Sabrina

 Sabrina
by Nick Drnaso
Pages: 204
Rating: 4 out of 4

A woman's disappearance affects different people in numerous ways. As a graphic novel this story is told both in words and pictures. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just list the book's awards here: The first ever graphic novel to be nominated for the Man Booker Prize. It's a New York Times Notable Book and is on 20 Best of 2018 lists including the Washington Post, NPR, Newsweek and the Guardian.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is socially awkward, to say the least. She has no friends; no one has ever been in her apartment except the random social worker. She never talks on the phone, except to her mother, once a week. It becomes evident that she suffered a traumatic childhood that has isolated her, and kept her from connecting with other people.

Then an IT guy named Raymond works on her computer one day, and seems to actually like her. The two of them happen to see an old man (Sammy) fall in the street one day, call emergency rescue, and stay with him until he is put in the ambulance. She and Raymond then visit Sammy in the hospital, and the three of them begin to form a bond.

This is a quirky, ultimately satisfying novel. Eleanor grows on you, despite seeming pretty unlikeable at first.

332 pages

Mary, Mary by James Patterson

Someone is killing off seemingly perfect Hollywood moms. Alex Cross interrupts his vacation with his family to investigate. A fast-paced psychological thriller from a bestselling author. Book 11 in the Alex Cross series. I have only read one or two of the others. The mystery was self-contained, but it probably would have helped if I had read the other books in the series to figure out what was going on in Cross' personal life  448 pages.

Firestorm by Iris Johansen

Trask is a man obsessed with fire who has created a lethal weapon harnessing its power. His test subjects are humans who get in the way of him and his "baby". Enter Kerry, a woman with the unusual gift of sensing when arson is at work, and Silver, a man who can hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of those around him. Kerry and Silver race to capture Trask before any more lives are lost. This is a paranormal, psychological thriller that I found hard to put down. 339 pages.