT HAUNTS AND TORMENTS ITS SURVIVORS (*****)

 Twenty Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate (2024)

       Even though these four terribly damaged souls aren't people I'd ever want to hang out with, their stories and fates gripped me for the entire length of this book.

        The story unfolds through the POVs of Dean, Becca, June and her brother Wyatt. While high school seniors, their futures all ahead of them, a tragic accident upends their lives, and thwarts their dreams, leaving some of them keepers of dark secrets.

         Grant, a high school golden boy football star drove home from a fateful drunken party with his sister Phoebe, an equally admired scholastic overachiever. In the backseat of his truck sat Becca, whose passionate love of Dean, if revealed would enrage the all-controlling Phoebe. A fatal swerve of the truck on a dangerous bridge kills Phoebe, severely injures Becca. and cripples Dean, After ten years, he's still forever suspected for the mysterious 27 minutes it took him to finally call for an ambulance.

 
       Also deeply affected by the accident were the painfully introverted June and her beloved brother Wyatt, a notorious town bad boy who apparently fled their small town that very night.

      Ten years later, Dean, Becca, June and Wyatt's already shattered lives careen toward a planned memorial for the late lamented Phoebe, whom the town adored as their shining star and role model. And right on time, author Ashley Tate lets loose with everything you'd ever want in a thriller like this...... gut punching revelations combined with a double-beef whopper of a twist.

        Without a doubt, I found "Twenty Seven Minutes" as one of those can't-stop-reading, up-all-nighters that just won't let you go until every last secret gets laid bare. 5 stars (*****)  (But you'll never want an invite to these characters' high school reunion parties.....they might ask all attendees to check their emotional baggage at the door....

ILIUM....A YOUNG NOVICE AMID THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF SPYMASTERS....(*****)

Ilium by Lea Carpenter (2024) 

     This is very much a deeply perceptive character driven thriller and far far away from the high octane adventures of Jason Bourne or James Bond.

     "Ilium" resides more in that morally vague, treacherous world of John le Carre espionage. It's like a deceiving hall of warped funhouse mirrors where worldly-wise, duplicitous jaded spies think nothing of using their 'assets' as emotional bait as means to justify their ends. And their clandestine wars with each other seem last forever, an endless cycle of missions and the revenge they generate.

     Plunged into this world is the unnamed young English girl who serves as the book's narrator and anchor. She's been wooed and married by Marcus, over 30 years her senior and something of an 'international man of mystery'.........also an apt description of Marcus's lifelong best friend. Raja.
Marcus's young wife is persuaded to ingratiate herself into the family of the equally mysterious wealthy Edouard. She's merely to observe but it's clear that in some way, Edouard's in the crosshairs of those veteran spymasters, Marcus and Raja.

       At the reclusive family's scenic compound at Cap Ferret on the coast of France, our young fledgling spy at first embraces her adventurous and potentially dangerous new life. But while she forms a loving bond with Edouard's young son Felix, twists and surprises begin to reveal themselves.....and there's an inevitable but still shocking conclusion coming toward her..... with all the brutal ironies that come with spies devoting their lives to their 'tradecraft'.

       "Ilium" functions as a literary fiction thriller, so this is not a book for readers who crave perpetual shootouts and hairbreadth escapes. But its total immersion into character development kept me glued to the story from beginning to end. Every person here holds their own secrets, backstories and motives that propels the action and makes the finale all the more powerful.

        It's been some time since I've read this particular type of thriller, wary of confusing plots and excess verbiage. But author Lea Carpenter perfectly combines the drama and mystery as her prose peels off the unseen layers to her characters. Overall an expert voyage through le Carre territory. Well done in every way.....so put on your trench coats, brush up on your secret passwords and slide into a world where nobody's to be trusted.....and nobody's quite who they say they are....5 stars (*****)

ARYA KHANNA'S BOLLYWOOD MOMENT.......A WEDDING YOU CAN DANCE TO....(*****).

Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment by Arushi Avachat (2024)

      Pure fun all the way through. These days, you can never have enough books that keep you smiling and entertained from first page to last and this one surely fits that description.

      Just about every single YA rom-com essential gets thrown into the mix here. High school seniors sweating out their college applications while on the verge of preparing for their next big life journey.......an adorable competitive rivals-to-friends matchup that's been in the works since middle school......a unshakable trio of best friends gone hurtfully askew.......siblings troubled with a history of misunderstanding and unspoken resentment......

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      As if that isn't enough for you, on top of all that (and actually best of all)......an upcoming full fledged Bollywood wedding, with multiple events leading to the ceremony, endless food delicacies, gorgeous clothing and that spectacular music and dancing guaranteed to lift anyone with a pulse off their chairs and on their feet.

       All of the above things keep swirling about Arya Khanna as she navigates her way through each one.....the thaw in her rivalry with arch-nemesis (but not for long) Dean, repairing the friendship-gone-asunder with BFFs Lisa and Andy, and coming to terms with big sister Alina, the upcoming Bollywood bride whose independent career as an artist provoked a deep family rift.

      I don't know how she did it, but author Arushi Avachat somehow keeps all of these situations in the air at the same time, making for a busy story handled with humor, sweetly tender romance, high emotion.......and that impossibly infectious Bollywood playlist (which you'll want to sample either while reading the book or right after.)

     Never been easier to rate a book 5 stars.(*****) .....so free free to start reading and dancing any time.....

DUNGEONS AND DRAMA.....GAMERS, THEATER KIDS, AND A SWEET ROMANCE (*****)

Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce (2024)

     As a lifelong theater buff, fantasy game-movie-book-buff, and hopeless romantic, this book had me at hello on multiple levels.

     Pure sweet fun all the way with every imaginable YA trope thrown in ..........the joys, and agonies of staging a high school musical, the heartaches of a child of divorce, a grounding punishment into an unlikely job, enemies-to-friends-to-much-more, and of course, a fake dating scenario that inevitably backfires on its participants.

     Riley's the theater kid with directing dreams forced to work for her estranged, divorced dad, in his store devoted to games like Dungeons and Dragons Not only is she thrust into a game culture she knows nothing of, Nathan, the store's invaluable number one employee immediately rubs her the wrong way. She's also hurting from her breakup with her one time school musical leading man Paul, and even more shaken by the school board cancelling any more musicals due to budgetary concerns.

    Her life turns into whirlwind as she attempts to organize students into a mini-musical presentation to impress the board to rescind their decision. On top of that daunting task, she and Nathan fall into a fake dating scheme - for Riley to aggravate Paul who doesn't believe she has a real new boyfriend and for Nathan to generate attention from Sophie, a beautiful girl he's been crushing on. Yes, we know all too well how fake dating ends up, but it's the journey to the end that counts. Since we're rooting like crazy for Riley and Nathan, their stumbling, passive-aggressive and constantly conflicted road to romance becomes all the more endearing.

     All these disparate plot elements (plus Riley's growing re-connection with her dad) come together.....as the theater kids and the D & D crowd (who realize they both share a love of high drama) all come together. No surprises whatsoever, but none needed, since reading 'Dungeons And Drama' is like setting down for an evening spent with good friends and bowls filled with your favorite snack. And that makes for a 5 star experience any time. (*****)  For everyone who wistfully wishes their own high school days were like this......

THE HEIRESS.....A TOXIC DYNASTY BRIMMING WITH TWISTED DARK SECRETS (*****)

 The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins (2024)

     There's nothing I cherish more than a twisty gothic-like book that delivers so many startling twists, you lose count of them while your head's spinning trying to take them all in.

     "The Heiress" had me shaking my head in admiration at the sheer avalanche of revelations piled up before I reached the last page.

     You may think that you've read about every forbidding, mysterious vast estate populated with strange families holding on to dark secrets. But nothing compares to North Carolina's Ashby House, amid the Appalachian mountains. It's home to the McTavish family, a filthy rich collection of vipers whose infinite wealth allows them to cruelly, carelessly rule the area like the Romanovs of Russia. And for sheer dread, their mansion makes Daphne du Maurier's Manderley look like a Motel 6.

     Camden, the family's young heir, fled as far from these reptiles as he could, now living a simple paycheck-to-paycheck existence with his beautiful wife Jules. But when he's summoned back to Ashby House, Jules, entranced with the glamour of living there, convinces Camden to reluctantly return to return to his home - a place where, as an adopted child, he suffered insults and abuse from the McTavish blood relatives.

     So back they go to the place steeped in the memory of Camden's legendary, notorious late mother Ruby McTavish. She first achieved early fame as a toddler rescued from a kidnapping and then later as a four time widow whose husbands all died under suspicious circumstances. At Ashby House, Cam and Jules endure withering contempt from Cam's elderly aunt and two cousins, the surviving McTavishes who permanently reside there.

     From this point on "The Heiress" becomes a breathless ride through its staggering amount of twists and reveals,, almost guaranteed to keep a reader's mouth wide open in surprise right up to the finale. And by no means will you hear about any of them in this review......just dive into the book yourself and enjoy.

     Highly recommended for anyone who craves a 5 star, quickly paced tour of a rotten-to-the-core family riddled with enough ominous backstory to fuel 10 soap operas. And who can resist that? 5 stars (*****)  For warped family values, here's a must read.

THE EXPECTANT DETECTIVES.....A SMALL VILLAGE MYSTERY PREGNANT WITH POSSIBILITIES.....(*****)

 The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes (2024)

     I couldn't stop laughing and smiling through the entirety of this book. It's so filled with priceless lines and laugh out loud moments, I thought it almost functioned as a spoofy sendup of cozy mysteries.

       The mystery at the heart of it, however, is deadly serious. Murder's afoot in the scenic, woodsy British countryside. And four women take it upon themselves to become amateur detectives. Not just any amateur crime solvers .......but four very pregnant women whose prenatal class on the second floor of a town shop was rudely interrupted by the murder of the shop's owner downstairs. And all of this occurring just as one of the women went into labor right there in the class

          There's our narrator, newly moved in Alice, attempting to adjust to rural life with husband Joe and their rambunctious dog Helen. . And Poppy, whose partner Lin has become a prime suspect. Making it a quartet - Ailsa, a hot tempered young activist (with the baby's dad nowhere in sight) and Hen, the master of withering wit who delivered her daughter while the dead body popped up only one floor below her.

          The four manage to dig up no end of clues, evidence, suspects and deep dark secrets swirling around a back-to-nature commune nestled in the woods. But they accomplish all this while exasperating Jane, the area's police detective who's as constantly irate as her estranged younger sister Ailsa.

          Through Alice's eyes, the book navigates its way to the uncovered secrets and shocking reveals, along with non-stop funny observations about attempting to track down a murderer while nine months pregnant. There's literally enough material here to fuel twenty hours of stand-up comedy.

         Pure fun from beginning to end and one of the most entertaining 5 star reads I've come across this year. For anyone who loves a good mystery liberally peppered with laughs, look no further. 5 stars (*****)....it most definitely....uh....delivers.

ON THE GOOD GUYS.....THE CONVERSATION STARTER OF THE YEAR...

        

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall (2024)

       This much I can say with no hesitation. For generating lively and possibly heated discussion among readers, there may be no better Book Club selection than "One Of The Good Guys".

         While it's structured as a thriller (and does a more than effective job of it), the book has a lot more on its mind than just making you go "oh wow!" at its twists. This book ignites a fully armed guided missile aimed at a patriarchal culture that keeps women living in fear of violence.

         We see the agenda through the points-of-view of its three major characters. Cole considers himself as an enlightened, liberal "good guy" in his experiences with women. Emotionally bruised from a bitter divorce from his wife Mel, he's taken a park ranger job amid a coastal landscape with a forbidding dangerous cliff. He kindles a potential relationship with Leonora, an artist who's taken residence in a cottage by that cliff. But in doing his job to keep people from tumbling off the cliff's edge, he ends up with an angry, unfortunate encounter with two young women. And they happen to be well known activist-vloggers taking a marathon hike to highlight violence against women.....and their recorded incident with Cole goes viral.

        When Mel and Leonora take over with their own separate narratives, we then get an entirely different portrait of Cole than the one he described for himself. And it's unsettling and at times, downright disturbing, much of it coming from Cole's insistence that Mel endure the grueling IVF procedures to help them conceive a child. He may think of himself as 'one of the good guys' but his overall entitled clueless behavior speaks otherwise.

         Then it's no wonder that when those two woman activists go missing after their encounter with Cole, he becomes a prime suspect.......and sets off a social media firestorm of podcasts and twitter comments.

         But here's where book throws a live grenade into the proceedings with its whopper of a twist. Depending on your point of view, a reader can either feel a long overdue satisfaction or drop their jaws appalled at a twist that so pollutes the book's central issue, it leaves an ugly stain over the entire storyline. Or as one of the social media characters perfectly puts it, "I wouldn't want to have tea with any of them...." I'm not afraid to admit I lean a little toward the latter reaction, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall for those Book Club discussions ...(especially any attended by both men and women...)

        One thing undeniable though.....however it strikes you, "One Of the Good Guys" is a compelling read from start to finish......and with its subject matter in constant current events, it's probably one of best conversation starters of the year....making it not to be missed.  3 stars (***)

THAT'S NOT MY NAME.....TWO MISSING GIRL MYSTERIES ON A COLLISION COURSE...(*****)

 That's Not My Name by Megan Lally (2024)

            Everything you'd ever want in a suspense thriller is jammed into this whirlwind read. A character placed in ever increasing, excruciating jeopardy, a wrongly accused boy racing to rescue his missing girlfriend, for which the sheriff and entire town holds him responsible. And urgent parallel storylines that compel you to feverishly zip through the pages at record speed until (as you knew they would) converge into a breathless finale.

             Not to mention a gasp out loud twist on top of everything else piled in here.

              I'm wary of going into plot details, because it's best to plunge into a book like this with only a slight glimpse of its basic set-up. First, a teen is girl found injured and unconscious in a roadside ditch, then stricken with amnesia when she awakens. Her distraught father rushes to her side, equipped with valid, conclusive proof she is in fact his daughter Mary. In a nearby town, tormented teen Drew had inexplicably let his girlfriend Lola walk home on a remote road. So it stands to reason that her disappearance now renders him a prime suspect and town pariah.

             All that's left for me to say......the suspense generated as these two separate stories race to collide dials up to unbearable levels. And I'd advise that no one start reading it in the evening unless they plan to stay up the rest of the night to finish it. And that's what I'd call a description of a 5 star thriller to go way high on your TBR list.  (*****)  Fine way to start the new year with some thrills 'n chills.......