Review Right from page one, readers will understand the kind of world that Ash Land by Matt Harry is set in. With a first sentence that reads "No one knows how to stop the Ash", we understand that humanity is at the mercy of the environment in which they all live. And it is not… Continue reading Ash Land by Matt Harry
Kerri Schlottman sets the vibe from page one in Daytime Moon. The lyrical writing style might take a bit to get used to, but we as readers get the sense of the mysterious journey the characters will face right away.
Isa’s journey is understandable if you are or know someone who has wandered a bit in life, maybe avoiding something or trying to find something. The book is such a profound and heartfelt human story that I couldn’t help but root for Isa, Cole, and the family they find along the way.
Readers beware – though heartfelt, this story is also heartbreaking. The author puts our girl through it. But maybe its her way to show how grief and loss can lead to growth in more ways than we expect.
Kerri Schlottman joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about character journeys and plans for the future. Keep an ear out for the episode and preorder Daytime Moon, available May 12.
Isa has a gift. Premonitions, intuitive insight, a knack for tarot. But she is adrift.
Years ago, she ran away from one coast to the other and never looked back, but when her brother Cole unexpectedly shows up on her stoop, she’s convinced that it’s time to go home. Back in the California desert, Isa is swept up in her former life of late-night drag races by the Salton Sea, beers with the locals, and haunting reminders of the twin sister she lost and the mother she never got to meet.
When Dane, the man who raised them, becomes terminally ill, Isa is forced to confront everything she ran away from. In a posthumous letter, his revelations ignite her fearless internal drive. Traveling up and down California highways, through desert and forest, roaring coastline and border towns, Isa will follow the signs so delicately woven into the fabric of her life – a name, a constellation, a painting, a gleam of recognition on the water’s surface. If she can piece them together, she just might reunite the shattered remains of her beloved family.
Artfully narrated, Schlottman’s novel is an unforgettable journey through hidden stories, the depths of women’s secrets, the shimmering fluidity of memory, and the magic of transmutation.
Right from the first page of Dear Mother, Rea Frey sets the tone – a newsletter article introduces the readers to a death of an infamous woman in the small town. Gail’s reputation and rumors precede her as the town remembers the dead teenagers who she fostered nearly two decades ago. Now that her biological daughter Isabelle has come back to take care of her mother’s remaining responsibilities, something seems to be calling out to her – something that doesn’t want to stay buried.
I’ve never read the author’s work before, but I know after this one that she is a formidable force when it comes to domestic thrillers. Misdirections? Check. Flashbacks? Check. Plot Twists? Double check.
The cruelty of getting flashbacks from the siblings’ POV knowing what happens to them was just cruel. But also a great storytelling device. The misleading of who to trust and who was super sus? The multiple twists towards the end are just that much more rewarding in Dear Mother. The characters are authentic and the suspense is suspensing. I highly recommend Dear Mother to anyone looking for their next thriller.
Rea Frey joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about her storytelling and characters. Keep an ear out for the episode and preorder Dear Mother, available April 28.
In a tense thriller set deep amid the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a determined mother works to uncover the secrets of her family’s dark past, fearful of what their history may reveal.
After a childhood riddled with trauma and unanswered questions, Isabelle Archer vows to chase down the truth. So when her estranged mother dies, the investigative journalist returns to the one story that still haunts her.
Isabelle was thirteen when her three foster siblings died tragically in a fire. The blaze was ruled an accident, and despite the neglect, Isabelle never wanted to believe her mother was a killer. But twenty-five years later, the accusations linger.
Back in Cedarloch to settle the estate, Isabelle revisits her childhood home. A familiar dread permeates the surrounding woods. And when autopsy reports cast new suspicions, Isabelle unearths much more than just terrifying memories.
With help from her ex, Isabelle frantically digs for answers. What really happened the night of the fire? How did her mother die? And are the two somehow connected? What they find could poison long-held memories—and incinerate everything she thought to be true.
