The Silent Girls by Eric Rickstad

This book is definitely a departure from my normal style, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it.

This is the story of Frank Rath, a private investigator in Vermont who becomes involved in investigating the disappearance of a young woman from his small town. As the search deepens, other women are found to be missing in their area. Is there a connection? Who has these women?

At the same time, Frank is a single father, raising the niece he adopted after her parents were brutally murdered in their home. Rachel is now grown and off to college, and Frank is really missing her.

I nearly put this book down after the first chapter, which was really creepy. It didn't continue that way, so I'm glad I kept going.

I didn't really love the characters in this book. Frank seems bent on self destruction, Grout, the lead detective also seems miserable, and we don't learn enough about Sonja, the other detective on the case. I would also like to have gotten to know Rachel better.

However, what bothered me most about this book is that it contained several grammatical and sentence structure errors. It felt like it hadn't been edited. For example, a character was "slapped across face" instead of "across the face".  At the end of the book, the initial victim's last name was changed from Wilks to Wilkins. That sort of thing drives me crazy. And the author had this weird way of using the word but as a complete sentence continually, no matter which character was speaking.

“She sort of seems familiar. But. In that way that reminds you of someone from TV or a dream.”

“But. State borders aren’t going to stop a sicko,” Sonja said.

But. How did one person, or even two people, choose these girls. And why?

“Of course I can read.” Gale sighed. “But. Her handwriting is a first grader’s. I’ll give it my best.”

Argh! 

Another thing that bothered me is that all Christians are portrayed as being zealots who protest outside abortion clinics. It paints a lot of people with a broad brush and I don't like that. 

If you can get past those things then the story is entertaining and compelling. But if those sorts of things bother you, then skip this one.

Also, the story ends on a cliffhanger, trying to force you to read the next book. I'm not sure if I will. I hope it has a better editor.

*** Thanks to Goodreads reviewer Christie for isolating these quotes for me so I didn't have to do it.

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

This is another one on loan from Tracy, my schoolyard mom friend. This was a fun, light read, perfect for a vacation.

The book begins with several different voices telling about the night they saw a set of triplets celebrating their birthdays together in a restaurant. Everything seems fine until the triplets start fighting and one sister ends up throwing a fondue fork which lands right in her pregnant sister's belly...

We then go back in time a year and get to know Lyn, Catriona and Gemma, the triplets in question. Lyn is a successful business owner trying to juggle the demands of work and family, Cat has just discovered her husband's affair, and Gemma has been trying to find herself after the tragic death of her fiancé several years earlier. We also get to know Maxine and Frank, their divorced parents, as well as various friends and partners who are all part of the triplets' lives.

Mixed in with the story are accounts from people who have seen the triplets in action over the course of their lives.

All of this works together to bring us back to the fateful night in the restaurant when they are celebrating their birthdays. Who is pregnant, who threw the fork, and how they got there all get answered along the way.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I have heard great things about her and would definitely like to read more. This was a perfect summer read, quick and fun, without a lot to think about. If you are looking for something to take to the beach or a cottage, this could be the perfect book for you.

What She Knew by Gilly MacMillan

Another book-loving Mom from the schoolyard loaned me this one and it was a great, fun summer read! Thanks, Tracy!

Rachel Jenner takes her 8-year old son for a walk in the woods, like she does most Sunday afternoons. She sends Ben on ahead to run to the tire swing, but when she gets to the swing, Ben isn't there. She calls and searches but there is no trace of him. Others join in the search, with no success. Ben is gone. The police are called and the worst time of Rachel's life has begun.

As the search begins for Ben, everyone is called into question. Can anyone be trusted?

As the story unfolds, we get to know more about the different characters, as we hear the story from the perspectives of Rachel, the detective in charge of Ben's case, and also from transcripts of his sessions with a therapist to help him deal with the trauma of the case. The story is filled with twists and turns and is a fun page-turner.

If you are looking for a fun summer read, you'll enjoy this. It is fast-paced and exciting and a fun read.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Not surprisingly, I follow a lot of "bookish" sites on Facebook. A few months ago one of them was promoting this book, saying it was for people who liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I absolutely loved both of those books, so I figured this would be a book I would want to read. It certainly was.

WWII continues to be a popular setting for novels, and I've noticed a new trend within that WWII trend. This is the second book I've read in the last few months about the strength and resilience of the women left behind while the men had all gone off to war. In a time when women were often still thought to be weaker, and less than their husbands, these women showed what they were made of, and kept things running at home.

Set in Chilbury, England in the spring and summer of 1940, it is an epistolary novel, told from the letters and journals of several ladies (and occasionally a man) from the town. The women are told that with the men gone, their choir will need to be disbanded. However, they want to continue singing so they form a ladies-only choir under the leadership of Prim, a woman fairly new to the town. We read the perspectives of women with sons at the front, young ladies with dreams of love, and a midwife forced into a morally challenging situation. They are amazing women who don't always know their inner strength, but as they face each challenging situation, they rise to to occasion and find what they need to carry on.

Through it all, they gain strength from each other and from singing together in a choir. As they join together in that way, they learn to rely on each other in ways they wouldn't have considered in peace time. The choir brings them together and gives meaning to their lives in a time when that meaning was hard to find.

It's a lovely book. There are sad times, there are frustrating times, there are heartbreaking times. But the women of Chilbury face them all together. It is a great summer read, I highly recommend it.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Sometimes you finish a book and you have to shake your head and think to yourself, "What on earth just happened???" This is one such book.

In the beginning it seems like a simple story about a couple heading out on a road trip for the narrator to meet her boyfriend's parents. They are still fairly new in the relationship and she isn't sure if she wants to continue on or break up. Maybe meeting his parents isn't the best idea. Plus, she's been getting these bizarre phone calls that are starting to scare her. She doesn't know if she should tell her boyfriend, or the police and the calls are becoming more frequent.

Then it starts getting strange. Strange. Super, super strange. I can't say a lot more without spoiling it, but the last quarter of the book takes you on a lot of twists and turns.

I read most of the book in one day, so it is a quick read. I've read a lot of other reviews where people said they finished it and then went back to the beginning and read it again to try to make sense of it all. It is a suspenseful, fun read and your mind will be reeling when you are done. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, then give this a quick read. It certainly won't be for everyone, but I think you'll have some fun with it. Then talk to me about it, so I can figure things out!

The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley

I wish I liked this book more than I did. The concept is amazing, but I found the writing style to be a bit too dry, and pretty much just a prime example of why I have traditionally avoided non-fiction books.

This was our book club selection for our June meeting and it is the only time I can remember when no one in the group had finished the book. Shocking!

Ann Walmsley tells the story of how she joined her friend, Carol Finlay, who held book club meetings in the Collins Bay Prison near Kingston, Ontario. Having personally been the victim of a violent mugging while living in London, England, Ann found it difficult to walk into the prison and get to know the inmates on a personal level. However, she faced her fears and her life changed a result.

The men they encountered in the prison were intelligent, insightful and loved reading. They loved discussing the books given to them each month and looked forward to their meetings as more than just a way to escape prison life for a short time. Some of the men even began a book club at their new minimum security prison when they were reassigned there.

Ann encouraged the men to journal their thoughts about the books they were reading which often turned up even more insightful thoughts which hadn't been discussed in their meetings. They read a great variety of books, and my "To Be Read" list grew as I worked my way through this book.

So, all in all, the concept was exciting and interesting. However, the writing style was incredibly dry and it became too much of an account of what happened, instead of a compelling look inside the book clubs.

If you are interested in reading more about the book clubs meeting in prisons, by all means, pick it up. You will enjoy it, it just won't be the most exciting book you've ever read. You can also check out the website for Book Clubs for Inmates.

Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner

I'm back in the thriller/suspense genre with this recommendation from another Mom at Wesley's school (Thanks Tracy, if you're reading this, I'm looking forward to the others too).

This is the 7th in a series of books about a married pair of criminal profilers (Quincy and Rainie), but this is the only one I have read and I don't feel like I was missing anything at all. It can definitely stand alone.

Telly Ray and Sharlah Nash were born into a difficult home. Their parents were addicts, their father was abusive and their mother wasn't strong enough to stop him. Telly takes good care of Sharlah until the night he sees his father attack their mother with a knife. Then, Telly loses control and attacks his parents with a baseball bat, killing them both (this happens in the first chapter, it's not a spoiler!). Following this, the children are separated in foster care and each live very difficult lives trying to overcome the trauma of that night. Telly moves from home to home while Sharlah is in the process of being adopted by Quincy and Rainie, the criminal profilers.

Fast foward 9 years when a violent gunman is on the loose in their small Oregon town. Telly's current foster parents are dead, along with two victims in a nearby gas station. Telly is seen shooting out the camera of the gas station security cameras and is on the run. Quincy and Rainie have to begin searching for their daughter's long lost brother, while trying to keep her safe at the same time. But is the case as cut and dried as it seems?

What follows is an exciting mystery with lots of twists and turns. There are lots of great characters who work together to solve the mystery. Flashbacks are given to help tell the backstory and the past and present are really well woven together.

I've never read anything by this author before but I definitely would again. This would be a great summer read, take it along with you on your vacation!