Review: It’s One of Us by J.T. Ellison

Fellow Nashvillian J.T. Ellison publishes her latest stand-alone thriller, It’s One of Us today. I was pleased to receive an ARC of Ellison’s latest novel so I could participate in her blog tour for the book.  Details on the book and how to purchase it are included after my review.

After years of struggling with infertility, Olivia and Park Bender’s marriage is showing signs of strain. On the morning that Olivia experiences a miscarriage, the police arrive at their Nashville home with shocking news – Park’s DNA has been linked to a series of crimes. The implication is that either Park is a suspect or one of his children is.

So begins J.T. Ellison’s latest thriller, It’s One of Us.

Park has things in his past he’s not exactly been forthcoming with Olivia about, including his donation to a sperm bank that used his sample far more than the documentation said they should or would. Turns out Park has multiple children by different mothers and these children have all connected on a Discord server. There are also questions about Park’s past related to the disappearance of his college girlfriend.

Ellison piles on twist after twist to the story, shifting through multiple points of view during the story. Whether it’s one of the women who used Park’s sample, Park’s daughter, the suspect, Olivia, Park, or Park’s twin brother Perry, each narrator provides an interesting piece of the puzzle as the story of what happened starts to unfold. Ellison even puts in an interesting twist or two to a love triangle that developed between Olivia, Park, and his twin brother Perry back in their college days and one that threatens to resurface again now.

Seeing Ellison reference various areas of Nashville and our local television station is an added bonus for this reader as a resident of middle Tennessee. Thankfully, she doesn’t pull a 24 and has every destination in the area be only five minutes from each other as the plot or latest twist needs various players in various places at a certain time.

The premise of a marriage already under strain due to infertility and then tested by the wildest of external forces is an intriguing one. Ellison’s exploration of Olivia’s struggle and emotions with infertility hits home with raw power and emotion. Be warned that if this is something you or someone you love struggles with, this book may hit you in all the right and wrong ways. The afterward reveals Ellison’s own struggles and how they led to Olivia’s creation.

But as twist after twist arrives, the story begins to lose a bit of its focus and intensity in the second half. As I said earlier, there is a love triangle that emerges between Olivia and the Bender twins – one that gets exacerbated as secrets come to light and Park’s twin brother Perry arrives back in town at precisely the wrong moment. White the story works hard to establish the long-simmering tension, but the payoff isn’t as solid as it could or should have been.

It ends up taking the story down a peg or two in the final pages and left me feeling a bit unsatisfied with It’s One Of Us in the final pages.

About the Book:

From the New York Times bestselling author comes this twisting, emotionally layered thriller about a marriage torn apart when the police arrive at an infertile couple’s door and reveal the husband’s son is the prime suspect in a murder. The perfect blend of exhilarating suspense and issue-driven book club fiction.

Everybody lies. Even the ones you think you know best of all . . .

Olivia Bender designs exquisite home interiors that satisfy the most demanding clients. But her own deepest desire can’t be fulfilled by marble counters or the perfect rug. She desperately wants to be a mother. Fertility treatments and IVF keep failing. And just when she feels she’s at her lowest point, the police deliver shocking news to Olivia and her husband, Park.

DNA results show that the prime suspect in a murder investigation is Park’s son. Olivia is relieved, knowing this is a mistake. Despite their desire, the Benders don’t have any children. Then comes the confession. Many years ago, Park donated sperm to a clinic. He has no idea how many times it was sold—or how many children he has sired.

As the murder investigation goes deeper, more terrible truths come to light. With every revelation, Olivia must face the unthinkable. The man she married has fathered a killer. But can she hold that against him when she keeps such dark secrets of her own?

This twisting, emotionally layered thriller explores the lies we tell to keep a marriage together–or break each other apart . . .

About the Author:

J.T. Ellison is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of more than 20 novels, and the EMMY-award winning co-host of A WORD ON WORDS, Nashville’s premier literary show. With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim, prestigious awards, and has been published in 26 countries. Ellison lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens.

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.jtellison.com/ 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/jtellison14  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thrillerchick 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrillerchick 

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Its-One-Us-Novel-Suspense-ebook/dp/B09ZLGLKH9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=222QCNJW8SCPI&keywords=it%27s+one+of+us&qid=1673560699&sprefix=it%27s+one+of+us%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-1  

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/its-one-of-us-j-t-ellison/1141813790?ean=9780778311768  

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/book/9780778311768 

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/buy-local/9780778311768 

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Its-One-Us/J-T-Ellison/9780778311768?id=8292090795540 

TV Round-Up: Star Trek: Picard & Quantum Leap

Star Trek: Picard, “The Next Generation”

I see what you did there, Star Trek: Picard – so, clever.

The Next Generation had a pretty good send-off in “All Good Things…” thirty or so years ago. The problem since that time is we’ve had four movies and two seasons try to achieve what that episode did so well – all with varying degrees of success.

So, as Picard starts its third season, we’re again assembling the Next Gen crew for a reunion and final send-off.

Let’s just hope it goes better than Nemesis.

So far, it’s off to an interesting start and following the 90’s Trek motto of “canon, we don’t need no stinkin’ canon!” I say this because, at the end of last season, we had just signed a peace treaty with the Borg – something that should be fairly huge and isn’t once addressed or even referenced.

Instead, there is some kind of new threat and it involves Crusher. She reaches out to Picard, who then starts assembling the TNG crew to go out and help her. Well, Riker at least, who is apparently estranged from Deanna and his kid because, well, reasons. Honestly, I keep thinking that the writers for Trek just haven’t embraced long-form storytelling – and it’s showing up again here.

Though it does lead to some fun moments like seeing how a more button downed, by the book captain views Riker and Picard’s exploits. The scene of them stuck in bunk beds as the best accommodations that could be come up with at short notice was a great moment. I couldn’t help but wonder if this sequence might have been a bit more fun if we’d referenced Jellico somehow – cause this captain seems like he’s of the same mold as Jellico and doesn’t love Picard and company playing fast and loose with rules and regulations.

Honestly, it made me wonder a bit about how certain figures in the Trek canon become viewed by their peers over time. It seems like the attitude of “y’all did what you wanted out there” was one that other TNG people have had toward a certain favorite TOS captain of mine. I wonder if this thread might be addressed as we go along in the show, or if it’s just a conflict to make Seven of Nine choose who she’s loyal to most.

I also wouldn’t put it past them to have an Admiral Janeway cameo at some point this season. It only feels like a matter of time.

As for the rest, the story does enough to intrigue me for the rest of the season, and wonder just how long until we see Geordi and Worf drop by for some wacky adventures.

Quantum Leap

I got behind on Quantum Leap but spent the last week or so catching up on things.

My issue with the series continues to be the same – for the most part, I like things unfolding in the past with Ben (the episode with him caught in a time loop and solving the mystery was a fun twist) but the stuff in the future leaves me cold.

It also feels like they’re stretching things a bit.

Every episode ends on some kind of cliffhanger designed to ensure we tune in next week for more answers.

It makes me think the original was onto something by not showing the future very often. It allowed us to fill in gaps with our imagination and to have a bigger connection with Al as a character. It also helped underscore the connection between Sam and Al.

But now, it feels like the show is leaning too hard into an arc for the sake of an arc. We’ve got another leaper out there and Ian is somehow connected. Is Ian a mole or does he become one? Does he turn against the team at some point? Has he been leapt into this whole time and we aren’t aware of it until now? So many questions and not enough answers to really satisfy me.

Audiobook Review: A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan

Sophie Sullivan’s A Guide to Being Just Friends feels like a page out of a Hallmark Channel holiday movie — well, minus the snow and season’s greetings.

Following a bad breakup, Hailey has put out her shingle in the business world under the banner of a new, made-to-order salad restaurant. Wes has gone into business with his brothers, trying to escape their domineering father and memories of a bitter divorce between his parents.

When the two cross paths in a meet-cute moment (he assumes she’s the woman he’s been chatting with online at the coffee shop next to Hailey’s salad shop), Wes realizes he owes Hailey an apology. And then, the dance begins as the two decide their lives are just too hectic to date, but they can be just friends.

Except there are things simmering here that could come to a full boil.

Sullivan crafts two protagonists you can easily root for in this romantic comedy. Along the way, there are speed bumps and, given the alternating viewpoints of both our potential romantic partners, this does lead to some frustration in later chapters when the (inevitable) conflict arises.

However, that’s not to say there isn’t a lot here to enjoy. There is, but there were moments I grew frustrated with the story and characters.

The audio version of this works well, though Timothy Andrés Pabon’s narration as Wes tends to come across a bit faster than Stephanie Willing’s does as Hailey. This makes the transitions from one narrator to the other a bit jarring a first, but you will easily settle into the rhythms and voice of each person telling his or her side of the story.

In all, this is a fairly fun diversion and one that I’d recommend if you want a Hallmark Channel-style rom-com.

I received an arc of the audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review: Class Mom by Laurie Gelman

Jen Dixon isn’t your typical kindergarten-class mom. She already has two daughters in college from her days wandering the globe as a music groupie and a son who is entering his first year of kindergarten with her (relatively) new husband. Despite her protests, Jen’s best friend talks her into being a class mom for her son’s class — and hijinks ensue.

In her attempts to inject a bit of humor and personality into the class parent’s emails, Jen opens herself up to all types of criticism and judgment from her fellow parents. Never mind that she’s trying to get the job done and figure out the quirks of her son’s teacher (for example, she doesn’t believe in “Hallmark holiday” parties, making planning for said events problematic). She also can’t help that one set of parents uses a parental cocktail party to have a friend pedal her jewelry — and the assumption this was Jen’s idea.

Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom is equal parts hilarious and eye-opening. Seeing Jen navigate the class parent waters is entertaining — even if some of the situations she finds herself in are seemingly over the top. Gelman’s performance of her book is spot and helps you feel for Jen and her self-created issues, including the innocent flirting with her former high school crush that slowly gets out of hand and threatens her marriage.

Jen feels entirely authentic, even as some events spiral out of control. The delight she and other class parents find in trying to delve into their children’s teacher is one of the highlights of the novel.

Audiobook Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney

Most of the entries in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series are a lot like the Zucker/Abrams/Zucker movies of my younger days — throwing a lot of jokes and seeing what’s going to stick. This leads to some absolutely hilarious moments on the perils of growing up and to some mainly other forgettable moments. And I suppose I shouldn’t scoff at anything this is encouraging young people to crack the cover of a book.

But as I listened to the seventeenth installment, Diper Overlode, I couldn’t help but think that either the formula is wearing a bit thin or that maybe it’s time to have Greg grow up a bit.

Some of that may stem that instead of putting Greg front and center this time around, the focus is his older brother Rodrick and his dreams of having his garage band become the next big thing. Yes, Greg is there to relate most of the exploits that Rodrick and his band engage in while trying to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands, but I can’t help but feel like a lot of the story is happening without Greg being a vital character to things. Much of it is Greg relating things Rodrick has told hi or the story stretching to find ways to include Greg as part of Loaded Diaper.

Yes, there are so amusing moments including Greg and a band member stealing a drumstick from an animatronic gorilla at the local equivalent of Chuck E.. Cheese. But there are moments where Rodrick and the band get to meet their band heroes that ring a bit more hollow than usual because Greg has little or no investment in the band beyond his big brother being a fan. I can’t help but wonder if deviating from the formula by having Rodrick narrate things might have helped a bit here.

All this isn’t to say this is a terrible book. It’s just one that feels like a lackluster entry in what has been an enjoyable series — and one that I’m reliving with my daughter, who is fully enthralled with the exploits of Greg and company.

Comic Book Friday: Batman ’89

Comic book movies have always cited original source material, but it wasn’t until the advent of the MCU that said movies attempted to be interconnected as some of the most memorable storylines in comic books have been. So, while Tim Burton’s Batman may have introduced some possible story threads for future use, there wasn’t always a guarantee there was a plan in place or a long-term payoff.

One example is the inclusion of Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent. Fans of the comics would get the Easter Egg and hope for an eventual payoff of Williams’ character becoming Two-Face. Alas, creative differences between Burton and the studio over Batman Returns meant this thread was jettisoned and we got Tommy Lee Jones chewing scenery as Two-Face instead of Williams.

This brings us to Batman ’89, a six-part story that imagines what could have been had the original outline for a third Burton-directed Batman installment seen the light of day.

The six issues here feel very episodic and only tangentially connected by a running thread of Dent’s campaign to clean up Gotham and his evolution into Two-Face. The big problem is that Christopher Nolan and company gave us this story on the big-screen and the story that unfolds here feels like it’s borrowing some of the bigger stories beats from that version. I get there are only so many Two-Face stories out there, but I was hoping for a different take on this than what we got.

More interesting is the lurking presence of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman and the emergence of Marlin Wayans’ Robin to this niche of the Batman universe. Seeing Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman conflicted about his relationship with each of them is a nice touch, even if the whole Catwoman thread kind of goes off the rails in the final installment.

There are a few other gems in here, but overall, the story doesn’t necessarily live up to its full potential. That said, it’s still a fascinating “what if” exercise into a universe that it appears we may not see on-screen again (despite Keaton filming some cameos) in the near future.

Review: The Winds of Change and Other Stories by Issac Asimov

Even though Isaac Asimov published prolifically across multiple decades, his stories feel like they should fall under the #vintagescifi umbrella. So it is that each year for #vintagescifimonth, I always want to pick up an Asimov collection to try and gain some headway on the sheer volume of short stories he published

The Winds of Change is a collection that dates from the mid-’80s and while it only has one or two stories that would be considered “vintage” by their publication date, the entire collection feels like it’s “vintage Asimov.”

My favorite story from the collection is “Fair Exchange,” in which two Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts meet, fall in love, and marry around their shared love of the duos plays, including the lost score to a Thespis. The premise is that our narrator is given the chance to leap back into the mind of an ordinary person from the era and ends up saving the score from being lost, but there’s a Twilight Zone-like twist/price to doing so. As a fan of classic Doctor Who, I often wonder what price would be too high to have a full catalog of the last episodes from the program’s earliest days in the archives and/or sitting on my shelf on whatever physical media of the moment is. This story made me stop and ponder the question and its implications in greater depth.

Of the twenty-one stories in the book, some are hits, and others are misses. Asimov includes several stories that serve as long versions of “dad jokes” complete with the groan-inducing pun at the end. The only story that qualifies as “vintage” is “Belief,” about a man who is slowly levitating but apparently can’t control it. In the introduction, Asimov notes that the publisher asked for a revision to the original ending, which was apparently a bit darker. The note made me curious about his original intentions for the story in light of the happier ending. Apparently, Asimov didn’t have a copy of the original ending for publication here.

Each story comes with a short introduction by Asimov, which offers some insight into the creation and/or publication of each story. The peek inside the mind of the writer is a fascinating one — and one that I kind of wish we’d got a bit more of. I foresee myself seeking out Asimov’s autobiography at some point in the near future based on these introductions.

As with any short story collection, mileage varies from story to story. I will say the first half feels a bit stronger than the second half, though I do like Asimov’s decision to include the stories alphabetically.