Thursday, February 8, 2018

Patty Pick for 2/8/17 is "The Woman in the Window" by AJ Finn

I had heard and read very good press about this book, but as you all know sometimes a book may not live up to it's hype. "The Woman in the Window" will grab you by the heart and proceed to squeeze it with fear until you can't take it any longer. Then it proceeds to pluck those same heartstrings and make you cry.

Anna Fox, renown child psychologist, can not leave her home due to the agoraphobia she now suffers. She is doing therapy, taking medication, talking to her family, anything and everything to help her find the courage to leave. In the meantime, she spends her days watching the neighbors through the windows of her home. She is watching the vacant house across the park when a new family moves in with a teenage son. She did not know she would soon put herself in their cross hairs.

Anna slowly unravels her story to you when she communicates with her tenant living in her basement, shares her wine with the neighbors, participates in her computer community and interacts with the few people she allows into her house. But don't think this is a slow, winding read, because that could not be further from the truth. This "woman in the window" will grab you and twist and turn you until you are not sure who is alive, dead, or guilty. I don't want to give too much away, but there are surprising twists and turns and the finale kept me reading it so I could finish it during the first quarter of the Super Bowl. I could not put it down! You need to meet Anna and live with her a few days or however long it takes you to read this book. Believe me, you will not want to put it down until you are finished! 5++++ Stars! 

Thursday, February 1, 2018

The Girl without a Name by Sandra Block

Zoe Goldman is at it again. She is being drawn into the mystery of one of her patients and doing things she shouldn't to uncover the girl's identity. In "The Girl Without A Name", the patient, Jane Doe, does not know who she is or what she was doing when the police found her. She only remembers chasing a car. The authorities take Jane Doe to the hospital and the search for her identity begins. Zoe is tasked to help Jane Doe solve the mystery of her identity. Zoe, with her  coworker Jason and her new attending boss Dr. Berringer, works as an intern on the psych floor of the Childrens Hospital in Buffalo NY.

Her boyfriend is an Emergency Room Doctor who is ready to take the next step in his career. While Tom and she are working out their future, Zoe's old flame is texting her his doubts about marrying the woman he dumped Zoe for. All of this is distracting her from studying for the exam that will make her a doctor. She flunked it once when she was attacked by a different patient, who turned out to be her sister. The sister who killed her birth mother. With the fact that her step mom has recently succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, poor Zoe has been having a rough time in her life lately.

Jane Doe presents a mystery that captures her interest and Zoe can't help herself from trying to figure out who she is. The staff call her Candy, Jane Doe's gentle personality. 
Then Candy turns into Daneesha. Daneesha is a tough, firebrand who takes no prisoners and refuses to take the meds they prescribe. Neither identity can remember what happened to her or who she is. When for no reason Candy returns to her catatonic state, Zoe realizes time is running out to find out who she is.

I love Zoe Goldman, a complicated but endearing woman who struggles with her own self doubts and anxiety. In the end, she must rely on her instincts with the help of her detective friend to find the answers, but will it be in time to help Candy/Daneesha? 
Loved this one as much as the first in the series and looking forward to the third, "The Secret Room", which was published in April of  2017! A solid 4.5 Stars!!