Roger's Reads

Author & Book Reviewer

Review of The Last Flight by Julie Clark

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This book surprised me and in the best possible way. In addition to being a compelling domestic suspense story, it turned out to be a super gripping heart-in-your-throat race-against-the-clock thriller that hooked me right from the start, leading me to devour it in only two sittings.

The story follows Claire Cook, who, after months of meticulous planning, is plotting an escape from her physically and emotionally abusive husband Rory Cook, who is part of the powerful and ruthless Cook dynasty and who is ready to announce his bid for the Senate.

Clare plans to disappear and create a new identity and a new life for herself. She knows that if she makes one mistake with her plans…one false step, one wrong decision, one neglected detail…. it’s all going to unravel. In a state of last-minute desperation and out of options, Clare has a chance encounter with a woman named Eva, who is also on the run from someone or something.

The two women make a last-minute decision to switch plane tickets, with Clare taking Eva’s flight to Oakland and Eva taking Clare’s flight to Puerto Rico. When Clare lands in California, she learns that Eva’s flight — the one she was supposed to be on — crashed, leaving no survivors.

Now that everyone believes that Clare is dead, she’s free to step into her new life and assume Eva’s identity. But of course, the huge question is: what was Eva running from? Well, we learn that soon enough, and let’s just say it’s not pretty, and it doesn’t take long for Eva’s dark past to smash head-on into Clare’s new life.

This was such a fascinating character study, and I enjoyed getting to know these two strong yet broken women and their motivations. The story is told in alternating perspectives, from Clare’s viewpoint before and after the crash/her escape and from Eva’s perspective leading up to the crash.

Both of their stories are heartbreaking and riveting, as both characters suffer from deep emotional scars, and we see just how dire each of their situations were and what lead them to make the decision to disappear. I felt that the transitions between the past and present were flawless, and the author did a phenomenal job of blending in the timelines.

This sucker-punch of a book was most certainly an experience as we, the reader, witness firsthand how Clare and Eva, two women who couldn’t be more different, each fight for survival. What also amazed me about this story was how fast-paced it was. There was not one dull moment in the story, and it placed me firmly on the edge of my seat, rooting for both of our characters as they both try to escape their tormentors and free themselves — to begin a new life with a fresh start. And as well learn, making a clean break is no easy task.

The author here succeeds in crafting suspenseful, tension-filled scenes, and flood you with his characters’ depth and their flawed, beautiful hearts.

So in this way, the Last Flight was not only thrilling and heart-pounding but also profoundly moving — a powerful, tightly-plotted character-driven story that caused me to feel a strong empathy for these two incredibly courageous women who find themselves in an impossible situation and decide to set themselves free.

Clark explores so many riveting themes in this richly imaginative story: ambition, failure, physical abuse, emotional abuse, privilege, social inequity, cover-ups, politics (and shady politicians), escaping an abusive situation, grief, drug dealing, loneliness, self-reliance, and second chances.

In some ways, the Last Flight is an honest and somewhat raw commentary on humanity. It certainly doesn’t shy away from hard truths and it kind of destroyed me for a couple of days.

The writing is sharp and edgy; the story raw and tragic; and the characters relentless and determined. The numerous ingenious plot twists kept me turning the pages resulting in a thoroughly addictive and hard-hitting story with a final twist that’s a real stunner.

And that epilogue…..truly heartbreaking. 💔 I did not see that coming at all.

Purchase The Last Flight on Amazon

Review of Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds

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This is the latest offering by Justin A. Reynolds, an author whose work I always enjoy. It’s difficult to classify this book…I was thinking maybe magical realism? But on second thought, I think I’d go with contemporary with a touch of sci-fi.

So the story follows a young man named Jamal. He once had a best friend named Q (which was short for Quinn), but we learn right away that somehow Jamal blames Q for his parents’ death two years earlier and hasn’t spoken to Q since the funeral. Now Q resents Jamal and feels abandoned by him, so we have a very messy relationship dynamic.

So one night, Jamal is walking by the water, and he hears a cry for help. He dives in to rescue the person, and of course, it’s Q. He begins dragging Q to shore but ends up losing strength on the way. He makes it, but Q is unconscious but alive. Jamal heads to the hospital, where he learns that Q has died.

But that’s not the end of our story because, you see, there is a new technology that would allow Q to be reanimated — that is to say, to be brought back to life with no memory of his death or of what happened to him. But there’s a catch: he’ll only be alive for a short time: a couple of weeks max, maybe only days, and once that time has passed, he’s gone for good.

Jamal discusses this possibility with Q’s mom, and she agrees to have the people in charge of this technology — it’s not the doctors at the hospital — bring Q back to life. But there is a stipulation: nobody is to tell Q that he died nor that his days are numbered.

I love redemption stories, and that’s kind of what we have here as Jamal has one more chance to make things right with Q. What’s interesting is that in so doing, Jamal ends up creating a new type of family that supports him and surrounds him with love. I thought this aspect of the story was incredibly moving. So we have a significant focus on friendship and family in the novel as well as forgiveness.

My huge takeaway from this story was how we are all on limited time with the people we love, and now is the time to focus on making these relationships and the moments of our life count. So imagine how you would do if you only have a few days left? We definitely see the importance here of “seizing the day.”

But I will say that this story is incredibly sad, so be sure to have tissues handy. This is kind of like “They Both Die at The End” by Adam Silvera in that we know how it’s all going to turn out, and I knew there’d no way I wouldn’t tear up at the end. The book is beautiful, happy, and heartfelt but also, of course, heartbreaking as well. I loved this story. I loved the entire premise of this story where a grieving young man gets a second chance to say goodbye to someone he lost and maybe even make up for some of his mistakes.

This story certainly provides a lot to think about and contemplate, such as how forgiveness can not be expected or assumed but only hoped for and, of course, the importance of living life to the fullest now because…you never know. With that in mind, it’s a reminder not to waste our time being angry and resentful with others. I remember a speaker once said that being angry about something that happened in the past is like investing in a mausoleum – it will never pay off.

This may be one of those books that I’ll need to reread at some point. It totally surprised me how it wasn’t really about death, but instead was a celebration of life, friendship, and family,

Another new favorite book by Justin a Reynolds. I love this author!

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Review of Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

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This book is kind of difficult to classify. It’s kind of a speculative fiction, alternate reality, paranormal murder mystery, I guess.

The world in the story is pretty identical to ours except that it is no stranger to magic, and discussions about monsters, magic, and ghosts, and heroes of legends are not unusual. There are also vampires who’ve pretty much been accepted by society and even fairy rings, which serve as a mode of transportation.

Our tale follows a young Lipan Apache girl named Elatsoe, who has the ability to raise the ghosts of animals. She even has a ghost dog named Kirby as a companion. This skill has been passed down to her through the women in her family. In fact, her six-great grandmother was quite a legendary hero. We learn that Elatsoe’s cousin Trevor has just been killed in an automobile accident, but he appears to her in her dreams and informs her that his death was no accident. He even names his murderer: a man in Willowbee called Abe Allerton and asks Elatsoe to ensure that justice is done and protect his family.

She ends up investigating the odd little town where her cousin’s murderer lives and, in the process, unearths some pretty dark secrets, and she soon discovers that the murderer is a key figure in a much larger and more dangerous conspiracy.

I especially loved this book because of the numerous indigenous stories that everyone told and how they were seamlessly intertwined with the plot. It’s clear that the concept of “story” is a key theme in this book, and I enjoyed how the stories about “Six-Great” rendered her immortal. I especially loved the tales about her and her ghostly mammoth.

Ellie’s character is also so lovable and real. She’s strong, delightfully nerdy confident, and never doubts her ability to succeed. Her touch of sarcasm and biting wit endeared her all the more to me. She’s also proudly asexual, so I enjoyed that rep in this story. What also really worked for me in this novel was the strong circle of support that Elatsoe has around her, including her parents, her friends, her ever-faithful, and protective ghost dog. Oh, and I absolutely adored her relationship with the ghost dog.

All of the secondary characters are well-fleshed out and vivid, and I enjoyed getting to know all of them. There were also quite riveting in their own right, such as her Fey friend and another character — I think it was her friend’s sister — who’s in love with and hopes to marry a vampire. Additionally, I loved the fact that no matter how far out Elatsoe’s experiences are, her parents and friend never doubt her or question her. At no point does anyone think she’s lying or fail to show her the utmost respect.

This book has a plethora of riveting themes such as grief, loss, family, the exploitation and genocide of indigenous people, colonialism, murder, greed, racism, and so much more. The fact that this was a book focused on Indigenous culture and its traditions was a huge plus for me. We got to see those traditions firsthand in the everyday life of Elosoe and her family.

So yes, this was a wonderfully written magical story with phenomenal world-building and a cast of realistic characters.

Purchase Elatsoe on Amazon

Review of The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg

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I’m a massive fan of Bill Konigsberg, so I was very excited to learn he was coming out with a new book. This was certainly an intense and quite a raw read.

It follows two teens, Aaron and Tillie, two strangers but who end up on the George Washington Bridge at the same time with the intention of jumping. Aaron is gay and suffering from depression, and Tillie has just been ghosted by her boyfriend and has been publicly humiliated in an online bullying event. So there are four scenarios that could play out:

  1. Tillie jumps, but Aaron doesn’t.
  2. Aaron jumps, but Tillie doesn’t.
  3. They both jump.
  4. Neither of them jumps.

What’s interesting about this story is that it explores all four outcomes in a diverging storyline format, which I typically enjoy. That is to say, the story plays out all four scenarios allowing us to see the fallout and repercussions of each decision on everyone in their lives. It’s funny. I went into this without knowing anything about it (Bill is an auto-buy author for me).

But when we moved onto the second scenario, I thought, “Wait, What??? Isn’t Tillie dead??” It’s at this point I read the blurb and had that: “Aha!” moment.

So….to say this novel is powerful is an understatement.

As you can imagine, any novel with the theme of suicide at its core is no doubt raw and heart-breaking, and this novel is no exception. Though a bit tough to read in places and definitely an emotional roller-coaster, it was also compelling as each section laid out the various possibilities of events following each scenario.

In the story, he delves into themes of mental health, bullying, shame, body shaming, body image, parental neglect, family, loneliness, and of course, death by suicide. But I felt that at no point does the author romanticize suicide but instead shows the brutal results of such an act and how it can affect so many others.

Now given that this is an exploration of these four different scenarios, there’s really not any closure to the story as all of the stories end in an open kind of way. It’s up to us to decide the outcome of each story. I’m glad the author saved the scenario in which neither teen jumps for the last, which ends the novel in a hopeful and optimistic manner.

The message at the core of these four stories is kind of a wake-up call — maybe even a personal message to anyone who has or has ever had suicidal thoughts. There’s no ideation here, but instead, the author attempts to show us that things will, indeed, get better, as well as illustrating how devastating the death of a loved one by suicide can be for family and friends.

I also think these four stories create an often much-needed conversation around the topic of depression and mental illness in general. In the case of one of the characters, it’s discussed how exhausting it is to keep a smiling face when the darkness inside threatens to overwhelm you and pull you down.

The events that kicked off each scenario were not only fascinating but also eye-opening, and I felt that the author did an excellent job of bringing these events to life for the reader.

And even though we get the same story after the events of the George Washington Bridge, the book is not at all repetitive because every decision the teens make sets off a chain of entirely different events. The ripples and repercussions of each person’s decision in the story made for fascinating reading.

I felt the story in which they both jumped was especially powerful, and the author took it to the next level by showing the hole that they left not only now but in the future. Here, the author shows us how far into the future, the ripples of their decision can reach. For instance, the book introduced the people they were supposed to fall in love with, people who now felt like something is missing from their life, but they can’t put their finger on what.

So here, we see the effects not just on the people they knew but also on the people they should have known. Ah… I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

So again, the book is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. It’s dark, heavy, sad, and gut-wrenching. The grief in this story jumps off the page. But it’s also hopeful, in that there’s always another option, and in this book, we explore those options.

Purchase The Bridge on Amazon

Review of Reverie by Ryan La Sala

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This is a contemporary magical realism/fantastical story that follows our main character Kane Montgomery who wakes up in the hospital following a coma. He learns that police found him nearly dead in the river.

But he cannot remember anything at all about the accident – how he got there, what he was even doing there. Moreover, everything now seems a bit strange and off-kilter — a feeling that this world isn’t quite right.

He then discovers that one of the girls from his school was a friend of his, and they hung out quite a bit, especially over the past few months. The funny thing is that he has no recollection of ever being friends with this person. Moreover, he then discovers that he was extremely close to three other classmates who call themselves “The Others” but again, no memory of ever associating with them.

At this point, he has no idea who he can trust, and the gaps in his memory disturb him more and more.

But when fantastical worlds begin materializing out of nothing, Kane has to put his trust in these one-time-friends/strangers to figure out what in the heck is going on. Oh, and he has to do this before a certain villain destroys the world, and only he can stop it…if only he could remember what he needs to do.

This was such a delightfully queer and campy book. Our main character, Kane, is gay. There may or may not be a love interest, and another one of the main characters is a quite flamboyant drag queen.

But apart from that, I also found this to be quite an imaginative and fun romp, full of magic and adventure. The premise of dream worlds becoming manifest was also quite compelling, and I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing it to life.

The visual imagery was stunning and really solidified the whole concept for me. What I especially enjoyed, however, was how and why these dream worlds or “reveries” came into being and how they could prove deadly for all those involved.

It was fun journeying along with Kane as he tried to fill in the gaps in his memory until he discovers the sinister and dangerous truth of his and The Others’ situation. I thought this was quite an ambitious novel and enjoyed this fascinating world.

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Review of Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

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I was delighted when I started reading this and discovered that it takes place on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota. I actually rode through there during my motorcycle trip a couple of years ago, as well as the Pine Ridge reservation, which was also mentioned, so that fact really brought the story to life for me.

I don’t know if I can really classify this as a thriller; it’s more of a crime fiction story though there were undoubtedly some thrilling elements to it. But I decided to chat about it for Thriller Thursday nonetheless as I think it would appeal to those who enjoy mysteries, thrillers, or crime fiction.

So we follow Virgil Wounded Horse, a Lakota man living on the Rosebud Reservation who is sort of a vigilante. Others call him “a hired thug.” When the justice system fails, people hire tough-guy Virgil, who ends up delivering his own kind of punishment. When the government decides not to prosecute or pursue those committing rape, assault, or even murder on Indigenous, you call Virgil.

The story opens with Virgil delivering some “special justice” to a rogue teacher who’s sexually assaulted one of his young students. Because of his “chosen career,” Virgil’s kind of an outsider in the community, and people tend to steer clear of him….unless they need his services. He’s also a reformed alcoholic and is trying to turn his life around.

The latest job that he’s hired for — by his ex’s father, nonetheless — is quite a bit different than his previous assignments. The man has requested that Virgil find out who’s bringing heroin into the Reservation and make them stop — any way he can.

It appears that both men know the culprit — someone who used to bully Virgil — so he doesn’t hesitate in taking the case. The task then becomes personal when his beloved teenaged nephew, who is Virgil’s charge, overdoes on heroin and nearly dies, all of which motivates Virgil even more to get to the bottom of it.

But as Virgil soon discovers, things are a lot more complicated than he had thought and much more dangerous. Things really get interesting when he’s pretty much forced to collaborate with the Feds, which may or may not go according to plan and seriously endanger certain lives in the process, with murder being a strong possibility.

This was quite a compelling character-driven story as we got to delve into Virgil’s mind and had firsthand insight into his motivations. Virgil is such a riveting character with so many layers and vulnerabilities and conflicting motivations, and it’s apparent that he’s still trying to figure out his place in the world. There’s a lot more to him than being merely a vigilante for hire. In fact, all of the characters in this book are richly developed, complex, and engaging.

It was also a riveting, sometimes gritty look at what life is like on the Reservation. I also appreciated the discussion around Native-traditions, ceremonies, and teachings that Virgil has come to reject over the years.

But apart from that, there’s also a serious conversation around the crucial issues of drug abuse, economic poverty, and horrendous injustices aimed at Indigenous people, which was genuinely heartbreaking to read.

The lack of government involvement around serious crimes was incredibly eye-opening, especially since, by federal law, tribal police couldn’t prosecute any federal crimes that happen on the Reservation. In this way, the legal system is mostly non-existent, so criminals walk away, and you have to turn to a man like Virgil to obtain justice.

This novel worked for me on so many levels. I loved learning about the culture, and the author really brought the characters and the setting to life for me. This extremely well-written novel was touching, endearing, humorous in place, shocking, heart-breaking, and heart-mending. It touched on so many serious issues that affect Indigenous people today, and in so doing, I feel that it provides valuable insight into these issues.

Additionally, the author gives us a compelling, heart-in-your-throat mystery to solve as Virgil enters deep into a web of corruption, deception, and danger and quickly finds himself in way over his head.

It was difficult for me to leave Virgil as I finished this action-packed book as I grew quite attached to this character. I hope the author gives us more books that follow this character as I’d love to see Virgil Wounded Horse once again.

Purchase Winter Counts on Amazon