Anatomy Of A Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

My rating: 4.7

James is a member of Parliament and seems to have an idyllic marriage until James confesses to his wife Sophie that he has had a five month long affair with Olivia, a co-worker. He ended it so why is he confessing? As she is reeling and trying to process this he admits to the reason why he told her....the newspaper scandal rags have found out and it is all going to be in morning paper. Then things get unspeakably worse as Olivia says she was raped.

This is not really a suspenseful beach thriller but more of a serious court drama. I listened to the audio version and it was brilliant in the unfolding of what happened, capturing the voices and keeping me on the edge of my seat. I felt so uncomfortable for Sophie, Olivia and Kate so have to say that the author did a fabulous job. 

Hide by Lisa Gardner

My rating: 4.7

From the first book in this series Alone, Bobby Dodge returns in this edge of your seat thriller. On the grounds of an abandoned Massachusetts mental hospital, in an underground chamber they make the gruesome discovery of six mummified corpses.

Annabelle Granger has been in hiding for as long as she can remember. Now one of the body unearthed from the chamber is wearing a necklace bearing Annabelle’s name, and the danger is too close to escape.

I listened to the audio version and it kept me on the edge of my seat. After Alone, I understood a lot of these characters and also enjoyed the new characters of Annabelle and her dog Bella. I will definitely be reading more in this addictive series.

Alone by Lisa Gardner

My rating: 4.1

Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle and when the man appears to be going to shoot his wife, Bobby fires. This is Catherine Gagnon's husband that Bobby just killed. Her father-in-law, the powerful Judge Gagnon, blames Catherine for his son’s death . . . and for the series of unexplained illnesses that have sent her own young son repeatedly to the hospital.

This is the first book in the series but you don't have to read them in order (this wasn't the first one that I read in the series). While this wasn't as good as Find Her, it was still very enjoyable and now that I am reading more in the series it helps me to understand that Gardner was building the back-story. 

The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz

My rating: 5.0

This book makes the groundbreaking claim that more, not less, dietary fat—including saturated fat—is what leads to better health and wellness. Science shows that we have been needlessly avoiding meat, cheese, whole milk, and eggs for decades and that we can now, guilt-free, welcome these delicious foods back into our lives.

We have all read studies or seen documentaries that tell us how being vegetarian or vegan leads to better health, lower cancer rates, etc. and it has even caused many of us to change how we eat. Nina Teicholz read all these studies (not just the summary conclusions) to understand them. In this book, she sheds a new light on so many studies and whether the conclusions that were drawn were accurate. I got sick from my diet (vegan and high carbs) and healed with protein and fat.  Now I understand why.

The Gift by Louise Jensen

My Rating: 1.5

Jenna gets a heart transplant from a girl named Callie. Jenna meets Callie's family and becomes obsessed with knowing how Callie died. Jenna experiences Cellular Memory where she has flashes of Callie's memories.

This was a promising idea for a story and it fell completely and utterly flat.  The author trying to infuse suspense was horrifically painful drawn out dribble. Jenna making so many ludicrous decisions as well as pushing everyone away was so irritating and caused me to not like the character. By the end, I was very ready to be done with this. Definitely do NOT recommend.