PARENTS WEEKEND

4 stars out of 5

The author is a favorite of mine, so I was eager to get this one started. Now that I'm done, I'm a pretty happy camper. The only thing that gave me a little trouble is that the cast of characters is pretty large, so it was hard to keep track of who's who. But by the mid-point I'd pretty much gotten with the program, so from that point on, it was just sit back and try to figure out how it would end.

It begins with what I'd guess is a bugger for most of us who went to college right after high school - the annual Parents' Weekend (or whatever the event was called at your school). It was punctuated by a dinner at which parents and their "kids" could eat and drink well and chat - or at least that's what was expected to happen. This time, it didn't; five of the kids, in fact, were no-shows. That, of course, had parents' emotions running from anger to worry; did they skip out just to be ornery, did they all forget (not likely) or did something more sinister happen to them?

Chapters shift among the five students: Blaine, who was abducted as a child and whose mother is a hot-shot in the State Department; Stella, whose father is a doctor and her mother not a happy person; Libby, whose father is a Superior Court judge in Arkansas who made controversial headlines for a recent trial decision; Mark, who has a checkered past and is Blaine's good friend; Felix, a single mother who works at the college;  Overshadowing the whole affair is the supposedly accidental death of Natasha Belov, another student and a friend of Stella. Also in the mix is Sarah Keller, an FBI agent readers may be familiar with by way of other of the author's books including The Night Shift.

Of course, suspicion lingers that Natasha's death in a sea cave wasn't an accident, but there's no proof. And efforts to find out where the missing kids went use up many pages, highlighted by Agent Keller's stellar investigative skills. I wish I could say I guessed the ending, but that didn't happen. All in all, though, reading it was an enjoyable experience as expected. Many thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review an advance copy.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay (Minotaur Books, May 2025); 320 pp.

SOUTH OF NOWHERE

5 stars out of 5

Remember that old Barbara Mandrell song, "I was Country when Country wasn't Cool?" Well, that sort of applies to this series, which began with The Never Game in 2018 - well before the smash hit TV show, "Tracker," which debuted on Oct. 13, 2024. I haven't missed a book - this is the fifth - nor an episode of the show, but just between you and me, the books are better.

The star of the show, Colter Shaw, spends most of his time doing work similar to that of a bounty hunter; when people need help finding other people and offer a financial reward, if the case sounds worthwhile, he'll take it on. Other times, as happens here, he plies his trade pro bono. Colter's sister, Dorion, makes her living as a disaster response specialist; when something goes horribly wrong, she comes in to direct cleanup of the mess. This time, a levee has collapsed in the tiny town of Hinowah in northern California, and she asks Colter to join her to help find a family whose car has been swept away in the rushing water with them still in it.

That's a tragic situation, but even more so is the real possibility that the rest of the levee will collapse, sending a torrent of water that could obliterate the town. Residents are being asked to evacuate and most do - the most notable exception being an elderly native Ohlone woman who refuses to budge. As the responders do their thing to shore up the levee and get residents out of harm's way, Colter learns that the collapse may not have been an accident. But if that's the case, who was behind the dastardly deed and what was the motive?

As if that weren't enough to deal with, writings from Colter's late survivalist father, Ashton, suggest a heretofore unknown family connection that could rock Colter, Dorion, his brother Russell and his mother Mary Dove right to the core - and bring the threat of physical danger. But here too, what's real and what isn't? And can Colter figure it all out in time?

I don't think it's a spoiler to say the star of the series lives to see another day, but the devil is in the details - and the book is full of them as well as plenty of action. Certainly it's another winner in my book, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to catch up with one of my favorite heroes. Well done!

South of Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver (G.P. Putnam's Sons, May 2025); 416 pp.

25 ALIVE

4.5 stars out of 5

Would you believe my last book in this long-running series was the 19th? I'll concede that it helps that I didn't miss any of those that came before, but it still came as a surprise when I was able to zip through this one - the 25th - as if I hadn't missed a beat. 

Well, with a couple of relatively minor exceptions. San Francisco detective Lindsay Boxer, who arguably is the star of the show, had a daughter Julie, who is now five years old. She and the rest of the so-called Women's Murder Club - medical examiner Claire Washburn, San Francisco Examiner crime reporter Cindy Thomas, assistant district attorney Yuki Castellano - are more experienced and wiser. Otherwise, it's basically same old, same old, but that's certainly not a bad thing.

This one begins with the unthinkable - and a happening that ain't happening in my review. Suffice it to say there's a single clue - the words "I Said, You Dead" left at the scene. That happening rallies all the troops, including Lindsay's boss, Jackson Brady, Cindy (who can smell a great story a continent away). Close on the heels of that one comes another one - and again, those same words.

Meantime, Yuki is prosecuting a murder case against a member of a Mexican cartel, who's also a suspected serial killer. Almost immediately, it becomes clear that someone - most likely others in the cartel - are intent on making sure the trial never takes place, and their methods take jury tampering to a whole new level.

On that front, Lindsay's husband, FBI agent Joe Molinari, gets involved, and readers begin to suspect a link between the "I Said" events and the trial. Bringing both to a close, though, takes up most of the pages and leads readers through another nail-biting adventure right up to the end. With which, I'm satisfied. I'm also happy to thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to get back in the game via a pre-release copy. Good job once again!

25 Alive by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown and Co., April 2025); 336 pp.

HEARTWOOD

5 stars out of 5

No question readers will run the gauntlet of emotions in this one, from sadness to trepidation to fearfulness to elation and more - but one thing clearly pulls them all together: Stellar writing.

Basically, the story centers around Valerie Gillis, a 42-year-old nurse and hiker (trailname: Sparrow) who went missing about 200 miles from her destination on the challenging Appalachian Trail. Once that fact is established, the spotlight begins to shine on other characters, first and foremost Lt. Beverly Miner, a Maine game warden to whom falls the job of locating Valerie. Then there's the elderly Lena, an assisted living resident in Connecticut, who spends much of her time on her computer and initially believes Valerie is her estranged daughter, and Santo, Valerie's wacky, oversized hiking buddy who left her on the trail believing she was close enough to the finish line that she'd be fine even if he wasn't there to cheer her on.

Readers see what's going on in the hearts and minds of all these characters and a couple of others, including Valerie's husband, who tracked her progress along at least part of the way. We get to know their backstories as well as present circumstances - most notably Valerie's written "letter" to her mother as she documents her feelings and physical deterioration as she tries to survive the wilderness alone and without much food or shelter.

Details, of course, I cannot provide, but except to say my heart was beating faster and faster toward the end and the whole experience was well worth the time it took to read it. Oh, and one other thing: thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the chance to enjoy it via a pre-release copy. Outstanding!

Heartwood by Amity Gaige (Simon & Schuster, April 2025); 320 pp.

THE MAID'S SECRET

5 stars out of 5

Gotta admit to getting a little teary-eyed at this one, sometimes happily, sometimes bittersweet. As the infamous Molly the Maid, head maid at the swanky Regency Grand Hotel, prepares to marry her fiance and Regency chef Juan Manuel, she gets up-close-and-personal insights of her ancestors by way of a diary written by her beloved Gran.

More surprisingly, though, is that Molly has noticeably morphed from a socially inept neat freak with OCD to a loving partner and beloved co-worker (well, most of the neat freakiness is still there). I haven't quite preferring the original version - but it works for this story, since the focus is on Molly's family history. As she and Juan try to plan their wedding with very little money to spare, Molly decides to take a box of her Gran's things she's saved and cherished over the years to the airing of a popular TV program similar to "Antiques Road Show" that's to be filmed at the hotel. Maybe, she thinks, one of them might be worth a little something.

As it turns out, one of them is worth far, far more than a little. But right after the winning bid is announced, it's discovered that the prized possession has somehow disappeared - making Molly a 5-minute millionnaire and dashing all hopes for a halfway decent wedding. But when Molly discovers that an old key unlocks her Gran's diary, family secrets Molly never knew - and clues as to who's behind the theft - are unlocked as well. And not a minute too soon; whoever is behind the theft has made it clear that Molly's life is in danger.

All the rest is the thrill of the chase, and it's another engaging and entertaining journey. Now, I eagerly await the fourth installment - and once again thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this one. Well done!

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose (Ballantine Books, April 2025); 336 pp.

SALTWATER

4 stars out of 5

By the end of this book, my head was spinning from all the twists and turns, and that's a good thing. But most of them crossed the credibility line, and besides that, I really didn't like any of the characters enough to care much about how things turned out for them. 

Despite those misgivings, though, I did enjoy the book. It's got all the right (write??) stuff in it, and I admire anyone who can come up with a plot this complex in the first place and then keep all the details straight. 

The focus is on the uber-wealthy Lingate family and the death of Sarah Lingate, a relatively new mother of Helen, in 1992. From that point on, the case of Sarah's body being found at the bottom of a cliff was long since closed by local police, but suspicions lingered. The most common belief is that she was murdered by Richard, her husband and Helen's father. But over the years, the family closed ranks as only the snobby rich can do (and this bunch is as snobby as they come), so the rumors have remained, well, rumors.

Today, Helen is a grown-up, and she's returned to the island of Capri with the family, for what I guess is summer R&R. This time, they're accompanied by Richard's "assistant," Lorna, who has the role of rich-boss gopher honed to a fare-thee-well (but clearly has an agenda of her own). Soon after the return to Capri, they get a surprise welcome back gift that's less than welcome: a box containing the necklace Sarah was wearing when she died - and a demand for a huge sum of money.

The rest of the book follows the events on Capri - complete with another disappearance - and glimpses of what led up to Sarah's death (chapters shift among characters and time frames). The end, of course, pulls it all together, and readers learn the truth about what happened all those years ago. Now that all those loose ends have been tied up, I'm ready for the next book by this talented author - and thanking the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one.

Saltwater by Katy Hays (Ballantine Books, March 2025); 336 pp.

HIDDEN IN SMOKE

4 stars out of 5

Wow - the plot of this book, the third in the series featuring arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker, sure has a lot of "legs." I guess that's another way of saying it was much more complex and hard to follow than that first two, at least until I'd passed the halfway point. After that, it everything started to mesh, though, and by the end, I realized how well it's written and how much I enjoyed it.

There are three situations involved from the beginning: the torching of several parking garages at apartments in Hollywood on just one night, a major fire that wipes out a major section of a busy freeway and destroys illicit businesses and homeless camps littered below the overpass, and an old "connection" of Walter's - Danny Cole - who for whatever reason has formulated a plan to steal a $40 million, one-of-a-kind wristwatch from it's high-security location in Japan. Fairly early on, Walter and Andrew are called away from the garage fires to the more potentiallyl devastating freeway - but there's still a possibility the same perp could be behind both.

How Danny fares with the theft - and why he's doing it - I'll leave for readers to learn for themselves. I will say, though, that I'm one of those who, while sympathetic, rarely believe the end justifies the means. And what that means is I lost a little bit of respect for one of the characters in the book even though his actions can be deemed justifiable (and most certainly address an important issue of national concern).

As the freeway investigation begins, Walter and Andrew hook up with Lost Hills homicide detective Eve Ronin and her sidekick Duncan Pavone - always guaranteed to add some spice to the series. When the man suspected of engineering the horrific blaze turns up dead, well, that adds even more intrigue. And that's as far as I'm willing to go to not risk revealing too much - I'll just say alls well that ends well, especially when it leaves an ember or two smoldering and ready for rekindling in the next installment. Soon, please?

Meantime, many thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. 

Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer, April 2025); 300 pp.