Quite good.

Moment of Truth (2000) is 5th in the entertaining Rosato & Associates series.

The central hook of the story revolves around a striking premise: a man frames himself for murder to protect his daughter.

When attorney Jack Newlin comes home to find his wife, Honor, murdered in their elegant dining room, he is instantly convinced he knows who committed the crime. Desperate to shield the real killer, Jack makes a split-second decision to doctor the crime scene so all the physical evidence points directly to him before calling the police to confess.

To guarantee his own conviction, Jack purposefully hires Mary DiNunzio, the most inexperienced rookie associate at the hot Philadelphia law firm Rosato & Associates.

Jack’s plan hits a major snag when Mary’s sharp legal instincts kick in. She quickly realizes she isn’t defending a guilty person trying to look innocent, but rather an innocent man trying to prove he is guilty. Refusing to let her client sabotage his own life, Mary risks everything to investigate the real conspiracy behind the murder.

A treat. It’s always a treat when the next edition in the life of Cork O’Connor is published.

One of my favourite book series

God’s Country (2026) is another fantastic read.

Set primarily within the vast and beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, the story explores heavy themes of moral injury, evil, and redemption,

On a family canoe trip, Cork discovers a messy, abandoned campsite. Upon uncovering a dead body, Cork sends his family back to safety and sets off alone to track down a missing friend who was ahead, guiding 3 tourists.

Cork soon discovers that Cordell has been taken hostage by the ruthless Kennedy brothers.

The brothers are forcing Cordell to recreate a trek he guided years earlier for their late criminal father, hoping to locate a hidden stash of valuable loot.

As Cork pursues them, he is captured himself, forcing him to navigate escalating danger, wrestle with his darkest survival instincts, and take justice into his own hands

As I enjoyed the 1st book in the detective John Corey series, I continued with the 2nd ➙ The Lion’s Game (2000).

Quite good, as well.

The former homocide cop is surprisingly now working as a contractor for the fictional FBI Anti-Terrorist Task Force in New York City.

Asad Khalil—a highly trained and ruthless Libyan terrorist known as “The Lion“—fakes a defection to the West.

He arrives at New York’s JFK Airport aboard an international flight where something goes horribly wrong: the plane lands in total radio silence, and investigators find that every passenger on board has been killed.

Khalil escapes into the United States to embark on a bloody, targeted campaign of revenge against the American military pilots who participated in the 1986 bombing of Libya, an attack that killed his family.

Partnered with FBI agent Kate Mayfield, Corey must track the clever and dangerous assassin across the country in a race against time.

I quite enjoyed this book.

The coming of age stories and love triangle are painful — and painfully long. She could have cut that down by 50%.

BUT learning about Italy under Mussolini during the rise to power of Hitler is fascinating.

Mussolini was a strongman fascist dictator by 1922.

I hadn’t realized that Mussolini initially viewed Hitler with a mixture of condescension, ideological skepticism, and strategic distrust. Many Italians thought that Italy would join England as an ally in WW II.

Eternal by Lisa Scottoline is a sweeping historical fiction novel set in Rome during the rise of Italian Fascism and World War II.

The author had long wanted to write about this era, inspired when she was a university student taught by author Philip Roth.

The narrative heavily explores the enduring power of friendship, family, loss, resilience, and the historical reality of ordinary citizens caught in political terror.

Recommended.

Mussolini was caught trying to flee Italy. Killed by machine gun April 28, 1945. His body transported to Milan. In the public square of Piazzale Loreto an angry crowd kicked and spat on him. Finally, his body and longtime mistress, Clara Petacci were hung upside down by their heels from the girders of a half-built Esso gas station.

That was the end of fascism in Italy.

A very good book.

Look Closer (2022) is a critically acclaimed psychological thriller novel written by David Ellis.

Simon and Vicky.

He is an arrogant law professor, and she is a dedicated advocate for domestic violence survivors.

When a beautiful local socialite is found dead, their elaborate web of lies begins to unravel, exposing a high-stakes con involving a $20 million trust fund, secret affairs, and long-held grudges.

Reviewers frequently compare its twisty, rollercoaster pacing to smash hits like Gone Girl and Strangers on a Train.

This one will keep you guessing.

I found the finale very satisfying.

Really good.

The Unraveling of Julia (2025) is a psychological and gothic suspense thriller by Lisa Scottoline.

The story opens in Philadelphia, where Julia Pritzker witnesses the brutal murder of her husband during a routine mugging. Devastated and trapped in a post-traumatic spiral of grief, Julia notices that her recent horoscope uncannily foretold his violent death, driving her into a disorienting obsession with astrology and the idea that her fate is entirely out of her control.

Her life takes a sudden turn when she receives a letter informing her that she has inherited a €3 million estate, including a villa and a vineyard, in Chianti, Tuscany. The benefactor is an absolute stranger named Emilia Rossi. Because Julia was adopted as an infant and knows nothing about her biological family, she travels to Italy hoping to discover a blood relative and escape her grief.

Upon arriving in Tuscany, Julia uncovers disturbing details about the estate’s history:

• The Mad Benefactor: The locals reveal that Emilia Rossi was a paranoid recluse who suffered from delusions of grandeur, firmly believing she was a direct descendant of Caterina Sforza, the legendary and fierce Renaissance duchess.
• The Uncanny Resemblance: Julia is shocked to find that she shares a striking, near-identical physical resemblance to both Emilia and the historical portraits of Caterina Sforza.
• Eerie Parallels: As she settles into the villa, Julia discovers deep thematic parallels to the past, including Emilia’s own fixation on astrology and hidden occult practices.

Soon, the atmospheric sanctuary turns hostile. Julia begins experiencing reality-bending delusions, suspects she is being followed, and fears she might be channeling the spirit of the long-dead duchess.

With the assistance of a handsome local librarian, Gianluca Moretti, she attempts to parse the secrets of her lineage. When the threats turn tangible and deadly, Julia finds herself in a desperate race to preserve her sanity and survive a dangerous conspiracy.

The Tombs of Atuan (1970) is the 2nd book in the Earthsea series after A Wizard of Earthsea (1969). 

Not as good, in my opinion.

Too little happened.

Tenar is a young girl taken while still a child to be the high priestess to the “Nameless Ones” at the Tombs of Atuan.

Her existence at the Tombs is a lonely one, deepened by the isolation of being the highest ranking priestess.

Her world is disrupted by the arrival of Ged, the protagonist of A Wizard of Earthsea, who seeks to steal the half of a talisman that is buried in the treasury of the Tombs.

Tenar traps him in the labyrinth under the Tombs, but she then rebels against her teaching and keeps him alive.

Through him she learns more about the outside world, and she begins to question her faith in the Nameless Ones and her place at the Tombs.

I did like that it questioned religion and posed ethical questions back in 1970.

This was my 1st Nelson DeMille book. He died at age-81 in 2024.

Different. Original.

I’ve already put in holds for future books in the series.

Plum Island (1997) is written in first person, following a linear plotline in which the reader moves along with the main character.

Unfortunately the main character is John Corey, a bored, unhappy former homicide detective, medically retired from the NYPD with 3 gunshot wounds.

Corey is an asshole. Cynical, irreverent, insensitive, horny. He views the world with heavy sarcasm, wit, and street-smart skepticism. Hates all authority figures.

This book is way too long. For the story it tells, it should be about half the length.

There’s no way we needed to diverge one night to a casino, for example, so Corey can lose $2000. It added nothing.

Somehow, John Corey kept me reading anyway.

The Inciting Incident: A local, attractive young couple—Tom and Judy Gordon—are found shot to death on their patio. Because Corey knew the couple, the local police chief drafts him to assist with the investigation. 

The Core Mystery: The Gordons were biologists on Plum Island, a heavily guarded, real-world government animal disease research facility located just off the coast of Long Island.

The Stakes: The investigation quickly spirals into a massive conspiracy. As federal agencies like the FBI and CIA step in to control the narrative, Corey must figure out whether the couple was killed for smuggling a deadly biological pathogen, a new vaccine, or something entirely unexpected …