Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Monday, July 19, 2021

Book: Mother May I

 Book:Mother May I

Author: Joshilyn Jackson

Pages: 336


This is my 69th read for the year

This is the story of Bree.  She grew up poor, but married rich.  She has a good husband, three beautiful kids and a beautiful house.  One day, her youngest - a baby boy just a few weeks old - is taken while she was watching her older daughter rehearse a school play.  She receives a threatening note and a phone call that if she does exactly what she is told, she will see her baby again.  Not wanting to worry her husband who is out of town, or her daughters, she takes her daughters to her mother's houes for the weekend and sets out to get her baby back.

The person who has taken her baby is an older woman who is also a mother.  Trying to figure out why a mother would do this, and why Bree herself has been targeted sets her on a path to discover secrets of her husband's past she wishes she never knew about.  But Bree will do whatever it takes to get her baby back and protect her family.

This was an okay book.  I listened to it - like I do so many of my books this summer due to endles yard work - so it passed them time.  The plot is pretty predictable and not that captivating.  You figure out pretty quickly where this is going and why.  The ending is neatly wrapped up which, to be honest, I usually love.  But this just all seemed to easy.  IT was pretty lengthy and could have been shortened to get the point across.  Getting so wordy took away some of the suspense for me.  

If you are looking for a mild suspense novel with a neatly wrapped up ending, then give this book a try.  If you want true suspense, look elsewhere.

Stars: 3


Friday, July 9, 2021

Book: Local Woman Missing

 Book: Local Woman Missing

Author: Mary Kubica

Pages: 352


This is my 68th read for the year

This is the story of three missing women and the community where they lived.  Shelby - who went out running one night and never returned, and Meredith - a midwife and her daughter, Delilah, who disappeared without a trace.  As the women turn up dead and the daughter never found, the community is realing thinking a serial killer is on the loose.  Moving through time back and forth 11 years, we watch the story of these wome and Delilah - who shockingly returns after being missing for those 11 years - trying to figure out the truth.

This book was just okay.  And that is probably being generous.  I didn't like one character.  They all seemed like horrible people who couldn't possibly be friends.  I could never imagine talking to m friends the way these people talked to each other.  The ending was terrible.  When the truth comes to light it becomes pretty unrealistic.  Quite a few plot holes.  (if even a mediocre medical examiner did an autopsy on Meredith the mystery would have wrapped up much quicker) 

I would skip this one.  There are better thrillers.

Stars: 2 1/2


Monday, July 5, 2021

Book: What Could Be Saved

 Book: What Could Be Saved

Author: Liese O'Halloran Schwarz

Pages: 460


This is my 67th read of the year

This is the story of Laura, and Bea whose brother was stolen from their family when they were very young.  The family was living in Bangkok in the 70s where their father worked, and one day their brother disappeared without a trace.  40 years later, Laura is contacted by a stranger saying that a man claming to be her brother was looking for her.  Her sister, Bea, is skeptical and doesn't believe it could possibly be him, but Laura has to find out.

The story alternates between the past and the present as Laura tries to figure out if this man is her long lost brother, Robert.  The story builds their life in Bangkok in the 70s leading up to Robert's disappearance and what the family think happened to him.  The family - seeming to live a life of luxury there with servants and dinner parties had their lives turned upside down when Robert disappears.

This was a pretty good book.  I do like books that travel back and forth across timelines.  As Laura tried to piece together if this was her brother, we learned about what life was like for expats in Bangkok.  When they leave Bangkok without Robert - whom they presume is dead or out of the country - their lives are never the same.  And when we learn Robert's story and who took him and what his life was like in Bangkok, the pieces of the story all fall together.

It is well written, maybe a tad long, but a good story overall.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4