Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Two Writers

We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

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I finished two books this past week and enjoyed them to varying degrees. One was by a favorite author, another by an author I’ve struggled with in the past. Let’s get to the latter first since I like going in reading order… We Are Watching**** I’ve always felt cold toward Alison Gaylin’s work. She’s a very good writer and yet, there’s an emotional distance in her books that I can’t land with. It’s the same issue I get when watching most Christopher Nolan movies: yeah […]

The King is Dead and Secrets Will Roll

The King Is Dead by Benjamin Dean

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Taken from a review found online:  Sometimes I find it really hard to rate a book, and The King is Dead is one of them. A lot of my friends had already read it and almost unanimously gave it three stars. Their conclusion: a nice story, but … a bit boring and a rushed ending, a fun read but off pacing, a solid book but lacking subtlety, you name it. And I can understand them all. And still … I found The King Is Dead […]

Exposure by Ramona Emerson

Exposure by Ramona Emerson

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What a bummer, the first book had such an excellent premise and I think that Emerson wanted to have her cake and eat it too with this one. I think that Rita should have been the sole focus of this second book and instead seemed to be stuffed into it and it just didn’t work. “Exposure” follows Rita after the events of the last book. Rita, still a forensic photographer is dealing with the fallout of everyone knowing she sees ghosts. And using what she […]

Stranded in Italy or One man’s banishment is someone else’s retirement fantasy.

The Broker by John Grisham

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It’s my first Grisham! Yay! I read this because the majority of the action takes place in Bologna, Italy, a city with which I am enamored. Joel Backman, aka “The Broker”, is a convicted felon. During the last hours of a disastrous presidency, the head of the CIA convinces the Arthur Morgan, the outgoing president, to issue a last-minute pardon for Joel Backman. Backman has been rotting in solitary confinement for six years, with fourteen years remaining on his sentence. The president gives in and […]

Space ship psychologist becomes a not-great detective on a mysterious mission

We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen

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I don’t remember what prompted me to download “We Have Always Been Here” on my Kindle — it must have happened during a moment of rare reading motivation before that was extinguished by *gestures* life — but I thought a space thriller could be a promising page-turner for my second read of the year. And while it’s definitely happening in space and I definitely wanted the pages to keep turning (to reach the end), this novel by Lena Nguyen was ultimately disappointing. The brief glimmers […]

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

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I thought this was a very good thriller. Very intrigued how the two authors (they make up Liv Constantine) have a second book in this series. I do have to say though, this was a fun ride. You get a character you despise, one you root for, and a very satisfying ending. “The Last Mrs. Parrish” follows Amber Patterson. Amber is fed up with having nothing and sets her sight on Daphne Parrish. She sees in Daphne everything she wants and deserves in this life. […]



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