You are in for a treat!!  You may have seen that I have had this book in my “Currently Reading” and then “Just Finished Reading” boxes on my sidebar, but no review.  Well, there was a reason.  I had to wait, very anxiously, to share my review with all of you until the book’s debut and today is that day!!!  So if you like thrillers….run….you won’t be disappointed!!!

GODCHILD by Vincent Zandri

  Snyopsis (borrowed from Amazon):  He wanted justice, truth, revenge…whichever came first.
   Prison-warden-turned-P.I. Jack “Keeper” Marconi understands the criminal mind. And he knows what it takes to break a man. His own life came apart the day a black Buick broadsided his car–and his wife died horrifically in the seat beside him.
  Years later, on the eve of his second marriage, Marconi catches a split-second glimpse of the driver who killed his wife. Suddenly hurtled back into the past, he is determined to take one last shot at hunting him down. That is, until he is offered a job he can’t refuse: to bust a beautiful woman out of a hellish Mexican prison. Now Keeper’s chase through Mexico follows a trail of bodies and lies back home: to the truth about a woman on the run, to a man sitting behind the wheel of a black Buick, and to a story that someone will kill to bury….
  My Thoughts and Opinion:  If you have followed my blog since May of 2010, when I was first introduced to this author, Mr. Vincent Zandri and I read his novel Moonlight Falls, this review will not come as a surprise. I was hooked and became even more so with his subsequent novels, The Remains and The Innocent and even his digital short, Pathological, and this latest book, Godchild, didn’t disappoint. This is a sequel to The Innocent, picking up with former Warden (Keeper) Jack Marconi but is a story that can stand on it’s own. The story starts off slow like a train departing an Albany station and picks up speed nonstop across country at warp speed to Mexico with a short lay over to break into a Mexican jail to rescue an American female writer who is incarcerated and then back to Albany. The story line takes place over a 2 week period. But does someone really want her rescued? Why is it that someone wants Keeper Marconi to be the one to rescue her? Where, why and how does the drug cartels have anything to do with rescuing Renata Barnes? And what does all this have to do with the accident that tragically killed Keeper’s wife, a case that he has never solved?

Godchild is a pure Noir thriller, not to be read if you are alone, especially at night unless your doors are bolted, the windows locked and the drapes closed. Zandri is a genius story teller, alternating chapters between characters, whereas you have to keep reading to find out where he left you off with his cliff hanging chapters. Bone chilling!! Frightening!! By far his scariest!! Hitchcock and Stephen King combined. Brilliant!!! I can’t wait to see what’s next. He just keeps getting better!!!!

EVERY LITTLE THING by Pamela Klaffke

Published by Harlequin/ Mira Books
ISBN 13: 9780778329237 0778329232
I received an ARC-EBook Bound galley Edition from NetGalley, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (borrowed from NetGalley):   If it’s not one thing, it’s her mother.
  Before there were mommy bloggers, there was Britt. San Francisco’s brassy scandal queen filled her newspaper column with juicy details of her many marriages, cosmetic surgeries and everything about her only daughter, Mason.
  Then Britt dies. Suddenly and in spectacularly embarrassing fashion. So Mason-now thirty-five and vehemently un-Britt-like in every way-returns home to settle her affairs…though some affairs are not so easy to settle.
  Now caught in her own sordid debacle, Mason finds herself thrust back into the spotlight, and this time it’s her own doing.
  Struggling to define herself as anything other than Britt Junior, Mason soon discovers that Britt’s intensely public life still held some secrets. And though the overgrown teen rebel has always favored combat boots, she may yet walk a mile in her mother’s shoes.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: After reading the above synopsis, I thought this would be a perfect match for me to read. It was categorized as a humorous adult read and I assumed it was also going to be a “chick lit” book. When I first started accepting requests, I would read a minimum of 100 pages to decide if a book would go into a DNF pile, until an author and I had a discussion about my policy. He told me that a reader should be pulled into the story line a lot sooner than 100 pages so I changed my policy to 50 pages. I was very much looking forward to reading this book after have just completing a few in the mystery genre. However, to much disappointment, I struggled even to get to page 50. It was not at all what I thought it was going to be. For 50 pages, I was searching for what the plot was because all I was reading about were 5 adults, that were in their late twenties early thirties, and related by being step brothers and/or sisters. And in those first 50 pages what I did learn of these 5 adults was that they enjoyed drinking, where they were drinking and what they were drinking and what their actions were from drinking. Unfortunately, this book had to go in the DNF pile. It was not a book for me. Maybe if I had my old “Review Policy” of 100 pages, I would have been pulled into the story line, but the 50 page limit did not grab me. Or then maybe it is because I am not a twenty or thirty something and will leave it at that!

EVERY LITTLE THING by Pamela Klaffke

Published by Harlequin/ Mira Books
ISBN 13: 9780778329237 0778329232
I received an ARC-EBook Bound galley Edition from NetGalley, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (borrowed from NetGalley):   If it’s not one thing, it’s her mother.
  Before there were mommy bloggers, there was Britt. San Francisco’s brassy scandal queen filled her newspaper column with juicy details of her many marriages, cosmetic surgeries and everything about her only daughter, Mason.
  Then Britt dies. Suddenly and in spectacularly embarrassing fashion. So Mason-now thirty-five and vehemently un-Britt-like in every way-returns home to settle her affairs…though some affairs are not so easy to settle.
  Now caught in her own sordid debacle, Mason finds herself thrust back into the spotlight, and this time it’s her own doing.
  Struggling to define herself as anything other than Britt Junior, Mason soon discovers that Britt’s intensely public life still held some secrets. And though the overgrown teen rebel has always favored combat boots, she may yet walk a mile in her mother’s shoes.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: After reading the above synopsis, I thought this would be a perfect match for me to read. It was categorized as a humorous adult read and I assumed it was also going to be a “chick lit” book. When I first started accepting requests, I would read a minimum of 100 pages to decide if a book would go into a DNF pile, until an author and I had a discussion about my policy. He told me that a reader should be pulled into the story line a lot sooner than 100 pages so I changed my policy to 50 pages. I was very much looking forward to reading this book after have just completing a few in the mystery genre. However, to much disappointment, I struggled even to get to page 50. It was not at all what I thought it was going to be. For 50 pages, I was searching for what the plot was because all I was reading about were 5 adults, that were in their late twenties early thirties, and related by being step brothers and/or sisters. And in those first 50 pages what I did learn of these 5 adults was that they enjoyed drinking, where they were drinking and what they were drinking and what their actions were from drinking. Unfortunately, this book had to go in the DNF pile. It was not a book for me. Maybe if I had my old “Review Policy” of 100 pages, I would have been pulled into the story line, but the 50 page limit did not grab me. Or then maybe it is because I am not a twenty or thirty something and will leave it at that!

TO HAVE AND TO KILL by Mary Jane Clark
Published by Harper Collins
ISBN 978-0-06-199554-5
At the request of LibraryThing, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (borrowed from back of book): The delicious first book in the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author’s new Wedding Cake Mystery series.
  Piper Donovan never imagined that decorating wedding cakes could be so dangerous! A struggling actress with no immediate prospects and a recently broken engagement, Piper moves back in with her parents to take stock of her life. She steps tentatively into the family bakery business, and finds herself agreeing to create the wedding cake for the acclaimed star of a daytime television drama. But soon someone close to the bride-to-be is horribly murdered and it seems that somebody is ruthlessly determined to stop the wedding.
  With the help of her former neighbor, Jack, a handsome FBI agent with a soft spot for the gorgeous cake maker, Piper moves closer to the truth. As she narrows in on a suspect, Piper realizes that it’s hot in in the kitchen that she may be able to handle…….
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Before I give my thoughts and opinion, I have to be quite honest with you regarding some issues. This is the first book I have ever read by this author. And if you have followed this blog in the past, you know that I mainly read a more thriller-type mystery than a cozy. And I will now admit…..I have been missing out on some good books. Ms. Clark is definitely now on my radar and I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to her books. I loved her writing style. Short chapters with tidbits of cliff hangers. Introducing characters with small hints of their personalities throughout the story line that could or would make them the prime suspect. In some cases, the reader knows what the outcome of a certain scene will be but it is still heart pounding waiting for it to happen. I would definitely put this in the category of “a couldn’t put down”, which I didn’t. I am now an official member of the cozy mystery genre thanks to Mary Jane Clark!! Bravo!!

TO HAVE AND TO KILL by Mary Jane Clark
Published by Harper Collins
ISBN 978-0-06-199554-5
At the request of LibraryThing, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (borrowed from back of book): The delicious first book in the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author’s new Wedding Cake Mystery series.
  Piper Donovan never imagined that decorating wedding cakes could be so dangerous! A struggling actress with no immediate prospects and a recently broken engagement, Piper moves back in with her parents to take stock of her life. She steps tentatively into the family bakery business, and finds herself agreeing to create the wedding cake for the acclaimed star of a daytime television drama. But soon someone close to the bride-to-be is horribly murdered and it seems that somebody is ruthlessly determined to stop the wedding.
  With the help of her former neighbor, Jack, a handsome FBI agent with a soft spot for the gorgeous cake maker, Piper moves closer to the truth. As she narrows in on a suspect, Piper realizes that it’s hot in in the kitchen that she may be able to handle…….
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Before I give my thoughts and opinion, I have to be quite honest with you regarding some issues. This is the first book I have ever read by this author. And if you have followed this blog in the past, you know that I mainly read a more thriller-type mystery than a cozy. And I will now admit…..I have been missing out on some good books. Ms. Clark is definitely now on my radar and I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to her books. I loved her writing style. Short chapters with tidbits of cliff hangers. Introducing characters with small hints of their personalities throughout the story line that could or would make them the prime suspect. In some cases, the reader knows what the outcome of a certain scene will be but it is still heart pounding waiting for it to happen. I would definitely put this in the category of “a couldn’t put down”, which I didn’t. I am now an official member of the cozy mystery genre thanks to Mary Jane Clark!! Bravo!!

RESURRECTING ANTHONY by Linda Cole and Tony Cole
Published by Alexandra Publishing, LLC
ISBN 978-0-9843226-0-2
At the request of Meryl L. Moss Media, a TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (back of book): Tony and Linda Cole were living the American Dream-a successful national training and consulting company, a nice home, a close-knit circle of friends and a loving family.
  Then came the call every parent dreads.
  Their twelve-year-old son Anthony had collapsed on the school playground. In the ensuing panic-stricken moments Anthony lay motionless, unconscious, not breathing. These critical minutes without oxygen left his brain damaged. In one heartbreaking afternoon their idyllic world was shattered and the son that Tony and Linda Cole knew was gone.
  Resurrecting Anthony is the true, inspiring story of an unexpected tragedy that steals a child from his family and initially leaves them full of grief and sorrow. It reveals the Cole family’s incredible devotion and determination-despite the medical evidence and advice of health professionals-to return Anthony to his previous self.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that this is not the typical book that I either read or review. However, when Tricia contacted me and I read the synopsis, I thought it would be an interesting read on so many levels and I accepted. And I’m glad I did for many reasons. This book should be on everyone’s tbr list, for if and when you or someone you know, has to face a challenge . Hopefully, not something like the Cole’s had to endure but any of life’s trials. This book shows the resolve and personal strength that these parents exhibited in a time of a crisis and the honest emotions that they went through. It taught me, how not to take each and every minute for granted because, life as we know it, can change drastically in the next minute. This thought provoking and heart wrenching story was told through the father’s perspective, which at first took me by surprise but after thinking about it, how often do we get to understand a male’s emotions through a traumatic experience. The courage, love, perseverance and hope that these parents reveal is extraordinary. The ending, as a mother, could I let go of the past and accept the future? The ending is the beginning!!!