Tag Archive: thriller



A Cream of Passion (Great Witches Baking Show #7)A Cream of Passion by Nancy Warren
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once again, the book came to me out of order, so I’ve yet to read the first four novels in the series. Still, the author keeps the reader up-to-date on the main character’s goals and needs.

Hollis McCarthy (Narrator) acts out the characters flawlessly. Between the writing and the audio, the reading went quickly. It is a good book if you want something fast between larger reads.

Between cooking and murder, this book is not nearly as fun as Nancy Warren’s Vampire Knitting Club series. I don’t like cooking. I’m forever on a diet of gluten-free or carbs so that these pastry-rich stories may be invoking a murderous feeling. Still, I like meandering between books of differing subject matters.

I will keep reading the series and other books by Nancy Warren. This just wasn’t a favorite. By the way, I was happy to listen to it on Libby’s audio version.

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Your prompt for JusJoJan January 3rd, 2025 is “meander.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!


The Guest ListThe Guest List by Lucy Foley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With this cast: Jot Davies (Narrator), Chloe Massey (Narrator), Olivia Dowd (Narrator), Aoife McMahon (Narrator), Sarah Ovens (Narrator), Rich Keeble (Narrator), Lucy Foley’s story plays out like an old radio mystery theater.

I finished a book before I was ready to go to sleep. Since it was a Libby audiobook, I tried to find something else to get me to sleeping time. I saw this one about a wedding guest list. The blurb made it look interesting. I don’t much like murder mysteries, but with the setting in Ireland, I thought it would at least whet my travel desires. It worked!

All the actors gave such depth to the story that probably, in a paper book, it would still be great. The accents enriched each character. And what a single narrator-type book would do, I never felt lost as to who was talking.

There were so many types of people at this wedding. And life-like relationships that we learn about that happened and caused some incidences at the wedding that one doesn’t expect. We don’t start with a body and try to figure out who did it, but the other part of the mystery is who will die and why, then asking the who. This makes it the best mystery I have ever read/listened to.

This was readily available on Libby. If you get the chance, I think you’ll like it, too.

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Mother-Daughter Murder NightMother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again, I was reluctant to read a book. I don’t like books about murder. And that is the reason I usually don’t read mysteries. They are rarely about missing glasses. True mysteries. And I don’t know where I heard about this book, but thanks to whoever suggested this. It was a lot of fun!

Jane Oppenheimer, narrator, read this with such spirit that I didn’t want to put it down. She was about to change her voice for every character, and I was never lost as to who might be speaking.

The author was clever in shifting a book about the younger women (daughter and granddaughter), and soon, it is the grandmother who speaks the most in the book. Her viewpoint is a little annoying but fun.

Yes, there is a murder or more, but as a team, the three women risk their own lives, careers, and their relationships with each other. Tricky at first, but by the time it all falls apart, each woman searches for strength and wisdom.

Ah, I am not saying what I want to. Just know that this is a fun book, despite the murders and bad guys. I was lucky to pick it up on Libby. Enjoy!

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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.

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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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