"Which is harder: devising an unsolvable problem, or solving that problem?"

This is the question at the core of Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X. Japan's most popular best-selling writer develops such a uniquely skilled and suspenseful story of accidental murder, cover-ups, and corrupted, heart-breaking friendships that I haven't read in a long while. It is, in one simple (and just not good enough) word, fantastic.

Yasuko has finally escaped her abusive husband, and she and her teenaged daughter have settled into a new life. When he shows up and demands more money, Yasuko and her daughter have an altercation in their apartment that results in his death. Unbeknownst to them, their next-door neighbor, Ishigami, has heard the entire incident and has offered his "services." Although a brilliant mathematician, Ishigami has devoted his life as a high school math teacher instead of taking the glory road to college research. With available time and a curious mind for always solving problems (and the more intricate, the better), Ishigami offers his help to Yasuko to cover up the death of her former husband. Feeling unable to say no for fear of the police, Yasuko accepts, unaware that Ishigami also has feelings for her.

When top detective Kusanagi arrives to investigate the case, he brings in consultant Yukawa, a fellow classmate from their college days, and now physicist, to help sort out specific details. Yukawa, commonly known as Detective Galileo, has frequently helped the police on other cases, but when he learns that Ishigami was also a fellow classmate and former "competitor" in the world of math and science, Yukawa can't help but get more involved.

This is a brilliant piece of detective-work and suspenseful writing, and I loved every moment of the story and especially the audio narration, performed by Davi Pittu. Suffice it to say that more than likely, you will not be disappointed. With every tangled strand Kusanagi unravels, Ishigami's air-tight explanations that he's provided to Yasuko are insurmountable. As "Detective Galileo," or Yukawa the physicist, dives deeper into the case, he realizes that while he might be coming closer to solving the murder, he might also be very close to losing a close friend. This is a book that you likely will have a difficult time putting down. I loved it, LOVED it. And the end? Aagh. My heart broke on so many different levels for ALL of the characters. LOVED this book.

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Release Date: 02/1/11

Audio Time: 9 hours, 2 minutes

Narrator: David Pittu

Click here for an audio sample from The Devotion of Suspect X.

Now, on the other hand, Salvation of a Saint was not as engaging. While all the characters remained, and even a new introduction with Utsumi, who I really liked, a tough and quickly rational assistant to Kusanagi, the tale just didn't have the same brilliant and gasping storyline. I was, while thoroughly involved because of David Pittu's narration, a little bored by the overall case and found some of the methods used by the killer to be a little preposterous, so I pushed through to quickly get through it. A lot of that simply has to do with the fact that The Devotion of Suspect X was so good, to follow it up with the next installment immediately after probably set it up for failure immediately.

I highly recommend The Devotion of Suspect X, and I look forward to the third in the series. I will be enjoying this via the audiobook as well, and am looking forward to more of David Pittu's work.

FTC Disclosure: I purchased both books from Audible.com

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Release Date: 10/2/12

Audio Time: 9 hours, 13 minutes

Narrator: David Pittu

Click here for an audio sample from Salvation of a Saint.

About the Author

Born in Osaka and currently living in Tokyo, Keigo Higashino is one of the most widely known and bestselling novelists in Japan. He is the winner of the Edogawa Rampo Prize (for best mystery), the Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Prize (for best mystery) among others. His novels are translated widely throughout Asia.

Visit the Author:

• On his publisher's Author Page
• On Goodreads
• On Facebook

About the Narrator

David Pittu is awesome. He is an American actor and versatile narrator for everything from The Marriage Plot to The Goldfinch to The 39 Clues children series. He is the 2009 Best Voice in CHILDREN & FAMILY LISTENING: The Maze of Bones, One False Note.

Visit the Narrator:

• On Audiofile Magazine's page

When Nate has to find a new apartment, he never thought one with such cheap rent in a great location with a view would fall into his lap. It's not a big deal that his apartment isn't perfect, but when he realizes that everyone else's also has an odd difference here and there, with quirks that just don't add up, Nate and his fellow building-mates decide to figure it all out. And what really is behind the door of apartment # 14? 

I loved this story. With recent selections for both audio and print missing the entertainment mark for me, 14 by Peter Clines was an absolute welcome relief. It completely knocked it out of the park. A combination of mystery, suspense, thriller, fantasy, and a whole heck of a lot of humor, I was completely whisked away into this sometimes creepy, but always interesting, fun ride into the mystery of why an entire apartment building has such cheap rent. With a thoroughly unique cast of characters who regularly referenced the Scooby gang, I adored them all, as they just wanted to figure out the mystery of their  building. Clines' story is a hit for any long road trip, and the narrator is INCREDIBLE. That's right, Internet. He's an ALL CAPS kind of awesome, and I seriously need to find everything Ray Porter has narrated and buy them all now. (He also narrated Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and I loved that one as well.)

I could probably share more, but I'm worried I'd spill the beans inadvertently. Suffice it to say that this is the most fun I've had with a story in a long time and I loved it. With pop culture references including everything from the TV show "Lost" to which recent Hulk movie was better (duh, the Ed Norton one), there's a little bit for everyone who enjoys getting thrown into a mystery that has a slight edge of creepiness to it. I've heard Peter Clines is a horror writer, and although there were moments that were a little freaky, I don't know if I'd tag this as horror. Mostly, it's a suspenseful thriller as a vibrant cast of characters decides to spend their free time trying to figure out their building's odd layout, quirks, and vibe. It's well worth it. Click here for the audio sample.

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this book on the audiobook website, Audible.com

Publisher: Audible Studios

Release Date: 6/9/12

Audio Time: 12 hours, 38 minutes

Narrator: Ray Porter

About the Author

Peter Clines is the author of numerous short stories, Ex-Heroes, Ex-Patriots, –14–, The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe. For a more perfect bio to read, click here.

Visit the author:

• On his website
• On his blog
• On Facebook
• On Tumblr

About the Narrator

Ray Porter is an actor and casting director, known for Almost Famous (2000), Argo (2012) and The Runaways (2010).

I finally got a chance to dive into Sarah Waters' work and I am content. I have made a special note that the fall season really is the best time to experience her work, so I'm looking forward to Carl's RIP Challenge this year even more so.

BookLust reviewed the audiobook and as I was coming off audios which really weren't up my alley, I went ahead and downloaded The Little Stranger. This Gothic tale had the right amount of spooky atmosphere, psychological thriller, and bump-in-the-night ghost story tale to wonderfully keep me a bit on edge when I'd listen to it in the car on a cold and dark night.

Dr. Farady has a long history with Hundreds Hall, a rambling and sprawling English manor that has seen better days. When once his mother used to work there in the prime of pre-World War II life, the post-war era certainly has a crumbling result, both to the home and to the family. With only two servants now supporting the house, and the Ayers family living an eccentric life, Dr. Faraday's relationship begins. It's a slow and quiet build-up of eerie tension and with Dr. Faraday building an uncomfortable attachment to the house and family, there is the sense that perhaps he is an unreliable narrator. Although he delivers the events as they happen to him and the family, part of me questioned whether or not I should believe him. Needless to say, that contributed to the success of the disturbing tale.

Simon Vance was a phenomenal narrator, and you may recall that while I didn't like the story of Dr. No, I finished the audio only because of Simon Vance.

Fans of Asylum by Patrick McGrath will be pleased with this story.

Others said:
BookLust
Prairie Horizons

Publisher: Penguin Audio
Release Date: 5/8/2009
Audio Time: 15 hours, 54 minutes
Narrator: Simon Vance

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this book from Audible.com

About the Author

Sarah Waters, a Welsh novelist, is the author of five novels: Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, Fingersmith, The Night Watch, and The Little Stranger. All of them have either already been adapted for television, or the film rights have been optioned.

Visit the Author:

• On her website

When Gillian Flynn recommends that The Next Time You See Me, by Holly Goddard Jones, is an "astoundingly good novel," I know I have to read it. Many of you know just how much I love the dark and twisted writings of Gillian Flynn, especially Gone Girl.

There are so many incredible things quietly and eerily happening through Holly Goddard Jones' debut novel. It's a story filled with the loneliest of people in a small town in Kentucky, and when hard-partying Ronnie goes missing, her sister, Susanna, is the only one who notices and cares. While the rest of the town struggles through their own deep secrets and insecurities, Susanna worries for her sister, her husband, daughter, and the feeling of missing out on life. As Tony Joyce, prior potential major league ballplayer and crush for Susanna, now detective, becomes involved in her missing sister's case, the intensity of the search builds and each person becomes crucial to the town itself and not just to the disturbing details of Ronnie and where she may be, or what may have happened to her. In fact, in truly dark and twisted fashion, the author depicts Roma, Kentucky as almost its own personality, a bruise on the state with its dismal factories and lost dreams.

The Next Time You See Me is incredibly well written. It is engaging in its sadness, the quiet tales of each character's misery or resentment or the feeling of missing out on life itself are all deeply felt by the reader. Probably the most disturbing sections were not just the complete dejection of Wyatt and lost love, but the teenagers in the middle school who Susanna teaches. Emily and Christopher, each on opposite sides of the spectrum of popularity,  simultaneously deal with their own internal tortures and confusion, but Christopher's bullying of Emily is disgusting, perhaps drawn out by the evil figurehead of popularity which can be its own evil beast. Christopher is almost incapable to believe his own confidence and choose to go the opposite way from his girlfriend and friends, and not hurt others. Peer pressure is a dirty thing, and Christopher is not just the leader of it, but a victim to it as well. With the many secrets Emily keeps however, one could almost understand why she is shunned by the larger part of society, which also peel back the layers of why it hurts so badly when she is tormented; the question a reader might ask themselves is "Would I think she was weird, too?" It's not fair, and it's a dark part of "humanity" that is questioned. Perhaps you won't like what you see of yourself.

A common theme throughout is bullying. While it's much more pronounced and currently relevant when represented in Emily's character, it's also portrayed in adulthood with Wyatt and Sam. The book could almost be a dire predicament of what could happen if bullying goes unchecked, no matter what age.

The Next Time You See Me is a quiet and brutally honest story, one that keeps you flipping the pages. If I could have sat uninterrupted for an afternoon, I easily could have finished it in one sitting. Needless to say, it was a book I always took with me on errands: in doctors' offices, nail appointments, waiting in the car to pick people up, and more. I highly recommend this to anyone, especially those who enjoy Gillian Flynn and Chevy Stevens.

Others said:

My Friend Amy

Publisher: Touchstone (a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.)

Release Date: 2/12/2013

Pages: 372

FTC Disclosure: I received a finished copy from the publisher for my honest review.

About the Author

Holly Goddard Jones is the author of the short story collection Girl Trouble. Her work has appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories, New Stories from the South, Tin House magazine, and elsewhere. She was a 2013 recipient of The Fellowship of Southern Writers' Hillsdale Award for Fiction and a 2007 recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and lives in Greensboro with her husband, Brandon, and two rowdy dogs. The Next Time You See Me is her first published novel.

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• On her blog

Recently moving to Great Britain from Boston to settle the sale of her parent's house after many years since their deaths when she was a child, Maggie has settled into life across the pond and even has secured a job as the direct secretary of Winston Churchill. With her trusty roommates and close friends at work, Maggie's life begins to considerably change when the war finally comes right to her doorstep as bombs land in the neighborhood. Can she trust the people closest to her at the most crucial time in her career? Never once was she prepared to have the adventure of a lifetime so soon, or that spies, IRA activists, or even code-breaking would so naturally become part of her life.

I struggled with this one. It may be because my reading preferences have changed, or perhaps it was the narration, but any way you dice it, it didn't work for me. The narration for the main character of Maggie sounded much, much more mature than a twenty-four-year-old woman and while she may have grown up with her British aunt, she most assuredly did NOT sound like a woman who had grown up in Boston. It sounded as though the narrator tried desperately to deliver a type of American accent, but in fact, at several points throughout the narration, slipped into an odd Southern accent which was jarring. All the British characters sounded pretty much the same and it was rather difficult to identify who was who, other than a deeper voice for a man and a higher voice for a woman, so it was the most challenging to identify who was who when Maggie was only with her girlfriends. While the story was interesting, the narration couldn't maintain my attention and in fact took me three weeks to finish when it's only a little under ten hours of audio time. Unfortunately, I don't anticipate picking up the next in the series in audio. In reading other bloggers' reviews, it's clear I would have had a likelier chance for a better reaction had I read it instead. However, do take note of the majority of reviews on Audible.com, as it's evident others loved the audio. The average rating on Audible is 4 out of 5 stars for performance.

Fans of Jacqueline Winspear and the like, who enjoy the cozy thriller and mystery experience, may like this story. I would recommend reading it versus listening to it. Click here to listen to the Audible.com sample.

Others said:

Diary of an Eccentric

Musings of a Bookish Kitty

The Unabridged Chick

Publisher: Random House Audio

Release Date: 4/3/12

Audio Time: 9 hours, 48 minutes

Narrator: Wanda McCaddon

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this book from Audible.com

About the Author

Susan Elia MacNeal is the author of the Maggie Hope series. She graduated from Wellesley and attended Harvard, with her work appearing in a variety of publications. She is also the author of two non-fiction works. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her family.

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Last year, Carl held a readalong during RIP VI for Jim Butcher's Storm Front and I had it on my list to get to but couldn't fit it into my reading schedule. I was bummed since it seemed everyone had a good time with the story, so this weekend, I thought I'd dive right in. And while I didn't feel this introduction to the now-thirteen-book-series broke new ground, I don't think it needed to do anything other than set the stage for a very unique main character. I had a lot of fun with this story and am ready and excited to continue on with the series. I've heard it just gets better, so sign me up!

Harry Dresden is a wizard by trade. While not many believe his abilities, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy with the Chicago Police Department does, and regularly hires Harry to help out with more of her unusual cases. When the body of a top hired gun of Chicago's toughest mob boss is found murdered with a high-class escort in a brutal and seemingly magical way, it's up to Harry to find out what he can.  While many believe Harry is the only one who could conjure enough magic to commit the crimes, he has a limited amount of time to find out who really did the deeds since the secret White Council is scheduled to decide Harry's fate in a few days. And the ultimate sentence of death will be handed down.

This was just a lot of fun. Harry was a wonderful character who had sarcastic humor for days. The supporting cast of wildly bizarre demons, mob bosses, hired guns, and damsels in distress, set the stage for future books in the series and I'm looking forward to it. I found Butcher's ability to craft Harry's witty dialogue that delivered a zinger absolutely hilarious in certain scenes, and the working relationship Harry has with Karrin Murphy was refreshing. I enjoyed the barbs they threw back and forth at each other and am eager to see how this partnership develops. With an occasional noir-like atmosphere, Harry is the typical five o'clock shadow private eye helping the beautiful woman who walks into his office and asks for help. Sort of reminded me of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and I dug it.

I've also read that the series gets even better, so you can bet I'll be committing to this one next year.

Publisher: A Roc Book, a division of Penguin
Release Date: 2000
Pages: 355

Others said:
Bibliophile's Corner
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Virginia Beach Public Library Recommends

About the Author:

A martial arts enthusiast, Jim Butcher has published thirteen installments to The Dresden Files series. It turned into a one season show on the SyFy Channel, cancelled for random ridiculous reasons leaving old and new fans confused. Hopefully, they'll bring the series back? Or make a movie? Either way, Jim Butcher is an author I'll be making time for in my 2013 reading experience.

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• On his website
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Finally. FINALLY! I have finally read Tana French and yes, I feel complete.

I might be a wee bit dramatic, but how lovely was it to read this psychological thriller with a narrator who tells you right off the bat that he's a liar, combined with a new homicide that pulls in a twenty-year-old cold case with no identifiable killer? Reading this confirmed what every reviewer said about it. Fantastic! It was a delightful trip to Florida last weekend as I was immediately consumed by this creepy story.

First in the series for the Dublin Murder Squad, Tana French has obviously knocked it out of the park on her debut published in 2007. Opening with a horrific event from 1984, three children set out into the woods near their home for an afternoon of fun in Knocknaree, Ireland. Only one boy returns. Rather, he is discovered after a fearful search, catatonic and against a tree in complete distress, his eyes seeing something no one else witnesses, unable to share what happened to his two friends.

Twenty years later, that young boy, Rob Ryan, has grown up into a police homicide detective. Still unable to recall any of the events of that fateful night, Rob is partnered with Cassie, a new homicide detective into the group, and their pairing brings them to the discovery of a missing child, found near the very same woods in Rob's hometown of Knocknaree. Could it be the same killer? As Rob and Cassie delve into the case even further, Rob dives deeper and deeper into the case, to the point of sleepless nights and too much alcohol. When he begins to see things, confused events that blend with past memories that are just now starting to come out, even his trusted partner Cassie begins to feel a trickle of doubt.

I don't think I can do this book justice and convey eloquently how incredibly caught up I was in this story. French's writing is what brings psychological thrillers to the next level, and each characters' story is delivered efficiently, yet with striking prose, and I know I would be remiss if I didn't pick up her next books immediately upon release date. The strength of this story is not just in the chilling plot itself, but more with French's characters, each of whom have a past to contend with. Partners Rob and Cassie are an incredible duo, and certain events they experience throughout this case simultaneously made me giddy with glee and heartbreakingly devastated. What a fearless and fierce debut!

There's no question I will collect Tana French's first edition hardcovers to put on my shelves for permanent safekeeping.  And as much as I love horror stories (I listened to the audiobook for The Exorcist, for cryin' out loud), there were several sections in this book that I actually found much creepier (which I loved, by the way).

Tana French delivers a powerful debut, a mystery mixed full with psychological conundrums and beautiful writing, with the final pages resulting in a combination of sadness for its end, and anticipation for the next in the series. With a brilliant story and characters, and a questionable ending which can only be served by following the series, this intelligently told tale will keep you engrossed in its pages long after closing the book.

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Release Date: 5/27/08

Pages: 464

Others said (If I've missed your review, let me know so I can link to it here):

Avid Reader's Musings

Bitter Tea and Mystery

Book Addict Katie

The Book Lady's Blog

Bookworm Meets Bookworm

Carol's Notebook

Ivy Book Bindings

Just Book Reading

Literary Sluts

Reading in White Bear Lake

The Reclusive Reader

You've Gotta Read This

FTC Disclosure: I purchased the book two years ago.

About the Author (from her website)

Tana French is the Edgar Award winning author for In the Woods and the author of The Likeness, Faithful Place, and Broken Harbor. She grew up in Ireland, Italy, the US and Malawi, and has lived in Dublin since 1990. She trained as a professional actress at Trinity College, Dublin, and has worked in theatre, film and voiceover.

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• On her website
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New York in 1845 was a powder-keg of unrest. With an influx of Irish immigrants escaping the tragic Great Potato Famine into an already packed city, the New York summer of 1845 was filled with riots, religious unrest, murder, and the eventual birth of the New York Police Department, known by New Yorkers as a "standing army." Timothy Wilde, once a bartender with an unfulfilled love for a charitable woman named Mercy Underhill, has accepted a position as a policeman after a horrible fire leaves him with no bar to tend and his face disfigured. Amidst racism, brothels, drugs and murder, Timothy learns there is much more darkness in the city than he ever imagined. When a young girl, Bird, runs into him one night during his rounds, her nightdress covered in blood, with unbelievable stories of a murdered child, his new career becomes even darker.

A strong dislike for his older and more politically-minded brother, Val, Timothy's got an ethical side that can't be undone. Even with Bird, he doesn't have the heart to deliver her to the House of Refuge for orphaned children and instead takes her back to his apartment building where the female proprietor cares for her. As he takes the case to uncover the child murders, which seem to point heavily to a blatant hatred for Irish Catholicism, Timothy's unsure of who to rely on. His brother is of questionable character and the locals don't take any issue with brothels, even if children are an option. It's a gritty underworld that he didn't expect to be immersed in.

The Gods of Gotham is superb with early 1800s elements of New York life and American history, from the combination of race and religious unrest to the Irish "assimilation" into New York and even to the seedy brothels. While Mercy Underhill maintains her own sense of willful independence that at times was shocking, she provides the clear contrast to the city's evil with her ministering of care to the orphans and uncared for children, all the while dreaming of her one-day voyage across the Atlantic to England to escape New York. Each piece of the story was brilliant.

However, I did take issue with the audiobook so let me first encourage you to visit the Audible.com reviews site because I definitely do not represent the majority of the listeners. While I loved the story, I struggled with the audio considerably. In 1845 New York, I anticipated a little more accented English and instead felt the narrator's voice was flat and non-regional, and a good portion of the audio was monotonous, even to the point that there wasn't any variation between the male voices. There was also a distinct lack of emotion for several of Timothy's truly painful moments and with such a vivid story, it's unfair to the characters to be so colorlessly represented. Usually, a narrator keeps a bad story going, but in this case, The Gods of Gotham was thankfully a captivating tale which was the sole reason I was motivated to continue. I do want to mention that there was one bright spot that I loved in audio, which occurred between the newsboys and Timothy when they spoke "flash," a slang dialect of the lower classes in New York. It was extremely unique and interestingly enough, "flash" is also the foundation of several slang words we use today. Other reviews point out that these conversations were a difficult part when reading in print, however I can say the audiobook makes it much, much easier to understand and visualize and I do feel the narrator did a good job here. (For a really cool interview with the author discussing "flash," click here.)

The story and historical elements are fascinating and while it was a bit wordy at the start of the book, it evened out and became an engaging tale which makes me now eagerly await the sequel. At that time, though, I will be reading the printed version versus listening to the audio.

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Audio Time: 12 hours, 9 minutes

Release Date: 3/5/12

Narrator: Steven Boyer

Others said:

Beachreader

Bermuda Onion

Book Addiction

Caribou's Mom

Devourer of Books

The Guilded Earlobe (Audio Review)

Linus's Blanket

The Literate Housewife

Must Read Faster

Raging Bibliomania

Random Jottings

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this audio book at Audible.com

About the Author (from her website)

Lyndsay Faye is the author of Dust and Shadows: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson and the most recent bestseller The Gods of Gotham. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she has adopted New York City as her second home, where she resides with her husband and too many cats and is at work on her next novel, a sequel to The Gods of Gotham.

Visit the author:

• On her website
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• On Twitter

Audio Notes: Steven Boyer is an established narrator and has an extensive portfolio available on Audible.com. For a sample of his work on The Gods of Gotham, click here.

This is my first selection for Carl's RIP VII event at Stainless Steel Droppings. Participants' reviews can be found here.

A terrible fire consumes a private school and two people are hurt. Grace, and her seventeen-year-old daughter Jenny, suffer extreme injuries and are in the hospital, both in deep comas. The results of the fire leave a family broken, waiting to see if Grace and Jenny will survive, and Adam, Grace's eight-year-old son, is blamed for starting the fire.

Grace and Jenny hover in an in-between state. They are outside of their bodies and can communicate with each other, move around the hospital and follow others, completely unseen. They firmly believe Adam didn't cause the fire, and they investigate to find who did. Since Jenny can't remember events right before the fire, it's up to Grace to do the legwork, and unbeknownst to Sara, her sister-in-law who is also a police officer, Grace follows her throughout the investigation to exonerate her son. All the while, Grace keeps watch over her husband and children and feels the strong love which, when it comes to family, will never die.

Guys, I'm really sorry. I tried but I found this extremely difficult to enjoy. While the mystery was intriguing, Rosamund Lupton employs the second person point-of-view, which means that the primary character, Grace, is communicating in a "you" format. The "you" she is referencing is her husband, and while there were several tender moments that clearly expressed Grace's strong foundation of devotion to her husband and children, it just became tough to read the book with "you" instead of "he" in every moment with her husband. I unexpectedly realized that around page 250, I had started to skim to get a better idea of what was happening, and skipping over each "you" as much as I possibly could.

While I found it tough, I applaud the author for her creative attempt and I know that others will (and have) enjoyed this book so far. I do feel the opportunity to have the primary characters conduct the investigation through their out-of-body experience was really interesting, but at the end of the day, it didn't work for me. I even started to think that it might be more engaging if Grace's sister, Sara, the police officer, was the central character. Which means that it certainly would have been more difficult to insert the supernatural element into it, and ultimately would have destroyed the ambition to do something extremely unique, so I then ask myself, what the heck do I know? I'm no expert, but the second person POV just became so difficult to be comfortable with, that I started daydreaming and wondering what it would have been like if other characters led the perspective in first person.

As I mentioned earlier, the mystery itself is very interesting, and I definitely was surprised when certain twists popped up. I do wish it was a little shorter, but I think that feeling is only because the POV was challenging.

The bottom line is this: I'm no ultimate authority, and I am definitely in the minority with my thoughts. Anyone can jump onto Goodreads and other sites which reflect many more positive reviews than negative ones. I am certain something is wrong with me, so I encourage you to take a look at what other reviewers thought before making a final decision to read or not to read it. And, yes, I'm still going to read Sister.

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Pages: 400

Giveaway

The publisher is kind enough to give one copy to a lucky winner (U.S. entries). Leave a comment with your email address. Entries accepted through Sunday, May 13, 2012.

About the Author

Rosamund Lupton is the best-selling author of Sister. She lives in London with her husband and two sons.

Visit the author:

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Thanks to TLC Book Tours for inviting me to participate. The full list of reviews on this tour can be found here.

Oh, my gawd, Gillian Flynn can WRITE. I am not kidding. When Sharp Objects came out, I read it in a day on a business trip and was freaked out. How can a person write about the dark side of people so realistically and not be sitting in a mental institution? (I mean that in a very complimentary way, of course.)

This was undeniably one of the best books I've read in a while, and I usually get nervous to pronounce this, but not this time. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is, without question, going to end up on my "Best Books Read in 2012" list.

Amy and Nick are the quintessential perfect couple, and while they've had their ups and downs, they're now at their five-year anniversary and it's time to celebrate. Every year, Amy creates a treasure hunt for Nick to track down each gift, and pick up another clue to the next stop, and this year will be like every other. What Nick doesn't realize is that before the day is over, his wife will disappear. Before a few days go by, he becomes the best suspect that the cops in his small town in Missouri can find for Amy's disappearance. The national news picks it up and Nick is vilified, tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion within a couple of weeks.

In a shocking and chilling tale of the insane way our society jumps on cases of pretty women gone missing, Gillian Flynn delivers the personal tale of Nick and Amy, the love they found with each other when they first met in New York and the decline of their relationship as they move back to Nick's home town to take care of his ailing parents, each chapter switching from Nick's current reflections to Amy's diary. But as with any Flynn novel, there are so many more layers to the story than what I just described above. This is an incredible story and I could NOT put this down. I dare you to try to read it and not get so swept up in the personalities for both Nick and Amy, Nick's twin sister Margo (known as 'Go'), Amy's back story of being the inspiration for her parents' successful children's book series called Amazing Amy. It will be a marathon attempt to determine which character you feel the most comfortable with, but at the same time try to swallow that not every person is innocent and instead accept that all are potentially very, very corrupted. You'll take a break from reading the book and realize that an entire evening has passed by.

Sharp Objects powerfully delivered Gillian Flynn's talent so shockingly, even Stephen King was wowed. While Stephen King might be best known for horror (in my recent studies, however, I've come to the realization that he is SO much more than that), it's important to be aware that he is instead more recognizable as a magnificent storyteller. So for King to laud Flynn might initially identify her as a horror writer, let me be clear: Gillian Flynn writes about the dark side of people, the sick and twisted sociopathic ways people control others. It is gritty and uncomfortable, but I think truthful and honest are much more accurate descriptions of how she brings her characters to life. She can tap into the miserable side of human beings, and in a really unnerving way, as a reader, you devour the story and enjoy every single page.

Gillian Flynn can build tension and clearly describe a scene so believably and effectively that you are left reeling; you can smell the stale smoke in a bar, you can taste each scene as though you are living it at that exact moment in time and Gone Girl is just another example of this brilliance in writing. It is every bit as absorbing and compelling, reminding the reader that there are some messed up people in the world. This is a knock out novel of the underside of human nature. The scary thing is that you're going to enjoy it. You want to read more about each of these characters and their tangled, desperate (or perhaps brilliant?) choices they make.

I LOVED this book. LOVED it. You should read it. Ooh, and if this was a book club pick? I would so want to be a fly on the wall for those discussions.

For those attending BEA, Gillian Flynn is scheduled to be there, so make sure you stop by to meet her.

Others said:
Red Headed Book Child

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Release Date: 6/5/2012 (available for pre-order now)
Pages: 432

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.

About the Author

Gillian Flynn started out as a Human Resources writer for a trade magazine, and then moved on to Entertainment Weekly in New York City for ten years, writing about movies and visiting film sets internationally, including New Zealand for The Lord of the Rings, and to Prague for The Brothers Grimm. Her 2006 debut novel Sharp Objects was an Edgar Awards finalist, and the winner of two of Britain's Dagger awards, the first book ever to win multiple Daggers in one year. It has been published in more than 20 countries. She is currently writing the screenplay adaptation. Her second novel is Dark Places, and her third novel, Gone Girl, will be released in June 2012.

Flynn lives in Chicago with her husband and a giant black cat named Roy.

Visit the author:

• On her website
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I cannot wait to return back from my business trip and dive into this one. It's part of the Beacon Hill Mystery series, and I haven't read this sort before, but I think I might like it, just based on the first few paragraphs of the book. What do you think?

Boston: The January thaw, 1892. A watery gloom hung over the city like a shroud.

Day after day of heavy, relentless rain had threatened to submerge the new-filled Back Bay, and the miniature lagoon in the Public Garden had overflowed its banks. On Beacon Hill, streams of water pounded the brick sidewalks and cascaded down the narrow streets, splashing women's voluminous skirts, splattering horses with mud up to their blinkers. People clung to their firesides, waiting for winter to return.

In the South End, Officer Joseph Flynn of the Boston police was making his rounds. he had been on the force for less than a year, and he was eager to do well in this job which until recently would not have been given to an Irishman like himself. When he saw the shape on the ground halfway down the alley behind West Brookline Street, he paused. Because it was night, and very dark in that district, he could not immediately tell what the shape was. A heap of refuse, he thought, or a pile of rags. Or, at worst, some drunken tramp from the nearby railroad yards.

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly featured hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. To participate, share your selection from the book you're reading.

I participated in the RIP Readalong and this is the final week of our discussion. As this post will contain spoilers in the Q&A section for those who have not read it, the opening paragraph below will be safe to read as it is an overview of the story, along with my initial thoughts and recommendations.

The premise of the story is told through alternating voices of two women on a small farm in Provence, the South of France, but in different times. In one, Bénédicte, shares her secrets and perspective of her life beginning in her child of the 1930s/1940s and in the other is Eve, our primary narrator in contemporary times who is a recent resident, moving in with her mysterious boyfriend Dom. A beautifully evocative story, previously mentioned that it has  been compared to Rebecca. After finishing The Lantern earlier today, I agree. There are mysteries within secrets, a beautiful home in a lush landscape, a love story that could be sinister, and more. At the height of this new love with Dom, they begin a life together in the summer, but when the weather changes, the hidden stories of Dom's previous life make Eve more curious, and the secret treasures found in the house don't convey the same sense of joy for her that she first felt when uncovering them before. There's more to the house, the previous tenants, and there's most assuredly something more with Dom, and Eve may not be comfortable with the truth.

A beautiful story, highly recommended to all who enjoy a story with atmosphere, mystery, and a Gothic tale. Fans of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova will enjoy this story. I look forward to more from this author.

Question & Answer

1. Now that it's all said and done, what did you think of the book? Did you see the ending coming?

-- I really did enjoy this book. It had all of the elements that I love about a book: a Gothic tale, heightened atmospheric setting in the South of France, beautifully described scents and images, and characters that had quite the stories to tell. While I didn't see the ending coming, I did initially suspect that there was something medically related to the story, but I instead felt that perhaps Eve had some form of a split personality and Bénédicte was one manifestation. After all, we know her name only as Eve, but we know it's not her real name, so couldn't that have been another personality? Or perhaps this name was chosen as some form of a Biblical clue, that Eve is telling us all lies and leading us down the wrong path. Part of me thinks I could argue it is a possibility, but I'm comfortable with the more grounded in reality ending of two separate people in different decades that intertwine with each other because of one house.

2. What did you think of the characters? Lawrenson took us on a twisty little ride there, I had trouble deciding who was good and who wasn't for a while! What do you think of Dom? Of Sabine? Rachel?

Surprisingly, the characters all end up exactly as we are initially introduced to them. While Dom's secrets are explained away, I still found him to be a bit mysterious and didn't trust the story all the way through. But I kept thinking that Eve gave us all of the facts for everything else, why couldn't she have provided us the evidence that Rachel really did die in that clinic? Somewhat odd, right? Rachel seemed to be a snake, but that was only if I believe Dom, and again, Eve never shared anything concrete that was proven that Rachel did die in the clinic (unless I missed an entire page or something...?) I still didn't like Sabine and thought she was someone who shouldn't be trusted. She's so shady with her interactions with Eve and I know that most of it is because Sabine may not have trusted Eve either, but still. I didn't like her that much in the end.

3. Pierre was such a conflicted character. In the end, do you think he killed Marthe and Annette, or did they fall to their deaths because of their blindness?

Oh, Pierre, that disgusting character. While I initially thought that Bénédicte killed Annette and Marthe and that would be the surprising twist, I completely believe after closing the final pages that Pierre was a sick man his whole life, brutally attacked Annette, and then killed her and Marthe. No doubt in my mind. Pierre was a beast of filth and in my reader's hope for revenge, I wished he met a much more appropriate passing than the seemingly easy one he ultimately experienced.

4. The book is being compared to Rebecca and Daphne du Maurier's writing. Do you think the book lives up to that description?

This is my only gripe, and it is minor. Perhaps it is because I read Rebecca so very recently a few weeks ago, that I didn't always care for the exact mentions of Du Maurier throughout The Lantern. I instead, preferred when Eve would allude to Du Maurier with similarities, but when one specific chapter started out with the exact opening of a Du Maurier short story, I was a little annoyed by it. (I'm referencing a chapter when the first sentence is Dom telling Eve "Don't look now," which is  also the title and opening sentence of Du Maurier's short story. Maybe I wouldn't have minded it as much if I had read Rebecca years ago and then read The Lantern now.

5. Did you have any problems with the book? Narration? Plot? The back and forth between two different characters and times?

I didn't mind the alternating perspectives of the two women or the plot. I enjoyed all of it quite a bit.

6. Do you think Lawrenson tied both stories together well in the end? Is there anything she could/should have done differently?

I do think both stories were tied well together, and the only thing I would have wished for more of were Rachel's articles, or maybe a few letters or newspaper clippings. I think the addition of more of that would have heightened the atmosphere and overall Gothic feel of the novel quite a bit. Ultimately though, I was satisfied with this story and thoroughly enjoyed it.

7. One problem I had with the novel was the reliability of the narrators. Do you think any of them were telling the truth? Which ones?

I actually didn't mind this. It lent to the overall uneasiness of the mysteries and ambiguity of the characters, which is part of the reason why I love these types of stories. More, please!

About the Author (from the book)

Deborah Lawrenson spent her formative years moving around the world with diplomatic service parents, living in Kuwait, China, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Singapore. She studied English at Cambridge University, and has worked as a journalist for various publications in England, including the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and Woman's Journal magazine. She is married, with a daughter, and lives in Kent, England. She and her family spend as much time as possible at a crumbling hamlet in Provence, France, the setting for The Lantern.

The Lantern is her first novel to be published in the United States.

Click here to visit the author on her website.

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This is the final discussion installment for Peril of the Group Read. Click here to see other thoughts for the book.

My new love affair with early Stephen King begins, dear friends. I downloaded a version of 'Salem's Lot onto my Nook last week, and although it was long, never once did I wish the story would end. Not even in the scarier spots.

In traditional Stephen King fashion, a small town becomes a central character in a story of growing isolation and darkness, with a sinister presence becoming more malevolent and evil than town residents could ever imagine. It's this that becomes the springboard for 'Salem's Lot, a small town in Maine, known formally as Jerusalem's Lot, and where Ben Mears returns to his boyhood home to conquer his old nightmare of one particular house. The Marsten house, so named because of a murder/suicide that ocurred in the 1930s, hasn't been inhabited for decades until Straker and Barlow arrive one day to open an antique shop. While Straker is an odd man, tall and skinny with long fingers and white bald head, Barlow's absence is explained away with an antique buying trip in New York.

Ben Mears' return to 'Salem's Lot is simply to pursue his demons and exorcise a terrifying childhood event from his memory of the Marsten House. He's a young writer with a few small novels published, and his hope is to write away the awful moment he can never seem to rid his nightmares of. He certainly didn't anticipate what he was returning to, since after all, the world of evil is never really gone, only waiting for another chance to rise. I sort of think it trembles in a half-sleep.

And while the town begins to feel the breathing underbelly of terror, beginning with the disappearance of Ralphie Glick and the death of his brother, Danny, a cast of characters flesh out the novel that at its core include the newly returned Ben; Matt Burke, a soon-to-retire high school teacher; Jimmy Cody, the town doctor; Father Callahan, the Catholic priest struggling with his faith and the bottle; and Mark, the twelve-year-old boy whose combination of bookish intelligence and street smarts leads him to beat the bully on the blacktop at recess. The realization of what wakes up only at night in 'Salem's Lot bands this core team to roust out the evil to try to save the town from it, and sometimes, from themselves.

My childhood started in the early '70s but I was a product of the '80s so imagine my thoughts of the previous decade: The early 1970s America sees the coming end of the Vietnam conflict, the Manson murders, and is just now taking seriously that doors really do need to be locked. It seems to be a world primed for the acceptance of true horror in movies and books, not just gory slasher flicks. Stephen King, in his newly found fame with his only ever other published book to date at the time, Carrie, releases another horror story centered around a "what if." What if the villain of Bram Stoker's world came to modern day America? And with the help of his wife's suggestion of a vampire not arriving in a thriving metropolitan city, but rather in a sleepy little town in New England, Stephen King's imagination began to take over. And his vampire isn't charming Dracula, slowly sipping at a victim's veins, as he describes it in his Afterword; instead it is mindless and brutal, the stench announcing its presence far sooner than the literal image before you.

While this is an expertly refined horror story, it's one that must also be remembered for King's incredible writing. This version includes an excellent Introduction and Afterword by King, along with the inclusion of deleted passages, which I enjoyed. The story itself is a long one, and on my Nook it reached almost 500 pages (screens?), so I can imagine what actual printed pages might amount to but never once did I wish it would hurry along. Never once did I think towards the last fifty or so pages that "it's good but it feels like it's never going to end," as I can sometimes do with a chunkster of a book. There are newspaper clippings sprinkled at the beginning and at the end, along with diary entries and letters, but the meat of the story is its action and emotion with the core team and the rest of the townspeople. It's King's storytelling of the average and regular day of random residents that make this story tinge on the possibility of reality. Not only can he evoke the spine-tingling shiver of the image of darkness, but he can also make my heart heavy when reading of certain characters' passings. I gripped the pages with sadness towards the end for a character I would probably call a friend had I known him in real life, and as he boarded a bus to leave the town never to come back, I thought long and hard how he may have fared.

And yes, Stephen King draws on the fear that children will have. Often debated by experts that a child's fear is based on their imagination because they don't know any better yet, others hold firm to the belief that children have a fear of the things that go bump in the night because their innocence has not yet been tainted by the cynicism of adulthood. It's this naivete that makes them more aware of what could be real, more knowledgeable, of the very things that we as adults shrug off and explain away with what we think is more logical.

I would imagine that by now it's clear how much I recommend this book. But if it's not, below I leave you with some of my favorite passages, further evidence of King's magical pen. Horror he may be known for, but it is his writing that will truly be his legacy:

(Nook, location 193) Maybe they were peering out at you with yellow reptilian eyes. And maybe one night watching would not be enough; maybe some night that splintered, crazily hung door would be thrown open, and what you saw standing there would drive you to lunacy at one look. And you couldn't explain that to your mother and father, who were creatures of the light. No more than you could explain to them how, at the age of three, the spare blanket at the foot of the crib turned into a collection of snakes that lay staring at you with flat and lidless eyes. No child ever conquers those fears, he thought. If a fear cannot be articulated, it can't be conquered. And the fears locked in small brains are much too large to pass through the orifice of the mouth. Sooner or later you found someone to walk past all the deserted meetinghouses you had to pass between grinning babyhood and grunting senility. Until tonight. Until tonight when you found out that none of the old fears had been staked - only tucked away in their tiny, child-sized coffins with a wild rose on top.

(Nook, location 277) Before drifting away entirely, he found himself reflecting - not for the first time - on the peculiarity of adults. They took laxatives, liquor, or sleeping pills to drive away their terrors so that sleep would come, and their terrors were so tame and domestic: the job, the money, what the teacher will think if I can't get Jennie nicer clothes, does my wife still love me, who are my friends. They were pallid compared to the fears every child lies cheek and jowl with in his dark bed, with no one to confess to in hope of perfect understanding but another child. There is no group therapy or psychiatry or community social services for the child who must cope with the thing under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which leers and capers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will reach. The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and this is called adulthood.

(Nook, location 339) At three in the morning the blood runs slow and thick, and slumber is heavy. The soul either sleeps in blessed ignorance of such an hour or gazes about itself in utter despair. There is no middle ground. At three in the morning the gaudy paint is off that old whore, the world, and she has no nose and a glass eye. Gaiety becomes hollow and brittle, as in Poe's castle surrounded by the Red Death. Horror is destroyed by boredom. Love is a dream.

About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty novels, including The Stand, The Dark Tower, It, The Shining, oh...what more can be written that one doesn't already know? So here you go, click here to visit this cool author's official website.

One more thing, ladies and gents: He has a new book coming out November 8, 2011. Click here to pre-order 11/22/63 from IndieBound. The lead off for the book is: "The day Kennedy was shot...the day that changed the world...what if you could change it?"

And this is my recent selection (my 8th choice?) for the RIP Challenge. You can read more RIP reviews from other participants by clicking here.