Books 29-33

 Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin

He gave up his daughter years ago, but now he’ll risk his life to save hers.
Alex Mercer is no stranger to kidnappings. The emotional scars still run deep from his sister’s disappearance years earlier. His daughter Ariana remains safe long after her adoption, and he cherishes the few times a year he gets to see her. The joy is palpable when he takes her on their first one-on-one outing. At least until he pauses to answer a text and Ariana disappears…
Wracked with guilt and determined to find answers, Alex teams up with an unlikely ally at the police department. As the clues reveal a pattern of missing girls, the kidnapping case becomes a race against time to save Ariana. What cost is Alex willing to pay to keep his daughter alive?

I did enjoy this book but there were some pretty unbelievable points.  I don't think any 11 year old is as mature and level headed as Ariana is portrayed and the anger issues that Alex has are a little over the top.

Aunt Ivy's Cottage by Kristin Harper

Up in the attic, with views across the sparkling bay, she opens the lid of the carved trunk. Carefully moving aside the delicate linen wedding dress once worn by her great-aunt, she unpacks all the smaller boxes inside until she finds the leather-bound diary. She knows this will change everything…
All Zoey’s happiest childhood memories are of her great-aunt Ivy’s rickety cottage on Dune Island, being spoiled with cranberry ice cream and watching the tides change from the rooftop. Now, heartbroken from a recent breakup, Zoey can see her elderly aunt’s spark is fading, and decides to move to the island so they can care for each other.
When she arrives to find her cousin, Mark, sitting at the solid oak kitchen table, she knows why Aunt Ivy hasn’t been herself. Because Mark—next in line to inherit the house—is pushing Ivy to move into a nursing home.
With the cousins clashing over what’s best for Ivy, Zoey is surprised when the local carpenter who’s working on Ivy’s cottage takes her side. As he offers Zoey comfort, the two grow close. Together, they make a discovery in the attic that links the family to the mysterious and reclusive local lighthouse keeper, and throws doubt on Mark’s claim…
Now Zoey has a heartbreaking choice to make. The discovery could keep Ivy in the house she’s loved her whole life… but can Zoey trust that the carpenter really has Ivy’s best interests at heart? And will dredging up an old secret destroy the peace and happiness of Ivy’s final years—and tear this family apart for good? 

This was an easy read.  A bit slow in parts. Mark was quite an obnoxious pompous ass who quite readily accepted his fate at the end of the book, which really didn't seem to fit his character.  Nick was very slow off the mark with Zoey but it all came together in the end.

The Midwife Murders by James Patterson

A missing patient is a hospital ward's worst nightmare -- until even more disappear.
To Senior Midwife Lucy Ryuan, pregnancy is not an unusual condition, it's her life's work. But when two kidnappings and a vicious stabbing happen on her watch in a university hospital in Manhattan, her focus abruptly changes. Something has to be done, and Lucy is fearless enough to try.
Rumors begin to swirl, blaming everyone from the Russian Mafia to an underground adoption network. The feisty single mom teams up with a skeptical NYPD detective to solve the case, but the truth is far more twisted than Lucy could ever have imagined.

This book was definitely not one of James Patterson better books. The main character, Lucy, was not likeable at all. She came across as a know it all and thought that she was right about everything and didn't have to listen to the police or her bosses. She definitely has huge anger issues. The story is quite unbelievable at times. So many kidnappings at a hospital but Lucy thought she should be in charge of the investigation.  It wasn't too difficult to figure out who the bad guy was. Not a book I would recommend.

The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney

The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. I wonder which one of us will be next?
When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?
The trail leads Lottie to St. Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?
Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.

The book had many twists and turns that kept me wanting more. The pace is good while Lottie and her team race to catch the killer. There are definitely some dark themes and some upsetting scenes which are very disturbing 

Lottie is a mess. She's a mother of three, a widow still grieving for her husband, not spending enough time with her kids, fighting a lot with her mother, drinking too much and falling foul of her boss a lot, she's a very likeable if flawed character. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The prequel to The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

I really enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and I was so disappointed in this book. I found it slow, and boring. It was hard to have any empathy for Snow, knowing what he becomes in the trilogy. He came across as being full of self-pity, was self serving and full of poor me sob stories. Also didn't find Lucy Grey likeable, unlike Katniss.