Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...
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Book Review: The Big Empty by Robert Crais

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NetGalley ARC Suspense Book Review of The Big Empty by Robert Crais
The Big Empty by Robert Crais falls into the Mystery & Thriller genre and has an expected publication date of January 14, 2025. The story opens with Anya calling to remind her mother Sadie to pick her up from the skate park. When Sadie arrives, Anya is missing. Fast forward to Traci Beller hiring private investigator Elvis Cole to find her father Tommy Beller, who abandoned her and her mother almost ten years previously. What will Elvis Cole discover?

I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Big Empty by Robert Crais from NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest review. I was excited to be approved and receive this novel.

The main character, Elvis Cole, was an instant hit with me. He's just an extremely likable character. A somewhat insignificant character that I absolutely love is Cole's semi feral cat since I am a huge cat lover. Cole taking care of the cat is probably a huge factor in me liking him so much. I also really like his partner Joe Pike because he's a man of few words, very direct, and has Cole's back. As for most of the characters in this installment, I didn't care for Sadie, Anya, Kevin, Georgina, Lori, or Charley and his friends. It wasn't until I got much further into the story that I changed my mind about a few of them.

As for what I thought happened, I knew that Tommy had to been involved with Anya going missing. However, I wasn't sure what happened to him. At one point, I halfway thought he was still alive. Once all the details came together, my heart was pounding to have it put together. I didn't quite figure it all out, but the entire book played like a movie in my head. I also found myself wanting to do nothing but read the book and thinking about it when I didn't have time to read. That makes Robert Crais a fantastic author and story teller in my opinion.

Five out of five stars is what I gave The Big Empty by Robert Crais. I would love to see this book series turned into a television series. If you haven't read anything by this author, you need to buy one of his books stat.

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