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CRACKSHELL
In the small watermen’s town of Rock Narrows, everyone’s talking about Helen Swann’s first-born son putting a bullet through her heart—everyone but the Swanns. It doesn’t matter that their mom is dead, Swannee, Jake and Maggie still feel bound by their keep-your-mouth-shut upbringing.
Hard-as-nails Maggie and her big-hearted brother Jake won’t let a dead mom and a locked-up brother stop them from getting back to normal. Before their mom is in the ground, Maggie’s back on the water, trotlining for crabs, and Jake’s sanding boats and drinking too much beer. Their Eastern Shore coping skills are working just fine until a prying outsider named Sydney blows into town.
On the right side of her own horrific tragedy, writer Sydney Long is on a mission to help families of murderers—whether they want her help or not. Her questionable professional ethics endanger Jake, Maggie and the Rock Narrows community. As she secretly uncovers Swannee’s motives and becomes entangled with Jake and Maggie, her actions stir up much more than emotions, and a string of alarming and increasingly violent incidents plagues the tiny Maryland town.
Hard-as-nails Maggie and her big-hearted brother Jake won’t let a dead mom and a locked-up brother stop them from getting back to normal. Before their mom is in the ground, Maggie’s back on the water, trotlining for crabs, and Jake’s sanding boats and drinking too much beer. Their Eastern Shore coping skills are working just fine until a prying outsider named Sydney blows into town.
On the right side of her own horrific tragedy, writer Sydney Long is on a mission to help families of murderers—whether they want her help or not. Her questionable professional ethics endanger Jake, Maggie and the Rock Narrows community. As she secretly uncovers Swannee’s motives and becomes entangled with Jake and Maggie, her actions stir up much more than emotions, and a string of alarming and increasingly violent incidents plagues the tiny Maryland town.
340 pages, Paperback
Published May 28, 2023
7 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 11, 2024
In the small watermen’s town of Rock Narrows, everyone’s talking about Helen Swann’s first-born son putting a bullet through her heart—everyone but the Swanns. It doesn’t matter that their mom is dead, Swannee, Jake and Maggie still feel bound by their keep-your-mouth-shut upbringing.
Hard-as-nails Maggie and her big-hearted brother Jake won’t let a dead mom and a locked-up brother stop them from getting back to normal. Before their mom is in the ground, Maggie’s back on the water, trotlining for crabs and Jake’s sanding boats and drinking too much beer. Their Eastern Shore coping skills are working just fine until a prying outsider named Sydney blows into town.
On the right side of her own horrific tragedy, writer Sydney Long is on a mission to help families of murderers—whether they want her help or not. Her questionable professional ethics endanger Jake, Maggie and the Rock Narrows community. As she secretly uncovers Swannee’s motives and becomes entangled with Jake and Maggie, her actions stir up much more than emotions, and a string of alarming and increasingly violent incidents plagues the tiny Maryland town.
Wow. Crackshell took me on quite the ride. A psychological suspense novel imbued with a women’s lit edge, I found myself swept up in Jake, Maggie, and Sydney’s lives. On top of that, the evocative descriptions brought me straight back to my college days crabbing along the rivers that feed into the Chesapeake Bay.
My favorite aspect of this book, however, was easily the endearing tale of embracing forgiveness following a family tragedy. Written in such a way as to read genuine and true-to-life, I found myself wrapped up in the characters’ emotions from the get-go. Told from three separate POVs, they all wove together to form a cohesive plot that unfurled into a fundamentally heartwarming tale.
Be forewarned, though, that the majority of this book is written in Eastern Shore slang (which is far from perfect English) with plenty of swearing throughout. Initially, I found it difficult to fall into the story because of it, but as the plot unraveled, it fell to the wayside and I became captivated by the town of Rock Narrows. Particularly with the endearing yet memorable townspeople.
Point blank, while the twists and turns weren’t exactly plentiful, the plot left me spellbound to the end. It was so good, in fact, that I read the entire book in just under a day. The only piece I wasn’t thrilled with was the conclusion. It felt slightly rushed and unexplored leaving the reveal of the big twist somewhat buried. Ultimately, however, the rest of the book easily won me over and I cannot wait to follow Jake, Sydney, and Maggie’s journey in book two, Green Peeler.
Addictive and spellbinding, I highly recommend giving Lizzie Qnert’s newest book a try. This character-driven plot will take you on quite the emotional ride that transcends the typical suspense, romance, or mystery (because there are pieces of all three within the pages). All said and done, two enthusiastic thumbs up! Rating of 4 stars.
Trigger warning: significant swearing, death of a parent, spousal abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, stalking, animal abuse, dementia, drunk driving, suicide, mention of: child abuse, miscarriage
*If you have any experience with alcoholism or spousal abuse, I strongly recommend giving this one a miss.
**Synopsis provided by the publisher.
***Thank you to Lizzie Qnert, Nordhoff Publishing, and NetGalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
Hard-as-nails Maggie and her big-hearted brother Jake won’t let a dead mom and a locked-up brother stop them from getting back to normal. Before their mom is in the ground, Maggie’s back on the water, trotlining for crabs and Jake’s sanding boats and drinking too much beer. Their Eastern Shore coping skills are working just fine until a prying outsider named Sydney blows into town.
On the right side of her own horrific tragedy, writer Sydney Long is on a mission to help families of murderers—whether they want her help or not. Her questionable professional ethics endanger Jake, Maggie and the Rock Narrows community. As she secretly uncovers Swannee’s motives and becomes entangled with Jake and Maggie, her actions stir up much more than emotions, and a string of alarming and increasingly violent incidents plagues the tiny Maryland town.
Wow. Crackshell took me on quite the ride. A psychological suspense novel imbued with a women’s lit edge, I found myself swept up in Jake, Maggie, and Sydney’s lives. On top of that, the evocative descriptions brought me straight back to my college days crabbing along the rivers that feed into the Chesapeake Bay.
My favorite aspect of this book, however, was easily the endearing tale of embracing forgiveness following a family tragedy. Written in such a way as to read genuine and true-to-life, I found myself wrapped up in the characters’ emotions from the get-go. Told from three separate POVs, they all wove together to form a cohesive plot that unfurled into a fundamentally heartwarming tale.
Be forewarned, though, that the majority of this book is written in Eastern Shore slang (which is far from perfect English) with plenty of swearing throughout. Initially, I found it difficult to fall into the story because of it, but as the plot unraveled, it fell to the wayside and I became captivated by the town of Rock Narrows. Particularly with the endearing yet memorable townspeople.
Point blank, while the twists and turns weren’t exactly plentiful, the plot left me spellbound to the end. It was so good, in fact, that I read the entire book in just under a day. The only piece I wasn’t thrilled with was the conclusion. It felt slightly rushed and unexplored leaving the reveal of the big twist somewhat buried. Ultimately, however, the rest of the book easily won me over and I cannot wait to follow Jake, Sydney, and Maggie’s journey in book two, Green Peeler.
Addictive and spellbinding, I highly recommend giving Lizzie Qnert’s newest book a try. This character-driven plot will take you on quite the emotional ride that transcends the typical suspense, romance, or mystery (because there are pieces of all three within the pages). All said and done, two enthusiastic thumbs up! Rating of 4 stars.
Trigger warning: significant swearing, death of a parent, spousal abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, stalking, animal abuse, dementia, drunk driving, suicide, mention of: child abuse, miscarriage
*If you have any experience with alcoholism or spousal abuse, I strongly recommend giving this one a miss.
**Synopsis provided by the publisher.
***Thank you to Lizzie Qnert, Nordhoff Publishing, and NetGalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
May 28, 2023
#CRACKSHELL is perfection.
It's a different kind of thriller from your average which is exactly why I love it so but still has you saying WTF 🤨 .
I was completely involved in this book & all the characters while reading & couldn't wait to get back to it when I wasn't reading. I can't wait for book #2 to continue the ride .
Thank you #Netgalley for yet another amazing ArC 🤘
It's a different kind of thriller from your average which is exactly why I love it so but still has you saying WTF 🤨 .
I was completely involved in this book & all the characters while reading & couldn't wait to get back to it when I wasn't reading. I can't wait for book #2 to continue the ride .
Thank you #Netgalley for yet another amazing ArC 🤘
June 21, 2023
This is a fascinating book about so many marvelous themes! Sydney is an author who bases her books on true crime so she relocates to the shore as word of an adult son shooting his mother in bed goes viral. Little does she know how much this will impact her own life! She rents a small place on the beach next to Jake and sister Maggie who make their living selling crabs they've caught to local restaurants. Caught up in this new lifestyle--as well as Jake's "down-home" charm and Maggie's prickly ways, Sydney learns and begins to thrive as she digs into the family history. And she discovers more than she'd hoped! Very different but wonderful as Qnert speaks to themes of grief, alcoholism, abuse, dementia, but most of all redemption! Such a unique and awesome book!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
January 9, 2024
I really enjoyed this read! It has me turning pages late at night and not wanting to go to sleep. I can't wait to read the next one!
April 29, 2023
Yummy book that sucks you in. I’m trying not to give away any spoilers here- but this is not your run of the mill thriller, or romance. There was a murder but the who and the why starts off as a mystery . A old woman was murdered and her oldest son pulled the trigger. Her other two grown kids are grief stricken. A young author comes to town to use the story as a backdrop to her own novel- hiding her true identity from the grieving siblings. Just when I thought I knew where it was going, things started to get creepy, and left me surprised. I do enjoy when a story has me changing who I am rooting for,.
Throughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
Throughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
July 28, 2023
The story opens with one of our three leads, Jake, coming home after a long day’s work. All he wants is a beer and a little down time out on the porch. What he finds is a flurry of police activity around his family home. His mother has been murdered in her bed, shot in the heart by his older brother, Swannee, who confesses to the horrific deed right away, but has nothing more to say on the matter, not even to his younger brother as he’s being led away in handcuffs. Before long, we learn what appears to be an open and shut case is anything but.
With the Swann matriarch dead and her oldest son in jail awaiting trial, the other two Swann siblings, Jake and Maggie—most commonly referred to as Nails for her generally cantankerous disposition—are left to keep the family business afloat and pick up the pieces that remain. They each struggle with personal demons and when a cute young writer named Sydney rents a neighboring bayfront cottage for the off-season, she is determined to help the Swanns exorcise those demons, whether they want her help or not. Are her motives as altruistic as they seem, or is Sydney harboring demons of her own?
Like in her first book, Power Surge, Qnert effectively uses first-person narration from the three lead characters’ perspectives, giving us a real feel for how each character thinks and processes emotion, which is especially useful with Maggie/Nails—just don’t ever call her Margaret. Without that inside info, her character would have likely been extremely unlikeable, but we can see that she’s extremely damaged, and she only shares with the outside world the wall she’s built around herself. It doesn’t take long to learn that all these characters are hiding something and played out within the gossipy confines of a tiny watermen’s town like Rock Narrows, things are bound to come to a head in unexpected and surprising ways.
Qnert excels at character development and description. (The only comment I might make is “the crunch of oyster shells under tires” is extremely evocative, but an awful lot of oyster shells were pulverized by tires in the telling of this story. I might tone that down just a little.) I felt like I was right there with these people, and while that wasn’t always a safe place to be, it was most certainly compelling. Every time I put the book down, my mind wandered back, and I had to know just a little bit more. For me, that’s a testament to good storytelling. What I found most surprising is this is just the first in a series of Rock Narrows thrillers featuring these same characters. I’m not sure how much further these characters can go, but they’re in excellent hands with Lizzie Qnert, and I can’t wait to find out!
Don’t miss this one! 😀
With the Swann matriarch dead and her oldest son in jail awaiting trial, the other two Swann siblings, Jake and Maggie—most commonly referred to as Nails for her generally cantankerous disposition—are left to keep the family business afloat and pick up the pieces that remain. They each struggle with personal demons and when a cute young writer named Sydney rents a neighboring bayfront cottage for the off-season, she is determined to help the Swanns exorcise those demons, whether they want her help or not. Are her motives as altruistic as they seem, or is Sydney harboring demons of her own?
Like in her first book, Power Surge, Qnert effectively uses first-person narration from the three lead characters’ perspectives, giving us a real feel for how each character thinks and processes emotion, which is especially useful with Maggie/Nails—just don’t ever call her Margaret. Without that inside info, her character would have likely been extremely unlikeable, but we can see that she’s extremely damaged, and she only shares with the outside world the wall she’s built around herself. It doesn’t take long to learn that all these characters are hiding something and played out within the gossipy confines of a tiny watermen’s town like Rock Narrows, things are bound to come to a head in unexpected and surprising ways.
Qnert excels at character development and description. (The only comment I might make is “the crunch of oyster shells under tires” is extremely evocative, but an awful lot of oyster shells were pulverized by tires in the telling of this story. I might tone that down just a little.) I felt like I was right there with these people, and while that wasn’t always a safe place to be, it was most certainly compelling. Every time I put the book down, my mind wandered back, and I had to know just a little bit more. For me, that’s a testament to good storytelling. What I found most surprising is this is just the first in a series of Rock Narrows thrillers featuring these same characters. I’m not sure how much further these characters can go, but they’re in excellent hands with Lizzie Qnert, and I can’t wait to find out!
Don’t miss this one! 😀
June 29, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the digital copy of Crackshell in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this book more. It's got everything I typically love — a mystery, family drama and secrets, characters with major flaws, all set against a gorgeous backdrop. But I just...couldn't get myself to love it.
I think, for me, the biggest thing is that I'm just not a fan of lizzi Qnert's writing. That's not to say she's a bad writer, but it just wasn't my style. It felt a little too simplistic and more "telling" than "showing". As the book is in the first person point of view (alternating between three characters), I assume she was trying to capture the voice of the characters but, to me, it just felt forced. There were certain paragraphs that truly made me cringe.
And, I usually love a good flawed character. Truly. But I couldn't get myself to care about any of the main characters. I never got attached to any of them, even with chapters directly written from their point of view.
I enjoyed the mystery, but instead of reading to enjoy, I found myself reading to just finish it and take the book off my list.
I really wanted to like this book more. It's got everything I typically love — a mystery, family drama and secrets, characters with major flaws, all set against a gorgeous backdrop. But I just...couldn't get myself to love it.
I think, for me, the biggest thing is that I'm just not a fan of lizzi Qnert's writing. That's not to say she's a bad writer, but it just wasn't my style. It felt a little too simplistic and more "telling" than "showing". As the book is in the first person point of view (alternating between three characters), I assume she was trying to capture the voice of the characters but, to me, it just felt forced. There were certain paragraphs that truly made me cringe.
And, I usually love a good flawed character. Truly. But I couldn't get myself to care about any of the main characters. I never got attached to any of them, even with chapters directly written from their point of view.
I enjoyed the mystery, but instead of reading to enjoy, I found myself reading to just finish it and take the book off my list.
August 26, 2023
First let me start off with... I will definitely be picking up the second book of this series. I loved this read! I felt a connection to all of the characters. Sydney is a pure psycho but she is what makes this book so good!! Sydney is the female version of Joe Goldberg, meaning she's not a good person lol . I loved Jake and Nails and I felt a connection to them. My heart broke with how their story ended, but I'm pleased that they now have some type of peace. I liked the concept/mystery of this book. I felt a connection with the characters from the first few chapters and it made this a very fast read. I liked the twists too in this book, in a way it would seem predictable, but also they weren't. Overall, if you want a small town , cozy mystery, then this is for you!
December 8, 2025
Crackshell has an unusual cover, which piqued my interest, and I'm happy I gave it a try.
The dialogue was written in a local dialect of a tiny Maryland town, and I loved the way the characters spoke; it felt like I was there with them. This book explored the characters and their connections to a newcomer in their tightknit town.
A tragic murder has broken one family apart, and writer Sydney arrives hoping to help them in their time of need, but not everyone wants her there, and increasingly violent events start to happen.
There are tense and suspenseful parts, but it's not like the thrillers I usually read, but in a good way. This book has so much heart, which I loved, and I look forward to reading more of the series.
The dialogue was written in a local dialect of a tiny Maryland town, and I loved the way the characters spoke; it felt like I was there with them. This book explored the characters and their connections to a newcomer in their tightknit town.
A tragic murder has broken one family apart, and writer Sydney arrives hoping to help them in their time of need, but not everyone wants her there, and increasingly violent events start to happen.
There are tense and suspenseful parts, but it's not like the thrillers I usually read, but in a good way. This book has so much heart, which I loved, and I look forward to reading more of the series.
June 18, 2023
This was a great psychological thriller that kept me completely hooked. I really got absorbed with these characters; especially Maggie. Shocking twists, unexpected romance and complex characters. You can’t go wrong with Crackshell and I know I’ll be anxiously waiting for the next book in this series!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC and the opportunity to review this book!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC and the opportunity to review this book!
June 18, 2023
Complicated plot and characters. Tight writing and a very enjoyable read.
November 9, 2023
This is an entertaining book to read, but by the end I was loathing the chapters that were not told from Maggie's perspective. Jake and Sydney became pretty one-dimensional. Every other supporting character pretty much behaved exactly the way that would benefit Sydney, and I never believed that Sydney was as beguiling as she thought she was. Maybe it is because I am from the Eastern Shore of MD and it reduces some of the unique cultural aspects in that area to be framed as being gullible simpletons.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews