Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About pixifer

CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant

I'm an avid reader working on my second official Cannonball. My favorite genres are mystery, horror, fantasy, and SciFi, but I'll read almost anything that won't make me cry. When I'm not reading, I'm probably being held down by cats. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: pixifer's Quick Questions interview.)

pixifer's Reviews:

Rambling tale about three desperate women being saved by enigmatic men

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

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The Last Train to Key West tells the story of how three women’s lives intersect during the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. Helen is a Key West native that is 8 months pregnant and trapped in an abusive marriage. One night, a veteran named John saves her from a mugging and becomes her guardian angel. Elizabeth is a formerly rich New York socialite fleeing her impending marriage. Federal agent Sam helps her search for her brother at the work camps. Mirta married Antonio back home in […]

Author’s recent cancer diagnosis haunted me as I read her great, new book

Killer Kung Pao by Vivien Chien

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I’ve always assumed that Lana Lee, the main character of the Noodle Shop Mysteries, is a stand-in for the author, Vivien Chien. Near the beginning of Killer Kung Pao, Lana goes to the salon to have her hair dyed gunmetal gray. I know Chien likes to dye her hair fun colors so I checked her Instagram to see if she had tried gunmetal gray. Instead I saw her post about being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My heart sank. Cancer is always sad and scary but […]

Haunted house or horrible people?

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

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Maggie Holt is shocked to learn she’s inherited Baneberry Hall, the Victorian mansion in Vermont that her family fled 25 years earlier. The 20 days they lived at Baneberry Hall were chronicled in a bestselling book, House of Horrors, written by Maggie’s father. Although Maggie has no memory of that time, she’s spent her life being asked by fans, critics, and journalists if the house really is haunted. Her parents have never given her a straight answer, so Maggie decides to go to Baneberry Hall […]

Murder in a mansion on an island? Yes, please!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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Off the coast of Ireland, on an island rumored to be cursed, is the newest luxury wedding location. It’s the perfect place for the perfect bride and groom to say their vows. The bride, Jules, is gorgeous, ambitious, and tough as nails. Her website has taken off over the past few years and she knows her readers will devour every detail of her storybook wedding. She’s trying to let the wedding planner, Aoife, handle everything, but Jules is a control freak and it’s causing some […]

Lighthearted version of Rebecca

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen

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The Royal Spyness series stars Lady Georgina Rannoch, twentysomething cousin to King George V. Set in the early 1930s, the books begin with Georgie trying to make her way in life without any family support or marrying a dreaded princeling. While her royal connections prevent her from being able to find a job, it doesn’t stop her from stumbling over a lot of dead bodies and solving their murders. It’s a cute, fun series that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Last Mrs. Summers is […]

Timely satire or too soon?

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen

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Have you ever wondered what would happen if a petite, wealthy, elderly Republican woman were killed and eaten by a Burmese python? I hadn’t either until Carl Hiaasen put the idea in my head with his latest book, Squeeze Me. Angela Armstrong is the wildlife wrangler hired to remove a Burmese python from a luxury event location in Palm Beach, Florida. Before she can deliver the python’s corpse to the state, it’s stolen from her apartment. At the same time, word has gotten out that […]



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