[Catlady]

I'm devouring thrillers. After Harlan Coben's Stay Close and Hold Tight, I listened to two new books: Linwood Barclay's No Safe House and Elizabeth Little's Dear Daughter.

I'm not especially happy with Scott Brick's narration of Coben's books--there's something about the overly dramatic reading of some of Coben's pretentious musings that just sets my teeth on edge. Stay Close was okay; I liked Hold Tight much better.

Dear Daughter was a mixed bag. I think it would have been easier to follow in print--there were a lot of characters and relationships to keep track of, and I kept wanting to go back to refresh my recollection--but on the other hand, the narrator, Bonnie Dennison, was just terrific--she made the mean-spirited protagonist enjoyable and wickedly funny.

No Safe House was the best of the bunch. It picks up the story of the characters in No Time for Goodbye, but it's not necessary to have read the earlier book. Dual narrators were used--one for first-person chapters, another for third-person chapters--which worked well. Some nice surprises along the way.

I need to read a non-thriller or two for a change of pace, and then I plan to read Mary Kubica's The Good Girl and Holly Brown's Don't Try to Find Me.