The House at the End of the World. Dean Koontz. 2023. Thomas & Mercer. 398 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Katie’s life on the island known as Jacob’s Ladder is peaceful, predictable, and most importantly, private, just the way she’s intended to live out her days. But that’s all turned on its head when she gets unwanted visitors from the nearby island that houses a clandestine government facility. With her sense of safety in isolation shattered, it’s up to her to figure out what’s going on so she can protect herself from yet another tragedy. I purposely didn’t look to heavily into the description before diving into this book; sometimes the fun is in figuring out where exactly an author will take you. Koontz is one author for whom I love this approach. As I started reading, I knew something was off pretty quickly, but the unfolding was an experience. The book is filled with suspense, in an unnerving, paranoid way. Given Katie’s reasons for moving to Jacob’s Latter, this paranoia is less unsettling and more a defense mechanism. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is how Koontz laid breadcrumbs about Katie’s life prior to Jacob’s Ladder. It was…

The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror. Arthur Conan Doyle. 2021. Poisoned Pen Press. 223 pages. [Source: Personal copy.] Full disclosure – I only picked this book up because I really love Sherlock Holmes’ stories. If I love those so much, surely I’d feel the same about other works from the same author, Arthur Conan Doyle. I have to admit this collection of short stories wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I wasn’t upset about it. I was in the mood for scary like “I’m alone in the house and what was that sound?” “Run into the bedroom when you turn the lights off” scary. This didn’t deliver in that way for a few reasons. One, I think the sensibilities for what qualifies as scary is very different today than it would have been during Doyle’s time (late 19th/early 20th century). Two, the topics of the stories are more creepy than terror-inducing. There wasn’t anything about the stories to make my heart pound or palms sweat. My pulse never raced at all while reading this; I was just more intrigued than anything. Despite it not meeting my scare factor, this book was an enjoyable collection of stories. Taking them…

Promise Boys. Nick Brooks. 2023. Henry Holt & Co. 279 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] The beloved principal of Urban Promise Prep is dead from a single gunshot to the head. Three suspects — his own students — are in custody. While police work to find a motive for who would murder a man working to save so many at risk boys, the three students are seeing the futures they’ve worked for crumbling in front of them. Promise Boys follows J.B., Ramon, and Trey as they try to prove their innocence. To outsiders, they each appear to have a compelling motive to hurt Principal Moore, who seems to have a penchant for humiliating them under the guise of discipline. J.B. is described as quiet and smart, but with a size that intimidates and strength that hurts. Ramon is an aspiring entrepreneur whose affiliation with a local gang constantly asks him to choose between the life he wants and the reality he’s in. Trey has already been labelled a troublemaker, but the profile he brings to the school’s basketball team is hard to ignore. Almost immediately, the community erupts into a…

Never Never. James Patterson. 2017. Little, Brown, and Company. 370 pages. [Source: public library.] I actually meant to read Liar, Liar. I let the kiddo pick a library book for me, and that was the selection. Too bad it was the third book in the series, because I had to go backward to go forward. Never Never‘s protagonist is Detective Harriet J. Blue. She’s a sex crimes detective who finds herself shuttled away from her precinct to avoid the spotlight after her brother is arrested as a notorious serial killer. Her new assignment — with a brand new partner — lands her in the middle of the Australian outback, trying to find the truth behind missing uranium miners. Admittedly, this isn’t a book that I would have jumped to pick out for myself. I’m not so much into thrillers, but I was pulled in by the story. This is an easy read with a comfortable pacing; it took me less than four hours overall to read. I was a bit thrown by the short chapters, though. There are over 100 in this book, but they go by quickly and work as a device to push the story forward from the…

My Sister, the Serial Killer. Oyinkan Braithwaite. 2018. Doubleday. 240 pages. [Source: public library.] Older siblings are often like surrogate parents to their younger brothers and sisters. They leverage their wisdom and experience to help the younger ones navigate life. Or get away with murder. In My Sister, the Serial Killer, Korede has the misfortune of being the only person her younger sister Ayoola calls when one of her boyfriends has the misfortune of encountering her late father’s prized knife. I suppose the third time is a charm, because that’s what turned her into the textbook serial killer. Korede, with her meticulous attention to detail, has proven herself a worthy accomplice, shielding Ayoola from the consequences of her actions. Ayoola is, by all accounts, the more beautiful and beguiling sister. I read her as flighty and self-centered, and prone to ignoring the perceptions about her behavior, especially as she “mourns” her missing boyfriend. Ayoola, for all her naivete, is also cunning. She uses her charisma to endear herself to people, but her ability to manipulate everyone around her to protect her demonstrates that she’s not the beautiful fool she seems. I found myself very early on not trusting her, straddling a very thin line…