Month: January 2018

Wow, here we are in 2018! Doesn’t seem possible! Remember how when you were younger time passed so slooooooooowly? Now it’s like I blink and it’s a new year! Crazy! Anyway, once again I am here to ask for your help to pick my next read. Last month you wonderful friends chose Mr. Churchill’s Secretary for me out of the three historical fiction books I put forward for you.

So this month I wanted to keep with another theme ….. this month I’m giving you my three oldest Book of the Month selections. I have gotten some really great books through BOTM in the over 2 years I’ve been a member and I am ashamed to say that I have actually only read 2 of the books I’ve paid for from this program. **WHAT?!?!** So… one of my 2018 resolutions for my reading was to read some of these past selections. And with your help I’m going to clear one of the three oldest off my shelf!! Here’s what I’ve got for you…..

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
Published Dec. 1, 2015
512 pages – ok, so this was my December 2015 BOTM selection. This one was her debut book. I have read another book by this author (The Perfect Girl), it was a so-so read for me, but I’m still interested in reading more from this author.

In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.

In a heartbeat, everything changes…

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.

Where is Ben? The clock is ticking…

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The Verdict by Nick Stone
Published Dec. 7, 2015
512 pages – this was my January 2016 BOTM selection. I always love a good legal thriller and I was (and still am) drawn to that cover …. and I’m not even a cover person! 

Terry Flynt is a struggling legal clerk, desperately trying to get promoted. And then he is given the biggest opportunity of his career: to help defend a millionaire accused of murdering a woman in his hotel suite.

The only problem is that the accused man, Vernon James, turns out to be not only someone he knows, but someone he loathes. This case could potentially make Terry’s career, but how can he defend a former friend who betrayed him so badly?

With the trial date looming, Terry delves deeper into Vernon’s life and is forced to confront secrets from their shared past that could have devastating consequences for them both. For years he has wanted to witness Vernon’s downfall, but with so much at stake, how can Terry be sure that he is guilty? And what choices must he make to ensure that justice is done?

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The Night Charter by Sam Hawken
Published Dec. 8, 2015
326 pages – so BOTM now has a feature where you can “skip” a month if you want to. I so wish they had had this feature available in February 2016, because for whatever reason that month had nothing very appealing to me. This was my selection that month and it was only because it was the best sounding book, not because I was dying to read it. It’s probably a good read, but the blurb still leaves me a little “eh” about it. (PLEASE!!!! Don’t let my initial feelings sway your vote if this is the one of the three you like best!) 

Exactly one year ago, Camaro Espinoza killed five bad men in New York City and fled town. Now she’s keeping a low profile in Miami, running night charter catch-and-release fishing trips off the coast. It’s a simple life for a former combat medic. But it wasn’t easy to come by. Camaro plans to do everything she can to hold onto it.
Trouble comes knocking in the form of Parker Story, a man in over his head with all the wrong people. Parker wants to book Camaro’s boat to run a small errand off the coast of Cuba. Camaro knows she shouldn’t get involved. But Parker’s got a teenaged daughter named Lauren, and Parker’s associates have threatened to harm her if the mission doesn’t go off without a hitch. Camaro has never met the girl. Barely seen her picture. But that doesn’t mean she can ignore her plight.

Camaro’s used to being wanted–by men good and bad, by soldiers wounded on the field of battle, by the long arm of the law. But she’s never been needed before. Not the way Lauren needs her. Joining forces with Parker, Camaro soon finds herself in the midst of double crosses, international intrigue, broken promises and scattered bullets. Even a skilled warrior like herself may not be able to escape unscathed.

So there you have it….. those are my three selections for you to vote on this month. I look forward to the results and can’t wait to get some of my BOTM selections read!!