Book Review: Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh (Eddie Flynn #4)

Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 1/2 stars!  Eddie Flynn is a defense attorney. Bobby Solomon is a famous actor accused of killing his wife and head of security.  Joshua Kane is a psychopathic serial killer who plots to be on the jury of this "case of the century." 

A page-turning, heart-pounding legal thriller!  The suspense is built through multiple points of view -- both Eddie Flynn and Joshua Kane tell their portion of the story.  There are twists, turns and surprises right up until the end.  I thoroughly enjoyed the courtroom scenes along with the behind-the-scenes trial prep and interplay between the characters.  There is a large cast of characters but they are all important to the progression of the court case.  

This is the first book I've read by Steve Cavanagh, but you can be sure that it won't be the last!  I read this one for book club, but will go back and start at the beginning of the series.  

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez

The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an historical fiction novel about the individuals involved with the building of the Panama Canal from 1907-1913.  We meet Francisco who is a fisherman, his son Omar who decides to work on the canal, young Ada who travels from Barbados to earn money for her sister's needed operation, and many more individuals who form this cast of characters.  It may be helpful to keep an ongoing list of the cast of characters and how they relate to one another. 

This was a book club selection, and I was eager to find out more about the actual history and building of the canal.  However, the book focused instead on quite a few individuals involved with the canal, both working directly on the building of it as well as peripherally.  I liked the fact that the author included a map of the area involved.  I certainly didn't realize that the Pacific Ocean is actually east of the Atlantic Ocean at the isthmus of Panama.  

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Book Lovers by Emily Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A page-turner romance set in the publishing industry.  Nora Stephens, a NYC book agent, is convinced by her sister to spend a month of her summer vacation in a rural North Carolina town.  Almost immediately she runs into a NYC book editor, with whom she has not has not gotten along with in the past.  You can predict what happens next.  The relationship with the two sisters very special and makes the book worth reading.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you will turn the pages quickly to reach the end.  Of course, since it was dealing with the book industry, it had my name written all over it.  I loved every minute of it!

Update from May 2025 - I re-read this book for book club and elevated it to 5 stars.  Once I loved the bookish themes throughout, especially how she incorporates real-life authors and NYC bookstores!  And the things that can happen in the study room of a public library!

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alice Scott is a journalist, aspiring to write memoirs.  Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who has written one of the most inspiring and well-known memoirs in recent years.  They are both on Little Crescent Island off Georgia in order to interview Margaret Grace Ives, the tabloid princess and media empire heiress who has at last decided to tell her story since she is in her 80s.  They each get to spend a month interviewing her and at the end she will decide who will write the book.

In typical Emily Henry fashion, the work enemies/friends/lovers trope is the strong point of this book.  She is known for her witty dialog and romance scenes, and she doesn't disappoint.  Alice is the eternal optimist while Hayden is brooding and aloof.  They keep running into each other on the small island, a friendship develops which soon turns to romance.  Although I think that the pacing of their romance seemed rather rushed, probably because she focused so much on the memoir writing story line.  

The larger part of the story revolves around Margaret's telling of her family story, starting in 1830, overshadowing the delightful Alice / Hayden story.  Margaret's messy family drama was too far-reaching and had too many characters to keep track of.  At some point, I just lost interest in this story line.  A family tree at the beginning of the book would have been helpful.  

Based on the overall book, I would have given it only 3 stars.  However, because it's Emily Henry and the Alice / Hayden story is so wonderful and full of her incredibly witty dialog and romance, I'm elevating it to 4 stars.  Don't call it a mystery, Emily.  The only mystery is why you chose to take a left turn with this book when you should have stuck with what has worked for you in the past five books!

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Come join our protagonists Joe and Meredith Penvale on the journey of a lifetime - The Orient Express from Paris to Venice.  It's a celebratory trip after the conclusion of Joe's 18 months of medical treatments.  They are looking forward to a luxurious and relaxing trip, but everything changes when the cabin adjacent to theirs is found covered with blood, but the body is missing.  Considering the title of the book, it's no surprise that this isn't the only dead body found on the train.

For readers familiar with Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, you'll find a lot of similarities in this modern day re-telling.  It starts with the classic locked room mystery and proceeds from there to involve other train employees and passengers.  Reader, be aware that there is a large cast of characters; it might be helpful to start taking notes at the beginning of the book in order to keep them all straight.  I really enjoyed everything about this book -- the murder mysteries, the passengers and employees coming together to help solve them, The Orient Express, the luxury train travel, the food, and more!  Highly recommended.  

Thank you very much to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book.  It is scheduled to be published on August 19, 2025.

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Edith Lane (Edie) leaves her father and life in Dublin on a whim to accept a position as the assistant manager of a bakery that she thinks is in Paris. Once she arrives, she discovers that it's actually in a very small town outside of Paris -- Compiègne. This family-run bakery turns out to be a magical place with an incredible history dating back to World War II. Chapters alternate between Edie in present day and the historical back story about the bakery. There's even magical chocolate which is a secret ingredient in the long-lost hot chocolate recipe.

I was initially drawn to this book because of the title - who doesn't love a story about bakeries and Paris? It has so much more to offer the reader though -- historical fiction (WWII France), romance, discovering a new country and a new beginning, recovering from grief, travel, French music, magical realism, French scenery, plus the bakery, baking and French food -- all rolled into one delightful novel! Grab a cup of hot chocolate, a French pastry and dig into this delightfully charming book. The only thing that would have improved this book is the inclusion of some of the bakery recipes.

Thank you very much to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book.  It was recently published on April 8, 2025.  FULL DISCLOSURE -- After reading several other Goodreads reviews of this book, I discovered that it is not a new book; it was originally published ten years ago in 2014!  Apparently, Harper Collins is republishing it with a new cover and under a new pseudonym (Evie Woods).  

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

View all my reviews