Tag Archive: thriller



Worst Case ScenarioWorst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

T.J. Newman wrote a fantastic disaster movie, I mean a disaster book. Joe Morton (Narrator) brought the writing to life. Joe was able to make each character show up. I never felt like he was being demeaning to women or children, as many male narrators seem to do.

The title says it all. And you know, going in, it is going to get rough and may not get better. Don’t make this your gentle-yourself-to-sleep read. Take it from me: it won’t work. But every waking hour I could, I had the audiobook reading to me.

Here’s the blurb from GoodReads:
When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota, which becomes ground zero for a catastrophic national crisis with global implications.

The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now.

In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people—power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends— are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives. It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.

~~~
If you’re looking for a fast scary ride, read this one.

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EruptionEruption by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scott Brick’s overacted narration kind of ruined this experience for me. BUT I could see this as a movie!

This is the kind of story you expect from Michael Crichton. The research on volcanoes was evident without being preachy or pedantic. As expected, the story kept me on edge, worried about the characters and the island.

May I say I hope this never happens to anyone. It is a scary concept. But it’s a super book and hopefully a great disaster movie.

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The Recovery Agent (Gabriella Rose, #1)The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another fun road trip read (listen).

Lorelei King (Reader) gave Janet Evanovich’s usual fun writing a reality that might not be present as eyes scan a page. She has that acting ability to give each character a different voice. The listener doesn’t get lost between the many people in the book.

I have read other fun books by Janet Evanovich, so I was open to this new character, Gabriella Rose. The adventure was tense yet light and humorous for our ride. We were cracking up as we enjoyed the forest or water scenes we passed in real life—the best combination for a long drive.

Now that I’ve read/heard the first book, I will seek out book two and maybe go back and reread the Stephanie Plum books.

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Leave the World BehindLeave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw the movie a while ago. It did the book justice. I will have to watch it again now that I read the book. Well, I listened to the audiobook through Libby, the library app. I highly recommend both ways to enjoy this thrilling story.

Here is the first part of the blurb about this book:

“A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.”

I think that says it all!

Add to that the wonderful voice acting by Marin Ireland. Wow! Make sure your nails are long enough to bite.

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As the Wicked WatchAs the Wicked Watch by Tamron Hall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Susan Dalian (Narrator) did a good job of reading this, but I would have liked it better had Tamron Hall used her own voice.

Still, it was too real for me. I really don’t like murder mysteries. Why can’t mysteries be more than that? Why make murder an everyday occurrence when, if you think about it, there are a lot of mysteries to look into that could save lives rather than seeing it from the deadly point of view?

Mostly, it was a difficult read at bedtime. That’s on me, I suppose.

I did like that Ms. Hall presented facts about racial inequalities and those inequalities that women go through. I liked the parts of the book about a struggling professional woman trying to make her way in the business Tamron knows well.

I will probably not read the rest of the series. But I am sure there are those who will love it, so don’t take my word for it. Try it. I was lucky to pick up my copy for Libby.

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Fairy TaleFairy Tale by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Stephen King (Author, Narrator), Seth Numrich (Narrator), made this a story I didn’t want to end. It was difficult to put it down, even at four o’clock in the morning!

Just to let you know, I don’t like scary. Not books or shows. Sure, I like my Walking Dead, but the scary isn’t the zombies; it is other humans who think they know what everyone should want.

The other thing I don’t like is one more rewritten fairy tale. Ugh! But this isn’t. The fairy tale references are more a way for the reader to relate to what is going on for the main character, Charlie Reade. More than 40% of the book is about getting to know this young teen. You grow to love him and feel for him.

Please read the blurb here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6…

By the way, I was lucky to pick this up from Libby Audio. The narrator is so fabulous at all his voices, and I never felt he was demeaning to the characters he played, even though a few characters were horrible beings.

This wasn’t scary. Let me say that again. It is a little thrilling as you watch the adventure unfold, but not in a horror film way.

I hope you get the chance to read this or give it a listen (preferred). Enjoy!

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The Last Thing He Told MeThe Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rebecca Lowman (Narrator) made this story come to life so much so that I forgot to turn off the Fire and go to sleep. I remember it being light outside as I made myself put the story away.

Here’s the blurb that grabbed me:

We all have stories we never tell.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her.

Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.

It wasn’t a murder mystery, but it kept you wondering if Hannah was foolish in trying to find her husband. And you wonder if her step daughter will ever accept Hannah.

It was fun, and I enjoyed a new kind of woman. She was strong and had her own life but was open to caring for her stepdaughter with a full-blown love of her own.

I was lucky to find this on Libby to borrow. Hope you like it too.

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Jurassic ParkJurassic Park by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I’m late in reading these. I am a huge fan of the movies.

Usually, I like reading the book first before watching the film version. But I just didn’t get around to this one before memorizing the series’ first few movies. And that sadly gave me an up. I knew what needed to happen.

But the shows are better. I am so glad they rewrote the shows to tell a more friendly bunch of main characters. I don’t want to give spoilers if you haven’t read the books, but there were shockers. And now I feel I must read the next book in the series.

I do enjoy the writing of Michael Crichton. Yeah, I’m a newbie to his work.

Scott Brick gave a sense of authority to the science of the topic and acted most of the characters with gusto. But females were not done as well, sounding a bit demeaning. But overall, he kept the story interesting.

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The IngenueThe Ingenue by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t usually include a blurb. In this case, I think it is needed.

“When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother’s unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother’s will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia shares a complicated history with, she is forced to reexamine her past–and the romantic relationship that changed the course of her life–for answers. Can she find a way to claim her heritage while keeping her secrets buried, or will the fallout from digging too deep destroy her?

Set against a post #MeToo landscape, The Ingenue delves into mother-daughter relationships, the expectations of talent, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when the things that once made you special are taken from you. Moving between Saskia’s childhood and the present day, this dark, contemporary fairy tale pulses with desire, longing, and uncertainty, as it builds to its spectacular, shocking climax.”

This Kindle version with text-to-speech was from Libby, the library app. I wish I could have found it as an audio version. Sometimes the robotic voice, pleasantly British and all, still confused me as to the speaker’s point of view or emotional status.

Still, this book is worth the weirdness you might encounter at first. I nearly tossed the book. I have millions of books to read; why get hung up on something I’m not liking? And I wouldn’t say I liked the main character.

But, honestly, you sometimes meet someone who doesn’t click with you in real life. Most of the time, it has a lot to do with where you are in your own life, where that person is in theirs, or a combination of the two. I think that is what happened here for me. By the end of the book, I found myself rooting for her and hoping for her best ending.

On the other hand, it was less satisfying for me as a fictional ending than another, more legally binding end. But then again, maybe I missed something in hearing TTS instead of a human voice.

This is worth the read, if only for the altered fairy tale fems.

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Eric Conger was the narrator of this audiobook from the Libby library app. For the most part, he was good. But when it came to acting the female parts, not so much. Male voices tend to demean women, it seems.

To the author’s credit, there were smart women and women of power in the mix of scientists, politicians, and the like. It just didn’t come across that way through the narrator.

Once past that issue, which may not show up in the written version, the story was riveting. What was that spacecraft nearing Saturn? What would the aliens look or act like? And what if the Chinese ship gets there before the USA?

John Sanford’s research is obvious. You don’t feel the magic happening. You see commonsense answers explored. And as the reader, you feel part of the team looking for answers. And the more I read, and listened, the more I wanted to know.

The end of the book is my favorite part, the science explored while writing the fiction. I highly recommend sticking around to read, and listen, to this part.

I will try to find the Kindle version and listen to text-to-speech. I want to read this again!

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