WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Catch Me

Lisa Gardner is one author whose books I can never put down.

I have tight deadlines, I have kids, I have a hectic life, but I'll lose sleep devouring her books as fast as I can and CATCH ME was no exception.

Here's the blurb of her latest:

In four days, someone is going to kill me . . . 
Detective D. D. Warren is hard to surprise. But a lone woman outside D.D.'s latest crime scene shocks her with a remarkable proposition: Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant believes she will be murdered in four days. And she wants Boston's top detective to handle the death investigation.

It will be up close and personal. No evidence of forced entry, no sign of struggle. 
Charlie tells a chilling story: Each year at 8:00 p.m. on January 21st, a woman has died. The victims have been childhood best friends from a small town in New Hampshire; the motive remains unknown. Now only one friend, Charlie, remains to count down her final hours.
But as D.D. quickly learns, Charlie Grant doesn't plan on going down without a fight. By her own admission, the girl can outshoot, outfight, and outrun anyone in Boston. Which begs the question, is Charlie the next victim, or the perfect perpetrator? As D.D. tracks a vigilante gunman who is killing pedophiles in Boston, she must also delve into the murders of Charlie's friends, racing to find answers before the next gruesome January 21 anniversary. Is Charlie truly in danger, or is she hiding a secret that may turn out to be the biggest threat of all?

In four days, someone is going to kill me. But the son of a bitch has gotta catch me first. 

Catch Me is book 6 in the D.D. Warren series and shows the gritty Boston detective in a new light, as a struggling mother of a baby and the emotional fallout that entails. Really added to the depth of the character.

Lisa Gardner's thrillers are riveting.

She has a gift for weaving intricate plot points throughout the book without being obvious and her characters are realistic and appealing.
Her villains are flawed yet invoke sympathy, the sign of a brilliant writer.

If you've never read Lisa Gardner, do yourself a favour and pick up one of her books.

Highly recommend.

What are you reading this week?

Weekend Book Club: Live to Tell

Lisa Gardner is one of few authors guaranteed to make me lose sleep (as in I can't put her book down.)

Live to Tell is book 4 in the D.D. Warren series and another ripping good yarn.

Here's the blurb:

He knows everything about you—including the first place you’ll hide.

On a warm summer night in one of Boston’s working-class neighborhoods, an unthinkable crime has been committed: Four members of a family have been brutally murdered. The father—and possible suspect—now lies clinging to life in the ICU. Murder-suicide? Or something worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is certain of only one thing: There’s more to this case than meets the eye.

Danielle Burton is a survivor, a dedicated nurse whose passion is to help children at a locked-down pediatric psych ward. But she remains haunted by a family tragedy that shattered her life nearly twenty-five years ago. The dark anniversary is approaching, and when D. D. Warren and her partner show up at the facility, Danielle immediately realizes: It has started again.

A devoted mother, Victoria Oliver has a hard time remembering what normalcy is like. But she will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood. She will love him no matter what. Nurture him. Keep him safe. Protect him. Even when the threat comes from within her own house.

I enjoyed the changing POVs in this one, allowed me to really get inside the heads of the 3 protagonists: tough female cop D.D. Warren, psychologically scarred paediatric psych nurse Danielle and mother of a special needs kid, Victoria.

I challenge any parent to read this book and not be moved.

You'll want to go and hug your kids more than usual throughout.

Lisa Gardner's thorough research is mind-blowing and her books shine because of it.

I could hardly put this one down, a stellar five star read, until the end where the villain's motivation becomes tangled and the reader is left unsure what really drove him to commit such acts of mind-blowing violence. It pained me to take off a star but the ending detracted from an otherwise stirling story.

What are you reading this week?

Weekend Book Club: Love You More

Lisa Gardner is an autobuy for me.
She's the only author who has given me nightmares (while reading The Perfect Husband.)

Her latest, LOVE YOU MORE, depicts every parents' nightmare.

Here's the official synopsis:

WHO DO YOU LOVE?

One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?

AND HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO . . .

As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?

. . . TO SAVE HER?

For Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. A mother knows who she loves. And all others will be made to pay.
Love you more . . .

I couldn't put this book down.
The author's voice, her multi-layered themes and constant plot twists make this a superb page turner.

For a busy mum running around with kids' kinder concerts and cross country events and a birthday and a tight deadline...well, to say I read this in a day, you know how much I could NOT put it down!

What are you reading this week?

(considering I have 2 releases out, hope it's one of mine!)