Need some suggestions for your summertime reading?  Take a look at what I thought of a few of the books I recently read:

Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder (Audiobook)

The thrills in this book build slowly but then explode with a bang, just like the friendship between Jason and Kurt. Kurt helps Jason out when his car needs a tow and Jason takes note that Kurt, with his army special forces training, seems to have the kind of athletic prowess and assertive personality that Jason is lacking but could really use. Jason is a businessman for an electronics company and as he gets to know Kurt he finds that several of Kurt’s special forces skills and contacts could be useful to him in the cutthroat world of business. He gets Kurt a job as a security officer at his firm and Kurt helps him out with getting some inside information that helps Jason in some business deals.  At first Jason really appreciates all the help Kurt has given him but then he becomes suspicious about some disturbing things going on around the office—things that started happening when Kurt was hired. 
The way this builds to a highly dangerous situation for Jason was wonderful. The scenario of someone you invite into your life suddenly surprising you was truly chilling. Fans of thrills and chills and truly creepy bad guys should give this one a read or a listen. 

Hope’s Boy: A Memoir by Andrew Bridges (Audiobook)

Andy ‘Andrew’ Bridges’ job as a lawyer takes him to an instituion for children in state custody—an institution eeriely similar to the one he found himself in years ago as a young boy. Bridges then flashes back to tell us the story of his childhood—a childhood where his mentally unstable mother, Hope, took him at age 7 from the care of his grandmother. For a while things were fine with Hope and she tried to be a good, if somewhat eccentric, mother, but her mental conditon continued to deteriorate and eventually Andy was taken away from her. Then he found himself in the care of the state where he lived through several hellish years of institutional and foster care. He never forgot his mother though, the one person whose love he could count on, who he was sure he belonged too. It is a poignant story and very well told. Bridges does a good job of expressing just what his childhood feelings were in very vivid scenes and words. I was enthralled by the audio version and highly recommend reading or listening to this story.

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O’Brien (Historical Fiction)

The Harriet is Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Isabella is her sister Isabella Beecher. The novel revolves around a breach that occured between the two sisters when their brother (a prominent minister) became involved in a scandel where he was accused of adultery. The two sisters took slightly different stands on what their brother should do and that drove them apart. At the beginning of the story that brother is dying and Isabella wants desperately to see him before he passes and hopefully find reconciliation with the family. But they refuse to let her in the house. The story flashes back and forth between her continued efforts to reconcile with the Beechers and flashbacks to what happened in the past. Along the way the reader learns a lot about this once prominent family and the issues of their day—slavery and women’s rights.
This historical novel was a great blend of an emotionally laden storyline and historical information. This worked well to keep my interest. Fans of historical fiction, especially that dealing with the issues of slavery and/or womans suffarage and women’s rights will love this one.