Blue Moon by Lee Child

This is a Jack Reacher story. 

Jack is travelling on a bus and sees an elderly man sleeping in a seat across the aisle with an envelope of cash hanging out his pocket.  The young man in the seat in front has also spotted the cash and keeps looking over at it, as if making a plan to take it.  When the elderly man gets off the bus the young man follows, so Jack follows too. 

Jack manages to help the elderly man as he is being mugged and then assists him home.  He gets involved in the lives of Aaron Shevick and his wife who are paying off their debt to local gangster money lenders.  But as soon as the debt is repaid they need to borrow more. 

There are two rival gangs in the town, the Albanians and the Ukrainians.  They each have their own areas of the town but are competing to gain further control.  Jack's interference confuses the gangs but he is determined to help out the Shevick's.  

The story take place over just a few days.  I do like Jack Reacher stories but this one was one of the most unbelievable I have read.  Within a very short time of meeting people he has them unquestioningly on his side against the local mobs and the killing rate is huge. 

The Place We Met by Isabelle Broom

The chapters alternate between the stories of Taggie and Lucy.  

Taggie left London to live on the banks of Lake Como in Italy.  It is a place she visited regularly as a child and an old friend of her grandmother's still lives there.  It is her most favourite place in the world.  She has moved to escape her old life and take time out to heal. She is definitely not looking for love and so is not interested in Marco.  

Lucy is in a fairly new relationship with Pete and books for them to travel to Lake Como for a few days at New Year.  She used to holiday there with her parents until they parted when she was a teenager and she has not been back since.  Lucy is not a confident person, and once she has seen Pete's ex-girlfriend in a photograph, she is worried that she is not glamorous enough nor slim enough to be able to maintain a lasting relationship with him.

After You by Jojo Moyes

This is the sequel to 'Me Before You' and continues the story of Louisa Clark. 

After spending a few months travelling around Europe Lou decides to return home, but realises she doesn't actually have a home anymore.  Her mother won't talk to her as she disagrees with how Lou helped Will so she can't go back to her parents house.  

Lou buys a flat in London and gets a job working at an airport bar.  She is reunited with her parents when she has an accident.  After recuperating she returns to her job at the bar but isn't really very happy.  Her father convinces her that she needs to attend grief counselling.  

One evening there is a knock on her door and 16 years old Lily is standing there who claims to be Will's daughter.  Lily is a difficult teenager who has been expelled from school and fallen out with her mother.  Lily wants to know about Will and meet her unknown family.  

I enjoyed finding out how Lou had got on, but preferred the first book.  At the end of this book there is a bonus short story called 'A Bird in the Hand'. 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Louisa Clark is looking for another job as The Buttered Bun, the cafe where she has worked for the last 6 years, has just closed.  There are not very many jobs available in her home town and after trying out a few, unsuccessfully, she attends an interview to be a carer for a quadriplegic.  She has no qualifications or experience in this field but is generally chatty and good with people, and the job pays well for a 6 month contract. 

Will Traynor, the 35 year old quadriplegic, is not a happy man.  Having been a successful businessman, who was always very active and adventurous, he is struggling to come to terms with the significant changes in his life following the accident which damaged his spine. 

The 6 months they spend together signficantly changes both of their lives.  After a bad start they begin to get along, talk to each other about all sorts and share information about their lives.  Will encourages Louisa to think big, have ambition and do something significant with her life.  

This is a great story with lots of highs and lows.  It has been made into a film.  I am now about to start the sequel 'After You' to see where the story goes next. 

Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay

Teenage Jeremy Plimpton, who has been nicknamed the Big Baby, has been given a suspended sentence for running down and killing a teenage friend during a drunken party.  There are many people who feel this is far too lenient and are out to get revenge for the killing.  The family employ private investigator Cal Weaver to help them keep Jeremy safe.  

Detective Barry Duckworth, of Promise Falls Police Department, is investigating the strange abduction and harming of local man Brian Gaffney.  Whilst looking at CCTV to establish Brian's whereabouts, Barry sees his own son was in the same place and has to question him about what he may have seen.  

There are lots of people keeping secrets and lots of people looking to get revenge for past wrongs. 

Second Time Around by Erin Kaye

Jennifer has been divorced for a number of years.  She has two children, Matt who lives at home with her and is looking for his first job after leaving college, and Lucy who is away at university but comes home every weekend.  

Whilst out with a friend celebrating her 44th birthday Jennifer sees Ben, the Manager of The Lemon Tree restaurant.  She is instantly attracted to him.  Ben is young, handsome and heir to the Crawford family business and fortune.  He is also 16 years younger than her.  Jennifer and Ben start to see each other but she is worried about what people will think of their age gap.  Ben's parents make it quite clear to her that they are not happy.  They expect Ben to provide them with grandchildren who will continue to run the family business.  Lucy is also very disapproving.  

I have one other book on my bookshelf by this author, which is: 
The Art of Friendship
 

The Darkest Day by Tom Wood

Victor is a lone hitman, he has many enemies due to the nature of his work.  Whilst on a job he finds himself to be the target of a hit.  He goes head to head with Raven a female assassin.  

Victor wants to know why Raven is trying to kill him and who has ordered the hit.  He trails her to New York where they meet.  They know they are being followed and watched.  When all the power is suddenly cut in the city they realise they are in the middle of something much bigger than just a simple hit and work together to try to stay alive and stop a possible terrorist attack. 

This is the first Tom Wood novel I have read.  Victor leaves quite a trail of dead bodies behind him!  I have one other book by this author on my bookshelf to read, which is: 
The Final Hour