The Hungry Dark - Jen Williams

 

This supernatural horror follows Ashley, the face of her family's psychic business.  As a child, she saw figures she called the Heedful Ones but after one disastrous night, they disappeared.  Now, years later, her family wants to branch out from contacting dead relatives to consulting with the police.  No better case to start with than the child murders dubbed the Gingerbread House Murders. For some reason, the Heedful Ones decide to come back into Ashley's life and show her where the most recent missing child's body is.  Now, the press is excited, the police are suspicious, and Ashley start to realize maybe her visions have come back now for a reason and she's more connected to these murders than she ever thought.

I really love when I read a book's description and think "that sounds really interesting" and then the actual book is even better than I was expecting. This was one of those reads.  The premise was intriguing and Williams builds on it expertly to draw me in.  The main character had such a strong voice from the start and we can really feel her internal struggle between her 'job' and her identity/morals. But we don't sit in the status quo for long, instead getting thrust into the Gingerbread House Murders by literal supernatural forces.  This is one of those books where the premise pays off in dividends.

i loved the dual timeline aspect and how it was used to give the reader answers to something the characters were all mentioning (or trying hard to not mention).  The reader can piece together some clues from these half-mentions but it would have been a little out of place to suddenly have one character info-dump the whole story.  Plus, being able to see the events as they were happening in real time also gave insight to Ashley's character.  There is also a true crime podcast element that is looking into the current murders that gives some more background info on the area and the history.  Both of these elements I felt worked with the narrative and didn't feel out of place or like that author was taking the easy way out of plot/character development.

The characters in this were fantastically complex and intriguing.  Williams does a great job at quickly introducing them to the reader in a way where we really get to the essence of that character.  Sure, we'll get more details about them later, but I loved that each character comes onto the page fully developed so I had an instant understanding of them. The main plot takes place over only a few weeks so there isn't a whole lot of time for 0-100 character development which is why I loved the choice to have Ashley already thinking/doubting her place in the world.  she's ready for a change and this plot will take her there. 

The horror aspect of this is mostly supernatural with some body horror pertaining to the child murders.  We also get touches of folk horror tied to the murders. I did find myself wanting more from the murder investigation aspect, it felt a little under-utilized and used more as a convenient way for information to get to Ashley.  I loved the supernatural elements in this, especially the description in both timelines.  I think it really highlighted the differences between children and adults when it comes to the unknown.  Ashley's own growth when it came to accepting what she was seeing vs her profession and all the skepticism that comes with it.  I didn't find this book scary, but it was unnerving at times.  I think this could have been a very different, more gruesome book if it wanted to be but I liked the more understated horror elements. 

Where this book lost me was the ending reveal and the aftermath.  I found in the first 75% of the book, the breadcrumbs of clues were laid out expertly.  I loved the feeling I'd get when I just knew a certain character was 'off' and I'd wonder to myself how they'l fit into the resolution.  Then, on the pages lading up to the actual reveal, those breadcrumbs felt more like an entire loaf of bread the author was using to hit me over the head.  All subtly was lost and then when the reveal came, it was more like "well duh, you basically told us 5 pages ago".  I also thought the aftermath of the reveal wrapped up way too quickly and there were some key conversations I would have loved to see and these were completely skipped over.  I read an ARC, so maybe some of this changed for the final version.

Overall, this was an entertaining read with a great setup and great pacing.  However, I felt lit got a little heavy handed at the ending reveal which lessened the surprise.  Also, I wanted more of a resolution to some of the interpersonal drama/issues presented throughout the book. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.  Publication date was April 9, 2024.

A Cast of Falcons - Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

We're back with Dr Nell Ward, a few months after the events of book 1 (A Murder of Crows).  A whole cast has assembled at Nell's family estate, Finchmere, to celebrate the marriage of her best friend Percy to Hawke McAnsthruther.  Family tensions are high and soon Hawke's shady personal and professional life are only making those tension worse.  When the wedding night ends in a death, Nell, Rav, and DI James Clarke find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation.  And with Finchmere being out in the middle of the country, they must come to terms that the killer very well may be still in the house with all of them.

This is the second book in the Nell Ward series and while each book does have stand alone mysteries, I would recommend reading these in order.  There are a lot of character interactions and relationship growth that I think gets lost if you do not read book 1 first.  Of course, Yarwood-Lovett does her best to sprinkle in the needed information from book 1 into this read as it comes up.  For me, since I read the first one a few years ago, these served as gentle reminders of some of the big plot points from that read. 

The maps at the beginning of the book worried me at first because there were so many different rooms and places that I was sure I'd get confused.  I was reading an eARC so flipping back and forth every few pages would have been tedious.  However, I found myself not needing to look back at all and my initial study of the maps was sufficient to get a feel for the layout.  Similarly, all the names on the maps of who was in which room made me worry I would have a hard time keeping so many characters straight.  However, Yarwood-Lovett does a great job of introducing the characters in such a way that I had details to latch onto.  Each character was unique enough that I had no issues keeping them straight, which is something I do struggle with at times.  I could see a reader using that map more if they were really trying to solve the mystery before the characters did but that isn't really my style when reading mysteries.

The mystery plot was a great closed-circle mystery with plenty of rich people problems at the center.  The author does a fantastic job of giving the characters believable motives as well as questionable alibis so I really had no idea who could be the killer until it was revealed.  I was surprised at the number of bodies that dropped but loved how that complicated the investigation.  I was expecting a bit more of a police procedural, given we have a DI in the cast.  There is still a basis in ecology, but I didn't find it nearly as present in this book compared with the first (although it does come into play during clutch moments).

The pacing was spot on and it really made this story potato-chip-readable.  I couldn't help but want to keep turning pages.  This read never had any sort of lull or saggy middle for me as we seemed to have a constant stream of new information.  This is a multi-POV read, which I think helped keep the pacing moving.  So when one character reached a lull in their investigation, the POV switched and we were picking right up with a different character and their investigation.  One small complaint I've had in recent mysteries I've read is that the characters spend too much time debriefing and repeating all the information they have so far - purely for the reader's supposed benefit.  In this read, however, I didn't have any of those feelings.  The few moments where characters got together and ran through their investigation notes were usually when they were teaming up with another character so it felt like a natural part of the story instead of feeling forced. 

Overall, this was a great next installment in the series as well as a great closed-circle murder mystery.  I loved being back with many of the same characters from book 1 and got some great character development through their personal relationships.  I'm looking forward to reading on in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC.  Publication was October 18, 2022
 

NOS4A2 - Joe Hill

This horror/thriller follows Victoria McQueen and Charlie Manx.  While growing up, Victoria (Vic) discovers her gift for finding lost things by riding her bike over a bridge that shouldn't exist.  Within moments, she travels from her home in New Hampshire to wherever the lost item is - even if it is across the country.  At the same time that Vic is using her gift for finding things, Charlie Manx is using his similar power to kidnap children and bring them to Christmasland.  The two initially go about their lives with no knowledge of the other until one day where Vic goes looking for Manx.  After that day, Vic spends her life trying to escape the memories of that day whereas Manx hasn't stopped thinking about Vic and is determined to get her back.  Years later, with Vic has a child of her own, Manx comes back and in order to save her son, Vic must embrace what happened to her as well as her own powers. 

At almost 700 pages, this book was certainly a project to read.  It took me about a month to get through, which I was a little surprised about. But there was just something about the pacing and narration that made me not pick this up unless I had a few hours of uninterrupted time.  I really wanted to make sure I had enough time to sink into the story.  This is my first read from Hill, so I was also worried that there would be some bloat or unnecessary parts of this long of a read.  I was incredibly pleased that I did not find that to be true at all with this read.  So if, like me, you have heard great things about this read but the length is giving you pause, I would encourage you to pick this up because I absolutely loved it.

I was surprised by the pacing of this read and how much story we get before the events mentioned in the description of the book.  The description tells us that Manx will abduct Vic's son.  But it takes half the book before Vic even has a son.  The first half of the book is set up about Vic's history, family life, and the magic bridge as well as seeing how Manx operates.  I'll admit that while I was in the middle of all this set up/backstory initial story I was a little worried this was all bloat and wouldn't come into play later.  However, I'm pretty sure every little detail we learn about Vic and the other characters come back around directly during the second half of the read.  As far as the pacing goes, this first half was a little slower but Hill does a fantastic job of slowly ramping up the pacing as the book goes on.  The more we learn about Vic and Manx and their connection the more it starts to feel like they are two trains gaining speed as they hurtle toward each other. While the beginning of the read is slower paced, by the time we get to the last 25%, we are full speed and I didn't want to put the book down at all.  

The lore and supernatural elements surrounding Manx and Vic's bridge were fantastic.  Hill does a great job of having the reader discover the rules and limitations of these aspects as the characters learn about them.  Every question or idea I had about the supernatural aspects of the story did eventually get answered or addressed which was fun. We don't always get a clear black and white answer to every question but I found that Hill would address those types of questions via the characters in a satisfying way.  There were a few times where I thought I had a handle on the details but then something new would happen and it would introduce a new aspect that deepened the world building.   

The characters in this are wonderfully developed and I got so attached to them while reading.  it is always a plus when I cry while reading a horror/thriller read and this certainly fit that bill.  I would say that if you are not a character-centered reader that this read may feel a bit slow, especially the first half.  However, I loved the fact that we got to see these characters over decades of their lives and get to see the changes they go through.  Hill does a great job with character development and they all felt very detailed and believably flawed.  

Overall, this was a fantastic read that I'm so glad I finally got around to reading.  I heard so many good things about this read and found them all to hold true.  We have some fantastic character development and world building surrounding an absolutely expertly paced adventure. This is a long read, but 100% worth the ride in my opinion and I'm looking forward to reading more from Hill in the future. 

June Romance Wrap-up

 Engagement and Espionage - Penny Reid

This cozy mystery romance is the first book in the Solving for Pie: Cletus and Jenn Mysteries Series and follows Cletus and Jenn. After their initial romance in Beard Science (Winston Brothers series #3), we are now following Cletus and Jenn as they are working to balance their busy lives and finding time together while dealing with some fallout from the previous book.  But when a series of unfortunate events befall the residents of Green Valley, Jenn and Cletus suspect these are not coincidences but instead are sabotage.  Add solving this mystery to the to-do list they already have running.  I haven't finished the Winston Brothers series yet, but Cletus and Jenn's book has been my favorite one by far.  I absolutely love them individually as well as together.  Reid does a great job of continuing their personal growth as well as their relationship growth alongside the mystery solving. We're back in the small town of Green Valley and get to see more side characters that we know as well as others we're meeting for the first time.  I always enjoy having a cozy mystery mixed with a romance and I think Reid does a good job balancing the two plots.  I did find there were too many sort of 'sit down and run through all the facts of the case so far' type of moments for my liking. I didn't find the mystery overly complicated and would have been fine with one or two of these sort of moments but there were ones where it felt like we hadn't even really learned anything new since the last one.  Overall, I'm glad that Reid pivoted and we have a whole handful of new books in this series that I'll be sure to pick up.

Rogue - Onley James

This MM romance is the second in the Jericho's Boys series and follows Levi and Shiloh.  The two meet while Levi is working the night shift at a convenience store and Shiloh is sent by his sadistic brother to kill Levi.  Instead of pulling the trigger, the two share a kiss that has them both reeling.  They quickly fall into each other but with Shiloh's brother as a looming threat, they need the whole crew to figure a way out of this one.  This was another great entry in this world and I loved that we get more of what I've come to love from James's books - steamy insta love with a good streak of blood thrown in the mix.  I think this book really opened up the world a bit more and I'm looking forward to future books hopefully exploring more of the other groups or gangs in the area.  Levi and Shiloh were great together and I found their dynamic really interesting.  They both have a hefty dose of trauma that come into play in this book but they are at such different points in their healing journey.  As always, we see a lot of side characters with the main group of boys as well as the Mulvaneys. The romantic suspense elements were well done and there were even a few surprises that I didn't see coming.  

Mercy - Sara Cate

This is the fourth book in the Salacious Players Club series and follows Beau and Maggie.  The two seem about as opposite as possible - Maggie helps run the SPC with Beau's dad - but after both finally give in and take the kink quiz on the SPC app, they have more in common than meets the eye.  Once their true identities are revealed, the two think about cutting it off now.  But neither expected their connection or that maybe the kinky things they've been holding back are just what they've always needed.  With Beau as a submissive brat and Maggie as his Domme - the two might just be able to face everything that says they shouldn't work together.  I didn't love this read as much as the previous entries in the series and I think that mostly came down to the fact I didn't find Maggie or Beau particularly compelling characters.  This will obviously be different for different readers, but I found them both to be pretty solid background characters during the previous books and the beginning of this book didn't really give me any new details about either of them.  I thought their dynamic was well done but when it came to the emotional development and stakes to their relationship, I wasn't hooked.  While Beau played a pretty big role in the first book in the series, Maggie was almost non-existent in the rest of the series.  Cate does a great job, as usual, with the kinky/spicy side of things but the character side of this read just missed the mark for me.

The Babysitter - Jessica Gadziala

This is the fifth book in the Professionals series and follows Ranger and Meadow.  The two meet when Ranger finds Meadow after she's been assaulted out in the middle of the woods where Ranger has built his homestead.  He immediately gets her to safety and then calls in help from the team to get Meadow back to civilization, to a hospital, and then hopefully back to her life.  Only Meadow isn't ready to go back to her life.  Instead, she wants to stay with Ranger while she heals and processes.  This read was much different than the other books in the series.  It was much less of a romantic suspense than some of the others and was a more quiet and calm read.  It was great to finally see more of Ranger and his set up as he was often mentioned off hand in the earlier books.  I loved Meadow's character and her growth as she went from a typical city girl to pulling her own weight on Ranger's homestead. The plot reminded me a lot of Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon (which I read in April).  But in this read, we get more time with Ranger and Meadow together and see their feelings grow.  They both have trauma but we get to see them both lean on the other when needed.  We also get multiple epilogues so we can see the path they end up taking after the main events in the book.