PJ Halliday is sixty-three and lives in Pineville, Massachusetts. He won 1.5 million dollars ARC for review. To be published April 29, 2025.
4 stars.
PJ Halliday is sixty-three and lives in Pineville, Massachusetts. He won 1.5 million dollars on a scratch off a few years ago. He goes to his ex-wife and her boyfriend’s (his best friend) every day for breakfast. He lost his eldest daughter when she was in high school and barely speaks to his youngest…or she barely speaks to him for lots of good reasons, not the least of which is his problem with alcohol.
Then he reads the obituary of an old high school friend and finds that his death means his old flame, Michelle Cobb, is back on the market. He decides to drive cross-country to her home in Arizona to pledge his love. However, before he can leave, he receives an inheritance of sorts from his only brother, from whom he has been long estranged: two young children, Luna and Ollie, his brother’s grandchildren. He is also adopted by a cat named Pancakes.
So, naturally, PJ, his daughter, the kids and Pancake end up hitting the road, seeking both Michelle and Luna’s potential father (she believes) a soap opera star. It’s all a long story. I enjoyed every minute of it.
This was quite cute, not laugh at loud funny, but amusing. It’s filled with well-drawn, endearing characters, especially Pancakes, but also Ivy and Fred, PJ’s ex-wife and best friend who are incredibly well-rounded despite being absent for most of the book, Hartnett is just that good. I would definitely look for more from her. This isn’t my normal sort of read, probably (I tend toward the more dark and depressing) and maybe it’s just what I needed in my life. Worth looking out for. One for which to look out. Now that just sounds dumb. ...more
It’s 500+ pages long. But I love JCO and this sounds fascinating, so I’m in.
The disARC for review. To be published June 17, 2025.
Four strong stars.
It’s 500+ pages long. But I love JCO and this sounds fascinating, so I’m in.
The disappearance of “charismatic, mercurial” teacher Francis Fox from Langhorne Academy, an elite boarding school in Weiland, NJ is big news throughout the town. Just before people realized he was gone his crashed car and an unidentifiable body were found below a drop off in a nature preserve near the town dump by Marius and Demetrius Healy, the two sons of a part-time janitor at the school
Detective Horace Zwender, a stoic, single-minded individual is investigating the case and he is charged with confirming the identity of the body and, then, determining who Francis Fox really was amidst his carefully constructed layers.
A number of female students (including a Healy relative), the head of school, the father of one of the students and others from the faculty and town are among those affected by Fox’s disappearance, and their devastation fans out further.
The book is clearly Oates’s LOLITA (a text discussed at length in the narrative) and, further, explores many different types of relationships between females and males. It is overlong; there are definitely sections that could be jettisoned with no effect on the story, and Francis is a bit one note; one wishes he were a bit less of a totally stereotyped villain, but if you enjoy Oates and her signature style, you are likely to like this. It took me a while to get through it but I enjoyed it. ...more
Oh, those crazy Amish! Cults, the Amish, kids who kill, ARC for review. To be published March 25, 2025.
4 stars, if you are interested in the subject.
Oh, those crazy Amish! Cults, the Amish, kids who kill, those are subjects I just can’t get enough of (oh, except for all those horrible looking Amish romances out there. I hate romance in general, and nothing sounds worse than a nice, hot session of AMISH romances….”Hey, ma’am, mayest I look at thou ankle? Well, I guess we’re engaged now.” Sexy!
Oh, and puppy mills. My fascination with the Amish turns to murderous rage then. Don’t get me started.
However, I’m guessing that probably wouldn’t apply to any of the Amish featured in this book as they look so squeaky clean you could eat off their foreheads (ugh.). This is true life wedding stories of real Amish couples in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as will as information about the history of Amish weddings and some photos, but none of any actually weddings since the Amish don’t care to be photographed. So that’s kind a bummer for a book like this but the author gamely does her best and generally succeeds.
Lancaster County was home to approximately 44,000 Old Order Amish (spell check does NOT want to recognize “Amish” as a word. SPELL CHECK HATES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM! Or puppy mills.) in 2023, and Old Order Amish will occasionally arrange for their kids to meet other OOA from other places, so sometimes newcomers show up. Anyway, most Amish get hitched, so there are a fair number of weddings each year.
Those weddings can comprise up to 400-500 guests AT THE BRIDE’S home. I can hear my dad off being grateful somewhere….the 300 I had a mine made him suggest elopement and a down payment on a house (but not really. I’m the only daughter and he actually loved playing host. He may be one of the few men I know who, himself, made the wedding MORE expensive.) But I digress. I’m missing my dad.
The Amish construct WEDDING HOUSES (Daddy, are you hearing this???), special kitchens, extra bathrooms, benches, etc. Otherwise they rent these things for a few days as well as things like cooling trucks and port-a-potties. It’s a massive undertaking. And think of how many daughters some of these families have!
The wedding day itself is fourteen hours with multiple meals, each with multiple seatings and the book covers each. You won’t believe how important creamed cooked celery is, and it sounds just awful, so best of luck to them! Meanwhile the bride and groom made be eating LOBSTER or something while you’re there trying to choke down a disgusting plate of creamed celery while trying to pretend like you are happy for the fifth Yoder daughter.
And volleyball. Boy, according to this book volleyball is very important in the lives of the young Amish. Basically I think I learned that I would have never had a chance to get married at all, as I am an abysmal volleyball player. Tending my papa’s cows for life because I can’t set. Tragedy.
So, since I’m low key obsessed with Amish traditions like this (I’m not as much interested in, you know, boring stuff like theology, this book was perfect for me and I quite enjoyed it. ...more
On June 13, 1975 young siblings Danny and Poppy Taylor are murdered at their home in Ojai, CaliARC for review. To be published June 3, 2025.
2 stars.
On June 13, 1975 young siblings Danny and Poppy Taylor are murdered at their home in Ojai, California. Their brother, Vincent, is rumored to be the killer but there is never any clear evidence. However, the suspicions remain even as he becomes an adult then a best selling horror writer.
Vincent has a daughter, Olivia. Her mother leaves her and Vincent when she is young and he sends her overseas to boarding school at 14. They become estranged.
Olivia is now 44 and a ghostwriter. She has recently been cancelled for her part in a feud with another writer, has a large financial judgment against her and is desperate for a job and money. Her agent approaches her with the offer to ghostwriter Vincent’s new book (shocking, I know), but this one isn’t a horror novel, but, rather, what he claims is the true story of the murders in 1975.
The story is told by present day Olivia and 1975 Poppy (sweet, teenage Poppy, bravely headed off to ERA rallies. I loved her.). I found myself drifting a lot while reading this and not much interested in the mystery. And the complete, unquestioned absence of Olivia’s mother in her life just seems odd to me. I did not love it....more
Teresa is agoraphobic after a carARC for review. To be published April 1, 2025.
2 stars, YA for YA.
Billed as “Rear Window” meets “The Ring.” Uh huh.
Teresa is agoraphobic after a car accident that killed her best friend and her world is shrinking. First she could only be on her family’s property, then only in the house. Now she’s limited to her room. So she never leaves her own bedroom and nothing ever happens to her so there’s no story here and we can all go do something else, like go watch that “Seinfeld” where they go to India for a wedding and it’s told in reverse. That’s a good one.
Or so it would have been back in my day (imagine this said in the cracked voice of the old crone that I suppose I now am) when we had to internet. And no web cams. And you didn’t have relationships with people you didn’t actually know. But the world spins on, and Teresa has all kinds of contact with the outside world through the people she has met online.
O e night that world goes horribly wrong when she sees and records a shadow on her favorite personality’s online stream (it’s worth noting that Teresa isn’t talking to friends from school or anything. She watches “personalities” who monetize their content and she’s hoping against hope to be able to do the same one day, but she’s not having tons of luck with that. So, yes, she wants to be an “influencer,” one of the truly abhorrent things about the internet.).
But I digress. This personality’s personality (ha!) starts to change. And then he dies. Online. In front of thousands. What has Teresa recorded and what is happening?
So, this isn’t a copy of “The Ring” or “Rear Window,” and it’s pretty disturbing to think about teenage kids doing any of this. At the same time I can see this totally creeping out 12 year olds who I am assuming would be the target audience. Oh, and all the stuff about West Virginia’s quiet zone is totally true. I don’t even think residents can have garage door openers there. The observatory is really cool and worth visiting if you are ever nearby. ...more
