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Craig Johnson is one of my favorite contemporary authors, but…I haven’t liked any of his recent books. In fact, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve enjoyed them. I read some reviews of Return to Sender and noticed that many readers agree with me, even when they gave the book a 3 or 4 star review. What they like are the characters, not the story, and I agree. What else I didn’t like: the Russian plot line that continued from the prior book. That transfers the series into a serial. I had no...

Having read the first three of the Hunger Games years ago, when I thought the series was only going to be a trilogy, I picked up this prequel about President Snow’s past. How could Collins make a villain an interesting and likeable person, one a reader can root for? She’s more than able to do it. Explaining his complex motivations and the reasoning (even though horribly misplaced) behind the origin of the games, Collins provides twists and surprises, and wraps it all up so well– this book...

Helena is a counselor and welcome volunteer for cruise ships that dock in her home city, Port Chalmers, New Zealand. When a passenger vanishes into thin air, Helena finds herself involved in a mystery that defies logic: How did he slip past the ship’s ironclad security? Once his body is found, additional questions arise. Were his family members involved in his disappearance? What—or who—drew him to the port city in the first place? The return of her grown sons, Jamie and Adam, the latter of...