Quick Reviews

 In Any Lifetime by Marc Guggenheim (2024)

After he loses his pregnant wife in a car accident, physicist Jonas Cullen devotes his life to finding a way to be with her again - even though that means finding a way to a parallel universe.  This one was a mixed bag for me - I love books about time travel/parallel universes, so the premise immediately drew me in.  It felt a bit like Dark Matter - a sci-fi tale that at its heart is also a love story, a man trying to find his way back to the love of his life.  However, this one couldn't live up to that book, which is one of my favorites.  The writing just wasn't as good.  However, there were things I enjoyed - I liked the way the story moved between past and present, as we watch Jonas and Amanda fall in love.  It made me more invested in their potential happily ever after.  I liked the villain addition, as Jonas is being chased through the multiverse.  I did think this story also brought up some interesting questions, like, why should Jonas get another chance with Amanda when other people don't have the same opportunity?  Overall, if you like sci-fi with a lot of heart, you may want to give this one a try.  3.5 stars

The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer (2021)

Art professor Luke Perrone wants to learn more about his ancestor, a man who stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, so he travels to Italy to read his newly-discovered diary.  But, he has attracted the attention of INTERPOL and some other shady characters, who all want to know if the painting hanging in the Louvre today is the real Mona Lisa or a copy.  This was a total impulse buy - I'm a big fan of The Da Vinci Code and this sounded in the same vein, so it interested me!  I love that this was based on a true story, so I got to learn more about the actual theft of the painting, but the author also did a good of creating a backstory for the thief through fictionalized diary entries.  In the present day, Luke is trying to find out more about his ancestor but keeps running into problems.  It felt a bit repetitive and sometimes it was a little hard to keep track of the shady characters - their chapters all sounded a bit the same, especially if the author did not name them in the chapter.  Overall, though, it held my attention on a long flight and that's what I want from my thrillers - the urge to keep reading to find out what happens next.  3.5 stars

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