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Patricia, a librarian who yearns to be a successful novelist has left her dismissive boyfriend and the big city behind to work at a small town library. Margo is also new to the library and her efficient and friendly circ. desk manner makes her seem like a shoe-in for employee of the year. But once in a while a shadow of ice and rage replaces the friendly face. Patricia is fascinated with Margo but as the two become friends and Patricia learns a little bit of Margo's past she becomes obsessed with making Margo the main focus of her yet unwritten novel. When strange things start happening at the library warning bells go off in Patricia. Can she keep what she knows a secret especially from Margo or will she end up as the next unfortunate library event? This book has so many library anecdotes that librarians will give it many stars but it is a perfectly paced mind game that will attract every reader of sizzling thrillers. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy. This one is going to create a lot of funny looks between patrons and librarians. 4 1/2 stars 
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Camp Damascus has a 100% cure rate taking troubled gay kids and straightening them out bringing them back to the church and cult that runs the town. Best of all - the campers are left with no memory of the camp or the experience. Rose is a bible quoting young woman who loses it when her "friend" dies in an accident. She starts seeing demons, begins coughing up insects and having nightmares. As she begins to remember she is gay and the horrors of the camp she and two friends go there ready to slay demons, free the campers and deliver justice. Starts off rather slow and ends in a blaze of insects, retribution and demons. Reads like a young adult horror but written for the adult market. 3 1/2 stars  Asuka is on a deep space mission, part of a crew comprised of women of child bearing age. When a spacewalk goes horribly wrong and deaths occur their first thought isn't that a shipmate sabotaged the ship but the signs point to that and Asuka is tasked with finding the culprit. The backstory is how the crew came together by competing in a cut throat international contest and how their tenuous relationships affect their current survival. Chapters jump between present day on the ship and the contest and training before. Alpha is the best A.I. since HAL in 2001 a Space Odyssey. Friendship, loyalty and family all play a role in this space thriller. 4 stars  The 1933 Chicago World's Fair had something for everyone. For just a dime you could be amazed by a huge cinema, carnival rides and shows or the miracle of premie babies in an incubator. None of them caused more hoopla than the mysterious Madame Mystique who seemed to dance on water scantily clad in a rainbow of silk or silently arriving on a camel. Madame Mystique is really Rosa from Sicily and her true reason for being at the fair is to exact revenge for the killing of her entire family at the hands of a now famous Facist pilot. Once the squadron reaches the fair his luck will run out. Rosa's cousin Mina has her own reason for being at the fair. Just days before her newborn baby was stolen from her and left at the premie tent and her familie's goons are after her. She seeks out Rosa who agrees to hide her at the fair and get her baby back. Family justice Sicilian style blends with the unique circus family who are just as willing to put everything on the line for one of their own. THE GODFATHER meets WATER FOR ELEPHANTS for a fantastic story covering two countries and two generations of love and sacrifice outside the family guidelines. 4 stars  A reimagined Cinderella tale with the political intrigue and violence of GAME OF THRONES. Lady Aislinn is a revolutionary hiding behind the cover of the meek beautiful girl the prince fell in love with at the ball. She doesn't love him and he might not love her if it weren't for the illegal use of magic dust which she won't use anymore as soon as the marriage vows are spoken. Aislinn needs the marriage to get a foot in the door, a seat at the table and the ear of someone who can do something for her kingdom. Her plan might work except for the bandit that is now on the loose, the captive prince who gets under her skin and her conniving and controlling stepmother. This is no helpless Disney princess but a woman who is willing to put her life on the line at great risk instead of looking pretty and embroidering the day away. For fans of reworked fairy tales of Marrisa Meyer and Naomi Novak this one will have you singing "Bibbity, Bopitty, Boo". 4 stars  Happy book birthday to THE BEAST YOU ARE by Paul Tremblay The latest collection of scary stories by a master in horror. From kids dealing with their parents failings to adults dealing with their own and animals dealing with their own monsters - this collection pulls out the beast within us and shows it to the world. 3 stars  Sarah knows she will have an uphill climb at the posh boarding school she got into on a scholarship. Making friends is not easy for her especially when she is keeping her mental health issues and rocky past a secret. She lucks out in her fierce roommate Strots but makes a formidable enemy out of Greta the golden girl. An unreliable narrator, mean girl school drama, tons of secrets, bullying, gay bashing and oh, one little murder make this a chilling thriller that will appeal equally to young adults and adults. 3 1/2 stars  Edie O'Dare is a good listener and she quietly sees what others miss and then helps or hurts those involved by sharing gossip tidbits in print. She has the ear of many a star but so does her rival making her job a true balancing act of trying to get the scoop while protecting the careers of those she likes at the same time. While the public gushes over glittering gowns worn by starlets at movie premiers or who the next happy Hollywood couple is they love nothing more than scandal. Edie know there are plenty of those to go around and one actor in particular has gotten away with bad boy behavior for too long. DO TELL is a tell all of the romantic golden days of Hollywood where we still believed in magic, fairy tales and happy endings mostly. It is the beginning of the MeToo movement and everyone is hiding their sexual preferences and keeping quiet for fear of blackballing. A debut with star power don't be surprised if you find yourself trying to guess which real Hollywood legend her characters are based on. 4 stars  Happy book birthday to INSIDE THE WOLF by Amy Rowland Rachel has returned home after a devastating year - her brother has died followed by both of her parents leaving her the last of the family and the farm. She leaves her disappointing past in New York for the tobacco farms of North Carolina and all her childhood mistakes come back to haunt her. As she tries to reconcile and find redemption for her part in the death of a friend another tragedy strikes. Guns play a part in all of it but she finds great resistance from the locals who don't want their right to bear arms taken away. Part of it is a necessity to protect themselves, part of it is their hunting heritage and an invasion of their privacy but those in control see little reason to change. Family, coming of age and redemption are all strong themes making this a story that will resonate with readers of DAVID COPPERHEAD and other stories of rural America. 3 1/2 stars  St. Vincents orphanage for boys is a bleak place in the early 1900's. Cut off from town and remote and run by the tyrannical Father Poole whose orders are carried out by the priests out of blind obedience. The boys do whatever they can to stay devout and out of trouble but the beatings and getting thrown in the hole happen regardless. A wild man brought to the orphanage seemingly possessed opens the gateway to Hell releasing multiple demons into the very willing bodies of some of the boys. The terror begins as boys will be boys and the blood of the innocent flows. A reckoning is coming and it won't end well. Religion as justification for harm, demonic possession and retribution all play a big role in this horror tale. 3 1/2 stars  |
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