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A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl.
All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do is run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family’s aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. As a fan of Earth television and culture, he figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there’s a complication.
Even though the settlers were promised they’d be left in peace, Earth’s government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Corporation is hired to commence an “eviction action.” But maximizing profits will always be Apex’s number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying their own AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their own homes?
The game is called Operation Bounce House.
Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who’ve paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known.
“Don’t pass your responsibilities on to others unless absolutely necessary. Do not take on the responsibilities of others unless doing so is an act of kindness.”
“Miserable people are fond of laying blame on someone else for their problems.”
“It is the one thing I admire about humans the most: the ability to compartmentalize.”
The Narrator(s)
Travis Baldree. Jeff Hays. I don’t know what it is because so many people have said they enjoy Travis Baldree as a narrator but I have a hard time with his narration. I’ve listened to one of his Legends & Lattes books that he narrates and I enjoyed the story but I can’t pinpoint what it is about his voice that grates on me. Jeff Hays’ parts were great for me though!
My Thoughts
I got so lucky with this audiobook because I thought I was going to have to wait ages for it but it was available as a skip-the-line loan and I immediately jumped on it! It’s no Dungeon Crawler Carl, but it was still really good and I enjoyed it very much. I also think I might’ve enjoyed it more if it was narrated by someone else, I honestly don’t know why I have a problem with Baldree’s narration.
The story itself has all the elements of everything I love in the DCC series; found family – which everyone knows I love, a motley crew of very different people coming together to fight for something they were thrust into, help from somewhat artificial intelligent beings who have abilities the MCs don’t, unreasonable enemies who want ridiculous things… It’s a recipe for a great book with a great plot and great characters!
It has also made me nostalgic for the DCC world and Jeff Hays’ narration, and I’m still debating about the best time to dive back into rereading the series before starting on Book 8! Just a few days left! I might just read Book 8 immediately and then start over after!
My Rating
4/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Mary Roach takes the age-old question, “What happens to us after we die?” quite literally. And in Stiff, she explores the “lives” of human cadavers from the time of the ancient Egyptians all the way up to current campaigns for human composting. Along the way, she recounts with morbidly infectious glee how dead bodies are used for research ranging from car safety and plastic surgery (you’ll cancel your next collagen injection after reading this!), to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.
Impossible (and irreverent) as it may sound, Roach has written a book about corpses that’s both lively and fresh. She traveled around the globe to conduct her forensic investigations, and her findings are wryly intelligent. While the myriad uses for cadavers recounted are often graphic, Roach imbues her subject with a sense of dignity, choosing to emphasize the oddly noble purposes corpses serve, from organ donation to lifesaving medical research.
Readers will come away convinced of the enormous debt that we, the living, owe to the study of the remains of the dead. And while it may not offer the answer to the ancient mystery we were hoping for, Stiff offers a strange sort of comfort in the knowledge that, in a sense, death isn’t necessarily the end.
This book has the honor of being one of the oldest books on my TBR. I bought a copy not long after it came out about 20 years ago, and I had even started reading it a few times but it never stuck. I no longer have my original copy but I have finally read it!
The Quotes
“We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.”
“You are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place.”
“Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.”
“I guess I feel the same way about being a corpse. Why lie around on your back when you can do something interesting and new, something useful?”
The Narrator(s)
Shelly Frasier. It was great, no complaints!
My Thoughts
I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. It’s not for the lack of interest, I think, but rather taking it for granted when I had it on my shelves, and then forgetting about it when I no longer had it. I finally read it now, after so many years, because I happened to be on a nonfiction binge and it was one of the books available immediately on Libby.
As had been promised all these years, it was fascinating and I loved it! I was afraid that it might feel a little dated as I had read other more recently published books about death and dead bodies since this book was first published, but it didn’t feel that way to me. I still learned a lot of interesting information, and got quite morbidly curious about the part where she talks about cannibalism.
I don’t think I personally care what happens to my body after I die, I actually love the idea of being useful after I’m dead, but I do worry about possible cases of jumping the gun on harvesting organs from a person before they are dead. It doesn’t apply to me because I’m not a candidate for organ donation but it’s still disturbing that it has happened and can happen.
All in all, this was a great read, and would you believe it, my first Mary Roach book! She’s been a TBR author of mine for so long, I didn’t realize I haven’t actually read a single book until this one. I’m definitely looking out to read more from her.
My Rating
4/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A librarian with a mysterious past, a war hero with a secret, and the heist of a magic painting. THE LIBRARIAN OF CROOKED LANE is an intriguing new fantasy from C.J. Archer, the USA Today bestselling author of the Glass and Steele series.
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she’s descended from magicians, she’s skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she’s just an ordinary girl who loves books. She seeks the truth from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won’t be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger.
After securing her new employment in a library housing the world’s greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia’s lives become intwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia’s past before powerful people can stop them.
But sometimes the past is better left buried…
The Reason
The whole series was on sale in Audible and I thought I’d give it a try.
The Quotes
“A hidden passage inside a library? Have you been reading my childhood diary and discovered all my favorite things?”
“Nobody could make anyone believe something they didn’t want to, no matter how compelling.”
The Narrator(s)
Marian Hussey. She was perfect for the whole series. I enjoyed her narration immensely!
My Thoughts
Book 1 – The Librarian of Crooked Lane Book 2 – The Medici Manuscript Book 3 – The Untitled Books Book 4 – The Dead Letter Delivery Book 5 – Secrets of the Lost Ledgers Book 6 – The Journal of a Thousand Years
I had never heard of the books nor the author, but I love bookish books and the titles of the books and series drew me in immediately. The whole series was on sale and a preliminary search of the books made me feel good about an impulse buy. I wasn’t disappointed, it was such an enjoyable series! I especially loved the pacing and the way the stories flowed from one book to the next. To the point where it makes it hard for me to talk about the books one by one (which I initially wanted to do) because I don’t remember where a plot ended and another began, so I’ll just talk about all of them as a whole.
Apparently, this series is a spin-off from the Glass and Steele series by the same author. I was initially interested in reading them too but there are 13 books in the series, and unless I get lucky with another sale, I don’t think I’ll be doing that!
As for this series, they give me dark academia meets magical fantasy meets historical romance vibes. I loved how we get to know the characters more with each book and how their relationship progressions grow naturally. There are references to things that I assumed happen in the Glass and Steele series but doesn’t leave us with questions in this series and, as far as I know, doesn’t seem to spoil the Glass and Steele series.
I listened to the whole series on audio, one right after the other, and I thought it was just the perfect series to listen to during a time where I couldn’t be a hundred percent focused. It was light-hearted and easy to follow, yet also interesting and thrilling enough to keep my attention throughout all six books. I loved the whole experience and I was transported into another world for a wonderful time.
My Rating
4/5 stars.
Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?
Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome, a practical guide in the tradition of Wheat Belly and Grain Brain that conclusively demonstrates the inextricable, biological link between mind and body.
We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right;” the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Aryuvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the microbiome—the microorganisms that live inside us—communicate with one another. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer, Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress, offers a revolutionary look at this developing science, teaching us how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of our health.
The Mind-Gut Connection shows how to keep the brain-gut communication clear and balanced to:
• Heal the gut by focusing on a plant-based diet • Balance the microbiome by consuming fermented foods and probiotics, fasting, and cutting out sugar and processed foods • Promote weight loss by detoxifying and creating a healthy digestion and maximum nutrient absorption • Boost immunity and prevent the onset of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s • Generate a happier mindset and reduce fatigue, moodiness, anxiety, and depression • Prevent and heal GI disorders such as leaky gut syndrome; food sensitivities and allergies; and IBS; as well as digestive discomfort such as heartburn and bloating • And much more.
I want to read more nonfiction and I got curious about the gut and gut-health.
The Quotes
“The immune cells residing in your gut make up the largest component of your body’s immune system; in other words, there are more immune cells living in the wall of your gut than circulating in the blood or residing in your bone marrow.”
“The gut is also the largest storage facility for serotonin in our body. Ninety-five percent of the body’s serotonin is stored in these warehouses.”
“Your gut microbes are in a prime position to influence your emotions, by generating and modulating signals the gut sends back to the brain.”
“Adults often think that self-confidence is something a child learns, but little kids are by their nature always invincible, it’s self-doubt that needs to be taught.”
My Thoughts
This book was incredibly informative and I learned a lot, but I did feel it was a little dry. Some of the most recent nonfiction books I’ve read have been written by very entertaining and accomplished writers, so I might be a little unfair in my judgement. This book is well-written and very interesting, jam-packed with a lot of details about the gut microbiome, its history, research, and effects on our health.
I was most fascinated with the chapter about gut feelings, and how our microbiome really does affect our intuition because it acts as our second brain and sends signals to our brain when it recognizes a feeling it has had before. I am obviously not explaining it very well, but I do recommend reading this book yourself for this chapter and to understand your body and how it works, especially since we’ve got more bacteria in our gut than we have cells in our body.
Personally, I’ll admit that while I enjoyed reading this book in the moment, I didn’t end up retaining much of the details, as is normal for me as a reader. However, it’s piqued my interest enough that I know I’d like to read more about the gut as well as do more to ensure my own gut health. I’m also intending to reread this book at some point, after I read some others that are more accessible and entertaining to the layperson. I’m hoping I’ll retain more by then and come back to this book with a better understanding.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
I loved A Man Called Ove and I’m planning to read more of the author’s works.
The Quotes
“The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them.”
“Art is what can’t fit inside a person. The things that bubble over.”
“It is an act of violence when an adult yells at a child, all adults know that deep down, because all adults were once little. Yet we still do it. Time after time, we fail at being human beings.”
“Adults often think that self-confidence is something a child learns, but little kids are by their nature always invincible, it’s self-doubt that needs to be taught.”
The Narrator(s)
Marin Ireland. No complaints, it was a good listening experience.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this book but not as much as I hoped I would. I had some high expectations going in because I loved A Man Called Ove so much, and I had heard some people say that this one was better. It’s really good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t necessarily think it’s better and to be fair, I don’t think we can compare the two books. They’re completely different from each other, but they are both wonderfully written and showcase humans in some of their most vulnerable times struggling to trust other people and allow themselves to be loved.
Perhaps that’s what I love about this book and Backman as a writer; he writes about difficult things, but in a very relatable way. His stories are light-hearted yet deep, bittersweet yet funny, and sometimes that’s just exactly how life is. His characters can be annoying at times but also endearing. They make mistakes but they care about each other, and more importantly, they can count on each other. It was a good read and I look forward to reading more of his works.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Brigands & Breadknives (Legends & Lattes #2) by Travis Baldree
Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller, Fern.
Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!
If only things were so simple…
It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.
A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.
As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.
“”We goes when is time to be somewhere else,” said Zyll.”
“I could wish you hadn’t seen the worst of me, but I’m glad you looked past it until you saw the back of me.”
“Always remember, although the unimaginative see life as a thread stretched from one point to another, birth to death, a life truly lived is a glorious tangle. One is never lost. And if one is lucky, one is never found, either.”
The Narrator(s)
The author himself. I enjoy his narration in general but I had trouble understanding many of the made-up words and names, a common problem with fantasy stories, so I ended up switching to a physical copy of the book.
My Thoughts
Full disclosure, I didn’t like this book as much as the first two. The author mentions in the acknowledgement that he worried people might not enjoy this book as much because it was not as cozy and was higher conflict than the first two books, but that he didn’t want to write the same book over and over, and frankly I respect that. This wasn’t the issue for me.
My issue was that I didn’t like Fern very much here because she was so wishy-washy and uncertain about everything, and yet constantly complaining and imposing her opinions on others. On the one hand, I recognize that I don’t like seeing these traits in her because I really didn’t like seeing these traits in myself, so I get that I have work to do for myself. But it was just really annoying to be shown a mirror.
I did enjoy the rest of the book, and I love Zyll’s character so much! As mentioned, the author said he didn’t want to write the same book over and over, and that actually makes me look forward to more books in this series because I’d love to see how these characters and their stories change and evolve as we go!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.
But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?
A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.
I borrowed a bunch of Hepworth’s books after loving the last one I read; The Good Sister.
The Quotes
“Even after all these years, yearning for the love and attention of someone who couldn’t give it to her was much more comfortable than actually receiving it.”
“Some people are so busy chasing perfection they don’t appreciate the wonders right in front of them”
“When cruelty becomes familiar in your tender, adolescent years, of course you start to become comfortable with it. You believe you deserve it. But you don’t.”
“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.”
The Narrator(s)
Jessica Clarke. I enjoyed her narration more than Barrie Kreinik’s for The Good Sister.
My Thoughts
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as The Good Sister but I thought it was pretty good too. I’m discovering that I often find the author’s stories predictable but I still really like their storytelling style and I’m happy to read more. It’s the psychological horror that gets me; the author writes those emotional scenes so well and I find myself feeling all the feelings. This book features motherhood, foster children, and the complicated issues that come with that. I loved the story overall, but I have to say that I found the last chapter unnecessary and unrealistic. It was a twist for shock factor but it doesn’t make sense to the story, in my opinion, and it not only weakens the shock factor but the whole psychological horror aspect. It was a great story up to that point.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.
Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.
I’m reading all of King’s books and Holly Gibney is one of my favorite characters.
The Quotes
“He’s dangerous because he thinks he’s sane.” She pauses. “To belabor something else that’s obvious, he’s not.”
“The bastards don’t get to win.”
“It’s not courage she lacks, it’s the fundamental self-worth necessary to call someone out on their hurtful behavior.”
“…because deeply religious people in every sect or faith can always find justification for what they want to do in one holy book or another.”
The Narrator(s)
Jessie Mueller, with an afterword read by Stephen King. Seriously, Mueller is damn good, but even more so, she can sing! There are parts in the book where music and performance comes in, and Mueller delivers so well I am in awe.
My Thoughts
I know many King fans are lukewarm about Holly but I love her and can’t get enough of her. This book’s story isn’t the best compared to the previous Holly stories, but I still love it because of Holly and her friends. I’m glad to see Jerome, Barbara, and Izzy again, and I love seeing how they have all grown in so many different ways. I also fell in love with Corrie as a character and I’m hoping we’ll see her again in future books. There was some mention of the possibility of Izzy joining Holly as a PI, and honestly, I’m so excited about the prospect of that as well as seeing more of Corrie in future books. I don’t care what others say, this book made me want more Holly books!
The story itself is good, but it’s tough to compare King’s books because he’s got so many amazing books. I think my biggest complaint is that there weren’t enough supernatural elements here although I wonder if that’s the point. I’ve always loved that while King writes about supernatural monsters, he also often makes a point that some of the worst monsters are the real life ones. To be fair though, despite not having enough supernatural elements, I did enjoy the book very much. I had about three hours left of the book just before bed and it got so thrilling I couldn’t sleep and ended up staying up to finish it, so I’d call that a win.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Detective Max Rupert series (Books 1-5) by Allen Eskens
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe’s life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran–and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.
As Joe writes about Carl’s life, especially Carl’s valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?
The Reason
I accidentally came across the first book as I was browsing Libby. I read it and loved it and wanted more, and the other books were available so I borrowed them all at once!
The Quotes
“No sin could be greater than a sin that cannot be rectified, the sin you never get to confess.”
“But we do have control of how much of our soul we leave behind in this mess. Don’t ever forget that. We do still have some choices.”
“What if, in all the eons of eternity, this was the one and only time that I would be alive. How would I live my life if that were the case?”
“But it also means that this is our heaven. We are surrounded every day by the wonders of life, wonders beyond comprehension that we simply take for granted.”
My Thoughts
All the books in the series are different enough that I feel like I should do an individual post for each one, but they’re also linked as a series, and I have something to say about the series as a whole, so I decided to do one post for them all. Plus, I’m lazy, so there.
These books are listed under the Detective Max Rupert series, but many of them feature characters in other series written by the author. The first book, The Life We Bury, is primarily listed under the Joe Talbert series, and features Joe Talbert as the protagonist. I intend to read that series as well because I love the Joe Talbert character, but I’ll be writing this post from the point of view of Detective Max Rupert as the overarching character.
Book 1 – The Life We Bury Narrated by Zack Villa. I loved his portrayal of Joe Talbert. No notes. For the reading challenge(s) – TBD
The first book features Joe Talbert as the main character; Detective Max Rupert plays an important but minimal role, and if I hadn’t been looking out for him (because he is the series’ titular character) I might not even have remembered his name. I loved Joe Talbert as a character though, and I loved this particular story. Joe is a student writing a story for a school project who stumbled upon a case and felt the need to get to the bottom of the story. I loved how the story played out, how thrilling it got, and how it feels different from other thriller stories. At the end of it, I felt a little disappointed that I was going to move on to the next book in Detective Max Rupert’s series rather than Joe Talbert’s series (one was available while the other was not), but I am definitely looking forward to reading more about Joe Talbert in the future.
Book 2 – The Guise of Another Narrated by Jonathan Yen. My least favorite of the series’ narrators, but possibly because the MC is my least favorite character as well. For the reading challenge(s): 2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #8: A three-syllable word in the title)
This one features Detective Max Rupert’s brother, Alexander Rupert. I expected to see more of Max Rupert this time, and I did, but interestingly, Max was a side character to Alexander’s main. I was very much pulled into the story and got very invested in all the characters, regardless of their role in the story. I didn’t like Alexander as a person but his character was very interesting, and I loved that the story shocked and surprised me with the direction it took. It’s not your regular police procedural and I love that.
Book 3 – The Heavens May Fall Narrated by R.C. Bray, David Colacci, Amy McFadden. They were great. I love the different voices for the different POVs. For the reading challenge(s): 2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #2: Kangaroo word on the cover [Heaven – haven])
The main character in this one is Boady Sanden, a lawyer and long-time friend of Max Rupert’s. Boady makes an appearance in The Life We Bury, but we see a lot more of him and his backstory in this book. Max Rupert plays a part in this story, but again, doesn’t take center stage. There is also a Boady Sanden series that doesn’t include this book that I will probably check out at some point. In this book, Boady and Max are at odds because Boady is defending a person that Max had arrested and believes is a criminal. Lila Nash, who is Joe Talbert’s love interest in The Life We Bury, also makes an appearance here and I love seeing her again.
Book 4 – The Deep Dark Descending Narrated by R.C. Bray. It was perfect, especially for how intense this story was. For the reading challenge(s) – TBD
We finally see Max Rupert as the main protagonist in this book. Very much front and center, very much raw and intense. There is such an interesting exploration of Max’s history and psyche, mixed in between the chaos happening in real time, that’s just incredible to see happening on the page. We also see more of Niki Vang, Max’s partner, who is definitely one of my favorite characters in this series. It’s hard to talk about this book without giving away key elements, but it’s almost like the intensity I feel with The Count of Monte Cristo, obviously on a much smaller scale because The Count of Monte Cristo is incomparable.
Book 5 – Forsaken Country Narrated by Brian Troxell. I enjoyed his narration very much. For the reading challenge(s) – TBD
Max is still a main character in this story although the primary storyline is about a colleague’s missing adult daughter and grandson. He’s asked to help with the personal investigation as the acting sheriff doesn’t believe the missing persons are actually missing or in trouble. The story itself is as thrilling as all the previous books, but we continue to get some more exploration of Max’s character arc and I love that too. I love where we landed on by the end of the book, but I’m definitely curious to see if there will be more books in the series and where they’ll go.
Overall I’m not sure how the author planned these books because of how different each one of them are, and the fact that the titular character of the series don’t play main character roles in the initial books, but I loved how they turned out! And to be honest, I think what I loved most about these books is the fact that they’re all so different and not formulaic at all; the first book being from a journalistic POV, the second more like a police procedural, the third a legal thriller, and so on. It does feel like I’m reading completely different books, yet they are all immersive and interesting in their own ways. I’m loving this experience and I’m very interested in reading more from the author!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Four stars overall, because while I love the stories and find them very interesting on an intellectual level, I’m missing just a tiny bit of the emotional connection to the characters.
Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians comes a tale of the American West, writ in blood.
This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.
It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.
This is an American Indian revenge story, captured in the vivid voices of the time, by one of the new masters of literary horror, Stephen Graham Jones.
This is my bookclub’s Book of the Month, and I wanted to read more diverse books and Indigenous authors.
The Quotes
“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”
“You put your reminders of pain on the wall and pray to them. We still hurt, so we don’t need that reminder.”
“My father used to tell me that I needed to pay attention to where I was instead of looking farther away than I could see, and I know he was right, but knowing and doing aren’t the same thing.”
The Narrator(s)
Shane Ghostkeeper. Marin Ireland. Owen Teale. The narrations and production was incredible, very well done.
My Thoughts
I really loved the story; I loved how Indigenous history and culture was presented here but also woven into the story’s vampire lore. It brings a whole new level to the “you are what you eat” thing and I am here for it, but it’s also such an interesting detail because of the theme throughout the story about how there is this whole “us vs. them” mentality, and how we dehumanize “the others” so that we can feel good about victimizing them.
There is a lot more to parse through with topics of morality, religion, heritage, and revenge, and the story itself is thrilling in and of itself and I found myself rushing through it in order to find out what happens next. The format of the story was also really meta; it’s a story within a story within a story within a story! Good Stab’s story as told by Arthur, Arthur’s story as told by Etsy, and Etsy’s story finally, and the story as a whole.
I feel like there is so much to this book and I’m very aware of the fact that I probably missed a lot of details, but I also feel like this is the kind of book that I will go back to again and get more out of it.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
