Matt > Recent Status Updates

After Cal accepts the challenge to locate this missing young man, he begins asking questions of the locals. Still trying to win them over as a foreigner, Cal finds himself mucked up with his innocent queries. He’s not yet sure it is anything more than someone wanting to see the big city lights, but there is still something that’s not sitting right. Using his police training, Cal is sure to eke something out, perhaps.

A great fan of Tana French, I was eager to get my hands on this book to see how it compares to some of her other stellar pieces of writing. Cal Hooper Has spent the last 25 years working for the Chicago PD and trying to make his marriage work. When he’s done with both, he decides to look to the small towns of Ireland to enjoy the quiet. Small-town living is just what he needs, though he soon learns ‘quiet’ is absent.

As Sam's flashbacks get worse, two more murders rock the community. Both have tangential connection to Sam, though he tries to explain away his alibi. Could the blackout periods and these vivid dreams be a sign of something horrible? As Sam tries to make sense of it all, the LAPD are keeping a close eye on him, hoping that this is nothing about which they should be worrying themselves. What's to come is explosive!

On the hot streets of Los Angeles, a killer lurks, targeting women and disposing of them in seedy motels. While all this is going on, Sam is back from the Middle East and trying to acclimate. Working as a bartender, he is riddled with horrible dreams and medication that allows him to seemingly forecast bad things that will happen. Might he hold a key to predicting the killer’s path, or at least those who will die?

As the plot thickens and the story progresses, the reader is pulled deeper into the mysteries of this small town Tasmanian (?) community, which is haunted by issues both in the past and present. Kieran struggles to forget, though is also a self-appointed problem solver for the current issues that envelop the townsfolk. Will he be able to come to terms with it all, or is this destined to be another thorn in his side?

Jane Harper returns with another great standalone novel that will surely stir up some emotions for many readers. When Kieran Elliott returns to his hometown in a small Australian community, it’s not the excitement he hoped to show his young family. Secrets and memories come flooding back for Kieran, alongside the tragedy of a body by the water and a missing girl. Kieran wrestles to make sense of his past, even now.

Once Jake agrees to help this 16 year-old through the preliminaries, he discovers that this is more than a simple shift to juvenile court. With a cop dead, particularly one who appears to be outstanding at his job, the DA will be going for the death penalty. However, the boy’s physical and emotional maturity is nowhere near his age, though a plea for mercy does not seem to help. Jake will have to find a miracle.

As things progress somewhat in the London court, there is more to the life of David Neander than meets the eye. In a flashback portion, the reader learns the struggles faced by Jews in the German states, simply for their cultural beliefs. David connected with a man who sought to teach him how to defend himself, though nothing would be easy for anyone involved. The case is reheard before the Court in 1823. Drama!!

After a long period of beating and general abuse, a teenage boy takes matters into his own hands. With his mother seemingly dead on the floor and a gun in hand, the boy takes aim at the man who caused the grief, killing him. However, his mother is not dead and the capital crime of murder looks over him. While many lawyers rush to get away from the courthouse, Jake Brigance is willing to help out initially. Good idea?

Julia Carmichael has a passion for the law, though the legal profession does not return the love in 1823 London. She has been studying under her father, but cannot be called to the bar. Rather, she sits and watches cases as they are called. When she witnesses a young German Jew get railroaded and sentenced to hang, she convinces her father to help her develop an appeal. However, the story proves long and complex.

This is the exciting story of Clay-Boy Spencer and his attempts to make something of himself. Having lived his entire life in rural Virginia, Clay-Boy wants nothing more than to pursue higher learning and not end up being a tradesman. However, his family has deep roots in the area and, being the eldest child, Clay-Boy will likely be expected to stick close to home. A chance to take a leap arises, but will he take it?

It all began at the circus, where the trapeze artists have a horrible accident. Matthew West and his fiancée find themselves shocked to learn that it might have been a premeditated act. Weeks later, when they begin working with the children in the junior Bible study, it becomes apparent that the poorer of them go missing. When one turns up dead, it's murder most foul, but what's been going on? West will have to see!

In the second of his Santa trilogy, Jeff Guinn explores the life of Layla Nicholas, aka Mrs. Claus. Living a life of poverty, Layla always knew the importance of giving to others when you can. This was solidified when she met and fell in love with Nicholas. After centuries of mastering their craft, Layla and Nicholas agreed to part for a time to spread the Christmas Word. Layla stayed in England during its Civil War.

When Alex realizes the depth of her issues in Monaco, it’s time to act, but that will mean de-stabilizing much of the calmness for which the principality is known. Still, when a bomb is discovered, it is a sense of relief, or a partial one. Meanwhile, Zeta Group must realize who has been playing this game of cat and mouse with them and what plot awaits. Are they being lured into a trap through a sense of stability?

Alex Morgan has long been ready to live outside her father's shadow and is finally being given the chance. Her first mission to Iran goes well, but it is one that takes her to Monaco that might be even more challenging. While Zeta Group has some great intel, there are things that slip through the cracks. A F1 race garners much attention, but also some Geiger readings that indicate materials that could make a bomb.

It’s that time of year again when I dust off this unique Baldacci story and add a little sap to my reading. Tom Langdon has been banned from flying and so it’s the train for him as he makes his way out to LA. When he boards, Tom discovers some unique and magical things that take place along the rails. It’s a bit of romance and a lot of mystery as this piece steams ahead. Get out your whistles and choo-choo along!

As part of my annual reading experience, I turned to this piece of pure magic. While many speak about Santa Claus, few know the details of his life. Jeff Guinn seeks to peel everything back and recount the story, as told by the man himself. Things began back in the early centuries after the birth of Jesus, when Christianity was punishable. A young man took it upon himself to offer gifts to help others. So it begins!

Green does a wonderful job offering the reader some real insight into how the police community handled crimes against the gay community and how the early years of hate crimes evolved to include sexual orientation. While there were certainly crimes focussed on the victim's sexuality, they were still swept under the rug by the NYPD (or secretly applauded). Still, as the story progresses, a serial killer must be caught.

How do others feel about the new email digests that GR is using? They started yesterday for me and now come in the evenings (as opposed to the early morning). Also, MUCH shorter, so I cannot see all the reviews and updates of others.

I am eager to see what others have to say.

Many people have come to love Charles Dickens' classic tale, 'A Christmas Carol'. However, how it came to be is a little less magical, at least for many. Told through a fiction-based filter, Samantha Silva writes a story that puts all the pieces together, while also giving the reader a little backstory into the life of this most interesting man. Quite telling and interesting to see the influences for plot and themes.

As Puller and Pine inch closer to cracking the case wide open, they run into some trouble. It would seem that Pine is not as slick as she hoped and ends up incarcerated and a suspect in a murder. However, Puller is not getting off without his own issues, attacked and almost killed by someone, perhaps trying to warn him off poking around any longer. Yet, there seems to be a clear path to answers, if they can live.

Elon Green presents readers with an interesting spin in this piece of true crime. When a body is found, dismembered and bagged repeated, along the highway outside Philadelphia, the state troopers are not sure what to make of it. Extensive sleuthing provides a name and the man is tracked back to the gay scene around NYC. When another man is found in a similar state in New Jersey, there appears to be a serial killer!

Attlee Pine continues working the trail of finding her sister's killer. While in New Jersey, she seeks to narrow things down, only to step in the middle of an Army CID case, headed up by John Puller. Pine and Puller begin working together to find members of the same family, in hopes of answering questions from both their cases. However, there's someone out there using bullets to silence those who may have answers.

Just when Haller thought that he had a handle on things, the prosecution tosses him a wild card and he finds himself back in prison. Trial is approaching and Bosch has yet to uncover a clear reason to exonerate Haller. When it comes time to choose a jury, Haller works his magic as best he can, trying to get the best possible mix of civilians who will find him innocent, or at least not guilty. It's a rush for all!

After celebrating a win, Mickey Haller is pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. Turns out, there’s a body in the trunk of his car and he can’t explain it. While he’s incarcerated, the prosecution begins dragging their heels and stonewalling him, which makes mounting a defence all the more difficult. Thankfully, Haller has Harry Bosch in his corner, as well as a strong team, trying to crack things wide open.

Alex Cross is back yet again, with a case that is sure to stir up some controversy. When the former wife of the VPOTUS is murdered, questions arise as to who might have been behind it. Cross knew her in passing, which leaves some tabloid journalists to connect dots that are not readily drawn. Additionally, a number of young women have gone missing and been murdered. DC is anything but quiet this summer in the heat!

Hope finds himself racing against the clock to save the woman he is coming to love, little knowing that he has some help from the inside to protect her. Meanwhile, there is still this Satanic group that has been running rampant and causing horrors that could only be dreamed up in a book. Funny that, it’s a book that leads Hope along the path to finding them, and vowing to neutralise those who kill for ritual fun!

Ben Hope is back in what can only be called a diabolical thriller. While travelling home from a short jaunt to Scotland, Hope is approached by a man who needs someone exterminated. Using a threat against a loved one, Hope agrees to help, even through the target is someone he knew from his days in the British Army. When Hope catches up to his old comrade, he learns of a secret society of devil worshippers who kill

Nina Karim is a hard-working detective for the Long Island City PD. She's got a lot going on, but when she's handed the case of a missing man, it intrigues her. Seems the misper has a long history of abusing his wife. When he turns up dead, all eyes turn to the wife, who's safe in a shelter. Karim discovers more abusive men who have been killed, with ties to the same women's shelter. Could there be something here?!

Brad Parks keeps the reader’s mind spinning with this piece of thrilling fiction. When a physicist collapses for reasons unknown in his lab, his wife panics. When it happens multiple times, she begins to worry beyond belief. It is only when he admits that he has been working with a quantum virus that things get even more interesting. Captured by unknown assailants, the case gets even more confusing for all involved!