The Top 15 books of 2016

My Top 10 books of 2016 quickly turned into top 15 instead of 10 when I started to go through the books I've read. It could just as easily have been top 20, but I had to draw a line somewhere. The books are in no particular order because that would just mean hours of agony and indecision. So, on to the books: 

From New York Times bestselling author and famed former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein comes a chilling new Alexandra Cooper novel, Entombed, in which Alex matches wits with the master of detective fiction himself-Edgar Allan Poe...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Sometimes I wish that she’d just leave me in peace . . .

Psychologist Evi is worried about one of her patients – a woman who is convinced her little girl is still alive. Two years after the fire that burnt their house down.

Meanwhile, the new vicar in town is feeling strangely unwelcome. Disturbing events seem designed to scare him away.

And a young boy keeps seeing a strange, solitary girl playing in the churchyard. Who is she and what is she trying to tell him?

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Media calls him "The Birthday boy" because he kidnappers girls just before they turn thirteen and then he sends pictures of them home to their families showing how he slowly tortures them to death. Every year they get a new card. 5 years ago Detective Constable Ash Henderson's daughter Rebecca was kidnapped. One year later get a card, but he keeps that a secret for his colleagues and because if they would know would he not be able to stay on the investigation...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets—her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.

But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

The world is on the brink of an apocalyptic disaster. An ancient species, long dormant, is now very much awake...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Lorena "Hick" Hickok is assigned to cover Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1932 political campaign. This is the start of a love story that would last for years, despite long periods of separations and the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was to become The First Lady of United States. But, this love story could not last. Madame, that Hick so lovingly called Eleanor could never become someone anonymous again, even after FDR death.

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

In her storied career as a Texas Ranger, Caitlin has confronted all manner of villains, but nothing that’s prepared her for the terrorist group ISIS’s pursuit of a devastating weapon on Lone Star State soil. The land in question lies on an Indian reservation where a drilling operation steeped in mystery and controversy is about to commence under the auspices of shadowy billionaire Cray Rawls...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Beautiful and brilliant, Kendra Donovan is a rising star at the FBI. Yet her path to professional success hits a speed bump during a disastrous raid where half her team is murdered, a mole in the FBI is uncovered and she herself is severely wounded. As soon as she recovers, she goes rogue and travels to England to assassinate the man responsible for the deaths of her teammates...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Held captive for eight years, Lily has grown from a teenager to an adult in a small basement prison. Her daughter Sky has been a captive her whole life. But one day their captor leaves the deadbolt unlocked...

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. As the last remaining descendant of the Brontë family, she's rumored to have inherited a vital, mysterious portion of the Brontë's literary estate; diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts; a hidden fortune that's never been shown outside of the family.,,

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.

The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

A five-year-old boy from a remote farm on the plains of Skåne disappear late one summer evening in 1983. The only trail after him is a shoe in the tall corn fields. 

Although the whole neighborhood gets involved in the search do they not find him, and rumors and suspicions spread quickly. And, the clumsy criminal investigation is, in the end, closed down when they can't find the boy, and the grief and uncertainty get the boy's family to slowly fall apart.

READ MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK HERE

Thoughts and honorable mentions:

The hardest part was I found other really great books while making this list. But, I decided when I made this list that I would not change since it would only make everything messy. And, soon I would be up in Top 25 instead of top 15...;)

But, I would like to mention some really great books that I read during 2016 that I found to be brilliant: Dead Man Walking by Simon R. Green, Arrowood by Laura McHugh, Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French and Redemption Road by John Hart...Honestly I could go on and list all my 5-star books, but instead just check out my Goodreads page! 😉

When you are done here can you check out my friend's lists/wrap ups:

Layered Pages

The Maiden's Court

2 Kids and Tired

5 Best Books Read In June

Here we go, the 5 best books I read in June (thought it would be appropriate to write this post before July is over)! 

I had a bit of a dilemma putting together this list as I have read several really good books. Not many 5-star books, but several 4-star books. So, Iris Johansen got the privilege of having two spots last month. What can I say? I just adore her Eve Duncan series...

5 stars

You've been held captive in one room, mentally and physically abused every day, since you were sixteen years old.

Then, one night, you realize your captor has left the door to your cell unlocked.

For the first time in eight years, you're free.

This is about what happens next ...

Lily knows that she must bring the man who nearly ruined her life - her good-looking high-school teacher - to justice. But she never imagined that reconnecting with her family would be just as difficult. Reclaiming her relationship with her twin sister, her mother, and her high school sweetheart who is in love with her sister may be Lily's greatest challenge. After all they've been through, can Lily and her family find their way back after this life-altering trauma?

Impossible not to read in one sitting, Baby Doll is a taut psychological thriller that focuses on family entanglements and the evil that can hide behind a benign facade.

5 stars

From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.

Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works—miserably—as a dishwasher.

But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds—Eastern and Western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.

4.5 stars

A merciless killer on the hunt...an innocent child in his sights...a woman driven to the edge to stop him...

The killer knows Eve Duncan all too well. He knows the pain she feels for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body has never been found. He knows that as one of the nation's top forensic sculptors she'll insist on identifying the nine skeletons unearthed on a bluff near Georgia's Talladega Falls. He knows she won't be able to resist the temptation of believing that one of those skeletons might be her daughter's. But that is only the beginning of the killer's sadistic game. He wants Eve one on one, and he'll use his ace in the hole to make sure she complies. And he won't stop playing until he claims the prize he wants most: Eve's life.

4.5 stars

Building on her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, bestselling suspense writer Iris Johansen takes a slightly different tangent with her latest thriller, The Search. 

The search and rescue team of Sarah Patrick and her golden retriever, Monty, first appeared in The Killing Game, where they helped Eve track down a kidnapped child and a maniacal killer. Now, John Logan, the billionaire who wooed Eve only to lose her to Joe Quinn, needs to utilize Sarah and Monty's talents in a quest of his own. 

4 stars

The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St. Cyr’s past combine to put C. S. Harris’s “troubled but compelling antihero” (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery.

London, 1813. The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston, a wealthy, socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge draws Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly perilous investigation. The discovery near the body of an aged lead coffin strap bearing the inscription King Charles, 1648 suggests a link between this killing and the beheading of the deposed seventeenth-century Stuart monarch. Equally troubling, the victim’s kinship to the current Home Secretary draws the notice of Sebastian’s powerful father-in-law, Lord Jarvis, who will exploit any means to pursue his own clandestine ends.

Working in concert with his fiercely independent wife, Hero, Sebastian finds his inquiries taking him from the wretched back alleys of Fish Street Hill to the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair as he amasses a list of suspects who range from an eccentric Chelsea curiosity collector to the brother of an unassuming but brilliantly observant spinster named Jane Austen.

But as one brutal murder follows another, it is the connection between the victims and ruthless former army officer Sinclair, Lord Oliphant, that dramatically raises the stakes. Once, Oliphant nearly destroyed Sebastian in a horrific wartime act of carnage and betrayal. Now the vindictive former colonel might well pose a threat not only to Sebastian but to everything—and everyone—Sebastian holds most dear.

#BookReview Mambo i Chinatown (Mambo in Chinatown) by Jean Kwok (SWE/ENG)

Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

Ny roman från prisbelönta Jean Kwok som gav oss succén Nästan hemma!

En inspirerande askungesaga om flickan som finner ett nytt liv med dansens hjälp!

Tjugotvååriga Charlie Wong växte upp i New Yorks Chinatown som den äldsta dottern till en ballerina från Peking och en nudelmakare. Trots att hon fötts i USA har hon levt hela sitt liv enbart i dessa kvarter. Nu i vuxen ålder lever hon i samma lilla lägenhet med sin änkling till far och sin elvaåriga syster, och vantrivs med sitt jobb som diskare.

När hon börjar jobba som receptionist på en dansstudio får hon tillträde till en värld hon hittills knappt förstått existerar, och den klumpiga Charlie visar sig ha ärvt sin döda mors danstalang. Charlie blommar ut, långt från sin fars traditionella österländska regler.

Men så blir hennes lillasyster sjuk… kommer Charlie kunna rädda sin syster utan att behöva offra sin nya värld och identitet?

**********

Mambo i Chinatown var en härlig överraskning! Jag hade hoppas på en småtrevlig bok, men jag räknade inte alls med att boken skulle vara så fängslade och förtjusande att det var svårt att lägga ifrån sig den. Boken lyckas med att både vara rolig och allvarlig och Charlies förvandling som sker gradvis genom bokens handling är underbar att följa.

Men det är kulturkrocken mellan öst och väst som ger boken en special känsla. Jean Kwok har verkligen lyckats med att beskriva problem för en ung kvinna född i Amerika med kinesiska föräldrar. Charlies pappa är t.ex. emot västerländsk medicin och vägrar låta Charlies lillasyster Lisa få läkarhjälp när hon blir sjuk. han förlitar sig istället på österländska traditioner för att finna vad som är fel på henne. Han är förövrigt inte världens bästa stöd för systrarna (trots att han älskar dem) och mycket av den yttervärldens kontakt som t.ex. skola får Charlie ta hand om när det gäller Lisa.

Det enda jag kan säga om boken som jag inte gillade var slutet. Eller rättare sagt att boken tog slut. Jag skulle ha velat läsa mer om Charlie, hennes familj och hennes vänner och fått reda på vad som händer härnäst.

Tack till Bazar Förlag för recensionexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.

Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works—miserably—as a dishwasher.

But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds—Eastern and Western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.

**********

Mambo in Chinatown was a delightful surprise! I had hoped that the book would be pleasant to read, but I never thought that it would be both engrossing and charming. And, hard to put down. The book manages to be both funny and serious and Charlie's transformation that occurs gradually throughout the books is wonderful to follow.

However, it's the culture clash between east and west that gives the books a special atmosphere. Jean Kwok has really managed to describe the problems a young girl faces in America with parents from China. Charlie's father is for instance against western medicine and refuses to let Charlie's little sister Lisa have medical aid when she gets sick. Instead, he relies on eastern traditions to try to find out what's wrong with her. He is, to be honest not the always the best support for the sisters (despite that he loves them) and much of the outside world contact like school is Charlie the one that has to deal with when it comes to Lisa.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. Or rather that the book ended. I would have loved to read more about Charlie, her family and friends and what will happen next to them all.

Thanks to Bazar Förlag for the review copy!