Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Too Many Bumps in the Night

The Last Girl Left by A.M. Strong, Sonya Sargent

by Leave a Comment

Five years after surviving the horrific crime in which all her friends were killed, Tessa returns to the lonely beach house where it occurred in the hopes of overcoming her trauma and writing a book. But as things become increasing sinister, she fears that the danger may not be fully past. I’ve been in the mood for a thriller recently, and thought this book should scratch that itch. The summary promised plenty of suspense and chills, and I am a sucker for the ‘last girl’ […]

Between the Freeze and the Thaw

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

by Leave a Comment

When midwife Martha Ballard is called to inspect the body of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River, the last person she expects it to be is the accused rapist of one of her patients – and when she determines that he has been murdered, the situation only becomes more complex. I first heard about Martha Ballard a few months ago, when I picked up the Pulitzer Prize-winning book based on her life (A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her […]

An Escaped Eccentric (ft. Two Lovers)

Captured by Mary Lancaster

by Leave a Comment

Freed from her constrained life by the death of her autocratic father, Hera decides to take up a companion position where no one knows her. But as her assignment turns increasingly sinister, she turns to Justin, the doctor who attended her father before he died, for help. This is the second book in Mary Lancaster’s The Duel series, which follows the aftermath of a duel in which an army officer kills the cold-hearted Duke of Cuttyngham. Hera is the duke’s daughter, and Justin the friend […]

Hello, Old Friend

In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block

by Leave a Comment

And so I come full circle with the Matthew Scudder series, for though my re-read will go into 2025 (if I’m fortunate to live that long), this was the first one I read, almost 15 years ago. It didn’t start me down the path. Like my impressions with the first two, I found it derivative. Alcoholic PI, knight errant ex-cop, dirty New York, women killed, etc. But on re-reads, I see what Block was doing. I’m not sure he intended to set up a series; […]

“He wasn’t grateful, he was homicidal. It wasn’t enough that they endanger his friends and servants, they had to attack his most valued enemy as well.”

The Book of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells

by Leave a Comment

The Book of Ile-Rien collects the first two books in Martha Wells’ Ile-Rien universe, which takes place in a fantasy world with a steampunk flavor. Though I have the much-lauded Murderbot series on my TBR, I have never read any of Wells’ work before. The Element of Fire is her debut, and when this book crossed my dashboard I thought it’d be a decent place to start. The Element of Fire – 3.5 stars The return of the king’s bastard sister to the court of […]

Stephanie Plum is back again!

Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich

by Leave a Comment

You know what you’re getting into with a new Stephanie Plum mystery and that’s okay. This time Stephanie has been hired by a local jewelry store owner to find a thief with a missing tray of diamonds. But there’s also another potential thief and more missing jewelry. Of course there’s more to the story. Also Stephanie is dog-sitting for her boyfriend who’s in Miami. And of course there are more bounties out there hunt. The usual cast of supporting characters is here up to their […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo