Dead End Girl by LT Vargus - 4 Stars

 Special Agent Violet Darger with the FBI is called into the midwestern town of Athens, Ohio when a girl's body is found mutilated and left inside a dumpster outside of the local Burger King. 2 more mutilated corpses were found within the town, bringing shock to the local community. There's little evidence to follow and Darger feels the case is hopeless, but she must do what ever necessary to keep the killer from mutilating another young girl.

For the most part this was a nice, fast paced thriller. I did feel that there were some unnecessary parts of the story that could have been left out and made the story a little shorter. The ending was quick and there wasn't really a lot of build up to it. I may check out the next book in the series to see if I like it any better. 

The Lobotomist's Wife by Samantha Greene Woodruff - 4 Stars

 "Since her brother took his life after WWI, Ruth Emeraldine has had one goal: to help those suffering from mental illness. Then she falls in love with charismatic Robert Apter—a brilliant doctor championing a radical new treatment, the lobotomy. Ruth believes in it as a miracle treatment and in Robert as its genius pioneer. But as her husband spirals into deluded megalomania, Ruth can’t ignore her growing suspicions. Robert is operating on patients recklessly, often with horrific results. And a vulnerable young mother, Margaret Baxter, is poised to be his next victim.

Margaret can barely get out of bed, let alone care for her infant. When Dr. Apter diagnoses her with the baby blues and proposes a lobotomy, she believes the procedure is her only hope. Only Ruth can save her—and scores of others—from the harrowing consequences of Robert’s ambitions."

I rounded this up to 4 stars, although it wasn't really a 4 star read for me. I love reading about psychology and it's history. I'm fascinated by the things that they thought would work many years ago. The first half was great, but the ending fell really flat for me. I was hoping for more of a "bang" at the end,  but it just wasn't there. 

Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre - 3 Stars

 Dr Neena Ryder and her husband Matt move into a wealthy suburb next to Cat and her husband William. Neena is William's newest employee with a goal of more than succeeding at her job. Cat has everything Neena wants, including William and Neena sets out to get what she wants. 

Most of the story is told between the points of view between Neena and Cat. For the first part it was fairly fast paced and intriguing, but then about 3/4 of the way through it started to fall apart. There was a twist towards that point, but it wasn't as good of a twist as I was expecting. Not sure if I'll read anything else by this author.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty - 4 Stars

The author is a mortician and basically it's questions that people have asked her about dead bodies. There are the more popular ones, like what happens if you eat unpopped popcorn kernels and then are cremated, and odd ones such as what happens to a body when someone dies in space. 

The book was interesting and the author made most of it humorous. There were a few chapters that didn't interest me, but over all it was a good book. 

Five Total Strangers by Natalie Richards - 2 Stars

 "When Mira flies home to spend Christmas with her mother in Pittsburgh, a record-breaking blizzard results in a cancelled layover. Desperate to get to her grief-ridden mother in the wake of a family death, Mira hitches a ride with a group of friendly college kids who were on her initial flight.

As the drive progresses and weather conditions become more treacherous, Mira realizes that the four other passengers she's stuck in the car with don't actually know one another.

Soon, they're not just dealing with heavy snowfall and ice-slick roads, but the fact that somebody will stop at nothing to ensure their trip ends in a deadly disaster."

Not starting the year out good. I only gave this one 2 stars because for the first half of the book I was actually intrigued. But starting about half way through I was just like get on with it already. The main character was really whiny and the questions she had about her trip mates just kept getting repeated and started to get really annoying. The ending wasn't really a jaw dropper, either. Everything just fell flat. 

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover - 4 Stars

 "Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened."

This one wasn't really what I thought it was when I chose it, but it turned out to be pretty good. It was fairly fast paced and I had several different endings in mind, but none of them were right. Not sure if I'll pick up anything else by her because I'm not a huge romance fan, but this one was good. 

2022 Alphabet Challenge

 2022 Alphabet Challenge

A-All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

B-The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

C-Christmas Chocolate and Crimes by Cindy Bell

D-Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

E- Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre

F-Five Total Strangers by Natalie Richards

G- The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

H- Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding

I-It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

J-June, Reimagined by Rebekah Crane

K-

L- The Lobotomist's Wife by Samantha Greene Woodruff

M- #Murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil

N- Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

O-Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

P- Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

Q-

R-Run Away by Harlan Coben

S- The Secrets of Us by Lucinda Berry

T- Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

U-

V-

W- Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty

X-

Y-

Z-