Kate’s 2¢: “The Best Friend” by Shalini Boland

“The Best Friend” by Shalini Boland

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…

   Mare Trevathan did a good job narrating this psychological friendship story. Surely you’ve heard: If it’s too good to be true; it probably isn’t true.  And of course: With a friend like you, who needs an enemy.

   Boland plied the craft to heighten the suspense and plot twist to perfection.  

A few take-aways:

–You may think we live in a civilized society…We’re all just animals fighting for survival.

From: https://shaliniboland.com/

British author

Shalini Rachelle Boland  aka

Shalini Rachelle Nagarkar

Shalini Nagarkar

Born November 1969

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The best friend DB104650

Author: Boland, Shalini

Reading Time: 7 hours, 28 minutes

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

Read by: Mare Trevathan

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Louisa Sullivan’s little boy has made a new friend and he is asked over for a play date. When Louisa takes him over, she meets Darcy Lane, the new friend’s mother. Darcy seemingly has everything and becomes Louisa’s new friend. But Darcy hides secrets. Violence and strong language. 2018.

London : Bookouture, 2018.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Her dark lies” by JT Ellison

“Her dark lies” by JT Ellison

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…

   Brittany Pressley did a good job of narrating this tantalizing story. It has all the right elements of a haunted castle, underground tunnels, spectacular panaramas, glorious people when they’r at their most casual moments, not to mention, whoever is killing the family and servants.

A few take-aways:

–Memory: echoes of realitytwisted and molded into what we want to believe.

–We all want to be remembered for something.

–Some of want to make those marks as vivid as possible.

–Self-defense: don’t hesitate, Don’t draw back before they realize what’s going to happen, Plow ahead.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.jtellison.com

J. T. Ellison is a New York Times bestselling American author. She writes domestic noir and psychological thrillers, the latter starring Nashville Homicide Lt. Taylor Jackson and medical examiner Dr. Samantha Owens. She also pens the “A Brit in the FBI” series with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter. With over a million books in print, Ellison’s work has been published in twenty-eight countries and sixteen languages. She is also the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television series, A Word on Words,[1] which airs on Nashville Public Television. Ellison is also the founder of Two Tales Press,[2] an independent publishing house, and The Wine Vixen,[3] a wine review website. She lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee.

Background[edit]

Ellison was born outside of Orlando, Florida and moved to rural Colorado when she was two, then to Washington, D.C. at the age of fourteen. She graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College with a double major in Politics and English Creative Writing and a minor in Economics, then received her master’s degree from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. Ellison was a presidential appointee and worked in The White House and the U.S. Department of Commerce before moving into the private sector to work as a financial analyst and marketing director for several defense and aerospace contractors.[4]

Writing career[edit]

When Ellison’s college advisor told her that her writing wasn’t good enough to be published, Ellison changed her plan to get a Master’s of Fine Arts and, instead, went into politics. Eight years later, while living in Nashville, Ellison was recuperating from a back injury when she first read the PREY series by John Sandford and rediscovered her love of storytelling.[5]

Ellison began to research her hidden passions: forensics and crime, and was compelled to begin writing down her stories. To research her books, she has worked with the Metro Nashville Police Department and the FBI, as well as performing autopsies and studying survivalists.[6]

Ellison is perhaps best known for her Lt. Taylor Jackson series, which features Nashville homicide detective Taylor Jackson. Ellison successfully spun-off the series with Jackson’s best friend, Medical Examiner Dr. Samantha Owens, as she begins her life in Washington, D.C.[7] In 2012, Ellison teamed up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter to co-write a new FBI series. The first book, The Final Cut, released in September 2013 and hit every major bestseller list. The series continues with The Lost Key, The End Game, The Devil’s Triangle and The Sixth Day; the newest installment is The Last Second.[8] Ellison published her first standalone novel, No One Knows, a Nashville-based domestic thriller, in 2016 with Gallery Books.[9] and followed with a second standalone, Lie to Me, in 2017 with MIRA Books. Her third standalone, Tear Me Apart, released in 2018. Good Girls Lie in 2019, and Her Dark Lies in 2021. Her latest standalone, It’s One Of Us, is set to release February 28, 2023.[10]

She also has co-written with Erica Spindler and Alex Kava on two anthology collaborations: Slices of Night and Storm Season.[11]

Ellison is a co-founder of Killer Year, an interactive society composed of 13 debut crime/mystery/suspense authors whose books were first published in 2007, creating an active online community and teaming authors with mentors from among the most established authors within the genre. The group was dedicated to furthering the writing, publishing and marketing goals of its members and the highly popular community involved readers, reviewers, and publishing professionals. A collection of short stories by the graduating class, including comments and contributions from seasoned vets such as Lee Child and Allison Brennan, was published to acclaim as Killer Year: Stories to Die For…From the Hottest New Crime Writers. Killer Year became the model for the International Thriller Writers debut author program, which Ellison helped develop.

Ellison also was one of the original members of, and a contributor to, the Anthony Award-nominated crime fiction blog, Murderati, which ran from 2006 to 2012 and is now an archive. She also contributed essays in volumes published by Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers and regularly blogs about the writing business on The Tao of JT.

She also writes under the name Andrea Ellison overseas (France and Holland/Belgium)[12]

Ellison is an active member of several professional writing organizations, including International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America.

Ellison’s books have been published in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Personal life[edit]

Ellison lives with her husband and twin cats in Nashville.[19]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Her dark lies DB108289

Author: Ellison, J. T.

Reading Time: 11 hours, 57 minutes

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

Read by: Brittany Pressley

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

Downloaded: 04/26/2026

“Fast-paced and brilliantly unpredictable, J. T. Ellison’s breathtaking new novel invites you to a wedding none will forget–and some won’t survive. Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends… and a host of dark secrets. From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship–the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife. Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out–and the real terror begins… You won’t be able to guess what happens in the end!” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Harlequin Audio, OverDrive, [2021]

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Kate’s 2¢: “Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA” by John Lisle

“Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA” by John Lisle

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 is one of the books the NLS sent to me on a cartridge.

   Pete Cross did a good job of narrating this apparently true, but chilling story of behind the scenes of how government attempts to keep its citizens safe…or are they well-intended, but misleading  the people.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I wasn’t able to get a bio on this author.

From NLS/BARD/LOC”

Project mind control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA DB131003

Author: Lisle, John (Historian)

Reading Time: 8 hours, 29 minutes

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

Read by: Pete Cross

Subjects: Government and Politics, Biography

“Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous — even deadly — experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind-bending drugs, torturing mental patients through sensory deprivation, and steering the movements of animals via electrodes implanted into their brains. His goal was to develop methods of mind control that could turn someone into a real-life “Manchurian candidate.” In conjunction with MKULTRA, Gottlieb also plotted the assassination of foreign leaders and created spy gear for undercover agents. The details of his career, however, have long been shrouded in mystery. Upon retiring from the CIA in 1973, he tossed his files into an incinerator. As a result, much of what happened under MKULTRA was thought to be lost — until now. Historian John Lisle has uncovered dozens of depositions containing new information about MKULTRA, straight from the mouths of its perpetrators. For the first time, Gottlieb and his underlings divulge what they did, why they did it, how they got away with it, and much more. Additionally, Lisle highlights the dramatic story of MKULTRA’s victims, from their terrible treatment to their dogged pursuit of justice. The consequences of MKULTRA still reverberate throughout American society. Project Mind Control is the definitive account of this most disturbing of chapters in CIA history.” — From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Macmillan, 2025.

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