I Only Have Lies for You

Randisi really phoned this one in, and no one bothered to proofread it at all, which, if this really is the last one like he hints, is a sad ending to a great series.
Frank and Eddie G. go to Florida so Frank can introduce Eddie to his pal, Jackie Gleason. Jackie's girlfriend, Marilyn, is being followed but before Jackie can ask Eddie for his help, her sister June does. Eddie agrees, and spots Marilyn's tail. The guy later turns up knifed, and so does the driver who was with Eddie when he found the body. Eddie brings Jerry in from Brooklyn, and the two of them end up on a wild goose chase between Vegas and Florida because Jackie and Frank are both keeping important information from him. Eddie is frankly getting sick of being used by the Rat Pack and their friends (I seriously don't blame him--he's almost been killed a dozen times because of them at this point, plus he never gets to spend any time doing his actual job). The whole story was pretty ridiculous and nonsensical, and the numerous mistakes definitely didn't help me suspend my disbelief. Very disappointing.

One of Us is Next

The sequel to "One of Us is Lying" was pretty good. A year and a half after Simon terrorized Bayview High, students get a new text message: time to play Truth or Dare. The person who is chosen to play has 24 hours to choose, otherwise one of their secrets will be revealed. The first young lady, Phoebe, chooses to ignore her text and the master of the game reveals that she slept with her older sister's boyfriend. Oooh, ugly. Everyone after that starts choosing Dare, until Brandon is killed while performing a stunt. The kids very, very stupidly choose not to tell any adults in their lives what's going on (seriously. Why do teenagers think they can solve everything themselves? I would have told my parents so fast, but not a single kid in the entire high school says anything to anyone in authority? I mean, c'mon). The ending was a little too neat for my taste (the twist wasn't quite as twisty as in the first book) but all in all it was a fun, quick read.

Fiery Cross

I have to admit, the fifth volume of the Outlander series, "Fiery Cross", felt just a wee bit like fan fiction to me. Not that I mind much (I did, after all, like "Twilight" because Meyer wrote the story the way I wanted her to, which I'm not used to). The book starts out with a gathering of Scots in the New World. Brianna and Roger are married. Jamie's aunt Jocasta is set to marry as well, but the priest is arrested, so she decides to postpone her wedding. The Colonies are uneasy, and the Crown is sending out militias to put down the rebels. It's 1771, only a few more years until the American Revolution, when the rebels win their freedom and form the United States. Jamie and Claire know it's coming, but it's one thing to know and anther to live through it and figure out what to do. There were quite a lot of fun scenes in this one with the kiddos, Gabaldon said the reason she skipped 20 years between "Outlander" and "Dragonfly in Amber" was because she didn't want to write about Brianna being a baby because she thought it was boring, but she did a good job with it.

The Invited

I was a little disappointed by this one, it was just a bit too predictable (if I can figure it out, then you know everyone else can, too). Nate and Helen leave behind their secure lives in Connecticut to buy a plot of land in Vermont and build their dream house. The land they bought used to belong to Hattie Breckenridge: a local woman who was hanged in the 1920s for witchcraft. Helen does a lot of research into Hattie's life and before long it turns into an obsession. She's filling the new house with things that have ties to Hattie in some way, and even goes to a seance to communicate with her ghost. Meanwhile Olive, who is Helen and Nate's closest neighbor, is still mourning the loss of her mother a year earlier. Rumor is she ran off with another man, and Olive is watching her dad slowly fall apart. She's determined to find Hattie's rumored buried treasure, convinced that will bring her mom home. She tries to scare Nate and Helen off their land (since she wants to search there) but instead ends up becoming friends with them and helping them work on their house. Like I said, the ending was predictable, and it wasn't a bad story all in all. I ended up liking Helen and Nate more than I thought I would at first.

Queen Mother

I've been trying to finish this biography about Queen Elizabeth II's mother *forever*. It's not that it wasn't good, it certainly was, it just kept getting pushed to the back burner as due dates for library books popped up. Shawcross was the Queen Mother's official biographer, so it was very complimentary. Elizabeth Bowes Lyon grew up in Scotland, nursing wounded soldiers as a young teen during WWI. She was very pretty and popular and had no shortage of young men, but she chose (after much persuasion on his part) Prince Albert. Since the Prince had an older brother, David, she never dreamed she would someday be queen, but after Edward VIII abdicated, Bertie became King George VI and Elizabeth became Queen. It was a very touching, loving portrait of a woman who dedicated her life to public service.