Category: Book Summaries

Book summaries are my own opinion and I do not receive payment for my thoughts. My intention is to always promote reading and public libraries.

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Silver Tears

  • Author: Camilla Lackberg
  • Genre: Psychological thriller
  • Page number: 300
  • Subject headings: Rich families, Driven women, women executives, Divorced women, deception, escaped convicts, revenge

In this sequel to The Golden Cage, Faye continues her quest for fortune, independence, revenge and power. Faye Adelheim is living a dream life. She owns a powerful company, she can afford anything her heart desires, and her ex-husband and abusive father are in jail for the rest of their lives. She has nothing to fret about, although she does hold a secret, and worrying that the secret could be revealed keeps her up at night. 

This is a bold story of a scorned women who will stop at nothing to protect what is hers, including murder. Faye has a ferocious appetite for money, power, sex, and above all- loyalty from the women she surrounds herself with.  This is not for the light-hearted reader who blushes when reading sex scenes…Faye enjoys sex and the author is gracious with her details.  

Told in alternating chapters, from past to present, the reader gets a glimpse into Faye’s childhood- understanding why she is a fighter and will stop at nothing to protect what is hers.  I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the third in the series.  Should be juicy!!

This title is available in your public library!

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The passing of Gary Paulsen

To think I will never be able to read another Gary Paulsen novel is very sad.  I have loved his adventure style writing for years and I have suggested his books to so many students.  As a three-time Newbery Award winner, he never disappointed.  He led such an interesting life- even competing in the Iditarod three times.  His life experiences always made their way into his books. With over two hundred books under his belt, my two favorites are Hatchet and NightJohn. 

In Hatchet, perhaps Paulsen’s best-known book, a 13-year-old named Brian is the sole passenger on a small propeller plane headed from his home in New York City to visit his father in northern Canada. When the pilot has a heart attack and the plane crash-lands in a remote lake, Brian is left to survive for months, using only a small hatchet his mother gave him before he left. 

The reader has a front row seat as Brian navigates his survival.  He battles a bear, a pack of wolves, the extreme cold weather in northern Canada while also tackling complete isolation.  He discovers what to eat to sustain his life while discovering he is strong and can survive with his wits and strength.  This is a moving story of survival and what can happen when we are faced with difficulties.  

Pre-Civil War South, a slave considers it his duty to teach reading and writing to the slave children of the Weller Plantation.  NightJohn believes knowledge is the key for slaves to break free of bondage. He risks his life nightly trying to educate the children.  This book is small but mighty.  The message is powerful- reading and writing and the ability to communicate threatens our oppressors. 

Paulsen’s books have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide— a story teller who will be missed.

Before Paulsen passed he had a book in the works titled Northwind. It’s publishing date is January 2022- I will look forward to reading it, reviewing it and suggesting it as a title for young adults. Fun fact: Paulsen wrote 20 out of 24 hours per day throughout most of his career. 

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Where I left her: Novel

  • Author: Amber Garza
  • Genre: Psychological suspense
  • Page number: 384
  • Setting: Modern day, city
  • Subject headings: Mother/teenage daughter, Missing teenage girls, deception, trust

This title was recommended to me by a fellow Librarian who knows I love a good mystery with a surprise ending…this story has it all.

Whitney is a divorced-busy mom of a moody teenage daughter.  When she drops off her daughter for a sleepover, Whitney imagines for herself a full night of relaxing on the couch watching what she wants on the TV and eating whatever snacks she feels like.  She is so looking forward to this solitude, that when she drops off her daughter, she vaguely pays attention to the address.  The next day as Whitney goes to pick-up her daughter, she can’t remember the exact house where she dropped her daughter off, and her daughter is not answering her phone nor is she posting anything on social media…very unlike her.   

As the hours tick by, frantic Whitney calls the police and reports her daughter missing.  What follows is a trail of lies, secrets and deceptions.  Whitney can only hope to find her daughter before it’s too late and the truth rears its ugly head.

Book clubs will love to read this one while ruminating what it’s like having a moody teenage daughter who wants nothing to do with you. 🙂

Where I Left Her is available in your public library!

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A Slow Fire Burning

  • Written by: Paula Hawkins
  • Genre: Psychological thriller
  • Page number: 352
  • Subject Headings: Murder, Women Murder Suspects, Crime, Family Relationships
  • Setting: London, England

I loved The Girl on the Train and found myself anxious to read Paula Hawkins newest book.  I was not disappointed!  

On a cool fall morning, Daniel Sutherland is brutally stabbed to death on his houseboat in London.  The police are called in as they begin their investigation. The main suspect is Laura- a young, disfigured women who is still traumatized by a childhood accident.  She was the last to see Daniel alive. Among the cast of characters that Hawkins weaves into the story-  the nosy neighbor, Miriam, who found the dead body and is the one who called the police,  the aunt of Daniel, Carla, who has numerous reasons to knock off Daniel herself and her ex-husband, Theo, who is still in-love with Carla and would do anything to defend his ex-wife…even murder.  And then there is Irene, an elderly women with too much time on her hands.  All five are interviewed by the police about the murder of Daniel, but who will end up in prison for his death? 

Hawkins does a wonderful job at revealing information about each character a little at a time- just enough, to keep the reader guessing. Fans of Hawkins will not be disappointed!

This title is available at your public library!

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The Golden Cage

  • Written by: Camilla Lackberg
  • Genre: Psychological thriller
  • Page number: 400
  • Subject headings: Wealthy families, Betrayal, Revenge, Secrets, Entrepreneurs

 

Another Swedish crime writer who is an expert at telling suspenseful stories and creating intriguing plots. This was a page turner!

Imagine how you would feel if, as a gifted student in the esteemed Stockholm’s School of Economics, you left school early to help your husband focus on his career.  You work tirelessly at a waitressing job, and you devote your all only to find out your successful husband has been cheating with different women during the entirety of your marriage and now he wants a divorce… and the prenup you signed leaves you homeless and penniless.  What would you do? You would seek revenge.  That is exactly what Faye does when she single-handily wipes out her ex-husband by creating a scandal which plummets his company’s stock price.  The company’s stock loses value and her ex-husband ends up losing everything.

The courage shown by Faye as she becomes stronger while establishing her own presence in the business world, and the decline of her ex-husband as he falls to the edge of despair is captured so well in Lackberg’s writing. Fortunately for the reader, this is part one of a two-part story.  Lackberg just released Silver Tears which continues Faye’s story.  Can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Your book club members will love this author! 

This title and the second book in the series are available in your public library!

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The Last Thing He Told Me

  • Written by: Laura Dave
  • Genre: Thriller fiction
  • Page number: 320
  • Subject headings: Missing men, Married women, Computer programmers, Stepdaughters, Fraud investigation, Trust

After her husband Owen disappears, Hannah Hall quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Everything he told her during their short marriage was a lie.  In fact, he lied about his entire existence according to the FBI.

With Owen’s disappearance, many questions are left unanswered.  Is he responsible for the stolen six million dollars?  Did he lie about data research in order to make a killing in the stock market?  As days go by, the FBI intensify their questioning.  Hannah receives a note stating “Protect her.” She understands that the person she is being asked to protect is her step daughter, Bailey, but why must she protect her?

With the help of Bailey, Hannah goes to great lengths to locate Owen while trying to sidestep the dangerous situation she is finding along the way.

I did not love this book.  I thought the plot was interesting, but not enough to recommend this title. Although I am disagreeing with the majority of the reviews, most people enjoyed this book.

This title is available in your public library!