Pretty Fierce ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"My mother had once told me you couldn't trust people who came into your life at the exact moment you needed them."

Eighteen months ago, while on a mission with her parents, Kaia and her mother were attacked. Her family was destroyed, her parents were both missing presumed dead, and Kaia put into action the plan that was only to be used if everything went terribly wrong. For the past eighteen months, Kaia has been living with her 'grandparents', colleagues of her assassin parents. She has the most wonderful boyfriend, Oliver, and she is no longer endlessly plagued by nightmares. But all of those fears resurface when she is brutally attacked and Oliver sees her take out her assailant. Now her secrets have been revealed and she isn't sure Oliver will want to stick by the crazy girl who was raised by assassins.

As Kaia discovers more about her family and their secrets, she also learns about the secrets Oliver has been hiding from her. Together they face assassins, sometimes in the strangest forms. At times the story was a little unrealistic, but its balance between playfulness and threat makes this an interesting book to read.

It did take me a few chapters to situate myself within the story, but the action eventually grabbed my attention. "Pretty Fierce" is a thrilling story, with plenty of action and drama.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy!

February Book Club

Meeting Date: TBA 
Time and Where: 8:00 am in the Library! 
Please answer the discussion questions when posted! 
Published by: Elizabeth A. Barnes
From Goodreads: 



"Internationally acclaimed crime write Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.

Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier that day. Around its neck is his mother's pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he's received and the disappearance of Jonas's mother - and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised - and constantly revised - by the killer.

Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers in our time."  

Book Club ~ 1st to Die (Women's Murder Club #1)

Book Club Discussion Questions

Please answer the questions in the comments section below. Label them with the question number.

1.) What did you think about Lindsay's character and her attitude? Did you identify with a specific character in the Women's Murder Club? 

2.) In the beginning of the book, the bride and groom killer is introduced. Did you find it amusing and entertaining how the author introduced the killer so early on? Did you enjoy reading the killer's point of view? 

3.) Throughout the book, Lindsay is suffering from a disease called Negli's aplastic anemia. How do you think this disease affected Lindsay? How would you have reacted if you were trying to solve a murder and fight a disease at the same time? 

4.) Lindsay, Cindy, Claire, and Jill are all in a group called the Women's Murder Club. What were your thoughts about this private club? Would you like to be part of a club like thiers? 

5.) Lindsay works as a homicide inspector for the San Francisco Police Department. What would you do if you had such a demanding and big job like hers? Would you be scared or thrilled? 

6.) What are your opinions about Chris Raleigh and his relationship with Lindsay? 

7.) Nicholas Jenks was the "suspected" killer at first, how did you react when Lindsay and the three girls questioned him about his past relationships and his bestselling book? Were you for sure that he was the killer? 

8.) Every time that someone new is killed, one thing ends up missing; the bride and groom's wedding rings. Why do you think the killer wanted to take and keep the rings? 

9.) How did you feel about the ending of the book? Did the real killer surprise you? Did Chris Raleigh's death surprise you? 

10.) Throughout the book two things happen: one being the romance between Lindsay and Chris Raleigh and the relationship between Lindsay, Cindy, Claire, and Jill. Second being the gory and gruesome scenes between Lindsay and the killer. What part was your favorite? Explain why. Would you be willing to read the next books in the series? 

The Passenger ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"It's always good to go home."





Frank Dubois is lying dead at the foot of the stairs, and his wife Tanya is weighing her options: should she call the police, get rid of the body, or run away? Since she has already been running from the law for the last decade, she decides to leave, assumes a new identity and drives South without looking back. As she travels across the U.S. she meets Blue, another woman trying to escape from her past. They decide to help each other to get brand new lives. However, nothing goes according to plan, especially as two thugs show up to kill Tanya. But what made her run in the first place? Will she be able to put the past behind her for good?

The Passenger is a fast-paced psychological thriller that deals with problems of identity and loneliness. On her road trip, Tanya assumes different names, and her values shift when the situations becomes more desperate, bringing her to do things she would never have dreamed of doing before. In fact, I thought it was really interesting to see how she tries to live off the grid, as this appears to be more and more difficult because of her age and the time period we are currently living in. While I thought the big reveal at the end was surprising, I felt there were some loose ends when the book ended. I thought that Blue was an intriguing character, and I would have liked to have known more about her. Perhaps a sequel could tell her story? I hope so!

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Special thanks to my family for the copy of this book for Christmas. I enjoyed how fast of a pace it was to read.

2nd Chance (Women's Murder Club Novel #2) ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"You can't bring the dead back. You can't even make sense of why things happen. All you can do is the best you can to let the living believe their souls are at peace."






Lindsay, Cindy, Claire, and Jill are back for the second outing as the Women's Murder Club, and this time the murderer is going to hit them right at home. Lindsay has just recovered from the shock of losing someone close to her and finds herself in a brand new role. Now she is the Lieutenant of Homicide, thanks to the effort of bringing an end to the bride and groom murderer. This next enemy is considered to be even more evil.

This murderer starts his dangerous mission on the property of a local church, where a choir youth group is just finishing up practice. As they start heading out of the church, a rain of gunfire falls upon them as a gunman working alone seems to want to create a moment of panic and fear. Fortunately only an eleven year old girl is killed, the youngest girl in the choir group. The community expects it to be an act of random violence, until a pattern starts to form.

Before the church shooting occurred, an African American woman hung herself in her home. She was the widow of a former police officer of the San Fransico police department, as was the Uncle of the eleven year old girl shot and killed outside the church. To cement the relations between the two incidents, the image of a "chimera" is found at both crime scene locations. This starts the hunt for the killer Chimera.

As even more victims start falling to this new killer, it becomes clear that he was a cop with ties to some dark history at the police department. History also starts to play a big role in Lindsay's personal life when her father shows up out of the blue.This does not make Lindsay's life any easier when she finds out that her father also has a dark history with the police department.

All of the victims showing up dead are either  African American or once apart of the police department, as this makes it easier for Lindsay to put all of the pieces of the case together. Before these connections can eventually be made, the woman's murder club goes through their own share of turmoil and dangerous situations.

This was an incredible sequel to the previous book. The story was less of a group tale because it focused more on Lindsay. The other women had roles, but they were much smaller. I am looking forward to the next books in the series.

I have already started the third book! :)

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

Everything You Want Me to Be ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"You turn into someone else, a crowd of someone else's, and it makes me wonder if there's any such thing as Hattie Hoffman."





To Hattie's parents, she is the perfect daughter, the outgoing Minnesota farm girl who does quite well in school and rarely ever causes any trouble. To her friends, Hattie is the best listener who is always there for each and every one of them. Her boyfriend, thinks she is a sweet and loving girl who is hesitant and too pure to go "all the way." Peter Lund, her English teacher, thinks she is a predator, and an "over-sexed" psychopath who will stop at nothing to have him. And the creepy part is, he wants to let her.

In Sheriff Del Goodman's opinion, Hattie Hoffman is a murder victim. Someone stabbed an eighteen year old rising actress and threw her body into a lake one chilly, Minnesota night. But the main question is, who? The key to find her killer is in discovering her true self, the true Hattie Hoffman. Someone she never knew until it was too late.

I have to say that this was the best thriller that I have read in quite a long time. I felt like Hattie's character was so complex and fantastic and a character that I could relate to in the first few chapters. I rooted for her, and I also wanted to strangle her in some parts. The detective Del, was a perfect character in this book and how he was rough around the edges in a mid-west sort of way.

This book is completely surprising and suspenseful in a manner that is also very realistic. The authors skill was also spot on.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy.