Inspired by the HORROR classic, Rosemary’s Baby, we have “The New Couple in 5B”-55 Park Avenue-a historic NY city building now called the Windemere-buInspired by the HORROR classic, Rosemary’s Baby, we have “The New Couple in 5B”-55 Park Avenue-a historic NY city building now called the Windemere-built on the same soil where “The Church of the Holy Name” once stood until it burnt to the ground.
All that remained of the building was the foundation, some of the stones, and the Gargoyles that stood sentry over the front door.
Moving in, a newlywed couple, Chad and Rosie Lowan, he an actor, she a writer, who inherited the 5 million dollar unit from his Uncle Ivan.
Rosie has plans to write a book about the building’s history-divided into sections for the Violent Murders, the many Accidents, the frequent Suicides, and the natural deaths-which seem to have happened in abundance at this address-one of which occurred in their very own unit-where a writer, Paul, once lived with his beautiful, dancer wife, Willa.
Are there dark forces at work in this haunted building?
At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But soon, the Lowans begin to wonder why the SAME doorman is always on duty, and why there are cameras everywhere? And, what about the intercom, which summons that doorman without needing to even press a button?
Creepy and claustrophobic, this ENTERTAINING story has a gothic feel which will grip you from the opening pages-but don’t expect it to feel plausible.
A fun buddy read with Susan, Ceecee and Mary Beth, which offered much lively discussion! Be sure to check out their amazing reviews for additional thoughts!
This book is available now!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this title!...more
Just SIX months earlier, Will was lovingly waking his wife Erin on Valentine’s Day, with a kiss and a delicate necklace, to celebrate their love, and Just SIX months earlier, Will was lovingly waking his wife Erin on Valentine’s Day, with a kiss and a delicate necklace, to celebrate their love, and their toddler daughter, Sadie. But, when he tries to fasten it around her neck she flinches, and feels a fear she can’t explain.
Then the “unthinkable”happens that evening.
While Will is supposed to be watching Erin’s beloved dog, Coco, he loses her. And, searching the neighborhood and posting signs, brings no results. Erin is inconsolable, and when she isn’t able to forgive Will for being so careless, a downward spiral begins.
They seek marriage counseling to try and save their relationship-and their family.
When Erin and Will walk into Maggie Day’s office for the first time, Maggie believes they are an ordinary couple with the usual issues, including an overbearing mother-in-law and a son who won’t acknowledge that fact.
But soon Maggie begins to sense that Coco was just a trigger for issues that started many years prior.
As they delve into Erin’s troubled past, she mentions something which could tie in to the therapist’s own personal traumatic experience years prior.
Maggie knows her “code of ethics” as a therapist should have her immediately stopping her work with the couple, but her own desperation keeps her pushing for answers, and she can’t resist using her position to delve deeper into Erin’s memories to find out what she might know.
The book continues to count down the time from SIX MONTHS ago to the PRESENT DAY and opening prologue which foreshadowed Erin being rushed to the ER-the Victim of a hit and run.
This is mostly told through the alternating perspectives of Erin and Maggie, which allows us to get to know both women well.
This story captured my interest from the opening page, and I was completely engaged throughout! And, it remained plausible without being predictable which is a big plus for me!!
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this title!...more
What Have You Done? by Shari LaPena Expertly narrated by January Lavoy (main text) with narrator Jorjeana Marie as Diana and narrator Barrett Leddy as What Have You Done? by Shari LaPena Expertly narrated by January Lavoy (main text) with narrator Jorjeana Marie as Diana and narrator Barrett Leddy as Evan 8 hrs 49 min at 1.0x speed, 5 hrs 53 mins at 1.5x speed
The turkey vultures found her first.
Roy Ressler thought it would be a deer that the vultures were circling in his field, as he drove his big farm tractor early Friday morning. Nothing could prepare him for what he found instead. A local girl lying naked, and dead and one he recognizes-Diana Brewer.
Nothing like this ever happens in the sleepy town of Fairhill, so Detectives Stone and Godfrey are called in from the Major Crimes unit of the Vermont State Police. As they begin to investigate, three suspects emerge, and I kept changing my mind about who I thought might be guilty.
Cameron Farrell-her possessive boyfriend Joe Prior, a customer who had been stalking her at her job at the Home Depot, and Brad Turner-her high school gym teacher and Coach-whom she has recently filed a complaint against for “inappropriate behavior”.
The pace is FAST as the story unfolds from multiple, alternating POV’s delivered in short, snappy, “just one more” chapters. We even have some from Diana, as she tries to make sense of her own death from beyond (reminiscent of Lovely Bones). Her best friends, Riley and Evan take an active role in the investigation and we are also privy to Evan’s journal entries as the story progresses. I found it interesting that different narrators were used to voice the viewpoints of the teens-Diana and Evan.
I read to be entertained and as always, Shari Lapena has done so, with her engaging writing style. Not once was I tempted to skim ahead-she held my interest from start to finish.
DO read the author’s note at the end to hear about the farmhouse and the ouija board which helped inspire this story.
I paired my reading with the audiobook for an enhanced experience and wish to thank the Chandler Public Library for the loan of both formats.
Originally an Amazon Original Audible, released in December 2021, this story is now available in print for the first time!
Lettuce Tomatoes Pickles OnOriginally an Amazon Original Audible, released in December 2021, this story is now available in print for the first time!
Lettuce Tomatoes Pickles Onions
Charlie Hudson, an autistic 17-year-old, is determined to escape Sawyer, PA and attend MIT as soon as she graduates high school — but in the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at “The Sawyer Sandwich Shop” (known as The Triple S to locals) to save money for college.
When shop owner Clay Cooper is found dead, each member of his staff becomes a suspect in the perplexing case-But, only one knows what really happened-Charlie-and she isn’t telling.
Charlie will have to figure out who to trust and what to do-using the rules of life she has learned from her mother and from TV- if she wants to protect the co-workers who are like family to her-and attain her dream of attending college.
What ensues is a story that was original, engaging and most of all SURPRISING!
Wendy Walker never disappoints!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this title! ...more
Nobody, and I do mean NOBODY, writes romances that I enjoy more than Abby Jimenez!
She makes me want to crawl inside the pages of her books and becomeNobody, and I do mean NOBODY, writes romances that I enjoy more than Abby Jimenez!
She makes me want to crawl inside the pages of her books and become one of her characters, so I can marry her “too good to be true” MMC, have a best friend like her MFC will have, and own one of the adorable (or ugly!) rescue dogs that she creates! (here’s looking at you, Brad!) ...more
I HIGHLY recommend the Audible version, narrated by Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Jessica Lyman. (10 hours, 2 minutes)
Each narrator captured the mI HIGHLY recommend the Audible version, narrated by Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Jessica Lyman. (10 hours, 2 minutes)
Each narrator captured the mood perfectly and sounded exactly as I imagined their character would sound . Plus-when a certain tape is played, complete with whispers, it was downright creepy!
“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it” THOSE were the opening words to “Lying in Wait”, the first book by Liz Nugent to capture my attention, and she has continued to shock me with her dark, twisted stories of dysfunctional families since then.
And, the opening sentence for Strange Sally Diamond:
“Put me out with the trash” he said regularly. I’ll be dead so I won’t know any different. You’ll be crying your eyes out-(and he would laugh, and his daughter Sally would laugh too, because both knew that Sally NEVER cried)
But then the day arrives and when Sally finds her father has stopped breathing- the reclusive and “Socially Deficient” Strange Sally Diamond does just that-attracting the attention of an entire town!
Her father has left her THREE letters to explain why she has no memories from before the age of 7-(our minds are very good at blocking out disturbing events)
But as Sally discovers WHY she “IS AS SHE IS” and steps out into the World for the first time, at age 44, she will actually come into her own despite the traumatic events of her earliest years, AND the man on the other side of the World who knows her as “Mary”.
Chapters narrated by Peter, fill us in on what Sally and her mother endured (heartbreaking) but I was most captivated by Sally in the present day, as you cannot help but root for her to succeed. (heartwarming).
Strange Sally Diamond will NOT soon be forgotten!
As always with Liz Nugent, there are many possible triggers including but not limited to Captivity, Pedophelia, Rape, Mental and Physical Abuse. No animals are harmed.
AVAILABLE NOW
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this Audible....more
HUSBAND: “We need to find a moment to talk. It’s important” WIFE (rendered speechless) thinking…”Is the marriage over?”
Rewind a week…and the story begiHUSBAND: “We need to find a moment to talk. It’s important” WIFE (rendered speechless) thinking…”Is the marriage over?”
Rewind a week…and the story begins, told in the first person POV of the WIFE, over the course of one week, one COLORFUL day at a time…
⚠️ You will hear the words “MY HUSBAND” so many times throughout this book that you will have already lost track of the number of times you have heard it, before MONDAY is even over.
That is by design, because she is in fact, OBSESSED with her husband.
Monday: “I’m in love with my husband or should I say, I’m still in love with my husband. I love my husband as much as the first day I met him.”
And, OBSESSED about wanting to be sexually desired by her husband.
But is her love and passion reciprocated? She will TEST her husband often.
She doesn’t feel the need to spend time with friends, her parents or her CHILDREN-she only needs to spend time with her husband.
She will in fact, forget to kiss her children goodbye when she leaves the house, and be angry when her husband only gives her a peck on the cheek in greeting.
And, so help him, if he dares to try to discuss the weather!
She can JUSTIFY everything that SHE does.
Over analyzing everything that HE says and does, she will punish him in both passive aggressive ways when appropriate, and in ways more unforgivable and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was like this when the two married, or if had perhaps been a slow descent into madness over the fifteen years of their union.
YOU WILL LEARN THE TRUTH IN THE EPILOGUE
LIKE A CAR WRECK that you can’t help but peek at as you drive by-I couldn’t stop listening to this crazy AUDIBLE, narrated brilliantly by Kiiri Sandy.
This dark, entertaining, character study written by Maud Ventura and translated from French by Emma Ramadan runs for only 5h 33 minutes and I listened to it in one sitting.
It’s an impressive DEBUT, and the winner of France’s First Novel Prize.
I loved the glimpses into the culture of France-the exquisite descriptions of food, and family life, and of course, I was captivated by this MARRIAGE and our VERY unlikable WIFE.
Clearly, it’s not for everyone with a current average rating on Goodreads of 3.74 but, it is UNIQUE and QUITE UNFORGETTABLE so it’s earning 5 stars from me!
Positive reviews on the same day by both Michelle H and Brandice, caught my attention and I am so glad they put this one on my radar!
AVAILABLE NOW
Thank you to the Chandler Public Library for the AUDIBLE loan of this title....more
Jack was 9 years old when his father said goodbye to him as he left for the government’s Witness Protection Program.
Excerpt :
He reached around into Jack was 9 years old when his father said goodbye to him as he left for the government’s Witness Protection Program.
Excerpt :
He reached around into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. A simple billfold made of brown leather. He opened it up briefly, exposing a couple of bills. A ten and a five. “There’s a few bucks in there,” he said. “Enough for some comics or ice cream or something.” He took his son’s hand and placed the wallet in it. The boy studied it, like it was some strange, unidentifiable artifact. “What about your driver’s license?” the boy asked. “They’ll get me a new one of those. New Social Security card, too, probably even a library card. Along with my new name, whatever it turns out to be.” “You won’t be Dad anymore?” The man looked as though he might crumble. He took a moment. “I’ll always be Dad,” he said. He folded the child’s fingers around the wallet. “You hold on tight to it, just in case. You never know, maybe one day I’ll come back for it.”
Now:
Jack is a struggling author and his third book has been rejected. So when the U.S Marshalls approach him with a lucrative job offer-writing the back stories for people who are about to go off grid in the Witness Protection Program, he sees it as not only an opportunity to earn some money, but also as a way to possibly get information about his Dad, and maybe reconnect with him.
But, how can he find a man he’s never truly known?
Jack and his investigative reporter girlfriend, Lana, are likable and believable characters who you can root for, and unlike the last two thrillers that I read, this one delivered an ORIGINAL PREMISE, which was ENTERTAINING from the very first page through the last one.
Full of suspense, it managed to SURPRISE me more than once, and it had an adrenaline finish like one you might find in the movie theater! ...more
As promised, Abby Jimenez has followed up “Part of your World” with Bri’s story, and as always, she delivers!
In fact, she just MAY have set a new recoAs promised, Abby Jimenez has followed up “Part of your World” with Bri’s story, and as always, she delivers!
In fact, she just MAY have set a new record by getting me to tear up for the FIRST time, at just about a third of the way into this story…
D-day (divorce is final) is rapidly approaching for Dr. Briana Ortiz, her brother, Benny is giving up on life-convinced the kidney donor he needs will never be found, thanks to his absent father giving him a rare blood type, and the new Doctor at her hospital, Jacob Maddox may be getting the promotion she wants.
He isn’t making the BEST first Impression.
Little does she know that he took the job at Royaume Northwestern to escape the pain of working at Memorial West with his brother, Jeremiah and his ex girlfriend, Amy, who are now engaged. It also doesn’t help that he suffers from “social anxiety” in new situations.
NEVER say NEVER…
So, he tries to right his first missteps by writing her a good old fashioned letter, as he is much better at expressing himself when he has time to think about his words-and a friendship is born. ✍...more
The Serial Killer’s Survivor group met on Tuesday Afternoons, moderated by Gert, who was from the Replication Committ4.5 ⭐️
STALKED. MURDERED. CLONED.
The Serial Killer’s Survivor group met on Tuesday Afternoons, moderated by Gert, who was from the Replication Committee, which had given each woman her life back, through a Government cloning project.
The name was a lie though, wasn’t it?
None of the five in the group-Angela, Fern, Jasmine, Lacey, or Louise had ACTUALLY survived.
Each STAGED by their murderer, with their shoes ...more
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