The Launch Party

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry
10/15/24 (originally in 2023); 400 pages
Bonnier Zaffre Books UK

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry is a highly recommended locked room mystery set in the first hotel on the moon.

Ten lucky people have won a free trip and the opportunity to be the first guests at the grand opening of the Hotel Artemis, the first hotel on the moon. After their arrival it quickly becomes clear that things have gone badly awry. While champagne and a buffet dinner are waiting, all their bags are piled up in the lobby and there is no staff available anywhere. In fact they appear to be completely alone in the hotel. After the guests decide to find their rooms and then rejoin each other to drink and dine the night away.  

The next day the guests are shocked to see one of their own dead. The group pushes the emergency alarm, calling for help back at the hotel, which is at least three days out. What follows is a search for who is the killer among them, trying to figure out the layout of the hotel, and striving to not be the next one targeted.

With a police detective, Penelope Strand, and an investigative reporter, Tonya Burton, among the guests, there is sure to be an investigation. Also among the guests are Dr. Erik Wyss, Dai Uchida (a billionaire), Frau Charlotte Richter, Alison Crane, Robert (Bobby) Rannells, Jackson Smith, Sasha Eris, and Freddy Nwankwo. The characters are unique enough to easily follow who's who. All the characters, except Penelope, are suspects.

After setting any and all disbelief aside, I was totally entrench in this entertaining character- driven locked room murder mystery taking place in a unique setting. The descriptions of their accommodations is interesting as you follow the investigation Penelope undertakes. The atmosphere is appropriately creepy and frightening, after all they are all on the moon with no support staff or help in sight. The tension increases right up to the satisfying conclusion.

The Launch Party is a satisfying mystery in an unusual setting and is certainly worth reading for all mystery lovers. Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre Books UK for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

A Little Getaway

A Little Getaway by Bonnie Traymore
10/9/24; 261 pages
BooksGoSocial

A Little Getaway by Bonnie Traymore is a highly recommended suspense novel.

Morgan Murphy is concerned that her husband, Kyle Murphy, may be cheating. They have always had a spicy marriage but Kyle's attention has diminished lately. Morgan's friend Carla Flores, actually follows Kyle and does get photo of a woman that he may be involved with. While Morgan tracks her husband’s movements, he increases their life insurance policies and then surprises her with a weekend getaway. 

At the resort cabin, Kyle disappears and Morgan is attacked and nearly kidnapped. Could Kyle be hiding something from her and is Morgan still in danger? And will investigative reporter Tara Harker from K-PAL, who is now following the case uncover what is really going on?

This is a fast-paced thriller that is best enjoyed after you set all disbelief aside and just go with the flow. There are plenty of unrealistic situations, but the fast pace, action, brief chapters, and short length means you can breeze through the novel quickly while following the various plot twists. Everyone has something to hide, no one seems trustworthy, and it is hard to know anyone can be believed. Even though the novel is subtitled "A Spicy Suspense Thriller" any spice is talked about rather than endlessly described.

None of the characters are likeable or that well-developed, but this makes sense with the abbreviated page count. Everyone in this novel is an unreliable character. Morgan is, however, an interesting character. Tara comes the closest to having some code of ethics later in the novel, but she starts out just in it for the story.

This is an excellent choice if you are looking for a quick, fast-paced novel of suspense. Thanks to BooksGoSocial for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
5/31/22; 273 pages
Little, Brown and Company

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris is a highly recommended collection of his essays on a wide range of subjects. The subject matters covered lean more to deeper, serious topics, including his father's death, with a few lighter musings included, like  buying gummy worms to feed to ants. Everything still has Sedaris's unique irreverent take on it.

After reading and enjoying almost everything Sedaris has written for years, in this outing he is, perhaps, showing his age. I was expecting the collection to leave me laughing and guffawing out loud throughout the collection and then spend days quoting various parts to everyone I see. Instead these stories are uneven. There are several quotable comments and laughs along the way, but not as many as I was expecting. Perhaps it's due to the essays stepping into the whole Covid lockdown.

Long time fans will definitely want to read Happy-Go-Lucky and will grant Sedaris a measure of grace for the inconsistent set. Those new to him will want to start with his earlier work. 

Close Range

Close Range by Shannon Baker
10/8/24; 300 pages
Severn River
Kate Fox #9

Close Range by Shannon Baker is a highly recommended mystery and the ninth book in the Kate Fox series set in the sandhills of Nebraska.

There is plenty of small town intrigue as Sheriff Kate Fox is facing a recall election started by a petition her very own sister Louise filed. Kate's best friend, Sarah, is at the hospital awaiting the birth of her next child when Garrett Haney,  Sarah's brother, is found electrocuted.  Kate has the state police start the investigation, and then, after she loses the recall, she and the new, young Sheriff Zoe also look into it and find his death to be suspicious.

The focus of most of the plot is a whole lot of on-going family drama that I'm sure was started much earlier in the series. Admittedly, I haven't read the other books in the series and did lose track of some of the family and interpersonal relationships at times, but could parse out all the connections I needed to in order to follow the narrative in Close Range.

Fans of the series who have been introduced to all the characters are very likely going to easily jump right into the action. The main characters receive further development and experience some growth. However, there were some characters that I never quite figured out how their inclusion in the plot mattered.

There were a couple nice twists and the ending was a surprise. Thanks to Severn River for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

What Does It Feel Like?

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella
10/8/24; 144 pages
Random House/The Dial Press

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella is a very highly recommended, heartbreaking, fictionalized, powerful account of the author's real life brain cancer diagnosis. Sophie Kinsella writes that the book "is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story."

Eve is a successful author, married to Nick, and mother to five children. The novel opens showing her success as an author, and then, abruptly, has Eve waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. Her patient, loving husband is always there to explain what happened and encourage her. She learns, and needs to be told this repeatedly, that she was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma which is a cancerous brain tumor and had an eight hour long operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain. The narrative then follows Eve learning walk, talk, and write again, as well as explaining her illness to her children.

After the operation, the story is told through brief chapters. As Eve can't remember anything due to the loss of her short term memory, she must have everything repeated, everyday. Her determination and bravery is shown as she as she learns to walk and talk again, along with doing the most basic things. Her husband is admirably ever patient with her. She even has humorous passages among the heartbreaking ones.  The fact that this is based on her real life experiences make it even more compelling, poignant and powerful.

Sophie Kinsella writes, "Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me."

What Does It Feel Like? is an excellent, heartrending book. Tears are going to fall while reading, but it is definitely worth reading. Thanks to The Dial Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Blue Hour

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
10/29/24; 320 pages
HarperCollins 

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins is a highly recommended, atmospheric, even paced psychological thriller.

The late painter Vanessa Chapman has a retrospective at the Tate Modern when a forensics expert says a bone in one of her sculptures is a human bone. The Fairburn Foundation manages her estate and sends James Becker to Eris Island, where Chapman lived for the last decade of her life, to discuss the matter with her companion, Grace Haswell, who was willed the property and is the executor of Vanessa’s will.  Admittedly, Grace has been hesitant to hand over all of Vanessa's papers, journals, and art work, causing a dispute between her and the foundation. The Scottish Eris Island has only one house on it and is accessible only twice a day, at low tide.

There are many characters, rumors, obsessions, and secrets introduced in the novel and all of them centers on the enigmatic artist. It is clear that not all hidden truths are meant to be uncovered and some may lead to danger. Chief among the secrets is the disappearance of Julian, the notoriously unfaithful husband of Vanessa who disappeared twenty years ago. The Lennox family behind the foundation has their own secrets, as does the island itself.

The writing is masterful. The narrative is written through multiple points-of-view and follows several timelines. Interspersed between chapters are excerpts from the artist’s journal entries. The island setting is part of the atmospheric novel. Expect dislikeable characters. The pace is even and slowly reveals insights into the characters along with a few surprises. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Broke Heart Blues

Broke Heart Blues by Joyce Carol Oates
10/1/24 (re-release, originally published in 1999) 446 pages
Akashic Books 

Broke Heart Blues by Joyce Carol Oates is a recommended celebration of high school notoriety and obsession. Originally published in 1999, it is being re-released on 10/1/24.

The novel unfolds over three parts to tell the story of John Reddy Heart, mainly through the eyes of others. The first part covers his arrival in Willowsville, NY, from Las Vegas, at age 11 in the 1960's, and the murder he commits when he shot his mother's lover. Each chapter is told through the point-of-view of a different classmate but what they all discuss is a circular repetition of the same lore of John Reddy. The second part follows the adult John Heart and is actually more interesting. The third part returns to the former classmates now at their 30th high school reunion where they all return to acting like adolescents.

The first and the third parts of the novel are a struggle to read and develop any kind of engagement with the chorus of anonymous voices. The second part is the only compelling part of the narrative with any kind of a plot. It has been said that the point of the novel was to capture how our imaginations create our own reality, which I can see, but I also believe it failed to do that.

Apparently this was one of JCO's favorite novels. I found most of the narrative incredibly boring, tedious, and never understood the endless nostalgia for high school exhibited by her characters. Did none of these characters actually grow up? According to one of her characters, "After high school in America, everything's posthumous." This is simply not true for most people.

This is a novel where it is best to understand what you are about to read before you start it. Thanks to Akashic Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via LibraryThing. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.