Tuesday review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Night Searchers by Marcia Muller

Sharon’s P.I. firm’s client and Hy’s security company’s case intertwine early on. With Hy off on another international assignment, it’s up to Sharon to steer both teams to find out what the Night Searchers, a bunch of folks seeking thrills as a relief from boring lives, have to do with her client’s wife seeing unbelievable and grisly events. Despite a number of inconsistencies, which could have been avoided by more careful editing, this is a fast, engaging and often exciting read. Many of the regulars of the series are here in one capacity or another. Others are mentioned but don’t appear. I’ve been reading the last ten or so books in this series out of order, but that hasn’t dulled my enjoyment of this 30^th book in the series.
 

Tuesday Book Reviews

Four-star review of The King’s Highway by Caryl McAdoo

I was not prepared for such a faith-based post-apocalyptic story but it was well-enough written for me to enjoy this quick middle-grade read. I only gave it four stars more because of the section near the end extolling the superiority of Red River Texas rednecks. They couldn’t be the only ones to continue a peaceful way of life after an EMP (and possibly Russian aggression) knocked out all electric and electronic parts of life as we know it in the 21^st Century. The young characters are wonderful and their journey across the state was often exciting. I’d read more about them if I knew the author wouldn’t harp on the idea that this was the only town or community starting to rebuild. This is the first of a series, so there are more adventures ahead for fifteen-year-old Jackson and his band of kids.

Tuesday Book Reviews

 

Five-star review of The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor

We follow a family’s history in two time periods. In the present part of the story, Ivy Neale returns from New York City to the beachfront cottage in North Carolina’s Outer Banks where she grew up with her Grandmother Ruth. Ruth has died and the family’s seaside resort was destroyed by a storm that also uncovered the shipwreck of the Liberty T. Mitchell. The wreck is subject of all sorts of ghostly stories, but none as gripping as the story of what happened at the resort in 1950 when Ruth was twelve years old and working with her adoptive parents to keep the resort going. As we go back and forth between Ruth’s childhood story and Ivy’s current one, secret after secret is revealed. Although some seem contrived, the cast of characters are interesting enough to keep my interest. Ruth is intrigued by the singer, Carlotta, whose showboat is in dry dock for repairs while she’s chosen to sing at the resort. Ivy must face Dani, her former best friend, and Matthew, her ex-boyfriend, that she left behind twelve years ago to become a chef in New York. As Ivy sifts through her grandmother’s hoard of items from the resort, she finds photographs from the summer of 1950. She also leans more about her grandmother and herself, including what she wants to do with the rest of her life. This book is not my usual read, but I liked the mysteries and the characters.