I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
Today, I am featuring several books that I have read or that I am reading or that I have in my “next to read” line up.
Highly recommend this book for fans of clean psychological suspense. The book is intense and suspense-filled, as you can tell from the first line! You can check out my review on here on my blog page since I reviewed the book on 4-28-26, the release date: https://vicklea.com/2026/04/28/review-of-the-girl-upstairs-by-jessica-r-patch/
I am on the launch team for this book and I am reading it now. It releases on 5-26. Here is the First Line:
“K-9 Officer Maren Anderson battled the fatigue she’d been facing since driving from Colorado Springs to the Barren Valley Clinic in Barren Valley, Colorado. Grief could do that to a person.”
I am part of a book promo group for Suzanne Woods Fisher’s new book. This series takes place in national parks and all can be read as stand-alone novels. If you are interested in reading the book and joining my Zoom meeting later in the summer (date TBD), I will add you to the list for the Zoom link. Just email or DM me from Facebook. My email is watts.vickie@gmail.com. The book releases on May 5th, but I plan to give everyone who wants to participate at least a month to read the book, so I am thinking perhaps late June or sometime in July for the meeting. Bonus! The author will join us virtually with a PowerPoint presentation about the history of the national parks. How exciting is that?!?
Now, for the First Line:
“Ranger Scout Johnson was the kind of person who loved allowing room for error. Leaving ten minutes early to beat traffic. Double-checking weather before a hike.”
By the way, Baker Book House has freebies and 40% off if you order from them before release day!
If you would like to join us just to join the discussion and find out what the book is about before you buy it that is okay with me, too. Again, just let me know so that I can send you the Zoom link. I would love to meet some of you virtually!
She bought this house to save her marriage. Unearthing its secrets might just claim her life.
Gwen McDaniel’s life is broken. But she knows the perfect place to fix it. Cold Harbor, Maine is where she used to vacation with her parents as a child, an idyllic small town with views of Acadia National Park. Here, she and Steven can start over, renovating their cliff-side fixer-upper while patching up their marriage. Soon, everything will be better.
Except from the moment they arrive, Gwen sees and hears things, and it’s more than just the drafts and shadows that are part of any old house. Steven downplays her fears, warning her not to fixate on problems as she has in the past. But Gwen spent years as a homicide detective, and her instincts don’t lie. Something happened here. Proof comes when she rips up the attic’s old carpet to discover a chilling message carved into the wood.
As Gwen delves into the history of the house and Cold Harbor community, she begins to piece the fragments together. And gradually, a terrifying picture emerges: A missing girl. A house of horrors. And a dark, decades-old nightmare that is more haunting than Gwen ever imagined.
My Thoughts
This book defines intense suspense and heart-pounding action as Gwen and Steven move into an apparently haunted house in Maine. The weather is cold, the people are hiding secrets and Gwen, recently fired from her job as a police officer in Baltimore, is on the trail of a mystery that is begging to be solved. But with her past, she may not be the right one to solve it, and her husband Steven wants her to just stay home, make a few friends and socialize. The house itself is personified as a character in this mesmerizing story of a house that has witnessed untold horrors. Gwen hears voices, the crying of a baby in the middle of the night and even sees things that quickly disappear. Everyone else questions her sanity except the new friend from the coffee shop, Cady, and together the two of them set out to find the truth, no matter the consequence of doing so. There are a ton of twists and surprises in this book and just when I thought I had something figured out, the author threw in another twist that made me rethink everything. I didn’t think anyone could really be trusted in this novel, but all of the characters were very believable and some I could even relate to. I felt sorry for Gwen who was mourning the loss of her baby, but I also felt sorry for Steven who was a doctor trying to get established in a new place and also dealing with his wife’s nightmares about their new home. There was not a single surprise that I was able to figure out, but I totally enjoyed trying to follow the numerous clues and distinguish them from fake trails. There are suspects galore, crimes from the past and in the present, and all tied up neatly together by an author who is a mistress of suspense thrillers. This book is not to be missed by anyone who enjoyed an Alfred Hitchcock kind of twisted tale as well as a good story with a faith foundation and a theme of second chances. I loved this novel and cannot recommend it highly enough! I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book and I also purchased my own copy. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own.
Christian fiction with intense suspense, Rated PG
About the Author
Jessica R. Patch is a New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than thirty novels. Known for her pulse-pounding plots, emotionally charged characters, and signature twists, Jessica’s stories explore themes of justice, resilience, and the unshakable power of hope.
Whether weaving inspirational stories of danger edged with romance or crafting chilling thrillers that probe the shadows of the human heart, Jessica delivers fiction that thrills while shining light in the darkest places.
She makes her home in Northwest Mississippi, where she enjoys life with her family, a good cup of tea, and dreaming up her next edge-of-your-seat story usually over tacos and queso.
You’re invited to join the Patched In community at her website: www.jessicarpatch.com and receive a FREE short thriller, Nobody Has to Know.
Jessica is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary Management.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 