The Hunting Party

4 out of 5 stars I enjoyed The Guest List by the same author last summer and as a follow up, this book did not disappoint. Similar structure, jumping around on the timeline and rotating the story point of view. Its effective for a murder mystery, but i think if they are all this way, the mysteries will get easier to figure out. But for now - the reveals of information keep you turning the pages and the red herrings are plausible theories of the crime. Plus! The snowed-in, Shining element was a good way to raise the stakes for everyone. Who doesn't like a good scare on a dark and stormy night. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37642030 This book is the October 2021 selection for the Operations Book Club

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder

 3 of 5 stars

This book was recommended by my sister as an October / ghostly type of book: we both enjoy thriller more than straight horror and it was already on the kindle - so, an easy choice. 

Although I didn’t dislike the book exactly, I don’t know that I will be rushing out to read more of her work. The writing was a little disjointed and completely unrealistic.

It didn’t feel like she had quite decided if the book was scary or more sci-if/fantasy. In the end the book suffered from an identity crisis and also a lack of realism (not fantasy based) that took me out of the story. I’ve lived/worked in small town settings in scenarios where you formed bonds fast - but this just didn’t ring true. 

In the end, the book felt amateurish and did not check any of the boxes completely - not particularly scary, not enough mystery or love story to fall into that category and the fantasy twist at the end came out of nowhere.

I did like the characters and the setting, I think they deserved a better story:The haunting of Brynn Wilder