SPLIT SCREEN

5 stars out of 5

Los Angeles County Detective Eve Ronin is less than thrilled to have her professional life story revealed to the world via a successful TV series, but since both her father and mother are involved in the production, she’s reluctant to rock the boat. She’s even more reluctant to have Erin Casey, the actress who plays her on the show, tag along on her investigations for a week, supposedly so she can better identify with her character. As usual, Eve’s instincts were spot-on; at one stop, a shooter takes Erin down for the count (though not out; she’ll be hospitalized for a while but is expected to return to her small screen role).

Meanwhile, back at the office, Eve’s partner Duncan Pavone is on career hold while his previous actions are being investigated. There’s even a new sheriff in town – Waylon Gifford – who’s angling for a big-time political career and wants to use Eve’s media popularity as a catapult. Eve, though, manages to take most of it in stride as she tries to find out who shot Erin. That is, until the truth hits: Erin wasn’t the real target – she was. Whoops – back to square one.

Needless to say, nothing is that simple; this isn’t the only storyline in the book. Along the way, Eve discovers she has a half sister she never knew about – and worse, the girl is mixed up with some very nasty people but refuses to believe it. Eve decides, albeit reluctantly, that she has a responsibility to get her out of harm’s way. In the midst of all that comes tension between Eve and her boyfriend, forensic anthropologist Daniel Brooks, and she must deal with at least a couple of other murders. The subsequent investigations bring in two of my other favorite characters from another favorite series – arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andy Walker, plus a couple of other familiar faces from other books.

Does it all get a little bit confusing? It’s all a little bit over the top, yes, but also great fun to read (especially for loyal readers who have followed this author’s books religiously, though I’ll emphasize that this one stands on its own just fine). And I assure you all those loose ends get tied up at the end, albeit with a few unexpected twists. The bottom line? Another don’t-miss installment for which I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release copy to read and review. Now go get your own!

Split Screen by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer, October 2026); 297 pp.

CHAIN REACTION

5 stars out of 5

Reading as many for-review books as I do each year – hovering around 100 – it’s always a special treat to dive into one I know I’m going to enjoy. Sometimes, it’s by a tried-and-true author; other times, it’s a character (or characters) I’ve come to know and love. The best times happen when those two come together – as in the Jack Reacher series (I’ve lost count of how many of the 30 others I’ve read over the years, but I know I’ve missed fewer than a handful, if that).

So it was that I started this one with high expectations – and while I won’t say this one has the most interesting or unique storyline (I “get” that data centers are the topic du jour these days and for rightly so, but personally I’ve grown a little weary of reading so many books this year with that as the focus). I did love, though, that usual lone wolf Reacher got back in touch with a special person from previous books – now a General, Susan Turner – who somehow managed to track him down when he stopped at a bank in Arlington, Virginia, to pick up his renewed ATM card.

The good general, it seems, lost one of her best men – killed in a rather remote spot in Colorado when he was sent there on a mission related to possible cybercrime. The murder happened in a rather dingy bar – not the kind of place her guy was known to frequent – so she’s afraid he’d been targeted. And if that’s true, it likely means she’s got a mole on her top-secret team. She needs someone who can separate truth from fiction – hopefully without getting killed in the process – and that means her old pal Reacher. His initial investigation – which early on doesn’t end well for a couple of bad guys – suggests ties to a large law firm based in San Francisco and some mysterious massive data centers he found in that remote location.

Tracking down specifics, though, quickly turns dangerous for everyone involved, but as usual, Reacher puts his considerable physical and analytical skills to get the job done. Details, of course, other readers will have to learn for themselves; but suffice it to say this is another adventure that kept me turning pages as fast as I could. Definitely recommended, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to get in on the considerable action by way of a pre-release copy.

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Bantam, October 2026); 416 pp.

BEFORE YOU WERE ANNE

5 stars out of 5

Apparently this is the second book in a series and I missed the first, but I’ll say to any other potential readers in the same boat not to jump ship. There were a few things I think I’d have understood better had I started at the beginning – true of just about any series, IMHO – but this follow-up stands alone just fine. Most important, though, is that I really enjoyed reading it.

Japanese-American Chelsey Calhoun is a homicide detective, and she lands in the middle of a case in which a Japanese woman named Ann Walker has been murdered; her 16-year-old daughter, Naomi, is missing, with clues strongly suggesting it wasn’t by her choice. The case triggers unpleasant memories of Chelsey’s own sister’s disappearance (dealt with in the first book, or so I read somewhere). She’s married to a great guy named Noah and is pregnant with their first child, a girl, which she hasn’t yet revealed to anyone else including her partner Montoya.

It doesn’t take long for the investigative team to learn that Anne isn’t really Anne; instead, she’s Rika Takayashi, who ran away from her native Tokyo years ago, apparently while pregnant with her daughter – seemingly to escape an abusive relationship. For a time, she stayed with a friend in Seattle, but after she changed her name, she managed to settle into a new life with Naomi (her name was not changed). Now, though, Naomi is asking questions Rika doesn’t want to answer, like who her father is. Unbeknownst to her mother, she sets out to find him – not realizing what the consequences might be.

The story highlights Naomi’s search for her father as well as what Rika went through to get where she is and, of course, Chelsey’s investigation into her murder. Details I cannot provide without spoiling it for others, but rest assured there are several twists, turns and surprises along the way to an ending that is, for the most part, satisfying.

All told, it’s a book well worth reading, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to tag along by way of a pre-release copy. Well done!

Before You Were Anne by Emiko Jean (Simon & Schuster, September 2026); 320 pp.

BARK HUMBUG

5 stars out of 5

I admit to being a cat person. Those other four-legged critters who bark don’t interest me in the least; I consider them like grandkids – best handed back to their owners after half an hour or so. That said, there’s something about books with dogs in them that’s simply irresistible. And this series, while really focusing on a semi-retired attorney who inevitably gets drawn back into the courtroom, is a great example of the power of the pooch.

This time out, it starts with a devious newspaper photographer, who gets dog lover, advocate and shelter owner Andy Carpenter’s attention by a way of a trick request to join a Christmas celebrity doggie feature. Andy of course takes the bait, only to learn that what she wants is him to represent her brother Jon Lowery, who’s nowhere to be found but wanted for murdering the town mayor and his associate. Andy still swears up and down he’s retired (but after this many books, methinks that he protests too much). After he learns Jon is willing to talk to him with no strings attached, Andy at least agrees to hear him out (made even easier when he finds out Jon has a dog adopted from Andy’s Tara Foundation, named for his own golden retriever).

A meet-up is quietly arranged, but when Andy and his wife Laurie Collins get to the agreed-upon place to meet, they’re accosted by state cops with really big guns. Suddenly, the situation changes – sans any kind of meet-and-greet, Andy really has no choice but to say he’s Jon’s attorney. For Andy, that’s a first; never in his career has he taken on a client with whom he’s never even spoken. All Andy knows is that Jon is a computer science expert (with a degree from Rutgers, near Paterson, New Jersey, where Andy lives and works), and, most notably, he’s an ex-Marine and accomplished sniper.

From that point on, it’s a matter of gathering the investigative team together – and that includes Laurie, an ex-cop – who will collect information Andy needs to defend Jon in the courtroom. The team also includes the usual cast of characters loyal readers have come to know and love. Perhaps the best part for me, though, is that books in this series are serious, but guaranteed to elicit a chuckle (make that quite a few, plus an outright guffaw or two). Sharing any details would spoil things for others, but I will say there’s a surprise ending that’s a doozy.

All told, it’s another totally enjoyable adventure from start to finish, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it. Since it’s got a holiday slant, it would make a great gift for someone who loves to read while sitting before a cozy fire with a pooch at their feet. Go! Fetch!

Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur Books, October 2026); 320 pp.

THE DYING LIGHT

4 stars out of 5

There’s no shortage of murder and mayhem in this, the fourth book in the Detective Matthew Venn series, but it touches on the personal as Venn’s husband, Jonathan, is more determined than ever to find his birth mother (he was adopted as a child) and Venn, who turned his back on a religious cult-like childhood to the dismay of his family, finds himself in the middle of a case involving the deaths of teenagers.

As a police detective in North Devon, Matthew is called to an elite residential area and the home of doctor and politician Paul Armstrong and his wife Cath. There, Armstrong’s daughter’s friend Lottie has been found dead in the private swimming pool – and the daughter, Hannah, is missing. An accident? Perhaps, except Lottie was an Olympic swimmer wannabe.

Also involved is farm property not far away, where a concert-like event called “Millsfest” just took place – and that could be the last time Lottie and Hannah were seen together. Also a mystery is that the farm boasts a few remote “glamping” cabins that can be rented; one was by a retired reporter and his wife, with the former reportedly planning a book about Dr. Armstrong. Mysteriously, the couple disappears – and it’s learned that their own daughter, Elizabeth, used to know Hannah and Lottie. Coincidence? Well, when you’re a detective, there’s no such thing.

And so it goes, with Matthew’s investigation – and Jonathan’s search for his birth mother – continues to the end (with a twist that no doubt will carry forward to the next installment, which I hope will come soon). Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to once again find out what one of my favorite detectives has been up to.

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur Books, September 2026); 384 pp.

THE FRENCH ILLUSION

5 stars out of 5

Well, this is a bit of an unusual situation – I’m not sure whether I’m happier to have read and finished this intriguing, edge-of-seat story or the expectation that there’s another one (or two, or three or more) in the making? The latter isn’t a certainty, but since it’s billed as “The French Illusion #1,” logic tells me a #2 will follow.

Anyway, it took a while for them to show up, but I already love leading man Stuart Nash and his “future wife,” Rae-Claire Russo – even though, contrary to almost every other book I’ve read by this author, there’s no courtroom action. Nash is an ex-military man and an assistant U.S. attorney in North Carolina, though, and the soon-to-be dynamic duo “accidentally” meet each other at a cybercrime seminar in Washington, D.C.

Behind the scenes – at least the public ones – Paul and Chelsea Tanner head for Paris for their honeymoon. It’s a dream come true, till it turns into a nightmare for the couple and both sets of parents when they go missing – and said parents get ransom calls from what appears to be a network of criminals asking for millions. The money isn’t a huge issue for Chelsea’s parents – dad is an orthopedic surgeon who is financially savvy – but it’s beyond hope for Paul’s less financially well-off mother and father. And of course, all are warned not to tell anyone what’s going on, especially law enforcement.

As the story progresses, readers see what’s happening from the points of view of both the parents and the victims – and, down the road a bit, of the FBI and CIA, which agree to hold hands for once in an effort to shut down what appears to be a long-running and highly successful operation. Enter Nash and Russo (nope, not gonna explain how that came to pass), and from that point on, the action never stops – and neither did my reading about it.

All told, it’s edge-of-seat exciting, and I hope we’ll be seeing this pair again. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this one!

The French Illusion by John Grisham (Doubleday, September 2026); 352 pp.

DIE FAMOUS

4 stars out of 5

I’ve read a couple of this author’s books and a short-story collaboration (appropriately titled “Short Story”) with Karin Slaughter, but all those were several years ago so my experience isn’t recent. But the premise sounded intriguing – and I’ve never had a bad book from this publisher – so I requested a pre-release copy at NetGalley and here we are. And once again, it was an enjoyable experience overall.

It was, though, a bit difficult to “get into” – mostly, I guess, because of what actually makes the story work as well as it does: frequent switching of perspectives of three different characters. You have Savannah Cody, the mother of Alford; the father of that child, Edward “Nickel” Terhune, who’s on the run as part of the Brady Gang, wanted Bonnie and Clyde-style bank robbers; and Alford (undoubtedly the most sympathy-generating among the three).

The main theme is that Savannah decided, as she tells an interrogator after the fact, that Eddie – the now most-wanted man she loved and who still loves her – needs to die, and she’ll be the one to do the dirty deed. But even the FBI can’t find Eddie, who was the Brady gang’s getaway car driver – so how can she?

Actually, she knows something others don’t: there’s a place in the United States Eddie dreamed of – and Savannah shared that dream. When push comes to shove, then, she’s convinced that’s where Eddie would head next – or die trying. The question is, by whose hand?

I wish I could be more specific, but that would ruin the story for others. As I mentioned earlier, there are a few too many backward jumps to suit my style, but they do get the job done in the end with a few twists and quite a few turns along the way. Well worth a read, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to tag along on the journey by way of a pre-release copy.

Die Famous by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown and Co., September 2026); 415 pp.