The Winter Girl: A Novel by Matt Marinovich

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Winter Girl is a well written thriller with a compact writing style that crams a lot of action into few pages. I like that. The main character, Scott is led into a quagmire of questionable deeds and ill fated motives that reek of Hitchcock. The reader is along for the ride among the compelling twists and turns that this novel takes. Scott along with his wife, Elise, live in Brooklyn but have moved to Elise's father's house in the Hamptons as he lies dying from cancer in a hospital close by. Both Scott and his wife, Elise, a speech therapist, have taken leaves of absences to wait out the impending death of Elise's father, Victor. Scott, who is a photographer of wedding couples, has not been doing particularly well in business, so the change of scenery for him might be a good thing. This is hardly the case however. Victor is not a kind man, with a violent streak and a horrid nature. Neither Scott or Elise seem especially upset about Victor's impending death, and this lack of caring seems to permeate the story. No character is deeply likeable at all. The story takes place during the winter months, with a dark and moody atmosphere, with much of the action taking place at night or in a subdued light. The winter days pass in the old man's house. One night, Scott notices the house next door's light going off inside, and then it happens again at precisely the same time. With little to do around Victor's house besides moping around, Scott decides to investigate. This is where the trouble and derangement begins. The initial visit to the neighboring house set off a series of events that could not have been predicted. This book has a strong icky, creepy nuance to it throughout, but that is part of the fun. Hard to put down, the writer forces you to read until the end. When you read the end, you will certainly be surprised, and yet think, "I should have thought of that".

The Girl with No Past A gripping psychological thiller by Kathryn Croft

Disclosure: I received a free Kindle version of this book from netgalley.com in return for an unbiased review. I have never read anything by Kathryn Croft before, and now I am so glad I did. The Girl with No Past is a dark and troubling book with characters that are not always what they seem. Leah, the lead protagonist leads a dull life by her own admission, going through her days being unsociable and working at a library. Her life comes across as uninspired and lonely. She is a tough character to like, yet I was sympathetic to her. This book is touted as a psychological thriller, based in London, but is also a character study of what happens to a person when they are haunted by something that happens in the past. Leah's past is slowly catching up to her, and the reader is left waiting to find out what exactly happened until the very end. Croft writes well and used a technique that is quite common today, alternating between present day events and Leah's school days. The plot is well developed and very gripping at times. The reader is left guessing until the end, and unless you are a better reader than I, you will be surprised. Some have compared this book to The Girl on the Train, and Gone Girl, and while I can see some similarities in that the protagonist is not entirely likeable, the main character Leah in The Girl with no Past stands alone as a well conceived and compelling character and the book itself wraps around her attributes with a strong plot with many twists and turns.

Dangerously Dark- A Chocolate Mystery

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. As a huge fan of Diane Mott Davidson(even though not written by her, I think) and a lover of all things chocolate, I scooped up the opportunity to read this book and vicariously enjoy the delights of chocolate. Hayden, otherwise known as the Chocolate Whisperer, consults with various restaurants and other establishments around the world; not real clear on what exactly she does, but it involves chocolate and lots of it. She finds herself in Portland and becomes embroiled in a murder mystery and the lifestyle/culture of the infamous Portland food truck enclave. The victim of the murder is Declan, and nobody really knows why he was murdered. His fiancé is a freak who drinks too much and doesn't seem to care if Declan was actually murdered. Hayden inserts herself into the situation and sets about to solve the case even though the police said Declan's death was an accident and closed the case. Because she really only kind of knows her friend Carissa from college, and knows no one else in the town, immediately everyone becomes a suspect. A lot of the book was over done and the clues were hinted at strongly. There was a great deal of jumping around from suspect to suspect which was a bit tedious. Once you find out who the killer was, you might be disappointed with the reasoning behind it. Most of the characters were rather unlikeable. Carissa was a vapid, callous person, Danny was strictly a muscle man, and I didn't quite get Travis, the so-called financial advisor with a sexy voice. Did he and Hayden have a thing? If not, why not? There was much hinting at things, but no resolution at times. I did enjoy learning more about Portland and the food truck scene, and who doesn't like chocolate? All in all a light, if not totally satisfying read.

"The Gift" Movie

The movie, "The Gift", is a subtle look not only at the marital relationship, but the lasting impact that secrets and lying can have on a marriage. The husband part of this marriage is Simon, played expertly by Jason Bateman. Robyn, his wife is played by Rebecca Hall. When a past acquaintance of Simon's shows up unexpectedly in their lives, the ensuing creepy slow burn panic is just beginning. Harboring a long held grudge, the acquaintance, otherwise known as Gordo aka Weirdo, begins to insert himself into Simon's and Robyn's life. Little by little a sense of unease is unearthed, until cataclysmic events take place that make Simon question his methodology in living his life up to this point. While an unsettling story on many levels, I found the character of Robyn to be written to an extreme of naiveté. In her damaged state after being unable to conceive, I suppose she might let someone like Gordo, who claims to be an old fried of Simon's into her home without an invite, but for me, I thought it was stretch. With that flaw in mind, the pace moves along, with Simon becoming more and more agitated with the presence of Gordo in his life, and the unexpected and unwanted gifts that keep coming. The final gift is complete and utter retribution for Gordo to seemingly get even with Simon for a teenage slight and ever-expanding lie; and is an effective cinematic method that somehow convinces the movie-goer that sometimes, indeed, the nerd wins in the end.

The Rosie Project- A brief review

What a novel novel this is. Loved this book on so many levels. If you are a big fan of the TV show Big Bang Theory and think that Sheldon is one of the funniest characters ever, this book is perfect for you. The main character Don Tillman, has some characteristics of Asperger’s Syndrome, though that is never explicitly stated in the book. He is so regimented, so scheduled, that he has left little to no time for a romantic life, hence the Wife Project. What starts out as a book about Don Tillman looking for a wife, aka, the wife project,turns into the Rosie Project. Rosie being a barmaid looking for her real father. This project consumes Don, and ultimately, he falls quite in love with Rosie. There are so many funny situations in this book that made me laugh out loud, the sex positions book part is insane, that I can highly recommend reading this for a break from reading heavier material. The author has followed up with the sequel, The Rosie Effect. It is rumored that The Rosie Project will be made into a movie; who should play the lead roles?