Category / 52/52

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Book 57 (of 52) – Like Mother, Like Daughter

Like Mother, Like Daughter – Kimberly McCreight

When her estranged mother goes missing, a college student starts her own investigation.  Learning more about her mother, her brutal upbringing as an orphan, her real job, and her strained marriage, she grows more sympathetic, and worried that she will never see her again.  The more she learns, the more she starts to recognize that the true story may be closer to home than she realizes.

Kimberly McCreight’s latest, Like Mother, Like Daughter, explores the mother/daughter dynamic and how those relationships change over time. McCreight has become a favorite since I first discovered her back in 2013 and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

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Book 56 (of 52) – Forgotten Witness

Forgotten Witness – Rebecca Forster

While testifying in Congress about the brutal attacks that caused Hannah to go on the run, Josie is accosted by a man who claims to know where “she” is.  As Josie tries to unravel his story and the clues he has left behind, she ends up in Hawaii where she quickly learns that the “she” in question is not Hannah, but Josie’s mother, who had disappeared when Josie was a teenager.  A botched job at covering up what was going on in Hawaii led to a government conspiracy and the truth of what happened to Josie’s parents when she was young.

The sixth entry of Rebecca Forster’s Josie Bates saga, Forgotten Witness, again takes things in a new, though not necessarily better, direction.  Josie is on her own for most of the book, battling against conspiracies and government agencies that seem bigger in scope than what we have read about in the past.  With the normal supporting cast sidelined, a whole new group of characters were introduced, and I wonder which, if any, will turn up again in the remaining entries of the series.

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Book 55 (of 52) – The Life Impossible

The Life Impossible – Matt Haig

When Grace Winters, a retired math teacher from England, inherits a house on Ibiza from an old colleague she hadn’t seen in decades, she embarks on a new adventure.  Following a letter left for her by her old friend, her worldview, and life, are changed forever, helping to ease her guilt over the life she has lived and the so-called mistakes she made along the way.

The Life Impossible, Matt Haig’s follow-up to his 2020 smash The Midnight Library, follows a similar theme.  Instead of looking at the regrets of the roads not taken, this time he tackles letting the guilt of the things we did do shut down our ability to enjoy life.  I’ve never taken a look at his backlog of works, so I may have to that one of these days.

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Book 54 (of 52) – Fatal Intrusion

Fatal Intrusion – Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When a killer attacks the sister of a Homeland Security agent, she starts to investigate on her own.  Coming across an impenetrable encryption found on his phone, she turns to an old “acquaintance”: a hacker she arrested years before.  Against her better judgement, he joins the investigation, using his special skills to help track down the killer and the real motives behind his attack.

Long time favorite Jeffery Deaver and new-to-me Isabella Maldonado team up on Fatal Intrusion, the first entry in what is bound to become a new series.  The tale includes plenty of twists and turns that I’ve come to expect from Deaver, and the ending sets up future adventures for the duo.  I expect we will be seeing a new entry sooner rather than later.

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Book 53 (of 52) – Unmissing

Unmissing – Minka Kent

Missing for ten years and presumed dead, a woman shows up on her husband’s doorstep, only to be greeted by his new wife.  Finding a local shop owner willing to help her get back on her feet, she tries to re-establish a relationship with her former husband and strikes up a friendship with the new wife.  But, everyone here has a secret that will ultimately threaten all of their lives going forward.

I’ve read a number of works from Minka Kelly in the past, but Unmissing, while having the germ of a good idea, missed the mark.  The wife, kidnapped and held captive for a decade, for some reason doesn’t go to the police once she escapes.  Her captor, who claims to have purposefully let her escape, does not seem overly concerned over the possibility of her going to the police.  And nobody seems all that concerned about cleaning up their mess once she shows back up, even when it is obvious she hasn’t gone to the police.  The whole thing was nonsensical.  There’s the ability to suspend disbelief and then there’s needing nobody in your story to act like a real human being would in order to move the plot forward.  Here’s hoping this was a temporary misstep for Kent and that she will rebound with her next effort, should I choose to read it.

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Book 52 (of 52) – Indelible

Indelible – Karin Slaughter

When two gunmen take over the Grant County police station, killing one and taking the rest hostage in the process, Sara Linton tries to keep her ex-husband alive without letting on who he is.  The GBI, led by Amanda Wagner, arrive on the scene and use Lena Adams, on her first day back on the force, to infiltrate the station and get the lay of the land.  Sara, thinking back to the first time she met Jeffrey’s family and friends when he brought her to his hometown, learns who the shooters are, but can she use that knowledge to stop them from killing again.

Indelible is the fourth entry in Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series and introduces some new characters who will become integral parts of her later Will Trent series.  This certainly wasn’t my favorite work of hers. as the flashbacks to the past and Jeffrey’s origin story, while it tied into the A-plot, seemed to overwhelm the rest of the story.  I’ve got two more entries in this series to go, so I should be wrapping it up relatively soon.

For the second straight year, Karin Slaughter is the author of my goal-reaching 52nd book.  This is just the fourth time since I started this “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge back in 2010 that I made it to the finish line. I should be able to give my personal record of 59 books, set last year, a run for its money.

 

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Book 51 (of 52) – Resistance

Resistance – J.M. Dillard

When the Borg return, Captain Picard must do the unthinkable to attempt to stop them before the new queen awakens: turn himself into Locutus once again.  Meanwhile, Worf, struggling with his decision to sacrifice a mission to save the life of his wife, turns down a promotion to become the new first officer of the Enterprise, but must take command when Picard is re-assimilated by the Borg.  Can he subvert the expectations of his captain to come up with a way to save him and stop the Borg from advancing against humanity and the Earth?

J.M. Dillard, author of many a Star Trek movie novelization, helps to set up a new status quo for the Enterprise E following the aftermath of Star Trek: Nemesis in Resistance.  With Riker and Troi off to a new ship and Data destroyed, Dillard introduces a new, yet familiar first officer, a new counselor, and starts to round out the senior staff with new characters who will propel the future novels set in this universe.

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Book 50 (of 52) – House Of Glass

House Of Glass – Sarah Pekkanen

When a lawyer is appointed to represent a young girl whose parents are going through a nasty divorce following the suspicious death of the girl’s nanny, she finds, at first, a kindred spirit, going through the same trauma she did as a child.  The more time she spends with the girl and her family, she starts to think that the girl is responsible for the death and is inspired to look into the death of her own mother.  When her world is rocked by what she finds out about her own past, can she find out what is truly happening with the young girl and her providers?

Sarah Pekkanen returns with her latest solo effort, House of Glass, her second straight outing without longtime collaborator Greer Hendricks.  She tells an intriguing tale, toying with the stereotypical evil child trope before going down a different path.  I look forward to what she comes up with next, either alone or in collaboration with others.

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Book 49 (of 52) – Mr. Monk Goes To Hawaii

Mr. Monk Goes To Hawaii – Lee Goldberg

When Nataile heads to Hawaii for her best friend’s wedding, Monk, afraid of being left alone, tags along.  After stopping the wedding, Monk gets involved with a local murder, helping the police solve multiple other crimes along the way.  While Natalie tries to enjoy her time away, Monk focuses on the murder and on proving a famous television psychic is a phony.

Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii, the second of 18 novels based on the USA Network dramedy that ran from 2002 to 2009 from series writer Lee Goldberg.  Once again told from the perspective of Natalie, the book tried to stay close to feel of the show, but still felt just a little off.  With the remaining 16 books waiting for me, hopefully things start to gel more as the series goes forward.

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Book 48 (of 52) – If Something Happens To Me

If Something Happens To Me – Alex Finlay

The discovery of a car in a Kansas lake re-opens the old wounds of an unsolved missing persons case.  Meanwhile, in Italy, a law student whose high school girlfriend was the abducted girl, finds himself face-to-face with the kidnapper he thought he imagined all those years ago.  When he tracks the man back to England and finds him murdered, the trail leads back to Kansas by ways of France.  Can he keep himself, and those around him, alive long enough to find out what truly happened all those years ago?

The latest from Alex Finlay, If Something Happens to Me, takes place over multiple years and numerous locations.  He starts with a mystery that quickly turns into a revenge tale.  Finlay has become a reliable read over the past few years and I look forward to what he comes up with next.