{I've Been Reading} Mister Lullaby

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene

Silver coins in their pockets and sprinklings of dirt in their shoes...the old traditions date back hundreds of years and are supposed to keep the children safe from the Hickory Man who lurks in the woods, but they aren't working. The lost child posters in town are layered thickly, new pictures covering the ones that are decades old. Cheyenne's mother sprinkles salt across doorways and sweeps herbs into the wooden floors, convinced that it's her duty to keep her neighbors safe. It's why Cheyenne moved away and why she's returned. Her mother is getting worse and more children have been found dead in the woods. This is some seriously creepy folk horror and I absolutely loved it, even though there are a few sounds I may never hear again without thinking about the Hickory Man.  

Mister Lullaby by J. H. Markert

The people of Harrod's Reach all know about the abandoned train tunnel. They've used bits of twisted metal from a long ago crash as rustic decor. They've played a game that dates back to the 1800s, daring each other to run from one end to the other. They know about the mysterious deaths in the tunnel, the severed limbs found just outside the entrance.  Mister Lullaby by J. H. Markert feels like a Stephen King novel. It's got all of the right elements and the right language, it just didn't capture my imagination the way the author's last book did, maybe because there's so much going on in so few pages. 

The Homemaker by Miranda Rijks

I've lost track of how many domestic thrillers I've read where a nanny or housekeeper lies her way into a job because she has a hidden motive to get closer to her employer. This is one of the better ones. Maria and Imogen aren't likeable characters, but watching them interact while each hides secrets from the other was absolutely fascinating. I did  find myself wondering if some of the events were physically possible, but it was a thoroughly entertaining read that left me holding my breath more than once. 

Breaking by Amanda Cassidy 

Mirren Fitzpatrick was drinking at the beachside bar when her eight-year-old daughter vanished from the water's edge. As searchers fail to find the missing child, the media circus grows. Everyone questions what kind of mother Mirren was. I had my suspicions about Mirren, because early chapters make it clear that she's never really bonded with her adopted daughter.  The characters are hard  to like. There's a lot going on, though, and even though I thought I could tell where the plot was headed, the end was not what I expected. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.