Re: What are you reading?
If you’re into mystery/suspense/thriller type books then try these:
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: This is about a small-time reporter who is given an assignment to report on a “missing girl” case that took place in her hometown…a place that she has long left behind and has no desire to return to. When she arrives the ultra-conservative town of her childhood, yet another girl goes missing. There are similarities between the two cases…the victims’ teeth were removed. The protagonist resides in her mother’s home..whom she shares an uncomfortable relationship with. She also has a step-sister whom she never got a chance to bond with. While working on the case, she is forced to revisit her own childhood past and in doing so she discovers links to the case of the missing girls.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn…This was a fun read. Libby is in her early 30s and has never worked a day in her life courtesy of a sympathetic trust-fund that was set up by community and national well-wishers after her older brother was charged with the bloody massacre of her mother and siblings. Libby only has a vague memory of what happened on that night, but her testimony landed her brother behind bars for years. Her trust fund is dwindling and she has to face the glum prospect of actually working for the first time. She is approached by a man who belongs to a group/organization that fiercely believes her brother is innocent. The man offers her money if she helps him investigate the possibility of her brother’s innocence. She is drawn to the offer for not only lucrative reasons but also because she, too, wants to know what exactly happened that night.
The Passenger by Lisa Lutz…I really enjoyed this book. It’s a fast-paced, easy read. And it hooks you from the first page. It also has tongue-in-cheek humor. A woman (can’t remember name) comes out of the shower and finds her husband lying dead at the foot of the stairs. She makes the mistake of dragging his body, thus spreading the blood stain. This, she thought, might make her look guilty. So, instead of calling the police as she should have, she grabs whatever cash she has and gets into her car with no intention to ever return. She sells the car, then checks into a motel…with a made-up name. Then she goes to the convenient store, buys a pair of shearing scissors and a a box of hair-dye and changes her look. She adopts new identities several times throughout the book and you find out that she had also used a “fake name” when she married her husband. She’s been wearing masks and running away all her life until she is forced to return to the very place that turned her away…and that’s when u find out what led her to be on the run.
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware…This was an interesting read and is going to be turned into a movie. It’s about a woman who is an author. She’s fiercely introverted and she’s never been able to have a lasting romantic relationship because she’s never quite gotten over her first love from high school. Circumstances had led them to break up and for her to leave town, never to return. One day she receives an invitation to a “hen party” for her childhood best friend…whom she hasn’t spoken to in years…and who is the opposite of her in every way (pretty, popular,etc). It turns out that former bestie is marrying her first love. The “hen party” takes place in a creepy looking glass-house in a remote location…surrounded by the woods. Strange things happen during this visit and someone is killed in what was a twisted form of revenge.
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillian…A woman’s son goes missing not too long after her husband left her for another woman. In her search for her son, she is confronted with secrets about her family history…of who she truly is…and where she came from.
The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillian…Girl can’t afford to get into an elite school but ends up there because she’s a musical prodigy…a gift strongly cultivated by her mother. She gets in with the wrong crowd at school and an accident takes places. She tried doing the right thing…but she was the one behind the wheel…and two passengers are killed…among them her best friend. The tragedy takes its toll on her parents’ marriage and they divorce. She and her mother move to another place and begin to put the pieces of their lives together. And then she is faced with the mysterious death of her mother. It was a good read, but I liked What She Knew much better.
Yep! Read all of them. I love telling what a book was about. I’m a nerd like that!