FKA USA

I've always maintained that when the apocalypse happens, I want to die in the first wave. Fast, relatively painlessly, clean. No drawn-out suffering. No huge moral dilemmas. No crazy Mad Max scenarios. Just, poof - gone. Game over. 

FKA USA totally and completely reinforces that desire. If this is the future that's coming, thanks, but no thanks, I'm good. Just let me go quickly in one of the several nasty ways it Reed King kills off my fellow Oklahoma citizens - sinkhole, tornado, whatever. Just let it be quick and early please. I just don't want to suffer. Or have to turn into the kind of person who is okay with killing other people to survive. 

Look, this is a good book. But it's scary as hell. Seriously, it's terrifying in the same way that Idiocracy has become something of a horror movie in the last few years. Because it just seems so damned plausible.  Well, parts of it, anyway.

FKA USA is the start of an epic dystopian journey. I'm guessing from the abrupt, cliff-hanger ending that this is going to be part of a series of books and I can't wait for the next installment, if that's true. Look, it might have been the scariest book I've read so far this year, but it's also one of the best and most memorable. 

Truckee Wallace, the hero of the story, isn't always smart or likable, but you just can't help but root for him on his impossible journey across the territories formerly known as (FKA) the United States with his talking goat sidekick, Barnaby. 

Reed King has created a meticulously plotted out universe for this story, complete with explanatory footnotes and appendices that add so much to the whole reading experience. If you've read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, you'll understand what I mean. 

FKA USA will be released on June 18. I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My honest assessment of this book is that it is a must-read!

Sunset Beach

Mary Kay Andrews is BACK!

After being a little disappointed with The High Tide Club last year, I was a little nervous about what to expect from Sunset Beach, but I went ahead and requested a copy from the publisher anyway and I'm so glad I did!

Sunset Beach is classic Andrews - fun, fast-paced and full of heart. And as with almost every Mary Kay Andrews book I've ever read, as soon as I finished reading it I was ready to start renovating and redecorating my house.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading anything by Mary Kay Andrews, this is a good book tot start with. It tells the story of Drue Campbell and her mess of a life. She's moved to St. Petersburg, FL to work in her daddy's law office where she has to contend with her former best friend/new stepmother AND solve a decade's-old mystery.

As always, the characters are over the top, yet believable and the setting is a character of its own. This is my top recommendation for a poolside/beach read for summer 2019.

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Invited

I used to read a lot of horror but I got away from it at some point in the last 15 years or so and I've only recently started really reading it again. It's weird - I pretty much hate horror movies - that feeling of dread when you just know a jump-scare is coming is the worst to me. And yet, that same sense of creeping dread in a really good scary book is the best! Like I said, weird.

The Invited, by Jennifer McMahon is, in my opinion, a really good scary book and it was pretty much the perfect story to get me back into horror. It's a classic ghost story with an excellent twist and I had a hard time putting it down.

Creeping sense of impending doom throughout the book? Check. Well-written characters that you occasionally want to throttle, but mostly want to root for? Check. Excellent setting and original plot? Check and check.

Fans of Stephen King will like this one, I think. I certainly did and he's in my top 3 authors of all time. Now that I've read The Invited, I have big plans to check out McMahon's other works. Who knows? Maybe she's top 3 material as well.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Stranger Beside Me

My obsession with true crime continues!  I was so excited to get my hands on Ann Rule's classic The Stranger Beside Me from my local library.

Holy crap, y'all. It's so good. As someone who listens to true crime podcasts and watches true crime documentaries a lot, I thought I had a good grasp of Ted Bundy and his evil ways, but I was wrong. This book is so packed with information that I had no idea about. I think I drove my husband nuts the whole time I was reading it with all my little bits of information I just had to randomly pass along. For instance, here's a conversation we recently had:

Husband: Hon? What are we having for dinner tonight?
Me: I don't know yet. Did you know that Ted Bundy got married literally during one of his murder trials? Like he and his fiance figured out this archaic Florida law and just did it in front of everyone. Isn't that crazy? Who does that? Ugh. He was such a psycho.
Husband: Um, that's nice? Seriously, are we not eating tonight?
Me: I'm getting to it! And did you know he used to walk Ann Rule to her car after late night shifts at this crisis center place they worked at because "there are a lot of bad guys out there?!?!?!" Seriously, can you even imagine?
Husband: sigh

I couldn't help it though, it's one of those books you just want to talk about with everyone. And I did eventually make dinner.

Anyone interested in the genre needs to pick this book up. Told from Rule's unique perspective as a friend and former co-worker of Bundy's, it's just an amazing, chilling read. I recommend making sure you're getting the newest edition so you don't miss out on all the forwards and afterwards Rule added over the years after Bundy's conviction and execution.

Young Jane Young

Young Jane Young is the second book I've read by Gabrielle Zevin (the first was The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, which was also amazing) and once again I am blown away. I loved this novel so, so much.

At one page in, I was hooked. Rachel's voice was so engaging and the character so well-written, I could hear her voice in my head. And as the narration transitioned to other characters, their voices were alive as well.

Some books you can't put down once you start reading them, and this was definitely one of those books. I simultaneously found myself staying up past bedtime to read just one more chapter and at the same time, trying to make the book last because I knew I would be so sad to leave these characters when it was over.

Young Jane Young is a story of mothers and daughters, of scandal and bullying, mistakes and redemption and really strong women. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer. The ending is very abrupt and somewhat ambiguous and yet, it works.

As always, I'm not giving away details, just trust me when I tell you if you like excellent story-telling, you have to read this book. And if you haven't already read The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, pick that one up too. Along with a box of tissues.

#fashionvictim

OMG, you guys, I'm totes obsessed with this book. Like, WTF?

Ok, I can't keep that up, but read the book and you'll get it.

Others have already made the most apt comparisons before me, so I'll just plagiarize a little - this book is The Devil Wears Prada (but funnier) meets American Psycho (but actually maybe a little crazier?). It's wild. And so over-the-top and insane that I don't think any review I'm capable of writing can really do it justice.

Written by former fashion insider Amina Akhtar, #fasionvictim takes you inside the delusional and psychotic mind of Anya St. Clair as she battles her way to the top of La Vie  magazine. It's a fun, fast read and one of my favorites for the year so far.

Dark Sacred Night

Finishing this book made me remember why I tend to wait until a series is finished before I start reading it. I'm too impatient!  The next book won't be out until later this year and I am counting down the days until I can get my hands on it.

I spent all of last year devouring all of the books in the Harry Bosch universe by Michael Connelly. For those of you who don't know, Harry Bosch is a hard-boiled LA homicide detective whose character-defining mantra is "everybody counts or nobody counts." He's great at being a detective, but bad at politics so he's just about always in trouble with the LAPD, or whomever he is working for in each book (it varies as time goes by).

Last week I finally got my hands on Dark Sacred Night, the 31st Bosch-universe book and quite possible my favorite to date. Book 29, The Late Show, introduced a new character, Renee Ballard, who I will admit I wan't too sure about at first. Connelly does this every so often  - he writes a non-Bosch book still set in the same universe, with overlapping characters. Ballard wasn't my favorite in her standalone book, but her presence in Dark Sacred Night was welcome and understandable. And as the case unfolded, she grew on me.

Bosch is getting old. There's just no way around that. By my calculations, he's getting close to 70 years old and that means he is soon going to have to fully retire or... well, I'd rather not think about it. So it makes sense that Connelly is bringing in this new partner for Bosch to mentor and who can take over when he's gone. Ballard is the first partner I think we've ever seen Bosch work with that feels like an equal. She's a loner with baggage, just like Harry, and she's a hell of a detective, too.

I won't get into the plot details of Dark Sacred Night. Suffice it to say that it's your typical twisty Bosch case with lots of intricate details to obsess over and lots of drama to keep you reading long past your bedtime.

If you haven't already read any of the Bosch books, do yourself a favor and check them out. And once you're fully sucked in, take a look at the Amazon show Bosch that's based on the character and books. It's one of the better book-to-screen adaptations I've seen. Details get changed, of course, but it really captures the feel of the books and the character of Bosch.