Search for Her - Rick Mofina

Rick Mofina is a new to me author. His latest book is Search for Her. 

Mofina starts off with a frightening premise. Fourteen year old Riley decides to wait in the RV while the rest of her newly blended family heads into the truck stop. When they get back on the road, they assume she is taking a nap in the bedroom. It's not until they're miles down the road that anyone genuinely checks. And yup, you guessed it - she's missing....

The search for Riley is anything but easy. The police don't seem to believe Grace and husband John that it was an accident. Instead they're focusing on the family as suspects. The police work in Search for Her is busy, with many agencies involved as the case crosses state lines. Although all the right words are there, I had a hard time believing some of the investigation. Information or leads are discovered at fortuitous points in the story. Technology breaks down and isn't discovered for days. Mofina gives us lots of suspects right from the get go including the family. It seems every one of them is hiding something. The listener is given hints as to each family member's hidden secrets, but it takes a while before they are revealed. This does serve to keep the listener engaged. There are also lots of peripheral characters that may or may not have a bearing on the case. One caught my eye as the way they were portrayed was just too 'good' IMO. 

Understandably, the family is panicked. Especially Grace. And I felt for her - I really did. But I got so tired of her caterwauling 'Where's Riley?' I know, I know, her child is missing. Character development takes a back seat in Search for Her. Instead, it action that propels the book forward. There are twists along the way, but some of them seemed awkward to me, including the reasoning and mind set of the initial suspect.

I chose to listen to Search for Her. The reader was Jennifer Jill Araya. This was a first listen of this narrator for me. She has a nice clear speaking voice, enunciates well, paces her speaking speed, and is, for the most part, really easy to listen to. She provides tones and voices for many, including males that are believable. She is indeed a very expressive reader and captures the tone of Mofina's book with her interpretation.  Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of Search For Her.

Mofina hits all the right notes for what I would call 'light suspense.' But, I prefer my suspense a little darker and my police procedures a little more believable. I encourage you to check out the other reviews on Goodreads. Overall, an easy read for the beach bag this summer.

Young Jane Young - Gabrielle Zevin

I adored Gabrielle Zevin's previous book, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry and was eager to read her just released novel, Young Jane Young.

We meet sixty four year old Rachel in the the opening chapters as she tries out online dating. I loved her sassy voice and dry sense of humour and found myself chuckling over her thoughts and comments. Her chapter then segues into the life of the next main character - her daughter Aviva. Aviva is working for a congressman - and crosses a line, having an affair with the married man.  Her life goes off the rails from the fallout of this decision, until she decides to start over with a new name - Jane. She relocates in another state - and daughter Ruby is born. Jane's chapter segues into Ruby's. And the inevitable fate that awaits all three. The last viewpoint is that of the congressman's wife Embeth.

What a rich and varied story this was! Young Jane Young was an unexpected, unpredictable and yet very satisfying read. This one event effects all four leads in so many ways and their various outlooks, reactions and responses are dependent on each individual's age, experience and life philosophy. I loved each voice and was hard pressed to have a favourite. But, if forced to pick, I would have to say that I enjoyed Ruby the most. Her letters to her penpal are the basis for a lot of what she is feeling and doing and a lot of it is heartbreaking. I loved the insertion of epistolary elements. Zevin employs this for Aviva/Jane as well. We are privy to her journal, written in a Choose Your Own Adventure style. Choices are given and we see how and why her life took the path it did.

"The rub of the Choose Your Own Adventure stories is that if you don't make a few bad choices, the story will be terribly boring. If you do everything right and you're always good, the story will be very short."

Mother, daughters, friends, the path taken and not taken. The echoes of a choice made, the denial and acceptance that we can't change what has been done - only move forward.

Zevin's writing is wry, witty and peppered with truths. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Young Jane Young.

You can connect with Gabrielle Zevin on her website, find her on Facebook and like her on Twitter.

Two By Two - Nicholas Sparks

Every so often, I have to take a break from my usual fare of mysteries and suspense, and curl up with a book guaranteed to tug at the heartstrings. Nicholas Sparks books are a good choice for that. His latest release is Two By Two.

Russ is a man who seems to have it all - beautiful wife and daughter, successful career and a lovely home. Yes, things in the relationship aren't quite what they were in the beginning, but everyone's marriage goes through those up and down times, right? But for Russ, those down times take a further downward spiral when he finds himself without a wife, without a job and now the main carer for his daughter.

"When you start trying to figure out what went wrong - or, more specifically where you went wrong - it's like peeling an onion. there's always another layer, another mistake in the past or a painful memory that stands out, which then leads one back even further in time, and then even further, in search of the ultimate truth. I've reached the point where I've stopped trying to figure it out: The only thing that really matters now is learning enough to avoid making the same mistakes again."

Oh, my goodness, I don't know when I have had such a strong dislike for a character - and so early on in a book! I'm talking about Russ's wife Vivian. She's spoilt, obnoxious and oblivious to her own behavior. She may love her daughter, but she's not a great role model at all. I did enjoy Russ's transformation from weekend/after work parent to dad who does it all. His relationship with his daughter London changes and grows over the course of a year. Russ himself changes as well. I did find myself annoyed with him in the beginning of the book - for all that Vivian is a manipulator, Russ is an enabler. He kowtows to her every wish and whim, accepts her criticism and tries even harder to make her happy. I wanted him to stand up for himself - but Russ is a nice guy - to his own detriment. His obsequious behaviour isn't great role model material either.

Sparks excels at relationship exploration in his novels. The husband/wife, parent/child dynamic is explored in not just Russ's family unit, but also through the eyes of his parents, his sister and her partner and a longtime friend and her child. I quite enjoyed the cast of supporting characters - especially sister Marge and partner Liz. And yes, there has to be a romantic thread as well. I won't spoil things, but I liked the way Sparks wrote and handled this part of his plotting.

There's no doubt as to what direction the book is going to take - and I was right in my predictions. But, I'm not thrilled with the ending. 'Nuff said without spoilers. Two By Two is a slower paced book, taking it's time to reach the final pages. I think it probably could have been shortened up a wee bit.

Read an excerpt of Two By Two. (And on a side note, I really like this cover)

Giveaway - Two by Two - Nicholas Sparks

New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with 'an emotionally powerful story of unconditional love, its challenges, its risks and most of all, its rewards' - Two by Two. And I have two copies to giveaway to two lucky readers!

From Grand Central Publishing:

"At 32, Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear...and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down. In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. Throwing himself into the wilderness of single parenting, Russ embarks on a journey at once terrifying and rewarding-one that will test his abilities and his emotional resources beyond anything he ever imagined."



"With over 100 million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. His novels include 12 #1 New York Times bestsellers. All his books have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than 50 languages. Ten Sparks novels have been adapted into major motion pictures. You can connect with Nicholas Sparks on his website, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

And if you'd like to read Two by Two, enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US and Canada. Ends November 5/16.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova

Lisa Genova simply can't write a bad book. Her latest, Inside the O'Briens is another absolutely fantastic read.

Genova is a neuroscientist. Each of her novels has brain function or brain injury as a starting point. (Still Alice has just been made into a movie)

Forty-four year old Joe O'Brien has been a cop in Charleston, Massachusetts for twenty four years. He, his wife Rosie and his four adult children all live in the brownstone that Joe grew up in. When he starts having temper outbursts, a few muscle spasms and momentary mental lapses, he writes if off to age and fatigue. But....they get worse. Rosie and the kids are noticing more and it's happening at work - a dangerous situation. When Rosie finally gets Joe to a doctor, they are stunned to hear Joe's diagnosis - Huntington's Disease - a neurological condition that is fatal. And it's genetic - his children have a 50/50 chance of also having the disease.

Wow. Genova takes us inside this tight knit family through Joe and his daughter Katie's eyes. The uncertainty, the anger, the denial, the aftermath, the hope, the dreams and above all the love of this family for each other. I know these are characters in a book, but I honesty felt like Genova was actually writing about a real family. The interactions, the dialogue and the situations had me feeling like I was sitting at the table with them, having Sunday dinner.

I had previously heard of Huntington's Disease, but learned so very much about it from Inside the O'Briens, from both a medical, societal and personal perspective. Yes, the book has the disease as a basis, but it is the family of O'Briens that stayed with me after I turned the last page. Poignant, heartwarming, heartbreaking and oh so very, very good. Read an excerpt of Inside the O'Briens.

You can connect with Lisa Genova on Twitter as well as on Facebook.

Finding Jake - Bryan Reardon

We've all read the horrendous stories and watched the news footage - shootings at schools....

Bryan Reardon's new novel, Finding Jake uses a school shooting as a starting point for his book.

Simon is a stay at home dad to Laney and Jake, while his wife heads out to her job as a lawyer each day. One fateful day, there is a shooting at the children's high school. Simon rushes to the school and anxiously waits to be reunited with his kids. Laney is fine, but Simon is the last parent waiting - and Jake is the only child missing. The suspected shooter was a loner, with Jake being his only friend.

Simon has had many doubts about his parenting skills over the years. He found it hard to mix in with the stay at home moms in the neighbourhood. He projected many of his own fears and insecurities on his children. Laney seemed to be unaffected, but Jake is a quiet child, preferring his own company.

As he waits for new, Simon relives Jake's life - from a baby to the young man he is today. And Simon's doubts, questions, self-recriminations, fears and anxieties about himself, his role as a parent, his childrearing abilities and his son are laid bare on the page. How well does he know his child? Where is Jake? His body was not inside the school - where could he be? Is he alive? Could he possibly be involved? What more could he have to protect his child? What did he do wrong?

Everything we learn is from Simon's point of view. It is as much a search for who is son his as it is a self exploration of himself as a father, husband and person. Despite his self realization, I found it hard to like Simon. As Simon's memories progress through the years, the picture we have of Jake changes. The ending was not at all predictable, though unsettling.

I found the back and forth between the past and present quite addictive. Reardon's prose have such a ring of authenticity to them - he eloquently articulates the fears we all harbour as parents. Reardon himself left an office job to stay home with his twin newborns. Read an excerpt of Finding Jake.

Bryan Reardon is a freelance writer specializing in medical communications. He co-wrote Ready,Set, Play with retired NFL player and ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth and Cruel Harvest. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Bryan worked for the State of Delaware for over a decade, starting in the Office of the Governor. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with his wife, kids, and rescue dog, Simon. You can connect with Bryan Reardon on Facebook. See what others on the TLC tour thought. Full schedule can be found here.