Review: Billy Summers

Billy Summers by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a long book, the type of book that you just give yourself over to and let it go at its own pace.

Billy Summers is a hit man. But he prides himself that he only kills bad people. He is offered a job with a very big payout that he promises himself will be his last. The job includes quite a long wait until just the right time. During the  wait time Billy takes on a project of writing his story.

As the story unfolds bit by bit you become very fond of Billy.

Excellent.

Review: Open House

Open House by Elizabeth Berg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Samantha's husband has left her, and after a spree of overcharging at Tiffany's, she settles down to reconstruct a life for herself and her eleven-year-old son. Her eccentric mother tries to help by fixing her up with dates, but a more pressing problem is money. To meet her mortgage payments, Sam decides to take in boarders. The first is an older woman who offers sage advice and sorely needed comfort; the second, a maladjusted student, is not quite so helpful. A new friend, King, an untraditional man, suggests that Samantha get out, get going, get work. But her real work is this: In order to emerge from grief and the past, she has to learn how to make her own happiness. In order to really see people, she has to look within her heart. And in order to know who she is, she has to remember--and reclaim--the person she used to be, long before she became someone else in an effort to save her marriage. Open House is a love story about what can blossom between a man and a woman, and within a woman herself.

An excellent read. Love stories are not my usual genre but this one was very good and meaningful.

Review: Not a Happy Family

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On Easter Sunday the family of three children, the parents and their nanny gather at the family home for dinner. During the dinner the father, who has terminal cancer, makes an announcement regarding the change that he is about to make to his will.

A few days later, both the parents are found murdered in their home and the suspicion falls on each of the children, plus the nanny.

Its a good "who done it" story with the suspects all seeming guilty at different times. It was the type of book that your opinion kept changing as to the identity of the killer.

A good read.

Review: When the Guilty Cry

When the Guilty Cry by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely great series. In this episode a backpack with three human hands is discovered by a filming crew. This leads Ridpath on a thoroughly engrossing investigation involving a home for orphan children and of course the horrible policeman Turnbull.

Wonderful series, I am sorry that I have finished it.

Review: All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me

All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me by Jessica Vogelsang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If a book brings me to tears, I know that its a good story and that it has hit a soft spot in me. I am also on my third (grown up) dog and have pined for each one that I have lost. In my younger years I lost two dogs and I still think of them and wish I could have done more.

Above all, this book reminds us, with gentle humor and honesty, why we put up with the pee on the carpet, the chewed-up shoes, and the late-night trips to the vet: because the animals we love so much can, in fact, change our lives.

An excellent read.

Review: When the Evil Waits

When the Evil Waits by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another winning story from M. J. Lee. This time a young boy has been found murdered and left in a wooded area beside the river. Ridpath has to get working fast before any more children are tortured.

An excellent read for people who like mystery, legal and police procedural stories.

Review: When the Past Kills

When the Past Kills by M.J. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ridpath is still attached to the coroner's office and linked to MIT. Just as DI Ridpath is getting his life back together, the Beast of Manchester rears its ugly head again. An execution is being broadcast live on the internet. The police are being targeted and graves are being desecrated. An old case has come back to haunt Thomas Ridpath.

This is a gripping story that's hard to put down. There's lots of twists in this gripping story. My attention was held throughout. We gave 2 new characters: DS Claire Trent and DSI Turnbull who are now in charge of things at the police station. I wasn't keen on Turnbull, he came across as a bit of a bully. This is a really good police procedural series.

Review: Play Dirty

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After five years in a federal prison, Griff Burkett is free. He was a Cowboys quarterback and was caught cheating. No one forgives a football cheater.

Foster Speakman, owner and CEO of SunSouth Airlines, and his wife Laura,

are a golden couple. They say that money can't buy everything, but it can buy a disgraced football player fresh out of prison and out of prospects.

I love Sandra Brown, except of course for the blistering sex scenes, which I generally skip over. But her stories are excellent.

Review: Later

Later by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine - as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.

An excellent read.