What an extraordinary way to pay homage to a truly extraordinary time. The book (edited by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Gill James) is a collection of fictional stories, vignettes, true accounts and poetry - all of them bearing witness to the months of the 2020 Covid pandemic.
Important. Entertaining. Historic legacy. Time capsule.
This is a fantastic book. It has everything a psychological thriller needs to make it to the number one spot: an excellent premise, multi-dimensional characters, swift pace and issues to think about once the reader turns the last page.
On the surface, the book is about a woman who finds her perfect match on a dating site, only to have him disappear in mysterious circumstances. However, the book is also about topical issues like loneliness caused by the lack of face-to-face interaction, family love, guilt, forgiveness, return to nature, healing.
Probably Lisa Unger's finest yet.
"First Cut" is the couple's debut thriller, and yet it doesn't read as a debut. Everything is there: the page-turning plot, the character development, the originality. Highly recommended for thriller fans not bothered by detailed descriptions of autopsies.
Blurb:
For San Francisco’s newest medical examiner, Dr. Jessie Teska, it was supposed to be a fresh start. A new job in a new city. A way to escape her own dark past.
Instead she faces a chilling discovery when an opioid-overdose case contains hints of something more sinister. Jessie’s superiors urge her to close the case, but as more bodies land on her autopsy table, she uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate plot involving drug dealers and Bitcoin brokers.
Autopsy means “see for yourself,” and Jessie Teska won’t stop until she has seen it all—even if it means that the next corpse on the table could be her own.
"Apples never fall" by Liane Moriarty starts almost conventionally, but if you're familiar with this author's work, you will soon realise that nothing is quite as it seems. The bored retired couple used to be tennis stars, for starters, and their marriage is far from boring or retired. As the - unpredictable - plot unfolds, flicking between the past and the present, you'll get to know and love the characters. You won't be able to turn the pages fast enough, yet you won't want the book to end.
It's difficult to avoid spoilers. Some of the issues you'll think about include family bonds, the influence and power parents yield over their children, the meaning of success.
"Choose Me" by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver is a bit different from the usual Rizzoli and Isles thriller. Tess Gerritsen fans will still find her traces in the detailed description of autopsy and the clever plot twists, but the book is not written in her voice.
The characters are three-dimensional and likeable, and readers will feel invested in a happy ending.
Warning: the contents may not be suitable for people with triggers for suicide and teacher-student relationships.
Burb:
Taryn Moore is young, beautiful, and brilliant…so why would she kill herself? When Detective Frankie Loomis arrives on the scene to investigate the girl’s fatal plunge from her apartment balcony, she knows in her gut there’s more to the story, especially after the autopsy reveals that the college senior was pregnant. It could be reason enough for suicide—or a motive for murder.
To English professor Jack Dorian, Taryn was the ultimate fantasy: intelligent, adoring, and completely off limits. But there was also a dark side to Taryn, a dangerous streak that threatened those she turned her affections to—including Jack. And now that she’s dead, his problems are just beginning.
The Liar Next Door by Nicola Marsh is a page-turner. Told in two timelines and from three different points of view, it gives us a glimpse into the lives of three women living in one seemingly perfect neighbourhood.
It's a domestic suspense thriller, but so much more than that. Love and betrayal, friendships, relationships, parenthood - it's all there for the reader to soak in.
This book is about second chances and making the most out of the cards you're dealt. It's about decisions and consequences. Most of all, it's about the importance of knowing what your dream is before you can follow it.
Blurb
Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
