The beginning was very good. River’s childhood was quite sad &strange. It’s clear throughout the book how he was used by his parents. 1 of the OGs in the classic scenario of child stars who are substance abusers and/or hanging by a thread but no one cares as long as they go to work.

The book though was incredibly disjointed with random 90s stuff added in. To fill out the whereabouts of the Phoenixes &friends. Things not fact checked, misspellings, etc. 

I love the way Gong with have me on the edge of my seat for the smallest bit of intimacy. Idk how she does it. 

The cliffhanger is cliffhanging but I expected it, so I’m not so mad &it’s set up well.
I read Foul Lady Fortune & Foul Heart Huntsman before this because I didn’t realize at the time how closely they were connected so it was really nice to see some of the characters from the beginning.

Really the only thing I didn’t like was

when Paul was all “I love you” to Juliet and I felt like it was out of left field to give Juliet the advantage

Excited for book 2

Kay Scarpetta #15 

It was more intriguing than the last couple, they have yet again randomly switched locales, things get more serious in Kay’s relationship &Marino hits rock bottom. 

The murder was in the backseat to the continuing Dr Self drama & Marino’s meltdown, I wish it would get back to more of the investigation vs character interactions.

Loved it! This is topping my list of favorite Sager novels. 

Ethan is haunted by the disappearance of his best friend 30 years prior. Returning to his childhood home unexpectedly he’s forced to confront the events surrounding that day. 

I enjoyed how the perspective was limited in the adolescent POVs, the way details were muddled or heightened. The mundane cul de sac where neighbors have their own secrets, the ominous “institute”. Great execution.

I did guess the ending, but found it well plotted  

I enjoyed the Gwen & Art are Super Gay theme, but the rest of the plot only reappears sporadically. Gwen’s POV starts of very naive & there is character development but it seems like they set the bar so low that you’re cheering for basic normal self esteem.

Bad. I unknowing ordered the “updated” version where they have cell phones &the war a character is returning from is Iraq instead of Vietnam. But nothing was fixed with the rest of the book (can’t call&warn bc a phone isn’t installed, communal dorm phones, outdated slang) 

But even without that -family drama & relationships dominate the story 

The 4 MCs have the same essence as the film, but the movie made them (deservedly) suffer so much more.

Everyone is really going through it in this 1, but Ciri in particular is back in focus &proving herself as she searches for the Tower. 

Still irregular pacing, cliffhanger, multiple POVs & things told from different times, which is not the most cohesive. But was very entertaining.

A fitting finale for Gwendy with lots of other King references 

So good. I love the way SA Cosby writes, POETRY over the darkest, grimiest situations imaginable. Good people doing bad things, bad people doing worse things. 

This might be my favorite of his. 

Former deputy is asked by members of the church to look into if the police are taking the local minister’s death investigation seriously. He knows too well they have a history of sweeping things under the rug. 

*audio narrator was PERFECT