YESTERYEAR......SHE'S DOWN ON THE FARM......CENTURIES APART....(*****)

 Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (2026)

     What a brilliant, funny and deeply unsettling book this is. And a what a powerhouse introduction to this new author.

     Corrosive wit dipped in acid flows throughout this epically sardonic and all too American saga. Author Caro Claire Burke performs a genuine high wire act here, crafting a lead female character that you don't know whether to cheer on,, ridicule, hate with a passion or choke back a tear for.. And sometimes I felt like doing all of those things......all at once.

     Natalie Heller Mills seemingly marries well.....to the youngest son of a wealthy family political dynasty. But Caleb's the dimmest of bulbs, the most unsharpened tool in the shed, lacking intelligence, skills and no detectable ambition whatsoever. But through trial and error (and her father-in-law's money) Natalie creates a social media sensation as a "tradwife', supposedly living the life of a pioneer wife and mother on a supposed early 19th century Idaho farm.........with Caleb overplaying his role of her cowboy-farmer husband. But of course, it's all showbiz smoke-and-mirrors behind the scenes, generating millions of adoring, merch-buying fans and plenty of active haters as well.

     It's a charmed life for Natalie until she wakes up one morning to find herself transported to an actual 19 century Idaho farm, complete with a different set of children, a different version of her husband and none of the 21st century amenities she's used to and depends on. A nightmare? God's punishment? A colossal prank at her expense that's gone viral?

     I'll say only this......I'm still not sure I entirely swallow the staggering final section of this story, but I'm in total awe of how it's pulled off with the same deeply satirical skill and incisive writing that tugs on your emotions in ten different directions.

     No doubt about this.....it's one of the 5 star must-reads of the the year. (*****)

HOPE RISES......THE 'NASH FALLS' REBORN HERO MEETS HIS NEMESIS.....(*****)

 Hope Rises by David Baldacci (2026)

     The first book in this series, "Nash Falls" had me fully glued to it and "Hope Rises", its sequel is even better. It takes the perilous story of Walter Nash a.k.a. Dillon Hope into some fascinating twists and turns I never imagined or anticipated, with deeper characterization, more action and surprises.

     I would first highly recommend, for full enjoyment of 'Hope Rises you need to read 'Nash Falls' That book details everything it implies in its title..........the utter destruction of the life of FBI informant Walter Nash and the terrible price he pays for functioning as an undercover agent in the company he works for.

     Nash found himself in the crosshairs of ruthless international criminal Victoria Steers, who ordered the killing of his daughter and framed Nash for her murder. as well as other unspeakable crimes. Hunted and on the run, a friend of Nash's father helps him to physically transform himself into an all new identity......that of heavily muscled and expert bodyguard Dillon Hope.. The kind of formidable man who might very well get closer to that cold blooded villainess Steers.

     Dillon Hope does in fact move closer to Steers than he could imagine......functioning as her new bodyguard. And it's no easy job, given that those in Steers' orbit (including her mother) are every bit as ruthless and lethal as she is. Steers has no shortage of enemies and doesn't yet realize that the one who hates her most in the world, Hope, is now within easy killing distance of her..

     I would not dare to reveal the host of stunning complications and revelations that befall both Hope and Steers, taking this action-packed story into directions that challenge these characters like never before and raise the stakes ever higher.

     After reading the first book ,I had my own ideas as to where this story was going (all wrong, as it turned out) but the only thing I did expect was that David Baldacci would hit this one out of the park. And in 'Hope Rises' he doesn't disappoint.

     5 stars (*****).

THE SCOOP......A TABLOID TAKEDOWN EXECUTED WITH KNIFE-EDGED WIT.....(****).

 The Scoop by Erin Van Der Meer (2026)

     Fasten your seatbelts for this one......a book that takes a reader on a cringe-filled safari through the most vicious Heart-of-Darkness contemporary jungle imaginable......the absolute abyss of a tabloid website. It's where the moral compasses of journalists spin faster than helicopter blades in the pursuit of click-bait dirt. It's where misery, tragedy and celebrity collide and we just can't help ourselves if we stop in to munch on a few tasty McNuggets of bad news for the Rich and Famous among us.

     29 year old magazine writer Frankie Miller, unemployed and desperate to continue living her dream of a journalism career, sells her soul to 'The Scoop' an on-line tabloid ruthlessly overseen by its Editor-in-Chief David Brown. Newly installed as the 'The Scoop's night editor, Frankie at first tries holding on to what's left of her scruples but....fat chance. David's brutal tirades give her a boot camp schooling in the world of the take-no-prisoners tabloid meat grinder. that needs constant feeding.

     When a long forgotten pop singer's spotted in less than flattering photos, David targets her for non-stop humiliation, contrived scandal and around the clock paparazzi stalking. And Frankie, now enraptured with the nationwide and worldwide attention her bylines earn for her, succumbs and embraces her notorious success, even at the cost of losing her closest friends. But what happens when the repercussions of her choices finally come back to shake her to her core?

     I can only say that you do NOT want to miss Frankie's response and ultimate ironic fate. .

     Author Erin Van Der Meer not only eviscerates the tabloid world but takes a knowing, unflinching look at the challenges faced by ambitious, talented working women in a Patriarchal marketplace.. And I was amazed at how absorbed I became with Frankie's calamities given that her shifting morality renders her unlikable and the book spends a little too much time with her repetitious internal anxieties.

     There's real live wire energy in the storytelling here and a sense of cruel wit runs through the entire book. Not a pretty picture of the way we digest news these days, but you won't want to stop reading till Frankie (and author Van Der Meer) have the last word.

     4 stars (****).

THE PATRIOT'S DAUGHTER.....A BEAUTIFUL SPY UNRAVELS A DIRE RUSSIAN PLOT.....(***)

The Patriot's Daughter by Brittany Butler (2026) 

     I expected to shower unconditional love on this book because it contains the mixture of everything I crave in a contemporary espionage thriller.......American and Russian spies facing off with the fate of U.S. and the entire civilized world hanging in the balance......suspenseful stealing of top secrets....double agents, triple agents, maybe even quadruple agents, none of whom trust each other for a single second (nor should they.)

     Chases.....daring escapes......startling twists......bullet-riddled action a plot that corresponds to today's current events......and to top it all off, a fast boiling romance between Ava, our fearless lead CIA spy and Ben, a tradecraft-savvy battle hardened counterintelligence agent.

     The stakes and the danger levels couldn't be higher here. And I was fully enthralled with Ava's combing her save-the-world-as-we-know-it mission with her clandestine agenda to discover the secrets surrounding the betrayal and death of her mother, also a CIA agent.

     While I had an exciting time reading everything I've detailed above, the book's incredibly poor editing (or complete lack thereof) threatened to sabotage the novel even worse than what its Russian villains were trying to do to U.S. democracy..

     I grew increasingly frustrated with the gaping plot holes, continuity gaps, jarring transitions from one scene to another, a last minute introduction of a formidable villain who then disappears altogether and twists with no rational explanation to back them up.

     The overall effect was similar to watching a two hour movie thriller that looked like a half hour of footage was randomly chopped out of it, rendering parts of it senseless.

     If all these grievous errors in story construction and plotting had been addressed, I would've easily given "The Patriot's Daughter" 2 more stars than its getting now. And yet I wouldn't mind seeing Ava take on more global adventures, but only if there's huge improvements made from this first one.

      3 stars (***).

HARMLESS WOMEN.......THE ODDEST COUPLE EVER TO END UP ON THE RUN TOGETHER.....(****).....

 Harmless Women by Rebecca Sharpe (2026)

     By the time I finished this book, I felt like taking the same deep breaths as the two women lead characters. What a long long, exhausting, treacherous, perilous odyssey these girls embark on.......with the book re-inventing itself into some new unexpected genres right along with its characters.

     I can't say all of it was swift or fast paced, but by the halfway mark, I became engrossed and utterly enthralled with Avalon and Prim's frantic adventures, especially their suspense crammed finale that dabbles with elements of tragic horror.

     The opening promises sort of a nasty, smooth criminal thriller. Avalon, master of disguises, cons and thievery has just left her latest victim Primrose drugged, physically made over and with her considerable bank account cleaned out. What Avalon didn't count on - Prim's husband already dead on the floor and Prim ending up on the run with Avalon, both fugitives from justice together.

     Sociopathic loner Avalon and sympathetic emotional Prim actively despise each other as they go on an endless hike through the English countryside, in hopes of reaching the coast....and boats. But disturbing, heart wrenching reversals-of-fortune along the way forever change the two women in ways both they (and we readers) could never imagine.

     Avalon and Prim's points-of=view are at times interrupted by the seemingly unrelated story of Bianca. She's a tragic, middle aged widow, her mind coming undone by haunted memories of an abusive husband and a beloved adult daughter who fled the house, not to be seen again. Even when these stories inevitably collide, I'd credit author Rebecca Sharpe with still managing to make it all fresh, startling.......and compulsively page turning.

     It took patience for me to stay with this book as it would slowly execute its plot lurches and character arcs from one trope to the next. But eventually it drew me fully into Prim and Avalon's tortuous trek, their small triumphs, their physical and emotional agonies and unnerving encounters with people who cross their path......where everyone's a potential threat.
    
     Since,, "Harmless Women" did finally capture me in full "I gotta know what happens next" fury, I'd decided to round up my 3.5 rating to a full 4 stars. A long but ultimately rewarding and entertaining read....perfect material for one of those 10 episode streaming series.

     4 stars (****).

THE ESCAPE GAME.....WHERE ELIMINATION TIME IS A REAL KILLER......(****)

 The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss (2026)

     Enormous fun to be had here for fans of murder mysteries, puzzle solving, code cracking and that surefire winner......smart endearing teens up against a slew of obnoxious, criminal adults.

     Not to mention my personal favorite as someone who grows nauseous at the thought spending even 10 seconds watching reality TV, the depiction of Reality TV show producers and assorted staff as loathsome, creepy and overall moronic individuals. Put that in a book and you had me at hello......

     "The Escape Game's previous season finished up with one of its teen contestants, Alicia Angelos, murdered and found in a coffin. You'd think that would be enough for cancellation, but in a pop culture universe where high ratings and click-bait rule, the show must go on. Not only go on, but include one of last season's contestants, the victim's sister Sierra. The laser-focused, goth-outfitted Sierra, temper always at a full boil, was accused but never charged with her sister's murder; And now she'll settle for no less that winning the game and hunting down the real killer.

     So the game's afoot, Sierra leads four teammates (handsome, bookish Adi, influencer Carter, game master Beck). They're up against similar hotly competitive teams in solving their way out of a series of Escape Room challenges, each room with its own theme and densely packed with clues and codes to break..

     While I realize that for a lot of readers, the puzzle and clue solving sequences will sound like heaven on earth, those parts of the book held the least amount of interest to me. What I did love and enjoy was the time and attention authors Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss spent to bring all these characters to life and make me care for them, root for them and fear for them when they're courting danger. I was really taken with Carter Kelly ("Kick It Carter"), a shy introverted girl employing, like the Wizard of Oz, a manic pixie exaggerated animated avatar as her public persona.

     And given my low opinion of reality shows and those who produce and create them, the miserable collection of cynical, devious corrupt and altogether odious people in charge of the game here fulfilled all my worst expectation.......(with the exception of 'Fitzy' the show's bubbly, live wire young Australian M.C., who's not much older than the contestants.)

     Along with those incredibly challenging Escape rooms, Sierra and her Scooby gang must also plow through all the hidden secrets, twists and reveals that will lead them to unmask the murderer of Sierra's sister. And I can only tell you that their climactic showdown throwdown is everything you'd expect of it......thrilling, threatening, action-packed, surprising and even, at times, weirdly funny.

     Even if I'm no great fan of puzzles, this bunch I had a good time hanging out with, and wouldn't mind seeing them all re-assemble for further adventures.

     4 stars (****).

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 (****).