The Asylum Confessions by Jack Steen - 3 Stars

 "They arrive alive. They always leave dead.

But first, they give me their confessions.

My name is Jack Steen, and for those who arrive on my 'death' ward at the Asylum, I'm the last face many will see before they die. I am the night nurse at an Asylum for the Criminally Insane, and most of my patients know me as their Angel of Death. I know them as mass murderers, rapists, and serial killers - among other things.

Here's what happens: they come on my floor, they give me their deathbed confession, and I help to make their death less painful. There's a catch, though: I want the real story, the one they haven't told anyone else.

The majority of these killers are expert manipulators. They could be playing their final game with me by messing with my head.

Now, maybe they're messing with yours too.

Inside this book are 4 DeathBed Confessions:

Patient 1024 has an interesting 'appetite'.

Patient 974 is the Ken to his Barbie, and he would do anything to keep her happy.

Patient 871 is a Nanny, but not one you want watching your kids.

Patient 1203 is the sweetest, broken soul you'll ever meet but her confession is a hard read."

~~~~~~~~~~

So, this book really intrigued me, especially being so close to Halloween. I love horror movies and thought this would be a good read. Also, having a psych degree, things like asylums interest me. 

Turned out it was just 'ok'. It wasn't nearly as gruesome as the synopsis made it sound. It was horribly written, too. The editor did a really bad job, as well. Grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes....

I knew about half way through the 2nd story that I wouldn't be continuing the series. 

The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman - 4 Stars

 "When Anna Bradshaw wakes up in a hospital bed in London, she remembers nothing, not even her loving husband, Stephen. The doctors say her amnesia is to be expected, but Anna feels cut adrift from her entire life.

In Bristol, Livvy Nicholson is newly married to Dominic and eager to get back to work after six months’ maternity leave. But when Dominic’s estranged mother appears, making a series of unnerving claims, Livvy is sucked into a version of herself she doesn’t recognise.

A hundred miles apart, both women feel trapped and disorientated, and their stories are about to collide. Can they uncover the secret that connects them and reconstruct their fractured lives?"

So I FINALLY finished this one late last night. I will say that I really enjoyed the twist and actually didn't figure it out. The last 20% of the book had me pushing through and I didn't care that it was after midnight. LOL! But with that said, it was SUCH a slow burn for me. It took me 30% to get into it and I almost gave up a couple of times. This is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich - 5 Stars

 "New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum knows better than to mess with family. But when powerful mobster Salvatore “Uncle Sunny” Sunucchi goes on the lam in Trenton, it’s up to Stephanie to find him. Uncle Sunny is charged with murder for running over a guy (twice), and nobody wants to turn him in—not his poker buddies, not his bimbo girlfriend, not his two right-hand men, Shorty and Moe. Even Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, has skin in the game, because—just Stephanie’s luck—the godfather is his actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.

It’s not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client’s mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she’s working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior center, trying to catch a killer on the loose—and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favor.

With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown."

I thought this was one of the better Stephanie Plum books. You know it's going to be funny when it starts off with a giraffe running down the middle of the street while Lula is trying to buy a knockoff of an expensive handbag.