Since their parents' death a few months before, Kate, Jillian and Rick have taken over their parents' inn, the Novel Inn. Unique because each guest roSince their parents' death a few months before, Kate, Jillian and Rick have taken over their parents' inn, the Novel Inn. Unique because each guest room is named and decorated for a different literary character, such as Horatio Hornblower, Elizabeth Bennett, Galadriel and others, the inn is nearly booked full as eight former cheerleaders come for a twenty-year reunion. Only, one doesn't show up. She disappears, but her rented vehicle is found abandoned on a side road. Rick, as a police officer, seeks the missing woman, joined by Jillian and Kate as unofficial helpers. The small police station is also searching for a group of antique thieves who have now killed a woman. When the missing cheerleader is found only to be kidnapped from the Novel Inn's parking lot, the search takes on a desperate aura.
Cliffhanger is a pleasant cozy with people who seem like normal individuals, a retired teacher, a former office worker and a police officer. The suspense stays high. Set on the Maine coast in an inn I'd love to visit, it's a plot-driven story with a strong faith element. It's clean. I've read several of Page's stories and look forward to reading more....more
A visit to her widowed mother's new home upends Beth Lowell's life when she opens a box in her mother Jan's guest closet with her name on it and discoA visit to her widowed mother's new home upends Beth Lowell's life when she opens a box in her mother Jan's guest closet with her name on it and discovers her life is not what she had always thought. Her beloved late father was not her birth father. Jan had not wanted Beth to know until Jan died. The two women irritate each other because Jan has always wanted to stay at home in Tyler, Texas, while Beth's job takes her around the world.
As Beth tries to fit finding her birth father around her job, Jan realizes that home in Texas isn't everything she had hoped for. Then there's a handsome, wealthy, young Englishman that Beth meets and dislikes in Nairobi who keeps turning up.
Catherine Palmer is a new author to me but one I hope to read more of. I'm not usually a fan of character-driven novels, but Palmer keeps the characterization lively and the plot interesting. Both women grow, which is good, because I liked neither of them at first. The characters are unique and the situation intriguing. ...more
When the vice-president's daughter tries to commit suicide after verbally attacking her father on a popular TV talk show, Secret Service agent Meghan When the vice-president's daughter tries to commit suicide after verbally attacking her father on a popular TV talk show, Secret Service agent Meghan Connors is assigned to her detail under exacting Ash Zinders, known as A2Z. Because of Lindsay's drug addiction and wild lifestyle, the vice president sends her to the ranch of a longtime friend and associate, to detox and to protect her from a drug cartel targeting her. Ash makes it clear from the start he does not want Meghan as part of his team and that he does not think women should be in the Secret Service. As dangers to Lindsay and the team escalate, Meghan seems to be the only one who can reach Lindsay who is desperately hiding something. Then the president resigns because of his cancer and Lindsay's dad becomes the president, so the target on his back, on Lindsay's, and on the team's gets bigger.
This was an exciting story. Lindsay is a developing character. Ash, thankfully, develops because he's quite unlikeable at first. Mills shapes the plot so that the danger seems overwhelming. She deftly delivers a satisfying conclusion to the plot....more
WOW! I can breathe again. Combining the late Michael Crichton and suspense writer extraordinaire James Patterson is like falling from a plane not quitWOW! I can breathe again. Combining the late Michael Crichton and suspense writer extraordinaire James Patterson is like falling from a plane not quite sure that your parachute will open!
John MacGregor, better known as Mac, is a vulcanologist on the Big Island where there's always a little concern that the next eruption will be the BIG ONE. The data that he and his team have been gathering leads him to believe that the eruption just a few days from now will certainly be bigger than the last one. Then the army whisks him away and shows him that the Big One could be deadly for the whole world because someone in the army decades ago decided to store deadly radioactive remains that included a deadly fast-acting herbicide in a tunnel between two volcanoes. (Is there really intelligent life in D.C.? Even in fiction?) If the herbicide gets into the air currents shot into the atmosphere by the volcano, the whole earth will be stripped of plant life, leading to the destruction of all life. What the army has learned relatively recently is that the herbicide also kills people directly, cooking them from the inside out. The canisters have become very fragile with cracks in them so they cannot be moved. especially not in four days' time.
Mac, his team, and Joint Chief Rivers scramble to find a solution to direct the lava away from the tunnel on one side and cities and villages on the other without creating a panic while also dealing with a glory-seeking billionaire, a wealthy volcano chaser and his wife, a botanist who saw the result of the herbicide on a small scale years before, a daredevil pilot, locals who fear the desecration of their ancestors' graves and, of course, the New York Times.
This must be near the top of my favorite Crichton books. The authors have a unique way of dealing with a love triangle, although I liked the scene in another book where an obnoxious, self-important actor who played the president on TV was eaten by cannibals better. The characters are well-drawn with some of them being decidedly unlikeable, others being likeable and heroic, and still others being tragic victims of nature gone wild. Neither the vulcanologists, the general, nor I saw the solution coming.
Those who enjoy thrillers will enjoy this. This is a clean book except for some bad language and some wishful thinking....more
Knox Marshall has always been the steady, safe, solid Marshall offspring. He gave up his dream of riding bulls on the rodeo circuit to take care of thKnox Marshall has always been the steady, safe, solid Marshall offspring. He gave up his dream of riding bulls on the rodeo circuit to take care of the family ranch and his mother while his siblings did exciting things. He's the boring one. Until he meets the Union Belles lead singer, Kelsey Jones, whose pain and angst from her past needs someone solid. Safe. Dependable. Especially as she receives word that the man who killed her parents and raped her has gotten out of prison.
As Knox and Kelsey try to find out if her attacker is behind a bombing at one of the Union Belles' venues, safe and solid looks very exciting and attractive.
This was an exciting story with likeable characters that drew me in. Knox's stability sets him apart from many literary heroes and Kelsey's courage combined with her fragility left me cheering her on. ...more
Although I'm not a big fan of romance stories, this sweet romance was heavy on suspense too, so it held my interest. It was engrossing.Although I'm not a big fan of romance stories, this sweet romance was heavy on suspense too, so it held my interest. It was engrossing....more
When Ivy Elliott goes to Alaska to purchase a rare Jack London manuscript, she finds instead a dead man. His niece is missing, perhaps being traffickeWhen Ivy Elliott goes to Alaska to purchase a rare Jack London manuscript, she finds instead a dead man. His niece is missing, perhaps being trafficked. The girl's picture looks so much like Ivy's sister who had been kidnapped and killed that, at the grandmother's request, Ivy must find her.
Alaska State Trooper Nolan Long, having met Ivy the year before, was about to leave for Florida to see her when a cabin with a large blood stain explodes with his friend, an Alaska Wildlife Trooper, inside. Intent on finding the missing girl and discovering who killed Carl, Nolan and Ivy join forces on a hunt that leads to assault, vandalism, and murder.
Hidden in the Night was a suspenseful read. Goddard's twist at the end of the book took the story in a direction I had never anticipated. She handled it skillfully and made it totally believable. This is a good addition to the series. I enjoyed it....more
Fraser Marshall, the oldest son of the Minnesota Marshalls, has been a doer, a protector, until now. His last assignment with Jones, Inc. left his rigFraser Marshall, the oldest son of the Minnesota Marshalls, has been a doer, a protector, until now. His last assignment with Jones, Inc. left his right hand severely weakened and with little feeling, making him a liability to the team until he recovers. He grumpily recuperates at his family's winery while his parents go to Europe to see his adopted brother Creed race. Then he receives a call from Creed that he is on the run with Imani, Princess of Lauchtenland, after she witnessed a murder in Geneva. Fraser sends them to where another brother is vacationing. When he can't reach the brother, he hops a plane to find Creed because that's what brothers do, even for ones they barely know.
Pippa Webster's year guarding the impulsive Imani has been anything but easy. As an American, she's been accustomed to her freedom and having Pippa for a bodyguard has sent Imani into rebellion and frequent escapes. When Pippa gets separated from Imani and Creed at a pub, she starts hunting the pair down, but she finds someone else ahead of her, Fraser. The two chase the young pair across Europe, but something is wrong when Imani identifies the murderer as Pippa's boss.
This was an exciting story with interesting characters who are struggling to find who they are when what they've known has been stripped from them. Relationships blossom, both romantic, fraternal, and friendly ones. They learn lessons about God's care when things go wrong.
Lawyer Hezekiah Webster hopes that his wife, Savannah, who had separated from him after he dove into the bottle to deal with his grief over the death Lawyer Hezekiah Webster hopes that his wife, Savannah, who had separated from him after he dove into the bottle to deal with his grief over the death of their little daughter is willing to give the new and improved version of himself a second chance. However, Savannah turns him down until she becomes a suspect in the murder of the college president where she teaches. Because she knows no better lawyer, she convinces her sister, the college's CFO, to hire Hez while he represents her. As Hez and Savannah hunt for answers to who killed the president and who is stealing priceless pre-Columbian artifacts from the university, they face dead bodies, blackmail, secrets, betrayal and a growing attraction that never totally died....more
Lisa Wingate strikes again with another suspenseful dual-timeline historical fiction novel. Based on the influence of Kate Barnard, a courageous fightLisa Wingate strikes again with another suspenseful dual-timeline historical fiction novel. Based on the influence of Kate Barnard, a courageous fighter for human rights and the rights of children in Oklahoma in the early Twentieth century, Wingate brings Barnard into the story of Ollie Auggie who rescues a little Choctaw girl, Nessa, her father had taken in before his death from the lustful attention of her stepfather by running away with Nessa. She intends to return to the home she had shared with her parents in the mountains but keeps running into homeless children, many of them Choctaw, whose lands have been seized by wealthy white oil- and timbermen.
In the 1990s, Park Ranger Valerie Boren-Odell is new in the Horsethief Trail National Park in Oklahoma when she hears of bones located in a cave in the park. The bones appear to have been of three children of about thirteen, seven, and five, but before a proper forensic investigation can be done, Valerie's boss tells her to ignore them while another ranger handles that investigation. Then the bones disappear. In addition, an elderly woman and her seventeen-year-old grandson have disappeared, leaving her young teenaged granddaughter in the care of a woman of dubious character. Then there's the handsome, friendly Choctaw deputy who shares Valerie's concerns about the missing pair.
Wingate alternates the plots by chapters. She keeps the tension high as she unravels the two stories and weaves them together at the climax. She made me grieve over the injustice toward the children that really occurred, but Ollie Auggie's clever and committed quest for safety makes you love her. Very good story. ...more
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