See Me

See Me by Nicholas Sparks

Colin Hancock is painfully aware that he's been given a second chance at life. His explosive, volatile temper has cost him dearly, both personally and professionally.  Estranged from parents that defended him years ago when he was a rebellious teenager, he realizes how much they sacrificed by coming to his rescue until they could take no more.  But now he's determined to turn his life around. He has an opportunity to redeem himself by going back to school and releasing his frustrations and anger in a less destructive way. The promise of prison isn't just an idle threat. Law enforcement is watching his every move.

Then one rainy night, he meets a striking, raven-haired beauty named Maria Sanchez on a deserted highway. The connection he feels after their first encounter continues in the days to follow. As their relationship grows, Colin learns that he isn't the only one with demons from the past. Maria is also struggling to forget and move on from a terrifying experience as an assistant district attorney in Charlotte, N.C. Yet she has the nagging feeling her nightmare is far from over.

Maria is starting over in  her hometown of Wilmington, surrounded by loving family and friends. Nevertheless, the panic attacks still surface every time she thinks of the menacing threats aimed at her by a disgruntled relative of the slain woman she represented. When it appears that this crazed individual is intent on carrying out his vendetta, Maria turns to Colin for his unconditional support. She finds herself drawn to this man who often frightens her with his unconventional ways, but at the same time, makes her feel safe and secure. Can he save her from the devious mind that is determined to destroy all that is precious to her?

Die-hard Nicholas Sparks fans will undoubtedly enjoy this latest release, all 482 pages. Others may be disappointed. In a dynamic move, Sparks deviates from his signature writing style to create a story that is bolder and less heartrending than his previous books. Suspense and mystery are added to romance.  Perhaps the author's personal life may have precipitated the challenge of writing a novel that enters new territory. In any case, the likability of these vulnerable, flawed characters in See Me will be up to the reader. Sparks still maintains his unheralded success as a gifted writer; this one could also become a motion picture.

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"See me as I see you..." There's a new purpose and vision from best-selling Nicholas Sparks this time around.

The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine

The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine by Alex Brunkhorst

Author Alex Brunkhorst unveils her first novel with a flourish. She combines old Hollywood glamour with the innocence of pure, naive love. The result is a charming, captivating story that readers will savor long after the last page.

Reporter Thomas Cleary is a lucky man. After a controversial stint in Manhattan, he's landed a plum newspaper job at the L.A. Times. His first assignment is an interview with Lily Goldman, the daughter of deceased Joel Goldman, the legendary and formidable Hollywood mogul and studio head. The affable and humble Thomas is an immediate hit with the beautiful people, and he soon finds himself immersed in a world of opulence, wealth, and grandeur. Lily introduces him to the sultry, alluring actress Carole Partridge and her writer husband, the easy-going, Charles. He meets stars at every lavish, resplendent party he attends. When he shakes the hand of  David Duplaine, indisputably the hottest producer of box-office hits in Tinseltown, he is truly intimidated. Suddenly, he is thrown into a life that dreams are made of, and he finds himself relishing each and every moment.

Then Thomas makes a startling discovery one evening alone while visiting the secluded grounds of David's estate. A winsome, fascinating young beauty named Matilda apparently lives a lonely but privileged existence there. She's never ventured off the property in her twenty years of being alive. Shrouded in mystery, Thomas and Matilda form an extraordinary bond. After numerous clandestine meetings, the couple decide to escape the estate. Lily agrees to help. They travel to an abandoned home in Hawaii that once belonged to her father, the powerful Joel Goldman. While on this lush, tropical island, Thomas begins to see subtle changes in Matilda.; changes that make him question his devotion to her. Becoming more and more suspicious of Matilda's upbringing, Thomas begins his own investigation, unearthing clues left behind in the Hawaii home. He gradually uncovers startling lies and deceit about the young woman who has stolen his heart. Can they survive what he has discovered?

Refreshing and soothing. this novel takes a most unlikely scenario and turns it into a magical love story, one that you will enjoy watching unfold.

And you can write your own ending......

   

The Murder House

The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis

It's known as the Murder House, this sprawling, Gothic mansion located at 7 Ocean Drive in the Hamptons. The locals walk by with curious stares and hushed whispers. Years ago, a crippling, uncontrollable fire killed the couple trapped inside, with no reasonable explanation for the blaze. The structure was rebuilt. Now an influential Hollywood producer and his mistress are found murdered in the same cursed location by the sea.

Detective Jenna Murphy is back in the Hamptons, working for her Uncle Langdon, the Chief of Police. It's a big change from her ill-fated law enforcement career in Manhattan. This latest
high-profile crime puts Jenna at the center of a complicated investigation in the land of luxury. As she delves deeper and deeper into the case, she realizes that the police may be accusing the wrong man of the crime. The brutality and horror of the past meets the present. Detective Murphy is getting far too close to unraveling the mystery.  She just may be the next unfortunate victim.

If you need a James Patterson "fix", put this one on reserve. The legendary writer and his partner have created a raw,  heart-pounding, suspense- thriller full of intrigue and uncertainty. So many possible suspects, you'll have lingering doubts about each and every one of them. His trademark easy-to-read chapters make this a wise choice if you are looking for a spicy read on a chilly October night by the fire.

In a Dark, Dark Wood

In a Dark, Dark Wood  by Ruth Ware

Lenora Shaw lies battered and badly bruised in a hospital bed, trying desperately to remember why she's there. She hears the whispers of the police outside her door. With a racing heart, Nora clutches the sheets in her sweaty, trembling hands. They think she's committed murder.

Lenora (some call her Lee, others Nora) is a reclusive crime writer who is quite content living alone. When the email arrives inviting her to attend the hen party for Clare Cavendish, she is taken aback. It's been ten years since she's seen Clare, her former best friend. Ten years in which she's been able to exist without anyone knowing about her secret. But now she's faced with a huge decision; regretfully decline or graciously accept the opportunity to celebrate the upcoming wedding of her once dear friend. She says yes. A weekend of horror is about to begin.

Flo is the effervescent hostess who welcomes five guests into her aunt's home, known as the Glass House. A massive structure of steel and glass, the home seems to beckon anyone fearless enough to enter, if they dare. Uneasy and intimidated, Nora and friend Nina, regret their decision as soon as they walk through the front door. From the beginning, there is an eerie feeling of bad things to come in the days ahead. The strange noises in the night, mysterious footprints in the snow, unexplained ouija board predictions, and an overall unsettling fear that something catastrophic is going to happen. Each guest anxious to leave. But it's not that easy leaving the Glass House as they are all about to learn. The hours tick by, until an explosive event takes place that no one could have imagined. Putting aside grief and terror, Nora must unveil who is plotting to make her look like a calculated murderer.

British writer Ruth Ware shines in her debut novel. Like Agatha Christie, Ware gives the reader all the elements for a great mystery, told with a modern day twist. The hen party (better known here as bachelorette) is an ideal setting to bring together a motley crew of characters harboring petty past grievances. Then add a bizarre house of glass in  the remote English countryside on a snowy, dreary weekend and you have the elements for a great whodunit. Parts are predictable, but the reader will enjoy being a detective and unraveling the puzzle. The author's distinctive descriptive passages add to the overall spookiness of the book; a wise choice as Halloween approaches. You might even hear your own strange noises in the night.

Actress Reese Witherspoon plans to develop Ware's book into a movie. Much like Gone Girl and
The Girl on the Train, It will be interesting to see how another compelling story translates onto the screen.








   

Mrs.Sinclair's Suitcase

Mrs. Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters

The suitcase is small, brown in color, with a muted tartan lining. Mrs. Dorothy Sinclair proudly writes her name with a flourish on the label inside, bursting with joy, knowing this little satchel will be filled with all the things her precious baby will ever need. World War II may be raging in England, but her thoughts are only happy ones as she awaits the birth of her son.

Roberta works diligently at her favorite place, the Old and New Bookshop.  Lost in her literary world, she loves to collect the little hidden treasures that seem to appear when she opens a used book; postcards and notes written on paper-thin stationery, yellowed with age, revealing secrets, musings, and tidbits never meant for her eyes. She is lonely and unable to admit her true feelings for her boss, Philip, knowing he is in love with another. This quaint shop where the"books are alive" is her refuge.

One fateful day, Roberta's father brings to her an an old suitcase that belongs to her 109-year-old grandmother, Dorothea Pietrykowski. In it, she finds an intriguing letter dated from 1941 written by Jan Pietrykowski, the grandfather she never knew. The letter chastises her grandmother for making a horrible decision that will haunt her the rest of her life, bringing pain and sorrow to a nameless young woman and her child. "Your soul shall not return from this that you do."  If only she could ask Dorothea or her father about this mysterious correspondence in a suitcase that bears the name of a Mrs. D. Sinclair. But her father is in failing health, and Roberta doesn't want to upset her grandmother who drifts in and out of the past and the present. Perhaps it's best to accept the fact that some memories are not meant to be revisited.

This is a mellow, satisfying, and beautiful story of two exceptional women at two different times, eighty years apart. The stories run alongside one another, and mesh in a truly extraordinary way.  In her debut novel, Louise Walters paints a vivid picture of life in the 1940s. Warplanes flew over peaceful farmland while people below, like Dorothea, struggled to maintain a normal life. Years later, a young, restless woman also struggles to find a purpose in her life, never realizing that the answers may lie in a battered suitcase from long ago.

A rich story of lost and reclaimed love, irreversible decisions, and what might have been.....
 

Black-Eyed Susans

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

Yellow, orange, and gold wildflowers blanket the open fields, swaying in the summer breeze, their "black eyes" winking at you as you pass by. A lovely sight to see...

Unless you know that hidden below their beauty, are the graves of innocent girls.

Twenty years ago Tessa Cartwright survived a nightmare. Her body was dumped in a deep hole with those of two other girls who weren't so lucky. Wildflowers bloomed over the bodies until Tessa was miraculously discovered. The victims will be forever be known as the "Black-Eyed Susans". Her testimony helped to send the alleged killer to Death Row.

But now she knows the wrong man was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. The real killer is free, taunting her with disturbing clues, daring her to guess his identity. When she finds these trademark flowers planted outside her bedroom window in the middle of winter, she realizes that this cruel guessing game is real. Tessa fears for her safety and that of her teenaged daughter, Charlie. Slowly and methodically, she begins to work with the innocent man's legal team and a forensic doctor to chip away at suppressed memories that may reveal the true killer's identity. What they don't know is that Tessa fears for her own sanity.The "Black-Eyed Susans" speak to her, encouraging her to keep reaching for the facts, even though the pain of the past is best left untouched. She begins to put names with decomposing faces. Tessa can't stop when she's come so far, even though the shocking truth is hard to accept.

The author weaves a somewhat complicated yet fascinating story about the power of the mind. The alternating chapters between the present and the year 1995 reveal the traumatic memories that a young girl repressed in order to survive. Even more revealing is the healing that comes from allowing those agonizing memories to surface to free the innocent. Not only is this a suspense thriller, it's also a timely reminder about the scientific gains made in the study of crime today.  

Best Boy

Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb

Meet Todd Aaron. An autistic, contented man in his fifties who loves to read The Encyclopedia Britannica (Mr. B) and research interesting facts on the computer (Mr. C).  At the Payton LivingCenter, he's one of the veteran residents. Todd has called this place home since he was eleven-years-old. He's been happy with the quiet seclusion Payton offers, but now he feels a restlessness deep inside his soul. After all these years, he wants to go home.

Home, however, only exists in his memories. And some of those memories are painful. Like the beatings and humiliation he endured as a child at the hands of a father who could not accept a son that was "different". Or a brother who enjoyed tormenting him in front of friends for a cheap laugh. But then he thinks of Momma and Todd's heart swells with love. His mother was special, a crusader for her precious son diagnosed with this mystery affliction called autism. Now that both of his parents are gone, Todd desperately hopes his brother, Nate, will finally agree to reunite with him. But Nate carries a resentment and a secret that make Todd's dream unlikely to come true.

As the story progresses, Todd's world begins to trigger anxiety. There's the taunting brain-injured roommate who loves to watch the "volts" in Todd's brain explode.  A new man on staff with wicked intentions pretends to be a friend; how it reminds him of his vile father. A pretty girl with one eye teases Todd with romantic overtures, convincing him to stop taking his medication in order to feel normal once again. If only he could go home to that place of tranquility and peace. So he plans his escape.

Eli Gottlieb has written an emotional, insightful story examining the fascinating mind of a high-functioning autistic man. Written in the first-person narrative, the reader soon becomes empathetic towards Todd and his struggle to survive in a world he often doesn't understand. By the end, I think you'll agree that this courageous man deserves admiration rather than pity.

As Momma said, "You were a best boy who became a beautiful man and made everybody who knew you very proud".