2018 is done and all the "best of" lists (or most) for books published last year have been created and shared with the world. So what now? How will you know what to read next now that you've finished all of the best of 2018? Well the CrimeReads website can help you fill the void.
I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover, but dang, the artwork for Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel My Sister, the Serial Killer is a stunner. Especially when paired with its gag-worthy title.
The good news is that Braithwaite’s satirical thriller exceeds expectations.
“The baby is dead.”
That’s the first sentence.
Here’s a suspense thriller that puts it all out there from the get-go. Generally unconcerned with twists or secret motives, The Perfect Nanny really isn’t for you if you’re craving an old-fashioned who-done-it. But if you want a psychological horror show that is as literary as it is tawdry, Slimani serves it up on a platinum platter.
If you thought Amy from Gone Girl, was devious, wait until you meet Jane. On the outside, Jane appears to be a mild mannered office assistant beginning a new job in Minneapolis.
There are people who don't recognize good and bad. They appear normal, even charming, but lack conscience and empathy. They see others as objects to use for their own benefit. They are called psychopaths. They are out there, wandering among us, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Liz Nugent's Lying in Wait is about just such a person. The path to who this person is and what they are willing to do leads the reader on a terrifying maze of twists and turns of shock and second-guessing, and in my case, a little shrieking.
"Ghosting" according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication. Several recent reports tout it as the new toxic behavior. It's cowardly, it's destructive and it doesn't resolve anything.
If this were a reality show on television today, I would totally watch it.
I'm a long-time fan of Charlaine Harris. I loved her books long before the making of True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse series. But I'll admit her last couple books that have once again picked up the Aurora Teagarden character did not generate much interest for me. Partly because, though I loved librarian Roe, I didn't like a choice Harris made about another main character. And partly because I've just moved pretty much beyond the cozier end of the spectrum in mysteries. All of this led me to be both excited and nervous about An Easy Death the first in a brand new trilogy.
This book gave my 2018 reading log a jolt! The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller of extreme paranoia, psychosis, medication and wine. These elements combined are dangerous for the characters in the novel and, as I was describing the book to a colleague, I felt drunken and off-balance while reading it.
Two college students are forced off a road and over an embankment by someone driving an old- fashioned hearse. One girl (Janie Rose) is killed, the other (Charlie Delaney) is seriously injured.
