Power Play  -  Joseph Finder

                   Guilty Pleasure


Good high-stakes thriller.  As usual with this author.

We start off with Jake Landry, a peon in a high power company ( a company that builds very expensive aircraft), substituting for one of the top honchos at the annual retreat.  The retreat is in an extremely remote area in British Columbia, Canada.  Of course, there is not reception of any kind.  The perfect, stress-free weekend. Or is it??

  Trouble erupts and everyone at the lodge is held hostage by a band of backwoods hunters. These armed men seem to think they have stumbled upon the perfect scenario to get a really big ransom.

Jake was unwanted by all the other executives to go on this trip but now he might be their only hope of getting out alive.
This is a hard-to-put-down book,  some twists I didn't see coming but also a little predictability. Still, all-in-all, a good read.

                     The Mistress of' Nothing - Kate Pullinger

                                   Debut novel


This was actually the author's American debut novel but I am going with it anyway.  It could also fall under historical fiction,

The story is based on a 19th century English lady by the name of Lady Duff Gordon and her maid, Sally Naldrett.  It is Sally's story more than Lady Gordon's.

Lady Gordon travels to Egypt because of ill health and Sally goes with her, giving up everything she is familiar with in England. Egypt is beautiful, exciting and freeing for Sally and she finds love in Egypt.  When Sally brings disgrace to the household, Lady Duff Gordon turns on her,  even though Sally has been a faithful and attentive servant to Lady Gordon for many decades.  Sally had forgotten her station in life, enjoying too many freedoms and Lady Duff Gordon reminds her that Sally is the mistress of nothing.

,

      Everything Must Go  -  Elizabeth Flock

                      Alphabet author  -  F

I was so disappointed in this book!!!!   After reading this author's first book   "Emma & Me",   I was looking forward to reading this one.  But what a letdown for me.!!

We meet Henry Powell, a not very exciting character, and follow him around thru his little, pathetic life.  He isn't very likeable, he doesn't even like himself most of the time.

He also lives a lot in the past.  Everyone else in his life moves on except for him.  Classmates, girlfriends, even his brother.

Maybe it was my state of mind or the fact that I have just read a really , really good book that this one was just not my cup of tea.

      Little Wolves  - Thomas Maltman

                      New Author


Setting - A small town in Minnesota.    Era -  1980's

Clare is a young minister's wife expecting their first child.
She is haunted by her father's stories of local folklore and the mystery of her mother's disappearance.  How much truth is there in these stories she has heard all of these years?.           So when her husband has the opportunity to preach at a church in the small prairie town her mother came from, she insists that he take the position.   There she meets Seth, who kills the local sheriff.  As Seth's father, Grizz, tries to understand why his son would do such a thing, many secrets are uncovered
Including those surrounding Clare's own mother.