The Silver Fish

The Silver Fish by Connor Martin, 384 pages

Fresh off a personal tragedy, journalist Dani has come to Ghana determined to expose corruption and write an investigative article that will restart her career in the high-risk world of international journalism. While she seeks a story uncovering corruption in the oil industry, she stumbles upon something much more sinister and explosive, involving the fiberoptic cables that traverse the ocean, international spies, and oh so much danger.

As much as I wanted to like this book at the outset (it's a spy novel! in a setting we're not used to! with a female journalist as the lead character!), it was kind of a mess. Dani's journalistic ethics are almost nonexistent and she makes some REALLY stupid moves, which is what leads directly to the danger and suspense. Would've loved to see a smart woman exposing corruption without corrupting herself in the process. But alas...

The Final Target

 The Final Target by Nora Roberts (2026), 419 pages

Arden Bowie's first book has just been published and her book signing was a success; except that it is also the first time she meets her future stalker. 

This is a somewhat new genre for me as I didn't realize Romance Thriller is a thing. Now that I know it is, I understand the book better. I couldn't figure out why there was this crime, but a lot of the book centers around her meeting nice guy Gideon. The parts surrounding the stalker were pretty intense, but then the book would refocus to Gideon and it was like a nice Hallmark show. So, if this is your thing, it was a good summer read. If it isn't, I would move on. 

Please See Us

 Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen (2020), 341 pages

Clara, a teenage psychic/prostitute, and Lily, an embarrassed art gallerist, form an unlikely friendship to reluctantly solve a string of Jane Doe murders in down and out Atlantic City. I really didn't care for this novel. The writing was clunky, the character arcs both tropey and unbelievable, and it was told from too many points of view. Definitely not one I will be recommending. 

July Totals

Please talk to us about our books!

 

Annie: 2 books, 852 pages

Byron: 4 books, 1209 pages

Jan: 5 books, 1334 pages

John: 2 books, 746 pages

Kara: 9 books, 3054 pages

Kevin: 9 books, 2308 pages

Regan: 10 books, 4087 pages 

Sarah: 6 books, 1716 pages

Tracey: 9 books, 3322 pages

 Totals: 56 books and 18, 628 pages

 

More Weight: A Salem Story

More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey (2025) 532 pages 

I loved the in depth history, mostly in black and white, of the 1692 events. So much more disturbing than Arthur Miller's version of events in The Crucible. The focus on Giles and Martha Corey works well. I also appreciated poets Longfellow and Hawthorne's tour of Salem in the 1860s. It goes in an otherworldly direction, which seems odd, until you realize that this part has been a ghost story all along. The two parts connect because Longfellow had written a play about the Salem Witch Trials focusing on the Coreys and Hawthorne is related to one of the judges with his family living in the Salem area for generations. The Intro and Outro about the aftermath of the witch trials leading to modern day Salem is super dense with litigation from mishandled justice, politics, consumerism, and ongoing fictions and frauds. So much fascinating educational material. It took longer to complete than I expected, but I'm glad I stayed with it.

A Zoom with a View

 

A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon (2026) 370 pages

Leo (short for Leonora) has reluctantly moved back to her hometown, a small city just south of Austin, Texas. Reluctant because she has most often felt that her mother is standoff-ish and doesn't want her to come back. Reluctant, too, because moving back is an admission that after her multiple post-doc years, she can't get a permanent job as an English professor. However, she accepts a summer job taking photos of new listings with a realtor (Kay) who happens to be her mother's best friend as well as the mother of Leo's best friend.

At the town's 4th of July parade, there is an altercation between Kay and another realtor, Chaz.  Chaz and his girlfriend have been spotted sabotaging Kay's float for the parade. Just hours later, Chaz is dead and Kay is arrested for his murder. On the surface, this story looks to be a standard whodunnit. However, there are hints early on that something more nefarious is going on, something which started way before this murder. This is the hook that led to this book being finished in a day, which does not happen often anymore.

Social media skills come into play while collecting evidence; Leo knows her stuff and finds herself helping the local detective. Are the characters believable? Mostly. Is the storyline solid? Reasonably. Is Leo a protagonist we can get behind? Most definitely. She's smart, measured, and takes time to think.  The only negative might be a positive: the book is calling for a sequel.

Mississippi Solo

Mississippi Solo by Eddy Harris, 250 pages

At the age of 30, aspiring writer Eddy Harris decided to find a canoe and paddle his way from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota all the way down to the delta in New Orleans. Never canoed before, yet here he was, doing it all by his lonesome. Except that he wasn't really alone. Along the way, Harris met dozens of folks from all walks of life and swapped stories with them, getting as familiar with people as he did with the river itself. 

This was a fascinating memoir, and I'm so glad we read it as part of the Big Book Challenge this year (and even happier that Eddy came to visit! The dude give really good hugs.) I'll be recommending this widely.

The Underground Railroad

 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016), 306 pages

This sometimes hard to read novel follows Cora, a young slave woman, fleeing the South for somewhat freedom in the North. Books about slavery aren't enjoyable, but should be required reading for all Americans. Whitehead does not hold back on the horrors Cora, her compatriots, and aiders experienced during this era. He does a great job exploring all the aspects of the Underground Railroad and how risky it was for the folks using it and for those running it. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check this one out. 

The First Date Prophecy

The First Date Prophecy by Kate and Danny Tamberelli (2023) 327 pages

Lucy and Rudy are both in their early thirties and living month to month without great jobs and definitely not finding partners. When Lucy gets back onto the dating website HeartThrobs after a particularly bad first date, she sees Rudy's profile and recognizes him as a child star from a TV series and decides to give him a chance. Rudy, meanwhile, gets onto the same site after his own annoying date: someone who approached him after one of his music gigs in a bar. He finds Lucy's profile. They end up meeting in a restaurant featuring Elvira, the oldest psychic in New York. The date ends up etched in their memories because of the old woman's prophecy for them, which seems like it's positive. However, the old woman is unable to finish before she collapses.

After that unsettling experience, Lucy and Rudy decide to hang out with each other to see if their relationship has a chance of success. They go to each other's job gigs and meet each other's friends. They like each other a lot, but they are each reluctant to take the relationship to a physical level, fearful of possible heartbreak.

Watching them as their friendship and job prospects progress, waiting to see if they can be successful together, is a fun trip, complete with eccentric secondary characters, weird situations, and of course, a crisis point.

Hearts of Oak by Eddie Robson

 

I do not know how I feel about this book! I have 15 different opinions. It's a dimestore Piranesi, but also Westworld-meets-Truman Show- meets Alien. But the style is much like Star Trek: The Original Series.  Our story takes place in a walled kingdom made entirely of wood. A king lives in a tower, out of touch with his people, his only advisor a talking cat. Below, an architecture professor meets a mysterious woman that triggers realizations about life beyond the walls. Of course, the two stories eventually converge.  I seemed to go through a cycle of different reactions, including "huh?" "Okay, I think I see" and "meh?".  On the one hand, I appreciated that I had no idea where the author was taking me. On the other hand, a lot of problems were solved with a hand-wave and it lacked the sort of texture that immerses you in a sci-fi or fantasy story. I don't read much of this sort of thing, but it was definitely interesting.