Now this is what I'm talking about! Ain't no sissy female characters in this gem of a book. Pretty awesome for a first novel. Way to go Sophie Littlefield!!! I couldn't put it down. The characters are some real characters! Funny, strong women with some quirks. The bad guys are really bad. The mai...
Several elements of the Aftertime series by Sophie Littlefield elevate the books far above standard dystopian/post-apocalyptic literature: 1. Beautiful, gorgeous, lyrical prose 2. Interesting, complex, complicated three dimensional characters 3. Plausible, unique setting -- bio terrorism has ende...
I messed up and read this second book before its predecessor, Bad Day for Sorry, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of this story. Stella reminds me of an older, funnier, and tougher version of Stephanie Plum. And, okay, more hillbilly. I found the humor clever and the characters real, relatable...
There's a lot going on in this book, and you wonder how the threads will come back together (not all of them do). Stella is a great character, interesting and snarky and I like how the author allows her to be a bit flawed at times. Stella does have a soft-spot for women, particularly women who ma...
While I personally didn't find this book too interesting, it's probably because I did not know that this is actually a sequel to "Banished", and because this book just didn't appeal to my personal interests. It's not a "bad" book though, I've read books that were so dull I wanted to sleep instead...
Sophie Littlefield's books are my 'bad books', as she writes a bit on the dark side. Stella, the protagonist, is a free-lance enforcer of sorts, for hire (very reasonable rates) to abused women, whom the law has failed. Stella's part-time romance with the local deputy sheriff adds a comic aspect ...
The road was not plowed, but lights burned from inside the big house. Stella pulled up the circular drive and gestured at Todd’s feet. “Guess you wish you would have worn boots now,” she said. Todd jumped out of the Jeep and stomped around in a little circle, kicking up snow. Anything to prove an...
he grumbled as Stella headed back toward the resort. The orange moon had risen high in the sky and cast a silvery light on everything, making the road gleam like a sinuous ribbon. It was downright romantic, Stella thought, if one’s thoughts ran that way.“Well, you might ought to have thought abou...
Eugene Manetta. His address turned out to be part of a spiffy ring of deluxe condominiums that wound around a pond decorated with little footbridges and statuary, all of which were lit up with fancy landscape lighting. A young couple played tennis, the court as bright as daylight from the spotlig...
He sat on the edge of the bed Cass had left. Ruthie, sensing his closeness in her sleep, had rolled closer to him and hooked her small hand over his leg.Ruthie was an odd child in some ways, cautious and easily spooked, but at times Dor caught glimpses of the mischievous spirit hidden within her....
CASS ASKED, THE WORLD falling away from her, the air sucked from her throat. “What were they going to do?” —to my baby, my darling, the person I’d die for— “No one knows, Cass. Don’t lose your shit here, no one really knows.” Elaine stared straight ahead, sped up her pace, swung her arms as thoug...
the younger man snapped, jabbing Livvy’s skin with the barrel of his gun, making her head jerk. He was wearing gloves, his hands pale and dead-looking through the thin latex. “Mom,” she whimpered, and Jen didn’t think, she threw herself at her daughter, her fingertips brus...
Lucy stared thoughtfully at the cream-and-gray-plaid Formica table.“What the hell was that about?” Patty asked, when she was certain Torre was well out of earshot.Lucy shrugged. “You were here. You heard the same things I did.”“That’s not what I mean. You know that’s not what I mean. Who is this ...
It was the hair—so long and glossy that even disheveled and dirty and badly cut you wanted to touch it, brush it, braid it—and those beautiful wide brown eyes with the impossibly long fringe of lashes.The presence of a child—Cass’s daughter, Ruthie, was the only other one, and she almost didn’t c...
She was carrying two large, heavy bags from the Chinese restaurant: dinner for Bryce and the kids, and her mother. It was several moments before she heard activity on the other side of the door, the sound of the lock being thrown, but the door didn’t open and Marva could d...
She pulled the covers off the bed and sat on the floor wrapped up in them, staring out the window. The view wasn’t much, just the parking lot and the dumpy strip mall next door, and a few houses and then the open fields started, the rolling hills all the way out to the horizon. She didn’t see a l...
Colleen said. “Don’t you think that’s a hell of a coincidence?” “I don’t know. I just don’t know. Right now everything feels like it’s all twisted up. Like I don’t know what caused what. Where it started and where it ends. God.” They were back in their warm hotel room, drinking room service tea, ...
It was a beat-up brown Volvo, and I knew from experience that was a whole other kind of bad news. A car like this—well maintained even if it was old, boring but socially responsible—screamed social worker.The Department of Social Services, Family Support Division, sent people out to check on us f...
When she straightened up again she was fine. Tanner was rubbing his thigh, yelling at her to follow him. Only, when his hand came away from his shorts, she saw that it was covered with blood. “Oh my God, you’ve been shot!” “B...
There was a small crowd clustered around the quarantine house, Dana and Zihna conferring on the porch, Earl visible through the front door that Sammi had never seen open before. Phillip stood with his back against the house, under the overhang a few feet from Dana, looking as though a strong gust...
Steam lifted from the two mugs of strong coffee I’d brewed. For me, caffeine was a necessity—I hadn’t slept that well, tossing and turning until the sky finally lightened with the approach of dawn. I’d borrowed my mom’s concealer to try to cover the dark circles under my eyes, and chose what was,...
But then, the ones who smacked their women around rarely were. Hunting him down was going to consume a sizable chunk of her day off, and Stella was plenty annoyed. She only took Sundays and Tuesdays off from the sewing machine shop, and lately her sideline business was eating into her free time. ...
Maris didn’t venture out until she heard Norris leave in his SUV, and then she drove to the Arco for her morning coffee. She wondered where he’d gone: errands, the gym? Whatever uptight emotionally constipated bachelors did on the weekend. She wondered if this was how it was going to be for the r...