Book Review: The Child

By Jami Deise

Last year, I reviewed Fiona Barton’s debut novel, The Widow, about the wife of a dead man who had been suspected in the disappearance of a child. The novel was received with great fanfare, but I thought it had some flaws. Still, I ended the review with: "Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed The Widow, and I’m hoping this book is the first in a string of many by Fiona Barton. There’s nothing more enjoyable for a reader than watching a writer grow and mature with each book, and I am confident Barton will follow that path."

I’m happy to report that while some authors hit a sophomore slump with their follow-up books, Barton hits a home run with The Child, which also revolves around a missing tot. When the skeleton of a baby is unearthed during a home demolition in the London suburb of Woolwich, reporter Kate Waters sees it as an opportunity to regain some of the luster she earned reporting on Jean Taylor in Barton’s previous book. When the news hits the press, Angela wonders if the skeleton could be her daughter Alice, kidnapped out of her bassinet in the hospital the day she was born. The news also shakes up Emma, who grew up in Woolwich and has been struggling with mental illness since her teenage years.

Like The Widow, Kate is the heart of the book, but unlike The Widow, in The Child, Kate actually has a heart. In my review of The Widow, I wrote about Kate: "But I got no sense of who Kate was as a person beyond her reporter role. I’m not even sure whether she had a family."

Barton remedies this nicely, by giving Kate a family and concerns about a college-age son, but nothing so distracting that they divert the focus from the mystery. The Widow had paired her with detective Bob Sparkes, a well-rounded, sympathetic man who doesn’t receive point-of-view treatment in this book. Now Kate is paired with Joe, fresh out of college and learning to be a reporter. Kate’s issues with dealing with the click-bait obsession taking over journalism, as well as being saddled with Joe, also help round out her character. And she remains an excellent reporter, someone who quickly earns trust from her subjects, who end up happily sharing their burdens and secrets with her. If Kate hadn’t become a reporter, she would have made a great psychologist. And although she wasn’t thrilled to be saddled with Joe, she ends up being a great teacher for him as well.

But she is a reporter, and like the best ones, she recognizes when a story is more like an iceberg, promising so much more underneath the surface. And although what unfolds is predictable to those of us who gobble up female-driven suspense like potato chips, Barton still engages readers with mesmerizing characters. Emma and Angela are just as compelling as Kate, and even though Barton continues her Widow habit of adding POVs, this time she does not give away the game.

The Widow takes place in 2012, with references to the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympics. When I finished the book, I realized that by placing it in the not-too-distant past and generalizing other details, she subtly obscures a major clue that would have helped readers figure out the final twist. It wasn’t until I was near the end when I realized where the book was leading – and even then I fingered the wrong person.

Two books in, Barton continues the theme that all it takes for an evil man to flourish is for a woman to defend him over the people he hurts. Her Kate is well-positioned to take on the role of a crusader, never doubting the voices of women who’ve been victimized. Last year I looked forward to more books by Barton. This year, my fingers are crossed that Kate Waters is the star of a lengthy series.

Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review. Enter to win a copy from Confessions of a Bookaholic!

The truth about Mary Kubica...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Sarah Jastre

Interview by Tracey Meyers

We're pleased to have Mary Kubica back at CLC to celebrate the pub day of her fourth novel, Every Last Lie (reviewed here). Thanks to Park Row Books, we have one copy to give away!

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of four novels, her three previous being THE GOOD GIRL, PRETTY BABY, and DON’T YOU CRY. A former high school history teacher, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children, where she enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014. Mary has been described as “a writer of vice-like control,” (Chicago Tribune) and her novels have been praised as “hypnotic” (People) and “thrilling and illuminating” (Los Angeles Times).

She is currently working on her next novel.

Visit Mary online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Clara Solberg's world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick's death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out—and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara's investigation and Nick's last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date—one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried. (Courtesy of Amazon.)


What is the greatest difference in your routine when you’re writing a book?
I’m currently between books or, rather, waiting to receive edits on my fifth novel, and so there’s a bit of a lull in my life – which I certainly don’t mind. If gives me time to do the many tasks that get put off when I’m in the middle of writing, mostly home repairs, cleaning out closets and drawers, that type of thing. When I’m knee deep in a novel, I have a single focus: finishing the book, and so those tasks that aren’t of necessity get set aside.

When you look at your most current novel and your first novel, what difference do you see in your writing?
I don’t know that I see any difference in the writing itself, but my process has certainly evolved over the past four years. If anything, I’d say that the writing is perhaps a bit more brave and that I don’t shy away from difficult subject matter as I may have in the past.

Of all the characters you’ve created, which was the most challenging for you to cultivate?
Quinn in Don’t You Cry, because she was naïve in a way that thankfully I’m not, and the mistakes she makes throughout are plentiful. It was hard to make her character authentic and not let my own good sense weigh in when she made poor choices on the page.

The greatest misconception about me is:
That I’m dark and edgy like my books. Readers tend to be surprised when they meet me at book events, and see that I’m quite friendly and kind.

Who would play you in the movie about your life?
I’ve been told that I look a bit like Sarah Wayne Callies, so I’ll go with that. She’s lovely, so I take that as a great compliment, and if she wants to bring Wentworth Miller along, even better!

Favorite quote: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

Thanks to Mary for chatting with us and to Park Row Books for sharing her book with our readers. Every Last Lie is also part of BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge of 2017!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends July 2nd at midnight EST

Book Review and Giveaway: The Right Side

By Jami Deise

Women’s fiction is filled with heartwarming tales of women who love dogs and the dogs that improve their lives. These uplifting tales showcase hounds who find their owners love, who heal their owners’ broken hearts, and who help their owners renovate homes. It’s light fiction for those who sport “Who Rescued Who?” bumper stickers on the back of their Subarus.

The Right Side is not one of those books.

For starters, author Spencer Quinn has created a heroine – LeeAnne Hogan – who is so tough, she is almost unbelievable. Recovering in Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital after an attack in Afghanistan leaves her scarred and missing her right eye, LeeAnne pushes away everyone who tries to help her. From flashbacks to her life before the army, it’s obvious that this bravado isn’t an act. LeeAnne is not the warm, emotional type who usually stars in women’s fiction. I was not surprised to learn the author is male.

LeeAnne bonds somewhat with her roommate, Marci, whose leg was blown off by an IED and who worries about the eight-year-old daughter she left behind. After Marci dies suddenly in the middle of the night from a blood clot, LeeAnne takes off, driving aimlessly around the country while she avoids her mother, her commanding officer, and her psychiatrist.

Because of this structure, the first part of the book seems aimless as well. LeeAnne leaves without a destination, and most of the book deals with LeeAnne’s memories of growing up and of serving in Afghanistan. While author Quinn has created an in-depth, realistic portrait of a woman with PTSD (so realistic it seems that everyone who served in a combat zone should have it), without a destination for LeeAnne, the reader doesn’t know what to expect.

Secondly, the aforementioned dog doesn’t show up till the halfway mark. And LeeAnne, unlike the protagonists in most dog-lover fiction, isn’t immediately enthralled. In fact, there are times when she’s downright cruel, which is understandable for a woman with PTSD, but may leave some readers upset at certain scenes.

Because the Amazon write-up notes that LeeAnne becomes involved in the search for Marci’s missing daughter, I’ll mention it here, although it violates my usual rule about spoilers, which is not to talk about anything that happens after the book’s halfway mark. With the missing daughter, the book becomes more of a mystery. Similarly, the real story behind LeeAnne’s injury is questioned.

The Right Side is longer than it needs to be, with much of the padding in the first half of the book. Once LeeAnne becomes involved in the search for Marci’s daughter, things start to happen at a fast pace. Still, the book is neither truly women’s fiction nor a mystery. “Military fiction” does not currently seem to be a genre of its own, but it should be, and that’s how I’d describe The Right Side. Military service—the people who are attracted to it, the people who are forever changed by it—is the spine that connects our country from the Revolutionary War to today, and these stories are specific and meaningful. With fewer and fewer American families having a member who serves, military fiction like The Right Side plays an important role in making sure these stories are told.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review. They are having a tour-wide giveaway ending on July 16th. Visit the other participating blogs.

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What's in the mail

Melissa A:
City Mouse by Stacey Lender from Thoughts on This 'n That (giveaway)
I've Got Sand in All the Wrong Places (paperback) by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella from St. Martin's Press
The Lost Letter and The Hours Count by/from Jillian Cantor (won both from A Novel Bee)
A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang from Lake Union

The Diplomat's Daughter by Karin Tanabe from Washington Square Press
No Easy Target by Iris Johansen from St. Martin's Press
When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen from Lake Union
Doubt and Proof by C.E. Tobisman from BookSparks
Last Seen by J.L. Doucette from BookSparks
Little Gray Dress by/from Aimee Brown

Melissa A and Sara:
A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl from Viking (e-book via NetGalley)
The Eleventh Hour by/from April Marie Libs (e-book)

Sara:
Holiday in the Hamptons by Sarah Morgan from Harlequin (e-book via NetGalley)
The Party by Robyn Harding from Gallery (e-book via NetGalley)

Jami:
Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak from Berkley (e-book via NetGalley)

Book Review: All that Glitters...plus a special giveaway

By Melissa Amster

A has-been country music star. A divorced dad from a small town. Almost a decade of bottled up passion...

Country-music star, Dory Walker, never wanted to come back to the small town of Sycamore Bay. But after her fairy-tale life is flipped upside down, and her marriage becomes a casualty, she has no choice.

Harris Malone is a man with few commitments. He keeps a low profile most days while he cares for his young daughter and helps run his dad’s hardware store.

But when he and Dory run into each other at the local gas station, all either can think about is the searing kiss they shared many years ago.

Can a woman who only wants to rekindle her career and a man who enjoys a no-strings-attached lifestyle find everlasting love? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Tracy Krimmer has easily become one of my go-to chick lit authors. I enjoy everything she writes, as her novels are genuine and feature flawed, yet lovable characters. When I heard that All that Glitters was about a country singer, I didn't even have to read the synopsis to know I'd want to delve right in! (I just went to Nashville recently, so I'm a bit more into country than I already was, as a result).

This novel drew me in right away and didn't let go. Dory basically hit rock bottom and was the victim of a country song (she lost her spouse, house, job, etc.) Back in the town she thought she left for good, she has to make amends with her grandma and best friend, as well as find a way to start over. "Complicating" things is Harris, the guy responsible for the most memorable kiss of her life. He also has new responsibilities and challenges in his life. I like that the story is partially told from his perspective, as I am used to Tracy just writing from the main character's point-of-view. From one of Tracy's previous novels, I chose Kellan as my book boyfriend. Well, Harris blows him out of the water. (And I don't even care that I'm 15 years older!)

The story carried a lot of surprises and kept me guessing. Some parts felt easier to predict, but others were a complete shock. I felt like Dory was constantly looking to escape, but I hope she'll find a way to stay put. I guess we'll find out more in the next book.

The only thing that didn't work so well for me was Laura. I liked her as a person, but she seemed way too mature for the age of seven. She seemed closer to being ten years old. I also don't reconcile the name Laura with that of a child of a Millenial. It seemed more popular for children in the seventies and eighties and I attribute it to women close to my age. (I'm even surprised when kids are named Melissa these days!) In any case, this did not take away from my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, I adored All that Glitters. It was a nice escape from everyday drama and am excited to read the next book in Tracy's new series!

My dream movie cast:
Dory: AJ Michalka
Tammy: Shailene Woodley
Mandy: Sarah Hyland
Harris: Emory Cohen
Grandma: Kathy Bates

Thanks to Lola's Blog Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review. There is a tour-wide giveaway for the book blitz of All That Glitters. One winner will win a $10 Amazon gift card! Visit the other stops on the tour.

For a chance to win, enter the Rafflecopter below:

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BookSparks #SRC2017 June Novels

Today the spotlight is on the June books for BookSparks' Summer Reading Challenge of 2017. We already featured The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and will be featuring Every Last Lie next week. All synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

The Rules of Half by Jenna Patrick

If Will Fletcher’s severe bipolar disorder isn’t proof he shouldn’t be a parent, his infant daughter’s grave is. Once a happily married, successful veterinarian, he now lives with his sister and thrives as the small-town crazy of Half Moon Hollow. But when a fifteen-year-old orphan claims she’s his daughter, Will is forced back into the role he fears most: fatherhood.

Her biological dad isn’t the hero Regan Whitmer hoped for, but he’s better than her abusive stepfather back in Chicago. Still haunted by her mother’s suicide and the rebellious past she fears led to it, Regan is desperate for a stable home and a normal family—things Will can’t offer. Can she ride the highs and lows of his illness to find a new definition of family?

The Half-Life of Remorse by Grant Jarrett

When two vagrants meet on the streets of Muncie, Indiana, they are both unaware that their paths crossed years before. Chic, crude and uneducated, is convinced that Sam is nothing more than a harmless lunatic, and Sam, emotionally scarred and psychologically traumatized by events long past, regards Chic as just another denizen of the street. But Chic has spent his adult life trying to purge his soul of the brutal crime he committed as a teenager―the same botched burglary that resulted in the deaths of Sam’s wife and son. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter Claire is still unable to give up hope that her father might someday reappear.

When these three lives converge, the puzzle of the past gradually falls together, but redemption commands a high price, and what is revealed will test the limits of love and challenge the human capacity for forgiveness.

Proof by C.E. Tobisman

In this gripping sequel to C.E. Tobisman’s legal thriller Doubt, techie turned attorney Caroline Auden struggles to move on with her life after her last case nearly destroyed her career.

Still haunted by the betrayal that forced her to leave a prestigious law firm, Caroline Auden struggles to keep her fledgling practice afloat—and her paranoia in check. When her grandmother dies, she mourns losing the only constant in her life. But grief soon turns to suspicion when she discovers her grandmother left her entire estate—including a valuable antique watch, the family’s sole heirloom—to a charity called Oasis Care. On the surface, Oasis helps society’s outcasts, like Caroline’s alcoholic, homeless uncle. But as she digs deeper, Caroline uncovers a sinister plot that sends her running for her life on the dangerous streets of Los Angeles.

Plunged into a world of addicts and broken souls and operating without a phone or a computer, Caroline finds sanctuary with her uncle and a ragtag group of outcasts while building evidence for her case. As she sifts through the shadowy world of the Goliath nonprofit, Caroline is also forced to confront her own dark shadows, casting doubt on her ability—and her sanity.

**Enter to win Doubt and Proof from Thoughts on This 'n That!**

Last Seen by J.L. Doucette

Psychologist and police consultant Dr. Pepper Hunt, struggling to deal with the murder of her husband, leaves the private practice they shared and relocates to Wyoming. There, in the stark landscape of the high desert, there is nothing to remind her of everything she lost and left behind. Then her new patient, Kimi Benally, goes missing in a Wyoming blizzard after her last therapy session—making Pepper the last person to see her. She knows the secrets Kimi shared in therapy hold clues to her mysterious disappearance, and she joins forces with Detective Beau Antelope to try to discover what’s happened to her. But as she follows the trail of Kimi’s obsession with the past, Pepper begins to fear the worst for her missing patient—and her own haunted memories surface.

The People We Hate At The Wedding by Grant Ginder

Paul and Alice’s half-sister Eloise is getting married! In London! There will be fancy hotels, dinners at “it” restaurants and a reception at a country estate complete with tea lights and embroidered cloth napkins.

They couldn’t hate it more.

The People We Hate at the Wedding is the story of a less than perfect family. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs with a penchant for the occasional joint and more than one glass of wine with her best friend while watching House Hunters International. Alice is in her thirties, single, smart, beautiful, stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his older, handsomer, tenured track professor boyfriend who’s recently been saying things like “monogamy is an oppressive heteronormative construct,” while eyeing undergrads. And then there’s Eloise. Perfect, gorgeous, cultured Eloise. The product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools, her winter holidays in St. John and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. To top it off, she’s infuriatingly kind and decent.

As this estranged clan gathers together, and Eloise's walk down the aisle approaches, Grant Ginder brings to vivid, hilarious life the power of family, and the complicated ways we hate the ones we love the most in the most bitingly funny, slyly witty and surprisingly tender novel you’ll read this year.

Chick Lit Cheerleader: Hot Diggity Dog!

Chick Lit Cheerleader, Jen Tucker, is here today to talk about her dogs. Well, mostly about Henry, and what happens when he has to wear a cone.

Take it away, Jen!




The Cone of Shame

Henry and Jack

I love my dogs, Jack and Henry, yet that wasn’t always the case. Both adopted at the age of two, these golden lugs were naughty hooligans when they arrived at our door. For you dog lovers, think of the most sneaky, messy, underhanded thing your dog as done. Got it in your mind? OK, now triple that and you’ll understand why it took me awhile to fall in love with these two because that was their method of operation every day, all day long, for a very long time. You look at their sweet, greying faces now and have a hard time believing it, I know. Don’t be fooled.

For many of us, summer time means allergy season. Henry, the chubby fur ball who doesn’t take great selfies, is not immune. He takes doggie antihistamine and gets a heaping portion of oil on his food each morning to combat scratching. Yet there’s something in the country air, the grass, the beds he sneakily lays on when we’re not home, that turns an innocent little itch into full-fledged digging. Hot spots appear, and what comes after hot spots? You guessed it, the Cone of Shame.

My Life As a Dog, by Henry Tucker

Isn’t this the saddest dog, of all dogs, that were ever dogs? So sad, in fact, that he can’t look you in the eye, or at the camera. The shame is too much to bear. Nobody puts Henry in a corner. He does that all by himself. Now that you’ve witnessed this heartbreaking yet hilarious picture, I want you to now move onto another type of mental imagery. Henry is only upset for a possible five minutes once the cone is on. Now picture a Henry for whom the cone of shame isn’t so shameful after all.

I’m convinced this cone has superpowers for my canine. Just as one, magical crow feather gave Dumbo the confidence to fly, I am here to say the cone seems to give our Hanky Boy an assertiveness he lacks when not wearing it. You’d think it would do the opposite, right?

Henry has learned some mad skills while wearing that thing. He’s learned to use it to open doors that are ajar, something he refuses to do un-coned. Don’t most dogs nudge open doors with their nose? Not mine. He’s also learned scraping the cone against the wall, as he paces the hallway at night, will wake Mike up to let him in the bedroom if the door’s closed. No one should wake a sleeping Mike Tucker. It’s not pretty. Just ask his fraternity roommates if you don’t believe me.

Something more insidious happens, however. Henry becomes a cone bully. I’m not kidding. He barrels through the room like a bull dozer and is unconcerned about those in his way. You know what hurts worse than a plastic cut on your ankle? Nothing. Nothing hurts worse than a deep, sheering, plastic cut on your ankle bone. And I’ve birthed three children, broken a toe, and winced over plenty of stitches and staples!

Bowling his way over anyone and anything in his path, he’ll get to that bread crumb on the floor, by God, and if you’re in his way, move! He will take you out, and take no prisoners. You’re really taking your life into your hands being near him when he’s coned. A dog on a mission, to not let anyone, or any cone, get in the way of the hunt. Henry is a cone bully like no other.

Once the cone comes off, and the fur settles, it’s reminiscent of the moments following Superman taking a telephone booth spin back to Clark Kent. Hank is once again a mild-mannered guy who is afraid of his shadow, pouts if his brother grabs the tennis ball before he does, and is the idyllic, yet timid, person’s best friend. There’s something about that cone though… If one could bottle the determination and confidence it gives Henry, would they? Good thing that confidence comes from within ourselves, rather than from wearing a bulky, WMD such as Henry’s cone.

Jack, my other sweet pup, would be a Cool Hand Luke type of cone bearer. His cone language would be Hakuna Matata, man. No worries. It’s good to be me!

Jack living the dream

Enjoy your summer!

XOXO,
Jen

Jen Tucker is the author of the funny and true stories, The Day I Wore My Panties Inside Out and The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt. In September 2012, she had her children's book, Little Pumpkin published as an e-book. She also blogs monthly for Survival for Blondes. She currently lives in Indiana with her husband, three kids and two dogs. You can find her at Twitter, Facebook, her blog and on her website. And in case you missed them. check out her previous Chick Lit Cheerleader posts here.