Many thanks to Penguin-Random House and NetGalley for the ARC Kindle e-book of [b: Two Nights|29915404|Two Nights|Kathy Reichs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479758030s/29915404.jpg|50294911] by [a: Kathy Reichs|26372|Kathy Reichs|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407166867p2/26372.jpg].

A longtime voracious reader, I understand how hard it is for an author, especially a more-than-qualified female author to write something "different."

I went into this book without pre-conceived notions and yes it is different than the Temperance novels, but Sunday; this STRONG FEMALE who has been through trauma and hell spoke directly to my wounded spirit. Her choice of isolation also had a clarion call of kinship.

If you are wanting a book to be a different slant on Temperance Brennan to move along. If you are a woman who is a wounded warrior of whatever type of war you have faced, read "Two Nights."

I suspect protagonist "Sunday Night" will never be accused of behaving like a lady, and [a: Kathy Reich] muse brought this amazing character into being, and I for one will never question a muse.

More, please! ( )

2.5 stars

I have been reading the Temperance Brennan novels since their first release nearly 20 years ago and was keen to read this new stand-alone novel from Kathy Reichs. Unfortunately it didn’t hit the mark for me – I just couldn’t engage with her new protagonist, Sunday “Sunnie” Night. I found her to be a little bit too stereotypical of the failed armed forces/police officer, emotionally/physically wounded tough guy/gal. So why else didn’t this book work for me?

1. The name – when I first saw the name Sunday “Sunnie” Night I cringed as the last time a character’s name made me want to throw a book at a wall was John Katzenbach’s overuse of the irritating “Andy Candy” in The Dead Student. Fortunately the use of “Sunnie Night” was limited throughout the novel and only mildly irritated me.

2. The way Sunday and Gus’s backstory was developed – it took nearly the entire book to complete. I must admit by about 70% through the book I was just skimming those parts. Maybe had the backstory been completed earlier I may have felt differently towards Sunday.

3. Too many short sentences in key parts of the novel. It made these parts “choppy” and detracted from the flow of the chapter.

What I did enjoy was that it was a fast paced, action packed detective story with little dependence on forensics or technology to solve the crime. (No offence to the Temperance Brennan series as the use of forensics in those novels is well balanced and naturally given the lead character, an integral part of the story.) Where technology was used, it was well explained and limited mainly to simple mobile phones and laptops.

I can see a future for this as a series in its own right and there is plenty of potential for Sunday to develop into a more rounded out character and maybe gain the same following that Temperance Brennan enjoys both in print and on screen.

I must admit I felt the same way about J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith’s first Cormoran Strike novel and have since enjoyed the second and third novels in that series. I would give Sunday Night another chance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in return for a fair and honest review. ( )

A great read. The pace is good and the plot is very good. The only complaint is the ending is a little muddled. ( )

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Sunday Night lived a rather reclusive life. That is, until her adopted father contacts her with a missing persons case. A mother and her two kids were visiting a Jewish synagogue when an explosion killed the mother and son. The teenage daughter disappeared and now her wealthy grandmother will spare no expense to find her. Will Sunday be able to find her? Why does she feel a connection to this young girl? Will saving this teen help her save herself.

This was a fantastic psychological mystery, Kathy Reich has written another brilliant novel. It was filled with nonstop action and the story draws you in and keeps you riveted right up to the very end. ( )

To be fair, I haven't read any of Kathy Reich's other books, so it's hard to measure this book in context. On the whole, I found the choppy delivery off-putting -- so many short declarative sentences, so much terse dialogue. However, Sunday's broken past and interesting network of support carry the book along nicely, and the fast paced mystery flows. It's a thriller, with the genius-leaps to move it along that you might expect, even if some are a little less believable than others.

Advanced reader's copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )