This book took 150 pages (of its 280) to develop any interesting twists that distinguished it from just a very plain story from the POV of a mother after her son's disappearance alternating with the POV of the head detective on the case who has been shaken by his participation and is now undergoing counseling. AND, most of the interesting twists were relegated to side notes by the end, leaving me unsatisfied and adrift. This book was fine but I don't think I'd recommend it. Still planning to read Macmillan's next thriller and hope that it delivers more on the interesting premise.

Anyone that talked to me about this book while I was reading it will probably be surprised to hear how much I liked it. I complained a lot about the middle of this book, and even put it down long enough to finish two other books before making myself give it another try before returning it to the library. I stand by my dislike of the middle of this book, it dragged and focused too much on stuff I didn't care about, but by the end of the book it actually all made sense and was important. I think the issue is mainly that I wanted the book to be about something different than it was actually about. And part of that is that it *does* set up to be about one thing and then shift. But what it ended up being was beautiful in its own way, even if some of the most interesting things promised at the beginning were disregarded for a lot of stuff I struggled to care about. Obviously I'm still kind of torn about it.

The conclusion to the Bill Hodges detective thriller trilogy was an exciting ride, my favorite of the series so far. I appreciate King's decision to mix some paranormal horror-y elements into what was previously a pretty realistic detective story. He's definitely one for making the story bend to his vision for it, a trait I admire even when some moments it makes the story feel contrived. This book hit all the right notes, as expected, good pacing and the best characters.

I loved reading this book even though it felt like it was a little over my head. There were questions that went unanswered for me, and while they didn't need to be answered to create a cohesive story, not knowing tickles. I'd highly recommend everyone read this book and discuss it with me please.

This book was delightfully readable due to it's effective pacing, but there were uncomfortable moments for me. Sometimes it was just a weird turn of phrase, sometimes it was my distrust of Harris's writing of his cool female protagonist (why is she even on this case? why does her relationship with her boss feel so weird? why does she feel like such an epic character but at the same time not fully real?) And then there was the moment of realization 'oh, this is one of the books I always read about in articles about awful depictions of trans characters.' Harris tries maybe to skirt a line where he draws his serial killer as *not* trans, explaining that it's the not-trans-ness of the character that makes them want to skin women, in contrast to people who are legitimately trans who are highly unlikely to be serial killers. I don't really think it works. My advice for writing a murderer with such a tenuous distinction from an oppressed and vilified minority group with negligible positive depictions in media would be to not do it.

Those were my initial thoughts. I read this article (which is about the film but it sounds like they are very similar) and it opened my eyes to a lot more transmisogyny than I'd first understood. I didn't know a lot of the history of medical gatekeeping that trans individuals face in seeking to transition, and in that light it's hard to read Jame as not "really" trans. If you read the character as a ceaselessly misgendered trans woman, the whole story is promoting fear of trans women as the epitome of male violence. http://feministing.com/2016/03/10/my-auntie-buffalo-bill-the-unavoidable-transmisogyny-of-silence-of-the-lambs/

Despite my unease in reading Harris's writing, which is magnified by a greater understanding of its transmisogyny, I am probably interested to read more Hannibal Lecter. What a fascinating and frightening character.

Yep, I have found a new favorite author in Alafair Burke. I distrust her in all the ways I want in a thriller, but trust her to write characters well. It's perfect. This novel was easy to stay up too late reading; Burke is a master of introducing backstory and developing her characters and their relationships while keeping me heavily invested in the main plot with a perfectly paced release of new information. Olivia was such a great character, and it was really fun to read a crime thriller with a defense attorney protagonist.

This was a mostly lackluster chapter in Dresden's files, though from the premise I would have guessed it would be one of my favorites. I struggled along for most of the story, but I was captivated by the three big moments in the final resolution.

I loved this book! The world building was excellent. Chu really explores what the implications of his technology would be, the power dynamics of the world, and fleshes out an interesting history of the future, all while balancing an exciting plot with wonderful characters. Yes! Can't wait to read the next one.

An enjoyable read with characters that were remarkably well constructed for how many of them there were and in so few pages. I found this story to be somewhat pointless though. It sets up on page one what is going to happen, and then it happens with only a few additional details of much interest.