Review: In the Blood

 

Tessa was abandoned at the fire station when she was a baby. She's never known anything about her birth parents and always wondered. Not that her adoptive parents aren't great, but it just feels like a part of her is missing. 

When she turns 18, her best friend gives her an ancestry kit, hoping that Tessa will find some answers. She never imagines what she'll uncover and how that will change everything.

My Thoughts: I really love April Henry and was thrilled to have an ARC of her latest book. I love how Tessa's school work in science class mirrored her testing. I loved Tessa's friendship with El and her growing relationship with Victor. I loved the alternative perspectives. On the mystery side, I loved learning details about the Portland Phantom - from the documentary excerpts and the police officers working the case. I liked the perspective of the killer and learning details from him.  This one was a creepy addictive read that I didn't want to put down (classic April Henry) 

Cover Thoughts: Creepy -but good!

Source: ARC sent for review

Library Recommendation: A must have book for your school and public library

* Book comes out May 12 (Tuesday)

Review: When We Go Missing

 

What if you found evidence of a crime, but no one believed you?

Seventeen-year-old Willow always has a camera around her neck. She volunteers as a photographer at Finding Home animal shelter. When Willow stumbles upon a lost camera memory card, it’s filled with hundreds of photos of teenage girls. Some are smiling, others unaware, and a few seem terrified.

The police tell her taking photos in public isn’t a crime. But Willow can’t seem to let it go, especially after she finds her own photo on the card. Willow teams up with new volunteer Dare to figure out what happened to the girls. - Summary from the publisher

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. It's creepy and had me turning the pages. Although I did have to stop when it got too close to bedtime, so I wouldn't have nightmares. I loved the time at the shelter with the animals and watching the behind-the-scenes moments. I felt bad for Dare for what he went through (and I'm still coming to terms with it.) I feel for Willow with her home life situation. This book was so fantastic.

Cover Thoughts: Eye-catching

Source: My Library

Why I read this book: The author

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library

Hand this book to: thriller readers and animal lovers

* There is an animal death, which happens before the story takes place.

Review: Stay Dead

 

Milan's father died in a car accident. Milan believes that it's her fault. Her mother took over her father's Senate seat. Milan was shipped off to boarding school. She was kicked out of that boarding school and currently she's being kicked out of yet another boarding school.  

Her mother's jet is stopping to pick her up on the way to an event near their hometown. But a bomb causes the jet's wing to break away from the plane. The pilot attempts to land the plane, but it crashes on the side of a mountain. Fire ripped through the plane. But just before, Milan escapes with her mother.

Her mother has internal injuries. She uses all her energy to tell Milan the truth about the past. Her father didn't die in an accident. The plane crash wasn't an accident. Her mom gives Milan instructions on what to do next. 

For Milan, it means getting off the mountain in the middle of winter and making the trek home. But she can't trust anyone. 

My Thoughts: Ever since learning about this book, I've wanted to read it. And it did not disappoint. Someone said you needed to clear your afternoon to read this because you were not going to put it down. They were right. I didn't want this book to end. Lots of action and danger here. It's one-half mystery and one-half survival story. If this isn't in your TBR pile, add it immediately.

Cover Thoughts: Great

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have thriller for your YA section in school and public libraries. 

Review: Girl Forgotten

 

Piper is new to town when she stumbles across a gravestone. Layla died twenty years ago, when she was Piper's age. A quick internet search reveals that she was murdered and that the case is unsolved. When Piper learns that her school requires a senior project, she decides to create a podcast based on the murder.

She learns the ins and outs of podcasting from a new friend. But not everyone is happy as she digs up old information and new rumors. She opens up new wounds and someone wants her to stop. Piper receives threatening letters, but she's too curious to stop digging. 

My Thoughts: A great thriller. I did not want to put this book down. I did figure out the murdered, but it took me a while. I really enjoyed the podcasting pieces - from learning about podcasting to reading the transcripts. I loved the friendship develop between Piper and Jonas. I've read several of April Henry books and I've loved them all. 

Cover Thoughts: I like it

Source: My library

Library Recommendation: A must have book for your library

If you're a podcast fan, check out this list of podcasting books 

Book List: Criminal Minds (YA)

 

I've been binging Criminal Minds (I'm halfway through the series). It's a LONG series. It's sometimes hard to watch because it's really disturbing but also really interesting. I can't wait it too close to bed because...no one wants those kinds of nightmares.

But I've been thinking about books that are similar. So I made a list. It's YA books because I don't like to be too scared. And YA generally ends happily (the bad guy loses).

YA Book List:

Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Killer Instinct by S.E. Green

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough

The Body in the Woods by April Henry

Not Pictured:

In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund

Dangerous Girls (republished as I'll Never Tell) by Abigail Haas

Pretend She's Here by Luanne Rice

What other books would you add to this list?

On Your Radar: Girl in the White Van (43)

Title: Girl in the White Van

Author: April Henry

Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Release Date: July 28, 2020

Why It Should Be On Your Radar:

* Creepy

*Thriller

* Family Drama

* Investigation

* Kung Fu Class

* Determination

* Survival 

* Kidnapped

*Teammwork

* Friendship

I couldn't put this book down, but I also didn't want to read it after dark.

** The publisher pushed the dates back on this one. July 28th is the date from Goodreads.

*** ARC sent for review

Library Recommendation: Grab this YA book for your thriller collection. And if you don't have the authors previous books, get them too!

Review: Run, Hide, Fight Back

When a deadly shooting breaks out in a Portland shopping mall, a diverse group of teens ends up trapped behind a store’s security shutter. To her own surprise, seventeen-year-old Miranda finds the others looking to her as their leader. But she’s hiding a big secret—and she’s not the only one. The group has only three choices—run, hide, or fight back. The wrong decision will have fatal consequences. When a deadly shooting breaks out in a Portland shopping mall, a diverse group of teens ends up trapped behind a store’s security shutter. To her own surprise, seventeen-year-old Miranda finds the others looking to her as their leader. But she’s hiding a big secret—and she’s not the only one. The group has only three choices—run, hide, or fight back. The wrong decision will have fatal consequences.

- summary from the publisher

My Thoughts: I've been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it with the tagline Die Hard meets the Breakfast Club. I love the Die Hard movies. And this book didn't disappoint, I was hooked form the very beginning. All six characters have a point of view in the story. The action kept me turning the pages and I was on the edge of my seat until I finished. A great thriller.

Cover Thoughts: Love it
Source: My library
Library Recommendation: Grab this one for your school and public libraries.

Review: Body in the Woods

* Book 1 in a duology *

Alexis, Nick, and Ruby couldn't be more different - but the one thing they have in common is they're all members of the same search and rescue team. When a call goes out, they meet to help search the woods for a missing hiker.

Instead, they find the body of a girl. Going through the discovery together and not being able to talk about it with people helps cement a relationship between them. The more they talk about it, the more they want to help solve the case. Could there be something the police are missing?

My Thoughts: I really liked this book, it's been one I've been wanting to read for ages. I'm glad I finally did. I really liked the three different perspectives and what they each brought to the book. I liked learning more about search and rescue teams. I liked how they kept researching and looking into ideas even though the police gave them the brush off.  I'm looking forward to reading the second book.

Cover Thoughts: Love it
Source: My Library
Library Recommendation: A great read for your mystery/thriller readers.

Author Spotlight: April Henry

About April Henry: 
I write mysteries and thrillers. I live in Portland, Oregon with my family.

If you've read one of my books, I would love to hear from you. Hearing from readers makes me eager to keep writing.

When I was 12, I sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine.

My dream of writing went dormant until I was in my 30s, working at a corporate job, and started writing books on the side. Those first few years are now thankfully a blur. Now I'm very lucky to make a living doing what I love. I have written 20 novels for adults and teens, with more on the way. My books have gotten starred reviews, been picked for Booksense, translated into six languages, been named to state reading lists, and won the Oregon Book Award. 

Newest Book: A killer is on the loose, and only one girl has the power to find him. But in this genre-bending YA thriller, she must first manage to avoid becoming a target herself.

For Adele, the dead aren’t really dead. She can see them and even talk to them. But she’s spent years denying her gift. When she encounters her ex best friend Tori in a shallow grave in the woods and realizes that Tori is actually dead -- that gift turns into a curse. Without an alibi, Adele becomes the prime suspect in Tori’s murder. She must work with Tori’s ghost to find the real killer. But what if the killer finds Adele first?

This book comes out tomorrow!

Author Research:
What would you do for research? April Henry takes a hands on approach to her research.
Here are just some of things she's done for her books:

• Taken out everything from under the kitchen sink and crawled under it to prove to the copy editor that you could so fit a dead body under there.  
• Taken a knife throwing class
• Taken a knife fighting class
• Taken a class on how to respond to an active shooter situation. 
• Taken classes with Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue. 
• Was the first novelist to attend the Urban Escape and Evasion class, where I learned how to get out of duct tape, rope, zip ties and handcuffs as well as a million other useful things. 
• Spent a day with Portland police criminologists.  

That's dedication to your craft!

She comes from a long line of criminals - check out the family stories here.

Up Next: I'm already looking forward to her next book coming out August 2019. Check out the tagline: What if the high-stakes drama of Die Hard met the varied cast of Breakfast Club? Doesn't that sound good?

Blog Tour: Body in the Woods

How many books will there be in the Point Last Seen series?

I'll keep writing books as long as the publisher will have them. Book Two, with the working title Blood Will Tell, is turned in but not edited. I'm starting on Book Three.
Very nice! I'm so looking forward to reading this one!

If you had to, could you track someone?

In mud and if they were the only person who had walked through it, then yes. Realistically, no way. You have to be so detail oriented and focused. A really good tracker has been doing it for years and will pick up on things like two grains of sand on a twig. I'm sure I'd be like a hyperactive dog: "Squirrel!"

Do you use your kung fu training in your books?

For The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die, I had my kajukenbo instructor drag me around the floor with his hands under my arms and we figured out how I could fight back.  (Kajukenbo, a mixed martial art, is what I took before I started my kung fu training.)  I'm thinking of having a character in the series take a kung fu class, because it would really come in handy in fighting off bad guys. 

I love kung fu!  I spar, grapple, and take a special weapons class.  Once we even practiced with a "live" (AKA real) knife. 

What's the most exciting or scariest thing you've done to research an idea for your books?
Last year I took a class on how to fight back in close quarters. I signed up. The other dozen students were male cops in their 30s who were all SWAT team members at various agencies. (It was definitely a “One of these things doesn’t belong here” moment.)

At the very end of class, you sat in your own car and someone sat behind you with a training gun, a training knife, a length of rope, and a plastic bag. They attacked you with these one by one and you had to fight back using what we had just learned. For example, if a plastic bag is ever placed over your head, what you do is suck it in, bite it with your front teeth, and stick your tongue out the hole. You still have a plastic bag over your head, but you can breath.

The first time, I panicked when I felt the plastic clinging to my face. I sucked it into my mouth, but then I tried to gnaw it with my molars. Not only did I not succeed, but I started to get pretty low on oxygen, which raised my panic level even further. The second time, though, I remembered my training.
Impressive! Sounds fun, and yet a little terrifying 

Do you have a favorite library moment?

When I was a kid, my dad took me to the library every Saturday. It was a magical place for me. I loved words and books so much.

At the time, the Jackson County library had a rule that you could only check out six books at a time. Six! That was not nearly enough. And luckily for me, the children's librarian, a woman named Myra Getchell, said the rules did not apply to me and I could check out as many as I wanted.

When I turned 16, I got my first job at the library. I still remember what I bought with my first paycheck: a half pound of caramels, a basket, and most importantly, red-striped Adidas so I could look like all the other kids whose parents could afford red-striped Adidas.

I worked in the children's department, and I was so young, I used to hide in the stacks when I should have been shelving and read Judy Blume books. So young I once slipped and called my boss, whose name was Pat Blair, "Mom." I can still feel the blush on my cheeks!

Love this story

What's the last book you read that you think everyone else should read too?

I think every adult should read Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. Sublime. It's a great book for a writer to read, to think about the choices she made as she told the story. It's a great book for a human being to read, to think about the meaning and purpose of life.

For middle grade, teens, and adults, I would recommend Wonder by RJ Palacio. I loved that book. I bought my 78 year old mom a copy. I talked it up to strangers at Costco. Moving and beautiful.

Thanks April for chatting with me! I just wanted to mention this:

I LOVED the story on your website about Roald Dahl and how he made you a writer! Everyone- check it out.

Body in the Woods sounds great right?
Check out the first chapter

Author Links/Info

·         Check out April Henry’s website, full of research information!

·         Follow April Henry on Twitter!

·         Become a fan of April Henry on Facebook!

·         Read an excerpt of The Body in the Woods on the book page.

        Enter to Win:
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Books I'm Dying to Read: June Edition

Here's a list of books I can't wait to get my hands on come June- and there's a lot of them! 

Since Last Summer: Love Joanna Philbin and can't wait to see what happens next

#Scandal: In the social media age - one moment can ruin everything

Suddenly Last Summer: Loved the first book in the series - dying to read more about this family

Tea Shop of Lavender Lane: Life in Icicle Falls is always a great read - book 5 in this series with small town charm.

Beekeeper's Ball: Sequel to the Apple Orchard - can't wait to see what happens next.

Cinderella's Dress: Kate's family protects the real Cinderella's dresses - but trouble appears in the family and in the world.

Engaged in Murder: First in a new series about a woman starting a new business - creating the perfect proposal. 

Diva Wraps it Up: Love this series - looks like a Christmas cozy mystery

Top Secret 21: Still loving this series

Body in the Woods: 3 teens find a dead body in the woods - first in a new mystery series

Thicker than Water: Can't wait to see what happens to Max in the second book.

Manhunt: 3rd book in the Silver Jaguar Society - this time it's about an art heist!

Lost Mission: Loved the first book and can't wait to see what happens next to Boy Nobody.

Murder Complex: Described as action packed, blood soaked thriller = I'm so there!

My Faire Lady: Finding love while working at a Renaissance Fair

Mysterious Saturday Review: The Night She Disappeared

Gabie switched shifts at the pizza joint, where she works, with Kayla. Kayla had a date on Friday. When a mysterious call requests a pizza delivery, Drew doesn't think twice about it. Kayla goes to deliver the pizza and never returns.

Now Drew feels terrible as the police attempt to figure out what really happened that night. He shares information about the call to Gabie, telling her that the man asked if the girl in the mini cooper was delivering tonight. Once she hears that, Gabie understands it's significance. She was supposed to be kidnapped.

Now she'll do anything to piece together the events that night to find Kayla before it's too late.

My Thoughts: A fast paced mystery set in a small town.


I can't imagine what must have gone through Gabie's mind when she heard the truth from Drew. I think she handled it with composure. I admired her determination to find Kayla and her insistence that her friend wasn't dead. Together she and Drew made a great team.


I liked the relationships in the book, mostly how you can be work with people and be friendly but never really know them. Of course, I liked watching the relationship develop between Drew and Gabie. I really enjoyed reading the story from multiple perspectives, it made me want to turn the pages faster.


I loved the setting of the pizza joint. I worked for one when I was in college and loved it. This brought back memories and you could smell the pizzas they were baking.


A gripping read full of friendship, determination, and creepy moments.


Cover Thoughts: Creepy and perfect to match the story


Source: my Library

Torched

How far would you go to protect your parents? Would you infiltrate an exclusive group hell bent on making an environmental impact - to report their antics to the FBI? To makes matters worse, she's already met the group - it includes the boy she's hoping will become her boyfriend. Ellie doesn't mind having an excuse to hang out with him, but she can't imagine what he'll say if he ever found out the truth. First, Ellie has to prove herself to the group before she's excepted. Then she goes on her first mission - destroying a car dealership selling SUVs. Ellie's in over her head. She knows that the environment is endangered and she genuinely believes in the points the group makes - but what happens when they start talking bigger? Is there a point of no return? Will Ellie ever be free from the FBI, this group, and get her life back on track?

A moving tale that speaks volumes about the environment without a preachy feel. The action keeps the tale moving quickly, while the reader waits for the other shoe to drop. An very enjoyable read with a great cover.

Check out the author's page for more details (also on a awesome story featuring Roald Dahl)

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