Kate’s 2¢: “Beneath The Skin” by Nicci French

“Beneath The Skin” by Nicci French

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I enjoyed listening to Anne Flosnik narrate this chilling and nerve-wracking story.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicci French is the pseudonym of English husband-and-wife team Nicci Gerrard (born 10 June 1958) and Sean French (born 28 May 1959), who write psychological thrillers together.

The couple met in 1989 while working at the New Statesman and published their first co-written novel, The Memory Game, in 1997. Married and based in Suffolk, they write separately—Gerrard in an attic office, French in a garden shed—exchanging chapters by email and revising each other’s work until they reach consensus.[1]

By 2010, they had published twelve psychological thrillers, known for exploring ordinary people caught in extreme psychological situations. They described their shared pseudonym as having developed its own distinct voice and interests, particularly in the messy, morally complex aspects of human behavior. Their aim, they said, was not to offer escapism, but to make readers reflect uncomfortably on the darker parts of themselves.

Nicci French began their publishing career with Penguin Books under the imprint Michael Joseph, which released their debut novel The Memory Game in 1997. The duo remained with Michael Joseph for over two decades, publishing numerous bestselling psychological thrillers before moving to Simon & Schuster UK in 2018. The “substantial” six-figure agreement followed an eight-way auction and covers three standalone novels.[2] The first book under the new deal, The Lying Room, was scheduled for release in October 2019.

In 2022, Simon & Schuster UK renewed its partnership with Nicci French in a new three-book deal. The first novel under this new agreement was slated for release in autumn 2023. The renewal followed the success of previous titles published by S&S, including The Lying Room, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, and House of Correction, which was highly commended for the 2021 CWA Gold Dagger Award. The authors expressed excitement about continuing their collaboration with the publisher, praising the team’s ongoing enthusiasm and support.[3]

Personal lives[edit]

Nicci Gerrard and Sean French were married in 1990. Since 1999 they have lived in Suffolk in East Anglia, England. Both have studied English literature at Oxford University.[4] The couple have two daughters, Hadley and Molly, and Gerrard has two children from her first marriage, Edgar and Anna.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Beneath the skin DB50267

Author: French, Nicci

Reading Time: 11 hours, 6 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Anne Flosnik

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

London teacher Zoe is the first to receive the anonymous messages–almost love letters, but the writer threatens to kill her. The police don’t take them seriously until Jenny receives some, too. Then Nadia, the last target, realizes that local officials are no help at all. Some violence and some strong language. 2000.

New York, N.Y. : Mysterious Press, c2000.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Black Hour” by Lori Rader-Day

“The Black Hour” by Lori Rader-Day

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Carol Dines did a good job of narrating this story. I like the way the author brought the story around to echo the beginning. I also admire the tenacity of the main character.  

A take away:

–It’s darkest before it’s light. That’s why we call it the black hour.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lori Rader-Day is an American author of mystery, crime, and suspense novels. She has won three Anthony Awards (2015, 2018, 2019),[1][2][3] a Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award (2016),[4] and an Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel (2021).[5]

Personal life and education[edit]

Rader-Day was born in Thorntown, Indiana[6] and currently lives in Chicago.[7]

She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Ball State University, Master of Arts degree in creative nonfiction from Ball State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Roosevelt University.[8]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The black hour: a novel DB81697

Author: Rader-Day, Lori

Reading Time: 12 hours, 16 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Carol Dines

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Ten months after being shot by a student, sociology professor Amelia Emmet returns to Rothbert University with the help of pain meds and a cane. Both she and her new assistant seek to learn why she was targeted. Violence, some strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2014.

Amherst, NY : Seventh Street Books, an imprint of Prometheus Books, 2014.

Take Action On The black hour: a novel

Kate’s 2¢: “A child’s night dream” by Oliver Stone

“A child’s night dream” by Oliver Stone

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

         Steven Carpenter had an interesting way of performing this stream of consciousness.

   The author presented some vivid descriptions of his environment and thoughts about life and what he was doing. His talent was in transferring his experiences into profitable movies and other media.

From the web:

Oliver Stone is an acclaimed American filmmaker and screenwriter best known for his provocative, politically charged movies. He initially rose to fame as a writer, winning an Academy Award for Midnight Express (1978), before transitioning to write and direct seminal films like Platoon (1986) and Scarface (1983).

• Early Life: Born on September 15, 1946, in New York City,

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

A child’s night dream DB44860

Author: Stone, Oliver

Reading Time: 7 hours, 25 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Steven Carpenter

Subject: Psychological Fiction

In this autobiographical story, an alienated young man leaves home on a harrowing odyssey to Vietnam as a combat soldier, across the ocean as a merchant seaman, and to a hotel room in Mexico where he writes about his experiences. Explores the power that dreams have to direct one’s life. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. Bestseller.

New York : St. Martin’s Press, c1997.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Beneath the attic” by Virginia C. Andrews

“Beneath the attic” by Virginia C. Andrews

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I enjoyed listening to Dara Rosenberg read this story. I couldn’t help have the feeling that this young girl was going to get her “come-upence”.

   I also recognized the swan bed from previous episodes.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

vcandrewsbooks.com

Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 – December 19, 1986), better known as V. C. Andrews or Virginia C. Andrews, was an American novelist. She was best known for her 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic, which inspired two movie adaptations and four sequels. While her novels are not classified by her publisher as Young Adult, their young protagonists have made them popular among teenagers for decades. After her death in 1986, a ghostwriter who was initially hired to complete two unfinished works has continued to publish books under her name.

Profile[edit]

Andrews’s novels combine Gothic horror and family saga, revolving around family secrets and incestual, forbidden love (frequently involving themes of horrific events, and sometimes including a rags-to-riches story). Her best-known novel is the bestseller Flowers in the Attic (1979), a tale of four children smuggled into the attic of their wealthy estranged pious grandmother, and held prisoner there by their mother.

Her novels were successful enough that following Andrews’s death, her estate hired a ghost writer, Andrew Neiderman, to continue to write novels to be published under her name.[1] In assessing a deficiency in her estate tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service argued (successfully) that Virginia Andrews’s name was a valuable commercial asset, the value of which should be included in her gross estate.[2]

Her novels have been translated into Czech, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Greek, Finnish, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Chinese, Russian and Hebrew.

Life[edit]

Andrews was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, the youngest child and only daughter of Lillian Lilnora (Parker), a telephone operator, and William Henry Andrews, a tool-and-die maker.[3] She had two older brothers, William Jr. and Eugene. Andrews grew up attending Southern Baptist and Methodist churches.[4] As a teenager, Andrews suffered a fall from a school stairwell, resulting in severe back injuries. The subsequent surgery to correct these injuries resulted in Andrews’ suffering from crippling arthritis that required her to use crutches and a wheelchair for much of her life.[1] However, having always shown promise as an artist, she was able to complete a four-year correspondence course from her home and soon became a successful commercial artist, illustrator, and portrait painter, using her art commissions to support the family after her father’s death in 1957.[5]

Later in life, Andrews turned to writing. Her first novel, written in 1972 and titled Gods of Green Mountain, was a science fiction effort that remained unpublished during her lifetime but was eventually released as an e-book in 2004.[6]

In 1975, Andrews completed a manuscript for a novel she called Flowers in the Attic. “I wrote it in two weeks,” Andrews said.[7] The novel was returned with the suggestion that she “spice up” and expand the story. In later interviews, Andrews claims to have made the necessary revisions in a single night. The novel, published in 1979, was an instant popular success, reaching the top of the bestseller lists in only two weeks. Every year thereafter until her death, Andrews published a new novel, each publication earning Andrews larger advances and a growing popular readership.

“I think I tell a whopping good story. And I don’t drift away from it a great deal into descriptive material,” she stated in Faces of Fear in 1985. “When I read, if a book doesn’t hold my interest in what’s going to happen next, I put it down and don’t finish it. So I’m not going to let anybody put one of my books down and not finish it. My stuff is a very fast read.” In an interview for Twilight Magazine in 1983, Andrews was questioned about the critics’ response to her work. She answered, “I don’t care what the critics say. I used to, until I found out that most critics are would-be writers who are just jealous because I’m getting published and they aren’t. I also don’t think that anybody cares about what they say. Nor should they care.”[7]

Andrews died of breast cancer on December 19, 1986, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[8] After her death, her family hired a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, to finish the manuscripts she had started. He would complete the next two novels, Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts, and they were published soon after. These two novels are considered the last to bear the “V. C. Andrews” name and to be almost completely written by Andrews herself.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Beneath the attic DBC33532

Series: Dollanganger family series; Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.) Dollanganger family series

Order in Series: 06

Author: Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.)

Reading Time: 8 hours, 29 minutes

Production: Braille and Talking Book Library, California State Library

Read by: Dara Rosenberg

Subjects: Family, Psychological Fiction

In the late nineteenth century, Corrine Dixon, a young woman from a respectable, working family crosses paths with the ultra-rich Garland Foxworth. Given their class differences a relationship is forbidden, but when Corrine is discovered to be pregnant, the two families quickly plan a wedding. As Garland is forced into a betrothal with a woman that he had no intention of marrying, he morphs from a charming and passionate suitor into a cruel and violent fiancé. Commercial audiobook. Adult. Unrated.

New York : Gallery Books, 2019.

Take Action On Beneath the attic

Kate’s 2¢: “Christopher’s diary: echoes of Dollanganger” by Virginia C. Andrews

“Christopher’s diary: echoes of Dollanganger” by Virginia C. Andrews

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   It was enjoyable to listen to Kirby Heyborne and Rebekkah Ross

Perform this story.

   I suspect it was inevitable for these teens to do what they did  in the attic. I commend what they did at the end of the story.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

vcandrewsbooks.com

Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 – December 19, 1986), better known as V. C. Andrews or Virginia C. Andrews, was an American novelist. She was best known for her 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic, which inspired two movie adaptations and four sequels. While her novels are not classified by her publisher as Young Adult, their young protagonists have made them popular among teenagers for decades. After her death in 1986, a ghostwriter who was initially hired to complete two unfinished works has continued to publish books under her name.

Profile[edit]

Andrews’s novels combine Gothic horror and family saga, revolving around family secrets and incestual, forbidden love (frequently involving themes of horrific events, and sometimes including a rags-to-riches story). Her best-known novel is the bestseller Flowers in the Attic (1979), a tale of four children smuggled into the attic of their wealthy estranged pious grandmother, and held prisoner there by their mother.

Her novels were successful enough that following Andrews’s death, her estate hired a ghost writer, Andrew Neiderman, to continue to write novels to be published under her name.[1] In assessing a deficiency in her estate tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service argued (successfully) that Virginia Andrews’s name was a valuable commercial asset, the value of which should be included in her gross estate.[2]

Her novels have been translated into Czech, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Greek, Finnish, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Chinese, Russian and Hebrew.

Life[edit]

Andrews was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, the youngest child and only daughter of Lillian Lilnora (Parker), a telephone operator, and William Henry Andrews, a tool-and-die maker.[3] She had two older brothers, William Jr. and Eugene. Andrews grew up attending Southern Baptist and Methodist churches.[4] As a teenager, Andrews suffered a fall from a school stairwell, resulting in severe back injuries. The subsequent surgery to correct these injuries resulted in Andrews’ suffering from crippling arthritis that required her to use crutches and a wheelchair for much of her life.[1] However, having always shown promise as an artist, she was able to complete a four-year correspondence course from her home and soon became a successful commercial artist, illustrator, and portrait painter, using her art commissions to support the family after her father’s death in 1957.[5]

Later in life, Andrews turned to writing. Her first novel, written in 1972 and titled Gods of Green Mountain, was a science fiction effort that remained unpublished during her lifetime but was eventually released as an e-book in 2004.[6]

In 1975, Andrews completed a manuscript for a novel she called Flowers in the Attic. “I wrote it in two weeks,” Andrews said.[7] The novel was returned with the suggestion that she “spice up” and expand the story. In later interviews, Andrews claims to have made the necessary revisions in a single night. The novel, published in 1979, was an instant popular success, reaching the top of the bestseller lists in only two weeks. Every year thereafter until her death, Andrews published a new novel, each publication earning Andrews larger advances and a growing popular readership.

“I think I tell a whopping good story. And I don’t drift away from it a great deal into descriptive material,” she stated in Faces of Fear in 1985. “When I read, if a book doesn’t hold my interest in what’s going to happen next, I put it down and don’t finish it. So I’m not going to let anybody put one of my books down and not finish it. My stuff is a very fast read.” In an interview for Twilight Magazine in 1983, Andrews was questioned about the critics’ response to her work. She answered, “I don’t care what the critics say. I used to, until I found out that most critics are would-be writers who are just jealous because I’m getting published and they aren’t. I also don’t think that anybody cares about what they say. Nor should they care.”[7]

Andrews died of breast cancer on December 19, 1986, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[8] After her death, her family hired a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, to finish the manuscripts she had started. He would complete the next two novels, Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts, and they were published soon after. These two novels are considered the last to bear the “V. C. Andrews” name and to be almost completely written by Andrews herself.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Christopher’s diary: echoes of Dollanganger DBC33536

Series: Diaries series; Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.) Diaries series

Order in Series: 02

Author: Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.)

Reading Time: 8 hours, 53 minutes

Production: Braille and Talking Book Library, California State Library

Read by: Kirby Heyborne, Rebekkah Ross

Subject: Psychological Fiction

Kristin Masterwood has discovered the secret diary of Christopher Dollanganger, a 17-year-old boy who was locked away in an attic with his sister, Cathy. Intrigued by the growing attraction that Christopher describes for his sister during their three years of confinement, Kristin convinces one of her classmates, the rich and reclusive Kane Hill, to reenact some of the passages with her. Commercial audiobook. Adult. Unrated.

[London] : Simon & Schuster UK, 2015.

Take Action On Christopher’s diary: echoes of Dollanganger

Kate’s 2¢: “Christopher’s diary: secrets of Foxworth” by Virginia C. Andrews  

“Christopher’s diary: secrets of Foxworth” by Virginia C. Andrews  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I enjoyed listening to Kirby Heyborne and Rebekkah Ross perform this story.

   The characters appear to be rather precocious teens.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

vcandrewsbooks.com

Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 – December 19, 1986), better known as V. C. Andrews or Virginia C. Andrews, was an American novelist. She was best known for her 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic, which inspired two movie adaptations and four sequels. While her novels are not classified by her publisher as Young Adult, their young protagonists have made them popular among teenagers for decades. After her death in 1986, a ghostwriter who was initially hired to complete two unfinished works has continued to publish books under her name.

Profile[edit]

Andrews’s novels combine Gothic horror and family saga, revolving around family secrets and incestual, forbidden love (frequently involving themes of horrific events, and sometimes including a rags-to-riches story). Her best-known novel is the bestseller Flowers in the Attic (1979), a tale of four children smuggled into the attic of their wealthy estranged pious grandmother, and held prisoner there by their mother.

Her novels were successful enough that following Andrews’s death, her estate hired a ghost writer, Andrew Neiderman, to continue to write novels to be published under her name.[1] In assessing a deficiency in her estate tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service argued (successfully) that Virginia Andrews’s name was a valuable commercial asset, the value of which should be included in her gross estate.[2]

Her novels have been translated into Czech, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Greek, Finnish, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Chinese, Russian and Hebrew.

Life[edit]

Andrews was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, the youngest child and only daughter of Lillian Lilnora (Parker), a telephone operator, and William Henry Andrews, a tool-and-die maker.[3] She had two older brothers, William Jr. and Eugene. Andrews grew up attending Southern Baptist and Methodist churches.[4] As a teenager, Andrews suffered a fall from a school stairwell, resulting in severe back injuries. The subsequent surgery to correct these injuries resulted in Andrews’ suffering from crippling arthritis that required her to use crutches and a wheelchair for much of her life.[1] However, having always shown promise as an artist, she was able to complete a four-year correspondence course from her home and soon became a successful commercial artist, illustrator, and portrait painter, using her art commissions to support the family after her father’s death in 1957.[5]

Later in life, Andrews turned to writing. Her first novel, written in 1972 and titled Gods of Green Mountain, was a science fiction effort that remained unpublished during her lifetime but was eventually released as an e-book in 2004.[6]

In 1975, Andrews completed a manuscript for a novel she called Flowers in the Attic. “I wrote it in two weeks,” Andrews said.[7] The novel was returned with the suggestion that she “spice up” and expand the story. In later interviews, Andrews claims to have made the necessary revisions in a single night. The novel, published in 1979, was an instant popular success, reaching the top of the bestseller lists in only two weeks. Every year thereafter until her death, Andrews published a new novel, each publication earning Andrews larger advances and a growing popular readership.

“I think I tell a whopping good story. And I don’t drift away from it a great deal into descriptive material,” she stated in Faces of Fear in 1985. “When I read, if a book doesn’t hold my interest in what’s going to happen next, I put it down and don’t finish it. So I’m not going to let anybody put one of my books down and not finish it. My stuff is a very fast read.” In an interview for Twilight Magazine in 1983, Andrews was questioned about the critics’ response to her work. She answered, “I don’t care what the critics say. I used to, until I found out that most critics are would-be writers who are just jealous because I’m getting published and they aren’t. I also don’t think that anybody cares about what they say. Nor should they care.”[7]

Andrews died of breast cancer on December 19, 1986, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[8] After her death, her family hired a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, to finish the manuscripts she had started. He would complete the next two novels, Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts, and they were published soon after. These two novels are considered the last to bear the “V. C. Andrews” name and to be almost completely written by Andrews herself.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Christopher’s diary: secrets of Foxworth DBC33535

Series: Christopher’s diary; Diaries; Dollanganger family series; Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.) Diaries series; Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.) Dollanganger family series

Order in Series: 01

Author: Andrews, V. C. (Virginia C.)

Reading Time: 8 hours, 33 minutes

Production: Braille and Talking Book Library, California State Library

Read by: Kirby Heyborne, Rebekkah Ross

Subjects: Family, Psychological Fiction

Christopher Dollanganger was fourteen years old when he and his younger siblings were locked away in the attic of Foxworth Hall. For three years, he secretly chronicled his feelings, hopes, and heartache in a diary. Decades later, seventeen-year-old Kristin Masterwood accompanies her father to Foxworth Hall for a property inspection when she discovers a yellowing, leather-bound book. Reading it, she learns first-hand about the nightmare that Christopher endured, as well as a secret about her own blood ties to this notorious family. Commercial audiobook. Adult. Unrated.

New York : Gallery Books, 2014.

Take Action On Christopher’s diary: secrets of Foxworth

Kate’s 2¢: “The chimney sweeper’s boy: a novel” by Barbara Vine  

“The chimney sweeper’s boy: a novel” by Barbara Vine  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Martha Harmon Pardee did an excellent job of narrating this book. The author wrote a compassionate tale of how one gay man dealt with his issues. I felt sorry for the wife, who put up with it all for so long.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.[2] A second string of works was a series of unrelated crime novels that explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine.

Rendell has sold an estimated 20 million copies of her novels.[3]

Early life[edit]

Rendell was born as Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930, in South Woodford, Essex (now Greater London).[4] Her parents were teachers. Her mother, Ebba Kruse, was born in Sweden to Danish parents and brought up in Denmark; her father, Arthur Grasemann, was English. As a result of spending Christmas and other holidays in Scandinavia, Rendell learned Swedish and Danish.[5] Rendell was educated at the County High School for Girls in Loughton, Essex,[4] the town to which the family moved during her childhood. In 2016 a blue plaque was unveiled at her former home, 45 Millsmead Way, Loughton, in recognition of her time living there.[6][7]

After high school, she became a feature writer for her local Essex paper, the Chigwell Times. She submitted a story narrating a local sports club dinner she had not attended. Because of her absence from the dinner, she did not know that the after-dinner speaker had died midway through the speech, and she failed to report it. She was subsequently forced to resign.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Rendell met her husband Don Rendell (not to be confused with the British saxophonist of the same name) when she was working as a newswriter.[4] They married in 1950, when she was 20, and in 1953 had a son, Simon,[9] now a psychiatrist-social worker who lives in the U.S. state of Colorado. The couple divorced in 1975 but remarried two years later.[10] Don Rendell died in 1999 from prostate cancer.[9]

She made the county of Suffolk her home for many years, using the settings in several of her novels. She lived in the villages of Polstead and later Groton, both east of Sudbury. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours[11] and a life peer as Baroness Rendell of Babergh, of Aldeburgh in the County of Suffolk, on 24 October 1997.[12] She sat in the House of Lords for the Labour Party. In 1998, Rendell was named in a list of the party’s biggest private financial donors.[13] She introduced into the Lords the bill that would later become the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (the intent was to prevent the practice).

In August 2014, Rendell was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September’s referendum on that issue.[14]

Rendell was a vegetarian who was described as living mostly on fruit.[15] She described herself as “slightly agoraphobic” and slept in a specially made four-poster bed because “I like to feel enclosed.”[15]

She was a patron of the charity Kids for Kids.[16]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The chimney sweeper’s boy: a novel DB47794

Author: Vine, Barbara

Reading Time: 13 hours, 23 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Martha Harmon Pardee

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Psychological Fiction

When famous author Gerald Candless dies suddenly, his beloved daughter Sarah agrees to write his biography. She immediately discovers that her father was not the man he portrayed himself to be: he had stolen the name of a dead boy, and his whole past was a lie. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex.

New York : Harmony Books, 1998.

Take Action On The chimney sweeper’s boy: a novel

Kate’s 2¢: “Black Out” by Lisa Unger

“Black Out” by Lisa Unger

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Martha Harmon Pardee, my favorite narrator, did a great job with this Psychological thriller.

   Unger masterly wielded her craft to create a truly horrible nightmare situation for Annie.

A few take-aways:

–Demons rattle and scream and thrash until you can’t ignore them any longer.

–You think you love him but you know how evil he is.

–The union that made me weakest, has produced the union that has made me the strongest.

–There’s more to life than just playing it safe.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

lisaunger.com

Lisa Unger (née Miscione; born April 26, 1970) is an American author of contemporary fiction, primarily psychological thrillers.[1][2]

Biography[edit]

Miscione was born in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in the states, England and New Jersey. She spent her teens in the Long Valley section of Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey.[3][4] Miscione moved to New York City after high school, where she graduated from the New School for Social Research and spent a decade working in publishing in New York. During a vacation in Florida, she met her future husband Jeff Unger, who was vacationing from Detroit. After marrying Unger, she resigned her job, moved to Florida and gave herself a year to sell her first novel. Fairly quickly, she found an agent and sold a deal to produce four crime novels.[2] Her first four books were published in her maiden name of Lisa Miscione.[4]

In 2002, she published Angel Fire, the first book featuring Lydia Strong. The book received mixed reviews. Publishers Weekly described it as “gripping and terrifying right through the carnage of its final scene” and commended the novel’s depictions of grisly scenes.[5] Rex Klett, writing for Library Journal, praised the Unger’s writing style and the book’s suspense.[6] However, Kirkus Reviews called it “predictable” and “flatly written”, criticizing Lydia’s characterization.[7]

In June 2006, Unger published Beautiful Lies, her first novel under her married name,[2] through Crown Publishing Group. It became a New York Times Best Seller the week it was released.[8]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Black out: a novel DB68143

Author: Unger, Lisa

Reading Time: 11 hours, 31 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Martha Harmon Pardee

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Annie Powers lives a luxurious Florida lifestyle with her small daughter and her husband, who works for his father’s privatized military company. But Annie is still terrified of a killer from her past–and no one can convince her that he’s really dead. Strong language and some violence. 2008.

New York : Shaye Areheart Books, c2008.

Take Action On Black out: a novel

Kate’s 2¢: “The betrayed wife, Family Secrets (01)” by   

“The betrayed wife, Family Secrets (01)” by   

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Ann Marie Lee did a good job of reading this interesting dilemma. It is unfortunate that it is the children who bare the brunt of adults misdeeds.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

kevinobrienbooks.com

Kevin O’Brien is an American novelist of thriller and suspense novels. He grew up in Chicago’s North Shore, attending Sacred Heart School and New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He studied journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Seattle, Washington in 1980. He worked as a railroad inspector for several years, while writing his first novel in various hotels.[1]

His first novel, Only Son, was published in 1997 and was optioned for film rights by Tom Hanks.[1] It was also selected by Reader’s Digest for their Select Editions, along with novels by John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks, and Barbara Delinsky.[2] His second novel, The Next to Die, was published in 2001 and became a USA Today bestseller.[2] He has since written over twenty more novels, many of which have also been USA Today bestsellers.[3] The Last Victim (2005) hit the New York Times Bestseller List and won the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery.

His latest novel, The Enemy at Home, was released on August 22, 2023. It is a historical thriller set in 1943 Seattle, where a woman joins America’s “Army at Home” of defense plant workers and becomes connected to a serial killer they call the “Rosie Ripper”.[3]

He resides in Seattle today and is active in efforts in supporting up-and-coming authors, including Seattle 7 Writers and Hugo House.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The betrayed wife DB110556

Series: Family secrets

Order in Series: 01

Author: O’Brien, Kevin

Reading Time: 14 hours, 23 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Ann Marie Lee

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

“THE PERFECT FAMILY Sheila O’Rourke has always known her husband isn’t perfect. Who is? But things have been better since they moved to Seattle to make a fresh start. So much so that when sixteen-year-old Eden turns up, claiming to be Dylan’s child by another woman, Sheila tries to be welcoming. CAN BECOME At first, Sheila feels sympathy for the girl. Eden’s mother recently fell to her death in an incident with unsettling parallels to Sheila’s past. Still, Eden is a difficult house guest, sowing discord among the family. Sheila has already been on edge for weeks, receiving anonymous texts, noticing odd noises coming from the house next door. And that’s just the start. A PERFECT NIGHTMARE Sheila wants to trust Dylan. She wants to feel safe in her own home. But no one can hurt you more easily than the ones closest to you . . . the ones you keep believing until it’s too late . . .” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

[United States] : Tantor Media, Inc., [2019]

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Kate’s 2¢: “A Pearl in the storm: how I found my heart in the middle of the ocean” by Tori Murden McClure

“A Pearl in the storm: how I found my heart in the middle of the ocean” by Tori Murden McClure

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This book was one of seven stories on a cartridge NLS sent to me.

   Faith Potts did a good job of narrating this story. It was fun to read about an adventure I’d never have the nerve to attempt.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Victoria Murden McClure (born March 6, 1963) is an athlete, adventurer, chaplain, lawyer, and university administrator who was the first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, which she did in 1999. She was also the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole and the first woman to climb the Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic.

Early life and education[edit]

McClure was born on March 6, 1963[1] in Brooksville, Florida[1] and as a child moved to Connecticut and then to Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen, she moved in with her grandmother in Louisville, Kentucky, to attend the Louisville Collegiate School from which she graduated in 1981. She went on to Smith College, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1985. She followed that with a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1989, a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1995,[1] and a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Spalding University.[2]

Solo row across the Atlantic[edit]

Thirty-six years old at the time,[3] she rowed for eighty-one days, traveling 4,767 kilometres (2,962 mi), starting from the Canary Islands and finishing at Guadeloupe on December 3, 1999. Her boat, Pearl, was twenty-three feet long, four feet high, and six feet wide and weighed about 1800 pounds.[4][5] It was her second trip across the ocean, her first one cut short due to the hurricane season in 1998.

She wrote a memoir about her experiences, A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean, published by HarperCollins in 2009.[citation needed]

Antarctic[edit]

Murden is also noted for her 700-mile ski across the South Pole (the first woman to ski to the South Pole), and she was the first woman to climb the Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic.[citation needed]

Other activities[

 McClure worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital, the executive director of a shelter for homeless women, and a public policy analyst for the Mayor of Louisville, and she worked for the boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali.[citation needed]

On June 1, 2010, she became the president of Spalding University, a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky.[6] She retired in 2024.[7]

She was the chair of the Board of the National Outdoor Leadership School.[8]

She also served as the Chair of the Board of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), an outdoor education school headquartered in Lander, Wyoming, that emphasizes environmental ethics and wilderness excursions.[citation needed]

She retired in 2024.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

A Pearl in the storm: how I found my heart in the middle of the ocean DB70111

Author: McClure, Tori Murden

Reading Time: 10 hours, 19 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Faith Potts

Subjects: Adventure, Travel, Women

The author recounts her quest to become the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. McClure details a harrowing but failed 1998 voyage in a twenty-three-foot boat that forced her to confront her personal demons and a later attempt that brought love, enlightenment, and, finally, success. 2009.

New York : Collins, c2009.

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