Book Reviews-The Not So Good

Today marks two months into 2025, and like many of you I am looking back at some of the thoughts I had about making a few changes in the new year.  I don't make resolutions, strictly speaking, but I do reflect on the year past and set my sights on what I hope to accomplish in the upcoming months.  Emphasis on "hope".  One of those objectives was to clear some of the old books from my "TBR" List.  My intention was to read a book or two each month and begin to carve away some oldies, but goodies I hoped.  

February should have been a banner month for me, I read three books from my back-back list.  Joan Hall Hovey's Nowhere to Hide, Anna Willett's Lost to the Lake, and Ric Wasley's Shadow of Innocence.  All three seemed right up my alley!  A psychological thriller, a crime thriller, and one in a detective series.  What more could I ask for?  Well, maybe a piece of historical fiction-one of my other loves.  Although these three seemed to be written to my taste and had been in a coma on my list for several years, I must admit that not a single one tempted my reading taste buds. A true disappointment!  

                                   

From Hovey's Nowhere to Hide: 

"Rage at her younger sister's brutal murder has nearly consumed Ellen Morgan. So when her work as a psychologist wins her an appearance on the evening news, Ellen seizes the moment. Staring straight into the camera, she challenges the killer to come out of hiding: "Why don't you come after me? I'll be waiting for you." Phone calls flood the station, but all leads go nowhere. The police investigation seems doomed to failure. Then it happens: a note, written in red ink, slipped under the windshield wipers of her car. 'YOU'RE IT.' Ellen has stirred the monster in his lair . . . and the hunter has become the hunted.:

Of the three, Nowhere to Hide was easily my favorite.  A great female lead character that goes rogue in a successful attempt to draw out her sister's killer, a serial killer. This book seemed primed to be something more unique (the victim being a singer and talent on the brink of "making it"), but ended up more of the same in this genre.  It read like a "B" movie to me.  A solid three to four stars on Goodreads, but a disappointing three for me.  

Anna Willett's Lost to the Lake:

"Following a home invasion, a woman begins to wonder if her perfect life is a lie.  Beth Jacobsen wakes up in the middle of the night to a home break-in and is held at knife point.  Her faithful dog is injured when trying to fend off her attackers. Not so heroic is her husband, Marty, who seems to freeze and resign to whatever fate awaits her.  Although they fight off the intruders, things are just about to get a whole lot worse. Marty makes a revelation that means they can’t go to the police. Rather they’ll head, with a new set of troubles, to secluded White Mist Lake Retreat. Yet instead of finding tranquility and a chance to heal there, Beth will be forced to confront a sickening truth and the danger following in its wake."

Lost to the Lake was a big loss for me.  I found a winding miasma of who did what and why, and just when I thought I had it figured out it took another unlikely and completely nonsensical turn.  I simply could not get behind Beth, the main character in this book.  I don't have much empathy or feelings of relatability for people who can't make a decision and follow through.  Such was Beth!  Again, not what I'd hoped for, but many others seemed to enjoy Lost to the Lake.  Maybe you will too.

Ric Wasley's Shadow of Innocence:

"The Newport Folk Festival provides a groovy backdrop for this drug-and-sixties-music-soaked mystery, featuring partners in love and danger, Mick and Bridget, hopping on their motorcycles and into action. As the family of detectives quip, banter, and swing into action, posh Newport is threatened by a perverse, shadowy secret. Mick and Bridget's exuberance and optimism manage to glimmer through even the darkest of perils, as they delve into a seamy world of drugs and sex, and are forced to match wits with both the mob and a shadowy psychopathic killer."

Shadow of Innocence was, for me, the least enjoyable and most difficult to read.  The plethora of characters, their relatives, military buddies and mobsters were very hard to keep separate making for a rough story to follow.  Furthermore, this book needed some additional editing and proofing.  The shifting back and forth between action and characters in the same chapter made for a rocky reading experience.  At best, a two star rating from me.

What it boils down to is that books are a little like food.  What one person loves and would eat every day, is sometimes the last thing another would choose for their meal.  While these three books might not make it onto a menu of my favorites, they may yours. I believe that's one of the wonderful things about reading-there is a book for everyone and every season of their life.   

"I think books are like people, in that they'll turn up in your life when you most need them."📚

-Emma Thompson