Watch Hollow by Gregory Funaro

Genre: Middle Grades, Fantasy, Adventure

Source: I received an advance reader copy to facilitate my review. The opinion expressed here are my own.

I love reading middle grade books because I teach middle grade students. This is one that will be on my shelves the day it comes out.  Who wouldn’t love a story that had middle school age kids with all of their issues, monsters, a spooky house with talking animals?  On top of that there is a monster in the woods called the Garr.

The book opens with Lucy Tinker sitting in the display window of her dad’s clock repair shop. She is sitting there because she is in trouble. Her brother is trying to help her father. As they begin to close up a gentleman enters and makes a proposal that seems too good to be true. Mr. Quigley wants Mr. Tinker to repair a cuckoo clock in an old house he has recently acquired. He throws down a large amount of gold as an advance.  Up to this point the family has had it financially tough. It doesn’t help that their mother had died from cancer two year before. Lucy seems to be the one who is often impulsive yet seems to be the glue holding them all together. 

Mr. Tinker agrees to move to the house and fix the clock. It seems that Mr. Quigley didn’t tell them everything they should have known. The house is very peculiar. There are talking animals. The woods seem to be alive with something evil within.  Lucy can tell that something is not right. There father is thinking about how far the money would go.  Trouble is not that far away. This book definitely takes you on a journey. The characters are very well done. My students could easily identify with them.   Some of the problems they face are the same problems my own students face each day.  This has easily become one of my favorites of this year.  The adventure, magic, overall story will draw you in and hold you there for some time.  I highly recommend this book.

The Shaker Murders by Eleanor Kuhns

Genre: Adult, Mystery

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Synopsis:

Fresh from facing allegations of witchcraft and murder, travelling weaver Will Rees, his heavily pregnant wife Lydia and six adopted children take refuge in Zion, a Shaker community in rural Maine. Shortly after their arrival, screams in the night reveal a drowned body ... but is it murder or an unfortunate accident? The Shaker Elders argue it was just an accident, but Rees believes otherwise.

As Will investigates further, more deaths follow and a young girl vanishes from the community. Haunted by nightmares for his family's safety, Rees must rush to uncover the truth before the dreams can become reality and more lives are lost. Yet can the Shaker Elders be trusted, or is an outsider involved?

My Thoughts:

Mysteries are one of my favorite genres, and has been since I was in elementary school. Eleanor Kuhns is a master at writing mysteries that hold your attention from the very first page.  Will and his wife Lydia have gone back to the Shaker community they had once been a part of because his wife Lydia was still wanted, accused of witchcraft.  When people in the village start going missing, then turn up murdered, Rees is sure it is someone in the village. How safe is his family?  The events just kept me turning the pages.  Like all of her books, the action keeps rolling at a great pace. The end was just as suspenseful. I kept trying to guess who the murderer was. Each time I thought I had it figured out something else would happen to lead me in a different direction.  I highly recommend this series.

Spark by J.T. Bishop

Genre: Adult, Suspense

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads

Eve Fletcher is on the run. She’s hiding from the men who’ve killed her boss. But she’s not alone. A man she barely knows is with her, and she must decide whom to trust. But Eve has more than her life at stake. She’s protecting secrets too. Secrets that if exposed could risk not only her, but her entire family. But everyone has secrets, including the man who refuses to leave her side. 

With time running out, Eve must choose whether to bring her boss’s murderers to justice. But she’s falling for the mysterious man with his own suspicious motives. Can she risk loving him or will his presence threaten the family she’s trying so hard to protect? 

Family whose survival depends on keeping secrets

My Thoughts

I had not read any of her other books, that is being corrected. It didn’t  create any confusion by starting with this book. I liked Eve and her independence. I also like Benny who took care of Eve like she was his own daughter.  Adam was the icing on the cake.

Watching Eve who wants to be so independent have to decide to pair up with and rely on Adam was at times humorous. The author keeps the suspense going from the very beginning. I couldn’t put the book down.  This was a new author for me. The way the book ended tied everything up neatly, but left just enough suspense to want to know what will happen next to these characters.  This is a book I highly recommend to those who love suspense.