Category: Family

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(Insert Tantrum Here)

Before I splatter my heart and soul all over this page, we need a gentle reminder.

This is MY space. I choose to be vulnerable and share it with your eyes and your judgments and your preconceived notions. I encourage genuine feedback, but please be overly confident if you choose to negate anything in my space. I may love you, but my tolerance level for pearl clutching and toxic positivism is in the negatives. The gloves are off.

For starters, I chose to read All the Ugly and Wonderful Things the week the kids’ dad got released from prison. It was a horrible, unconscious choice that wrecked me every single time I read a little more in the book. (Side note: It is INCREDIBLY written but not for the faint of heart… Probably one of my top books for 2025 so far…). Highly recommend. My timing was just off, which is literally an accurate description of my entire 44 years on this planet.

Anyway, the kids’ dad was released on March 28th. He’s served his time and is sober, so more power to him. He moved to Oklahoma with his girlfriend and is hoping for a new lease on life. He says the only responsibility he has is cleaning their pool. His life as a pool boy with no expenses seems to be thriving. He’s got four kids out here that have been raised by single moms who get nothing from him, but different strokes for different deadbeat folks, I suppose.

This leaves me with big feelings that took me by surprise. I honestly didn’t expect any feelings, but the fiery anger (and maybe resentment/disappointment/grief?) takes my breath away and spikes my blood pressure every time it crosses my mind. I’ve never expected life to be fair or just, but this takes the unjust nature of our time on this planet to a new, soul-crushing level. I’ve never had the opportunity to grieve the life I thought I’d have at 34 or 44, and that sucks. It leaves me feeling empty and alone. I went from losing a husband/ best friend/life partner to to being the single mom of a 1 and 2 year old quite literally in the same exasperated breath. I was in a relationship after my marriage that I hoped would last (if only because it was so vanilla and predictable), but in retrospect, only left Kannon with a “distant uncle” type relationship and me with a lot of wasted years on absolutely nothing. I am at the same place I was a decade ago, only now I have teenagers who expect perfection from their one present parent, and don’t miss a beat.

What is so wrong with me that I am alone, hamster-wheeling through life and raising these two? Logically, I know that is a ridiculous statement, but that’s what is screaming at the top of my distorted brain at 3 am when I can’t sleep. How does an ex-con who has shit on everything good he’s ever been handed walk out of prison to a life of ease and luxury, while I’m over here not paying the internet so I can pay the electric? I will process more as time goes on… or maybe I won’t… because I am so tired and irritated that I’ve already given so much of myself and my peace to this idiocy.

In addition to that, it has dawned on me 15 years too late that nothing I had with the kids’ dad was real. He is a shapeshifter and will contort to fit whatever his current meal ticket finds suiting. He did it for me until he couldn’t. He hit a ceiling and just wore himself out pretending to be someone he wasn’t. His current situation may last, just because he’s too tired, sick and felonious to start again. Another personally startling realization is this: I’ve never been in love and I have never been emotionally safe in any romantic relationship I’ve cultivated. It’s interesting that I saw potential where there was none and jumped in with both feet every. single. time. Therapy has shed light on that, but understanding the why of things doesn’t alleviate or change anything. Maybe Mr. Right will enter the scene someday. Maybe I’m just tired and don’t have the energy or faith to find out. We shall see, I guess. I’ve poured so much of my magical self into the shittiest humans on Earth, and that’s nauseating to reconcile…

Well, I better get off of here. I have to grab Kannon from school and take him to the dentist, then pick up my car from the body shop in Victoria, then come back to work and finish up some expense reports and time sheets, then grab the kids from school, get Anaiah to her lash appointment, then figure out dinner, then pay the mortgage (which is two months behind), the electric bill, the internet, the disposal invoice (possibly three months behind), pack our stuff for Anaiah’s district track meet tomorrow, wash her jersey, make breakfast for the kids for tomorrow, and text Kannon’s coach to make sure he has a ride home from school tomorrow… since I will be at Anaiah’s district track meet. I get that I am blessed because I get ALL of my kids ALL the time. I would not like splitting time with anyone else and trusting anyone else to care for them. This is not a celebratory post for single parenthood. It is okay to honestly lament the painful, heavy, life-altering seasons of life. It is normal and human to feel awful and sad and all the things we hide in closets and sweep under bulging rugs. It is important to sit with those feelings and give them the space they demand, then trudge directly through them to the other side. Writing helps me do that, and I am promising myself that I will make it more of a priority as I continue through this startling era of existence.

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What I’m Reading: What Lies Beneath — by J. G. Hetherton

J.G. Hetherton was raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and lived in Chicago for the better part of a decade. Along the way to his first novel, he dabbled in many different day jobs before moving to North Carolina for a girl. They live in Durham, North Carolina with their twin daughters, and when he’s not writing, you can find him on the hiking trail or sitting down with a good book.

Perfect for fans of Jeffery Deaver and J.A. Jance, in this thrilling second book in the series, Laura Chambers finds herself caught in a deadly web of small town secrets.

Hillsborough, North Carolina is a town with a dark history that is bubbling to the surface. Twenty years ago, Laura’s friend’s family was slaughtered in their beds, and the sole survivor, Laura’s eight-year-old friend, was whisked away to distant relatives. That was the last time Laura ever saw her best friend.

Twenty years later, a woman runs onto the interstate, directly into the path of a truck, and the gruesome accident leaves behind a mangled corpse. Her very last phone call was to Laura, just before she was killed, but her face is disfigured beyond recognition. Identification seems impossible, and the victim was barefoot and in a state of undress. The only thing in her possession is an old photograph depicting Laura, Laura’s father—and standing next to them, her lost friend from childhood.

Laura’s father passed away when she was eight, and she thought she understood why he vanished from her life in the year before he died, but the photograph and the corpse begin to cast doubt on everything she thought she knew.

As the lines between fact and fiction blur, Laura digs into the history of the deceased, and her own family, determined to discover what lies beneath…

Laura is an interesting bird. She has been emotionally abused by her mother her entire life and lied to by both her parents, among others. Over all, I like her character. She’s flawed and I like that, but also stays in her own head a little too much. I found myself irritated with her more than once.

The author’s website

Email the author directly at jghetherton@gmail.com

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What I’m Reading: Last Girl Gone — by J. G. Hetherton

J. G. Hetherton was in raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and lived in Chicago for the better part of a decade. Along the way to his first novel, he dabbled in many different day jobs before moving to North Carolina for a girl. They live in Durham, North Carolina, with their twin daughters, and when he’s not writing, you can find him on the hiking trail or sitting down with a good book.

A Sun-Sentinel Top Debut Mystery of 2018

This pulse-pounding series debut is the next obsession for fans of Julia Keller and David Bell, and readers of unflinching thrillers.

Sometimes, the journey home is the most harrowing. And it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

Investigative journalist Laura Chambers is back in her tiny hometown of Hillsborough, North Carolina, the one place she swore never to return. Fired from the Boston Globe, her career in shambles, she reluctantly takes a job with the local paper. The work is simple, unimportant, and worst of all, boring—at least until a missing girl turns up dead, the body impeccably clean, dressed to be the picture of innocence.

Years earlier, ten-year-old Patty Finch left home and never made it back. But for the people of Hillsborough, Patty was just the beginning. Child after child disappeared, a reign of terror the town desperately wants to forget. Now that terror has returned to seize another girl. And another.

This is the story Laura’s been waiting for—her one last chance to get back onto the front page. She dives deeper into a case that runs colder by the second, only to discover the truth may be far closer to home than she could have ever imagined. Powerful, intricate, and tense, Last Girl Gone will have you looking over your shoulder long after the last page.

I love reading debut novels, and this one was really good. I liked the characters, and Laura’s turbulent relationship with her mother added to the mix nicely. I am looking forward to the next book from this author.

The author’s website

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What I’m Reading: All His Pretty Girls — by Charly Cox

Born in the South, raised in the Midwest, Charly Cox now resides in the Southwest in the Land of Enchantment, Green Chile capital of the world, which is good because she enjoys eating copious amounts of the spicy food. When she’s not reading, writing, or plotting sinister evils with her antagonists, she enjoys doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, hanging out with her husband and her spoiled Siberian Husky, visiting her son in Arizona, and traveling, preferably to places surrounded by sun, sand, and warm uncrowded beaches.

Detective Alyssa Wyatt is hunting a serial killer. She doesn’t know that he’s also hunting her.

A woman is found naked, badly beaten, and barely alive in the New Mexico mountains. The shocking discovery plunges Albuquerque Detective Alyssa Wyatt into a case that will test her to the limit. It appears that Callie McCormick is the latest plaything of a mysterious psychopath who leaves a long shadow on the streets of New Mexico—an individual linked to a string of deaths but leaving no evidence. But when Alyssa makes a breakthrough that just might reveal the killer, she unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of a brutal maniac—one with an old score to settle. Because the killer knows Alyssa very well, even if she doesn’t know him. And he’s determined that she’ll know his name—even if he has to extract his deadly revenge on her and everything she loves.

Fans of Kendra Elliot, Melinda Leigh, and Angela Marsons will be utterly engrossed.

Great reviews for the Detective Alyssa Wyatt Series!
“Wow, did All His Pretty Girls pack a punch! I was shocked when I found out this was a debut…a heart-in-your-mouth read that will have you racing through those pages.”
―On The Shelf Reviews

“Oh boy, was I swiped off my feet as what was already a totally gripping read escalated into my top five for this year…It felt like my heart was beating in the back of my throat!”
―Books From Dusk Till Dawn

“A serial killer chiller where the action never flags, the suspense is red-hot and the twists and turns jaw-droppingly brilliant, fans of the genre need to add Charly Cox to their list of must-buys.”
―Bookish Jottings

“A compelling thriller that I could not put down! The killer was insane, the story was addictive and the writing was fantastic. This is everything I want when I pick up a police procedural!”
—Jessica Belmont, writer/blogger

This is a debut novel. As far as those go, it is solid. I had this series by Charly Cox on my wish list for a long time and I decided to take the plunge before it wasn’t included in my audible membership anymore. It was okay. Probably three stars. Middle of the road characters and story line. I will read the rest of the Alyssa Wyatt series because I can’t not read it after I’ve already started it. Reasonably entertaining. No kids or puppies die, so I guess it was okay.

Detective Alyssa Wyatt – Protagonist, works with the Albuquerque Police Department

Brock Wyatt – Alyssa’s husband

Isaac Wyatt – Alyssa and Brock’s son

Holly Wyatt – Alyssa and Brock’s daughter

Mable Wyatt – Brock’s mother

Detective Cord Roberts – Alyssa’s partner

Sarah Roberts – Cord’s wife, nurse

Evan Bishop/ – Antagonist, the killer, whose perspective is also featured in the story, providing insight into his motivations and actions

Callie McCormick – one of Evan’s victims,  found nearly dead after being missing

Raif McCormick – Callie’s husband

Charly McCormick’s Website

Find Her On Insta

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What I’m Reading: The Sound of Rain — by Gregg Olsen

Author’s Website

Gregg Olsen’s Instagram

Publisher’s Summary:

Former homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she’s flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase―whose murder case ended her career.

As Nicole obsesses over the old facts, she realizes everything about that case felt off: a disinterested mom, a suicidal pedophile, and too many questions left unanswered. When the little girl’s grieving father begs Nicole for help, she’s drawn back into the investigation…and given one shot at redemption.

But the deeper Nicole digs, the more evil she uncovers, including betrayals that hit painfully close to home. Will a shocking discovery be the key to finally getting justice for Kelsey and resurrecting her own life?

Characters:

  • Nicole Foster: The main character in the book who becomes homeless after losing her job. She accepts a place to stay from Julian Chase. In return, she helps him learn the truth about his murdered child.
  • Julian Chase: The father of the murdered child, Kelsey Chase. He offers Nicole a place to stay in exchange for her help in learning the truth about the crime.
  • Sister Stacy: Married to Cy, who works for Microsoft. She enjoys Nicole’s shortcomings.
  • Emma: Stacy and Cy’s only child
  • Cy: Stacy’s husband, who works for Microsoft.

My take:

I was introduced to Gregg Olsen about a year ago when I read If You Tell. I will read everything he writes. I liked this story enough to read the next in the series. The ending just fell a little flat for me. I am hoping more will be explained in the next book in the series, The Weight of Silence. I rated it 3.5 stars. It may be my mood. The other Olsen books I’ve read were better, in my opinion. Alas, I will journey on through the rest of them…

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It Has Ended Many Times…

This is one of my all-time favorites. This is why I’m unapologetically me regardless of how any one person “thinks” I should be. I’m a work in progress. I am a Jesus follower. I love craft beer. I value your humanity and the condition of your heart exponentially more than your sexual orientation or your bank account. My sense of humor is amazing and questionable. I put up my Christmas tree on November 1st. I am intelligent and I love very well, which is sometimes a conflict of interest. If you knew me at 8, 18, 24, or 34 and don’t know me now, you don’t know me anymore. My kids have been raised in a one-parent home since they were one and two, and they are THRIVING in every. single. way. I will sit with you over a pot of coffee or a 32 oz margarita and discuss my life, your life, the state of the union, and drag queens in libraries at any time, and I will do so honestly. My threshold for pleasantries and small talk is ten seconds tops, then we’re finished, and I don’t mind making it weird. I do not allow anyone or anything to demand my energy, time, or attention. And all of this, because my life has quite literally ended for me many times and began again in the morning.

Pop your earbuds in, find a good podcast, and focus on what you, as an individual, need to focus on today. Accept everything else competing for your attention as meaningless noise.

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What I’m Reading: The Paris Apartment — Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley studied English liter­ature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction edi­tor in the publishing industry. She is the author of five novels including The Guest List and The Hunt­ing Party. She lives in London.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Told in rotating points of view, this Tilt-A-Whirl of a novel brims with jangly tension – an undeniably engrossing guessing game.”  — Vogue

“[A] clever, cliff-hanger-filled thriller.” — People

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide… 

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

This starts with the prologue. We see at the very beginning that Ben is most likely in some kind of trouble. An intruder enters his apartment and he is obviously afraid.

Jess arrives to the apartment and immediately thinks she sees a shadowy person crouched hiding behind a car. She then looks up and sees someone watching her from a window above. Soon, after talking to several people in the building, she knows that something is very off with the situation and Ben may be in some trouble. She is also in some obvious trouble and running from something or someone.

Foley creates characters that you can’t quite trust, so everyone is under just a little bit of suspicion at least. I love that. The characters are well-developed, as usual, and the ending will knock your socks off as well. I gave this four stars and would definitely recommend. I read it in a few days, so definitely a solid page-turner.

Ben (3rd floor) – Benjamin Daniels, missing when the story begins, aspiring writer, journalist, Jess’ half brother (they share a mom)

Jess Hadley – brave, intelligent, independent, Ben’s half sister, from London, former foster kid

Antoine (1st floor) – angry alcoholic that abuses his wife

Dominique – Antoine’s wife, they split early on

Sophie Meunier (penthouse) – rich, 50 years old, married to Jacque

Benoit – Sophie’s silver whippet

Jacque – Sophie’s husband, business owner, frequently travels,

Concierge (lives in guard cabin) – elderly lady, very private, cleans and watches over the property

Mimi (4th floor) – 19 years old, convent educated, naive, fragile, and maybe mentally compromised, obsessed with Ben

Camille – Mimi’s roommate, promiscuous, polar opposite of Mimi

Nick Miller (2nd floor) – unemployed but obviously rich, oxy addict, attended Cambridge with Ben

Theo Mandelson – Ben’s Paris editor

Irina – the mystery girl that surfaces later in the story

Lucy Foley’s Instagram

Buy The Paris Apartment HERE

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What I’m Reading: Demon Copperhead — by Barbara Kingsolver

Southwest Virginia, Lee County

Barbara Kingsolver is from Appalachia and set out to write The Great American Appalachian Novel… AND DID SHE EVER.

Y’all… 21 hours and 3 minutes (560 pages) and I SAILED through it. LISTEN TO THIS BOOK instead of reading it. The narrator is absolute perfection. No one could be a better Demon. Unlike some of the reviews I’ve read, I absolutely wanted it to end. This is not an easy read. It made my heart bleed and overflow almost simultaneously. Regardless of his misfortune and addiction, Demon IS SO GOOD. He remains so good throughout the entire book, which is a testament to humanity as a whole. He describes the happy times of his childhood as anyone would. I can relate to his descriptions of playing with friends outside during childhood years. This gives us all a thread of continuity and weaves us into Demon’s train of thought and perspective.

I loved Ma and HATED Stoner and Romeo. These men prey on single mothers and are horrific subhumans. I literally reacted to much to the gut wrenching parts of this book that my Apple watch congratulated me on my workout… and I wasn’t working out… While most of us aren’t Ma and Mariah, we feel like it. Motherhood is so hard and we all feel like we are failing unforgivably sometimes, and honestly, sometimes we are. Parts of this book made me recall my inadequacies as a mother and wonder how my kids will remember it all. I was angry at Ma for staying with Stoner, but in her position, and as beaten down as she’d been her entire life, she’d just given up years ago. I can’t imagine and I’m grateful I am not and never will be in that position. I was so stupid at 18 years old, but I thank God for family and resources that would never let me sink into Ma’s life.

This is a necessary read and truly a work of art. I was up at 3:30 am this morning thinking about Demon and his chosen family, as they aren’t fictional characters at all. There are countless Demons and Emmys and Dories and Junes and Hammerhead Kellys and Tommys and Fast Forwards all over our great nation and the world, surviving as they know how. I watched several documentaries that realistically depict the drug epidemic in Appalachia. The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is a 2009 documentary film directed by Julien Nitzberg chronicling the White family of Boone County, West Virginia. It isn’t an easy or tame watch, but I highly recommend it. It elicits the same emotional rollercoaster as this work. And under the differences, traumas, addictions, lifestyles, and intensity is the raw underbelly of people just doing their best to survive bigotry, shame grief, and hunger. Most humans on the planet can relate in some way to that. 

The style is unmatched. It reminds me of Cutting for Stone in the sense that you need to read it slowly to absorb all of the beauty, but I loved it even more. I loved the way Demon references religion and the Bible. I can totally see his perspective. And OH MY GOODNESS the figurative language in this masterpiece… Otherworldly. It addresses society as a whole – poverty, addiction, domestic violence, child abuse, discrimination in various forms – while fostering the connective heartbeat of raw, unfiltered humanity straight through all of the impossibilities and devastations.

Some of my personal favorite gems from this masterpiece…

“Pestering the tit of trouble”

‘The monster truck mud rally of child services”

“Keeping secrets from young ears only plants seeds between them.” (woosah….)

… and that is just in the first 11 minutes…

“One nation, underemployed”

“A thing grows teeth once its put into words.”

“Spittin’ poison in my brain” referring to Stoner’s influence on Demon regarding Maggot’s sexuality

“Breathin’ the halitosis of summer…”

Buy Demon Copperhead HERE

Barbara Kingsolver’s Instagram

Kingsolver Interview on Demon Copperhead – MUST LISTEN!!!

Characters:

(Most of the character analyses for this book are paraphrased from LitCharts. There are a ton of characters and I was so enamoured with the writing that I didn’t take great notes…)

Demon Copperhead – Demon, born Damon Fields, is the novel’s protagonist. Demon is born in a trailer bathroom to a young mother who is addicted to drugs. Throughout the novel, Demon struggles to overcome the circumstances of his birth—poverty, generational trauma, and his mother’s addiction, which he ultimately inherits. He serves as an example of the hardships that people in Appalachia face as a result of external forces like inadequate social services, poverty, and a lack of employment opportunities. Demon’s character, in particular, helps illustrate the harm caused by pharmaceutical companies that targeted the Appalachian region and overprescribed opioids they knew to be addictive.

Ma – Demon’s mom is young when she has Demon. During Demon’s childhood, Mom works at Walmart and tries, at various times, to enter recovery from addiction.

Maggot – born Matt Peggot, is Demon’s closest friend growing up. Demon spends as much time at Maggot’s house as his own. When Mom becomes involved with Stoner, Stoner forbids Demon from spending time with Maggot because he suspects that Maggot is gay.

Stoner – Murrell Stone, nicknamed Stoner, is Mom’s boyfriend who is physically and verbally abusive to Mom and Demon.

Satan – Stoner’s dog

Mrs. Peggot – Nance Peggot, more often referred to as Mrs. Peggot, is Maggot’s grandmother who, along with Mr. Peggot, helps raise Maggot after his mother, Mariah, is sent to prison. The novel portrays Mrs. Peggot as kind and caring, and she and her husband become a surrogate family to Demon.

Mr. Peggot – Mrs. Peggot’s husband, is a kind and patient man, He helps raise Demon. He sustained a leg injury while working in the mines and has not walked easily since.

Mariah Peggot – Maggot’s mother, serving prison time, 18 when she went to prison, due to retaliating for domestic violence.

Romeo – Maggot’s father, egotistic and self-proclaimed too good for Mariah, “A fox in the hen house” as Mrs. Peggot says

Emmy – the daughter of Humvee, who passed away before the novel takes place. After Humvee died, the Peggots took in Emmy. When Maggot’s mom was sent to prison, though, the Peggots couldn’t raise two children, so Emmy went to live with her aunt June in Knoxville. June eventually formally adopts Emmy. Emmy is depicted as smart and wise beyond her years.

Aunt June – Maggot and Emmy’s aunt who becomes Emmy’s adoptive mother. June is a nurse in Knoxville who then moves back to Lee County to be closer to her family. She also steps in to help both Demon and Emmy when they are at their lowest and then financially supports their journeys to sobriety.

Angus – born Agnes Winfield, is Coach Winfield’s daughter. She does well in school and initially plans to leave Lee County to go to a four-year college as soon as possible.

Fast Forward – the larger-than-life football star who Demon first meets at Crickson’s farm. At first, Fast Forward seems charming to everyone who meets him, and Demon thinks of him as a kind of real-life superhero. As the novel, progresses, though, this charming façade peels away to reveal a darker, more sinister personality.

Coach Winfield – takes Demon in and helps raise him. Demon lives with Coach and Coach’s daughter, Angus.

Dori – Demon’s girlfriend. Demon is surprised to learn that Dori is a heavy user of opioids, which are prescribed to her father Vester, who is dying of cancer.

Tommy Waddell – one of the foster boys whom Demon meets at Mr. Crickson’s farm. The novel portrays Tommy as a sweet, kind, caring, and gentle person. Tommy is one of my favorite characters in the book.

Betsy Woodall – Demon’s paternal grandmother.

Dr. Watts – the doctor for the football team and the doctor at a pill mill, a kind of pain management clinic that will write prescriptions for anyone who pays for one.

Kent – Aunt June’s boyfriend who is a pharmaceutical representative. Kent’s job consists of trying to get doctors to prescribe opioid painkillers more often.

Hammerhead Kelly – a cousin in the Peggot family, related through marriage. He is a sweetheart.

Miss Barks – meets Demon when he is 10, one of Demon’s case managers through the Department of Social Services (DSS).

Mr. Crickson – the foster parent whom Demon first goes to live with after Mom overdoses.

Mr. McCobb – one of Demon’s foster parents.

Mrs. McCobb – one of Demon’s foster parents.

Dick – Betsy’s brother and Demon’s great-uncle.

U-Haul – born Ryan Pyles. Coach Winfield’s assistant who will later become an assistant football coach.

Mr. Armstrong – an English teacher at Demon’s middle school. He recognizes that Demon is a strong student and recommends him to the gifted and talented program.

Ms. Annie – the art teacher at the high school. She encourages Demon to pursue his talent for drawing. Ms. Annie is married to Mr. Armstrong. Ms. Annie is white and Mr. Armstrong is black.

Mr. Ghali – the owner of Golly’s Market

Rose Dartell – one of Fast Forward’s friends, though Fast Forward seems to treat her only with contempt. Rose seems jealous of Demon for the attention that Fast Forward gives him.

Vester – Dori’s father.

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What I’m Reading: American Girl – by Wendy Walker

Amazon’s review…

“Wendy Walker’s unforgettable thriller will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.” –Greer Hendricks, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Wife between Us

A pulse-pounding novel about a small-town business owner found dead and the teenage girl caught in the crosshairs, American Girl is the latest thriller from internationally bestselling author Wendy Walker.

Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, is determined to leave Sawyer, PA, as soon as she graduates high school. In the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at a sandwich shop called The Triple S to save money for college. But when shop owner, Clay Cooper — a man both respected and feared in their small economically depressed town — is found dead, each member of his staff becomes a suspect in the perplexing case. Before she can go anywhere, Charlie must protect herself and her friends by uncovering the danger that is still lurking in their tightknit community.

Based on the #1 bestselling audio, American Girl is a riveting thriller told through the eyes of an unforgettable protagonist.

This is actually why I bought this book…

There’s a really awesome feature with Amazon Prime that offers members a free title per genre at the beginning of each month, and this is what I chose for either October or November. There are really some great books available some months, and I wasn’t aware this was a thing until a friend told me last summer.

Firstly, I love the name Charlie for a girl, so we were off on a good foot from the very beginning.

I loved that autism was at the forefront of this book and subtly sprinkled through the narrative. The positive character traits are brought to light and woven through the book and characterization. I can absolutely get behind that. I didn’t love the ending, but it grew on me after some thought and checking my feelings.

It isn’t free anymore, but I would recommend purchasing it. I’d never heard of the author previously, but will be reading more of her works.

Buy the book here…

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What I’m Reading: Local Woman Missing — Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many suspense novels, including THE GOOD GIRL, PRETTY BABY, DON’T YOU CRY, EVERY LAST LIE, WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, THE OTHER MRS., LOCAL WOMAN MISSING and JUST THE NICEST COUPLE.

A former high school history teacher, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children.

Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014.

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was an Indie Next pick in May of 2021, a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Mystery & Thriller for 2021, and a finalist for an Audie Award.

Mary’s novels have been selected as Amazon Best Books of the Month and have been LibraryReads selections. They’ve been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. She’s been described as “a helluva storyteller,” (Kirkus Reviews) and “a writer of vice-like control,” (Chicago Tribune), and her novels have been praised as “hypnotic” (People) and “thrilling and illuminating” (Los Angeles Times). She is currently working on her next novel.

Official summary from Mary Kubica’s website…

People Don’t Just Disappear Without a Trace…

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

PRAISE

“[A] daringly plotted, emotionally eviscerating psychological thriller.”
~ Publishers Weekly

“Complex, richly atmospheric and thoroughly riveting, LOCAL WOMAN MISSING is a thoughtful look at how even the most innocuous secrets between happy couples and beloved friends in tightly knit neighborhoods can sometimes turn so unexpectedly and terrifyingly deadly.”
~ Kimberly McCreight / New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia and A Good Marriage

“Dark and twisty, with all the white-knuckle tension and jaw-dropping surprises readers have come to expect from Mary Kubica.”
~ Riley Sager / New York Times bestselling author of Home Before Dark

“I’m shamelessly addicted to Mary Kubica’s juicy, unpredictable reads, as much for her well-rounded, fully human, flawed characters as her sizzling plots—and she just keeps getting better. LOCAL WOMAN MISSING is a propulsive journey through a winding maze of secrets, leading to a jaw-dropping twist that I never saw coming. Loved every minute.”
~ Joshilyn Jackson / New York Times bestselling author of Never Have I Ever

“Impossible-to-see-it-coming…. [Kubica] takes readers to a whole new level of deceit and irony.”
~ Booklist

“The twists, turns, and an unpredictable ending make it irresistible.”
~ Library Journal

“A pitch-perfect domestic thriller from the always-reliable Mary Kubica… Don’t miss this unforgettable story about what strong women have to do in desperate circumstances.”
~ Apple Books

I heard mixed reviews on this one, so I decided to find out for myself. I had to make a list of characters, because the time hops, different voices, and perspectives were a little challenging for me to process. This story is based in an upper middle class suburb outside of Chicago. There is a lot going on and a lot of different players. To bring some order to the plot, I also made a list of questions regarding the plot I wanted to answer by the end of the book. I got most of them answered, and some weren’t really important to answer by the end.

I was okay with the ending. I would have given the book 3.5 stars, if possible. It absolutely kept my attention, but the very unrealistic nature of a lot of the circumstances in the story made it lose some appeal for me. It does serve its purpose as a thriller, and I will read additional books by this author. I liked the fact that I didn’t even almost guess the ending.

  • Josh Dickey – Married to Meredith, father to Delilah and Leo
  • Meredith Dickey – second to go missing with Delilah, Married to Josh, Delilah and Leo’s mother, doula, didn’t show up to work unbeknownst to Josh for a few weeks, planned to testify in court against Dr. Feingold for malpractice when delivering Shelby and Josh’s baby, Grace
  • Delilah Dickey – second to go missing with Meredith, kidnapped and lived in a dark basement for 11 years
  • Leo Dickey – Delilah’s younger brother, one of the first person voices in the book, angry and resentful when Delilah comes home, 4 years old when Meredith and Delilah go missing
  • Gus – trapped in the basement with Delilah
  • Kate – Bea’s partner, Josh and Meredith’s neighbor, vet
  • Bea – Kate’s partner, Josh and Meredith’s neighbor, musician, has recording studio in the garage, born leader
  • Shelby Tebow – first to go missing, cheating on her husband with Sam, Meredith was Shelby’s doula
  • Jason Tebow – Shelby’s husband, cheating on his wife, insurance agent, wanted to play NFL football but didn’t due to knee injury, seems like a huge jerk all-round
  • Grace Tebow – Shelby and Jason’s baby girl, an infant when Shelby disappears, sustains brain trauma due to Dr. Feingold using forceps during birth
  • Dr. Feingold – Jason tells Kate and Bea that this was Shelby’s only enemy, doesn’t have good bedside manner, Meredith planned to testify against him in Tebows’ malpractice suit
  • Charlotte – neighbor in late 50s who lives alone with her husband and watched kids in the neighborhood, keeps Delilah and Leo when they are young
  • Janette – midwife that Meredith works with
  • Cassandra and Marty – neighbors, Marty and Meredith dated in college and she lost her virginity to him

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