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When her young husband joins the Confederate Army, Libby Beale Tanner knows he may never come home.  Still, she's not at all prepared to be a widow almost before she's had a chance to be a bride.  Haunted by the loss, Libby's overwhelming grief takes on a disturbing singlemindedness.  Obsessed with avenging her husband by killing one Union soldier to represent each of the dead man's twenty years of life, she disguises herself as a man and joins the Army herself.  

Although Josephine Beale never liked her sister's cocky husband, she's devastated to see her beloved Libby so overtaken by sadness.  When she discovers Libby's cockamamie plan to enlist, Josephine begs her sister not to be so foolhardy.  When Libby refuses to back down, Josephine does the only thing she can to protect her—she enlists, too.  

Rechristened Thomas and Joseph Holden, the women join a big, bloody war that will rock them to their cores in ways they could never have predicted.  Tormented nightly by her husband's angry ghost, Libby slowly descends into madness.  Struck by Cupid's arrow, Josephine is going crazy in a different way.  Desperate to keep their identities both concealed and intact, the sisters struggle to remain sane in a world gone utterly mad.

I find the subject of women disguising themselves as men to serve in the Civil War endlessly fascinating.  These based-on-a-true-story accounts showcase the courage and devotion that drove real women to join the cause, whether it was in an effort to stay close to a loved one, earn money for their families, or simply to prove themselves in a time when they were limited by the constraints of being a "lady".  Sisters of Shiloh, penned by sisters Kathy and Becky Hepinstall, is an interesting depiction of what two Southern women may have experienced while serving as Confederate soldiers.  Although the characters are not well developed, the sisters are both sympathetic story people.  Their tale is one of survival; as such, it's episodic, meandering, and even a little dull at times.  Despite this, a plodding pace, and some overdone prose, though, I liked Sisters of Shiloh well enough to finish it.   

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe and Women of the Blue and Gray by Marianne Monson)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, blood/gore, and mild sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Sisters of Shiloh with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

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College student Darby Thorne had no intention of going home for Christmas.  Until a diagnosis of late-stage pancreatic cancer changed everything.  Now the UC-Boulder art major is racing through a snowstorm to get to her mother's side.  As the weather worsens dramatically, she knows she can't risk her own life trying to drive through it.  Darby will have to wait it out.  She finds refuge at a remote rest stop with electricity, a coffee machine, and four strangers.  While she frantically searches for a cell signal so she can at least check in on her mom, Darby makes a shocking discovery in the frigid parking lot—a small child is locked in an animal cage in the back of a van.  There's no explanation for it except that one of the people inside the rest stop is a kidnapper.  With no safe way off the mountain, no cell phone service, and only a vague idea who the villain might be, it's up to Darby to save the child.

As the snow piles up outside, the stranded art major must think her way out of a desperate situation.  Which of the strangers can she trust to help her?  If she chooses incorrectly, it could mean danger for a helpless child and for herself.  Darby can't leave the captive to freeze to death or worse.  What can she possibly do to save them both from a situation that's growing more deadly with each passing minute?

No Exit, a new thriller by Taylor Adams, is getting all kinds of buzz right now.  Based on its intriguing premise, I can understand why.  I picked it up hoping for a taut psychological thriller—what I got was more thriller thriller.  The novel lacks the subtlety of the former, relying more on the kind of propulsive action most associated with the latter.  In fact, the story gets so unnecessarily graphic and violent that it feels far-fetched and, really, just kind of ridiculous.  Add in a cast of mostly unlikable characters, a "What's the point?" kind of vibe, and a nauseating blood-bath of a story and, in my opinion at least, you've got a stomach-turning thriller without a lot of redeeming qualities.  I still think No Exit's premise is chock-full of fascinating potential; its execution, though, leaves a lot to be desired.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, violence, blood/gore, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of No Exit from the generous folks at BookTrib in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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When her computer engineer husband dies in a car crash, 48-year-old Erin Gaines finds herself completely unmoored.  She's not sure how to proceed with day-to-day living, let alone how to manage her role as CEO of Jax, the lucrative startup tech company the Gaines' own with several of their friends.  Erin knows that, after five months, her paralyzing, zombie-like grief is wearing thin.  Everyone—her friends, family, and co-workers—have expressed grave concern about her ability to function at all, especially as the head of a powerful company at the peak of its performance.  After a particularly telling incident, Erin's loved ones stage an intervention, gently forcing her to enroll in a program at a luxurious "restoration" facility on a remote Caribbean island.  Reluctant though she is to admit it, Erin knows a few weeks at Hidden Sands might be exactly what she needs to come back to herself.

Shorie Gaines, Erin's 18-year-old daughter, is thrilled her mother's finally getting some help.  She's worried about Erin's emotional state, but she's also concerned over some weird error messages on Jax's operating system.  Something isn't quite right and with the company's CEO conveniently out of the way, it's up to Shorie to figure out what.  The more she digs, however, the more distressed she becomes.  When she receives a cryptic S.O.S. from her mother, Shorie realizes what Erin's already discovered—Erin has been sent to Hidden Sands not to heal, but to disappear ...

I discovered Emily Carpenter's mesmerizing thrillers last year and was absolutely thrilled to discover she'd be releasing a new one in 2019.  The premise and setting of her newest, Until the Day I Die (available March 12), is a bit different from her others.  It's got a less Gothic, more modern spin, which I ended up liking even though I wasn't sure I would.  Like Carpenter's previous novels, this one features a sympathetic heroine who becomes entangled in a unique, intriguing situation.  As the story stakes rise, the action ramps up until the reader is frantically whipping through pages to find out what will happen next.  Although the climax does come to a confusingly abrupt end (at least in the ARC), Until the Day I Die remains a propulsive, engrossing thriller from which you will not be able to look away.  It's far-fetched, sure, but who cares?  This is the kind of tense, nail-biting suspense that will leave fans thirsty for more.  I thoroughly enjoyed Until the Day I Die and can't wait to see what the incomparable Emily Carpenter will do next.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty and Every Single Secret by Emily Carpenter)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, mild sexual content, and references to illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Until the Day I Die from the generous folks at Lake Union Publishing via those at NetGalley.  Thank you!