After You'd Gone Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm an avid reader, an oftentimes jaded reader, and a book has to be nothing short of remarkable to make me visibly emotional. But Maggie O'Farrell's book made me both laugh and cry out loud, and kept me up all night until I finished.
After You'd Gone is a series of flashbacks, written from different perspectives, that together form a highly emotional family portrait.
You can't help but be drawn in by the characters. You feel for them, you understand them, and you ultimately care what happens to them. Oftentimes, British novels with British characters are a little more difficult for American readers to relate to. But this is not the case with O'Farrell's book.
Male or female, young or old, everyone can appreciate this story. It is an easy read, full of humor, romance, and grief - a unique combination that will stay with you long after you are finished.

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Terror by Night: The True Story of the Brutal Texas Murder That Destroyed a Family, Restored One Man's Faith, and Shocked a Nation Review

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(More customer reviews)On March 1, 2008, author Terry Caffey's life changed forever.
Caffey and his wife of almost 19 years had set firm rules with their sixteen-year-old daughter, Erin, in regards to her romantic relationship with eighteen-year-old Charlie Wilkinson.
She saw only one way to escape her parents rigidity: their death.
And on that fateful night, Penny Caffey would die; along with her two young sons: Matthew, 13 and Tyler, 8. Erin's father Terry would (barely) survive.
Terror By Night is Caffey's first hand account of the events that would change his life in ways he could have never imagined.
From a true crime readers standpoint, it's an interesting case but only about half the book is dedicated to the actual crime.
Terror By Night should be approached with the mindset for which it was intended: inspirational.
Readers are invited into the heart and soul of a man who lost (literally) everything and struggles to understand why while coping with a daughter's betrayal.
If you're looking for strictly the cold, hard facts of the crime, this book probably isn't for you. If, however, you enjoy a story brought forth by survival and hope, then I highly recommend Terror By Night from Terry Caffey.


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At 3:00 a.m. on March 1, 2008, Terry Caffey awoke to find his daughter's boyfriend standing in his bedroom with a gun. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. Upon visiting his burned-out property, Terry noticed a scorched scrap of paper from one of his wife's books leaning against a tree trunk. The page read: '[God,] I couldn't understand why You would take my family and leave me behind to struggle along without them. And I guess I still don't totally understand that part of it. But I do believe that You're sovereign; You're in control." That page was like a direct message from God, and it turned Terry's life around. Now, one year later, Terry is remarried, the adoptive father of two young sons, and working to rebuild his relationship with his 17-year-old daughter, who is currently serving two life sentences in a Texas state penitentiary for her involvement in the crimes. Terror by Night tells the compelling story of how Terry Caffey found peace after his wife and sons were brutally murdered and his teenage daughter implicated in the crime. Sharing never-before-told details about the night of the crime and subsequent murder trial, it explains how Terry was able to forgive the men who murdered his family, and how he even interceded with the prosecutors on their behalf. A powerful example of how the power of forgiveness can bring healing after tragedy and great loss, it shows how God can bring good out of even the darkest tragedies.

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The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life Review

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(More customer reviews)If you like true stories that read like fiction, memoirs that carry through generations, and an astonishing amount of family secrets and suspense unfolding against an incredible and often heartbreaking historical background, READ THIS BOOK! I literally could not put this memoir down...
While I really enjoyed Darznik's rich details about life in Iran throughout the 20th century, this is really a story about women-- in turbulent, dangerous times, in impossible situations, caught between traditions and modern expectations. It is also the complex and intimate story of an extended family and the relationships that stretch and strain between them over several decades.
I cannot recommend this book enough!

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Night Road Review

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(More customer reviews)I thought the author's writing style was very descriptive and vivid. Her tone was conversational and engaging.
Night Road introduces us to a young woman named Alexa "Lexi" Baill, who was a product of a heroin addicted mother. She was in and out of various foster homes until a great-aunt named Eva Lange came to claim her. I knew this book would leave me in tears when Lexi met her great-aunt for the first time and said "If you keep me, you won't regret. I swear it." I knew then that this young woman was going to captivate me.
After four days in her new home in Port George, Washington, she makes her first friend Mia Farraday, an outcast, like herself. Mia was the twin sister of Zach Farraday, a popular jock who dragged Mia along in order to try to help her fit in. Soon the three of them become a packaged deal of sorts, going everywhere together, and sleepovers at the Farradays etc.
Jude Farraday became the mother that Alexa always wanted, but never had. Jude Farraday was slightly neurotic when it came to parenting. She insisted on walking her high school kids to their lockers, checking home work, chaperoning all school dances etc.
This book weaves a story about teenagers pushing boundaries, learning responsibilities, making choices and living with the consequences of those choices. It was heart wrenching when I realized that they were going to drive home drunk that fateful night. I knew the consequences would be quite severe and it was.
I loved the easy friendship between Mia and Lexi--the way they accepted each other after experiencing so many rejections in life. I loved how Zach and Lexi fell in love and how Mia ultimately accepted their love. I also loved how hard Zach worked at protecting Mia in all things. This book is about relationships with siblings, parents, and lovers. It reminds me that sometimes in life one bad decision can completely alter the path of your future. Drinking and Driving is always a bad choice, but forgiveness can be a healing comfort.
The author told a wonderful story about acceptance, love, anger, loss and ultimately forgiveness. I was rooting for everyone. I really think Miles Farraday and Eva Lange and the attorney Scott were the unsung heros in this book. I don't want to give it all away but they were the supporting cast that held the primary characters together.
I LOVED THIS BOOK and I wish I could give it more stars

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