Ten years ago, a beautiful 19-year-old cheerleader went missing from a small Texas town.  Her disappearance still haunts the place and the people who vowed to find Trumanell "True" Branson, but couldn't.  Although he has been cleared by the authorities, many believe True's younger brother, Wyatt, killed her.  Especially after a new documentary focuses the spotlight on him once more.  His standing in the town becomes even more precarious when a young girl is seen at his home.  The recluse claims he found the mute, abused child on the side of the road.  Is Wyatt, a presumed murderer, really being a Good Samaritan?  Or does he have more sinister plans for the mysterious girl he calls Angel?  Who is she, anyway?  Where did she come from?  And, most importantly, who hurt her?

Odette Tucker—daughter of the town's beloved police chief, now a cop in her own right—feels an immediate kinship with Angel.  She doesn't want to believe that Wyatt, her high school boyfriend, could hurt anyone, but it's her duty to protect her town.  As she investigates one lost girl in the present, her thoughts turn constantly to True.  What really happened to Odette's old friend?  Can the two cases possibly be connected?  The more Odette digs, the more dangerous her investigation becomes.  Will she be the next woman to disappear from a town steeped in secrets?

Tense, atmospheric mysteries are my jam, so I was all in for this gritty thriller.  We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin stars a brave police officer with a tough exterior, a titanium leg, and a soft, loyal heart.  Odette has her flaws, but all in all, she's a likable, root-worthy heroine.  The supporting cast members (with a few exceptions, most notably Maggie and crew) are less affable, but still intriguing in their contrasting complexity.  An atmospheric Texas setting provides a vivid backdrop to the story, with some small-town politics thrown in for added tension and drama.  Plot-wise, the tale is gripping, with plenty of conflict to keep it interesting.  I saw the killer coming, yes, but not their motive.  There were a few other twists along the way, including a unique story shift that really caught me by surprise.  While I'm still not sure I liked the jarring swerve, it definitely added an intriguing layer to the story.  While We Are All the Same in the Dark is a raw, depressing tale, it's a mostly satisfying one that kept me burning through its pages, eager to know what was going to happen next.  This is the first book I've read by Heaberlin, but believe you me, I'll be checking out her others.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other small-town-big-secrets thrillers, but no specific titles are coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of We Are All the Same in the Dark from the generous folks at Penguin Random House via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

I'm perpetually behind on reviews and this one is a good example.  I read The Daughters of Foxcote Manor (also called The Glass House) by Eve Chase way back in April.  While I enjoyed it, I really can't remember much about it.  So, I'm going to cheat and use the official blurb:

Since I'm not feeling very inspired by today's TTT topic—Top Ten Books With Numbers in the Titles—I'm going to skip ahead to next week's, which is all about what's on my Fall TBR list.  I'm still hoping to read at least 55 books before the year ends, so I'll give you ten potential reads this week and ten next week.  I'll miss the next two weeks after that because I'll be in...drumroll, please...Europe!  We're heading out soon for our long-awaited sightseeing/family history trip to the U.K. and France.  My ancestors emigrated from England, Wales, and Scotland in the 1800s and I, personally, have never been back.  I'm excited to be able to finally see their homelands for myself.  

If you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do!), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

1.  Survive the Night by Riley Sager—I've mentioned this one a few times already because I'm so excited to read Sager's newest thriller about a ride-share road trip gone wrong.  I'm finally at the top of the library's queue, so I should have this one in my hot little hands within the next week or so.

2.  Beyond the Mapped Stars by Rosalyn Eves—I bought a copy of this MG historical set in 1878, which is about a teen girl who's caught between the future she wants as an astronomer and the one she's expected to lead as a proper Mormon girl, soon to be married off despite her young age. 

3.  Where Echoes Lie by Shannon Schuren (available October 19, 2021)—This eerie YA thriller sounds like the perfect read for Halloween.  It's about a teenage girl who's obsessed by a local legend about a ghost bride who haunts her Kentucky town.

4.  Cackle by Rachel Harrison (available October 5, 2021)—Another fun Halloween yarn, this one concerns a woman looking for a fresh start who moves to a quaint town in upstate New York.  She's charmed by her new town, where everything is just too perfect to be real.  Her new bestie included.  It's not long before the newcomer begins to realize that something a little...otherworldly...may be going on.

5.  Bottomland by Michelle Hoover—I need a book set in Iowa for the Literary Escapes Challenge and this novel sounds intriguing.  It's about a German family in America who's been the center of anti-German sentiment following World War I.  When two of their daughters go missing one night, they fear the worst.  What happened to the girls?  Will they ever be found?

6.  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë—This classic fits a few reading challenge prompts I need to fill, so it's a good time for a re-read.

7.  The Gold in These Hills by Joanne Bischof—This dual-timeline novel concerns Juniper Cohen, a mail-order bride who finds love with a kind man in a rough California mining town.  When he disappears, she's confused and distraught.  One hundred years later, a struggling single dad finds the letters Juniper wrote to her lost husband and becomes embroiled in their long-ago mystery.

8.  The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes—The Inheritance Games is a fun YA novel about an ordinary girl who learns she's in the running to inherit an immense fortune.  I've been looking forward to the sequel, which continues the story of the madcap competition that will win someone a very large amount of money.

9.  The Cure for What Ales You by Ellie Alexander (available October 5, 2021)—The Sloan Krause series is one of my favorite cozies, so I'm eagerly awaiting this fifth installment.  In this one, Sloan is still on the hunt for her birthmother.  When the woman she believes is her mother becomes a suspect in a murder, things start to get super complicated...

10.  What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson—Idaho is another of the few states I have left in the Literary Escapes Challenge, so I'm going to give this YA book a go.  It's about two desperate teenagers on the hunt for a cache of money that will enable both to survive their bleak existences.  They're not the only ones, however, who will stop at nothing to find the stash.

There you go, a variety of novels I'm hoping to read this Fall.  Have you read any of them?  What did you think?  What are you planning to read in the next few months?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!  

With her father away from home to find work, 20-year-old Tansy Calhoun must pitch in even more than usual to help her family.  Not only does she help her mother take care of the home and care for her younger siblings, but Tansy also works as a packhorse librarian.  Delivering books to the folks nestled high in the Appalachian Mountains is the highlight of her long days.  She loves the freedom, the land, and the people.  While there's satisfaction in the simplicity of her life, Tansy can't help but long for the kinds of magical romances she reads about in books.  Is it too much to hope for a Prince Charming of her own?

After working out of state with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 26-year-old Caleb Barton has returned to Kentucky to help his mother after the death of his brother.  He's surprised to learn that Tansy—the girl he's been in love with since childhood—remains unmarried.  When a smooth-talking writer comes into town looking for stories for the Federal Writers' Project, his sights land on the pretty librarian as well.  Can Caleb wrestle up the courage to finally confess his feelings for Tansy before it's too late?

Crochety spinster Perdita Sweet may still be embittered over her own lost love, but she's not about to let Tansy make a poor choice.  Can her meddling persuade her starry-eyed cousin to stop looking for love inside the pages of a novel and see that the perfect man is right in front of her?  Or will Tansy break all their hearts by falling for the fancy city slicker?

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Along a Storied Trail from the generous folks at Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group) in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!