Review: "Missing Pieces" by Heather Gudenkauf

Disclosure: This ARC ebook was provided to me via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Title: Missing Pieces

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Publisher: MIRA

Pub. Date: February 2, 2016

I have read all of Heather Gudenkauf's previous novels and have really enjoyed them all.

This one not so much.

The story's premise is a good one. Jack and his wife are summoned to Jack's hometown when his aunt is in an accident. After they arrive, the aunt dies and the police suspect that it was no accident after all. Then Jack's wife Sarah begins to learn all of Jack's family secrets, including the fact that Jack's mother was murdered and his father disappeared. Why has Jack kept his history a secret for all these years from her? Why would someone want his elderly aunt dead?

The main problem I had with this book were the characters. Jack comes across as completely phony, and he and Sarah seem more like strangers than husband and wife. I understand that that is part of the plot (the idea that he has been keeping secrets from Sarah), but even before she finds this out, they seem distant. The whoel family is thrown into a murder investigation, but all Sarah can worry about is that Jack used to date Celia. Really? That's her main concern?

Finally, the execution of the plot was weak. I figured out the murderer pretty quickly. The red herrings that the author included were not convincing at all. It seemed as if Gudenkauf wanted to just throw a lot of ideas out there and hope that something stuck.

"Missing Pieces" was a quick read and fairly entertaining, but if you are looking for a good mystery, look elsewhere.

Review: "Depraved Heart" by Patricia Cornwell

Disclosure: This ARC ebook was provided to me via HouseParty in return for an honest review.

Title: Depraved Heart

Author: Patricia Cornwell

Publisher: William Morrow

Pub. Date: October 27, 2015

I have read all of Patricia Cornwell's 22 previous Kay Scarpetta novels so I was excited about being chosen to be a Chatterbox for this book. I eagerly awaited my free advanced reader's copy, and when it arrived, I dove right in.

Depraved Heart opens with Kay and Marino investigating the death of a young woman named Chanel Gilbert. It looks accidental, but Kay soon realizes that the death is suspicious. But her attention is quickly turned elsewhere when she receives videos on her phone showing her niece Lucy and Scarpetta's arch-nemesis, Carrie Grethen. Scarpetta is convinced that Grethen is responsible for attacking her on a scuba dive (as told in Cornwell's last novel Flesh and Blood), and she believes that Grethen is continuing to taunt her using these old videos.

Leaving the Gilbert crime scene behind suddenly, Scarpetta rushes to Lucy's estate to find out what is happening. There she finds that the FBI has swarmed the estate with search warrants, looking for anything to put Lucy behind bars. Is this part of Grethen's evil plan? How are the videos coming from Lucy's phone? And what does this have to do with the Gilbert murder?

These questions are answered, but unfortunately not in a smooth, satisfying way. The novel seems to just try to establish Grethen's return without much real action or tension. There's no excitement or horror present, as in previous Scarpetta novels. There's just the vague shadow of Carrie Grethen in the background, echoing the shadow she is casting over Scarpetta and Lucy's lives. I kept waiting for a scary or shocking moment, but sadly it never came. The plot itself was fairly weak and didn't hold my interest which was disappointing.

I understand that some novels have to set the stage for future stories, but I still hoped for more action from Cornwell.

Review: "Pop Goes the Weasel" by MJ Arlidge

Disclosure: This ARC ebook was provided to me via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Title: Pop Goes the Weasel

Author: M.J. Arlidge

Publisher: NAL/Penguin Group

Pub. Date: October 6, 2015

The second installment of the DI Helen Grace series is, in one word, amazing. I think I like this book even better than the first book in the series (Eeny Meeny), and I loved the first!

In this book, DI Helen Grace is back in all of her complicated, damaged glory. This time, she is on the trail of a killer posing as a prostitute who is luring men to their deaths. Not only are the men murdered, but then the killer sends gruesome tokens through the mail to their familes and coworkers. 

This is another book that I like to call a "one sitting" book: you sit down and finish it all in one go because you just can't wait to find out what happens. DI Grace is as compelling a character as I have encountered in a while. After the events of Eeny Meeny, she comes across as even more vulnerable, a trait she hates, but we as readers love. In this book, the author gives us deeper insight into the other characters as well, especially DI Grace's fellow cop Tony. He is flawed and really makes you feel empathy for his situation. The action in this book is top-notch: short, flashy, visceral violence that makes you wince yet greedily read more. 

Hooray for M.J. Arlidge! He has given us yet another winner in the mystery/thriller genre, and he is rapidly becoming one of my favorites.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: "Eeny Meeny" by MJ Arlidge

Disclosure: This ARC ebook was provided to me via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Title: Eeny Meeny

Author: M.J. Arlidge

Publisher: Penguin Group

Pub. Date: June 2, 2015

As a die-hard fan of British mystery/thriller/police procedurals, I couldn't wait to read "Eeny Meeny". Let me say up front that it did not disappoint! This book hooked me from the very start and begged - nay, forced - me to read it in one sitting.

"Eeny Meeny" introduces us to DI Helen Grace, a fiercely good cop whose past has left her severely emotionally damaged, leading her to some questionable lifestyle choices. She is tough, she is complicated, she is damn near perfection in a character. She is on the hunt of a psychopath who kidnaps pairs of people and forces them to make the ultimate decision of which one will live and which one will die.

The author's television background is apparent in his writing style: the scenes are visual and gruesome and the chapters short and fast-paced. You will catch yourself reading faster and faster just to find out what happens, much as you would impatiently fast-forward through commercials.

M.J. Arlidge has a winner here with this new series and I can't wait for the other installments!

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: "House of Echoes" by Brendan Duffy

A special thank you to Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Title: House of Echoes
Author: Brendan Duffy
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine
Pub Date: April 14, 2015

In this debut thriller, Ben and Caroline Tierney have bought the Crofts, an old stone mansion near the village of Swannhaven in the mountains of remote upstate New York. They plan to turn it into a destination inn. They think that remodeling the house will provide their family with the stability they all need. Ben is a novelist, Caroline recently lost her banking job and has been battling her bi-polar disorder. Their older son is Charlie, who was being bullied in his school. After a bullying incident in which Charlie was missing, the family decides to get out of the city.

At first, the move seems like a good idea. Caroline's bi-polar symptoms are under control and she is throwing herself into the renovations on the inn. Charlie is enjoying exploring the woods surrounding the home, and Ben has found a topic for his next book. However, things began to turn quickly. Ben is finding dead animals left on their door step. Charlie isn't telling his parents about the "Watcher" mysterious person that he thinks he sees in the woods. Caroline is hiding the fact that she is going off her meds. This soon leads to tension that is set to tear everything apart.

Ben starts to interact with townspeople and begins to explore the history of the house and the Swann family. He discovers that the house has been the site of mysterious events like deadly fires, missing children, and even a winter of starvation. But what does this have to do with his family?

Overall, this book was good. It definitely felt like a gothic thriller, and more than once, I found myself comparing the feeling of the book to "The Shining" by Stephen King. But that is a generous comparison. This book is definitely not scary, and I had the "secret" of the house and town figured out in the first 100 or so pages. I was not a big fan of any of the characters either; Caroline was an over-the-top paranoiac and Ben comes across as "poor pitiful me -- I have to put up with a wimpy kid and a crazy wife." The story was good, but I felt that the inclusion of the "letters" from residents of the house back in the 1700's didn't really add anything to the book (whereas normally, I love details like that). I also felt that the "relationship" between "The Watcher" and Charlie was farfetched. I don't think that a child this young would do the things that Charlie does and keep secrets about it. Lastly, I didn't think that the very graphic descriptions of the dead animals was necessary. 

With summer coming, this could be a good beach read: fast, without too much thinking involved.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars