An Attorney Who Writes

I had not realized I had been waiting for this book.  I met Francesca Serritella at the National Book Fair because her mom, Lisa Scottoline, writes fantastic legal thrillers and she was speaking that day. I was delighted to discover that Scottoline, along with Serritella, wrote a series of books and columns that readers that I quickly began to consume. I had not known Serritella was taking a stab at writing a novel until I saw Serritella’s post for “Ghosts of Harvard” on her Facebook page. Simply put, this novel was a fantastic read.  Cody decides to Harvard to discover why her older brother, a schizophrenic, committed suicide there. Her parents are against it, but Cody, who was quite close to her brother before he started to demonstrate the symptoms of his illness, suffers guilt from not being able to do something to stop her brother from ending his life. Cody’s desire to find answers to her brother’s death are heartbreakingly believable.  Like any college...

“You Are Not Alone” is the third collaboration between Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and this novel lives up to all of the hype of it being one of the best psychological thrillers for this year (decade?).   Shay Miller has turned her passion for numbers and statistics into a career. But between jobs, with a best friend busy with a new baby, and living with a guy who she wishes could be something more, she is feeling at a loss. While working as a temp, she searches for a new gig while trying to avoid hanging out at the apartment whenever her roommate/crush is getting closer to his girlfriend. Waiting for the subway one morning, a young woman in a green polka dotted dress catches her eye. Before realizing what is about to happen, Shay witnesses the woman, Amanda, jump in front of an approaching train. Traumatized, Shay becomes obsessed with Amanda, who she was, and what led her to make this tragic choice.    Shay comprehends this loss by gathering...

Wow! I am not sure I can add anything new to supplement previous reviews, but Colleen Oakley knocked it out of the park with this novel. Mia keeps having dreams about a man who is not her husband, Harrison. When the couple leaves Philadelphia for New Hope, they are looking forward to starting a new chapter. Harrison is recovering from losing a patient, a young child, while they both anticipate the birth of their new child, a happy surprise after Mia experienced two miscarriages. Unfortunately, this baby is also not to be ,and the after affects cause a riff in Harrison and Mia's message. Mia's dreams continue, but real life and dreamworld intermix when Colleen meets the man, Oliver, she has been dreaming about who happens to be the sister of one of her husband's patients. What is more confusing for Mia is that Oliver is also experiencing dreams with Mia in them. The quest to discover what these dreams mean end up having everlasting effects to everyone involve...

I always get very excited when a new novel by Camille Pagán comes out and for good reason. Her characters are delightfully quirky and highly realistic, and though Pagan writes about serious situations, she does so with a hefty dose of humor. “This Won’t End Well,” Pagan’s latest novel, is all that and more.    The novel’s protagonist is Annie, a dedicated scientist, who likes both structure and the ability to plan ahead. Change is not a good thing for Annie so when her carefully planned life suddenly goes askew, routine becomes more important than ever. Her fiancé, Jon, decides he wants to go to France, but does not want any contact with Annie during the time that he is there. Annie also recently lost her scientist job because of sexual harassment from her boss. Her relationship with her closest friend, Leesa, is estranged and her mother, whom she lives with, suffers from depression and hoarding issues. Fearing any more catastrophes, Annie decides to cut herself off from ...