April 2024 | Book Nerds Across America

Thursday, April 25, 2024

LISTEN FOR THE LIE BY AMY TINTERA

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

Everyone thinks Lucy murdered her best friend Savvy, but Lucy is completely in the dark about what happened that night.

Listen For The Lie is told by Lucy in first person, which I really enjoyed, I sometimes get tired of thee multi POV trend that is so popular right now, many authors tend to try to push way to many narratives and it gets somewhat confusing trying to keep all the characters straight . Lucy is an unreliable narrator however, due to the head injury she received and her amnesia about the murder. There are chapters between Lucy's that are Ben's podcast LISTEN FOR THE LIE. He was doing research on Savvy's murder. Podcasts in books are very common these days and I am very skeptical about them, but this one worked well in the story and was the perfect addition.

I did love Lucy however, she was funny, sarcastic and best of all snarky, her character alone will keep you reading if nothing else will. I really enjoyed Ben the podcaster, but I think one of my favorite characters in the book is Lucy's grandmother, the narrative between her and Lucy is excellent and well thought out, probably my favorite part of the story.

Along with reading the book, I also listened to the audio, which I highly recommend, the narrators on it were perfection and this as of now is my favorite audio book because of them.

Listen For The Lie is a fast paced read, it is also, suspenseful, exciting, and funny. It is one of those book that will keep you guessing until the end, and even better, it has short chapters, which is always a plus for me!

A great book for any mystery/thriller reader

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

BOOK REVIEW: MOLTEN DEATH by LESLIE KARST

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawaii to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.Early one morning, the couple and their friend - tattooed local boy, Isaac - set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg - a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava. Valerie's convinced a murder has been committed - but as she's the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who's going to believe her?Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock .

TEE'S REVIEW:

Valerie and her wife Kristen are spending their holiday in Hawaii to help Valerie heal from the death of her brother.

One of the first things they do is visit an active volcano where Valerie sees a body almost covered in lava before quickly disappearing. Despite no one really believing her she decides to investigate .

The plot of the story is the body in the lava, the star of the book is Hawaii itself. The scenery, the language, the food and the culture is all expertly described and written, the entire time I read I could practically feel the sand between my ties and the soothing sea breezes in my hair.

When I was growing up, my father was in a Navy, for five of those years he was stationed in Hawaii and I have also since visited with my husband, so reading Molten Death was such a treat for me, bringing back memories of the Pidgin and the places, and had me instantly wanting to make another trip over.

For people who may not understand the Pidgin and Hawaiian terms in the story, and there are a lot of this in the book, because it is the way the islanders speak, Karst has provided a very helpful glossary at the end of the book that I know will be very helpful to many readers. Oh, and also she included recipes of the wonderful food in the book. I think this is the perfect read to plan you a little luau this summer in your back yard!

Oh yeah, there is also a mystery in this book, two actually, one with the volcano and another about some missing avocados. It is a very cozy mystery that includes some low key investigating and small bits of action. The characters in the book are plentiful and some are rather shady, but I also found most are likable to at least a point. Every thing wraps up nice and tidy at the end and sets the stage for the couple to move to the island and possibly find a few more mysteries, after all it is the first in a new series by the author.

Molten Death is a fast read, and it is a fun read, so grab it find a hammock and dream of the warm summer ahead...then go ahead and plan a trip, this book will have you wanting to visit Hawaii!