Tag Archives: fiction

Tough Luck, by Sandra Dallas****

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Tough Luck, a novel by Sandra Dallas, is the story of two almost-orphans, Haidie and her younger brother, Boots, that set out on a journey from Oklahoma to Colorado in search of their father. He’d left to find work some four years prior, planning to either send for them, along with their mother and older brother, Cheet; but Ma has died, and Cheet—the scoundrel—sells the farm, dumps his siblings in an orphanage, and takes off with the money. After escaping the orphanage, which is grim and abusive, Haidie is determined that she and her younger brother will make their way to Colorado and find their father.

My thanks go to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the invitation to read and review. I’m over a full year late in doing so, a fact I’m not proud of, but despite my lateness, I have enjoyed this read, and I believe others that enjoy quality historical fiction will enjoy it as well.

Any author that writes historical fiction in the first person with a child as the protagonist has their work cut out for them. The ones that earn my scorn are those that make their main character so precocious that they speak as if they were an adult. This is, of course, complete nonsense, since brilliant children are still children; I am delighted to say that Dallas doesn’t use this cheap, ineffective device. Haidie is a bright child and most of her decisions are good ones, but she’s no Einstein, and she doesn’t talk like one. Having brother Boots along is important because it provides an opportunity for dialogue.

I do love American history, and so I am also waiting for Dallas to play fast and loose with historical fact. Instead, she is dead accurate, and despite the tall job she’s given herself, sending a couple of children across the plains and into the Rockies without an adult escort in the time before there were highways or readily available maps to follow, she nevertheless makes the story credible. I believe Haidie completely, and I believe the various villains and thieves, as well as the more decent people that she runs across during her journey. The settings are well rendered, too.

Because I fell behind in my reading, I checked out the audio book at my local library. Narrator Mia Hutchinson-Shaw does a fine job in bringing these characters to life.

This is an entertaining read, despite the sorrow and deprivation with which it begins, and I recommend it to those that love the genre.

Sunrise, by Tea Obreht*****

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Sunrise is just the sort of bizarre yet brilliant novel I’ve come to expect from author Tea Obreht. My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.

Our protagonist is Nina, a nanny on vacation with her boyfriend, Ben. Ben was the pilot of the plane flying over the Northern Rockies; Nina bailed, and Ben is nowhere in evidence. She’s landed in a river, and is remarkably free of major injuries, but she’s cold, scared, and alone. There’s no search and rescue within hearing or sight, so she knows it’s up to her to reach help.

Friends, it’s gonna take a long time.

The book is divided into 5 sections. The first is described above; the next three feature earlier residents of Sunrise, the ghost town Nina eventually reaches; and the last circles back to Nina. The sections are tied together at the end, but not in the way any other author would do it.

The first section feels tedious at times, limited as it is to Nina’s internal monologue. She walks, she rests, and she spends a good deal of time deciding whether she’s hungry enough to allow herself one of the handful of protein bars she possesses. How many days is this going to take? She has no idea. As Nina trudges, she ruminates, and in doing so, we gain more knowledge of her past and her relationship with Ben. Had this been any other author, I might have abandoned the whole thing; reader, I am very glad that I persevered, because the last ten percent of this book makes it completely worth it!

This is the third of this author’s books that I’ve read. The first was Inland, which remains one of my favorite galleys to date. The second, The Morningside, is not as powerful as the other two, including this one, but it’s still well worth reading. Sunrise, however, is the first one that’s made me stand up and cheer.

Those that have the patience for unconventional plots, and that appreciate a protagonist that’s full of surprises and badass feminist moxie, will have a hard time finding a more satisfying novel. Highly recommended!

The Secret Dinner, by Raphael Montes****

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Translated from Portuguese by Zoe Perry

The Secret Dinner, by Brazilian author Raphael Montes, has become an international sensation, and once a friend mentioned it, I had to read it. My thanks go to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the review copy; this book is for sale now.

Our story begins with four main characters. Dante, a student, is the protagonist; it is he that provides the first-person narrative. Then there are his three roommates, all close friends since childhood. Hugo is a chef; Miguel is a hospital intern; and Piglet is a mess, an agoraphobic computer whiz who mostly stays in his room, eating junk food as he invents programs and plays video games. Dante’s family has provided the seed money to get them all into this lovely apartment in the city, but now they all have rent to pay. It’s not easy, but they do it…until they are threatened with eviction for nonpayment. Wait, what? Yes. The roomie in charge of paying the rent has been squandering everyone’s money on a sex worker!

Now they’re in trouble.

Finally, they hatch a plan: they will serve incredible gourmet meals to a select group of extremely wealthy clients. Exclusivity will be the main draw. They use the name “Seagull Meat,” but that’s just a witticism. Seagulls are not what they are serving! They plan to do it only a couple of times, till they raise the rent and the back rent, but they meet with such success, and oh, so much money, that they continue, even once they no longer have to.

I read an eclectic combination of genres, and every now and then, I read a horror novel or an unusually visceral murder mystery. I don’t have the stomach for a lot of it, but I like the occasional dabble.

This story, my friends, is no dabble!

I don’t want to go into a lot of detail here, because the whole thing is better when the element of surprise is honored. However, the gruesome details, which start out humorous, increase and at about the 65% mark, I found I couldn’t take it, so I skipped to the 85% mark, then skimmed until I reached the 90% mark, where I commenced reading the rest. I initially recorded this book as “did not finish,” but I changed it to “read,” since I did in fact read the beginning, end, and most of what is in between. And the ending. The ending!! The ending. The ending is epic, and once again, it’s funny as hell.

Recommended for readers that aren’t squeamish; don’t read the promotional blurb till you’ve read the book.  

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8702257026

Country People, by Daniel Mason*****

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Author Daniel Mason is on a roll. He’s won nearly every possible literary award and accolade; my first encounter with his writing was with his last book, North Woods, which is complex, brilliantly crafted, and droll. But I may have had even more fun reading his latest novel, Country People, which is less intricate, easier to read, and even funnier than the last.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

The story opens with several well-chosen quotes, and the main narrative begins like a fairy tale. We have the wife, the husband, a son and a daughter. We also have the dog; we are told its name, Giuseppe, before we see anyone else’s. And although the wife is mentioned first—perhaps because she is the breadwinner—the protagonist here is actually Miles, the husband.

Miles is in a rut. He’s been working on his dissertation for fourteen years, although “working” is a euphemism for uh, not. He is easily distracted; he has no real idea what he wants to write about. And because he is the house husband, it is his job to look after the children, who are distractions unto themselves. So, while everyone is told that Miles is working on it, Miles isn’t. He is frustrated by his own lack of progress, and feels more and more dwarfed by his wife, a full professor with many admirers. And because of her admirable achievements, they are currently in the car, leaving California headed to Vermont, where she has been offered a one year visiting professorship.

And so our story is of the family’s experiences in Vermont, and their introduction to New England weather and smalltown life. In the hands of a less capable author, this might be a blah story, but luckily for us, it’s Mason’s story, and it’s massively entertaining!

They learn to ski, sort of. And while Kate is caught up in her professional obligations, Miles meets the more eccentric townsfolk and is invited to join their secret organization. As things progress, Miles has the occasional second thought about his new friends:

“It was all very mysterious, and to be honest, even a little sinister. One didn’t have to be getting a Ph.D. in literature to recognize the outlines of the story: the innocent city person, on what sems to be an innocuous foray among simple country people, happens upon a dark conspiracy, with predictably horrific consequences. We’ve read the book, we’ve seen the movie. If the hero escapes, it is only after some gory climax, stumbling out into the night to stare, blood-bespattered, into the high beams of the state police. Not for me! thought Miles.”

That’s a small sample. You’ll have to get the book to experience the rest. As for me, I had a fine time reading it, and was wistful when it ended. Highly recommended.

You’ll Love it Here, by Natalie Sue****

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You’ll Love it Here is a wry, strangely intimate novel by Canadian author Natalie Sue. My thanks go to NetGalley and William Morrow for the review copy. This book will be available to the public August 11, 2026.

Mona is a workaholic. She has no private life; she has no time for one. She’s putting in an intolerable number of hours every week to build herself a strong position in the firm that employs her; she also needs the money. She’s earning money for herself, but also to pay off her mother’s debts. Is it any wonder, then, that her only friends are her work buddies?

Meanwhile, she’s living in an older building gone slightly to seed, and she dislikes it so much that she refuses to add any personal touches. No pictures on the wall; no cute curtains. After all, her main goal is to get out of here and into somewhere more impressive. And maybe that’s why she has never bothered to learn her neighbors’ names. Instead, she identifies them by their habits, and by her own impressions of them. So while she knows no one’s name except that of the owner, she does know them as Fighting Couple, Old White Perve, Weird Girl Beside Me, etc.

Then one day, the unthinkable happens. Mona snaps during a meeting with her most important client. She thinks something unforgivably snarky, then realizes she’s said it out loud. There’s no walking it back, either. Her boss kindly suggests she take six weeks of bereavement leave, as her father has recently died. She’d prefer not to, but it’s not actually a suggestion, it’s an order. And so Mona is spinning her wheels a little, crazed from the lack of work and routine, when she is offered a chance to do some work for the landlord in return for a better apartment in a better building. Sweet! Say no more; Mona is in.

I’m not telling you where it goes from there, only that it’s captivating. Sometimes I find myself reading a galley from duty, but this book is sheer pleasure. In fact, had it not been for a technical distraction (editor? Hello?) I would have rated this book five stars.

If you need a light but absorbing feel good book, then look no further. This is a great story to take on vacation, or even just bury yourself in over the course of a weekend. You’ll come out happier at the end.

Don’t Cross Mo Ellery, by Birdie Horne**-***

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Don’t Cross Mo Ellery is a wacky girl detective novel by Birdie Horne, which is a pen name used by co-writers Eden Robins and MW Garguilo. Mo is a twenty-something hot mess. The story opens with her simultaneously getting dumped by her better-off boyfriend of ten years and getting fired from her job. It’s loaded with cringe humor and appears to be a new series entering the general lane of Stephanie Plum and Finlay Donovan, only not as good.  Nevertheless, I thank NetGalley and William Morrow for the invitation to read and review. This book will be available to the public August 11, 2026.

The book starts with sex, ends with sex, and has sex in the middle. There’s awkward sex, hot sex, and interrupted sex, with a fair amount of crossover between these types and between genders. Oh, there’s also sex with just one person. I’m not using the word for this. There are some that will enjoy it, or at least find it funny, but it leaves me with a mild headache from rolling my eyes so often.

The premise here is that Mo gets a job as a crossing guard because that’s all she can find. In the course of her duties, she is harassed by a difficult driver who then dies behind the wheel while she’s on the job. In order to find out who killed him, she teams up with an insistent older neighbor and a (precocious, of course, of course, of course) elementary school student, which she doesn’t realize is illegal and unprincipled until midway through. I believe none of these characters even slightly.

It’s possible that I am in the wrong demographic for this book. My memory harks back to the early female detective series that were well written and empowering. At a time when young women needed to hear that they could do anything, including occupying traditionally male occupations, these were a balm. Mo Ellery, on the other hand, can’t find her butt with both hands.

There are poodles in this thing, and they are the characters that I enjoy.

The narrator is Cia Court, who does as good a job as is probably possible.

So there you are. If you still want this thing, you can pre-order it; as for me, I’m out.

God’s Country, by William Kent Krueger*****

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“In the myth of Windigo, there is only one way to kill the creature. A man has to become a Windigo himself.  His heart has to turn to ice. The danger is in the possibility of that man remaining a Windigo forever. What must happen is that once he’s killed the monster, someone has to be waiting with hot tallow for him to drink, to melt his icy heart.”

God’s Country is the 21st entry in William Kent Krueger’s long running Cork O’Connor series. My thanks go to NetGalley and Atria Books for the review copy. This book will be available to the public August 18, 2026.

The regular characters are all here; we have the (now retired) cop himself, along with his wife, who is a member of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribe. His grandson, affectionately called Waaboo, has visions, and has recently dreamed of a wolf eating Cork’s heart. The boy is shaken, and the family takes it seriously; after a trip to the doctor and some tests, Cork has the green light to proceed with the trip into his favorite wilderness area, known as the Boundary Waters. He goes along with generations of other men in his family, but not until he has first seen Henry, the tribe’s centenarian wiseman, with whom Cork has a close bond. But Henry isn’t big on straight answers; he merely asks Cork whether Cork himself might be the wolf.

A side note: is this an established practice within the tribe, that the men all go to the wilderness while the women all stay home? I’ve read a few of the books in this series, and though they are written with respect for women, the roles are always sharply divided by gender.

Moving on.  

The expedition hasn’t traveled far when they find an alarming sight. Various aspects of their first camping location show that someone has been there before them, and that it hasn’t gone well. Cork concludes that the previous group is led by Cordell Bishop, a close friend; Cork believes his friend may be in danger, and the group trip is aborted, with the other men herding the young boys safely back home while Cork searches for his friend and whoever is with him.

From this point, I won’t tell you much except that in addition to confronting the enemies that lurk in the Boundary Waters, Cork also is forced to confront the enemy within himself. In that respect, this book differs from the earlier ones, and I can see the sense in it. Most of these books have featured Cork going off into the wilderness and meeting up with baddies. I’ve enjoyed all of them, but breaking up the trend before it becomes monotonous was smart thinking on Krueger’s part.

From previous experience, I knew this was going to be a solid mystery, and so I shook off the summer doldrums by jumping over some galleys with earlier publication dates to get to this one. I’m not one bit sorry, either.

Highly recommended, whether you’re a faithful fan of the series, or heading into it brand new.

Killer Vibes, by Jack Friday*****

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Peter Key is an ambition-free stoner dude living in a pal’s garage until he pushes a boundary or two and gets tossed out on his butt. His parents are gone, his sister’s had it with him, and he has nowhere to turn. That is, until the uncle he barely knew dies and leaves him a whole lotta assets, a whole lotta debts, and a whole lotta questions. This remarkable debut novel by Jack Friday is one of the best parts of my summer, and you want it in yours, too. Trust me.

My thanks go to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the invitation to read and review. This kick-ass mystery is for sale today!

Peter’s late uncle lived in Austin, and since Peter is now homeless and Uncle Forrest has left him a house, that’s where he goes. The house is a mess, and his uncle was past due on the mortgage. Everyone, whether in real estate or not, pressures him to sell. Do it now, before it’s too late! But Peter digs in his heels. He’s never owned a house before, and his late uncle’s demise has left him with too many questions, one of which is, given Forrest’s credentials in daredevil racing, how was it that he *suddenly* lost control of his car and tumbled over a cliff to his demise?

This book is fast-paced, at times hilarious, and at other times incredibly intense, like a true thriller ought to be. In the course of things, he tries to hire a detective that worked for Forrest; the detective counters that he will only take the job if Peter comes on board to work for him. Peter resists at first, but the thing is, he’s a natural. A young man that has never had, or even wanted, a marketable skill beyond peddling drugs has found his calling. And of course, he’s also made powerful enemies, a fact that bothers him hardly at all.

I was lucky enough to have access to both the digital and audio galleys, and though I begin with the digital, the audio is so well done that it becomes my go-to. Narrator Max Meyers does such a splendid job that he makes a great read even better. In fact, I used this book to make myself do some dreaded yard work, because I found that I didn’t want to stop slaving away in the July sun when I knew it meant turning off the book once I came back in the house. This doesn’t happen often!

This novel is captioned “Peter Key Mystery Series #1,” which is great news because it means there will be more, and when the next one becomes available, needless to say, I’m in.

Don’t miss it.

Take Me with You! by Steven Rowley****

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This was a fun one! Steven Rowley, author of The Guncle, has another hit with Take Me with You, a story of supernatural occurrences, abandonment, and grief. I realize that doesn’t sound much like a fun read, but bear with me here. My thanks go to NetGalley and Putnam for the review copy; this book is for sale now.

Jesse del Ruth is a middle-aged college professor; he and his slightly older husband, Norman, have been together now for 30 years. But they’ve settled into a bit of a rut, bickering about stupid things. Nevertheless, Jesse is stunned when, one evening, Norman mutters “I’m out of here” and steps out into a bright light that’s shining from above their desert home; the light literally beams him up, leaving poor Jesse gaping, full of questions that Norman cannot answer. To make matters worse, he’s forced to lie to friends and family, because he really can’t just tell them that Norman left in a UFO.

This is a story that’s easy to read, making it perfect bedtime material. It proceeds in linear fashion without a great deal of jumping around, and it has just a few characters; we meet Norman’s younger sister, who really needs to talk to him, and we also meet the neighbor across the street, who would ordinarily be the strange one. But at least 85% of this odd little novel hinges on Jesse, and Rowley develops him quite nicely. We have a bit of a retrospective, looking back with Jesse at their past life together and the crises—really, just one crisis—that impacts their relationship. And we see Jesse pull himself together as “we” becomes “I”.

They say that every story has already been written, and after reading this one, I’d have to question that assertion. Yes, there are many stories of lovers separating, or of one partner leaving the other, but…not this way, guys. Rowley takes us through all of life’s emotional seasons, from love, to contentment, to disappointment, to grief and rage, to acceptance and adjusting to a single life. And there are several places where I laughed out loud!

I recommend this as a terrific little book to take on vacation, or just to curl up with over a long weekend at home.

Murder at the Spirit Lounge*****

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I would follow Jess Kidd anywhere! Murder at the Spirit Lounge is her sixth release in the U.S., and the second book in the Nora Breen series. My thanks go to NetGalley and Atria Books for the invitation to read and review; this engaging little mystery will be available to the North American public on June 16, 2026.

The time period is the late 1940s. We join Nora, a former nun who left the convent in order to find the whereabouts of the young nun that she mentored, and who had then left the order and disappeared. Her mission accomplished, Nora is still living in the rooming house, a cheap place that has terrible food and a grouchy proprietor, in a little seaside village called Gore-On-Sea. Nora left the convent with very little money and few possessions, and now she has even less money. In search of work, she finds a position at the local newspaper, working for an editor named Miss Hartigan:

Nora, having braved the smell of damp and mice to climb the narrow stairs of the Herald offices, finds the editor hunched over her ancient typewriter like a toad with a fly. Surrounded by empty booze bottles, stacks of back-copies. She turns a bull’s eye on Nora, who is reminded, curiously, of her former mother superior at High Dallow monastery. Perhaps it’s the same air of combative ruthlessness. Neither woman, in Nora’s estimation, would suffer fools gladly.

But Breen is soon sidetracked by a murder that occurs during a séance at the Spirit Lounge, and the medium is the victim—that is, the first victim. Since Nora has trained and worked as a nurse during her earlier life, she is summoned to the scene, and soon we’re off on another investigation. Inspector Rideout, the local man in charge of law enforcement, appears to be on the killer’s list, and as he and Nora have formed a warm friendship, she cannot allow that to happen!

Jess Kidd’s voice shines through here, and I love it. I would have liked to see more of the wit she’s displayed in some of her other novels, because she’s made me laugh out loud, but instead, we see greater depth of character development, and that’s crucial, particularly in a series. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and this series, to those that love the genre. It can certainly be read as a stand-alone mystery, but once you’ve done that, you’ll want to scoop up the first as well.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8433245382