Sadie - Courtney Summers

A Bookworm's World is today's blog tour stop for Courtney Summer's brand new book, Sadie.

Sadie has been raising her little sister Mattie all of her life. Their addict mother left and Sadie has been trying to give her the best life she can. When Mattie is found murdered, Sadie is devastated. The police investigation is going nowhere, so Sadie decides to find the killer herself.

Now here's the fun part. Sadie is told as a podcast. A brilliant idea Courtney! I love listening to podcasts and starting 'hearing' the book as I read. We come to know the host, West McCray,  and follow along with the investigation week to week (chapter to chapter).

"...The Girls explores what happens when a devastating crime reveals a deeply unsettling mystery. It's a story about family, about sisters, and the untold lives lived in small town America. It's about the lengths we go to protect the ones we love...and the high price we pay when we can's.  And it begins, as so many stories do, with a dead girl."

Now I don't know about you, but I was hooked by that introduction from the podcast.

Alternating are chapters from Sadie in real time as she pursues the killer. We get to know her more intimately in her chapters and become privy to her inner thoughts, worries, hopes and more. I liked her as a lead character very much and was firmly in her corner as she set out. But oh, some of it's downright gut-wrenching. (And don't even get me started on the ending!)

Sadie turned into a one sitting read for me - I just couldn't put it down, caught up in Sadie's pursuit and West's exploration of what happened. Such a great read! Here's an excerpt of Sadie.

"Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. At age 14, and with her parents' blessing, Courtney dropped out of high school to pursue her education independently. At age 18, she wrote her first novel and never looked back. Her first book, Cracked Up to Be, was published in 2008, when she was 22. To date, she has authored five novels and is best known for her unapologetic, difficult female protagonists. In 2016, Courtney was named one of Flare Magazine's 60 under 30." You can connect with Courtney Summer on her website, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

The Saturday Night Ghost Club - Craig Davidson

I picked up Craig Davidson's new novel, The Saturday Night Ghost Club on a lazy Sunday morning and literally couldn't put it down until the last page was turned. Yup, that addicting.

Our protagonist is Jake Baker - we meet him as the adult neurosurgeon he is today and the young boy he was, living in Cataract City (aka Niagara Falls, Canada. In Latin, cataracta means waterfall), circa 1980. Jake is that odd kid out - overweight, shy with no real friends. He hangs out with his Uncle Cal, who owns the Occultorium on the tourist lined streets of the Falls. Cal believes in the otherworld, ghosts, conspiracy theories and more. When Billy Yellowbird moves into town, Jake has finally found a friend. And Cal has two members for his proposed Saturday Night Ghost Club.

"This city is haunted by ghosts. Uncle C used to say this, though not to scare me. He'd say it with a cocked eyebrow and an inscrutable smile, a merry jester beckoning me to embark on a grand adventure."

I could vividly picture the setting, having visited the Falls many times. The busy, congested, neon party that is Clifton Hill sprang to life. Davidson takes us behind those streets to the lives of the permanent residents of Cataract City. I appreciated the cultural references woven throughout the book....."We did what Canadian kids do on unbearably hot summer days: watched reruns of The Beachcombers and Danger Bay on the CBC..."

Initially there's a 'Stranger Things' feel to The Saturday Night Ghost Club - exploring the haunted landmarks and sites of the Falls. That's the setting, but the story is much more than that. Friendship, love, family, coming of age - and memory. "The brain is the seat of memory, and memory is a tricky thing."

Davidson is a one heck of a storyteller. His prose flow so easily and draw the reader into the world he's created. His characters leap to life and will break your heart. Those last fifty pages? So very, very good. And once you've turned that last page, head back to that first chapter again. You'll look at it with different eyes. An absolutely wonderful read. Here's an excerpt of The Saturday Night Ghost Club.