Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton

To tell you the truth, I hate this book. Several readers gave this novel high marks because it was indeed an interesting read with several layers of events. However, I just could not stand the characters. They are supposedly "damaged" individuals with little dark secrets. Frankly, I find them to be nothing but a pack of immoral characters! The setting was made during the Falklands war and did give viewers an insight on how people reacted to the situation.I loved Ms. Bolton's other books but not this one.
Let's start with the main character, Catrin. She is a grieving mom who blames her best friend, Rachel, for "accidentally" killing her two sons. While she was embarking on an illicit affair with Callum, her friend Rachel, is involved in a car accident that kills her sons. Bereaved, she ends up leaving her husband and dreams of killing Rachel for three years. Rachel is the friend she forced to babysit her kids while she screwed her lover. Eventually, she gives birth to Callum's child who dies at birth. Her husband then realizes she was involved in an affair because the child turned out to be a redhead like her lover.

The Witch

I know this is a movie but after being horrified by its story line, I was impelled to write about it. It is NOT a "slasher" movie that prevails most often in our silver screen but rather a very extremely disturbing film. It was based on documents found about the puritanical era so the language they used and the sentiments the characters felt are addressed in this movie. I was distressed because it implied the presence of a cruel and vengeful God we read about in the old testament instead of the loving new testament one who is always sanctified by church authorities.

It is about a very pious family that was tormented and eventually killed off by evil spirits. No matter how much they prayed and adhered to all the laws God has given them, their prayers went unheard. What was also troubling was that the way their lives ended showed no possible hope that their souls were saved in spite of the horrific events they had to endure. So reminiscent of the Salem Witch trials wherein several people died a painful death with God not intervening at all. Makes you wonder if you are wasting your time even asking for the yoke of pain to be removed from your shoulders. I know it is only a "story" but the mere fact that it is actually one of the documents made during the Salem Witch trials, a more famous record of atrocity allowed to happen in the olden days, makes you pause and think. If this happened to God-fearing people who did the right thing, imagine what could possibly happen to you. Repent and pray and still feel the flames of hell?

Evil Games By Angela Marson

I almost did not finish this book.
Kim Stone, the main character, is a very caustic individual. I was really getting annoyed with her acerbic character that reading the novel turned to be a grating experience . However, I was very impressed with her other novel, "The Silent Scream", that I decided to take a "sneak peek" at the ending and see if enduring her painful personality would be worth it.. Fortunately, I succumbed to my habit of reading the last part of the book and eventually got intrigued! This awakened my interest and induced me to reread the book and  finish it.
I proceeded midway (close to where I stopped) and found a fascinating discussion between Kim Stone and her former psychiatrist about sociopaths. It was a very compelling discussion without the medical precision John Burley had in his novels which I thought was too complicated for a layman to endure. As mentioned in my previous blog, John Burley is an actual medical doctor who shared a little bit too much of his medical knowledge that it tended to be slightly grueling if you have a short attention span like me. Anyway, back to the story.
Though it still had the usual "surprise" at the end as in her other book, "The Silent Scream", the story  was different but equally captivating. All I can say is that it is similar to Agatha Christie's "Curtain" with a psychiatrist's point of view. Several crimes, but different styles.

Hidden Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

This is an excellent novel by Heather and just like "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins, I was immediately hooked even at the first chapter. Unlike usual murder mysteries, it did not start with a macabre tone. It began with a literary style normally associated with novels that had no murder-induced theme. Then it gradually builds up tension with the ultimate shock of the victim as she is confronted by her assailant.

The story is about Sarah and her husband , Jack, who goes back to Penny Gate because of his aunt's accident. Jack's aunt and uncle adopted Jack and his sister after their parent's untimely accident. Sarah , however, senses Jack's reluctance to go back even though it was evident that he dearly loved his adoptive parents. She eventually discovers that stories Jack told her were not entirely true. His aunt subsequently dies and they were not allowed to leave by the authorities due to  the suspicious nature of her death. Alarmed, Sarah decides to do her own investigation and unearths a throng of unfavorable details about her husband's family starting from his parent's death 30 years ago to his aunt's eventual demise.

A real edge of your seat thriller!

The Evil Inside By Heather Graham

This is a fascinating novel that features an elite group of FBI members known as the "Krewe of Hunters" who have special abilities in communicating with dead people. Though headed by Jackson Crow, each novel features a different member. In this particular story, the main character is Jenna Duffy who is summoned by her psychiatrist uncle to look into the alleged murder supposedly committed by his young client.  This young boy is accused of brutally murdering his parents and was actually picked up by another main lead, an attorney, who discovered the young boy totally drenched in blood. Her uncle also pleaded for the attorney to defend the child because he was adamant that the child was absolutely incapable of performing such a heinous crime. The boy belonged to a family of Quakers known for their strict and strange ways and who also happen to live in Lexington House, a house known for past residents who murdered their family. Hence it was up to Jenna who could visualize the past and communicate with ghosts during her dreams or her waking moments to solve the puzzling murder of the child's family. With the legal expertise of the lawyer and the passion of her uncle to exonerate the boy, the three of them embark a harrowing adventure into the spectral and earthly dimensions of the case. Fast paced and a real page turner!