FIND YOU FIRST (Susp-Miles Cookson-NY-Contemp) - Standalone – Linwood Barclay Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. Two decades ago, Miles was a sperm donor resulting in nine children, one being Chloe. When Miles and Chloe connect, they fine that Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.
Corona – Good – Enjoyed it. She didn’t let the details get in her way. Don – Okay - Lots of promise here; poor development of characters and plot; ending was clumsy Dianne – VG – A real barn-burner. One of the big flaws was why didn’t the protagonist figure out a major plot point. The development of the character with Huntington was good. Dianne has read more by Barclay and finds him an interesting writer. He writes a good airplane book. Felicity – VG - I enjoyed this one too. It was a little predictable, but this predictability kept me engaged as opposed to frustrated! I liked the characters. Gabriel – Good - A gripping thriller, with pretty well-done characters, not cardboard, which got me more invested in them. A premise I haven't seen before. The villain's dark secret, when revealed, was in character. Sympathetic hero. When the young woman refused all money offered, even though she was poor, I was admiring and dismayed at the same time. It was good enough to make me read some of his other books. Ginny – Okay - My hopes were raised because of the endorsement by Stephen King. And yet it took me weeks to navigate the few mini twists of the story line. So many characters to remember. I was disappointed guess the identity of the killer so early. Basically, I thought the author's writing was good, but the plotting of the story could have been tightened up to create real tension to benefit the readers. Helen – Good – Definitely an airplane book, but a good one. Liked Miles and Chole and that their relationship stayed father and daughter. The errors in technology bothered her, but it was an entertaining read. Nancy – Okay - Two of the best drawn characters were Chloe, who came to life as a plausible real life person and Miles, whose evolving disability was well constructed and realistic. The methodical killing of Mile’s four ‘children’ did become a bit repetitious though. The book’s ending with Chloe driving the RV down the stairs and out of Jeremy’s mansion was fun (who cares if it wasn’t realistic!). For all of its fantasy, I thought the book’s ending and epilogue was both detailed, well written and definitely the high points of this book. Ron – VG - This book was fast-paced and made me want to keep reading without stopping, which why I rated this high. The characters were fine, but I thought there were too many weaknesses/coincidences in the plot. Even at the end I couldn't really understand the motivation of the villain acting so drastically in response to his sister’s news. Why did he feel so threatened? The coincidence of the protagonist and the villain searching for the same nine people simultaneously for two different reasons is particularly strained. Also, the coincidences of two separate professional hit teams being undone by two separate pairs of unimposing young people and the fortuitous ending where everything is cleanly tied up for all the characters (both the good and the bad) was hard to take.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: GOOD
THE WHISTLER (LegalThril-Lucy Stoltz-Florida-Contemp) – 1st in series – John Grisham Lacy Stoltz is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the Board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption. But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer who now goes by the name Greg Myers claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined and wants to put a stop to it. His only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Greg files a complaint with the Board on Judicial Conduct, and the case is assigned to Lacy Stoltz, who immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous.
Christine – VG+ - Loves Grisham. Liked the story, loved his characters although the judge was over the top. Corona – VG – Found it very interesting. It was fun to follow the progress of the investigation. Really enjoyed it. Dianne – Good – Liked it. It was much better than “Camino Wind” that we read. Don – Okay - Another promising beginning but..... Characters drawn well ; plot was slow development Ginny – Ex - A corrupt judge, murder, money laundering, gambling, robbery, bribery was a delicious read. The plotting of the story was gripping and intense. Grisham’s descriptions of locations and people were rich. The dialogue a bit dull at times, but overall, I enjoyed the roller coaster ride which led to a most satisfactory conclusion. Helen – VG – Liked it and found it very entertaining. A fast read. Liked the epilogue.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: VG
CLARK AND DIVISION (Myst-Aki Ito—Chicago-Contemp/1944) – Standalone – Naomi Hirahara Chicago, 1944: Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the US government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train. Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
Corona – DNF – Tried twice to read it but the characters were so morose she felt she didn’t need to go somewhere so depressing. Dianne – Okay – Was very interested in the history, but she couldn’t get any sympathy for the characters. Too much repetition, too thin a plot, fell flat. As an historical book, it had value, but the plot and dialogue were lacking. Don – Ex - Historical fiction and Aki is the brave younger sister, solving her older sister Rose's death. From internment camps in the California desert to the near North side of Chicago. Fascinating; "a grabber" Felicity – VG - I enjoyed reading this. I especially enjoyed the historical accuracy. I looked up this book’s author and it said she does painstaking research. That made reading it more enjoyable because I knew that I could rely on the narrator’s descriptions. It was fairly slow-paced and that bothered me a lot in the middle. However, it picked up for the rather sad end. Gabriel – DNF - It deals with a very important subject, but somehow, I didn't get into it. Ginny – Good – The historical background interested her. She did enjoy that aspect. She expected the author to go deeper into the family. But she just wasn’t engaged and found the book became confusing. Helen – Okay – Wanted to like it and did like the end. It was not really a mystery and she found it hard to get through. Linda F – DNF – Couldn’t get through it. Ron – Okay - The book didn’t really draw me in enough to even care how it ended. I hoped to like it more because of the setting and the community it dealt with.
Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. Two decades ago, Miles was a sperm donor resulting in nine children, one being Chloe. When Miles and Chloe connect, they fine that Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.
Corona – Good – Enjoyed it. She didn’t let the details get in her way.
Don – Okay - Lots of promise here; poor development of characters and plot; ending was clumsy
Dianne – VG – A real barn-burner. One of the big flaws was why didn’t the protagonist figure out a major plot point. The development of the character with Huntington was good. Dianne has read more by Barclay and finds him an interesting writer. He writes a good airplane book.
Felicity – VG - I enjoyed this one too. It was a little predictable, but this predictability kept me engaged as opposed to frustrated! I liked the characters.
Gabriel – Good - A gripping thriller, with pretty well-done characters, not cardboard, which got me more invested in them. A premise I haven't seen before. The villain's dark secret, when revealed, was in character. Sympathetic hero. When the young woman refused all money offered, even though she was poor, I was admiring and dismayed at the same time. It was good enough to make me read some of his other books.
Ginny – Okay - My hopes were raised because of the endorsement by Stephen King. And yet it took me weeks to navigate the few mini twists of the story line. So many characters to remember. I was disappointed guess the identity of the killer so early. Basically, I thought the author's writing was good, but the plotting of the story could have been tightened up to create real tension to benefit the readers.
Helen – Good – Definitely an airplane book, but a good one. Liked Miles and Chole and that their relationship stayed father and daughter. The errors in technology bothered her, but it was an entertaining read.
Nancy – Okay - Two of the best drawn characters were Chloe, who came to life as a plausible real life person and Miles, whose evolving disability was well constructed and realistic. The methodical killing of Mile’s four ‘children’ did become a bit repetitious though. The book’s ending with Chloe driving the RV down the stairs and out of Jeremy’s mansion was fun (who cares if it wasn’t realistic!). For all of its fantasy, I thought the book’s ending and epilogue was both detailed, well written and definitely the high points of this book.
Ron – VG - This book was fast-paced and made me want to keep reading without stopping, which why I rated this high. The characters were fine, but I thought there were too many weaknesses/coincidences in the plot. Even at the end I couldn't really understand the motivation of the villain acting so drastically in response to his sister’s news. Why did he feel so threatened? The coincidence of the protagonist and the villain searching for the same nine people simultaneously for two different reasons is particularly strained. Also, the coincidences of two separate professional hit teams being undone by two separate pairs of unimposing young people and the fortuitous ending where everything is cleanly tied up for all the characters (both the good and the bad) was hard to take.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: GOOD
THE WHISTLER (LegalThril-Lucy Stoltz-Florida-Contemp) – 1st in series – John Grisham
Lacy Stoltz is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the Board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption. But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer who now goes by the name Greg Myers claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined and wants to put a stop to it. His only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Greg files a complaint with the Board on Judicial Conduct, and the case is assigned to Lacy Stoltz, who immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous.
Christine – VG+ - Loves Grisham. Liked the story, loved his characters although the judge was over the top.
Corona – VG – Found it very interesting. It was fun to follow the progress of the investigation. Really enjoyed it.
Dianne – Good – Liked it. It was much better than “Camino Wind” that we read.
Don – Okay - Another promising beginning but..... Characters drawn well ; plot was slow development
Ginny – Ex - A corrupt judge, murder, money laundering, gambling, robbery, bribery was a delicious read. The plotting of the story was gripping and intense. Grisham’s descriptions of locations and people were rich. The dialogue a bit dull at times, but overall, I enjoyed the roller coaster ride which led to a most satisfactory conclusion.
Helen – VG – Liked it and found it very entertaining. A fast read. Liked the epilogue.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: VG
CLARK AND DIVISION (Myst-Aki Ito—Chicago-Contemp/1944) – Standalone – Naomi Hirahara
Chicago, 1944: Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the US government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train. Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
Corona – DNF – Tried twice to read it but the characters were so morose she felt she didn’t need to go somewhere so depressing.
Dianne – Okay – Was very interested in the history, but she couldn’t get any sympathy for the characters. Too much repetition, too thin a plot, fell flat. As an historical book, it had value, but the plot and dialogue were lacking.
Don – Ex - Historical fiction and Aki is the brave younger sister, solving her older sister Rose's death. From internment camps in the California desert to the near North side of Chicago. Fascinating; "a grabber"
Felicity – VG - I enjoyed reading this. I especially enjoyed the historical accuracy. I looked up this book’s author and it said she does painstaking research. That made reading it more enjoyable because I knew that I could rely on the narrator’s descriptions. It was fairly slow-paced and that bothered me a lot in the middle. However, it picked up for the rather sad end.
Gabriel – DNF - It deals with a very important subject, but somehow, I didn't get into it.
Ginny – Good – The historical background interested her. She did enjoy that aspect. She expected the author to go deeper into the family. But she just wasn’t engaged and found the book became confusing.
Helen – Okay – Wanted to like it and did like the end. It was not really a mystery and she found it hard to get through.
Linda F – DNF – Couldn’t get through it.
Ron – Okay - The book didn’t really draw me in enough to even care how it ended. I hoped to like it more because of the setting and the community it dealt with.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: Okay