Book Chatter

The Stowaway
By James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250263650, September 2021, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Gruesome, but oddly entertaining.

The Rest of It:

Two years ago, Maria Fontana, the head of the Psychology Department at Columbia University, sat on a jury for one of the most depraved cases ever to pass through the hallowed halls of City Hall. ~ Indiebound

The set-up is very good. Maria’s role on that jury comes back to haunt her and her family as they are vacationing on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. Maria and her fiancé are trying to put the events of the past behind them while getting a little R&R with Maria’s young children in tow. But things suddenly take a dangerous turn on the ship when people turn up dead. People, mostly, young children. How can this be? Could the man on trial, Wyatt Butler have a copycat?

Maria spent a lot of time reviewing the evidence of that case. All the gruesome photos of Butler’s young victims. Plus, her background in Psychology gives her enough info to know how these serial killers work, but could there really be a copycat on board? Why? What is he after?

This book is a classic example of being trapped with no place to run. It’s a ship but there are only so many places to hide and Maria’s knowledge of the case and what this killer is capable of keeps the story flowing at a breakneck pace. I really enjoyed this one. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down for long.

But…

It’s gruesome. The crime scenes are very graphic. It seemed somewhat tolerable only because the killings are not in real time. As readers, we only hear of the aftermath but it’s children, which is a bit hard to swallow. Many of you warned me about how graphic it was but it was done well-enough that it didn’t keep me from frantically turning those pages.

If you need something a little different, something that is hard to put down and you don’t mind the graphic nature of these killings, then I highly recommend it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

I was enjoying some nighttime reading recently, and when I went to bed I must have been thinking about reading because I dreamed about all the books that are “must reads” to me but ones that I haven’t gotten to yet. We all have that list, right? I’ve been reading a lot of current fiction and it’s going really well for me but as the holidays approach, I may try to get a couple of those must reads in. Here are a few that pop into my head:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham
Walden by Henry David Thoreau (every year I say I am going to read it)

Anyone have any of these on their list?

Right Now:

Coffee and a little weekend news and then I am off to see the high schoolers.

This Week:

High school ministry is having their Halloween party this Wednesday. I need to work on my 80’s themed costume today which means a trip to the thrift store. It will be a lot of fun.

I also have Friday off since I had to use up more vacation days. No big plans but the used bookstore has a fiction sale on Fridays so I may hit that.

Reading:

I finished The Stowaway and should have the review up tomorrow. Hopefully. What a book!

Watching:

We have all these plans to watch stuff and then it doesn’t happen. Baseball has played a large role in that.

Grateful for:

While holed up on the couch with this knee, I have been mindlessly playing Mahjong on my phone. It’s a great way to spend an evening.
It’s silly but I am so happy that salad bars are open again. I love a good salad and it’s just not the same when I make one at home.

That’s all I have. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and great week!

Chatting with friends about books and life…