Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

Anyone a member of an online bookclub? I have three I try to keep up, PBS Newshour, Oprah, and Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine. Something in the Water is the Hello Sunshine pick of the month and the description sounded really interesting AND I just happened to have a digital copy provided to me by NetGalley so I dove (no pun intended) right in.

Something in the Water is about a couple on honeymoon in Bora Bora who, as the title gives away, find something in the water. Something potentially dangerous for them to have in their possession but circumstances in their lives leading up to this point make keeping what they find too tempting to pass up. There is mystery and danger and a general sense of not knowing who to trust.

Except....and I'm gonna get kind of spoilery here without completely giving anything away...it's SO blatantly obvious who not to trust. But, being spoiled by stories like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, I kept thinking I HAD to be wrong, that I would eventually be rewarded with some kind of big twist that I didn't see coming. But that never happened and I ended up feeling really let down by this one. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Catherine Steadman's writing style, but the story itself was a disappointment.

Have you read this one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments...I'm curious to know if anyone else felt the same way about this one.

Something in the Water
Catherine Steadman
Ballantine Books
362 pages
Published June 5, 2018

Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben

How many of you have watched Safe, the eight episode series on Netflix? I decided to check it out last week and was immediately hooked. It's a mystery with tons of twists and turns and a fantastic cast ( including Michael C.Hall with a British accent so convincing I had to google to see if it was real.)

After watching, I decided I had to read me some Harlan Coben, Safe was just too good. Now I've heard his name a zillion times over the years but for some reason I had never read one of his books. I think maybe there's a bit of a reluctance to read "popular" fiction...the mass market paperback type of book, but you know what? I devour Stephen King (pretty popular, no?) and let's face it, popular fiction is popular for a reason. People enjoy reading it.

I checked out his titles on Amazon (over 30!) and downloaded Don't Let Go.

I. Couldn't. Put. It. Down.

Now I get why his books are immediate best sellers and why he has won so many awards. Don't Let Go drew me in from the very first page and didn't let me out until I finished it two days later. Coben is an incredibly gifted storyteller..the kind that keeps you up late at night so you can read "just one more chapter." Damn, but this one was downright fun to read.

My advice? Watch Safe on Netflix. Then head to the bookstore or Amazon, browse through his titles, and pick one. Or two. Or thirty. Don't Let Go was my first Harlan Coben read, but it certainly won't be my last.