In the small north Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues behind. There were no witnesses, no real suspects, no one with a motive. The police soon settled on Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s.
Quincy was framed, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison with no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. Then he wrote a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small innocence group founded by a lawyer/minister named Cullen Post.
Guardian handles only a few innocence cases at a time, and Post is its only investigator. He travels the South fighting wrongful convictions and taking cases no one else will touch. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy exonerated.
They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another one without a second thought.
So I was scrolling through some suggested books, and found myself looking for something different from my usual suspects (ha), but not too different. This is actually my first time reading one of John Grisham’s works, what are more commonly referred to as “legal thrillers”. Although I was slow to warm up to it, I actually found the overall quite pleasurable, read on to find out why!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
It’s Tuesday, and we’re back with a very interesting and kind of difficult list to assemble for TTT. I don’t know about you, but I read a lot of YA so uh, not everyone has jobs let alone exciting ones I would want.
But here goes nothing! What job would I want to potentially have, even for a moment, regardless if I am even qualified to do so?
Listing from #10 as a maybe to #1 as a hell yeah I wish I could do that…
10. Fable by Adrienne Young – Captain of a ship
I mean, who wouldn’t want to captain a ship and sail the open seas with your friends and crew mates? I think it would be a wonderful experience to have, and the bonds built between everyone must be strong because your lives are in each other’s hands. Just take a look at the crew Fable finds herself joining who become the family she’s been looking for. Though, if a giant ship wrecking storm came through, would I absolutely have to be the last one out of the ship…? Let me think about this a little longer.
9. Love, Life and the List by Kasie West – Museum/art gallery curator (amateur)
This sounds like it could be interesting – a very Night at the Museum feeling but for a living! I love looking at art and learning the stories behind its creation, but if I were a budding artist like Abby in Love, Life and the List then I might be more gung ho for a position here. Alas, my creative skills only go as far as writing.
8. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – King’s assassin
I absolutely adored this series growing up and just starting in the YA genre. One of my favourite couples are Valek and Yelena. And if I had to choose a job between the two of them, hands down I would want to be the king’s assassin/whatever the heck Valek is told to do. I mean, sure, there would be some morally questionable things he’d have to do because his king demands it, but would you rather be the king’s taste (I mean poison) tester instead? No, I don’t think so. Give me kickass fighting skills any day (I really DO wish I had some) over the potential of dying with every meal.
7. The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon – Radio show co-host
A recent read, and I found myself in love with the radio show segments in the book. I have wanted to start a podcast with my boyfriend for relationships, but this idea is pretty awesome. Not sure I’d be on board to do one with an ex, but I love the idea of sharing stories with people and getting to interact with those I would normally not get to reach out to in my day-to-day life. I suppose it’s why I blog, so a podcast is the next best thing!
6. Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – the Face (aka smooth talker/diplomat)
I was a super shy child, but I think I’ve found my voice as I’ve grown up through the years. I would like to think I could pull off a job such as the Face in the Aurora Cycle series. After all, you just got to look pretty and know how to talk your way out of absolutely any crazy situation that comes your way. Should be a piece of cake, right?
Unless you’re being hunted by multiple groups across the galaxy, but I’m sure my life would be a lot more simple than that. Hopefully.
5. Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe / The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson – Dog walker
I love dogs, and am actually hoping to get a dog this year (fingers crossed sooner than later, everyone). While I understand that walking dogs may not be super fun after a while, I think I would enjoy it at least for a good period of time in the beginning. Both the protagonists of Charming as a Verb and The Unexpected Everything walk dogs – plural – including a potential side hustle to attract more dog owners to your business. I could get into that kinda thing. The dog walking business, not the shady side of business. Of course.
4. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – student studying abroad (in Paris!)
Because studying can totally be a job! I was a student for almost two decades so I would consider it practically a profession (and one I consider going back into some days…I know, crazy right?). But what I would’ve given to be able to study abroad! Trust me, if that is ever an opportunity that opens for you, take it with open arms! Especially if you go to a place as beautiful as the City of Lights, which our girl Anna here did and got to meet cute French boys. Le sigh.
3. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – Art collector/treasure hunter
Who wouldn’t want to go hunting for archaeological finds like a modern day Indiana Jones? Though I suppose the crew in The Gilded Wolves were in the 1800s, but still. I love history and the treasure that explains so much of those who came before us. It’s fascinating and exciting to be able to piece it together, like detectives, and learn from the cultures of days past. Of course, add in an element of espionage and uh, potentially stealing precious artifacts from rivals would definitely add an extra layer to intrigue. I might be able to do without that. Maybe.
2. Influence by Sara Shepard & Lilia Buckingham – Influencer…
Everything is in its name. While the book really shows the price of social media fame, I do think learning more about what it’s like from the teen influencer author, Lilia Buckingham, has piqued my interest. I can’t say I wouldn’t love to gain a bigger platform at times, though I’m sure the more private part of me is happy I do not have such responsibility. Either way, if I had a choice, I would definitely want to try it.
1. Slay by Brittney Morris – Video game creator
But like the most kickass kinda interactive video game platform ever! I absolutely adored Slay, and had the pleasure of getting my hands on an ARC. The beauty of its black characterization and representation was everything missing in YA for so long. I learned so much from it, including video game creation/management which is what our protagonist is stuck doing even sometimes at odd hours in the night to interface with users across the world. If I could do absolutely anything, I would love to do this (though I have absolutely no technical skill to do so but let me have my fantasy).
And that’s it, everyone! What did you think about my fantasy job choices? Aside from the practicality of having the required skills, would any of you wish to be able to do these things for a living? Let me know in the comments below!
Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.
The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.
Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
Wow. Honestly after reading her One of Us is Lying series, I was already quite a fan of Karen M. McManus’s work. But after this one, I can truthfully say it’s actually my preferred book out of the three, and definitely makes me want to keep an eye out for whenever she publishes a new one.
In Two Can Keep a Secret, a pair of fraternal twins return to their mother’s hometown of Echo Ridge, where she was once the homecoming queen. Seventeen years ago, their mom’s twin sister disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again. Now, coming back, it seems as if history repeats itself as another girl goes missing around homecoming. Cryptic messages arise, spooking everyone out. Who is behind this whole mystery? Or is perhaps the town just cursed?
This is one of those whodunnits that follow multiple POVs, switching back and forth between chapters. The writing is clear, and actually, the chapters cut off quite suspensefully, making this book a real page turner. There is no shortage of excitement in this town of Echo Ridge, where there seems to be another disaster waiting to happen around every corner. Perhaps I have had less exposure to mystery novels recently, but I found the little twists and turns fairly hard to predict in this one, and that really helped me to enjoy the mystery aspect of it for sure.
I found that this was a really exciting read, and also really grew close to each of the characters despite their flaws and idiosyncrasies. Mysteries are always way more exciting when the reader feels like there are things on the line as the investigation moves forward, and my constant worrying for the main characters (and even their friends) really helped build the suspenseful ambience that I find to be the hallmark of a good mystery novel. The characters were well built, consistent to their character, and generally believable of teenagers/young adults living in a small town with a long history that precedes itself.
If you enjoy trying to guess what will happen and doing your own predictions as you read, I think you’ll enjoy this book. The little clues that are left by the author, and the way things are tied up together at the end make a lot of plausible sense, so the events didn’t feel too forced, and that is another important factor for a well written novel. One of the main characters actually reads a lot of mystery novels/true crime as kind of her core character, so it was also interesting to see how that really shaped her perceptions of what was happening to her, and how she fought to explain phenomena that was happening around her.
Overall Recommendations
Two Can Keep a Secret revolves around the small town, Echo Ridge, and the mysterious circumstances around which they keep losing their homecoming queens. Fast-paced, and full of suspense, you can’t help but feel sorry for these teenagers who get caught up in the cross-fire, or in the shame of their family’s past. If you enjoy a mystery that has lots of elements coming together for a spectacular finish, this may just be the one for you. Following very relatable teenagers caught up in their mess of a hometown, this is sure to be an exciting read for any YA mystery lover.
Down the Rabbit Hole 