The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

Melanie Stokes is found when she is 9 years old in an emergency room, drugged and with no recollection of who she is or where she came from. She is adopted by a well off family whose own daughter was murdered. At the same time in Texas, a child killer by the name of Russell Lee Holmes is executed for the brutal murder of 6 little girls. Larry Digger, a Houston Reporter who covered Holmes, shows up in Melanie's new life making accusations that she is actually the daughter of Russell Lee Holmes and that her perfect Beacon Street family are not at all what they seem to be.

This was ok, not great but it kept me reading. I like twists and turns but not so many that I don't even know what is going on in the story anymore.

Hide by Lisa Gardner

Annabelle Granger has spent her life on the run. Beginning when she was a child her family has packed up and moved to a different place every year or so, adopting new names and a new city. She never knew why they were running, or who they were running from, but now at the age of 32 and with both parents dead, it is about to become a little too clear.
Homicide detective Bobby Dodge gets a phone call from his former officer and lover, D.D. Warren to come to the grounds of the abandoned State Mental Hospital, where a mass grave has just been discovered. In the grave is the mummified remains of 6 female children. It bears a striking resemblance to a case that changed Bobby's life before, nearly killing him. However the perpetrator of that case was murdered by his victim. Is this a copy cat, or is something more sinister at play?
Great mystery, when it all came together I was a little confused, but Gardner spends the final chapter explaining everything. I really enjoyed this one. I have tried a few other of her books and they were hit or miss for me, glad this one was a hit. It will keep you up reading late into the night.
SPOILER

I was so upset when her dog got stabbed I almost quit reading even though the book was almost over. I hate it when authors hurt animals. I tried to start Gardner's The Next Accident last night, but the dream Rannie had about the baby elephant almost had me in tears! Glad the dog in Hide lived, but that's why it only got 4 stars. Unnecessary.

4 stars

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Beautiful book about a young girl in WWII Germany, her loves, her losses, her friendships, a country at war, and how she became The Book Thief. Told from the point of view of Death, who is collecting souls all over the country.

For a long book, it only took me 2 days to read this. One of the best I have read in a very long time.

5 stars

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Sarah Carrier Chapman tells her story of living through the Salem Witch Trials that took place in 1692. Her mother was Martha Carrier, known as the Queen of Hell". The story is about the trials themselves and the consequences but also about the relationships of families, mothers and daughters, and the ties that bind that are sometimes stretched to breaking.

This is the first book regarding the trials I had ever read and I am still astounded. That a group of girls could put on an act and make grown adults believe that innocent people are witches is amazing to me. These girls and others sent these poor people to their deaths. The jail where they were imprisoned was so horrendous it is hard to comprehend something like that happening in America. I didn't really pay attention when I was in school so I don't know much history of the trials, but the author herself is a descendant of Martha Carrier and she brought these characters to life marvelously. I felt what these characters felt. I felt their dread, their fear. The fact that a public apology was later made is of no consequence. It was too late for the twenty people who were killed over these lies, and their families. Great book, looking forward to the authors next one about Thomas Carrier, Sarah's father and Martha's husband, and his history fighting under Cromwell that was alluded to in The Heretic's Daughter.

4 stars

Prima Donna by Megan Chance

Sabine Conrad is a young Prima Donna in 19th century New York. She is taken under the wing of the man who ultimately becomes her manager and lover, Gideon Price. Her every move is controlled by him, and, in her attempt to escape, her plan goes awry so that she flees and leaves a murder in her wake.

Four years later she is living out her life as Marguerite Olsen in Seattle, working in a box house, running whores, and desperately hiding her secrets from everyone around her. But when past returns offering a life she thought she could never return to again, she must decide what path she will choose.

This took me so long to read and it's not because I didn't enjoy it. Sabine/Marguerite is a true Prima Donna in every way and she was so unbearable at times I couldn't even read the book anymore for awhile. Spoiled, arrogant and thinking sex will get her everything she wants is a major factor in both aspects of her life. However, the story picks up tremendously when her past comes back to haunt her, and by then end of the book I was cheering for her, although I didn't agree with some of the decisions she made. The constant pace from her current life in Seattle is wonderfully interspersed with journal entries from when she was the Prima Donna of the country before everything went bad.

4 stars

Tethered by Amy Mackinnon

Clara Marsh spends her days among the dead, preparing them for their final resting place on this earth. She finds solace in her loneliness, her garden, and the couple who own the funeral home where she works as a mortician who treat her as their own daughter. But when a young girl shows up at the funeral home, Clara's life begins to unravel. It is obvious the girl is neglected, but Clara really doesn't want to get involved; it reminds her of her own childhood. However when clues arrive that this little girl has a connection to a murdered child Clara prepared 4 years ago, her carefully constructed walls start to fall down as people around her are revealed to be who they truly are and she herself has to decide between continued isolation, or to help a child who's own past, like Clara's is steeped in mystery.

I picked this up on a whim at Target the other day and read it in one day. Completely blown away. There wasn't really a great mystery for me, I kind of figured out who the killer was, but the story of Clara. Her voice throughout this whole book really got to me. She reminded me of myself in many many ways, to the point that I thought I was going to have to stop reading the book for awhile. This is the first time I have ever so identified with a character. Wonderful way to start the new year.

4 stars

The White Road by John Connolly

In this installment of the Charlie Parker series, Parker is headed to Charleston, SC, where racism runs deep, murders from long ago are coming back to haunt those involved, vengeance is being doled out by those who feel it's their duty, and blood feuds are running deep.


Parker gets a call from an old friend of his who is now working as a private attorney in Charleston. He has taken on the case of Atys Jones, a young black man who is accused of the murder of his rich white girlfriend. Parker agrees to help him out, and uncovers long buried secrets, long buried murders, while the players involved are being exterminated one by one and all involved are being haunted by the spectre of a ghostly woman in white, burned beyond recognition and by a black car waiting for a passenger who never comes. Soon all will face a final reckoning on a place called The White Road.

I am really enjoying this series, and I am not a fan of series books. I like how in each book things you thought were going to be left unresolved come back into the spotlight throughout the series and you found out more information. If you plan on reading these, I recommend starting with the first one for this reason or you will get lost.

5 stars