I read a lot of thrillers, and not as much horror (especially supernatural horror), but a good haunted house story is hard to resist.

A few ghosts won't keep Margaret away from her dream home. Sure, they appear mangled based on how they were murdered, but the house is otherwise perfect! Well, aside from the blood dripping down the walls & the monster in the basement. Unfortunately her husband, Hal, wasn't willing to spend another second in the terrifying home. He left.

Margaret's daughter Katherine is determined to find her father. She takes time off work to visit her parents' new house for the first time and look for him. Margaret tries to hide the fact that the house is haunted from Katherine, but not everything can stay a secret.

It was difficult for me to relate to Margaret, as I'd definitely head for the hills at the first sign of blood dripping down my walls, but I still liked her. I also developed a fondness for a couple of the less-scary ghosts. Despite the gore, I really wanted to find out how the story ended so I was kept interested throughout.

FTC disclosure: I received an eARC from the publisher via BookBrowse.

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get past some glaring issues. Though author Tanya Frank is telling the true story of her son's struggle with schizophrenia in his late teens/early 20s, she mentions only once or twice that she has certain privileges that are not afforded to most people. Many people living with this condition don't have the benefit of excellent health insurance and a ready supply of money to cover many costs that aren't covered by insurance. I lost count of how many houses the author has in various countries.

Additionally, I found it a bit new age/crunchy/woo-woo. This is a family with a chiropractor who makes house calls, bringing sage to cleanse their home of bad spirits. Tanya Frank wanted to find an agricultural commune-type setting for her son to live. She tried to find alternate treatments, including something called "orthomolecular medicine" which is basically just vitamins and supplements, for her son, who refused to take his prescribed medications. She wails about how group homes wouldn't allow him to stay, despite the fact that he refused medication, would not allow staff to enter his room, failed to clean after himself, and damaged the property. Is it really so surprising they'd rather give the space to someone who would stick with the program?

This book isn't what I expected & it would have been a DNF if I didn't have to write a review of it.

While historical fiction isn't my usual forte, I was interested in Widowland as soon as I read the description. It's an alternate history about what it might be like if Germany won World War II.

In this world, the US remained neutral during the war. Now, Great Britain is part of a Grand Alliance with Germany. Though residents outside of mainland Europe are unaware of the existence of concentration camps, they share ideologies including a strict caste system for women. The highest classes are reserved for those of childbearing age, to increase the population. Those beyond this point in their lives are relegated to slums.

Rose Ransom, an upper-class woman, works for the government - specifically the Ministry of Culture. Her job is to rewrite classic novels, removing subversive content that might encourage women to think for themselves. When graffiti begins appearing around the city, Rose is tasked with visiting the slums as a spy of sorts to weed out the culprits. Seeing how the low class lives makes Rose question everything the government has told her - clearly, these conditions aren't fair. She must decide whether to complete her mission by turning in fellow women or risk everything to do what's right.

Widowland is inventive and surprising. The idea of editing classic literature makes me supremely uncomfortable as a reader, but I see efforts to censor controversial books even today as a US citizen. From trying to ban Harry Potter books due to alleged anti-Christian ideas, to banning children's books related to same-sex parenting and transgender issues, it's not really so far-fetched to presume something like that might happen.

I found this novel riveting and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in alternate histories, censorship, or feminism.

Strangers to each other, Jess, Priyanka, and Stephanie are three very different women at different points in their lives. They receive identical letters in the mail, accuses each of their husbands of rape decades ago. That's the premise of "Good Husbands" by Cate Ray.

Jess is determined to seek justice for the victims - the letter writer and her mother, the woman who was raped. Priyanka wants to find the truth, whatever it may be. Stephanie would rather forget all about it, not willing to risk her comfortable life. But the others won't let her. Brought together by the terrible accusation, they're forced to work together to determine the truth.

For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the novel was how the story was focused on a character who had died, and who none of the three wives had ever met. They all have their own assumptions about her based on their lived experiences. One woman sees her as a victim, while another thinks she must have been asking for it if she was out at night with three boys she hardly knew. She kind of held court over everything like a ghost in the background, though we only learn of her perspective through diary entries.

Although I'm not married, the plot resonated with me. I like to think if I was married and my partner was accused of something so awful, I'd do the right thing. But what is the right thing when your husband says it's all a lie? Would I believe a stranger over my own husband?

There were so many tricky moral issues brought to light, and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Erin Young's debut novel "The Fields" is a fast-paced and timely mystery. Set in Black Hawk County, Iowa, the story begins with the discovery of a dead body in a cornfield. A young woman was brutally murdered and her body found on a family-run farm. It's one of the few in the area not connected to the Big Agriculture giants. Sergeant Riley Fisher is surprised to find that she recognizes the dead girl as a friend from her high school years.

When more victims turn up, the police try to determine whether they're all related. Eventually, a conspiracy is formed - do the bodies have anything to do with the disagreements between the small, family farms and the large ones using genetically modified seeds and toxic bug sprays. And what role does the state's governor, currently running for reelection, have in the situation?

I loved the characters in the story, especially Riley. She reminds me a bit of Chief Kate Burkholder from Linda Castillo's mystery novels set in Amish country. Riley is a young cop with a complicated history thanks to tragic events in her past. She has to deal with the sexism of others on the force, including one officer particularly angry that Riley received a recent promotion for which he also applied.

This is a fast-paced book (I would have read it faster if I wasn't recovering from major surgery and on lots of painkillers), and I especially raced through the final half because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. I was never able to guess the "whodunit," and I'm sure fellow mystery lovers will appreciate the complexity of the plot. This is the first in a planned series, and I cannot wait to read the future installments!

In 1999, Jackie Pierce is a music teacher for kids. She's surprised when she learns she has inherited The Sandcastle, the sprawling estate of her late uncle, a rock star, upon her aunt's death. It immediately takes her back to the summer of 1979, when she spent the season at the home of her father's brother. Her cousin Willa became her inseparable companion for that time. They had many adventures together.

The summers were different then. The Sandcastle was where traveling musicians came to stay. The cabins, campfires, and beach parties were legendary. Jackie became part of that world for several months, but it all came crashing down in an instant.

Jackie returns to the estate to pack it up and sell it. But she soon learns her aunt promised a music producer he could record a tribute album at the studio in the basement. Before she empties it out, she agrees to fulfill her aunt's last request. The producer, a super fan, seems to know a lot about the family. What's his real motive? And how does he know so much?

Although I wasn't alive in the 1970s, this novel felt like it transported me there. I could practically smell the campfire, hear the waterfall, and feel the sunshine on my face as I read. It made me nostalgic for a time I've never even lived through, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I'm looking forward to reading more from novelist Amy Mason Doan.

Three siblings from a dysfunctional family, along with two of their spouses, gather for a cross-country road trip to echo a trip they took with their grandfather decades earlier and to spread his ashes at the end of the trip. They must do that in order to gain their multi-million dollar inheritance. But nothing is what it seems.

Beth, the narrator, never told her husband that she had an older sister who disappeared during the original road trip. He doesn't even know the truth about her parents. And he's got some secrets of his own.

Portia, the youngest, is now an alcoholic who doesn't remember much of the early trip. Nevertheless it had a profound impact on her life moving forward.

Eddie, who sided with their grandfather in a decades-old feud, takes charge and navigates throughout the adventure. But does he even know where they're going?

This book started a little slowly for me, but as it progressed I was genuinely curious to see what would happen next. The dysfunctional family dynamics were simultaneously entertaining and puzzling. It's clear as the reader that you don't know the full story.

My biggest complaint is the ending. The last 15-20 pages had so many crazy twists I practically had whiplash, but the FINAL ending was frustrating and a bit of a cop-out, I felt. Additionally, I hate the book cover. It makes the story seem like it's a cheap romance when instead it's much more than that (and it's not a story about jilted lovers). I don't think it fits with the plot at all.

This is definitely an entertaining book. It's a domestic drama about a married couple and their two children, with the hook being that mom and dad are serial killers. An unexpected twist near the end amped up the drama and action. I wish the characters were a bit more well-rounded, and an understanding of the husband's background would have been nice. The children, Rory and Jenna, are both multifaceted and interesting.

This is the first novel I've read by Louise Candlish. While I enjoyed the character of Fiona, I found it difficult to like her husband Bram. For the majority of the story, his motives seemed purely selfish. Though the plot is a bit fantastical (there's fraud and then there's crazy blackmail on top of massive fraud), I felt sympathy for Fi and the boys. And while Bram's actions were horrible, it seemed like the cruel manner in which he was blackmailed was disproportionately evil to his crimes. The plot dragged a bit in the middle, in my opinion, but picked up quite a bit at the end of the story. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to others.

I LOVED this novel! A big part of what made the story so great is the characters. Jean, a Ph.D and mother of four, is tasked with working on a solution for the brother of the president - a man who placed strict limitations on the rights of girls and women. Jean is relatable, even though I'm not married or a mother. It seemed like I would feel the same way she did about the politics in the country if I was in the same situation. Jean's husband, Patrick, is frustrating but slightly mysterious. Scientist Lorenzo is a great opposite to Patrick.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I highly recommend it.

I loved the narrator of this book, 6-year-old Zach. I enjoyed the plot and thought the story was well-executed and suspenseful but still "literary fiction." I also like how Zach's brother Andy was only related to the reader based on how others thought/spoke about him, as he died at the very beginning.

However, I had a difficult time empathizing with Zach's mom Melissa, who is one of the main characters. I understand that every person deals with grief differently, but I could not agree with some of her decisions and even thought some of the choices she made were cruel to others.

This is the first novel I've read by Jane Harper and I enjoyed it. I liked the switching time periods to explain the present time and then flashing back to the actual teambuilding camping excursion. The coworker drama is very realistic - from petty dislikes to hating a supervisor. The entire situation takes place in the shadow of a serial killer who may or may not have surviving family hiding in the area. The twists and turns in the novel were largely unexpected and surprising. The ending was a big surprise for me - I never would have guessed what happened and who was responsible.

This is the first novel I've read by Clare Mackintosh, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is genuinely creepy - women in London are assaulted and killed during their commute, and the police are trying to track down the killer(s). However, it's the family dynamic between some of the characters that gave me an uneasy feeling while reading it. It's relatively rare for a story will have multiple twists which are all surprising to me, but that was the case here.

"Since She Went Away" is another example of David Bell doing what he does best. He can build the tension, lead the reader down the wrong pathway, and give a twist ending as well as any of the masters of psychological thrillers. With a wide variety of unique characters (including one modeled after Nancy Grace), a twisting plot, and plenty of red herrings, I can honestly say I was very surprised by the finale. I definitely recommend this novel to any lover of suspense.

Trigger warning: This novel contains graphic descriptions of rape.

It was difficult for me to get into "All is Not Forgotten" because of the brutal rape scenes. There are multiple storytelling elements going on simultaneously - from alternating narrators that sometimes switch between paragraphs, to one or more unreliable narrators - and it seemed a bit convoluted at times. The story moved very slowly at the beginning, then picked up to rapid speed about 70 of the way into the novel.

As a volunteer rape crisis advocate, I didn't enjoy the story much. While I appreciate a twist ending, the confusing narration and the graphic rape descriptions made it difficult for me to like the story at all.

I enjoyed "The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs." The story of a woman who stops being a pushover and stands up to her high school bully is an idea that seems appealing to me, and I can only imagine others would love the same opportunity. I liked that the novel wasn't about going back to murder her former bully or anything gruesome. It was simply a chance to set the record straight.

Caroline was an interesting character, if maybe a bit too much of a pushover at first. Her daughter, Polly, was the exact snarky opposite of Caroline's personality. There was a small bit of a mystery in the novel, and I found the ending to be rather underwhelming as I was expecting a bigger surprise. However, it was a quick read with fun characters.

Dark and disturbing, "Five" is the first adult novel by Ursula Archer. It mixes traditional police investigations with social technology and a ruthless psychopath. With multi-dimensional characters and a killer leaving chilling clues, it's a page-turner you won't soon forget. Be prepared to stay up late with this creepy novel.

"Accidents of Marriage" is an interesting view at the life of one family. Told from the alternating viewpoints of the wife, husband, and eldest child, the multiple voices worked in showing the situation from different perspectives.I enjoyed the novel, but found it a bit short of being truly great. When a husband's anger issues change his family forever, everyone involved must come to terms with the consequences.

I wish the character of the husband had been a bit more gray - instead, he was portrayed rather black and white as the "bad" one in the relationship. If he was more sympathetic as a character, the book would have had a stronger impact.

I was pretty blown away by "Brutal Youth," the first novel by Anthony Breznican. Taking place in the early 1990s, it's the story of a year at a Catholic high school. The teachers are no happier to be there than the students, and many people go to great lengths to cover their bad behavior (while others go to great lengths to make sure everyone recognizes their bad behavior). It's full of humor, revenge, pranks, petty arguments, and gossip. I loved it!

Debut novelist Laura Hemphill's "Buying In" is a compelling look behind the (fictional) scenes of the crisis on Wall Street. Both timely and intriguing, the novel is not only for readers with background knowledge of the banking industry. Told through alternating viewpoints of a recent college grad working as an analyst, a midlevel banker of foreign descent, a managing director of an industrial group, and the CEO of a struggling company, the story is fast-paced and surprisingly relatable. "Buying In" is a great read, and Hemphill is a promising author to watch.