Mini Reviews: Mysteries! The She by Carol Plum-Ucci, Creep by Jennifer Hillier, and Evidence of Life by Barbara Taylor Sissel

I read The Body of Christopher Creed a few years ago and really liked it and proceeded to buy like every book by Carol Plum-Ucci. But as has been the case in my reading life for the past few years they sat on my shelf for a long while. Well, I'm trying to read through some of these books I still want to read that I've owned forever, so the other day I picked up The She.

And I liked it! It's about a kid, Evan, whose parents died in a terrible storm when he was but a wee thing. And he believes there's a monster out there in them waters called The She that takes the lives of sailors. But it's a legend! Or so he thinks until a similar experience happens to a classmate. A teacher asks him to talk to her and so he does and fun times ensue. He starts realizing that maybe there was more stuff surrounding his parents death than he originally thought and

I really like Carol Plum-Ucci's concept of mystery...she drags lots of stuff into it like faith and reason. In this book in particular the contrast is really starkly drawn, Evan is the character of faith and his brother is the character of reason--someone who has devoted his life to basically blocking out mystery. And...you know I like this in a mystery simply for the reason that in life most mysteries don't get solved. So often there's not a clue at the end of the yellow brick road that tells us what it was all about, why life ended up the way it did, why horrific and horrible things happen. We can sometimes know that Mr. Green did it in the conservatory with the lead pipe, but the whys aren't always so obvious....by which I mean all the steps that lead to such a fateful place. So...I don't know a mystery that acknowledges that there's still a lot of mystery in the horror is fine by me. So I really liked that about this book, this push and pull between what can be proved and what remains mysterious.

And I really love her characters, they just pop off the page for me. For a short book she manages to draw them convincingly, I enjoy spending time with them in this short part of their lives. I didn't like this book as much Christopher Creed, but I liked it a lot and need to finish the rest of the books I have by her! Pubbed by Harcourt Children's Books and I bought it.


This book was sent to me over a year ago for review...I KNOW THE SHAME. But when I went on a trip about a month ago, I thought it would be a good plane read. And it was! It's a pretty standard thriller like this...almost verges a bit on...indulging the side of people that might enjoy reading about violence like this and sexual violence even, but even so there were things I liked about it. It was pretty straightforward with the action, but not without its surprises. I almost want to talk about it in a bit more detail based on something I read on Gillian Flynn's site today, but alas.

There were some cute nice touches I liked--the main character Sheila Tao (oh yeah POC main character also a plus!) likes this mushroom swiss burger she likes and after she goes missing, her fiance discovers this restaurant and likes the burger, too! (you know without knowing she did) I just realized I didn't say what the books was about! It's about this professor who is a sex addict, but when she breaks off one of her illicit affairs to get married, the guy doesn't take it very well and becomes dangerous.

Anyway, this is reminding me I do want to read the sequel at some point! Lots of language and explicit sex in this one, though, guys. Published by Pocket Books. And oh look it's on sale for quite cheap right now! (affiliate link)

Evidence of Life was sent to me this year, so no guilt with this one having languished around for ages! It was a nice book! Abby's husband and daughter go missing in a hurricane and as she sets out to find them, she discovers that not everything might be what it seemed. This book felt a little thin on plot...I found myself skimming to get to the end, but the prose was pleasant enough and the mystery was enough to keep me reading. I really don't have much to say about this, but it would probably make a nice beach read! Pubbed by Mira!