The following review was published or updated in several Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia newspapers and magazines in November and December 2024:

Booking a full year of reading

Review by Tom Mayer

If only us readers could just spend our days … reading. What would a year look like? Here, the editors of Home for the Holidays present their yearlong list of books, culled from the past 12 months of reading and reviewing. A few of the titles you’ll immediately recognize, and you’ll likely have more than few in your own library. But just in case you missed a title or two, we’re showcasing the whole year’s worth of books that we’ve read and reviewed, month by month.

Except for the first title, the list is simply a list. To find the reviews of many of these titles, visit our newspaper parent, The (Athens) News Courier at enewscourier.com — with a slight caveat. Our newspaper webmasters are currently working overtime to improve our content management system, the foundation of any website, and while many of our archives are now found there, it may be a few weeks before everything is fully re-uploaded — including the most recent editions of Limestone Life and Home for the Holidays. For now, though, enjoy our literary stroll through 2024.

And about that first title: Not every college professor can make statistical analysis approachable, let along interesting to their students and the general population, but Athens State University emeritus professor of psychology Mark Durm is not every college professor. After spending nearly five decades teaching thousands of students, the “ol’ psychology professor” decided that he’d best get around to writing the one book out of his nearly 100 published pieces that’s he always wanted to write. Call it a legacy piece, but what it really is is a “best of” Durm’s peer-reviewed, book reviews, non-peer reviewed and magazine articles from his 47 years in higher education.

The result is “Professional Publications of an Ol’ Psychology Professor” (Dorrance) with full previously published articles ranging from studies on the effects of glasses on a child’s self-esteem to his ever-popular parapsychology pieces, Durm presents his internationally recognized efforts with a twist.

“It’s a different kind of book because it doesn’t talk about the research, it presents the research,” the professor says from his second-career office at Durm Properties in Athens, about a half-mile from where he first presented that research in person. “I’ve spent hours on all of these articles, especially in the peer-reviewed journal articles.”

And so, articles on divorce, sex, religion and other topics now populate the pages of Durm’s most recent book in an effort to both continue his teaching and satisfy what has been a lifelong wonderment.

“You know, most people don’t understand statistics, so it’s all in there,” Durm said. “What I’m trying to do is a more critical approach to ‘just don’t believe everything you’re told.’ … It’s things that were in my life that I wanted to see if they were so, by using a psychological analysis.”

And like any good professor, Durm didn’t do that research on his own — or take all of the credit. Among the co-authors of many of his articles in the book were students — many of who he’s lost touch with, but all of whom who he credits by name in his acknowledgements and for each of who, if they look up their ol’ mentor, he has a signed book ready to hand over. For the rest of us, you can find the book at any online bookseller — just as you can with the remainder of our list, presented by the month in which the book was published, read and reviewed.

JANUARY

Unbound (Blackstone) by Christy Healy NG/F

The Devil’s Daughter by Gordon Greisman NG/ARC

FEBRUARY

Almost Surely Dead (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Amina Akhtar NG

The Chaos Agent (Gray Man 13) (Berkley) by Mark Greaney NG

The Lady in Glass and Other Stories (Ace) by Anne Bishop ARC

A Haunting in the Arctic (Berkley paperback) by C.J. Cooke NG

Ghost Island (Berkley) by Max Seeck

MARCH

Hello, Alabama (Arcadia) by Martha Day Zschock

The Unquiet Bones (Montlake) by Loreth Anne White

I am Rome: A novel of Julius Caesar (Ballantine Books by Santiago PosteguilloMarch 5: Murder Road (Berkley) by Simone St. James

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry (Holiday House) by Anna Rose Johnson

Ferris (Candlewick) by Kate DiCamillo

After Annie (Random House, Feb. 27) by Anna Quindlen

Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood (Montag Press) by Bradley Sides The #1 Lawyer (Little, Brown and Company) by James Patterson, Nancy Allen

Lilith (Blackstone) by Eric Rickstad

Life: My Story Through History (Harper One) by Pope Francis

APRIL

Matterhorn (Thomas & Mercer) by Christopher Reich

Friends in Napa (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

City in Ruins (William Morrow) by Don Winslow

The House on Biscayne Bay (Berkley) by Chanel Cleeton

Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week (Peachtree) by Sarah L. Thomson

For Worse (Blackstone) by L.K. Bowen

A Killing on the Hill (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoini

The Clock Struck Murder (Poisoned Pen Press) by Betty Webb

The Book That Broke the World (Ace) by Mark Lawrence

The Forgetters (Heyday Books) by Greg Sarris

Lost to Dune Road (Thomas & Mercer) by Kara Thomas

Warrior on the Mound (Holiday House/Peachtree) by Sandra Headed

Pictures of Time (Silver Street Media) by David AlexanderBare Knuckle (Blackstone Publishing) by Stayton Bonner

Murder on Demand (Blackstone Publishing) by Al Roker

Home is Where the Bodies Are (Blackstone) by Jeneva Rose

MAY

Matterhorn by Christopher Reich

The Hunter's Daughter (Berkley) by Nicola Solvinic

The House That Horror Built (Berkley) by Christina Henry

In our stars (Berkley) by Jack Campbell

Freeset (book 2) (Blackstone) by Sarina Dahlan

Southern Man (William Morrow) by Greg Iles

Camino Ghosts (Doubleday) by John Grisham

JUNE

Specter of Betrayal by Rick DeStefanis

Lake County (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

Serendipity (Dutton) by Becky Chalsen

Shelterwood (Ballantine) by Lisa Wingate

The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra’s Needle (Holiday House) by Dan Gutman

Jackpot (Penguin) by Elysa Friedland

The Helper (Blackstone) by M.M. Dewil

Winter Lost (Ace) by Patricia Briggs

Shadow Heart (Blackstone) by Meg Gardiner

Lake Country (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

The Out-of-Town Lawyer (Blackstone) by Robert Rotten

Love Letter to a Serial Killer (Berkley) by Tasha Coryell

Sentinel Berkley) by Mark Greaney

JULY

Three Kings: Race, Class, and the Barrier-Breaking Rivals Who Redefined Sports and Launched the Modern Olympic Age (Blackstone) by Todd Balf

The Night Ends with Fire (Berkley) by K.X. Song

Echo Road (Montlake) by Melinda Leigh

It’s Elementary (Berkley) by Elise Bryant

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman

Back In Black (Blackstone) edited by Don Bruns

The Recruiter (Blackstone) by Gregg Podolski

AUGUST

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman ARC

Not What She Seems (Thomas & Mercer) by Yasmin Angoe NG

Fatal Intrusion by Jeff Deaver/Isabella Maldonado

Death at Morning House (HARPERTeen) by Maureen Johnson

Fire and Bones (Scribner) by Kathy Reichs

Some Nightmares Are Real (University of Alabama Press) by Kelly Kazoo

The Brothers Kenny (Blackstone) by Adam Mitzner

Blind to Midnight (Blackstone) by Reed Farrel Coleman

The Wayside (Blackstone) by Carolina Wolff

Enemy of the State (Blackstone) by Robert Smartwood

You Will Never Be Me (Berkley) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (W.W. Norton) by Adam Kirsch

We Love the Nightlife (Berkley) by Rachel Koller Croft

Talking To Strangers (Berkley) by Fiona Barton

An Honorable Assassin (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton possible interview see email

Dungeon Crawler Carl (1 of 6 but see next two months) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

SEPTEMBER

Fatal Intrusion (Thomas & Mercer) by Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When They Last Saw Her (Penguin) by Marcie Rendon

American Ghoul (Blackstone) by Michelle McGill-Vargas

First Do No Harm (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton

A Quiet Life: A Novel (Arcade) by William Cooper and Michael McKinley

One More From the Top (Mariner) by Emily Layden

No Address (Forefront Books) by Ken Abraham.

Tiger’s Tale (Blackstone) by Colleen Houck

An Academy for Liars (Ace) by Alexis Henderson

Rewitched (Berkley) by Lucy Jane Wood

Gaslight (Blackstone) by Sara Shepard and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Counting Miracles (Random House) by Nicholas Sparks

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society (Ace) by C.M. Waggoner

The Hitchcock Hotel (Berkley) by Stephanie Wrobel

In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (2 of 6 see next month also) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

OCTOBER

The Hushed (Blackstone) by K.R. Blair NG

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (Berkley) by Maxie Dara

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (Norton) by WSJ Weekend review editor Adam Kirsch

Framed (Doubleday) by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

This Cursed House (Penguin) by Del Sandeen

The Puzzle Box (Random House) by Danielle Trussoni

Two Good Men (Blackstone) by S.E. Redfearn

Dark Space (Blackstone) by Rob Hart and Alex Segura

This Cursed House (Berkley’s open submission)by Del Sandeen

Vindicating Trump (Regnery) by Dinesh D’Souza

The Book of Witching (Berkley) by C.J. Cooke

The World Walk (Skyhorse) by Tom Turcich

The Waiting Game by Michael Connelly  ARC, possible interview see email

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoni

Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (3 of 6, with bonus material) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

Frozen Lives (Blackstone) by Jennifer Graeser Fronbush NG

Vincent, Starry Starry Night (Meteor 17 Books) intro by Don McLean

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (PowerHouse Books) by David Coggins

NOVEMBER

The Waiting (Little, Brown) by Michael Connelly

The Teller of Small Fortunes (Penguin) by Julie Long

Shadow Lab (Blackstone) by Brendan Deneen

Trial by Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

Devil Take It (Heresy Press) by Daniel Debs Nossiter

SerVant of Earth (Ace) by Sarah Hawley

All the other me (Blackstone) by Jody Holford

The Perfect Marriage (Blackstone reissue re-edit) by Jenny Rose

DECEMBER

Trial By Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

The Close-Up (Gallery Books) by Pip Drysdale

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Methos

Leviathan (Lividian Trade HC) by Robert McCammon

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Method

Assume Nothing (Thomas & Mercer) by Joshua Corin

One example link:
https://enewscourier.com/2024/11/29/in-review-booking-a-full-year-of-reading/

Unique storyline with a well written and developed plot and great character development; looking forward to reading more from this author

Rick Carter was once your run of the mill corporate recruiter. Then the worst American recession of eighty years hit the economy hard. A request to connect a business owner with an IT specialist willing to dabble in some less than legal activities soon led Rick to shift his focus from being the middleman for legitimate businesses to making connections between professional criminals and the deep pockets willing to hire them. This proved a lucrative choice, especially when connecting his handpicked talent to clients who need a crime committed that can’t be traced back to them:

QUOTE
Ian was an artist. I should have charged Leon double. He’d balked at my fee during our first meeting, but that wasn’t unusual for new clients. People who have never worked with a recruiter–or have only worked with bad recruiters–don’t always appreciate our value when it comes to finding top talent. That was as true when I worked in corporate America as it was with mid-tier crime bosses like Leon White. Then they’d see the quality of candidates I bring to the table, and suddenly money wasn’t an issue.
END QUOTE

Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Rick found himself flying too close to the sun. Not wanting to drag his own wife and two young kids into the crosshairs, Rick fled America for Europe, where he continues to ply his trade. The years pass, and Rick continues to amass a small fortune even as he desperately misses the family he left behind. But then he receives an offer he can’t refuse.

Patricia Baum is well-funded and well-connected, if the slew of corrupt law enforcement she has at her disposal is any indication. She needs Rick to assign his three best assassins to take out a multinational task force of FBI, MI6 and Mossad. While Rick has never had a problem with setting his stable of criminals on other criminals, he draws the line at killing federal agents. Seeing that money isn’t enough motivation, Patricia is more than happy to resort to physical violence to get Rick onside.

A terrified Rick is prepared to give her whatever she wants and flee Europe for sunnier climes when he learns that the family he’s left behind has somehow become entangled in Patricia’s machinations. Unwilling to leave his wife and kids to fend for themselves again, he must recruit and run his own small team of criminals to figure out and foil Patricia’s plans while keeping his loved ones safe.

Trouble is, Rick has never really been the hero type. Finding the courage to stand up for his family comes hard, even before his team induces him to engage in the kind of physical heroics he’s more comfortable watching on a movie screen. His responses when his right hand woman orders him to stop someone fleeing from them on a motorcycle are both entirely reasonable and downright hilarious:

QUOTE
“I’m going to pull up next to him,” she said, turning her head slightly so I could hear, “then you jump off and tackle him.”

I didn’t say anything at first, as the only logical response to her suggestion was stunned silence.

“Rick, did you hear me?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Did you hear you?”

“We’re not going that fast right now. Just make sure you land on him and he’ll take the brunt of the impact.” She said this as if explaining to a toddler how it won’t hurt if he falls off his bicycle as long as he lands in the grass.
END QUOTE

Following along as Rick goes from zero to hero in this laughter- and action-packed novel is a cinematic thrill ride. It’s easy to see how Rick fell down a slippery slope of increasingly bad choices when it came to providing for and protecting his wife and kids, which makes it even more satisfying to follow along as he claws his way back to redemption. The reactions of those he left behind are really well done too, as each member of his family deals with the welter of emotion that comes from his return.

Most exciting of all though was how the big twist at the end promises at least one sequel. Rick is an engaging protagonist with a special skillset and a decidedly droll sense of self-awareness. This debut novel of Gregg Podolski’s is a must read for fans of Hugh Laurie’s The Gun Seller or the more humorous works of Robert Ludlum.

A mid level thriller that does a good job of seperating itself from the pack but doesn't do much beyond that. If you are intersted in it, you should totally check it out. If you feel like you've read this story before, its because you have. The MC is no different than any other smart mouth talking character you've read. Which is a shame.

He's a headhunter for bad people still has a heart. Rick Carter (not his real name) is a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.

You always have a choice and Rick chose to leave his family behind to protect them but after ten years it all comes crashing down around him. So he uses his contacts to try and help save them from the very worst of the worst hired killers. I enjoyed this ride of a book and look forward to the next book.

This was a fun and breezy read about a recruiter for the criminal underground that must save his estranged family from the very people he recruits. The plot slowed a bit halfway thru but I still really enjoyed it. The ending leaves the story open for a sequel - looking forward to it! Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this one.

The Recruiter is absolutely packed with action, sarcastic humor, and wild chases around the world.

Rick Carter is a recruiter. When bad guys need a dirty task done, they call Rick to find the right person to get the job done. Rick tries to stick to only harming people who have done bad things, but now someone is forcing his hand by involving the family he left behind years ago in an attempt to keep them safe. From Brussels to London to the USA, Rick is on a mission to stop the killers before someone close to him winds up in the crosshairs.

This read was outside of my normal comfort zone, but as a huge fan of spy action movies I thought it sounded fun. And I was right! The premise was exciting and was executed in a fast paced, action packed way, leading me to binge this one in a day. Our main character is an interesting man who got into a dirty field almost by accident and now feels stuck. His sense of humor along the way is a huge bonus, adding some levity to a storyline that can get pretty intense.

The ending seems to leave things slightly open…will we be getting a book two of Rick Carter? I, for one, will definitely read it!

Thank you to Blackstone for my gifted ARC. All opinions are my own,

Loved it

I was happy every night when my day was done and I could curl up and read some of this book. It was funny, fast-paced and had a great plot. I never thought of a recruiter being used to find hit men, but I suppose they are out there. About half way through the book I checked to see if the author had written other books as I wanted to order them. Unfortunately, this is his first published book, but it ended with a set-up for a sequel. I will keep an eye out for it.

loved this book! it was action packed, fast paced and thrilling/ a real page turner, so much happening all the time and what a twist at the end! I love this kind of book!

The Recruiter is an action-packed thriller that starts off with a bang and doesn't let up on its fast pacing until the final final sentence.

Rick Carter is a recruiter for criminals who need to get certain jobs done - especially criminals who need hit men. Rick only recruits for jobs where bad guys are the target, until a referred client forces his hand to arrange hits on a few law enforcement agents. As Rick tries to undo the mess he's created by recruiting the top assassins for the job, he discovers that his new client has put the family he deserted ten years ago in her sights as well. Now, he must face off with two of the most notorious assassins, Ghost and The Persian, to protect his family he thought were safe since he left their lives.

The action in The Recruiter is absolutely non-stop, and Rick is well fleshed out as a main character, with an emotional depth you don't always find in this genre. His sardonic voice carries the book through its darker parts, and is reminiscent of Deadpool in the best ways.

Fans of spy thrillers with fast pacing will love this one!

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Recruiter. This may be one of my favorite books of the year. A great debut novel that is very different, great characters, loads of twists and turns.
Starts with a bang and ends with the hope of a sequel.
Rick Carter is a recruiter and a specialist in the field of finding contract killers. He’s the best in the world of finding freelance hit man or hit women. If someone needs to be killed, Rick Carter has a network of “experts” who can do the job.
But being in this business gets him in a bad situation because Ricks next contract won’t be voluntary and as a matter of fact he doesn’t have a choice. The people who need his services will take what means the most to Rick - his family.
This was a roller coaster of emotions for me as a reader. I don’t want to give up too much more and spoil this story but for those who love a good thriller, this is a great read.
Recommend with 5 stars!!!!!

The Recruiter by Gregg Podolski is a fast-paced high-stakes thriller perfect for those who like competent globetrotting antiheroes with a checkered past and, deep down, a conscience struggling to stay alive.

Rick Carter (not his real name) is a guy whose one true skill is the ability to find other guys who can do bad things. This comes in handy when he is chosen by a nefarious shadow agency, ostensibly to put together a team and take out some highly competent operatives. As you might expect, there is more to the story.

The Recruiter was well written and exciting. It might have lagged a little bit in the middle, but overall it kept moving at a pretty good pace. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the Gray Man/Orphan X genre.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rarely can one combine "Snark" yet likability for me. Gregg has done this in this wonderfully fun read.
The story moves fast and it's not until the sunlight creeps through before you realize you've stayed up all night saying, :Just one more chapter..."

Rick Carter is The Recruiter. You need a group of people for a job? He’s the guy you call. After a new client contacts him, things go awry.
As with any debut novel, I went into this book not really sure if I’d like it. I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Rick Carter was a great character. It was easy to get pulled along with his story, even at the pace the book sometimes set.
The mood shifted between a noir feeling to relentless action. All the while interspersed with gallows humor.
If this Podolski’s debut novel, I greatly look forward to his second novel.

Barely a quarter of the way in, I gave this four stars. It deserves five - what a roller-coaster ride through the murky underworld and the shady world of espionage. The bad guy is the good guy and the villains are suitably bad.

Rick Carter is a recruiter - he lines up "staff" for those who are willing to pay big bucks for a job to be done - no questions asked. However, things go a little awry (understatement) when a new client comes on the scene and makes Rick an offer he cannot refuse. Now Rick must use his skills and contacts to ensure that this new client does not achieve their end game - and it will come at a personal cost.

It is so easy to become invested in Rick's narrative as the tale rockets along - sometimes a break-neck speed - to an inevitable outcome, which is not a a tidy affair at all. The body count is high, the violence oft times gratuitous, the humour suitable dark, the undertones noirish, the action non-stop. For a first novel, the reader could not ask for anything more. Except more!

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to read a number of books of a similar genre. Podolski is in good company and I look forward to reading more.

A witty thriller that takes you on an adrenaline-rush of a ride with bike chases, shootouts, and double crosses and assassins with a relatable yet flawed protagonist who really gets put through the motions by a syndicate cabal using the protagonist to put together a kill-list. Will he stake his professional ambitions at risk when his family gets caught in the crossfire? The smooth prose is a superb and captivating ride across danger.


Full review to be posted on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain