Cracked is a fast-paced thriller about a woman’s hunt for her twin sister’s killer. Danny Cleary is smoking crack in her Toronto apartment when she hears of her twin sister Ginger’s death. She immediately hops on a plane with her rock star brother Darren and flies over to Ginger’s home in California to find out what could have happened. It turns out Ginger’s death could have been drug-related, and the reason Ginger was doing drugs in the first place was to get a better understanding of her twin’s addiction. Things are further complicated when a woman who looks like Danny manages to get ahold of Ginger’s young sons, and Danny begins to wonder if her sister’s death was somehow her fault.

Danny and Darren’s search for the truth takes them deep into a much more complex web than I originally anticipated. Leslie keeps the twists and turns and minor reveals coming, quick and often enough to keep the reader off-balance and wondering what the heck the truth actually was. Danny’s crack addiction plays a major role in the story, as she struggles to stay sober enough to find her twin’s killer, though at one point and surprisingly, giving in to her addiction actually ends up helping her out.

Danny is also a former women’s self-defence instructor, and therefore joins a welcome and ever growing list of kick ass heroines who can disable a bad guy with a single blow. I especially like that despite Danny being really good at fighting, Leslie still manages to keep it realistic, so that Danny isn’t so much super powered as just really good at strategizing and at taking advantage of the element of surprise.

I also really liked how Danny’s love for her twin sister is so evident on the page. It forms her main motivation throughout the book, and it’s her loyalty to her family that fuels all her ass kicking. So when Danny speaks of her desire for vengeance on whomever killed Ginger, and when Danny goes to great extents to save her nephews, it’s all very much a part of who she is, and Leslie does a great job of creating a character whom you believe will travel across North America and combat her addiction for her family.

The big reveal was actually surprising. By the end, it felt a bit more complicated than it strictly had to be, but to Leslie’s credit, she did keep me guessing throughout. Cracked is the first in a trilogy, and the book ends with a set up for the next one. So if you try this out and enjoy it, keep an eye for the next book Rehab Run, out this November 2016.

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Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Horror writer Gavin Corlie moves to a secluded house on Lake Caldasac after his wife dies, and befriends a thirteen-year-old boy Finn Horn, who loves fishing, uses a wheelchair and is obsessed with killing the Lake’s legendary monster. Mannheim Rex reads like a monster movie, a contemporary combination of Moby Dick and Jaws,  and it’s full of action and suspense that monster movie fans will enjoy watching on the screen.

Finn’s hunt for the monster is made especially urgent because of his condition. He only has a few months or years left to live, and he wants to do something extraordinary in that time. At one point, he admits that he wants to kill the monster so he’ll be remembered forever, and while his doctor Laurel tries to reassure him that he’ll be remembered regardless, he’s a bit more practical and points out that to most of the world, he’s nobody. Killing the monster, and thereby also proving its existence, will ensure his place in history books. Finn is also wisecracking and fun, and so determined in his quest that he’s at the lake before 4 am every morning, so it’s fun cheering him on and hoping he does catch the monster.

While Finn and Gavin hunt for the lake monster, a very real monster also resides in their town, Sheriff Pope. He likes killing people (often in bloody, brutal ways) and sexually assaulting young children. More than the lake monster, Pope emerges as the villain of the story, particularly as he becomes obsessed with Gavin and Finn, and their friendship. This had the potential of turning really dark and creepy, but Pobi keeps the tone brisk and continues with the monster movie feel, so it’s more about cheering on the good guys as they stay out of Pope’s crosshairs and waiting to see if and how the sheriff will get his just desserts.

One thing that did stand out and that I loved is the romance between Gavin and Laurel. In many ways, Gavin is a fairly typical horror story / monster movie hero — young, (39 years old) handsome, fighting his own demons — and one can easily imagine any number of actors filling the role. In movies, the love interest would likely be an actress much younger than he, likely in her 20s. So I love that Laurel is actually older than Gavin, and at 56, almost two decades older. It’s a neat reversal of the usual Hollywood practice, which is pretty awesome. I do wish we saw a bit more of her age in her description, which mostly says she has small breasts and is a size 4 but makes no mention of any marks of age, but regardless, it’s a pretty cool thing to happen in this book.

Overall, Mannheim Rex is a fun, quick read about the hunt for a monster, with a subplot about the monsters in our midst. The characters are nicely fleshed out, and at times, Pobi seems more interested in Gavin, Laurel and Finn’s family dynamic than in the hunt for the monster, which is nice. Recommended reading for the cottage, preferably one with a lake.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reading copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

The advance reading copy of The Couple Next Door began with an editor’s note that set up pretty high expectations:

Did it meet the expectations? Not quite, but to be fair, it’s still a good, solid mystery with multiple twists. I just wasn’t blown away, but to be fair, I was expecting the unreliability and twists of Gone Girl, the emotional resonance of The Girl on the Train and a big reveal to rival The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, so to be fair, my expectations were really high.

The story begins with every parent’s worst nightmare: Anne and Marco Conti return home from a dinner party to find their six month old daughter Cora missing. As the search for Cora continues, we learn that not all about Anne and Marco are as they seem, and in both cases their secrets raise the suspicions of Detective Rasbach, who is investigating Cora’s disappearance. Other characters include Anne’s multi-millionaire parents who hate Marco, and Anne and Marco’s flirty next door neighbour who may or may not be interested in an affair with Marco. All of the characters are compromised in some way, and red herrings abound as Detective Rasbach tries to figure out what really happened to Cora.

Like I said, it’s a good, solid mystery, and even when we think we have it figured out, Lapena brings out another twist that complicates the case and keeps Cora from safety. I was curious about the kidnapper’s identity, but not as emotionally caught up as I wanted to be, especially considering that a six month old baby was missing. There was something workmanlike about the reveals; we often found out about intriguing wrinkles only shortly before they are resolved, and suspects are suggested only to be summarily dismissed fairly quickly. The kidnapper’s identity is kept hidden throughout, but the most intriguing possibilities are revealed and/or debunked fairly quickly and the eventual reveal is unexpected but not that surprising. Despite their secrets and their clearly heightened emotions, Anne and Marco weren’t really unreliable as narrators, and both kept the reader fairly well grounded in what really was happening. The descriptions of emotions were perhaps realistic, but also a bit melodramatic, with Anne’s repeated screaming, for example, reminding me more of the damsel in classic detective movies than a real mother in distress. Finally, the twist at the end felt unnecessary, and while the elements for this were well set up in advance, the emotional build up could have been better laid out.

The Couple Next Door is not a bad book, but I caution against high expectations coming in. It’s a good, solid mystery and a quick entertaining read, and will keep you guessing.

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Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.