"Thriller" is an understatement!

Wow! That's my review. Wow! I don't really need to say more. However, I will add that this book is one of those that makes you stay up later than you should because you just have to read the next chapter. Yes it is about the plague, and rats and fleas, but you also get an interesting glimpse of a part of WW2 history you might be totally unaware of-Japanese biological warfare and human testing. That's what I love- a fiction book that holds your attention and is educational at the same time.

You won't be disappointed when you read, Plague Maker by Tim Downs. I promise you, the characters are endearing, believable, and the writing is superb. Would make a great motion picture.

Paper Angels

Billy Coffey's main character in Paper Angels is Andy Sommerville, a rascally middle-aged gent you will easily take a likin' to. We learn Andy's story of losing his parents when he was a young boy and that he had some other losses as well. And something else - Andy doesn't tell other people - that he has an angel, the Old Man he calls him, who has been there for him and helped him in learning life's lessons. But the Old Man has let him down and all but left, and Andy is struggling dealing with that.

The story begins when we meet Andy in the hospital, the victim of a senseless crime. With the guidance of Elizabeth, Andy takes a review of his life, being prompted by objects he has kept for years in a special box. We get to enjoy the stories he unravels for Elizabeth and sit with him as he struggles to discover the meaning of his own existance. We all are pretty much empty when we have no clue what we are here for and Andy is no different.

If you aren't interested yet, I'll tell you that one reviewer likens Paper Angels to It's A Wonderful Life, Scrooge and The Shack. I'd have to agree! And, besides, you will be happy to meet Andy Sommerville and discover this world is not all solid!

The Lost Saints of Tennessee

The Lost Saints of Tennessee by Amy Franklin-Willis

In 1975, Zeke loses his twin brother, Carter, in a mysterious drowning accident. Now, a decade later, Zeke Cooper decides to leave his hometown with its traitorous memories behind
him. Loading his dead brother’s dog, Tucker, a battered copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and a small arsenal of pain pills in his truck, he heads towards Virginia.

His plans: to administer the pills to himself and Tucker and be done with his grieving. His botched attempt at suicide fails when he heaves his own deathly concoction into the toilet and with a change of heart, makes a frantic rescue call to the nearest
vet. Tucker survives and the two continue their excursion and arrive in Virginia, where they are welcomed with open arms by Zeke’s cousins, Georgia and Oz.

There on the apple farm, Zeke is able to mull over his life and come to terms with his anger towards his mother, Lillian, recently diagnosed with cancer, and his grief for Carter.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Sometimes survival means sacrifice

In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren't so lucky,

Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes the frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward's younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father's fate together. How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both?

Lone Wolf brilliantly decribes the nature of a family; the love, protection, and strength it can offer-and the price we might have to pay for those gifts. What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart?

With a life hanging in the balance....a family torn apart, the author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go.

Bleed for me.

Joseph O' Loughlin is a psychologist who first appeared in the Michael Robotham book "Suspect". O'Loughlin has his own personal problems to deal with mainly Parkinson's disease, a rebellious daughter and an estranged wife whom he still loves. When one of his daughter's friends is found dripping in blood on the estranged wife's doorstep, she calls Joe in to help. The question which must be resolved is whether she killed her father. Thus begins a great psychological investigative story that keeps you turning pages. As a psychologist, Joe is equipped to understand the behaviors and "grooming techniques" of pedophiles. While he is rushing to prove Sienna innocent of murder, he is also trying to discover who has taken her innocence and is using her. Of course he must call his old friend Victor Ruiz for help.
It is not necessary to start with the first book, but doing so would allow you to see how his marriage deteriorates and his friendship with Ruiz develops. Joe is the kind of psychologist you would like to have on your side.