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The Wrath of Angels - John Connolly                                                                                         (Series)

This is the 11th in the Charlie Parker series. I am surprised that I have stuck with it this long because of the dark beings from the netherworld that John Connolly throws into his novels. And this one had a lot of them.

There were many returning characters along with ALOT of new characters. Some were important to the storyline, while others seemed to be there and then gone. SO many people that I tended to get lost many times.   

It is a well-written book, but I enjoy them better when they are about Charlie, Louis and Angel.   An I have invested 11 books into this series,  you know I can not quit now.!!!!

Goodreads Summary:

In the depths of the Maine woods, the wreckage of an aeroplane is discovered. There are no bodies, and no such plane has ever been reported missing, but men both good and evil have been seeking it for a long, long time. What the wreckage conceals is more important than money: it is power. Hidden in the plane is a list of names, a record of those who have struck a deal with the Devil. Now a battle is about to commence between those who want the list to remain secret and those who believe that it represents a crucial weapon in the struggle against the forces of darkness.

The race to secure the prize draws in private detective Charlie Parker, a man who knows more than most about the nature of the terrible evil that seeks to impose itself on the world, and who fears that his own name may be on the list. It lures others too: a beautiful, scarred woman with a taste for killing; a silent child who remembers his own death; and the serial killer known as the Collector, who sees in the list new lambs for his slaughter.

But as the rival forces descend upon this northern state, the woods prepare to meet them, for the forest depths hide other secrets.

Someone has survived the crash.
Some thing has survived the crash.
And it is waiting 

 

 Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

Monopoly Book Challenge - Free Parking - Read any book you choose.
"Y" Author

The premise of this book sounded fascinating, but it didn't quite live up to its billing of "A Novel of Suspense".  Quite often the murder plot got bogged down in the details of the history of Icelandic witchcraft and witch hunts and the weird flirtations between the 2 main characters (Thóra and Matthew).

Two interesting facts though: 1. Icelandic witch trials were centered around men - 20 men were executed for sorcery, while only 2 women were convicted as witches; 2. Malleus Maleficarum a/k/a Hammer of Witches (1486) is the leading treatise on witchcraft and for a time sold more copies than any other book other than the Bible.

While the murder mystery neglected to capture my interest, the beauty of Iceland did (pic of lava fields)!

Summary from Goodreads: At a university in Reykjavík, the body of a young German student is discovered, his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest. Police waste no time in making an arrest, but the victim's family isn't convinced that the right man is in custody. They ask Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, an attorney and single mother of two, to investigate. It isn't long before Thóra and her associate, Matthew Reich, uncover the deceased student's obsession with Iceland's grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts. But there are very contemporary horrors hidden in the long, cold shadow of dark traditions. And for two suddenly endangered investigators, nothing is quite what it seems . . . and no one can be trusted.

  The House of Brides - Jane Cockram                                                                                            (Debut)

This debut novel was written in a gothic style with family drama and suspense. So of course, we have the spooky manor house set on a rocky coast in England. Along with the people of the manor who we cannot trust.  Or can we trust some but not others and which ones of them should we trust?    Oh, and family secrets. Would not be a gothic suspense with secrets!!!

Anyway, it was a quick and easy read.

Goodreads summary :

Miranda’s life and career has been a roller-coaster ride. Her successful rise to the top of the booming lifestyle industry as a social media influencer led to a humiliating fall after a controversial product she endorsed flopped. Desperate to get away from the hate-spewing trolls shaming her on the internet, she receives a mysterious letter from a young cousin in England that plunges her into a dark family mystery.

Miranda’s mother Tessa Summers, a famous author, died when Miranda was a child. The young woman’s only connection to the Summers family is through Tessa’s famous book The House of Brides—a chronicle of the generations of women who married into the infamous Summers family and made their home in the rambling Barnsley House, the family’s estate. From Gertrude Summers, a famed crime novelist, to Miranda’s grandmother Beatrice, who killed herself after setting fire to Barnsley while her children slept, each woman in The House of Brides is more notorious than the next. The house’s current “bride” is the beautiful, effervescent Daphne, her Uncle Max’s wife—a famed celebrity chef who saved Barnsley from ruin turning the estate into an exclusive culinary destination and hotel.

Curious about this legendary family she has never met, Miranda arrives at Barnsley posing as a prospective nanny answering an advertisement. She’s greeted by the compelling yet cold housekeeper Mrs. Mins, and meets the children and her Uncle Max—none of whom know her true identity. But Barnsley is not what Miranda expected. The luxury destination and award-winning restaurant is gone, and Daphne is nowhere to be found. Most disturbing, one of the children is in a wheelchair after a mysterious accident. What happened in this house? Where is Daphne? What darkness lies hidden in Barnsley?

 

             Crippen - John Boyne                                                                                                           ("C"book)

#2021MonopolyChallenge - (Penn Ave - Book that involves a trip)

Mr. Boyne introduces us to a Mr. Crippen who is accused of murdering his wife, circa 1860.  Part of the story takes in America in 1860, London 1910 and on a boat 1910.  

This is a slow read but an  interesting one. Mr. Boyne does a great job of bringing life to his characters. 

Goodreads summary::

July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.

Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun.

Across the Channel in Antwerp, the S.S. Montrose has just set off on its two-week voyage to North America. Slipping in among the first-class passengers is a Mr. John Robinson, accompanied by his teenage son, Edmund. The pair may be hoping for a quiet, private voyage, but in the close confines of a luxury ocean liner, anonymity is rare. And with others aboard looking for romance, or violence, or escape from their past in Europe, it will take more than just luck for the Robinsons to survive the voyage unnoticed.

Wildland by Rebecca Hodge

Monopoly Book Challenge - Virginia Avenue - a book set in one of the South Atlantic states: North Carolina
Once Upon a Book Club - March 2020

Debut

Heart pounding, gripping, heart-stopping are just some of the descriptions of this book and they got it right. Rebecca Hodge's debut is a wonderful drama that has you wanting to stay up all night to finish it!  Characters you will love and adore and others you will want to punch in the face.  I look forward to her next book (due out September 2021!)

Summary from Goodreads: When Kat Jamison retreats to the Blue Ridge Mountains, she's counting on peace and solitude to help her make a difficult decision. Her breast cancer has returned, but after the death of her husband, her will to fight is dampened. Now she has a choice to make: face yet another round of chemotherapy or surrender gracefully.

Self-reflection quickly proves impossible as her getaway is complicated by a pair of abandoned dogs and two friendly children staying nearby, Lily and Nirav. In no time at all, Kat's quiet seclusion is invaded by the happy confusion of children and pets.

But when lightning ignites a deadly wildfire, Kat's cabin is cut off from the rest of the camp, separating Lily and Nirav from their parents. Left with no choice, Kat, the children, and the dogs must flee on foot through the drought-stricken forest, away from the ravenous flames. As a frantic rescue mission is launched below the fire line, Kat drives the party deeper into the mountains, determined to save four innocent lives. But when the moment comes to save her own, Kat will have to decide just how hard she's willing to fight to survive--and what's worth living for.

Quote: "I finally decided to embrace what life handed me, even though it wasn't what I was seeking."

 Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

Monopoly Book Challenge - Community Chest #1 - a book by one of your favorite authors

Oldest Book on TBR

Son of a Witch is the 2nd in the Wicked Years series and chronicles the early life of Liir, Elphaba's son. Traversing the Land of Oz, meeting quirky characters and seeing Liir navigate the complications of being the "Wicked Witch"'s son.

The sequel didn't captivate me quite as much as Wicked did, but I still enjoyed it. The ending was left a bit unfinished but there are 2 more books to go in the series.

Summary from Goodreads: Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts.

What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape -- but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?

Quotes: "I always thought a soul was private, but it appears it can be colonized against your will if you don't watch out."

"It survived for the sole purpose of insuring its own survival."

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

Shakespeare Project 2020

When I embarked on the Shakespeare Project last year I attempted to include all the Shakespeare in my library which entails the Hogarth adaptations (read all but 2) and 2 non-fiction books about the Bard; one of which is this renowned work by Stephen Greenblatt.

While I had started it, I unfortunately didn't finish it during the Project year of 2020. But I did return to it.

There is a lot of questions surrounding the biography of William Shakespeare, including his actual date of birth and his cause of death and much of his life in between including the authorship of many of his plays.

Through extensive research of past and present scholars, Greenblatt strips away some of the romanticism of Shakespeare and shows a more accurate picture of the flawed genius.

Aside from the life of arguably the most famous man, I was astounded and dismayed at England's history including religious persecutions, expulsion of Jewish citizens and plague outbreaks. The latter especially as we are currently enduring a global pandemic.

Quote: "But people had grasped, through bitter experience, that the isolation of plague victims slowed the spread of the disease - ... - and they grasped too that there was a relation between the progress of epidemics and large crowds. Authorities did not cancel church services, but when plague deaths began to rise, they looked askance at any other public assemblies, and when such deaths reached a certain number (above 30 a week in London), they shut the theaters down."

Black-Eyed Susans - Julia Heaberlin                                                                                         (New Author)

#2021monoplychallenge - Marvin Gardens - Yellow Cover

The 1st half seemed to move rather slowly but it did pick up for the 2nd half. 

It is told in 2 timelines. One timeline is the main character, Tessie, at the age of 16 where she talks to her therapist about the trauma she suffered.  She was kidnapped and thrown into a shallow grave with 2 dead girls. There were black-eyed susans growing around the grave.

The other timeline is present day and the man who was accused of the crime is soon to be put to death.  But some evidence has come to light that he may be innocent and Tessa has been finding black-eyed susans being planted around her place.  

Enjoyed the book but I am not sure if I liked the ending.  

Goodreads summary

As a sixteen-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that flourished above their shared grave. Tessa’s testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row.
 
Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is an artist and single mother. In the desolate cold of February, she is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans—a summertime bloom—just outside her bedroom window. Terrified at the implications—that she sent the wrong man to prison and the real killer remains at large—Tessa turns to the lawyers working to exonerate the man awaiting execution. But the flowers alone are not proof enough, and the forensic investigation of the still-unidentified bones is progressing too slowly. An innocent life hangs in the balance. The legal team appeals to Tessa to undergo hypnosis to retrieve lost memories—and to share the drawings she produced as part of an experimental therapy shortly after her rescue.
 
What they don’t know is that Tessa and the scared, fragile girl she was have built a  fortress of secrets. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter. Is a serial killer still roaming free, taunting Tessa with a trail of clues? She has no choice but to confront old ghosts and lingering nightmares to finally discover what really happened that night.

 

    Woman 99 - Greer Macallister
                   (HF)

#2021monopolychallenge - Chance (A favorite author)

I chose this book for this challenge because I really enjoyed Ms. Macallister's first book "A Magician's Lie".  I think if I had read "Woman 99"  first, I may not have chosen Ms. Macallister as a favorite author.   "Woman 99"  dragged at times and seem to have some repetitiveness.   Still it was a good story but not a favorite. 

 Interesting storyline about  women in insane asylums at a time when women were admitted into the asylums because of many reasons other than mental illnesses.   

Goodreads:  A vivid historical thriller about a young woman whose quest to free her sister from an infamous insane asylum risks her sanity, her safety and her life

Charlotte Smith's future is planned to the last detail, and so was her sister's - until Phoebe became a disruption. When their parents commit Phoebe to a notorious asylum, Charlotte knows there's more to the story than madness. Shedding her identity to become an anonymous inmate, "Woman Ninety-Nine," Charlotte uncovers dangerous secrets. Insanity isn't the only reason her fellow inmates were put away - and those in power will do anything to keep the truth, or Charlotte, from getting out.

 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Monopoly Book Challenge - North Carolina Avenue - a book in which food plays an important role.

Newest Book on TBR

Okay, so it's not the newest book on my TBR but is newish enough to fit.

This was an easy read, short chapters and characters to adore; mouth watering descriptions of Puerto Rican and Spanish dishes, a little romance and commentary on stereotypes.

And discovering Seville, Spain.

Summary from Goodreads: With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free

Quotes: "I wanted to give Babygirl a nice name. The kind of name that doesn't tell you too much before you meet her, the way mine does....as soon as they see my name on a resume or college application they think they know exactly what kind of girl they getting."

"The world is a turntable that never stops spinning, as humans we merely choose the tracks we want to sit out and the ones that inspire us to dance."

"You can't make too much space for a father like mine in your life. Because he'll elbow his way in and stretch the corners wide, and when he leaves all you have is the oversized empty - the gap in your heart where a parent should be."

 The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase

Monopoly Book Challenge - Marvin Gardens - a book with a garden or plants on the cover
Once Upon a Book Club - August 2020
New Author

This was an easy read with an alternating timeline and mystery that kept the reader's interest. Some, but not all of the mystery was predictable but still entertaining, with characters one becomes invested in.

One thing that stuck out to me was how much the author loves the color green! Besides the obvious forest descriptions, there were: gold & pea green engagement ring, eyes like wet green glass, greenish clay mask, jelly-green water, Stiletto heels green as a Granny Smith, a green nut in a shell, and a vintage pea-green Porsche.

Summary from Goodreads: Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found. The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They're grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house's dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour - and the law - don't seem to apply. But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass. Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghost. - Kate Racculia                                                                         (Newest on TBR)

This book has lots of quirky characters. Starting with Tuesday Mooney ( who in my opinion does not really talk to ghosts, one yes, plural ghosts, no) So for me the title was a little misleading.

Then we have the concept of a scavenger hunt, again a little misleading. Still, there is a bit of a mystery surrounding the quirky people we meet. Seemed to be more of a mystery around the man who set up the scavenger hunt.

I was somewhat disappointed in what I thought would be a fun read. It dragged a bit,  I lost interest in it but I did finish it. Maybe my expectations were too high. I can ruin a good book by expecting more out of it because of the write-ups.  

 Goodreads summary:  A dying billionaire sends one woman and a cast of dreamers and rivals on a citywide treasure hunt in this irresistible novel by the author of Bellweather Rhapsody.

Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.

Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams

Sweet Little Lies – Caz Frear                                                                                           (Debut)

Meet Cat , a 26 year old detective with the London police.

18 years ago, a teenage girl, MaryAnne, disappeared and Cat was sure her father had something to do with MaryAnne’s disappearance. Now 8 years later, a young woman is found dead near her father’s bar.  Cat’s suspicions are brought back to the surface because the dead woman seems to have a possible link to the missing MaryAnne.

Was her father involved 8 years ago?? And is he involved now?? What is he hiding??  Cat is not sure she wants to find out.

The book kept my interest and the story line is different.  A good read.

Goodreads summary: In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family's past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.

Your father is a liar. But is he a killer?
Even liars tell the truth... sometimes.

Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she's never been able to banish these ghosts. When she's called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn't get out much, has been found strangled.

Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice's husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat--her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn't telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth? 

 

 The Unquiet by John Connolly

Monopoly Book Challenge - Community Chest #2 - Your favorite genre
Series

After going more than a little paranormal in the last couple books in the series, Connolly came back to a more traditional murder mystery/suspense-thriller (don't worry there's still some supernatural stuff going on).

One of the things I like best about Connolly's writing is his descriptive writing: "...a large woman with a pile of big black hair balanced precariously on her head like dirty ice cream on a cone....she looked old, but age had not dimmed her affection for cosmetics or hair dye, even if it deprived her of some of the skills required to apply both without making the final effect look less like an act of vanity than an act of vandalism."

"She wet her lips, as though her system was trying to silence her by drying out her mouth."

As in prior novels, Connolly does detailed historical research. I learned some interesting Maine facts such as it being the homeplace of candlepin bowling

And the dark history of Maine's largest prison and its Special Management Unit which doles out questionable punishments.

Summary from Goodreads: Daniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has gone missing. His daughter insists that he killed himself after allegations surfaced that he had betrayed his patients to foul and evil men -- but when a killer obsessed with uncovering the truth behind his own daughter's disappearance comes seeking revenge, long-forgotten secrets begin to emerge. Hired by Dr. Clay's daughter to protect her from the predator on the loose, tortured and ingenious private detective Charlie Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth to be revealed and those who will go to any length to keep it hidden.

Quotes: "The law doesn't require truth, only the appearance of it. Most cases simply rest on a version of it that's acceptable to both sides. You want to know what the only truth is? Everybody lies."