American Girl

American Girl by Wendy Walker
10/17/23; 359 pages
Blackstone Publishing

American Girl by Wendy Walker is a very highly recommended psychological thriller with an unforgettable teenage narrator.

Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, has a list of rules and a plan for her life. Her goal is to leave Sawyer, PA. Charlie has already been accepted at MIT, she is the top student at her high school and should be a shoe-in for the town's scholarship. As her stepfather won't give her any money to attend school, she has been working every hour she can at the Triple S sandwich shop since she was fourteen . She has a spreadsheet and a plan, saving everything for school.

When Clay (Coop) Cooper the loathsome shop owner and small town mogul, is found dead outside his house, the police investigation determines he was killed elsewhere. The problem is that Charlie is caught on the store camera after closing hiding under the counter on the night the murder occurred. Charlie refuses to say what she saw or heard because several people close to her have motives and she is going to protect those she loves. Charlie's silence, however, may be putting her in danger.

Charlie is a wonderful, fully realized, unforgettable character. The plot unfolds through her first-person narrative so readers can follow her thoughts, rules, and deductions as the sense of urgency and danger increase. She is a very sympathetic character. Clearly she is protecting those she loves while putting herself into harms way and a suspect herself.

American Girl is an admirably written, un-put-downable thriller that held my complete attention throughout the entire novel. There are facts Charlie is not divulging and twists along the way as more information is carefully released. What seems a simple case is much more complex and the character of Charlie makes it a remarkable, memorable psychological thriller.

Disclosure: My digital review copy was courtesy of Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley.

The Dayhiker's Guide to the National Parks

The Dayhiker's Guide to the National Parks by Michael Joseph Oswald
10/3/23; 354 pages
Stone Road Press

The Dayhiker's Guide to the National Parks: 280 Trails, All 63 Parks by Michael Joseph Oswald is a very highly recommended guide that will help a wide variety of hikers find the right trail for them among the more than 10,000 miles of trails in the U.S. National Parks. This guide is packed full of maps and information covering all 63 parks, with 198 trail maps and 280 of the best trails and has rounded corners for easy packing and reduced wear and tear.

The guide opens with a table of contents, organized by areas of the country: East, North, South, Southeast, West, Alaska, and Remote Islands. This is followed by an introduction, trail map legend, a list of Best Dayhiking Parks, Best Trails (with best 25 trails highlighted in blue). Each state  has a list of the favorite trails on the first page. The pages all have a color coded bar in the top corner (with a different color for the different areas of the country. States are named on the top left page and park name (and occasionally states) on the right. 

Trail information includes the name of the trail, the rating (easy, moderate, strenuous, extreme) length, elevation, and type of trail. This is followed by some general information on the park, trail, and things you might need to know and consider. For some parks there can be more information on various topics. Most commonly this is about more trails in the area, but other topics include, in part: safety,  shuttles, parking, time management, crowds, fees, weather, wild life,mule etiquette, more attractions and activities, and preparation.

Honestly, there is so much information here! While trying to hold back family members from borrowing the guide so they could plan their vacations, I looked over some trails I had hiked previously at some time in my life. The general information presented was spot-on and there were even additional trails noted that I knew nothing about. This one is an absolute winner for everyone who enjoys hiking trails.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Stone Road Press via LibraryThing Early Reviews.

Night Owl

Night Owl by Andrew Mayne
12/1/23, 315 pages
Thomas & Mercer
Trasker #1

Night Owl by Andrew Mayne is a very highly recommended thriller and the first book in an exciting new series featuring Brad Trasker, a retired counterintelligence spy.

Brad Trasker is retired after three decades in counterintelligence and trying to heal after a devastating personal loss when aerospace CEO Kylie Connor invites him to attend the launch of the Sparrow, an experimental hydrogen-powered aircraft. Trasker once met her when she helped him change a flat tire, so the invitation surprises him. When the aircraft explodes before the flight, Kylie miraculously escapes harm, but it now becomes clear to Trasker why he was invited. He begins to look into the act of sabotage and the conspiracy behind it.

Trasker is a great new character. His background and experience assists him now along with his unique mnemonic device/system to remember people, places, and things involved with the case. His logical, perceptive approach to uncovering more information and clues to follow makes the pages fly by.

In Night Owl, Mayne has given readers the first installment in an impressive, sophisticated new series. The opening prologue introduces two contract killers, so readers will know to expect to be immersed into a shadowy world. The fast-paced narrative continues to present a compelling, intricate plot that features memorable characters, advanced technology, and complicated international intrigue. I was completely immersed in the plot from start to finish and am excited to be in on the start of this series. I can't wait for the next novel!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.

What We Kept to Ourselves

What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim
10/10/23; 416 pages
Atria Books

What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim is a recommended domestic drama about a family searching for answers about the disappearance of their mother.

In 1999 the Kim family, father John (61), and grown children Anastasia (Ana) and Ronald, are still struggling after their wife/mother (Sunny/Sunhee) vanished the previous year. When John finds a body in their backyard with a letter addressed to Sunny they are questioning her connection to the strange man.
In 1977 Sunny is married, pregnant, and moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her husband. Sunny has had a hard time adjusting and John is often gone, so she welcomed an unexpected connection at the bus stop with a good Samaritan. The two form a relationship and unknown to John, their son is named after him.

While the plot may pull readers in at the start, the writing is not as smooth and polished as one would expect. The mystery is compelling and will hook readers in, so it would have behooved Kim to concentrate on it. The twists will keep our attention and we will want to know what happens next, so keep the action moving. In spite of the potential, this is a very slow moving novel that can be repetitive, unwieldy, and dogmatic. Yet again I need to caution an author to keep their personal political/social views to themselves as it diminishes a novel. Show us in the plot and dialogue, don't repeatedly tell and lecture us.

As an uneven novel, this is recommended because of the potential and character development, but it could have been so much more.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria via Edelweiss.

Sugar Birds

Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom
10/17/23; 352 pages
Tyndale House

Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom is a very highly recommended literary coming-of-age novel that is a story of survival and, ultimately, forgiveness.

In Northwest Washington State in 1985 ten-year-old Aggie Hayes loves climbing trees, looking at the nests of wild birds, and later sketching what she saw. Her mother, who is suffering from depression and is unstable, angrily tells Aggie to stay on the ground and climb no more. Aggie later lights a small fire and thought she had put it out, but it later spread and burned down the families home. While her brother Burnaby is at their Aunt and uncles farm, their parents were burned in the fire. Aggie escapes the fire. Believing her parents have died and sure that she will be arrested, she runs away, to hide in the woods.

Celia Burke, sixteen, is left at her grandmother’s house by her father so he can go work a job on an oil rig. She's not sure how long she is going to be there and secretly makes plans to escape and perhaps make her way back to her friends in Houston. Shortly after she arrives, a search party is formed to find a missing girl, Aggie. Celia joins in the search with Burnaby, Aggie's autistic brother but notices another searcher, handsome dangerous Cabot Dulcie.

The narrative covers the two storylines, which eventually converge, of Aggie trying to live and survive on her own in the woods and Celia's teenage angst and anger toward her father. Celia becomes a part of Aggie's story as she continues to look for the young girl. Readers will have to suspend some disbelief as Aggie manages to live on her own and encounters real dangers, while also overlooking Celia's occasional impetuous behavior. Both of the girls are strong characters and the other supporting characters help add a depth and gravity to the plot. Burnaby is an especially compelling character along with Celia's bird biologist grandmother.

The writing beautifully captures the descriptions of the natural world and the love, care, and connection the characters have to it. The plot move at an even pace and the rich details help make it a compelling novel. There are several heart stopping scenes and events that present true danger to the characters. This becomes a story that covers a number of themes: survival,  healing, trust, forgiveness, restoration, and redemption, along with details about various birds. Every theme is gracefully connected to the characters in the story, although some of the lessons are hard-earned and painful.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Tyndale House via a LibraryThing Early Reviewer giveaway.

The Day She Disappeared

The Day She Disappeared by Lisa Hall
10/3/23; 353 pages
Joffe Books

The Day She Disappeared by Lisa Hall is a highly recommended psychological thriller.

Rebecca (Becky) returns to Kirton Island, the island where she grew up, when she learns her mother is very ill. When she arrives, it is in time to plan the funeral. Rebecca knows everyone remembers her and what she did sixteen years ago. She can feel their animosity, but she needs to stay to settle her mother's estate. As a writer, she has also promised her editor that she would be looking into a girl who went missing from the island, Violet. 

Everyone, with the exception of Violet's sister Ivy, seems to think Violet left the island. Since Violet was a part of the community of Travelers who lived on the other side of the island, people assumed that Violet simply left and really didn't look too deeply into her disappearance. Rebecca is determined to uncover the truth. And then another teenage girl disappears.

Rebecca is a well-developed and sympathetic character, albeit a little too introspective and fanciful. The backstory about the incident that was the impetus for her leaving the island and never returning is shared. Readers will understand her remorse over her actions years ago as a teen, but it really stretches credibility a bit that everyone on the island remembers and holds a grudge. Additionally, Rebecca should have developed more self confidence and moxie after being completely on her own for years. It was surprising she still cared what any of these people thought.

What helps the novel is the writing which will hold your attention and Rebecca's tenacity in looking into Violet's disappearance. Someone is also trying to make Rebecca leave and they seem to be escalating their actions/sabotage. As soon as all the characters are introduced the final outcome will be easy for long time readers of mysteries and thrillers to predict. However you'll keep reading to see if you're correct about how it all turns out. 3.5 rounded up.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Joffe Books via NetGalley.

Buried Dreams

Buried Dreams by Brendan DuBois
10/10/23; 326 pages
Severn Rivers Publishers
Lewis Cole #5

Buried Dreams by Brendan DuBois is a very highly recommended mystery/crime thriller and the fifth novel in the Lewis Cole series. 

Keep in mind this is a re-release of a novel first published 7/1/2004. That threw me off when I recently reviewed #4, Killer Waves on 9/1/23, but I was prepared this time and it resulted in a greatly enjoyed novel. I was eager to read about what Lewis Cole was up to now and appreciated appearances from recently met and known characters, Felix, Diane, and Paula. 

In this outing, a friend of Lewis, retiree Jon Ericson, has been murdered. Jon had just called him about a discovery that he had been seeking for years, and just discovered the proof. Jon had spent years looking for evidence of artifacts proving that the Vikings had landed on their coast for years. When young he had found a coin, but sold it. He's regretted that for years. Now he excitedly called Lewis to tell him the good news: he has the evidence. When Lewis arrives at his home, what he finds are the police, crime scene tape up, and Jon has been murdered in his home. There are no sign of the artifacts.

Lewis takes Jon's murder personally and contacts his mobster friend Felix Tinios to help him find the killer, assuming it is Jon's brother, Ray, who is the prime suspect. Lewis's best friend, Detective Diane Woods, had asked him to please stay out of it and leave the investigation alone, but he is unable to do so. Lewis is in for a world of hurt this time out.

Having been introduced to all the characters with the previous Lewis Cole novel, I enjoyed Buried Dreams even more. The characters were still fresh in my mind and I remembered them so the character development was not an issue, as it had been when I read #4. I was actually quit happy to see these characters again. This may be a series where reading the previous novels definitely is helpful for the enjoyment of the current novel being read.

The writing is excellent and the fast-paced plot held my complete attention throughout. Lewis is an intelligent character and completely focused on his goal. With the help of Felix, he uncovers clues to establish Jon's activities and he follows up on what he can, ignoring Diane's plea. Lewis chooses to place his safety on the line and seek the truth. The ending is an unexpected twist and very well done. I'm now anxious to move on to number 6 in the series.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Severn House Publishers via Edelweiss.