Total Books: 5 Total Pages: 1401 Longest: 578 Shortest: 70
Genres: 3 (Fiction – 2, History – 1, Thriller – 2)
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
I read a lot of good books this year, but I absolutely could not put this one down from the start until I finished which resulted in staying up until 3am!
Liv Constantine is the pen name of sisters, Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. I will definitely be reading more books by them, including The Next Mrs. Parrish.
From the Back Cover: Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted.
And Amber has a devilish plan to achieve her dream. But things aren’t always what they appear to be and some dreams can turn into nightmares.
I was already well-vested in the story when this exchange occurred in Chapter 12:
Having just finished Girl Sleuth (Note 59), I really enjoyed the serendipity of seeing Nancy Drew referenced in the very next book I read! However, be warned that Amber is nothing like the wholesome Nancy Drew – but you will have already figured that out by now.
If you don’t find yourself saying “just one more chapter” until you get to the end, I’ll be surprised!
Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs
From Amazon: Three sisters reunite on a family vacation and rekindle their relationship the only way they know how—by covering each other’s tracks in a real-life murder mystery not even they can figure out.
This book is full of interesting characters from the hippie parents to the quirky aunt, impossible situations, misunderstandings, general extended family mayhem, and the already mentioned murder, of course. It was a quick, fun read after the intensity of The Last Mrs. Parrish.
The First Shot by Liv Constantine
In this short story prequel to The Last Mrs. Parrish, Amazon states that the reader will “discover exactly how Amber Patterson transformed from small-town girl to master manipulator – after all, practice makes perfect.”
The First Shot answers a lot of questions as to Amber’s prior escapades which were referenced obliquely in The Last Mrs. Parrish. Although it is a prequel, I recommend waiting to read it until after reading The Last Mrs. Parrish. Luckily it is short enough you shouldn’t have to stay up until 3am to finish!
The Pentagon’s Brain by Annie Jacobsen
For my non-fiction selection this month, I went with The Pentagon’s Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America’s Top-Secret Military Research Agency. Published in 2015, I viewed this as somewhat of a follow-up to several other books I read this year (The Road to Station X (Note 52), The Accidental President (Note 57), and Mossad (Note 58)).
Established in 1958 by President Eisenhower, in response to the surprise launch of Sputnik in 1957 by the Russians, as ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and renamed DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in 1972, its purpose is essentially to get ahead of any further surprise technologies. It also served to consolidate research projects being done concurrently and non-collaboratively among the various defense departments (Army, Navy, etc.).
The thoroughly-researched book provides an interesting historical perspective from the Cold War through approximately 2014 of the agency tasked with ensuring the U.S. maintains technical dominance in the world. In a nutshell, DARPA itself consists simply of project managers who oversee the actual scientific work which is farmed out to various think tanks, defense contractors, academics, and other government agencies to create the science of tomorrow.
DARPA “inventions” range from the Internet (ARPANET) to GPS to stealth drones to currently undisclosed technologies. Jacobsen also addresses the moral and ethical aspects faced in determining the usage of some of DARPA’s creations. Many of these technologies were pure science fiction to begin with and took decades to come to fruition. Obviously, while usage within military situations is the original goal of these technologies, many go on to have productive commercial use in our everyday lives.
Holiday Hideaway by Mary Kay Andrews
I closed out the year with this short story by a favorite “beach read” author, Mary Kay Andrews (pen name used by Kathy Hogan Trocheck). I’m all in for searching out nom de plumes lately. In September, I read her novel Deep Dish (Note 57).
On Amazon: From New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews comes a charming holiday romance about a newly single thirtysomething whose unauthorized vacation rental turns into a hilarious game of hide-and-seek when the new owner unexpectedly shows up.
This one was over much too quickly, but then it was a “short story” after all! I could easily picture this as a Hallmark holiday movie.
I’ll post my 2024 reading overview soon. Until then, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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