The Maidens by Alex Michaelides is about Mariana Andros, a therapist who has become fixated on a professor, Edward Fosca, who she believes is a murderer. He is the group head of The Maidens, a young group of women who attend his Greek mythology classes. Zoe, her niece, calls when one member is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana is not untroubled herself. Working her way through grief at the sudden death of her husband, Sebastian, she is concerned about her grief and one of her patients, Henry, who has an unsettling obsession with her. Then another body is found and Mariana must deal with he niece, her concerns about Edward, a you man named Fred who has taken an interest in her, and the murders that unsettle.

I read about halfway through this book and almost did not finish it. It was pretentious and most of the characters were not interesting, especially Mariana. The grief was overwhelming, not in an I feel bad for her way but more in a can she stop being so stupid way. It was not written well. I felt like the author wanted me to feel bad for her but I couldn't when she was ignoring the world she kept trying to live in. She was often preoccupied and boring, which made me preoccupied and bored. I would have liked more about their relationship for the end of the book to be more poignant.

The most interesting character in the book was Henry, one of Mariana's patients, and he was not developed in a way he could have been. He was the type of character that someone could feel something for, and he was the type of character that some would want to root for to get healthy. Instead, he was made into a character that had no point in the story. He was there to threaten the main character, but there was no reason for it. It felt obviously like a misdirection. Again, this was one of the things that made me feel like the author thought he was "getting something over" on me.

While the ending was a surprise and quite interesting, I needed would have liked more from that as well. I would have liked to know more of how and why things started between the murderer and their companion. I would have liked to know why things happened the way they did. I would have liked to know more about Sebastian's death and his life with Mariana. I would have liked so much more. The problem was that there were so many "red herrings" in this book that it felt overloaded when it didn't need to.

All of that being said, I did like it. And honestly, I liked it much more than I liked The Silent Patient. That was another book by this author that took me forever to read and that I almost gave up on. Now that I have given the author multiple reads, I don't think I will read any more books from them. I don't think I have the stamina, and I while the endings of both books were good, I would have appreciated less pretentiousness and less filler.

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is the sequel to his novel Five People You Meet in Heaven. 

This novel follows Annie, a newly married woman, who was also the child Eddie saved in the first novel. After a wondrous wedding day, Annie and her husband, Pablo, decide to go for an evening hot air balloon ride. Things change after this ride, and both Annie and Pablo are forever changed. 

This was not as good as Five People You Meet in Heaven. Annie is not as compelling of a character as Eddie was in the first novel. She whines a lot about the hand that was cut off and reattached in the first novel. She feels that she has never done anything right, and that her entire live is a mistake. This only makes her character unlikable, and overly dramatic. Throughout the scenes with people she meets she continually asks the same questions, and it becomes repetitive and dull. 

Each of the people Annie meets is predictable, and none really seem to add to the story as once again she continues to question and state that she was a mistake. In the end, it seems as if we were misled as what happened to Annie isn't what we expected. 

I don't care if a book or movie misleads me, but I don't like a book that lies to me, and I am not sure Annie was the character this book should have been written about. I would have liked to see a new story, and a new person that had nothing to do with the original book. The ending felt forced to give the reader a feel good moment, but it wasn't necessary, as in the original (SPOILER here is you haven't read the first book) Eddie dies. He gets answers, and he gets happiness (even in death), but it feels like a real story, not a forced story written to make money. 

I wanted to love this novel, as I did Five People You Meet in Heaven, but it is too forced, and I didn't love it.

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones is about a group of teens who decide to pull a prank involving a mannequin. Shauna is the girl who the prank is being pulled on, and Sawyer is the one who decides to pull the prank.

I now have to figure out what to say about this book without giving away too much.

After the prank, Sawyer realizes that things are not going they way they should. Not only is Shauna in trouble and fired from her job, but at least one other member of the group gets grounded. This isn't the first time the group has gotten Shauna in trouble, but this is the final time for her assistant manager and manager. After Shauna is killed in a freak accident, Sawyer realizes and believes that the mannequin, who he has named Manny, may now be torturing and killing the teens.

So, that is about as much as I can say without giving anything away. Let me move onto the characters.

This is a short book, so the reader doesn't get much time to get to know any of the characters, so, when characters start dying off it really doesn't matter very much. I didn't get to know any of the characters enough to care when people started dying. The most interesting thing about the deaths is who is killing them, in the end. The reason for the deaths is actually more interesting than the deaths themselves.

The plot was a little bit thin and the characters were all pretty annoying. There wasn't one character that I liked, at all. The dialogue and inner dialogue was what really bothered me. It was all very all over the place, and after the first couple of pages especially, I really wanted the narrator to shut up and give the story over to someone else. Even as the narrator, I didn't get to know enough about the character to care about what happened.

The ending of the book was not at all satisfactory, and again it was one more thing that left me annoyed. I wanted more for so much of this and I am beginning to wonder if maybe Stephen Graham Jones is not really for me as this is the second book of his I have read. The other book I am still considering and have not written a review for. It could just be that this specific book was not for me.

The only thing that really was enjoyable about this book was that it was short, which made it a fast read. So, I can't recommend this book, but I am not going to say don't read it because maybe this kind of writing is exactly what you are looking for.

Relentless by Jonathan Maberry was a pretty good book. From the synopsis:

Joe Ledger's world has been torn apart. The people closest to him have been savagely murdered and Ledger is on the hunt for the killers. His already fragile psyche has cracked apart, allowing a dangerous darkness to overwhelm him.

His hunt takes him deep into the world of the deadly black market weapons sales, and standing in his way are a new generation of private military contractors. These mercenaries have been enhanced with cutting-edge cybernetics and chemical enhancements, transforming them into real-world super soldiers. Stronger, faster, harder to hurt, and fitted with built-in weapons. They are beyond anything Joe has ever faced.

But he is not the Joe Ledger they expected to fight. He is defined by the Darkness now. The attempt to destroy him--to break him--has backfired. Instead his enemies have turned him into a far more fearsome weapon.

I have read almost every Joe Ledger book and short story that is out there. This book follows a little bit of a different Ledger than you may have read before, except possibly in Maberry's novel, Rage.

Joe is dealing with depression and a possible psychotic break. The novel takes a few heartbreaking turns as the reader wonders about his psyche and the delightful pup, Ghost. Joe starts the novel on a mission that he may not be prepared for. Later, on this mission, the reader sees him kill someone that seems to cross the line of who does and does not deserve death. The point of this singular killing was an act of mercy, but in reality it may not seem that way. After this killing Joe leaves the team and disappears.

Throughout the novel I was concerned for Ghost, as Joe's psychotic break was so dramatic. I wondered if his demons would be too much for both of them. Throughout the novel the entire team is concerned and tries to help or find Joe. I was a tad bothered by the treatment of Junie, only because I thought at this point she would be a tad bit stronger.

To me the most interesting character in the novel was Mr. Sunday, another character who is not who he seems. He is a man able to sell anything to anyone. I enjoyed reading his scenes, and finding out the secrets behind who he is.

I did not think the end was suited perfectly to the story. I felt that at least two of the characters were killed off and died too fast, especially since so much was built up throughout the novel about them. I don't want to say too much, as I don't want to give anything away. I will say that one character, I would have liked to see go down a little harder.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. At almost 500 pages it is not a light read. It probably could have been edited in a few places, and still held it's meat, but I enjoyed it and I enjoyed seeing Joe Ledger continue to develop. I also really enjoyed the character of Toys (had to end with that).

Girl A by Abigail Dean is about a young woman named Lex, who, along with a few siblings, survived a traumatic childhood. Lex, or Alexandria, was the one who escaped and got help for her siblings.

Lex is the main character in this novel, and the reader doesn't really learn much about her siblings or their life as children. I see that a lot of people liked this book, but I really don't understand why. Each chapter is about a different sibling, and each is chapter is interspersed with past, present, and future information. This makes it really hard to read and follow as we never know what timeline we are reading, and it really hurts the reader who is trying to get to know the characters. I don't mind books that skip through chapters and changes through characters, but none of the information was reliable, and so the reader never got enough information to really care for any of the characters.

The other big problem I had with this book was that it took a really long time to get to the trauma of the children. I didn't even feel that it was fully explored. We keep being told that the children went through unimaginable horrors, but the details weren't really delved into until we learned what we already knew - the conditions the children were found in when Lex escaped and got help. The father is described as an evil man, but we aren't really given reasons or answers as to why or how. The reader finds scenes where there is obvious cruelty but nothing is delved into further.

I almost gave up and stopped reading this book. I didn't care for the characters, nor did I care for the range of the novel. The novel took too long to get to the point, and the "twist" was obvious from the very beginning. Nothing was developed as far as if could have been because there was too much jumping around in the chapters between the timelines. I never really got to how one child was killed (I don't think it was delved into) or how the other children felt about it. There was so much that could have made this a better book than it was, and I really do hate giving bad reviews, but so many people are seeing this book and wanting to read it, when there are so many other great books out there.

I know you will make up your own mind whether you read this or not, but I had to add my "two cents" to the conversation.

Behind Her Eyes By Sarah Pinborough was not a bad book, not fabulous, but not bad.

The story revolves around Louise, David, and his wife, Adele. Louise meets David in a bar and ends up kissing him. The next day Louise learns that David is her new boss, and his wife is Adele. Adele is a beautiful young woman and Louise feels guilty. One day she runs into Adele and a friendship forms. Louise is having a difficult time because she knows that she much eventually choose to either end things with David or Adele, but she loves them both and cannot decide. She then learns a horrible secret and doesn't know what is the truth and what is a lie anymore.

The main character, Louise, is not a very interesting character. She doesn't develop as much as she should and even when she learns part of the truth she continues to do something stupid, which may end up with the death of those she loves. Adele is not who she seems, and the twist at the end was not quite what I was expecting.

Overall, most of the characters were annoying, and this book could have been shortened and edited to make it more interesting. It almost seems as if most books these days have too much in them and people are afraid to edit them for content, interest, and length. There were quite a few scenes that just didn't add much to an already long story line. It was very repetitive, and it seemed as if most characters did not learn from their mistakes.

I did like the ending, but it also made me wonder why one of the characters was so stupid. I mean can't most people tell the difference between one person and the next? I would think if I had known someone most of my life, I would have learned to recognize if they were the person that they said they were or not.

So, I do understand some of the hate this book as received. I, personally, would recommend it if you had some time on your hands, but really only because I liked the ending.

Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman is the thirty-sixth book in the Alex Delaware series. Unlike other authors who I have given up on, Jonathan Kellerman continues to deliver.

This novel revolves around a difficult decades old cold case. Milo is forced to take the case on, and he reluctantly does, and seeks out Alex's help in trying to figure out where to start. As the two try to figure out what happened, they are stopped frequently by other people and someone who doesn't want the murder to be solved.

This was just as interesting as the last book, Museum of Desire. In fact, I enjoyed this more than I did Museum of Desire, but a little less than some of the previous novels. I enjoyed that this novel featured Milo a little more, and that it also had a little more with his partner, Rick. I wish we actually saw more of Rick and a little less of Robin, even though I know that Alex is really the main character.

Ellie is looking into who murdered her mother when she was only three. The murder had few clues and few answers, there is almost nothing for Milo to go on. Milo learns that Ellie knows more than she thinks, and that there is a lot that was kept from her. Her adopted father was also murdered because of her mother. There was in fact so much death around her mother that Ellie begins to think it was and continues to be all because of her.

The end was a twist that, once again, I did not see coming. Kellerman is very good at writing surprise endings, that are actually surprises. I did not expect everything that happened at the end; however, I did have an idea. I enjoy how a lot of the time Kellerman leaves much to the imagination, and lets the reader try to figure things out.

The ending was satisfying, overall, but I wish there had been a little more in regards to the "bad guy" of the story. I wanted more to satisfy my needs of vengeance, but I feel that one of the bad guys got what they should have.

I recommend all of these books to anyone who likes suspenseful mystery with well-developed characters.

Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica was just .... wow.

When I picked this book up I thought it would be predictable in the end, a little like the movie Soilent Green. I was happy to be incorrect.

The book follows Marcos, a man who had his wife leave after a tragedy. He is trying to figure things out, while still working at the slaughterhouse, where the cattle is people. A virus has made all animal meat infectious and toxic to humans, at least that is what the government wants everyone to believe. In comes humans bred for food, they are bred to be cattle and only cattle, with no thought or intelligence. One day Marcos is given a gift, a gift he is not sure what to do with. He starts trying to decide what to do with this gift, when he realizes what he has been given. Marcos must keep a secret while trying to move on with his wife, and his life.

This book made me think, especially now going through this Coronavirus pandemic. I wondered what those of us in the United States would do if the government claimed all animals and animal meat were toxic? We are having a hard enough time trying to regulate what people should or should not do during the pandemic, so it was a perfect time to read this book.

This was a very disturbing novel, in more ways than it simply being about cannibalism. The book followed Marcos as he moved through time, going from slaughterhouse, to butchers shop, to cattle field. We see him introduce to potential applicants through the floor of the slaughterhouse, as humans are treated like pigs. Stunned and then killed, these humans are expertly dismembered to separate the pieces to go where they will be distributed. Marcos lives a hard life, full of questions, and he often questions what is and isn't right. After the tragedy that he and his wife suffer, he has stopped eating meat, and no matter what he does he struggles to get past what he has seen and lost. Marcos isn't sure what to do, so he goes against what he has always believed, and what the government has told him, and makes a decision all on his own.

I am pleased to say that while I was reading this novel I thought it was going to end predictably, but it did not. The ending was unexpected as I really thought that Marcos had changed his mind and was going to do something totally the opposite of what he did. The novel is one of those novels that make you think about what makes a person human, what makes a person someone who gets to live or someone to be eaten, and how far are you willing to go to get meat if it becomes unavailable. I am still thinking of this book, and I finished it a few weeks ago, I simply waited to write this review because I kept thinking of this book.

Really, if you have a chance read this book. It is about more than cannibalism, it is about life and life choices.

Del Rio by Jane Rosenthal is about a middle-age District Attorney named Callie. Callie has a sister named Mia, and a brother named Mike. This family is very dysfunctional, and the spouses of Mia and Mike are both into something they should not be.

After a child's arm is found by migrant workers, Callie McCall finds herself embroiled in uncovering a family secret and a murder investigation. She has to decide what to do, or if she should do anything. When she finds out that things are happening on both sides of the border, she decides she must find out what is going on, even if that means destroying everything she has worked for.

This novel was not bad to start with, although there were some things I was uncomfortable with (as someone who was raised in California), but I will address these things later. The story starts off interesting with Callie dealing with her horrible ex-husband, Sam, and her equally horrible brother-in-law, Jim Fletcher. The readers find out that Jim Fletcher is involved in something unsavory, involving children, but it takes a bit to find out what that unsavory thing is, and in the end there are several things. Callie travels to Mexico and back to her inherited orchard in California, hoping to find the answers to the death of the child, and trying to figure out what her brother-in-law, husband, sister, and brother might be into.

About halfway through the book it becomes a little bit disjointed as another character, Nathan, is added. It seemed very unnecessary for him to be inserted into the novel, and a lot of his chapters seemed like non-sequiturs. Then in the end I was not sure why he was there. I would have liked more into his character, and why he was important, but to me it seemed like he was in the novel to move some parts of the story along, when he wasn't really needed, or possibly when the author didn't know what exactly to do.

I was a little disappointed in the ending of the novel as well. A few of the bad characters really did "get what they had coming to them," but since at least two of the characters who did not deserve the endings they got (Mia and Mike), which meant it was not satisfactory. Callie was a bit of a disappointment to me as well. She seemed so strong in the beginning, but she continually discusses how much her political future means, and that makes her feel as if she cares, but does not really care, about the migrant workers or the death of the child whose arm was found.

One thing that really bothered me was the town, and how the Hispanics were described. Most seem like stereotypes, as someone from California, and that bothered me. Also the description of the town as a place filled with run-down Dollar stores, a place where you drive through with the windows up and the doors locked. I feel that this is a stereotype when in reality places with orchards, vineyards, and farms, with migrants working are usually peaceful, with high end stores and tourist destinations near them. This may be my own issue.

I'd say this is an interesting read, and you should give it a chance.

Jealousy, revenge, murder, and betrayal are all issues in the novel The Dead Ex by Jane Corry.
 
Vicki is a woman with a troubled mind, a sad past, and a horrible ex-husband. When her ex-husband, David, goes missing, and the police arrive on her doorstep asking her if she knows where he is, she is thrown into a life she never thought possible. A life of questions without answers. A life of mystery. A life where she isn't sure what has happened or what is going on. Vicki is an aromatherapist who can't find a way out. She wants to confront David's new wife, Tanya, who should be the first suspect, but doesn't seem to be.
 
Then the story follows Scarlet, a young girl forced by her mother to play a dangerous game, which eventually gets them both in trouble. Scarlet then learns what it is like to live without her mother, and Zelda learns what it is like to have her daughter removed from her custody. Every visit is traumatic, and in the end Scarlet see who her mother really is, but she doesn't act, because no matter what Zelda is still her mother.
 
The first third of the story follows the beginning of the stories of Scarlet and Vicki as she learns of David's disappearance. This was probably the most interesting part of the story. The characters were intriguing. Learning about the games Scarlet was made to play by her mother was interesting, and gave a view into a dark side of life that I would have no idea about. I have never been involved in criminal activity, and I wouldn't even know how to do some of the things that Zelda made Scarlet do to make money. When Scarlet is taken and Zelda is punished the story that unfolds from there is sad and, well sad, because the truth of what is going to happen is probably not going to have a happy ending, especially since Zelda doesn't seem like she is going to change.
 
The next third is a set up of what is going to happen in the last third, and neither seems to be surprising or interesting. The biggest thing is we learn more about what a dick David is, and boy is he a 100% grade A dick, and we learn more about Vicki and why she is so trouble, also why she is still so in love with David, even though he treated her like garbage. Of course, he still treats her like garbage, and everyone else in his life. The ending isn't a huge surprise, especially after reading the beginning. None of the characters were really relatable, even though the author tries to make Scarlet and Vicki relatable, they really aren't. None of the characters have anything to offer the reader. Yet, as I say this the beginning of the book was well done, I wish it came together a little better, and I wish the book didn't become as vicious as it ended up being.
 
I can't really say whether one should or shouldn't read this, but in my opinion is was only okay. Some people might like it, but others might find it mediocre, as I did.
 
I want to say one last thing, the title in a little farfetched, and this could have used a better, more thrilling, and one better suited to the content.