Under the Influence

Under the Influence by Joyce Maynard

Helen's life has officially hit rock-bottom. As a result of a DUI conviction, she's lost custody of eight-year-old son, Ollie, her social life consists of going to AA meetings, and her waning photography career amounts to nothing more than encouraging children to smile in school photos.

One evening while working for a caterer, serving drinks to the sinfully rich at a posh art gallery, she meets philanthropists Ava and Swift Havilland. It's quite flattering to have people of their stature take an interest in you and your opinions. She willingly accepts their offer to get to know them better.

Soon Helen is a vital part of the Havilland household. She attends lavish parties at their palatial home, wears designer clothes ( with the tags still on), and busies herself cataloging the valuable art collection. No one ever speaks of the mysterious accident that left Ava in a wheelchair; in fact her fulfilling life as a paraplegic is celebrated every day with her gregarious husband, Swift. Helen is in awe of their kindness to the less fortunate, the money spent on rescuing dogs, and the passion for life that appears to define every aspect of their lives.

When Helen tenaciously enters into a relationship with Elliott, an accountant her new friends deem   "boring", she finds herself questioning her own feelings for him. They subtly remind her that a partner should be exciting and stimulating, not dull and tedious. Helen reluctantly listens ,even though her heart seems to tell her otherwise. When Swift promises to hire a prominent attorney to help her gain custody of her son, she knows this could be the chance she's waited for so long. A life with Elliott is no longer a priority.

When shy, sullen Ollie finally meets the Havillands, he turns into a different child. Happy and content, he is surrounded by Swift and all the opulence he and Ava can offer. Every waking minute is spent learning to swim, riding in fast cars, and accepting fabulous gifts showered upon him. They treat him like a son. While Helen delights in Ollie's resurgence and renewed interest in spending time with her again, she can't shake Elliott's warning. He's done some digging into the perfect couple's business dealings,.hinting that the grandeur and spectacular lifestyle are a facade. But Helen brushes her fears aside. Life is finally going her way.

Impending doom now builds as Ollie witnesses a tragic accident that puts Helen in a very compromising situation. It's abundantly clear that it's her turn to repay Swift for his extraordinary kindness, even at the expense of her own son.

This well-paced novel with rich characters and gripping plot, explores the vulnerability in all of us. How easy it is to fall prey to those we trust when we are at low points in our lives. And how difficult it is to pick up the pieces after we realize our mistakes.

From the author who wrote After Her (reviewed under suspense/thriller October, 2013), Maynard once again writes about a flawed family having the courage to start over again.

 

Black Rabbit Hall

Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase


The rugged, windswept Cornish coastline sets the stage for this alluring, romantic mystery. At the center of it all, is the once majestic, sprawling countryside estate known as Black Rabbit Hall, an ancestral home belonging to the Alton family. Ominous secrets lurk behind walls now crumbling in disrepair.

In the late 1960's, Hugo and Nancy Alton escape from hectic London to spend mellow and magical vacations at Black Rabbit Hall with their four spirited children. It's here where time seems to stand still, where the stars shine brighter than anywhere else on Earth, and endless, carefree days of relaxation melt into cool, enticing nights.

In an instant, life changes for Hugo and his children when his beloved Nancy ventures out on a stormy night, riding her faithful horse, Knight. The resulting tragedy changes the very core of this close-knit family. Twins Amber and Toby struggle to cling to fond memories of their copper-haired, vivacious Momma while guiding and consoling little brother, Barney, and sister, Kitty. Nothing will ever be the same; even more apparent when Hugo brings home the cold, elusive, Caroline, and her dark, strikingly handsome son, Lucian. Responsibilities weigh heavily on Amber's shoulders, while Toby becomes distant and calculating. Their lives become increasingly intertwined with devastating outcomes. And somewhere in the dense forest that the children once gleefully explored, lies the truth behind what really happened to their mother.

Thirty year later, Lorna Dunaway is convinced that Pencraw Hall (known to the locals as Black Rabbit) is the perfect venue for her upcoming wedding reception.  Fiancee Jon heartily disagrees. There's a menacing, sinister ambiance to the place. But Lorna can't be dissuaded. The estate draws her into a trance that she finds impossible to escape. The current matriarch, Caroline Alton, extends an invitation to Lorna to stay for a few nights, much to Jon's chagrin. With her mind in a fog, Lorna uncovers morbid clues from the past that unlock repressed memories. Lorna realizes that she's in the middle of the lies and chaotic madness of events that happened years ago. Her struggle to understand the connection to Black Rabbit Hall, becomes an obsession, resulting in inconceivable truths.

Any comparison to author Daphne du Maurier is certainly justified. This ethereal, dreamy mystery combines suspense with forbidden love, adding enough twists and turns to keep the reader thoroughly engaged until the riveting end.

Cleverly written and positively entertaining, author Eve Chase's debut novel is a must read for romance suspense enthusiasts. 

The Forgetting Time

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin

Reincarnation  The religious or philosophical belief that a person's spirit, after biological death, can begin life again in a new body.

 Certainly a topic that generates lively, animated discussion for believers and non-believers alike. Whatever your opinion, this debut novel by author Sharon Guskin guarantees the reader a wealth of information to make even the non-believer ponder the "what ifs"  of  the afterlife.

Janie enjoys a blissful, relaxing vacation on the island of Trinidad. When you're thirty-nine and alone, it's easy to fall for complimentary words and admiring glances from a stranger you'll never see again. It's when you return home to Brooklyn, facing an unexpected pregnancy, that your life suddenly changes in unimaginable ways.  This is where Janie's story begins....

 As a single mother, Janie has come to expect the frantic calls from Noah's preschool. Her four-year-old son is nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen, as far as his teachers are concerned. His constant talk about guns and Harry Potter is puzzling, but his assertions that he was held under water until he blacked out, cast suspicion on what happens at home. Janie admits that Noah has a water phobia, but doesn't reveal her child's piercing cries in the night,or his insistence on going "home" to see his "other mother". When a renowned psychiatrist suggests powerful medication to treat mental illness, Janie turns to Dr. Jerome Anderson, an "explorer" in the field of reincarnation. His studies describe young children with the ability to discuss past experiences in excruciating detail. Dr. Anderson seizes the opportunity to write one last believable American case study for his final book. He himself is slowly slipping away as a result of aphasia, a condition that will eventually take away his ability to communicate. This is his last chance to prove to skeptics that there is merit in what he has uncovered. He doesn't realize that a small, blond-haired, precocious boy will play a big part in his own redemption.

Janie, Noah, and Dr. Anderson warily set out to discover what Noah's outbursts and recollections mean. The ensuing journey takes the three to the home of a woman suffering from an irreparable loss. As the pieces begin to fall into place, astonishing revelations about the past come to the surface. Together, they find that what may seem to give them peace of mind, comes at a very high cost.

Emotional, overwhelmingly thought-provoking, and intense, this novel is a perfect choice for book clubs due to the controversial and intriguing subject matter, The story is pure fiction, but peppered throughout the story are real-life documented cases of reincarnation written by Dr. Jim Tucker from The University of Virginia School of Medicine.

You, the reader, can interpret this research in your own way. "What if you had chances upon chances to love the people you loved, to fix what you screwed up, to get it right" This novel will most definitely be a source of enthusiastic dialogue about that very possibility.

Missing Pieces

Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf


In the small Iowa farm town called Penny Gate, "people either die or go crazy".

Jack and Sarah Quinlan leave their home in Montana to travel to Jack's hometown of Penny Gate, a place he left many years ago, hoping never to return.  But when his Uncle Hal calls to relay the news of Aunt Julia's life-threatening, nasty fall, Jack feels obliged to be near the woman who raised him after tragic events robbed him of his birth parents.

With great trepidation, he returns to his boyhood home where, as a fifteen-year-old boy, he found the bludgeoned body of his mother at the foot of the basement stairs.  His wild and reckless behavior and reported frequent arguments with his parents, made him a prime suspect in the murder. That is, until Jack's father, John, disappeared after his wife's demise. Everyone surmised it must have been John who committed the crime. Even though he was exonerated, Jack still carries the scars and innuendos associated with the dark days of his childhood. Now he's come home again, and finds that beneath the cornflower blue skies of this small town, lie dangerous, hidden secrets..

Police begin to question if Julia's unfortunate mishap was really an accident after all. Circumstantial evidence seems to implicate Amy, Jacks's sister. She's a disheveled, pill-popping drinker who insists that she's innocent. And what about cousin Dean and his wife, Celia?  How much does Jack really know about the relatives he hasn't seen in years?

Ultimately, the one person determined to unveil the truth is Sarah, Jack's wife. Twenty years of lies cause her to question the man she calls her husband. Puzzling emails, dusty boxes of discarded audio tapes, and a close encounter on a gloomy, deserted highway, are clues that bring her that much closer to exposing a cunning killer.

Gudenkauf's latest short, simple,suspense novel manages to keep the reader turning the pages even though it's fairly easy to unravel the mystery as the plot thickens. Tension builds with her descriptive passages of vast cornfields, endless dirt roads leading to nowhere, and spooky, whispering winds in the night, The characters are real, the writing is easy to follow, and most of all, it's a juicy read that asks the question..... how well do you really know your spouse?  

My American Duchess

My American Duchess by Eloisa James

American heiress Merry Pelford has finally found the man of her dreams in Regency England after two failed attempts at the altar. His name is Lord Cedric Allardyce. Charming and incredibly handsome, she counts her blessings that a man of his stature has come her way. There's just one problem...she's in love with his twin brother, the Duke of Trent.

Just moments after accepting Cedric's marriage proposal, Merry encounters a mysterious stranger that she immediately feels drawn to; the inexplicable attraction can't be denied. How ironic that this stranger she just met is Trent, the brother of the man she promised to marry. It is apparent that the twins do not get along, and soon Trent begins to make Merry keenly aware of his brother's love of liquor and reckless, extravagant ways. She dismisses his warnings as simply a case of wanting a woman he cannot have. That is, until her engagement is sealed, and she begins to see that Trent's forewarning of impending trouble is valid indeed. Cedric wants to mold Merry into the perfect wife. He begins to find fault in his betrothed's unconventional, embarrassing ways. And the aristocracy is not blind to the outspoken Merry, either.Trent, however, accepts her playful, unabashed enthusiasm for life wholeheartedly, quirks and all. When a social blunder shames a hostess, Trent's response to the situation has surprising results. But can their attraction be enough to ensure happiness?

 Merry wants to follow her heart but another broken engagement will certainly mean ruin for this Boston socialite. Passion with the forbidden versus a marriage to the perceived perfect match....quite a quandary for this lovely heiress.

What a perfect book selection in the month of February from an author who excels at writing historical romantic fiction.The characters come to life in a make-believe world that readers will welcome during the dreary days of winter. Some may find it just a little too sweet and far-fetched, but if you are a hopeless romantic, it may be just what you need. With wit, royal grandeur, and memorable characters, this novel perfectly embodies the intricacies (and frustrations) of love.

The Good Goodbye

The Good Goodbye by Carla Buckley

Cousins Arden and Rory share an indescribable bond; it's almost as if they are one. Only they know how deep the connection and how dangerous and obsessive it's become.


Both girls lie unconscious in hospital beds, badly burned in a mysterious dormitory fire, clinging to life. Arson is suspected and one life has already been taken. Their parents pretend to show solidarity while animosity and tension fills the air. A once successful business venture between Arden's mother and Rory's father is floundering, creating a financial crisis.  Jealousy, indiscretions, and regrets permeate the rooms where Arden and Rory's lives remain in limbo.What these parents don't know is that their troubles are minor compared to the secrets their children never revealed. Those secrets are ready to explode and shatter a once happy, peaceful existence.

Author Carla Buckley artfully tells a story that begs the reader to decipher each and every clue until the very end of a compelling story. How much do parents really know about the challenges their daughters face to be popular and fit in? What's it like to feel the shame of a learning disability? How far can you bully someone you love until she reaches the breaking point?  All of these relevant topics including a love triangle, and a child's burning desire to live up to unreachable standards, come together to create another engaging book by a talented author.

Much like her previous mystery, The Deepest Secret, ( reviewed under Mystery in February of 2014), this novel requires the reader to pay close attention to details. Perhaps the ending is just a little too compact, but overall, you'll find this suspense thriller a perfect addition to your 2016 "books I want to read".

Secret Sisters

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

It's a place she never wanted to see again. But as the heir of her grandmother's small hotel chain, Madeline Chase had no choice but to return. It was somehow reassuring to think that  the horrific, painful memories from eighteen years ago were safely hidden in the farthest corner of her mind. But now as she looks at the charred ruins of  the abandoned hotel, she realizes that was wishful thinking. It was here that Tom, the hotel's caretaker, attacked her when she was just twelve-years-old. Madeline and best friend, Daphne, her "secret sister' vowed never to reveal what they knew about the assault. The authorities had their man..He could never hurt her again....

Now Tom lays dying from an apparent fall, and his last words make it quite clear that someone knows all about those secrets the two young girls thought were hidden forever. After all these years, could they have accused the wrong man? An eerie unknown presence begins to follow Madeline making her believe that Tom was not the victim of an accident after all; he was murdered, and she may be the next target.

As panic sets in, Madeline contacts Jack Rayner, the head of security for the small hotel chain she's inherited from her grandmother. Along with reunited friend, Daphne, and Jack's friend, Abe, the four set out to find out the truth about the man who was the true attacker. The deeper they get into the mystery, the more dangerous their determination to unveil the facts becomes. Add in the mutual attraction between Madeline and Jack, and the plot becomes one of intrigue and smoldering passion, A winning combination.

Rich in character development, Krentz combines spine-tingling suspense with enough romantic sparks to satisfy the reader who is looking for both . If you haven't read this author before, her other novels may interest you.  Often writing under a pen name (Amanda Quick, being one) she is a talented writer who has the ability to cover different genres with ease.

Start the New Year with a sizzling mystery sure to please.