SKIPPING CHRISTMAS (Novel- Luther and Nora Krank- Caribbean Cruise-Cont) – Standalone – John Grisham
For something completely different… Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting the annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences - and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined.
Charlotte – DNF – She didn’t realize it really wasn’t a mystery and kept waiting for a body to appear. Helen – DNF – She started it, but didn’t finish it as she doesn’t care for slapstick humor. Joni – Okay - I got halfway through it thinking it seemed very familiar. I am embarrassed to say that despite it sounding like Christmas With The Kranks, I thought it had to be different as I didn’t know Grisham wrote anything like that. Duh!! Anyway, a fast read, some funny scenes, knew how it would end. Not a mystery. But, at least I can say I have finally read Grisham. And never will again. I rate it a Fair as it did have some guffaws in it. Marcy – Poor – Wow! John Grisham is so hit or miss! Okay, so I thought this book would be about some murder that took place on a cruise they were planning to take. No, it's not a mystery at all. It is all about them skipping all the Christmas rigamarole because their daughter is away in Peru for a year. About 65% of the book is about the grief they get from all the neighbors, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, etc. because they're not celebrating the holiday. Very soon not only does that become very tedious and repetitive, but it's clear that the Kranks live in a neighborhood of friends who really do care about them, so it's annoying the Luther Krank doesn't seem to acknowledge his blessings. Before too long, it occurred to me that their daughter will probably call at the last minute because she's surprising them with an unexpected visit and that's exactly what happens. The rest of the book is about how those awful neighbors all pitch in to give the daughter a wonderful Christmas to remember. But what about those comment's about the fiancé’s skin color, and sigh of relief when he's not too dark!
Group Rating Average: Poor
EVERYBODY KNOWS (Suspense-Mae-Los Angeles,CA-Contemp) – Standalone – Jordan Harper
As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms. After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate.
Gabriel – Good - I’m rounding up to good. Thought the cynicism would be crushing, but was just a little. Kept me reading. The repetition in the narration was a little annoying. Helen – Good – It was interesting. She felt as though she’d read this before because it wasn’t so far fetched. The ending was realistic. The writing was good although there were a lot of inaccuracies. Joni – Poor – The only thing she liked about the ending is that it ended. The characters were pathetic or loathsome. The only thing she liked was that the dog wasn’t harmed. The conspiracy was so far fetched, even QAnon wouldn’t buy it. Kathleen – G+ - Liked the pace, and the descriptions of LA were very interesting. The characters were morally ambiguous. The capitalized phrases were annoying. Although the story was interesting, she had mixed feelings about the ending. She did like that not everything was tied up at the end. Nancy – Good - For me, this book was a combination of old fashioned potboiler & thriller with some mystery thrown in. As a native Angeleno, I knew every location the story traveled to and enjoyed that. But even so, all the driving eventually felt to me no more than a flat travelogue. The story was also slow going for me until 100 pages in. I was most involved in Nevaeh’s whole story. The characters of Mae and Chris were written well enough although the character of Chris was more fleshed out than Mae. The book’s ending was a bit meh for me. I don’t know why Mae alerted Algar before the really bad guys could kill him-maybe just to stick it to them in the end? Also, the end of Mae and Chris’s relationship felt lackadaisical and anticlimactic. Ron – G+ - Something completely different for a mystery with interesting characters, no real heroes, a bleak vision, and a satisfying ending.
Group Rating Average: Good
THE SECRET WITNESS (PolProc-Sheriff Billie Gray/Solomon Shepard-Utah-Contemp) – 1st in series – Victor Methos
Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray leads the investigation into the double homicide. When the letter leads detectives to yet another body, Gray calls on an old friend for help. Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard is still struggling to recover from the deadly courtroom attack that ended his career—until Gray asks for his help on the Reaper case.
Charlotte – Good – Liked this the best. She enjoyed it. It held her interest and the characters were interesting. It wasn’t as gruesome as some serial killer books. Gabriel – Okay - Didn’t love the characters, but they were okay at holding my interest. It only glamorized serial killers a little, didn’t make them godlike. Didn’t like what happened to the girl, but I suppose the book had to be gritty. Didn’t like the final twist—over the top. Joni – VG - I liked the book. The pace was very good. The characters were interesting. I especially liked Solomon and his sense of humour about his agoraphobia. It had a different rhythm than a lot of books in that the killer is caught halfway through and the rest of it is about how the case will be handled in the courts. The connection between the Reapers was not a surprise. I did think the mother was overly naive and would have done something to make sure her son got help earlier in his life. I give it a VG and would read more. Marcy – Okay – She was skeptical in the beginning, but it wasn’t too gruesome. There didn’t seem to be too much of an investigation, nor was there much sense of place. Nancy - Good - a fairly quick, interesting and easy to read courtroom procedural with an ending that unfortunately felt a bit flat and predictable. The main character of Solomon was the book’s best written, with enough depth and development to make me actually care about him as a person. Sheriff Billie Grey and Braden the psychopath were each most interesting when interacting with him. But Sheriff Grey’s character unfortunately became less important as the story developed. The minor character of Dr. Fuller, actually had some of the book’s best written and interesting dialogue when testifying about Braden in court at Solomon’s behest. Ron – Okay – Not an author he’d read again. He hated the ending.
For something completely different… Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting the annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences - and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined.
Charlotte – DNF – She didn’t realize it really wasn’t a mystery and kept waiting for a body to appear.
Helen – DNF – She started it, but didn’t finish it as she doesn’t care for slapstick humor.
Joni – Okay - I got halfway through it thinking it seemed very familiar. I am embarrassed to say that despite it sounding like Christmas With The Kranks, I thought it had to be different as I didn’t know Grisham wrote anything like that. Duh!! Anyway, a fast read, some funny scenes, knew how it would end. Not a mystery. But, at least I can say I have finally read Grisham. And never will again. I rate it a Fair as it did have some guffaws in it.
Marcy – Poor – Wow! John Grisham is so hit or miss! Okay, so I thought this book would be about some murder that took place on a cruise they were planning to take. No, it's not a mystery at all. It is all about them skipping all the Christmas rigamarole because their daughter is away in Peru for a year. About 65% of the book is about the grief they get from all the neighbors, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, etc. because they're not celebrating the holiday. Very soon not only does that become very tedious and repetitive, but it's clear that the Kranks live in a neighborhood of friends who really do care about them, so it's annoying the Luther Krank doesn't seem to acknowledge his blessings. Before too long, it occurred to me that their daughter will probably call at the last minute because she's surprising them with an unexpected visit and that's exactly what happens. The rest of the book is about how those awful neighbors all pitch in to give the daughter a wonderful Christmas to remember. But what about those comment's about the fiancé’s skin color, and sigh of relief when he's not too dark!
Group Rating Average: Poor
EVERYBODY KNOWS (Suspense-Mae-Los Angeles,CA-Contemp) – Standalone – Jordan Harper
As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms. After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate.
Gabriel – Good - I’m rounding up to good. Thought the cynicism would be crushing, but was just a little. Kept me reading. The repetition in the narration was a little annoying.
Helen – Good – It was interesting. She felt as though she’d read this before because it wasn’t so far fetched. The ending was realistic. The writing was good although there were a lot of inaccuracies.
Joni – Poor – The only thing she liked about the ending is that it ended. The characters were pathetic or loathsome. The only thing she liked was that the dog wasn’t harmed. The conspiracy was so far fetched, even QAnon wouldn’t buy it.
Kathleen – G+ - Liked the pace, and the descriptions of LA were very interesting. The characters were morally ambiguous. The capitalized phrases were annoying. Although the story was interesting, she had mixed feelings about the ending. She did like that not everything was tied up at the end.
Nancy – Good - For me, this book was a combination of old fashioned potboiler & thriller with some mystery thrown in. As a native Angeleno, I knew every location the story traveled to and enjoyed that. But even so, all the driving eventually felt to me no more than a flat travelogue. The story was also slow going for me until 100 pages in. I was most involved in Nevaeh’s whole story. The characters of Mae and Chris were written well enough although the character of Chris was more fleshed out than Mae. The book’s ending was a bit meh for me. I don’t know why Mae alerted Algar before the really bad guys could kill him-maybe just to stick it to them in the end? Also, the end of Mae and Chris’s relationship felt lackadaisical and anticlimactic.
Ron – G+ - Something completely different for a mystery with interesting characters, no real heroes, a bleak vision, and a satisfying ending.
Group Rating Average: Good
THE SECRET WITNESS (PolProc-Sheriff Billie Gray/Solomon Shepard-Utah-Contemp) – 1st in series – Victor Methos
Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray leads the investigation into the double homicide. When the letter leads detectives to yet another body, Gray calls on an old friend for help. Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard is still struggling to recover from the deadly courtroom attack that ended his career—until Gray asks for his help on the Reaper case.
Charlotte – Good – Liked this the best. She enjoyed it. It held her interest and the characters were interesting. It wasn’t as gruesome as some serial killer books.
Gabriel – Okay - Didn’t love the characters, but they were okay at holding my interest. It only glamorized serial killers a little, didn’t make them godlike. Didn’t like what happened to the girl, but I suppose the book had to be gritty. Didn’t like the final twist—over the top.
Joni – VG - I liked the book. The pace was very good. The characters were interesting. I especially liked Solomon and his sense of humour about his agoraphobia. It had a different rhythm than a lot of books in that the killer is caught halfway through and the rest of it is about how the case will be handled in the courts. The connection between the Reapers was not a surprise. I did think the mother was overly naive and would have done something to make sure her son got help earlier in his life. I give it a VG and would read more.
Marcy – Okay – She was skeptical in the beginning, but it wasn’t too gruesome. There didn’t seem to be too much of an investigation, nor was there much sense of place.
Nancy - Good - a fairly quick, interesting and easy to read courtroom procedural with an ending that unfortunately felt a bit flat and predictable. The main character of Solomon was the book’s best written, with enough depth and development to make me actually care about him as a person. Sheriff Billie Grey and Braden the psychopath were each most interesting when interacting with him. But Sheriff Grey’s character unfortunately became less important as the story developed. The minor character of Dr. Fuller, actually had some of the book’s best written and interesting dialogue when testifying about Braden in court at Solomon’s behest.
Ron – Okay – Not an author he’d read again. He hated the ending.
Group Rating Average: Good