Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Historical Fiction meets True Crime

The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods

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The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods is captivating historical fiction based on a real place in Minneapolis, The Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers, as well as on a true crime story that transpired in the area in 1894. The story revolves around three women. The mysterious Faith, a traumatized young woman who, judging by her dress, worked as a “sporting woman” in a brothel. She does not seem to speak, but she does come with a suspiciously large amount of money on her person. Abby Mendenhall, […]

Thanksgiving 2024 Leftovers

Remembrance Day by Henry Porter

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

Killing Castro by Lawrence Block

Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins

Spy Hook by Len Deighton

London Rules by Mick Herron

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. Remembrance Day**** An interesting take on the English-vs-Irish spy novel and while the author telegraphs too many things, he knows how to keep a story moving. Barely clears the 4-star threshold but if I invest time to read something almost 500 pages long, it has to be at least “good” and this was. Dead Lions, Real Tigers, and London Rules**** I had originally meant to do a big long post on my love/grr relationship with Mick Herron’s Slough House […]

Do You Guys Ever Think About Death?

A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block

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I usually don’t take a long post for my Scudder re-reads as most are summarized compared to what I originally wrote about them. But I wanted some extra space to explore this one. I’ve noticed that post-Eight Million Ways to Die, Lawrence Block’s Scudder plots have become weaker. That’s fine with me; Block’s not bad at plotting but it’s not his strong suit and I’ve come to see these more as hang out novels than Christie-type whodunnits. So I wasn’t looking forward to this one […]

Fruit of a Rotted Tree

Sovereign by CJ Sansom

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Anyone who’s read my reviews knows how much I love reading about the Plantagenets and the Wars of the Roses in general. So when I got to book three in the Shardlake series, I had high hopes for it and it surely did not disappoint. But I have to start with something that nags: I’m not a fan of Shardlake himself. True he cannot help his physical condition and the way people treat him is terrible. But the way he treats everyone else is…also not […]

Toxic Wellness

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

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Opening weekend at an ultra luxurious wellness focused manor resort on the seaside? Sounds great, sign me right up, I’m sure nothing terrible will happen. Francesca has been focusing her considerable powers on transforming her late grandfather’s seaside estate into the hottest new wellness destination for the wealthy instagram set. She’s being helped by her husband Owen, a world famous and highly in demand architect. Young Eddie just wants to work his way up to being a bartender while hiding the fact that he comes […]

A complex fantasy with many stories woven together

Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin

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I was immediately drawn to Aunt Tigress by the cover, and the synopsis had me intrigued. Tam is a young woman living in Calgary where the magic from her tiger father is weak because it’s far from the forces she calls on for exorcisms and other magics, but she also knows to respect the magic of First Nations without trying to steal it. Or at least, that’s what her father tried to teach her before he died when she was 12, and her Aunt Tigress […]



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