Tag: hometown

What’s Ashley Reading?: Listen For the Lie

Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera

First line: A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I’m buying a chicken.

Summary: Lucy has spent years trying to remember as well as escape the night she was found wandering along the road covered in her best friend’s blood. Lucy and Savvy were well known in their community and with Savvy’s death and Lucy’s apparent guilt, it rocked the town. But since Lucy is unable to remember what happened that night and no evidence she was involved it has become a cold case. That is until a true crime podcaster decides to showcase the story on his podcast, “Listen for the Lie”. As Lucy returns home for the first in years she has to face those who believe she murdered her best friend and the possibility that the podcast may uncover the truth she cannot remember.

My Thoughts: This book hit all the right buttons for me. It has a dark humor with a good mystery. Lucy, the main character, is plagued by her lack of memories from the night her friend died. She knows that many people do not believe her to be innocent and she cannot defend herself because she doesn’t know either. This lack of memory has led to her hearing a dark voice in her head tempting her to do terrible things. At times it could be annoying but others it is nearly laugh out loud funny.

I love the way podcasts have made their way into storytelling. I have been on a true crime documentary kick and I love a good podcast, making this a format perfect for my reading style lately. Throughout the narrative there are snippets of the podcast, usually interviews with townspeople or suspects. It all blended together smoothly and made the mystery even more intriguing as new information is revealed during these interviews.

I listened to the audio version and found it perfect for the storytelling style. I would highly recommend this format with this story. It was kept me interested and entertained throughout.

What’s Ashley Reading?: Goodnight Beautiful

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

First line: The door opens, and I look up as a man with ruddy cheeks and a crew cut walks into the restaurant, shaking rain from his baseball cap.

Summary: Newlyweds, Annie and Sam, have moved from New York City to Sam’s hometown to be closer to his ailing mother. He finds the perfect location for his psychiatric office in the extra room of an old house. Even though the owner seems to be a little strange he doesn’t let this bother him. Then one night after Sam leaves his office he goes missing. There is no sign of him. As Annie and the police look for Sam they discover thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Did Sam run away? Or is someone else behind his disappearance?

My Thoughts: Though I have never read Misery (but I plan to) I know the basic story line. This was very reminiscent of what I know of the story. Molloy fills her story with lots of twists and turns. Every few chapters something new is revealed. I really enjoyed how fast paced everything was. I would find myself trying to find time to listen to it whenever I could.

The one part of the audio book that I wasn’t too sold on was the voices. At the beginning I thought they did not find actors that fit the characters. And then as reveals happen it makes more sense. So it starts as misleading and then makes sense but also seems to hint at something to come. It helps and hinders the story.

FYI: Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware.