Review of The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

Cobb, May.  The Hunting Wives.  Berkley, 2021.

Sophie O’Neill, along with her husband and four-year-old son, has just moved back to her hometown of Mapleton, located in the Piney Woods of Texas.  Sophie was previously a lifestyle editor for a magazine and lived near Chicago.  She is tired of the fast-paced city life and wants her son to grow up in a small town with a better environment and a slower lifestyle.  She chooses Mapleton because she spent her last two years in high school there and has a very good friend, Erin, who still lives there.  Moving gives her time to work on her blog and Instagram feed, @sloweddownlife.

 

However, after spending several months in Mapleton, Sophie is beginning to get bored with being a stay-at-home mom, gardening, and blogging.  She meets and begins to hang out with a group of women calling themselves “The Hunting Wives”, and hunting doesn’t necessarily mean just guns.  Erin warns Sophie that Margot, a socialite and the group’s leader, is dangerous, but her words fall on deaf ears.  Margot, Callie, Tina, Jill, and Sophie usually meet on Friday nights to shoot skeet, socialize, drink, and bar hop.   When the women go to bars, they have two rules.  Use first names only and don’t go all the way.  Sophie is, at first, shocked that Margot, especially, likes to indulge in cheating and bawdy sex.  Margot further complicates matters by hitting on men in their twenties and younger.  Sophie learns that Margot is having a secret fling with the town’s quarterback, who also happens to be Jill’s son.

 

Things go from bad to worse when a popular teenage girl is found dead on Margot’s property, and Sophie becomes a prime suspect.  Could one of her new friends be the actual killer?  In order to clear her name, Sophie must research, dig for any clues she can find, and then risk her own life.

 

This novel from May Cobb is filled with surprising twists and turns and has a shocking ending.  The members of The Hunting Wives act like mean girls on steroids.  All of the women are running around on their husbands, gossiping, and drink A LOT.  There is a lot of drinking, even when they aren’t with each other.  Jealousy, anger, marriages on the rocks, vengeance, sensuality, and drinking seem feed their relationships with each other.  All of them have a love-hate relationship with Margot.  Sophie is so obsessed and enamored with Margot that she even stalks her.  The amount of time Sophie spends with the women causes her to neglect her wonderful, understanding husband and young son.  It is ironic that Sophie is the one who wanted to move to a small town.  After her husband quits his job and they relocate, Sophie then goes crazy out of boredom.  

 

Kudos to May Cobb for keeping readers on their toes!  Just when I thought I had figured out who the killer might be, the author would throw in another curve, and I would have to start thinking again.

 

The Hunting Wives has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly will make its debut on May 18, 2020.  Although it is billed as domestic fiction, I would call it a murder mystery, instead.  Hand this book to readers who enjoy mysteries and books set in the south.  I recommend it for public libraries and give it 4 out of 5 fleur de lis!

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for allowing me to read and review this title.

Review of The Loop by Ben Oliver

Oliver, Ben.  The Loop.  Chicken House, 2020.

The Third World War, also known as “Futile War”, ended with the dropping of twenty-nine nuclear bombs and the deaths of nine-hundred million civilians.  Even more people died afterwards when the temperature of the Earth dropped.  A coalition of rebels from both sides of every country ended the war, but  it was billionaires who caused it in order to stay rich and in power.  This resulted in only one governing system called The World Government and the birth of Happy, their computer operating system, which controls life all over the globe.  Citizens are divided by caste, with the Elite being the highest. 

 

Sixteen-year-old Luka “Luke” Kane is living in The Loop, a death row prison for teens, for a crime he did not commit.  Life in The Loop is no picnic; inmates are in solitary confinement and get only one hour of exercise per day.  Their energy is harvested nightly in order to power the prison, and they receive chemical-laced showers immediately afterward.  Prisoners can extend their lives every six months by agreeing to Delays, scientific experiments which benefit the Elite of society.  The only pleasure Luke receives is reading books brought to him by the Warden of the prison.

 

After a cataclysmic event, Luke and some of his friends are able to escape from The Loop.  However, they discover that the outside world is even more dangerous than inside the prison.  Citizens have become vicious and are maiming and killing each other.  The former prisoners must defend themselves, run for their lives, and avoid being captured.

 

This debut novel, the first in a planned series, by Ben Oliver is a terrifying journey into a dystopian society created out of a planned, devastating war.  The world that the author has created, both inside and outside of the prison, is both eye-opening and terrifying.  The prisoners are treated brutally, and the caste system is set up to be mandatory and discriminatory.  The book is packed with gripping action and surprises.

 

Billed as a “mashup of The Matrix and The Maze Runner”, this class-warfare novel is a political and social commentary on what might happen to our world if these events were to become reality.  There is an ethnically diverse group of characters which are well-developed and fleshed-out.  The futuristic world-building is well-thought out and presented.

 

The Loop is the first in a planned trilogy by this Scottish author.  Hand it to fans who enjoy dystopian and science fiction novels.  I recommend it for upper middle school, high school, and public libraries and give it four out of five stars!

 

Thank you to Edelweiss and Chicken House for allowing me to read and review this book.

Great Adult/YA Crossover! New from Berkley!

Wrobel, Stephanie.  Darling Rose Gold.  Berkley, 2020.

For nearly two decades, everyone thought Patty Watts was the perfect mother and model citizen.  She helped her neighbors in need.  She volunteered in the community.  All this, while raising her terribly sick daughter, Rose Gold, who was in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices, and was eventually confined to a wheelchair.  The town held fundraisers to help Patty cover costs for Rose Gold’s medical bills, and everyone said what a brave mother she was.

However, everything changes when Rose Gold turns sixteen and figures out how to use the Internet.  While her mom is sleeping, Rose Gold searches the web and discovers that her mother has been poisoning her since she was a baby.  With a family friend’s help, Rose Gold testifies against her mother, and Patty goes to prison for five years for child abuse.

When Patty is released from prison, Rose Gold decides to let Patty live with her for a time.  Rose Gold is now twenty-three years old and is a single mother of Adam, a two-month old infant.  The community is astounded when Rose Gold accepts Patty into her home, considering what went on in their past.  

Unknown the town, Rose Gold is hiding secrets, and she has bought Patty’s family home, which holds agonizing memories for Patty.  Patty thinks that all she has to do is win Rose Gold’s trust and love back, and then she will be in control again.  But revenge is a dish best served cold.  Rose Gold has been seething about her childhood treatment and has big surprises for Patty.

This debut novel by Stephanie Wrobel is written in alternating voices of mother and daughter both in present time and flashbacks.  Both characters are extremely well-developed, and are strong, devious protagonists who each has their own agenda.  The pairs’ minds reveal the motives and consequences of mental and physical abuse.  They are both damaged, unreliable narrators; they are indifferent to their actions and maniacal in their own ways.  While neither character is particularly likeable, readers will want one or the other to “win”.

The flashbacks tell the backstory of their lives and are smoothly fused into the plot.   Although the novel is character-driven, the narrative is disturbing and suspenseful, full of crazy twists and turns.  The plot has compelling pacing that will keep readers turning the pages.

Even though this psychological thriller is written for adults, teens will be drawn to it.  Hand it to adult readers of Gone Girl and teen readers of Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig.  I highly recommend it for public libraries and high school libraries for grades ten and up.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

McManus, Karen M.  One of Us is Next.  Delacorte, 2020.

After the tragic death of Simon Kelleher, the “Bayview Four” were cleared of all charges, and they graduated and moved on with their lives.  Even though Simon’s “About That” gossip app has disappeared, people in the suburb of Bayview, near San Diego, have not forgotten what happened a year prior.

Someone wants to keep playing the shaming game and has started group-texting students at Bayview HS.  Students are being coerced into taking part in an online game of “Truth or Dare”.  The first dare taken is harmless, but the second dare falls on Phoebe’s shoulders.   The truth revealed when she doesn’t take the dare is a piece of gossip that causes the whole school to shame her.  The next victim is Maeve, the sister of one of the original “Bayview Four”.  She ignores the dare, and her former boyfriend, Knox, who is now her friend, is ridiculed and harassed when her truth is revealed.  The next dare is taken, and it results in a student’s death.

Despite each facing personal problems, Maeve, Phoebe, and Knox work together to discover who is behind the new game while following anonymous threatening posts on a Reddit site.  At the same time, Knox, who works at “Until Proven”, a local law firm, tries to figure out who is sending anonymous death threats to their office.  Could the game and the death threats be connected?

This companion novel to One of Us Is Lying is written in chapters of three different viewpoints, that of Maeve, Phoebe and Knox.  However, some of the characters in the first book do show up in this sequel.  All three main characters are going through some family and personal issues.  Maeve is worried about her leukemia coming back; Knox feels he is not valued by his father; and Phoebe is dealing with her father’s sudden death.

The pacing of the novel is quick and full of action.  Although there are a lot of characters in the book, there are a lot of diverse personalities—a family who owns a Hispanic restaurant, a gay baseball player and his boyfriend, and Maeve’s Columbian ancestry.  The tech elements keep the plot fresh and new.  There are many underlying themes within the book—bullying, sexual harassment, slut-shaming, forgiveness, and criminal justice issues.  Although this is a mystery, there is no lack of romance, so those readers will not be disappointed.  There are plenty of twists, turns, and shocking moments to keep readers engaged and the pages turning.

One of Us Is Next will keep the reader guessing until the very end!  Hand this edition to those who read the first book, fans of the Gossip Girls series, and those looking for a suspense novel.  I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries, and I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Carey, M.R.  The Girl With All the Gifts.  Orbit, 2014.

Melanie loves school and soaks up new information like a sponge.  She is inquisitive and has the IQ of a genius.  She would also do anything in the world for her wonderful teacher, Miss Justineau.  So why is she, along with a roomful of other children, kept strapped to a wheelchair instead of being able to run and play?  And why don't the guards laugh when she tells them that she won’t bite?  Melanie and the other children are “hungries”, or zombies.  However, when most of the population has succumbed to the parasite that has changed them, these children still have human traits, emotions, and an elevated level of intelligence.  They are even able to control, to some extent, their desire for human flesh.

Every now and then Melanie notices that students disappear from her classroom and never return.  It is revealed that the children are test subjects for a project run by Dr. Caldwell, a scientist employed by the British government.  She is in the process of cutting portions of their brains and studying how the parasite affects them.

When the base is attacked by “hungries” and “junkers”, violent human nomads, Melanie, Miss Justineau, and Dr. Caldwell flee in a humvee driven by Sergeant Parks, the head guard at the base, and Private Gallagher, another guard.  They must work together and get along to try to reach the city of Beacon safely.   It may be the only town left in all of England.

This fast-paced novel is intended for adults, but I consider it to also be a crossover novel for young adults.  In the summary, it is not revealed to be a zombie novel, but readers will make that discovery by the end of the first chapter.

Pandora’s Box, Melanie’s favorite story, plays a big part in the plot, hence the book’s title.  Relationships are significant, especially the one between Melanie and Miss Justineau.  Readers will learn a lot about zombie science and the way the human brain operates.  The novel is filled with action and adventure--there are chase scenes, shootouts, and gruesome, gory deaths.  The story is told in multiple points of view, and the characters are interesting and mulitfacted.

Readers will enjoy this new, refreshing take on zombies.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Girl Stolen by April Henry

Girl Stolen by April Henry; Henry Holt, 2010.

How would you feel if you were kidnapped? What if you were also blind and had pneumonia??? This is what happened to sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder, who just happened to be sitting in a vehicle that was "car-jacked"! The car thief was shocked to find out that there was an unwilling passenger in the Cadillac Escalade that he decided to steal! The terrifying events that follow the surprising kidnapping will not only grip, but also hypnotize readers!

This story gets only more intense when Cheyenne is taken to a chop shop in the middle of nowhere, and the car thief's father finds out that she is the daughter of the iconic Nike owner! The fact that she manages to escape and elude her captors in the woods in the dead of winter is both amazing and ingenius! The way facts are woven into the plot give the reader insight into guide dogs and how blindness affects a person's senses.

This book was very well-researched, and the characters were extremely well-developed! The way that Cheyenne adapts to being blind is a tribute to both her persistance and her survival instinct. Cheyenne dupes her captor into thinking she is weak, and then uses that to her advantage in order to gain his confidence and escape. However, she eventually begins to relate to her kidnapper and actually tries to help him.

From the moment I picked up this book, I could not put it down. It is a gripping, intense story, and I was cheering on the heroine all the way through the story! I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries! It will be available on September 28, 2010, according to barnesandnoble.com.