The Running Bibliophile

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1) by Elle Cosimano opens with a stressed-out single mother of two, Finlay Donovan, whose babysitter suddenly doesn’t show up. Already overwhelmed, Finlay heads to a meeting with her book editor, where their discussion of a fictional plot is overheard. Due to a misunderstanding, Finlay is mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to kill someone’s husband . This novel was chosen as the August pick for the book club I belong to. I knew it was a popular book, but it’s not one I would have picked up on my own, even though it falls within my favorite genre. I struggled through the first 125–150 pages because the premise felt so far-fetched. It almost became a “Did Not Finish” for me, but I didn’t want to show up to book club without finishing the book. That said, I was glad I stuck with it. There were parts I genuinely enjoyed, though I’m still not sure why so many readers found this book funny. To me, it felt extreme...

Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake, #3) by Rachel Caine opens with Gwen Proctor, also known as Gina Royal, reluctantly traveling to the remote and mysterious town of Wolfhunter after receiving a phone call from a woman named Marlene Crockett. Gwen is immediately wary, fearing that helping Marlene and her daughter could be some kind of trap. Despite her concerns, Gwen will go to extraordinary lengths to protect her family while uncovering the dark secrets lurking within this seemingly quiet town. What can I say about Wolfhunter River other than … WOW! This latest installment of the Stillhouse Lake series completely captivated me. I found myself staying up well past my bedtime multiple nights in a row, unable to put the book down. The story is fast-paced, action-packed, and relentlessly gripping, with page-turning suspense that kept me on edge from start to finish. There were no slow moments, and I have to admit, this might be my favorite book in the series yet. The characte...

Divergent (Divergent, #1)  by Veronica Roth  opens in Chicago, Illinois, where it has become its own dystopian world which has divided society into five different factions based on a particular virtue: Honesty (Candor), Selfless (Abnegation), Bravery (Dauntless), Peaceful (Amity), and Intelligence (Erudite). Each year, those factions come together for a ceremony where all the sixteen year-olds must choose which faction they want to live in for the rest of their lives. To help them make this decision, they all take a test prior to the ceremony that tells them which virtue is their best one, but despite what the results show, the choice is still theirs to make. Beatrice Prior learns a deadly secret about herself during testing and surprises everyone with her faction choice. During the initiation, she renames herself Tris and struggles along, not really knowing who her true friends are. Does she keep her secret and survive the initiation? A few years ago, it seemed like al...

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris opens with teacher Cass deciding to drive home after celebrating the end of the school year with her colleagues, rather than spending the night at a friend’s house. Before leaving, she calls her husband, Matthew, to let him know she’ll be home after all. Concerned for her safety, Matthew asks her not to take the shortcut home through the woods. In a moment of impulsive decision-making, Cass ignores his request and takes the shortcut anyway. Along the isolated road, she encounters a car pulled over on the shoulder with a woman sitting inside. Cass drives past without stopping, a choice that will soon haunt her. The following morning, Matthew informs Cass that a woman was found murdered in her car on Blackwater Lane, the very road she had driven through. While relieved she didn’t stop and potentially put herself in danger, Cass is immediately consumed by guilt. She feels responsible for ignoring her husband’s warning, and things only get worse; she beg...

After Gina Royal picks her children, Brady and Lily, from their Wichita, Kansas school, they come home to an unknown SUV that has crashed into their garage and police swarming their yard. Fast forward to four years later, and Gina, Brady, & Lily are on the run with new identities. Stillhouse Lake written by Rachel Caine kept me interested from the get go. There were very few slow moments on top of it. It was a quick, easy read that felt like the author wrote it with the possibility of it being turned into a movie, and it definitely was written with the typical thriller formula. This is why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The ending in wrapped up for the most part with the exception of one cliff hanger, which in my opinion isn't really much of a cliff hanger. From what I've read on Goodreads.com, many people are complaining about the "cliff hanger" and refusing to read the next book in the series because everything wasn't wrapped up in a nice little bow....