Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: cold cases

Popular suspense author Tami Hoag's newest stand-alone novel Cold, Cold Heart is now available at the Community Library.

Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she defeated her attacker, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred by her ordeal, with aftereffects including PTSD and memory loss.

In an attempt to put herself back together after surviving the unthinkable, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: she struggles to recognize family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks but she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury.

"Hoag has been writing nail-biting thrillers for years, but this time she ups the ante. The suspense remains high, but the stakes are even higher ..." (Booklist Reviews)

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker

"This best-selling, award-winning, French literary thriller from a 28-year-old Swiss author has arrived in the U.S. with fanfare not heard since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." (Booklist Reviews)

In The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, young novelist, Marcus Goldman is under pressure to produce a second novel following his sensational debut. Suffering from writers block, he decides to visit his mentor and well respected novelist, Harry Quebert, who resides in New Hampshire. During their reunion, the remains of a fifteen year old girl who went missing thirty-three years earlier are discovered on Quebert's property and he is arrested for the murder of Nola Kellergan. Goldman decides to begin his own investigation to prove Quebert's innocence and in the process, delivers his long awaited second novel.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

New Thriller from Tami Hoag

International Bestselling Thriller