Long-time fans of Lisa Scottoline, like me, won’t be disappointed with Every Fifteen Minutes (2015, 415 pages in paperback format). Initially known for her tightly-written courtroom scenes, Scottoline has branched out to mystery thrillers. She left the practice of law after her daughter, Francesca Serritella, was born and has crafted 30 bestselling novels. They have been translated into at least 30 languages, and about 30 million are in print. At age 67, her novels are as vib

Mystery fans will love this one. Frieda McFadden’s, The Inmate (2024, 332 pages in softcover) has more twists and turns than a Dutch cruller. And there are two timelines, eleven years apart. But the author makes it easy for us to follow. The characters are the same. In the earlier period, they’re teenagers; in the later years, they’re in their late twenties. [Before going on, let me answer a question, asked by a reader. I don’t use the terms “paperback” and “softcover” interc

David Baldacci has written some of the most interesting novels that I’ve read, and I’ve read thousands of novels since my teen years. Only a few have kept me up all night because I had to see how they ended. The first, as I recall, was Herman Wouk’s, The Caine Mutiny, which I read when I was 16. I had to work that day at Lucky Stores, where I was a carry-out boy, but that didn’t matter. The book was that good. As I ate my breakfast, I told my mother the story. Then I took a s

David Baldacci has written more than fifty best-selling mystery novels. I think that I’ve read all of them. This one is different. Like his other thrillers, Nash Falls (2025, 424 pages in hardback format) has interesting characters, dastardly subplots, and lots of tension. And yet, it’s different. The book opens with the funeral for Tiberius Nash’s funeral. Ty, to his friends, had been a soldier’s soldier during the Vietnam War. He had the medals, commendations, and purple he

Imagine the Merry Pranksters from Ken Kesey’s Beat-Generation classic, On the Road. They were the motley crew who traveled across the United States with the author in a “psychedelically” painted school bus, holding parties, and passing out the hallucination-producing drug of choice for the Beats (and later, the Hippies): LSD. Their motto was “the obliteration of the entire nation.” In 2014, prankster Ken Babbs explained, “…not taken literally of course.” They didn’t kidnap, r

When I try to narrow the field to my favorite currently-writing authors, the list changes every couple of months. But one name that stands out year after year is Lisa Scottoline. Among other interests, like the newspaper column that she writes with her daughter, she has published dozens of crime/thrillers from contemporary to historical. Her 2017 New York Times bestseller, One Perfect Lie (369 pages in paperback format), is set in Central Valley, a small town in Pennsylvania

To say that Lisa Jackson is a prolific writer is an understatement. She has 15 million books in print in nine languages. She has published 75 novels and is a “New York Times Bestselling Author.” So, I picked up a copy of “Left to Die” (2008, 496 pages in paperback format). This book, the first in Regan Pescoli/Selena Alvarez series, is set in Grizzly Falls, Montana, during a blizzard the likes of which can only be known in Montana. In blindingly cold wind and heavy falling sn

Amy Brenner is a second-year medical student whose ultimate goals in terms of specialization are not clear, except that she knows that she does not want to be a psychiatrist.Eight years ago, when she was 16, her best friend Jade Carpenter had been confined to a mental hospital, and Amy visited her.It was an experience that left a lasting scar on her memory. However, Pauline Walter, Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Psychiatry has assigned Amy to an overnight rotation