Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Wednesday Reads and Happy Birthday to Hubby!

Today is Hubby’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Sweetie!). He’s officially an old person. At least, that’s what he’s telling everyone because he was forced to start Medicare this month. I say he won’t be old until NEXT year, when he starts collecting Social Security. Haha!

Guess I shouldn’t laugh too loud, though. I plan on collecting SS in 1-1/2 years. It’s not like I’m making tons of money now, so I really doubt I’ll have to worry about giving any of it back. But hey, things could change. My books could take off!

One can hope.

Here’s what I finished reading this week:

Book #4

Dates read: February 7-14
Title: “Into the Black Nowhere”
Year of publication: 2018
Author: Meg Gardiner
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Series: UNSUB #2
# of Pages: 352
Paper or plastic: Hardback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: On Saturday nights, women are disappearing. One vanishes from a movie theater. Another is ripped from her car at a stoplight. Another vanishes from her home while checking on her baby. Rookie FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix, newly assigned to the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, fears that a serial killer is roaming the dark roads outside Austin, Texas.
    Caitlin and the FBI discover the first victim’s body in the woods. She’s laid out in a bloodstained white nightgown. A second victim lies deeper in the forest’s darkness. Both bodies are surrounded by Polaroid photos, stuck in the earth like headstones. Each photo pictures a different woman, wrists slashed suicide-style—posed like Snow White awaiting her prince’s kiss.
    To track the unknown subject, Caitlin must get inside his mind. How is he selecting these women? Working with her mentor, a legendary FBI profiler, Caitlin searches for that elusive point where character and action come together. This is a confident, meticulous killer who convinces his victims to lower their guard until he can take them in plain sight. He then reduces them to objects in a twisted fantasy—dolls for him to possess, control, and ultimately destroy. Caitlin’s profile leads the FBI to focus on one man: a charismatic, successful professional who easily gains people’s trust. As another Saturday nigh approaches, Caitlin and the FBI enter a desperate game of cat and mouse, racing to capture the cunning predator before he claims more victims.
My thoughts: Another winner from Meg. I’d have read this book much faster if I didn’t feel guilty every time I picked it up (you know, because I should be writing!). I like how Caitlin isn’t perfect. But sometimes I’d like to slap her upside the head, too. Not because of the case she’s working on, but because of her private life. But I also like how she has one…sort of. J If you like FBI suspense dramas, you’ll definitely like this book.

Book #5

Dates read: February 16-20
Title: “Poisonous”
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Allison Brennan
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Series: Maxine Revere #3
# of Pages: 420
Paper or plastic: Mass market paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: When teenage Internet bully Ivy Lake fell off a cliff, few people cared—except her developmentally challenged eighteen-year-old stepbrother, Tommy. In spite of her occasional cruelty, Tommy loved her. Now it’s been a year since Ivy’s disappearance and the police still have no answers. Was it suicide, an accident, or something more sinister?
    This isn’t the type of case investigative reporter Maxine Revere normally takes on, but when she receives a heartbreaking plea from Tommy, Max feels driven to help. At first, the police are willing to cooperate as she looks for clues about what happened to Ivy. But once Max delves deeper into the investigation, and learns more about Tommy and his dysfunctional family, the more she thinks she’s taken on an impossible task: this may be the one case she can’t solve. If Ivy was murdered, it was exceptionally well-planned…and that kind of killer could be hiding in plain sight and plotting the next act of violence. Max believes the truth is the only path to justice. Will finding it get her killed?
My thoughts: I might not have been planning on reading this book right now, but wow, what a great read. I keep forgetting how much I love Allison’s books. Of course, I think I have a whole stack of books from authors I keep forgetting I love, too. If only I could read all the time. But my writing wouldn’t be the only thing that suffers. My eyesight would too! J

The taxes are now behind me. Yay! Wasn’t quite as bad as last year. Not good, but not as bad. It helped taking it a little bit at a time. It also helped seeing we’re getting a refund. Double yay!

So…  Did you read to the end? (thank you, by the way) Do I bore you with my books? Or have you been tempted to check some of them out?

Happy Reading!

Stacy

5 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Happy birthday to your husband!
We still need to get our tax stuff to our accountant. I'm glad he deals with that mess and not me.

JeffO said...

We have to finish our business taxes first, then we can pull together the rest. Good on you for getting yours done!

JeffO said...

And cheers to your husband!

Maria Zannini said...

Happy birthday, Jim!

re:SS
Our money guy keeps advising us to wait on collecting SS because we'll get significantly more if we wait until 70.

Greg doesn't want to wait. His family has a history of kicking off young.

In the end, it's all a matter of how long you think you'll live. If we knew that we could win the lottery too.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Alex - Even if I had someone do it for me, I'd still have to gather the information and that seems like most of the work!

Jeff - Our business filing is a pain. I really must keep better instructions!

Maria - Jim feels the same as Greg, which is why he's getting it at 66. He won't get hit with penalties (since he's still working full-time) and can invest the money now (or pay off the new house sooner and then invest).