First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

"First Lie Wins" by Ashley Elston is a treat for anyone who likes a good mystery and loveable female confidence tricksters (female conmen just didn't sound right). I loved the narrator's voice, the twists and turns the plot took, and the absolutely perfect ending. Also, this is one of Reese's Book Club Picks! 

Can't wait for this author's new novel coming out in 2025!

Blurb:

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn't like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there's still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Wow. 

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is one of the best books I read this year. In the top two for sure, maybe the top one? If I wrote this book, I'd be so proud.

As always with this author's books, you will fall in love with the characters. There are a lot of characters in Here One Moment, and you'll want to be friends with every single one of them.

The premise is fascinating (a person on a flight from Hobart to Sydney tells the other passengers how and when they are going to die), the resolution thoroughly satisfying.

A beautiful book.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

How to describe Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson? 

• Kind of like Ready Player One, but imagined 30 years earlier.
• Dense in detail. 
• Intense. 
• If Terry Pratchett wrote cyberpunk instead of fantasy, but not as laughing-out-loud. Just as an example, his main character is called Hiro Protagonist. I mean, how brilliant is that?

This book is like a wild mix of Hunter S. Thompson, Philip K. Dick, Anthony Burgess, and John Brunner. Written eight years after Neuromancer and long before Ready Player One, it shines brightly in the cyberpunk genre. Set in a near-future where governments have collapsed, and society is held together by anarcho-capitalism, Stephenson creates a chaotic but fascinating world.

Nominated for a Prometheus Award, the story walks a fine line between a libertarian dream and a dystopian nightmare. It's packed with sci-fi, social commentary, and big philosophical ideas, all delivered at breakneck speed. Think of it as a Mark Twain-style adventure, but on overdrive.

At its heart, it's a smart, modern adventure that mixes in elements of prehistory and archaeology.

Favourite quote: "BMW drivers take evasive action at the drop of a hat, emulating the drivers in the BMW advertisements--this is how they convince themselves they didn't get ripped off."

Favourite scene: the memo sent to office workers about the use of toilet paper.

I'm a late comer to this book, as it was published in 1992 and here I am in 2024. I'm ready to read this author's impressive backlist.

 

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz features two intertwined plots: one is the mystery novel about a German detective Atticus Pünd, authored by the fictional writer Alan Conway; and the other follows publishing editor Susan Ryeland as she searches for the missing final chapter of Conway's novel while also investigating Conway's death.

If you haven't read and internalised many, many Agatha Christie books, Magpie Murders will probably not resonate with you. There is a purposeful slowness to the book, especially when it comes to the story within the story, which is pretty much vintage Christie. There are characters who could have come straight from the village of St. Mary Mead. There is a breakfast scene consciously or subconsciously modelled on the one in A Murder is Announced. And of course, Atticus Pünd, the foreign outsider detective with a lovable dimwit sidekick, is our dear Hercule Poirot.

I remember that Dame Agatha herself used a similar ploy in her books by creating a character called Ariadne Oliver. Ariadne (like Christie) is a crime fiction novelist, the creator of the Finnish detective Sven Hjerson.

Another nugget is that the book within the book is based on a children's rhyme about magpies (one for sorrow, two for joy), which is another device often used by Ms Christie.

I loved it, but, you know what? As soon as I finished Magpie Murders, instead of turning to its sequel, I quickly re-read three of my favourite Agatha Christie novels, and I'm in the mood for more. Apologies, Anthony Horowitz, you'll have to wait.

Witness 8 (Eddie Flynn #8) by Steve Cavanagh

I have a short list of authors whose books I buy on pre-order, irrespective of the title or book description. Steve Cavanagh is on that list, together with Liane Moriarty, Joshilyn Jackson, Lee Child and Harlan Coben.for some reason, though (and I blame Amazon's Audible Books for this), I missed the publication of "Witness 8" by a whole month. 

It took me ten seconds to get it from the library and one day to read. It's awesome. If you aren't familiar with the Eddie Flynn series, you can start with "Witness 8", the eighth book, but you might pick up on spoilers for some characters' story arcs. The series is definitely worth reading, but if you don't want to commit, start with this book or "Thirteen". You will fall in love with the main characters (and their dog), you will keep turning the pages as the plot sweeps you along. And when you finish "Witness 8", you will reach to read or re-read the earlier books.

Blurb:

Ruby Johnson is a nanny and maid to wealthy families in Manhattan's West 74th Street.

She knows their routines. Their secrets.

One night, on her way home, Ruby witnesses a neighbour's murder.

She knows the victim. She knows the killer.

She makes an anonymous call to the police and names the murderer.

But Ruby didn't tell the truth...

Because there's something wrong with Ruby Johnson.

Eddie Flynn, conman turned trial lawyer, must defend an innocent man accused of this terrible crime.

As Ruby's deadly game begins, one thing is certain.

It won't be the last murder this witness is involved in...

The Quiet At The End of The World

 Wow. Five out of five stars for "The Quiet At The End of The World" by Lauren James. Here's what I loved:

• It's SF utopian / distopian, and we honestly need more novels in this genre.
• It's YA without the horror of The Hunger Games. I mean, I love The Hunger Games, but I struggle that ten-year olds read it.
• It's YA but also for adults.
• The book is incredibly well-written. The action starts on page one. The world feels real. The characters are loveable. All in all: unputdownable.
• There is no antagonist. Instead of the all-too-common man-versus-man, this is man-versus-environment. Or, in this case, two teeneagers trying to stop the end of the world as they know it.
• Best of all, it's one of those books that make you think about what it means to be alive.

Blurb:

Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, ageing community, the pair spend their days mudlarking for artefacts from history and looking for treasure in their once-opulent mansion.

Their idyllic life is torn apart when a secret is uncovered that threatens not only their family but humanity’s entire existence. Lowrie and Shen face an impossible choice: in the quiet at the end of the world, they must decide who to save and who to sacrifice . . .

Remarkably Bright Creatures

"Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt is a remarkable book, pun intended. It's "that octopus book" as people refer to it, but it's not about an octopus - not only about an octopus. It's about people finding themselves, finding each other, finding happiness. It's a gentle, hopeful, uplifting bok.

I can't wait for the sequel, which will be set in the same smaal town.

Exerpt:

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.