#favorite book

Publication Day: March 1st, 2022

Rating:  ★★★★★

The Night Shift was like coming home and realizing it smells just as good as you remember— in this case home is Alex Finlay’s writing.

FBI Agent Sarah Keller is back, investigating what could be two connected crimes fifteen years apart. In 1999 four teenaged girls working at a Blockbuster were attacked, and only one survived. History repeats itself all these years later in an ice cream shop.

Alex Finlay is a master of keeping you on the edge of your seat, suspicious of everyone. He creates real, flawed, well-rounded characters, lays out a phenomenal and complex plot, and is well practiced at writing alternating perspectives without a single one being boring. I read this all in one sitting and I kept jotting down theories for each thing said, heard, or realized throughout the story and one of them panned out!

The one thing I do not forgive Alex Finlay for: just like after reading Every Last Fear I feel genuine heartbreak for some of these characters and I now need to decompress once again.

This was an amazing read, thank you to Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible ARC.

Saylor Rains

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Publication Date: February 9th, 2021

Rating:  ★★★★★

As far as studying psychopaths, serial killers, and how they might have become the way they are, this book is an absolute gem. I knew when I started this that it was going to be a five star rating within the first few pages. Starting off with the preface, which was amazingly written and enticing the reader to continue reading, we read about the last “celebrity” serial killer of the epidemic years and a name everyone knows: Jeffrey Dahmer. Enough of a blurb to show how lives can change forever in one day and really kickstart the whole book.

Vronsky writes an absolutely fascinating introduction to the “golden years” of serial killers. His writing is clear and concise, and absolutely filled with interesting statistics, facts, and information. Organized by decade based on the adaption of serial killers in the time and featuring prominent killers in the media, we also learn about outside influences each decade that could help cook up the perfect storm that makes psychopaths commit these heinous acts. Things like wars and fathers with PTSD, media such as movies and magazine filled with dark themes in post war times, the politics of race and underreporting of black victims, the brain of a psychopath and the damage that can cause a shift in personality, etc. 

One of the greatest parts of this book for me had to be Vronsky’s thorough use of his research and citations. I took down so many of his citations for science journals and books that I want to read to do further research. He remains seemingly objective to everything and merely writes things as they are, which is a talent to be respected when dealing with atrocities that break your heart. He is such a good writer that some of the descriptions and reading about the lives of the victims is devastating. 

Thank you to Peter Vronsky, Berkley, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, especially for such a well-written book. 

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Saylor Rains

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Rating:  ★★★★★

Trumanell Branson disappeared a decade ago, leaving behind a town that never forgot and people who never stopped trying to find her. Odette Tucker, the town’s youngest cop and one with personal ties to Trumanell and her family, is sliding down a slippery slope as she tries to solve this mystery and the one of the missing girl who showed up in a field with only one eye.

No description I give this book could do it justice. I’m heartbroken. This was one of those books that grabbed a hold of my nerves and my heart and just didn’t let go. The powerful imagery, complex plot, and atmospheric writing made for one of the most interesting books this year. The middle of this book made me gasp out loud, the change halfway through something you couldn’t have guessed.

This was a slow read that I definitely took my time with, but I didn’t ever lose my patience with it.

We Are All the Same in the Dark

grabbed my attention and wouldn’t give it back until I finished it. This story had so many layers built into it, it was a masterpiece of a “who-done-it” and makes the reader suspicious of every character at least once. Sip this one slowly like a fine wine and enjoy.

Thank you to Ballantine Books, Julia Heaberlin, and NetGalley for this arc.

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Saylor Rains

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Release Date: March 2nd, 2021

Rating:  ★★★★★

Every Last Fear reads like the best kind of crime drama playing right before your eyes. Matt Pine comes back to his NYU dorm after a night of partying to the worst news possible news; his entire family who were on vacation in Mexico was just found dead. What at first looks like an accidental gas leak turns out to be so much more and it has everyone wondering: could this relate to the murder that put Danny Pine, Matt’s older brother, in prison seven years ago.

The unique plot was built on real characters with multifaceted lives. Each chapter revealed new plot and more layers to the story, causing the reader to constantly adjust their theory on what happened. The constantly changing perspective, where everyone has a different piece of the puzzle, is engaging and gives butterflies just like all good thrillers.

The web that Alex Finlay was able to weave in this novel was intricate and fascinating. The things this family went through all because of one night are heartbreaking. The ending was satisfying. I had to mentally decompress after the amount of action my heart just went through. Every Last Fear is a new favorite of mine.

Many thanks to Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible ARC.

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Saylor Rains

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Release Date: September 8th, 2020

Rating:  ★★★★★

This is another one that hurt my heart.

An Inconvenient Woman instantly immerses you and makes you start asking yourself questions right off the bat, hooking you instantly so that you are forced to keep reading. Buelens paced this novel amazingly, information was given to the reader naturally without it feeling overwhelming, and it only added to the anticipation and need for answers.

This book does alternate perspectives, between Claire and Sloane, who couldn’t be more opposite for most of the book. Claire, who is convinced her ex-husband, Simon, is a pervert who murdered her fifteen year-old daughter and is trying to stop him from trying it again with his new future step-daughter. Sloane, an ex-cop who is now a sin eater hired by Simon, to stop Simon’s crazy ex-wife from stalking his family and vandalizing his property. Suddenly, this story becomes so much more everything- more complicated, more tangled, more messy, more people involved- in ways Sloane never could have predicted.

The most heartbreaking thing that could ever be said is “I don’t believe you.”

An Inconvenient Woman had me at the edge of my seat and finishing this book in one sitting because I couldn’t bring myself to put it down. For all that this book is heartbreaking, especially considering the reality of things like this happening right under our noses, the ending was satisfying. This was incredibly well written, it may have hurt but that’s because it was well done, and I look forward to more from Stéphanie Buelens.

Many thanks to Edelweiss, Scarlet, and Stéphanie Buelens for this advanced review copy.

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Saylor Rains

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Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer by Harold Schechter (A TRUE CRIME BOOK)

Release Date: March 9th, 2021

Rating:  ★★★★★

(I would highly recommend this to those who study/are interested in true crime, forensics, serial killers/mass murderers, psychopathy, nature vs. nurture, etc.)

Maniac is an amazing piece of work, but it also hurts like hell. Harold Schechter is thorough and devastating in this true crime chronicle of a “human time bomb” whose acts of violence seem to foreshadow an era of mass murder and bombings.

Schechter consulted books, newspapers, journals, census records, and so much more to detail the lives of so many people and communities together in order to accurately tell the story of The Bath School Disaster. There are so many elements that played a part in making this book as good as it was. The background into the area that would become Bath, the life stories of the immigrants who would give birth to Andrew Kehoe, the contemplation on the public’s tendency to remember certain crimes for generations while others, such as this one, that are just as publicized and heinous are forgotten almost overnight. The inclusion of other events throughout the story to help you understand what was shaping the way people lived at the time, and even to remind you of all the things happening at once that you don’t think about, was incredible.

Using records, quotes, and facts, Schechter gives you the information you need to make your own analysis. Andrew Kehoe was the first son born after six daughters and thus pressure was placed on him to be the heir, especially in comparison to his siblings’ successful lives. Placed on a pedestal and developing a pathologically inflated sense of self-importance. Reportedly a genius who was cold and distant, as well as a loner. You read the reports from others that show cruelty in the first half of his life. For true crime readers this book has a little bit of everything that we tend to see and study in a mass murderer, but with a relatively above average life at the time and a seemingly good environment what could have caused it?

In the climax of the story, the events leading up to and during the bombing of the school, my heart was palpitating. The short snapshots throughout this chapter felt like the flashing scenes in a movie before bad things happen that drive up your anxiety. The worst part was the aftermath. The newspaper reports and witness accounts of the reactions of the parents and the community, as they lose 45 people to Kehoe’s horrifying act, most of them children. This book’s worst quality is that it’s so real.

While my heart is aching after reading this, I can’t help but be impressed with Harold Schechter and his ability to put these events to paper with so much going on at once, and to have me at the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. This is definitely an author who stands out, and one who I’ll have to read more from.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little A, and Harold Schechter for this advanced review copy, this was a great book to read and you broke my heart.

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Saylor Rains

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Release Date: August 4th, 2020

Rating:  ★★★★★

This is what happens when you’re crossing all of life’s t’s and dotting its i’s and then everything you thought was put together falls apart. Allison has everything, a well paying job that she’s good at, a fiance, a few best friends doubling as her bridesmaids in the upcoming wedding- and everything is toppled over in one day.

Charming Falls Apart’s best quality? These are real characters. They are built on personality, insecurities, faults, and growth. I am blown away by the characters jumping off of the pages through their personalities, actions, and realistic lives. Every time Allison made a mature decision, reacted to a completely human emotion, or even stopped herself from jumping right into something without thought, it was a win for the real-life woman reading this novel after reading countless characters that don’t feel down on Earth.

Allison’s entire life falls apart in one fell swoop and this story has a natural rhythm as she regains her confidence, both professionally and socially. While she reads self-help books you bear witness to self-reflection and growth, and the changes a person can make to better their life at any age.

The romantic progression was another great thing to read. She meets Eric by chance in a coffee shop that he owns and she can’t help but keep coming back. While at first she’s too freshly burned to even consider it, she gains back a piece of herself in her conversations with Eric- along with a reoccurring blush across her cheeks. The romance didn’t feel forced, which was probably the best part. There were times where I found myself smiling while reading because Eric comes across as charming while he makes jokes and teases Allison.

This was a breath of fresh air as far as romance novels, I really enjoyed the maturity of it and the characters. People who enjoyed Evvie Drake Starts Over would also enjoy this novel. Thank you to Edelweiss, Angela Terry, and SparkPress for the pleasure of reading this review copy.

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Saylor Rains

Find me and this review on Goodreads.

Rating: ★★★★★

What starts off as a seemingly lighthearted tale of an autistic boy solving a mystery like Sherlock Holmes would, quickly snowballs into more deep and personal subjects. Family relations and the way children see them as well as react to them are very important, but there is also the theme of pushing through your fear for a cause, and so many more. 

The care taken to create and give this character’s thoughts and actions justice shows us that the author, Mark Haddon, is very knowledgeable about autism. This is one of those characters that in just 226 pages made me feel so much empathy for them, and so much heartbreak when they did. I’m highly appreciative of the representation of autistic people in this book, as well.

This was an absolutely wonderful read, a new favorite of mine, and I would highly recommend it.

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Saylor Rains

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A book in its natural habitat… sort of

ALT

The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita takes place in the same setting where it was written- the USSR at the height of the Stalinist period. During that time, artists had to work under strict censorship and were often subject to imprisonment, exile and sometimes even death. Thus, for Bulgakov, there was never any question of publishing the novel, especially one that is consistently and comically critical of…

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