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Sunday, July 07, 2019

Gretchen by Shannon Kirk, Fire on the Fens by Joy Ellis, and The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris

Strange landlords and tenants with secrets, Gretchen will give you  some nightmarish and sinister moments that will make your skin crawl.

The beginning catches the suspenseful feel of a mother and daughter on the run.  Someone tried to kidnap Lucy when she was two, and after her mother gets her back, the two have been on the move for the last fifteen years, never too long in one place, always taking precautions to keep from being recognized.

At fifteen Lucy is exhausted with the need to keep on the run, and even if she understands her mother's paranoia, Lucy is tired of never having friends or stability.

After failing to maintain all of her mother's rules at their last location, Lucy must abandon another school.  The two end up in a small New Hampshire town, and Lucy falls in love with their prospective rental.  The landlord has a few rules and boundaries that Lucy doesn't mind, but that make her mother reluctant to sign the rental agreement.  

After a bit of a power struggle, Lucy gets her way. She's tired of running, more and frustrated with her mother's refusal to provide information about their circumstances, and eager for a permanence she's never had.  But even though she's able to force her mother into staying, Lucy knows their landlord and his daughter are...weird.

I didn't see the unexpected twist until the author wanted me to.

Gretchen would make a great Halloween read (it's seriously creepy). Or you can go ahead and read it now and use the chills to combat summer heat!   

Read in June.  Blog review scheduled for 

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer
Thriller.  July 23, 2019.  Print length:  353 pages.
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Fire on the Fens by Joy Ellis, the latest in Ellis' Nikki Galena series will comfort you with the return of Nikki, Joseph, and their team and unsettle you with their most recent case.  

Retired fire inspector John Carson has been following several small fires that he suspects is an arsonist learning his craft.  Something about these fires makes him suspect that the arsonist has a much bigger plan in mind.  Carson eventually reaches out to his old friend DCI Cameron Walker whith his fears about escalation.

Soon, Nikki and her team find themselves with an arsonist who sets fires after making sure his victims can't escape.  The victims mount, and Nikki and her team are at a loss as to how these victims are related--and they must be, because the arsonist seems to have a list.  

Another great addition to the DI Nikki Galena series.  If you want a new series of good police procedurals be sure to check out Joy Ellis--I look forward to each new addition.

Joffe Books
Police Procedural.  2018.  Print length:  313 pages.
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I saw an article about The Lost Words on Brain Pickings and could not resist this marvelous combination of art and poems.  

"In early 2015, when the 10,000-entry Oxford children’s dictionary dropped around fifty words related to nature — words like fernwillow, and starling — in favor of terms like broadband and cut and paste, some of the world’s most prominent authors composed an open letter of protest and alarm at this impoverishment of children’s vocabulary and its consequent diminishment of children’s belonging to and with the natural world."   (Brain Pickings)

It is an over-sized, gorgeous book, and I absolutely love it.



16 comments:

  1. The album of their music comes out on July 12. So beautiful. I'm going to order this book, one for myself, one for my wilderness loving, very pregnant daughter. Thanks Jenny!

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    1. The book is over-sized, but gorgeous! It will be a wonderful gift for any wilderness loving, pregnant daughter, Debby!

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  2. I'm intrigued with "Gretchen" after reading your review. Adding it to my wishlist!

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  3. Fire on the Fens sounds like another winner by Joy Ellis. I've listened to the first three in the series and enjoy them quite well, but I plan to switch over to the print editions. I find that I'm not listening to audio books as often as I used to and I lose track of the storyline.

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    1. The books read fast. I've never listened to an audio book of them, but that would be a nice way to listen and do other things--but I'd probably lose track of the story, too!

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  4. Returning to tell you how much I enjoyed watching the video, listening to Folk by the Oak. What beautiful voices!

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    1. The books is beautiful, and I certainly want the music!

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  5. Gretchen does sound creepy and suspenseful! And I totally want to own The Lost Words. :)

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  6. Gretchen sounds wonderful! The kind of book that will keep one up at night. The Joy Ellis series does sound good. I'm always fascinated by arsonists. I have a fire phobia and maybe that plays a part in it.

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    1. Gretchen was hard to put down! Joy Ellis has written a great series, and I've enjoyed every one of them. :)

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  7. Fire on the Fens sounds like something I would enjoy. I've been a police procedural fan forever seems like and much prefer them over the more predictable thriller-type mystery. But I'm finding that sometimes the author gets carried away to the point that I feel like I'm part of the investigation in real time. Elizabeth George's most recent Lyndley novel comes to mind - 688 pages of questions and answers with a turn of direction just often enough to keep you reading. Of course, I really enjoy the Barbara Havers character, and that helps. Enough whining...

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    1. I do love Barbara Havers. :) All of Joy Ellis' books are great procedurals with characters I enjoy returning to and plots that keep me involved.

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  8. Oh my, I am afraid of Gretchen and so intrigued at the same time -- is it hardcore horror? Gore and the like? Or is it a suspenseful thriller that is WAY creepy?

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    1. No, not hardcore horror or gore, but yes, WAY creepy and suspenseful. ;)

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