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NetGalley: All Better Now by Neal Shusterman

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Publisher: Simon and Schuster  Published: 2/4/2025 Pages: 528 Genre: Teen/Sci-Fi Review: ARC Netgalley and publisher Amazon An unprecedented condition is on the rise. It behaves like a virus, with the first symptom being a fever, but those who contract it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone. Almost everyone revels in this mass unburdening. But people in power—who depend on malcontents tuning into their broadcasts, prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince people they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Soon, campaigns start up convincing people that being happy all the time is dangerous. There’s even a vaccine developed to rid people of their inner peace and get them back to normal because, surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivi...

NetGalley: Headcases (Par Unit #1) by John McMahon

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Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: 1/28/2025 Pages: 352 Genre: Mystery/Thrillers Review: ARC from NetGalley and Publisher Amazon FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer. Along with Gardner, PAR ...

Library book: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

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Publisher: Mariner Books Published: 10/29/2024 Pages: 317 Genre: mystery/thriller Review: library book Amazon An isolated Scottish island, accessible to the mainland only twelve hours a day. A famous (some might say infamous) artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared after visiting her twenty years ago. A present-day discovery that intimately connects three people and unveils a web of secrets and lies.

Kindle Unlimited: The Housemaid #2.5 The Housemaid's Wedding Freida McFadden

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Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press Published: 11/22/2024 Pages: 76  Genre: Novella/Mystery Review: Kindle Unlimited Amazon The Housemaid’s Wedding  is a  winter-themed short story  meant to fill in the long gap between Book 2 of the Housemaid series ( The Housemaid’s Secret ) and Book 3 ( The Housemaid is Watching ). It can be read either  between Book 2 and Book 3 , or  after Book 3 . Today is supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I'm  engaged to the man of my dreams , and in a few short hours, I'm going to stand before a judge, who will declare us husband and wife,  till death does us part . Despite some bumps in the road, this day is everything I dreamed it would be. There's only one problem: Someone out there doesn't want me to live long enough to say my vows. And if I'm not careful,  they may very well get their wish .

Library book: The First Wife's Secret Addison Moore

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Publisher:  Hollis Thatcher Press Published: 1/24/2019 Pages: 174 Genre: Thriller/Psychological Review: Library book Amazon When a supposed serial killer and a supposed psychopath come together, things end very very badly—one bloody body at a time. Someone is guilty. Someone is lying. Someone will not survive. Aubree Van Lullen is smitten by Peter Woodley despite the fact he’s accused of killing his former wife, despite the fact he’s accused of killing his two children. Peter Woodley is smitten by Aubree Van Lullen despite the fact she is accused of fleecing half of the country by way of faking an illness for the better part of her life, despite the fact she’s had a psychologically damaging childhood. Peter is so smitten by Aubree, he changes his identity for her and whisks her away to build a brand new life. One day a mysterious package arrives containing dozens of journals from Peter’s first wife, and Aubree is riveted by them. She’ll tell Peter about the journals soon enough. J...

Library book: Violets are Blue #7 by James Patterson

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Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Published: 11/19/2021 Pages: 416 Genre: Crime/Suspense/Mystery Review: Library book Amazon D.C. Detective Alex Cross has seen a lot of crime scenes. But even he is appalled by the gruesome murders of two joggers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park - killings that look more like the work of savage beasts than humans. Local police are horrified and even the FBI is baffled. Then, as Cross is called in to take on the case, the carnage takes off, leaving a trail of bodies across America and sweeping him to Savannah, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Los Angeles . . as his nemesis, the merciless criminal known as the Mastermind, stalks him, taunts him, and once again, threatens everything he holds dear...

Library book: Roses are Red #6 by James Cross

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Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Published: 10/1/2020 Pages: 412 Genre: Mystery/Suspense Review: Library book Amazon In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C., bank robbers have been laying out precise demands when they enter the building - and then killing the bank employees and their families if those instructions are not followed to the letter. Detective Alex Cross takes on the case, certain that this is no ordinary bank robber at work - the pathological need for control and perfection is too great. Cross is in the midst of a personal crisis at home, but the case becomes all-consuming as he learns that the Mastermind is plotting one huge, last, perfect crime.