The Running Bibliophile

X Marks The Haunt  by Lindsay Currie is a chilling middle grade horror novel that begins with Will Stone conducting genealogy research at Graceland Cemetery, where his mother works. When an old crypt key goes missing, it unleashes a sinister force within the cemetery, draining the lake and slowly sucking the life from the surrounding trees. As the eerie presence grows stronger, Will and his friends must rely on his unique knowledge and investigative skills to uncover the truth and put a stop to the dangerous energy wreaking havoc before it consumes everything in its path. I'd like to thank NetGalley, Random House Children's Books, and Delacorte Press for approving my request for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of X Marks The Haunt  by Lindsay Currie. All I knew about the novel before I read it was that it was a children's horror book, and I loved the cover! I received a digital copy for free in exchange for my honest review. First and foremost, the story was exceptionally a...

If You Can Hear This  by Faith Gardner is a Young Adult Mystery & Thriller novel about a high school AV Club and the search of their teacher who is missing. The expected publication date of this book is November 19, 2024. I'd like to thank NetGalley for sending me an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book for free in exchange for my honest review.   Overall, I can say that I really enjoyed the storyline. It reminded me of the Point Horror Books of the 1980's and 1990's and followed a similar formula. There were plenty of suspects and motives throughout but was a bit predictable. Additionally, I liked that the author had a diverse group of characters in the book, including two or three from the LGTBQ+ community, a couple that were people of color, and one that had a mental illness. I think it's important to include a diverse group of characters so that everyone has a book to read that depicts someone like them as well as educating others on people who are differen...

Book Review: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger opens with Hannah and her family celebrating Christmas with dinner. All the gifts have been opened, with the exception of some that are from Santa. However, no one is owning up to being Santa. Fast forward six months, Hannah, her husband, brother, sister-in-law, and her best friend with a boyfriend in tow are getting together for a long weekend where secrets are spilled. Wow! I have no words to describe how much I absolutely loved this Lisa Unger story. It kept my interest from the start of the book, and I would love to see it turned into a movie. Told from several characters perspectives and alternating timelines, it kept me guessing for the most part. Lisa Unger did a fantastic job of keeping it easy for the reader to follow without any issues. However, I did figure out the connection between Trina and Cat to the rest of the story relatively early on. With that being said, I didn't quit...

Mind Game  is the twenty-second book in Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan series and focuses on Jane MacGuire, Eve Duncan’s adopted daughter. Jane is on a quest to find a treasure buried centuries ago by a woman named Cira near a lake in Scotland. At the same time, she begins having vivid dreams about a girl who seems to be in danger. As the story unfolds, Jane tries to determine whether the girl is real and whether she can somehow save her. I was fortunate to receive an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) of Mind Game by Iris Johansen through a Goodreads giveaway. I received it for free in exchange for my honest review, which gave me the opportunity to read the book ahead of its official release and share my thoughts with other readers. It’s always exciting to receive a book this way, and it made reviewing Mind Game even more enjoyable knowing I could provide an honest perspective before the book hit shelves. This is only the second book I’ve read by Iris Johansen, and the other one I read wa...

Have you ever read a book and had a moment of déjà vu? A moment where you thought you've read it before? While reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, I had several of those moments and kept racking my brain of what book I had read that could possibly be similar to Dark Places in any way, shape, or form. And, I came up with Truman Capote's true crime book, In Cold Blood that I started reading but never finished. Both books, Dark Places and In Cold Blood , take place in Kansas where a family, or a few members of a family, were murdered in their home. Coincidentally, or maybe not, both of these homes happened to be on a farm. That's really where the similarities end, but it was enough to make me feel like the basis of Dark Places was taken from Capote's book. Dark Places begins in the present day and introduces us to the main character, Libby Day. I find her to be passive, unmotivated, and continuously blaming others & her past for not being able to keep a...

Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn   opens on a sweltering summer morning as Nick and Amy Dunne prepare to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.  When Nick returns home, he finds their house in disarray and Amy mysteriously missing. As the police begin their investigation, suspicion quickly turns toward Nick, whose behavior during questioning does little to help his case. If he didn’t do it, then who did? After reading the final words of Gone Girl , I set the book face down beside me and couldn't help but ask, "Did that really just end like that?"  Never in my life has a book made me as angry as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl .  I had to sit there for a minute thinking about what I had just read before picking it back up and throwing across the room.  Of course, I immediately jumped up to retrieve it, worried I might have damaged it because as much as the story frustrated me, I still like to keep my books in good condition. Gone Girl  as a whole didn't m...