Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer

From the publisher: Vice President Joe Biden is fresh out of the Obama White House and feeling adrift when his favorite railroad conductor dies in a suspicious accident, leaving behind an ailing wife and a trail of clues. To unravel the mystery, “Amtrak Joe” re-teams with the only man he’s ever fully trusted—the 44th president of the United States. Together they’ll plumb the darkest corners of Delaware, traveling from cheap motels to biker bars and beyond, as they uncover the sinister forces advancing America’s opioid epidemic.

A run of the mill mystery elevated by the fact that it's narrated by a (fictional) Joe Biden, kicking around with nothing to do and missing his BFF Barack Obama. When a friend from his days riding Amtrak is killed, Obama shows up at his house, secret service agent in tow (poor Biden no longer qualifies for secret service protection).

Biden and Obama (and the dour secret service agent) get pulled into solving the mystery and busting a drug running ring. Obama is cool but heroic; Biden is self reflective and self deprecating. Everything we loved about those Obama/Biden memes is captured in this book. Biden jokes with the clerk at a convenience store about the weather; when she responds with "global warming," Obama counters with a lecture on climate change. 

Hope Never Dies got a big draggy, but it's worth continuing for those golden Obama/Biden moments. Recommended for those who miss their presidential bromance.

I read an advance reader copy of Hope Never Dies; it will be available at the Galesburg Public Library as an ebook and in print in July,

Bluff by Michael Kardos

A very entertaining novel about a twenty-seven year old magician - Natalie Webb - who is trying to make a comeback in the business after being shunned by the magic world. Things go horribly wrong at one of her gigs in the very first chapter and that sets the stage for this novel. Natalie is incredibly talented with sleight of hand card tricks and she meets a skilled poker player, who also happens to be a card cheat. Natalie is offered the chance to pull off a $1.5 million magic trick that they are sure to get away with, but she has to cheat, which goes against everything she's been taught and knows about magic. A well-written novel, full of suspense, twists, turns and a brilliant con game!

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

This debut novel by Alice Feeney was a great read. The story opens with the main character, Amber Reynolds, in the hospital and in a coma. She can hear and understand what's going on around her, but she literally has no idea how she got there or what had happened to her. She knows that she is in a coma, she knows that she is married and she knows that sometimes she lies. These are the only three things she knows for sure. The author skillfully weaves this tale between the present (Now), the immediate past (Then) and 25 years ago (Before.) The writer sets this story up in such a clever way and there were a few times where I had to set the book down and applaud her brilliance. Each of the three settings (Now, Then and Before) lay the groundwork to come up with an explanation as to what happened to Amber. It's a thrilling and twisty psychological thriller. I couldn't put it down. A spectacular debut novel!