23. Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless

Sydney Rose Parnell #1
listened on Audible
2016, Thomas & Mercer
386 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery - beginning of a series
Finished 4/22/27
Goodreads rating:  4.2 - 7696 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Denver, CO

First line/s:  "His life wasn't worth spit in a hard rain."

My comments:  Mixed emotions after reading this story.  So much horror in war.  Although the setting and genre is a murder in contemporary Denver, so much is about the aftermath and memories of being in Iraq and the horrors, atrocities, and nightmares that returning military carry with them.  It was good, but emotionally hard to read.  Sydney, for me, was not the most likable protagonist, which makes her all-the-more real.  Her military dog, Clyde, was her best friend and sidekick, and their relationship wasn't too overdone for this "oh-no-not-another-animal" person. It leaves me with a big question.  Why would someone who is freaked out by death and killing and sees the ghosts of all the people she worked on during her post in Marine mortician services in Iraq take a job as a gun-slinging cop once she returns stateside?

Goodreads synopsis:  A Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 Books Selection: Debut
          A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim’s fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion.
          In the depths of an icy winter, Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde―both haunted by their time in Iraq―descend into the underground world of a savage gang of rail riders. There, they uncover a wide-reaching conspiracy and a series of shocking crimes. Crimes that threaten everything Parnell holds dear.
          As the search for the truth puts her directly in the path of the killer, Parnell must struggle with a deadly question: Can she fight monsters without becoming one herself? 

63. The Impossible Knife of Memory - Laurie Halse Anderson

2014, Viking Books for Young Readers
391 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 11/9/15
Goodreads rating:  3.93
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary New York State - somewhere between Albany and Poughkeepsie, which are both mentioned more than once.

First line/s:  "It started in detention.  No surprise there, right?"

My comments:  I read this book in one afternoon/evening/late night.  It was hard to put down. It's about PTSD and its effect on a family.  It's powerful and is a wonderful blend of good characterization and excellent plot.  There are two things that keep me from giving this a 5 - and I don't want to dwell on them, only mention them, because this book is really good.  The hard-to-get-to-know, leave-me-alone protagonist becomes instant best friends with Gracie, a girl she knew, but doesnt' remember, when she way little.  Excellent.  However, there is never any mention of any other friends that Gracie might have.  None.  She's not the type of young lady that would be friendless.  What happened to them?  This didn't work for me.  And then there's the ending, or at least the wrapping-it-up part.  Too quickly told, and not quite totally believable to me.  I love happy endings, but I need to feel they could really happen in the way they're told.  Oh well. I will definitely be recommending this book.

Becky's review from Becky's Book Reviews

Goodreads Summary:  For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.
        Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.